Delmon Young
Its tough to get a read on a guy that you’ve only seen four times in person. However, when I saw Delmon Young play in Charleston, South Carolina during the 2004 season, I was very impressed.
The bar is normally set extremely high when you watch a first overall pick, and sometimes the expectations are set too high, which causes you come away disappointed. That wasn’t the case with Delmon Young.
In 2004, I was calling games for the Charleston Alley Cats, and they had the best pitching staff in the South Atlantic League. Delmon Young went yard five times in the four game set against the Alley Cats and four of those bombs went the opposite way with the wind blowing in. Not only was the wind blowing in, the wind probably could have knocked me over.
The homeruns told me just how much power he really had. When he was in the field, it was easy to see that he was built for right field. He’s got that natural big athletic build of a right fielder, and an absolute cannon of an arm. I don’t think he should play anywhere else.
Not only was Young a guy that turned heads in the stands, he was so incredibly gifted, that he practically had the Alley Cats in awe. That might sound a bit cliché but I’m being 1000000% serious when I say that.
I’ll never forget the third game of that series. He hit two bombs in that game, and threw out two people in right field. He nailed one guy at third base, and the other at the plate. The final score was 4-3, so obviously, he was a HUGE factor. The Alley Cats manager that year, Kenny Joyce was FURIOUS after the game.
Kenny had managed against Delmon Young in the All-Star Game that year, so he knew how great Young really was. On the bus after the game, Kenny was as mad as I’ve ever seen him. He got on the bus and minus SEVERAL expletives, he said “If you want to be like their right fielder, then play like him, don’t play in awe of him.”
It was an incredible quote at an emotional moment from one of my favorites in this game. Perhaps what was most impressive about that whole scenario, was that Delmon Young was just 18 years old at the time, and he was EXTREMELY dominant.
Young obviously has painted a foggy picture for most casual fans, and even the die-hards who have yet to see him. His bat throwing incidents and the rumors of his discontent with the D-Rays system that have gone public certainly won’t help his image at all, at least until people get to see him, and see just how great he really is.
His numbers have been very consistent since he started playing pro ball. He spent not quite three seasons in the minor leagues, but in that time he tallied 59 bombs, 273 RBI, 448 hits over 353 games, and had a .317 average.
Though his time in the majors last year was brief, he still did fairly well, hitting .317 with three homers, 40 hits, and nine doubles over 30 games. That’s one heck of a start for a guy that is only 21 years old, and wont be 22 until September.
Dmitri Young, Delmon’s older brother has had a solid major league career. He’s been nothing too special, but he’s been good enough to stick in the majors for a little while. Delmon is going to be different, Delmon will be a guy that you hear about, and see smiling at all star games for years to come.
The bar is normally set extremely high when you watch a first overall pick, and sometimes the expectations are set too high, which causes you come away disappointed. That wasn’t the case with Delmon Young.
In 2004, I was calling games for the Charleston Alley Cats, and they had the best pitching staff in the South Atlantic League. Delmon Young went yard five times in the four game set against the Alley Cats and four of those bombs went the opposite way with the wind blowing in. Not only was the wind blowing in, the wind probably could have knocked me over.
The homeruns told me just how much power he really had. When he was in the field, it was easy to see that he was built for right field. He’s got that natural big athletic build of a right fielder, and an absolute cannon of an arm. I don’t think he should play anywhere else.
Not only was Young a guy that turned heads in the stands, he was so incredibly gifted, that he practically had the Alley Cats in awe. That might sound a bit cliché but I’m being 1000000% serious when I say that.
I’ll never forget the third game of that series. He hit two bombs in that game, and threw out two people in right field. He nailed one guy at third base, and the other at the plate. The final score was 4-3, so obviously, he was a HUGE factor. The Alley Cats manager that year, Kenny Joyce was FURIOUS after the game.
Kenny had managed against Delmon Young in the All-Star Game that year, so he knew how great Young really was. On the bus after the game, Kenny was as mad as I’ve ever seen him. He got on the bus and minus SEVERAL expletives, he said “If you want to be like their right fielder, then play like him, don’t play in awe of him.”
It was an incredible quote at an emotional moment from one of my favorites in this game. Perhaps what was most impressive about that whole scenario, was that Delmon Young was just 18 years old at the time, and he was EXTREMELY dominant.
Young obviously has painted a foggy picture for most casual fans, and even the die-hards who have yet to see him. His bat throwing incidents and the rumors of his discontent with the D-Rays system that have gone public certainly won’t help his image at all, at least until people get to see him, and see just how great he really is.
His numbers have been very consistent since he started playing pro ball. He spent not quite three seasons in the minor leagues, but in that time he tallied 59 bombs, 273 RBI, 448 hits over 353 games, and had a .317 average.
Though his time in the majors last year was brief, he still did fairly well, hitting .317 with three homers, 40 hits, and nine doubles over 30 games. That’s one heck of a start for a guy that is only 21 years old, and wont be 22 until September.
Dmitri Young, Delmon’s older brother has had a solid major league career. He’s been nothing too special, but he’s been good enough to stick in the majors for a little while. Delmon is going to be different, Delmon will be a guy that you hear about, and see smiling at all star games for years to come.
posted by Bloggin' Bull at 6:00 AM
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