Hoby Milner

2014 Reading Fightin Phils Recap: Interview with Mike Ventola

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Before we jump into talking about players why don’t you introduce yourself and what you do?

My name is Michael Ventola and I am the play-by-play radio voice of the Reading Fightin Phils.  I broadcast all 142 games home and away for the Fightin Phils.

You covered the Fightins from start to finish, can you sum up their season as a whole?

I can easily use one word to describe the season:  Challenge.  The Fightin Phils roster suffered over a 100 moves throughout the entire season and only finished with a handful of players that began with the team on opening day.  The team though continued to play hard each and every game.

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Fastball Velocity and Brandon Leibrandt

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Phillies 6th Round pick Brandon Leibrandt has been on a roll recently which has started the round of questions about how good he can be, which ultimately end up on fastball velocity.  Velocity is the most tangible and quantifiable aspect of a pitcher’s arsenal.  Movement, command, and deception are all in the eye of the beholder and once we start talking secondary pitches the amateur eye is really out of its league.  So we debate velocity and whether it is enough for a pitcher to survive in the major leagues (should the prospect in question survive the other levels in between them and their major league aspirations).

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Three Reading Phillies in Eastern League All-Star Game

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Minor League All-Star games tend to not be reflective of the best talent in a league and this years EL All-Star Game is no exception.  The Fightin Phils are sending three players to the game in IFs Carlos Alonso and Albert Cartwright, as well as LH starting pitcher Hoby Milner.  None of these players are … Read more