=== Pennant Race Dept. ===

Coupla Rainiers games on TV lately.  Last night it was the, ahem, 1st-place Rainiers against the 2nd-place Salt Lake Bees.

My daughter wandered in and glanced at the screen.  The pitcher was taking the sign.  "Bedard?  Does Erik Bedard have a brother in the minor leagues?"

Just then, there was a bunt or something and Adam Moore jumped on the ball.  "That's ADAM MOORE?  What is this game?"  The camera panned around to Mike Carp and Matt Tuiasosopo...

Rainiers games consist of lousy major leaguers playing lousy major leaguers, we told her.  She got it right away.  "But that's a lot better than minor leaguers, huh."

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=== Erikkkkk ===

Didn't turn it on until the 5th, after Bedard was gassed.  He looked like, well, Erik Bedard.  Bedard, gassed, that is -- 30 seconds between pitches.  Good luck getting a PCL ump to call that curve ball a strike when it's angling through the zone at 30 degrees and hitting the catcher's mitt a foot outside.

And he's letting the muttonchops grow some.  Looking ever-more like a Ferrari.

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=== Greg Halman, 9 ... D ===

Carrillo was on a streak of 10, 12 Rainiers retired in a row, score 1-1 late, when Greg Halman came up in the 7th.

Carrillo set down a batter in the 7th, glowered in at Halman, and fired a sizzling fastball at the knees.  Halman waited on a straight fastball, casually let the bat go, and the ball soared way out to right field, far over the 15' wall. 

That's 15 homers for Halman, a .559 SLG in Cheney Stadium at the age of 22 ... despite a .227 AVG.  15 home runs in 50 games, hm.  What's that come to, over the course of 150 games?

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I've been taken with G-Money's observation that Halman has meathooks like a man from Atlantis, and you could certainly see them on that swing.  A Dave Winfield swing.

People ask where Ichiro gets his power?  Ichi has a small chest and tiny abdomen but he has huge, roped forearms, and he gets an unsual angle to the bat cock just before he snaps it through.  "Practice with a bokken every day, and you will have unbendable arms also," the aiki-sensei tell you.  Use your wrists to swing, and your forearms will bulk up.

The Winfields and Halmans have the same "biscuit" in their swing that gives them extra carry.

For those who aren't old men, Henry Aaron is baseball history's ultimate wrists man -- 755 homers weighing 180 lbs.  Watch the tapes and you'll see the wristiness of his swing.

The Edgar was rather a small man by today's standards.  Ran into him one time playing laser tag and was startled by how small he was.  But the forearms weren't...

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What happens when you put "wristiness" on a BIG man?  You get Dave Winfield, a guy who makes the bat look like a toothpick when he twitches it around.

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Halman was a BaseballHQ "9E" prospect coming into 2010:  a 10% shot at becoming a big star in the majors.  HQ based this on Halman's legitimately unusual physical talent, including arm strength, speed, and "plus-plus power."

At age 22, he is showing exactly the kind of progress we'd hoped for.  We'll gingerly slide him to "9D."

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Cheers,

Dr D