Another former Barnstormer is headed south.
P Derrick DePriest plans to sign with the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs. 
The closer, who posted a 1.06 ERA in 51 games for the Barnstormers last season, wanted to reunite with his former manager, Butch Hobson. The two were together with the Nashua Pride in 2006.
“He’s the best manager in baseball,” DePriest said. “The way he treats his players, the way he comes to the field every day, the winning attitude, it just rubs off on everybody. You want to be at the ballpark. You want to win. You want to play hard for him. You know he has your best interests at heart.”
DePriest initially planned on pitching in Mexico this summer. He signed with the Mexico City Diablos in January and spent time in spring training with that team and Nuevo Laredo Tecolotes before being released last week.
The submarine-style righthander became an Atlantic League free agent in February when the Barnstormers didn’t put him on a protected list. DePriest decided Southern Maryland was the right fit because of Hobson and the team’s proximity to his off-season home in North Carolina.
The Blue Crabs plan to use DePriest as a starter, at least at the outset. They already have enough relievers under contract and needed someone to help fill out their rotation.
“This is something I’ve been toying with the last couple of years,” said DePriest, who has only started one game in his seven-year pro career. “For whatever reason, I didn’t get picked up last year. I think a lot of it has to do with velocity. If that’s the attitude scouts have, maybe being a starter not having velocity in the 90s won’t be such a big issue.”
DePriest is the second former Lancaster player to wind up in Southern Maryland. OF/1B Eric Crozier signed with the Blue Crabs last week.
The Barnstormers, meanwhile, remain in search of a closer. Their bullpen consists of four pitchers: lefty Ross Peeples and righthanders Franklin Mendible, Derek Forbes and Ricardo Gomez. Forbes and Mendible did not pitch professionally last season. Gomez was with Charlotte County of the independent South Coast League.
*ALB.com has information on some big names that have played in the Atlantic League: Danny Graves and Ruben Mateo.
*Newsday has an article about the Yankees’ bullpen situation and how it relates to P Scott Patterson. Even though the details about Patterson are butchered beyond belief, the story gives you an idea of his chances of making the big-league club.
*The seats are being installed at Regency Furniture Stadium, the home of the Blue Crabs. Ballpark looks smaller than the Clip, more like York.
Wonderful…just wonderful…
I just got this off of Yahoo Sports in regard to Scott Patterson …..
RHP Scott Patterson, despite not having any big-league experience, has placed himself among the finalists for a relief role. Signed out of an independent league in 2006, Patterson, 28, allowed no runs and just one hit over his first six relief appearances this spring, covering six innings.
By The Numbers: 11—The number of legitimate reliever candidates still battling for three remaining spots in the final week of camp.
Quote To Note: “The bullpen is probably the hardest decision to make because everyone’s throwing so well.”—Manager Joe Girardi
I’m hopeful for Patterson, but it looks like the odds are against him. One of the guys contending for the final spot is Brian Bruney, who has pitched well in camp. He’s been in the big leagues before and has a $750,000 guaranteed deal. Teams usually don’t option players like that in favor of someone like Patterson. Still, Patterson’s performance is essentially perfect. He deserves a shot.
We will see how good the Barnstormer are picking the players now. We will need a few hat tricks. And away we go…………..!
This was on Philly.com and brought back a lot of memories. They didn’t show our new manager any respect, but the Jeff Stone and Lonnie Smith comments are classics:
Morning Report: Best and worst of Phillies outfielders
By Don McKee
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
The Inquirer is midway through an entertaining preseason look at baseball, position by position.
The series, of course, is a baseball writers’ guide to the sport.
The Morning Report offers The Fans’ Guide to Phillies History.
Today: The Outfielders
Right field
Best arm: Johnny Callison. Led the league in assists four times while Roberto Clemente played for Pittsburgh.
Most spineless: Bobby Abreu. Would stop 15 feet from the wall because he literally was scared of its shadow.
Stupidest: Roger Freed. His nickname was “The Donkey,” and long experience says anyone who is the butt of jokes in a baseball locker room is an incredibly dim bulb.
Best-looking athlete who was actually a stiff: Von Hayes. Tall, lean, good looking, with a perfect batting stance and an elegant throwing motion, Hayes sure looked the part. But he never hit in the clutch and was a terrible base runner.
Left field
Worst-looking athlete who was actually a good player: Greg Luzinski. Overweight, slow and derided as dull-witted, “The Bull” hit .300 three years in a row despite a total absence of any natural speed, and knew the game inside and out.
Most out to lunch. Jeff Stone. Refused to bring home a television from the Puerto Rican winter league because “it only gets Spanish stations.”
Best player despite a drug habit: Lonnie Smith. Hit .339 in 100 games as the Phillies won the World Series in 1980. He admitted later that he always slid headfirst because he kept his cocaine vials in his rear pocket.
Most famous for having done absolutely nothing: Jerry Martin. He’s the guy Danny Ozark failed to send in for defense against the Dodgers in 1977, making Luzinski the goat of a lost series.
Center field
Best range. Garry Maddox, who set an unofficial career record for most balls caught in left by a centerfielder in the decade he played beside Luzinski.
Best clutch hitter. Len Dykstra. “Nails” had 10 postseason home runs in his career. Mike Schmidt had four.
Most underrated. Tony Gonzalez. Hit .300 three times, including .339 in 1967. But he followed the revered Richie Ashburn and preceded Maddox and Dykstra, so he has faded in fans’ memories.
Best-looking athlete who was actually a stiff: Von Hayes. Tall, lean, good looking, with a perfect batting stance and an elegant throwing motion, Hayes sure looked the part. But he never hit in the clutch and was a terrible base runner.
————————————
OK, I hate when sportswriters do this because it makes all of us look like idiots. Von Hayes was not a stiff. No one who knows anything about baseball statistics would claim otherwise. He had an OPS+ of 113, which means he was 13 percent better than average in the MAJOR LEAGUES. A lot of guys playing professional baseball would kill to have had Hayes’ career.
Also, “never hit in the clutch” is beyond idiotic for a bunch of reasons. You never use word the word never because it’s almost never accurate. Hayes had an .800 OPS in the majors with two outs and RISP. I’m sure there were some clutch hits sprinkled in there somewhere. Look, the guy wasn’t a Hall of Famer and maybe didn’t live up to unrealistic expectations. But that doesn’t make him somehow a bad baseball player.
End of rant.
Jason – mission accomplished! (I knew this would get you fired up). Maybe you should just call him on WIP where he hosts a weekend show and use this as a locker room posting to get the team fired up!
PS: You have to admit the Jeff Stone and Lonnie Smith comments are classics.
As a point of reference, Dykstra’s OPS with 2 outs and RISP was 20 points worse than Hayes’s. So Mr. Clutch wasn’t always so clutch, even when he had two gallons of steroids in his system.
And, yes, Jeff Stone was usually out to lunch. He got that one right.
Can’t wait ’till they get around to catchers. Lance Parrish won’t stand a chance.
But I’m not sure why you’re surprised. I moved here 20 years ago, and my impression of the Philadelphia media is they will vilify HOF’ers. Right Mike.
WIP is full of Idiots. All they know is how to stir up comtroversy and ratings. Only way they stay on the air. Angelo, a journalist?? Please. Only thing he can cover is the Wing Bowl.
I just read the “Vying For a Spot” by Kat O’Brien… That is not Scott Patterson he’s writing about. Scott is not 23, he did not pitch in Charleston and his ERA is NOT 4.14 Plus he has thrown in triple A at the end of last year after spending the season in double A.
So… are there two Scott Patterson’s vying for a spot?
She means the Barnstormers’ Scott Patterson. She just got all of his background information wrong. Patterson hasn’t pitched in a while, which is probably not a great sign, either.
ALB.com has new info on the SoMd roster. The Crabs added some more ex-big leaguers.
And it’s Opening Day! Nothing says spring like the first major league game, starting at 6 a.m. in the Far East.
Scott got in the game Saturday after the starting pitcher gave up 6 runs… in the first inning. But then the heavens opened up and it poured.
Come on guys we need the power of positive thinking here.
If Scott does end up in Scranton .. they’ll be calling on him soon to head over to the Big Apple. It’s only a matter of time… can I get anymore positive on this subject
It was a good opening day game, too! Ramirez is lucky he didn’t get caught at 2b after that last hit. At what point did coaches start telling players “If you hit the ball, POSE!”?
I didn’t realize there was a rainout. That explains why Patterson hasn’t officially pitched in so long.
I watched the game too Mark. How about Moss?! The Sox’s prospects have been really panning out.
Moss pretty much took over the role David Murphy was filling before he got dealt to Texas with the unfortunately named Kason Gabbard.
The “J” and the “K” are right next to each other on the keyboard. That’s my only guess.
It’s OK Jason… We got soaked but had a blast down there. Rain out/delays are very good for the stadium store, you couldn’t move in that place but I did manage to purchase a LOT !!
Hey Mike, what’s your take on Patty making it to Yankee stadium?
Nice to see J.D. Drew still begging out of the lineup. I mean, who wants to play on opening day?
The Barnstormers have their closer to replace DePriest. It should be announced soon. They’re also close on a few other major moves. It looks like the team is making some progress.
Yeah, I think J.D Drew should take most of his 70 million dollar contract and buy a bunch of mosquito nets for people in Africa. He has got to be one of the hardest players to figure out. I really hope he has a productive year.
I give Drew credit for finding someone foolish enough to pay him $70 million when he’s shown no evidence of giving a damn. Asking out of the lineup on opening day is weak, even by his standards.
This is Ashmore…
If Patterson were a lefty — or actually 23 as Newsday inexplicably reported — he’d have his spot locked up.
But the fact is, he’s blocked by so many young pitchers in the system.
He’s done what he’s always done ever since joining the Yankees organization…put up some of the best numbers in his peer group, if not the best numbers.
I don’t see him making the team out of camp, but he’d have to be the first or second pitcher called up. I just hope he gets off to a hot start, because even though he’s on the 40-man roster, he can’t afford to lose any ground considering the insane amount of depth the Yankees have on the mound, especially righties.
Amazing how he goes from the guy I gave grief to for sharing his name with a Gilmore Girls actor, to the guy trying to get directions to Trenton on my laptop in the Lancaster press box, to the guy who’s one good break away from wearing Yankee pinstripes.
Either that, or it’s amazing how a guy who’d never pitched a day of affiliated baseball in his life is making his presence felt on what may the most well-known franchise in all of sports.
Hey Mike.. do you have a myspace account?…if so you can see my spring training pics. I just got back from Tampa
Patterson pitched today. One batter, one strikeout.
In unrelated news, Sal Fasano was released by the Blue Jays. What will happen to Sal’s pals?
I do…just search for my name and it should pop up. Send me a friend request or a message so I know where to go to check them out.
OK.. I’m searcing