Open Thread: Brett Tomko, artist
By
Yankee fans aren’t too fond of Brett Tomko – the 12th pitcher on the staff – these days. After all, he allowed those two homers in the middle innings that one time. Well, believe it or not Brett’s earned a pretty decent living for himself throwing a baseball (B-Ref says he’s raked in over $20M in his career), and it looks like he’s got a nice career lined up for when his playing days are over.
Tomko, you see, is a rather talented artist. He started copying the comics section of the newspaper when he was five, then stuck with it all through high school and majored in art at Florida Southern. Once he was drafted in the second round by the Reds, everything kind of got put on hold until he got together with Opie Otterstad, a prominent sports artist.
Since then, Tomko’s painted everyone from Nomar Garciaparra to Trevor Hoffman to Joakim Soria, and his current project is for fellow reliever Phil Hughes. “You could just see these perfect creases in the jersey,” Hughes said. “It’s insane. He’s really, really good. Some people think he paints, so what? But if you actually see him, it’s like, ‘Wow, he could do this for a living.’”
Marc Carig of The Star-Ledger wrote all about Tomko and his art today, so make sure you check it. There’s even a short video clip showing Tomko working on the painting for Hughes and explaining what goes in to it. Cool stuff, give it a read.
* * *
Feel free to use this as your open thread for the evening. The Braves and Cubs are on ESPN, but the Mets are off. Anything goes, just be nice.
Photo Credit: John O’Boyle, The Star-Ledger
218 Comments»
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Man, I wish I was that good.
Someday though, I’ll sell my notebook doodles and make a small fortune. Just not today.
This reminds me of Matt Desalvo. Another shitty yankees pitcher who thought they could paint.
didn’t DeSalvo write?
i thought he just read read a lot of smart stuff.
http://kansascity.royals.mlb.c.....8;c_id=mlb
Found the article I was thinking of, I guess they just described him as an artist.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/.....id=4309843
“– it used to be if the ball beat you, you were out, but it isn’t that way anymore.”
I dont get that, if its not a force play you’re not out unless you’re tagged out. I know Hirschbeck has to protect his ump, but thats an even worse explaintation
Yeah, I was wondering about that too. Used to be?
which makes you wonder how many other calls have been screwed by this guy or more
wow..I was wondering why Jete and Girardi were so angry on a simple safe/out call.
Because it was freaking ridiculous and the ump started making up rules so as not to look bad.
If players have to be accountable after a game, shouldn’t umpires be too? Marty Foster running away from reporters when he was involved in a controversial call and hiding away is a disgrace.
It’s time for the Yankees to send Tomko out to the pasture and call up another young gun. Tomko’s heart obviously lies elsewhere right now so it would be a good decision for both parties.
yeah I wish the Yankees sent Bernie out years ago when he had a hobby of playing the guitar
Not saying Tomko shouldnt be DFA, but dont use some crappy excuse like his heart isnt in it, hes just not a very good pitcher
Yes. It’s his heart that should make this obvious.
What they SHOULD do is start stretching Hughes back out and bring up Melancon to replace him in the pen. Whether that results in Tomko being DFA’d, Hughes going to AAA for two weeks and THEN Tomko being DFA’d, or Bruney going back on the DL, I don’t care. But I’m not that focused on getting rid of Tomko
We have no idea if Melancon will be as good as Hughes in the pen.
only one way to find out…
So do we have to wait for him to complete Hughes’ painting before he’s DFA?
Listening to the Trenton game…
in the top of the 1st McAllister had bases loaded, 0 out…k’d the next two batters…now a 2 run single on a 1-2 count. Still two out, two on, top 1.
and McAllister K’s the side.
I’d prefer less K’s and more run prevention
aren’t those two related?
Tomko is the most talented* Yankee since Bernie Williams. Agreed
* Talent, in this case, is strictly referring to non-baseball, non-athletic talents.
let’s go Oakland beat them sox
well that wasn’t supposed to be a reply
If we’re talking about non-baseball abilities, Mussina’s gotta be there too. While he may not have had a special talent, unless you’re counting cross-word puzzles, he was widely regarded as the smartest major leaguer throughout his time in the league
Al Leiter is one of the smartest players I’ve seen. When he announces he knows what pitch is coming. Listen. He doesn’t say “It’ll be interesting to see if he throws a changeup”. He says “changeup coming”. And 99% of the time he is right.
One can only wish he was so artistic with the baseball.
Man, Trenton is playing some shoddy defense tonight.
Jesus our lord and savior just hit a double off the wall for Trenton…
I think the PBP guy thought it was gone.
OMG This is Brett Tomko’s wife.
sorry. http://umpbump.com/press/wp-co.....ultz05.jpg
Wow, that’s a plus-plus wife tool
Pujols, Howard, Fielder, Gonzalez are doing the HR Derby for the NL
Any chance any of them lose their HR swing?
That’s probably the best HR Derby lineup I’ve seen. Definately watching.
Yeah AL’s in trouble.
They didnt anounce the AL side yet but I’ll guess its Pena, Morneau, Cruz and Lind.
Oh geez. That’s about as poopy as it gets.
Lind and Pena aren’t even on the team–both are in the final vote pool though
So? Ryan Howard was in it in 2007 and wasnt in All Star game
No Hamilton?
hes just rehabbing from surgery, no way he does it
Nomar RBI single off Smoltz, 1-0
Ellis 2 rbi double, 3-0
Kennedy rbi single, 4-0
Oh God what has happened to Andrew Brackman? He has to be hurt right? I mean he was doing fine early on this year but the wheels have completely fallen off.
What’s he done tonight?
holy motherfucker I just saw
.0 4 6 6 4 2 1 6.01
.0 as in he didnt record an out?
Ah, that .0 should be 1.0 I think.
yeah just checked. either way thats pretty horrendous. maybe time to skip a start and let him clear his head a little
Its strange. You expect him to get better as the season went on. I was impressed with his first month or so. He was striking out a batter an inning and he had a good gb/fb ratio, but man its just depressing seeing his lines now. Has there been any news about him from scouts? Is his stuff the same?
yeah if he started the season like this thats one thing and you can blame it on returning from surgery, but he was doing pretty good in the beginning so its strange.
•Ryan Peisel walks.
•Joseph Massey walks. Ryan Peisel to 2nd.
•Patrick Rose singles on a bunt ground ball to third baseman Garrison Lassiter. Ryan Peisel to 3rd. Joseph Massey to 2nd.
•With Andrew Goff batting, passed ball by Mitch Abeita, Ryan Peisel scores. Joseph Massey to 3rd. Patrick Rose to 2nd.
•Andrew Goff walks.
•Delta Cleary singles on a ground ball to right fielder Melky Mesa. Joseph Massey scores. Patrick Rose scores. Andrew Goff to 3rd. Delta Cleary to 2nd on the throw.
•James Cesario walks.
•Pitcher Change: Brad Rulon replaces Andrew Brackman.
Eeeewwwww.
Ya he lost it in the 2nd inning.
So not to be a B-Jobber or anything (I’m not at all) but what is with Joba’s lack of velocity? I mean last year in the rotation, he was sitting about 3-4 mph higher. Do you think they tampered with his mechanics in an attempt to protect his arm? If so, they should really send him down to AAA so he can learn to pitch without the great fastball he’s had.
IMO it might have something to do with the shoulder injury.
That’s a scary thought. I’d like to think they made him change his mechanics
I agree it could be the shoulder, but IMO when a player loses velocity, it could be for only a few reasons:
1. Injury
2. Mechanics
3. Preference (saving energy and then “dialing it up” later)
well, it ain’t #3.
And we sure as hell hope it isn’t number one but this isn’t the Hughes disappearing fastball we went through before, this is a legit “he had it last year but lost it this year” thing. At some point, it gets to be a serious issue when he “unleashes” an 89 mph “fastball”
I don’t know. I’ve heard rumblings that he’s wanted to conserve his energy ala AJ Burnett.
It’s weird how his velocity fluctuates. His avg. velo is down but I remember that start in Cleveland he was sitting 94-96mph.
True, but AJ unleashes one every now and then when he’s in a bind much the way Joba would hit 97-99 last year if he really wanted to let one go. This year he’s only able to pump it up to 94-96. Last year, he was sitting there
AJ’s avg velo is off less than 1 mph.
Joba’s … isn’t.
That CLE start sticks out like a thumb when you chart his velocity this year.
Even then, the avg FB in his *best* start this year, was worse than the average in EVERY.SINGLE.START.LAST.YEAR.
Every single one.
THIS is what a shoulder injury looks like.
It’s not like he didn’t show a drop in velocity when he came back and pitched out of the pen last year.
And seriously, if *you* could reach back and throw 100 a couple times a game, like Joba could as a starter last year, why wouldn’t you?
Unless you couldn’t …
When guys have shoulder injuries, velocity doesnt always come back 100%. So say he cant throw 97-99 anymore, and sits around 92-93 and touches 95-97- he cant be successful anymore because of that?
Uh, where did I say that?
I just said there’s no evidence to support the idea that it’s preference.
Ok then who really cares what happened to his velocity? Whether it was due to his injury, mechanics, or just ‘saving it’ it frankly doesnt matter.
he still has enough to put away hitters (8 K/9), he’s struggling with walks like every young pitcher does.
In my opinion, when you struggle as much as he does with control and pitch count, I think velocity is definitely something to care about. Hitters are starting to lay off the slider because they don’t have to sit on a fireball. This, I would gather, has played a part in his walks and pitch count issues.
Yes, but does he struggle with walks because he doesn’t have the fastball he did last year???
No confidence = No control???
Or perhaps his shoulder is still tweaked in some way and *that’s* why his control is crap.
But his control *has* been crap and there’s plenty to suggest it’s not just because he’s a “young pitcher”.
Regardless, he’s not the same pitcher, nor does he have the same ceiling as the Joba that took the mound to start the game in Texas.
I agree that he has enough to put away hitters. The problem is, he hasn’t had to pitch without that fastball in this league. Hitters are fouling off pitches that they couldn’t touch before.
i dont care about his art. tomko really sucks and melancon should be up here instead.
“Tomko’s painted everyone from Nomar Garciaparra to Trevor Hoffman to Joakim Soria, and his current project is for fellow reliever Phil Hughes.”
That’s a little too DiCaprio/Winslet Titanic scene for me.
And then there’s this. http://www.hulu.com/watch/4452.....s-a-critic
Make no mistake… this is EXACTLY what’s going on in the Yankees clubhouse behind the scenes.
Paul Rudd is hilarious. That was great. Thanks!
Brett Tomko: This is gonna sound kind of weird, but… may I paint you?
Phil Hughes: …… I’d love that.
Lol
Anderson’s dealing for the A’s tonite.
So I’m listening to my radio last night, half asleep. Laurie Rubinson was on WFAN, it was about 10 minutes before midnight.
When on comes a caller, somebody named “Rebecca from the Bronx”. Talking about the Phil Hughes bullpen/starting situation, citing stats and saying things that sounded very similar to stuff our Rebecca posted on this board yesterday.
Was I dreaming or did that actually happen?
MUAHAHAHAHA
[It happened. I have the file.]
*whew*
I thought it might have been from all the hugging going back and forth yesterday.
BTW-Steve from Bayside says Hello.
GCL Yankees are beasts.
Can’t wait for Gary to get there. I’d love to just see him hold his own
Holy fucking Phillies, Batman.
The Red Sox losing home games? Dogs and cats, living together; mass hysteria!!!
Smoltz gave up 5 runs
That’s utterly impossible because he’s such an under-the-radar, low risk-high reward, gritty, smart signing.
Smoltz/Penny >>>>>>>>>>>> CC/AJ
Tazawa>>>>>>>CC as well. Can’t forget that one.
Justin Smoak=Brad Penny (for trade purposes)
/Gammons’d
I still can’t get over that.
Penny=Smoak, someone really even put them in the same sentence? Please tell me you are joking.
In his latest blog post at ESPN.com, Peter Gammons writes that “unless someone comes up with a Justin Smoak, Matt LaPorta or Brett Wallace,” the Red Sox will hold on to Brad Penny and enjoy the depth. He says no one will offer up a prospect like that for a few months of Penny.
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/.....erosa.html
Can we just assume 80% of Gammons’ writing comes directly from Theo?
“The Cardinals wouldn’t discuss Jason Motte or Chris Perez in exchange for DeRosa.”
Thanks, Peter.
Wrong. That’s more recent.
He had a post about a month ago in which he said that Penny was worth a ‘Justin Smoak type prospect’.
Daniel Bard can net you Joe Mauer
Everyone knows that the Twins will never sign Mauer since everyone loves the Red Sox so they should just trade for Bard since it’s the best they can get.
Unhittable Saito gives up HR to Orlando Cabrera
THe A’s announcer was talking about how good he pitched too. Crazy.
PBP guys for Trenton totally got fooled on a Montero fly out–thought it was out of the park.
Long fly out to the warning track in left.
I just wish Tomko could paint the corners with his pitches
ICWUDT
Wow Trenton can we please fucking score a run against New Britain?
Well, they do have A run…
i wonder who knocked that run in …..
Reegie Corona, actually.
Montero is 1-3 with a double and two FO, one of the FO fooling the broadcaster into thinking it was a HR…
Did the helicopter do it’s job? Scranton play today?
Phil Hughes: You know how I know your gay?
Brett Tomko: No, how.
Phil Hughes: Because you paint portraits of me.
(Sorry, had to make the ignorant/homophobic/typical male remark but its just too easy).
Pansy.
/Ironhorse’d
Montero just threw out a runner…
Woo!
This guy is amazing, forget the major we have to create a new league for him.
We could put Mo in that league, too.
A Mo-Montero battery.
Oooh….
They could play the Red Sox.
Awesome.
MoMo? MonMo? MoMon?
Yeah, I’ll stop now.
Mo + Jesus = Moses?
Mo could hand off the “Mo” baton to Jesus.
It will be a new Yankees tradition, there will always be a star you can call ‘Mo’ on the team …
and the Son of Mo, Melvin.
That’s a 3 player league, though. Nobody else can compete in it.
So, how was everyone’s weekend?
/conversation starter
Saturday was awesome. Sunday should have been awesome but ran into an unplayable field.
Informal poll:
Who would you like to see take Wang’s spot in the rotation?
1-Alfredo Aceves
2-Phil Hughes
3-Sergio Mitre
4-Brett Tomko
5-other (specify)
Alfredo Aceves
3. And you know why.
I know, and you’re right. Aceves messes with the bullpen a bit, but its not as severe as taking Hughes out.
To go back to the original Joba argument, a good starting pitcher is more valuable than a reliever, and I think Ace can be an significant upgrade over Mitre/Tomko. Weighing everything, I just think were a slightly better team that way. But its a very close call.
Hughes
Aceves
McAllister
Mitre
Inanimate Carbon Rod
Tomko
2
Mitre, if by “take Wang’s spot” you’re talking about just this upcoming turn.
And why does it have to be an informal poll? Why couldn’t it be a formal poll, or even an urban-casual poll?
I’m figuring Wang is out for a month, as LoHud reported the other day.
Okay, then I’ll amend my vote. I still think it should be Mitre, but only for as long as it takes Hughes to stretch out.
If Wang’s going to be out more than a month, I think you have to go to Hughes.
1 or 2.
5, trade for Brad Penny, give them Montero, Jackson and Hughes.
Not enough. Any Penny trades start with Joba.
5. Sandy Koufax
(You never specified if the “other” had to be, you know, realistic.)
McCallister could end up with a 5-4 record, but he has the lowest ERA in the EL.
and i’m going to try my darndest to get his autograph at the EL ASG on 7/15.
If Wang is out for a month, that does throw a bit of a wrench into our dealings for the trade deadline. You would have preferred to see Wang pitch, and the decide whether to make a deal or not. Now, you don’t really know what you have in him, and may have a close call on pulling the trigger on a making a deal or not.
The timing really couldn’t be worse. I’ll assume that Cashman will proceed as if he doesn’t exist, and say “you can’t have too much pitching”. But a few weeks later I can easily see him being second guessed if he fails to make a move and either Wang is bad or someone else gets hurt.
This stuff is so easy to figure out after the fact, and so tough before.
You have a starting rotation of CC, AJ, Joba, Pettite and next year Hughes even without Wang. A lot of teams would love to have that. Plus, Nova and McAllister could be knocking on the door next season.
I’m talking the July 31st deadline for this year. The Yanks might or might not be short a starting pitcher, and we won’t find out until after the deadline.
i think you should proceed as understanding that you arent getting anything from Wang for the rest of the summer.
another mistake by the boys in blue.
i for one, welcome our new robot umpire overlords …
I had to do a game for 9-10 year olds tonight. I thought the 10 year olds in the spring league were bad…tonight was literally painful. I think maybe…7 balls were hit into play.
open question to the RAB staff…
since the all star game is in Trenton this year, any chance Mike A. (or anyone) can give us a little report or rundown on who’s who among the AA prospects playing in the game that day for those who are going?
I think that can be arranged. Are you going?
yeah, got tickets yesterday. i’m hoping to be there from start of the BP sessions thru the game.
that would be awesome, by the way. thanks.
Juan Miranda walk off win in the 12th.
Now for Game 2 of the doubleheader.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/.....id=4308312
so… um… in a fantasy world, what would it take to pry ol’ loose lips from the ‘Crew to hit bombs in pinstripes?
A lot.
Joba or Hughes + AJax + another prospect
And hes signed for 45m until 2015 so he can come out and say he hates his teammates, manager, gm, owner and hes not going to get traded
i wonder if braun now starts regretting that fact.
nah getting 45m after one season? he’ll land 100m his next contract
Keep dreaming, kid.
+1
didnt i specify fantasy world?
Melky and IPK.
we have a winner!
Don’t forget Mitch Hilligoss!
oh no, not ‘Hit Streak,’ too!?!
I will draw the line at Shelley Duncan though. No Shelley Duncan. Braun is not worth that much.
Cash already turned it down.
Good. They are going to cover Marty Foster’s blunder on Baseball Tonight. They need to expose this ump and get him disposed from the league.
Dude they’re not going to fire an ump after 1 bad call so chill out
It was more than a bad call. A bad call people could live with because those will happen with human beings. Marty Foster didn’t even know the rules! He doesn’t think that the runner has to be tagged to be called out! That is a problem and needs to be dealt with.
And it will be dealt with, but its not going to get him fired.
yea it was a terrible explanation, but he’s been around a long long time. Not going to get fired under any circumstances for this.
At the risk of sounding like a complete and total girl, is anyone else kind of mad they made a TV series out of Ten Things I Hate About You? That movie is totally a guilty pleasure of mine.
TJSC Would be proud. He is a HUGE supporter of the gay community.
Just kidding, I also enjoy that movie with the excuse that my wife makes me watch.
Brett Anderson is good at pitching
but hes a no name rookie pitcher that shut down the Yankee- er Red Sox line up!
The Phillies are good at hitting.
haha Janish doesn’t hold a candle to Swish.
Who the hell just compared the two?
Janish was pitching for the Reds, it was a joke.
Ah, okay. I’m not watching the game. My bad.
That’s ok. That’s how to stick up for Swish! There is nothing wrong with irrational outbursts in the Club.
Haha, I thought Alex was saying that a commentator/analyst compared the two.
is dave winfield literally retarded? Cause it sure seems like it. it’s ridiculous that guy got hired on as a baseball analyst.
I’ve only watched him a few times, but articulation is not one of his strong points from what I have seen.
Heh. Caught that too.
nope, he’s not.
could he possibly be worse than Eric Young???
that boggles my mind.
Eric Young, Orestes Destrada, Eduardo Perez, Peter Gammons, they’re all terrible on that show.
If I told you guys that the ’09 Aceves was kinda sorta outpitching Mo from ’96, y’all wouldn’t believe me, right?
Can’t be true, I haven’t seen it with my eyes.
http://tinyurl.com/lrwuqp
Nice. As soon as I read your first post I went to look at the stats. Include his 30 innings from last year and you’re still looking at a 202 ERA+ with a much larger sample size. Holy shit. When does Cash get major national credit? If Theo had signed Ace, they would have built (another) statue of him outside the ESPN studios.
Amen, brother!
BUT TEH PAYROLL!!!!11
Extremely random. Kevin Mitchell is know for two things. #1 his MVP season with the Giants, and #2 for being a total fucking nutcase.
Can you believe he had a career OPS+ of 142? That’s tied for 61st of all time, tied with Piazza, and ahead of Sheffield, Reggie, Griffey Jr., among many, many others.
He also has a tremendous sponsor on BR.
I think of him with the barehanded catch more than I think of him being nuts. But, then again, I guess I’m to young.
Yeah, that too. And getting a hit of Schiraldi in game 6, the year after they were teammates and they discussed how Schiraldi would pitch him!
The only thing I think of when I hear “Kevin Mitchell” is him (supposedly) beheading a cat.
just heard from a scout the yankees might trade for cliff lee
For IPK+Melky?
aww crap then how will we get Ryan Braun?
Tomko+Shelley.
Consider. It. Done.
We should hold a coup in Yankees management, you are replacing Brian Cashman.
but what about the exquisite paintings that personify team chemistry??
We’ll send someone to San Diego to steal a lock of Eckstein’s hair. Team chemistry solved.
Trade who? Shapiro isn’t an idiot.
Was this scout drunk by any chance?
Is your dog named “scout”?
Haha, IETC
His dog can talk?!?!?!
what kind of contract does cliff lee have?
anyone? bueller?
http://tinyurl.com/kme7p9
Predictable…but still vaguely effective–kinda like Andy Pettitte on good days. Ba-zing!
thanks for the help.
The rest of this year and an option, I believe. But, yeah, I wouldn’t be for trading for Cliff Lee. You’d basically be trading for last year’s Cliff Lee and not this year’s, who’s giving up 10.3 H/9 innings and isn’t a strikeout guy. The Yankees should really be looking for strikeout guys from here on out with the way YS3 is playing.
so we finally got a Sonic in the Wayne, NJ, area, and i drove by yesterday afternoon to check out one of these cherry limeaide do-hickees.
and the cops have the lot marked off, it was completely full and they weren’t letting anyone else in.
seriously? since when do they turn people away frm a fast food joint??
idk but i wouldnt give up on melky just yet
Yeah, maybe for Hanley and Nolasco, but not a schlub like Cliff Lee.
Say Mark Teixeira makes the All-Star team, then the next day the Yankees trade him to the Dodgers, does he get snubbed of the all-star game? How about Managers, say Yankees win it this year, and we fire Girardi and he signs with the Dodgers, does he still manage the AL team?
Teixiera yes would get snubbed,managers im not so sure about.