Willie Banks made the most of his first appearance with the Norfolk Tides last week. The Jersey City native, signed by the Mets to a Triple A contract two weeks ago, pitched six strong innings, allowing just two earned runs and striking out six.
Banks sparkles in Norfolk debut; Martinez may sign soon
Willie Banks made the most of his first appearance with the Norfolk Tides last week. The Jersey City native, signed by the Mets to a Triple A contract two weeks ago, pitched six strong innings, allowing just two earned runs and striking out six. Not bad for someone who had not pitched an inning of professional baseball since May in Japan.
Banks reported that he felt fine after the stint and felt like all of his pitches were working, which is a positive sign.
Banks, the former St. Anthony standout who spent five-plus years in the major leagues, still feels like he will be back in the majors with the Mets by the end of the summer…
In the meantime, another Jersey City native, Lesli Brea, continues to impress with the Mets’ Double A franchise in Binghamton. Brea, who was a reliever until this year, has done well as a starter and may get promoted to Triple A shortly.
Which means that Norfolk would have two pitchers who grew up only blocks apart in Jersey City’s Greenville section on the same team. Banks was a product of Curries Woods, while Brea lived on nearby Old Bergen Road. Amazing thought…
Rumor has it that Hoboken resident Jeison Martinez will be signing a professional baseball contract within the next few days. The teenager, a native of Dominican Republic who has spent the better parts of the last two summers playing baseball on local levels, has attracted scouts from four different major league organizations and could be inking a free-agent deal very shortly…
A week after we reported that it appeared as if Roderick Rhodes was at the end of his professional basketball career, it was reported that the Jersey City native Rhodes has apparently signed a free-agent contract with the Portland Trailblazers. However, the news of such signing has not appeared on the transaction wires. Maybe we will see it as a flash when the signing period begins in earnest on August 1…
Sources tell me that the recent professional boxing card was so well received in Secaucus’ Buschmiller Park that plans are already in place to have more boxing cards at the ice rink before the end of the summer, or at least, before the winter chills arrive. Promoters and boxing fans alike were pleased with both the performances of the fighters and the way the card was presented. And that’s good news for local boxing fans…
Congratulations to Jersey City native Mike O’Koren, who was asked to return as an assistant coach with the New Jersey Nets by new head coach Byron Scott. O’Koren, the former Hudson Catholic and North Carolina product who spent eight years with the Nets as a player, served as an assistant under Don Casey last season with the Nets.
But when Casey was let go by the franchise at the end of the season, O’Koren’s status was up in the air. Now, O’Koren can breathe a sigh of relief that he will be with Scott’s staff for at least the next three seasons. That’s good news for O’Koren, who is truly a good guy…
When he was hired two months ago, I took a little bit of a shot at Eric Piccolo, who was recently named the new head football coach at Snyder. Well, if hard work can translate into victories, then maybe Piccolo is well on the way to making me eat my words. Piccolo was spotted orchestrating speed and conditioning drills with approximately 20 prospective Snyder gridders recently – and those prospective players had speed to burn.
Two local Hudson County coaches said that they were impressed with the talent level at Snyder and that the Tigers could actually make some noise come fall.
However, with Piccolo already getting his troops together, that’s more work than any of the last three Snyder coaches did during the summer – combined…
Two really good kids are getting the chance to coach the freshman football team at Dickinson this fall. Former Dickinson standout linebacker Titus Bellamy and former Marist defensive tackle Chris Johnsen will man the coaching staff among the Rams’ rookies this fall, appointed by new head coach Rob Maffia.
Both Bellamy and Johnsen are very talented young men with a solid head on their shoulders and a very solid future. They will do an excellent job as coaches…
To all the Comcast cable television subscribers in Hudson County: In case you didn’t notice it, you got the short end of the stick just one more time.
Comcast, also known as Comshaft in this corner, has eliminated its base of operation in Union, N.J. Now, everything is centered at the corporate headquarters in Philadelphia. Which means all local programming will have this certain Philly flair to it, like a cheesesteak sandwich or Bill Cosby.
As a matter of fact, it already has. SportsTalk, which was hosted by Jersey guy Bruce Beck, has been replaced by the SportsConnection, hosted by a Philly-based mo-mo named Lou Tilley, who wouldn’t know the Garden State if it was planted on his head.
Lou Tilley did the Red Dogs Arena football game the other night on Comshaft and actually called an offside penalty as "premature anticipation." Then, he proceeded to giggle like a schoolgirl. Please. And we pay extra for this?
Comshaft has also backed out of televising the Sandy Koufax World Series in Jersey City this year after televising a game in each of the last three years. Why? Because it’s not being held in the City of Brotherly Love, that’s why.
Remember now, this is the same company that promised MORE local programming when it took over Cable TV of Jersey City a few years back. Damn straight, it’s more. Yeah, it’s more in Philly. Not more here in Hudson County.
My question is this: When can I sign up for RCN, like other Hudson County people are doing? Something has to be better than this…