Monthly Archives: April 2010

LHP Jake Woods released. RHP Oscar Villarreal activated from the Disabled list.

Another of those moments where you sigh and realize this is minor league baseball. 🙂

Not much to report on today’s game. It was windy, partly sunny and cool. There were close to 400 dogs present, my Weimaraner Wally was in attendance. Another announced sellout of roughly 8,000 fans today. Pigs lost 3-1 and the only real complaint I had was the rally killing double play bunt back to the pitcher. Not naming names.. but you know who you are!

A few weeks back I mentioned that there was a glint of hope for Dice K Matsuzaka to rehab at CCP and our wish has been granted as today the Ironpigs announced he will be making a start on Wednesday night’s game against the Pigs. Let’s hope the monsoon that followed him here last time won’t show up again.

Keeping this short this afternoon.. still have grocery shopping, laundry to do. Putting the lawn work off until tomorrow. OINK!

Of the all time great movies out there is “The Natural” released in 1984 starring Robert Redford. The movie was based on a book by Bernard Malamud in 1952. While the movie is pure fiction, it is based on several real people and events.

The “Whammer” character was obviously to be a mold of the great Babe Ruth but not too many folks out there realize that “Roy Hobbs” was combination of one of the best players of all time, “Shoeless” Joe Jackson and a Philadelphia Phillie from the past. Most have heard of Joe Jackson and the infamous Black Sox who were accused of fixing the 1919 World Series. I’ve read a lot about that case and it is pretty clear Jackson didn’t know he was involved in this. The gamblers involved in the scheme wouldn’t put the deal through without Jackson’s participation and Jackson, who was known to be illiterate, was added to the list without by the others to secure their cash bribes. Different accounts stated Jackson admitted to accepting bribes but he maintained his innocence. He had the highest batting average of any player in that World Series at .375 with 12 hits, committed no errors and even threw a runner out at home plate. While he and the other players were banned from baseball in 1920, they were all aquitted in 1921. A sad end to a great career. (Remember, these guys weren’t making the money they were today. Eddie Ciccotte did have a grievence with team owner Comisky as he would have received a $10,000 bonus if he won 30 games and was benched until the end of the season after he won his 29th) A sad, yet classic story, about the end of Joe Jackson was related by Hall of Famer Ty Cobb. When Cobb stopped at a liquor store he noticed Jackson working there and asked, “”Don’t you know me Joe?” Jackson responded, “Sure, I know you, Ty, but I wasn’t sure you wanted to know me. A lot of them don’t.”

So all of that about Jackson.. the more significant part of the Roy Hobbs character is former Philadelphia Phillie Eddie Waitkus. Waitkus played MLB ball from 1941 to 1955, 1949-1951 with the Phillies. He was a lifetime .285 hitter and was able to return successfully to the game after spending 4 years in the Army during World War 2, having been awarded 4 Bronze Stars in harsh fighting in the Phillipines.

Waitkus was traded from the Cubs to the Phillies in 1949 and that sent Cubs fan Ruth Ann Steinhagen into a frenzy. If Steinhagen was around today she probably be recognized as a stalker and when Waitkus was traded to the Phillies she was upset. When the Phillies came to Chicago to play the Cub, Steinhagen lured Waitkus to a hotel room in the guise of being an old friend where she immediately shot him with a .22 caliber rifle. Waitkus survived the shooting and returned to baseball while Steinhagen was found not-guilty due to insanity. After 3 years of electric shock therapy in an asylum, she was declared sane and released.

If you haven’t seen the Natural, this part of Waitkus’ life plays a big part in the movie as well as the separation from the game that Joe Jackson struggled with.

Another one of those stories that gets dusty and lost over time.

Ubaldo Jimenez pitched a no-hitter against the Braves. The first no-hitter in the 18 year history of the Colorado Rockies! 3 of his fastballs also hit 100mph!

How could you mention baseball today and not talk about the Mets/Cardinals game that started around the same time our tailgate started this afternoon, that was in the 7th inning when we joined the pre-game show and was still on well after I got home from CCP tonight. Watching position players pitch is always a treat. I still remember the night Andy Tracy took the mound late in a game in 2008. The game just ended.. 6 hours 23 minutes and 20 innings with the Mets winning 2-1. The Cards did put two runners on in the last inning but couldn’t plate them and this marathon ended. Those guys earned a beer tonight!

For the Phillies – Jamie Moyer needed a little more time warming up as he gave up 5 runs in the first inning and the Phightin Phils never recovered losing 1-5.

The Ironpig’s made a statement tonight and Drew Carpenter pitched a gem. The bullpen shows signs of life and the crowd, while announced as a sell out, topped out at 8,498.

The Noise Nation tailgate was again a success regardless of the wind and cool weather. We had a lot of food, friends and fun. Big thanks go out to Smokey Joe R. for his grilling skills and to everyone who attended.

Also want to thank Fink Ink for the great Noise Nations decals. Let me know if you would like one, we have a few left.

After the tailgate the Nation moved across the street to Pitcher’s to help out with the Ironpig’s Radio Network extended pre-game show. Matt Provence and Jon Schaffer had some trivia contests for us and a great time was had by all. Met some great people at Pitcher’s and want to make note that they do have $5 pitchers available all day every day.

Moving to the game…

Plus’s
Defense was exciting tonight. There were several highlight reel catches.

John Mayberry was ON FIRE! Going 3 for 3, all doubles and drove in 2 runs, scoring 4 himself.

Tommy John and Jim Eisenreich threw out ceremonial first pitches. We also heard T.J. say on the radio that he had nothing better to do so he came to the game.. hmmm

The Pigs absolutely walked over a team they played tight in the opening series of the season.

Chiefs centerfielder Roger Bernadina was great. He danced, he waved and joked around with us. Just an overall nice guy to us tonight.

Zagurski came on to strike out 3 batters in a row with the bases loaded.

Ehren Wasserman pitched a scoreless inning.

Boo’s
The wind was a little crazy tonight. In fact our Pig flag pole bent on opening night due to strong winds. We have yet to find a replacement so if anyone has any ideas or a replacement it would be greatly appreciated.

Overall, a great day! Thanks Noise Nation.. You folks are the best!

With JC Romero looking solid in his rehab starts, he is headed back to the Phillies soon. The question that comes up is.. if he goes up, who comes down to the Pigs or R-Phils?

There is only one left handed reliever in the Phillies bullpen and that is Antonio Bastardo. When we saw Bastardo here at CCP he was playing as a starter. Could he be sent down for more grooming to be the eventual replacement for Jamie Moyer or more likely for the struggling Kyle Kendrick?

Kyle Kendrick? Kendrick is 0 – 0 with a 17.47 ERA in 2 games for a combined 5.2 innings. While he’s even in BB/SO ratio at 3 and 3 it’s becoming clear that the National League has written the book on how to hit Kyle Kendrick and every team has checked that book out of the library. Would Kendrick be pushed to the Ironpigs? Possibly. Could he be trade bait? Not sure. It would be unclear what the Phillies need other than a reliable closer and Kendrick wouldn’t be able to clear a one on one trade for a top closer.

Another question pending in the distance is when Brad Lidge returns. What happens to Danny Baez and Nelson Figueroa? Also, Blanton is in the works for rehabbing.. so many questions.

My feelings is that Kendrick won’t make it to the All Star break with the Phillies. He just isn’t performing and he isn’t that rock that the other players depend on. I am 50/50 on whether the Phillies keep him around or put him on the trading block or outright release him/trade for cash, incentives,draft picks,etc..

I also think that as soon as Brad Lidge comes around that Figueroa is gone.

Blanton isn’t the biggest question mark on this list as he will return to his spot in the rotation comfortably. Kendrick will be temporarily relegated back to the bullpen and although Moyer has had some tough moments early this season, he hasn’t been as awful as Kendrick.

So many questions..

Well after all that rain it’s going to have to wait a little bit longer to mow. Hopefully the wind predicted for today will help to dry it out.

Speaking of lawns, I wanted to mention this before but hadn’t thought about it until I looked outside and realized it was that time of the year again, if you get to the clubhouse store at CCP you can find a new calendar offered by Bill Butler the groundskeeper. It includes beautiful pictures of CCP field art designs and one that appears to be a NY Yankee affiliated stadium. I’m planning on slicing up this calendar and buying some dollar store frames to decorate my office. Good stuff, go check it out and at $8 you can either pick this up or 2 packs of 2010 Topps baseball cards…

This afternoon, the Noise Nation will hold its first Tailgate party in the lower LSI lot. All are welcome. We basically do a BYO everything and then share. We have a small grill and time on it is a valued commodity so if you have a propane grill you’d like to bring to grill on with us.. you are more than welcome. If you’re wondering where the LSI lot is, head away from CCP, walk towards the PPL building in the distance, down the big staircase and hang a left. You should see us. TG starts at 3:00 and I’d recommend you bring a lawnchair. Tailgating rules are posted on the Ironpig’s website. Alcohol is not recommended.

Tonight, we welcome the Syracuse Chief’s into town. If this series goes like the opening series of the season, we will have some exciting run scoring games. Keep in mind that the weather was incredible that week and I feel most of the pitching will be kept on a leash to avoid injuries. Cross your fingers for a good game!

The International League standings as of this morning:
Syracuse 6W – 2L
Buffalo 5W – 3L
Scranton WB 4W – 4L
Lehigh Valley 3W – 5L
Pawtucket 3W – 5L
Rochester 3W – 5L

Announced starters for the game tonight has Drew Carpenter of the Pigs facing off against Chief’s Sharon Martis. Martis is 0-0 with a 6.75 ERA and Carpenter is 0-1 with a 13.50 ERA. Those early numbers can be deceiving and I have the feeling Carpenter is going to mow them down tonight (no pun intended). His last start came after a week of down time with the Phillies and he struggled. It’s a shame that Joe Savery didn’t get much work last night and it may impact his next start. No word if JC Romero is still in town but thinking he might show up somewhere along tonight’s game also.

See you at the park!

Arriving at the game after a short shower and one glance at the radar on my iPhone I knew from the start that this game didn’t have a chance of finishing.

The stadium was predictably full, it is Friday night fireworks and all. The stadium crew manned the tarp before the 1st inning was over and pretty soon the lightning started. It wasn’t long after that the game went into delay and I got in my car and left. I found out the delay had turned into a suspended game about an hour later and 2 bites into my steak at Outback. I was warm, dry, fat and happy! The game will be played later in this season.. the date can be found pretty much everywhere, can’t think of it off the top of my head and I don’t feel like clicking anymore than I have to tonight. We did get to see JC Romero again…

As an added bonus tonight, I found some transactions you might be interested in…

Miguel Cairo was added to the Reds 40 man roster

Jason Knapp was placed on the Indians 7 day disabled list. No word on why.

The Phillies added a mob of players to the 7 day disabled list:
RHP Brandon Duckworth
RHP John Ennis
RHP B.J. Rosenberg
RHP Zack Sterner
RHP Oscar Villarreal
C James Skelton
C John Suomi
2B Keoni DeRenne
3B Mike Durant
2B Harold Garcia
OF Quintin Berry
OF Brian Stavisky

JJ Furmaniak and RJ Swindle were added to the Rays 7 day disabled list

Gookie Dawkins was placed on the Marlins Restricted list after being suspended for 50 games for a 2nd failed drug test.

Fans – be prepared tonight. Per the Weather.com forecast the below is what we should see tonight. While I’m not saying don’t come out.. There is plenty of room under the grandstand to protect you and your family from the weather.. just be prepared with rain gear or a contingency plan if you need to keep children occupied during a rain delay.

6:00pm – 71 degrees 10% chance of rain
7:00pm – 69 degrees 10% chance of rain
8:00pm – 68 degrees 80% chance of rain
9:00pm – 66 degrees 100% chance of rain
10:00pm beyond – 64 degrees 70% chance of rain

There is always a chance that these times are later/sooner and by experience, this system could hit the Blue mountain, move North and miss us completely but be prepared.

My hope… the storm goes North and hits the Scranton Yankees. They have a new drainage system that I hear works great!

See you tonight!

Per Todd Zolecki of The Zo Zone, J.C. Romero will be making a rehab appearance with the Pigs tonight.

Get ready for this Pig fans!