It seems like kind of a slow week in the baseball world as it pertains to the Alaska League, so I don't have a whole lot to write about, other than a couple of important topics. Check these out...
Box Score:
- The Peninsula Oilers have announced more changes to their coaching staff with the hiring of Dan Lemon and Jake Silverman to round out the crew this summer. Lemon has been one of the more successful prep managers in California's recent history, in addition to previous experience as a Major League scout. Silverman, who will work with the catchers and defense, is a recent graduate and assistant coach out of Cal State Fullerton. These changes are in addition to the signing of Dennis Machado, who led the Glacier Pilots in 2009. Making an exit from the ABL is assistant coach Bobby Brown, who was making the move to the Oilers with Machado, but recently accepted a job as manager of the Las Cruces Vaqueros of the independent Continental League.
- The college baseball season has begun...sort of. NCAA play won't start until next month, but some junior colleges and NAIA schools are playing this weekend. Baseball is almost here!
- Good news for any ABL players out there who have hopes of being drafted into professional ball: the minor league baseball per diem has increased by a whopping five dollars a day to a grand total of $25. Some people criticize the ABL because it's not as glamorous as some of the other summer leagues. In some ways, though, that's a good thing. If you can't make it here, you're going to be in for a rude awakening when you reach the impoverished existence that awaits you in A-ball.
- Here's what happened last week in a nutshell: Jimmy Key was the #9 All-Time ABL player on our top 20 countdown, I wrote a profile about 2010 Bucs player Tyler Spurlin, and I also reviewed the documentary "Touching the Game: Alaska".
- I'm still looking for Facebook and Twitter friends! We're up to 39 fans on our Facebook page but for some reason just can't get up over that 40 mark. Could you be the one? We're also fast approaching 100 followers on Twitter, so if you aren't following us on there yet, help us reach triple digits! I'm not spammy, it's fun, just do it!
On Deck:
- Tomorrow (probably) we're going to have a look at what Beau Mills' invitation to Indians' spring training camp means, and what the odds are that he'll break into the big leagues this season. I might make this a semi-regular feature and look into some other former ABLers who will be gunning for a roster spot with the MLB club this spring.
- On Tuesday, as we do every week, we'll unveil the next player on our Top 20 ABL Players of All Time Countdown.
- On Thursday we'll be shifting back to a "Where is he now?" Post, this time checking out 2007 AIA OF and ABL Player of the Year Kirk Nieuwenhuis, who's been climbing his way up the ladder in the New York Mets organization since we last saw him. I kinda like alternating between spotlighting a 2010 player one week and catching up with a previous player the next, so I guess that might become the norm around here.
No comments:
Post a Comment