Hawaii Winter Ball: Latest -- Darren Ford Hometown Article

[And That]

One final thought on Thatcher here...

 

He has a very good fastball and a decent slurve-y thing. He can't get to RH batters with his stuff, but if he could learn a cut-fastball (to essentially act like a change-up), or a change-up, he could be a dominant reliever.

 

P.S. It's also nice watching Ford and Cain play in CF-RF.

[Mass Haas]

Well, that was fun.

 

Been a while since I set the PC monitor to full-screen mode, got out the blanket, and just enjoyed a ball game.

 

Thatcher didn't waste any time between pitches, and his body type has a bit of Dana Eveland to it in a good way. He's listed at 6-2, 215, but his butt and thighs aren't petite, let's put it that way. You're right, Toby, he needs to keep the ball down to RH bats, but should continue to be death to lefty's.

 

Darren Ford's speed as advertised, yikes.

 

Aloha!

[colbyjack]

I caught the last two innings, and both Toby and Jim explained Thatcher really well. Not the greatest of bodies, and not the greatest of stuff either, but he seems to command his fastball well enough, but that seems to be all he has. His breaking ball isn't even slurvy, it's like a floater, and RH hitters are sure to feast on him as he moves up. Toby pegged him perfectly, as a cutter would serve him extremely well, although his fastball does seem to have some dip and dive to it.

 

He's a LOOGY, no doubt, but he's going to have to find another pitch to get RH hitters out with any consistency. One thing I didn't see mentioned was the amount of deception involved in Thatcher's delivery. There is a fair amount of "herky-jerkiness" involved, and he throws from the low-3/4s, more good things for his chances to succeed as a specialist making him especially tough on LH hitters. While Jim compared his body to Dana Eveland, he kind of reminded me of Mike Remlinger.

 

Cain's body is picture perfect. High waist, broad yet sloped shoulders, long and rangy limbs. When and if he puts on some weight I could easily see him hitting for a lot more power. Physically he resembles Eric Davis.

 

I also agree with Toby's assessment on Ford. He has a nice inside-out swing, and an overall nice approach at the plate despite the high number of Ks he has racked up over the last two years. If he keeps improving as he has so far I like his chances as he moves up.

 

And yeah, it was great to watch some baseball in late-November with a couple of players of interest.

[Mass Haas]

Update from the Brewers' site, similar to summaries they've provided earlier:

 

milwaukee.brewers.mlb.com...p;c_id=mil

[clancyphile]

Quote:

---

He has a very good fastball and a decent slurve-y thing. He can't get to RH batters with his stuff, but if he could learn a cut-fastball (to essentially act like a change-up), or a change-up, he could be a dominant reliever.

---

 

I believe Mike Maddux can rectify that shortcoming. Maybe adding a split-finger could also help.

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.kokomotribune.com/sit...34521.html

 

Thatcher?s stock continues to rise

By PEDRO VELAZCO

Kokomo (IND) Tribune

 

Joe Thatcher?s last game in Hawaii left a lasting impression.

 

?I got trampled,? he said.

 

The Kokomo High School graduate was on the mound, completing a player-of-the-game performance in relief for the North Shore Honu as his squad won the championship game of the Hawaii Winter Baseball league in Honolulu.

 

The last batter for Waikiki hit the first pitch to center field for the final out.

 

?It was one of those things where as soon as it was hit, everybody knew it was going to be the last out,? Thatcher said. ?Next thing I knew, I?m on the bottom of the pile.?

 

There was no better place to be at that moment. Thatcher was dominant in picking up the win in the title tilt. He pitched the final 41/3 innings, allowing no runs, just one hit and no walks while striking out three. North Shore topped the Waikiki BeachBoys 5-1 in the championship game of the four-team league.

 

?I hadn?t won a championship since I played down at UCT [youth baseball league] growing up,? said Thatcher, one of four players in the Milwaukee Brewers organization playing in the winter league. ?It felt really good. It was one of those things where guys came from all over and came together. We really wanted to win and go out on top. It?s always good to go back to the organization and be able to say we won a championship. People can be labeled as winners, and that is [something] good to be known as.?

 

The Hawaii Winter Baseball League draws prospects from major league organizations and also from Asian leagues. For Thatcher and his Brewers organization teammates, playing in Hawaii was both an opportunity, and a reward for strong seasons. The championship game was Nov. 22.

 

Usually used as a set-up man out of the bullpen, Thatcher?s long stint in the title game came as a surprise. He entered with two outs in the fifth inning and his squad behind 1-0.

 

?That?s the longest [pitching stint] I?ve had since my days when I was starting in college,? the former Indiana State player said. ?They kept asking if I was all right after every inning and I kept saying yeah. After the seventh inning, I thought they?d go to another closer.

 

?There was a great atmosphere and our team really wanted to win the championship. I just went out there and caught some breaks and had a really good outing. Things worked out for us.?

 

The championship game drew 3,783 to the University of Hawaii?s field as locals turned up to support the league in its first season back after several years of inactivity.

 

Thatcher spent two months in Hawaii playing in the league, amassing a great stat line. He appeared in 14 games, pitching 24 2/3 innings. Thatcher?s ERA was a tiny 0.73. He allowed just two earned runs, struck out 27 and walked only five. Opponents batted just .189 against him.

 

After finishing the season in Double-A Huntsville, Thatcher said he was glad for the time in Hawaii.

 

?I pitched about as good as I could; played against some great competition,? Thatcher said.

 

He said it?s a positive ?any time you can get out and keep throwing. I worked on my change-up a lot when I was out there and I got pretty comfortable with that. That was one of my main goals. I used it in big situations, which I?d never done before.?

 

More vivid than his time on the mound were his cultural experiences, seeing Hawaii for the first time and teaming up with several players from overseas.

 

?One of the biggest things that I enjoyed was playing with guys from the Japanese professional leagues,? Thatcher said. ?We had six or seven of them. They were really excited to play over here. They play the game a little differently in Japan ? they had a lot of energy.?

 

Thatcher also noted the difference between the culture of Hawaii versus all his other stops on the U.S. mainland. Living in dorms with players from all four teams in the league, he had plenty of chances to see Hawaii and hang out with new friends.

 

?It was great because most of the guys in the whole league stayed in these dorms,? he said. ?It?ll be fun running into those guys in future years. The dorms were right on Waikiki beach. It was unbelievable. There were always things to do.?

 

Thatcher is enthused about the feedback he and his Brewer teammates received from the organization.

 

?It only helped us all being out there,? he said. ?The general manager and the front office were following what we were doing. It?s going to be exciting next year. As long as you?re in Double-A, then you?ve always got a shot, being one phone call away from being called up to Milwaukee.?

[Mass Haas]

Darren Ford's Hometown New Jersey Paper --

 

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.thedailyjournal.com/a...5418204686

 

Ford takes a well-deserved break

Vineland alum home to rest after long stretch on diamond

By BEN WATANABE

Vineland Daily Journal Staff Writer

 

Darren Ford returned home two weeks ago with the expressed purpose to "chill." After a short season in the Hawaii winter league, in which his team won the championship, Ford came home for a month to visit family and rest up before he reports to Arizona Jan. 3.

 

Reached by phone one evening last week, though, Ford didn't sound like he was taking it easy.

 

"I just came back from Stockton College," said Ford, a Vineland High School graduate currently playing in the Milwaukee Brewers organization. "I was up there hitting. I got a couple friends up there."

 

But what happened to 'chill'?

 

"They just told me they wanted to hit, and I wanted to hit, so I said, 'Alright,'" he said.

 

Ford came home briefly in November for the funeral of his great-grandmother, Dorien, who died of cancer. Though he already has a strong relationship with his mother and grandmother, Ford said the loss made him appreciate them even more.

 

There was a somewhat spooky twist. Ford wears jersey No. 15 in honor of his friend, Latrice Johnson, who died on May 15, 2004. Dorien Ford died on Nov. 15.

 

The number 15 might possess more karma than even Ford realizes. If so, he said he's fine with that.

 

"I'm always going to feel comfortable wearing it," Ford said. "You can't run from death. I just want to thank God, because He did so much for me."

 

Other than hitting and throwing, visiting Johnson's parents is the only thing on Ford's "To Do" list while he's home.

 

In a little less than a month, he'll resume his quest to reach the major leagues. His recent visit overseas is the pinnacle for now.

 

"Hawaii was beautiful," Ford said. "Nowhere else in the world are you going to get a whole bunch of girls dancing for you. And that's all they do there."