600

Alex Rodriguez started his professional career with the Appleton Foxes in 1994.  He played just under a half a season for the Foxes as the youngest player int he Midwest League and hit 14 homers.

On August 4, 2010, he hit his 600th major league home run.

There was little doubt off the bat.

With 47,659 fans filling the seats, Derek Jeter on first base, two outs and a 2-0 count against Toronto's Shaun Marcum in the first inning of Wednesday's 5-1 Yankees win, Alex Rodriguez became the seventh and youngest man in Major League history to hit 600 home runs with a shot to center field. The baseball -- specially branded with "A104" -- landed, perhaps fittingly, in the netting that guards Monument Park beyond Yankee Stadium's center-field wall, where it was snatched by security guard Frankie Babilonia.

Video at the link, if you are interested.

Mr. Smith started in Appleton

Bill Smith, the General Manager of the Minnesota Twins, was in town this weekend.

He was the General Manager of the Appleton Foxes from 1983-1985. The once and future beat writer of the Timber Rattlers caught up with Mr. Smith and the result is:

Minnesota Twins general manager Bill Smith credits Appleton for launching his career

"It really was the best three years of my career," said Smith, 52. "Because everything I learned here, I've been able to take to Minnesota."

"Here" means serving as the general manager of the Appleton Foxes, the precursor to your Timber Rattlers and a hat he wore for the 1983, '84 and '85 seasons.

Back then, the Foxes were affiliated with the Chicago White Sox, and for those first two seasons, Smith was the only person drawing a full-time wage as an employee of Appleton Baseball Club, Inc.

Consider it takes a small army to keep the Rattlers on task today. And also consider the job description of a minor league GM doesn't mention anything about player development, player movement, scouting and rosters.

In the minors, it's all about building and maintaining a strong business model. In the majors, it's all about building and maintaining a World Series contender.

So how is it Smith credits those days clocking in at old Goodland Field for shaping him into a major league major exec?

"I came to Appleton because I didn't understand the whole minor league operation," Smith explained. "And it was the best decision I ever made in my career. I had people openly question it: 'Why are you taking a step backwards?' It wasn't. It was a step up because I got a chance to experience everything in the operation of a baseball team.

You are going to want to read the whole thing. But, I did want to make one more excerpt. Because anytime this name pops up in a baseball article, I am - for some reason - compelled to highlight it.

A trip to Chicago in early 1986 to meet with a close friend who worked in promotions for Sports Illustrated and was escorting [Elle] Macpherson on a 15-city tour — "I went down to see him, of course," Smith said with a chuckle — led to a visit to old Comiskey Park, where Smith learned of an opening with the Twins as an assistant director of minor leagues and scouting.

He quickly interviewed, got the job and continued to learn and grow as an executive. And in September of 2007, he was named just the fifth general manager in Twins history.

What? You thought it would be Comiskey Park?

This is neat

Elmore "Moe" Hill got his professional start in baseball as a member of the Baltimore Orioles farm system. His first stop on the ladder was with the Foxes in 1965.

He wound up in the Twins organization and - for some reason - he spent seven seasons (1972-1978) in the Midwest League as a player for the Wisconsin Rapids Twins.

The new Northwoods League team in Wisconsin Rapids, the Rafters, will be retiring Hills number in a ceremony at Witter Field this year.

The greatest player in the history of both the Midwest League and the Wisconsin Rapids Twins is coming back to Witter Field. He will have his number 24 retired and be available to re-connect with fans at the second ever Rafters home game on Monday, June 7 at 7:05 pm vs. the Eau Claire Express.

It is likely a Midwest League star will never shine so bright, or so long, as Moe Hill did during his stay in Wisconsin Rapids from 1971 to 1978. He hit 194 homeruns during that span, won the Midwest League Triple Crown in 1974, hit 41 homeruns during the 1977 campaign and during it all created a legend known throughout both Wisconsin Rapids and the entire baseball world. He led the League in homeruns each year from 1974 thru 1977.

The invaluable Midwest League Guide has a bit more on Hill's career and his home runs...sorry. cheap shot

Boooooooog! Booooooooog!

Over at the Timber Rattlers Twitter account, the team is counting down to Opening Day, 2010 with the help of Appleton baseball alumni who went on to play in the major leagues.

Today -- which is 41 days until Opening Day, by the way -- was Boog Powell's day!

I wanted to post one of his Miller Lite commercials and hit the jackpot. Not only is Boog Powell in this one, so are Sparky Lyle and 'Boom Boom' Geoffrion.

Lyle and Geoffrion both have ties to Wisconsin. Lyle pitched for the Foxes in 1964 Geoffrion's grandson Blake plays the Wisconsin Badgers hockey team.

Trivial Pursuit, beer, baseball, and hockey. These are a few of my favorite things.

Alumni with the Giants

This was out a few weeks ago, but I just found it now. The San Francisco Giants announced the staffs of their minor league affiliates and there three Appleton Baseball Alums that I found on the list.

Mike Goff, the first manager in Timber Rattlers history, is back for his second year as the manager of the Giants team in the Arizona League.

Pat Rice, the first Timber Rattlers pitching coach, is back for his second year as the pitching coach of the Fresno Grizzlies, the Triple-A affiliate of the Giants.

Russ Morman, who managed the Kane County Cougars in 2000 and 2001, is the hitting coach at Double-A Richmond. Morman played for the Appleton Foxes in 1984.

Brewers fans should take note that Tom Trebelhorn is back to managing Salem-Keizer, the Northwest League affiliate of the Giants for 2010 as well.

Sad Alumni News

From the Baltimore Sun:

Ex-Oriole Motton dies at 69
Though he often was out of lineup, power hitter 'would light up a room'

Curt Motton's timing when it came to hitting some of the American League's top pitchers was under his control. When he played, and how much, was not.

Motton, who died Thursday at age 69 after a year-long battle with stomach cancer, had the good fortune of playing with the Orioles when they were the league's most dominant team.

It was also his misfortune, considering that Motton could never break into an outfield that featured Paul Blair, Frank Robinson and Don Buford.

"[Orioles manager] Earl Weaver loved guys like Curt Motton because he knew what he was going to get," Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Palmer recalled Friday. "Guys like Curt made us more of a complete team."

Like many who knew Motton, Palmer said what he remembered most was Motton's engaging personality.

Motton played 44 games for the Fox Cities Foxes in 1965. He hit six homers in those games.

Motton would be in the major leagues in 1967 and played (briefly) for the Brewers in 1972. Click the link up top for the story.

He was? Really?

I received an odd e-mail...Yes, another one.

This one was requesting a photograph of Jack Zduriencik in a Foxes uniform from 1974.

I was not alone in being taken aback. Jack Z? The GM of the Mariners? Played for the Foxes?

To the internet and Baseball Reference!

Jack Z was an Appleton Fox for seven games in '73 and went 1-for-15. In '74, he played 11 games and was 2-for-29. It looks like his playing career ended after his last game with the Foxes.

He is not on the 1973 or 1974 team photo. He might be in the 1974 program, but that is one of the Foxes programs we don't have in our archives.

Please, take a look around your collections, Appleton baseball fans. Get in touch with me if you find anything.

Flash is the Flashback

That's Tom Gordon in an Appleton Foxes uniform from some time in the 1988 season. This week's Flashback Friday is about two amazing games (May 16 & May 22) for Flash. He struck out 16 in one start and 19 in his next start.

Go read and be amazed.

Parting words

The Seattle Times has a few stories on ex-Appleton players leaving the Mariners for other teams. First up is ex-Appleton Fox Raul Ibanez:

Fresh from signing a three-year, $31.5 million deal with the Philadelphia Phillies this week, the outfielder talked Thursday about his parting words for younger teammates as last season wound down. Ibanez recalled speaking on different occasions with Felix Hernandez, Jose Lopez and Yuniesky Betancourt, reminding them that he was a pending free agent and that third baseman Adrian Beltre will be, as well, next year.

"I told them, 'Listen, some of us veteran guys might not be here in a year or two. There's no reason you can't pull someone aside now and speak to them if you see they aren't doing things the right way.'

"I mean, I told them, 'You're still young, but you're not that young. You're not still a bunch of kids wearing the uniform for the first time. You've all been in the big leagues for a while and you have to be conscious that people are watching you. And if you start acting a certain way, they're going to start acting another way, too.' "

Ibanez believes Hernandez "works hard and is naturally competitive" and would make a natural clubhouse leader in a few years. Same with catcher Jeff Clement, who he thinks can be looked up to by other players once he starts producing.

Hernandez ('03) and Clement ('05) are both ex-Rattlers.

Then there is this part. The guys at Lookout Landing may disagree (slightly) with the following statements.

On a personal note, Ibanez has read criticisms that he's a defensive liability and that the Phillies overpaid to get him. He believes some of the modern defensive metrics cited by his critics are unreliable and don't take into account player positioning in the field, ballpark factors or the force and angle at which balls are coming off bats.

"Those are things that I'm going to have to continue to battle throughout my career," he said of the perception he can't play defense. "But if you go around the game, and you ask the players, you ask quality major-league scouts, you ask managers, they'll tell you I'm the type of player they want on their team."

I was right.

Here's the thing, though - so what? We know that the stats are flawed. We've always known that. That's why, for example, we don't say that a guy is a +5 defender - we say that he's a 0..<..x..<..+10 defender. Because there's error in the result. But that doesn't invalidate the whole system. The same stuff goes for every player in baseball, and unless Raul thinks that the defensive metrics are rather uniquely conspiring against him in an effort to make him look worse than he really is, pointing out their sundry shortcomings doesn't make for much of a defense. Over a sample size of two or three years, things tend to even out. And over a sample size of the last two or three years, Raul Ibanez has been a statistically lousy defender.

Back to the other story at the Seattle Times website. It's an AP story and -- this may come as a shock -- but a player in a press conference actually said that he was happy to be in his new city.

J.J. Putz was honest: He would like to be closing games next season rather than setting up someone else's saves.

Still, the former Mariners reliever insisted he's enthusiastic about his eighth-inning job with the New York Mets, who landed record-setting closer Francisco Rodriguez last week just before acquiring Putz.

"It wasn't the ideal situation. I really loved closing. But I'm just going to take it an inning earlier, so it's not going to be that big of an adjustment," Putz said Thursday. "I'm fine with the role. Like I said, bottom line, I just want to win. I hadn't had a chance to really do that in Seattle. To come to a team that's built to win right now, I'll pitch in the sixth, seventh — whatever it takes to get us a championship."

And he'll be fine, too.

Of course, it's Putz's last name that could provide easy fodder for headline writers at the New York tabloids if he struggles. But he's not worried.

"I've been dealing with this for years," he said. "I can handle it."

Probably took some heat in high school, though?

"Dude, I was bigger than everybody in high school," Putz said.

Dude.

He's a king now

Pat Gillick: World Series winning General Manager, Appleton Baseball Hall of Famer, King of Baseball:

Senior Vice President and General Manager Pat Gillick of the 2008 World Series Champion Philadelphia Phillies was named the "2008 King of Baseball" Thursday night at the annual Baseball Winter Meetings Banquet. The "King of Baseball" is a long-standing tradition in which Minor League Baseball salutes a veteran from the professional baseball world for long-time dedication and service.

Gillick has been in professional baseball for 51 years. He played Minor League Baseball for several years before beginning his distinguished front office career. Gillick has received numerous awards while working for six different Major League organizations. He is known throughout the game for his commitment to scouting, player development and Minor League Baseball.

Gordon to test

Tom Gordon was a member of the Appleton Foxes in 1988. He was with the Philadelphia Phillies this season, but his season ended in July. Now, he will test the free agent market.

A day after riding in a parade, reliever Tom Gordon filed free agency, the first of four eligible Phillies players to file.

Gordon, 40, was told by the team Friday that his $4.5 million wasn't being picked up, and he received a $1 million buyout.

The righty's third season as a reliever ended in July due to inflammation in his right elbow that eventually required surgery, a procedure he had in October.

He remained hopeful of pitching in 2009, and said he'd like to return to Philadelphia, albeit at a reduced rate.

Deserves its own post

The highlighted Midwest League Alum from last night's game in Philadelphia is Tampa Bay Rays pitching coach Jim Hickey.

Why does this deserve a post to itself?

Jim Hickey's time in the Midwest League was spent with the Appleton Foxes. He was a member for the 1984 Midwest League Champions.

Not sure why he is listed twice as a member of the Foxes in '84 at The Baseball Cube page. But, the stats from his bio page at the Rays site show him as 13-5 with 20 saves and an ERA of 1.81 in 49 relief appearances. He struck out 96 in 99-1/3 innings pitched with the Foxes.

This is something I should have picked up on much earlier.