It's not often we post articles from outside North America, but here is one you may be interested in. The Sydney Morning Herald examines the trials and tribulations of the Syracuse Skychiefs' Australian infielder Glenn Williams.
Okay, who was that who hit the homer off Randy Johnson at Yankee Stadium? And who could he have been playing for? Johnson was a D-Back in 2002 . . . something about this story doesn't come together.
http://economics.about.com
Okay, who was that who hit the homer off Randy Johnson at Yankee Stadium? And who could he have been playing for? Johnson was a D-Back in 2002 . . . something about this story doesn't come together.
Marcus Thames, DBacks at Yankees, June 10, 2002.
Here's the boxscore.
Cheers,
Mike
Okay, who was that who hit the homer off Randy Johnson at Yankee Stadium? And who could he have been playing for? Johnson was a D-Back in 2002 . . . something about this story doesn't come together.
Marcus Thames, DBacks at Yankees, June 10, 2002.
Here's the boxscore.
Cheers,
Mike
Claxton Shield? Now there's a baseball trivia question!
Then who's the guy who spend 13 years in the minors before getting the call?
Marcus Thames, DBacks at Yankees, June 10, 2002.
Oh, okay. I thought, from the article, that we were looking at a teammate of Williams's. Thanks.
Oh, okay. I thought, from the article, that we were looking at a teammate of Williams's. Thanks.
http://economics.about.com
Oh, okay. I thought, from the article, that we were looking at a teammate of Williams's. Thanks.
Yeah, it was written poorly. I guess what happened was Syrcause played Columbus in a four game series, where Thames stunk up the place. Despite that the Yankees still called him up, and he hit a homer against Randy Johnson in an inter-league game.
RE: Thirteen years in the minors.
It could be quite a few players, particularly if Williams is exaggerating by a year or two. Huckaby and Wilson were both in the minors for over a decade before they made the big club. Alan Zinter made his MLB debut in 2002 and stared playing professionally in 1989, so it could be him.
Cheers,
Mike
Oh, okay. I thought, from the article, that we were looking at a teammate of Williams's. Thanks.
Yeah, it was written poorly. I guess what happened was Syrcause played Columbus in a four game series, where Thames stunk up the place. Despite that the Yankees still called him up, and he hit a homer against Randy Johnson in an inter-league game.
RE: Thirteen years in the minors.
It could be quite a few players, particularly if Williams is exaggerating by a year or two. Huckaby and Wilson were both in the minors for over a decade before they made the big club. Alan Zinter made his MLB debut in 2002 and stared playing professionally in 1989, so it could be him.
Cheers,
Mike
I think he was talking about Huckaby who got a 1.5 years in the bigs ?
That has to be one of the most difficult things to handle in professional baseball--being a sixteen year old kid who signs a huge bonus and considered to be a star before ever playing a game. You are a kid playing with men--men probably who are quite resentful of the big money and the publicity that goes with the money.
J.P. must see something in Glenn Williams to keep him, although he has not shown much in Syracuse and is never mentioned as 40-man roster material. Apparently Williams is considered Organizational Player fodder.
The Blue Jays have had a history of signing youngsters to big bonuses such as Jossephang Bernhardt, Diegomar Markwell, and Jose Pett. Also, Toronto had the most extreme underage signing, thirteen year old Jimy Kelly. Physical immaturity, emotional immaturity, or a combination of each hindered these prospects.
Kelly has always been a fascinating topic for me. In fact, I did a presentation on him for a Ph.D. level course and have collected a couple of 40-man roster issued uniform tops (1988-1989) and a bat that he used during 1988 Spring Training. It had to be hell to have your professional career over when others in their age group were just beginning. It makes one wonder, Kelly is just in his early 30s now. What has he done since baseball?
Bernhardt parallels Kelly. He is just 23, phayed seven professional years, and now is career is over. Hoped he saved his $750,000 bonus. He was a nice but sort of naive kid when he played in St. Catherines in 1998 and in 1999.
As an Assistant High School Baseball Coach, I have seen players really fail for the first time in anything, but at least it was against people their age. It has to be awful for a adolescent when most of the players are jealous of the money the kid received.
Money helps, but let us hope these kids did not blow it all away.
J.P. must see something in Glenn Williams to keep him, although he has not shown much in Syracuse and is never mentioned as 40-man roster material. Apparently Williams is considered Organizational Player fodder.
The Blue Jays have had a history of signing youngsters to big bonuses such as Jossephang Bernhardt, Diegomar Markwell, and Jose Pett. Also, Toronto had the most extreme underage signing, thirteen year old Jimy Kelly. Physical immaturity, emotional immaturity, or a combination of each hindered these prospects.
Kelly has always been a fascinating topic for me. In fact, I did a presentation on him for a Ph.D. level course and have collected a couple of 40-man roster issued uniform tops (1988-1989) and a bat that he used during 1988 Spring Training. It had to be hell to have your professional career over when others in their age group were just beginning. It makes one wonder, Kelly is just in his early 30s now. What has he done since baseball?
Bernhardt parallels Kelly. He is just 23, phayed seven professional years, and now is career is over. Hoped he saved his $750,000 bonus. He was a nice but sort of naive kid when he played in St. Catherines in 1998 and in 1999.
As an Assistant High School Baseball Coach, I have seen players really fail for the first time in anything, but at least it was against people their age. It has to be awful for a adolescent when most of the players are jealous of the money the kid received.
Money helps, but let us hope these kids did not blow it all away.
>#13858 Posted 01/23/2004 01:15 PM by coliver:
>That has to be one of the most difficult things to handle in >professional baseball--being a sixteen year old kid who signs a huge >bonus and considered to be a star before ever playing a game.
This makes me all the more impressed with Michelle Wie in golf. 14 years old, female, playing against guys who can be anywhere from early 20s to late 40s. Amazing.
As for Glenn Williams, he will probably never see the majors and might be near the end in AAA after going 233/277/352 while playing all positions except catcher (he even pitched a 1/3rd of an inning). I'm guessing he is sticking around as a utility player and lesson to any young bonus babies. Perhaps as a backup coach too.
>That has to be one of the most difficult things to handle in >professional baseball--being a sixteen year old kid who signs a huge >bonus and considered to be a star before ever playing a game.
This makes me all the more impressed with Michelle Wie in golf. 14 years old, female, playing against guys who can be anywhere from early 20s to late 40s. Amazing.
As for Glenn Williams, he will probably never see the majors and might be near the end in AAA after going 233/277/352 while playing all positions except catcher (he even pitched a 1/3rd of an inning). I'm guessing he is sticking around as a utility player and lesson to any young bonus babies. Perhaps as a backup coach too.
The Claxton Shield ,love the name, I believe is the Australian inter-state national baseball championship.
Australia has all sorts of these things in a variety of sports. Inter-state(or for us inter-provincial) bragging rights in a particular sport means a lot down under. I remember seeing a NSW/Queensland national cricket contest in Brisbane many years ago with all the top players involved.I remember the event as being hugely popular.
I always wished we could do the same in Canada, perhaps in Hockey. I'd love to see Jarome Inginlia, Mike Comrie and other Wildrose country boys take on the Godless Eastern infidels in a game of shinny. Off-course for fairness sake we'd have to divy up Ontario into a variety of sub-regions.
Australia has all sorts of these things in a variety of sports. Inter-state(or for us inter-provincial) bragging rights in a particular sport means a lot down under. I remember seeing a NSW/Queensland national cricket contest in Brisbane many years ago with all the top players involved.I remember the event as being hugely popular.
I always wished we could do the same in Canada, perhaps in Hockey. I'd love to see Jarome Inginlia, Mike Comrie and other Wildrose country boys take on the Godless Eastern infidels in a game of shinny. Off-course for fairness sake we'd have to divy up Ontario into a variety of sub-regions.
Wow that was a very insightful and interesting article. I can't imagine how tough it is to be 16 and then you go to the majors with the big publications saying you would be on the big club but you don't make it.
I kinda feel bad for this guy but at least he's trying to realize his dream and i'm glad that the Blue Jays are giving this guy an opportunity even tho I don't see him making it to the big club. Stranger things have happened tho so who knows.
BTW I love the name Claxton Shield that's such a great name for a sports team!
I kinda feel bad for this guy but at least he's trying to realize his dream and i'm glad that the Blue Jays are giving this guy an opportunity even tho I don't see him making it to the big club. Stranger things have happened tho so who knows.
BTW I love the name Claxton Shield that's such a great name for a sports team!
Wow that was a very insightful and interesting article. I can't imagine how tough it is to be 16 and then you go to the majors with the big publications saying you would be on the big club but you don't make it.
I kinda feel bad for this guy but at least he's trying to realize his dream and i'm glad that the Blue Jays are giving this guy an opportunity even tho I don't see him making it to the big club. Stranger things have happened tho so who knows.
BTW I love the name Claxton Shield that's such a great name for a sports team!
I kinda feel bad for this guy but at least he's trying to realize his dream and i'm glad that the Blue Jays are giving this guy an opportunity even tho I don't see him making it to the big club. Stranger things have happened tho so who knows.
BTW I love the name Claxton Shield that's such a great name for a sports team!
Wildrose,
Didn't the NHLPA split up NHL players into regions for a tournament during the last lockout? I remember an Ontario, Quebec, and US team. I don't recall if BC was a separate region or if it was lumped in with the rest of Western Canada. Maybe they'll do it again during next year's lockout.
Didn't the NHLPA split up NHL players into regions for a tournament during the last lockout? I remember an Ontario, Quebec, and US team. I don't recall if BC was a separate region or if it was lumped in with the rest of Western Canada. Maybe they'll do it again during next year's lockout.
There should be a sports team - or perhaps a superhero - called the Canadian Shield.
I remember seeing a NSW/Queensland national cricket contest in Brisbane many years ago with all the top players involved
This is part of the Sheffield Shield competition.
In fact, Canadian hockey does have a similar competition. It's called the Allan Cup, and it's terrific hockey.
If this country had its head screwed on straight with regards to hockey, the Allan Cup would be (as it once was) the premier all-Canadian hockey event, senior hockey would get a lot more attention and money than it does, and we could let 16-year-old kids go back to being 16-year-old kids instead of turning them into quasi-professional (but practically unpaid!) athletes in "major" junior hockey.
In addition to which, it goes without saying (though very surprising to your typical hockey fan) that senior hockey is played at a much, much higher level than major junior... a clear case of men against boys, even if the best 1,000 or so senior-level players are in professional hockey.
This is part of the Sheffield Shield competition.
In fact, Canadian hockey does have a similar competition. It's called the Allan Cup, and it's terrific hockey.
If this country had its head screwed on straight with regards to hockey, the Allan Cup would be (as it once was) the premier all-Canadian hockey event, senior hockey would get a lot more attention and money than it does, and we could let 16-year-old kids go back to being 16-year-old kids instead of turning them into quasi-professional (but practically unpaid!) athletes in "major" junior hockey.
In addition to which, it goes without saying (though very surprising to your typical hockey fan) that senior hockey is played at a much, much higher level than major junior... a clear case of men against boys, even if the best 1,000 or so senior-level players are in professional hockey.
Wow Mike, how did you find this? I don't know many Canadian that scan Australian newspapers for baseball articles ;)