Friday, September 9, 2011

Blake Ford is not Blake King, and Other of Life's Imponderables

Let me preface this by saying that my memory isn't what it used to be, but I think that getting confused in my feeble little brain by two right-handed pitchers named Blake is somewhat understandable. So I'm going to share my journey of discovery with any of my readers who harbor similar confusion (even if they won't admit it aloud).

Blake King
King is 24. He was picked up off of waivers from the Cardinals in May and pitched in Corpus Christi - 33 appearances, 40.2 IP, with an ERA of 3.76, WHIP of 1.549 and a S0/BB ratio of 1.32. He was drafted by the Cardinals in the 44th Round in 2005 and this is his 6th year in the minors. His picture shows him to be a fairly beefy guy ... listed as 6'1", 195 lbs. He bats right.

Blake Ford
Ford is 23. He was drafted by Houston in the 44th Round (seriously, they're both 44th round players as well?) in 2011 out of Lamar University. He pitched for the GCL Astros in this, his first, season - 18 appearances, 23.2 IP, with an ERA of 1.90, a WHIP of 1.394, a SO/BB ratio of 3.33 and 8 saves. Being in the GCL, he rates no picture on milb.com, but in looking at a Lamar University photo he doesn't look particularly beefy despite his listed height and weight of 6'5" and 215. He bats left (although he won't have any official opportunities to show us his prowess with a bat until he gets to AA).

OK, this is easy to remember. Blake King is King of Corpus, not figuratively, not metaphorically, but alliteratively (I think I made up a word there). As a mnemonic device, King of Corpus works. And Blake Ford is fording his way upstream in the minor league hierarchy.

Done. Now I know which big, early 20's, drafted in the 44th round, right-handed pitcher named Blake is which.

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