Minor League Baseball Radio

The Heart of Spring Training

2008-03-10T16:08:31Z

When I was out in AZ last week covering spring training for the show, I was surprised at how different teams handle their minor league teams and their top prospects. For example, the Kansas City Royals had all their players in camp on March 3rd and they where intersquad scrimagging on March 5th. But the Los Angels Angels only had pitchers and catchers in camp with full squads reporting March 7th. In addition, the Angels had a significant number more minor league players up with the big club then any other team I saw. We will talk about this and much more on the debut show of Minor League Baseball Radio tonight at 10:00pm central! www.milbradio.com

This week in the Minors, March 10th 2008

2008-03-08T20:18:05Z

For those that do not know, The Tim Kuda Show has ended. In its place, I am pleased to announce:

Minor League Baseball Radio at www.milbradio.com . Baseball talk / discussion with a focus on the Minor Leagues!

Minor League Baseball Radio will debut this Monday night at 10:00pm central and can be heard every Monday night 10:00pm central with special shows as they warrant. This week:

Chicago Cubs Minor League Spring Training Coverage including:

Conversations with Peoria Chiefs Manager Ryne Sandberg, Daytona Cubs Manager Jody Davis, outfield prospect Kyler Burke, and World Baseball Classic alum and first Italian signed player Alex Maestri.

Los Angeles Angels Minor League Spring Training Coverage including:

Conversations with Cedar Rapids Kernals first year pitching coach Brandon Emanual and Rancho Cucamonga Quakes hitting coach Francisco Matos.

Next week, March 17^th:

Oakland Athletics Minor League Spring Training Coverage including:

Conversations with Midland RockHounds Pitching Coach Scott Emerson and top organization pitching prospect Trevor Cahill.

Kansas City Royals Minor League Spring Training Coverage including:

2007 #2 over draft pick and top prospect Mike Moustakas and Wilmington Blue Rocks Manager Darryl Kennedy.

And introducing are new featured called “U Reports” where anyone can tell us their minor league baseball comments and / or observations and we will post them and /or get them on the air.

Shows will be broadcast LIVE on the blogtalkradio network as well as Ubroadcast.com and as always available on all podcast sites including Itunes. For more information please visit www.milbradio.com . Please pass the word and thank you for you continued support.

Who is the top prospect on your team?

2008-02-23T14:34:29Z

Wondering who the top prospects are on your team? I suggest you get Baseball

America

's Top Prospect Handbook. This annual publication is the best I have seen with regards to ranking and profiling some of the top young baseball players in the minor leagues. If you are getting ready to follow your team in spring training and wondering who some of the players you never heard of are, this is a great reference.

The way the schedule is shaping up, I will be in Cubs camp on March 3rd, A's and Giants camp on March 4th, Royals and Rangers camp on March 5th, and Angels camp on March 6th. Debut of the Minor League Baseball Radio March 10th at 10:00pm central! www.milbradio.com

Announcing Minor League Baseball Radio

2008-02-19T17:31:35Z

The Tim Kuda Show is now Minor League Baseball Radio. Just like on the Tim Kuda Show, we talk everything baseball but Minor League Baseball Radio will have a focus on the minor leagues. Minor League baseball has really taken off the past few years. With MLB clubs charging more and more, the minor league game has offered a good alternative for the family on a budget. We plan on bring you the best stories from across the minors and baseball as a whole. Check us out at www.milbradio.com . Our debut show will air March 10th at 10pm central.

Playball!!!!

2008-02-15T00:56:41Z

Today on The Tim Kuda Show we had the pleasure of talking to Tom Grieve and Victor Rojas both members of the Texas Rangers broadcast team. They are excited about their team and looking forward to a great season. That's where I am at. I am happy pitchers and catchers are in camp and spring training games will start soon. Let's put all the congress / steroids stuff behind us and start talking baseball again. Baseball as the sport it is. As I have said many times, fix the problem and play ball. Tom and Victor want to play ball, I am with them.

BTW: You can listen to that interview. It should be playing but if not, visit www.timkuda.com

Spring, Spring, Come on Spring

2008-01-14T01:12:35Z

I just booked my spring training trip to

Arizona

the other day. There is nothing better than in early March sitting on some nice green grass and watching baseball in beautiful

Arizona

weather. And to top it all off, I will be able to do this 4 day trip for under $500.00. Plane ticket, rental car, hotel room, and games all for under $500.00! Christmas came early or late or whatever. I just can't wait until pitchers and catchers report. It is about this time every year, just as football is finishing up, the mid cold of January is hitting the midwest, I start getting those baseball feelings and yearnings for spring training.

I have said this many times I my radio show that if you are any sort of baseball fan, spring training is the best thing going. Players and coaches are approachable (for the most part, always exceptions), the games don't count so no one gets too mad (once again, always exceptions), andy everyone is having fun (once again, exceptions). It is just a great atmosphere.

So, I will continue to count the days to March and if this in anyway convinced you to go to spring training, I will be in Arizona March 3rd to the 6th so come and say hello to me on a grass outfield maybe in Tempe or Mesa or Surprise. So many choices. To be continued......

www.timkuda.com

Santana Derby, Enough Already

2008-01-10T17:54:18Z

It is not like the Yankees get enough attention as it is but it seems like every couple weeks we hear something new about the Yankees and Santana. Reports say the Yankees may be out. Well, they are out for now because the Yankees are never out of anything when it comes to players.

Minneapolis

is a good city and the Twins have been a good team. It is too bad to see the Twins fall they way of every other small market team. Develop outstanding young talent only to see them wooed away by larger markets and larger contacts. Can you blame the Twins for wanting to move him, absolutely not! Better to get something instead of nothing. Maybe I need to move on into this century but I long for the days of the eights when any team, regardless of market, had a shot.

Don't blame the player for getting what they can, blame the system.

Next Live Show, Thursday the 17th at 1pm central. www.timkuda.com

Is it Fair?

2008-01-08T19:16:25Z

Congrats to Goose on his selections but I think a few name are missing

It is hard to say if the MLB Hall of Fame is fair. Sure, life sometimes is not fair but let's examine the process:

Are writers really qualified to judge

HOF

credentials? Some baseball writers are excellent in their trade and have forgotten more about the game than I will ever know. However, there are writers voting who wouldn't know a fastball from a change-up. If I determined who received a ballot, I would make sure the writer was a student of the game. That person would need to understand not only the history of the game, but what it takes to play at the highest level. They would also need to understand ones accomplishments through out a career and be able to dictate between eras. Not sure they do that right now. That is huge. Each era in baseball is diferent and that needs to be considered. Is it?

How to fix it? Follow some of the standards I mentioned and it is a start. www.timkuda.com

Trading the Farm for Now

2008-01-05T22:43:15Z

GM for the Sox's, indicated that he is trying to win now in 2008 and he will worry about 2010 when it gets here. We can look at this from both sides.

I understand why Kenny Williams is taking this stance. Look at his division.

Cleveland

fell just one game short of the World Series,

Detroit

has made moves this off season that some believe make them a favorite to win it all in 08, so he is just trying to keep up. Now the White Sox are just 3 seasons removed from the World Series and they continue not only to compete against their division, but also compete against the team on the north side of town. The Sox's only seem to get any attention in

Chicago

when they are winning World Series. So a move like this makes sense if you are Williams.

Here is the other side. Look at some of the most successful teams in MLB history. Most (always some exceptions) can trace their success on building teams through their farm system. Some examples, the Atlanta Braves with players like Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, Chipper Jones, Andruw Jones, and Javy Lopez to name a few. The Seattle Mariner's of the 90's with players like AROD, Ken Griffey Jr., Edgar Martinez to name a few. I can find team after team that can trace its success to its roots, the farm.

So, don't bet the farm unless your farm stinks. If you farm stinks, clean it up. Learn from history!

New Year's Day Bowl Games and Baseball

2008-01-02T02:04:21Z

I remember growing up all the bowl games where on New Year's Day. Part of me misses that. It was great to jump from station to station especially when one game was a blow out. Now a day, it is nice to see all the games but you are stuck with it if it is a blow out. Now what does New Year's Day Bowl games and baseball have in common?

It signals pitchers and catchers report in less than 6 weeks!

Catch the rewind show Wednesday at 9:00am central and Thursday at 8:00pm central. www.timkuda.com

New Year, New Team?

2007-12-31T22:42:33Z

As the clock strikes midnight and we begin 2008, has your team made the moves required to make 2008 a new year and not just a repeat of 2007? There have been a couple teams that have made high profile moves but is that your team. How long do you stick with your team before enough is enough? Teams like Kansas City and Cincinnati which never seem to have the money to compete. When do you jump ship? Some of these teams that have had loosing seasons after another have deep rooted history and in that history are stories of success. So how long do you wait? I wish I knew the answer to that because my team has not won the series in 100 years and Dallas's (from the show) team has not ever won the series in their existence. We keep coming back. Makes me wonder who is worse, the team for not succeeding or us for coming back year after year. Big show this week. 2007 Rewind show.

Guest include: MLB Hall of Fame Inductee Ryne Sandburg, 1976 NL Cy Young Award Winner Randy Jones, Former MLB Player and Announcer Tom "Wimpy" Paciorek, Current Texas Ranger Radio Broadcaster Victor Rojas, Former MLB Players: Fred Beene, Lance Parrish, Tommy Herr, Jerry Browne, San Diego Padres Beat Reporter from the San Diego Union Tribune Tom Karsovic, Other Interviews with: Zack Hample, Paul Greco, Lenny Melnick, Melissa Lockhart, Evan Rapp & Geoff Stone, Coral Marshall In Addition: The "Classic" Bobby Knight Story! www.timkuda.com

Managers, Coaches, and Players

2007-12-24T18:57:01Z

Something is bothering me this Christmas Eve. Today, the Chicago Bulls head coach Scott Skies was canned. Now, the fact that it Christmas Eve is not it. Professional sports do not take holiday breaks so it is just another working day for these guys. It is the fact that when do we draw the line between bad coach and bad players? This is applicable to all sports. When is it the fault of the coach or manager that a team is bad or when do the players need to take that responsibility?

Let's first examine players.

In professional sports, players can get a coach or manager fired. There is no doubt about it. It seems more and more professional players, in general (always exceptions), are over paid babies who don't want to be yelled at or have expectations of them. If a coach or manager demands the up most from his players and let's them know about it, they are deemed as too hard of a coach or manager to play for. They complain to the owner or just do not perform to their paid capabilities and wham! Coach fired, problem solved. Is that the coach's fault? I think this problem has really shown itself in football and basketball when college coaches have tried it at the professional ranks. Many go running back to their college roots because they coach professional athletes the same way the coach college kids. Adults do not like to be yelled at these days. In any profession, when management raises voices, it is deemed as disrespectful or demeaning. It is just the way of the world these days. Now, do I condone abusiveness behavior, absolutely not. But let's not be so sensitive as a society especially professional athletes. You're paid a lot of money so go out there and play. If the coach is trying to get more out of you, then give. You may just be better for it.

Now the coaches and/or mangers.

For the most part, I believe most of the responsibly for bad play falls on the players. But coaches and managers can share in the responsibly as well. There have been many coaching philosophies and all philosophies seem to work when you have players to support those philosophies. If you can't get your players to buy into the philosophies, you are done. So that is what separates the good from the bad. Communication! How a coach communicates with players and gets them to buy into his system is the heart of the issue. In order to be a good communicator, one must also know people. Some athletes come from a background of vocal, in your face, coaches and that is what they need to strive. Others come from a positive reinforcement background and clam up if yelled at. The great coaches and managers are able mold all these personalities together and get them working toward the same goal. If you are unable to do this in the professional ranks, you find yourself without a job, right or wrong.

In summary, players play, coaches coach. However, the bottom line, if players do not have talent, I don't care how good a communicator a coach is, the team will lose and the coach will eventually lose too.

Drugs in Baseball (and in sports)

2007-12-23T16:33:14Z

The topic of the moment in baseball is obviously the Mitchell Report. Names we know, names we don't know, names expected, names missing. Here is the bottom line. If athletes in any sport want to put themselves in a position that will eventually cause them harm, that is their own business. I predict in the future we are going to see more deaths like Ken Caminiti. Now, like I said, if someone wants to do that to their body, go ahead, but quit screwing up my sports. Yes, professional sports are for the fans. No fans, these so called "professionals" are playing in beer leagues on Tuesday nights. Not only that, quit screwing up the young players coming up. Many feel that in order to compete they must cheat. MLB and the Baseball Players Association, in addition to every other sport, needs to have strict policies on drug use, and they should resemble those that the International Olympic Committee uses. If players are found using, have tough penalties and get the cheaters out of the game. Make the playing field level for all and remove the temptation. If livelihoods are threatened, odds of players cheating will diminish. Will there always be cheaters, yes. But I don't want to see players of any sport start dropping dead in their 40s because they felt they needed to compete. Whether they like it or not, they are role models. I am not asking them to be prefect human beings but just understand your role, and have some integrity.

Our Asian Friends!

2007-12-12T19:54:09Z

Can you say "Fukudome"? www.timkuda.com

The "Oversea" Player

2007-12-11T15:06:29Z

Do MLB clubs put too much faith in foreign players? Just becasue some have been successful, we they all? I guess time will tell.