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GWINNETT BRAVES & MORE IN THIS WEEK'S
EDITION OF THE PORK BARREL BLOG |
| This week's pork barrel blog entry was written by Broadcast Assistant Tommy Viola, pinch-hitting for IronPigs Director of Media Relations and play-by-play announcer Matt Provence. Updated blog entries will be made on a weekly basis leading up to Opening Day in April. |
| Remember when the story of baseball took place on the field? Remember when classy players such as Cal Ripken, Jr., Tony Gwynn and Gary Carter took the field in preparation for the upcoming baseball season? Remember that first televised game of spring training, and getting your first glimpse of possible “new faces” on your team? |
| Well, Tuesday, there was nothing like that to mark the start of the 2009 season. In fact, what happened was something that sadly has become a way of marking the start of a sport so tainted by its top stars, it’s just sad. |
| On Tuesday, NY Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez sat down at a podium in Florida to talk about his steroid use, much like Andy Pettite and Jason Giambi before him. And although his speech was sketchy at best (there’s no doubt in my mind that A-Rod is a steroid abuser), it was with that speech that hopefully now the 2009 baseball season can officially begin -- and the focus can be on-the-field stories. |
| You know the stories I mean – the prized rookie at spring training trying to make the big league roster for the first time (Matt Wieters) – the free agent acquisition making his debut for his new team (Raul Ibanez) – the veteran player giving it one more try to make a big league team before retirement is his only other option (Andruw Jones) – and the minor league journeyman auditioning for a role on the major league squad (Mike Cervenak). |
| So now, with spring training underway, I thought it would be interesting to preview some of the teams in the IL. With so many top prospects spending the 2008 season in Single-A and Double-A, the 2008 season in the I.L. seemed to be more of a stopping ground for veteran players looking for that one last chance to make it to the big show. |
| This year, however, should be quite the opposite, as it seems most of the IronPigs opponents will have their top prospects beginning the season at the Triple-A level -- which may serve as a showcase of some of the brightest young prospects in all of baseball in 2009. |
| Let’s take a look and begin with the newest affiliate in the IL, the Gwinnett Braves. The newest members of the IL will open a new ballpark in Gwinnett County -- just a short distance to Turner Field in Atlanta -- and may have one of the best pitching prospects in the IL toeing the rubber on opening day, Tommy Hanson. |
| Hanson has everything you could want in a young pitcher – a 6’6 frame, 95 mph fastball, a devastating slider and a curveball with great depth. Last year, Hanson began the year in Single-A with the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, and went 3-1 with a 0.90 ERA in 7 games. In those 7 games, Hanson showed his lights out stuff as he struck out 49 batters and allowed just 15 hits in 40 innings pitched. |
| Those numbers earned Hanson a promotion to Double-A Mississippi, where he continued to thrive going 8-4 with a 3.03 ERA and 163 SO in 18 games. On June 25, he tossed a no-hitter against the Birmingham Barons, striking out 14 batters in the game. |
| During the off-season, he continued to make news. He posted a 5-0 record with a 0.63 ERA and 49 strikeouts in the Arizona Fall League, and was sought out by the Padres to be included in a deal for ace Jake Peavy. And although Atlanta refused to add him to the deal, the Braves made moves for starting pitching which may affect his chance at a spot on the big league roster. |
| Atlanta added Javier Vazquez in a trade with the White Sox and signed free agents Derek Lowe and Kenshin Kawakami, which might mean Hanson will ultimately be ticketed for Gwinnett. If that’s the case, Hanson may meet up with the IronPigs when they host the Braves during a four-game homestand at Coca-Cola Park from May 16-19. |
| Others of interest who are likely to begin the year in Gwinnett are Jordan Schafer, no relation to ’Pigs broadcaster Jon Schaeffer, Kris Medlen, a young starter who went 6-5 with a 3.11 ERA in 17 starts with Double-A Mississippi last season and pitchers Todd Redmond, Stephen Marek, Luis Valdeza and Cuban native Francisley Bueno. |
| Schafer is the most interesting of the bunch. He will most likely spend time with Gwinnett after missing most of the 2008 season due to a 50-game suspension given to him in April because of accusations of the use of HGH (human growth hormone). Ranked as No. 3 Prospect in the Braves system by Baseball America, he struggled when he returned from the suspension and finished with a .269 average and 10 home runs for Mississippi. He will compete for a job in spring training, but will most likely patrol center field for Gwinnett in the beginning of the 2009 season. |
| Thinking outside the Pen: Ken Griffey, Jr., signed a one-year, $2 million guaranteed contract Wednesday to return to the Seattle Mariners. It was during the 90’s that Griffey -- a member of the Mariners -- became a fan favorite as a 19-year-old phenom. In those days, Griffey could do it all – hit, run and field and with a big smile on his face. |
| Perhaps the greatest memory I’ll ever have of him was during the 1995 ALCS, in the bottom of the 11th inning of Game 5. With Griffey on first, teammate Edgar Martínez doubled -- and Griffey charged around the bases and slid into home with the winning run that propelled the Mariners over the Yankees and into the ALCS. Excited and enthusiastic as he always seemed to be, Griffey jumped into the waiting arms of the entire team, a moment that remains one of the greatest in Mariners’ history. And, although the Mariners were denied the World Series by the Cleveland Indians, it was that moment which helped save baseball in Seattle, where there had been swirling speculation that the franchise would relocate to another city. |
| Griffey is a class act, the kind of player you tell your children about. And, because of injuries (and perhaps the lack of steroids), Griffey has gotten overlooked somewhat. You’re reminded of his impact when you take a look at his numbers… because his impressive statistics certainly don’t lie! |
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