Fun Friday Links 3 September 2010

It's a special Fun Friday today most will have a three day weekend with Labor Day Monday. If you have to work this weekend the TCB writers are here to help, with links of joy. Due to timmy's recent venture into Intro to Film Studies class, today's links will be separated by movie titles.

Back to the Future

Baseball America’s 2006 Prospects Revisited | Deep Leagues
I always like seeing these reviews of prospect lists 5 years down the road. We forget that so many of these players don't pan out and that it takes considerable time before someone like Jose Bautista may blossom.

Astros honor Hamilton, 83, for 65 years in broadcasting | Baseball | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle
Milo honored for his 65 years in broadcasting, with a look back at some of his most famous calls.

BIlly Madison

Unfinished Business " Morgan Ensberg's Baseball IQ
Morgan Ensberg goes back to school and talks about some of the people who influenced him. You'll recognize several former coaches from the Astros minor league system.

Wednesday Graph: Major League Chernoff Faces
The Astros face is scary to look at—which is understandable given the misery that has been the Astros offense for most of the season.

more links after the jump.

Dumb and Dumber

Washington Post's Mike Wise Fabricates Story to Prove Point -- Back Porch FanHouse
When the dangerous world of social media and rampaging sports writer's egos collide...

Dibble no longer calling Nationals games | nationals.com: News
Former Major League pitcher Rob Dibble will no longer be a TV analyst for Nationals games, according to a team spokesman.

The Replacements

Under the Radar Keppinger | FanGraphs Baseball
Keppinger gets some more love. This time he leads Albert Pujols, Joe Mauer, Aubrey Huff, and Daric Barton in a offensive category.

Astros Trade Stars, Start Winning | FanGraphs Baseball
A begrudging FanGraphs article about the Astros recent surge.

Astros notes: Keppinger, Lindstrom return from DL | Baseball | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle
Several notes on the Astros.

Five More Early Cups of Coffee | FanGraphs Baseball
Brian Bogusevic shows up on a FanGraphs profile of September call-ups.

Baseball Beginnings » Strasburg’s Deal with the Devil Comes Due

This was an eye-opening article from John Klima. First, he makes the case for long-term scouting at the local level. In the article, he traces Stephen Strasburg's progress from a bad-body guy to the No. 1 overall pick. He also justifies his comparison of Strasburg to Brad Penny with the injuries. 

It's a little startling to read such vehemence from him regarding hyped prospects. We all know what kind of hype machine followed Strasburg through his selection in the draft to his major league debut. It's not a new phenomenon, but Klima has such strong feelings against hyping prospects, it's a really good read and a good lesson for those of us who follow the minors. Scouting the Sally made a similar point about avoiding consensus scouting, but his felt more like it was about respect.

Klima also very subtly suggested that Strasburg's meteoric rise could have been due to some pharmaceutical enhancements. Make no mistake, that deal with the devil he talks about is partly about some sort of steroid. No one has said anything about this before, but we've reached a point in this era that I'm never surprised by suggestion of steroids. Will this catch on? Will other people run with Klima's suggestion? I'm not going to hazard an opinion either way, but I'm very surprised he was was bold enough to make the claim.

Bull Durham

Farmstros: An Interview with J.B. Shuck
Farmstros contributor StreetJL was able to snag some time with J.B. Shuck.

Farmstros: Shuck and Lyles Talk, Perhaps Barret Loux should Listen
StreetJL continues his series of interviews with J.B. Shuck and Jordan Lyles, with comments regarding the Astros philosophy of moving players through the system quickly.

Farmstros: StreetJL Interviews Jordan Lyles- Part I
StreetJL continues his series with Part 1 of his interview with Jordan Lyles.

Farmstros: StreetJL Interviews Jordan Lyles- Part II
The final interview with players in StreetJL's series. Later tonight an interview with Burt Hooton will be released.

A Beautiful Mind

BBTF's Transaction Oracle Discussion :: In-Depth Analysis of Jeff Francoeur Acquisition
And people bash Ed Wade?

TCB Twitter Follow Friday

Chris Sampson (csampson43) on Twitter
Sampson will no longer be an Astro, the front office has decided it's time to part ways with the plethora of depth the Astros now have in the bullpen. Best of luck to Chris.