Mack Ade - I May Be Wrong, But… Keith Bodie, Victor Conte on HGH, Michael Bourn, Mets Centerfielders, Joe Torre

·        Congrats go out to ex-New York Met Keith Bodie for being named the coach for Corpus Christi.  Bodie was a third-round pick (65^th overall) of the New York Mets in the 1974 draft out of South Shore High School in Brooklyn.

Bodie played two years for Jackson, hitting .260 for both seasons. Surprisingly, his combined batting average for those two years was… err… .260.

Teammates were Hubie Brooks, Jeff Reardon, Neil Allen, and Wally Backman.

(how well did the Mets draft in 1974… top 10 picks… Cliff Speck, Dwight Bernard, Bodie, John Pacella, James Mils, Darrell Lakey, Don Driskill, Ed Cipot, Steve Garrison, and Brian Cherevko)

·        The http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-11-21/news/30431117_1_hgh-testing-testosterone-blood-for-human-growth  had an article on HGH and guess who says the testing is bad? Yup… Victor Conte of BALCO:

“HGH is not effective unless it is used in conjunction with testosterone or other anabolic steroids,” Conte says. “It’s important to understand that HGH is not an anabolic agent. It is an anti-catabolic agent. It basically helps to reduce muscle degradation and enables a player to maintain the gains they’ve made using steroids for a longer period of time. By itself, HGH has been shown to have no significant performance-enhancing effects. Testosterone gels, creams and patches will clear an MLB player’s system within a matter of hours and be below the 4 to 1 T/E ratio allowable in urine,” he says. “A player could possibly use a fast-acting form of testosterone at night after a game to help with recovery and their T/E ratio would be within the normal range by the time they would get to the ballpark the next evening.”

Can I get a big WTF?

·        I found it very surprising that, according to Stephen Goff, of the Houston Examiner, that the Atlanta Braves have not begun any talks with representatives of CF Michael Bourn. I do remember when the 2010 draft came around the first player the Braves picked was Matt Lipka. Officials for the team then said they had targeted him as their future centerfielder, which is where he will be playing in 2012. The problem is he simply hasn’t caught fire yet and will most probably repeat at the low-A level.

You would think the Braves would want to tie up their .294 hitter that has led the majors in steals for three consecutive years.

·        So, who do the Mets have coming through the pipeline at centerfield:

o   Kirk Nieuwenhuis – The Captain was cruising (.298) along last year in Buffal ntil his shoulder injury. He will spend at least the first half of the 2012 season back with the Bisons before getting a shot in Queens.

o   Matt den Dekker – He aced (.296) St. Lucie, but got off to slow start in Binghamton last season. Combined for 17-HR, 68-RBI, in 139-G. Will repeat B-Mets in the spring.

o   Gilbert Gomez – picked up when den dekker moved on and excelled (.307, .935-OPS) at the end of the season. Will repeat Lucy in 2012 as a 20-yr. old, but probably be moved to a corner spot.

o   Darrell Cecilliani – Disappointing season in Savannah (.259, injury), but should be pushed to Lucy by the graducating class from Brooklyn.

·         I found the Joe Torre resignation interesting and I wonder if his inteest to own the Dodgers didn't start when he figured out that the name of Sandy Alderson wasn't going to go away as the eventual replacement of Bud Selig.

    Just saying...