Félix Hernández

In honor of the spectacular start he is having (in progress) for the Mariners tonight against the Red Sox, here is some more on one of the best young pitchers in baseball, Félix Hernández.Félix Abraham Hernández (born April 8, 1986 in Valencia, Venezuela) is a baseball starting pitcher for the Seattle Mariners. He is already considered the Mariners' top pitcher at only 21 years of age. Highly touted as a prospect, he is widely considered to have the potential to turn into one of the best pitchers in baseball.

Hernández throws a fastball that has been clocked as high as 100 mph, along with a curve and a changeup. All three are considered potential strikeout pitches. He also possesses an equally deadly slider that the team rarely allows him to use, out of concern that it might injure his arm.

Hernández has been given the nickname King Felix, a title that matches the moniker of NBA phenom LeBron James. The USS Mariner weblog invented the nickname in July 2003, when Hernández was just starting out in the minor leagues.

Hernández was named the Mariners' minor league pitcher of the year in 2004, a season that also saw him make an appearance in the Futures Game. He started with Inland Empire in the California League, before being promoted to Double-A San Antonio, and finished a combined 14-4 with a 2.95 ERA and 172 strikeouts in 149 1/3 innings pitched.

At the beginning of in 2005, Baseball America listed him as the No. 1 pitching prospect in baseball and No. 2 overall behind Delmon Young. Hernández continued his success in 2005 with the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers in the Pacific Coast League, posting a 9-4 record with a league-leading 2.25 ERA and 100 strikeouts in just 88 innings. He was selected for the Triple-A All-Star Game but did not participate as he spent a month on the disabled list with shoulder bursitis. He was also named PCL Rookie of the Year and Pitcher of the Year.Soon after returning from injury, Hernández was called up to the major leagues by the Mariners. He made his debut on August 4, 2005, in a 3-1 loss in a road game against the Detroit Tigers. At 19 years, 118 days, he was the youngest pitcher to appear in the major leagues since José Rijo in 1984. Hernández earned his first major league win in his next outing on August 9, 2005, pitching eight shutout innings in a 1-0 victory at home over the Minnesota Twins.

For his first full year in the major leagues (2006), Hernández arrived in spring training out of shape and had his preparation for the season interrupted by shin splints. He recovered in time to begin the season in the starting rotation, where he sometimes struggled but occasionally showed flashes of the potential that had generated such hype. His achievements included a few more personal milestones. He threw his first career complete game on June 11, beating the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim by a score of 6-2.

Based on his improved condition and a successful spring training, the Mariners indicated that in 2007 they would no longer limit the number of innings Hernández could pitch, Hernández won the honor of being named the team's Opening Day starter. He became the youngest pitcher chosen for this assignment since Dwight Gooden in 1985.


TomC

ColbyPants on MySpace!

Just thought I would mention, to my readers with MySpace accounts, feel free to visit my page at:

http://www.myspace.com/colbypants

I would love to hear from you there as well!

TomC

Jim Beam Black

Name (full): Jim Beam Black Sour Mash Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Aged 8 Years

Proof: 86

Price: $16.90 @ Williams County State Store, Bryan OH.

Bottle: Same as the Jim Beam White Bottle, a tall rectangular bottle with short ribbed neck. Black Label w/ white and bronzed print. The top line reads "the worlds finest bourbon". there is also a red print facsimile of a wax seal bearing a white B front and center on the label. Distilled and bottled at the James B. Beam Distilling Co.

Color: Like the brown of a beer bottle with a deep red tinge. Kinda what bourbon in the movies looks like.

Nose: Sweet and Spicy at the same time (my GF said it smelled quite distinctly of Catsup to her), then an almost tangible burnt sugar/Charcoal,then white pepper fading into a Menthol/Medicinal smell.

Taste: mint , dark cherry, peaches. Not nearly as complex as the nose might imply.

Finish:Grainy and narrow, quite short sharply rye though.

Mouth feel: Menthol, thin, shallow, furry, chewy (like chewing the head of a flower).


Conclusions: I think that to me, the Jim Beam marketing guys are their own downfall. The fact that the brand is SOOOOOOOOO omnipresent seems to raise unreasonable expectations about the products in my mind (if so many people like this stuff than it must be good!!!). But I just don't. I dunno why, I just don't. Granted, this black label offering is lightyears ahead of the White Shite, but its just good to me. Not Great, not really good, just good. I'm still trying to keep an open mind about Knob Creek but I have tried Jim Green White & Black, and just recently Basil Haydens & Bakers, and have been underwhelmed by them all. Maybe there is an underlying distillery character that i don't like, but they never seem to live up to the hype.



overall a "good" bourbon, but not worth the money.


TomC

Your Indians of . . . .Milwaukee?

(Lots of snow in Cleveland this weekend.)(Yeah , there isn't gonna be baseball played here soon.)(Fausto Carmona was holding out hope this weekend. No Dice.)(One of the great Milwaukee fans.)(Kelly Shoppach sitting in his Milwaukee "home" dugout before Mondays game.)(The National Anthem Under the Dome in Milwaukee.)(The Indians Rally Drummer dude made the trip. So did the Mascot, Slider, not pictured.)

This just had to be mentioned (Though I am a Red Sox fan first and foremost, I do live in Ohio now, and see my share of Indians and Reds broadcasts). After having their entire first 4 game series of the season against Seattle be cancelled by snow, more inclement weather was forecast on Monday. Because of that reason, the Indians series against Anaheim was/will be played in Milwaukee (where they have a dome}. Thats right, on Monday night the Indians played their home opener, IN MILWAUKEE! Amazingly, on one days notice, there were 19,031 fans that showed for the game.

"I thought it would be like five, maybe 500," Indians Closer Joe Borowski said. "I thought it would be like an American Legion game. I mean, come on, less than 24 hours' notice? I didn't think anyone would be here."

"I thought maybe there would be like 2,000 fans," reliever Roberto Hernandez said. "But the people from Milwaukee showed a lot. It felt like a regular game out there tonight."

Credit needs to go to the fans for this. They looked like they were having a lot of fun. They even did the "Slo-Mo Wave" a tradition at Wisconsin Badger Football games, much to the amusement of the teams players. This shows that Milwaukee is a hell of a baseball town and this should be trumpeted throughout the league. Way to go guys!

TomC

PS the Indians won Mondays game, 7-6.

Tuesday's Home Opener!

(Red Sox are quite The Multicultural Team this year.)

(Dunkin' Donuts Sign Says "Welcome Fenway".)(Johnny Pesky and The '67 Sox were honored)

(J.D. Drew hit his first Red Sox Home Run.)(Jason Varitek had a good day.)

With a great combination of offense and pitching, the Red Sox dominated in their home opener, defeating the Seattle Mariners 14-3. Josh Beckett followed up his good first outing in Kansas City with an even better one in Boston, his line being the following:

7IP 2H 1ER 0BB 8K

More than good enough to pick up his second win of the young season. On top of that several of the players had great offensive days as well, highlighted by J.D.Drew's first home run with the Red Sox, a two run shot. Jason Varitek (3-4, 2B, 3 RBI) also had himself quite a day.

Hopefully they can keep the momentum going tomorrow at the much anticipated home start of Daisuke Matsuzaka, who will face off against the Mariners much bally-hooed young starter Felix Hernandez.


GO SOX!

TomC