Different Guys, Same Old Story

I caught a glimpse of the new look TinCaps, post All-Star break, on Saturday.

Got to say, not a lot has really changed.

I'll admit that I was a little bit leery when I heard that Sawyer Carroll, James Darnell, Matt Clark and Nick Schmidt were promoted. The team lost their best source of power in Clark, a guy that was leading the minors in walks and was hitting .330 (Darnell), another guy who was hitting above .300, playing great defense in the outfield and went 4-4 in the All-Star game (Carroll), and an undefeated pitcher who really started to hit his stride before the break (Schmidt).

However, the Padres organization did the team a solid in demoting Justin Baum and Yefri Carvajal from Lake Elsinore. These are two very talented guys who will now get solid playing time, as they were benchwarmers in California. Baum has stepped into Darnell's place at third base magically, hitting over .400 in his first few games as a TinCap, and hitting an absolute bomb on Saturday that cleared everybody in left field, hit the concourse and bounced over the second fence into the big pit behind the field. Plus, if he can make a throw to first, he will be an upgrade over Darnell's Knoblauch arm (sorry James.)

I want to address the team's power. Let's start by looking at all the guys who have hit 10 homeruns in a season since the Wizards became affiliated with the San Diego Padres:

2008 (1)

Felix Carrasco-16

2007 (2)

Jeremy Hunt-13

Sam Carter-12

2006 (4)

Daryl Jones-12

Will Venable-11

Kyle Blanks-10

Seth Johnson-10

2005 (4)

Lachlan Dale-12

Matt Lauderdale-10

Sean Kazmar-10

Colt Morton-10

2004 (2)

Jordan Pickens-17

Fernando Valenzuela-11

2003 (1)

LJ Biernbaum-10

2002 (4)

Jon Benick-15

Greg Sain-13

Joseph Hastings-11

Nick Trzesniak-10

2001 (3)

John Woodward-15

Kevin Reese-13

Craig Thompson-10

2000 (3)

Troy Schader-13

Vince Faison-12

Shawn Garrett-10

1999 (1)

Josh Loggins-14

That's 10 years and 25 seasons of 10+ HR's total, a 2.5 per year average, with 9 of those seasons at 10 exactly. Now let's look at this year, so far.

Matt Clark had 11 by the All-Star Break, and had a real shot at 20 if he had not gotten promoted. Blake Tekotte, the LEADOFF hitter, has 9. Jaff Decker has 8, and he was not with the team the first few weeks of the season and has been injured for the last few weeks. James Darnell had 7 before he got promoted, while Sawyer Carroll had 5 before he got promoted.

I'll say Tekotte and Decker are locks to get over 10 (well past it, I believe). That's three 10+ guys already. I think Darnell would have been a lock as well if he had not gotten promoted and Carroll had an outside chance. That could put the number to five.

Daniel Robertson has 5 and is smoking the ball now, and power prospect Allan Dykstra had a horrible first half and sits at 4 right now, and if he can heat up, he has an outside shot to get there. That could have been 7 guys with 10+ HR's. The team also leads the MWL with 61 total. Why the power surge?

I think part of it is that these guys are talented (Darnell and Decker were top 10 organizational prospects coming into the year according to Baseball America, as is Dykstra), but the team has had talented guys before who didn't produce like this. Kyle Blanks is the best power prospect in the organization and he only got to 10 exactly. I think it's more than talent.

I have a theory, and it has nothing to do with the way the ballpark plays. Both the new stadium and the old are about 330 down the LF line (PF is actually 336), 400 to center, and while the new stadium is 318 down right while MS is 330, MS had an extremely short porch and PF has a wall that's upwards of 20 feet. The gaps are about the same as well. The dimensions aren't causing the surge. I think that Memorial Stadium and Parkview Field play about the same under normal conditions.

However, this year isn't being played under normal conditions. That's what different. Think about it a second. This new field is supposedly one of the best in all of minor league baseball, not just the MWL. If you're a TinCap player, wouldn't you feel a little different playing at home? Other than Fifth Third Field in Dayton (which I've heard is a fantastic ballpark), Parkview Field is the class of the league.

I don't want to make any ignorant statements, and I'm not saying that the other stadiums of the MWL are bad, but I have a feeling that if you gave the players some truth serum, they would tell you that playing in Fort Wayne at Parkview Field is just different experience that really changes their play, in a good way.

Another part of the home field advantage in the fans. Historically, the Wizards had fantastic attendance numbers at the old stadium, and with the new stadium and a full capacity of about 1000 more seats, plus the excitement level being jacked up because it's a whole new experience, the fans can really have an impact on these guys, as opposed to playing on the road where attendance can be much less.

All of these factors can come together and create some real magic. It's showing.

The last thing I want to tackle is the situation with Allan Dykstra. Coming into the year, I think most people around the Padres organization and baseball fans who knew about him thought he could put up some real good power numbers. He was a first round pick last year, out of Wake Forest, and has a lot of ability. He came into the season as the number 8 prospect in the organization, according to Baseball America? So why hasn't he produced, especially when a lot of guys around him have?

Once again, I have a theory. I think the answers lies in the question (partly), and for some other reasons. I looked up Dykstra's Wikipedia entry a few weeks back, and I noticed something interesting. There's a big picture of him that shows after he got signed, the Padres sent him to HIGH A Lake Elsinore last year to finish the season.

I'll bet you anything that Dykstra expected to AT LEAST start the year in California (where he's from), or even start in Double-A, but instead, the Padres told him he was going to Low Class A in Northeast Indiana. That had to frustrate him a little bit.

Then, once he got to Fort Wayne, he learned he was in a de facto time share at first base with Matt Clark, a player touted much less than Dykstra. Most people would look at that situation and think Dykstra could have confronted it in two different ways. One, he could've seen it as a real challenge and seized what was rightfully his, or he could sulk and play like he has. I don't think that's the case. I think something else happened.

As everyone around Fort Wayne knows, it was real cold to start the season off in early April. I think Dykstra might not have been used to that, as he is from California and played college in North Carolina, a beautiful coastal state, and it threw his production off a little bit. Then, on the other hand, Matt Clark started playing better and better as the season progressed, and Dykstra couldn't get out of his funk.

That has to be tough on a guy. Here's this supposedly lesser player who is outplaying you by leaps and bounds, how do you react? From what I know, Dykstra hasn't said anything to make him look like a bad sport, I just think it might be a combination of him adjusting to wooden bats and normal struggles a 22 year old hitter has.

Another thing with Dykstra bothers me. I've seen him play enough to notice that his swing is a little off. Do you remember when in Little League, whenever you got really jammed on a pitch and you'd bring your hands in really close to your body and have to resort to this awkward swing that was all wrists? That's what every Dykstra swing looks like to me lately, even on ones he hits to left field. I've watched some
clips of him hitting BP and some in-game action from earlier this year and last year, and I can kinda sorta see the same swing, so maybe that's just his natural swing, but it just doesn't look like what I would think a power hitter's swing would be.

I want it on the record that everything from this post is pure speculation, especially the Dykstra stuff, and I'm not trying to judge things at all. So please, don't go all Ken Rosenthal on me.

Well, after this manifesto, I probably won't have anything good to comment on for a while, but if my beautiful mind stays sharp and something good pops up, I'll let you 90+ strong guys be the first to know.

Stay classy, Fort Wayne.

Deliverance

I was not into actual Transformer toys when I was a kid, so I was not freaking out to see the first movie when it came out. Thinking back, I'm not even sure I saw it in theaters. But whenever I did see it first, I was hooked.

It was exactly what it was supposed to be: an action movie that provides some funny moments, good looking people, cool-looking robots, and big explosions. It's not Academy Award worthy, but it delivers.

Revenge of The Fallen does as well.

Yes, the movie is probably too long. The first one was too. One of the parts of the movie I didn't like was that because of the success of number one, the filmmakers decided to make this movie on a little grander scale and branched out to other countries, namely Egypt, France and times in 17,000 BC. While this did a good job of advancing the story, it got real confusing at times as to what you were watching. There were a lot of battle scenes, which were exciting to watch, but could have been cut back on time.

Another confusing aspect to me was the purpose of Sam Witwicky's roommate at college. When I was listening to him explain his website, I could not totally grasp what its purpose was. It sounded like it was about alien conspiracies, but then he went into this thing on kitten calendars, and then he had a "crew" finding videos online and trying to get credit for them first or something like that. Maybe I'm ignorant, but until I see the movie again and I can focus in, someone has to explain what this was about.

However, like I've said before, what makes a movie good to me is how I feel when leaving the theater, or room, or wherever I saw the film. This film leaves you with "I want to kill some big freaking robots!".

Hot Rod, a movie I just half-watched, gives you the "Wow, I'm glad I got that free from the library". Different feeling.

It seems to me that sometimes "professional" movie critics take the job too seriously. They'll look into things like production values, chemistry on screen between actors, and other things like that. Yes, theres an audience for those things, but the bottom line is, did you enjoy the movie? Would you watch it again?

I hate to go in another direction here, but this is the problem with the Academy Awards. I can't tell you how many of these so-called "great" movies I've tried to watch and haven't been able to finish. Yeah, there's great acting in them. Yeah, there's drama. Yeah, there's twists and turns. Yeah, Meryl Streep is in it.

Who cares? Would you ever watch "Revolutionary Road" twice?

Do you want see Mickey Rourke die at the end of the Wrestler again? (That was my interpretation).

My theory is everyone needs to relax: it's only a movie. Just entertain me.

The bottom line is, you're going to feel good (maybe tired), after you see Transformers 2.

It's exactly what you expected.

My streak of fantastic movies ended, but I'll say I went 1 for 4 instead of 3 for 4 at the plate last night.

Rating: 3 stars

Note: just to clarify on movie ratings, my system is not exactly balanced. For example, a jump from 2 stars to 2 ½ stars is smaller than the jump between 2 ½ and 3 stars, and so on and so forth. So do not think a 3 star movie is just a little bit worse than a 3 ½ star movie. It's actually a pretty big swing. Come to think of it, I should probably revise my system. Oh well.

Another note: Relax, I will be getting back to sports material soon. I hope to update the Tincaps soon and whenever else something pops up I want to write about, I will. Thanks guys.

Hung Over

Do you ever get on one of those hot streaks? You know, when for some reason, whatever your doing is just ON at the moment. It's a fantastic feeling.

I'm on one with movie watching.

The Hangover is fantastic.

After today, I have seen it twice. The first time was at a midnight showing with my friends in packed theater with about 200 more people of my age, and I've got to say, I've never heard as much laughter. Seriously, from start to finish, that theater was in tears, culminating in a buzz while leaving the theater you don't get with movies very much.

I think one of the coolest experiences while watching a movie at a theater is that, if you enjoyed it, you're going to leave in the mind set of wanting to be like what you saw on that screen. If you just saw Indiana Jones, you want to go out there and kill some Nazis with a fedora on. If you just saw Batman, you're going to be channeling your most gravelly voice in imitating the Joker, most likely sending your friends and family into a state of irritation only rivaled by hearing Fran Drescher talk. If you just saw Transformers, well, we know who you're going to be dreaming about.

The feeling you get walking away from the movie is that while much of what actually happened to the four buddies would absolutely suck, it would be crazy fun to have a night even half like that with your good buddies. If you could get through a night like that with your life and at least half your bank account intact, you have the best story ever to tell for the rest of your life.

If you haven't seen it yet, here's a grocery list of the craziness you're missing:

    A Tiger is your hotel room (that is owned by Mike Tyson)

    A missing tooth (pulled by yourself)

    A chicken in your room

    An extreme hangover

    Possessing a stolen police car

    Getting roofied

    Marrying a stripper (with her baby being left in the hotel room closet)

    Winning $80k at blackjack

    One hospital stay

    Getting hustled by Chinese thugs

And I probably missed some stuff. That's another thing that makes this movie great. Just when you think that the night could not get crazy enough, another new crazy story comes into the picture. How did they fit all that into one night?

Only in the movies, my friends.

Movie music is an underrated aspect of the experience. I think most of the time directors and producers want to find good music that might not be "popular" just to look like they're not being lazy, but I can't tell you how many times I've watched a movie and have said "Man, {insert popular song here} would be a way better fit than this".

The Hangover didn't have that problem. It featured a lot of music that nearly everyone will know, with modern artists like Kanye West and Flo Rida, and some old school tunes, with Phil Collins' "
In the Air Tonight" playing during the fantastic Mike Tyson scene obviously taking the cake as one of the funnier moments of the movie.

I know I'm a fairly younger guy and some of the older generation does not appreciate the hip-hop/rap movement, but Flo Rida's "Right Round" was a perfect fit for the picture montage at the end of the movie.

I posted a review of Star Trek a few weeks ago, and gave it a 3 ½ star rating. I did say I would give way more 3 ½ ratings than 4's, but I still did not want to give out a bunch of great ratings. I have to for the first two, though.

I even debated giving it a 4, but decided a 4 is almost a once in a generation occurrence, so I had to hold back.

Rating: 3 ½ stars.