The Grumpy Biscuit

Dr.Miraculous welcomes you to the blog - its new here but not new

Lets start with...

BISCUITS! 

Haha yes, we might be in line to talk about the team, since that is the focus of this blog.

There is only one former Biscuit in the World Series, of course thats Delmon Young, pictured here in his butter-and-blue #16 home whites. (a pair of former Biscuits, Jean Machi and Darrin Downs both made contributions to the Giants and Tigers, respectively, but failed to make the postseason roster)

Delmon, a Birmingham native, wasn't exactly embraced by the local fans in the teams first season when he was here with Joey Gathright and Scott Kazmir. Frankly Delmon didnt do much to encourage a warm and fuzzy relationship with the fans, he seemed sullen and prone to sulk while he was a Biscuit. His bat-throwing incident cemented local sentiment, even tho it took place after he was promoted to Durham. It was as though 'SkitFans thought it justified their apprehension, they felt they had judged his character properly and he was a bad apple.


In fact the bad apple, or Bad Biscuit as the case may be, was of course Elijah Dukes who has been in and out of trouble for the better part of a decade after his time here.

Delmon has moved on and progressed as player as well as staying out of trouble enough to be known around the league for the balls his bat makes contact with instead of the umpires. But I thought the first post of the new blog should be dedicated to the original Grumpy Biscuit: Delmon Young.



As far as great hitters, there are quite a few players who have graced the pitch at Riverwalk on their way to instilling fear in major league pitchers. Prince Fielder was a BayBear in '04, Miggy Cabrera wore the smiling catfish of the Mudcats. There have been a host of great ballplayers come thru and for the most part they have pounded us. Votto, Braun, Giancarlo Stanton, Jay Bruce, man have we had our balls knocked out of the park by some big names!

Which leads us to....

HISTORY LESSON

One of the things I would like to include in this blog is a focus on the history of Montgomery in a baseball sense. Just as Votto and Fielder have driven balls over the wall in the recent years, so have the biggest sluggers in the game shown their skills in our fair city.

Hammerin Hank Aaron - he played Double-AA ball in the Southern League (south atlantic at the time), and in his book "I Had A Hammer" he says flat out that he hated our city for its racist reputation. I felt that was a strong sentiment, but it certainly explains why I have only heard of him coming here on one or two other occasions.

In his minor league days, Hank was segregated from his white teammates and had to room seperately along with his black teammates. Hank mentions in his book that one of the only cities in the south that he could find a hotel room was Montgomery, as well as get a haircut from a black barber. Hank stayed on High Street at the Ben Moore hotel, which still stands and still has a barber shop attached. Its a proud brick building with glass tiles on the first floor and could easily anchor a neighborhood that is on the verge of a comeback. Every time I go by it I picture a young Hank Aaron coming out on the way to a game with a fresh haircut.

I found it odd that Henry would find amenities here that he wouldnt see again until he got to big-league cities and still used the word "hate" to illustrate his feelings for Montgomery. I found it hurtful that he would harbor such a grudge and I hope that someday he can find it in his heart to forgive us our past and accept us for our efforts to move forward. We certainly arent the same place we were ten years ago, much less fifty, sixty a hundred or more.

I have yet to go thru the archives to learn how Hank played here, but I will put it on the agenda for future research. It cant be great for the home team, we lost 90 games in 1953 and Bad Henry's Jaxville team won more than we lost! 1953 South Atlantic league - Baseball reference

WORLD SERIES

My thoughts on Verlander getting beat  - I shoulda posted a couple days earlier, but I would point out that Justin didnt win 32 games, so he was vulnerable to a loss in a big game. He can put too much pressure on himself and end up overthrowing.

No, I would not have predicted Panda Sandoval hitting three homers but I loved it almost as much as seeing Lincecum throw strikes.

My prediction is Giants in five, but if it goes more than that the Tigers have the edge.

Fantasy Baseball 

Shohei Otani was selected by the Nippon Ham Fighters. That means it will be at least mid-way through spring training before he can sign with an american team, as he has expressed an interest in doing. Hard to say how it will work out, as there is a long time before that date and the Japanese team has exclusive rights to him until then, and can try to convince him to sign. Yes, he probably is that good even for a high school kid.
Otani is coveted by the Dodgers and RedSox and Rangers, as well as other unnamed mlb teams, but would probably have to work his way up from rookie ball thru the minors over the next few years.

Odd that the inaugural post for fantasy baseball here is all Japan ball. Oh well, ganbatte! Hai!

Biscuit notes

Former 'Skit Henry Wrigley hit a third homer this week in the Venezuelan Baseball League, just two off the pace for the league lead.

Yesterday former 'Skit Tim Beckham was 4 for 5 with a double, a triple, 4 RBI and 2 runs scored.