Josh Stevens vs. Andy Van Hekken tonight in Somerset
Pitchers Duel Fails To Materialize: It's not often you can compare a curveball to a seat cushion, but in this case...well, yeah. The Patriots have been sitting on Josh Stevens' curveball all night long to the tune of seven runs and ten hits, while Andy Van Hekken has allowed just two runs on seven hits through six.
Stevens was lifted after four and two thirds innings in favor of Lance Odom, who made his 'Stormers debut and was promptly greeted by a Jose Morban laser over the fence on his second pitch.
Van Hekken's also out, having been replaced by Tony Peralta to start the seventh.
Vince Blue will be getting to check out the water pressure in Somerset's showers after being ejected for some...uhhh...blue language directed at the home plate umpire.
Josh Pressley is hitting everything hard, including the first base umpire...he got his SIXTH RBI OF THE NIGHT on a steamer up the middle off the leg of the only "blue" left in the game.
'Stormers Sign Infielder: According to Lancaster radio voice Dave Collins, the Barnstormers have signed INF John Wolff. Wolff has two very brief stints with the White Sox and Mets organizations under his belt, and has also played for North Shore of the Can-Am League and Kalamazoo of the Frontier League.
Coming into the season, he was a .203 career hitter.
Bears Chances Dwindling: The Bears have lost two of their starting pitchers; with P Matt Sweeney signing with the Houston Astros and P Jeriome Robertson leaving to play in Mexico.
Sweeney was assigned to Single-A Salem.
To replace them, Newark has signed P Brendon Davis, who was apparently released by Camden, and P Matt Kimbell, who has a grand total of zero games in professional baseball.
Kimbell is straight out of college, having pitched for four seasons with the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.
Camden Signs Cain: The Camden Riversharks have signed P Tim Cain. Cain, recently released by the Ducks, was 0-2 with 5.65 ERA for Long Island.
He appeared in last night's game to close things out for Camden, allowing a run on two hits.
Hurst Re-Dealt: I don't think I got to mention this the other day, but Jimmy Hurst was traded from Lancaster to the Northern League's Schaumburg Flyers for two players to be named later, according to Jason Guarente. Hurst, of course, never suited up for Lancaster after being sent there from the Winnipeg Goldeyes.
A Few Photos:
Jeremy Todd, perhaps the only player I've seen wear Mechanix gloves.
Dominick Ambrosini. Why on Earth was this guy on the bench when he first signed?
- MA
June 30, 2007
June 29, 2007
Who Do You Want To Hear From?: I'd like to think that I do a decent job of getting you quotes from players around the league, but usually it's from some of the bigger name guys.
I'll be on assignment all day (Yankee Stadium to do a Jack Cust feature) and won't be near a computer, but when I come back, I'd like to see some suggestions on who among the less-heralded players in the league you'd like to hear from. - MA
June 28, 2007
Headlines: Aracena Update w/Road Warriors procedures...Ask The New Guy...McCracken Interview...Happy Valentine's Day...All-Star Managers...Bautista Quits...ESPN hearts the Ducks
Updating the Aracena Story: After Bluefish manager Tommy John told me yesterday that league executive director Joe Klein told him that Sandy Aracena wasn't available to any club, I figured it was time to figure out why.
I had a productive 20-minute conversation with league CEO Frank Boulton this afternoon, and while he wasn't able to help specifically with the Aracena situation, he was able to provide me with a lot of insight regarding the procedures in which the Road Warriors can be sent to different teams.
- Once a team sells a second player to an organization, they have the option to replace the second player with a "like" player from the Road Warriors (i.e. you can't replace an outfielder with a pitcher)
- Any Road Warriors player has the right to refuse any assignment to any team, the refusal can be based on but is not limited to financial considerations and playing time
- If a team loses a second player to injury, the team may replace him with a Road Warrior, but at a higher purchase price than if they'd sold two players to organizations.
- In the event multiple teams claim one player, a waiver system is used, based off of what interested team has the worst win-loss record.
- Teams are allowed to option up to two players to the Road Warriors, although more may be allocated at the discretion of the league.
- The Road Warriors cannot lose more than one position player or one pitcher to this process in any week.
- A trade involving the Road Warriors can be made at the discretion of the league.
- Any claim involving this process is subject to the team being in good standing with the league.
I have made a call to Road Warriors manager Jeff Scott to see if Aracena has any interest in going to another team, and was told to expect a call from Joe Klein to get a specific explanation regarding the Aracena situation.
Also, to be very clear, any comments made on this website that are not from "Mike Ashmore" or "AtlanticLeagueBaseball.com" are not made by me, and thus should not be attributed to me.
Matt Hirsh (Courtesy: HirshBrothers.com)
Ask The New Guy: Here's our newest installment of "Ask The New Guy" with Revs pitcher Matt Hirsh. In this question, Omar Jones from Freehold, NJ asks...
Matt, you hear a lot of good things and some not so good things about the stadium. I can't wait to go there as a fan, but what is it like there as a player? What's done and what isn't?
Matt's answer:
Omar,
There's a lot to be said about our stadium in York. Let's just say there's a lot more things that are yet to be completed than things that are finished. I'd have to say the only thing finished at the stadium is the field itself. That of course and the seats. I don't think too many of the concessions are open, actually, I think only one is done. I know they have the little carts that sell beer, cotton candy, and funnel cakes. There's a whole list of things that aren't finished at the stadium. Here are a few: the luxury boxes, both clubhouses, concession stands, batting cages, and so on. It might not be that many things but the ones that are missing are huge, especially the clubhouses. It's not fun having to get ready in a single-wide trailer where you have little to no room to breathe. That and they don't have any bathrooms, so we have to use port-a-potties when we're at the trailer. The conditions given are less than ideal, but I guess it's how we do on the field that counts, not off. That being said, it would still be nice to have a clubhouse and a place to sit down before the games, or even take a shower if we would like. I would've rather had been on the road for another week or two and come back to a finished clubhouse, rather than a trailer. I don't think the conditions can get any worse for us and like I've been saying all along, the stadium in York will be a great field for next year. I think they rushed everything to try and get it ready for us to play on but it just seems like more of a hassle right now for us that is, rather than something we can enjoy.
Don't get me wrong though, I love playing in York and having a fanbase. Opening night at the stadium was awesome and I loved every minute of it. Being on the road is very tough, especially what we've gone through being on the road for the first month and a half. I feel the Road Warriors' pain and it just makes the season that much longer. Finished stadium or not, I love the new field and the conditions can only get better. The whole stadium is supposed to be done by late August early September, but you never know.
Thanks again for the question Omar.
-Matt
http://www.hirshbrothers.com/
To be the next lucky fan to get your question answered by Matt, please send your question with "Ask Matt Hirsh" in the subject to me at mashmore AT patriotsbaseball.com, and you could be the next person to see your name and the answer to your question at this website.
Catching Up With The Q-Man: I spoke to Bridgeport Bluefish OF Quinton McCracken before today's game in Somerset. Here's what was said...
On the AL experience so far: It's coming along. Most importantly, I've been healthy. Things are coming along, things are progressing. Not at the rate that you would like, but they're coming along.
On leaving a job as a post-game analyst for D-Backs games for FSN to play here: I never lost the itch. I wanted to play, and I'm still capable of playing. Unfortunately, no offers came this off-season. For the first month of the season, I was home. Fox approached me with an opportunity to some post-game work with the D-Backs, which was right near my home. It was convenient, and it was something that I've always had an interest in. It worked out great for me, I could just go out and watch the games and be in baseball.
On being picked in the MLB expansion draft after three seasons in Colorado: Going into the expansion draft, I knew I had a pretty good chance of being selected. It was an opportunity for me to play every day. In Colorado, I was a fourth outfielder even though I was able to accumulate a lot of playing time. So to be able to get out there and play every day was a learning experience, and it was an opportunity that I took advantage of.
On playing in the postseason with Arizona in 2002: That's what it's all about, that's why you play the game...to win championships, to win rings. I was fortunate enough to be a part of the division championship team with the D-Backs in '02, but unfortunately we got knocked out in the first round by the Cardinals. But that's why you play the game, for seasons such as that. It was a thrilling experience.
On if it bothers him that he's a game short of 1,000 for his MLB career: No, not really. If I get 1,000 or more, great. As a 25th round draft pick as a senior, in all reality of it, I wasn't supposed to get day one in the big leagues. It's been a good, long ride. The game of baseball's been very good to me. I still feel that as a player, I have something to offer. It's just about finding that right fit. If I find it, great. If not, it's been a great career.
Cain Released, Valentine Signed: The Long Island Ducks have signed P Joe Valentine. Valentine, a 27-year-old righty, has three seasons of big league experience with the Reds.
The team has released Tim Cain, the all-time leader in numerous AL pitching categories.
Klebe, John To Manage All-Star Teams: The Atlantic League announced today that Frank Klebe of Lancaster and Tommy John of Bridgeport will manage in the All-Star Game this year.
Bautista Done. Again: According to someone with knowledge of the situation, OF Danny Bautista has left the Camden Riversharks. Bautista, who abruptly left York after being fed up with the situation there, played in four games for Camden.
Making the situation more odd is that he only wanted to play in Camden.
However, he reportedly expressed an interest in playing for a non-BASA team prior to being "traded" to Camden, so he may not have worn out his welcome just yet.
ESPN Lovefest For Ducks Continues: First, Jeff Pearlman penned a well-written article about the big leaguers on the Ducks. Now, Jerry Crasnick offers a piece on the controversial Carl Everett, who also plays for the Ducks.
I'm a little surprised we haven't seen the obligatory Sparky Lyle and Jeff Nettles piece that would promote "The Bronx is Burning" yet.
My personal favorite, of course, was Ruben Sierra and Javy Lopez being thrown into the article as names the league is talking to. Glad I sat on those names the entire season. Sierra is the big name and Lopez is the big name catcher.
Neither seems likely to be coming, by the way.
My favorite quote? "It's exactly what you see in the minors,'' Joe Klein said of the league, "except we can sell the seats behind first base, because our shortstops don't throw the ball into the stands.''
Hmmm. That's pretty much an open invitation to count errors by the league's shortstops. OK, I'll bite. Through June 24th's games, players at shortstop have committed 105 errors. - Mike Ashmore
June 27, 2007
Headlines: Hurst traded somewhere, press releases inconclusive...Spivey Speaks...Boyd to Phillies...Lucca to Bridgeport...Tommy John: We couldn't get Sandy Aracena...Cafiero Out Three Weeks...2005 10Q with Hurst
Hurst Dealt To 'Sharks...NO, BARNSTORMERS: Heeeeee's baaaaaaack. Jimmy Hurst, who won the Atlantic League triple crown with the Newark Bears in 2002, is heading to the Camden Riversharks.
UPDATED: According to someone with knowledge of the situation, HURST WAS SENT TO LANCASTER. The press release Winnipeg sent out is incorrect. According to the source, it is just Hurst's rights that were dealt -- and he may or may not report.
Hurst was dealt from the Winnipeg Goldeyes of the Northern League, who just signed former Ducks and Patriots OF Anton French.
Hurst has played for Newark, Nashua and Atlantic City. He was also famously dubbed "The Mouth of the South" by teammate Damian Sapp, for his outspoken ways.
The former big leaguer was hitting .236 with four home runs in 32 games with Winnipeg at the time of the deal.
As for Frenchy, he was the subject of this piece in the Winnipeg Sun. The only inaccuracy in it is that it says he was released from the Atlantic League earlier this summer. He chose to leave, he wasn't released. Big difference.
Spivey Speaks: I caught up with Major League All-Star second baseman Junior Spivey before today's Bluefish-Patriots game in Bridgeport. Here's what the future AL All-Star had to say...
You're putting up some pretty nice numbers this year after a rough year in Triple-A in 2006...
"I was injured last year, let's get that straight. I played with injuries, and I was injured all year. So that was the deal."
So with that said, are you finally 100 percent now?
"I'm 100 percent, I'm playing. I could have easily went on the DL last season, but I didn't. But I'm healthy this year."
All right. So you played in the Major League All-Star Game back in 2002. Does the All-Star break coming up kind of bring back any memories of that experience for you?
"I haven't thought about it. I haven't thought about it at all. I'm not thinking about anything that happened in the past, to be honest with you."
Hmmm...so let's focus on the future then. Are you surprised that you're still here with the kind of numbers that you're putting up?
"I have no control over that, so I'm not giving it that much thought either. You can only control things that you have control over, and things that you can't control, I don't give much thought."
Has your experience in the Atlantic League been different than what you expected when you first signed up?
"Oh yeah, no question. My expectations going into the league were that I didn't know what to expect. I didn't realize that the level of competition was going to be as good as it was. To me, it's comparable to Triple-A ball; some days it's Triple-A and some days it's Double-A. It's very competitive, it's really opened my eyes a lot."
Boyd To Phillies: The Bridgeport Bluefish have lost OF Shaun Boyd to the Philadelphia Phillies organization. This makes him the fifth player the Phils have signed out of the league this season. He'll be assigned to Single-A Clearwater, which is a little surprising considering he's been to Triple-A.
Boyd was hitting .345 with 4 HR and 24 RBI at the time of his signing.
Lucca Talking to Bluefish: And the annual Lou Lucca circus has begun, but it isn't with the team you might think. According to Rich Elliott of The Connecticut Post, the Bluefish are in talks with the infielder to join the team, likely as a replacement to Luis Figueroa.
Elliott also writes that C Tommy Rojas will have knee surgery and miss four-to-six weeks, leaving them with just Kelington Made behind the plate, and John Nathans, who has caught the last five games.
And, when Rojas does return, Elliott writes that it won't be as a backstop.
There is a big name catcher who has turned down several teams already, telling them that he isn't playing this season. I wonder if BASA will try to call him one more time...
Picking up Sandy Aracena from the Road Warriors has to be an option as well.
An Update From Tommy John: I spoke to Bluefish manager Tommy John, and he said that while the team's first option was to pick up Sandy Aracena from the Bluefish, HE WAS TOLD BY JOE KLEIN THAT ARACENA IS NOT AVAILABLE TO ANY TEAM AT ANY TIME.
So instead, they've signed Marcos Sanchez, who you might remember from Camden and Newark. Or you may not...
I guess the league wants Aracena to rot on the Road Warriors instead of giving him an opportunity to join one of the better teams and really showcase himself. I'm sure league officials won't be happy with that opinion, but is that not the truth?
Also, according to John -- to update Rich Elliott's story -- Lucca will be joining the team tomorrow.
Cafiero Out Three Weeks: According to Ducks manager Dave LaPoint, Ducks utility player Rob Cafiero will be out two to three more weeks after requiring surgery to remove an infection from his shin. Cafiero was with the team yesterday in Newark.
Ten Questions With Jimmy Hurst: Here's an old 10Q I did with Jimmy Hurst in 2005. As you can see, he's pretty much a writer's gold mine with how honest he is...
Ten Questions with Jimmy Hurst by Mike Ashmore - atlanticleaguebaseball.com
June 8, 2005
What is your best moment in baseball?
"When you've accomplished what I've accomplished when I won the Triple Crown, I'd have to say that by far. Winning the Triple Crown takes consistency and hard work every day, and that's what I did. So I've got to say 2002 with Newark was my best accomplishment."
When you won the Triple Crown, did you actually receive anything for it (i.e. an actual crown) from the league or the team?
"You know what man, that was amazing to me. I didn't get anything from the Atlantic League, I didn't get anything special from the Newark Bears. The fan club made me a crown and gave it to me. Not only that, we won the championship at the same time and I led the playoffs in offense. I led in average, home runs and RBI in the playoffs. Everybody sort of blew it off like it was nothing, but I knew what it was. I got rewarded for it by going to Japan though, so that's the biggest reward."
How about your worst?
"It's got to be with the Atlantic City Surf, being released recently while I was doing well. They tried to say I was making too much money...come on. That's something else that really upset me. With my accomplishments and what I've established in this league...they're going to call me in the office and tell me they're releasing me with what they had on that team? That's got to be one of my worst moments in baseball.
Hmmm...with a $3,000 max, how can you make too much money in the Atlantic League?
"Thank you. And being a man...Jeff Ball, instead of him just being a man and coming out and saying I want Ozzie Timmons, my guy, back. Be a man, don't come to me with no baloney. Don't come to me with a bunch of crap, like you did. I'm losing a lot of respect for guys in this league, because they don't know how to be men. Just be a man. I'm a grown man, don't play no games with me."
Who would you say is the most talented player you've ever played with?
"Mike Cameron, by far. He had speed, all the tools you know. I watched the guy in the Southern League and the Midwest League hit 30 home runs from the leadoff spot. We came up in Birmingham, one of the biggest parks in baseball. And with those playing conditions, he's playing center field. He used his legs a lot. Great arm, great speed, just a five tool player. And to prove me right, he's been a Gold Glove winner twice now.
The Tigers called you up in September of 1997. How did you find out you were going up?
"I came into the clubhouse and I wasn't in the lineup and the night before I had just hit two home runs. I was wondering why I wasn't in the lineup and Buddy Bell just said to go sit down. We were in the locker room, and he said to sit down, I was getting a day off. Then, before the game was over with, they called me in the office and said congratulations, you're going up to Detroit."
You made your big league debut on September 10, 1997 against the Seattle Mariners. What do you remember most about that game and how nervous were you?
"To be honest with you, I'm not going to say it was so much nerves. I was ecstatic about being there, but I felt like it was overdue because I had some fine Triple-A seasons. If you look at some of my numbers and some of the big league camps I had, I felt I should have made some teams out of spring and I didn't. So I really didn't feel intimidated by being there, I just felt like it was overdue."
I wanted to go through some of your Major League milestones with you. Tell me about your first hit and first home run...
"My first hit was in Oakland. It was a cold night in Oakland, man. Pinch hit, matter of fact. It was a double to right center. But it was freezing, freezing cold.
"First home run was on a Sunday Fox Game of the Week. It was day game and off of David Wells in Detroit. 3-2 fastball in my second at-bat - I had doubled in my first at-bat off him - second at-bat, I went deep off the roof in Tiger Stadium."
Did you get to keep the baseballs?
"Yes I did, I have them."
In 2003, you played with a team in Japan. What was that experience like?
"I never thought I'd see a different brand of baseball. Everything we do here in America, they do the opposite. We sit back and play the hops here, and they charge a lot of balls. We're taught to weight training, and they believe in a lot of repetitions to build strength, which I don't believe in. They do more conditioning, they do a lot more throwing. Pitchers there throw a lot more than the guys do here. You might see a guy in Japan, instead of throwing on the side or throwing a bullpen, throw in relief for two innings."
Did you ever have any issues with the language barrier, etc.
"I had a translator, but Japanese is a tough language. It's probably the hardest language to learn in the world if you're an American. But I had a translator, that helped a little bit. And you'd meet some guys on the military bases, and that really helped me. I knew it wasn't going to be my home, so I just dealt with it while I was there."
You spent last season in the Northeast League. How did your experience there compare to what you've experienced in the Atlantic League?
"For some reason, the Atlantic League is letting a lot of other leagues catch up to them. It was, by far, the best league in baseball. The other leagues are starting to treat their guys with a little bit more respect and take care of the guys who get the job done for them and sell tickets for them. This league is getting to the point where they're nitpicking on guys who've helped them in the past, who've been around in the league and have done a lot of stuff for this league. It seems like it's slowly slipping to where other leagues are catching up, and it's sad. This is a good league, but a lot of changes need to be made in this league for it to continue to be the best independent league."
OK, so let's say you were the commissioner of the Atlantic League. What changes do you make?
"Well first of all, you've got to set a veteran salary cap. We've been here in this league for eight years, and you haven't had a raise? Guys are making no money and it seems like guys are still getting shortchanged everywhere they go here. Come on man, this is league is not working if they don't have money. You've got to start treating these guys with respect and start paying some of these guys. We're not talking about a lot of money. Start making teams pay for three or four guys housing or something and give four or five guys the max money, you know. This league is a good league, and it makes money, but you can't keep letting the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. If you want competitive baseball, you've got to pay for what you want.
"Other than that, take guys and be more interactive in the community. Go out and do more stuff with the team. Go out to the middle schools and high schools and the rural areas and try to get the guys to get people to come out to more games. They say there's no money in Nashua, there's money there, but you've got to promote, you've got to have the right guys to market. There's a lot of stuff that needs to be done, but you'll never get anything done if you don't sit down and communicate. Sit down and talk to your players, ask them to do things. Treat people the way you want to be treated, I think that's the first step.
Well, we talked about your situation with the Surf. But after that, you signed with Nashua and that's where you are now...how did all that come about?
"Well I played with Butch in 2000 and in 2001 I played with Butch. Butch knows what kind of player he's going to get from Hurst. I assume he had found out what happened. A few teams called me, which I was excited about. Two teams called that I should have probably signed with, but I wanted to go with someone where I knew I wouldn't have to go through dealing with all the baloney again. Somebody who knew I could come and play and help the team. I'm happy to be here with Butch in Nashua."
How would you say the level of play here compares to some other places you've played?
"I'll tell you what, the pitching has gotten better here since I left. The pitching is a lot better here. This is still, by far, the best independent league. Well, not by far, I'll tell you other leagues are catching up. The Northern League and the Northeast League is catching up with these guys. They have some pretty good players in those leagues."
What are the biggest differences between the Atlantic League and affiliated baseball?
"Affiliated baseball's not going to worry about every little penny. You want guys to go out and play hard, you treat men like men, and that's what you get. The Atlantic League is beginning to get a bit too nitpicky. Too many decisions are being made by, I wanna say, one or two people, instead of a collective group. Who knows what's best for everybody when everybody's not involved in all the decisions. Everybody wants to talk about this team doesn't have money, well it's hard for this team when everybody else is taking what they want and giving this team less money to run off of. It's getting to a time where they're going to have to step it up with the decision making in the Atlantic League."
What do you like to do in your spare time?
"I like to play Playstation. I love to fish when I have a few days off, I like to go fishing a little bit and hang out. I just love the game of baseball. I love to watch the game on television, I'm just a baseball guy who loves the game. I grew up loving the game and I'm going to die loving the game.
"I just want to see things run the way they used to be when I first came into the league. The league needs more guys like Marv Foley. When I played for Marv Foley and Butch Hobson, these managers are straight up with you, these guys don't play with you. You ask a question, you're going to get an answer. You've got a bunch of grown men, you don't have kids here man. Don't lie to a young man. You're playing with young men's lives and careers here, if you bring a guy into spring training and you're not going to have a job for him, let him know before he gets there. If you're bringing me to camp because you don't know how many guys you're going to have, that's wrong. They pretty much have an idea of who they want and who they're not going to want, you've just got to make the right decisions and stop playing with guys careers here in this league.
"This league, they have too much power over the individual here. It's sad to say, but at some point, players are going to have to take action at some point if stuff's going to continue the way it is."
As far as what...unionizing?
"Not so much unionizing, just coming together and putting their foot down, demanding stuff. Just being a collective group and saying this is what we want. This league's been going too well for too long for us guys to be treated the way we're treated. You have seven or eight hour bus rides with me and a guy like D.J. Boston, and we've got to share a seat on a bus. Man, come on. That's not going to work. You can't do that when guys are traveling from Atlantic City to Nashua, that can't be done. There's too much money there, you can at least provide a decent bus for guys to ride so they're comfortable, if you're not going to pay them.
"Why should a guy come to a league like this with what I've done and not make enough money and have housing paid for me when I come to a league like this? It don't make sense."
- Mike Ashmore
June 26, 2007
Newark Trip: I'm in Newark for the Ducks-Bears game. More specifically, I'm there to speak to Dave LaPoint for my Jason Simontacchi story. In the meantime, here's a few photos from today's game...
Bryant Nelson has already crushed two homers.
Pete Rose, Jr. after an out.
Matt Sweeney, who isn't looking so hot today.
He's opposed by James Garcia.
SCORE: Ducks 8, Bears 7, FINAL. Edwin Almonte mishandled a little chopper to the mound by Pete Rose, Jr. with runners on the corners to give the Ducks the lead.
Frenchy To Northern League: The Winnipeg Goldeyes have signed former Patriots OF Anton French. Apparently, the rumored scenario of him returning to Somerset...yeah, not so much.
Camden Makes Two Moves: According to a source, the Riversharks have added P Alberto Castillo and INF Rene Aqueron.
Andrews Retires: Jason Guarente is reporting that Lancaster P Clayton Andrews has retired. Andrews, who was 1-4 with an 8.26 ERA at the time of his decision, becomes the second player this season to throw his last pitch for the Barnstormers. Scott Sobkowiak also retired after being traded to York.
June 25, 2007
As Promised, Your Quotes: While I can't give you everything I got because I need to have original stuff for my paper, here's some selected stuff from Ryan Baerlocher, Jeremy Owens, Michel Hernandez and Jason Simontacchi.
BAERLOCHER: When they first made the offer, I wasn't sure if I wanted to keep playing. And the more I thought about it, I started looking for a real job and started putting my resume together. I was going to do something in banking. I have my degree and all that. I started working out again, and I thought maybe I want to play baseball a little bit more.
There's definitely some players in that league that are legit players. They've played in the big leagues, they've been around a while. But then on the other scale, there are some guys who haven't played as long and aren't as experienced. I think that since a lot of those guys hadn't seen me pitch before, it was kind of an advantage and probably helped me get as many strikeouts as I did.
HERNANDEZ: In Somerset, it's a good level (of play) for an independent league. It's a good league.
I like it here (with Durham), you have a chance to play in the big leagues.
OWENS: Since 2005, Tampa Bay called and offered me an every day job in Montgomery, Alabama. I jumped on it and was able to get back in affiliated ball. I didn't hit great, but I was able to put up some good power numbers. My slugging was pretty decent, I hit 17 or 18 home runs, and I did enough to where they asked me to come back.
On how much credit he gives Somerset for where he's at...
All of it. If I'm not able to play that one year, that's probably it. I'm thankful for that league being there. It's big that they played 140 games, that's the reason I went there. (Adam) Gladstone gave me a call, and I'm glad they gave me a shout. So I give them all the credit, it was a great atmosphere to be around. You just got to play, you got to play your game and it was a big help.
SIMONTACCHI: I've played in so many different places, that it wasn't about what I was going to get out of it. It wasn't about how much money I was going to make, it was about getting back to the big leagues. If Dave (LaPoint) would have come to me and said, 'Simo, we only have $500 we can give you,' I still would have done it. That was my bridge to get back in the game and hopefully get back with an organization.
This game is so vicious. The second that you think you have it figured out, you better watch your back, because it's going to come back and bite you in the ass. If you think you've got it going and you're cruising, you have no chance. It'll chew you up and spit you out. I just wanted to go there and prove to myself and prove to everybody else that I can pitch, I'm healthy and I'm getting there. Look at my numbers and see what I'm doing.
Hooray, News!: According to a source, the Baltimore Orioles have signed former Road Warrior Derek Barrows and assigned him to the Gulf Coast League. It is certainly worth noting that he was signed as a pitcher.
Bridgeport Gets Made: The Bridgeport Bluefish have signed C Kelington Made to a contract. Made last played affiliated ball in 2005 in the Pirates organization, and has two seasons of experience on their GCL team. He's a career .190 hitter.
Big Name Stuff: The "big name" situation appears to be pretty stagnant at this point. The player has some business ventures that appear to be more important at this time, and the team that has been in discussions with him is taking the approach that he'll call them if he really wishes to continue his playing career. - MA
June 23, 2007
An Update From The Road: Despite last night's late arrival, I was able to get everything that I needed in Richmond last night. I spoke to Ryan Baerlocher, and then teammates Corky Miller and Graham Koonce about him. I also caught up with Jeremy Owens and Michel Hernandez, and was able to ask Durham manager Gary Gaetti about their progress.
GAETTI SAID THAT OWENS NAME CAME UP WHEN THE D-RAYS CALLED UP DUSTAN MOHR, SO DON'T BE SURPRISED TO SEE J.O. IN A BIG LEAGUE UNIFORM SOON.
Quotes and more when I get back.
Now, I'm currently in the Washington Nationals press box. It's 6:45, and things could not have possibly gone any better.
I met up with Jason Simontacchi in the clubhouse at around 3. He was very appreciative that I made the trip from New Jersey for him. He offered a tour of the clubhouse, and took me right past a sign that said, "No Media Beyond This Point."
He showed me the weight room, the video room, the manager's office and all sorts of things that not even the regular beat writers are privy to.
After chatting for a little bit, the interview began and we talked for a half an hour about a very wide variety of topics. Again, I don't have time for quotes right now and probably won't until some time tomorrow night or Monday (and again, this is primarily for the paper, so I can't divulge the majority of it) but he said that there was no way that we would be sitting there if it wasn't for the Atlantic League. He was very genuinely grateful for the opportunity he received from Bridgeport and Dave LaPoint.
After that, I talked to absolutely anyone and everyone that I could. The Nationals were EXTREMELY helpful in making anyone available who I needed, and that included a one-on-one with Nats skipper Manny Acta. I also talked to Brian Schneider, Ray King, Jesus Colome, Chris Schroder, Kelly Shoppach, Trot Nixon, Travis Hafner, C.C. Sabathia and Eric Wedge.
Believe it or not, Sabathia was probably the nicest guy of the bunch. For someone's who such a big deal (and also a really big dude in person) he gave well thought out answers to my questions instead of the usual cliche crap, and was super friendly.
I asked Colome about playing with Damian Rolls, and he had a lot of good things to say about his former teammate -- I'm sure I'll have that stuff on here at a later date.
And, I almost forgot...I was most nervous in speaking to Hall of Famer Don Sutton, who does the Nationals TV broadcasts. I asked him a quick question about Simontacchi, and HE THANKED ME FOR INCLUDING HIM IN THE STORY afterwards. It's amazing the kind of ridiculous experiences you can have at this level.
Junge Jock: The Yankees organization has released P Eric Junge, paving the way for a return to Bridgeport. - MA
Somerset Slams York: The Somerset Patriots beat the York Revolution, 9-3, on Friday night. Somerset's Jose Morban and York's Ramon Nivar each hit their second home runs of the season.
Pitcher Brian Adams improved to 7-1 in the victory, making him the Atlantic League leader in wins. Danny Garcia had three hits.
Todd Homers To Lift Lancaster: Jeremy Todd's two-out, three-run home run in the eleventh inning sent the Lancaster Barnstormers to a 6-3 victory over the Long Island Ducks. Todd now has 11 home runs on the season.
Carl Everett hit his seventh and eighth home runs tonight, giving him six in the last nine games.
Sharks Stop Bears Streak: The Camden Riversharks put a halt to the Newark Bears five-game winning streak, picking up the victory in game two of the three-game series, 9-7.
Camden's Dwight Maness and Craig Paquette each went 2-for-4 with three RBI.
Anthony Ferrari picked up his sixth win of the season, improving to 6-1. Three of those wins have come against Newark. - Scott Stanchak
Updated: Fri. 11:51 p.m.
June 22, 2007
Ashmore Note: I'm in Richmond, and haven't really accomplished much yet as of 7:50 PM.
Ryan Baerlocher is charting the game, so I won't be able to speak with him until after the game...I spoke briefly with Jeremy Owens and saw Michel Hernandez ground out.
Had I not arrived until 6:30 PM after some fun traffic delays on I-95, perhaps I'd have actually gotten stuff done.
Here are a few photos I was able to run onto the field and grab before the game...
Thoughts On Sobkowiak: I spoke with Scott Sobkowiak just a few days ago for a piece I'm doing for The Democrat. He said he was enjoying himself in Lancaster, even though he was in a relief role. He also said that it was a tough decision to come back this year because of other opportunities he has.
I guess the fact that the former Braves pitcher was traded was enough and helped his decision to hang them up. Scott's always been one of the nicest guys to talk to and hope to see him have a successful after-baseball career.
Davis Inks With Dodgers: Camden Riversharks catcher Ben Davis has signed a contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers. I was scheduled to have a phone conversation with Ben today so we'll see if that still happens.
Taking his place on the roster will be Bridgeport Bluefish catcher Fleming Baez, who was assigned to the Sharks. And I thought only the Road Warriors could get players assigned to them? I guess that's what happens when BASA is in charge. According to The Connecticut Post, the Fish might see a player in return.
Fish Lose Figueroa: Bluefish third baseman Luis Figueroa is leaving the team for the second time in less than a month, according to T.C.P. He was hitting .327 with a team-leading 36 RBI for the Fish.
Ducks Are Popular: The actual animal is popular, but I'm talking about the team. ESPN.com has a front page story about the club. Read it now.
Krienchicki Wins In Return To Camden: It was his first trip back to Camden's Campbell's Field and Newark Bears manager Wayne Krienchicki had his players ready to play. The former Sharks skipper's squad pounded Camden 15-8 and have now won five straight and improved to 25-21.
The Bears also set a season high in runs and hits (22).
Second baseman Javier Colina hit for the cycle and Keith Reed went 3-for-4 with a home run and extended his hitting steak to 15 games. Only two Bears had less than two hits.
For those interested: Newly acquired Rivershark Danny Bautista went 3-for-4 with two RBI.
Ashmore's LJ Biernbaum watch is over as the slugger went 0-for-5.
Barnstormers Beat On Ducks: The Lancaster Barnstormers were victorious tonight over the Long Island Ducks, 9-7.
Lancaster was down 5-0 and came all the way back. Danny Gonzalez drilled a two-run double in the eighth, which was the final blow.
Somerset Sinks To York: The Patriots fell 4-3 to the Revolution on the road today. Jeff Nettles hit his eighteenth home run of the season and former Patriot Matt Dryer hit his seventh. Steve Smyth picked up his first win of the season. - Scott Stanchak
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Updated: Fri. 12:37 p.m.
June 21, 2007
Biernbaum Watch: 20. The 'Sharks slugger went 1-for-3 last night, and extended his hitting streak to 20 games. He's now eight games away from tying the league record.
Sobkowiak Retires: I spoke with P Scott Sobkowiak on the phone this afternoon, and the former Major Leaguer has announced his retirement from professional baseball.
A large part of his decision to come back this season was based on being able to come back to Lancaster, where he loved pitching. Once that opportunity was no longer possible, he made what he said was the very hard decision to hang it up.
Absolutely one of the nicest people you could ever hope to meet in or outside of baseball, I wish him absolutely nothing but the best of luck. Awesome, awesome guy.
Camden Loses Two HUGE Players: The Camden Riversharks have lost their best ninth inning battery, with the Dodgers signing C Ben Davis and P Chris Fussell. Both players will be assigned to Triple-A Las Vegas.
Randy McGarvey will assume the starting catcher's role, and the team will likely slide Ramon Linares into the closer's spot.
Bautista TRADED to Camden: Just heard that the York Revolution have traded the rights to OF Danny Bautista to the Camden Riversharks for OF Justin Singleton.
Singleton was hitting .207 at the time of the trade. I'll try to figure out if there's any chance of Bautista actually reporting to Camden.
UPDATED: I just spoke to BASA's David Keller, and he said that Camden does expect Bautista to report to the team and that he is expected to be there tonight.
If that is the case, then York pretty much got shafted on this deal in a baseball sense. Bautista was putting up some solid numbers when he decided to not play for York anymore (and I'm sure there's something more than meets the eye going on with that) and Singleton was seven points over the Mendoza line.
Seems like they've pretty much given up on York over there...
Foster Leaves For Mexico: Jason Guarente is reporting that Lancaster OF Quincy Foster has left the team to play in Mexico.
As Guarente writes, Foster and manager Frank Klebe didn't get along, and Foster had been offered to at least one Atlantic League team in trade talks.
Foster was hitting .283 with two home runs and 15 RBI at the time of his departure. He also had 18 steals.
The team has signed OF Vince Blue to replace him. Yet another player who called the Eastern League home last season, Blue is a 24-year-old who has experience in the Tigers system. For Double-A Erie last season, Blue hit .232 with no home runs and 21 RBI. He also stole 24 bases.
So basically, they replaced a speedy outfielder with no pop with...drumroll please, a speedy outfielder with no pop.
Certainly, no one will use "You're my boy, Blue" in reference to him.
Three-Way Trade Involves Major Leaguer: The Newark Bears have acquired INF Vic Gutierrez from the York Revolution in exchange for reliever Barry Armitage. The Bears also sent INF Josh Arteaga to the Road Warriors.
Following those moves, York then dealt Armitage to the Lancaster Barnstormers for P Scott Sobkowiak.
Gutierrez hit .284 with no home runs and five RBI in 25 games for the Revolution this season, while Armitage was 1-0 with a 4.38 ERA in seven games out of the bullpen for the Bears.
Sobkowiak is 0-3 with a 7.20 ERA this season.
According to David Keller, Sobkowiak is likely to report to the team.
UPDATED: As you saw above, Sobkowiak retired.
Ashmore's All-Star Teams: Here's a look at what I think the Atlantic League All-Star teams should look like right now, complete with pitching staffs and reserves.
This is what my ballot will look like. Bwahahahaha, like I'll actually get a ballot...
NORTH DIVISION
(Bridgeport, Long Island, Newark, Road Warriors)
C: Sandy Aracena, RW (.303/2/11)
1B: Victor Rodriguez, NWK (.333/4/29)
2B: Junior Spivey, BPT (.370/4/33)
SS: Nick Ortiz, BPT (.287/1/23)
3B: Luis Figueroa, BPT (.327/2/36)
OF: Kevin Haverbusch, LI (.270/5/28)
OF: Jose Herrera, NWK (.327/3/16)
OF: Ray Navarrete, LI (.321/6/30)
DH: Jay Caligiuri, BPT (.349/5/27)
SP: Matt Sweeney, NWK (5-3-0, 2.83)
BENCH
OF, Keith Reed, NWK (.274/8/30)
INF, Jesse Hoorelbeke, BPT (.319/6/24)
INF, Javier Colina, NWK (.304/9/29)
INF, Vito Chiaravolloti, RW (.273/5/18)
INF, Pete Rose, Jr. (.331/4/27)
C, Tommy Rojas, BPT (.250/4/20)
SP, Bobby Brownlie, NWK (4-3-0, 3.30)
SP, Gary Knotts, NWK (2-4-0, 2.84)
SP, Donovan Osborne, LI (2-2-0, 3.35)
SP, Mike Porzio, BPT (6-1-0, 3.06)
RP, Edwin Almonte, NWK (0-1-3, 1.71)
RP, Alberto Castillo, RW (3-2-0, 2.51)
RP, Danny Graves, LI (3-1-15, 2.81)
RP, Travis Wade, LI (2-0-0, 2.05)
RP, Franklin Perez, BPT (1-0-2, 0.86)
I noticed both my colleagues have Jason Bryan in their starting lineups, and I just can't do it. He's hitting .232 and has no steals. Stephen Doetsch might actually have a better case, but for as much as I like the Road Warriors, I couldn't have more than three guys on the team.
I would have liked to have had another pitcher and totally omit a backup catcher, but that wasn't going to work out for me. Eddy Ramos probably deserves to be there. And you need two catchers.
I also had to cheat to get Junior Spivey and Ray Navarrete in my starting lineup, sticking one in the outfield...but they both deserve to be there.
SOUTH DIVISION
(Camden, Lancaster, Somerset, York)
C: Ben Davis, CAM (.331/3/19)
1B: Nate Espy, YORK (.299/7/29)
2B: Danny Garcia, SOM (.272/4/16)
SS: Danny Gonzalez, LAN (.279/9/29)
3B: Jeff Nettles, SOM (.305/17/47)
OF: Mike Lockwood, SOM (.312/12/47)
OF: L.J. Biernbaum, CAM (.335/12/42)
OF: Dwight Maness, CAM (.307/7/16)
DH: Matt Dryer, YORK (.267/6/27)
SP: Josh Stevens, LAN (5-1-0, 2.07)
BENCH
OF, Jutt Hileman, LAN (.296/8/35)
OF, Elliott Ayala, SOM (.291/1/15)
INF, Jeremy Todd, LAN (.281/10/32)
INF, Ramon Nivar, YORK (.303/1/7)
C, Lance Burkhart, LAN (.295/5/17)
DH, Angel Pena, CAM (.287/6/17)
SP, Greg Powell, CAM (3-3-0, 3.43)
SP, Gustavo Martinez, LAN (4-3-0, 3.70)
SP, Andy Van Hekken, SOM (5-2-0, 3.65)
SP, Dave Gil, YORK (1-3-0, 3.26)
SP, Brian Adams, SOM (6-1-0, 3.93)
RP, Saul Solveson, SOM (1-0-0, 2.57)
RP, Chris Fussell, CAM (0-1-17, 1.23)
RP, Ramon Linares, CAM (1-0-1, 0.95)
RP, Derrick DePriest, LAN (0-1-3, 1.25)
With the exception of deciding between Hileman and Maness, setting the starting lineup was actually pretty easy.
Dunleavy's All-Star Ballot: Somerset beat writer Ryan Dunleavy has posted his All-Star ballot in his blog, which you can check out here.
Guarente's All-Star Ballot: Lancaster beat writer Jason Guarente posted his All-Star ballot yesterday, check it out here.
Bluefish 4 @ Riversharks 13: Bluefish pitching walked 16 batters. Yes, it was a nine inning game and no, it isn't surprising that they lost, 13-4.
Each Rivershark was walked at least once, and Ben Davis and Denny Abreu led the way with four RBI each.
Starter Garrett Berger walked nine batters in 2.2 innings, and was relieved by Danny Rueckel. Rueckel allowed eight runs (all earned) in an inning of work, giving up five hits and three walks. Steve Kent and Evan Fahrner came in and only walked two each, but the damage had been done.
Rueckel's ERA is now 22.85
Riversharks pitchers walked ten, but Erick Burke got the win, scattering a run on five hits in five innings of work.
Revolution 0 @ Barnstormers 5 (Game One): Gustavo Martinez put together another quality outing, throwing a complete game, five-hit shutout to defeat the Revolution, 5-0, in game one of the doubleheader. Martinez did not allow an extra-base hit all night.
Dominick Ambrosini hit a three-run home run to provide most of the offense.
Revolution 5 @ Barnstormers 4 (Game Two): Ramon Nivar's 3-for-3 performance led the Revolution to a split of the doubleheader, as York beat Lancaster, 5-4, in the nightcap.
Nivar hit a two-run homer off of starter Clayton Andrews, helping Chris Steinborn pick up his 3rd win of the season.
Patriots 1 @ Ducks 4: Lance Davis put together another strong start, allowing only five hits in a 4-1 win over Somerset. A Jason Romano home run was the only way Somerset could get on the board.
Jose Offerman was 3-for-3 with a solo home run in the win.
Road Warriors 8 @ Bears 9: Four home runs by the Road Warriors wasn't enough to prevent a sweep at the hands of the Bears, who took the last game of the series by a score of 9-8.
Ian Bladergroen, David Housel, Jorge Mejia and Stephen Doetsch all went yard for the Road Warriors, but it couldn't top a solid game by the Bears.
Marcus Nettles two-run triple in the fourth inning gave the Bears the lead for good.
Happy, Happy Time: Happy Birthday to Ducks starter Donovan Osborne, who turns 38 today.
Maxwell Cut: Atlantic League alum Keith Maxwell has been cut by the Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks. He certainly has been busy since leaving the league.
Ashmore Called Up To Triple-A, Then Majors: It should be a pretty fun weekend for the AtlanticLeagueBaseball.com faithful. Yours truly will be embarking on an Atlantic League alumni road trip, heading to Richmond, Virginia on Friday night and Washington, DC on Saturday.
I'll be in Richmond to speak to three players who jumped from the Atlantic League to Triple-A; Ryan Baerlocher of the Braves organization, and Jeremy Owens and Michel Hernandez of the Devil Rays organization. Owens and Hernandez are on the Durham Bulls, who are in town for the weekend.
It will be my first Triple-A game since 2005, and only my second overall.
Then I'm back in the big leagues on Saturday, heading down to speak to former Bridgeport Bluefish P Jason Simontacchi. Simontacchi appeared in a handful of games for Bridgeport last season, and in doing some initial research has a pretty amazing story.
Unfortunately, Nashua Pride alum and current Red Sox reliever Brendan Donnelly denied a similar request through team officials.
Despite people thinking otherwise, I'm very grateful to be able to have opportunities like this thanks to the Atlantic League, and I'm very thankful to the countless amount of people who've let me get to the point where I'm able to earn something like this.
And thanks to all the people who read my column in the paper and my daily work here, I wouldn't be where I'm at without all of you.
While coming back "here" on Sunday night will be a little rough, I can never forget that what I've done "here" has enabled me to get a chance up "there."
Anyway, I'm intending on using all this for my All-Star break coverage, but I'll have some limited stuff I'll be able to share in the meantime -- pictures and limited quotes, etc. - Mike Ashmore
June 20, 2007
Biernbaum Watch: 19.
After his 1-for-2 game last night, Camden's L.J. Biernbaum has now hit in 19 straight games. He is now nine games away from tying Newark's Joe Jiannetti for the longest hitting streak in Atlantic League history.
Rangers Owner Accuses Gonzalez Of Steroid Use: In a television interview, Texas Rangers onwer Tom Hicks had the following to say about Juan Gonzalez, who played for the Long Island Ducks last season.
"Juan Gonzalez, for $24 million, after he came off steroids probably... we just gave that money away," Hicks said, when asked about his biggest regrets as owner.
One player who faced Gonzalez last year said he looked "smaller," but did not elaborate on that statement.
All-Star Voting Begins: Balloting for the Atlantic League All-Star Game has begun on the league's official website, atlanticleague.com
They actually have write-in votes this year, which I suppose I'll actually have to give them credit for. The only thing I noticed was that Joe Jiannetti was listed as an outfielder and a DH.
I'll have my All-Star teams up today or tomorrow, and make sure you look for Jason Guarente's selections as well at his site.
Thorp, 2007 (Photo: Ashmore)
Thorp Signs With Patriots: I mentioned about a week ago that former Yankees farmhand P Paul Thorp could be headed to the Atlantic League. And for a while, it seemed like he'd be headed to Lancaster.
But instead, the Patriots have inked the reliever to help bolster their struggling bullpen, and he'll be in uniform on Thursday, according to Ryan Dunleavy of The Courier News.
I'll stick by what I said earlier in that Thorp will not be the be the best athlete on your team, but the man can pitch. At the time of his release, which was due to conditioning issues according to one of his teammates, Thorp was 0-1 with a 2.40 ERA at Double-A Trenton.
His walk totals are a little high, but his other numbers are pretty good.
Keoni De Renne facing Phil Hughes, 2006 (Photo: Ashmore)
Bautista Leaves, De Renne Signed: The York Dispatch is reporting that OF Danny Bautista has been placed on the inactive list. INF Keoni De Renne was signed to take his spot.
The former Major Leaguer was hitting .329 with 10 RBI when he decided to leave the team.
De Renne is a former Red Sox prospect who played with Double-A Portland last season. In camp with the Indians this year, he was released and according to the Dispatch, he spent the last two months working out in hopes of getting another opportunity.
"I really had to do a little soul searching and figure out if it was worth coming all the way out here to play," De Renne told the paper.
"I'm thankful to put on a uniform and be around some great guys."
Road Warriors 0 @ Bears 7: Bobby Brownlie shut down the Road Warriors last night, striking out ten batters en route to a 7-0 win.
Brownlie went six strong, and was helped by a Javier Colina home run and a bases-clearing double by Keith Reed.
Casey Cahill had his first rough outing as Road Warrior, allowing five runs on five hits in an ining and a third of work to close out the game.
Patriots 5 @ Ducks 4: Buoyed by a second straight strong start from Keith Ramsey, the Patriots sneaked past the Ducks, 5-4.
Ramsey improved to 2-1, allowing two earned runs on six hits in seven innings of work.
Jeff Nettles and Mike Lockwood both homered in the win, with Nettles' bomb serving as his 101st in a Patriots uniform.
Pete Rose, Jr. had all three Ducks RBI in the loss.
Bluefish 6 @ Riversharks 8: Dwight Maness' three-run homer and Craig Paquette's solo shot led a four run second inning that led the Riversharks past the Bluefish by a score of 8-6.
Junior Spivey was 4-for-5 with two runs scored and two RBI in the loss.
Chris Fussell picked up his league leading 17th save.
York @ Lancaster, PPD: The Barnstormers home game against the Revolution was postponed due to rain and lightning. The game will be made up as part of a 5:05 doubleheader today.
Atlantic League Longball List: Apparently, all these guys were listening to Trace Adkins' "Swing" before the game, because they all made the list of players who went deep last night.
SOM - Jeff Nettles (17)
SOM - Mike Lockwood (12)
NWK - Javier Colina (9)
CAM - Dwight Maness (7)
BPT - Jay Caligiuri (5)
BPT - Junior Spivey (4)
CAM - Craig Paquette (3)
The Anti-Longball List: Long Island's Damian Rolls leads the league in most at-bats without a home run, with 140 at-bats and zero home runs. Revolution outfielder Peter Bergeron is a close second with 134, Road Warriors infielder Gabe Suarez is third with 121, Newark's John Pachot is fourth with 115 and York's Kaz Tanaka rounds out the top five with an even 100.
Rolls hit five home runs with Bridgeport last season, but Bergeron is still looking for his first Atlantic League home run, having gone homerless in 41 at-bats during his brief 2005 stay with Nashua.
Correction: Jeff Tam did not pitch against the Patriots while with the Road Warriors. I got the information from the incorrect boxscores on Howe, and apologize for the error. - Mike Ashmore
June 19, 2007
Mendez Dealt To Bears: The Newark Bears have acquired SS Donaldo Mendez from the Kansas City T-Bones of the Northern League for the ever popular future considerations.
Mendez has Major League experience, having played for the Padres in 2001 and 2003. But you'll probably remember him best for hitting .272 in 51 games for the abysmal 2006 Bears.
Football Scores Dominate The AL: With one game finishing at 14-3, and another at 13-0, last night's scores looked more like they were out of the NFL than the Atlantic League. Let's take a look at last night's games...
Stevens Sets Record; Revolution 0 @ Barnstormers 13: Josh Stevens threw his third complete game shutout of the season, giving up nine hits and a walk while striking out five in a performance that seemed to solidify him as the best pitcher left in the league.
Stevens has already tied an Atlantic League record set by Bridgeport's Al Sontag in 2000 and tied by Camden's Ben Simon in 2003 with his third shutout.
Also, Stevens has set the record for requiring the fewest amount of starts (9) to do it; Sontag's third shutout took 24 starts to achieve (9/1/00), and Simon's third shutout didn't come until July 30th, 2003 (his 16th start of the year).
Sontag was the 2000 Pitcher of the Year, and Simon won the award in 2003. Stevens last name also starts with an S, so it seems pretty obvious that he'll be taking home the hardware this season.
Anyway, Stevens received quite a bit of support, as the Barnstormers cranked out six home runs in the win, including two by Jutt Hileman.
Bluefish 14 @ Riversharks 3: Camden starter Ryan Schurman got rocked to the tune of eight runs on 10 hits over seven innings of work, with the Riversharks falling to the Bluefish, 14-3.
Luis Figueroa continued his run of Atlantic League ridiculousness, going 3-for-4 with 5 RBI, while teammate Jesse Hoorelbeke hit two home runs in the win.
Not surprisingly, L.J. Biernbaum was the lone standout for Camden, going 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI. He now has a hit in 18 straight games, inlcuding seven multi-hit contests.
Despite the lopsided score, both teams had one player who didn't get a hit -- Ramon Nivar on York and Chris Van Rossum on Lancaster.
Nettles strokes 100th AL Home Run; Patriots 8 @ Ducks 9: Jeff Nettles' league leading 16th home run wasn't enough to overcome another implosion by the bullpen, as the Ducks squeaked out a 9-8 win over the Patriots.
This time it was Jason Richardson who struggled in relief, picking up the loss after allowing grand slam to Edgardo Alfonzo.
For Nettles, it was his 100th career Atlantic League home run, one of only a handful of players to accomplish the feat.
Jose Offerman also homered for Long Island, with the former Red Sox All-Star turning in a strong 4-for-5 performance.
Road Warriors 3 @ Bears 7: A strong outing by Jeriome Robertson and four RBI from Joey Gomes led the Newark Bears to a 7-3 win over the Road Warriors.
Robertson went eight innings, allowing just one earned run on seven hits.
Sandy Aracena went 2-for-4 in the loss, improving his average to .315
Longball List: NASCAR pit crews are often referred to as the "over the wall gang," but you could just as easily refer to this list of guys as the same. Here's who went yard in last night's Atlantic League action...
SOM - Jeff Nettles (16)
LAN - Jeremy Todd (10)
LAN - Danny Gonzalez (9)
LAN - Jutt Hileman (7,8)
RW - Jason Bryan (7)
BPT - Jesse Hoorelbeke (5,6)
LAN - Mike Woods (3)
LAN - Dominick Ambrosini (3)
NWK - Joey Gomes (3)
BPT - Luis Figueroa (2)
LI - Edgardo Alfonzo (2) (GS)
LI - Jose Offerman (2)
RW - Travis Ezi (1)
- Mike Ashmore
June 18, 2007
Somer-Stitions: Here's a rough cut of my article on pre-game routines and superstitions that you'll find in Thursday's edition of the Hunterdon County Democrat. The piece that will appear in the paper will be a little different than the one you see here.
--
Sorry, Jeff Nettles, but your secret had to come out some time.
A four-time Atlantic League All-Star well on his way to his fifth straight selection, the former Yankees prospect has dominated in every season as the Somerset Patriots third baseman, and owns or has a share of numerous franchise records.
But now, the secret to his success will finally be revealed.
Protein shakes?
Countless hours in the gym?
Gasp...steroids?
Try a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with crushed chips in the middle.
"When you're in minor league ball like we are, and spreads are minimal like this, you do what you've got to do to get something in your system," Nettles said.
"A lot of times, peanut butter and jelly gets kind of old, so I decided to crunch up some chips and throw it in there. Whatever you've got works; Pringles, Cheetos, it doesn't matter."
If York Revolution hitting coach Ryan Minor once referred to the standard PB&J as "the steak sandwich of minor league baseball," then Nettles might just have created the new filet mignon.
"I don't have one everyday, but if I've got a PB&J, I'm definitely going to throw some chips in there and spice it up a little," he said.
Nettles pre-game routine was a bit more involved in previous years, but now it entails getting on the field about 20 minutes before the game, doing some sprints and playing a little catch.
"I try to be the guy not to have (superstitions)," he said. "I don't want to be a mental midget and go out there, and if I do something wrong, I'll already be one step behind."
Like Nettles, Somerset second baseman Danny Garcia was more superstitious earlier in his career, specifically before he turned pro.
"Back in high school, you'd have a big day and sleep with your bat," said the ex-Met.
"In high school and college, superstitions were so strong. Actually, in college, if I'd gone two or three straight weeks with a hit, I'd watch the same movie and start it at the same part. I'd jump into bed, put the same movie on at the same part and just go to sleep to it."
But as his career went on, things that were once routine started to slowly fade away.
"Once you get older, the weird and quirky things kind of get ironed out or you're just more quiet about them," Garcia said.
Some staples of a player's day are born out of necessity rather than routine. Take Sparky Lyle's pre-game meal from his time in Yankee pinstripes.
"George (Steinbrenner) found out that we were sending across the street for burgers and stuff like that, " Lyle said.
"But then we lost a game and he said, 'You can't send out for anything anymore before the game.' So I bought a Joe Namath hamburger cooker and had a little refrigerator in my locker at Yankee Stadium and I made my own, and he never said anything."
Although it was a daily occurrence, it was far from superstition according to the Cy Young winner.
"I was (freaking) hungry, it had nothing to do with anything else," he quipped.
While most players do some pretty basic things to prepare for games, others have detailed, step-by-step routines that they swear by. Starting pitchers are notorious for their unique ways of preparing themselves on a game day, and no routine may be more unique than Patriots southpaw Keith Ramsey's.
His pre-game preparation starts at 11AM, when he'll watch some "goofy TV shows," such as The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air or Home Improvement.
"Even some Full House, if need be," joked Ramsey, who actually met the cast of the show when he was younger.
Following a few re-runs of the best that television had to offer in the early 90's, the Californian makes himself lunch between the hours of one and two o'clock, which takes about 45 minutes. During this process, Ramsey will listen to music.
Following that, he'll kick back for a movie. But not just any movie.
"It has to be something randomly inspirational, like Joe Dirt," Ramsey said, going on to recite the "You can't have no in your heart, brother" line from the movie.
After a post-movie shower and brushing of his teeth, Ramsey puts 11 swipes of deodorant under each arm.
Why 11?
"11's a good number," was his quick reply.
After all that, he makes the short drive to the field, listening to some of the staples from his vast and diverse music collection, including Alice in Chains and Tool.
Once he gets to the ballpark, the music gets a little more mellow, and Ramsey will listen to an artist like Pete Yorn.
With headphones on and his personal MP3 player nearby, Ramsey does visualization techniques, taking a baseball and flipping it up with his left hand, all while sitting in his chair next to the large clubhouse television, oblivious to whatever's on.
"I'll pick out spots on the wall and just focus on them," he said.
"From what I've read, it's supposed to get you focused on what you do when you're pitching. Just blocking everything out, you get up there, and you just see a glove."
After reading two Bible verses, he's off to the field, almost eight hours into his detailed game plan. But it doesn't end when the game starts.
"I'll drink two cups of water between each inning, and after a start, I'll have all these cups next to me from every inning I pitched," he said.
But not every starter has a routine like Ramsey's. In fact, it seems safe to say that nobody has one quite like the free-spirited fireballer. In any event, fellow pitcher Andy Van Hekken has a more conservative approach when he gets the ball every fifth day.
"I really don't have any crazy, weird things I do," Van Hekken said.
Well, at least things that he knows about, anyway.
"I don't even think consciously about that stuff. Maybe I do some things I'm not even aware of." he said with a laugh.
The former big leaguer arrives at the ballpark roughly two hours before game time, insisting on "something light" to eat when he gets there.
Van Hekken will put on his pants and socks, walk around for a little bit, and then put on his belt and jersey right before he has to leave.
Once he gets on the field, it remains all business.
"Around a half an hour before the game, I'll go out and stretch. My stretching routine is pretty much the same every time," he said.
The method to Van Hekken's madness is normal by most standards, and he thinks most players are similar in their preparations.
"Baseball players just like to do the same thing, I really don't think it's that out of the ordinary for us. They just like to do the same thing at the same time," he said.
To be superstitious or not to be, that is the question.
And while it looks like there is no right or wrong way to prepare for a game, leave it to Danny Garcia to give the best advice in trying to answer the million dollar question.
"This game is so mental, it's ridiculous. If you think something's working, just do it," he said.
Superstitious or not, with Jeff Nettles leading the Atlantic League in home runs and RBI, it won't be long before he gets some competition for the league lead in crushed chip sandwiches as well.
"CHEF" JEFF'S CRUSHED CHIP SANDWICH RECIPE
INGREDIENTS
2 pieces, bread
Equal amounts of peanut butter and jelly
"Whatever chips are laying around"
DIRECTIONS
1) Spread equal amounts of peanut butter and jelly on bread
2) Crush chips ("As many as you feel like you need on there") and place evenly on each piece of bread
3) Close sandwich
4) Enjoy
Four Games Decided By Six Runs: The competition in the Atlantic League was pretty tight yesterday, with two of the games being decided by one run and two of them being won by two.
Here are some quick game recaps...
Ducks 8 @ Riversharks 6: The Ducks completed their three-game sweep of the Riversharks in Camden, despite yet another home run from Camden stud L.J. Biernbaum.
John Halama went six strong for the Ducks, striking out eight to even his record at 3-3. The former Red Sox hurler was benefitted by another strong game by outfielder Kevin Haverbusch, who drove in three runs in the five slot.
Biernbaum's hitting streak has now reached 17 games, eclipsing Vito Chiaravolloti for the longest this season. He's also reached base in 27 straight contests.
Bluefish 3 @ Barnstormers 2: Bridgeport used five pitchers and two Lancaster errors to beat the Barnstormers, 3-2.
Mike Porzio quietly improved his record to 6-1, going five innings and striking out seven.
Despite only allowing one earned run over six innings of work, Brett Evert got the loss and fell to 2-4.
Jutt Hileman went 3-for-4 in the losing effort.
Road Warriors 4 @ Somerset 5: Mike Lockwood's two home runs single-handedly beat the Road Warriors, 5-4.
Lockwood's five RBI propelled him into the league lead, with his tenth and eleventh bombs of the year coming off of Manny Ulloa, who dropped to 2-4 on the year.
Brian Adams also quietly improved to 6-1, and it won't be long before you see him pitching in affiliated ball somewhere. He pitched seven spotless innings, allowing three hits and walking just one.
The Patriots bullpen continues to be nothing short of scary, as Brandon Knight gave up a three-run home run to Vito Chiaravolloti and a solo shot to Stephen Doetsch in the eighth inning to make it a one run game.
But R.D. Spiehs came in and pitched a scoreless ninth for his seventh save of the year.
For options on who they can get to help their bullpen, Somerset need only look as far as the other dugout, as Casey Cahill and Jeff Tam are doing pretty well for pitchers unnecessarily jettisoned from the team. Tam gave up one hit and walked one in relief of Ulloa, and Cahill was flawless the other night.
Bears 5 @ Revolution 3: Newark got a nice outing from Gary Knotts and a home run and two RBI from Josh Arteaga to lead them to a 5-3 win in the third home game in Revolution history.
3,001 people attended the game. 3,001. Wow.
Kind of rough when you can't sell out a stadium that just opened on a Father's Day Sunday. Perhaps there might be some frustration from the fans about a stadium that's still over two months away from being completed.
Camden, which has notoriously rough attendance numbers, hosted 4,689 fans on the same day.
As for the game, Arteaga was the only Bear with more than one hit.
Atlantic League Longball List: If these guys had a theme song, it might be Janet Jackson's "We Go Deep" because they all went yard in yesterday afternoon's action.
CAM - L.J. Biernbaum (12)
SOM - Mike Lockwood (10,11)
RW - Stephen Doetsch (7)
RW - Vito Chiaravolloti (5)
LI - Jared Price (1)
NWK - Josh Arteaga (1)
Redman Shining For Orioles: According to this Baltimore Sun article, former Revolution OF Tike Redman is making a case to get a call-up to the big league team. With the Orioles in an eight-game tailspin, it seems very possible.
Two Road Warriors In Can-Am: According to the Press of AC, the Atlantic City Surf have signed P Matt Scheuing and P Greg Runser. Runser was an All-Star closer for the Road Warriors in 2003, while Scheuing pitched there in 2006 after a stay with Lancaster the previous season. - Mike Ashmore
June 17, 2007
Castro Possibly Out For Season: According to York beat writer Jim Seip's blog, Bears INF Ramon Castro may be lost for the season, the result of bone spurs damaging his Achilles tendon.
"I'd be willing to bet he's done for the year," Krenchicki told Seip.
That's a bet the Bears may want to take, as Castro was hitting .368 with two home runs and 15 RBI in his first 38 games. His .945 OPS led the team.
It Must Be Father's Day: Because Jeff Nettles and Pete Rose, Jr. features can be found here and here, respectively.
The Rose feature is particularly interesting in that it features quotes from his father.
He'd be a dream interview for me, if nothing else. Say what you want about the man, but he's one of the greatest players baseball has ever seen. Fathers should teach their kids to play like Pete did, he earned his "Charlie Hustle" moniker.
As for Nettles, I'll have a feature coming out this week in which he'll be, ummm...featured among his teammates for pre-game routines and superstitions and all that.
Newark 6 @ York 9: A sellout crowd of 4,364 (??) saw the Revolution pick up their first ever win at Sovereign Bank Stadium.
Jason Olson got the win for the Revs, throwing 3.2 shutout innings in relief of former Cubs starter Steve Smyth, who gave up five runs in just 2.1 innings.
Road Warriors 6 @ Somerset 12: 7,275 fans -- many of whom waited in a ridiculously long line for Graig and Jeff Nettles to sign their dual bobblehead dolls -- packed Somerset's Commerce Bank Ballpark and walked away happy, as the Patriots beat the Road Warriors, 12-6, on the strength of an eight-run fourth inning.
Every Somerset starter got a hit, with Alan Zinter and Jason Romano each going deep for the Patriots in the victory.
Danny Garcia swiped his league leading 24th base as well.
Ducks 7 @ Riversharks 6: Dwight Maness' three-run homer wasn't enough, as the Riversharks couldn't quite get past the Ducks, losing 7-6.
4-5-6 hitters Pete Rose, Jr., Kevin Haverbusch and Damian Rolls combined for seven of Long Island's 13 hits, 11 of which came off of 'Sharks starter Greg Powell, who fell to 3-3 on the season.
Bluefish 3 @ Barnstormers 1 (Game One): Bluefish starter Matt Beech was two outs away from throwing just the fifth no-hitter in Atlantic League history, but Jutt Hileman's solo home run broke it up. Lincoln Mikkelsen is still the only player to fire a no-hitter at Lancaster's Clipper Magazine Stadium.
Bluefish 5 @ Barnstormers 9 (Game Two): James Lira rebounded from an ugly outing in Somerset and returned to form as a starter, getting the nod in game two of the twinbill.
He went 5.1 innings and got the win, his longest outing since June 4, 2003 -- when he was with Double-A Round Rock.
Maxwell's Ascension Takes Him To...: The Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks of the Northern League are the latest destination for Keith Maxwell, who can also show off his Lancaster and Newark stickers on his suitcase. - Mike Ashmore
June 16, 2007
Reith To Taiwan: When I saw Somerset Patriots P Brian Reith's hat in the clubhouse trash can, I figured one of his teammates was pulling a prank on him. Turns out, he doesn't need his Patriots hat anymore.
Reith has left for Taiwan, and Jeff Urban will take his spot in the rotation.
Reith was 2-3 with a 2.70 ERA, which was the fifth best in the league.
LeClair To Camden, Aqueron To Road Warriors: According to Road Warriors manager Jeff Scott, the team has sent P Aric Leclair to Camden, and has received INF Rene Aqueron.
I had intended to speak with LeClair today, and ended up calling him as he was on his way to Camden. He said he was excited about the opportunity to stick with Camden, and we also spoke for a few minutes about his role as Sparky Lyle in the ESPN series "The Bronx is Burning."
York Loses Home Opener: The start of the game was delayed by 40 minutes, but York's first home win will be delayed by at least nine innings.
Chris Steinborn threw his first pitch in a white uniform since the 2005 season, a strike to Newark's Keith Reed. Steinborn retired 12 consecutive Bears at one point, but ended up picking up the loss after allowing six earned runs over seven and a third innings of work.
This must have been nice for both Steinborn and Revolution coach (and likely the Blue Crabs manager in waiting) Ryan Minor, who spent all of last season as Road Warriors and the first six weeks of this season in a similar situation.
Nate Espy hit the first home run over York's 38-feet tall Monster Wall, with the ball landing in someone's front yard outside of the stadium. After you see a particularly big home run, you might joke that you'll find the ball in your front yard the next morning...but no, seriously -- the ball ended up in someone's yard.
Ramon Castro, the Bears shortstop, may have been injured in the game. The box score shows that he came out of the game after one plate appearance, so who knows what happened there...
Opening ceremonies delayed the game's start until nearly 8 o'clock.
Ducks 7 @ Riversharks 6: Lance Davis' 2007 debut looked no different than many of his starts in 2004 and 2005, as the former Red struck out eight in five innings of work, allowing just one run on two hits.
Kevin Haverbusch drove in three runs in the win, and manager Dave LaPoint continued his generous use of the bullpen, as six Ducks pitchers were used in the victory. Ben Grezlovski was the only one without big league time. Sorry, Ben.
Camden's L.J. Biernbaum continued his streak of filthyness in the loss, hitting another home run and driving in three.
Bluefish 11 @ Lancaster 5: Lancaster's big thing might be "Code Red," but it looks like it's time to start waving the white flag instead.
The Barnstormers fell to seven games under .500 in an 11-5 loss to Bridgeport. Their team ERA this month is a robust 6.03, although a former Yankees farmhand may be on the way to bolster the bullpen.
Junior Spivey hit a grand slam in the win, while Quincy Foster was Lancaster's most impressive player in the loss -- walking four times and hitting a home run in his only official at-bat.
Looks like Bryan Edwards is out of the rotation for the Bluefish, as he actually ended up getting the win in relief of Garrett Berger, who scattered three runs on eight hits in the no-decision.
Road Warriors 0 @ Somerset 4: The Patriots relied on home runs from the heart of the lineup to shut out the Road Warriors, 4-0.
#3 hitter Mike Lockwood, #4 hitter Jeff Nettles and #5 hitter Alan Zinter all went deep off of starter Cody Harkcom, who fell to 0-4 this year.
Meanwhile, Andy Van Hekken gave Somerset a much-needed quality start, allowing only four hits in eight innings, while striking out seven.
Gabe Suarez was the only Road Warrior with multiple hits -- he had two.
Atlantic League Longball List: For all fans who wanted "A Little More You" out of these players, they got it last night...here's a list of guys who went deep last night in Atlantic League play. Had to work in the "Little Big Town" reference there, hopefully country aficionado Travis Anderson will be proud...
SOM - Jeff Nettles (15)
CAM - L.J. Biernbaum (11)
SOM - Mike Lockwood (9)
YORK - Nate Espy (7)
SOM - Alan Zinter (5)
BPT - Jesse Hoorelbeke (4)
BPT - Junior Spivey (3) (GS)
CAM - Craig Paquette (3)
LAN - Quincy Foster (2)
NWK - Joey Gomes (2)
LI - Jose Offerman (1)
Yesterday's News: Catching up with Chris Rojas and J.J. Trujillo...Two players get picked up...Newark Cuts One...Biernbaum = Good...Hirsh = Answering Your Questions...Lancaster may add pitcher. - Mike Ashmore
June 15, 2007
Playing Catch-Up: I'm in Trenton tonight, and I got to catch up with former Somerset Patriots P Chris Rojas and former Bears reliever P J.J. Trujillo.
Newark's J.J. Trujillo
On how Trujillo found out he was going to the Phillies: They called me in the morning one day, and they called the manager and I called the manager and he gave me some other people's names to call, and they said that we want you in Reading today.
On if he was surprised it took as long as it did to get picked up: I was really just trying to win with Newark, so this is completely a bonus. I just wanted to play another season and have fun. We were doing well. Like I said, it was a complete surprise. Thankfully, I have some good people on my side who still believe in me and decided to bring me on board.
On the difficulty of leaving the "special" Newark clubhouse: It's always hard to leave people that you become friends with and that you become close with, and that's how it is on any team I've ever been on. But coming into a new situation, and having the opportunity to make new friends -- you can go pretty high in affiliated ball compared to independent ball.
On how realistic his second attempt to use independent ball to get to the big leagues is: That's for other people to make that decision, but I feel like I can do it. I wouldn't be here if I didn't. But I've always felt that way. I went through some unfortunate circumstances, but everybody does. You go through your hard times and it's your choice to either move on or battle back and try it again. I actually did move on, but I decided to come back and play again. They offered me this great opportunity, so I decided I'll try to battle back again.
TRUJILLO AUDIO CLIP: Click here.
TRUJILLO VIDEO CLIP: Click here.
Somerset's Chris Rojas (Both photos: Ashmore)
Rojas on how he found out he was leaving: It was actually during a Thursday day game, and I was in the dugout. I got called over by Sparky and Brett, and they told me to pack my stuff and get out of here. It was pretty cool.
On his Atlantic League experience: I really enjoyed it, to be completely honest with you. Obviously, nobody wants to be in an independent league and everybody's playing there to get out, but it was enjoyable. The guys there were awesome, management was awesome, and it was a great place to play. It was a nice atmosphere.
On his expectations of the league, considering his prior indy ball experience: It was a lot better than I expected. I started out in independent ball, so I knew a little bit about it. But this was a much different atmosphere and a much different level. Guys are older and more professional there. You're out there to win, and that's nice because it's different than being in an organization sometimes.
On his status in the Phillies organization: I always consider myself as somebody who still has a chance, or else I wouldn't still be playing. If I consider myself as a fill-in, then I'd might as well just hang em' up. You'd be playing without a cause. But either way, I'm going to come here and contribute and do what I can do to try to make it. I can't really control that, I just have to go out there and perform.
York's Home Opener: York's Sovereign Bank Stadium opens tonight, and I'll have some stuff up from that event later tonight...
Cubs Have Hart: Jason Guarente is reporting that Lancaster INF Bo Hart has been signed by the Chicago Cubs and assigned to Triple-A Iowa. So much for getting to see him...
Anyway, Hart was hitting .245 at the time of his departure.
Ducks Lose Wathan: The Long Island Ducks have lost SS Derek Wathan to the Kansas City Royals organization. He has been assigned to Triple-A Omaha. Wathan was hitting .264 with three home runs and 13 RBI for Long Island.
Newark Cuts Pitcher: The Newark Bears have released reliever Blake Allen in order to make room for the now-activated Matt Sweeney.
28 Straight For Biernbaum: Camden's L.J. Biernbaum has reached base in his last 28 Atlantic League games, including his last four in 2006. Also, he has the league's longest active hitting streak, getting a hit in 14 consecutive contests entering tonight's games.
"New Guy" Journal Entry: York Revolution P Matt Hirsh has posted a new journal entry, and you're going to want to check it out by clicking here. Just to clarify something on there, I cover Somerset, I don't work for them. Wouldn't mind a few extra zeroes at the end of my paycheck -- but unfortunately, that isn't the case.
To ask Matt a question for our "Ask The New Guy" segment, e-mail me at mashmore@patriotsbaseball.com, and selected questions will appear here.
Lancaster Adding A Pitcher?: There's a rumor floating around that Lancaster may be adding a pitcher very recently released by an American League East organization. Stay tuned. - MA
June 14, 2007
Headlines: Housel No Longer Streaking...Deitrick Un-Retires...Ducks Add Three...Game Recaps...Longball List...Currier News...Most Improved Player...Patriots Welcome Three Millionth Fan...Photos O' The Day
"House" had his hitting streak come to an end on Tuesday
Housel No Longer Streaking: He got a hit in the first game of the Road Warriors doubleheader against the Bears, but couldn't connect in three at-bats during the second game.
With that, David Housel's 13-game hitting streak came to an end on Tuesday. It was the second longest this season, with teammate Vito Chiaravolloti's 16-game streak still leading the pack.
Camden's L.J. Biernbaum tied Housel last night, putting together his own a string of 13 straight contests with a hit. Biernbaum now owns the longest active streak.
Chiaravolloti and Biernbaum were tied for the longest streak of games reaching base until last night, with both having held 22-game marks. Interestingly enough, both had reached base in every road game they played -- of course, all Chiaravolloti plays are road games -- until Chiaravolloti's streak ended with an 0-for-4 performance in Newark.
Biernbaum extended his road streak to 19 games last night, and broke his tie with Chiaravolloti in the process, reaching base in his 23rd straight game.
Deitrick Un-Retires: The Lancaster New Era's Jason Guarente is reporting that Barnstormers C Jeremy Deitrick has un-retired and come back to the team.
You may remember that Lancaster had four backstops at one point. One week, a trade, an injury and a retirement later and they were down to one.
Deitrick will back up Russ Cleveland until Lance Burkhart returns from injury.
Manny Santana, who Lancaster traded away, has started a grand total of zero games for Somerset since the deal.
Lance Davis in 2005
Ducks Add Three: The Long Island Ducks have signed P Lance Davis, recalled OF Estee Harris from the Road Warriors and acquired OF Norm Hutchins from the Road Warriors.
Davis went 19-14 in two seasons for the Ducks, and returns to the club for the first time since 2005 he bounced around the Tigers organization last season. Davis is, of course, a former Major Leaguer -- he spent one fairly successful season with Cincinnati in 2001.
Harris' rights were owned by the Ducks, so that one I understand. Hutchins had his contract "purchased" however, and that one I don't necessarily understand.
Harris hit .259 in his first 23 games on the road. Hutchins will be making his first appearance in a Ducks uniform since 2003, and he was hitting .278 in 31 games at the time of his signing.
Norm has played for six different Atlantic League teams, and has now worn a Road Warriors and Ducks uniform twice.
And for anyone wondering about my entry in the "Hey, when do you think they're going to bring back Bill Pulsipher" office pool, I'll take July 13th.
Ducks 7 @ Bluefish 5: Long Island starter John Riedling scattered 12 hits over five innings of work to improve to 4-1 on the season as the Ducks beat the Bluefish, 7-5.
Estee Harris went 0-for-3 in his Ducks debut at DH, while Norm Hutchins was 1-for-5 with two RBI in his first game in a Long Island uniform since August 19, 2003.
Ed Yarnall also debuted for the Ducks, throwing a perfect eighth inning.
Everyone but Nick Ortiz got a hit in the Bluefish lineup. Despite the loss, the Bluefish lead the league with a team batting average of .300. Not a typo. The team is seriously hitting .300
Camden 7 @ Lancaster 6: Hi, this is L.J. Biernbaum. I've homered in EACH of my last five games and have at least 2 RBI in each of them. Affiliated teams, leave a message at the beep, and once I get done digging through all your messages, I'll be happy to get back to you.
The Camden slugger did it again last night in Lancaster, hitting his 10th longball of the season to lead Camden to a 7-6 squeaker over the freefalling Barnstormers. Angel Pena added three more RBI in the win, and Chris Fussell (also known as the league's best closer) struck out the side for his 16th save.
A four-run ninth inning by Camden wasted another quality outing by Lancaster's Josh Stevens, who has to be a prime candidate to get the start in this year's All-Star Game.
Not much went wrong for the Riversharks. Randy McGarvey, who has pretty much proved me wrong at this point of the season -- I once wrote he was best suited as a backup, went 2-for-4 to up his average to .302. Most teams don't have one catcher that's batting over .300, but McGarvey's two base knocks make the Riversharks the only team with two.
Road Warriors 4 @ Newark 5: Road Warriors reliever Darwin Soto failed to get an out in the bottom of the ninth in Newark last night, giving up consecutive singles to Javier Colina, Jose Herrera, Victor Rodriguez and Corey Smith in a dramatic, come-from-behind win for the Bears.
Casey Cahill pitched two scoreless, hitless innings of relief in his Road Warriors debut. You'll see him at least once during the team's three game series in Somerset that starts Friday.
York 5 @ Somerset 3: It might be time to put Revolution INF Ramon Nivar on your Atlantic League fantasy team. The former big leaguer went 4-for-5 with a double, two runs scored, two RBI and three stolen bases on four attempts. He also became engaged in an "irresistable force meets immovable object" contest with Somerset 2B Danny Garcia in an odd play during the sixth inning.
On an attempted steal of second, the throw by Travis Anderson appeared to hit Nivar and got away from Garcia, but stayed in the infield. Nivar thought the ball got further away than it did and started to advance towards third, but realized the ball was closer than he thought and started to retreat. Garcia attempted to get to the ball, but Nivar was in his way and both players started bumping into each other -- with Nivar trying to get back to the base and Garcia trying to get to the ball.
The umpire ruled interference on Garcia and awarded Nivar third. This got Sparky Lyle out of the dugout for a brief argument, but it was to no avail.
Anyway, Alan Zinter tied the game at three with a bottom of the ninth, two-out bomb that ended up on the train tracks according to Ryan Dunleavy's game story. But the Patriots bullpen did what the Patriots bullpen has seemed to be doing recently, and allowed York to score two runs in the tenth en route to a 5-3 win.
Last Night's Longball List: The following Atlantic Leaguers went yard last night...
CAM - L.J. Biernbaum (10)
CAM - Angel Pena (6)
SOM - Alan Zinter (4)
LAN - Jutt Hileman (4)
LAN - Mike Woods (2)
LAN - Quincy Foster (1)
RW - Jorge Mejia (1)
Currier News: A few days back, I gave you the short list of former Atlantic Leaguers who now play in the independent Golden Baseball League. Since then, Rik Currier has popped up in the box scores...
Currier (2006 Riversharks) now pitches for the Long Beach Armada of Los Angeles of California of the United States of North America Including Barrow, Alaska.
No, seriously. That's the entire team name. Not at all gimmicky or anything.
Most Improved Player: My note about the improved play of Camden catcher Randy McGarvey made me think about spotlighting other players who have stepped up their game since last season.
Lance Burkhart - The original Barnstormer was a disappointment last season, hitting just .222 in 98 games. It's really hard to call anyone on that team a disappointment, especially considering he did hit 16 home runs and drive in 57 runs last year.
But the recently injured catcher has upped his average by 73 points and is on pace to post similar home run and RBI totals.
Travis Wade - Wade went 2-7 with a 5.08 ERA in 64 games for the Newark Bears last season, and was somewhat of an afterthought in the deal that sent Erick Almonte's rights to Newark. But Wade has turned things around, going 1-0 with a 1.96 ERA in his first 16 games with Long Island.
His 1.04 WHIP leads the team, and he's allowed just four earned runs in 18.1 innings of work.
Sandy Aracena - Aracena hit .239 on last year's Road Warriors squad, but has upped his average to .313 this season, an increase of 74 points.
He walked just 26 times all of last season, but already has ten this year as well.
David Housel - Errors aside, Housel has stepped up his offensive game in a big way this season, improving on a rough 2006 season that saw him hit just .205 while splitting time between the Surf and Road Warriors.
This season with the Road Warriors, Housel already has put together a 13-game hitting streak, and has a batting average of .267. His three home runs this season already top his lone longball from last year as well.
Chris Eickhorst - It's hard not to improve on a season in which you go 1-15, but Eickhorst has come out of the gate strong this year, allowing just two earned runs in his first six outings with the team.
After posting a 5.44 ERA last year, Eick's 2.57 mark this year is nearly three runs better than his 2006 total.
Elliott Ayala - Nobody expected this out of Elliott Ayala, especially after he hit just .233 and drove in only one run in 12 games at the end of the season with Somerset in 2006.
But Ayala has become an everyday player for the Patriots this season and has certainly earned it, hitting .300 with 13 RBI in his first 34 games. He's also impressed team officials with his versatility.
Think I left someone out? Leave your thoughts in the comments section...
Patriots Welcome Three Millionth Fan: The Somerset Patriots welcomed their three millionth fan tonight. The family received season tickets, various team memorabilia and thirty 100 Grand candy bars.
Photos O' The Day:
Road Warriors first baseman Vito Chiaravolloti earlier this season
Danny Bautista, York outfielder
- Mike Ashmore
June 13, 2007
AL Player To Portray AL Manager In TV Series: If this isn't the most fun story of the year, then I don't know what is. According to this article in the Terre Haute (IN) News, Road Warriors P Aric LeClair will portray Somerset Patriots manager Sparky Lyle in the upcoming ESPN series, "The Bronx is Burning."
The article also notes that Somerset Patriots OF Elliott Ayala was cast as Roy White.
As for LeClair, he told the paper that one of the biggest problems during filming was trying to replicate the ace reliever's famous mustache.
“I tried to grow one, but I don’t grow a mustache too well,” he said. “So they threw a mustache on me and they liked it. We just needed to look similar, since we were mostly in background scenes.”
According to IMDB.com, former Newark Bears P Tim Keinath will also be in the series, playing Mike Torres.
Max Casella, who you might remember as Vinnie Delpino from Doogie Howser, M.D., will play Dick Howser. Finally, he gets to play D. Howser. Probably not worth noting, but still...
Anyway, the Road Warriors come in to Somerset on Friday. Suffice it to say I'll try to find LeClair and ask him about this a little bit more in-depth...
13 year MLB veteran pitcher Frank Castillo (Photo: Ashmore)
Castillo Talks About Career: P Frank Castillo is scheduled to make his first Atlantic League start tonight at Commerce Bank Ballpark against the Patriots.
I spent about five minutes with the 13-year Major League veteran before yesterday's marathon, and here's how it went...
MA: You spent your first six and a half seasons in the big leagues with the Cubs, what are some of your fondest memories of pitching there?
Castillo: It was fun. It's a great city, great ballpark. It's a great organization, the only thing was that we didn't win while I was there. But I definitely enjoyed my time there, I probably had some of my best years there.
MA: Curt Schilling was one out away from a no-hitter the other day. Did that bring back any memories of when you were an out away against the Cardinals back in 1995?
Castillo: It was a little deja vu, it was pretty much the same situation. I had eight and two thirds of no-hit ball, and then I had two strikes on Bernard Gilkey. I had him 0-2, and then it went to 3-2. I left a fastball up, and he punched it to right field.
MA: A few years after you left the Cubs, you ended up pitching for Boston. Both are big baseball towns that have a lot of fans that want to win now. What was it like pitching for the Red Sox, and how would you compare the two experiences?
Castillo: They're both similar, but I think there's more pressure in Boston for them to win. I played on some good teams, we just ended up behind the Yankees. In '04, I got called up for about a week or ten days and got in a couple games. I spent the whole year in Triple-A, but when they won the World Series, they actually gave me a ring. I had a great time, they have some pretty intense fans.
MA: Like you said, you weren't on the 2004 Red Sox very long. But when you got into that clubhouse, could you tell it was going to be different than it was when you were there in '01 and '02?
Castillo: Yeah. We had a good team in '02, but in '04 we had some big horses with Schilling, and Pedro and Derek Lowe. They knew they had the horses to win it, and they had a good lineup. I guess you could tell they were going to make the playoffs, but I don't know about the World Series. But they did it, and it was good to see.
MA: Johnny Damon labeled that year's team as "The Idiots." Take me inside that clubhouse, what was it really like being in there?
Castillo: It was like living in a frat house, that type of thing. Guys came in and had a good time. They just wanted to have fun and win games, and that's what they did. It carried on throughout the whole year. Even when they went down 3-0 (to the Yankees in the ALCS), they were so loose that they were the right team to be able to overcome that. And sure enough, they did.
MA: The Red Sox had a big ring ceremony on Opening Day in 2005. I know you were with the Marlins organization then -- were you able to be a part of that?
Castillo: I didn't get to do the ring ceremony, they actually sent it to my house. I was in Albuquerque, in Triple-A with the Marlins.
MA: Must be nice to go to the mailbox and find a World Series ring in there...
Castillo: Oh yeah. It's pretty cool when you open it up, it was pretty amazing.
MA: You ended up not pitching in 2006. What led to that decision?
Castillo: I didn't pitch at all, I kind of just shut it down. I didn't really get any offers, so I figured I'd pitched in my last game that year. This year, I had a tryout with the Reds in February, I think it was, but nothing came of it, so I pretty much decided that I wasn't going to play this year. But after a couple months at home, and being home last year, I got the itch. I was watching games on TV, so I decided to give it one more go and see if I can have fun and still enjoy it.
MA: You were pretty close to coming to Somerset a few years back. What ever happened with that?
Castillo: I was actually pretty close to coming. A good friend of mine, (Patriots hitting coach at the time) Danny Perez is from my hometown called me and it was pretty close, but I signed with the Pirates right before I was scheduled to come here.
MA: You have two strikes against you in that you're 38 years old and right handed. How realistic do you think your chances are of getting back to affiliated baseball?
Castillo: I don't know. You want to get picked up, but I basically came here just to see if there's anything left in the tank. If something happens, great. If not, it's no sweat off my back. I've enjoyed the game, I've had my time in the big leagues. I just want to see if I can have fun and enjoy it, and just take it from there.
MA: So how important is (tonight's) start in gauging what exactly is left in the tank?
Castillo: It's important. Any time you go out on the field, you want to do well. It'll be my second time out, and hopefully I can gauge where I'm at. Hopefully I can still compete and throw well. We'll see what happens.
Rueckel Signs With Fish: Following his mid-May release from the Washington Nationals organization, P Dan Rueckel was out of baseball. That changed yesterday when he was signed and activated by the Bridgeport Bluefish.
Rueckel carried a 28-21 career record and 3.46 ERA into this season, but the reliever struggled in his call-up to Triple-A Columbus, posting a 16.62 ERA in four outings.
However, oddly enough, he held the opposition to a .071 batting average, allowing eight runs on six walks and just one hit.
The team also placed OF Bobby Darula and P Sean Fesh on the disabled list.
Pitcher Available: The Yankees cut Double-A pitcher Paul Thorp yesterday, and if he doesn't get picked up by an organization, he might be a nice fit in someone's bullpen.
He's not going to blow anyone away with his stuff, and he's not going to be the best athlete you've got by any means, but he's a solid pitcher who was 0-1 with one save and a 2.40 ERA at the time of his release.
I'd be surprised to see him in the Atlantic League, but I was surprised to see him get cut too, so...
Yesterday's News: Check out yesterday's post for some photos from the Revolution-Patriots game and the latest installment of "Ask The New Guy."
To send your question to Matt Hirsh, e-mail me at mashmore AT patriotsbaseball.com - Mike Ashmore
June 12, 2007
Revolution starter Matt Hirsh
Ask The New Guy With Matt Hirsh: York Revolution P Matt Hirsh will take the hill at Somerset's Commerce Bank Ballpark for the second time in his career today.
But what does he do to prepare himself on the day of a start? A fan at the ballpark read Matt's journal entry at his website and wanted me to ask the former Astros draft pick about his pre-game routine...
Matt's Answer: My pre-game routine before a start is just as, if not, more important than what I do to prepare myself on the field. The game of baseball is 99% mental. If one is not mentally prepared to do anything, then it is my belief that one will not succeed. For me, being mentally prepared to go out and throw a game is just as important as my arm being healthy. If my mind is not focused on what I need to do then I will not be able to focus and concentrate on the task at hand. It sounds a bit complicated but I assure you it's not. I didn't really come up with the routine, rather, I just follow a routine that I practice in the off-season. About 6 weeks before spring training, I attend a yoga and long toss camp put on by Alan Jaeger of Jaeger Sports (www.jaegersports.com). Alan has worked with countless major leaguers, most notably Barry Zito, on being mentally focused and prepared to pitch. The mental side of baseball is the most important part of the game, yet, is the least practiced aspect among baseball players. This 6 week camp was developed by Alan to prepare the mind and body for a full season of baseball. The exercises we practice in the yoga studio are the same ones I do before I prepare for a game, so I'll take you through my typical pre-game routine.
First, I wait until the team goes out to stretch and take batting practice, so I can have the clubhouse to myself. It's important for me to have a quiet place to get into my pre-game routine. After the team leaves, I find a comfortable spot to lie down, either the training room table or on the floor with a towel for a pillow. I put on my headphones and listen to a CD that was given to all the players who attended the Jaeger camp, which contains our mental training and breathing exercises. The track is 25 minutes long and takes me through our warm-up routine that we do during the camp. After I listen to that I feel calm and relaxed, both mentally and physically. Then I start to do some stretching and yoga poses to get my body loose and get my blood flowing. Breathing is the most important part of this whole process, which is why I spend the first 25 minutes listening to the CD, which focuses on the breath. I spend about 20 or 30 minutes stretching and doing yoga poses before I lie down again for another meditation session. During this meditation session, I listen to relaxing yoga music and again, focus on my breath. Focusing on my breath allows me to be present. By being present I mean that if I focus on nothing but my breath, I can't focus on anything else going on around me, past or present, which in turn, allows me to relax. I do this meditation for about 20 minutes or so and by the time I'm finished everybody is usually filtering in from batting practice. I then get dressed and get out to the field about 30 minutes prior to game time. I spend the first 10 minutes or so stretching again and getting my legs loose. After I stretch, I do my surgical tubing exercises to get my arm loose. The surgical tubing I have are called J-Bands. They're made by Jaeger Sports and are a vital part of my warm-up routine. After my tubing exercises, I'm ready to start throwing. I warm up with about 10 or 15 minutes of long toss (up to 250 feet) and then go to the bullpen to warm up for the game. I throw about 30 or 40 pitches in the bullpen and then I'm ready for the game.
No matter how I perform, I will always follow this routine. Baseball players are said to be the most superstitious athletes, but when it comes to my pre-game routine, I stick to what I know and what works for me. This routine gets me mentally and physically prepared to throw.
Walker Signed By Rockies; Shier Signed By 'Sharks: The Camden Riversharks have lost arguably the best starter in the league, Kevin Walker. He led the league with a 1.74 ERA and had a 4-1 record at the time of his signing. The Rockies picked him up, and he'll be pitching in Triple-A on Thursday.
The Riversharks have signed INF Pete Shier to replace him. Shier has previous Atlantic League experience, having played for the Nashua Pride several years ago.
Piedra Signed By A's; Yarnall Signed By Ducks: The Oakland Athletics have signed Long Island Ducks OF Jorge Piedra and will likely be assigned to Triple-A.
Taking his spot on the roster will be -- you guessed it -- a former Major Leaguer. P Ed Yarnall is a Duck, and he brings big league time with -- you guessed it -- the New York Yankees with him.
Cahill Cut: With the activation of OF Jose Morban, a roster move needed to be made on the Somerset Patriots. P Casey Cahill was the victim, leaving with no record and a 5.68 ERA. Cahill had his contract assigned to the Road Warriors, meaning Patriots fans will see him in a few days.
Castillo Speaks: I caught up with York Revolution P Frank Castillo before today's game in Somerset. Castillo talked about his time on the Cubs, Curt Schilling's near no-hitter bringing back memories of his own flirtation with history, and about being one of the "Idiots" that brought Boston their first World Series in 86 years.
Quotes tonight or tomorrow.
Monday Photo Gallery:
Revolution outfielder Peter Bergeron
Former Patriots All-Star Matt Dryer
Matt Hirsh long tosses before the game
Hirsh in the bullpen
Former Riversharks infielder Ramon Nivar
Ever wonder what that patch is on the jerseys? Now you know.
The obligatory "Hey, look! A rainbow!" shot.
Kaz Tanaka, batting ninth tonight.
- Mike Ashmore
June 11, 2007
Ask The New Guy: Matt Hirsh will get the nod for the York Revolution in Somerset tomorrow night, and hopefully he's earned a few new fans from our "Ask The New Guy" segment, which is now prominently featured on his Brothers in Arms website.
We'll have a new question and answer up tomorrow, and your question can be next. You can e-mail your question to mashmore@patriotsbaseball.com, or ask me at the ballpark...which is actually how our next question was submitted.
To find out how the website got started, which Matt shares with his big league brother, Jason, check out this article in today's Rocky Mountain News.
Southern Maryland Has Crabs!: The Southern Maryland Blue Crabs unveiled their logo today, and you can check it out here. The Blue Crabs are scheduled to start play in 2008. - MA
Redman Turns Red: Former York Revolution stud Tike Redman made news today for being the man that pitcher Kenny Rogers -- not the singer or chicken restaurant owner -- picked off in a rehab stint with the Detroit Tigers Triple-A team.
In related news, Redman never called me back. I still can't put together Tike Redman and the classical music that plays as his ring-back tone. - Scott Stanchak
(I best remember Rogers as being the first guy to flat out turn me down for an interview back in 2005 - MA)
Espada Gets 1,000th Hit: Congrats to Atlantic League veteran INF Angel Espada, who recorded his 1,000th career hit yesterday.
"It's not bad for a small kid from Salinas that wasn't supposed play more than one year in professional baseball,'' Espada said in a team release.
"I'm still doing it so I guess I have proven a lot of people wrong. They doubted my ability. They doubted my talent. But I always believed in myself and the things I could do.'' -MA
June 10, 2007
Headlines: WHIP It Good...More Fun in the World of WHIP...Catching Up...Photo Gallery...York Quietly Signs Players...
WHIP It Good?: Somerset Patriots manager Sparky Lyle recently stated that he wanted to get the team's roster down from 26 to 24 after Jose Morban returns on Tuesday.
A lot of Patriots insiders are speculating that at least one of the cuts may come from the bullpen. So here's a look at some statistics from the current eight members of the relief crew.
It is worth pointing out that Urban has appeared in one game, and Knight has pitched in four.
WHIP (Walks and Hits per Inning Pitched)
Jeff Urban - 0.43
Saul Solveson - 1.04
R.D. Spiehs - 1.12
Tony Peralta - 1.31
Brandon Knight - 1.33
Jason Richardson - 1.44
Casey Cahill - 1.68
Sam Marsonek - 2.05
ERA (Earned Run Average)
Jeff Urban - 0.00
R.D. Spiehs - 2.65
Saul Solveson - 2.76
Jason Richardson - 3.63
Casey Cahill - 5.68
Brandon Knight - 6.00
Sam Marsonek - 6.75
Tony Peralta - 6.92
(Batting Average Against)
Jeff Urban - .125
Saul Solveson - .224
R.D. Spiehs - .234
Jason Richardson - .242
Brandon Knight - .261
Tony Peralta - .271
Casey Cahill - .296
Sam Marsonek - .333
Who should Somerset cut? What's your take? Put it in the comments section...
More Fun In The World Of WHIP: Bridgeport's Franklin Perez, who has other ridiculous statistics as an 0.52 ERA and .105 batting average against in 16 games, also has a WHIP of 0.98
Camden's WHIP leader is Ramon Linares, who has allowed a filthy 0.79 walks and hits per inning pitched. He also averages more than a strikeout per inning.
Derrick DePriest has an ungodly 0.61 WHIP for Lancaster, having allowed just eight hits and three walks in 18 innings of work.
Travis Wade is Long Island's surprise WHIP leader, with an 0.85 mark. What makes that more surprising is the former Bear is dead last on the team with six strikeouts.
The Bears, Road Warriors, Patriots and Revolution do not have active players with a WHIP under one.
Catching Up?: Well, not exactly. The league average is .274, while the league's catchers are hitting at a .254 clip. The numbers only include active catchers, so players like Jeremy Deitrick and Michel Hernandez are not included.
Bridgeport: .208; Fleming Baez, John Nathans, Tommy Rojas (32/154)
Camden: .320; Ben Davis, Randy McGarvey (39/122)
Lancaster: .321; Lance Burkhart, Russ Cleveland (43/145)
Long Island: .229; Jamie Pogue, Jared Price (24/105)
Newark: .192; John Pachot, Jason Torres (24/125)
Road Warriors: .283; Sandy Aracena, Manny Mejia (47/166)
Somerset: .182; Travis Anderson, Manny Santana (14/77)
York: .295; Greg Brown, Luis Taveras (31/105)
However, you can't look at batting average when it comes to determining who's good behind the plate.
For example, Newark's John Pachot is more comfortable behind the dish as compared to standing beside it, leading the league with a 55% success rate (11/20) of throwing out attempted base stealers.
On the other hand, Ben Davis is probably the best offensive catcher in the Atlantic League -- with Sandy Aracena not far behind. But both are among the most run on backstops in the league, with a league high 28 runners attempting to steal on Davis, and Aracena not far behind with 26.
Davis has thrown out just six of those 28 runners, while Aracena has been more successful by stopping 12 of the 26 who've tried his arm.
So why isn't the catching better?
In speaking with one person in charge of a team's player procurement, he said that "there really isn't a lot out there" in terms of backstops.
Patriots manager Sparky Lyle also recently said that "we probably still wouldn't have anybody" backing up Travis Anderson had Lancaster not dealt them Manny Santana.
With Hernandez gone, Davis is the only catcher in the league with big league experience.
Tommy Rojas has one game of Triple-A experience, Lance Burkhart has 32 AAA games to his name, Jared Price has 66 and Pachot leads the group with 299.
The remaining 13 have not reached the highest level of the minors.
So who's the best catcher in the Atlantic League?
Is it Aracena? Davis? Does Burkhart get considered? How about Luis Taveras?
Nobody thought he'd be included in this conversation when Opening Day was around the corner.
Does Pachot's arm get him the nod?
Well, who is it? Leave your thoughts in the comments section...
Sunday Photo Gallery:
Brandon Knight, one of the newest Patriots
Greg Powell, my preseason pick for Pitcher of the Year
Craig Paquette, hitting just .179 so far in his return to baseball
Camden backup backstop Randy McGarvey, a surprise part of the bench today
AL veteran outfielder Dwight Maness
Got Milko? Camden does...
Matt DeMarco, hitting ninth and playing second.
Matt DeMarco and NASCAR's Kurt Busch...separated at birth?
Denny Abreu, back for another year...
York Signs Two Big Leaguers: As tempting as it is to not publicize the signings of these two players, since the Revolution obviously have no interest in doing so, I can't just let them go by unnoticed.
Anyway, the team has signed former Major League pitchers Frank Castillo and Steve Smyth.
Castillo may be a name you know. The 38-year-old is a veteran of 13 big league seasons, and has pitched for the Cubs, Rockies, Tigers, Blue Jays, Red Sox and Marlins. He also was fairly close to signing with the Patriots several years back, and Adam Gladstone clearly didn't delete his number from his cell phone.
Smyth appeared in eight games for the 2002 Cubs, going 1-3 with a 9.35 ERA. He spent the past two seasons with San Diego of the independent Golden Baseball League.
For a team trying to attract a core fan base, they sure could be doing a lot more to promote their signings. - Mike Ashmore
June 9, 2007
(Stanley Photo: Ashmore)
Stanley Signs: Former Somerset Patriots OF Henri Stanley, once a top prospect in the Padres organization, has signed with the Can-Am League's New Haven County Cutters. Stanley is a pretty solid player, but his questionable arm appears to have held him back from reaching the highest level.
Ten Batters On The Rise:
BPT: Jay Caligiuri - .361 batting average, 11 RBI in his last ten games
BPT: Nick Ortiz - .432 batting average, 12 runs scored in his last ten games
CAM: Randy McGarvey - .500 batting average, 4 RBI in his last four games
CAM: Ben Davis - .478 batting average in last six games
LI: Damian Rolls - .526 batting average, 10 hits in his last five games
NWK: Victor Rodriguez - .412 batting average, last ten games
RW: Norm Hutchins - .480 batting average, 3 HR and 11 RBI in his last eight games
SOM: Elliott Ayala - .436 batting average, 10 runs and 17 hits in his last ten games
SOM: Jeff Nettles - .421 batting average, 4 HR and 16 RBI in his last ten games
YORK: Kaz Tanaka - .412 batting average, 4 RBI in his last five games
Streaking: After Vito Chiaravolloti's hitting streak ended, someone else needed to step up and make a run at Joe Jiannetti's 28-game record. The front-runner is Chiara...well, Vito's teammate, David Housel. The former Surf infielder carried a league-high nine game streak into last night's game. - MA
June 8, 2007
Bobbleheads Next Saturday: It's the coolest giveaway of the Atlantic League season, but you've got be one of the first 1,500 kids at Commerce Bank Ballpark on Saturday, June 16th to get one.
The Patriots are giving away a dual bobblehead before their June 16th game against the Road Warriors next Saturday night.
The gates open at 6:00 PM for the game, and Jeff Nettles will be signing free autographs on the concourse from 6:15-6:30, while his father Graig Nettles will sign on the concourse for $5 per autograph starting at 7:15.
The younger Nettles just smashed his 13th home run of the season, easily leading the league in that category.
Sparky Speaks: I caught up with Somerset Patriots manager Sparky Lyle before today's game against Camden. Here are some highlights
- Lyle expects to get the roster down to 24 players shortly. Counting the injured Jose Morban, they currently have 26.
Morban is expected to return Tuesday.
- Lyle was happy for Michel Hernandez, who was picked up by the Devil Rays and is still in the ballpark tonight.
"We knew he wouldn't last long," Lyle said.
- He's also happy to have Manny Santana back.
"I think we're very lucky that they were on the verge of releasing him, because we still wouldn't have anybody," he said.
Lyle said Santana will probably catch twice a week, which leaves Travis Anderson as the starting catcher.
"I want (Santana) to be happy here, I know he was very happy in (Lancaster)."
- Lyle has set a goal of going 6-3 during the nine game homestand, which includes three games each against Camden, York and the Road Warriors. But he also acknowledges he hasn't seen the Riversharks yet.
"They've caught on fire, they just beat Newark three in a row," Lyle said. "And Newark's tough on us."
- Lyle intends to use Jeff Urban the same way he did last season.
"If we can work him in the starting rotation if (Keith) Ramsey doesn't work out, then that's probably what we'll do," he said.
- Lyle expects the team to lose more pitchers shortly.
"I think we're going to lose (R.D.) Spiehs or (Brian) Adams pretty soon," he said, noting that both players have been asked about by teams outside of the country.
"If they go to Mexico, they're not going to get signed. But they'll get signed here. But if we can stay intact until the All-Star break, I think we have a good shot of winning the first half."
Romano Debuts Tonight: I spoke to new Somerset OF Jason Romano, who seemed to have a pretty strong interest in playing center field. The only problem is, is that Mike Lockwood's pretty good in that spot.
"Lockwood's playing a hell of a center field right now," Lyle said.
"I'll probably DH Mike one day and put him in center field and see what he's got."
Romano said he was sitting at home doing nothing, got bored, and wanted to play again. He'll be in left field tonight.
Melo Out, 'Stormers Sign One: The Washington Nationals organization have released INF Juan Melo. Melo, who pretty much tore it up while with the Lancaster Barnstormers, would pretty much be a lock to return to the league if he wanted to. He's the kind of player you find a spot for, regardless of who you have.
Also, Jason Guarente is reporting that Melo's former squad has signed OF Steve Booker. Booker will join his fifth independent league in as many seasons, and is a career .279 hitter.
While playing in Quebec in 2003, his manager was current Camden skipper Joe Ferguson.
Kind of an odd signing, I don't really see where Booker fits into the lineup -- and the team already has a fourth outfielder in Dominick Ambrosini, who can probably start on a few teams. Perhaps they're stocking up in anticipation of a deal...
AL Alums In The GBL: The Golden Baseball League's season kicked off last night, and here's who popped up in the boxscores...
Chris Wakeland - Long Beach Armada (Camden, Somerset)
Peanut Williams - Orange County Flyers (Bridgeport)
Pascual Matos - Yuma Scorpions (Nashua) - MA
June 7, 2007
Manny Santana (2004 photo: Ashmore)
Stormers, Somerset Make Moves: The Somerset Patriots have re-acquired C Manny Santana from the Lancaster Barnstormers for future considerations. Considering a player in the league was once traded for a few steak dinners, who knows what the hell that will end up being.
Anyway, Santana last played for the Patriots during their abysmal 2004 season, where he hit .245 with five home runs and 36 RBI in 82 games. He was a member of the Barnstormers 2006 championship team and got sporadic time with this year's squad.
Both Jason Guarente and Ryan Dunleavy are reporting that the move was necessitated by Somerset losing C Michel Hernandez to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays organization, where he's been assigned to Triple-A Durham.
The former Yankee was hitting a robust .342 with three home runs and 16 RBI, but what's unquestionably his most impressive stat is his 19 walks compared to three strikeouts. That's not a typo. 19 BB/3 K. Damn.
Guarente also writes that Lancaster C Jeremy Deitrick has retired. Deitrick actually wasn't playing that badly, hitting .257 with six RBI in ten games. But with Russ Cleveland assuming the backup catcher spot, there was little playing time to be had for the former Surf backstop.
Somerset also officially announced the acquisitions of P Jeff Urban and OF Jason Romano.
Fun With Atlantic League Alumni: Here are the stats of various alumni around the league. This took a good two hours to do, which clearly squashes any rumors of me not having a life or anything...
Atlantic City
Carlos Adolfo, IND-AA, Fort Worth: .240/3/11
Dario Delgado, IND-NOR, Schaumburg: .250/1/10
Chad Gambill, IND-AA, Shreveport: .293/1/15
Demetrius Heath, IND-NOR, Schaumburg: .306/1/6
Jimmy Hurst, IND-NOR, Winnipeg: .250/4/12
Matt Imwalle, IND-AA, Sioux Falls: .313/5/18
Alex Llanos, IND-AA, Sioux City: .272/0/9
Dusty Maddox, IND-AA, Shreveport: 206/2/10
Wil Quintana, IND-AA, Sioux Falls: .327/6/14
Jose Velazquez, IND-AA, Nashua: .184/0/6
Clyde Williams, IND-CANAM, New Jersey: .667/1/2
Julian Yan, MEX, Aguascalientes: .290/22/59
Domingo Acosta, IND-FRON, Florence: 0-0-2, 1.08
Tony Pierce, IND-AA, St. Paul: 0-0-1, 3.38
Dan Reichert, IND-AA, Lincoln: 2-0-0, 3.20
Jamie Tricoglou, IND-AA, St. Paul: 0-1-3, 4.40
Bridgeport
Jose Amado, MEX, Aguascalientes: .354/2/19
Darryl Brinkley, IND-NOR, Calgary: .375/4/19
Gary Burnham, AAA, Ottawa: .336/0/23
Alex Fernandez, AA, Altoona: .269/1/12
Chris Latham, IND-NOR, Winnipeg: .154/1/6
Alex Llanos, IND-AA, Sioux City: .272/0/9
Bryant Nelson, MEX, Tijuana: .267/4/22
Willis Otanez, MEX, Veracruz: .347/11/54
Carlos Rodriguez, IND-CANAM, North Shore: .304/2/7
Tino Sanchez, AA, Tulsa: .111/1/3
Barry Wesson, AAA, Round Rock: .246/2/7
Luis Arroyo, IND-UNI, Laredo: 3-1-0, 2.65
Brian Bowles, AAA, Fresno: 0-2-0, 7.16
Luther Hackman, AAA, Nashville: 0-0-9, 2.57
Josh Miller, AAA, Round Rock, 0-1-0, 1.29
Jason Simontacchi, MLB, Washington: 2-3-0, 5.28
Colin Young, IND-AA, Pensacola: 1-3-0, 4.68
Camden
Stephen Drew, MLB, Arizona: .247/1/20
Alex Llanos, IND-AA, Sioux City: .272/0/9
Luis Lopez, MEX, Minatitlin, .311/2/17
Pedro Swann, AAA, Ottawa: .211/0/6
Eddie Wilson, IND-UNI, Edinburg: .250/1/9
Shaun Babula, AAA, Charlotte: 2-0-0, 2.51
Kane Davis, AAA, Ottawa: 1-1-2, 2.33
Mark DiFelice, AA, Huntsville: 2-1-0, 2.48
Travis Phelps, AA, Corpus Christi: 0-0-0, 16.20
Lancaster
Jason Bowers, AA, Altoona: .271/2/9
Eric Crozier, AA, Portland: .208/5/26
Dario Delgado, IND-NOR, Schaumburg: .250/1/10
Alex Derhak, IND-FRON, Chillicothe: .222/1/7
Keith Maxwell, IND-FNOR, Schaumburg: .219/0/5
Juan Melo, AA, Harrisburg: .254/4/23
Jose Ortiz, MEX, Saltillo: .404/16/57
Reggie Taylor, MEX, Tabasco: .313/9/31
Clyde Williams, IND-CANAM, New Jersey: .667/1/2
Domingo Acosta, IND-FRON, Florence: 0-0-2, 1.08
*Edisbel Benitez, IND-CANAM, Sussex: 1-1-0, 1.93
Chris Clem, IND-FRON, River City: 0-1-0, 7.47
Derek Griffith, IND-FRON, Slippery Rock: 1-0-0, 0.00
Scott Patterson, AA, Trenton: 2-1-1, 1.20
Charlie Weatherby, A, Clearwater: 0-0-2, 4.88
Long Island
Erick Almonte, AA, Erie: .322/2/6
Anton French, MEX, Tijuana: .250/1/1
Bucky Jacobsen, MEX, Tabasco: .229/1/7
Chris Latham, IND-NOR, Winnipeg: .154/1/6
Donny Leon, MEX, Puebla: .354/22/56
Wil Quintana, IND-AA, Sioux Falls: .327/6/14
Mel Stocker, AA, Huntsville: .227/0/14
Steve Torrealba, AA, Erie: .228/3/12
Luis Arroyo, IND-UNI, Laredo: 3-1-0, 2.65
Cory Bailey: AAA, Iowa, 0-1-3, 3.32
Brian Bowles, AAA, Fresno: 0-2-0, 7.16
Pat Mahomes, AA-IND, Sioux Falls: 4-0-0, 1.89
Jim Mann, IND-CANAM, Nashua: 1-0-0, 0.00
Damian Moss, IND-SCL, Macon: 0-0-, 6.75
Bill Pulsipher, MEX, Yucatan: 1-4-0, 5.88
Ken Ray, AAA, Omaha: 2-1-2, 4.32
Andy Shibilo, MEX, Tijuana: 4-1-13, 1.88
Brad Whitworth, IND-CANAM, New Haven: 1-1-0, 0.92
Colin Young, IND-AA, Pensacola: 1-3-0, 4.68
Nashua
Larry Bethea, IND-CANAM, Sussex: .111/0/0
Ricardo Cordova, IND-CANAM, North Shore: .208/0/1
Tom Creighton, IND-CANAM, Nashua: .325/0/1
Jimmy Hurst, IND-NOR, Winnipeg: .250/4/12
Francisco Lebron, IND-CANAM, Brockton: .333/2/6
James Lofton, IND-AA, Coastal Bend: .307/2/20
Carlos Rodriguez, IND-CANAM, North Shore: .304/2/7
Mike Torres, IND-CANAM, North Shore: .390/1/5
Eddie Wilson, IND-UNI, Edinburg: .250/1/9
Ned Darley, IND-AA, El Paso: 3-0-6, 0.69
Brendan Donnelly, MLB, Boston: 2-1-0, 3.38
Brad Guy, IND-AA, Sioux City: 0-4-0, 4.08
Matt Hammons, MEX, Norte: 5-3-7, 3.65
Jim Mann, IND-CANAM, Nashua: 1-0-0, 0.00
Colin Young, IND-AA, Pensacola: 1-3-0, 4.68
Newark
Sharnol Adriana, MEX, Tabasco: .394/6/32
Matt Brunson, IND-AA, St. Paul: .323/0/4
Dario Delgado, IND-NOR, Schaumburg: .250/1/10
Melvin Falu, IND-AA, Shreveport: .316/0/16
Alexis Hernandez, IND-UNI, Edinburg: .243/2/15
Jimmy Hurst, IND-NOR, Winnipeg: .250/4/12
Francisco Lebron, IND-CANAM, Brockton: .333/2/6
Pete Maestrales, A, Frederick: .202/1/10
Joe Mathis, IND-NOR, Fargo-Moorhead: .371/6/16
Keith Maxwell, IND-FNOR, Schaumburg: .219/0/5
Jerson Perez, IND-CANAM, North Shore: .270/0/8
Wil Quintana, IND-AA, Sioux Falls: .327/6/14
*Jarod Rine, IND-FRON, Washington: .314/1/9
Chris Torres, IND-CANAM, North Shore: .286/0/0
Domingo Acosta, IND-FRON, Florence: 0-0-2, 1.08
Shaun Babula, AAA, Charlotte: 2-0-0, 2.51
Joe Borowski, MLB, Cleveland: 0-2-17, 6.75
Joe Gannon, A, Winston-Salem: 0-1-0, 13.50
David Glick, IND-AA, St. Joe: 0-4-0, 6.59
*Aaron Ledbetter, IND-FRON, Washington: 2-0-0, 1.27
Jose Lima, MEX, Saltillo: 8-2-0, 4.15
Eric Montoya, IND-UNI, Edinburg: 1-0-0, 2.11
Gerry Oakes, A, San Jose: 0-0-0, 6.48
Fernando Rijo, IND-CANAM, Sussex: 0-0-0, 6.00
Darryl Roque, MEX, Laguna: 0-1-0, 5.68
R.J. Swindle, A, Lakewood: 0-0-2, 2.08
J.J. Trujillo, AA, Reading: 0-1-0, 7.71
Rolando Viera, IND-CANAM, Brockton: 1-1-0, 3.65
Road Warriors
Abner Arroyo, IND-AA, Sioux Falls: .287/3/17
David Cardona, IND-UNI, Rio Grande: .313/4/10
Orlando Cruz, IND-UNI, Laredo: 368/0/8
Melvin Falu, IND-AA, Shreveport: .316/0/16
Sheldon Fulse, A, Hagerstown: .217/0/4
Alexis Hernandez, IND-UNI, Edinburg: .243/2/15
Juan Lebron, IND-UNI, Laredo: .322/4/25
Alhaji Turay, IND-FRON: .269/0/3
Luis Arroyo, IND-UNI, Laredo: 3-1-0, 2.65
Edisbel Benitez, IND-CANAM, Sussex: 1-1-0, 1.93
Chris Clem, IND-FRON, River City: 0-1-0, 7.47
Tim Kester, AAA, Norfolk: 3-5-0, 6.13
Josh Neitz, IND-AA, El Paso: 1-3-0, 7.40
Brad Whitworth, IND-CANAM, New Haven: 1-1-0, 0.92
Colin Young, IND-AA, Pensacola: 1-3-0, 4.68
Somerset
Larry Barnes, AAA, Las Vegas: .061/0/2
Robinson Cancel, AAA, New Orleans: .250/1/6
Edgard Clemente, MEX, Laguna: .000/0/0
Anton French, MEX, Tijuana: .250/1/1
*Sean Gamble, IND-CANAM, Grays: .333/1/7
Noah Hall, AA, Trenton: .273/3/19
Juan Lebron, IND-UNI, Laredo: .322/4/25
Alex Llanos, IND-AA, Sioux City: .272/0/9
Fernando Lunar, AA, Mississippi: .111/0/0
Jeremy Owens, AAA, Durham: .211/3/12
*Tyrone Pendergrass, IND-CANAM, Grays: .304/0/4
George Sandel, IND-NOR, Edmonton: .295/0/5
Hector Almonte, MEX, Norte: 1-2-1, 5.94
Jason Anderson, AAA, Ottawa: 0-1-0, 6.60
Luis Arroyo, IND-UNI, Laredo: 3-1-0, 2.65
Kane Davis, AAA, Ottawa: 1-1-2, 2.33
Mark DiFelice, AA, Huntsville: 2-1-0, 2.48
Dave Elder, MEX, Laguna: 2-1-0, 3.78
Joe Gannon, A, Winston-Salem: 0-1-0, 13.50
Mike Johnson, IND-NOR, Edmonton, 0-0-4, 0.00
Brandon Puffer, AA, Frisco, 2-0-0, 2.28
Keith Ramsey, A, Bakersfield, 0-2-0, 15.63
Chris Rojas, AA, Reading: 1-0-0, 3.00
Jason Shelley, IND-NOR, Gary: 0-0-0, 5.29
Jason Shiell, AAA, Omaha, 0-2-2, 3.07
Joe Winkelsas, AA, Mississippi, 0-2-0, 1.83
York
Tike Redman, AAA, Norfolk, .289/1/7
Ryan Baerlocher, AAA, Richmond: 0-0-0, 6.00
Adam Thomas, A, Stockton: 2-0-0, 0.00
Other
Chris Gibson, IND-FRON, Gateway: .405/0/5
Gibson, son of Hall of Famer Bob Gibson, showcased himself at Commerce Bank Ballpark last season with the hopes of being signed by an AL team.
NOTE: AC and Nashua may be incomplete
* = Player played with team in Spring Training
AA = American Association
CANAM = Can-Am League
FRON = Frontier League
MEX = Mexican League
NOR = Northern League
SCL = South Coast League
UNI = United League
Alan Zinter - The Feature: Here's the promised feature on Somerset's Alan Zinter. It's a little different than the one you'll see in the Democrat...not one of my favorite pieces, which is entirely my fault.
Zinter Still Going At 39
by Mike Ashmore
After 1,413 minor league games, you can't blame Somerset Patriots utility player Alan Zinter for thinking the next one would be business as usual.
The Houston Astros gave Zinter an unforgettable Father's Day gift in 2002, calling him up to the big leagues in an unexpected moment in the dugout at a Triple-A game, the 1,414th of his minor league career.
"It was a normal Sunday game, and then the manager took me out in a double switch," Zinter said.
"I was in getting some water, and then the trainer got a call on his cell phone. Usually when the trainer's cell phone rings in the dugout and he says 'yes, sir' then something's going on in the front office."
But when the phone rang, Zinter didn't even think twice, instead wondering which one of his teammates would be getting the call.
"I've heard that millions of times before, and it's never been me, so it didn't startle me or alarm me or anything like that," he said. "So the trainer looks at the manager and goes, 'Can we tell him?' And the manager said, 'Yup, we can tell him.'"
With Zinter on one side of the dugout, and the manager on the other, the two were separated by six pitchers, all of whom stared at the manager, each hoping they'd be the one headed to the big leagues.
"I'm just sitting there drinking my water, wondering who's going up," Zinter recalled.
"So the manager keeps walking, and he got to the last pitcher before me, and then he looked right at me. I was backed into a corner, and I was thinking a thousand thoughts. You've got to be kidding me."
But New Orleans Zephyrs manager Chris Maloney wasn't kidding.
"He stuck his hand out and said, 'Congratulations, Bull, you' re going to the big leagues.' And I just kind of came out of my body, I lost it. Everybody was jumping on me like we just won the World Series, and I couldn't feel anything."
With his father in the stands, Zinter took off for Milwaukee with just the carry-on bag he'd brought with him. When he arrived at Miller Park, a gray Houston Astros jersey with the number 43 and his name on the back awaited him.
13 years after being picked in the first round by the New York Mets, he finally reached the big leagues at age 34.
And the Cinderella story didn't end there. In just his fifth at-bat, Zinter's first Major League hit was a home run off of Cincinnati Reds reliever Scott Williamson.
"I hit it off the facade, so it fell into our bullpen and I was able to get the ball back. I remember rounding the bases thinking that this was going to be on ESPN and all those cool things," he said.
After all the long bus rides and all the games at ballparks that had seen better days, he took every opportunity to soak in the Major League experience.
"I remember one game where I was sitting there watching Curt Schilling throw his warm-up pitches," he said.
"There was an emergency where our pitcher came out, and they came up to me and said, 'You've got to hit, you've got to hit right now.' So I went out there, and I'm digging in the box, and I look at the backdrop behind Schilling and it looked like PlayStation. I was just looking over his glove, and then I caught myself and realized I can't be thinking about PlayStation right now, I have to be thinking about hitting Schilling."
Zinter would get 44 big league at-bats that season, and then 34 more two seasons later with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
After two more Triple-A seasons, Zinter was released by the Cleveland Indians in Spring Training this year, and signed with the Patriots two weeks into the season.
The 39-year-old has struggled so far, hitting just .091 with one home run and three RBI in his first even games.
In phenomenal shape for his age, which Zinter credits to having played alongside Detroit Tigers legends Kirk Gibson and Alan Trammell towards the end of their careers in Spring Training, he still believes he has a chance at getting back to affiliated ball.
"I think it's a small shot, a small window, a small opportunity," he said.
"But there is a chance, and that's what I'm banking on. If it doesn't happen, then I've given it everything I've got."
Lyle Suggests Pay Raise: In Courier News writer Ryan Dunleavy's Patriots notebook, he writes about the team expecting their three millionth fan.
But, in talking about OF Mike Lockwood refusing an offer from Mexico, he also has a quote from manager Sparky Lyle which raises an interesting question.
"There's no reason we can't give these good players $4,500 (per month). We've been using the same pay scale for 10 years," Lyle told the paper.
As Dunleavy notes, the league has a "guideline" of a $3,000 maximum monthly salary.
Meanwhile, there are no such guidelines or salary caps or whatever term you want to use overseas. For example, one former Atlantic League pitcher, a well-known Major League veteran, is making a five-digit monthly salary in Mexico.
There is no such opportunity in the Atlantic League, which doesn't pay like it did in its early years.
But, with that said, it's still highly unlikely that the league will do anything to address the issue.
Williams To Can-Am: Former Atlantic City and Lancaster OF Clyde Williams has signed with the New Jersey Jackals of the "squeaky clean" Can-Am League.
Williams hit .222 with a home run and two RBI in three games for the Barnstormers before leaving to play with Tijuana of the Mexican League. There, he hit .220 with three home runs and 12 RBI before being released.
He made his Jackals debut at first base two nights ago, going 2-for-3 with a two-run home run.
While it's somewhat surprising he wouldn't go back to the Surf if he's going to play in that league, it's far more surprising that there's no place for him in the Atlantic League.
After all, he hit .266 with 20 home runs and 67 RBI for the Surf last season.
Caleb Comes To St. Joe: P Caleb Balbuena, who pitched for the Atlantic City Surf last season and the Camden Riversharks this year, has signed with the American Association's St. Joe Blacksnakes.
Balbuena was released by Camden after posting an 8.31 ERA in seven contests. Perhaps St. Joe will learn from Camden's mistake and only pitch him on the road...he had a 1.59 ERA away from home, and a 21.00 ERA in four games at Campbell's Field.
Last season with the Surf, his ERA was also better on the road.
Happy Birthday, Dad: The two-year anniversary of me covering my first big league game also coincides with my dad's birthday, which is no coincidence. Was nice to have him in the stands for that one...if nothing else, it was an interesting present.
So happy birthday to my dad, Bill, who turns...well, he'll be blowing out a decent amount of candles today. - Mike Ashmore
June 6, 2007
Todd's Take: Lancaster slugger Jeremy Todd has offered his take on the supposed steroid issue at his site, a take that includes an open offer to test him for steroids and HGH.
Two Suspended: Jason Guarente, who's pretty much on top of things in Lancaster, writes that the Barnstormers Chris Van Rossum and Somerset's Jon Cannon have both been suspended for three games by the league for their roles in last night's quasi-altercation.
I'd assume Van Rossum picked up his three games for bowling over Cannon in a rundown, but keep in mind that Van Rossum is an outfielder and Cannon is a starting pitcher. Basically, he'll be trading in his uniform for street clothes for a few days.
McGarvey Near Cycle In Win: C Randy McGarvey was a home run short of the cycle in Camden's 6-4 win over Newark last night. The backstop was 3-for-4, including his second triple of the season, leading the Riversharks to the win.
Greg Powell improved to 3-1 for Camden, while Newark's Carlos Mirabal allowed 13 hits in 5.2 innings in the loss.
Benches Empty (Again) In Pats Loss: Jason Guarente noted in his blog that both Chris Van Rossum and Jon Cannon were ejected for their role in a benches clearing incident that occured in the sixth inning of a 5-3 loss in Lancaster by the Patriots.
Anyway, Van Rossum, Jeremy Todd and Russ Cleveland all homered in the win.
Ducks Can't Squish The Fish: Bridgeport topped the Ducks, 12-5, to close Long Island's lead in the North Division to a half game. - Mike Ashmore, mashmore@patriotsbaseball.com
June 5, 2007
Ducks Lose Two: The Long Island Ducks have lost Randy Leek and Kevin Tolar to Taiwan. The loss of Tolar is no surprise, as I spoke to the former Red Sox pitcher in the visiting clubhouse in Somerset a few weeks back and specifically asked him if he'd go overseas. He said he'd do it in a second, and sure enough...he's gone.
Leek is the bigger loss, however, as he was 3-0 with a 3.13 ERA in five starts for Long Island.
Tolar was 0-1 with a 5.73 ERA in 15 relief appearances, clearly unable to replicate his stellar performance from last season.
I would assume that Tim Cain will be moved into the starting rotation until they can sign (insert big leaguer here).
Stevens, Sweeney And Spivey Take Monthly Awards: The Atlantic League has named Lancaster P Josh Stevens and Newark Bears starter P Matt Sweeney as the May Co-Pitchers of the Month, and Bluefish INF Junior Spivey as the Player of the Month.
It's hard to argue with either selection, as Stevens has thrown complete game shutouts in his last two outings, Sweeney leads the league in wins with five, and Spivey leads the league in hitting with a .404 average.
Bobby Brownlie (All Photos: Mike Ashmore)
Brownlie Watch: The Bobby Brownlie watch continues here at ALB. The Newark Bears starter went seven and two thirds innings last night, striking out seven batters and walking none. He had a strikeout in every inning but the first and seventh, and threw 32 balls and 62 strikes in his 94 pitch outing.
Unfortunately for him, the bullpen couldn't hold the lead, and the Patriots walked off with an 8-7 win against the struggling Jason DiAngelo.
Here's a waaaaaaay too detailed look at Brownlie's outing.
First Inning
Garcia: 3 pitches, 6-3
Olivares: 2 pitches, P-4
Lockwood: 3 pitches, F-9
Second Inning
Nettles: 1 pitch, hit to left
Pressley: 3 pitches, K
Hernandez: 6 pitches, RBI double to left-center
Leathers: 1 pitch, hit to right
Zinter: 6 pitches, strikeout (inning ends on caught stealing at home)
Third Inning
Ayala: 4 pitches, 6-3
Garcia: 4 pitches, single to right
Olivares: 3 pitches, K
Lockwood: 2 pitches, F-7
Fourth Inning
Nettles: 6 pitches, K
Pressley: 1 pitch, P-4
Hernandez: 3 pitches, 6-3
Fifth Inning
Leathers: 3 pitches, K
Zinter: 1 pitch, double to left
Ayala: 5 pitches, single to center -- Zinter out at the plate
Garcia: 4 pitches, home run to deep left center
Olivares: 2 pitches, 4-1
Sixth Inning
Lockwood: 5 pitches, K
Nettles: 1 pitch, F-8
Pressley: 4 pitches, F-8
Seventh Inning
Hernandez: 4 pitches, 6-3
Leathers: 3 pitches, 5-3
Zinter: 5 pitches, P-6
Eighth Inning
Ayala: 6 pitches, K
Garcia: 1 pitch, double
Olivares: 3 pitches, 1-3
Lockwood: 2 pitches, RBI single
Relieved by Edwin Almonte
All in all, Brownlie had four 1-2-3 innings and really only made one mistake, the home run by Danny Garcia in the fifth. He pitched a lot better than his line would indicate, and showed excellent command of his knuckle-curve. His fastball, according to a scout in attendance, was at 87-88 MPH.
Barnstormers Reliever Dealt: Jason Guarente writes that the Lancaster Barnstormers have "traded" P Manny Vazquez-Santiago to the Chillicothe Paints of the Frontier League in exchange for a "player to be named later."
For those of you holding your breath for that guy to show up, might I recommend some oxygen...
13 letters, 17 straight games with a hit...
(Chiaravolloti photo: Ashmore)
Vito's Goin' Streaking: Road Warriors INF Vito Chiaravolloti has extended his Atlantic League season-high hitting streak to 17 games.
The former Toronto Blue Jays prospect is now ten games short of the single-season record, set by Billy Hall in 2005, and eleven games short of the overall record, set by Joe Jiannetti this season.
Last season, only five hitting streaks (Mel Stocker, Jiannetti, Raul Marval, Al Benjamin and Kevin Nicholson) lasted longer than 17 games.
What's also interesting to note is that Pete Rose, Jr. had two 15-game streaks last season, streaks that were only separated by a hitless August 23rd contest.
About That Big Name:
Is it still happening? Yes.
Is it happening when it was expected to? No.
Will it be as ridiculous as when Juan Gonzalez was rumored to be coming to the league for three months before it actually happened and had about eight different estimated dates of arrival? Let's hope not.
Currently, after initially expecting to have something to announce today, the team which is bringing in the aforementioned player expects him to arrive in approximately a week.
Robinson Cancel, left fielder
Taking The Atlantic League Angle: I am sitting in the second row of the Trenton Thunder press box. Below me, two scouts are talking about how awful a certain player looks in the outfield. It's none other than former Atlantic Leaguer Robinson Cancel, making his sixth career appearance in the outfield in 989 career games.
Robby is one of the best catchers the Atlantic League has ever seen, but the outfield simply isn't for him.
Binghamton is carrying three catchers right now, and of course I show up when super-prospect Fernando Martinez is out of the lineup...so yes, it's Robby Cancel in the outfield. Awesome.
I briefly caught up with Cancel before the game, and then had a stray warmup throw whizz past my head and deflect into the stands, nailing a woman in the chest. I can see we're in for a great evening.
Just to confuse the hell out of people, the B-Mets have a catcher named Jose Reyes. And what number does he wear? Seven.
UPDATE: It is 7:30 PM. Caleb Stewart was up for Binghamton. I was busy getting a salad when I hear "heads up." I turn around to see glass flying everywhere, as the ball has shattered a 16 x 20 picture frame behind me. The ball missed my unattended laptop by about the length of my arm. There is glass in the food.
6:45 PM - "I can see we're in for a great evening."
That worked out well...
In Case You Missed It: Tom King's story on the Pride team doctor has caught the attention of a lot of people around the Atlantic League. Check out yesterday's news, or read the article for yourself.
June 4, 2007
Today's Headlines: Former AL Team Doctor Accuses Players Of Drug Use...Everybody Loves Jason...Brownlie Returns To Commerce Bank Ballpark...Figueroa Back; Mercado Next?...Weatherby To Ottawa...Zinter Feature Thursday
Former AL Team Doctor Accuses Players Of Drug Use: In this Nashua Telegraph article by Tom King, Nashua Pride team doctor Pierre Dionne says he was frequently approached by players in the Atlantic League for drug and steroid-related paraphenelia.
“The Can-Am League is crystal clean,” Dionne told the paper.
“The last two years, from what I’ve seen, I have not been approached (by players) once. The Atlantic League, five years ago it was peaking. . . . It wasn’t unusual to come here every other day and be approached.”
There's a lot more in the article, so it's definitely worth the read.
Everybody Loves Jason: Ryan Dunleavy of The Courier News reports that the Somerset Patriots will be signing OF Jason Romano and re-signing P Jeff Urban.
Romano is a former first round draft pick, selected 39th overall by the Texas Rangers in 1997. He's played for them, the Rockies, Dodgers, Devil Rays and Reds in the big leagues.
Urban's return is an interesting one, as he had originally agreed to sign with Somerset, but then backed out of the deal to sign in the American Association. After getting rocked there, he's heading back to the Patriots, and Brett Jodie doesn't seem too thrilled to have him back.
"I talked to him Friday night at length and made it clear I didn't appreciate it," Jodie told the paper.
"He was apologetic and I said, 'All you had to do was call me and tell me the truth.' But we didn't part with any hard feelings."
Brownlie Returns To Commerce Bank Ballpark: While he was a standout at Rutgers, Newark Bears P Bobby Brownlie pitched in the Big East Tournament back when it was held at Somerset's Commerce Bank Ballpark.
If you saw him then, you never thought you'd see him playing there on a regular basis. But throwing 88 miles per hour now compared to the 95 he was used to back then, Brownlie finds himself throwing off the Bridgewater mound for the first time as a professional.
"I have four career starts here," Brownlie said, noting he posted a 2-2 record at CBB, with both wins coming as a freshman.
The second of those two wins was when he led the Scarlet Knights to the Big East Championship, facing Seton Hall in the title game.
"I've been to a few places, like Lakewood, but this one of the first places I came to outside of something like (watching) a big league game," he said.
The former Cubs prospect anticipates having his own cheering section on the road.
"There probably won't be as many people because I can't leave as many tickets with it being on the road," Brownlie said. "But I'm sure there will be a lot of people here."
Figueroa Back; Mercado Next?: Rich Elliott of The Connecticut Post reports that 3B Luis Figueroa has been released by his Mexican League team and could return to Bridgeport as soon as today.
Figueroa led the Atlantic League with 25 RBI at the time of his departure.
Elliott also writes that the team has had talks with P Hector Mercado, who pitched for Bridgeport in 2005. Mercado has pitched in the big leagues for the Reds and Phillies.
Weatherby to Ottawa: P Charlie Weatherby, who spent some time with Lancaster last season, has been called up to Triple-A Ottawa by the Phillies.
Zinter Feature Thursday: I was able to spend about 15 minutes with Patriots INF Alan Zinter yesterday afternoon, and I'll have a feature on the 39-year-old in Thursday's edition of The Hunterdon County Democrat. - Mike Ashmore
June 3, 2007
Matt Hirsh (Photo: Ashmore)
Headlines: Hirsh Answers Questions...
Top Story - Hirsh Answers Questions: In the first of what is hopefully a series of "Ask The New Guy" pieces, York Revolution P Matt Hirsh has taken the time to answer a fan-submitted question. For more on Matt and his brother Jason, make sure you check out hirshbrothers.com
Jeff Asked:
This will probably go down as the tale of two seasons: One without a home, and then moving into the stadium in York. How much of a toll does it play, not having any home games? You got a taste of what the Road Warriors go through. Do you think a team could every win a championship playing all their games on the road? Does it get you down not playing home games and traveling everywhere?
Matt's Answer:
Jeff,
Not having a home field definately takes a toll on the team. Many have considered us the Road Warriors: Part 2, which is pretty true. We won't have our first home game until June 15th, so we still have another 2 weeks on the road. The one thing that does get to me a little bit is playing our "home" games at Camden. When we play these games there is a crowd about about 20 or so, which makes it difficult to get motivated to play. The fans are the reason we play the game and when there is no crowd it feels like it doesn't matter if we win or lose. The road trips aren't too bad and I guess it could be worse. It's a good thing that our longest trip is only 5 hours up to Bridgeport. Otherwise, I think if the bus rides were a little longer it would just make it that much more miserable. As far as being on the road and not having any fans, it can get pretty disheartening. We've had a few fans at some of our Camden and Lancaster games, which is always nice, but I think once we finally get into our home stadium the fanbase is going to be great. From what I've heard it sounds like we're going to sell out every game.
I think any team can win a championship. I definately think the odds are stacked against you if you play for the Road Warriors because you are constantly on the road and living in a hotel. Not only that, but not having any fanbase makes things just a little bit more difficult. I'm sure there are a few Road Warrior fans out there but they're not going to outnumber whoever they are playing. I think if the team is good enough and they put it all together, anybody can win a championship, even the Road Warriors.
For me, I doesn't get to me too much playing on the road a lot. I think of it this way; if we get all of our road games out of the way this early then we'll be at home the rest of the time. If you look out our schedule, once we open up at home on June 15th, we only have 10 more road trips scattered in between the 3 months of the season; most of those being only 3 day trips. I guess we're seeing the light at the end of the tunnel so to speak in that once we're finished playing our "home" games in Camden then we get to be home for pretty much the rest of the season. Also, I think it's a little easier for me because this is only my second season (first full season) of professional baseball. Other guys who've been playing for 6 or 7 years aren't accustomed to being on the road so much and I don't think they're taking to kindly to it. We're all taking it in stride and like I heard our Manager Chris Hoiles say once, "We're just going to have to be the best road team in the league."
We haven't had the best conditions being on the road and also being a new team to the league, but things are starting to shape up. I'll admit, at the beginning of the season I thought it was going to be quite difficult to be on the road so much, but now that we're almost through, it hasn't been too bad. You can't make everyone happy and there are few guys upset with the conditions, but you can't please everybody all the time. I know they're trying their best to get the field done so we can play some ball and I know that everybody in York will be in attendance that first game we play at Sovereign Bank Stadium.
Thanks for the question Jeff.
-Matt
www.hirshbrothers.com
Nobody brings you closer to the players than AtlanticLeagueBaseball.com, so make sure you keep sending your questions to Matt. Send them to mashmore@patriotsbaseball.com, and I'll make sure I pass them along to Hirsh. Keep checking back, as it just may be your question that he answers next.
Sunday Photo Gallery:
Ramon Castro has a hug waiting for Victor Rodriguez...
The Bears celebrate in the dugout after Javier Colina's three-run bomb.
Joe Jiannetti, hitting streak record holder
The obligatory Wayne Krenchicki shot
John Pachot in the bullpen...
Keith Reed stretches before the game
Jeriome Robertson makes his season debut...
(All Photos: Ashmore)
I'd Love To Write Positive Things About York, But...: Articles like this one by Jim Seip that tell me that the sod isn't in, some sections have no seats, the outfield walls haven't been installed and they have no clubhouse...yeah, not that easy. - Mike Ashmore
The All-Pride Team: The former A.L. team, the Nashua Pride, released their 10th Annual All-Pride team recently. Here's a rundown:
LF GLENN MURRAY
RF FELIX JOSE
CF MILT CUYLER
1B D.J. BOSTON
2B JOE KILBURG
SS TONY RODRIGUEZ
3B PORK CHOP POUGH
DH BRIAN BECKER
C DAMIAN SAPP
P DENNY HARRIGER - Scott Stanchak
June 2, 2007
Headlines: Bears Bring Back Two...Big Name Update...Ask The New Guy Debuts Tomorrow...Halfway to Jiannetti...Game Recaps
Bears Bring Back Two: I promised you one big league pitcher, but the Bears have delivered two.
Newark is bringing back P Jeriome Robertson and P Travis Phelps.
Robertson, the pitcher I was alluding to several days ago, made two starts for the Bears in 2006 before being picked up by the New York Mets.
He has big league time with the Astros and Indians, and went 15-9 for Houston in 2003.
He was in Taiwan before signing with the Bears, and is expected to start against Somerset on Sunday.
Phelps has previously pitched for Camden, and was signed out of Spring Training by the Astros.
He also has big league time with the Devil Rays and Brewers.
Big Name Update: Things are still on pace for this to happen very shortly. I'd stay tuned to this website early next week, if I were you...
Ask The New Guy Debuts Tomorrow: The first installment of "Ask The New Guy" with York P Matt Hirsh will debut tomorrow. What kind of toll does not having a home field take on Hirsh and his teammates?
You'll get it straight from him tomorrow.
Halfway To Jiannetti: 1B Vito Chiaravolloti had the day off yesterday, but his 14-game hitting streak remains intact.
What might be more surprising is who has the longest on-base streak. It's none other than Long Island Ducks C Jamie Pogue, who's reached base in all 15 games he's played in this season.
In fact, Pogue's streak spans over two seasons and is currently at 28 games, having started on August 20, 2006.
Nettles Leads Pats To Win: 3B Jeff Nettles went 3-for-3 with his league leading 10th home run and four RBI to lead the Patriots to a 7-5 win over the Road Warriors.
The Road Warriors didn't strike out a Somerset batter until the eighth inning, when Darwin Soto whiffed Josh Pressley, who homered earlier in the game.
Alan Zinter's struggles continued, as his 0-for-4 night dropped his average to .056
Camden Wins BASA Battle: The Riversharks beat the Revolution last night, getting seven quality innings out of Anthony Ferrari in the 7-2 victory.
He scattered eight hits and two runs, lowering his ERA to 3.08.
Danny Bautista went 2-for-4 for York, continuing his hot start.
Other BASA Battle Rained Out: The Bluefish and Barnstormers got rained out. They'll play a doubleheader on June 16th to make up this one.
Ducks Top Bears: Jose Offerman and Edgardo Alfonzo collected two hits and an RBI a piece in the Ducks 5-2 win over the Bears.
Offerman also stole his first base of the season.
Victor Rodriguez went 3-for-4 in the losing effort. - MA
June 1, 2007
Today's Headlines: Ask The New Guy...Rojas to Phillies...Nivar To York...AL Reunion in Somerset...Guarente: Scout's Honor...Brian Bender, bullpen catcher...What $9 gets you...
Top Story - Ask The New Guy: You may know him as one of the pitchers on the expansion York Revolution. You may know him from the website he shares with his brother, Colorado Rockies pitcher, Jason Hirsh.
But you might not know as much as you'd like to about P Matt Hirsh, and that's why he's agreed to answer any questions you may have about him or about his time on the road with York in our new "Ask The New Guy" column.
Send me your questions (mashmore at patriotsbaseball.com) and I'll forward them to him. You can look for his responses in a few days here at atlanticleaguebaseball.com
Rojas To Phillies: Immediately after yesterday afternoon's game with the Road Warriors, Somerset Patriots P Chris Rojas became the fourth Atlantic League player to be picked up by the Philadelphia Phillies.
Rojas, who was assigned to Triple-A Ottawa, was 2-2 with a 3.14 ERA in five starts at the time of his departure.
Nivar To York: INF Ramon Nivar popped up in a York uniform yesterday. I briefly spoke to Camden GM Adam Lorber about the move, and am hoping to get a little more clarification on it later today.
UPDATED: I spoke to BASA's David Keller, and he said that Camden released Nivar and that York picked him up...so it isn't a trade or anything like that. Nivar also briefly joined the Road Warriors inbetween being released by the Riversharks and joining the Revolution, but he never played.
Anyway, the move was necessitated by Travis Hake's broken hand. Jason Guarente writes Hake will miss a month.
Also, Keller confirmed that the team has signed P Byron Batson. Batson has pitched for the Bears as well as a few other AL teams previously.
AL Reunion in Somerset: Both P Chris Eickhorst and P Evan Thomas are here in Somerset today, speaking with Road Warriors manager Jeff Scott about possibly pitching for the team.
I spoke to both players this afternoon. Thomas said he's called every team in the league, but with little success. Clad in a Miami Dolphins hat, Thomas expressed a strong desire to want to pitch again, and said he felt he threw pretty well and he was hoping Scott would get back to him.
As for Eickhorst, he attended Spring Training with the Can-Am League's North Shore Spirit, but things didn't work out. He too is hoping to return to the league, and he says he's definitely committed to being a pitcher.
UPDATED: I spoke to Eickhorst again, as well as manager Jeff Scott, and I can confirm that Eickhorst has signed with the Road Warriors. According to the Immaculata grad, he may throw tonight. In order to make room for him, Benito Baez was placed on the DL with back spasms.
Guarente: Scout's Honor: Jason Guarente has an interesting piece on how the Atlantic League is scouting -- check it out here.
Bender
Brian Bender, Bullpen Catcher: With the Patriots short of their regular bullpen catcher yesterday afternoon, they turned to radio play-by-play man Brian Bender to fill in. Bender, who did some bullpen work with the Miami Hurricanes while in college, sadly did not vacate the dugout during the bench clearing incident yesterday.
What $9 Gets You: Since yesterday afternoon's three and a half hour Atlantic League game just wasn't enough, I headed out to Shea Stadium for the Mets vs. Giants game afterwards. It kind of puts things into perspective about the value of minor league baseball.
At an Atlantic League game, nine bucks will probably put you a few rows from the field. Last night, I had this "birds-eye" view...
Even Barry Bonds, who can probably be seen from outerspace, didn't look very big from my upper deck spot...
- Mike Ashmore
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