I normally don't make such a huge deal out of single articles, but Jerry Crasnick's article on Mitch Canham and his family is pure gold.

To give a little background, Mitch is playing for the Lake Elisnore Storm, a Class A Affiliate of the San Diego Padres.

taken by Nils Nilsen, via assets.espn.go.com

Again, the link to the story is here. It's a long read, but it is well, well worth it.

And if you've been having Mitch withdrawals, here's a somewhat low quality look at Mitch rounding the bases after a homer to right in a minor league game.

GO BEAVERS!

--JB--

Heres' the third part of the series I started last week.

Jacoby Ellsbury, Boston Red Sox

Jacoby is having a great second "rookie" season with the Boston Red Sox. Out of all the professional players we've covered, he's probably getting the most attention from Beaver fans. He's hitting .278 on the season with 5 home runs, 27 RBI, and all in 209 at-bats. The most impressive stats, however, are his stolen bases. Jacoby leads the American League in stolen bases with 35, one ahead of Ichiro. Willie Tavarez of the Rockies leads the MLB with 39. 

On Wednesday night, Jacoby had the first four hit game of his career against the Twins. A highlight video is available on MLB.com, but Jacoby went 4 for 6 with a double and two runs scored. 

Jamie Burke, Seattle Mariners

The Roseburg native is a backup catcher for the Mariners, but like we discussed in Tuesday's Morning Orange Juice, he's also gotten some work on the mound.  I'll explain: Last Sunday, the Mariners found themselves tied with the Tigers in the fifteenth inning. Skipper Jim Riggleman had already used every arm in the bullpen, so he elected to go to Burke, his backup catcher. Burke had thrown 4 innings in the minors, so it wasn't completely new to him, but the Tigers ended up scoring the winning run while Burke was on the hill.

Jamie has played in 25 games this season and has a .214 average in 56 at-bats.

Brian Barden / AAA / Memphis Red Birds (St. Louis)

The shortstop has been working his way through the minor league system since 2002. He's hitting .310 this season in 86 games with nine home runs and 34 RBI. Cesar Izturis, Brendan Ryan, and Aaron Mile are all ahead of Brian on the big league roster.

Jenkins, Aselton, Matthews, and Baldwin after the break.

Continue reading this post »

First off, Happy 4th of July to everyone. I'm out of town this weekend, but here's a quick rundown of the Class of 2007. First we'll look at the pitchers then check out the position players after the break.

Eddie Kunz/ Binghamton Mets/ Class AA (Mets)

Big Eddie is 1-4 with an 2.68 ERA, but the record isn't what's impressive. He has 22 saves in 34 games with 33 strikeouts, which in my opinion, are great numbers. I'm glad to see him moving up the chart with the Mets, and who knows, maybe they'll be a opening above him soon with the way things are going at Shea.

Joe Patterson/ San Jose Giants/ Class A Advanced (Giants)

JoePa started out the year with the Class A Augusta Green Jackets, but has since moved up to the Class A Advanced San Jose Giants. He's 6-1 on the year with a 2.36 ERA. He played 20 games at Class A and has played 14 so far at Class A Advanced, and he's holding up pretty well. His ERA was better (2.30) in Augusta than it is in San Jose (2.51), but that's not much of a difference. He has 45.2 innings pitched on the year, and opponents are hitting .196 against him.

Daniel Turpen/ Augusta Green Jackets/ Class A (Giants)

Daniel is playing where JoePa was; the Class A Augusta Green Jackets. He's 4-3 in 29 games and has a 4.02 ERA. He has 5 saves and 47 innings pitched. Also: 39 strikeouts, and opponents are hitting .272 against him.

Canham, Darwin, and Lissman after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

We'll start with the bad news first.

In what has turned into an unfortunate chain of events, Yvenson Bernard failed his physical exam with the St. Louis Rams. Whether this brings an end to his chances for a NFL or not, we don't know, but it's definitely a step backwards.

On the other hand, another former Beaver, Steven Jackson, is prospering in St. Louis.

After promising a 2,500 yard season and delivering 1,002 in a season plagued with injury, Jackson hopes to be one of the top backs in the country this year.

The Rams have added a new offensive coordinator, Al Saunders. And Saunders plans to run the offense through Steven:

via assets.espn.go.com

"The real good backs that I've been around -- Chuck Muncie, Marcus Allen, Marshall Faulk, Priest Holmes, Larry Johnson -- have all been three-dimensional backs," Saunders said. "Steven is in that class. He is a unique player."

Saunders sees in Jackson an authoritative and powerful runner with outstanding speed, excellent hands and good blocking skills. He also sees an improving route runner, an asset not always associated with 230-pound running backs.

"When you get somebody of his stature and his physical makeup, with his speed and his ability to run, catch and block, you are only limited by your own imagination in terms of what you can do with a player like that," Saunders said.

The last time Saunders was with the Rams, in 2000, the team scored 540 points. Faulk was the NFL's most dynamic offensive threat, scoring 26 touchdowns.

For the rest of the article, click here.

GO BEAVERS!

--JB--

Consistency has never been a problem for Mike Hass. As we saw from his early playing days at Jesuit High School and Oregon State, this kid just needs a chance to play.

It's been just over two years since Mike was drafted by the New Orleans Saints in the 2006 draft. After spending some time on the sidelines, he eventually ended up on Chicago's practice squad, where he still remains.

The offseason started out looking good for Hass, since the Bears released starter Muhsin Muhammad (signed with Carolina) and allowed starter Bernard Berrian to leave via free agency (Minnesota). But since then, the Bears have brought in four wide receivers, including two from the NFL draft. And that doesn't count the undrafted free agents who have joined the team.

"I really don't know what they think of me at this point," Hass told The Oregonian . "I'm there until they say I'm not."

Last year he had a breakthrough when he made Chicago's 53-man roster as its sixth wide receiver thanks to his reliable hands. But he dressed with the 45-man game-day roster just once.

The departures of Muhammad and Berrian seemingly elevated Hass to Chicago's No. 4 wide receiver. But veteran Marty Booker, signed from Miami, is a lock to make the team. Also, Chicago signed six-year pro Brandon Lloyd, whose status is not as strong after he caught just two passes in eight games for Washington last season.

More promising is the status of rookies Earl Bennett, a third-round pick out of Georgia Tech, and Marcus Monk, a seventh-round pick out of Arkansas.

Bears general manager Jerry Angelo said Bennett projects as a starter in the near future and Monk is an intriguing prospect. --Aaron Fentress

Even though Mike has a tough road ahead of him, he's still glad he has an opportunity, whether it's in Chicago or somewhere else.

"Hopefully I'll find my niche in this league."

--JB--

Jacoby Ellsbury, the former Oregon State star who made a huge impact in the Boston Red Sox's run to the World Series Title last year, is pushing for a starting role in the outfield. Incumbent Coco Crisp, who played four years with the Cleveland Indians before coming to Boston in 2006, doesn't want to play in the reserve role. The Boston Globe has the story:

After being recalled from the minors Sept. 1, Jacoby had 41 hits in 116 at bats, and scored scored 20 runs. He finished the season with a .353 average with nine stolen bases in 33 games.

Jacoby arrived on Monday to Red Sox Camp after a whirlwind Winter that included a parade through his hometown of Madras, Oregon.

"For the first time in my life, I had to have a calendar to know where I'm at," Ellsbury said. "It was a packed offseason."

Still, with his arrival at Red Sox camp Monday, reality slapped Ellsbury, 24, in the face. For the second straight year, Rawlings supplied Ellsbury, a lefty, with fielding gloves designed for the wrong hand. "Might as well keep the tradition," Ellsbury said.

--JB--

Four of Oregon State's standouts from the 2007 season have received invitations to participate in the 2008 NFL Combine, according to OSUBeavers.com. The Combine is held February 20-26 in Indianapolis, Indiana.

The players will get a chance to perform in front of NFL coaches, scouts, and media. For some, it can boost draft status, and for others, the opposite.

For instance, take a guy like Mike Hass. He catches everything, runs perfect routs, but runs a 4.61 at the combine. Tenths of seconds matter there, and it turns out that 4.6 isn't what the scouts were looking for.

Schuening and Serna will be the first Beavers at the Combine, arriving February 20. Bernard arrives February 21 and Smith February 22.

GO BEAVERS!

--JB--

Matt Moore is starting for the Panthers against his former team tonight. I've never tried to live blog a game with this new software I found, so I figured this would be a good time for a test drive.

The game starts at 5:00 Pacific on the NFL Network.

It's easy contribute to the live blog. Just type a username in, type your comments, and you're good to go.

--JB--

Derek Anderson has been the talk of the Cleveland Browns for the latter half of this season, but who knew that Matt Moore would put 208 yards up on the Seahawks and beat them 13-10?

I didn't get to see Derek play, because I'm not a big enough NFL fan to have any TV packages, and the Browns are never televised in Oregon. I did get to see Matt Moore play, as they were playing the nearby Seahawks.

Derek lead the Browns to their 9th win of the season, and all the sudden Cleveland is looking like a legit playoff team. The weather conditions were tough in Buffalo. Real tough:

AP Photo/ Tony Dejak (via ESPN)

Derek completed 9 passes for 137 yards. After seeing the above picture, that even seems like a lot. However, the game wasn't totally dominated by the run. Cleveland RB Jamal Lewis carried the ball 33 times, gaining 163 yards.

In Carolina, Matt Moore became the fourth quarterback to start for the Panthers. They started the year off with Jake Delhomme, then went to David Carr, then Vinny Testaverde, and now Matt Moore. Matt got some good publicity from the Fox best quarterback play since Delhomme went out with an injury early in the season.

AP Photo/ Rick Havner (via ESPN)
And just for fun, one more picture of Derek:

AP Photo/ Tony Dejak (via ESPN)

GO BEAVERS!

--JB--

Two small-town Oregon quarterbacks will square off today. In the NFL.

It won't be the first time the two teams have met. They competed against each other when Derek Anderson was at Scapoose and Kellen Clemens was at Burns. They competed in college when Derek was at Oregon State and Kellen was at Oregon.

And today, the spotlight moves to Giants Stadium, as Derek will start for the Cleveland Browns, and Kellen will start for the New York Jets.

The Oregonian has their story on the match-up:

Kickoff is at 1:15 Pacific, but if you're in the Oregon area, you probably won't be able to watch the game unless you have a NFL package. The game is on CBS, but they're televising Pittsburgh vs. New England at 1:15.

GO BROWNS!

--JB--