EVIL~! alkeiper

I generally make my All-Star selections based on the last few years and the first two months of the season do not sway my decision. It's easy to get burned on small sample sizes. Martinez established himself in 2004-05 as the best hitting catcher in baseball. If Mauer keeps hitting like he has though, I'll reconsider.

Cano's the result of not having a single strong candidate at second base. Ditto for Damon. There are a lot of qualified players in the outfield, and that spreads out the voting. The biggest complaint I would have is Varitek leading Victor Martinez.

The Brant Brown call? That's probably one of the ten greatest calls in baseball broadcast history.

Recently I stumbled upon Baseball America's archive of its Top 100 prospect lists from their inception in 1990 until today. John Sickels has a regular feature on his blog chronicaling the paths of some of the top players in baseball. I thought it would be interesting to take a look back at some of the players once considered top prospects in the Phillies systems. There are some hits (Pat Burrell, Ryan Howard, Scott Rolen), and some duds (Ryan Brannan). More interestingly, there are guys who went on to big careers who were not top prospects, like Mike Lieberthal. I figured I would start this with a player viewed as a top prospect who crashed. Tyler Green made Baseball America's Top Prospect List three times, yet failed miserably as an MLB player. The Phils drafted Green tenth overall out of the 1991 Amateur Draft. Perhaps they were mesmerized by visions of Dallas Green. In any case, Green must have had good raw stuff. His initial numbers back his ability. Green debuted with three starts in Short-Season A Batavia, and followed with two in High A Clearwater. His numbers in those starts included a 3-0 record, 28 IP, 10 Hits, 0 HRs, 14 BBs and 39 Ks. The walks were high, but the strikeout numbers were outstanding. Based on his scouting report and that showing, Baseball America rated Green the 26th best prospect in baseball. 1992 saw Green fast-tracked to AA Reading. In 12 starts he dominated again, pitching 62.3 innings, 46 hits, 2 HRs, 20 BBs and 67 Ks, 1.88 ERA. Green was promoted to AAA Scranton but only made two starts, pitching 10.3 innings and walking twelve, posting a 6.10 ERA. After the season Baseball America rated Green the number 31 prospect in baseball. Missed time combined with an abysmal record (particularly with a high walk rate) usually indicates an injury. Unfortunately I can not find direct information confirming it. One thing for certain though is that Green never pitched as well again. In 1993 Tyler spent most of the season at AAA Scranton. His K rate fell to 6.62 per nine. His 3.95 ERA netted him a trip to Philly however where he was shelled in three appearances. After that season Baseball America demoted Green all the way to 36. Without the knowledge of DIPS, Green's performance looked decent enough on the surface. He fell to earth in 1994. Spending the entire year in AAA Scranton, Green struck out just 95 batters in 162 innings, walked 77, gave up 25 home runs, and posted a 5.56 ERA. (The minors stayed in business during the MLB strike.) Green fell off the Baseball America Prospect list. Undaunted, the Phillies called Green to their rotation to start the 1995 season. Green compiled an 8-9 record with a 5.31 ERA, again with poor peripherals. Injuries would again strike, costing Tyler the 1996 campaign. Green returned to Scranton in 1997, delivering a 6.10 ERA in 12 starts. Looking over those numbers, the Phillies realized they had no choice but to promote him. Green finished the year in Philadelphia, posting a 4.93 ERA in 14 starts. Green then pitched all of 1998 with the Phillies, delivering a 5.03 ERA. Green never again pitched in the majors. He had one more awful year in Scranton (4-6, 7.69 ERA), and drew his release. AAA Buffalo picked him up the next year and received an 8.38 ERA in 29 innings for their troubles. Looking over Green, we have a pitcher who ha obvious talent, but was derailed by injuries. Even the surest of pitching prospects walks this minefield, which is why some sabermetrically inclined prospect mavens are increasingly hesitant to name a pitcher as the top prospect in baseball. See Ryan Anderson for an example. Thanks to the Stats Inc. 2001 Minor League Handbook for the numbers. The Baseball Cube page is in error regarding some of Green's 1992/93 stats with Scranton.

Ron Santo was terrific yesterday. Aramis Ramirez rounds third for an apparent close play at home. Pat Hughes: He's coming home. Ron Santo: Oh no. Hughes: He's safe! Ron Santo: Oh yes!

Rivera only threw 25 pitches in tonight's outing, despite going three innings. No wonder he pitched with a five run lead. Ryan Fleming, normally an outfielder, took the mound tonight for the 9th inning of a 12-0 blowout loss in Scranton. Fleming allowed out hit (erased on a double play), but allowed no runs. EDIT: Fleming also got two of the Barons' three hits.

Holy crap, that Mets set also has game six of the 1986 NLCS.

I was just taking a look at the '84 Cubs. ELEVEN Ex-Phillies?!

Lieber pulled a muscle fielding a ball in the top of the second. No word on how long he'll be out. 15 day DL with a strained groin. Link: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2462728 You would think the Phillies would go with Ryan Franklin in their next start, but the article on Phillies.com does not even mention him. Instead they mention Eude Brito and Matt White as possibilities. Matt White is not even on the 40 man roster and is not going to get a spot for a spot start. I have to think Franklin's a candidate for that start unless they call up Brito. Brian Sanches meanwhile is called up to fill in the bullpen. Congrats to him.

I don't know how many people are interested but I figured I would throw this out there. The 64 team field was announced today... http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/colle...ews/261474.html Lehigh U. got a spot as the Patriot League champion, which will likely result in two and out.

Lieber pulled a muscle fielding a ball in the top of the second. No word on how long he'll be out.

So what happened to all the pleas for Randy Johnson to retire?

I'd like to add that I'm cursing Kingpk for this, because these threads never die.

The Boxing is fine, and was really the channel's bread and butter before ESPN took it over. They need to air more baseball though, because it's available and there is so damn much of it. All they have the next few weeks are classic Yankee/Red Sox games. There are so many classic games from the last 30 years that fans don't even know exist.

Was this the game? http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/B05280PIT1990.htm

Odd that ESPN doesn't have Memorial Day games. Luckily, TBS is televising the Braves/Dodgers game at 1pm ET, so that's something nationally.

The show's already been cancelled. I think the Ted McGinley guest spot was ill-advised in retrospect.

Cole Hamels is apparently going to make a rehab start before returning, and a rumor says he's starting Tuesday in Scranton.

http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/B09050ANA2003.htm http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/B09091DET2004.htm The second game is the only pitching appearance Lino Urdanete ever got.

The Royals put up a valient fight, but the Yankees finally tied the game in the 6th.

Say hello to Henry Blanco, starting catcher.

Because Robinson was forced to place Lecroy in a position to do that. Robinson felt miserable about placing a player in a spot where he was clearly unsuited. Lecroy's performance was not due to lack of effort or lack of knowledge. He just couldn't do it.

I'm serious. He teared up because he embarassed one of his players. And to fill in for everyone, Brian Schneider is on the DL and Wiki Gonzalez went down as well. That's why Lecroy was catching in the first place. Robert Fick isn't a full time catcher either.

Just watched Matt Lecroy's performance on Baseball Tonight. Just awful. Matt Lecroy was clearly overmatched behind the plate. Frank Robinson cried at the postgame press conference. Lecroy is really a terrific person, and it was a shame to see him pushed into a spot like that. He's just an emergency catcher really.

Kinda late replying to this, but anyway... It's worth mentioning that the majority of those starts came in his first two years, where all but one of the 19 games he played in were starts. He posted a 6.75 and a 5.46 ERA in 2003 and 2004, respectively. Unfortunately, I can't find his game by game logs for 2005, but I can say with some certainty that his 2005 starts were significantly better than his career line. http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/Lheila0010032005.htm 2-3, 4.71 ERA last season as a starter.