Tag Archives: Asheville Tourists

In Depth Look At The 1961 South Atlantic League All Star Game That Produced 17 Major Leaguers

In depth story celebrating the 50th anniversary of the 1961 South Atlantic League All Star Game that would produce an eventual 17 major league players including Hall of Famer Willie Stargell. The game was held in Asheville, North Carolina and featured the 1st place Pittsburgh Pirates affiliate the Asheville Tourists against the Sally League All Stars consisting of the best players off the remaining teams in the league. Players and fans who were at the game talk about the baseball greatness that was on the field and the huge crowd that watched them on that day in July 50 years ago. Great read for the minor league baseball history buff.

A classic all-star lineup played in Asheville 50 years ago — TownAndMountain.com

Rockies Prospect Tyler Matzek Returns To The Mound Wednesday With A Mike Marshall Hybrid Pitching Style

The folks at InsideTheRockies.com have put up a phenomenal piece chronicling Tyler Matzek‘s return to Low-A Asheville following nearly a month long return to California to work with his youth pitching coach Lon Fullmer, and return to the hybrid version of the Dr. Mike Marshall pitching style that he had grown up with. See below for the differences in Matzek’s delivery between high school in 2009 and now as a pro in 2011. The pitching techniques taught by Dr. Marshall, the 1974 National League Cy Young Award Winner and a Ph.D. in Kinesiology, are all but blackballed by major and minor league pitching coaches. Among the drills that are part of the program is pitching with 20 pound wrist weights and using an iron ball (see video below). The Inside the Rockies article goes in-depth with Fullmer who describes returning Matzek to the style of pitching he grew up with. The drastic action of sending Matzek home came about after the lefty got off to a 0-5 start with an ERA of 10.71, and 61 walks in 42 combined innings between High-A Modesto and Low-A Asheville. It will be interesting to see what kind of a difference the change in approach makes for Matzek, who was the 11th overall pick in the 2009 draft. Again the Inside the Rockies piece is a must read.

Matzek set to start for Asheville on Wednesday — InsideTheRockies.com

UPDATE: Matzek went 4IP, 0ER, 2H, 5BB, 6K in his return to Asheville on Wednesday.

UPDATE #2: Matzek went 5IP, 2ER, 4H, 3BB, 8K, WIN in his second start back.

Tyler Matzek throwing for Capistrano Valley High School in 2009:


Tyler Matzek throwing for High-A Modesto on April 30th:


Mike Marshall wrist weight & iron ball pitching drills:





Mike Marshall breaks down his pitching motion: