Manti Te'o and Independent baseball. Very interesting.

The Florence Freedom of the Independent Frontier League is offering their first 1,000 fans a genuine Manti Te'o Girlfriend Bobblehead this Thursday night. On May 20, when initially announced, their website included information on the additional giveaways and festivities;

"Thursday night’s promotions will also include an air guitar contest, a pretend kiss cam, an imaginary food fight, and fans with imaginary friends, girlfriends/boyfriends or spouses are encouraged to sit in section 115, the section furthest down the left field line"

Now that the hysteria surrounding Te'o's "girlfriend", the fake twitter account and the guy running it is all out in the open, you can't fault anyone for trying to exploit the profitability in all of this.

The Freedom were in the bottom five of 14 teams in attendance last year and second last in 2011 (Courtesy Frontier League statistics), so it's no surprise why this is happening. It's obviously old news since this was reported way back in January according to CBS Sports, although you can guarantee it's certain to draw a crowd.

Baseball in general is no stranger to wacky and off-the-wall promotions.

The Brockton Rox of the Indy Can-Am League broke a Guinness World Record by selling an $80 hot dog in 2011. And the Lowell Spinners held a Political Correctness night a few years back. Spinners spokesman Jon Goode wasn't taking things too seriously;

"We just pay attention to what's in the news, and it seems like you're always hearing about people getting upset over what seem like the silliest things to the vast majority of people. So we thought, why not have some fun with it?"

Yes, the Freedom having a bobblehead night is not supposed to be taken seriously, it's all in good fun. It's like toilet humour, lame but funny. However, you can guarantee people will be talking about this and isn't that the whole point?

Look at the now-defunct London Rippers. Their logo was getting ripped apart six ways from Sunday because of their "Jack the Ripper" logo. The London Free Press noted that women's abuse center's were in an uproar amongst others because of it. Still, the logo garnered national attention throughout the U.S.

Sports is entertainment plain and simple. That's what the Rippers were about and that's what the bobblehead night is about. Nothing more, nothing less.

Devon is the Founder and Executive Director of The GM's Perspective. He is a former professional baseball player with the River City Rascals & Gateway Grizzlies. Currently, Devon is a Manager at a financial institution in Northern Ontario Canada, and can be reached at devon@thegmsperspective.com. You can follow The GM's Perspective on Twitter and Facebook. His full bio can be seen here.

Anyone would play the game they love if they could. Dontrelle Willis is one of those players.

In early April (originally reported by the Long Island Ducks), Willis signed with the Long Island Ducks of the Independent Atlantic League with the hope of regaining the form that once made him one of the best pitchers in the National League.

In four games for the Ducks Willis is 1-1 with an ERA in the low 4.00s. In 19 innings he has surrendered 24 hits and struck out 10. Not the worst numbers in the world, but his control is a recurring problem that hasn't subsided. Willis has given free passes to 11 batters and his WHIP (walks plus hits per inning pitched), a measurement of the number of baserunners a pitcher has allowed per inning pitched, is at an excessively high 1.780.

Willis' start on May 7 against the Lancaster Barnstormers was good. He pitched nearly seven innings and gave up two runs on four hits. Unfortunately, his start against the York Revolution on May 14 was a step in the wrong direction.

The Revolution took Willis to school that night. He allowed seven runs (two earned) on nine hits. The funny thing in all of this is that the Revolution couldn't hang on to the 7-5 lead after 4 1/2 innings and wound up losing 8-7 according to the York Dispatch.

Willis, Scott Kazmir and now Ricky Romero have seen the best and the worst of times. But one thing you can always count on is that they will always take the mound every fifth day given the chance.

That is why these guys play at the top level of their profession. They didn't make it there by mistake, and why they'll all, more than likely, make it back.

It took Kazmir nearly two years to get resigned by a big league team. On the other hand, Ricky Romero is at a point where it seems like there is no hope. He's had two utterly disappointing performances with Triple A Buffalo. In his last start against the Indianapolis Indians he walked six in 3 2/3 innings and will-barring some miracle-be sent down to lower levels if the results don't improve.

Willis is a distance memory to most of the baseball world at the moment, and the cameras and the reporters will not be focusing on guys pitching in obscurity. That's probably the best thing for him right now.

Devon is the Founder and Executive Director of The GM's Perspective. He is a former professional baseball player with the River City Rascals & Gateway Grizzlies. Currently, Devon is a Manager at a financial institution in Northern Ontario Canada, and can be reached at devon@thegmsperspective.com. You can follow The GM's Perspective on Twitter and Facebook. His full bio can be seen here.

Vidal Nuno was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the 48th round of the 2009 MLB June Amateur Draft from Baker University.

He has spent five years in the minors until making his first start for the New York Yankees May 13 against the team that originally drafted him. Nuno pitched five scoreless innings and struck out three in the 7-0 shutout. In two appearances so far for the Yankees, he has failed to relinquish a single run in eight innings.

Nuno's style is very reminiscent of Ricky Romero's. There's a lot of moving parts, and Romero may throw a little harder, but Nuno is very effective with a fastball that tops out at about 88 mph (Courtesy of FanGraphs). Sooner or later major league hitters will catch up to him, but his control is what sets him apart.

In his five years in the minors, he's walked 69 in 385 innings. He rarely gets in to trouble as evidenced by a career WHIP of 1.09 and an opponent's batting average of .243. Nuno started 2013 in spring training with the Yankees and put together very impressive numbers that obviously caught the eye of some important people. In seven games (two starts), he gave up one run in ten innings for a 0.61 ERA, while striking out 13. Again his WHIP was a stunning 0.95 (Courtesy MLB.com).

He didn't make the team out of spring training but continued to showcase his abilities at Triple A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre; 2-0, 1.54 ERA, 23.1 innings, 13 hits, four earned runs, 26 strikeouts, and a WHIP of 0.64.

Yes the journey through the minors probably took a little longer than expected, but that is normal in a story like this.

According to a press release on the NAIA website, Nuno is in select company when it comes to players that have come from his NAIA school;

"Nuno became only the second Baker Wildcat to make it to the majors, and the first since Zip Zabel, a right-handed pitcher who won 12 games for the Chicago Cubs from 1913 to 1915."

The realization that the NAIA is full of talent is evident by the increasing amount of players drafted each year; 45 in 2011 and 44 in 2012. And now that the Independent Leagues is in the forefront as a proving ground for many players such as Scott Kazmir, playing in each is more of a benefit now than it's ever been.

Nuno's journey through the minors hit a roadblock in 2010. He was released by the Indians after the season, and had to prove his worth in the Independent Frontier League.

Six games with the Washington Wild Things was good enough for the Yankees as they signed him shortly thereafter. Since then, all Nuno has done is jumped from Singe A to Triple A in two years and get people out on a consistent basis.

Everyone's journey is different and everyone has a different story to tell. In this instance its perseverance and dedication. There is no telling what lies ahead for Nuno, and perhaps it's for the best.

Devon is the Founder and Executive Director of The GM's Perspective. He is a former professional baseball player with the River City Rascals & Gateway Grizzlies. Currently, Devon is a Manager at a financial institution in Northern Ontario Canada, and can be reached at devon@thegmsperspective.com. You can follow The GM's Perspective on Twitter and Facebook. His full bio can be seen here.

The York College Panthers are on a historic run that is taking them to the NAIA World Series in Lewiston, Idaho, May 24-31.

In the Joliet bracket of the opening qualifying rounds, the Panthers were in the driver's seat as the No.1 seed. 

In game one, they faced No. 4 Mayville State (N.D.) (35-6-1). The Panthers won 5-1 behind the strong pitching of senior Tom Korn. Korn struck out eight and picked up his 10th win of the season. Mayville's defence deserted them at the wrong time. Their three errors leading to three unearned runs.

York's second game against No. 3 Judson (Ill.) (45-16), saw the Panther pitching dominate an offense ranked No. 2 in NAIA Division 1 in runs scored (462). Junior Aaron Conyers, who was recently named NAIA National Baseball Pitcher of the Week, threw a complete game shutout. He fanned five and surrendered six hits on his way to ninth win of the season. Panther senior Alec Abend went 2-4 with two RBI.

Judson, who defeated No. 2 Cumberland (Tenn.) (39-18-1) in 10 innings to stave off elimination, squared off against the Panthers for the second time, with the winner (Judson had to win two) going to the NAIA Championship.

The Panthers played from behind for the majority of the game until scoring the three biggest runs in the program's history. Judson senior Craig Lipp put together a solid seven innings until the Panthers, led by a Jordan Leis single, strung together two more hits and three runs to make it 4-3.

Conyers came in for the ninth to record his first save of the season.

Congratulations to the York Panthers on this amazing first. Keep it rolling boys!

Devon is the Founder and Executive Director of The GM's Perspective. He is a former professional baseball player with the River City Rascals & Gateway Grizzlies. Currently, Devon is a Manager at a financial institution in Northern Ontario Canada, and can be reached at devon@thegmsperspective.com. You can follow The GM's Perspective on Twitter and Facebook. His full bio can be seen here.