Friday, July 27, 2007

Tall pitchers

The Moviel family has a better chance than most of having a son play Major League Baseball. Currently, three of their sons are playing in the minors. Paul, the oldest, pitches for the Vero Beach Devil Rays; Greg, the second oldest, pitches for the Arizona League Mariners; and Scott pitches for the GCL Mets.

The brothers aren't just pitchers. They're tall pitchers. Paul and Greg are both 6'6". Scott is 6'11".

If Scott makes it to Shea Stadium, he won't stand alone as the tallest Met. He'll tie for that title with Eric Hillman, whom one source listed as 6'11". Hillman pitched for the Mets from 1992-94, winning four while losing 14.

Both Scott and Hillman match the height of the Washington Nationals' John Rauch and are an inch taller then the Arizona Diamondbacks' Randy Johnson, MLB's two tallest current players.

It's interesting that four of the tallest men ever to play professional baseball are all pitchers.

The Mets selected Moviel with the 13th pick in the second round of this year's MLB Draft. Coincidentally, the other New York team, also selected a tall pitcher with an early pick. With the 30th pick in the first round the Yankees selected Andrew Brackman, a pitcher, who stands 6'10". If the Mets hadn't signed Moises Alou at the cost of their first round draft choice, they could have selected Brackman as they would have had the 29th pick. Instead, with their top pick, the 42nd, the Mets selected Eddie Kunz, who's only 6'5". Kunz just signed with the team.

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