Now this is pitch movement

Check out the movement on this wiffle ball pitch, simply amazing.

Phil Jones: United's new midfield enforcer?

It looks like its going to be a summer of rebuilding for Manchester United, but it appears they may have already addressed a huge issue, a holding midfielder. With Owen Hargreaves injury issues over the last couple of years, United has been lacking at this spot. But their first singing on the season may have addressed. On 13 June 2011, United confirmed that they had reached an agreement to sign Blackburn Rovers' Phil Jones for £16.5m ; the deal would be finalised upon his return from international duty.

While most people view him as a defender, Jones might be able to slide into United's holding midfield roll. According to Football-Lineups.com, Jones started 24 games in the Premier League last year: 6 games at CB and 18 CM.

Some people view Jones as a defender, but I'm in favor of letting him play as a holding midfielder. One of the things that is lost on people is that Sir Alex likes bigger center backs and Jones does not fit that bill, being only 5ft 11in. With that in mind, I have a feeling that Sir Alex brought him in to be the next Owen Hargreaves.

So the rebuilding has begun and it looks like Phil Jones is set to be a one of the building blocks for both the present and the future.

Beltway Family Fued

For the next decade, the Harpers and the Bundy's are set to battle it out on the baseball field.

Last year, the Nationals selected Bryce Harper with the first overall pick and we all know how that is going. This year the franchise used a 30th round pick on his brother, Bryan Harper. Bryan Harper is a left handed pitcher at the University of South Carolina. Bryan Harper has a 5.40 ERA and 18/17 K/BB ratio as a reliever this season.

Down the Beltway, the Orioles are putting together their own family, the Bundy Family. In 2008, the Orioles selected righ hand pitcher Bobby Bundy. This year the Orioles used their first round pick to select his brother Dylan (pictured below).

The Bundy brothers have already come outswining against the Harper family.  According to the Washington Post, Dylan Bundy (below) said he we would hit Harper if he blew kisses at him after hitting a home run. 

“Well, if I was pitching the next game, I’d hit him all four at-bats,” the high schooler told Steve Davis on Baltimore’s 105.7 The Fan.

Dylan's brother joined in the fun.

“Same thing,” the other Bundy said. “The kid can’t do that. You know, that was a little over the top. I mean, I guess he did get hit in previous at-bats and maybe he felt like it was for nothing, but still, in baseball etiquette you don’t blow a kiss to the pitcher like that. It’s just not something you do.”

If all four of these prospects meet up in the next couple of years it could be fun, the only issue is that Bryce is the only one that swings a bat, which could be dangerous for him.

MLB Draft notebook

The first and sandwich round of the MLB Draft are in the books and here a couple of quick thoughts on what happened.

• Welcome to Major League Baseball in 2011, its all about pitching and that showed with the top four players selected all being pitching, including three college pitchers that are going to move fast through each of their systems.
• I guess Gerrit Cole choice to turn down the Yankees after they selected him in the first round in 2008 turned out well for him. Cole was the number one overall pick in the draft. 
• At the start of the season Anthony Rendon was the number player on most people's board after a season that featured injuries Rendon dropped to the Nationals at six. It was a dream for the Nats front office. 
• MLB Network coverage of the draft is getting better each year they do it, love seeing Gammons on the show. He has always loved the drafted.
•  People are going to kill the Giants for taking St. John's SS Joe Panik, but they usually do some weird things in the draft and more times that not they turn out well.
• Both Massachusetts high school pitcher Tyler Beede and Texas high school outfielder Josh Bell sent letters out saying that they were not signing and attending college, it worked out well for Beede who was drafted by Toronto in the first round, while Bell slid out of the first round.
• The draft needs to get more players at the draft, it would make it g

OTWT Mock MLB Draft

The Scouting Staff of OTWT has been locked away in the its bunker for the last couple of days, going over the top prospects in the upcoming baseball draft and coming up with its annual mock draft. Last year, we did it and it did not turn out that well. So here goes.

1 Pittsburgh Pirates: Gerrit Cole, RHP, UCLA

2 Seattle Mariners: Danny Hultzen, LHP, UVa

3 Arizona Diamondbacks: Anthony Rendon, 3B, Rice

4 Baltimore Orioles: Sonny Gray, RHP, Vanderbilt

5 Kansas City Royals: Tyler Jungmann, RHP, Texas

6 Washington Nationals: Alex Meyers, RHP, Kentucky

7 Arizona Diamondbacks: Dylan Bundy, RHP, Owasso (Oklahoma) HS

8 Cleveland Indians: Jed Bradley, LHP, Georgia Tech

9 Chicago Cubs: Bubba Sterling, OF, Gardner-Edgerton (Oklahoma) HS

10 San Diego Padres: Trevor Bauer, RHP, UCLA

11 Houston Astros: Francisco Lindor, SS, Montverde Academy (Fla)

12 Milwaukee Brewers: Taylor Guerrieri, RHP, Spring Valley HS (SC)

13 New York Mets: George Springer, OF, UConn

14: Florida Marlins: Archie Bradley, RHP, Broken Arrow HS (Okalahoma)

15 Milwaukee Brewers: Larry Green, OF, Berrien County HS (Georgia)

16 Los Angeles Dodgers: Tyler Anderson, LHP, Oregon

17 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim: Brandon Nimmo, OF, East HS (Wyo)

18 Oakland Athletics: Mikie Mahtook, OF, LSU

19 Boston Red Sox: Matt Barnes, RHP, UConn

20 Colorado Rockies: Kolten Wong, 2B, Hawaii

21 Toronto Blue Jays: Josh Bell, OF, Dallas Jesuit HS (TX)

22 St. Louis Cardinals: Javier Baez, SS, Arlington Country Day HS (Fla)

23 Washington Nationals: CJ Cron, 1B, Utah

The front pages sum it up

The front pages of the today's Winnipeg Free Press and the Atlanta Journal Constitution sum up the plight of the Atlanta Thrashers franchise. In Winnipeg, news of the franchise coming to the Canadian city was the whole front page. While in Atlanta, the story of the franchise leaving was a front page story below the fold and seemed unimportant. That sums up the whole situation in a nut shell, no one in Atlanta cares about hockey.

Winnipeg Free Press

AJC

Maybe OTWT was right

Back in May 2008, OTWT spotlighted Max Scherzer when he made one of his first starts in the big leagues as a member of the Arizona Diamonbacks. In the post, I said that Scherzer has the ability to become a top of the rotation type of pitcher.
After struggling with Arizona going 9-15, Scherzer was traded to the Tigers and has continued to grow. This year he is 6-2 with a 3.68 ERA. So he seems to be starting to be the player that OTWT thought he would be, hey its a take a couple of years longer, but he is finally starting to come around.

Professional Tailgating: Maybe I should have stayed longer

It all started as a normal baseball game between the Reds and Phillies but little did I know that it would end well after I went to sleep

Nothing beats some trivia

 Bull's BBQ

 It all looked normal

We left in the ninth inning and after getting home I went to bed so I had no clue what happened until after I put on MLB Network and for one I was glad I did not stick around.

This sums it up

Barca are the kings of Europe again and maybe a team of a generation.This is the front page of a Spanish delay and its sums it up.

One Word: Believe

While the book makers have Barcelona the favorites, I for one "believe" that United will make us proud in the Champions League final. This is the mosaic from the 2008 Champions League in Moscow and it brings back good memory for any United fan. Glory Glory Man United.

Will Sir Alex go 4-4-1-1

The countdown is on until Saturday epic battle between Manchester United and Barcelona in the Champions League Final. While Barcelona formation appears to be set, Manchester United's formation appears to be up for debate. Will United play two up front, will Giggs make the starting 11. So here is what I would do if I was Sir Alex

Van de Sar

Rafeal                    Vidic                             Rio         Evra

Valencia             Carrick                      Fletcher             Park

Rooney

Hernandez

By going with this formation, Carrick and Fletcher could be supported in the middle by Park Ji Sung if its need and Rooney could then move out the wing. The bench would feature: Berba, Smalling, Giggs, O'Shea, Nani, Scholes, and Kuszcak. I would go with 4-4-1-1. This would be the formation that gives United the best chance to lift Mr. Big Ears again.

Please be nice to your trophies

As the European soccer season winds to a close, people are collecting trophies all over the place and some players are having a hard time handling the trophies.

Ajax goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenberg drops Dutch title trophy


Sergio Ramos drops the Copa del Rey


While its not a soccer trophy, the Spokane Chiefs break the Memorial Cup in 2008, classic, one of my favorites

Special 1TV: The end of the season

The Special One puts all of his chips on red for the Champions League Final.

There is no reason for Rutgers to be this bad at lacrosse

During the last couple of weeks, Only Time Will Tell officials have been spending a lot of time watching lacrosse and specifically college lacrosse.

During that time one thing has become clear, there are a lot of good players from New Jersey that are playing in other states.That got me to thinking, if there are so many good players coming out of the Garden State, then why is the Rutgers Lacrosse program a train wreck.

Just look around at lacrosse's traditional powers and you will see a Garden State flavor. Duke features three kids from Jersey. Virginia features four kids including Scott McWilliams, defender, from Mountain Lakes and Chris LaPierre, midfielder, from Medford. Johns Hopkins features five kids including standout midfielder Rob Guida from Chatham. Notre Dame features six kids from the Garden State. While Syracuse features five kids from New Jersey. The situation is almost as bad as the situation that Rutgers football was in about a decade ago and they have seemed to turn it around.

Now the school has the chance to turn everything around. On Monday Jim Stagnitta, who spent the past nine seasons coaching the Rutgers men’s lacrosse team, has announced his resignation. Stagnitta’s nine-year tenure was highlighted by consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances in 2003 and ’04, but the program languished in recent years. The Scarlet Knights turned in losing seasons in six of the last seven years, including a 6-9 mark this spring. Stagnitta compiled a 58-82 record after taking over for Tom Hayes — the winningest coach in program history — in 2001-02.

With the search for a new coach on, this is the chance for Scarlet Knights to make a real impact on the lacrosse field again. The school has to go out and spend the money and hire someone that will help bring recruits to the State University of New Jersey. If they don't make a splash there is a chance that Rutgers lacrosse will continue to be irrelevant.

Prospects 'R Us

While most of the focus on Friday night in Lakewood was on Bryce Harper, there were a ton of other prospects on display at First Energy Field. From AJ Cole to Jesse Biddle to Aaron Altherr, they were all on display during the game. Here is a breaking down of them:

BlueClaws left hander Jesse Biddle started and went 6 innings allowing 4 earned runs. All of his earned runs came in the second inning after which he settle down. He has good stuff and was very impressed. Biddle is ranked as the 7th best prospects in the Phillies system. The highlight of his night was striking out Bryce Harper


Blueclaws outfielder Aaron Altherr was also impressive. Altherr, 10th ranked prospect in the Phillies system, went 1 for 5 with a run scored. While still raw, Altherr could potentially be a chip that can be traded.


For Nats fans, the night was not only about Harper but also AJ Cole. Cole, the fourth ranked prospect in the Nats system, was a fourth round pick in the 2010 draft that the Nationals paid a bonus of $2 million to. Cole went four innings striking out four and allowing 2 hits and an earned run. Cole showed why baseball people think so highly of him. Below Cole strikes out form Phillies first round Anthony Hewitt

My New Favorite Number: 19

Professional Tailgating: It's Bryce Harper Day

As a Nats fan, Friday was a big day, it gave me a chance to see the future of the franchise in Bryce Harper when the Hagerstown Sun visited Lakewood. While Harper was went 1-4, you could see what makes him the best prospect in baseball.

Even fans of Nascar ole number 3 even came out for the event.

 Harper's name was one of the first on the lineup card for the Sun

Lakewood players get ready for the game

 Harper takes his position in right field with people looking on.

Harper flies out in the top of the third inning

Harper in between innings

We will be posting more on the prospects involved in the game including AJ Cole, Jesse Biddle, Zach Collier, Anthony Hewitt, and Aaron Altherr.

Could Spurs still end up at the Olympic Stadium

With West Ham United squarely looking at the trap door to the Championship, could their move to the Olympic Stadium be on hold? It's a question that needs to be asked.

On 11 February 2011 the Olympic Park Legacy Committee selected West Ham United and Newham Council as the preferred bidder to take over the Olympic Stadium after the 2012 Games. The decision in favour of West Ham's bid was unanimous. However Leyton Orient have complained that the stadium is too close too their ground and would breach FA rules. They claim that West Ham's plans could force them into bankruptcy. On 3 March 2011 West Ham United's proposed move to the Olympic Stadium was approved by the British government.

Their relegation to the Championship could throw a huge wrench into their plans, gone will be the huge crowds that watch Premier League football and the large revenue that comes from both tickets sales and the Premier League TV deals worldwide. How is a club with such a decline in revenue, even if its for just a year, going to be able afford to make the needed changes to the Olympic Stadium. It's expected to cost about £95m to convert the venue from an 80,000 seat stadium to a 60,000-seat venue for football, athletics and cricket, according to the BBC. The Olympic Delivery Authority is to give £35m of that to West Ham, while most of the remaining funds have been provided by a £40m loan arranged by Newham Council.

Could West Ham issues, allow Spurs to call the Olympic Stadium home. Spurs have the money to pay for the changes that need to be made to the stadium in order to bring it up standards for Premier League football. Spurs have the supporters to fill the stadium.

I know nothing is set in stone, but if it all plays out like this, it could be very hard for The Hammers to hold on to their proposed new home.

This Banners sums it up

Move over Liverpool, the Reds are marching on to title 19.

Professional Tailgating: For what its Werth

As a Nats fan, I was not a big fan of them signing Werth and after seeing in the that jersey on Thursday night it still does not look right

Werth in his familiar spot at Citizens Bank Park, this time in different colors.

 John Mayberry Jr., Werth replacement.

Outside the stadium, this guy plays a tune celebrating the Phillies win

At least on Friday night, I will be able to celebrate the future of the franchise, when the OTWT group heads to Lakewood to watch Bryce Harper,  can not wait.