Q&A with Tampa Bay Rays Prospect WILL INMAN
I recently had a Q&A session through e-mail with Red Sox prospect Will Inman.
Buffalo Ballhawk: What is your favorite ballpark to play in?
Will Inman: “When Portland, Or was still a baseball field I think it was the best hands down. Since it’s not though I would say probably Salt Lake Bees,” Inman replied through e-mail.
BB: What was your favorite team growing up?
WI: “It has to be the braves because they were the team I got to see the most. I grew up in sticks of southern Virginia and TBS was all we got to see most of the time,” Inman replied through e-mail.
BB: Was there any player in particular that you admired growing up?
WI: “It would of been Greg Maddux if anyone,” Inman replied through e-mail.
BB: What is the greatest baseball related moment you have had so far?
WI: “I’d say the best moment I have had would either be winning my first state championship as a junior at my high school in 2004. ( I know cliche.) Or either playing in the futures game at the Old Yankee Stadium in 2008,” Inman replied through e-mail.
BB: What other sports did you play growing up?
WI: “ I played football until I was 12 and my pops pulled me off the field one day and said ‘This is dumb… You’re way too good at baseball to be trying to hit these other idiots.’ ( My pops is a little redneck. lol),” replied Inman through e-mail.
BB: Do you think you will be involved with baseball after your playing career?
WI: “After you have been in baseball as long as I have (going on 20 years or 9 professionally) you can’t get away from it even if you wanted to. What am I going to do, go to college and not have any input on the baseball team? Go home and never go to the main event of the week, the baseball game at Turnstall High School in Dry Fork, Virginia? No. Whether it be professionally, or not, I will be involved somehow,” replied Inman through e-mail.
BB: What are your goals for the 2013 season?
WI: “My goals this year are the same as they have been since about 2011. Just go out there and leave it on the field. Control what I can and let everyone else worry about the rest,” replied Inman through e-mail.
BB: What’s your advice to have for kids trying to make it to the pros?
WI: “My only advice is that remember its just a game. Not who you are. Do it because you want to not because anyone else wants you to,” replied Inman through e-mail.
More On Will Inman
Will Inman was drafted in the 3rd round of the 2005 MLB June Amateur Draft at age 18 by the Milwaukee Brewers. He started his career right away in 2005 with the Helena Brewers. In 2006, he had a career high 10 wins as a 19 year old with the South Atlantic League’s West Virginia Power. On July 25th, 2007, Inman was traded to the San Diego Padres with pitchers Steve Garrison and Joe Thatcher in exchange for for relief pitcher Scott Linebrink. During the 2010 season, Inman underwent ulnar nerve transposition while he was with the Portland Beavers. After the 2011 season, he signed a minor league contract with the Boston Red Sox. After the 2012 season, he became a free agent and signed with the Tampa Bay Rays for the 2013 season and received a non-roster invitation to spring training. Hopefully, he will make his MLB debut this year! Thanks again, Will, for doing this!
-Danny
Players Who Have Tossed Me A Ball
Lots of players have tossed me a baseball over the years. My first ball ever came on August 15, 2007 at PNC Park. The Pittsburgh Pirates were facing the visiting New York Mets and I showed up early enough for batting practice for the first time. I was in left field and a righty on the Mets sent a deep fly ball in my direction. I was only 8 so I was scared and jumped back. (Now that I think about it, if the ball had traveled another 3 feet I probably would have broke a rib.) The ball hit the very top of the wall and bounced back onto the grass. Future hall of famer and 300 game winner Tom Glavine saw what happened and handed me my first ball ever. I didn’t realize it at the time but I was doing everything right. I was a little kid decked out in Mets gear in Pittsburgh and I had thought to bring my glove.
Tom Glavine is probably one of the best players ever to toss me a ball. Here’s my top five list:
5) Brian Roberts
4) Mark McGwire
3) Tom Glavine
2) Bryce Haper
1) Dustin Pedroia
And by the way, here is a full list of the 110 players/coaches who I know have tossed me a ball:
Neil Allen, Chris Archer, Sean Barber, Aaron Bates, Jason Bay, Chad Beck, Jason Berken, Ronald Bermudez, Arnie Beyeler, Andres Blanco, Ricky Bones**, Greg Booker, Rob Brantly, Mark Brewer, Tyson Brummett, Mike Buczkowski, Joey Butler, Francisco Cervelli, Gustavo Chacin, Dan Cortes*, Bobby Cuellar, Blake Davis, Jose De La Torre, Frank De Los Santos, Jason Delaney, Matt den Decker, Rich Dubee*, Chad Efron, Jeurys Familia, Stefan Gartrell, Chris Gimenez, Tom Glavine*, Tom Gorzelanny*, Justin Greene, Jeremy Guthrie*, Bill Hall, Justin Hampson, Bryce Harper, Jim Henderson, Mike Hessman, Gorkys Hernandez*, Ty Hill*, Kyle Hudson, Jose Iglesias, Dan Johnson, Rob Johnson, Ryan Kalish, Ronald Kenyatta, Josh Kroeger, Ryan Lavarnway, Brandon League, Charles Leesman, Danny Lehmann, Fred Lewis, J.C. Linares, Adam Loewen, John Lujan, Zach Lutz, Christian Marrero, Cristhian Martinez*, Fernando Martinez, Doug Mathis, Ben May, Yunesky Maya, Darnell McDonald, Mark McGwire*, Jenry Mejia, Orlando Mercado*, Garrett Mock, Mitch Moreland*, Dave Myers, Mike Nickeas, Jon Niese, Jose Ortega, Dylan Owen, Chris Parmelee, Valentino Pascucci, Felipe Paulino, Dustin Pedroia*, Gerald Perry, Jonathon Pettibone, Josh Phegley, Jason Pridie, David Purcey, J.C. Ramirez, Wilkin Ramirez, Marty Reed, Raul Reyes, Rene Rivera, Brian Roberts, Eddie Rodriguez*, Reynaldo Rodriguez, Jeff Salazar, Omir Santos, Josh Satin, Rich Sauver, Chris Schwinden, James Skelton, Jhonaton Solano, Max St. Pierre, Tim Teufel, Tony Thomas, Patrick Trainor, Matt Tuiasosopo, Sebastian Valle, Jordany Valpespin, Josh Vitters, Pete Walker*, Zach Walters, Jose Yepez
*= tossed at MLB game
**= tossed at both MLB and MiLB game
Leave a comment with your top 5 list.
-Danny
Q&A with St. Lucie Mets Pitcher HAMILTON BENNETT
I recently had a Q&A session through Twitter with Mets prospect Hamilton Bennett.
Buffalo Ballhawk: What is your favorite ballpark to play in?
Hamilton Bennett: “My favorite ballpark to plan in so far has to be the Brooklyn Cyclones stadium. It was my first pro experience and it was amazing,” Bennett replied through Twitter.
BB: What was your favorite team growing up?
HB: “Growing up in Tega Cay SC we got the Atlanta Braves games on TV so I followed them a lot. I’ve spent many birthdays at Turner Field,” replied Bennett through Twitter.
BB: Was there any player in particular that you admired growing up?
HB:“Being a left handed pitcher in braves country I really enjoyed watching their pitchers and learned a lot from all of them,” replied Bennett through Twitter
BB: What is the greatest baseball related moment you have had so far?
HB:“My greatest baseball moment has to be when I threw a perfect game in college. It was unreal and will be something I remember forever,” replied Bennett through Twitter.
BB: What other sports did you play growing up?
HB: Growing up I was a big soccer player, and played basketball, and football, and baseball. I played a little bit of everything,” replied Bennett through Twitter.
HB: “My goals for this year are the same as most develop my game to make it to the big leagues one day. Hopefully sooner then later,” replied Bennett through Twitter.
BB: What’s your advice to have for kids trying to make it to the pros?
HB: “It’s a lot of work. So work hard and have fun. Baseball is a game so enjoy it,” replied Bennett through Twitter.
More About Hamilton Bennett
Hamilton Bennett was drafted by the New York Mets in the 29th round of the 2010 MLB June Amateur Draft out of Tennessee Wesleyan College in Athens, TN. He had a fantastic 1.89 ERA in 2011 with the Savannah Sand Gnats of the Class A South Atlantic League and the St. Lucie Mets of the Class A Advanced Florida State League. He ended the 2012 season with St. Lucie. Bennett is mainly a reliever/ lefty specialist.
Here is a link to an interview that a show called “New York on the Clock” did with Hamilton Bennett in 2010: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NnYYyQ_gLA
Thanks again Mr. Bennett! This was a great experience. Good luck on your journey to The Show.
(photo courtesy fortmilltimes.com)
-Danny
My Story
My name is Danny. I am one of the top Minor League ballhawks in North America. In fact, I recently won the 2012 Minor League Junior Ballhawk of the Year on mygameballs.com. (http://mygameballs.com/home?action=showarticle&article_id=267) In this past year alone, I obtained 187 balls at Minor League games. The main stadium I ballhawk at is Coca-Cola Field in Buffalo,NY. This beautiful ballpark is home to the Toronto Blue Jays’ triple-a affiliate, the Buffalo Bisons. Although, I will occasionally attend games at Dwyer Stadium in Batavia, NY, home of the Batavia Muckdogs and at Frontier Field in Rochester, NY, home of the Rochester Red Wings.
You may recognize me from nybisons.mlblogs.com, where i blogged for over a year before I started this blog. The blog gained a lot of popularity and even got into the top 5 on the Latest Leaders list on MLB.com Blogs Central. I blogged with fellow Buffalo area ballhawks Austin and Quinn. Between us, we snagged a total of 919 baseballs at MiLB games this year. I attend many of my games with them and you will see their names mentioned when I blog about the games I went to.
I am a fan of any level of proffesional baseball. I’d have to say that I love Minor Leagues the most though. Maybe because it’s the level of play I watch the most, but I just love how fans can get closer to the players and see future all-stars before they make it big.
I hope you enjoy my blog entries as I continue on my baseball adventures. Some other blogs I reccomend are The Ballpark Guide (http://theballparkguide.mlblogs.com/) and Minoring in Baseball (http://minoringinbaseball.com/). Again, I hope you enjoy my blog.
-Danny
Welcome to My Blog
Happy off-season baseball fans!
My name is Danny. I frequently ballhawk at Coca-Cola Field in Buffalo, NY which is pictured above. My blog will be about the Blue Jays’ farm system (specifically the Buffalo Bisons) and my major and minor league ballhawking adventures.
-Danny
