Tuesday's Things to Check Out

• Have you ever wished you had a job in baseball?  Then MLB's Dream Job may be for you.  Apply here for a chance to watch baseball and make a living at the same time.  
• Loud Mom in the Stands got a chance to interview Brendan Harris about playing youth baseball.  
• The Rivercats finished up 2-2 playing against elite competition in Cocoa Beach, Florida. The Rivercats winter teams finish the season with a 14-9-1 record against warm weather competition.  
• UW Milwaukee won the finale to finish the series with Tennessee with a 1-2 record.  CF Doug Dekoning earned player of the week honors for the Horizon League by batting .500 for the series.  
• Green Bay Packer Donald Driver will be bringing his charity softball game back to Time Warner Cable Field for a fourth year.  
• If you haven't checked out BrewCrewBall and their daily mug to find most of the Brewers' news you need in one spot, then do it now. 
• ABR has posted the recap from the WI Top 30 Showcase. 

Wanderings

• The 13U Rivercats are headed to Florida to play in the Cocoa Expo President's Day Challenge.  
• Three Brewers spring training games will be televised on the MLB Network.
• UW Milwaukee outhit Tennessee but still lost 0-4 on Friday.
• The Madison Mallards have signed two Wisconsin natives. Michael Handel is from Sun Prairie, and currently attends the University of Minnesota.  Justin Scanlon attends Michigan State and is originally from Verona.  
• Yahoo has an article discussing how well the Brewers pitchers can hit.

Minor League

Wisconsin has been home to numerous minor league teams over the years.  Fans in the state have gotten the opportunity to watch players such as Hank Aaron and Mark McGwire while they were first starting out.  Now all we have left in the state are two minor league teams. 

The Beloit Snappers are the low A level farm team of the Minnesota Twins.  There is hope they will soon get a new stadium.  They will be relying on donations and cashflow generated by Snappers operations.  I hope they are able to get this done. 

The Milwaukee Brewers also have an in-state low A level farm team in the Midwest League.  The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers have been around for a long time but this will be their third season affiliated with the Brewers.  You can become a shareholder and get lots of perks as an owner of the Timber Rattlers. 

I would love to see more minor league teams come back to Wisconsin.  The success of the Northwoods League has shown how popular baseball done right can be in the state.  The key to luring teams back is having a top notch stadium for them to play in.  Hopefully we get another inventive community to find ways to privately finance a new stadium. 

Pitchers and Catchers Report

• Pitchers and catchers have now reported for the Brewers, but none of them made the biggest news of the day.  Milwaukee signed Rickie Weeks to a contract extension.  I like the deal, but hope he can stay healthy and continue to improve defensively.  
• The Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association has released its preseason poll.  They have expanded their rankings this year to 20 teams in each division.
• UW Milwaukee is opening its season Friday at Tennessee .  Also don't forget to vote for their 20th anniversary team.  
• Here is a good editorial on why they should bring varsity baseball back to UW Eau Claire. 
• A newspaper in Tennessee says It may be the best time ever to be a Cheesehead.    I couldn't agree more.
• Appleton Native Trent Whitcomb has commited  to play at Division 1 Eastern Illinois next year.  
• The Timber Rattlers box office manager was one of the Super Bowl ticket holders that didn't get a seat in the game.  They are offering tickets to the  other displaced fans. 

Cody Hanke

photo by waow

Cody has made the All State Basketball , All State Baseball, and All Region Football teams.  His Marathon High School basketball team is currently ranked 3rd in Division 4.  Marathon has to be a favorite to return to state in baseball this year too.  This YouTube clip shows a Leader Telegram interview with Cody at state last year.  He hasn't committed to a college or a sport yet.  I have seen him mentioned in a bunch of blog posts and on different baseball forums.  I think he has a good chance of being drafted early in the June MLB draft if he continues to dominate this spring.  Tall lefties always seem to be in demand.

Wanderings

• New Berlin West is hosting baseball clinics on March 20 and March 27 for grades K-8.
• Northwest Wisconsin Youth and HS baseball clinic  featuring Mark Hallberg will be in Barron on February 26th for grades 5-12.
• The Milwaukee Brewers have released their promotional schedule.  Im not sure what I would like more, the Axford or Greinke bobble. 
•  Have you always wanted to see the Klement's Racing Sausages in person?  Now you don't have to go all the way to Miller Park.  The La Crosse Loggers have signed a deal with Klements and the sausages will be making a couple appearances at Copeland Park.
• The Badger Herald ran an article last year about bringing varsity baseball back to UW Madison. 
• Shaun Marcum signed for $3.95 million  and avoids arbitration.

Jordan Jess

Jordan Jess from Ripon High School is another one to watch this spring.  He played for WAS baseball in 2005 before joining the  Wisconsin Rivercats in 2006 and  finishing up with the Rays.  He also played last summer for the Reds Midwest Scout Team and was named top hitter in Wisconsin American Legion.  He is headed to  play at the University of Minnesota next fall. 

Milwaukee Area Technical College

Frank Cimorelli is the head baseball coach at Milwaukee Area Technical College.  Here is my interview with him.

BAW:  What tips do you have for youth ballplayers hoping to play college ball someday?

Frank:   I encourage all youth players to just get out and play whether it's in the backyard or with select teams. The more you get out there and play,the more fun you have the better your skill set will get. If the players aren't having fun they won't continue to play and by the time they get into high school they'll be finished with baseball. All players will develop at their own pace. Sometimes the best players at 12 aren't the best at 16 so you really want to encourage them to stick with it and with some determination they will get better.


BAW:  How many all star tournaments do you scout each summer?

Frank:   My coaches and I try to attend atleast a couple showcases a year in WI and northern IL. Our conf. and Region is based in IL. and I think it's important to our program for high school players to know we are out there.

BAW:   Do you have any players lined up to play in the Northwoods League this summer?

Frank:   We do not have any players lined up for the Northwoods League. but have had some success in placing players in other college summer leagues. For players interested in going to a summer league the added exp. will only help in their continued growth as players. Our top priority is to help players improve to the point where after 2 seasons with us they will attract enough attention to receive scholarship money to 4yr schools.

BAW:   Does anybody on your team have a chance to get drafted this summer?

Frank:   We don't have any players this yr. who have a chance to get drafted but each season we get better players and at some point are hopeful that we will have a player advanced enough to attract attention from professional scouts. I played JUCO baseball myself so I know the opportunity it offers. Can you get better sitting and the bench at a 4yr school for 2 or 3 yrs.,sure but in my opinion getting on the field right away and getting game exp. is much more beneficial. If I didn't have the JUCO exp. I'm not sure I would have progressed enough at a 4yr school to get drafted as a junior,play professionally and pitch in the major leagues. When using up eligibility sitting on the bench those are innings and at bats I would have never gotten back and the confidence gained probably would have been put on hold. I was a player who coming out of HS had 0 scholarship offers and by the end of my soph yr at a JUCO knew that someday I had a very good chance at getting drafted. While I don't expect this to happen to all the players that play for me there is a good chance they may improve enough after 2 yrs to get a scholarship and continue their education and play 2 more yrs of baseball.

Brendon Hayden

Brendon Hayden is from Twin Lakes, WI and attends Wilmot Union High School.  He has a good chance to be among the first players from Wisconsin drafted this summer.  He has committed to attend Virginia Tech in the fall.  He has played for the Hitters Baseball team out of Racine and was the only Wisconsin player in last years Area Code Games.  There is a slideshow of him on YouTube.  And a profile on Amateur Baseball Report. 

Links to check out

The Timber Rattlers released their 2011 Promotion Schedule.  Radio announcer Chris Mehring is doing a presentation at UW-Fox Valley on the History of baseball in Appleton.  Nobody from Wisconsin made the Louisville Slugger Preseason High School All American Team.  Some former Brewers helped UW-Lacrosse keep its baseball program going.  Greg Reinhard did an interview with Loud Mom in the Stands. 

Todays Links

On Milwaukee has their all time team of Wisconsin born players.  JS Online did a similar list last winter.  Concordia University is trying to raise funds for a new ballpark.  I hope they get it done.  The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers are putting up new episodes of The Offseason every Thursday.  I love having an in-state farm team for the Brewers.  Amateur Baseball Report  is having their Top 30 showcase in Racine on February 12th.  If you want to find all your Brewers news in one place then check out the Daily Mug at BrewCrewBall.