Vin Scully

    The recent passing of Los Angeles Dodgers play-by-play announcer Vin Scully is yet another bang on the drum for the game of baseball and how it moves away from the game I fell in love with long ago.

I promise this won't be a harangue on the game going to hell, I have written and will in the future about all of that.

No, this is more about Vin Scully and the great times of radio when every team had their own unique voice and character.

Even though Scully had been retired for a bit, it was Scully that was the final link to the days of radio's larger importance to baseball and its fans.

Scully is remembered as a California icon but he started with the Dodgers when they were still playing their games in Brooklyn

A radio game, baseball with the downtime and pauses lends itself to the voices and stories that only the best commentators could wind, and as a result, allowed the listener to do other things while listening to a game.

And as good as each announcer for a team could be with their voice stretching across their region and their ardent fans singing their praises, it was almost universal that one stood above all - and he also called games on television- Vin Scully of the Dodgers.

The smooth voice of Vin Scully made even the most fervent Dodger hater (I hated the Dodgers well before I rooted for the Giants) enjoy watching or listening to Dodger broadcasts with the master behind the mike and as with the best dating back to the age of radio- it was the stories that Scully could tell that made him so wonderful to listen to.

Living on the East Coast, I was robbed of listening to Scully every night as I drifted off to sleep but I did have the honor of listening to some of the greats in their areas- Ernie Harwell in Detroit, Marty Brennaman and Joe Nuxhall from Cincinnati, Chuck Thompson and later Jon Miller in Baltimore, when I was very young, Bob Prince in Pittsburgh and his replacement Lanny Frattare, and Herb Score in Cleveland with his various partners through the years, all of whom were part of my childhood and teenage years.

I always imagined then and now, that there was a counterpart to me listening to games in the west listening to Vin Scully with the Dodgers, Dick Enberg with the Angels, Jerry Coleman with the Padres, and Lon Simmons with the Giants doing what I was doing to pass the time while listening to baseball.

Vin Scully was more of a national broadcaster to me growing up as he did NFL games ( It was Scully on the call of Dwight Clark's Catch in the 1981 NFC Championship game in the last NFL game that he would ever call) for CBS and his work on the Masters for the Tiffany network as well before leaving CBS in 1983 to hold the main play by play voice for NBC for Major League Baseball through 1989 when NBC lost the rights to MLB to ironically CBS. 

It was his work on those games for NBC that I remember best with the famous calls but what made Vin Scully perfect for baseball were the fabulous stories that he would tell from thirty-plus years in the game at that time and would be sixty-six years by the time he ended his career with the Dodgers at the end of the 2016 season.

Scully could tell a story in a way that you imagine just sitting around with a father or grandfather talking about their memories of a certain person or event, flowing smoothly through those memories and intertwining them with " a flyball to left, caught by Baker, one down" before returning to the story effortlessly and without feeling that he had to "get his story or catchphrase in"  as so many today seem to feel is so important.

Baseball has always been a radio game more than any other sport and it can be argued that Vin Scully could be the best to ever call a game on the radio. However, that will be questioned by many baseball fans with their own regional favorite.

One thing that is pretty tough for any baseball fan to disagree with is this- It's pretty difficult to hear the name Vin Scully and not come up with a memory and shortly thereafter, a smile...

Minor League Fantasy Draft- Round Five Miguel Vargas

Mandatory Credit: Kevin Johnson/Ogden Raptors

The fantasy draft was nearing its end and fewer teams still had selections remaining, so there were only a handful of players taken between my fourth-round pick, Luis Patino and my looming pick in the fifth round.

With two rounds to go, I usually like to take players that are lower in team systems with very high upside.
When you are taking a chance on a prospect of that type, it's preferable to do so later in the draft, so if the player struggles, you are more likely to cut bait faster and not keep him around.

I had a handful of players on my post-it with this type of background and level to choose from and almost all of them were still on the board- only one had been taken.
I looked over them closely and decided to take the one that had the highest upside, but having the least experience, was carrying the highest risk.
In the fifth round, I didn't look at it as extremely risky with a lower rounder when I selected 19 year third baseman Miguel Vargas of the Dodgers.
Vargas played 22 games with Rookie-level Ogden of the Pioneer League, where Vargas raked to a .394 2 homers 22 RBI tune and an OPS over a thousand before moving to Low A Great Lakes.
With the Loons, Vargas didn't hit as well in hitting only. 216 without a homer and struck out in 20 of his 75 at-bats.

Vargas is the son of one of Cuba's greatest baseball legends, Lazaro Vargas, who played 22 seasons for the Cuban national team and won two Olympic gold's with that national team.
The 6'3 Vargas signed for $300,000 and is expected to may have to eventually shift to first, but is thought to have plus power and line drive potential once he fills into his still growing body.
Vargas needs work on pulling the ball for power and if he is going to stay at third base reports say he'll have to keep from gaining weight as he is said to have "Slow Twitch" reflexes, although good hands defensively.

Miguel Vargas has the pedigree and background for success but comes with some questions as most younger Cuban prospects have about the competition level that they have faced along with the adjustment of moving to the USA.
Still, his bat looks like it has the chance to be special and was worth taking a chance on at this time of the draft.
I'll finish the draft series sometime on a slow day and I'll try to keep updates through the season on how the system is doing.

Deadline- Pirates move infielders

The Pittsburgh Pirates have fallen out of the wild-card race after losing seven of ten games and since they are now five games under .500, the time was right for a move or two.

Pittsburgh traded veteran third baseman David Freese to the Dodgers for minor league infielder Jesus Manuel Valdez in a deal that will help the contending Dodgers with a player that can play third or first and hits lefties very well.
Freese hit .282 with nine homers for the Pirates this season and is exactly the type of players that contenders go and get for the playoff run.

As far as the player coming from the Dodgers is concerned, I know next to nothing about Jesus Manuel Valdez other than he's an infielder, turns 21 in December and was playing for the Dodgers Dominican league team.
20 is pretty old to play at that level, where Valdez hit. 230 with six homers and stole 16 bases, so even terming him a lottery tickey is a major stretch for the Pirates, who must have seen something in him.

In the other deal, Adeiny Hechavarria made his stay in Pittsburgh a brief one, as the Pirates traded him to the New York Yankees for a player to be named later or cash (Care to guess which one the Nutting's will take?).
Hechavarria lasted just 15 games after being acquired from Tampa Bay, hitting .233 and a homer.
Hechavarria is expected to provide infield protection against further injury to Didi Gregorius, who has struggled with a heel injury of late.
That is a minor transaction, but I'd still rather have a longshot prospect than a check, which the Pirates usually prefer.

Whew, Now that I have caught up on baseball moves, it's time to look at the Browns cuts and additions as they prep for Pittsburgh.
I do have a few problems with those roster changes, so I will have plenty to say next time!

Pirates trade Tony Watson to Dodgers

The Pirates made a move at the trading deadline as the Pirates traded long time reliever Tony Watson to the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for two minor leaguers.

The 32 year old Watson had moved up the ladder through his seven years in Pittsburgh as he evolved from long man to LOOGY to setup man and at the beginning of this season-closer,which turned out to be a role that he struggled with and was removed from in June.
Watson will likely be used in a setup relief role as a Dodger and will be a compliment to the closer Kenley Jansen there.
Watson still throws hard and could have success with the team with the best current record in baseball..

Tony Watson was the last of a bunch of prospects that ranged back to the beginning of 2007-when I was in my first few years of autographing,still learning the ropes of the hobby and the first year of this blog.
The blog has changed through the years and back then it was prospect heavy.
I still enjoy prospects,but I've changed a little bit because I've grown tired of the large cost of prospect books (Baseball America is now to the point of after shipping and taxes of being over forty dollars!)
Watson and Jared Hughes (Released at the end of last season,now with the Brewers) were the last (other than Andrew McCutchen) of that initial Pirates prospect series to remain as a Pirate and I always enjoyed seeing how they managed to perform in their big league career.
It's fun to look back at those posts and see who I was right about and who I was wrong on as well....

The Pirates are bringing in two players from the Dodgers system that were at Low A Great Lakes,and were assigned to Low A West Virginia for the Pirates.
6'6 Oneil Cruz is playing shortstop currently,but appears to be headed to third base considering his frame.
Cruz hit .240 as a Loon with eight homers,so he shows power potential,but the bad news is that there is a LOT of swinging and missing with 110 strikeouts in 89 games.
Cruz did receive a near million dollar bonus from the Dominican Republic and considering his age (19) and the Dodgers aggressive handling of him (Low A was his first year playing in the United States),he still has potential..

Angel German is reported to be a hard thrower (mid 90's) and posted a 1.91 ERA for Great Lakes,which looks sharp.
German is 21,which isn't old for the level and throws strikes (37 strikeouts to 14 walks),but I always wonder when pitchers are already full time relievers in low A.
The normal handling of pitching prospects is to try them as starters for as long as you can before moving to the bullpen.
Guzman's arm is intriguing,but there has to be a reason...

Back later with more!