Adam Loewen Reinvents Himself

Adam Loewen was once the highest Canadian player drafted in Major League Baseball. He was the number four pick in the 2002 draft and made it to the bigs with the Baltimore Orioles in 2006. He was thought to be a fixture in their rotation for the future. That was as a pitcher.

After two stress fractures to his left elbow, it was too early for Loewen to give up on his baseball dreams. So Loewen went the Rick Ankiel route and reinvented himself as an outfielder. Loewen was one of the Toronto Blue Jays’ September call-ups after hitting .311, with 16 home runs and 79 RBI, for the Las Vegas 51s, the Blue Jays’ farm team in the Pacific Coast League.

Pretty impressive for someone whose career was thought to be over.

“Adam’s done a great job,” said Tony LaCava, the Blue Jays’ assistant general manager, who is with the Jays for a three-game series against the Seattle Mariners before he and GM Alex Anthopoulos arrive in Vancouver on Thursday to check out the Jays’ single-A prospects. “It’s very unusual what he’s done — going from major league pitcher to minor league outfielder. He’s another Rick Ankiel. Not many have done it, but he’s really put himself in a good spot. I think he’s certainly on the verge of becoming a viable major league player.”

Granted, he has been hitting minor league pitching and playing in minor league parks, specifically the one in Las Vegas. The people that matter in the Blue Jays organization think Loewen has a future with the team. Maybe a platoon outfielder? Who knows.

Toronto does plan on giving Loewen a few starts to see if he’s worth keeping around.

Luke Scott Still Challenging President Obama’s Authenticity

Since President Barack Obama ran for office many have questioned his place of birth. I’m not going to go into my personal thoughts about this topic, except that no one has ever had their authenticity questioned more than President Obama.

Luke Scott of the Baltimore Orioles still think that the President of the United States is a phony. In an article by Sam Mellinger of the Kansas City Star, Scott voices his opinion on the recent turn of events where  President Obama’s birth certificate was produced.

“(President Obama’s) birth certificate has yet to be validated,” he is saying.

“If they can counterfeit $100 bills, I think it’s a million times easier to counterfeit a birth certificate, if you ask me,” Scott says. “So, all it is, let’s just see if it’s real. Anybody can produce a document, so let’s check it out.”

This is a story I would like to see die.

 

What’s With The Orioles Luke Scott Throwing Banana Chips

The Baltimore Orioles Luke Scott should really be careful about his choice of words. His opinions are his opinions, like Barack Obama not being born in the United States. But when you start throwing banana chips at a Dominican teammate (Felix Pie) and saying he acts like a savage, you’re treading into dangerous waters.

“Felix is my friend,” he says. “I give him a hard time. The reason why I give him a hard time is because there are certain people you deal with and you go up and talk to them, and it doesn’t work. They don’t understand. … I tell him about some of the ways he’s acted: ‘Look, you’re acting like an animal, you’re acting like a savage.’”



He also explained why he throws banana chips into the helmet of his Dominican teammate.


“Here are my banana chips to remind him that whenever he acts like an animal, ‘Hey, that’s what other people are thinking. They’re just not telling you, but that’s what they’re thinking about. And I’m telling you so that you’re aware of that so you can make a cognitive decision to not behave like that.’”

I don’t know how friendly they are but someone should explain to Pie that those particular actions might be borderline. I’ll stop short of calling Scott a racist, because I believe he isn’t. He just needs a better choice of words and actions. Maybe it’s one of those locker rooms where everything goes, who knows. Remember John Rocker thought the same thing and wasn’t well received in his after what he said. 

Valverde Denies Role In Spit-Gate

There’s always a lot of back and forth between athletes and fans at a sporting event. Most players take it in stride, some fans take the heckling to a different level and which leads to atheletes lashing out. Ask Ron Artest and Vernon Maxwell about that. Recently the mild mannered, good guy Grant Hill even went after a fan. What is the world coming to?

Thursday night Detroit Tigers closer Jose Valverde was accused of spitting on a Baltimore Orioles fan. Valverde denies that he did it. He did say he spit in that direction but not at the fan. Fellow reliever Daniel Schlereth backed his claim which is basically saying the fan’s claim was bogus. I wasn’t there so I wouldn’t know. I’d like an Orioles fan to clue me in on this one. Valverde said the fan was yelling at him all game. He shouldnt’ve spit in that direction as it is, that way you’re not going into self defense mode.

“This guy’s drinking and drinking, and he doesn’t know what’s going on in the game,” Valverde said. “He started doing a lot of stuff, BS. The thing is, you have to sometimes leave it alone, because they pay for that. There’s nothing you can do. He paid for the ticket. He can do whatever he wants to. But after a while, he ticked me off …

And sometimes you have to ignore it and be the bigger man. Well Valverde probably already is the bigger man.

“They’re shouting, ‘You [stink], you piece of …’ And I’m tired of that. Everybody’s tired. And I tell them, ‘You know what, you want to do something? Come on. Come here.’ And he told me, ‘[Forget] you. [Forget] your mother.’ He talks about my mother, and I said, ‘OK. God bless you.'”



As a fan there are lines you don’t cross. Say anything you want but leave family out of it.