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Introduction:

I got the link this morning via Twitter, but it puzzled me for a moment.  It was a name I recognized, and  player I cheered for, but they somehow felt out of place.  You see, I have two Twitter accounts–one is “Philadelphia Based” for IronPigs and Phantoms and Philly Phriends.  The other is Pittsburgh-based–for news on my favorite teams, the Steelers, Penguins, and Pirates.  Cheryl had tweeted a link to a column by Pittsburgh Tribune-Review columnist Dejan Kovacevic about Jason Grilli.  My Pittsburgh world and my Philadelphia world were mixing.  I read the article.  Here it is. 

I enjoyed the article, as I usually do with Dejan.  But it was bugging me about the IronPigs part.  Rock Bottom.  Golly, what could be lower than that?  There’s the bottom.  Then, I suppose, Rock Bottom.  So, there’s nothing worse than being an IronPig?  Sheesh.  In 2011 it was an opportunity for Jason.  He was coming off an injury and needed an opportunity to show he could still perform at a high level.   He certainly did that for us–and for a team which was headed for the International League Governor’s Cup Final.  It was the Phillies’ fault that they couldn’t see what they had.  They were unwilling to make the necessary roster move to give him a shot with the big club, and the Pirates were.  But then, the Phillies and Pirates were in different modes at the time–and maybe the Pirates have better scouts, too.  I don’t know.  

I tweeted a response.  Then came texts and tweets from Dan.  A response from Dejan, “Out of context.”  A groundswell of opposition was forming.  It was not that bad.  It was poetic license to show how far Jason had come in his rise (return?) to MLB-stardom.  Dejan couldn’t very well say that Jason got off his deathbed to return to pro ball.  Or, that he was homeless.  (In fact, Jason’s a pretty savvy businessman, but I digress.) Or that he had just recovered from a devastating injury or illness. Nope, it was easier to characterize our local team with the funny name (hey, they all have funny names, you know?) as “rock bottom.”  It makes a good story.  I made a snarky remark about the Sugarland Skeeters of the independent Atlantic League.  I was just hoping someone would call me on it.  I don’t know anything about them, just that they are below us, and have a funny name.  See how it works?  Whatever.  We have urinal games and “win a free funeral” contests too.  Anything for attention here in the minor leagues.  Dejan’s a good guy and he usually writes good stuff.  I’m a fan of his city.

But playing in front of a packed house every night for a Hall-of-Fame manager isn’t so much rock bottom.  It was a necessary step.  And it wasn’t even a full season.  Our friend Jim Laubach said it better than I could.  Thanks, Jim.

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Dear Mr. Kovacevic:

 

Everyone – and I truly mean everyone – in the Lehigh Valley is thrilled that Jason Grilli, now Pittsburgh’s closer, has been named to the All-Star team. We’re equally thrilled that Domonic Brown of the Phillies, also a former IronPig, was named an All-Star. Just as we were thrilled in 2011 when Ryan Vogelsong, then of the San Francisco Giants, a former IronPig, was named an All-Star.

 

We’re even thrilled that players from our Minor League opponents, like Bryce Harper (Syracuse Chiefs) and Aroldis Chapman (Louisville Bats) made the National League All-Star team this year.

 

We’re proud to have 7 pitchers, 1 catcher, 1 infielder and 3 outfielders on the Phillies’ active roster. Another 5 pitchers, 2 infielders and 1 outfielder are on the Phillies’ 40-man roster. And many other current IronPigs have played with the Phillies as well – like shortstop Michael Martinez.

 

So why, when you write the typical “long-suffering good guy finally makes the big-time” story about Jason Grilli do you also have to take a backhanded swipe at us and our team? Just so you’re aware of it, we are not “rock bottom.” In 2011, in only the team’s fourth year of existence, the IronPigs played in the Governor’s Cup for the championship of the International League. Also:

 

• We play in $50 million Coca-Cola Park, named Ballpark of the Year by Baseball Digest when it opened in 2008.
• The IronPigs were named Organization of the Year in 2008 by Ballpark Digest.
• IronPigs GM Kurt Landes was named International League Executive of the Year in 2009 and 2010.
• The IronPigs have had the highest per-game average attendance in all of Minor League Baseball in 2010, 2011 and 2012.
• Coca-Cola Park was named Best Ballpark in Triple-A Baseball in 2012 by Stadium Journey.
• The IronPigs were the Bob Freitas Award winner in 2012, recognizing sustained excellence in Minor League Baseball.

 

Other honors since 2008 include the “Best Game Operations and Presentation” award as chosen by gameops.com, along with many awards by Valley-based groups.

 

The IronPigs are the only Minor League franchise to eclipse 600,000 in attendance for each of the last five campaigns. Since 2008, 3,207,049 fans have attended IronPigs games – an average of 9,034 per game, a number that exceeds the ballpark’s fixed seating capacity of 8,089.

 

Every seat in the ballpark has been sold for 293 of the 355 all-time regular season games – including 32 consecutive games 64 of 76 during the 2012 season — with 93 all-time capacity crowds. Fox News recently ranked Lehigh Valley IronPigs fans as the best fans in all of Minor League Baseball.

 

There, I’ve said my peace. Who am I? First and foremost, I’m an IronPigs season ticket-holder since the team’s first game in 2008, who misses as few games as possible and counts team members, staff and other fans among my friends. Second and less important to me (though perhaps it may hold some weight with you), I spent 26 years in the newspaper business, including 4 years as Editor of a small (40,000-circ.) eastern Pennsylvania daily.

 

So I know what I’m talking about, not just as a fan, but as a professional journalist. You needlessly alienated a lot of people.

 

Sincerely,

 

Jim Laubach

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As per usual, I asked Cheryl if she had a Grilli photo for me to use for this story.  She sent me five–NO, WAIT, NOW IT’S EIGHT!– excellent ones, so I have to share them. They are too good to go unseen.  And, she sent an anecdote.  See Below:

 

WAIT, HOLD THE PRESSES (presses?).  NOW IT’S ELEVEN!

 

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Have you made it this far?  OK, one last thing:  Cheryl tells me that it still bugs Jason that he’s not included on the “Pigs to the Bigs” wall(s) at the stadium because he didn’t make it with the Phillies. “Not fair,” says Jason, “It doesn’t say Pigs to the Phils it says Pigs to the Bigs.”  Kurt Landes won’t give in.  It might be time for a petition.  Or, I’ll make one myself.  🙂

 

See you at the park,

@Kram209

 

 

Junior has stuff on his mind. I told him to write it down.  This is what he came up with.  My rebuttal follows in the comment section.  Be gentle.

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By:  Kram Jr.

            The date is 7/3; the MLB Trade Deadline is fast approaching.  It is the Christmas of baseball season where your favorite player could end up on a team other than yours.  I am going to talk about what the Phillies might do (though it’s hard to say with Amaro Jr.) and who they might trade.  This is important to any loyal Ironpigs fan such as me, because we might get the opportunity to see young stars blossom on an All-Star like roster come the end of this year and the beginning of the 2014 season.

The Phillies are under .500 again and it might be time for the fans to begin to think about giving up on playoff hopes.  They have many pieces that would be valuable to other teams who are making a run at the post-season.  A few of the guys on the trading block could be guys like Jonathon Papelbon, Cliff Lee, and Chase Utley.

Jonathon Papelbon is a Closing Pitcher making roughly $10 million.  He is under contract for at least another year making him a valuable piece.  Teams like Detroit and Boston (where “Paps” came from) are teams without a Closing Pitcher looking to make a playoff run.  Detroit’s #1 prospect, a Toledo MudHen – Nick Castellanos is a perfect fit for the Phillies, and the perfect piece should that deal go through, as he is a power-hitting corner outfielder with plus bat, medium speed, and average fielding.  One of Boston’s high-end prospects is Jackie Bradley, a guy who was picked one spot after Larry Greene Jr. in the 1^st round of the 2011 draft.  Bradley having already made the bigs, and has shown that he’s a 5-tool player.  As a corner outfielder, he has shown reasonable power with plus speed and bat.  His fielding is also good giving the Phillies a strong, young corner outfielder.

This brings me to Chase Utley, who still has at least one contract year left.  Teams like the Royals and Colorado have voiced interest in Chase.   The Royals have the number one prospect system in the bigs, so the Phillies could see more young prospects coming up through their system if they trade with KC.  Guys like Kyle Zimmer, a 21 year old with a superior fastball that can touch upper-90s and Bubba Starling, and speedy corner outfield with good power and fielding are viable canidates for a trade with Kansas City.  Colorado only has two relevant prospects, that being David Dahl and Kyle Parker.  Dahl is a left handed hitting outfielder with average hitting and speed, but great fielding.  Parker is also an outfielder with superb power, plus average, medium fielding, and mediocre, but not bad speed.  He is a little old (23) for AA, but has shown a decent average with good power.  He also has good plate discipline having a BB/K ratio of 1:2 and only striking out 40 times in 240 at-bats.

Cliff Lee has also been put onto the trading block, though it is unknown by me if any one team wants him to help in their run.

Also note that these players, while they may retain mid/long-term contracts, are not young guys by any means, as all of them are over 33 years old.  Prospects that were traded to the Phillies have been a treat to watch.  Guys such as Ethan Martin and Tommy Joseph were last year’s deals.  Guys like Tyson Gillies and Philippe Aumont were guys that came over before this year (late 2009).  I am excited to see what the Phillies do–also for new faces in Coca-Cola Park come 2014.

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By:  Kram Jr.

            Throughout the 2013 Ironpigs season, Darin Ruf has remained in control of the number 4 spot in the lineup every day that he’s played.  At the beginning of this year it made sense; he hit 38 HR in Reading last year, but due to his upper-cut swing, longer distance in left field, and more difficult pitching, he hasn’t produced home runs.  This isn’t to say that he can’t hit home runs, it’s just that we haven’t seen as many home runs as one might expect from someone who hit almost 40 a year ago in a season with no September.  Out of the 7 home runs he has hit, it’s safe to say that at least 4 of them came on the road.

First, he has an upper-cut swing that he developed in Reading when he was going on a home run tear in late 2012.  This doesn’t matter so much in Reading because the fence is at 315 feet.  This leads into my second point about ballpark size

At Coca-Cola Park, the Left Field fence is at 335 feet.  That is just to dead Left Field.  The fence then moves to 375 feet where the Capital Blue Cross Lawn is, which extends to 400 feet in dead Center Field – average distances.  In Reading though, the distances are shortened in Left and Left-Center Field by at least 15 feet; so when you see a high fly ball to the warning track at Coca-Cola Park, it’d be a home run in Reading.

Lastly, the pitching is more difficult in AAA than in AA.  This is a natural transition period that we saw in most players like Cody Asche, Ethan Martin, Leandro Castro, Tommy Joseph/Cameron Rupp, and lastly, Darin Ruf.  Guys like Asche, Martin, and Castro have already begun to adjust and shine here in AAA for the Ironpigs, but Darin Ruf has not.  He has continued to bat in the mid-260s and have mediocre homerun numbers.  His upper cut swing has resulted in ground balls and pop-flies:  both in the infield.  He has left more on base than anyone else on the team, and continues to stay at a mediocre level even though he gets playing time every day.  This is only because he’s a prospect.

Guys like Josh Fields and Cody Overbeck who put in work and still don’t get to bat in a higher position is why Darin Ruf’s playing time has upset me.  Josh Fields is currently batting .320 with 4 HR and over 30 RBI:  Certainly enough to be batting higher than the 6 spot in the batting lineup.  Cody Overbeck has an average of .250 but also has 15 HR and 45 RBI.

This is not to say that Darin Ruf shouldn’t play every day, he should.  His fielding has been spectacular considering this is his first year playing Left Field.  All I’m saying is that he should be moved down in the order to the 6 or 7 spot and let guys who are producing like Fields, Overbeck, and Castro to get more at-bats in a game.

Thank You for Reading My Article,

Kram Jr.