Grinding it out

If there was any disappointment during our 2010 Summer of Baseball, it was the inability to complete a significant portion of the 2010 Florida State League Top Prospects set.

Give the developmental nature of the FSL, it's easy to understand that players move on. This season, the July release eliminated many autograph opportunities.

A couple of weeks ago, Dunedin's Travis d'Arnaud and Anthony Gose, part of a Phillies-Blue Jays deal that brought him from the Clearwater Threshers, added only the fifth and sixth cards of the 24-player set.

Just last month, Gose, an outfielder, was featured on the Threshers' game programs.

Hey, we remember you

It was a bit weird, in a sense, viewing the Clearwater Threshers as the visitors. Over the past few summers, we've taken in quite a few games at Bright House Field, the home park of the Philadelphia Phillies' Advanced-A squad. This time, though, it was different.

Rather than hang out along the left-field seats in Clearwater, Colin took his customary spot near the visitor's bullpen at Dunedin Stadium, home of the nearby (it's only 6 miles away) rival Dunedin Blue Jays, Toronto's Florida State League affiliate. It's no surprise, either, that the outcome was the same -- plenty of ballplayers willing to make a kid's day.

All told, Colin snagged 16 signatures for his fourth team ball of the 2010 Summer of Baseball campaign:

Cody Overbeck (that's him, above, signing for Colin), Korey Noles, Kevin Jordan (hitting coach) and J.C. Ramirez; and

Darrin Ruf, Jesus Sanchez (we believe), Derrick Mitchell and Brian Gump; and

Tyler Cloyd, Justin DeFratus and Jon Velasquez; and

Chris Kissock, Steve Susdorf, Korby Mintken, Harold Garcia and D'Arby Myers.

Cards for Clearwater

Now that we're nearing the end of our Summer of Baseball, and have completed a number of team-signed balls, we're turning our attention to working team sets from our local Florida State League teams.

In this case, it's the Clearwater Threshers, the Advanced-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. Though I doubt we'll complete the set, given call-ups and such, we're happy to add another 16 autographed cards to the collection.

This batch came last Thursday, as we made what's likely to be our final visit to Bright House Field for the season:

Top row: Luis Arzeno, Javis Diaz and Michael Durant;
Middle row: Freddy Galvis, Chris Kissock and Derrick Mitchell; and
Bottom row: Carlos Monasterios, Joel Naughton and Cody Overbeck.

Top row: Arlon Quiroz, Matt Rizzotti and Yonderman Rodriguez; and
Bottom row: Michael Schwimer, Fidel Hernandez and manager Ernie Whitt.

For the record, we also had Threshers trainer Ichiro Kitano sign his team set card.

Good call

If you believe Baseball America -- and there's certainly no reason to doubt the publication -- Clearwater's Dominic Brown will be patrolling right field for the Philadelphia Phillies by 2012.

In fact, Baseball America has him as the Phillies' top-rated prospect.

Perhaps, then, it was a good idea to have Brown sign a Florida State League ball (another foul ball that Colin has collected) and a FSL Top Prospects card before Wednesday's game against the St. Lucie Mets.

Without even asking

Our original intent was to add Clearwater Threshers manager Ernie Whitt to the Major League Baseball alumni ball before Wednesday's sweltering game against the St. Lucie Mets. Without even asking, hitting coach Kevin Jordan added the sixth autograph to the game-used Florida State League ball.

Mop-up duty

Though this isn't a reflection of her efforts, we must give Momma all the credit for knocking out the 2009 Clearwater Threshers team-signed baseball last week. While Colin and I were busy working a Sarasota Reds team ball, Momma, armed with a roster and a short list of players, snagged autographs from these five players:

Steve Susdorf;

Carlos Monasterios and Dominic Brown, the top-rated prospect, according to Baseball America, in the Philadelphia Phillies organization; and

Michael Schwimmer and Michael Durant.

Did you see this?

Tucked within our baseball hounding activities of Shark Week between the Jupiter Hammerheads and the Clearwater Threshers was an interesting sidebar: It seems the Tampa Bay Rays took exception to a Threshers bobblehead promotion, featuring players from the 2008 World Champion Philadelphia Phillies, the Threshers' parent club.

The St. Petersburg Times was all over the story.

Just a couple

We didn't fill up the Clearwater Threshers team ball as much as planned during Shark Week, focusing instead on the visiting Jupiter Hammerheads.

Still no worries. We'll make at least one more trip to Clearwater before season's end. This time, though, we'll pay homage to the home team. We missed out on Phils' top prospect Dominic Brown, an error on our part.

That's not to say we didn't add to the 17-signature ball. No, we did. What we lacked in quantity, however, was made up with quality, snagging signatures from two Florida State League All Stars:

~ Starter Yohan Flande, a lefty who, through today (June 15), is 6-1 with a 2.45 ERA. His one-word sig covers part one from Phinley, the Threshers mascot. Tsk, tsk, tsk. The 17th signature, Flande had plenty of room to sign.

~ Pitcher Carlos Monasterios, a righty with a 4-4 record and a 3.48 ERA. He got lit up (three earned runs in two innings) by Jupiter during their four-game series.

It's Shark Week

Living here in the Tampa Bay area of Florida, it's no secret that the warm Gulf waters hold a variety of sharks Among them, you'll find bull, nurse, reef, hammerheads and threshers. With Colin being a big fan of sharks -- from a respectable distance, mind you -- he's always eager to learn more.

As a result, this week is one of the biggest of our summer baseball-hounding campaign. In what we're calling Shark Week, the Jupiter Hammerheads meet the Clearwater Threshers. Schedules allow us games on Thursday and Saturday.

In a stroke of luck, the Hammerheads, the Advanced-A affiliate of the Florida Marlins, returned my repeated phone calls for a team logo ball. We're hoping to make it the fifth team-signed ball of the season. Even without one, we could've used one of the four Florida State League game balls that Colin has accumulated this season.

For the Threshers, we'll focus our efforts on finishing their team ball. Atop the list is Dominic Brown, the top-rated prospect in the Philadelphia Phillies system, and fellow FSL All Star Yohan Flande.

Now, we'll also do a little fishing during the week. Maybe, we'll even catch (and release) a shark.

Too bad Philly won it

Though we were disappointed when the Tampa Bay Rays lost to the Philadelphia Phillies during the 2008 World Series, we weren't going to miss out on an opportunity to see the famed World Series trophy when it came to Clearwater recently.

Granted, it'll never carry the stature and status of Lord Stanley's Cup -- at least in our humble household -- it was cool seeing the trophy, all shiny in silver and gold, for the three innings it was on display at Bright House Networks Field, home of the Phillies spring training and Florida State League affiliate, the Clearwater Threshers.

Besides checking out the World Series trophy, Colin also added to his Clearwater Threshers team ball. Among those adding to it was Kyle Drabek, the Phils' first-round pick (18th overall) in the 2006 MLB draft, who's coming back from Tommy John surgery. His signature, with the No. 8, is second from the bottom.

Also signing were Luis Ramon Arzeno, Chance Chapman, Michael Cisco, Fidel Hernandez, Tim Kennelly, Cody Overbeck and Johan Sampson.

Back in the game

While some fans may pooh-pooh baseball's minor leagues, we actually embrace them. Believe it or not, our affinity for the leagues, especially the Florida State League, goes far beyond getting autographs.

First and foremost, a night at a minor league game is much more affordable. We can get three tickets and parking for under $20. Can't find those deals at a Major League Baseball park, can you? A hot dog doesn't cost $5, either.

Secondly, the games are seldom crowded. Good seats are available and the autographs, save for the occasional 19-year-old egoist, come pretty easy. Though premium giveaways and holidays draw packed houses, they are the exception, rather than the norm.

Finally, there's always some sort of promotion going on. In this case, it was Kids Night at Dunedin Stadium, home to the Toronto Blue Jays' Class High-A affiliate, the Dunedin Blue Jays, and the prerequisite picture with the team's "feathered" mascot.

As the top photo shows, Colin (that's him with the catcher's glove and American League All Star Evan Longoria T-shirt) got to join two Dunedin players Justin Jackson, left, and John Tolisano on the field Saturday during the national anthem. How cool is that?

Down here in the Tampa Bay area, we're fortunate enough to have two more FSL teams within an easy drive -- the Clearwater Threshers, a Phillies farm team, and the Tampa Yankees, a New York Yankees club. Though we'll take in a handful of Tampa Bay Rays games, many a summer weekday night will be spent at minor league parks.