Monthly Archives: September 2011

Yesterday turned out to be a very odd day.

Finally have the IronPigs made the playoffs… and it rains. A LOT of rain. In fact, it’s still raining. Weather for tonight’s game is sitting on a report of 50-60% chance of rain all night.

Then you have poor John Mayberry. He wanted to ask a pretty girl to a ballgame and used his agent to extend that offer. Much to the amusement of his teammates, the NY Post got ahold of the emails sent. Read more about it here.

@HunterPence3 “So does anybody want a date with Mayberry?….He’s Stanford educated….”

Really, this has to happen a lot. Ballplayers who do nothing but baseball from April through September don’t meet actresses and super models by just sitting around hoping. My hat goes off to John. He tried. Granted, a trip to Google may have prevented this as the gal is married with a child, but the guy sent a feeler out and was hopeful. Who hasn’t done this? And honestly, who has a better online dating profile than Mayberry?

Occupation: Phillies outfielder
Salary: See occupation and guess
Look: Tall, Dark, Handsome
Education: Stanford

What I think happened was the NY Post found something potentially embarassing for a first place Phillies player to distract him from his game when he’s on a roll. Gee, who would have imagined a NY published paper going after a Phillie…

***

In other news, former IronPig and current Oakland A Michael Taylor got his first hit this week. He also got thrown out at first base from right field yesterday too. I told you it was a strange day. Read more about Taylor here.

This post is by no means intended to criticize or demean anyone, just used to make an example for other fans to understand this topic.

There are two real kinds of players at the AAA level of baseball.

You have the Prospects. The players who are touted by Baseball America, their organizations and scouts and fans alike.

Then there are Professionals. These are the guys who have been around a while, their talent and skill level is widely known.

While having been around for a while doesn’t nearly qualify you to be a professional (I will save 10% of baseball veterans who still see themselves as prospects and act accordingly; Account 10% of prospects who act as professionals)

Granted, these are my observations. Feel free to comment and add your own to the comment section.

Prospects
– Infrequently engage fans. Not likely to sign autographs, acknowledge cheers, wave to someone in the crowd.
– If they haven’t yet made it to the Majors, they will hustle at every opportunity.
– If they’ve just been sent down, they will not hustle at any opportunity.
– Rarely smile

Professionals
– Signs autographs frequently. Will engage fans in conversation, wave to fans in the crowd, toss more than the occasional ball to the stands.
– Hustles all of the time
– See a demotion as a chance for improvement. Happy for the opportunity to be up for the time they were.
– Has fun with the game.

Following two IronPigs in the past couple years.

John Mayberry

We all expected to see great things out of Mayberry when he arrived in the Lehigh Valley. He did alright too. The thing that got me was how many times I heard folks comment about how rarely Mayberry signed autographs. He was all business. From the dugout to the field and back to the dugout. When he finally got the call to the Phillies and hit that home run against the Yankees I was super happy for him. I couldn’t say the same thing about his return to the IronPigs. No hustle. Jogging after fly balls. It was bad. He looked uncomfortable out there and the word sulking comes to mind.

This season Mayberry had a significant amount of time with the Phillies. When he came back to the Pigs mid-season he was smiling, hustling and having fun with the game. His positive attitude and more relaxed approach showed in his improved play on the field. Mayberry is now back with the Phillies and it’s no secret he has been succeeding.

Domonic Brown
Re-read the first paragraph I wrote about John Mayberry.

Brown has been bad since returning to the Pigs. He also earned the most prolific booing I’ve heard at Coca Cola Park since that Magician came out late in the Home Run Derby last summer. Now he’s benched to flu like symptoms. Hey, the guy needs a break. Clear his head and get back into the game.

I truly appreciate the transistion of John Mayberry from a prospect into a professional. It takes time, yes, but it still should be the intended goal of all of these young players.

One thing I’ve noticed about the 2011 team is how many Professionals there are. Look at guys like Rich Thompson, Brandon Moss, Erik Kratz, Delwyn Young.. to name a few. These guys are out there having fun. Watch the three outfielders swipe the mascot’s 4 wheeler and drive to their position before the game or change the lottery numbers on the outfield wall or post fun photos to social media sites… these guys are having a ball.

Yes, winning allows for more fun but I think fun and winning go hand in hand for baseball. The 2011 IronPig season would support that statement.

These are my thoughts… what are yours?

Per Twitter @ironpigs

Tonight’s Game Has Been Postponed. Game A is now on Thursday at 7:05 p.m. and Game B is now Friday at 7:05 p.m. More to come soon…

Have a good safe evening and see you tomorrow!

Below are the contenders. Voting will continue until 12:00 noon EDST on Monday September 12th. You may vote as often as you’d like, but I believe WordPress cuts you off at a certain point.

Let's here your funny caption for this photo!

1. So that’s what a dugout looks like…

2. “wait, so i’m suppose to just hit the ball and run home? because i decided to drive today..”

3. “This photo would look great in one of those funny captions contest. Oh look a guy with a camera…”

4. I’m supposed to do what next….

5. “Tell? Tell me what??”

6. What’s this a winning record and in a playoff race most have been called up to the Phils. Nope this is Coca-Cola Park and this is a Ironpigs cap and jersey I most be dreaming.

7. “…and then I woke up and was like ‘whoa Provence missed the bus’.”

8. Now point to your nose. Your a smart ball player aren’t you?

9. “Am I dreaming, or did the rest of you guys shrink over night?”

10. As Bugs Bunny would say…I knew I shoulda taken that left turn at Albuquerque!

Editor’s note – Albuquerque is the site of the IL vs. PCL Championship game this season.

11. “Man! I didn’t think a lot of places would close the 4th! Where the heck am I gonna get somethin’ for dinner?”

12. “Wish I could find a hat that would fit my head properly.”

13. Am I really tipping my pitches?

14. Should I start growing my playoff beard??

The winner will be announced Monday afternoon. Tiebreaker will be my vote.

The winner will receive a wonderful “Mystery prize” from my collection.

The Pigs made the playoffs!! Now what?

First things first, the Pigs will play two home games at The Coke on Wednesday and Thursday then move to Pawtucket for potentially 3 games there. It is a best of 5 series.

Looking at how the IronPigs could fare in the playoffs, lets take a look at their last few games vs. Pawtucket. (Game results with key players on opposing team)

Pawtucket

July 18th – The Pigs lost this game in Pawtucket by a score of 1-4.

Lavarnway – 3 for 4 with a HR and 3 RBI *Now on Boston’s active roster.

Duckworth – Pitched 5 shutout innings. Listed on 7 day DL but expected to start during playoffs.

July 19th – The Pigs lost this game by a score of 2-7.

Lavarnway – 2 for 3 with 3 RBI including a HR. *Now on Boston’s active roster.

Lars Anderson – 2 for 4 with 2 RBI.

July 20th – The Pigs lost this game by a score of 1-2.

This was a tied game into the 9th when Schwimer allowed a run.

July 21st – The Pigs won this game 5-4.

Lavarnway, Luna and Expostio had a good game on this day.

This is the game where we saw Tony Pena pitch.

*While not the “star” of any of these games, outfielder Che-Hsuan Lin had hits in each game. Look for him to perform well.

July 26th – Pigs won 8-7
This was by far the best game I have ever seen. The game went into the 10th inning tied, Pawtucket scored once and the Pigs twice in the bottom of the inning to win.

Lin, Nava, Lavarnway, Anderson, Luna and Burmudez all had multi-hit games.

July 27th – Pigs win 4-1.

July 28th – Pigs lost 1-2

July 29th – Pigs lost 3-4
Duckworth beats the Pigs again.

So out of these 8 games the Pigs won 3 and lost 5. Not the best outlook for a 5 game series but with Lavarnway up in Boston, these one run games could move in the Pigs favor.

Here are the pitching probables for the Lehigh Valley vs. Pawtucket IL Playoff series beginning on Wednesday (Subject to change):

WED: RHP Dave Bush (1-2, 3.91) vs. RHP Matt Fox (10-4, 3.96)

THU: LHP Ryan Edell (5-5, 3.27) vs. RHP Tony Pena, Jr. (9-6, 3.56)

FRI: RHP Brian Bass (8-10, 3.81) vs. RHP Alex Wilson (1-0, 3.43)

SAT: RHP Scott Mathieson (2-2, 3.28) vs. TBA @ PAW

SUN: RHP Nate Bump (5-9, 4.97) vs. TBA @ PAW

***

Now for the weather. Forecasts call for a 50% chance of rain on Wednesday evening. Also looking at the possibility of rain on Thursday.

The Round One schedule for home games appears below:

Round One: International League Divisional Series

Game A: Wednesday, September 7 at 7:05 p.m.
Game B: Thursday, September 8 at 7:05 p.m.

Please make note of the following Playoff Information:

The gates at Coca-Cola Park will open at the regular times:

– Club & Suite Entrance (West Gate): 5:30pm

– AT&T Plaza Entrance (East Gate): 5:45pm

In the event of a postponement due to weather on Wednesday, the IronPigs would host playoff games on Thursday and Friday. If this were to occur, Game A would shift to Thursday and Game B would shift to Friday.

If the IronPigs win the best-of-five Divisional Series against Pawtucket, they will host the following games during the Governors’ Cup:

Round Two: International League Championship Series (Governors’ Cup)

Game D: Thursday, September 15 at 7:05 p.m.
Game E: Friday, September 16 at 7:05 p.m. (if necessary)
Game F: Saturday, September 17 at 6:35 p.m. (if necessary)

Also, we lost Pete Orr who was called up to the Phillies.

That’s all I got.. Go Pigs!

OinK!

It’s a little cramped and I had to shrink everything down a bit, but here are the final 2011 Regular Season IronPig stats.

Enjoy!

Last night I saw a note from our friend Tommy V out in Reading.

The Reading Phillies were in a similiar situation as the IronPigs were.

Tweets from @Tommy_the_V

“Worst case scenario — R-Phils lose Monday, Rock Cats win, then there will be a one-game playoff on Tuesday in New Britain.”

“Best case, R-Phils win Monday and they are in the playoffs. Tyson Brummett gets the nod for R-Phils in most important game of the season.”

So like the IronPigs, the R-Phils could clinch their league’s wild card spot with a win on Monday and like the Pigs… they WON!

The R-Phils have made the Eastern League playoffs as the Wildcard team!

You can’t make stuff like this up!

GO PIGS! GO R-PHILS!

Leading by a score of 4-1 the Pigs had the bases loaded with 1 out in the 6th inning and Erik Kratz at the plate, after a brief delay the umpire decided enough was enough. The game was called due to rain awarding the Pigs their 80th win of the season and the Wild Card Berth in the International League Playoffs.

PIGS IN THE PLAYOFFS!

So before I mention everyone who insisted on a playoff berth when they heard Ryne Sandberg would be the manager this season or the Pulling the Tarp incident in Buffalo earlier this season I will say this,

Congratulations to each and every IronPig! You worked hard and made this season the first winning season in IronPigs’ history. We truly appreciate what you’ve done for us fans and will forever be remembered in our hearts. Thank you!!

So we are looking at hosting Pawtucket at home on Wednesday and Thursday.

The Pigs last faced the Pawsox in July when they went 1-3 in Pawtucket and 2-2 at home.

It’s gonna be fun!

OinK!