VT'er wrote:Good grief, six valedictorians in the mid-70's? I thought that was a recent, self-esteem, PC sort of disease. Or had they in fact all finished with exactly the same grade average?

I can see it in a class that size. That's still less than 1 percent, and it's not unbelievable for that many people to average straight A's. My brother's graduating class at Upper Arlington (ritzy suburb + '80s grade inflation) had an even higher percentage of its student body as valedictorians.

Let's hope the Indians are right about their latest college outfielder to be picked in the first round. It's a pretty dismal history.

They'll probably try to turn him into a second baseman

VT'er wrote:Good grief, six valedictorians in the mid-70's? I thought that was a recent, self-esteem, PC sort of disease. Or had they in fact all finished with exactly the same grade average?

I was born in 1956. Around 2nd grade our school district pooled "academically promising 7 year old kids" into accelerated math and science courses of study with funds from a "National Defense" act after the launch of Sputnik. We all knew each other, and most of us attended math and learning development classes together in the summer from grade school through middle school (then, "Junior High School.")

Those six folks all graduated with 4.0's, way before grade weighting. They were all smart.

With those six in the top spots, I was down at #23 (Michael Jordan) with what was then a respectable I believe 3.74 in all honors classes. I did have a VERY good social time in high school.

The only one of the six valedictorians I did not know well was a girl I met a few weeks after graduation at a bar just off of Water Street in Kent, near Kent State University. Kent was 9 miles from our town, and it was the thing for us to get fake I.D's and hit as many Kent bars as possible on a given night. I've told the story before, but when we shared a pitcher (a $1.25 special at The Deck that night) and talked about future plans she told me she was going to to go to Duke. The only thing I knew about Duke in those days was that their football team sucked and usually played in games that ended in low scoring odd scores, like 3-2. After our conversation that night I wished her the best, and felt sorry for her as she left as she was headed to a school with a bad football team. Last I knew, she still had a medical practice going back near our hometown.

With those six in the top spots, I was down at #23 (Michael Jordan) with what was then a respectable I believe 3.74 in all honors classes.

Sounds like my rank and my avg in a class of 1003. But you had more fun at HS than me.

Long interview with Shapiro:

http://www.cleveland.com/tribe/index.ss ... _pres.html

Carlos Beltran says he talked with Tribe, but wasn't close to free-agent deal: Indians Insider

http://www.cleveland.com/tribe/index.ss ... _line.html

J.R. wrote:Long interview with Shapiro:

http://www.cleveland.com/tribe/index.ss ... _pres.html

PD: Why did you decide to pay [injured center fielder Grady] Sizemore so much? Couldn't you have gotten him for less?

MS: That's not a lot. If you look at the value of a major-league free agent, one win in major-league free agency is somewhere between seven and eight million dollars. When you look at what $5 million can get you on the major league free-agent market, before you say, "Why did you pay him so much?", go look at who's being paid $5 million. ... We got the right deal at that time and I still feel like there was no player available with his level of upside on the market at those dollars, without a doubt

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If the stats I saw this morning are correct, 36 year old Marco Scutaro is making $6 million this season for Colorado.

Interesting article, packed with historical data, regarding the start Bryce Harper is having:


http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/804 ... ulous-hype


And to think the Nationals looked so hopeless a few seasons ago when their AAA team was in Columbus...

Super article Charlie. Thanks. I started tracking Harper when I first read that he was leaving high school his sophomore year to get his GED and consequently enrolling at S. Nevada.

Here are his high school numbers. In a way, I can't blame him for leaving high school to follow his dream of playing professional baseball. It was clear that Harper was dominating in high school with nothing more to prove there.

<

Bryce Harper was born in Las Vegas, Nevada on October 1, 1982. He played his high School ball at Las Vegas High School, deciding after his sophomore year in 2009 that he was finished and needed to play against better competition. He took and passed his GED making him eligible to attend Junior College.

As a freshman in high School In [[[2008]] Harper batted .590 with 11 home runs and 67 RBIs in 38 games. As a sophomore he posted a 626 Batting Average, with 14 Home Runs and 55 RBIs. He was also the first Sophomore High School player to ever win Baseball America's High School Player of the Year award.1

Bryce enrolled at Community College of Southern Nevada and proved he was ready for college ball by hitting .442 and blasting out 29 Home Runs; 17 more that his closest competitor. As projected, he was the first overall player selected in the 2010 amateur draft.

Upon drafting him, the Washington Nationals immediately stated that he would be an everyday right-fielder, and by doing so they would lessen the wear and tear of every day play as a catcher.
Bryce has been labeled a protégée and Sports Illustrated compares him favorably to Lebron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Nationals are hoping the legacy holds true. He has signed Scott Boras as his agent so the Washington Nationals are expecting the same type of contract negotiations as they had when signing Stephen Strasburg.

<

Bryce Harper from Las Vegas High School in Nevada hit a 502ft home run at the Power Showcase at Tropicana Field! The hit was so strong - it would have flown right out of Yankee Stadium! Bryce Harper is the current top pick for the 2011 draft!

Here's the video from You Tube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liS3kGvQ9Bk

Talk about long homers, Harper just hit one off the Blackberry Baggie over the 400 foot marker in centerfield even with the Toronto restaurant area. WoW!

Indians report: Michael Brantley wants to get hits, not talk about them

Indians center fielder focusing on getting on base, owns longest active hitting streak in major leagues

By Sheldon Ocker

Beacon Journal sports writer

Published: June 12, 2012 - 11:38 PM

CINCINNATI: When a reporter asks Michael Brantley about his 19-game hitting streak, he looks up and says, “Streak?”

Got it. The Indians’ center fielder doesn’t want to talk about streaks. Might be a jinx. Then again, maybe not, but why take chances?

Brantley is not exactly in DiMaggio territory, but he owns the longest active hitting streak in the big leagues.

It’s a long way from 19 to 56, the length of Joe DiMaggio’s record streak that many people think will never be exceeded. Nevertheless, from year to year, there aren’t a lot of 19-game streaks, which Brantley extended with a single in the seventh inning Tuesday night.

Doesn’t that put a little pressure on Brantley?

“Not unless someone comes around to his locker and mentions it every day,” manager Manny Acta said. “I think Brantley is very confident right now and things are going well. Besides, it’s kind of early. The number is 56.”

So forget about the streak. Let’s just say that Brantley has found a groove, lifting his batting average from .255 to .286 in the past 18 games. During that span, he is batting .357 with 11 runs scored and 15 RBI.

Brantley is not a power guy. Producing runs has not been his forte. But he does drive lots of doubles (16 so far) in the gaps and steals bases (nine).

“I think the more quality swings I put on the ball, the ball will tell me what kind of hitter I am,” he said. “I’m more of a gap-to-gap hitter. I’m not going to sit here and try to hit home runs because I have [only] one.”

Acta likes Brantley just the way he is.

“He was a pretty good player last year, until he had the wrist injury,” Acta said. “He probably played a month with the [painful] wrist before he shut it down.”

Brantley batted .266 with seven home runs, 46 RBI, 63 runs and 13 steals before a fractured hamate bone ended his season after 451 at-bats.

This year, his primary problem is hitting line drives right at the defense. Brantley has lined out to either an infielder or an outfielder 18 times and been retired on drives to the track three times.

“I bet I’m winning in that department,” he said. “In fact I guarantee that I am. But that’s just baseball. My teammates and coaches tell me to stay positive. And a couple bloopers have started to fall.”

Sheldon Ocker can be reached at socker@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Indians blog at http://www.ohio.com/indians. Follow him on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/SheldonOckerABJ and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/sports.abj.

Bratnley's being rather agressive at the plate; he saw only 8 pitches in his 4 AB's yesterday; Choo saw 20, Kipnis 21.

Maybe the hitting streak is getting him to swing more, if a guy walks 4 times and does not get an official AB does the streak contine?

Anybody on the Rules committee.

He's a popcorn hitter. Pitchers aren't scared to throw it down the middle.

We could use a few more of those popcorn hitters.