Arizona Fall League

[godwulf]

Playoffs? What playoffs? It's Arizona Fall League time!

Finishing up the second week of play, and my Scorpions are at the top of their division with a 6-2 record, after beating the Solar Sox last night in a light drizzle - thanks, in part, to a seventh-inning, 2 rbi ground rule double off the bat of Nats phenom Bryce Harper, who just turned 18 last Saturday and was playing in what I'm guessing was his first professional game. I wouldn't mind having been the one who went out and picked up that ball, but I wasn't.

Since joining the team on Monday, Bryce seems to have resigned himself to signing a whole ton of autographs. Both last night, and the night before, he was out after the game surrounded by a large crowd - well, large by Fall League standards, maybe fifty or sixty people - signing, signing, signing. Seems pretty serious, but a nice kid.

Speaking of signing, Tuesday night, the Rockies' Charlie Blackmon was signing before the game, and somebody came up with a well-worn Tulsa batting helmet of his. (He found a small crack, and said, "Yeah, it's mine. I threw it around a bit.") He must have spent two minutes admiring it, and - this is what impressed me - asking the owner exactly where he wanted it signed; he even asked the guy how he was going to display the helmet, in order to get a better idea.

Aside from getting a couple of balls single-signed by DBacks Konrad Schmidt and Daniel Stange (both of whom spent time with the big club this past season), and getting Marc Krauss to sign one of his bats from Visalia, all of my autographing efforts so far have been directed toward batting coach and former Diamondback Alan Zinter. Two of his DBacks bats and a batting helmet from '04, so far, and as the season progresses, I've got one of his Houston bats, two large locker tags, one of his coach's jerseys from Visalia, and a stack of cards to bring out.

I'm taking two weeks off from work starting this Monday, and plan to get out to 12-15 games in that time. Who's got time for Baseball on t.v.? :rolleyes:

[godwulf]

Since he joined the Scorpions a week and a half ago, 18-year-old #1 draft pick phenom Bryce Harper has signed autographs down at the end of the dugout, without fail, after every home game. As I mentioned before, he's very serious -but I guess in his position, with the pressures to perform and succeed that he's facing, we'd all be that way.

Last night, after a long game, it was going on ten o'clock, and it was cold, but Bryce was down there signing, as always, so I decided to see if I could squeeze my way into the crowd and toss him a ball. After several minutes, I managed to secure a recently vacated spot, right in the area that he seemed to be concentrating his attention on, and stood there, having to resist the physically aggressive (East Coast types, I'm assuming :rolleyes: ) trying to squeeze me out. Bryce looked at me and reached out his hand, and I tossed him a new Arizona Fall League ball and a pen, and got a beautifully signed ball back.

On the other hand, I'm told that Desert Dogs manager Don Mattingly isn't signing much of anything. At the end of the season, I may have a couple of nice (unsigned) Mattingly Yankees photos to give away.

[Chris78]

How has Ted Simmons been with signing? I could not make it this year and wanted to get him and Mattingly, and of course Harper along with a few other prospects.

Chris

[godwulf]

How has Ted Simmons been with signing? I could not make it this year and wanted to get him and Mattingly, and of course Harper along with a few other prospects.

From what I've seen, the Managers (not just Mattingly) generally don't really come out of the dugouts that much, except if they see someone they know. I can't really say about Simmons, as I'm always hanging around the Scottsale dugout and don't pay too much attention to what's going on on the other side of the field.

[Fnazxc0114]

sounds like a good time godwulf. Has bryce done pretty good so far?

[godwulf]

As a late roster addition, he's only allowed to play on Wednesdays and Saturdays, so he hasn't played much, yet...maybe three games, assuming he played today (which game I coudn't make it to). If I recall correctly, he hit an rbi double his first game, and went two for four in his second.

[LastingsMilledge85]

How is he allowed to play? I thought in order to play you needed to at least be playing at the Double-A level for about half the season?

[godwulf]

How is he allowed to play? I thought in order to play you needed to at least be playing at the Double-A level for about half the season?

Five of the seven players must have been on some Double-A or Triple-A roster by August 16th, but the rules currently allow each MLB team to send two players "below the AA level". Usually, that means a Single-A player, of course, and teams will frequently send a promising one to the AFL, but I have seen players with no pro experience here before, and the rules do permit it.

[LastingsMilledge85]

Thanks, I was never aware of that.

[godwulf]

Wondering whether I should get Koby Clemens to sign a ball for me, to display with my Pete Rose, Jr. bat...sort of a "one generation off" display. :rolleyes:

[ironmanfan]

On the other hand, I'm told that Desert Dogs manager Don Mattingly isn't signing much of anything. At the end of the season, I may have a couple of nice (unsigned) Mattingly Yankees photos to give away.

Found this video of Donnie Baseball signing the other day during the AFL season

http://www.hotvideotube.net/video/10Ek-UtwRwk/Don-Mattingly-Yankees-Legend-Signing-Autographs-Arizona-Fall-League-2.html

[godwulf]

Since I made that comment, a couple of people have told me that they've seen Mattingly sign for 15 to 20 people at a game. Other times, he's invisible, as he was at Phoenix Muni today.

I got my Koby Clemens ball, by the way - mostly 'cause I couldn't find Matt Lawson after the game, to get him to sign the foul ball he'd hit in the 7th, and I hadn't been able to draw out Dismuke, the batting coach, to get a couple of cards signed, and I was just sort of wandering around the parking lot, on the verge of being mildly disgrunted, and ran into Clemens. I had a Fall League ball that I'd found on Monday, on the edge of the field, sitting entirely too close to the wall not to be stolen, and I had him sign that.

And the Seeds of Greatness Collection is launched. :rolleyes:

[CampWest]

The guy I'm following is playing well so far. .441 avg .735 Slug, #3 OPS in AFL. 7 doubles and a HR in 34 AB. Royals second baseman Johnny Giavotella.

[Fnazxc0114]

godwulf ill try and see if i can get a reid ryan(Nolan's son) ball at the game tomorrow. He played in the minors but never made it. Awesome idea for a collection. I laughed out loud when i read the "seeds of greatness" collection.

[godwulf]

I guess the Holy Grail of the collection would be to get a ball signed by Babe Ruth's daughter - she comes out to the Diamondbacks games, sometimes. Technically, she's not a "seed", 'cause she's the Babe's step-daughter, but still...

[rays54]

Godwulf
Cannot thank you enough for the advice regarding autographs at Peoria Sports Complex. Mattingly was great signing this morning for just me and another guy. Sorry I missed you at Scottsdale.

[godwulf]

Hey, Joe....

If you're going to be in town tomorrow night, I'll be at the Scorpions-Dogs game at Phx Muni...and I may end up going to the Rising Stars game on Saturday after all, it depends on how I feel.

[xpress34]

godwulf ill try and see if i can get a reid ryan(Nolan's son) ball at the game tomorrow. He played in the minors but never made it. Awesome idea for a collection. I laughed out loud when i read the "seeds of greatness" collection.

I've had this one for years...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v738/xpress34/Memorabilia/Balls/RyanRyan1.jpg

A friend got it done for me at Ryan vs Ryan - Texas Rangers @ UT Austin back in 1991. Reid Ryan on top and that 'other' Ryan guy on sweet spot... :p

Nolan talks about this game and says he was more nervous facing off against his own son than any MLB start he ever had.

- Smitty

[xpress34]

Godwulf
Cannot thank you enough for the advice regarding autographs at Peoria Sports Complex. Mattingly was great signing this morning for just me and another guy. Sorry I missed you at Scottsdale.

You're a good man!!! :D

Glad to hear you got Donnie Baseball!!! We got him a few times here in Denver with Dodgers last year when they were in town!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v738/xpress34/Me%20and/scan0009.jpg

Looking forward to seeing you in the spring Joe!

GW - we still have to meet up when I'm there at Spring Training!!!

- Smitty

[godwulf]

Now that ST is going to be at Talking Stick (great Baseball name, btw, if you think about it) instead of all the way down in Tucson, I might actually get to some games next year.

[rays54]

Enjoy the pictures

[godwulf]

Final 2010 Arizona Fall League notes.

The season ended on a high note for me, 'cause the Scottsdale Scorpions wrested the Championship from the Peoria Javelinas - their first ring since '96, I think. Something happened right before the game that could have soured me on the whole day, but happy to say that I didn't let it.

I was in line about an hour before the gates opened, 'cause last year, for the first time, they'd had some game-used items - bats, spikes, batting gloves - in the Team Shop; that year, I got Michael Brenly and Steve Singleton bats, and I was expecting to see more of the same this year, so I wanted to be in there as quickly as possible. There were only about twenty people ahead of me in line, and none of them had that "game-used collector" look - we do have one, ya know - so I figured I was in pretty good shape.

Once through the gate, I headed for the Team Shop. There were maybe only three or four other people in there. I looked to the corner where they'd had the game-used stuff last year, and there were exactly two bats leaning against the wall there. One was a natural bat, a LS I think, of a player I'd never heard of, badly broken and taped in a couple of places, so I crouched down and took ahold of the barrel end of the other bat - a black Mizuno, I think...I say, "I think" because I never really got to take a good look at it.

Some kid - I say, kid 'cause I'm an old guy...he was probably 19 or 20 - with a backward ball cap, and dressed stupidly in other ways, as well, had taken it by the handle and was pulling on it, yelling, "It's mine! I already bought it, dude!" We yelled at one another for probably half a minute, while the three or four middle-aged to elderly female clerks stood around looking shocked and saying nothing, and then I let it go.

Looking back, I sort of wished I'd held onto the thing, asked one of the clerks to go get Security, and then - hey, if it turned out he really had paid for it, which seemed pretty unlikely, considering he was on the other side of the store when I walked in, it would have been his; had he not paid for it, I'd have raised a stink about having the thing snatched out of my hand, maybe threatened the kid with an assault complaint, and I'd have bought that bat - it was only 35 bucks - even if I'd never heard of the player and couldn't have cared less about having it. Just to piss off the kid.

Well, I was pretty hot, and I walked around for awhile before going in to find a seat. I thought about finding the kid and getting in his face about our little contretemps...but eventually, I just sat down and started watching the guys warm up, feeling the sun on my face. It was a perfect day for Baseball. I thought about the fact that I didn't even know whose bat I'd lost out on. About the fact that I had more than a thousand bats back at the house - was I really going to let this ruin my enjoyment of the game and the day? That's when I was able to smile.

After the game, a few of the players tossed their caps into the seats, and I even saw somebody hand out a nice set of signed spikes and some bats. I got to talk to Alan Zinter, and mentioned that I'd sure like to add one of his caps to my "extensive Zinter collection" - hint, hint - but he said that he already had plans for it. I said maybe I'd catch him in Visalia next summer - I'm planning a road trip to Visalia, Reno and Yakima - and he told me that he was moving up to Mobile next season.

[sox83cubs84]

Reminds me of an end-of-season confrontation I had at Wrigley with a younger kid and his father. Pirates players were tossing their caps over the dugout to fans, and, while I had no luck in grabbing one, the kid somehow grabbed two. The only person still on the field was coach Bruce Tanner, and I set my mind on grabbing his if he tossed it over, to avoid a shutout.

I was, indeed, succesful in grabbing Tanner's cap...but the brat, and his father, insisted that the cap was theirs, and demanded I give it to them. I asked why they needed a third cap at my expense when they already had two, and the kid whined that they needed three "to have one for his sister, who didn't attend the game". I basically told them to perfrom an unnatural act, more or less, and the father basically dropped the matter...but the kid (maybe 11) followed me all the way to the concourse entrance bitching and moaning about the cap for "his sister". I ignored him, while ballpark cohort Joe Mcarthy threatened to sic security on the kid, who finally turned around and left. Joe is the best "watch your back" friend I've ever encountered...far more loyal than most of the Ballhawks have been over the years.

Anyway, I can feel your frustration, pal, and but for the grace of the baseball gods (and Joe's backup) I would have known the same that Sunday afternoon.

Dave Miedema

[gunnerleigh]

Please click one of the Quick Reply icons in the posts above to activate Quick Reply.

[gunnerleigh]

I was lucky enough to pick up a game-worn Hosmer jersey from this year's AFL so I am curious if anyone has any pictures of Hosmer playing for Surprise in the Royals home white jersey?
Thanks tons.

[godwulf]

I buy photos of the AFL players from a guy on eBay, name of "gmoneystin". I just checked, though, and the seven different photos he has of Hosmer are all of him in either the blue or the gray jersey. You might contact him and ask if he has others that he just doesn't have listed, though.

If anyone here on the board has photos of an AFL player, it would be OaklandAsFan.

[NeonStatus]

I was lucky enough to pick up a game-worn Hosmer jersey from this year's AFL so I am curious if anyone has any pictures of Hosmer playing for Surprise in the Royals home white jersey?
Thanks tons.

Nice pick up. Do you mind sharing how it was obtained? If you would like to send me an email that's fine.

[mariner_gamers]

I buy photos of the AFL players from a guy on eBay, name of "gmoneystin". I just checked, though, and the seven different photos he has of Hosmer are all of him in either the blue or the gray jersey. You might contact him and ask if he has others that he just doesn't have listed, though.

If anyone here on the board has photos of an AFL player, it would be OaklandAsFan.

Thanks for the heads-up on this seller. I think I may have a photo match on a Dustin Ackley bat off two of his pics. They will be here soon and I will be able to compare close-up!

Thanks Again!

[OaklandAsFan]

I buy photos of the AFL players from a guy on eBay, name of "gmoneystin". I just checked, though, and the seven different photos he has of Hosmer are all of him in either the blue or the gray jersey. You might contact him and ask if he has others that he just doesn't have listed, though.

If anyone here on the board has photos of an AFL player, it would be OaklandAsFan.

Just went through my files and I don't have any of Hosmer. If anyone is interested I have over 1000 pics from AFL this season. Send me a PM and I'll see if I have what you need.

[gunnerleigh]

Nice pick up. Do you mind sharing how it was obtained? If you would like to send me an email that's fine.
Yes, it was listed on the Royals official website.

[thevaultsky]

I have plenty of shots of Hosmer in the white, hi res.

Email me at thevaultsky@gmail.com if interested in picking some up.

[gunnerleigh]

I have plenty of shots of Hosmer in the white, hi res.

Email me at thevaultsky@gmail.com if interested in picking some up.
Email sent. Thanks tons.