Braves' Jason Heyward is MLB's No. 1 prospect

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May 9, 2008: Outfielder Jason Heyward (24) of the Rome Braves, Class A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves, prior to a game against the Greenville Drive at Fluor Field at the West End in Greenville, S.C. Photo by: Tom Priddy/Four Seam Images

Jason Heyward of the Atlanta system is Major League Baseball's No. 1 prospect for 2010. It was announced on the MLB-TV network last week in the Top 50 Prospects show, and if you missed it you can catch a rerun.

I've written about Jason several times before, noting that he's certainly in my own Top 5 fun players to photograph. I hope you can see why in these photos, which are my favorite Jason Heyward shots.


Skeels gets another promotion; Machemer stays put

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June 5, 2008: Andy Skeels of the Augusta GreenJackets, Class A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants, in a game against the Greenville Drive at Fluor Field at the West End in Greenville, S.C. Photo by:  Tom Priddy/MiLB.com

Following up on some coaching news . . .

The San Francisco Giants have announced they are promoting Andy Skeels to manager of the 2010 Double-A Richmond (Va.) Flying Squirrels. 

I photographed Skeels when he was with low-Class A Augusta in 2008. He was promoted to high-Class A San Jose last year. Skeels' Augusta and San Jose clubs finished a combined 178-102. The Flying Squirrels, an Eastern League team, moved to Richmond from Connecticut, where they were called the Defenders. They'll play in the old Richmond Braves ballpark, The Diamond.

The Giants also announced that manager Dave Machemer will come back as manager of the Augusta GreenJackets next year.

I photographed Machemer last year in the dugout next to the team's temporary mascot, a good-luck token that they kept with them after a winning streak.

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The Augusta Greenjackets have a stuffed mascot monkey named Norm. He was picked up by outfielder Dom Duggan as a good luck charm after the team lost 11 of 13 to begin the season. The team went on to win the next six of eight, and though they fell on another rough patch, the monkey stays, largely at Duggan's request. He's become a pseudo-celebrity, having been featured in the Augusta Chronicle and on local television station WJBF, our ABC affiliate, says Eric Little, the GreenJackets' media relations staffer. He is shown here with manager Dave Machemer (21).



Charleston RiverDogs to keep manager Tyson

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August 2, 2008: Torre Tyson of the Charleston River Dogs, Class A affiliate of the New York Yankees, in a game against the Greenville Drive at Fluor Field at the West End in Greenville, S.C. Photo by:  Tom Priddy/MiLB.com

Following up on some coaching news . . .

The New York Yankees have announced that manager Torre Tyson would return for a fourth season with Class A Sally League Charleston RiverDogs.

The Yanks also announced that pitching coach Jeff Ware and hitting coach Greg Colbrunn are returning and that former big leaguer Carlos Mendoza will serve as first base coach. 


Rays farmhand Winston Abreu finally gets noticed

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Winston Abreu of the Greenville Braves works out in Greenville Memorial Stadium in Greenville, S.C., taken June 14-17, 2001. Photo by Tom Priddy. 

It was a pleasant surprise to find that former Greenville Brave pitcher Winston Abreu has been named Minor League Baseball's Triple-A reliever of the year. 

I get out to the ballpark early most days, and I see the players who take extra infield, or extra batting practice or extra running and weights. And I don't think anyone I've seen worked harder or longer than Winston Abreu.

Signed by the Braves in 1993, Abreu has been all over the minors and has attracted the attention of baseball coaches, too.

"He's a good pitcher and a great kid," Durham manager Charlie Montoyo told Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com. "He's one of my favorites. I could talk about him all day. He's the first guy at the clubhouse every day working out, one of the hardest workers I've ever seen. Sometimes I have to tell him to slow down, it's a long season, but he says 'This is just how I am.'"

I photographed him in Greenville in 2000 and 2001, and then lost track of him for several years. I wrote about him (link below) in 2006 when he made his his Major League debut. 

Writes Mayo: "The 32-year-old went 3-1 with a 1.94 ERA and 15 saves in 37 games for Durham. He gave up just 23 hits over 51 innings for a ridiculous .133 batting average against while walking only 16 and striking out 77. He played a big part in helping the Bulls reach the International League playoffs, then saved four games in six scoreless outings to get them to the Triple-A National Championship Game."

So far he's only had a cup of coffee with two Major League organizations. But maybe that will change in 2010. It's about time.


Kevin Boles gets a promotion to Salem

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Sept. 3, 2009: Manager Kevin Boles of the Greenville Drive at Fluor Field at the West End in Greenville, S.C., Sept. 3, 2009. Boles was named 2010 manager of the Salem Red Sox on Dec. 22, 2009. Photo by: Tom Priddy.

With hitting coach Billy McMillon taking over as Greenville Drive manager for 2010, former manager Kevin Boles gets a logical promotion to High Class A Salem.

Almost without exception, Minor League managers are photographer-friendly, even though we get in their way sometimes. But Kevin was especially good to us, and went out of his way to make sure we got what we needed.

Kevin didn't particularly like having his own photo taken, though, so I was happy to grab these shots when I could. I think he probably just wanted to make sure we were concentrating on the players.


Billy McMillon to manage Greenville Drive in 2010

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April 2, 2008: Coach Billy McMillon of the Greenville Drive, Class A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, during Media Day at Fluor Field at the West End in Greenville, S.C. McMillon was named 2010 manager of the Drive on Dec. 22, 2009. Photo by:  Tom Priddy/MiLB.com

Billy McMillon was named 2010 manager of the Greenville Drive today. Drive hitting coach for the past two years, he was also an All-American ballplayer at Clemson and a former Major Leaguer.

McMillon takes over for Kevin Boles, who was named 2010 manager for the Salen Red Sox, one step higher up the professional ladder.

Two great guys in two important positions for the Sox organization. Boles and McMillon led the Drive to the Championship Series this year.

The Greenville Drive press release adds: McMillon "will be joined by former major leaguers Luis Lopez and Kevin Walker, both of whom were with the Lowell Spinners last season, as hitting coach and pitching coach, respectively.  The trio of McMillon, Lopez, and Walker have combined for a total of 23 years of Major League service."


Casey Kelly decides just to be a pitcher

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Sept. 3, 2009: Casey Kelly at Jim Rice Night at the Greenville Drive, honoring Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame player Jim Rice at Fluor Field at the West End in Greenville, S.C., Sept. 3, 2009. Photo by Tom Priddy/MiLB.com

According to the latest reports, the above photo is one you won't see much in 2010. It's former Greenville Drive player Casey Kelly holding a bat.

The Web site SoxProspects says Kelly, who insisted on playing half a year as pitcher and half as shortstop in 2009, has elected to concentrate on pitching in his effort to make it to the majors. Says the site: "While the Sox brass undoubtedly preferred Kelly choose to continue his career on the mound, they ultimately left the decision to Kelly himself."

Kelly was a lights-out pitcher for the Drive in the first half of the season, and a good, but not great, shortstop the rest of the year.

Sounds like a wise move. But these photos are now outdated . . .


Soriano is either here or there or both

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14 March 2009: Rafael Soriano of the Atlanta Braves at Spring Training camp at Disney's Wide World of Sports in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. Photo by:  Tom Priddy/MiLB.com

By the time you read this, Rafael Soriano may be a Brave, or he may be an Oriole, or a Yankee, or a Red Sox . . .

Soriano accepted arbitration from the Atlanta Braves yesterday. Then, in order to make room on the 40-man roster they designated OF Ryan Church for assignment. Then, Soriano accepted the possibility of a trade with a specified list of teams . . .

I'm tried of the story already. Anyway, the winter meetings are going on right now, so he'll probably be traded before the end of the week.

I guess this spring may have been the last time I photograph him in a Braves uniform.


Digging deep to find Jayson Werth's negatives

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Jayson Werth has been a key player for the Phillies during this year's playoff run, so I thought it would be fun to look back at the photos I took of him when he was playing Class A ball. 

I just didn't realize the search would be so time consuming.

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I found nothing in my backup archives, and nothing on the old backup DVDs. Of course, it was shot on film back in 1999, but I had expected to find at least a couple of scans in my digital files. No such luck. 

I keep backup copies of all the rosters and lineup cards for every game I shoot, so I easily found the April 1999 Frederick Keys roster, when Werth was a catcher. But the negatives were filed in another location because they had become so bulky.

The negatives were filed in plastic sleeves with the player's number written with a china marker. There was Werth, No. 37, on a couple of strips. I finally remembered how to use the film scanner, and here are the results. 


Giants prospect Villalona jailed on a murder charge

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August 25, 2008: Angel Villalona of the Augusta GreenJackets at Fluor Field at the West End in Greenville, S.C. Photo by:  Tom Priddy/MiLB.com

San Francisco Giants first base prospect Angel Villalona, who by all accounts became a millionaire when he signed with the Giants, is awaiting trial for the shooting death of a 25-year-old man in the Dominican Republic, according to reports from the Associated Press.

According to the reports, Villalona, 19, who last played against the Drive in Greenville last year when he was with Class A Augusta, turned himself in to police the day after a man was shot in a bar in La Romana last month. 

According to the AP report, Villalona, who pleaded innocent, could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted. I scanned the Web to see if I could find anything new about the case, but I suspect justice moves slowly in some parts of the world.

In a statement, the Giants said, "We will monitor the situation closely and trust that the judicial process in the Dominican Republic will resolve the matter promptly and fairly."


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