The Million Dollar Arms

[NorthSideSox72]

I am not sure where to put this, but, there are definite Sox connections.

 

So a promoter ran this "Million Dollar Arm" deal in India. They don't really play a lot of baseball there, but they do play cricket. The idea was to try to find raw talent - guys who could consistently throw 85 mph or better. They found at least two they liked, and now those two are trying out in front of reps from 20 of MLB's teams (unclear if the Sox are among them, but I hope so).

 

This article has more details. One fun Sox note - one of the players loves watching Jim Thome hit, apparently.

 

I'd love to see the Sox go after some of these non-traditional nation markets. India has a billion people and a lot of good cricket players, so you'd think there is some raw talent there. Other latin countries not usually addressed, like maybe Haiti. Countries just getting into baseball like Australia. I wonder what if anything the Sox are doing that way.

 

[Heads22]

I am not sure where to put this, but, there are definite Sox connections.

 

So a promoter ran this "Million Dollar Arm" deal in India. They don't really play a lot of baseball there, but they do play cricket. The idea was to try to find raw talent - guys who could consistently throw 85 mph or better. They found at least two they liked, and now those two are trying out in front of reps from 20 of MLB's teams (unclear if the Sox are among them, but I hope so).

 

This article has more details. One fun Sox note - one of the players loves watching Jim Thome hit, apparently.

 

I'd love to see the Sox go after some of these non-traditional nation markets. India has a billion people and a lot of good cricket players, so you'd think there is some raw talent there. Other latin countries not usually addressed, like maybe Haiti. Countries just getting into baseball like Australia. I wonder what if anything the Sox are doing that way.

 

 

[caulfield12]

It would have been nicer had we noticed Curtis Granderson in our own backyard, almost literally.

 

Having him as our CFer would have solved a few of our problems...unfortunately, not leadoff...but he's a very, very good player. Not Sizemore-esque, but the next tier down. The strikeouts are the worst part of his game, and nullify (like they do with Chris Young) some of his other attributes.

[SouthsideDon48]

It would have been nicer had we noticed Curtis Granderson in our own backyard, almost literally.

 

Having him as our CFer would have solved a few of our problems...unfortunately, not leadoff...but he's a very, very good player. Not Sizemore-esque, but the next tier down. The strikeouts are the worst part of his game, and nullify (like they do with Chris Young) some of his other attributes.

 

I agree, I wish we had Curtis Granderson, having him would plug a lot of holes on our team.

 

Also, one of my friends actually knew him when they both lived in Blue Island.

[lostfan]

It would have been nicer had we noticed Curtis Granderson in our own backyard, almost literally.

I was on my friend's Myspace a couple years ago and I see a picture of him in his Tigers hat on her page so I ask her "umm, you don't like baseball what the f*** is Curtis Granderson doing on your friends list?" I forgot she went to TF North.

[Swingandalongonetoleft]

I'd rather sign Dewon Day to an eleventy million year no trade contract. Let the Tigers, Indians, Royals (not Twins, they would somehow turn an 81 mph fastballer into Cy Young) mess around with this. I would honestly weep if the Sox allocated anything more than 5 dollars toward this s***show. That could have gone toward a nice polish w/ grilled onions.

Edited November 9, 2008 by Swingandalongonetoleft

[3E8]

Yeah God forbid we actually try to expand or revolutionize scouting abroad. I really don't think it's coincidence that your statement is directly underneath lostfan's signature

[Kyyle23]

I think these guys may lay the groundwork for future Indian prospects, but I highly doubt either of these two kids make an impact with any team that throws a contract at them, purely based on their complete lack of knowledge of the game of baseball.

 

Its one thing to refine raw skills of an athlete who actually knows the game of baseball, its a completely different story when you are talking about teaching the game of baseball as well as refining the raw skills.

 

 

[Vance Law]

It would have been nicer had we noticed Curtis Granderson in our own backyard, almost literally.

 

Having him as our CFer would have solved a few of our problems...unfortunately, not leadoff...but he's a very, very good player. Not Sizemore-esque, but the next tier down. The strikeouts are the worst part of his game, and nullify (like they do with Chris Young) some of his other attributes.

 

I'd say Granderson is right there with Sizemore. Granderson has been the better player over the last 2 seasons combined. Sizemore pretty much strikes out as much or more than Granderson does.

 

[lostfan]

Yeah God forbid we actually try to expand or revolutionize scouting abroad. I really don't think it's coincidence that your statement is directly underneath lostfan's signature

[GoodAsGould]

I think these guys may lay the groundwork for future Indian prospects, but I highly doubt either of these two kids make an impact with any team that throws a contract at them, purely based on their complete lack of knowledge of the game of baseball.

 

Its one thing to refine raw skills of an athlete who actually knows the game of baseball, its a completely different story when you are talking about teaching the game of baseball as well as refining the raw skills.

 

From what I read one of them only throws mid 80's so he definitely sounds like a non-prospect. But from the article the other one hit 90 and showed some breaking stuff as well, although mostly fastballs.

[caulfield12]

Well, theoretically, it would make as much sense to look at some of the best Chinese ping pong and badminton players.

 

The mechanics of the smash in badminton are fairly comparable to throwing motion for a pitcher...and the racquet/contact speed for birdies leaving the racquet is the fastest of any sport in the world, 140-180 MPH at initial contact.

 

Ping pong probably uses more hand-eye coordination and agility than most sports I know, although it's more similar to tennis/racquetball than baseball.

 

Or the Pakistani and Indian jai-alai players. Heck, any elite jai-alai players...remember Jeff Conine? He was a world-class racquetball player. The White Sox just need to get creative. I'm not opposed to expending resources in a non-traditional markets if it unearths just a couple of hidden gems.

[Kyyle23]

From what I read one of them only throws mid 80's so he definitely sounds like a non-prospect. But from the article the other one hit 90 and showed some breaking stuff as well, although mostly fastballs.

 

Yeah, I know they both have a little promise and pretty good arms. I just dont know that I would want to go through the motions of explaining all of the little intricacies of the game(like what a short stop is) to a player, as well as teaching mechanics and pitch selection, it seems like too much for them at this point in their lives.

 

Think about someone in the US who has never played any organized baseball in his life, yet has been able to watch the game on TV for his entire life. Say he showed up at some draft camp on a whim, and showed the same promise that these two kids have shown. Do you think that he would end up in the majors? The possibility is extremely slim, even with a small background in watching the game. Think about how everyone labeled Josh Hamilton a complete freak of nature because he was able to be away from the game for 3 years and come back and be the player that he is. Now if you apply that to these two guys, who up until recently never have even watched the game, and now are trying to play it. I just dont see much hope for them doing anything, but like I said, this could lay the groundwork for something in the future.

 

Well, theoretically, it would make as much sense to look at some of the best Chinese ping pong and badminton players.

 

Which isnt much sense at all.

Edited November 10, 2008 by kyyle23

[GoodAsGould]

Yeah, I know they both have a little promise and pretty good arms. I just dont know that I would want to go through the motions of explaining all of the little intricacies of the game(like what a short stop is) to a player, as well as teaching mechanics and pitch selection, it seems like too much for them at this point in their lives.

 

Think about someone in the US who has never played any organized baseball in his life, yet has been able to watch the game on TV for his entire life. Say he showed up at some draft camp on a whim, and showed the same promise that these two kids have shown. Do you think that he would end up in the majors? The possibility is extremely slim, even with a small background in watching the game. Think about how everyone labeled Josh Hamilton a complete freak of nature because he was able to be away from the game for 3 years and come back and be the player that he is. Now if you apply that to these two guys, who up until recently never have even watched the game, and now are trying to play it. I just dont see much hope for them doing anything, but like I said, this could lay the groundwork for something in the future.

 

 

 

Which isnt much sense at all.

 

Well it sounded like they knew of the game of baseball so teaching them what a SS is wouldnt seem neccesary. As to your other points Hamilton was not only away from the game 3 years but he also destroyed his body and instantly succeeded at the major league level which was what everyone was amazed about. These kids are without a doubt going into the minors. Also being pitchers is why I give them a shot to succeed, if your stuff is good enough you will find a way to the majors, Daniel Cabrera's baseball career started around the same time as these kids are begining theirs.

[bmags]

It's not like cricket is so far off. IMO this is like when we recruited a lot of the hockey players to play lacrosse, the skills were very translatable.

 

That said, I see no point in just signing for the sake of signing. In roads can be made in other ways.

[Swingandalongonetoleft]

Yeah God forbid we actually try to expand or revolutionize scouting abroad. I really don't think it's coincidence that your statement is directly underneath lostfan's signature

 

Nothing against expanding our scouting to non-traditional lands, I'm all for it. My gut tells me that India, at least for now isn't the place to look. I was a great fan of the Alexei signing. Granted, Cuban ballplayers don't exactly come from untested lands like India, but I would rather have another team bite, observe how it works out for them, and then base decisions on the outcome. If it were a traditional baseball playing nation we were talking about then I would be all for it. Look, Japan is a baseball nation- the guys that have come over have been hit or miss, and miss may actually be a generous adjective in some cases. If you play poker and go all in on a bluff then perhaps an Indian cricketballer is something you would go for. I would prioritize a draft, trade, free agent signing, exploring proven baseball countries, finding some dude on the streets, and THEN India/etc., in that order. I fail to see how that isn't a rational argument against potentially signing someone that is incredibly unproven for money that could either be spent on help that can be counted on, or a polish with grilled onions that can be counted on satisfying my appetite.

[caulfield12]

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/pit/barry-...p;vkey=news_pit

 

 

 

Million Dollar Arm movie coming out on May 16th....above is the update for Rinku Singh's career (with the Pirates' organization) and where it stands now (had a very solid season in the SAL in 2012, mostly as a reliever, went through a series of injuries, missed all of 2013 and is attempting a comeback in extended spring training in Bradenton).

 

The other one, Dinesh Patel, hasn't played professionally since 2010.

 

Positive reviews from The Hollywood Reporter and Variety

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movie/mil...m/review/697908

http://variety.com/2014/film/reviews/film-...arm-1201167439/

 

 

 

For what it's worth, after reading the book, I think the closest thing we're going to find to replicating the pitching motion (PTAC could back this up) of a baseball pitcher is Olympic javelin throwers.

Edited May 5, 2014 by caulfield12