Monthly Archives: March 2010

As spring training winds down, teams are getting rid of those not making the team.

Released:
T.J. Bohn by the Chicago White Sox

Brandon Watson by the LA Dodgers
*Also of note, Eric Gagne was also released.

Joey Gathright by the Toronto Blue Jays

Valentino Pascucci by the NY Mets

Thanks to Decal for the heads up on these moves!

***THIS WAS AN APRIL FOOLS JOKE***

April 1st, 2010

Last week the Chicago Tribune reported that the Chicago Cubs star 1st Basemen had injured himself when a deck chair collapsed.

From the Chicago Tribune:

“He was eating before the game and the chair just collapsed on him,” Piniella said. “That’s why we got him out of there after three innings.”

Piniella said Lee was fine and would be back in the starting lineup Friday.

Being of a larger build myself, I have also seen this misfortune in those weaker, less dependable lawn chairs so I chuckled as I saw the picture of the deck chair in question.

Then I noticed something on the back of the chair. Small letters on the back rail. I zoomed in and saw a web address. Ok, I had a boring afternoon and I looked it up and it turns out to be the website of a company located in Wisconsin that manufactures outdoor furniture. Ok, makes sense. I looked through the site and saw something that stopped me in my tracks. I got to the “About us” page and I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

“Steve Bartman moved to Wisconsin and opened SB Furniture in the spring of 2004.”

I thought this was a coincidence so I called the contact number on the website and a woman named Julia answered. When I asked if their Steve Bartman was THE Steve Bartman she paused and quickly said, “No, It’s not him! Don’t call here!” and hung up.

For those of you who forgot, Steve Bartman was the fan who interfered with a foul ball that appeared was about to be caught by Moises Alou and would have given the Cubs a better chance of getting to the World Series. After this play the Cubs collapsed and Florida went on to win the World Series.

As I was writing this post I went back to the website and got a “This website does not exist” error message.

Could it be? Could he have inadvertantly struck again?

In Pittsburgh’s camp it looks like Jack Taschner will open the season with the Pirates as Jason Jaramillo is still battling for the back up catcher spot. We might see Jaramillo with Indianapolis if he is unsuccessful.

Starting pitcher Carlos Carrasco has all but secured a bus trip down to Columbus as his spring outting took a familiar spin with a few solid innings followed by an avalanche of poor control and frustration. I feel safe saying we will see him at CCP this summer in a Clippers uniform.

Jason Donald has also been relegated to AAA Columbus but catcher Lou Marson looks to have won the starting job in Cleveland, at least until Carlos Santana gets the call up.

Michael Taylor was recently sent to the Oakland A’s minor league camp.

According to Todd Zolecki’s blog, “The Zo Zone” the Phillies have released 12 minor leaguers.

Most notably are RHP Joe Bisenius and OF Brad Wilkerson. Guess there won’t be any reunions this year for Wilkerson and Andy Tracy.

Others released:
LHP Spencer Arroyo
RHP Freddy Ballestas
RHP Ryan Bergh
LHP Sean Grieve
RHP Rick Guttormson
INF Jeremy Hamilton
RHP Jordan Meaker
OF Gus Milner
OF Arlon Quiroz
RHP Todd Van Steensel

Last season the Ironpigs finished second in attendance in all of AAA baseball. SECOND! SECOND IN ALL OF AAA BASEBALL! While this is commendable, looking back at 2009 you can see what kept us Ironpig fans in second place. Yes, I said Ironpig fans. This is your stat! We make this happen!

2009 season
Final Attendance Top 3 at AAA Level

9,526 avg — 666,797 total — Columbus Clippers
9,162 avg — 641,335 total — Lehigh Valley Ironpigs
9,126 avg — 657,095 total — Sacramento River Cats

Now you all can say this post is a plug, it’s an ad for the Ironpigs to add more money to their wallets but think of it this way… the higher the attendance, the more money they make, the more they can afford to spend to entertain us. Want to keep the team in the area for a long time? Go to the games. Want to see more funny videos of Ferrous and FeFe? Go to the games. Want to see more giveaways at the gates? Go to the games!

Back to my original thought. Last year, the attendance in April and May killed the attendance average. It was almost like people forgot they were there. I remember many early season games sitting in the outfield by myself honking the horn and wondering where the people were. April and May would have put us, the Lehigh Valley, in first place last year. Instead, we settled for second and as I once heard.. Second place is the first loser.

Tomorrow it will be one week until the first game at CCP in 2010. Although it is an exhibition game, it’s for charity.. go to the game. Get out there and cheer. Feel the energy of the field and of the fans. April 14th cannot come soon enough.

16 days…

Thanks to the great folks at Enter.Net, we now have an iPhone application for the Noise Nation!

The application allows you to play a cowbell, our infamous horn and other cheers including LEFT RIGHT LEFT and SIGN THE K!

The application also provides easy access links to our Facebook group, Twitter account and The Horn & Bell Blog!

To access the application search iTunes under “Noise Nation”!

THANK YOU ENTER.NET!

Among our many newfound and growing traditions within the Noise Nation is having the opposing center fielder sign a K if he strikes out. We usually get a few confused smiles and maybe some good hearted jokes about why players won’t sign their K but noone has refused like Drew Stubbs did last season at Coca Cola Park.

In a 4 game series against the Louisville Bats, Stubbs played all 4 games in centerfield. In the first night we gave him a healthy dose of LEFT RIGHT LEFT and cowbells but when he struck out the Noise Nation went wild with excitement. After the game, a delegation was sent to the opposing dugout to get Stubbs to sign his K. He gave them some choice words and stomped off. The next day, that same delegation went down to try again and met the same response. A small girl called over, “Pweease Drew.. sign our K” and he still refused. A more sympathetic player on the Bats, I can’t recall his name, came over and gave the little girl and autograph on the K. That night the player who signed hit a home run and Drew Stubbs went 0-5 with 3 strikeouts.

So the next game we tried again. He wouldn’t come near us. So we go to centerfield and he is grumbling to himself, snearing looks directed at us and seems uncomfortable. We decided to take this a little further. We took out our magic markers and some extra poster board and to the right of the OINK sign we made Stubbs his own strike out meter complete with his 5 strikeouts of the series.

The next inning he comes running out and is fuming. He yells up to us that he can’t hear us, we aren’t loud enough and paces in circles until the game ended. We looked over at the Bats dugout and his teammates were in tears laughing so hard.

To a heckler, I feel this is the greatest impact that can be made. Your goal is to impact the end result of the game to favor your team. You want to keep it clean, keep it accurate and just annoy the player you are focusing on until it affects his game. To have his own teammates laughing at him will keep this joke running for a long time to come.

Should’ve signed that K Stubbs… should’ve signed it.

My advice to players who don’t enjoy the Noise Nation at ballgames…

Found on youtube.com, from the movie, “For Love of the Game. Starring Kevin Costner.

From the Ironpig’s website:

..full-season ticket holders (Club, Suite, Front Row & Field Level) will have the benefit of receiving a complimentary General Admission ticket (granting access to Field Level seating bowl on a first-come, first-serve basis) per ticket on their account. These tickets can be picked up in-person at the Coca-Cola Park ticket office or printed via the ticket holder’s online account, beginning on Monday, March 29 at 9 a.m. Additional tickets are available for $6 per ticket beginning on Tuesday, March 30, at 10 a.m.
Please note that while Club Level season ticket holders will receive a complimentary General Admission ticket for the Showcase, the Club Level will be closed for this exhibition.
IronPigs 18- and 36-game ticket holders can take advantage of an exclusive online-only presale beginning on Monday, March 29, at 9 a.m. These plan holders will receive additional correspondence within the next 24 hours on how to take advantage of this offer and purchase their 222 Showcase tickets in advance of the General Public for just $6. This exclusive presale window will close on Tuesday, March 30, at 9 a.m.
Tickets will be available for purchase to the general public beginning on Tuesday, March 30, at 10 a.m. Tickets can be purchased by calling (610) 841-PIGS, at ironpigsbaseball.com or in-person at Coca-Cola Park