Top Relief Pitcher

You won't get an argument from me. I'm a lifelong Giants fan, and he's one of the best closers the Giants have ever had, right up there with Robb Nen and Rod Beck.

He's a good relief pitcher. That has had a good year.

TR,

What were your impressions of him back then? Was he a can't miss or are your surprised how he turned out? Thanks.

Mark

I did not see him as a not miss prospect back them

Saw him as a pro prospect but never expected him to be what he is now

As a Life Time Dodgers fan, I don't make it a habit to cheer for that "Battery Chucking" team in Nor Cal! BUT...I will admit that I enjoy watching Wilson pitch. With that haircut and his tats, he'd be the 21st century "Wild Thing" of the MLB if he changed his number to 99 and wore those goofy glasses...

quote:

Yes--players from the Northeast can succeed

Succeeding from the northeast isn't that surprising these days. What's happening now ( at least in our area)is the current and future graduating classes will have players that have played 7-8 years in competitive and select leagues. Now these kids are in high school and add in the baseball academies and indoor facilities that can field winter leagues in our area give kids more time to train, have more opportunities to train with professional coaches year round resulting in more talented players from the area that can compete with their peers from the region and the nation as well. Also, there's far more exposure for players that wasn't there a few years ago.

I agree 100% with you zomby. A lot has changed in the Northeast baseball world in the past 5-10 years.

The college recruiters and pro scouts have noticed this change also and they are up here year around also attending college and pro "instructional" camps.

i think over the years the draft has the northeast as a pitcher friendly area.no overuse, strong kids etc. every year a few more position players get drafted that's a great thing.

Baseball is very alive and strong in the northeast. Despite having a down sophmore year Rick Porcello (NJ) for the Tigers had an unreal rookie year and flew through the minors. He was topping out at 98+ in high school. And what about Jason Knapp (NJ) 6'4 RHP throwing 97 when he was 17 yrs old. He was traded in the Cliff Lee deal, that shows you how much they think of him. These are just two off the top of my head but I'm sure there are many many more.

We have known for quite awhile about the talent in the northeast and other cold weather climates. Too many from the northeast to mention them all, but here are some good ones that we saw as high school players over the past few years. There are many others!

Chris Lubanski
Jeff Allison
Dellin Betances
Chad Billingsley
Mark Rogers
Neil Walker
Chris Lambert
Craig Hansen
Bill Rowell
Matt Antonelli
Devin Mesoraco
Rick Porcello
Todd Frazier
Pedro Alvarez
Shooter Hunt
Ryan Flaherty
Mike Trout
Mike Belfiore
Matt Harvey
Cito Culver
Anthony Ranaudo
Jesse Biddle
Trevor Reckling
Jason Knapp

That Miller kid from NJ aint too shabby either. I think his dad posts here from time to time. There are great players from coast to coast, border to border. The people who don't think the NE has some outstanding players simply dont know their baseball. I dont know who those people are though. I have not met any of them here.

He is one of our favorites. In Ft Myers he pitched one of the very best games we ever saw by a high school pitcher.

Quinton Miller

PG you had Ryan Kalish and Tim Fedroff at events also.

quote:

Originally posted by PGStaff:
He is one of our favorites. In Ft Myers he pitched one of the very best games we ever saw by a high school pitcher.

Very kind words PG and Coach May, any praise from either of you is worth its weight in gold in my book. CM, still wish I was hanging out with you down the first base line at Boshamer Stadium. Good luck to the boy this year.

PG is right, there are so many other players than could be mentioned from the NE that are on par with anyone else in the country (Sean Doolittle and Dan Grovatt come to mind as two guys that live in the same community as I do)

Having lived in both California and New Jersey, when people ask me the difference in baseball players from the two states... I generally reply that the best baseball players in the Northeast are as good as anywhere in the country... the other states may just be blessed with a few more of them.

quote:

Originally posted by TRhit:
We are always talking about "who is who" so I thought I would mention BRIAN WILSON, Londonderry NH who is on the verge of breaking the SF Giants record for saves and currently leads the majors with 47 saves and many now in the pressure cooker of a NL Western Conference pennant race.

Wilson has been tremendous this season. 92 strikeouts in only 73 innings...wow!

Stu