Fore: Metuchen Golf and Country Club

Last week, I had the honor of playing Metuchen Golf and Country Club in Edison and I really enjoyed it. The course had great greens and a really nice design. The holes where all playable which is something that is lacking in today's golf world of super sized golf courses.

If you get a chance, its worth playing 18 holes.  

Professional Tailgating: Eagles go home

The Eagles took a trip back in time on Sunday. Instead of having training camp at The Linc, they went back to original home Franklin Field. Here are some of the sights from the day. 

Prospect Plus: Orioles Chance Sisco

Name: Chance Sisco 
Organization: Orioles 
Team: Delmarva Shorebirds
Position: Catcher
Organizational Rank: 10th ranked prospect in the Orioles system, according to Baseball America.
Stats vs. Lakewood Blueclaws: 1-5 with a double during a double header on Friday night. 

Positives:  Sisco has a good arm and soft hands, as should be expected, and his body does indeed look more like a catcher than infielder. At the plate, he should be able to bring his solid contact skills and quick bat to bear in the minors, while power may take a few years to really show up. Smooth lefthanded swing, according to Baseball America. He has bat speed with the ability to make solid contact and while you have to dream, there is future above-average power in the bat. 

Negative: Still learning how to catch, only started catching two years ago. He, like most catching prospect, will be a long term prospect. 

Fever Pitch Day

Every year we get excited for our Rutgers  season football tickets to come in the mail and yesterday was the day. It was extra special because this year is their first year in the Big Ten. 

Fore: Golden Horseshoe Green Course

I've played the Golden Horseshoe Green Course a couple of times and each time that I play it, I fall more and more in love with it. Monday was no different. 

It's a classic Reese Jones design built around the rolling hills of Williamsburg. The course plays for golfers at all levels. 

If you down in Williamsburg it's well worth playing. 

Soccer jerseys all over

While traveling on the Cape Merry Ferry, I came across this man wearing an Atletico Mineiro Ronaldinho jersey. This man gets full marks for his kit selection. 

Prospects Plus: Sometimes Baseball America is right

I was looking through the Baseball America 2003 Prospects book and found Miguel Cabrera's scouting report. Its amazing to see him tapped as a star at this young age. 

Prospects Plus: Cape Cod League All Star Game

On Sunday night, the best in the Cape Cod League took to the field in for leagues annual all star game. Here are five players that impressed me while watching the game. 

1. Kyle Code, P, Kentcky: touched out at 97 mph but sat between 94-96. Has a really good motion for a pitcher that is 6 foot 7 inches tall. Looked in total command during his inning of work. A ball didn't leave the infield. 

2. Ryan Perez, P, Judson: throws both right and left handed with good off speed stuff. Tops out at 93 while throwing from the left hand side. Tops out around 90 when he threw from the right side. A really interesting prospect to say the least. Perez struck out the side during his only inning of work. 

3. AJ Murray, !B, Georgia Tech: leads the Cape in HR and RBI. Showed some good defense during his stink in the game.  Murray was named game MVP. 

4. Gio Brusa, LF, Pacific: nice left handed swing. Hit the ball hard she he was at bat. 

Prospects Plus: Red Sox Wendell Riijo

Name: Wendell Rijo
Organization: Red Sox
Team: Greenville Drive
Position: 2B
Organizational Rank:18th best prospect according to Baseball America
Stats vs. Lakewood Blueclaws: 1-2 with a homerun and two walks

Positives: In his first at bat Friday night, Rijo fell behind 0-2 and then was able to turn on a fastball from Yacksel Rios and hit it over the left field fence. Hits from a wide-open stance, with his hands high, before taking big step to close to even in his stride. Quick hands, solid batspeed.

Negatives:  Is prone to lazy mechanics and will tend to field balls off to the side that he has time to field in front. 

Prospect Plus: Red Sox's Trey Ball

Name: Trey Ball
Organization: Red Sox
Team: Greenville Curve
Position: Left handed starting pitcher
Organizational rank: 10th ranked prospect in Red Sox system.
Friday night's stats vs Lakewood: 6 innings, 6 hits, 4 runs, 2 earned, 5 walks, 5 strikeouts




Positives: Projectable left-hander with great athleticism. Thin frame with lots of room to fill out. Efficient, low-effort delivery. Repeats delivery well for his age. Not a lot of miles on his arm. Fastball sits around 90-93 mph and tops out around 95 mph.When thing I noticed when I was watching him Friday night was that he looks the part, has the body of the starting pitcher. 

Negative: So raw. Coming from Indiana, he did not faced the toughest competition when he was in high school. When a couple of infielders made errors, Ball didn't seem to deal with it well, the mistakes seem to bother him. 

Fore: Rutgers University Golf Course

On Sunday myself and three friends went to Rutgers to play Rutgers University Golf Course and boy was it fun. 

From a design standpoint the course holds up. Fairways are wide but fair and some holes feature a variety of bunkers that could derail any round. The course is fairly playable. 

While I love the place, there is one major issue I have with it. If you haven't played it before it's hard to understand where hazards are off the tee. The tenth gave me fits, the card doesn't really the hazard at the bottom of the hill.  I know money is tight at the course but a better course map would benefit many who are playing the course for the first time. 

Despite the issues I had an amazing time and had seven pars and shot 91 despite having an eight and two sevens. 

I love Minor League Baseball

My love affair with Minor League Baseball and this is my hat collection. 

Prospects Plus: My Summer of Baseball

Over the last couple of months, I've seen my fair share of baseball from major to minors. From New Jersey to Florida. Here are my three favorite players that I've seen in person. 

1. Adam Brett Walker II, OF, Fort Myers Miracle: Looks like a man among boys in the Florida State League. I know scouts differ on his long term development. He has all of the physical skills you could ask for in a player.
2. JP Crawford, SS, Lakewood BlueClaws: Looked over matched last year in the South Atlantic League, this year it was a different story. He looks the part of a middle infielder at the major league level. 
3. Nick Petree, RHP, Palm Beach Cardinals: During his five innings against Fort Myers, Petree looked solid. While his fastball is nothing special, his change up already looks like a plus pitch, and he shows great command in deploying a decent slider and curve when necessary to further confuse hitters.

Prospects Plus: Phillies Dylan Cozens

Name: Dylan Cozens
Organization: Philadelphia Phillies 
Team: Lakewood Blueclaws
Position: Outfield
Stats Friday: 2-2 in before the game was called due to fog. 

Positives: The raw power is impressive and he gets it from everywhere in his swing and strength.Cozens is a giant human being with a classic slugger profile, with nothing left to projection at this point.    At the plate he has huge raw power and a good approach, he made decent contact in his debut but he will need to make more to reach his power ceiling. Regardless of what position Cozens finishes at his bat will be the tool that carries him.

Negatives: The problem is there is some natural swing and miss because his arms are so long.  He doesn’t have crazy bat speed and the swing can get a bit long.  He is mostly a pull hitter and so it will remain to be seen if he can adjust and go the other way at higher levels.

Cover Story: Here we go

So what if Marcus Smith is a great player will people still be attacking like this. I've seen Smith play like in person against Rutgers and he is a beast. 

Professional Tailgating: Nats show some fighting spirit

On Friday night, I head to Philly to see my beloved Washington Nationals take on the Phillies and for once the Nats showed some toughness. Below are some of the imagines of the night.

Rutgers Spring Game: Maybe Gary Nova is the best we have

It's very simple: Gary Nova is the best that Rutgers has at quarterback.

I know this is a statement that drives all us nuts, but based on the Saturday's spring game performances of Mike Bimonte and Chris Laviano. Bimonte is simply not good enough, while Laviano is just not ready. That leaves Gary Nova as the last man standing, leading Rutgers into their first season in the Big 10.

For the last four years, Nova has gone through offensive coordinator left and right. This is not a slight on any of the past OC at Rutgers, but Nova is currently being coached by one of the best offensive minds in the country in Ralph Friedgen.

Nova made some nice throws and look comfortable in the Friedgen new system. Maybe this will be the year that Nova takes the next step.

Prospect Plus: Met's Gavin Cecchini

Name: Gavin Cecchini
Organization: New York Mets
Team: Savannah Sand Gnats
Position: Shortstop
Stats Friday against the BlueClaws: 0-5 with two strikeouts

Positives: The younger brother to Boston's Garin, shortstop Gavin Cecchini is a contact hitter with solid tools. Cecchini will make contact. Will make the solid play, never will be a superstar.

Negative: One thing that will make it hard for Mets fans to get excite for is that they passed on Cards stud pitcher Michael Wacha to take Cecchini. I know that its only one game but Cecchini looked terrible and didn't show me anything that warrants him being a top 10 prospect in the Mets organization.

Prospects Plus: Met's Dominic Smith

Name: Dominic Smith
Organization: New York Mets
Team: Savannah Sand Gnats
Position: First Base
Stats Friday against the BlueClaws: 2-4 with a double and a run scored

Positives: Smith, the fourth ranked player in the Mets system,  relies on a smooth left-handed swing that is expected to generate power potential down the line as he continues to grow and mature. Smith also has a good eye at the plate.  He is considered an excellent fielder at the position, and has a plus arm to go with it. Smith, a first rounder in 2013, showed a nice piece of hitting when he took a pitch the other way for a double on Friday night.

Negatives: His biggest problem is a propensity to step towards the pitch and hit the ball way out in front.Another issue is he just needs a little more refinement in his approach. Some scouts complain that Smith can get overeager, swinging at breaking balls out of the zone that smart hitters learn to ignore.

Professional Tailgating: Lax Gameday

   

After weeks of promising my son I would take him to a lacrosse, I finally did. On Saturday we made our way to Princeton for their game against Rutgers.