Taylor Green called up

[Oldcity]

I've seen the Cirillo comparison a lot. I'm excited about Green, but maybe the Cirillo thing is a bit much still. Cirillo was a scratch defender, and by reports, Green is fine but not special..

[NYChez]

Maybe I'm getting greedy, but I'd like to see Green hit against some lefty pitchers. McGehee's average against lefties is now under .175. Green seemed to do ok against lefties in the minors. Why get into a kid's head that he can't hit lefties. Give him a shot.

[pogokat]

i was looking back through old posts (waaaaaay old, circa 2007)...and it's surreal that we are finally having this conversation with taylor Green in the bigs...

 

The first time i ever saw him play was in 2007, and honestly, i called him over before the game by saying, "hey Kenny!"...which he responded to, even though he was not, as i figured out later, Kenny Holmberg...Taylor hit two jacks that day

 

That said, it seems like we've been comparing him to jeff cirillo forever and it's just really cool to see him finally make it to the majors and succeed like he has been...

 

now if gamel could just make it up and produce...i swear he was drafted in the 90's (well maybe not, but i definitely remember toby declaring on draft day in 2005 "mark my words, by the end of the year gamel will be our top 3b prospect...)

[igor67]

If Green was even close to as good of a defender as Cirillo, I think I would have lost it. Batwise it seems like a decent comparison, but Cirillo was a very good 3rd basemen. Which always reminds me that as much Grief as we give Bando. This team was one obscure Australian disease (Nilsson), and some tough injury luck to Jaha from having a pretty good run in the late 90's. Alternatively figuring out a way to have an offseason like Melvin did and trade for two top of rotation guys would have done the trick too.

[razzzorsharp]

So on the flip side, why isn't Dillard up for mop up roles?

[Mass Haas]

Green thrills Brewers fans in eagerly-awaited major-league debut

Tom Hawthorn, the Globe and Mail

Taylor Green, 24, a professional baseball player, got called into the manager’s office.

 

He was greeted by grim-faced coaches and a manager with bad news.

 

You’ve flunked a drug test, he was told.

 

The young athlete’s career flashed before his eyes. Must be a mistake.

 

“No way,” he insisted, heart pounding. “How is that even possible?!”

 

He was told his punishment was greater than a 25-game suspension. Worse even than a 50-game suspension. The punishment, his manager said, maintaining a straight face, was a one-way ticket to Milwaukee.

 

There was no failed drug test. Instead, the Milwaukee Brewers of the National League had use for a left-handed hitter and Mr. Green was about to be rewarded for years of hard work, including recovery from two serious injuries. He was being promoted to the major leagues. To “The Show.”

 

A few days later, he was called upon to pinch hit.

 

His parents, Jacqueline, a teacher now on disability, and Bill, an elementary-school principal, scrambled to get from the Comox Valley to Milwaukee. His mother needed a wheelchair to navigate the stadium. They sat in box seats 20 rows up behind home plate.

 

Brewers fans had anticipated Mr. Green’s arrival. Before he arrived, he was hitting so well in the minor leagues that some rooters launched a “Free Taylor Green” campaign to encourage the Brewers to promote the prospect.

 

Last week, when his name was announced as a pinch hitter, the stadium rose in a standing ovation, a tribute before he had even taken a swing.

 

The at-bat brought to an end a long journey from the sandlots of Courtenay to a community college in California where he was scouted, drafted and signed by Milwaukee. A minor-league odyssey lasted five seasons as he played for the Helena (Mont.) Brewers, the West Virginia Power, the Brevard County (Fla.) Manatees, the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, the Huntsville (Ala.) Stars, and the Nashville (Tenn.) Sounds, whose manager, Don Money, himself a former major leaguer, fooled Mr. Green into thinking he’d failed a drug test.

 

Along the way, he overcame a broken left wrist, as well as a beaning to the face. A pitch hit the bill of his batting helmet, ricocheting flush onto his nose, which was shattered. Being hit in the face by a pitched ball has ended more than one baseball career, as sometimes a hitter loses nerve, an affliction upon which pitchers will prey by throwing one inside fastball after another.

 

After recovering from reconstructive surgery, Mr. Green forced himself to face pitches without flinching. With a teammate feeding baseballs into a pitching machine, he donned a catcher’s mask and deliberately had ball after ball strike him on his protected face until he knew he had the fortitude to return to the batter’s box.

 

Those tribulations, testing as they were, diminish when compared with what his mother has faced.

 

On Valentine’s Day, 1996, Jackie, a popular teacher, was felled by a massive stroke.

 

She needed two emergency surgeries and spent six weeks in a coma. When she awoke, the only word she could manage was “no.” She spent arduous weeks at the G.F Strong Rehabilitation Centre in Vancouver.

 

Though she could not speak words, she could sing them. Sometimes, husband and nine-year-old son sang O Canada with her.

 

One of the friends who rushed to her side was Kim Cattrall, the actress known best for playing the libidinous Samantha in Sex and the City. Ms. Cattrall, who was raised in the Comox Valley, served as maid of honour at his parents’ marriage. She now includes stroke charities in her fundraising efforts.

 

On his debut in Milwaukee, Mr. Green golfed a low pitch into right field for a single. Time was called and the ball was lobbed into the Brewer dugout as a souvenir.

 

Remarkably, the crowd gave the rookie infielder a second standing ovation, seeing in his modest accomplishment the promise of future contributions.

 

Behind home plate, his mother was helped to her feet to join in the ovation.

 

“We’re in awe,” Bill Green said afterward. “We’re shocked. We’re happy. We’re relieved.”

 

Two days later, in his next appearance, he slashed another hit as a pinch-hitter, starting a rally that led his team to victory.

 

On Saturday, he got his first start. In his first at-bat, he rapped his third consecutive single. In a sport in which failing at the plate two times out of three is considered brilliance, the prospect began his career with a perfect 1.000 batting average.

 

After his debut, his new teammates presented him with a ball purported to be the one he had slashed into the outfield for his first big-league hit. It was scuffed and scratched. Obscenities had been written on it. Another baseball prank.

 

The real ball was encased in plastic with an engraved plate with details of the hit. It can now be found on a kitchen counter in the Comox Valley home of two proud parents.

 

Tough road to The Show

 

Taylor Green is the first player born in the Comox Valley to make a major-league roster, earning a spot in the Baseball Encyclopedia between Shawn Green and Hank Greenberg.

 

He is only the fifth player born on Vancouver Island to make “The Show” in the 135-year history of major-league baseball. The others, all born in Victoria, are outfielder Mike Saunders and pitchers Steve Sinclair, Steve Wilson, and Rich Harden, who is with the Oakland A’s.

 

It is a tough journey that demands skill, luck and timing. Vince Perkins, (former 40-man roster spot holder for the Brewers), a fireball-throwing pitcher from Victoria, spent a decade in the minor leagues without ever getting a chance to play in the big leagues. His greatest achievement was pitching for Canada in the World Baseball Classic. Mr. Perkins, who turns 30 later this month, was released earlier this season by the Toronto Blue Jays, who owned his rights. The son of a firefighter, he is now completing paramedic and firefighter training in Florida.

 

Taylor Green at age five

 

http://beta.images.theglobeandmail.com/archive/01315/web-taylor-gree_1315795cl-8.jpg

[JohnBriggs12]

If Green was even close to as good of a defender as Cirillo, I think I would have lost it. Batwise it seems like a decent comparison, but Cirillo was a very good 3rd basemen. Which always reminds me that as much Grief as we give Bando. This team was one obscure Australian disease (Nilsson), and some tough injury luck to Jaha from having a pretty good run in the late 90's. Alternatively figuring out a way to have an offseason like Melvin did and trade for two top of rotation guys would have done the trick too.

You are right but Bando's bad luck started before that. Check the offensive numbers the 96 team put up. That team scored 894 runs. While it's true that team played with DH, the most any team in the Braun/Fielder era has scored is 801. This year's team will be lucky to get to 740. Of course that team's SS made 37 errors (and you guys think Yuni is the worst ever). Bando was also hindered by cheap ownership and injuries to Eldred and D'Amico.

 

[Baldkin]

This year's team will be lucky to get to 740. Of course that team's SS made 37 errors (and you guys think Yuni is the worst ever). Bando was also hindered by cheap ownership and injuries to Eldred and D'Amico.

It was Bando's own fault Eldred got hurt. He's the one that allowed Garnerto single handedly destroy his arm. After the first time he was allowed to throw 140 pitches, Bando should've told Garner "Do that again and you're fired."

[DocLuna7]

This year's team will be lucky to get to 740. Of course that team's SS made 37 errors (and you guys think Yuni is the worst ever). Bando was also hindered by cheap ownership and injuries to Eldred and D'Amico.

It was Bando's own fault Eldred got hurt. He's the one that allowed Garnerto single handedly destroy his arm. After the first time he was allowed to throw 140 pitches, Bando should've told Garner "Do that again and you're fired."

Without doing any research at all, I am wondering how often throwing this many pitches took place still in the '90's. Not that common sense shouldn't have told Garner to remove Eldred way prior to 140, but just curious.

 

[NYChez]

It's funny that this thread turned a discussion of Eldred. In my mind I was comparing the reluctance to bring up Green to the '92 reluctance to bring up Eldred. The half of season of Ron Robinson and Bruce Ruffin starts cost the team, which was outstanding in 1992, a chance at a deep run in the playoffs.

[Baldkin]

This year's team will be lucky to get to 740. Of course that team's SS made 37 errors (and you guys think Yuni is the worst ever). Bando was also hindered by cheap ownership and injuries to Eldred and D'Amico.

It was Bando's own fault Eldred got hurt. He's the one that allowed Garnerto single handedly destroy his arm. After the first time he was allowed to throw 140 pitches, Bando should've told Garner "Do that again and you're fired."

Without doing any research at all, I am wondering how often throwing this many pitches took place still in the '90's. Not that common sense shouldn't have told Garner to remove Eldred way prior to 140, but just curious.

Looking back at the Brewers other two top starters in 1993: Bones had 4 games over 120 pitches, none over 126. Navarro had 2 games over 120, highest being 129. Eldred on the other hand, had 16 games over 120 pitches, 10 over 130 and 7 over 140!

[igor67]

It's perhaps more instructive to look at the destruction of Cal Eldred as one of the key data points in the early 90's that started to change some old school attitudes on pitcher usage. Looking at those numbers almost 20 years later they seem pretty crazy, but it wasn't back then.

[molitor fan]

I cannot believe Don Money did that to Taylor Green when he was called up.....that is just sick. I think Don Money might be a bad human.

[jwill535]

I cannot believe Don Money did that to Taylor Green when he was called up.....that is just sick. I think Don Money might be a bad human.

Jokes like that happen more often then not. That's part of the fun of being a AAA manager, getting to tell these guys that their career goal has been achieved. Generally its stuff like what Money did, or that the player is going to be released, traded or something similar.

[monty57]

Looks like Taylor Green will be starting at 2B tonight. Even though this is due to a couple of injuries, it certainly makes Green even more valueable if the Brewers feel he can handle 2B as well as 3B. Plus, it opens up the possibility of Hairston getting some starts at SS even before Weeks returns.

[TooLiveBrew]

I'm really looking forward to watching this game. I hope he does things that Chris Carpenter won't know how to explain to his son.

[umphrey]

I cannot believe Don Money did that to Taylor Green when he was called up.....that is just sick. I think Don Money might be a bad human.

I dunno, whatever he does just make it something memorable. The memory/story of getting called up shouldn't just be "I got a letter in the mail" or whatever.

[trwi7]

monty57 wrote:

---

Plus, it opens up the possibility of Hairston getting some starts at SS even before Weeks returns.

I wouldn't bet on that.

[Never Outhustled]

monty57 wrote:

---

Plus, it opens up the possibility of Hairston getting some starts at SS even before Weeks returns.

I wouldn't bet on that.

I can still dream. With Weeks at 2nd, Hairston at SS, and Green at 3rd, this team might be the team to beat.

 

[Never Outhustled]

I cannot believe Don Money did that to Taylor Green when he was called up.....that is just sick. I think Don Money might be a bad human.

 

Agreed. Nothing funny about failed drug tests. I realize they want to make it memorable, but this one was just awkward.

[danzig6767]

I cannot believe Don Money did that to Taylor Green when he was called up.....that is just sick. I think Don Money might be a bad human.

 

Agreed. Nothing funny about failed drug tests. I realize they want to make it memorable, but this one was just awkward.

I thought it was a funny way to tell Green. A joke like that wasn't going to harm the kid at all.

[Never Outhustled]

Green has been awesome so far, most of his outs have been lasers at someone. Most importantly, he's earned RR's trust, a difficult thing for a young player to do.

 

Taylor is short and slow with an average at best arm, but he is just a natural at the plate with an extremely quick bat. He seems to have a simple approach that should be pretty slump proof. He really is a perfect fit for this team going into the post season.

[GAME05]

"Well, Taylor, looks like you failed the drug test."

"What?!! They told me it couldn't be detected!"

"Wait, what? We were just joking around."

"Oh. Uh, yeah, um, so was I. Joking."

[TooLiveBrew]

This is a completely random observation, but in watching the Yankees in the ALDS, I noticed that Taylor Green's batting stance is almost identical to Curtis Granderson's. I thought that was interesting.

[chadomac]

I am realistic and know that Green isn't going to play much, but I thought they'd at least throw him a couple of AB's in the pitcher's spot by now. Ah well. He's getting paid to watch the playoffs with the best seat in the house.