2nd Appearance

Trivia...

2005 Mickey Mantle Regional Championship

DBAT vs. Mustangs

Britton, Zach (WP) Kershaw, Clayton (SV)

DBAT Advanced to Mickey Mantle World Series

Players on that roster playing professional baseball today...

Zach Britton - Baltimore Orioles
Clayton Kershaw - Los Angeles Dodgers
Shawn Tolleson - Los Angeles Dodgers (A)
Matt Sulentic - Oakland A's (AA)
Justin Howard - Pittsburg Pirates (A)

That's a great story, Ken! Thanks for sharing. Kinda miss the old DBAT vs. Mustang matchups. Goodluck to Zach and all the former DBAT (& Mustang players).

Ken- Think Zach wld of been a little too old to be on a 2005 Mickey Mantle team... come to think about it.. Sulentic should of been too old too... but Sulentic didn't play for the Cats for three years so I wouldn't know...

Also, Trivia always ends with a question mark.

HRKB- I kinda prefer the days of Dallas Mustangs vs Adair Braves... but that's just me....

quote:

Originally posted by FortWorthCats:
Ken- Think Zach wld of been a little too old to be on a 2005 Mickey Mantle team... come to think about it.. Sulentic should of been too old too... but Sulentic didn't play for the Cats for three years so I wouldn't know...

Also, Trivia always ends with a question mark.

HRKB- I kinda prefer the days of Dallas Mustangs vs Adair Braves... but that's just me....

Your probably right.

2005 might have been too recent... I recall the game announcer saying Britton was a 2006 graduate so I tried to line it all up.

I'll look up the year later.

Yeah, Sulentic was on the same roster so 2005 would be wrong for him too I guess. Didn't think he played for the Cats. Always wanted to make those AABC Championship runs I guess.

As for the punctuation, I just thought question marks came after questions.

You seem a little frisky FWC. What's on your mind?

Ken,

2004 was Zach's year in the Mickey Mantle.

quote:

Originally posted by txbball14:
Ken,

2004 was Zach's year in the Mickey Mantle.

Thank you. I've got some pictures at home that I'll see if I can find.

Can I post em' FWC?

Notice the question mark reqards,

Checked my old books from the fall of 2004. There was a showcase game at Oklahoma State when our Dbat team ran out three pitchers named Walden, Kershaw & Britton. Not a bad slate.

Gut, they say the memory is the second thing to go....

quote:

Originally posted by Dallas Knights GM:


Gut, they say the memory is the second thing to go....

I would ask what the first thing is but I don't want to use up all my question marks.

Might have some more trivia!

Explanation point regards,

Hey Fuqua... yeah I just check my books from summer 2004, and summer 2005 and fall 2005 and saw Britton's name... and found his BBI contracts... if I put the clues together, it just looks like yall tried to snag him that fall of 2004 and bring him over to the dark side... just he came back

Talk about nice rosters... BBI contracts for summer 2001:

LHP Bobby Livingston
Lubbock Trinity, MLB Debut 4-5-06

LHP Zach Duke
Waco Midway, MLB Debut 7-2-05

LHP Trey Taylor
Mansfield (2nd round draft pick, Rockies)

SS/OF Hunter Pence
Arlington, MLB 4-28-07

and sophomore on that team:
RHP Lance Broadway
Waxahachie, MLB 9-7-07

**notable on that team, the glue, Jonathan Bryant, current head coach at Arl Grace Prep

too bad Duke and Livingston never stepped on field again after draft...

think Sam will have those same issues with the two big boys Mustangs have this summer... oh hang on, who gets the best players now for Mustangs???

quote:

Originally posted by FortWorthCats:
Hey Fuqua... yeah I just check my books from summer 2004, and summer 2005 and fall 2005 and saw Britton's name... and found his BBI contracts... if I put the clues together, it just looks like yall tried to snag him that fall of 2004 and bring him over to the dark side... just he came back

think Sam will have those same issues with the two big boys Mustangs have this summer... oh hang on, who gets the best players now for Mustangs???

I knew it was in there...it was just a matter of time.

Personally, the roster for any of the players mentioned is really not important to me. What is important to me are the memories and the relationshis I share with these kids and their families.

If you want to post your billboard up trying to prove something with Zach and his time with the Cats...more power to you.

I simply thought it was a neat little side note, to share a moment in time, when two 16 year old kids (now both big leaguers) pitched in the same game.

It did make me feel good when Mr. Britton texted me to let me know of Zach's good fortune. I'm sure you were on the call list too. So rejoice FWC...it's about the kids and their families...not really about what the front of their jersey's read years ago.

Here is a picture I found...

The thing that hits home most of all about this picture is you will see a #5 shown in the picture. A once 16 year old boy is now coaching himself. In fact, he helped me last summer. There is lots like him now, and that's what makes memories all worth it.

The guy presenting the trophy and World Series package in the first picture is Larry Turner. Larry coaches at Owasso where another player I know currently plays. Ain't baseball funny?

Sorry for the format...all I got...but I save them all.



I can still remember all the names...

Top row, left to right...

Chris Edlestein (Hitting coach)
Jordan Knight
Clayton Kershaw (LA Dodgers)
Fielding Pittman
Shawn Tolleson (LA Dodgers A)
Justin Walker
Zach Britton (Baltimore Orioles)
Justin Howard (Pittsburg Pirates A)
Yours truely 50 lbs. ago.

Bottom Row, left to right...

Thomas Staley
Rance Melton
Matt Sulentic (Oakland A's AA)
Austin Knight
Chance Choat

You nailed it Aggie... that's what the Cats are about. We go out and find players that are big names, draw the ML scouts, let them play for free so we can have bragging rights down the road.

Like your Fightin' Texas Aggie Jose Duran, 2008 Big XII Player of The Year, ... after he spent two years with the great Coach Harp at North Central.

Bruce definetely cares more about making money than he does building relationships with kids and parents. Its not just about who makes the bigs, or who was player of the year. Its about giving young men the opportunity to do something they love. FW CATS are on the downward because of poor management and coaching. The days are numbered for them.

Bambino… this original discussion was giving a shout-out to a great young player and his family…

I will let it go as it is spiraling downward... but couldn’t let your silly, ignorant post go… so this will be my last response in this discussion…

Anyone who has known me or the Fort Worth Cats, for any length of time, know we are far from doing this for the money (this is first year we’ve ever had two 15u teams and only second year to ever have two 17u teams – in 23 summers)….

So here are your facts….

POOR MGMT: We are raking our players over the coals… why our seniors even come back is beyond me…. After all, we charge them $775.00 per player. We only provide, for that fee, a summer full of baseball each week, two hats, two jerseys, three t-shirt tops, two pair of pants – yes they have to pay for travel, two socks, and a belt. They get to use the $4 million dollar La Grave Field for their home field. They can hit/workout at an 8,000 sq ft indoor facility 12 months a year, anytime they want, for no additional cost. The use of the indoor facility remains free to our Alum as long as they are still playing baseball (college/pro).

POOR COACHING: Not sure when our coaching took a downward slide, the only new coaches we have added to fall teams or summer teams over about the last five years are:

Fall: Colt Hynes (North Central/Texas Tech/Padres), Jose Duran (North Central, Texas A&M, Padres), and German Duran (TCU, Weatherford College, Rangers, Astros, Major League debut 2008).

Summer: Chuck Carter (Texas A&M CC, FW Cats [pro], Asst Coach LD Bell), Terence Green (Texas Wesleyan, FW Cats [pro], team captain for five years with Cats, hitting coach for Cats, Asst Coach FW Country day), Brian Reagan (drafted out of HS, All American at San Jac [drafted again]/UT Arlington [drafted again], Mariners, Astros), Rick Gustafson (the name is known by itself/coached for great baseball guys; John Fuqua, Corey Thorton/Sam Carpenter) and Geno Petralli (20+ years in big leagues, 12 at the Major League level).

All of these guys are great people….

And yes, our days are numbered; we have been at this for 23 summers and counting 400+ players thru their senior year with us, 100% attended college on scholarship, no matter the size of the college- athletic or academic….

quote:

Originally posted by FortWorthCats:


So here are you facts...

400+ players thru their senior year with us, 100% attended college on scholarship, no matter the size of the college- athletic or academic….

Do I read this correctly?

If a player starts and finishes with the program through senior year, 100% of those Cats players attend college on a scholarship?

What is the starting age?

You might want to drop that to 98% because I personally know two players that did not get a baseball scholarship that played for the cats in the past three years. Don't make me name names...... Come-on test it... 98% still unreal

I played with Cody Moore and Thomas Lance in 1994.

Unless Brookharvard and DCCCD schools were giving scholarships I didn't know about, those are 2 more.

96% still ain't bad regards,

Caveat Emptor....That is worth repeating. If it sounds too good to be true...run the other way!

"athletic or academic"...so you are responsible for Academic scholarships as well????

Add quite a few more to your percentage gap Ken btw.