A 7'9" pitcher with a 143-mph fastball, from Rwanda!

This is from the Philadelphia Daily News. In the Daily News it said that this will be on the cover of the New York Times next week.

http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/sports/2904045.htm
143-mph heater and a strikeout


By PAUL HAGAN
haganp@phillynews.com

CLEARWATER,Fla. - The embarrassed Phillies spend about $4 million per year on
international scouting - and still managed to overlook the best pitching prospect in baseball history!

Assistant general manager, scouting and player development Mike Arbuckle promised a thorough investigation to discover how his staff could have failed to turn in a single report on 7-9 righthander Claude Giramungu from Rwanda in East Africa, whose fastball has been clocked at an amazing 143 miles an hour.

Arbuckle blanched when the Daily News confronted him with proof of this shocking oversight. The prospect's story was first
reported by the Weekly World News, a national publication that doesn't even have a sports department.

He said he hoped it isn't too late to join the bidding, even though the Yankees and Red Sox are thought to have the inside track, and vowed that money would be no object in his quest to sign the pitcher known as "The African Comet."

"I don't know if they were using the fast [radar] gun or the slow one," he said. "But it really doesn't matter. We have a standing rule in this organization that any pitcher who throws 130 or better is a must-sign."

Arbuckle said he at least would have to watch Giramungu pitch on the side before commenting on whether he could come straight to the majors or whether he would require some seasoning at Triple A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

"It really wouldn't matter, because he still has all three options left, though," he said.

It's also unclear whether Giramungu's current team, the Watusi Warlords, would demand compensation from the team that signs him.

Despite a renewed emphasis on scouting and player development in recent years, the Phillies seemingly couldn't afford to spend the $1.69 plus tax ($1.99 in Canada) it would have taken to find out about this phenom on their own.

The Weekly World News story revealed that Giramungu:
* Had, at last report, pitched 186 consecutive no-hitters.

* Breaks off his curve with so much angular momentum that it makes a U-turn in midair.

* Throws so hard that the ball heats up from air friction and glows like a burning coal.

* Keeps hitters off-balance with a changeup that slows to just 5 miles an hour.

* Throws nothing but strikes even with his eyes closed.

Kenyan sports writer Joseph Fentabe has been following Giramungu's amazing career. "In the last eight months, only one batter has been able to get a hit off him without either breaking a bat or dislocating a shoulder," he told the magazine.

"I'm a little puzzled how Sal Agostinelli, our international scouting director, could have missed this guy," Arbuckle frowned. "He was in Venezuela recently, and it's not that far from there to Africa.

"I've got to say somebody's job could be on the line here. I just don't see how you can miss a guy like that. I'd hate to have to face [general manager] Ed Wade and explain why another team signed him."

One possible alternative explanation for this slip-up could have been a simple lack of due diligence on Agostinelli's part.

Arbuckle found it particularly significant that the baseball

story ran on Page 12, eight pages behind a story on how a gigantic crop circle in New Zealand shaped like shock jock Howard Stern is baffling experts.

"Sal has always been fascinated by UFOs and stuff like that," Arbuckle said. "But that's no

excuse. When you're looking for the best players, you have to read all the stories, not just the ones that interest you."

Agostinelli did not return

repeated phone calls seeking his side of the story.

If the Phillies do manage to save face by signing Giramungu, he would compete with righthander Robert Person for the No. 1 spot in the rotation. It seems unlikely, however, that he could get to the United States in time to replace Person as the starter on Opening Day in

Atlanta.

"There are a lot of ramifications that go beyond how well he's pitching," Arbuckle pointed out. "We sometimes have trouble getting visas for our Latin American kids. We'd have to find out if the procedure is different to get a player out of Africa. We'd need to get an interpreter. And a tailor. There's really a lot to think about."

The Phillies have concentrated on adding good arms to the system in recent years. They think Brandon Duckworth, Brett Myers, Gavin Floyd, Carlos Silva and others have the potential to be future All-Stars.

That won't keep them from

going all-out to sign Giramungu, though, Arbuckle promised. "You can never have too much pitching," he noted.

Arbuckle said he has no doubt the story is authentic.

"There's a picture right there with the story," he said. "It worries me that he's already wearing a Red Sox uniform, but his mechanics look sound. In fact, from what I can tell, his delivery is almost identical to Pedro Martinez.

"Besides, they couldn't print that if it wasn't true, could they?"