By Norm:
With the New Year approaching I would like to wish everyone a happy and prosperous New Year. May it be everything you would like and then some. Thank you to all the readers of 9 Inning Know it All for making us what we are. With that said here is what I would like to see happen in baseball for the New Year and take a look back at a few of my favorite moments of 2012 in all of baseball.
2012 Favorite Moments
Seeing the Giants win it all tops my list. Of course I would have liked to seen game 6 and 7 so I could have had the chance to go to San Fran to watch them.
Meeting Mike Zunino is also at the top of my list. I have been watching NWL baseball since 2000 and Zunino is the most “Major League” ready player I have seen at that level. He homered in his first game at Volcanoes Stadium and hit 2 the next night.
Angels” Mike Trout makes a leaping catch to rob Orioles shortstop J.J. Hardy of a home run.
Mike Trout is also near the top of my list. What a season he had. I believe he should have won the MVP award. Trout has it all. Speed; he can hit for avg. and power; and plays a mean Center Field.
The season Miguel Cabrera had was amazing. In fact, he hit for the first Triple Crown since 1967, the year I was born.
Cincinnati Reds speedster Billy Hamilton — all he did in 2012 was steal 155 bases in a 192 attempts. He also hit .311 at the high A Cal league and AA Southern League. He did struggle a little in the Arizona Fall League by hitting .234. But, he did steal 10 bases in 17 games. Hamilton is hands down the fastest player I’ve seen.
The Reno Aces had a great season. The Aces (AAA Diamondbacks) won the PCL and went on to win the AAA title vs. International League champ Pawtucket. The Aces are managed by my good friend Brett “Bugsy” Butler and had McMinnville, OR native, Joe Paterson, on the roster.
The Hillsboro Hops will begin playing in 2013 in the short season A NWL. The Yakima Bears (DBacks) moved to Hillsboro in the off-season.
The Eugene Emeralds new logos are pretty sweet. Check them out.
What I am looking forward to in 2013
More Billy Hamilton. It will be interesting to see if he can adjust to better pitching and defense as well as getting better on defense.
The 2013 NWL season. I’m really looking forward to the new rivalry between Salem/Keizer, Eugene, and Hillsboro.
The new look of the AL East. The Blue Jays went out and got better. But, can they keep up with the Yanks, Orioles, and Rays? Are the Yanks too old? And what will the Red Sox do?
How will the Astros fare in the AL West?
Can the Royals overtake the Tigers in the AL Central?
Will Mike Trout be affected by the “Sophomore” slump?
Will the Dodgers overtake the Giants in the NL West?
But the burning question for me for 2013: Can 98 Degrees improve on his batting practice stats?
Happy New Year!
Well said except for that Giants winning the World Series thing, yuck! Go Dodgers!!!!
Since I’m pretty sure my M’s wont win the World Series I don’t care too much. A Dodger win would be nice but it would make getting autographs at Spring Training really crazy.