Prior to Thursday's Double-A Reading Fightins game at Trenton, home of the Yankees' affiliate the Thunder, I noticed a youngster among a group of about a few dozen children from a local school singing the national anthem. Among the crowd, there was one kid who wasn't quite interested in singing at all. He caught my attention while he was glancing backward toward the stadium's video board and not participating with his classmates, who were positioned with him on the field. After a few lines, I picked up my camera to capture video of the boy who seemed considerably impressed with his status in the moment. Have a look at that fairly cute video clip below.
Switch-hitting Phillies prospect Jiwan James earned plenty of recognition last season, as he set the Class A Lakewood hitting streak record at 24 straight games and led the team in runs scored with 85. James, who will turn 22 years old in April, has reported early to Clearwater, well ahead of the March 1st report date for minor league spring training camp. Drafted out of high school as a pitcher in the 22nd round of the 2007 amateur draft, James made the switch to the outfield in 2009 where he played in 30 games with the short season Williamsport Crosscutters. As a member of the Cutters, James batted .264 with a homer and 13 RBI. The positional switch was necessary due to a lingering arm issue that James dealt with during 2008. In 2010, while helping the Lakewood BlueClaws lock down a second straight South Atlantic League title, James, who stands 6-feet-4-inches tall and weighs around 185 pounds, shined batting at the top of the order in manager Mark Parent's lineup. In the longes...
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