Big League Stew - Q&A with Comeback Player of the Year Fernando Tatis.
“Q: The reason you wanted to play again was to fund the building of a church where you live?
TATIS: That’s true. We wanted to do that for Santo Domingo/San Pedro de Macoris and finally that dream came true. I told my wife and sister in law that if we want to do this, I’m going to have to play baseball one more time. I did my part, I started to practice and went to the minor leagues and it took me a couple years to make it to the big leagues, to do what we wanted to do — to build the church in our home town — and now, our dream has come true. It’s a great feeling for us.
Q: Why was it so important? What was missing?
TATIS: It’s very important for me and my family because we are Christians; we believe in God. We felt that if we helped to build a bigger church in our hometown, it’s going to be a lot better for everyone. We wanted to invite more people into our church. The church that we had was kind of small and not many people could fit inside. It’s very important for me, because we want a lot of people to go there and believe in God and pray. We just want the whole town to go there and listen to the word of God. That’s our goal.”
FutureRedBirds.net – This time FRB talks with pitcher Justin Fiske, who finished the season in AA.
“Q: How would you describe your pitching style? Give us a little scouting report on yourself.
FISKE: I would definitely say I am a backwards pitcher. Most people pitch off there fastball where as I pitch off my change up. My change up is my best pitch so I’ll use it to get ahead in the count and even to strike guys out. My fastball does come in handy when hitters are looking for my change up. Running a fastball up and in will get them off my change up. Sometimes I’ll even get swing and misses on those pitches. Not many hitters go up to the plate looking forward to hitting an off speed pitch. So when they see a fastball they like to jump on it. Because I don’t throw very hard, my off speed pitches are my go to pitches. That allows me to use my fastball more effectively.”
MetsBlog.com – Interview with Nelson Figueroa discussing impact of blogs.
“Q: So, to what extent are you guys, as players, aware of blogging and aware of new media? I know that the newspapers are dominant, but are you aware of these other communication tools?
Nelson Figueroa: Absolutely. I think that it’s the kind of media that is so instant and current and there are so many inside tips that you read about. I was in Triple-A and I heard about things that were happening with the Mets organization through different blogs…They can voice their opinions and other things on blogs. So, it’s a new medium that people are taking advantage of and I think a lot of fans use well.”
Baseball Prospectus Unfiltered - Quick interview with Anthony Reyes of the Cleveland Indians.
“Q: What is the biggest difference between Cleveland and St. Louis?
REYES: The biggest thing is the fans, and how much the fans are in the game and understand the game. There’s a little more of that in St. Louis, because it’s such a baseball town. The stadium is full every time you go there, so it’s just a different atmosphere, although it’s still baseball here — they cheer when you do well, so it’s still nice.”
DallsNews.com - Quick interview with Rangers SS Michael Young.
“Q: You’ve said you expect this team to continue to improve. Why will next year be better than this year?
YOUNG: We have some continuity on our team, especially with our position players. We’ll have most of the same guys back. We can build and gain more trust in one another. We want to find a way to get better together and keep growing as a team. That’s a positive. I don’t see why our young pitchers can’t keep gaining experience and get better. I think we’ll be better than we were. I don’t put a number on it. We’ll see what happens as the winter progresses. (Young added, when asked about how to improve the club during the winter: “I don’t look at one way being the right way. You can do it through free agency and trades. Whatever makes the team better is all I care about.”)”
