indoor Tracking

This guy is a Bobby Heck Special. Projectable? Check! Athletic? Check! Clean Mechanics? Check! Curveball? Check! Feel for a change-up? Check! Pitchability? Check Mate! Walker Weickel has everything that fits the Bobby Heck mold. Weickel stands 6-6 and weighs just 205, so there is some mass that can be added to his frame, although he doesn't look overly lanky. But, with his height and already a frame that looks strong, he can put on some good weight and possibly a workhorse type pitcher. But, it's not really his frame that really stands out, it's his great arm speed.
Mechanically, he looks pretty clean. The high arm slot comes with a little bit too much arm abduction, but doesn't look terrible. Like I said, the arm speed is great and his arm wrap looks a little violent at times, but is likely a product of the arm speed. I wouldn't call it a concern. He has a high leg kick and a good stride that allows him to land very balanced on his plant leg and can get it a defensive position. He is athletic, so he repeats the delivery and he has a full arm circle so his timing is pretty consistent and control isn't wild.
His fastball sits in the low 90's, and I've seen some reports saying as low as 89-91, but most agree with 91-94. While it's not eye popping, it is above average for a HS kid. He doesn't muscle it up there as he has that great arm speed and really hits those velocities with ease. With arm speed like his, and a projectable frame, he could add a few ticks in pro baseball. Because of his high 3/4 arm slot and possibly even considered over-the-top, he has a great downward plane that makes the pitch play up, despite not having a lot of movement. I'm always reminded of a friend of mine that played Division I ball that said he hated facing really tall pitchers because all you do is pound their fastball into the ground. With Weickel's height and high release point, he is that kind of pitcher.
With his arm slot, it's not surprising to see his next best pitch is a curveball. He has good 12-6 break but the pitch can get a loopy at times. It's a work in progress, but the pitch flashes plus potential. He obviously has work to do to refine the pitch, and has come a long way in improving his arm speed on the pitch as it was a little slower on the curve than the fastball this time last year.
He has a feel for a change-up, and it flashes above-average to plus potential. He has good speed separation but lacks great command on it right now. As things stand right now, it's a distant third pitch by most reports, but the potential is there.

The price that first-time homeowner Justin Bieber paid for his new digs in Calabasas has wended its way into the public record: $6.5 million.
Set on 1.3 acres in a gated community, the 10,000-square-foot main house is described as "transitional French" in style. Features include a high-ceiling foyer, library, a movie theater with stadium seating, a wet bar and a wine cellar - just what every 18-year-old pop singer needs. Including a guesthouse, there are seven bedrooms and eight bathrooms. A swimming pool and expansive lawns are among outdoor amenities.
The recent high school graduate, who catapulted to stardom through YouTube videos, has recorded the albums "My World 2.0," "Under the Mistletoe" and "Believe," and sold more than 15 million copies. At the middle of last month Bieber had more than 20 million Twitter followers.
His North America "Believe" tour will stop at Staples Center in October. He performed his single "Boyfriend" on "The Voice" this month.
The house, which was built in 2005, had been listed at $8.75 million. Among the previous owners was Eddie Murphy's former wife Nicole Murphy, who sold the property last year for $5.515 million.

Proto Labs CEO Brad Cleveland and nearly 600 associates have spent more than a decade building a highly profitable company that they say is world's fastest provider of customized computer-machined prototypes and parts.
In February, the company went public in one of Minnesota's most successful IPOs in years.
In May, the company reported first-quarter sales and earnings above Wall Street's expectations. But the company also said that increased research spending at its Maple Plain headquarters and adding capacity at a new plant in Rosemount would mean narrower profit margins for the next several quarters.
Investors reacted harshly, slashing the company shares by 36 percent. In short, the company lost more than $300 million in market value that day for choosing a long-term view over short-term profits.
Fred Zimmerman, the retired industrialist and manufacturing professor, applauds Proto Labs.

All trains, including Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto, will be monitored by a satellite-based navigation system by next year as part of the Railways' effort to provide accuracy about their movement.
"We have launched Satellite Imaging for Rail Navigation (SIMRAN) as a pilot project for 18 pairs of important trains which provides precise location of the trains through interactive mode on mobile phones, laptops, thereby eliminating the need for telephone inquiry," Railway Board Chairman Vinay Mittal said in a seminar here.
Currently the information about the train movement is manually monitored which lacks accuracy. SIMRAN records movement of trains, including exact location and speed, on real time basis.
Mittal said railways have plans for installing SIMRAN in all trains, except suburban and local trains, in the next 18 months.
Referring to Train Protection Warning System, Mittal said with the approval of this system on a stretch of 3,300 km to cover the entire high density route, a major step has been taken towards train's safety.

Custom injection molder Plastikos  agreed at NPE2012 to invest nearly $500,000 in three new Arburg presses that will replace three aging Demag machines in its Erie, Pa., headquarters facility later this year.
Plastikos manufacturing manager Robert Cooney said in an interview at the show that his firm on April 3 purchased one 220-ton, hybrid 570A model press and a pair of 88-ton, all-electric 470A models. This continues a trend toward Arburg for Plastikos, which with this deal will now count 11 Arburgs among its 30 total injection molding machines. The larger press should be delivered by June, with the two smaller machines due to arrive this fall.
“The level of engineering and technical support that Arburg provides us is very much like what we provide to our own customers,” Cooney said, noting that there is good synergy between the firms. That said, Plastikos does not intend to buy all of its equipment from any single source, and so will continue to look at other options, going forward.
Plastikos intends to make further capital investments this year, for inspection and auxiliary equipment, and to expand and upgrade its current RJG  process monitoring equipment.
While the new replacement presses will not increase the molder’s capacity, Cooney said their higher levels of precision and accuracy are important to meet the demanding applications they see in their end markets of military, aerospace, electronic connectors and medical devices.

Stores are filled with barnyards of chocolate critters. Enormous piles of pale yellow, green, pink and blue candies lay next to mounds of foil wrapped mini-eggs. Even colossal chocolate eggs are elaborately decorated and gleaming like polished trophies, monuments to the perfection of the art of confection. There’s no mistaking it’s Easter.
Traditional Easter foods reflect this time of year. Breads, cheeses, meats, eggs, dried fruits, nuts and spices were all staples that were readily available year round. This is mainly the reason we see plenty of celebratory breads, cookies and savoury pies as culinary icons for Easter. They’re all creative ways to turn everyday staples into festive foods.
Easter is about everything new, a renewal of life and the season, so I wanted to make something new and different for Easter this year. I don’t have too much time so I searched the Internet and found myself deep into the world of French pastries. I’d love to make croissants, but they’re so time consuming and if they’re not eaten within hours of baking, they begin to taste stale. There were eclairs, Beignets and Gourgere – yum, but again, time consuming. I’d love to spend hours in the kitchen making macarons in pastel Easter colours of pale yellow, green, pink and blue, but again, not enough time. I could make the crunchy and caramelized Palmier, I think they’d be the quickest and easiest with some frozen puff pastry.
I don’t have cannele molds so I used a special deep narrow muffin tin and it worked just fine. While mine might not have the beautiful shape that traditional cannele have, the flavours are superb! Luscious, creamy and rich in vanilla flavours on the inside with a crunchy caramel crunchy bottom, the sides are also caramelized but they’re a bit softer giving the illusion that they’re drizzled in caramel – oh yum!
Instead of rum I used icewine so there was an elegant flavour that fit beautifully with the textures and caramel. I think I’ll use rum next time just to taste the difference.

Rick Santorum vowed to remain in the race after turning in an easy victory in the Louisiana primary, even though he still badly trails front-runner Mitt Romney and faces a nearly impossible task to win enough delegates to secure the Republican presidential nomination.
With all Louisiana precincts reporting, Santorum captured 49 percent of the vote to 27 percent for Romney. Newt Gingrich, was far back at 16 percent, followed by Ron Paul with 6 percent.
Although the victory gives Santorum bragging rights and 10 more delegates, it does not change the overall dynamics of the race. The former Pennsylvania senator still dramatically lags behind Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, in the battle for delegates to the party's August nominating convention in Tampa, Florida.
Santorum on Sunday told voters in Wisconsin that Romney is "uniquely disqualified" to be the Republican's presidential pick and urged his supporters to stand with him even as he faces an increasingly improbable pathway to the nomination.
The Saturday vote in Louisiana gave Romney five delegates and five will be designated as uncommitted.

Local business breaks mold with popular, tasty confections
As flowers continue to bloom and temperatures slowly rise, things are heating up inside Sweet Inspirations and Classic Chocolates.
For many, spring is the time to shake off their rugs and get back outside, but for brother and sister business partners, Christal and James Miller, it's time to roll up their sleeves and get to work.
And their business, as the name might suggest, is a rather sweet one as wedding season and Easter near.
"Our biggest pull is definitely our wedding cakes," said Christal, who has owned Sweet Inspirations for eight years. "That is our biggest focus. We also focus a lot on chocolates for the different holidays, especially Easter coming up."

I suppose this is one of those “truth will set me free” moments. So it’s confessional time with all you surrogate Fathers (and Mothers?) As much as Schmidt makes my heart sing, last night’s episode showed he could not carry the show as the lead.
Do not misunderstand, he’s still the most consistent source of laughs. But often the most side-splitting character is as such because he the personification of his neuroses or quirks. “New Girl,” as it has started to add more shading and definition to its rough-sketch first season, is attempting to break Jess free from this one-note mold to strengthen her sustainability as the lead. But Schmidt as one of the surrounding ensemble can afford to be a messy amalgamation of douche and OCD tendencies.
So my proclamation above is not a concession. Quite to the contrary, I thought this episode justified Schmidt’s presence even more, however Schmidt is no anchor. Despite his status as “order incarnate” he serves the role of Chaos. Jess may be the rogue element that “messes with the delicate ecosystem,” but tonight’s and all proceeding episodes she is the glue that binds these four separately insufferable people together…as a singular mass of insufferableness, with a big ole heart.
Now if Jess’ role is as the general that rallies the troops that molds the boys into men, then what is Schmidt’s role as roommate? That question serves as the focal point of “Control,” which is answered in unison by Nick, Winston and Jess: “You’re the mom.”
At the onset, the two influential women in Schmidt’s present both make suggestions that he change who he is fundamentally. Cece, still ashamed by her late-night Schmidt cravings, continues to drop him off a distance away from the loft so their friends are none the wiser. And surprisingly, Schmidt doesn’t like being treated like some man for hire. As he vents: “I have no control (whoomp, there it is) and it’s stressing me out.” Though it’s important to note, his objections do not stem from the emotional distance. His douchey side can reconcile that since, I mean, why rock the boat when your current situation allows you to sleep with a sickeningly gorgeous model? But the lack of a consistent schedule, or any say in when he will be summoned, has the neat freak on edge. Cece simply scoffs and says, “We’re just being spontaneous, you need to relax.”

Mushrooms are a key ingredient in the pale, soft blocks produced by the thousands in an upstate New York plant that are used to cushion products ranging from Dell Inc. servers to furniture for Crate and Barrel.
More precisely, the packaging blocks are made with mycelium — the hidden "roots" of the mushroom that usually thread beneath dirt or wood. Two former mechanical engineering and design students, Eben Bayer and Gavin McIntyre, figured out how to grow those cottony filaments in a way that binds together seed husks or other agricultural byproducts into preset packaging shapes.
Their 5-year-old company, Ecovative Design, has a toehold in the increasingly lucrative market for eco-friendly alternatives to plastic foams — and their business is growing like shiitakes on a damp log. Bayer and McIntyre are already expanding their line for everything from footwear to car bumpers.
If the aspiration sounds grandiose, consider that six years ago Bayer and McIntyre were Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute students growing fungus under their beds for a class project. Today, the young entrepreneurs are more than doubling their production space and recently announced a deal with Sealed Air Corp., the packaging giant known for Bubble Wrap.
Workers at Ecovative inoculate mycelium into pasteurized bits of seed husks or plant stalks, then place the mix into clear plastic molds shaped like the desired packaging pieces, such as a cradle-shaped mold for a wine bottle. The mix is covered for about five days as millions of mycelium strands grow around and through the feedstock, acting as a kind of glue. The piece is heat dried to kill the fungus, ensuring that mushrooms can't sprout from it. Since the mycelium is cloned, the product does not include spores, which can trigger allergies. The packaging is edible, technically, though it does not appear appetizing and is not recommended as a snack.