Sadly, it was also the day that Gehrig found out he had ALS in 1939.

NYP League opens tonight. In other non-complex leagues: the Northwest League starts tomorrow, App and Pioneer Leagues on Tuesday.

Are any just drafted guys already suiting up for those?

Do you mean the full-season leagues? I'm not aware of any, but I suspect so.
If you mean the short season leagues then, yes - they will comprise a majority of the players (and are already competing in their warmup exhibitions, etc...).

If you mean the short season leagues then, yes - they will comprise a majority of the players (and are already competing in their warmup exhibitions, etc...).

Do, say, the NYP teams train near home? Which round of draftees have signed this early usually? I imagine they early round guys are still negotiating bonuses and such.

Which round of draftees have signed this early usually? I imagine they early round guys are still negotiating bonuses and such.

Dunno if this is typical, but as an example, the Cardinals have already signed their second, third and fifth picks (they had no supplementals) and 35 of 50 overall.

OK, I found a NiaMK thread. It looks like at least four first rounders have signed already.

Padres promote Kyle Blanks

Do, say, the NYP teams train near home?

As a team or as individuals in the org? If you sign early enough, you'll hang out with the other guys in EST - then, a few days before the season starts, you fly to your destination and train there and maybe play an exhibition or two. (IIRC, the AquaSox have their annual matchup w/ some townies* today).
It's a pretty chaotic process - I think these teams are going to airport to pick up another handful of guys on daily basis early on.

The early round guys do take their time to sign, yes. First to ink are mostly the seniors - 'cause what basis are they going to negotiate from?

* This misrepresents their opponent, but only a little. Regardless, this is only meant as a representative example.

I like Tiboreau's ramblings about some guy in the West Texas League and his stats.

Some guy? Some guy?! Hey, George Shuba ain't just "some guy," man, he's one of the stars of Roger Kahn's classic The Boys of Summer--the pinch hitter extraordinaire!

And the West Texas League? Dude, that wasn't just the West Texas League--that was the International League, a AAA league with normal, uninflated, hitting stats. I mean, those WTL guys hit for a .300 batting average as a group; .300/.450/.600 hitters were probably a dime a dozen. . . . Besides, Treder already covered the insane hitting records of the West Texas-New Mexico League.

Seriously though, Thanks!

Me too. More please.

Cool, another excuse to to crack open the TSN Baseball Guides! Your wish is my command. . . .

In the Seattle Rainiers inaugural season, 1938, they picked up not one but two Franklin High School graduates: Fred Hutchinson & Edo Vanni. Hutch would go on to win the '38 PCL MVP and an all-star career in the MLB; however, Vanni never got a taste of MLB glory. The former UW kicker starred in the outfield for the three-peat pennant winners Rainiers, hitting over .300 with very good speed on the base paths and in the field. 19 games into the '41 season, however, Edo broke his ankle and missed the rest of the season, then missed the next three seasons to WWII. According to Gary Waddingham, author of The Seattle Rainiers, 1938 - 1942, Vanni's speed was never the same after the injury & service in the war, although he continue to play minor league ball through the '50s & would manage the Rainiers in the 1964.

So, one of the first players I looked up after recently obtaining the 1947 Sporting News Baseball Guide was none other than Edo Vanni, and this is what I saw:

That's right, he hit nearly .300 while walking 3.5% of the time--once for every 28 PAs--and 88% of his hits were singles--88%! That's an isolated average of .045 for those who avoided eating the bones. . . .

Edo Vanni's power records are a bit interesting--in his early twenties he showed speed-driven doubles power with a few triples mixed in, slugging over .400 in '39 & '40 with twice the iso. of '46. After the war his power dropped to minute proportions until a couple seasons into Western International League when it would return with a vengeance while playing in Yakima and again in a return visit to Spokane (the city of Dan Werr). I haven't looked up his BB totals from those years, so I assume their a bit better but generally of the same spirit as his '46 PCL season. . . .

There are a few others with similarly empty batting averages but they usually hit for a lower BA and played middle infield. . . .

Edo Vanni was a legend in Seattle baseball circles. In addition to playing for and managing Seattle's PCL clubs, he was the Seattle Angels' general manager in the late 1960s, and worked in the Seattle Pilots front office. Before his death in 2007, he was also the guy that the media would go to for anything involving Seattle's PCL days.

Fred Hutchinson, though...that's another order of magnitude. I often wonder if there are players who are absolutely revered in one town or another, that people from other towns just don't know that much about. Hutchinson is a Seattle icon - you see references to the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center almost every day, so that keeps his name alive. In 1999, when the Seattle Post-Intelligencer gave its choice for the greatest Seattle pro athlete of the Century, the winner wasn't Ken Griffey Jr, Steve Largent, or Lenny Wilkens - it was Fred Hutchinson.

Franklin High, BTW, is also Ron Santo's alma mater.

Val Pascucci released by the Dodgers AAA team.

Shawn Estes has retired.

Didn't Pascucci hit a game-winning homer, like, two days ago?

Answering my own question, it was Tuesday night. Pascucci's 8th-inning homer gave Albuquerque a 2-1 win over Memphis.

Yea, but what has he done for them lately?

Edo Vanni was a legend in Seattle baseball circles. In addition to playing for and managing Seattle's PCL clubs, he was the Seattle Angels' general manager in the late 1960s, and worked in the Seattle Pilots front office. Before his death in 2007, he was also the guy that the media would go to for anything involving Seattle's PCL days.

I didn't realize he had passed away (tells you how much attention I paid to the biographical details at the top of his BR page to which I linked . . . ). That explains why he wasn't a part of the this year's "Turn Back the Clock" night honoring the 1939 Seattle Rainiers (the A's wore Oakland Oaks jerseys from the same year).

The Seattle Rainiers of that era won the '39, '40, & '41 pennants, and actually did it on the strength of their pitching & defense. Their offense wasn't bad; however, it lacked HR power or any great PCL hitting star. Instead, it relied upon some good contact hitters, several of whom had good a reputation with the glove. The team's CF, Bill Lawrence, was compared to contemporary "Gold Glovers" Jigger Statz & the DiMaggio brothers, which meant that with JoJo White (acquired in the Hutch to Detroit deal after '38) & Vanni, two CF caliber outfielders, the team had three CFs patrol their outer pasture. 3B Dick Gyselman, who holds the PCL record for most games played at 3B, 1B George Archie, also acquired in the Hutch trade & the 1940 PCL MVP over triple crown winner Lou "The Mad Russian" Novikoff, & SS Broadway Bill Schuster (well-known for his on-field antics) also all had good reputations in the field.

The key to their success, however, was their two aces: Kewpie Dick Barrett, known for working hitters to a full count & perennially among the PCL leaders in BB & K, and sidearming knuckleballer Hal Turpin, the southern Oregon farmer who never made it to the MLB.

Fred Hutchinson, though...that's another order of magnitude. I often wonder if there are players who are absolutely revered in one town or another, that people from other towns just don't know that much about. Hutchinson is a Seattle icon - you see references to the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center almost every day, so that keeps his name alive. In 1999, when the Seattle Post-Intelligencer gave its choice for the greatest Seattle pro athlete of the Century, the winner wasn't Ken Griffey Jr, Steve Largent, or Lenny Wilkens - it was Fred Hutchinson.

Yeah, Hutch is the one PCL star that casual fans around here (where I live) might know. There is an award named after him, the Hutch Award, which "is given annually to a Major League Baseball player who best exemplifies 'Hutch's' fighting spirit and competitive desire." Last year's winner was a very fitting recipient: Jon Lester.

Franklin High, BTW, is also Ron Santo's alma mater.

I was discussing Sick's Stadium with a co-worker the other day, and learned that she grew up in that area of Seattle during the '50s & '60s and her brother had played baseball at Franklin HS with Santo.

Thought about submitting this - I think it could spur a few interesting discussions, but am not sure there's enough in the story itself to merit the post: a brief article about roster shuffling one minor league team is doing to deal with newly toughened US border laws.

In other minor league news, remember Bruce Chen? He's having a good season, excellent month, and - through 5 - an outing marred only by a teammate's error.

I am watching the 1975 All-Star Game highlights on MLB Network (Henry Kissinger presenting the MVP award(!)) I am noticing that some (not all, or even most) runners like Larry Bowa and Reggie Smith are running the bases in regular caps instead of helmets. Does anyone know what is up with that?