7/24/2010 Odds & Ends

Reagan Moczygema gets some high-fives.

Here we go, down the home stretch! It seems like this season has just been flying by, and with about a week left to go, we've got a lot of updates. We've seen a lot of players come (and, unfortunately, go) and the championship picture is coming into focus. Here's some odds & ends for the past week:

- If you're interested in the Alaska League for the prospects, you should definitely check out this article in the ADN. They talked about last weekend's Scout Showcase and interviewed some of the scouts who came up. Angels scout Casey Harvie -- who may or may not have been the one who hooked me up with the funky beach towel out of his door prize box (thanks dude!) -- described the league as "the breeding ground of the future". I overheard at the event that there were scouts from 25 teams in attendance, and the ADN article linked above states that a dozen have already been through Anchorage. So I'd say it's pretty safe to say that every MLB team has sent someone through the ABL at least once this season.

- Elsewhere in the media, the Frontiersman has a great article on Miner Reagan Moczygemba, the mid-season pick-up third baseman for the Mat-Su squad. The story is that Moczygemba -- pronounced, I believe, "Moochy Gomba", or just "Mooch" as his teammates call him -- was attending the College World Series as a spectator when he was instructed via text message to call Russ Raley about the spot on the Miners' roster. I've been pretty excited about Moczygemba since he got here, and as the article says, he really helped Anchor the Miners' infield.

- An injury note: the Goldpanners have shut down Matt Vedo for the year. However, keep in mind that at this point in the year, with about one week left in the season, "shut down for the year" does not necessarily mean a serious injury. The Panners say that it's more of a precaution. Also keep in mind that it's good to be cautious, because if we start sending all these players back to school all banged up we might not get many of them in the future.

- For a quick look at how the standings are shaping up: The Pilots, Bucs and Fire are all mathematically eliminated from taking first place. At the top half of the league, the Panners, Miners and Oilers are still all in the thick of a three-way race. The Goldpanners are out in front; the Oilers have leap-frogged the Miners and are now sitting one game back, leaving the Miners in third with two games back. The Oilers started a homestand last night, though, and the Miners have one coming up. The league title could just as easily fall to any one of the three at this point.

- And finally, a maybe: I might be down in Kenai for the Oilers game tonight. This is a pretty big maybe, so I hope nobody is awaiting my arrival with bated breath, but it's a possibility and I'm going to see if I can swing it. So (maybe) see you there!