Brazil is known for a lot of things. A great soccer team. Amazing weather. And a certain type of wax that always brings a smile to a guys face.

Gomes is off to a fast start in Toronto

However, up until Wednesday, Brazil wasn’t know for producing baseball players. As a matter of fact, up until Wednesday, there hadn’t been a Brazilian born player in the Major Leagues. Then the Toronto Blue Jays called up 3B/1B Yan Gomes to replace the demoted Adam Lind and history was made.

Gomes is the first Brazilian born player in MLB history and he is already making an impact for the Blue Jays. Gomes had a .956 OPS with five HR’s in Triple-A in 2012 and has carried that hot hitting over to the Major League. After Gomes’ 1-for-2 with a walk performance against the New York Mets on Sunday, Gomes is hitting .400 with one HR and has a .500 OBP in 12 PA’s.

In his brief stint so far, Gomes has shown good plate discipline and like most Blue Jay hitters, when he gets his pitch, he swings out of his shoes. I am interested to see if Gomes can keep up his success at the Major League level. I am skeptical of hitters who have a lot going pre-swing.

Gomes hold the bats way above his head, has an open stance, relies on a big leg kick for timing, and then to top it all off, has a hitch in his swing. That’s a lot of things to have to go right in order for Gomes to be successful.

Gomes has been playing third base for the Blue Jays with Brett Lowrie serving his four-game suspension, but look for him to shift over to first when Lowrie comes back.

Here are some other things you should know about Yan Gomes other than he is a dead ringer for Jorge Cantu. Seriously, look at a picture of Cantu and then look at a picture of Gomes. They could be twins…

Age: 24

Bats: Throws

Throws: Right

College: Barry University and The University of Tennessee

Drafted: 10th round of the 2009 June Draft

Minor League Stats:

Keith Law Ranking and Analysis:

Ranking: NA

Analysis: NA

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Just a quick Saturday morning note. The September Call Ups category is now called Rated Rookies. This category has been and always will be rookie focused. We just felt Rated Rookies was a better name and well, we just love those Rated Rookie Donruss baseball cards from years back.

Classic

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Last night, Detroit Tigers’ RHP Justin Verlander once again flirted with history. Verlander was going for his third career no-no and carried a no-hitter into the ninth inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates, but with one out in the ninth inning, Verlander hung a curveball to Josh Harrison and Harrison singled cleanly up the middle.

Verlander retired the last two batters he faced and had to settle for his first career one-hitter. Verlander now has three games where he has allowed one-hit or less. That’s impressive, but he has a long way to go to catch Nolan Ryan. Ryan pitched 20 games where he gave up one-hit or less. As great as Verlander is and I believe he is the one pitcher in the game today who takes no-hit stuff to the mound every time he takes it, he won’t even come close to Ryan’s record.

I think Verlander will be hard pressed to get to Randy Johnson’s seven games with one-hit or less or even Dave Stieb’s six games. Regardless, Verlander is a special talent and he has gotten to the point in his career where every time he takes the mound, it’s an event. Only a handful of pitchers in Major League history can lay claim to event status.

Here is the list of the 37 pitchers in baseball history who have more than three games of giving up one-hit or less in a nine inning or more game.

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The Harvard Baseball Team started it with their rendition of “Call Me Maybe.” Their YouTube video went viral and was soon challenged by the SMU Rowing Team. Now another baseball squad as gotten into the “Call Me Maybe” craze.

The University Florida Baseball Team now gives us their version of Call Me Maybe.

Impressive, but they didn’t do much to separate themselves from what Harvard did. And yes, my life has come to this. Critiquing Carly Rae Jepsen songs. Just awesome.

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Detroit Lions’ WR, Calvin Johnson, one of the best WR’s in the NFL, took some batting practice at Comerica Park and looked pretty darn good doing it. Megatron, who played baseball in high school in Georgia, has a little bit of a hitch in his swing, but his follow through was not bad at all. One of his swings resulted in a ball going over the left field wall.

Video courtesy of FOX Sports…

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I have always had a theory that everyone loves tater tots. You offer tater tots on a menu and everyone orders them. It’s a no-brainer. I have also had a theory that everyone loves aircraft carriers. The G.I. Joe aircraft carrier was the coolest toy ever. Watching UNC vs. Michigan St. on the USS Carl Vinson was just awesome. And the idea of having a Home Run Derby off of an aircraft? Well, that’s just fantastic.

The USS Yorktown

The opening round of the South Atlantic League’s Home Run Derby will take place on the flight deck of the USS Yorktown in Charleston Harbor. There will be kayakers and personnel on jet skis to retrieve the balls hit into Charleston Harbor. The U.S. Coast Guard will assess and note the longest homers to determine the finalists and will radio the results to officials stationed on the Yorktown.

There will be 10 participants and the four leaders at the end of the first round will advance to the second round, which will take place at Riley Park. Riley Park is the home of the Charleston RiverDogs.

This is just an amazing, amazing idea and one that should be applauded. Yes, this is a gimmick, but there are good gimmicks and bad gimmicks. A shoot out at the end of a regulation NHL game is a terrible gimmick as it takes away from the game. Having home-field advantage in the World Series is a terrible gimmick. And of course, Terry Taylor as the Red Rooster was a terrible gimmick.

But this is a good gimmick. This adds something to this event without giving a “What the heck is going on here?” feel to it.

I doubt this will be televised, but I for one can’t wait to see the highlights.

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