Buried 20 fathoms deep in today's Times' feature on Yank scout/wonk Billy Eppler, written by Ty "Cobb" Kepner is this Easter egg:
Stories like the signing of Alfredo Aceves especially invigorate Eppler. On a tip from Lee Sigman, the Yankees’ scout in Mexico, Eppler sent one of his scouts, Jay Darnell, to shoot video of Aceves’s pitching.
“Jay puts him on YouTube that night from his hotel in Mexico and hides the name,” Eppler said. “There was a code name we put him under, and he puts in five different clips. I call Mark Newman up: ‘You’re not going to believe this — you want to see him? He’s on video right now. Go to YouTube, type this in, you’ll see five clips.’ That deal ended up working, and we signed a package of players.”
I smell bit.
ReplyDeleteLeave Billy alone!
ReplyDeleteI guess they don't realize that they can make Youtube videos private, huh?
ReplyDeleteThis guy ( Alfredo Aceves ) played about 8 years in the South Mexican Independent Dirt Field League as a first baseman.
ReplyDeleteWhen he first turned thirty, he decided to pitch the last three innings of a game, in a downpour. We don't call games in this league, because we need the rain.
He had a decent outing, and so the Yankees signed him. Not knowing that his best true position remained FB.
What a job Billy Eppler does.
He can spot no talent with the best of them.