I made a long post in the Friendship in Baseball diary and it brought back ALOT of memories.
Some of the funniest moments and favorite personal accomplishments have come in this sport.

Baseball is such a historical sport. It's a sport that appreciates it's history and tradition. I am one of the many, many fans of this sport that has similar traits. I was the kind of kid who owned one amazing glove up until HS, and spent 2 hours picking out it's replacement.

But then theres the funny shit. The coach who was drunk by the 3rd inning from drinking ice tea. The MASSIVE kid who dominated simply because of his size  (I OWNED that kid). The fact that me AND my little sister were two of the top 5 players in the league at one point. The one kid with the golden arm...we had 3. The parents who taught us to trash talk, and even made an umpire sprint to his car after calling the last strike. The class wars you saw when we traveled to richer towns.

That was just Little League.

In HS NOOOOOOOOOOTHING beat our bus rides. This team may have sucked, but it didn't stop any bullshit from happening. Our token Asian kid randomly pulled out his porn one day and passing it up and down while telling us how it helps him out. The assistant coach from my sophomore and senior year was a football coach who happened to like baseball. He was a ginger that every single kid in a mostly black and Hispanic school adored. He was a little crude, but it was just hilarious. He challenged the track team by telling them he'd shave his balls and dye his hair blue if they won the next meet (they didn't). He'd talk shit to the entire team one minute (whoever has a bigger dick than me I'll give you 100 bucks right now), and the next he'd be giving us a serious lecture. Nobody knew how to handle the kid athletes in my town better. There was the time my coach followed the bus in his convertible only to have rain come out of nowhere. There was the beginning of my senior season where we scored a total of 0 runs for our first 5 games. There was the self deprecating humor that caused us to act like we won the WS when we did score that big first run. We scored 12 that game and played decently the whole rest of the season (5-6 after 0-5 start).

There were the games against rival HS that were just amazing...our 2-1 loss to a team nobody thought we would even contend against. I had 10 K's that game and their coach was flipping his shit. There was my 18 K + walk off HR game against one of our top rivals in my senior year. There was the day my coach sat me down and told me how great this team would be if everyone was half as good as me. There was the coaches that came up to me after games telling me I should be playing and attending a better school (I didn't attend my towns HS but they didn't know that) and that I had a D1 arm.

And then theres the sad things...the MASSIVE kid in LL is now like 100 pounds overweight. It's disgusting. We had 3 kids with arms that should have been playing in college, two of them (myself included) have had shoulder surgeries and the other went on to play football and get a scholarship from Maine to play DB. The kid I struck out to end the LL season when I was 8 years old has cancer. There was the fact that my towns HS could have been a powerhouse if they made the HS even somewhat desirable to parents who could afford to send their kids somewhere else.

I mean when you really think about it, LL and HS sports really teaches you a ton of things about life if you stop to think about it....and if not it gives you some of the most hilarious memories. And if you REALLY want to get into it...theres a ton of tragedy.

So what are some of the things you remember from your playing days?

I just thought of a new, interesting debate.

But honestly, I've gotten back into this debate and it's fun. It really is interesting to see the most famous franchise in sports have two of the most exciting prospects in the game at a position that allows more than one to exist.

I feel like Hughes has gotten EXTREMELY underrated by Joba fans because he lacks the 99 MPH fastball and of course...media savvy.

Both have pretty decent injury histories, and many some of the Joba obsessed (and theres ALOT of them) ignore his past and step around the fact that he pitched only 112 innings last year.

Hughes has had a ton of annoying injuries, and his stuff IS lesser. But I don't buy that Joel Sherman crap about his work ethic. Actually, if either of them have to work extra hard its Joba, with the past weight problems that have affected him.

Honestly, they're both kickass prospects...but I'm becoming more and more torn on who I like more. I'm blown away by Joba's stuff, but Hughes isn't exactly being blown out there. Mechanically, I like Joba better than Hughes, but Hughes' mechanics looked a little off this year.

Hm...maybe I'll make that the difference and take Joba.

Who do you like?

http://ww2.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/events/draft_report/y2007/index.jsp?mc=parker

http://ww2.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/events/draft_report/y2007/index.jsp?mc=porcello

This thread is dedicated to the guy minor league players that will keep me paying attention in 2008.

What're their upsides? Who do you compare them to? What are their flaws? Do you like their mechanics or do you not like their mechanics? Do you think they'll be fast tracked or not?

So WTF do I do with 10 oxy's at 10 milligrams a piece? Thats supposed to help my pain?

How do I entertain myself for the next month? What did the people here who had this surgery (or any surgery) do?

Right now even SEC football is boring me. That scares me a little. All Perilloux is doing is running and taking a big hit everytime. Yawn.

My long awaited shoulder surgery is just a week away.

4-6 weeks in a sling and 3+ months of rehab. Nowhere near as bad as other peoples shoulder injuries, but 4 dislocations in the past year forced the issue.

They'll be cutting the front and maybe back to tie up the loose ligaments and clear out any crap. I'll be in and out in a few hours.

I think I'm excited actually. After these 4-5 months I should be able to get back to doing the things I haven't done. I can throw a football. I can go to the gym and not have to skip certain exercises.

Not nervous...not at all...who cares if the guys in white coats have knives and stuff and they'll be cutting into me, amirite?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HC9CAVPhlpg&mode=related&search=GCL%20Twins%20Minnesota%20pit chers%20Anthony%20Swarzak

WTF kind of mechanics are those?

He completely kills his forward momentum and slows his body down mid-windup. Then his arm action is just...WTF?

It all screams Ponson too. It's creepy.

Those who know the story of how this guy turned it on in Boston do tell...the guy has looked absolutely amazing all season.

I ask this because despite all the BS...this is the kind of pitchers major league teams dream of come draft day. 6'5, 230, wide shoulders, strong legs, Texan attitude, 98 MPH fastball, big ass curveball, great control, nasty movement on all his pitches...how can seeing him turn into a very good pitcher (with potential for greatness) not draw the curiosity of prospect hounds...even this late into this career?

5 IP 7 K's so far today. He's got an ERA of like...2.00 since July.

He's K'd 48 guys in his past 43 IP, given up 0 HRs, and 40 hits in all this time.

Nice to see him getting stronger as the season moves on.

And WTF is wrong with Jeremy Bonderman?

How have I not reached 300 friggin characters yet?

now has an ERA of 3.43 with 82 K's in 85 IP.

He's a bit homer prone and his control isn't stunning, but I don't consider them a big deal in the long term.

I'd like him to go back to his groundball tendencies from last year, and I like his stuff enough that I think he can get there again.

He seems to have become the forgotten guy in the group of elite pitching prospects recently called up. I like him ALOT more than Matt Cain for the long term, but that doesn't seem to be the prevailing thought.

What exactly is the difference between Cain and Billingsley that got Cain so much more hype? Billingsley's stuff is not exactly lesser, seeing as his two breaking balls are way more advanced than Cain's. His control's better. He K's more guys.

One of my favorite arms from last years draft has pitched only 7 innings this year.

WTF is wrong with him?

It's not like he blew anyway with his performance last year, but considering family name, draft position (1st sandwich), and the franchise (Braves) who drafted him...I'm shocked he's not talked about more often.