{"id":5185,"date":"2010-05-14T14:15:34","date_gmt":"2010-05-14T21:15:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.seamheads.com\/?p=5185"},"modified":"2010-05-14T14:15:35","modified_gmt":"2010-05-14T21:15:35","slug":"who-will-be-next-to-majors-lindsey-stays-hot-weber-warming-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/2010\/05\/14\/who-will-be-next-to-majors-lindsey-stays-hot-weber-warming-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Who Will Be Next to Majors? Lindsey Stays Hot, Weber Warming Up"},"content":{"rendered":"

Michael Ryan <\/strong>had not been in the majors since 2005 until joining the Angels<\/strong> last weekend, and Cuban-<\/strong>born Raul Valdez <\/strong>had never been there until the New York Mets <\/strong>added the onetime Can-Am Leaguer (New Jersey Jackals <\/strong>and Nashua<\/strong>, NH<\/strong>)<\/strong> a few weeks ago.\u00c2\u00a0 And, it is anyone\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s guess on where lightning will strike next, but John Lindsey <\/strong>and Jon Weber <\/strong>continue to keep their hats in the ring from one notch below the majors.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Lindsey, a two-time member of the Jackals in Little Falls, NJ,<\/strong> continues to lead the Pacific Coast League <\/strong>in average (.411), hits (44) and doubles (13) for the Los Angeles Dodgers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Albuquerque <\/strong>farm club, even though he is without a single game in the majors in his 16th<\/sup> professional season.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll tell you this much, the guy can hit,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d praised rival Memphis <\/strong>Manager Chris Maloney<\/strong> to The Jackson (MS) Clarion Ledger.<\/em> \u00e2\u20ac\u0153And you won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t find a better, more likeable person in baseball.\u00c2\u00a0 I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d love to see him get his shot (at the majors).\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0 For his part, Lindsey, 33, told the newspaper \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I have learned to stop focusing my energy on things I cannot control.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0 He tells people \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I just feel blessed to still be playing this game I love.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Weber, who was the top hitter in the New York Yankees\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 <\/strong>spring training camp in March when he flirted with a .500 average, has started putting up numbers at Scranton\/Wilkes-Barre, PA <\/strong>after a slow first month.\u00c2\u00a0 Another Independent standout who has not been in any regular season major league games, the lefty-hitting outfielder has hit .317 (13-for-41) his last 10 games to get his average up to .230.<\/p>\n

Tom Cochran <\/strong>and Corey Smith <\/strong>also have the flame burning from Class AA, including last week\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Pitcher and Player of the Week honors, respectively, in the Southern League. <\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>Valdez was in the news this week, too, when he got his first major league victory.\u00c2\u00a0 It came Tuesday against Washington<\/strong> <\/strong>when a scoreless outing lowered his ERA to 2.69 for 17.1 innings in which he has struck out 19.<\/p>\n

Much to Watch for in Golden League<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

While the Golden League, <\/strong>which opens in another week along with the Northern<\/strong> and Frontier,<\/strong> seems to be pulling out all stops to draw attention to its Teen Queen, Japanese <\/strong>knuck-ball pitcher Eri Yoshida<\/strong>, two other facets of its sixth season bear considerable attention.<\/p>\n

We will be watching to see how well the league draws in two new markets, the border town of Tijuana<\/strong>, Mexico, <\/strong>and Na Ikaika Koa Maui<\/strong>, the Hawaiian<\/strong> Island<\/strong> where baseball probably has been well down the list of entertainment options.<\/p>\n

The other aspect is what seems to be even greater than usual attention on players with major league time, the latest including side-arming Byung-Hyun Kim <\/strong>to Orange<\/strong> County (Fullerton, CA), Korean Cha-Seung Baek <\/strong>and Bill Pulsipher <\/strong>(player-coach) to Yuma<\/strong>, AZ <\/strong>and Matt Perisho <\/strong>at Chico<\/strong>, CA<\/strong>, <\/strong>where he will be a teammate of Ms. Yoshida.<\/p>\n

The 18-year-old Yoshida, a recent high school graduate, has brought considerable attention to the Golden League, including requests for her to appear on the \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcCBS Evening News with Katie Couric\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 <\/strong>and on the late night \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcJimmy Kimmel <\/strong>Live\u00e2\u20ac\u2122.<\/p>\n

* * * *<\/p>\n

www.AtlanticLeagueBaseball.com<\/a> ADDED TO www.IndyBaseballChatter.com<\/a> <\/strong><\/p>\n

FOR ADDITIONAL INDEPENDENT BASEBALL COVERAGE? <\/strong><\/p>\n

* * * *<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u02dcHoly Cow\u00e2\u20ac\u2122, a Third Generation<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Boone Family <\/strong>is the first that comes to mind when I think about three generations involved in professional baseball.\u00c2\u00a0 Of course, all of them played.<\/p>\n

By loosening the parameters a little, Independent Baseball has two third generation stories.\u00c2\u00a0 A younger grandson of broadcasting legend Harry Caray, Josh Caray, <\/strong>will be sharing the broadcast booth of the San Angelo (TX) Colts <\/strong>in the United League<\/strong>.\u00c2\u00a0 Older brother Chip <\/strong>still broadcasts for Atlanta<\/strong>, where Dad Skip <\/strong>was a fixture for a long time.\u00c2\u00a0 Grandad\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s colorful career had two main stops, St. Louis<\/strong> <\/strong>and the Chicago Cubs<\/strong>, the latter the best identifier for younger generations today.<\/p>\n

In the same league, the grandson of major league infielder Bobby Wine <\/strong>will be trying to work his way up the ladder as an infielder with the Amarillo<\/strong> (TX) Dillas.\u00c2\u00a0 Cory Wine <\/strong>came out of Penn<\/strong> State <\/strong>and had one season in the Philadelphia<\/strong> <\/strong>chain, where Grandpa was a fine shortstop in the 1960s.\u00c2\u00a0 Robbie Wine<\/strong> had a brief major league career as a catcher for Houston<\/strong> <\/strong>in the \u00e2\u20ac\u02dc80s. <\/strong>Bobby Wine still scouts for Atlanta. <\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

(This is an excerpt from the column Bob Wirz writes on Independent Baseball.\u00c2\u00a0 Fans may subscribe at www.WirzandAssociates.com, enjoy his blogs, www.AtlanticLeagueBaseball.com<\/a> and www.IndyBaseballChatter.com<\/a>, or comment<\/strong> to RWirz@aol.com<\/a>.\u00c2\u00a0 The author <\/strong>has 16 years of major league baseball public relations experience with Kansas City and as spokesman for two Commissioners and lives in Stratford, CT.<\/em>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Michael Ryan had not been in the majors since 2005 until joining the Angels last weekend, and Cuban-born Raul Valdez had never been there until the New York Mets added the onetime Can-Am Leaguer (New Jersey Jackals and Nashua, NH) a few weeks ago.\u00c2\u00a0 And, it is anyone\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s guess on where lightning will strike next, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":452,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,4746],"tags":[7387,7386,4843,6484,7391,487,996,7389,7390,60,7393,7384,535,444,7388,4839,7392,7385,6156,4738],"class_list":["post-5185","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","category-indy-baseball-insider","tag-chris-maloney","tag-clarion-ledger","tag-class-aa","tag-corey-smith","tag-john-lindsey","tag-jon-weber","tag-league-games","tag-league-victory","tag-likeable-person","tag-los-angeles-dodgers","tag-michael-ryan","tag-new-jersey-jackals","tag-new-york-mets","tag-new-york-yankees","tag-new-york-yankees-spring-training","tag-pacific-coast-league","tag-professional-season","tag-raul-valdez","tag-tom-cochran","tag-wilkes-barre-pa"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5185","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/452"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5185"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5185\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}