Hobgood in the house
The Orioles No. 1 draft choice, Matt Hobgood will sign his contract and be formally introduced to the media and fans tomorrow, but he's in the ballpark right now, and has been socializing with the players and coaching around the cage.
He got an earful from future teammate Adam Jones for his outfit. He showed up in a pair of white pattern Bermuda shorts, black shoes and gym socks up to mid calf. Jones and several teammates introduced themselves and ribbed him about his wardrobe, but he enjoyed every minute of it.
"He seems like a great kid, but it's a terrible outfit,'' Jones said. "It was awful. I had to tell him."
Hobgood, who is from Norco, CA, (I earlier wrote Corona, CA because I'm an idiot) also spent quite awhile talking to Hall of Famer Jim Palmer, as well as manager Dave Trembley and hitting coach Terry Crowley. We'll have his side of the story tomorrow. The Orioles are keeping him away from the media to avoid upstaging their own press conference.
Comments
can we call him the Hobgoblin please?
Posted by: Alex | June 26, 2009 5:35 PM
At least he didn't have a Hawaiian shirt on.
Posted by: Paul B Towson | June 26, 2009 5:42 PM
How about a pic of Hobgood in his duds that were made fun of by his future teammates?
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Pete's reply: Wish I could help you with that, but I don't know how to post a picture from my cell phone on the blog. I'll have to work on that.
Posted by: AugustaReb | June 26, 2009 5:53 PM
that's Cali style, specifically SoCal skater look.
Posted by: winston | June 26, 2009 10:09 PM
pete send the pic to your email and then save it to your pics. then you should be able to upload it. im the most computer illiterate person on here and i know how to do that. just saying. i would ,however, kill for your job. not really, but it's sad when you know you would be good at something but don't have a way in to prove it.
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Pete's reply: Thanks. I should have known that, but generally don't take pictures. I have a video/still camera also with me (though it was upstairs at the time), which loads into my laptop, but I just wasn't on the ball.
Posted by: Bob in VA | June 27, 2009 2:27 AM
Norco, Pete, Norco
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Pete's reply: That was a mistake born of my background. The two towns are pretty much right next to each other, right up the freeway from where I lived when I covered the Angels.
Posted by: logiopath | June 27, 2009 4:56 AM
Peter, my old friend and colleague. Gotta be careful confusing Corona and Norco, it's like mixing up the Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland. Or Michigan and Ohio State.
It doesn't sound like Hobgood's attire is anything out of the ordinary for the I.E. or OC for that matter.
I think the Orioles got a real winner, though. He was a great hitter as well as pitcher in HS, so he's got two chances to make it big.
Take care Peter. I remain an avid reader.
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Pete's reply: Earl, long time no see. (For the rest of the readers, Earl was one of my mentors at the Orange County Register years ago and still knows way more about sports than I ever will.) But you weren't the first to catch me screwing up Norco and Corona. The letters, at least, are largely the same.
Posted by: Earl Bloom | June 27, 2009 1:04 PM
What time is the O's press conference to announce Hobgood's signing and can it be seen on the Internet?
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Pete's reply: I believe it's at 5:30 (though I'm not sure) and I would think it will be streamed. Again, I'm not there yet and don't know for sure.
Posted by: J. Murphy | June 27, 2009 1:20 PM
Norco is short for North Corona, so technically you are right :)
Posted by: Ed | June 30, 2009 7:31 PM