Here’s a great story on Port Orchard’s Willie Bloomquist, and his wife Lisa, who give electronic toys to children at a local Arizona hospital during the Christmas holiday.
You can check it out here. Bloomquist also talks about his back injury and how he’s progressing.
Ran across this item, making a comparison between Willie
Bloomquist and the band Pavement, which had a cult following in the 1990s.
Actually, this link discusses the article that makes that comparison.
It’s an interesting argument, as those from Baseball Prospectus
often are. If you’re a Bloomquist fan, you probably won’t enjoy
it.
Outfielder Aaron Cunningham, a South Kitsap grad, was one of 35
unsigned players on the Padres’ 40-man roster who was offered a
contract on Monday. Cunningham hit .178 with three home runs and
nine RBI in 90 at bats a year ago. The 25-year-old outfielder hit
.329 with nine homers and 63 RBI over 384 plate appearances for
Tucson in the Pacific Coast League.
Cunningham has spent parts of four seasons in the majors, with
Oakland in 2008 and ’09, and with San Diego in 2010 and ’11. His
career numbers: .231 with six home runs and 44 RBI in 355 at
bats.
Former North Kitsap star Jared Prince of the Myrtle Beach (S.C.) Pelicans was named to the Class A Carolina League All-Star team. The Texas Rangers’ farm hand made it as a utility outfielder.
Here’s what the press release reported on Prince:
After a brutal 4-for-45 start to the season, the Washington State University product has been a constant engine in the Myrtle Beach order, batting .297 in 116 games since. The versatile offensive performer has spent 13 games or more at the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh spots in the order and currently leads Pelicans regulars in games played (128), average (.278) and RBI (67) and is tied for the team lead in hits (131), walks (45), and doubles (29). Prince leads the Carolina League in on-base percentage (.371) and is the second-hardest batter to strike out in the league with one K per 11.83 plate appearances. The Poulsbo native also has made his mark on the Carolina League in a more painful way. Prince has been hit by pitches 29 times this season, a mark that ranks second in all of Carolina League history, one behind the single-season league record set by Winston-Salem’s Seth Loman last season
As expected, North Kitsap grad Jared Prince will start the season for Myrtle Beach (S.C.) Pelicans in high single-A.
Here’s a story on CK’s Drew Vettleson and Josh Sale of Seattle, who were both drafted high by the Tampa Bay Rays last year.
Word is coming out that South Kitsap’s Willie Bloomquist has
signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
It has been speculated that Bloomquist’s next contract would come
in the National League to take advantage of his versatility. He
reportedly gets a one-year $1.05 million deal.
Bremerton’s Marvin Williams sometimes thinks “other people panic more than we do,” he said of all the negative talk about how the Atlanta Hawks were done after a 6-0 start. Read the story here.
Willie Bloomquist, a free agent, continues to be linked to the Washington Nationals. Here’s another story that indicates the Port Orchard native could fit in as a utility player with the Nats. Bloomquist has also been mentioned as the kind of player the Mets might be looking for.
This post on MLB.com suggests South Kitsap grad Aaron Cunningham could very likely start the season at Triple-A next year despite playing well for the Padres.
Finally, for the reader who wanted to know about how Central Kitsap grad Todd Linden fared this year in Japan, here’s the finals stats for Tohokou Rakuten Golden Eagles. Linden was injured early and never did get untracked. He hit .185 and played in just 53 games.
The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association hosts its annual awards banquet on Wednesday at the South Point Casino in Las Vegas. Silverdale’s Randy Corley, once again, is up for announcer of the year. The man with the smooth, velvet voice has done more to put the Kitsap Stampede on the map than anyone. Here’s a full list of nominees. Here’s 10 things you should know about the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, which runs Dec. 2-11 in Vegas. All 10 rounds will be broadcast on ESPN2, ESPN Classic or webcast on ESPN3.
ALSO
Bree Schaaf of Bremerton competes in her second World Cup bobsled race of the year on Friday at Park City, Utah. She’s coming off a sixth-place finish at Whistler, B.C. … Swimmer Nathan Adrian of Bremerton will compete in the U.S. Short-Course Nationals Thursday through Saturday in Columbus, Ohio, and heads to Dubai for the World Short-Course Championships on Dec. 15-19. The University of California senior established himself as one of the elite sprinters in the world and should be among the favorites for a gold medal in 2012 in London in the 50 and 100 freestyle events. … I’ve been told golfer Troy Kelly is still experiencing some soreness, but is making progress after his hip replacement surgery. The Central Kitsap grad shot a 64 recently at the Plantation Golf Course in Palm Springs, Calif. Here’s some background on Kelly’s surgery, which took place in early September.
For those of you who enjoy sabermetrics, here’s some
interesting analysis that compares SK’s Jason Hammell and the
Red Sox’s Clay Buchholz.
Yahoo! ranks Bloomquist as the 123rd-ranked free agent.
Willie Bloomquist was 1-for-3 and started in right field during Cincinnati’s 7-5 win over Arizona on Wednesday.
The Port Orchard native is expected to start again on Friday when the Reds face Houston left-hander Wandy Rodriguez. Bloomquist is a .275 hitter vs. left-handers and .256 vs. righties.
Acquired in trade from Kansas City on Monday, Bloomquist went from 27 games out of first place to a team that was on top of its division by seven games.
Bloomquist won’t be eligible for the postseason, but told the Cincinnati Enquirer he was excited about playing in meaningful games.
“I’ve got to be thankful for what I’ve got,” he said. “The place where we were – 27 games out … I’m certainly not going to complain. This is an opportunity to experience the atmosphere as we get closer to the end. It’s an experience I haven’t had before. I consider myself blessed.”
