The Best Is Yet To Come

Verlander, Papelbon, Willingham Among Dozens of Young Talents Leading Baseball Into New Golden Age

Most baseball fans out there tend to keep up with the up and coming rookies that make it through Spring Training each year and stick with the big club. Well, for those of you who have a pulse, you might have noticed a few things about this year's model. I do believe we're about to see a changing of the guard.
Yes, friends, this year is the Year of the Rookie.
We are about to see an new Golden Age in baseball, one that will make us all remember why we love The Game in the first place.
Now, I know that being this early in the season, this all sounds like so much bandwagoning, but it doesn't take a genius to figure out that the young talent currently in The Show is legitimate.
Take, for instance, Justin Verlander, who was recently clocked at 101 mph...on his 98th pitch of the game.
Or Jonathan Papelbon, who is spurring the semi-new look Red Sox to the dominant level that led them to their first WS title in 86 years in 2004.
How about Zach Duke, who as a former 20th round pick (!) is now one of the top young pitching talents in the majors?
There are lesser known pitchers who could very well be impact players this year. Sean Marshall is one of them. The young Cubs lefty is in a position to eat up a lot of innings that might have gone to Prior or Wood, assuming either of the two could manage to stay in one piece. Marshall's been working rather closely with Greg Maddux (actually, when you've amassed the career numbers and accolates that he has, they call you MR. Maddux), and should be expected to remain a solid contributor to the Cubbies' rotation. I watched this guy NO-HIT THE A'S for 9 innings in spring training with a 91 mph tailing fastball and a wicked sick curve. He knows what he's doing.
And the hitters! Josh Willingham is set to make a serious dent in NL pitching for the Fish, utilizing an astoundingly selective eye at the plate that could match that of Kevin Youkilis. Matt Murton hits the ball like he means it, and seems to possess intangibles unseen in players his age.
Edwin Encarnacion could be a special player, assuming his early season fielding miscues are a byproduct of rookie nerves and not something far more ominous....like the Stone Glove Syndrome. Dave Kingman, are you listening? Ryan Zimmerman is going to turn a lot of scouts' heads, even more so than he already has.
When Albert Pujols came up in 2001, we all felt like we were seeing a special player at work, not just a star talent, but a once-in-a-generation kind of player. Well, I'm here to tell you something: we haven't seen nothing, yet. With talents like Willingham, Zimmerman, Murton, Verlander, Papelbon and Duke, we may finally see the kind of baseball our grandfathers talked about.
The kind of baseball that makes you remember you were there.

Say hello to the early days of the new Golden Age of Baseball.

Do yourself a favor. Don't miss it.

Clinton Riddle
Writer
Green Diamonds