After living in Arizona for a number of years, we felt it was our duty to see if the expression “It’s hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk” was true.

Jeremy Jeffress, the Milwaukee Brewers #1 pick in the 2006 draft is the real thing. He’s 18 years old, but on the mound, he looks like a veteran with real command of a 98-mile-an-hour fast ball. He had his teammates, sitting in the stands behind us, shaking their heads in disbelief and admiration.

After his two innings, Jeffress sat behind us and I had him autograph his draft picture in Baseball America. Needless to say, his buddies thought it was rather amusing. And, for the record, he is an absolute dead ringer for Dwight (Doc) Gooden. Let’s hope he pitches as well but fares better in off the field matters.

What better way to spend the 4th of July than taking in the Great American Pastime. Today, the Giants hosted the (Maryvale) Brewers in an Arizona Rookie League game. Not only did we get to see the Brewers top two picks, we walked away with a baseball. With exactly one week to go before the All-Star Game, we a primed for the action.

Among the future stars we saw were Matt Downs (Giants, 36th round pick, 2006); Ivan Herrera-Rusova (Giants, pitcher) ; Matt Klimas (Giants, 8th round pick, 2006); Mike Goetz (Brewers, 25th round, 2006); Jeremy Jeffress (Brewers, 1st round pick) and Brent Brewer (Brewers, 2nd round pick). Jeffress will have a video clip all to himself.