Monthly Archives: June 2010

The Pigs won the first game ever by the score of 1 to 0. It split the home series with the Charlotte Knights and gives us Pig fans hope for a 3 game streak!

Cody Ransom made a great play at third early in the game, snagging a hard hit grounder then throwing out the runner from well behind third base.

Willy Tavares made an insane catch in center field to save an extra base hit! What a pickup he is!

Speaking of great additions to the lineup look at Figueroa! He went 6 innings allowing 2 hits no runs, walking 2 and struck out 4!

A lot of rumbling coming out of Philadelphia for the left field position. I have a feeling our outfield rotation will take a hit soon. I’m saying Duffy but Mayberry could be a possibility soon too.

JA Happ is scheduled to make a rehab start in Clearwater tomorrow. Let’s hope he works through rehab and gets back to Philly soon.

Another great night of baseball! OINK!

Just a few loose ends to tie up… lots of news today.

Tomorrow night, Tuesday June 8th, will be the team autograph session at the ballpark. The first 5,000 fans through the gates will receive a team photo and for 45 minutes Ironpig players will be signing autographs throughout the concourse.

From my experience last year, this is a great big… mess. But a fun and exciting mess. Don’t expect to get close to Andy Tracy or Rich Thompson. The players were spaced evenly across the grandstand in pairs. The first few tables were mobbed by the time I got there but I went quickly to the third base side to get the only autograph I really wanted. There sat Dave Huppert, Greg Gross and Rod Nichols all by their lonesome. I worked my way back through the opposite direction of most and got about 15 autographs. Also, the starting pitcher for that night will probably not be up there nor anyone who could be injured or getting therapy, etc. I would doubt John Mayberry to be out there but you never know. Also, keep in mind the crowd will be huge and overwhelming. If you want a photo with a player and or multiple items signed,, catch them in front of section 119 before a game. Be courteous enough to let everyone get their chance to meet the team. And I cannot say this enough… Adults, this ain’t for you! Don’t shove a kid to get an autograph. Need I say more?

Now to more fun stuff…We get to see Figueroa in his first start tonight!

The Ironpigs have also announced the release of a limited quantity special tickets for the Home Run Derby. Tickets appear to include either lawn seating or the PPL picnic patio and include a buffet meal.

The team has also announced an Ironpig’s cruise in November. The cruise will visit Port Canaveral and the Bahamas. (Great opportunity to check out Kennedy Space Center) Details can be found on the Ironpig’s website and from what I’ve been hearing there are a lot of folks interested. Joining the cruise will be Ironpig’s general manager Kurt Landes, Andy Tracy and Matt Provence!

For everyone out there.. my birthday is in November and if anyone feels generous.. 🙂

See you at the park tonight! OINK!

Starring Noise Nation member George Kordalski and yours truly! Enjoy!

I apologize for not having this out sooner. I had too good of a time at yesterday’s game and it ended up with a good night’s sleep.

The game didn’t start too good. Starter Drew Carpenter had allowed 4 runs going into the rain delay and the only Ironpig run was the solo “tornado assisted” homerun just before the delay. I say tornado as there was a tornado watch all afternoon and that ball would have been caught by the 2nd baseman had it not been sucked into the 25mph+ winds blowing straight out to right field.

Then came the rain. I didn’t mind too much. My garden needs it. I got to spend about an hour hanging out with Scott and Annemarie at the Trough.

Then the sun came out and it brought along the Ironpig bats! The Pigs exploded for 10 runs and 17 hits in the final 5 innings to win 11 to 5! Add in a five Charlotte errors and this game looked like a rout in the box score.

I could not type anything today without mentioning that Andy Tracy got his 1000th and 1001st RBI during this game. He doubled and tripled along with a walk to continue his rampage towards all star weekend.

Speaking of the All star game, if you haven’t voted yet, you can do so on the International League website.

More news of former Ironpig Lou Marson. He hit his first MLB homerun yesterday raising his BA to .195.

Down in Reading, the Phillies finally realized what the Mariners found out last season. Phillipe Aumont is not a starting pitcher. He was reassigned from Reading to Clearwater.

Well it went like this. The Pigs started the game…
Tavares Walks.
Tavares Steals 2nd Base.
Tavares Advances to 3rd on ground out by Rich Thompson.
Tavares Scores on John Mayberry’s ground out.
No hits at this point.
Neil Sellers adds a hit later in the game.
Brian Mazone pitches well.
Boooooooooooooooooooring.

We did have a scare when John Mayberry ran knee first into the outfield line wall. He was on the ground for a while but continued to play. He was later replaced by Duffy in right field. No news on an injury or progress but expect him to get some rest soon.

Pigs lose 1 to 2 to Charlotte tonight.

Other highlights of the day:

Running into Charlotte AGM and former Ironpigs AGM Danny Tetzlaff. Always nice to see old friends.

The trivia showdown at Pitcher’s Sports Bar & Grill during the pregame show. 6 contestants and I finished 2nd in points and 1st in correct answers.

Being a participant in the first ever “Whack-a-Intern” contest with my good friend George Kordalski. George beat me by a couple interns but the video footage hasn’t been reviewed yet… (Stay tuned for video)

Another loss… one hit game by the Pigs. Only other time this happened was their first official game in SWB opening the 2008 season. Kinda reminded me of the scene from the movie Major League where Bob Uecker gets upset of the final hit count… “One hit? That’s all we got?” I have to say.. I had a lot of fun and getting to be involved in one of the promotions was very cool. It’s interesting to see the behind the scenes stuff in action. Trust me.. these employees don’t stop moving from the opening of the gates until well after the last fan leaves. Kudos to the Ironpig’s staff!

On a side note… The Ironpigs have a program honoring service men and women where they offer free tickets to that service person and/or their families. Each game they pick one and the folks who provide our freedom are treated to a ballgame. As a 12 year veteran of the Marine Corps I can truly appreciate this. If you know anyone you feel would take them up on this deal you can email me details and I will pass on to the team.

See you tomorrow at CCP. OINK!

The Ironpigs announced this afternoon that former outfielder DeWayne Wise signed a minor league deal with the Toronto Blue Jays today.

Also former Phillie Juan Samuel was named manager of the Baltimore Orioles.

Also seeing rumblings of Jimmy Rollins tossing BP today via Twitter. We need him to be healthy to get our starting shortstop back!

Looking back on the trades that brought in Cliff Lee, Roy Halladay and some other prospects..

Philadelphia Loses:
Carlos Carrasco – 4 wins 2 losses 4.68 ERA at AAA
Lou Marson – Hitting .203, 7 doubles, 34 strikeouts with Cleveland
Jason Donald – Hitting .278 in 16 games with Cleveland. 1 HR, 2 Triples
Jason Knapp – Haven’t located any 2010 stats. Possibly on DL after offseason surgery.
Kyle Drabek – 7 wins 4 losses 3.06 at AA.
Michael Taylor – Hitting .243 at AAA. 2 HR, 4 Triples.
Travis d’Arnaud – Hitting .296 at A+. 5 HR.

Philadelphia Gains:
Roy Halladay – 7 wins 3 losses with Philly. 5 CG, 3 SHO, 1 Perfect Game
Phillippe Aumont – 1 Win 6 Losses at AA Reading. 7.43 ERA. 38 Walks, 38 K’s.
Tyson Gillies – Hitting .247 with AA Reading.
J.C. Ramirez – 3 wins 2 losses at A+ Clearwater. 4.10 ERA.
Ben Francisco – Hitting .214 from Phillies bench. 42 at bats.

Philadelphia Flips:
Cliff Lee – 3 wins 2 losses in Seattle. 2.91 ERA. 7 games pitched. 50 K’s.

Although he started the season the DL, Cliff Lee has to be the toughest loss for the Phillies. A 3 and 2 record on a dismal team like Seattle would look better in a Phillies lineup. While I feel losing Drabek is more of long term loss for the Phillies organization I don’t see anyone else that was a huge loss. Jason Donald is good but will battle injuries through his career and Michael Taylor hasn’t been showing anyone in Oakland that he is top notch.

Now Roy Halladay is worth his weight in gold these days but who came with him are worth their weight in something else. Aumont is Au-ful. Gillies isn’t performing as all the hype we heard about him and Ramirez is still in A ball.

With the play of the Phillies right now it looks like they could end up losing out on all of this. Losing a lot of money too.

My favorite Pig fan from Florida was in attendance tonight and although she didn’t even come out to say hi to me (insert hurt feelings here) we did have some special visitors to the Noise Nation at tonight’s game. A friendly couple spent the last few innings with us who turned out to be Cody Ransom’s parents. Good people and hope they enjoy their visit to the Lehigh Valley.

Rich Thompson and Neil Sellers both had 3 hit games.

Andy Tracy hit a monster home run over the trough in right field.

Really this game was all Savery. He allowed 5 runs in the first and never recovered. He did pitch well the rest of the game but that still doesn’t make up for getting slammed like he did. His record now stands at 1 win 5 losses.

Ehren Wasserman also allowed a 3 run homer in the 8th.

Same story. This team just isn’t playing well. Is it time for a coaching change? We haven’t seen Greg Gross leave the dugout in ages and Huppert just doesn’t seem to have the fire he has shown in 2008. Only time will tell.

The Noise Nation will be at Pitcher’s tomorrow at 5:00pm for the Pregame show. Hope you can make it there.

Oink!

You are allowed to vote 25 times (not sure why) but here is the link.

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/events/asg/y2010/ballot/ballot_pop.html

Durham Bulls outfielder Matt Joyce is not on the ballot so I wrote him in. He was my only non-Ironpig selection however I almost picked Joey Gaithright.

Happy voting!

The Pigs closed out a dismal 8 game road stand with a little hope today. They beat the Mudhens 3 to 1 tonight to split the series there and end the trip with 2 wins and 6 losses.

Hoover, Thompson and Ransom homered.

Nate Bump earned his 5th win going 6 innings scattering 9 hits for one run.

Scott Mathieson came on in the 9th to earn his 9th save. How appropriate.

The team heads home tomorrow to meet new teammates Tavares and Figeuroa.

Friday night fireworks… Pregame show at Pitchers Sports Bar & Grill at 5:00pm on Saturday and another 1:30 game on Sunday.

I live for this!