Troy Patton

[crashtest]

Troy got sandbagged by Jay de la sh*tforbrains and there is a Baltimore story to help him recover


www.baltimoresun.com/sports/baseball/bal-sp.patton15dec15,0,7524211.story?coll=bal_sports_highschool_promo

QUOTE:Patton is regarded as the key player for the Orioles in the deal, a pitcher with command and intelligence who was named the high school Player of the Year in Texas as a senior after going 12-0 with a 0.91 ERA. The Longhorns offered him a scholarship, but he signed with the Astros and received a $550,000 bonus after they chose him in the ninth round of the 2004 draft.

I kind of question his intelligence -- he did not realize that Baltimore was in the AL East and played a lot of games in NY and Boston. I'll bet that the day before he was traded, and I'll give you 50/50 odds that even today, he could not point to Baltimore on a world map. He'd probably sound like that South Carolina beauty queen if he was put in a similar spotlight.

Review: he was Texas 2004 high school player of the year going 12-0 as a lefty with 94 mph cheese. He might have had a hint that he might make a living in professional baseball. He might have occasionally followed a pennant race or two - you know, like we did when we were kids. He might have occasionally played Ken Griffey Baseball 200x. He might have given a minute or two to glance at the standings page in the newspaper or on the web to see who might draft him. He might have talked baseball with his teammates - "Gosh, it sure must suck having to play for Tampa Bay or Baltimore - they'll never have a chance with the Yankees and Red Sox in their division".

He apparently did none of that. If that is the mark of "intelligence", I'll take my chances hiring a chimpanzee. C'mon, kid, show some pride in the game. Take in some of its history. Be aware of your fncking surroundings. It's not all about how big your signing bonus was or what fraction of a BILLION DOLLARS you might make.

BTW, Baltimore does suck. It's a sh*thole. Watch out for the groupies - Baltimore has the highest STD and HIV infection rates in the country. With any luck, you might move up in the world and get traded to Cleveland or Detroit.

[hembo36]

so whats the point of this exactly? People could easily say the same about playing for a houston team not named the rockets. How many world series and super bowl victories does this city have?

[crashtest]

The point is that a 22 year old American boy, with enough baseball talent to sign a half-million dollar signing bonus, did not know that Baltimore was in the American League East. One wonders if he even knows baseball's divisional alignment -- if so, he might have deduced that Baltimore would not have been in the Central or the West --- assuming that he has any idea that Baltimore is on the east coast or even in the American League. He is undoubtedly the product of the ESPN generation where the only teams in baseball are the Yankees and the Red Sox and everybody else is a nebulous amalgam of Washington Generals to provide a nominally competitive setting.

A backdrop to this is a recent quote by Aubrey Huff where he called Baltimore a horsesh!t town for social life because the bars close early and he has nothing to do at 3:00 AM. Sensitivities were thus heightened over Troy's comment that the trade was disappointing.

Further, nobody could equate the chances of the Astros making the post season with AL East teams not named the Yankees or the Red Sox. Each year we seemingly plan for an 87 to 90 win season that would put us in the thick of contention without having to worry about being outspent by a tenth of a billion dollars in payroll in a market one-tenth the size of the gorillas.

I hope this clarifies the point I was trying to make, which I think you missed.

[jbarron]

Maybe if Aubrey Huff was home in bed at 3:00 AM instead of looking for open bars he would be a better player instead of being a horsesh*t player. Also, it doesn't appear that Troy Patton is the brightest pea in the pod.

[hembo36]

You guys are amazing..Really...Just last week everybody was questioning this deal and now its like neither were ever here. i have ZERO doubt everett will' not be as good as one thought' soon enough

[crashtest]

Orioles fans seem to have caught on that they might need to put Troy's MENSA application on hold.

Quote:
Originally Posted by bronco
Obviously this guy Patton isn't too bright...
From another post.


"Patton was sad at the news. He grew up an Astros fan here in the area, but he was pleased when I told him today that the Orioles were in the American League East.

"Are they in with the Yankees and the Red Sox?" he asked me. "That should be an awesome division to pitch in."





You forgot the next paragraph:

"Patton then looked down and asked "What is this thing in my hand?" When informed he was holding a baseball, he wrinkled his brow and asked "Do I eat it?"

I wonder what the conversation might have sounded like if he ever sat between Ausmus and Bruntlett on the team bus/plane last year. I think it might have rivaled something out of Bull Durham between Crash Davis and Nuke LaLoosh:

NUKE

(singing softly)
Oh she may get wooly, women do get
wooly, because of all the stress...

CRASH

I hate people who get the words wrong.
It ain't "woolly" it's "weary" and
it nobody's got stress, they're
wearing a dress.

NUKE

How come you don't like me?

CRASH

'Cause you don't respect yourself,
which is your problem, but you don't
respect the game -- and that's my
problem.
(beat)
You got a gift.

NUKE

What do I got?

CRASH

A gift. When you were a baby the
gods reached down and turned your
left arm into a thunderbolt. - (funny how the original script said lefty, but they cast Nuke as a righty)

Nuke looks at his left arm rubs his shoulder curiously.

CRASH

You got a Hall of Fame arm but you're
pissing it away.

NUKE

I ain't pissing nothing away -- I
got a Porsche already. A 944 with
A.C. and a quadraphonic Blaupunkt.

CRASH

You don't need a quadraphonic
Blaupunkt -- you need a curve ball.

[chandler44]

he was Texas 2004 high school player of the year going 12-0 as a lefty with 94 mph cheese.

Either the guy in HS was fast or he's changed his mechanics/got hurt, but when I saw him in the minors AND when he was up in Houston he never came close to sniffing 94.

[crashtest]

chandler44 said:

he was Texas 2004 high school player of the year going 12-0 as a lefty with 94 mph cheese.

Either the guy in HS was fast or he's changed his mechanics/got hurt, but when I saw him in the minors AND when he was up in Houston he never came close to sniffing 94.

Troy explained it this way to the Baltimore Sun:

Patton, who posted a 3.55 ERA and held opponents to a .213 batting average in 12 2/3 innings with the Astros, rarely brings his mid-90s fastball from his high school days. It stays more in the 88-92 mph range with a sinking action, and he also has a slider and changeup.

"In high school, you've got seven days' rest, and I didn't really have to think about pitching," he said. "I was a left-hander throwing 94 mph with movement against high school hitters. I could throw as hard as I wanted all the time."

Left-handers who bring mid-90s cheese should not be traded. They should be groomed to be staff aces. I suspect an arm injury. Maybe some HGH and 'roids might help. ;D

[hembo36]

im a little biased on this one as i know the kid..we didnt hang out(obviously) but he was a year younger than one of my sisters at Tomball and they had mutial friends...This is the same sister who went to prom with scott kazmir...Anyways, there was one other kid named carson kainer(whatever happened to him) he and patton were a sight to see..trust me..These kids had game for sure..i dont know if it was 94 but it was fast enough he had a next to nothing era..

i also remember a knee buckling breaking pitch that was just as good and as nasty as anybody's ive seen(including most of the pros) The only schoolboy pitcher i have personally watched who was better is Josh Beckett...

[hembo36]

i take that back...the best high school player i have seen was some dude from brenham about 15 years back

[jbarron]

That guy from Brenham must have been Jon Peters. Do you know whatever happened to him?

[hembo36]

Thats him...i dont know..probably working for blue bell

[crashtest]

Sounds likehe blew out an elbow: (from a google search)

Jon Peters, whose national-record 53 consecutive victories at Brenham (Tex.) High School placed him on the cover of Sports Illustrated last spring, underwent arthroscopic elbow surgery in February and did not pitch in his first season at Texas A&M. Peters said he had disagreed with Dr. James Andrews, the surgeon who told him the injury had been a result of overuse. ''I think it was from a lot of bad mechanics,'' Peters said.

From a 1990 NY Times article BASEBALL;
THE TENDER YEARS AND SORE ARMS

[crashtest]

sportsillustrated.cnn.com/features/1997/weekly/catchingup/0811/index.html

Well, here is the full scoop. Looks like he's got a great head on his shoulders. Of course, another 10 years have flown by, but I reckon he's stayed on course.



BTW, wouldn't it be great if ballplayers still looked like that instead of the black tube sock/pants down to the cleats crap? I'd love a throw back game where everyone wore stirrups and white sani's - maybe the look would hang around. The current fad/style has more than overstayed its welcome. I've noticed all the Cardinals farm teams wear the candy canes and the players keep the look when they get called up. Maybe a change is blowin' in the wind.

[crashtest]

www.hsgametime.com/houston/content/topstories/stories/hsgt071215_ks_brehnam.1d15caa0.html

Small world, KHOU Channel 11 just did this update yesterday.