The Montreal Gazette just put out an article stating that a group of Canadian businessmen have interest in bringing baseball back to the city of Montreal. This comes seven years after the Montreal Expos played their final game in the city before becoming the Washington Nationals. According to the article, former Expos broadcaster Rodger Brulotte was approached by an unnamed business group who plans on exploring a plan to bring major league baseball back to the city. The story looks at where the group might be able to build a new stadium, explores the precedent for major league teams returning to the cities they left, and talks about the remaining baseball support still left in Montreal.
As part of his work with the Brian Jordan Foundation, former Atlanta Braves, St Louis Cardinals and Atlanta Falcons star Brian Jordan is reading his children’s books to area Atlanta area kids. In the story Jordan talks about his inspiration to write and the work his foundation is doing to raise scholarship money and establish literacy programs for underprivileged youth. Jordan’s first book “I Told You I Can Play” is currently available on Amazon.com.
This clip is AWESOME!!!! WWE Superstar The Miz threw out the ceremonial first pitch at Tuesday’s Cleveland Indians game. As the video shows, he’s not half bad. The pre pitch interview, also below is a great listen for the wrestling fan as Miz talks about not remembering much of his Wrestlemania 27 match with John Cena and The Rock due to a concussion, being a lifetime Cleveland Indians fan, and bringing a championship home to Cleveland, and shares his thoughts on the C.M. Punk storyline.
The New York Mets are on the verge of trading Carlos Beltran to the San Francisco Giants for Zack Wheeler and a couple of other San Francisco Giants prospects (check back when the deal becomes official). Wheeler is the centerpiece of the deal and is the top ranked pitching prospect in the Giants organization. The 21 year old right hander is currently 7-5 with a 3.99ERA at High-A San Jose. He has 98 strikeouts in 88 innings and opposing batters are hitting just .224 against him. Wheeler was the 6th overall pick in the 2009 draft.
The Chicago White Sox have acquired Toronto Blue Jays prospect Zach Stewart as part of a trade sending Edwin Jackson and Mark Teahen to Toronto for Stewart and Jason Frasor. The 24 year old Stewart has long been a prospect in Blue Jays organization and made his major league debut in 2011 going 0-1 with a 4.86ERA for Toronto in 16.2 innings of work. At Double-A New Hampshire, Stewart has posted a 5-5 record with a 4.26ERA. He has 74 strikeouts in 94.1 innings and Eastern League batters were hitting a pretty hefty .286 against him. Stewart was originally a third round pick of the Cincinnati Reds back in 2008. He came to Toronto in the deal that sent Scott Rolen to the Reds back in 2009.
The Cincinnati Reds have traded Jonny Gomes to the Washington Nationals for Bill Rhinehart and Chris Manno. The 26 year old Rhinehart is in the middle of his 4th season at Double-A Harrisburg. He is currently having a career year hitting .289 with 17 Doubles, 21 Home Runs, and 59 RBI’s. The outfielder was a 2011 Eastern League All Star. He was an 11th round pick of the Nationals in the 2007 draft. Manno was a 26th round pick out of Duke in 2010. Since turning pro, the 6’3″ lefty has been a force out of the bullpen. This year at Low-A Hagerstown, Manno posted a 1-3 record with 12 saves in 34 appearances out of the pen. He’s struck out 69 batters and opponents are hitting a ridiculously low .135 against him. The 22 year old was a 2011 Sally League All Star.
Great story for the baseball history buff. Former Chicago Cubs outfielder Bob Will talks about playing six seasons for the Cubs in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. Will talks about his battle through the minor leagues, his successes at Wrigley Field, his career as a banker, and his love for baseball that remains as he enters his eighties.
This pretty entertaining. A fan gets out onto the field during a St Louis Cardinals vs New York Mets game at Citi Field last week and makes the four security guys chasing him look absolutely foolish as they are unable to tackle him for a good 40 seconds. When they do finally catch him, they take him down hard. The video also shows just how far away the nose bleed seats truly are from the field. Warning: Mild profanity at the end of the clip.
It’s been a long road filled with the highest of highs and lowest of lows for 2006 1st round pick Andrew Miller. The 6’7″ lefty was one of the best pitchers in the country for the North Carolina Tar Heels when he was selected by the Detroit Tigers with the 6th overall pick. He was rushed to the major leagues after just three appearances at High-A Lakeland, and pitched out of the bullpen for Detroit during the final month of the 2006 season. In 2007 he was back to being a starter, made 13 starts in the minors before once again being rushed to the majors and seeing marginal success. Following the season Miller was traded to Florida as part of the Miguel Cabrera blockbuster deal and struggled in both the majors and minors for three years before being traded by the Marlins to Boston during the 2010 offseason. Boston then released Miller before resigning him to a minor league deal. The 2010 season was the worst statistical season of Miller’s career going 2-9 with a 5.35ERA in the minors and 1-5 with a 8.54ERA for the Marlins. Since joining the Red Sox organization in 2011 however he’s finally beginning to blossom into the pitcher he was expected to be back in 2006. Miller went 3-3 with a 2.47ERA for Triple-A Pawtucket before being promoted to Boston. Since hitting Fenway Park, Miller has given the Red Sox a shot in the arm going 4-1 for the big club. In the in depth story, Miller talks about his roller coaster career, making it to the majors so quickly, dealing with the struggles he’s faced throughout his career, and embracing the success he has found in Boston.
Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout became one of a select few players in major league baseball history to make his big league debut while he was still 19 years old. Since being called up from Double-A Arkansas after a Peter Bourjos injury, Trout has batted just .176 in his first 10 games, however according to many has shown a level of maturity not expected from someone of his age. In the story Trout talks about living up to the expectations of being a top prospect at such a young age, making adjustments to American League pitching, and enjoying the chance to play on a series at Baltimore in front of a number of family and friends from his native New Jersey.