About Mariner 2006 2nd round draft pick Chris Tillman, his 90+ fastball and his aspirations:
Tillman, who also throws a curveball and a changeup, allowed no runs and one hit in six innings and struck out 10. He was the winning pitcher in the 8-5 decision over Yakima. He showed the ability that led to his being taken in the second round despite being 5-5 this spring in his senior season at Fountain Valley (Calif.) High School.
"I guess I was kind of bored with the competition," Tillman said of his senior season. "I had faced all those hitters since I was a freshman. So I kind of cruised a little bit.
"I like playing against a higher level of competition, and I think it makes me play better baseball."
Also from yesterday's Times; M's Notes: Mateo out for season with broken hand
Mariners right-hander Julio Mateo, who leads the major leagues in victories by a relief pitcher, was lost for the season on Monday when he broke a bone in his left hand in a weight-lifting accident.
The Mariners placed Mateo on the 60-day disabled list and selected the contract of right-handed pitcher Jon Huber from Class AAA Tacoma.
Huber arrived at the ballpark shortly before game time and was in uniform, wearing No. 60.
Mateo, 29, was lifting weights before Monday's game against the Los Angeles Angels at Safeco Field. While returning a 35-pound weight to the rack, his hand slipped and got caught between a weight and the rack. He fractured the fourth metacarpal bone, and was outfitted with a splint. No surgery will be required, and Mateo will get a permanent cast on Friday.
From Wednesday's Times; M's farm system: Morrow armed for long haul
Just for the record, Brandon Morrow did develop a sore arm that has slowed his progress, but it had nothing to do with the Mariners' first-round draft selection in June picking up a telephone.
After being taken No. 5 overall by Seattle out of the University of California, The Seattle Post-Intelligencer published a spoof column about how Morrow seriously injured himself while taking a call from reporters.
Soon, several media outlets were reporting it as fact. Morrow was blissfully unaware until he received a call from Massachusetts, from the family that hosted him when he played in the Cape Cod Summer League.
"I got this call from my host brother, who was watching [Pardon the Interruption] on ESPN," he said. "I didn't know what he was talking about."
...
Morrow, a diabetic who wears an insulin pump, is feeling so good he is expecting to join Class A Inland Empire for the final week of the regular season. He was expected to be at Inland Empire two months ago, but the M's have been cautious after Morrow developed a sore arm.
From the Battle Creek Enquirer; Clouded future for baseball in Battle Creek
Both a depressing and an illuminating read on baseball in Cereal City, U.S.A. I suggest reading the whole thing, but to pull a few paragraphs:
...I guess what surprises me the most about the whole situation is that there was actually minor league pro ball played in Battle Creek in the first place.
Take this way-back machine ride with me to help understand my point ...
Back in the good ol' days, good ol' Bailey Stadium - which reminded one of a Wrigley Field-type ballpark - consistently drew tons of folks to it to watch regular-season city league Stan Musial-division adult baseball and North Central Regionals action and the Stan Musial World Series.
Aside from the singles and couples who loved the game, entire families regularly attended city ball. Kids could be found en masse inside Bailey Stadium watching the games, and outside its brick and stone walls making their nickels and dimes retrieving foul balls and home run blasts.
But then times changed. Society changed.
...
...Nevertheless, local movers and shakers of the late 1980s and early 1990s thought interest in amateur baseball could thrive once again if only the local people had a brand-new, modern-type ballpark to come to.
Voila! We bring you C.O. Brown Stadium.
I remember sitting in dark, dank, upper-story rooms in the old parks and rec building. Sitting - via invitation - in the same rooms where the movers and shakers of that time planned and eventually realized the razing of old Bailey Stadium and the construction of the new C.O. Brown Stadium.
And with the theory of "if we build it, they will come'' in mind, the movers and the shakers started making lists of amateur baseball events they could bring in that would fill the seats in the new stadium to the brim.
But ONLY with amateur baseball events.
Professional baseball? Those two words were not to be uttered - ever - the movers and shakers said in those dank, dark meeting rooms in the old rec building.
...
But city league ball never drew like the movers and shakers thought it would. And it wasn't long before Musial-level regular-season games featured more people on the field than spectators in the stands. It was costing more to turn on the lights and fire up the concession-stand hot dog machines than the amount of money that was coming in.
So, after losing money and losing money and losing money, the city decided to try to lure minor league pro baseball to town.
And for a short while, the strategy worked, too.
But again, not for long. The losing money scenario continued. Not even a Midwest League championship team could make the turnstiles spin in grand fashion.
No matter the marketing strategies the minor league franchises employed, the fans did not come as hoped for.
And now, we're back to where we started.
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