Monthly Archives: May 2010

Brian Schneider was recalled to the Phillies roster and Paul Hoover designated for assignment. Not sure how many options Hoover has remaining but we should expect him back in a Pig uniform soon. Expect Suomi to be sent down in turn.

First the good news – The Lehigh Valley is still on top of the Triple A Baseball attendance per game average. (Again, I say Lehigh Valley as this is our ‘stat’)

The bad news – The Ironpig’s record is a Triple A Baseball worst at 16 wins and 27 losses.

The ugly news – Cody Ransom had his 12th error of the season. Not only that, this error put his “My error led to runs that would have given us the win” streak at 3 consecutive games. This guy is getting eaten alive out there. I can tell you who will probably be in the DH slot when the next American League affiliate comes to town.

The Ironpigs also played their second game without filling the slot vacated when the Phillies recalled Wilson Valdez. This leads me to believe that Andy Tracy, who is eligible to return from the DL tomorrow, will be activated and available for tomorrow night’s game, if not in the starting lineup. Perhaps this is the boost the Pig’s offense needs?

Also, after today’s game the first round of the high school players competition for the 2 spots in the AAA All Star game Home Run derby was held. For those who missed it the first time, below is a video of the competition from 2009.

Former Ironpig Mike Cervenak went 1 for 5 in his return to active play. Val Pascucci got into today’s game too following the ejection of Mike Jacobs for arguing balls and strikes.

The lone Ironpig batting above .300 is Rich Thompson at 318. The next highest is John Mayberry at .279. Brian Bocock has done well lately.. raising his average to .167.

These guys are all great players. What I’ve been noticing lately is that they do the great things well. They hit the ball hard. They run fast. They make diving catches. What they don’t do is the basics. They don’t field routine ground balls well. They don’t put their body in front of the ball. They don’t hustle when they don’t feel it will impact the game. (A triple will look good on my stats – I hustle… a routine fly ball – I jog). Don’t believe me? Try watching the game closely. Those little things like yelling when a runner breaks to steal a base or every player relaying how many outs there are. Chris Duffy bunting a 3rd strike foul for an out and making it blatantly clear by his reaction that he didn’t realize he already had 2 strikes on him. Someone needs to let the Boss Hog and his happy helpers know what’s going on.

Granted, I am not a baseball expert. I am not an athlete by far but I know what I learned in little league and in life. If you’re going to do something, do it right and to do it right you have to do the basic stuff right every time.

Well they lost another one.

Cody Ransom, for a second night in a row, committed an error that resulted in the go ahead run scoring. (He should have had a second error later in the game but the scorer was much more generous and awarded a hit)

They had 3 hits. 3 hits. 3 FRIGGIN HITS! Dorta had two of them with a triple and home run. Dave Huppert was waving him around to attempt an inside the park home run but Dorta noticeably went into a trot for the first few steps and didn’t have the momentum to get around third as Val Pascucci fumbled with the ball in right field.

Pascucci also missed a diving catch later in the game. I don’t remember him diving or hustling like that when he was a Pig… hmm?

Mike Cervenak didn’t play tonight but made himself available to fans both before and after the game.

Last and not least, Valdez went back up leaving the Pigs shorthanded today. No word on a replacement for him on the roster but they could just be waiting for Andy Tracy to be eligible to come off of the DL.

It was a quick and short homecoming for pitcher John Ennis. Back to Reading old friend.

Welcome home Valdez!

No word on how the severity of Rollins calf and if Valdez’s stay with us will be short as well.

This morning I noticed a name in the obituaries and a story that goes along with it.

Dorothy “Kammie” Kamenshek passed away Monday at the age of 84.

Kamenshek is a Hall of Fame member and 7 time All Star of the All – American Girls Professional Baseball League. She attended a tryout at Wrigley field in 1943 and earned a spot on the roster of the Rockford Peaches. She played from 1943 to 1953 and is the lifetime batting average leader all time at .292. She won batting titles in 1946 and 1947, batted and threw left handed and was the basis for the character “Dottie Hinson” played by Geena Davis in the movie “League of their own.”

My thoughts and prayers are with her family and friends.

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Thinking back to the early 90’s, I remember seeing the Colorado Silver Bullets women’s baseball team play over in the home of the R-Phils. For a few years, Coors sponsored this team to barnstorm around the country playing local all star teams. The Silver Bullets took a loss the night I attended and I recall a really great pitcher but a lack of hitting.

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I couldn’t mention women’s sports in the Lehigh Valley without mentioning the sense of loss felt with the National Pro Fastpitch Philly Force not coming back for a 2010 season. I will let a picture tell my story, but we are missing out by letting these great athletes leave the area.

Former Force pitcher Megan Gibson now plays for the Tennessee Diamonds. (Photo from Diamonds Facebook Page)

My thoughts have been with the AAA All Star game this week and more specifically, the game played last summer in Portland.

Portland is home of San Diego’s affiliate Beavers.

A brief history of the Portland Beavers as published on their website:

2001-06
The dream of bringing Triple-A Baseball back to Portland was realized in 2000 when the Albuquerque Dukes were purchased, and in the winter of 2000-01, it was announced that the Pacific Coast League would return to Portland in 2001 and the team would again be called the Beavers.

(Like us in 2008!)

The ballpark – now renamed PGE Park – drew rave reviews for bringing back an old-time baseball atmosphere. The stadium underwent its most substantial transformation in its rich history, with 32 luxury suites, a gargantuan hand-operated scoreboard in left-center field, dark green seats, and a number of seismic and cosmetic upgrades as part of a $38.5 million renovation, completed in record time.

(Coca Cola Park cost around $50 million)

With last-minute details forcing the Beavers to play their first eight “home” games in Pasco, Wash., home of their sister team, the Tri-City Dust Devils, a Class A team formerly operated as the Portland Rockies in the time that there was no Triple-A Baseball in the city. The Beavers christened PGE Park on April 30, 2001, with more than 18,000 fans flooding through the gates to witness the polished stadium and all of its additions.

And almost 440,000 fans came through the gates in 2001, breaking the team’s single-season attendance record that had stood since 1947.

(Record breaking first year!)

The Beavers struck a four-year affiliation with the Padres when Triple-A returned to Portland, with such standout prospects as Sean Burroughs, Khalil Greene, Jason Bay, Xavier Nady, Dennis Tankersley, Tagg Bozied and Freddy Guzman making substantial contributions to the team over its first four years with a San Diego connection. The Beavers remained competitive over their first three campaigns before breaking through with one of the best seasons in the team’s 89-year history. A 45-16 record over the team’s final 61 games netted the Beavers the best record in Triple-A Baseball at 84-60 and a trip to the playoffs, where Portland was a first-round casualty to Sacramento.

(Best season after 4 years.. do we see hope for 2011?)

A new ownership group – Portland Baseball Investment Group – was introduced prior to the 2005 season. The transfer process was complete early in the 2006 campaign, and the group realized a second straight year of substantial business and attendance growth, with the club drawing more than 400,000 fans in 2006.

Despite a 68-76 record on the field in 2006, the Beavers boasted a number of individual achievements. Familiar slugger Jon Knott paced the PCL in home runs (32) and RBIs (113), while the team realized its first-ever perfect game when Ryan Meaux, Aquilino Lopez and Cla Meredith teamed up on a seven-inning gem in the second game of a doubleheader at Sacramento on June 9.

Some familiar names mixed in there… some familiar circumstances.

Last year the AAA All Star game was held in Portland.

This year the AAA All Star game will be held here in the Lehigh Valley.

I found this chart on the web. I would post credit, but none was listed..

Look at the first 3 years. Great attendance.

Look at the 4th year. When the team actually made the playoffs, attendance plummeted.

The number recovered the next season and rode steadily just over 5,000 fans a game through 2008.

In 2010 Portland has the worst attendance, per game average, in all of AAA baseball at 2,577 a game. Only 51,545 paid attendance in 20 home game openings. Compare that to Coca Cola park in 2010 leading AAA baseball with an average of 8,596.. 163,341 paid attendance over 19 openings.

Baseball is superstitious.

Business can be trended.

Will the Lehigh Valley follow this trend? I hope not and I don’t think we will. Granted, attendance will fall at some point. I just don’t see it happening any time soon… but food for thought.

The Pigs lost.. again.

Cody Ransom’s error led to 3 runs.. again.

Jimmy Rollins injured his calf.. again.

Some drunk girl yakked all over the centerfield wall.. well this was a first but still not the worst thing I’ve seen.

Anyways.. we might not see Valdez like we thought we would depending on how Rollins feels tomorrow. He is listed as day to day.

Thanks to Decal for letting us know about this.

He is not in tonight’s posted roster and no word on who will be bumped from the roster to make room.

Valdez hit .231 in 18 games for Philadelphia filling in for injured Jimmy Rollins and Juan Castro this season. He should have a significant impact to the Pig’s lineup when he gets settled in.

Cincinatti signed former Phillie prospect Mike Costanzo.

The Mets signed Val Pascucci. Look for him at CCP this weekend.

The A’s signed Travis Blackley and placed Michael Taylor on the 7 day DL.

J.J. Furmaniak was reinstated from the DL by the Rays.

From the Morning Call..

http://www.mcall.com/news/breaking/all-police-bicycle-struck-052010-cn,0,6821673.story

Enjoy!