The Next Generation

[ocaamikedm11]

It seems that most of baseball's superstars (excluding pitchers) are minorities.. (Bonds, Griffey, Pujols, Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez).. so although the game is mostly white, when will get some white superstars? Obviously Scott Rolen is a big time player, and there are a lot of young guys with great potential (Chase Utley, David Wright, Ryan Zimmerman come to mind) what other players have start potential?

 

[whiteCB]

Travis Hafner is the real deal and seeing as how he just turned 29 he's got a lot of good prime years left in him.

 

[sunshine]

Francouer is an easy one. Throw in catcher Joe Mauer of the Twins who was a football star in HS. Baldelli but he has been injured and is just coming back. A few others I can't think of at the moment. The greek sounding guy (Markakis) sp? from the Orioles has a lot of potential too even though he is off to a slow start.

 

[Guest]

Mauer, Blalock, Wright, Sizemore to name a few more.

 

[jcolec02]

jim thome, jim edmonds, adam dunn, paul konerko, michael young, mark texiara, hank blaylock, just to name a few

 

[jcolec02]

and chris shelton

 

[Don Wassall]

Jason Bay is an outstanding all-around player.

 

[Bear-Arms]

Jeff Francoeur (22 yrs old) Braves
David Wright (23 yrs old) Mets
Joe Mauer (23 yrs old) Twins
Dan Uggla (25 yrs old) Marlins*
Jonny Gomes (25 yrs old) Tampa Bay
Adam Dunn (25 yrs old) Reds
Nick Swisher (25 yrs old) A's
Matt Holliday (25 yrs old) Rockies
Hank Blalock (25 yrs old) Rangers
Justin Morneau (25 yrs old) Twins
Chris Shelton (26 yrs old) Tigers
Mark Teixeira (26 yrs old) Rangers
Jason Bay (27 yrs old) Pirates
Chase Utley (27 yrs old) Phillies
Kevin Mench (28 yrs old) Rangers
Travis Hafner (29 yrs old) Indians
Troy Glaus (30 yrs old) Blue Jays
Paul Konerko (30 yrs old) White Sox
Lance Berkman (30 yrs old) Astros
Scott Rolen (31 yrs old) Cardinals
* Rookie

Minor League Picks: Triple AAA
Ryan Sweeney (21 yrs old) Charlotte Knights
Josh Fields (23 yrs old) Charlotte Knights
Jason Botts (24 yrs old) Oklahoma RedHawks
Scott Thorman (24 yrs old) Richmond Braves
Shawn Riggans (24 yrs old) Durham Bulls
Larry Broadway (24 yrs old) New Orleans Zephyrs
Ryan Raburn (25 yrs old) Toledo Mud Hens
Casey Rogowski (25 yrs old) Charlotte Knights

 

[sunshine]

Also Jeremy Hermida of the Marlins. Out of all the above mentioned and listed the two who stand out in terms of excitement are Francouer and Zimmerman. Adam Dunn strikes out way too much and believe it or not might have been a better football QB. The guy is around 6'6" and 260 lbs or so and can run. Still the guy can hit a ball a country mile. What is bothering me most though is lack of CF speedy types--albeit Francouer can run. Eric Reed has tons of speed but the Marlins like so many other MLB teams don't seem to give the speedy white guys--see Chris Duffy--time to iron things out. Reed may go the way of Jason Tyner. There is a ton of talk about the caste system in football but it could be worse in baseball when it comes to speedy CF's. In football the weeding out starts so early by the time the draft hits there are few white say cb's to choose from. In baseball there are more to choose from yet most of the young speedy MLB players are black. And some are given tons of time to turn things around. Heck Joey Gathright-sp--was finally sent down after hitting below the mason -dixon line for three friggin months..On the other hand Chris Duffy was sent down for looking at the manager the "wrong way".
One other thing--I do not think Grady Sizemore is white. Anyone care to clear up the matter once and for all?

 

[nhl411]

rocco baldelli if he can come back from his injury...hes definitly a cf speed guy

 

[Don Wassall]

Mauer currently has the highest average in either league at .384. The last catcher to win a batting title was Ernie Lombardi back in 1942. Pretty amazing stat.


The strength of blacks in baseball is hitting as we know it's certainly not pitching. But there are no American blacks among the top 10 hitters in the National League. There are 7 whites and 3 hispanics, and one of the hispanics, Freddie Sanchez, looks to be completely of Euro background. In the AL Vernon Wells, half-black Derek Jeter and Gary Matthews are in the top 10. But Matthewsis known asa good glove no-hit type player who has a .255 lifetime average, so it's highly unlikely he'll stay among the top hitters.

 

[Bear-Arms]

One other thing--I do not think Grady Sizemore is white. Anyone care to clear up the matter once and for all?

It might of been cleared up in the Grady Sizemore thread.

 

[whiteCB]

One other thing--I do not think Grady Sizemore is white. Anyone care to clear up the matter once and for all?

It might of been cleared up in the Grady Sizemore thread.

Mom is white and dad is black.

 

[Bear-Arms]

Ian Kinsler looks like a good young player for the Texas Rangers.

 

[Baseball Fan]

White Cuban Bronson Arroyo is having a great year for the Reds, saw him pitch better than his black cuban competitor Orlando Hernandez Wednesday.

Brian Bannister for the Mets looked pretty good in his several starts, hopefully when he returns he'll continue on the good path. Mike Pelfrey is another good young pitching prospect for the Mets. Hopefully the Mets will trade Jeff Keepinger(since they want to start this decade's version of Rafael Santana at 2nd Black Dominican Anderson Hernandez late this year or next year). Keppinger isn't a star but a lot of scouts compare him to David Eckstein. Last I checked Eckstein was a pretty good player to have on your team.

 

[Guest]

I really cannot fathom how sizemore can be even part black. His parents must of gotten divorced. Sizemore is white.

 

[Don Wassall]

Let's not forget the old-timers like Steve Finley, who just became the first white baseball player ever to have hit 300 homers and stolen 300 bases. Five blacks had done it previously -- Barry and Bobby Bonds, Willie Mays, Andre Dawson and Reggie Sanders.

 

[Bear-Arms]

If Biggio has 2 or 3 years left I think he can reach that mark. He needs about 34 homers to reach 300. He's pretty close to 3,000 hits, too.

 

[Don Wassall]

Biggiohas only an outside chance of getting 34 more homers as he's only hit 6 so far this season, but should reach 3,000 hits if he plays in '07. He's one of the most under-rated baseball players of the Caste System era, the everyday player equivalent to Greg Maddux.