Off Topic
Like the rest of the BBA movers and shakers, the Yellow Springs Nine front office is off in some exotic place making selections that will restrict the professional freedom that several young players will be able to exert for the next decade or so of their lives. Draft day is always a gala event, filled with a mix of bravado and despair usually made in equal parts—with some, however, suggesting this class my be more on the despair and less on the bravado.
Time as always, will tell.
Fervent Nine fans can’t be bothered to wait for time, though, which is good for us because then we can rake in the big bucks by selling this swill we’re calling a draft review.
Enough with the pre-game festivities, though. There’s a pool out back, and a margarita with my name on it waiting.
Let’s take a look at the Nine’s “haul,” moving now to the second round:
O’Hara Selection Catches Some Flack
ROUND 2 SELECTION: Hollis “Duck” O’Hara (C)
The parent club pitchers are currently enjoying having the services of Javier Rodriguez and Bruce McKinley on the team—both of whom can do a little damage with the bat, and serve to enhance their pitching from behind the plate. O’Hara fits that mold. Kind of. At least he fits it while in the field. Word is that they call the guy “Duck” as much for his propensity to bail on the curve ball as for his love of Daffy.
Fun fact: O’Hara drove a scooter to and from his games at Bacardi High (there’s a name for you, eh?), and plastered the sideboards of it with images of Daffy Duck. He’s also rumored to sleep in Daffy Duck pajamas, but let’s keep that between you and me, all right?
At 6’6”, 210, he’s an intimidating aura while wearing the Tools of Ignorance.
As with Pfeffer, the kid has no record of ever playing in an actual game—which, I suppose is what would happen to us if we went to a place named after rum. This, as well as his difficult projections with the bat, made some suggest that taking O’Hara here was a bit of a reach. That said, the club was intrigued with him as a left-handed bat, and since he scored well on his pre-colege exams, considered him to be worth a shot at #2.
Contact Gap Power Eye AvK Arm Abi 2/5 1/3 1/2 1/4 1/7 9 9 Projection: Look for the Nine to assign O’Hara to Alamogordo to play alongside International Complex prospect Ziad Abdul-Samad. There appears to be some thought that the team thinks the pair could move through the organization in lock-step and become the next J2/BruceMack combo.
Repertoire Scouted Fastball 4/6 Slider 3/6 Curveball 2/4 Change 1/5 Sinker 4/8
Last Word: When O’Hara was drafted, YS9 fan Ginger Gable, a bit of a distant cousin to Clark Gable, was quoted to say “Frankly my dear, I don’t give damn.”
