ND Baseball Prospect: Cole Frenzel

The number 94 top high school baseball prospect of 2009 by Baseball America is Cole Frenzel of Dickinson, ND. I found this video on a blog thanks to Dickinson Sports Writer Dustin Monke.

We all know ND is not much of a baseball state and to be regarded as a top 100 prospect in the nation is a big deal. Frenzel is a great all-around baseball player. I personally played against him in my 3 years of varsity baseball and 1 outta my 2 years of JV ball. He is the real deal as he launched HR after HR after triple against my team. He is currently being looked at by Nebraska, Kansas, Oregon St., and Virginia to name a few schools.

I'm not trying to pimp the kid in anyway, but I just wanted to give North Dakota some recognition it deserves.

Thoughts and Headlines

Here's some brief thoughts and headlines on different sports.

NBA Finals:
The Lakers are in trouble. While Kobe said there is nothing to worry about, he definitely should be worrying. Kobe has struggled shooting in this series and the Celtics defense has given the Lakers fits. Boston has not only shut down LA's 2nd and 3rd scoring option, but their number one as well. The Lakes have to win both games at home, because I don't see them winning any in Boston.

MLB:
I would like to say congrats to Ken Griffey Jr. for hitting his 600th HR last night. Griffey is the greatest HR hitter of this era and although I am a Barry Bonds fan, I have to pay Griffey his dues. Griffey did it the right way, he went through the agonizing injuries. He felt the pain and bled his own blood without taking any illegal substances to endure any of it. If it weren't for his injuries he would easily have 700 HR right now.

College Baseball:
I just wanted to say I love watching College Baseball, especially when it's time for the Super Regionals and the World Series. Watching them hit with an aluminum bat is quite refreshing; although I love watching pitchers duals and great defensive play, I love watching slugfests and hard hit balls, it makes for an interesting and fun game.

Soccer
The US Soccer team tied Argentina on Sunday, the number one ranked team in the world currently. It was great to see a good defensive effort but it was great to see the aggressive play in the midfield, which took a lot of pressure off of the defense; which is something they've been lacking for several years.

Also, it's been interesting to watch the Euro Cup that is currently taking place. I am not a big fan of soccer but when it comes to World Cup Soccer and qualifiers I love to watch. I would love to see a Portugal-Germany final, but I wouldn't mind watching Spain or France either.

Who's Hot, Who's Not

TSF hasn't done it's 'Who's Hot, Who's Not' post for quite sometime so I thought this would be a great time to do so...

Who's Hot

Chase Utley
The Phillies 2nd basemen is 15 for 34 his last 9 games with 7 HR, 20 RBI, and 10 R. He become only the 4th player ever to have two five-game home run streaks in one season.

Jay Bruce
Bruce is 18 for 29 in his first 8 games as a major leaguer with 3 HR, 7 RBI, and 12 runs scored. Said Bruce to the AP, "It's been a lot of fun."

Chicago Cubs
Could this be the year? The Cubs have currently won 8 straight games through June 3rd, winning their first road series since the beginning of the season.

Road to Omaha
With super regionals starting this week, college baseball is heating up. The top search of the month on ESPN was College Baseball. We will have a new champion as Oregon St. is out. All baseball fans love watching games with aluminum bats, the fun has just begun.

Who's Not

Alex Rios
Currently his 27-for-115 (.234 BA) is on a nosedive. Rios has dropped 52 points off his batting average since May 1. His sluggish power (9 HR, 69 RBI) and strikeout rate ('07 K%: 16.0, '08: 23.5) have raised some flags about his patience at the plate.

Paul Konerko
His current stat line is: .206 BA, 5 HR, 23 RBI, 18 R, 1 SB, and a 33/27 K:BB ratio. Can you say slump?

Seattle Mariners
The M's are now 21-38 and are 14.5 games behind the Angels and 8.5 behind the mediocre Rangers. Pitching has been a huge problem for them. Seattle starters are now 15-28 with an ERA of 5.23.

Miami, FLA- Kimbo Slice primetime fight
Yawn. Miami was home to the debut of mixed martial arts fight and Kimbo Slice on primetime television, which aired on CBS last Saturday evening. The night was full of horrible referring and boring fights. Slice didn't live up to the hype as he was embarrassed and knocked out by James Thompson.