July 11, 200817 yr Author thanks do you think he can replace tucker in the pen?? i like rick better and has more experience...right??
July 11, 200817 yr I posted this when he was signed, the story moved me. It was like something out of a b-movie script. His performance over the last three years, terrific, his playoff numbers stupefying. He is btw the Mudcats' leading pitcher. 6-2, 2.09 ERA, 42 strikeouts. BAA .173. And he was born in 1977. If an injury hadn't put him on the DL for a month this season others might know his name right now. When I first posted what you'll find below most here laughed at him (and me). Northern League MVP means nothing they said, probably couldn't even cut it in A ball. Waste of time and a roster spot. Give it to a kid prospect not some old man. They laughed at the Marlins front office for signing him. Yeah, I have a soft spot for these Capra-like stories, the everyman triumphing against the odds. When I first read this piece last year all I could think of was what that last eight weeks of 2007 must have felt like for him. If you bother to read this, maybe read it twice. Savor the stats, the victories, the strikeouts and imagine how it must have felt to be touched my magic. They make movies about records like that, at least they used to. Cut to 2008. It's halfway through this season and he's halfway closer to finally making it to the major leagues. He won last night for Carolina, pitched seven innings, one earned run on two hits with four strikeouts. Enjoy, I know I did... RAILCATS CONGRATULATE WILLIE GLEN ON SIGNING WITH FLORIDA MARLINS MOST ACCOMPLISHED PLAYER IN ?CATS HISTORY INKS DEAL WITH MAJOR LEAGUE ORGANIZATION November 5, 2007 Gary, Ind.?Gary SouthShore RailCats all-time victories leader Willie Glen signed with the Florida Marlins today as a free agent. Glen, who led the RailCats to the 2007 Northern League title, earning N.L. ?Pitcher of the Year? and Championship Series ?Most Outstanding Player? honors, went 32-9 over three seasons with the RailCats and 8-0 in the post-season. In 2007, he posted a combined record of 16-1 in the regular season and post-season while establishing an all-time independent Northern League record for strikeouts in a season. Glen was also the ace of the RailCats pitching staff for the club?s 2005 league title and 2006 trip to the championship series. ?He is the most deserving player of an opportunity of any player I have ever known in my 12 years as a manager,? said RailCats manager Greg Tagert. ?I could not be happier and more proud.? Glen credited his three years with the RailCats for making him a better pitcher and preparing him for an opportunity to win a job with the Marlins. ?I was given a consistent opportunity to perform there, and that made me a more consistent pitcher,? said the 29-year-old native of Plainfield, Indiana. ?I learned how to pitch out of tough situations, knowing I was going to be given the chance?just being out on the field, and when I got into a tough position, it was a case of saying ?now I have to figure out a way to get out of this.? It made me better.? After going 12-1 during the 2007 regular season, Glen went 4-0 with a 0.82 earned run average in four post-season starts. He fired a three-hit complete game performance in the fifth and deciding game of the Championship Series, a 5-1 RailCats win over Calgary. Glen was dominant over the final six weeks of the season. Over his final 13 starts including the playoffs, he went 9-0 with a 1.01 ERA. Glen struck out at least 10 batters in eight starts in 2007 and struck out at least nine in 13 starts. Perhaps his most impressive statistic was his post-season record over the 2006-?07 seasons. In six starts, he went 6-0 with a 0.54 ERA, allowing just three earned runs in 50 innings. Tagert had received many calls about Glen, and his opinion never changed. ?I told every club that ever called that this is a special person capable of special things.? Glen, a 2007 Baseball America first team All-Independent Leagues selection, will remember his time with the RailCats fondly. ?It is hard to beat two championships. I can?t say any more than that.? He also gives credit to Tagert, who signed Glen in June of 2005 based on recommendations dating back to Glen?s college career at the University of Evansville. ?If he doesn?t make that phone call, it is hard to say how the last three years would have turned out,? said Glen. ?I appreciate his ability to put winning teams on the field, but also to bring in the kind of people that became good friends of mine because they were good people. That?s a big thing.? Glen was chosen as the RailCats ?Most Inspirational Player? in a vote by his teammates and coaches at the end of the 2007 season, a testament to Glen?s tireless work ethic and positive attitude. The rumored signing of Glen prompted a Northwest Indiana newspaper reporter to wonder who would win the ?Tagert Mile? in 2008. The event, annually held on the first day of spring training, is a measurement of the physical conditioning of players as they report to camp. While Tagert?s RailCats have become known for their commitment to conditioning, Glen has won the race each of the last two springs. The RailCats organization is unanimous in offering congratulations to Willie Glen while extending thanks to Willie for his huge impact on the franchise?s success over the last three seasons. More Info: The Gary SouthShore RailCats are a Professional Minor League Baseball Team serving Northwest Indiana and Chicago?s south suburbs. For the last four years, they have been chosen ?Best Local Spectator Sport? by Northwest Indiana Business Quarterly. Their 96 game schedule includes 48 home games at beautiful U. S. Steel Yard, an award-winning 6,000 seat state-of-the-art facility located next to the Indiana Toll Road (I-90) with easy access to I-65. Here's his MiLB page: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/st...&pid=431155 A lot of people here throw around the phrase so and so "deserved" to get the call. Others say the guy has "earned" his day in the sun. This is my guy. You talk about VandenHurk (and I have nothing against him or anyone else), to me this is the guy who who has proved over the first half of the season he knows how to pitch. He might blow up. The skeptics might be right after all. But he's come too far in the last four years to not be a major leaguer even if it's for one night, or one week or a few. VandenHurk, Volstad, Tucker, none of them had a season or numbers like his in Carolina this season (which should not be read as I'm saying he's better than them). Joe Nelson came back from the dead, Doug Waechter, last season it was Lee Gardner and Justin Miller. If Joe Strong, why not Willie Glen? Why the hell not.
July 11, 200817 yr thanks do you think he can replace tucker in the pen?? i like rick better and has more experience...right?? No way... Tucker has an above average fastball, which he has show he has control over, and a decent second pitch which is all you need to come out of the bullpen...VandenHurk relies on command, you don't want another walks machine coming out of the bullpen do you?
July 11, 200817 yr thanks do you think he can replace tucker in the pen?? i like rick better and has more experience...right?? No way... Tucker has an above average fastball, which he has show he has control over, and a decent second pitch which is all you need to come out of the bullpen...VandenHurk relies on command, you don't want another walks machine coming out of the bullpen do you? Both of them still need time to develop. Rick is 23 and Tucker is only 21. Im pretty sure Vanden Hurk does'nt have that much more experience. I dont remeber him pitching more than a few times for the fish.
July 12, 200817 yr thanks do you think he can replace tucker in the pen?? i like rick better and has more experience...right?? No way... Tucker has an above average fastball, which he has show he has control over, and a decent second pitch which is all you need to come out of the bullpen...VandenHurk relies on command, you don't want another walks machine coming out of the bullpen do you? Both of them still need time to develop. Rick is 23 and Tucker is only 21. Im pretty sure Vanden Hurk does'nt have that much more experience. I dont remeber him pitching more than a few times for the fish. VandenHurk was a starting pitcher for a significant portion of the 2007 season. He does have more experience than Tucker, and would be more effective this year out of the pen as a long reliever, IMO. Tucker does have more promise for becoming a consistent MLB starter though. Right now he should go back to the minors.
July 12, 200817 yr Dang, I didnt realize how much pitching we had, hanging around in the Minors. "GOOD PITCHING"
July 12, 200817 yr thanks do you think he can replace tucker in the pen?? i like rick better and has more experience...right?? No way... Tucker has an above average fastball, which he has show he has control over, and a decent second pitch which is all you need to come out of the bullpen...VandenHurk relies on command, you don't want another walks machine coming out of the bullpen do you? Vanden Hurk has a pretty darn good curveball, I'd say. I think Tucker will be better, but I still like Vanden Hurk's future with us.
July 12, 200817 yr thanks do you think he can replace tucker in the pen?? i like rick better and has more experience...right?? No way... Tucker has an above average fastball, which he has show he has control over, and a decent second pitch which is all you need to come out of the bullpen...VandenHurk relies on command, you don't want another walks machine coming out of the bullpen do you? Both of them still need time to develop. Rick is 23 and Tucker is only 21. Im pretty sure Vanden Hurk does'nt have that much more experience. I dont remeber him pitching more than a few times for the fish. VandenHurk was a starting pitcher for a significant portion of the 2007 season. He does have more experience than Tucker, and would be more effective this year out of the pen as a long reliever, IMO. Tucker does have more promise for becoming a consistent MLB starter though. Right now he should go back to the minors. Having a prospect be the long reliever is pointless. Long relief is for journeymen like Hendrix in blowout games, etc. Vanden Hurk is better served developing in the minors, till a spot in the rotation or bullpen (for middle relief / setup, etc.) arrive. Having him be the long reliever is pointless though. Just ruins the development of the young pitcher.
July 12, 200817 yr thanks do you think he can replace tucker in the pen?? i like rick better and has more experience...right?? No way... Tucker has an above average fastball, which he has show he has control over, and a decent second pitch which is all you need to come out of the bullpen...VandenHurk relies on command, you don't want another walks machine coming out of the bullpen do you? Both of them still need time to develop. Rick is 23 and Tucker is only 21. Im pretty sure Vanden Hurk does'nt have that much more experience. I dont remeber him pitching more than a few times for the fish. VandenHurk was a starting pitcher for a significant portion of the 2007 season. He does have more experience than Tucker, and would be more effective this year out of the pen as a long reliever, IMO. Tucker does have more promise for becoming a consistent MLB starter though. Right now he should go back to the minors. Having a prospect be the long reliever is pointless. Long relief is for journeymen like Hendrix in blowout games, etc. Vanden Hurk is better served developing in the minors, till a spot in the rotation or bullpen (for middle relief / setup, etc.) arrive. Having him be the long reliever is pointless though. Just ruins the development of the young pitcher. LOL! @ blowout games for Hendrix to come in and pitch. :lol
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