Hopefully this works: it’s seat of the pants blogging at its finest since I had to modify the embed code to suit.
Update: At the end of their live broadcast (11 p.m. Eastern time) they had raised $321,041. It’s short of their $400,000 goal but there is probably some counting to do as well. As I recall, though, they are in better shape than they were last year as far as reaching their goal.
It’s quite likely that having a connection within the Orioles’ organization helped get him drafted, as his father is Buck Showalter’s right-hand man with Baltimore as their bench coach. But it’s still up to Steel Russell to play well enough to keep his job and this year seems to be an indication he may be able to advance.
Brought up off the Aberdeen preseason roster for catching depth in May, Russell has split time with Chase Weems over the last few games after regular catcher Wynston Sawyer came up injured. But the spot duty seemed to agree with Russell as he started the season 17-for-49 at the plate. So while Steel has been scuffling a little of late, he still tops Shorebird receivers with a .269 average based on 18-for-67 in 20 games.
Steel, who was drafted in the 32nd round by the Orioles last year out of Midland Junior College in Texas, is a 22-year-old Pennsylvania native who obviously has been around baseball all his life. His father John is now a coach with the Orioles but played for a decade with the Phillies, Braves, and Rangers as well as managing the Pittsburgh Pirates for three seasons (2008-10.) So the bloodline is there.
But it was a little bit of a surprise to see Russell get a season-finale cup of coffee for the Shorebirds last year (going 1-for-3 at West Virginia) based on a poor batting line in the Gulf Coast League: .180/0/11/.447 OPS with that low-minor team. But he did and has settled into his 2013 role well enough to get the majority of the starts (granted, it’s 4 vs. 3) since the All-Star break.
If Russell can break out of his recent 1-for-18 skid and stabilize his average about where it is, there’s always the possibility he won’t be known more as the coach’s son than as a player in his own right. The Orioles drafted a lot of catching depth this time around because it was perceived they were shallow at the position, so continuing to work hard could be Russell’s ticket to future success.
Update: I have an embed code so I’m going to try and see how it works. Look for it at 4:00 after a special matinee Shorebird of the Week announcement at 10:30 this morning.
I’ll be away for a good part of the day with my outside job, but I’ll be anxious to get back and see how this 8-hour internet broadcast goes.
In its sixth year, the Troopathon combines guests from the worlds of Hollywood and politics to try and entertain and inform those watching, meanwhile raising money which goes to creating care packages for our troops in harm’s way overseas. This year’s guest roster includes such familiar names as Gary Sinise, Gene Simmons, Vice-President Dick Cheney (as well as his daughter Liz), Texas Governor Rick Perry and his state’s junior Senator Ted Cruz, former Congressman Lt. Col. Allen West, Ambassador John Bolton, and radio talkers Mark Levin, Herman Cain, Dennis Miller, and Dana Loesch, just to name a few.
They will also be giving away an AR-15 rifle (see their site for details) and attempt to raise as much as they can for this purpose. Last year they set an original goal of $250,000 but exceeded it and ended up around $400,000 when all was said and done.
Now there are several ways you can donate but perhaps the easiest is to just click on the “Please Donate” yellow button on my site under the Troopathon banner. Not only do you help the overall cause, you also help our team, the Hot Air Steamers. As I write this we are leading the race for most contributions, but the three-time defending champion Greyhawks are making a fast and furious charge. I’d like to finish first this year.
Troopathon 6 begins at 4 p.m. here in the Eastern Time Zone (1:00 where broadcast, from the Richard Nixon Library in Yorba Linda, California.) If possible I will try and live stream it here (since I had issues with it last year) but you can always go to the Troopathon site to watch it.
