Team Pita Pit Softball Update (9/23):

The night started well. We had nine of our ten batters take the plate in the first inning and took a 6-0 lead entering the bottom of the 1st. I took the mound again this evening and allowed one run through the 4th inning while we watched our lead grow to 10-1. However, the 5th inning was another story. We scored 5 runs in the top of the inning with the 10-run rule waiting in the balance. All we had to do was keep them to four runs and the game was over. Unfortunately, our opponents shelled me in an 8 run 5th, but we weathered the storm and left the field with a 18-14 win after 7 innings.

To tell you the truth, we got a little lazy this evening after the strong start, but Team Pita Pit has improved to 2-1. No broken nose tonight, so that was a positive, but my dog headbutted me after the game and cracked the nearly set cartilage... ouch.

The job interview this morning went great and I am now assisting the Darius Davis State Senate campaign for Florida's District 9. All in all it was a great day.

Cards to come tomorrow.

That's all I got...

- J.C.F.

Trade with Eric (Preview)

Every day is a great day to receive cards in the mail, but sometimes it seems even more enjoyable at the start of the week when you're having a case of the Mondays. Today I was stricken with the aforementioned illness, but not one... not two... but three packages came in the post. Two of the packages contained cards I paid for, but one of them was jam packed with free cards from my good friend Eric.

My plan was to do a post on the absurd amount of cards he sent over, but I received a call late this afternoon informing me that I will have a job interview tomorrow at 9:30am. Not expecting that phone call, let alone with an interview opportunity less than 24 hours away, my priorities shifted to updating my résumé, buying a new suit and getting a haircut. Add that to Brett Favre playing on MNF and my night is shot with no chance of scanning cards coming into play.

I will have a review of this particular package up in the next day or so. Tomorrow will be the longest day I've had scheduled in the recent past (out the door at 8 and home by 9) so I might have to shelve the post until Wednesday. But, Eric sent over a slew of Rockies, Redskins and a ton of AWESOME Cal Ripken Jr. cards... enough that I could drag out a review for nearly a year.

Thanks again to Eric and I'll have something up for you in the next couple of days. Big softball game tomorrow... I'll try to keep my nose from breaking this week.

That's all I got...

- J.C.F.

P.S. - I'm currently writing this while the Jets are going for two with 3:09 left in the 4th quarter. I'm just wondering how many times San Diego will get called for holding/interference on this two-point play. Hmm... add offsides to that list. Dang... unsuccessful. I'm not Jets fan, but Brett the Jet is my man.

P.S.S. - Horatio Caine lives on.

Exiting Stage Left

The Rockies are officially out of playoff contention this season and many changes will be seen in the upcoming offseason. Though the Rockies didn't experience any of the magic witnessed in 2007, this season might have led to the best possible outcome for the team. It became quite clear over the course of the year that 2007 was something special and the team wasn't built to repeat that success. In order for the Rockies to get back to the postseason, changes undoubtedly need to be made and the '08 season just might be the catalyst for that face lift.

As biased as this thought might be, I think the Rockies have the skeleton of a team only a few steps away from recurring seasons of success. But, as I said, changes need to be made. What might those changes be?

I think that the managerial position is a great place to start. As much as I respect Clint Hurdle for the person that he is and the way he managed the team in the second half last year, I think the Rox need to part ways with him. One name that sticks out as a possible replacement would be former Brew Crew skipper, Ned Yost. Though there might be other candidates already on the list with a small few possibly to added, hiring Yost might be a good selection. I don't know much about his career, but I understand that anyone in Milwaukee is on a short leash due to the quarter-century playoff drought the team is enduring. We'll see what happens, but look out for a new manager in Denver next season.

Pitching in Colorado isn't easy. The humidifier is overrated. The ballpark is spacious and the thin air is the ultimate foe in each of the 81 home games in Denver each year. The only extended success on the hill at Coors Field will be found from guys with sinkers and similar pitches in their repertoire. Aaron Cook is the best we have and might be the best in Rockies history when it's all said and done. We're two Cookies away from a solid rotation, but then the bullpen needs to be addressed. Brian Fuentes likely won't return to the Rockies next season, though he'd like to continue his success in the purple pinstripes rather than sign elsewhere. I'm no GM and am far from energized enough to dive into this particular topic, but pitching needs to be addressed.

I couldn't be happier with the Rockies infield. If Garrett Atkins and/or Helton get moved in the offseason, the infield should look like this in '09:

C Chris Iannetta
1B Joe Koshansky
2B Clint Barmes
SS Troy Tulowitzki
3B Ian Stewart

Though Tulo might be the only player on that list that fans outside of Denver know about, the four other names have great upsides and showed their ability this year. Helton will likely return, but the club needs to realize that he is done hitting for power. His defense, average and discipline at the plate are all something special... and so is his ability to sell tickets.

The outfield will most likely look like this next season:

LF Matt Holliday
CF Ryan Spilborghs
RF Brad Hawpe

Holliday is, well, Holliday... Spilly is a cult favorite in Denver and one of the most talented ball players I've ever been fortunate enough to watch play... he will also be playing winter ball in Mexico to prepare for next year... Hawpe is a great five-hole hitter with the most underrated outfield arm in baseball.

The farm system is in great shape which helps maintain hope for Rockies fans. An arsenal of young pitchers are seeing success in the likes of Colorado Springs and Tulsa, but a veteran hurler is desperately needed.

This winter should prove to be exciting as moves are made and new faces appear. The Rockies will be fighting the payroll once again, but it's time to part ways with the cheap tendencies of the front office. They've got some cash... it's time to spend it on guys not named Corpas, et. al.

Best of luck to all of your teams that have or will make the playoffs. I'll be rooting on the Rays and hopefully catching some more postseason ball in person this year.

That's all I got...

- J.C.F.

UPDATE: Just ran across this article on MLBTradeRumors.com

A Ton of Helton

As I mentioned yesterday, I picked up a 111 card lot of Todd Helton cards on eBay last week.

The item description:

111 Card Todd Helton Lot Including 8 Inserts Rockies

The item details:

Up for bid is a 111 card base card lot featuring Colorado Rockies star Todd Helton...includes 8 inserts as shown in the photo...there are some doubles in this lot, but there is a good assortment of cards here[...] thanks for looking and good luck!

The Price:

Buy It Now, $14.99, or Best Offer. I put in an offer of $8.50 and won the lot.

As the item description states, there are a ton of doubles, which is fine by me. What it doesn't state is that 99% of the cards in the lot have dinged corners. Lucky for me, I'm not one to get upset over that in an auction/purchase like this. They're still cards and I like them for the picture on the front and the stats on the back... and at $8.50 I'm completely happy.

I took the time to examine each and every card in this lot and I found some things that just cracked me up. Let's take a closer look.

First, we have the 2005 Topps Opening Day card. Why do I love it? One word... mullet. I forgot about the days when the best hair on Helton's head were the wavy brown locks protruding from underneath of his cap as opposed to the epic goatee he now keeps on his face.



Second, we have the 2000 Topps card. Why do I love it? Well, upon flipping this card over and taking a look at the back we find this:



The photograph on the top portion of the card is straight up hilarious. Is Todd in the process of running to his left to get under a pop fly to first? Is he raising his hand to call off another player or to shield his eyes from the sun? We will never know, but I like to think that he's preparing to karate chop a large stack of 2x4s to set a Guinness World Record.

Last of all, we have the 1998 Donruss 'Spirit of the Game' insert. I'm not sure what series it is from, but that is irrelevant at this time. What caught my eye was also on the back of the card:



If you did not already know, Todd Helton played quarterback up on ol' Rocky Top and lost his starting job when he went down with a knee injury. Some guy named Peyton Manning came in following the injury and played pretty well I guess. But the point of showing the back of the card is the fact that the text is confused. Last time I checked, there is no College World Series of football in the NCAA... and I'm pretty sure there isn't a quarterback position on the baseball diamond.

That's it for now. Through-the-mail autographs to come tomorrow.

That's all I got...

- J.C.F.

Sittin' on the Dock of the eBay

Finally, some cards! I'll dub this 'Part I' of my latest low budget eBay binge. Though I only spent thirty-three dollars and change, I picked up over 150 cards. My kind of splurge! Featured in the scan above are the following cards from top left to bottom right:

2008 Bowman Chrome #132 (Refractor), Troy Tulowitzki
2002 Topps 206 #231, Ben Petrick
2003 Upper Deck #513 (Star Rookies), Clint Barmes
2001 Bowman Heritage #78, Todd Helton

Also included in the same purchase were:

2001 Bowman Chrome #300, Ben Petrick
2002 Topps 206 #253, Todd Helton
2008 Bowman #300, Troy Tulowitzki

These guys are some of my favorite all-time Rockies players so I consider this purchase a success. Quite frankly, any Ben Petrick pick-up is a moral victory for me. His terrific career was cut tragically short due to Parkinson's Disease and it's hard to find any of his cards outside of the ones that were produced in large numbers. If any of you collectors have any of his cards in your collection, please let me know. I would love to work out a trade with you for any of them, whether I already have them or not. Shoot me an email if you happen to come across any.

Tomorrow I'll feature some of the TTM autos that I picked up on eBay from an autograph collector. I also have a 111 card lot of Heltons to share among other up-and-coming Rockies cards.

Thanks for checking in.

That's all I got...

- J.C.F.

Updated Petrick Collection

Here's an updated slideshow of one of my top three favorite player collections in Ben Petrick. Hope you enjoy and please let me know if you have any cards of his looking for a good home!



Ben is in the process of starting up a baseball video instructional website which you can check out at BaseballMastery.com

That's all I got...

- J.C.F.

Injured... Injured Bad

I'd love to post some of the great cards that I've received this week, but I have absolutely no motivation with this broken schnoz. I'd like to thank Dinged Corners for the package they sent over. I'll get those cards and a package sent out in return ASAP.

But for now I'm injured... injured bad.



In other news, I'm looking to put my Political Science degree to use here in the near future. Some great opportunities have come my way, so I might be pushing my future career as a high school teacher to the back burner for a bit while I gain some experience in the world of politics. A move back home to Washington D.C. might even be in the cards...

That's all I got...

- J.C.F.

Team Pita Pit Softball Update

I've got a lot to say, so I'll just get right into it. The cards I have promised will be scanned and reviewed tomorrow, however I have an important announcement to make.

I am playing men's softball this fall with some friends and we just wrapped up our second game of the season. One of the team members owns a Pita Pit location in downtown Orlando and he went ahead and sponsored the team, so we are creatively called 'Team Pita Pit.'

Last week we got shelled by a sub-par squad. Lots of errors, poor hitting and, quite frankly, a few jitters helped us get 10-run-ruled at 14-4 in the final inning. Following the game, we realized that we needed to pick up a bat and hit the cages; especially me. I went 0-3 in the season opener... yes, 0-3... don't ask.

This week I traded in my spot at the hot corner to take the mound as we were pretty weak there this year. My theory: if you are good at corn-hole toss, you can pitch in softball, though you do need some skills on the mound (like myself). The nerves of pitching for the first time clearly had an affect on my game as I allowed three runs in the first inning, but I settled in after that giving up 0 earned runs through the fifth inning... (am I taking this too seriously? Probably, but I don't care). Two runs were scored on a throwing error due to the muddy infield and slick ball, but we retained our lead of 12-5.

In the sixth inning of the game, I roped one to left-center and was quickly moved up to second base with the following at-bat on a shallow single. The ensuing play, however, ended my night.

On a base hit to short, I started my run to third. The opposing team's shortstop knocked down the chopper and threw to second for the first out of an almost guaranteed double play... but I broke up the play... with my face. Homeboy threw the ball right at my head and nailed me in the nose.

Result:




Owen Wilson anyone?

Yeah, it's broken. That brings the broken nose tally to three. Once from a lacrosse ball, once from my Golden Retriever getting a little excited and now once from a softball. At least all that was broken this week was my nose and not our spirits. Team Pita Pit has rebounded to a record of 1-1 and I have improved my batting average to .333. Still pathetic for slow pitch softball, but it should will be in the .500's by this time next week. It also looks like I'll retain my spot on the bump for at least another week.

Well, that's the softball update for all of you that care... hmm... I guess that means just Spud... maybe. We've had some great photos taken so far this season so I might have some decent Team Pita Pit 'cards' to show off in the future.

Take care, be safe and happy collecting.

That's all I got...

- J.C.F.

Weekend Mail

Some of you might have seen my post on September 8th about my $33 binge on The Bay. Well, the first leg of the packages have arrived and I have plenty of cards to review. Check back in this evening to check out the newest additions to the Rockies collection.

That's all I got...

- J.C.F.

In Memoriam

You don't need me to remind you of today's date and what it signifies, but seven years ago today our generation was defined. We will always remember where we were at 8:53 a.m. on September 11th, 2001 as the cameras turned on and the North Tower of the World Trade Center gripped for its life. We will always remember the minutes and hours to follow as one of the most terrifying days in our nation's history unwrapped before our eyes.

I was in high school in Orlando, FL when we heard the news. As my teacher turned on the television in our room, the South Tower was struck and our hearts stopped, stomachs dropped and our lives stood still. As a tragic accident turned into a deliberate attack, dismay, fear and confusion set over all thirty of us in that classroom and each and every American within this fine country and abroad.

You know as well as I how hard it is to put those feelings and memories into words. What made that day even harder for me was seeing the distant camera shot of smoke rising from the Washington, D.C. area. I am originally from Virginia and spent a large part of my youth growing up in Northern Virgina. My father, a retired Naval Captain with 34 years in the service, still lived in Alexandria, VA and worked for a defense contractor in Crystal City, VA. I had spoken to him the night before following the Monday Night Football game and he informed that he had a meeting at the Pentagon, his old stomping grounds, the following day.

It was nearly 3:00 p.m. on September 11th before I heard from my father. He couldn't talk long, but he let me know that he was fine and that I needed to buy as much gas as I could before the day ended. My father was a wise man and I did what he said.

I came to find out that he was in a meeting at his office that morning with his scheduled visit to the Pentagon to follow a little after noon that day. He told me that the first meeting of the day was excruciatingly boring and he was gazing out a window looking down onto Army Navy Drive in Crystal City. His office building was situated just south of the Pentagon on the other side of Interstate 395. He watched as the plane clipped light posts on the interstate and flew directly into what was once his office in the 'E' ring of the Pentagon. I was fortunate enough to have not lost anyone close, or even an acquaintance that day; my father and many others were not.

On this seventh anniversary of 9/11, let's remember those lost and those who continue to fight for our cause. Take care on this day and remember what is truly important in this life.

- J.C.F.

Hawpe/O'Dowd Feud?

Jon Heyman of SI.com reported on this, but I don't think it's much of a story. However, I certainly think it's in the early stages of being blown entirely out of proportion, but then again, I'm just a blogger.

From Heyman's 'Daily Scoop' on SI.com, posted Monday, September 8th:

Rockies outfielder Brad Hawpe, who was given a big deal by GM Dan O'Dowd after showing surprising early success, apparently felt emboldened enough to take a shot at O'Dowd. After the Rockies GM suggested that one big problem this year has been a lack of execution by the Rockies (which should be obvious), Hawpe was offended enough to respond, "I don't think we put any concern in what somebody from the outside says about us."

I respect his comments. You don't go out onto the field to play for the GM... you play for your team, you play for your fans and you "play.. to win... the game." Brad deserved every cent of the contract for his cannon from right field alone. Though you may disagree or are unaware of the fact, but Brad's in a league with Vlad Guerrero when it comes to arm strength in the outfield.

And, oh yeah...O'Dowd's lack of execution has been a thorn in the side of the Rockies and their fans over the years. I'd leave the coaching to the man paid to do so.

That's all I got...

- J.C.F.

Trade with TasteLikeDirt

Well, it's not technically a trade yet as I'm waiting to send out my A's, but Jim at TasteLikeDirt send over a package of Rockies and '08 Goudey's which I received today. There were some great cards in the package, most notably (in my mind, anyway) Greg Reynolds' '08 TA&G rookie card. Greg is a super talent with substantial size at 6'7 225lbs out of Stanford University. Though his 2008 campaign in The Bigs has been sub-par and hampered by arm soreness, look for this guy to make some waves as he gains experience in the MLB. This is my first Greg Reynolds card and I'm hoping to add many more in the future to my collection.

Also in the package were a few Hawpes, Heltons, Hollidays and Walkers, all of which are high in my book.

Thanks again to Jim for the kind gesture. I'll have some A's out to you in the near future.

That's all I got...

- J.C.F.

Foregoing Fuentes

Just another question marks within the Rockies organization. Though Fuentes would like to stay in Denver, it's not looking good for the All-Star closer.

Courtesy of Tim Dierkes of MLBTradeRumors.com:

Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post takes a look at Brian Fuentes' impending free agency. The 33 year-old closer would prefer to return to the Rockies, but he hasn't heard from the team and expects to explore the open market.

You can continue reading the story at MLBTradeRumors.com

That's all I got...

- J.C.F.

An Ode to the Good Ol' Days

This past Friday I wrote a post about the package that dayf sent over from Cardboard Junkie. Included in the package was a huge stack of Todd Helton cards that I looked over more closely today. There were some real gems in here, but I came across one card in particular that blew me away.

This is a 2002 Fleer 'Franchise Players' subset card featuring the ToddFather. To me, this card captures the essence of why we collect cards. I see it as an ode to the days of spitballs and wool caps, Ford's Model-T and spectators in three-piece suits. This card looks anything but contemporary with the high socks, classic away uniforms, 'rounded' batting helmet and the pose of the player photographed. The more and more I look at it, black and white images of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Earle Combs and the rest of Murderer's Row are conjured up in my imagination. Card number 10 of the 2002 'Franchise Players' subset has easily become a top card in my collection and I would again like to thank dayf for his generosity.

Here's the text straight from the back:

While Helton made a dramatic run at .400 in 2000, he became only the fifth player, the first in 63 years and the first ever in the National League, with at least 200 hits, 40 home runs, 100 RBI, 100 runs, 100 extra-base hits and 100 walks. The 2001 season was more of the same, as he placed in the top five in no less than nine hitting categories. He's one of the great all-around hitters in the game.

Todd Helton was voted to the All-Star team and earned a Silver Slugger award in 2000 as well as finishing fifth in the MVP voting behind Jeff Kent, Barry Bonds, Mike Piazza and Jim Edmonds. Though his power numbers have decreased as his career has gone on, he continues to be the face of the Colorado Rockies franchise and will undoubtedly be a candidate for the Baseball Hall of Fame following his retirement.



That's all I got...

- J.C.F.

What a Weekend

My weekend began last Thursday at 3:45pm and came to a crashing halt at some point last evening. The Redskins came out weak, confused and poorly managed against the Giants in the NFL Season Opener Thursday evening as though they were playing their fifth preseason game of the year. Clearly the boys were still adjusting to Jim Zorn and his west coast offense, though I saw very few glimpses of said system. Terrible play calling and even poorer clock management made this game unbearable to watch. "Whatever," I thought to myself, "They're the defending Super Bowl Champs and we're running a new system. At least you still have UCF/USF on Saturday."

Then I hear word of this... which saddens me deeply. I've rarely been embarrassed to be a UCF Knight, but this story broke my heart.

As of last Tuesday, I am now officially a University of Central Florida football season ticket holder. The last time I watched the [Golden] Knights play in person was during my first campaign as a student at this fine university in 2004 when they played at the not-too-soon forgotten Orlando Citrus Bowl. The Knights now play on campus at the one-year-old Brighthouse Networks Stadium which is a great facility. After recovering from the terrible game played by the 'Skins on Friday, I quickly changed focus to the festivities a mere matter of hours away on campus prior to the 'War on I-4' between my Knights and the South Florida Bulls. The Knights looked equally as lost as the 'Skins through three and three-fouths quarters, though the final minutes were quite exciting as the squad scored two touchdowns to force OT.

South Florida 31
Central Florida 24

Now I find myself with a collage of bad tastes in my mouth.

As the first official weekend of NFL football begins on Sunday, I found myself casually watching games, doing my best to forget about my 'Skins and even my fantasy football players. I refuse to root for players on my teams because, well, I'm not that guy. I live by three rules in fantasy football.

Rule #1: Never, ever under any circumstance draft a Dallas Cowboy. This makes football season more enjoyable for me, no matter what the outcome.

Rule #2: Don't be that guy begging the football gods on Sunday afternoon for the Colts to call nothing but run plays to Joseph Addai for 15 straight plays.

Rule #3: Set your best players with the best matchups, flip on the TV and don't even worry about it.

Well, I didn't violate any of those rules when hearing that Tom Brady, my number one overall draft pick in both of my leagues, went down with a serious knee injury.

"Unbelievable..."


I've never taken a QB first overall in fantasy football. I never would have imagined doing so, but running back-by-committee has killed the draft strategy of yesteryear (RB, RB, WR, QB/WR, RB/QB/WR). But, I had the 7th overall pick in both leagues and you can't tell me that Frank Gore or Clinton Portis are going to do the damage that Brady would have. Just to note, I dislike the Boston sports scene for a couple of reasons, mainly because of the bandwagoneers that have never visited the town who love to rub in how great their Sawx are and how they swept the Rockies out of the World Series. Thanks, never-been-to-Boston Sawx fans... I was there. I got the memo. Congrats. You're superior human beings for that. Keep up the good work.

But I'm no dummy. Brady is a good pick at #7...

I'm licking my wounds today, to say the least. Now that I have gone on for far too long, I'll get to the point of this post. Yesterday, my fiancee went to Target and picked up some things for the apartment. After showing off what she purchased, she said "I have surprises for you!" I think you all see where I'm going with this one.

Yes, my fiancee did in fact come home with three packs of baseball cards to cheer me up. That says a lot considering you did NOT want to be near me for most of the weekend. Of course, she had no idea what she was buying, but I give her efforts a nine out of ten in my book. She handed over a pack of '08 Topps Series 1 (eh), a pack of Topps Series 2 (eh, oh well) and a pack of '08 Topps Chrome (sweet!). I'm not a big Topps fan in 2008, but again, it's the thought that counts. I ripped through the Series 1 and 2 packs in a hurry in an effort to save the best for last. Topps Chrome is kinda nifty because, well, it's shiny, and you usually get a decent refractor or parallel per pack. As I rip into the pack of Chrome, I find the weekend-redeeming card in a Troy Tulowitzki chrome refractor.

Hooray! A $0.60 piece of shiny cardboard has salvaged the weekend!

My rant is complete, but this is the latest addition to the collection. I rarely pull a Tulo card, so this was even more special for that reason alone. I also took part in some additional "therapy" yesterday and hopped on The Bay. Thirty-three dollars later (including shipping) and I feel quite refreshed. Here's the run down [if you care] of my purchases. We'll see how much I get around to posting on.

2000 UD Victory #343 Ben Petrick
2001 Bowman Heritage #78 Todd Helton
2001 Bowman Chrome #300 Ben Petrick
2002 Topps 206 #253 Todd Helton
2002 Topps Heritage #16 Ben Petrick
2002 Topps Total #864 Ben Petrick
2002 Fleer Tradition #328 Ben Petrick
2002 Fleer Focus #215 Ben Petrick
2002 Topps 206 #231 Ben Petrick
2003 Upper Deck #513 Clint Barmes Star Rookies
2004 Fleer Clint Barmes/Garrett Atkins (TTM Auto)
2005 Upper Deck #428 Jeff Baker Star Rookies
2005 Just Autographs Signatures Seth Smith
2005 UD USA Troy Tulowitzki (TTM Auto)
2006 UD Garrett Atkins (TTM Auto)
2007 UD Star Signings Jeff Baker
2008 Donruss Elite #99 Chris Cooley
2008 TRISTAR PROjections Reflectives Dexter Fowler
2008 UD SPx Rookie Signatures Joe Koshansky
2008 Bowman Chrome #132 Troy Tulowitzki
2008 Bowman Chrome #132 Troy Tulowitzki
2008 Bowman Chrome Refractors #132 Troy Tulowitzki

... and a 111 card lot of Todd Helton commons and parallels.

More to come later in the week when some of these cards show up. I hope your teams are doing better than mine.

That's all I got...

- J.C.F.

Tulo Hit From dayf

I received an email from dayf at Cardboard Junkie a couple of weeks ago giving me a heads up on a card he wanted to send over. With all that had been going on at the time, I had totally forgotten about the package that was in the mail coming my way.

Along with the 2008 Bowman Chrome X-Fractor of Troy Tulowitzki (#237/250) came a huge stack of Todd Helton cards, which officially made that my largest player collection. Many thanks to dayf for the package and generosity. I'll be sending my Braves over soon and I encourage all of you to do the same if they're looking for a better, more appreciative home.

That's all I got...

- J.C.F.

All-Star Trio

Congrats to Dexter Fowler, Matt Miller and E-Y Jr. on being named to the Texas League All-Star Team. Fowler was called up to the Bigs on September 7th where he will get a dose of life in The Show. There's a decent chance that he'll be platooning with Ryan Spilborghs in center field next season, though some sources are predicting him to win the position outright.

Three Tulsa Drillers were named to the Texas League's End of Season All-Star Team that was announced today. Outfielders Dexter Fowler and Matt Miller were joined on the team by Eric Young Jr.

You can read the rest of the article courtesy of TulsaDrillers.com

That's all I got...

- J.C.F.

*Image courtesy of TulsaDrillers.com

Minor Success

This story is just shy of a couple of weeks old, but it's great news for the Tulsa Drillers organization, the Rockies AA affiliate.

Mayor Kathy Taylor and Tulsa Drillers President Chuck Lamson announced today that they have reached an agreement, in principal, to build a new ballpark for the Drillers in the historic Greenwood District in downtown Tulsa. The agreement comes after more than eight months of negotiations between the two parties.

You can read the rest of the article courtesy of TulsaDrillers.com

This is not only good news for the organization as new facilities are always welcome, especially to those players in the farm system, but also because the team was facing a move to neighboring suburb Jenks, OK around this time last year.

I've never visited Tulsa, but would love to catch a Drillers game in Oklahoma at some point in the near future. The Drillers are my favorite minor league team on any level in baseball, partly because I was fortunate enough to watch Troy Tulowitzki play with them in the summer of 2006 while the squad was on the road visiting the Springfield Cardinals.

Did I mention they have the best uniforms and logo in the minors?

That's all I got...

- J.C.F.

*Thanks to LogoServer.com and openisfree for their respective images.