fullcountpitch.com

By Andrew Armida, 13 year old Correspondent

Well, it feels good to be back.  With school and school ball over I’m happy to be making a return.  Today I’ll be providing you with a pretty cool story.  Some of you may have seen this but for those who haven’t, I think you’ll find it pretty interesting.

For those of you who don’t know, Pat Venditte is a 23 year old pitcher from Omaha, Nebraska.  He attended Creighton University and was drafted by (20^th round/620^th overall pick) and signed by the Yankees this year. He was drafted last year but he didn’t sign.  He currently is playing a Class A level minor league baseball with the Staten Island Yankees.  And for his most intriguing feature, he is an ambidextrous pitcher. [Read more →]

By Gary Armida

Happy Fourth of July FCP readers! July 4th is also the birthday of Yankees owner, George Steinbrenner. Love him or hate him, every fan would kill to have an owner who spends his money. He’s had his share of controversy, but the fact is that the Boss has spent a ton of money to field a winning team over the years. Sadly, his 2008 version are not holding up their end of the bargain. Before you start to have too much barbeque this weekend, let’s take a quick glance at the news and trends of the Baseball World. [Read more →]

By Bill Campione

I have been a Yankee fan for my entire life. I chanted “REG-GIE” during the 1978 World Series when I wasn’t yet two years old. I was there for Dave Righetti’s no hitter on July 4, 1983. I was there for the first playoff game at the Stadium in fourteen years in 1995. I felt the place literally shake when Buck Showalter and Don Mattingly were introduced.

All of my great in person Yankee memories pale in comparison to a moment I witnessed in my dorm room on May 12, 1996. The Yankees were playing in Comiskey Park and trailing 8-0 after two innings. The Yanks cut the lead to 8-4 by the sixth when Andy Fox came up. The New York Times wrote:

[Read more →]

By Gary Armida

It is always interesting to see what an organization does when it peaks a year too early. Some may choose to ride it out with their young players like the Marlins of 2006. Some may choose to dip into their farm system and push their young talent like the Rockies of 2007. And some may choose to trade for that missing ingredient and seize the opportunity in front of them like the 2003 World Series Champion Marlins. The Rays find themselves in this predicament this year. After yesterday’s victory over the Red Sox, the Rays are 2.5 games ahead of the Sox and 7.5 games ahead of the New York Yankees with a 51-32 record, the best record in the major leagues. While many (including this site-we wrote about it in November) thought the Rays would be good, no one had an idea that they would be leading baseball heading into the Fourth of July weekend. Now the Rays are at a crossroads. With a deficiency in right field and designated hitter and a need for an additional pitcher or two, the Rays brain trust must decide how to proceed. Do they go for it or do they just see what happens? [Read more →]

By Gary Armida

What is the truth? That very question was raised in the 1996 film A Time to Kill. During the climax of the movie, the main character, Jake Brigance (played by Matthew McConaughey) asks the jury that very question. He ponders how we as human beings come to the truth. He asks if we seek the truth through our hearts or our minds. Brigance reasons that we must seek the truth with our hearts because our minds are clouded by what we see and hear. So, in reality, truth is perception. Now, what does this have to do with baseball? Well, um,  everything. Baseball fans are quick to judge a player’s performance. Most fans see a player and can immediately say that the player is “done” or just doesn’t care about winning. But, where do those assumptions come from? After thinking about this for the greater part of two weeks now, I have arrived at the answer. Fans believe the truth through mass perception, almost never looking at reason. It is because of that practice that the modern athlete is disconnected from today’s fan. [Read more →]

By Gary Armida, Sr.

In this age of steroids, astronomical salaries and contracts, I came across an item that really made me appreciate my love of baseball. The item came out of our local newspaper and is now hanging on the wall in my home office. The article told the story of a local baseball player, Josh DePew. I saw Josh play for the Valley Central HS Baseball team and for the Newburgh Nuclears American Legion team, in my role as a part-time scout for the Atlanta Braves. The article told Josh’s story about his courageous battle with acute lymphoblast leukemia, after he was diagnosed three months ago at the tender age of 19. Josh was about to begin another round of chemotherapy, one that would most likely end his summer baseball season. [Read more →]