Comments for NatsTown

Comment on 1989 Upper Deck #6 by Stingray

Stingray — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 11:00:51 +0000

That is Cubs uniform in the Wallach card. You can see the C on the back of the helmet.

Comment on Old-School Expos Friday: Garry Jestadt and Carl Morton by Robert Blanck

Robert Blanck — Thu, 19 May 2011 16:27:18 +0000

I remember that ‘basketball’ photo, in fact, if I look hard enough, I’m sure I have it in one of two extensive John Bateman scrapbooks I made, as a very young Expos fan in Montreal. As for Carl, he & I shared a birthday, and I remember looking him up in the Montreal phone book(!), and sending him a card. He sent me a black & white, signed postcard of himself, wishing me a happy birthday…which I still have somewhere as well. How many current players have their numbers listed? Good Times!

Comment on The 1988 Project Day 29 – Kurt Stillwell by Sandy A

Sandy A — Sun, 01 May 2011 22:55:01 +0000

Kurt Stillwell was on the 1988 All-Star team as a reserve, due to his performance in the first half of that season; it seemed he’d come out of the gate pretty well and sorta peter out towards the end. The Royals braintrust decided he needed to weight train more in order to increase his stamina to get through a full season; IMHO (and in some sportswriters’ opinions at the time), this “bulking up” actually ended up killing his range in the field. There was also some tweaking of his hitting mechanics, trying to put more power in his swing. Soon after, the Royals also started to stink up the place, and he went off to San Diego, where he was plagued with injuries. (And then the rest was history.)

I could be biased because I am a fan (and he is a genuinely nice human being), but I think the Royals could have had a really nice switch-hitting spray hitter who’d play in 80% of the games, hit about .260 – .270 every year, and be solid (though not spectacular) in the field if they hadn’t have screwed around with his development – instead they were trying to make something of him that he simply was not.

Comment on I Was a Teenage Prospector: Mickey Pina by Dave Sullivan

Dave Sullivan — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 16:49:15 +0000

I was working in the front office of the Elmira Pioneers RedSox in 1986 when Mickey Pina broke into pro ball. Elmira was in the NY-Penn League back then. I have great memories of Mickey from that season. He was a great guy, mature beyond his years and great with the fans. One magical night at Dunn Field he ended a game with a grand slam. I thought this guy was on the fast track to the majors.

Comment on I Was a Teenage Prospector: Brent Knackert by Brent Knackert

Brent Knackert — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 00:13:31 +0000

Not at all. I really didn’t throw very hard back then. 87-88mph as a starter. In 1989 when I hurt my back & was out for a week, the White Sox had me come back as a closer. That’s when I started to hit low mid 90′s. I kind of paced myself as a starter, and just let it go as a closer.

P.S. All my friends are giving me a hard time right now. I guess Kevin Kennedy mentioned my name yesterday on XM radio MLB. Wasn’t really flattering though lol. Talking about Clemens,roids,& HOF. He talked about how Clemens never wanted to come out of a game.He then brought up a story from 1996. I guess one time he went out to the mound when Clemens was struggling & asked him how he felt. Clemens told him he was about 70%. Then Clemens asked who do you have warming up? Kevin said he had Knackert & Lacey warming up. To this Clemens said screw it I’ll stay in, I’m better than those two at 70%. LOL..I didn’t use quotes because this is 2nd hand, & I didn’t actually hear it.
They (friends) want me to call in and say something, but I just told them “You know what, Roger Clemens in 1996 at 70% was better than 90% of the pitchers in baseball so whatever”.

Comment on I Was a Teenage Prospector: Brent Knackert by thingpen

thingpen — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 15:17:45 +0000

Fascinating reply. Thanks! Now that you say that, a lot of it seems familiar from back then and why I was so bullish on you as a rookie I also see that you seemed to have gotten a heavy, heavy jump in workload between 87 and 88. 142 innings for an 18-year old just seems insane. Did you notice any strain that offseason?

Comment on I Was a Teenage Prospector: Brent Knackert by Brent Knackert

Brent Knackert — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 08:20:39 +0000

Oh, I also did’nt know the rule of thumb at the time. You’re not supossed to show your hair under the front of your cap…Learned that later that year thanks to Eric Hanson ( as my room mate, he taught me a lot that year )

Comment on I Was a Teenage Prospector: Brent Knackert by Brent Knackert

Brent Knackert — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 04:13:46 +0000

I just happened to notice this site, then I left & had to come back.lol
One thing to factor in, I was actually 20 most of the season.Another since I was 20 guess when I pitched most ( blowouts)..= A’s ( a lot ), Blue Jays…. The came the end of July, we were out of it. So they told me I was going to Venezuela to pitch in the winter. So I went 30+ days without pitching in a game ( it was a joke with Matt Young in the clubhouse, he kept writing on a chalk board how many days it was) Then I start to pitch a bit once the 40man roster expanded & the triple A guys started to give up 7 + runs in the first few innings ( Rich Deluca, Burba…)I gave up 14 more runs in the last 9 innings I pitched thanks to walks.
Went to Venezuela and was pitcher of the year down there 0.94ish ERA as a starter (something like that, I can’t remember what the plaque said.Burba was my roomate) Had Karros at first Omar at short…good team. That’s when I hurt my elbow, I went from a cut fastball ( getting groundouts) to a true slider getting K’s. Strained it really bad, came back to Spring, struck out 6 in my 1st outing & elbow hurt the next day.Came back throwing mid- 90′s no problem, then it turned out I was protecting my elbow & changed my arm angle = shoulder blowout.
So after defending myself, I just wanted to tell you it was actually a good guess on your part and you really didn’t have “a lot to learn”. I was told after my 1st appearance that spring that I was the #4 starter for sure in 1991 “No worries”. Then 2 days later during my sidework is when the elbow blewout again.
P.S. The facebook pics are my daughters, they wanted their friends to see me holding them in Angel stadium & their dad hanging out in right field.They don’t care for the fact that I have tobacco in my lip in the photo though.

Comment on State of the Blog by Rhubarb_Runner

Rhubarb_Runner — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 18:38:52 +0000

You gotta do what you gotta do, dude. Good luck with the writing!

Comment on I Was a Teenage Prospector: Frank Thomas by sanjosefuji

sanjosefuji — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 03:38:59 +0000

This card is awesome! I remember opening packs of this stuff looking for the Thomas and Bagwell… and even that Blue Jays pitcher that never turned out to be anything special… Juan Guzman. I pulled the Bagwell and Guzman, but never the Thomas.

I should look for boxes of this stuff… so I can finally pull one