Roy Halladay

The baseball world was stunned at the death of Roy Halladay in a plane crash at the age of 40 in his small aircraft.

I'm never surprised when I hear of passings from airplane accidents.
I'm amazed that they don't happen more often and when you think of the number of miles that professional teams (and even college teams to an extent) spend in the air, the small number of accidents that have occurred are pretty surprising.

It seems so often when these things happen that they are using one of the smaller aircraft and that was the case this time as well.

Halladay, who is thought by some to be an eventual hall of famer, spent the bulk of his career with the Toronto Blue Jays winning the 1993 Cy Young before finishing his career with the Phillies with the first two years being the highlights as Halladay would win the 2010 Cy Young and finishing second in 2011 Cy Young balloting.

Halladay won 20 games three times (Twice in Toronto and once in Philadelphia) over a dominant ten-year run that saw his ERA rise over three and a half just once over that run and lead his league in complete games eight times.
Halladay will be most remembered as a Blue Jay, but it was as a Phillie that he etched the plaque that was inscribed "Big Game Pitcher" with a perfect game in 2010 along with only the second no-hitter in post-game history against the Reds in the NLDS.

What I liked about Halladay as a pitcher was that he was a reminder of the pitchers that pitched during my glory days of following days- big strapping pitchers that took the ball every four days (five by the days of Halladay) and wasn't afraid to accumulate innings.
Halladay never reached double digits in complete games, but yet in an age that prized peak performance over grit and guile, Halladay ( and maybe Curt Schilling as well) were almost the last of the old school arms.

Halladay also was unusual in another fashion- Halladay struck out more in the latter half of his career than the beginning half, which is very unusual.
Of Halladay's five seasons of over 200 strikeouts, four of them came after the age of 30, so he truly did get better as he matured and he kept the ball inside the park too as he allowed less than a homer per nine innings for his career.

One other note on Halladay- he played in an era of the two teams that he played for making some of the dumbest uniform decisions that you can think of.
Halladay's tenure in Philadelphia came at a time when the Phillies were suddenly pushing blue as a color used as trim and on bills on their caps and it just looked awful.
The Toronto term was even worse as the Blue Jays scrapped their beautiful logo that they had used since entering the league (they have since returned to it)  for two of the worse logos that you can imagine and using black as the predominant color for a team called the BLUE Jays!
It wasn't easy to find a picture of Halladay in Toronto togs that weren't those ugly things.
It's too bad because what a player plays in is what we remember him in and Halladay sure caught some sartorial bad breaks.

I think Roy Halladay is of Hall of Fame consideration caliber.
He did squeak just over 200 wins (his 203 final total being reached in his injury-riddled last year that saw Halladay win just four games), but his big game performance and run dominance gives him a chance to hit Cooperstown.
Halladay's not a lock though as the comparison's I think of are Curt Schilling and Jack Morris, neither who have made the Hall yet and on Baseball References ten closest pitchers in similarity score, only one is a hall of famer in Dazzy Vance, who isn't the top name you would hope to see on such a list.
Halladay will have an edge in some of the advanced stats with the voters that favor those becoming more and more prevalent, so he does have that going for him in future ballots.
Halladay is eligible for election in 2019.

It's over- Cleveland's Soul Crushing Game Five loss

A tremendous season came to a crushing end as Didi Gregorius hit two homers off Cleveland starter Corey Kluber in the first three innings and the New York Yankees won game five of the ALDS 5-2 in Cleveland, taking the series with them to Houston to play the Astros.
The Indians would cut the lead to 3-2 in the fifth on consecutive RBI singles by Roberto Perez and Giovanni Urshela but would threaten no more against the Yankee bullpen.
Back with more soon from the Hot Stove.

Smoke Signals

1) Not a lot of excuses, but there were some reasons for this loss.
It really did come down to two balls hit in game three.
The Yankees Greg Bird's hit left the ballpark and stayed out.
Francisco Lindor's left the park, but Aaron Judge brought it back in.
Difference between moving on and moving out.

2) Now, I cannot explain how Corey Kluber pitched so well all season and then came up very short in his two playoff starts.
Kluber just didn't have it when they needed him and I'm not sure why.
I can give Kluber a mild pass for game two on somewhat short rest, but Kluber had no such excuse on this day.

3) The Indians did score twice and had the tying run on second with just one out in the fifth.
Francisco Lindor then banged into a double play and that essentially ended the Cleveland offense/

4) Cleveland just wasn't patient at the plate as they swung way too early in the count and allowed Joe Girardi to stick with just David Robertson and Aroldis Chapman from the bullpen.
Yankee pitchers threw 130 to Indian pitchers 177 and the difference was most glaring in the Yankee ninth when Brett Gardner wore Cody Allen down before singling home one run with the final run scoring on the same play on an error on an overthrow.

5) Top three hitters in the Indians lineup for the series-Francisco Lindor .111, Jason Kipnis .182 and Jose Ramirez .100.
Tough time of the year to have the top of your lineup get that cold and other than Lindor's homer in game two, the Indians received next to nothing from those players.

6) It didn't have an effect on the game, but what in the world when you are down to your final five outs and the season is on the line, why is lefty hitter Jason Kipnis being allowed to face the fearsome lefty Aroldis Chapman?
Chapman predictably dispatched Kipnis easily.
Not on Kipnis, being placed in that situation is on Terry Francona.

7) So many are now wondering about the record-setting winning streak contributing to the loss and I'd hesitate to blame that completely, but I would say this, sometimes it is possible for a team to use things up.
Not like karma or anything like that, but players are streaky and in an unusual run such as that, several Indians played great and all players have their good runs and bad runs.
Sometimes it's as simple as you are due.

8) And sometimes, there are no explanations other than the other team was better.
Maybe it's just that simple this time- The Yankees were the better team over five games.

9) And this is sour grapes of course, but this is one of the reasons that I hate the Wild Card among many.
I hate the Wild Card, to begin with, but baseball makes it far too easy for the Wild Card to overcome any obstacles.
I was talking about how to fix things after baseball inevitably moves to 32 teams with Fred Landucci and I think the best way is 4 four-team divisions in each league and punt the wild card.

10) I might be doing a pre-Hot Stove series for the Indians, Giants and Pirates, but for now- here are the Indians free agents. We'll see who stays and who goes.
Hitters: Jay Bruce, Carlos Santana, Austin Jackson, Michael Brantley
Pitchers: Bryan Shaw, Joe Smith, Craig Breslow, Boone Logan
Brantley and Logan are team options.
Logan is unlikely at seven million, if picked up with a one million buyout.
Brantley is a maybe at eleven million and it might depend on who they can keep of Bruce and/or Santana.

Fielding Failures plague Wahoo's in Game 4 Loss.

Photo Courtesy Cleveland Plain Dealer

The Cleveland Indians were the American League's best fielding team, but on Monday night, they sure didn't show with four errors and six unearned runs in game four of the ALDS against the New York Yankees.
Those results went a long way towards Cleveland's 7-3 loss and a tied series with the game five that will decide the series Wednesday night in Cleveland.
The pitchers will be a rematch of game two with Corey Kluber for Cleveland and CC Sabathia for New York.
Carlos Santana hit a two-run homer and Roberto Perez smacked a solo shot to account for all of Cleveland's runs.

Smoke Signals

1) On the surface, Trevor Bauer would appear to have pitched in bad luck in his less than two-inning start.
All four of Bauer's runs allowed were unearned, but some of the damage was of his own making.
With one on and one run scored, Bauer still had two out and just needed to retire Aaron Hicks.
Bauer couldn't and after the Hicks single both Brett Gardner and Aaron Judge smacked base hits and the game was 4-0.

2) The crowd in Yankee Stadium was loud and I was surprised about how it was so loud on the television.
I only watched a little bit with sound (I was doing Fightheads at the time, so the TV was on mute), but the stadium was very loud-Cleveland can hopefully match that environment on Wednesday.

3) The game started in a hard rain that died off as the game moved on, but I was surprised that the game started under those conditions.
I know there are other things involved in these decisions, but I thought that a short delay might have been a good idea...

4) Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez have got to get their bats started and hopefully on Wednesday.
Lindor did hit the huge homer in game two, but even figuring that in, Lindor is hitting .091 for the series and Ramirez is flailing away with little plate patience with his .118 average.
It'll be fingers crossed that those key players pick it up back in Cleveland.

5) Giovanni Urshela's value is for his defense and his two errors make you wonder, if on Wednesday for game five, the Indians might consider Jason Kipnis at second, Jose Ramirez at third and maybe Austin Jackson in center or maybe a real gamble with rookie Greg Allen.

6) How will the Indians react for game five?
I do know how the star-crossed Indians fans are looking at things.
Worrying about did the long winning streak mean that the Indians peaked too soon?
Closing windows, etc and more-almost anything other than a one-game series.
I have some feelings about the wild card to begin with, let's hope that a win Wednesday will not lead to a whiny post from me after the game about hating the wild card!
Go Tribe.

Bird blast saves Yankees in 1-0 Game 3 win

Photo Courtesy:Cleveland Plain Dealer

Greg Bird's blast in the seventh inning off the usually unhittable Andrew Miller provided the only run of the game and allowed the New York Yankees to survive in the ALDS with a 1-0 game three win.
Miller was the losing pitcher and the loss wasted five and two-thirds shutout innings from starting pitcher Carlos Carrasco.
Game four is tonight in New York with the Indians returning game one starter Trevor Bauer to the hill with the Yankees countering with Luis Severino, who pitched less than an inning in his wild card start vs Minnesota.

Smoke Signals

1) Why not a picture of the only run scored of the game?
I wasn't able to find one of Greg Bird swinging!
Consider the odds of the most terrifying lefthanded pitcher in the game against a lefty swinger and then hitting a homer?
Long odds!
That said, Miller put a ball over the plate that was perfect to pull and Bird was able to thump it into the second deck.
Unlikely, but much of the game is taking advantage of another's mistake...

2) Cleveland almost won the game and series in the sixth inning when Francisco Lindor hit a ball that seemed destined to leave the park and lift the Indians to a 2-0 lead.
It did leave the park, but the problem was that the one player tall enough to pull that in was playing right field in 6'7 Aaron Judge, who made a great play keeping the ball in the stadium and saving the lead, game, and series all with one play.
If Cleveland loses this series, remember that play.

3) Cannot complain about Carlos Carrasco, who missed last years playoff run due to injury.
Carrasco struck out seven and allowed just three hits in five and two-thirds innings before loading the bases in the sixth and leaving the game.
Carrasco pitched very well and gave signs that should the Indians move on in the playoffs, Carrasco might be the bully of the rotation.

4) Andrew Miller did take allow the homer and take the loss, but remember that it was Miller that got the Indians to that point with his sixth inning pop-up against Starlin Castro with the bases loaded.
Miller isn't going to lose often, but anyone can be beaten on one pitch.

5) Masahiro Tanaka was downright nasty in his seven innings with a split finger fastball that was on the money.
Tanaka was only really threatened by Lindor's shot to right field and gave an effort that exceeded that of Carlos Carrasco as he made it through seven.

6) Onto game four and Trevor Bauer on short rest.
The Indians feel Bauer on short rest is better than Corey Kluber on short rest and the statistics bear that out, but I do wonder why the Tribe didn't consider one of the three starters that are playoff relievers in Josh Tomlin, Danny Salazar or Mike Clevenger.
The bright side to the Bauer decision is that if he gets knocked out early, the Indians have three guys capable of picking up the slack for multiple innings.

I'm going to be back later with the Devils Columbus Day matinee in Buffalo and later-game four!

Indians rise from the mat-win Game Two in 13 Innings!

After five innings of play, things couldn't have looked bleaker for the Cleveland Indians.
The Wahoos trailed 8-3, their likely Cy Young award-winning pitcher had been knocked around, their leader in home runs had injured an ankle and it looked like they would be traveling to New York tied in the series and needing to win one of two, just to come back to Cleveland.

However, as Howard Cosell used to say "BUT, NO" as Francisco Lindor crushed a grand slam (1) in the sixth inning off the foul pole to trim the lead to a manageable 8-7 and return legitimate hope to Tribe fans.
Hope springs eternal as entering the bottom of the eighth, the one run was holding up and time was drawing shorter for the Indians.
Once again, cue Cosell- "BUT, NO"- it's Jay Bruce stepping up and slamming the game-tying homer (2) and we are tied with free baseball to come.
I'll add more in Smoke Signals, but the stage was set for the bottom of the 13th when Austin Jackson singled, stole second and scored on Yan Gomes base hit down the third base line for a 9-8 Indians win.
Josh Tomlin was the winning pitcher after throwing the final two innings.
Cleveland can win the series Sunday night at 7;30 as Carlos Carrasco will start for the Indians against Masahiro Tanaka for the Yankees.

Smoke Signals

1) What a game.
The game lasted over five hours and didn't have a delay.
I tweeted ( after the first three innings lasted close to two hours) that at this rate, I would be going to work before it was over.
Sure enough- It was not over until I was on my way to work.

2) My last tweet before work?
The Indians will win this while I am in the car- that is usually how it works.
However, if that is what it takes to win- No problem at all.

3) The Indians usually set things up correctly, but Corey Kluber is a creature of habit and doesn't pitch well on short rest.
Kluber didn't pitch well today either, but the gamble, in the end, paid off with Cleveland getting a win on a Kluber start day.
And that means that Kluber is on track to pitch on proper rest for the rest of the playoffs and that might mean bad news for the opponents of the men of Lake Erie.

4) The worst news (worse than a bad start from Corey Kluber) in this one was the injury to the ankle of Edwin Encarnacion as he hustled back to second after a liner by Jay Bruce was caught by Didi Gregorius.
The length of loss is still unknown, but the diagnosis was a big sprain, so you have to hope that it is not too severe, but the Indians might be able to survive for a bit with Michael Brantley.
Still, that is 38 home runs that are no longer in the lineup.

5) I also thought it was a little bit of poor sportsmanship by Joe Girardi to challenge the play on Encarnacion as he writhed on the ground in agony.
I understand you are paid to win and I'll give him a pass on the appeal (which his team won), that is what he's paid for, but unless the time to appeal is rolling during the injury, I thought it was poor taste in timing otherwise.

6) And baseball can be a funny game and maybe someone tweaked Girardi for that call in the sixth.
With two outs, two on and the Tribe trailing by five, Lonnie Chisenhall appeared to be brushed by a pitch by Chad Green, which loaded the bases for Francisco Lindor.
Upon "further review", which meant super slow motion.zoom etc, the ball might have hit the knob of Chisenhall's bat and the Yankees might have won the appeal, but Girardi didn't appeal it.
That decision would cost the Yankees...

7) I don't want to go as far as to say I called Francisco Lindor's grand slam, but I thought there was a
possibility and not just because of his ability as a hitter.
I've been a Lindor fan from the first time that I saw him play, he's charismatic and he has a flair for the moment.
Such players step up on the stage and shine - that's Francisco Lindor.

8) I'll have to tell my two favorite interactions with Lindor sometime, but what resides beneath the smile of Lindor is a competitor.
I listened to some of the game on the Indians network and Andre Knott was talking about the look that Lindor gave him after Knott told him of the day that Lindor's friend off the field and rival on the field for the title of best shortstop in the league-Carlos Correa had vs the Red Sox.
You can wonder how long the Indians can keep such a player as Francisco Lindor over the long haul, but while we have him in Cleveland, he'll be going all out all the time.

9) Jay Bruce may not be in Cleveland after this postseason (think we can talk him into staying?), but he continues to punish the ball in big situations.
Bruce has always been a player that the SABR crowd hasn't cared for but produced numbers for both the Reds and Mets that the old guard could wrap their heads around.
Bruce might be beyond the Indians budget, but the Indians should try with a high dollar, short-term deal.

10) Yan Gomes has disappointed me since signing a large contract, but on this night, Gomes was a star and not even for the game-winning hit.
The play of the game by Gomes was coming up throwing in the eleventh to pick off pinch runner Ronald Torreyes.
That play not only took a Yankee out of scoring position but it also for the first time seemed to make the Yankees psyche sag...

11) The Indians winning this game is one that fans might look back on and say at that moment that it became clear that this was the "team of destiny" moment.
Most championships have that moment and this could have been Cleveland's.

12) As for the Yankees, they do get two games at home, but this loss has to be devastating to them.
I'm not sure great teams can get off the mat after a loss such as this, let alone a wild-card team.
New York will get their chance, but it's going to take a lot of moxie to win three games in a row against a 102 win team, let alone under these circumstances....

Back later with the boxing challenge, Eubank vs Yildrim in the World Boxing Super Series and Ohio State's homecoming vs Maryland.

Bauer & Bruce star-Indians win Game One ALDS

Trevor Bauer allowed just two hits in six and two-thirds innings, striking out eight and Jay Bruce blasted a home run and finished with three RBI on the evening as the Cleveland Indians defeated the visiting New York Yankees 4-0 in game one of the ALDS in Cleveland.
Bauer picked up the victory with Andrew Miller and Cody Allen closing the game with the final seven outs of the game, Allen earning the save.
Game two is tomorrow in Cleveland with the Indians sending the likely Cy Young winner Corey Kluber to the mound against the Yankees C.C.Sabathia.

Smoke Signals

1) There was some controversy over the selection of Trevor Bauer as the game one starter over Corey Kluber in order for Terry Francona to organize the rotation as he wished.
Trevor Bauer had pitched well in the second half and now the Indians have their best pitcher going in game two.
Gamble paid off...

2) Trevor Bauer had his best stuff going and best of all for the righthander on this night was the curveball that handcuffed Yankees all night long.
Bauer has always been a pitcher with tremendous stuff, it appears that now the mental game is catching to his toolbox...

3) There weren't any runners on base, but the play that set the tone was the diving catch in left center by Jason Kipnis in the third inning.
That catch not only showed the emotion from Trevor Bauer but it also revved up an already loud crowd.
Kipnis may not have a load of major league experience in center, but he was an outfielder at Arizona State and only after being drafted by the Indians did Kipnis move to the infield.
Kipnis in center has its own risks, but inexperience in the outfield isn't one of them.

4) Jay Bruce was involved in all four Indian runs, scoring in the first, knocking in the following three with a two-run homer and a sacrifice fly.
The narrative so far on the Bruce trade in this series is that the Indians obtained Bruce from the Mets over the Yankees because the Indians were more willing to pay the remainder of his contract than New York was.
The missing part was the price the Indians paid in Ryder Ryan.
Ryan was mediocre for low A Lake County but was impressive in eight outings for the Mets low A squad in Columbia.

5) Now the pressure is all on the Yankees-lose today (5;00 ) and they'll have to beat the Indians three in a row.
Pressure is on Cleveland too,lose game two and they could lose the series by dropping both games in New York.

Hagerstown Suns-The Pitchers

We move on to part two of our look back at the Hagerstown Suns after our earlier look at the hitters, we begin to chat a bit about the pitchers...

The pitchers were not filled with multiple prospects, but there were a few of interest.
The problem is that the top two were both traded in separate trades during the course of the season.

McKenzie Mills was the breakout pitcher of the year here.
The issue for Washington is that if he makes the next jump, he'll be doing it in the system of a divisional rival as Mills was traded to the Phillies for Howie Kendrick.
Mills was 12-2 in Hagerstown in 18 starts here and I usually don't value wins and losses highly in the SAL when measuring a prospect, but in the case of Mills, it's impressive and here's why.
The Nationals use pitch counts as all teams do and often starting pitchers pile up high counts and don't qualify for decisions as often as others.
That usually is a giveaway for command problems, but Mills was involved in the decision in 14 of his 18 starts, which is very high for the low-A level,
That's because of his control with just 22 walks in 104 innings keeps the count down, so the next question is this -Is Mills a soft tosser that was too advanced for the level by hitters that were confused by breaking stuff?
I don't think so.
Mills struck out over 118 (over a batter an inning) and stays in the low 90's and with a build (6'4 and gangly), I don't think it's unrealistic to think that he could gain a tick or two on the fastball.
Mills did allow 12 homers (8 on the road) so I wouldn't want to see him on a short porch team.
Mills was promoted to Potomac but never pitched there due to the trade.
Mills pitched three times for the Phillies high-A team in Clearwater before his season ended.
Not sure if that was due to a minor or major injury issue, but I liked what I saw from McKenzie Mills, who should start back with Clearwater next season.

Tyler Watson wasn't quite as impressive as Mills and his numbers weren't quite as strong before being traded to the Twins when the Nationals added Brandon Kinzler to their bullpen.
Another tall (6'5) and thin (200) righthander, Watson turned 20 during the season and like Mills, struck out over a batter an inning (98 in 93 innings) and showed good control in walking 24 batters in 93 innings in Hagerstown.
The ERA was meh at 4.35, but Watson keeps the ball down and has room to grow into his frame, which may help him a bit with the Twins.
Watson could start 2018 at either High A Fort Myers or return to low A Cedar Rapids where he made a few starts after the trade.

The remainder of the main rotation wasn't much to be excited about.
Sterling Sharp was promoted to Potomac after 17 starts and despite a 3.69 ERA, Sharp fits the look of a pitcher that was refined enough  (just 14 walks) to do well in the SAL but could struggle at higher levels.
Sharp's strikeouts aren't high (69 in 92 innings) and that is the number that I look at first with young pitchers.
If you don't strike out players in low A, it's not likely that you will suddenly do that as you rise with better and more patient hitters.
Sharp might profile best as a long reliever over time.,but he'll likely be in the Potomac rotation next year.

Another tall (Washington does like tall pitchers and hope they gain velocity as they settle into their bodies) at 6'6 hurler in Carlos Pena.
The problem with Pena is that he's already at 240 lbs, doesn't have a high strikeout rate (79 in 99 innings and a high ERA of five makes you eliminate his prospect status-except that teams hit over twenty points less vs Pena than with Sterling Sharp and he pitched best in August, which was the only month that Pena pitched in some games in relief.
Pena might be worth watching in High-A Potomac next season if they start him in the bullpen.

James Bourque made the most starts of any Sun (20) but was hit hard ( an ERA over Five, gave up over a hit an inning and hitters hit .273 against him).
And these were the best numbers that Bourque has ever produced as a professional.
Players with numbers such as Bourque's usually don't get better and at 24, Bourque looks to be headed for organizational soldier status.
Bourque will likely move up to Potomac, mainly due to a lack of options.

No other Suns made starts in the double digits, so the data is a bit more limited on some of these players, but I'll have opinions with asterisks for most of these pitchers.

I only saw A.J.Bogucki start once, but the North Carolina Tar Heel looks Potomac bound.
He is a flyball pitcher, it seems and the Muni tends to help those types of pitchers, so keep that in mind with decent enough numbers.
Sure enough, I look up his home/away split and his ERA was a run and a half (just short to be clear) less at the Muni then on the road.

Matt DeRosier pitched very well after he returned to Hagerstown for his second try at the end of July.
DeRosier never allowed more than three runs in a start and never went less than five innings, so I'm hopeful that DeRosier's health is going to give him a shot in Potomac for 2018.

2017 draftee Brigham Hill made six starts in August as a Sun and three were excellent, but the other three blew his ERA up to six.
There are things to like about Hill, he keeps the ball on the ground and he fanned 30 in 29 innings.but batters hit over .300 in those starts.
I think Hill starts with Hagerstown and leaves quickly for Potomac.

Weston Davis struggled with injuries throughout the year and when he was healthy, struggled on the mound with an ERA near six and only eight more strikeouts than walks.
Davis will need a strong start and is likely to see it in Hagerstown.

Yonathan Ramirez made six starts in his 15 appearances in two Hagerstown stints sandwiched around time in Auburn.
Ramirez struggles with command (20 walks) and isn't overpowering either (23 strikeouts and hitters hit .302).He's just 20, so he'll get another try next year with the Suns...

Ben Braymer made seven late-season starts with five of them being very good and two were the converse, which is why his ERA is a deceivingly high 5.26.
Braymer throws hard and struck out 37 in those starts. I can see Braymer starting in either Hagerstown or Potomac depending on the situation, but I'm interested in seeing more.

Carlos Acevedo notched two starts with eight very nice innings before suffering an injury that saw him never return.
Acevedo will be 24 for next season, so he'll be back in Hagerstown and moved quickly if he starts well.

The best reliever on the Suns was Hayden Howard, a 2016 draftee from Texas Tech.
Howard notched an ERA under three and despite not being overpowering, hitters only hit .253 against him.
Howard pitched the season at 23, so he was a little old for the level, but I think he'll do well at Potomac next season and has a chance to see AA Harrisburg by the end of 2018.

Tommy Peterson, to my surprise, returned to Hagerstown after what I thought was a strong 2016 as a Sun and a decent stint with Potomac.
Peterson again was solid in 18 Hagerstown appearances but was even better in 12 outings with Potomac as Carolina League opponents hit just.113 against him.
Peterson will likely start as the Potomac closer in 2018 and should have an excellent chance of finishing with Harrisburg.

Mick VanVossen was Ok for the Suns before being traded to the White Sox for Ryan Raburn.
VanVossen was tremendous for Kannapolis but was hit hard in twelve innings for the High A affiliate of the White Sox in Winston-Salem.
VanVossen made his second tour in the SAL in 2017 and turns 25 before next season, which isn't a good statement for prospect status.

Panamanian Steven Fuentes was 20 for the season and he needs to fill out at just 175 pounds, but his numbers were decent if nothing special.
Fuentes will move up to Potomac and I'll be interested to see if he can miss more bats ( 53 K's in 63 innings)

Jordan Mills was signed from the independent leagues and fit the mold of an older (25) control pitcher doing well in the SAL.
Mills didn't fare as well in Potomac and would return there if the Nationals decide to keep a soon to be 26 year old in Woodbridge.

Jorge Pantoja allowed just one run in nine innings before a promotion to Potomac, where he had a good year with an ERA of 2.06.
Pantoja is likely to be in AA Harrisburg for 2018.

Kyle Simonds showed that wins and losses aren't everything in his 30 appearances as he finished 5-0.
Simons had an ERA of five and a half and allowed a team-high 13 homers...

Sam Held's numbers look similar to Simonds, but he started well and finished well, so I wouldn't be against giving him one final Potomac look next season.

Jake Barnett was great at Auburn and Ok with the Suns with one bad outing lifting his Hagerstown ERA to the high three's.He'll be back with the Suns.

Normally, I'd think Phil Morse would be perhaps headed out of the game with an ERA over 6 and batters hitting .341 against him, but he has one stat that would make me keep him around- 31 strikeouts in 20 innings.
Worth another look...

Jacob Howell allowed runs in each of his five outings before his season ended due to injury.

David Ramos put up an ERA over ten and was released after six appearances.

2017 draftees Alex Troop (Michigan State) and Gabe Klobosits (Auburn) made late-season cameos.
Klobosits was the more interesting one with eleven strikeouts in five innings with just one run and one hit.but Troop allowed a run on two hits over five innings too.
Both should be in Hagerstown next year.

We wrap up with the memorable one inning four batter outing by the aging and taciturn Francisco Rodriguez, who came to Hagerstown to pitch the first inning of a game against Charleston that saw every batter smash the ball with a base hit,two fly balls that only stayed in the park because of the deep dimensions of the Muni and a crushed line drive right at the second baseman by former first-rounder Blake Rutherford that if the player (I think it was Angelo LaBruna) didn't catch the liner, it might have injured him severely.
Rodriguez was released by Washington the next day.

Hope you enjoyed our look at the Suns.
It was an interesting year in Hagerstown if not one well attended.
Hagerstown did avoid the basement in attendance due to four days of sellouts when Tim Tebow arrived with the Columbia Fireflies (adding roughly 16,000 in numbers),but before giving them too much credit-consider that last place Kannapolis (who finished 15,000 behind Hagerstown) never received a Tebow visit, which was a fact brought up to me in BOTH of my visits to Kannapolis by Intimidators front office members.

Hagerstown Suns-The Hitters

Now that things have died down a little for going to games, I'll take some time to do our annual review of the Hagerstown Suns with what I saw, what I think and where they may be next season.

The Suns finished second in the South Atlantic League overall,but the 2017 season will be most remembered by Suns fans for entering Kannapolis North Carolina with a two-game lead over the Intimidators with less than a week to go in the season, only to lose four games in two days and watch Kannapolis win the first half.
Next to the Bryce Harper-led collapse when the Suns lost a four-game lead with a week to play, this was the biggest late half swoon in the Suns' history.

Hagerstown's hitters were the strength of its ballclub and when I write about the pitchers that will be even clearer, but the Suns do have some interesting prospects that I really liked and will be worth following in the future.

The top prospect of all played in just 23 games, but his bat was so impressive that I think he might have the type of bat that changes franchises in 18-year-old Juan Soto.
Soto was cruising through the SAL (.360,3 HR 14 RBI) when sliding into home plate, Soto injured his ankle and it essentially finished his season, although he did get a few at-bats in the Gulf Coast League.
Soto would have likely been promoted to Potomac in midseason, had he continued at his pace at the plate.
Soto's bat ranks with the best I've seen in Hagerstown and I'm extremely high on him to hit for average and power as he rises.
He's not perfect, he's not exactly fast and defensively, he's not going to remind anyone of a Gold Glove defender, but what a bat.
Two stories on Soto from a member of the Nationals organization that I won't name.
I was talking to this person and they asked me "What do you think of Soto"?
I responded that I was there the night that he got hurt, but before then I was very impressed.
"He's the best young hitter I've ever seen".
Really, even better than Harper?
"Oh yes, definitely"

A different conversation with the same person talking about Victor Robles, a former Sun and currently making an MLB cameo, after a discussion about Robles...
How does he compare to Soto?
"No comparison"
In what way?
"No comparison, it's not even close, Soto's much better".
Highly touted prospects have failed before and they will fail again, but Juan Soto has the potential to have Nats fans, not miss Bryce Harper, should he leave after 2018-he has the potential to be that good.
Soto may return to Hagerstown since he played so few games, but it would not surprise me if they challenged him with an assignment to High-A Potomac since he dominated the SAL in his brief stint.

2016 first round shortstop Carter Kieboom also impressed as he fought through injuries that cost him much of the middle of the season.
Kieboom's 297/6/26 earned him a spot on the SAL all-star team before the injury and he would have likely been promoted to Potomac without the injury.
I can see Kieboom having a chance to develop 20 homer power with a high average and I would bet that he could switch to either second or third if the situation required it.
I still wonder about contact at higher levels (40 K's in 179 at-bats), but we'll see how that plays out.
Defensively, Kieboom needs some work, but he's not a sieve at short and I think he has a shot at staying there, which often isn't the case for such prospects.
Kieboom almost definitely will be assigned to Potomac.

The surprise star of the season was outfielder Daniel "D.J." Johnson, a fifth-round pick in 2016 out of New Mexico State,
Johnson hit .300 in Hagerstown with 17 homers to go with 12 steals in 88 games before a promotion to Potomac saw Johnson produce similar numbers in Woodbridge.
The surprise was the increase in power as Johnson had hit just one in 2016 in Auburn, which makes one wonder-was this power an aberration (remember Bryan Meija for one example) that won't be repeated?
In any case, Johnson strikes out a bit too much (100 between the two levels) but puts the ball in play to go with good speed and it'll be interesting to see just how highly the Nationals value Johnson.
If Washington assigns Victor Robles to start next season with AAA Syracuse, they could start Johnson with AA Harrisburg...

Sheldon Neuse looked like another college bat that would be starting lower than he should when he became a Sun.
The second rounder from Oklahoma hit well, but not outstanding in Hagerstown hitting .291 with 9 homers and 51 RBI as he spent time playing both second and third base.
Neuse was then traded to the Oakland Athletics in a trade that netted the Nats Sean Doolittle for their bullpen and with Oakland assigning him to their High-A affiliate in Stockton caught fire.
Neuse hit .386 with seven homers in only 22 games in Stockton before being promoted to AA Midland (and joined another former Sun Max Schrock) and smacked out a .373 average in 18 games there.
Neuse is being played at third base full-time in the A's system and profiles best there.
Neuse's glove is a question mark, but I think at worst he profiles having a chance to be a bat-first utility player.
Neuse is likely to start at AA Midland in 2018, but since Oakland clearly has him on the fast track, has a small chance of beginning with AAA Nashville.

Tres Barrera is an interesting catcher with intriguing numbers.
The Nationals have usually made some head-scratching decisions with their catchers as far as playing time goes and this season was no exception with Barrera hitting .278 with 8 homers in 67 games as the Suns used five different catchers.
Of the five, I liked Barrera the best (liked the 18 doubles) and although he was a little old for the level (23), I'll be interested in seeing his 2018.
Considering his age, I'd figure he'd start in Potomac, but don't rule out a Hagerstown return.
The Nationals like to have catchers that were the backup (Barrera played the most games, but when Jakson Reetz was around, Reetz played more) in Hagerstown return as the starter the following year.

Jakson Reetz returned for a second year in Hagerstown and received most of the playing time after he arrived in early May.
Unfortunately, Reetz's stat line didn't improve any from 2016 and his numbers in Hagerstown in 37 games (.238/2/11) were almost identical to his numbers after a surprising (by the numbers) callup to High-A (.236/2/11) that was forced by injuries that trickled down through the system.
Reetz turns 22 in January, but at this point has to be considered a disappointment after a large bonus out of high school as a third rounder in 2014.
Reetz will be back with Potomac for 2018.


Telmito Agustin was a player that I liked last season with the Suns after an interesting half season in 2016 and he improved on those numbers in 2017 (.277/9/37) in his return.
Agustin's return came after a slow start to the season in 33 games with Potomac, so the rebound was something to watch how Agustin handled adversity.
I like Agustin's tools a lot, but there are questions to be answered- contact (74 K's in 80 games), speed (he has plus speed, but stole just nine bases) and a slight build that might be an issue in staying healthy.
Even so, he played the season at 20 and I still consider him a prospect to keep tabs on.

Jake Noll hit 16 homers in his 400 at-bats and led the team in RBI with 67 before an August promotion to Potomac.
Noll was solid, but not outstanding and again as a college product (Florida Gulf Coast) was old for the level (23) before struggling in his Potomac cameo.
Noll might wind up being an AA hired gun in the long term, but in the short term will return to Potomac where again, he's a little old for the level, but will provide some power for the P-Nats.

Venezuelan first baseman Aldrem Corredor made the SAL all-star team with a strong first two months (.308) but fell off dramatically thereafter finishing at .261 with just one homer (of five) after June.
Between that drop in production and striking out over 100 times, there are red flags for Corredor as I wonder which player is actually Corredor.
He'll be 22 next season in Potomac...

Former second-rounder Blake Perkins had some encouraging notes in Hagerstown in 2017.
Perkins improved his average 22 points over his average at Auburn in 2016, showed increased power with eight homers, stole 31 bases and covers a ton of ground in the outfield.
Perkins looks the part athletically and boosted his numbers, so what's not to like?
A team-high 118 strikeouts and the boosted average still resided at a pedestrian .255, so despite the tools, Perkins has some ground to make up,but he played the season at 20, so if he can make a similar jump in production next season and get a better grasp of the strike zone (as in what he swings at), Perkins still has a chance.
I think he'll move to Potomac, but I'd consider trying to boost his confidence with a Hagerstown return and hopefully in a month, he'll be ready for High-A.

Nick Banks was a little disappointing with a .252/7/58 on the season, which was decent, but with a pedigree from Texas A&M, I expected a little more.
Banks reminded me a little of a less dynamic Andrew Stevenson and might be one of those guys that hit better as he rises through the system.
Banks will be at High-A Potomac in 2018.

Anderson Franco struggled much of the season, but was young for the level (turned 20 in August) and showed power with 11 homers.
The rangy 6'3 third baseman struggled to stay above the Mendoza line before finishing at .201 in his first full season of baseball.
Franco had issues with the glove (24 errors) and contact with the bat (100 whiffs), but consider the age factor and initial season in non-complex ball (only 11 games in Auburn in 2016) before giving up on the power with the 11 homers and 23 doubles.
I'd bring Franco back to Hagerstown...

The remainder of the position players either I don't list as prospects due to struggles or small sample size.

Three catchers each saw limited action.
Jorge Tillero returned for ten games and 38 at-bats in which he hit .421 and was rewarded with a move to the restricted list after Jakson Reetz returned from injury.
Tillero was later released.

26-year-old Adderling Ruiz is simply a backup mitt and when he played, it showed as one game it seemed like the backstop wore a glove rather than Ruiz.

Matt Reistetter caught eleven games after being dropped from Potomac when Barrera and Reetz were out of the lineup.
The good? Reistetter hit two homers in those games
The bad? Reistetter had only three other hits.
He might stick around if one of the teams needs a backup mitt, but at 25 has become an organizational soldier.

21-year-old outfielder Oliver Ortiz (that's four words in a row that started with O) hit well in Auburn, but couldn't top the Mendoza line in Hagerstown hitting .199 in 41 games.
Ortiz did finish with ten extra-base hits (4 homers) in his 136 at bats, so I suppose I'm not quite ready to throw him on the scrap heap, but with 41 strikeouts, Ortiz will need a fast start in Hagerstown next season...

Branden Boggetto hit over .300 in Auburn and came to Hagerstown for the final 15 games of the season.
Small sample size, so hard to grade his .231 average.
Boggetto turns 24 before 2018 begins, so if the Nationals like him as a prospect, they'll start him at Potomac...

Angelo LaBruna hit a David Masters like .218 with no punch (0 homers in 248 at-bats), but can play all four infield spots in a pinch, always hustles and is one of those "locker room guys".
I can see LaBruna in Potomac (they did move David Masters there as a similar player), back in Hagerstown or even start in the real world to make money if Angelo wishes.

2016 college draftees Tyler Beckwith  (.218, 2 homers with the Suns in 30 games) and Paul Panaccione ( .202, 2 homers in 33 Hagerstown games) are cut from the same mold- light hitting can play multiple positions and scrappy play that fans like.
If one or the other has an edge to stick around, it might be Beckwith, a local product from Mt.Airy MD.

Hope you enjoyed the look at the Suns position players and gave you food for thought.
With football coming up over the weekend, I would guess the pitchers will be sometime in the early to middle part of next week...

Road Trip:Auburn and home..

The road trip season concluded with our trip to Auburn New York for a visit to the short season home of the Nationals.

Mike and I awoke early and began the drive to Niagara Falls for my first visit there.
I expected a kitschy souvenir-filled place and it was that, but the actual falls were anything but that.
I mean really, you could see all of the various tourist places from "scenic" overlooks, "walking" under the falls and the boats going around and under the falls (memorable to me for where Jim and Pam were married on "The Office") and it was all of that.

However, there was more to them than that. There was a lot of walking (I bet Mike and I walked at least 3 miles round trip by the time we got back to our car), but the view of the actual falls was so worth it.
I have to be honest as we walked and saw several less-than-impressive falls, I was starting to think that Niagara was way overrated, but then we reached the "real" falls and it was breathtaking!

Mike's not the greatest heights guy so he stayed way back.
I'm not that bad, but I'm not a person who likes to peer down over the side, so the above picture is as close as I am going to get to do that.
Mike and I walked and checked out a few of the shops as I looked for a souvenir for Cherie and Rachel (I would eventually go with a keychain for Rachel and a snow magnet for Cherie) and it was fun looking through those stores, even though I was concerned I was boring Mike a bit!

Mike and I had to make our way back through Niagara Falls and we had scoped out a place near our hotel to eat at-Buffalo Wing Joint and Pub.
We were the first people in the "joint" and I hadn't eaten in almost 24 hours, so I was starved.
I ordered a burger and wings, figuring that if I was full, I'd put leftovers in the cooler.
I walked around the pub while we waited and the decor was cool- This autographed jersey of longtime TRS favorite Jim Kelly was at the table across from us and they had my favorite arcade game of all time (USA vs USSR hockey) that I spent so many hours playing as a high schooler and even occasionally Cherie and later even Ryan.
I didn't play, but I had to have a picture of a game that meant so much to me years ago!
When our food came out, the wings (2nd hottest) were delicious!
Ranking among the top I've had, but I turned to the burger and Bleech!!!
Those of you who know me know I order my steaks very rarely, but my burger medium well- this was barely rare, so it had to go back.
The waiter was very apologetic and offered a new burger, but I took more wings instead-it was a great call!

We left Niagara and moved towards Auburn.
Our original thought was to do Auburn and then hit Rochester after that to mark that park off on the schedule.
However, Rochester would be an hour in the opposite direction of home, so it would be two extra hours on the road. so we stopped at Auburn early to prep team sets.
We were treated so well by Shane Truman, the assistant general manager that I remarked going to the car, that I would almost rather skip Rochester and spend extra time here all things considered and Mike jumped on that idea quickly, so we killed a little time in town before returning to Falcon Field.

Falcon Field is an old-time park that doesn't look its age.
The field is maintained incredibly well and looks much better than many fields that I've seen at higher levels.
The food is varied and reasonably priced and one can tell that the management and community care about its team and its facility.
I really liked Falcon Park and I would prefer it to our other old-school stop in Batavia.
It seemed that the people in the office and in the stands just care more, which isn't a knock on Batavia.
My only issue came in graphing-Mike graphed visiting State College, I took the home Auburn and I had asked beforehand about where I could go and where I couldn't and was told that since there was not a party I could go to an open area very near the clubhouse.

I moved to this area and immediately started knocking off cards and felt I was about to redeem myself for my poor day in Batavia!
It was too easy and I was loading when an older employee moved down and told me "This is a restricted area, you can't be here".
I tried to explain that I had been given the OK from the assistant.GM to be down here from earlier and this response was "The GM sent me here, he outranks the assistant, you have to go".
I finished the two players I was getting and followed directions.
I'm the outsider, I wasn't going to be "that guy" from out of town who acts like a jerk, I hate it when others do that on our circuit and I wasn't going to be that way.
I did ask what the problem was as I packed up and the response was great.
"Well, Jerad Head (Auburn Manager) had been complaining that kids were asking for autographs during the game".
"Well, I'm far from a kid and there are still 45 minutes before the game, so that doesn't fly"...

I moved to a different spot and was able to have all the position players except one sign their Auburn cards, but I would only add one more pitcher because the access wasn't good for them.
The pitcher though was the National's number one pick, Seth Romero.
I had taken three baseballs for Fred and Michael Landucci, thinking that Romero didn't have any baseball cards.
Auburn had done such a good job with the team set (Brigham Hill was one of the NY/Penn top prospects and had left Auburn maybe 10 days before, yet the turnover time had Hill, not in the set) that Romero was included.
Normally, that would be good news, but now I suddenly had 4 cards (I was working on 4 team sets for others) and three baseballs, so I'm not especially smooth with many things, to begin with.
Seth was very nice as I explained I was from Hagerstown, getting stuff signed, etc, and said no problem as he signed he said: "I got you, no problem".
I switched from cards to baseballs along with Sharpies to pen and talked with Romero-very cool and the opposite of how he was portrayed to me, which goes to show that you really have to see for yourself about people and even then, things can vary from night to night.
Regular people like anyone else.

We watched about half the game and hit the road for home as we finished our road trip with plenty of driving.
I had a great time on all of my trips this year and I'm already beginning to look at schedules to toss around trips for next year.
Thanks to all of my friends for the great trips this year and now it's onto the offseason, lots of work and replenishing that war chest to be ready for next year... 

Road Trip: Buffalo and Batavia

We return to the road trip series after a whole bunch of Browns news and the beginning of the football season pushed the final two days of the New York portion off to the side.

We originally were going to start our day in Batavia and shoot over to Buffalo, the problem was that the rainstorm that we ran into the previous day canceled Batavia's game, but Buffalo got their game completed, so we called an audible as we figured going to Buffalo first would allow us to do Batavia in between games of the now doubleheader and then after the game....
I thought that made a lot of sense and we shuffled off to Buffalo, which was less than an hour from our hotel.

Buffalo's Coca-Cola Field is celebrating its 30th year and even though it's 30, it isn't showing its age any as it seems to have been well maintained.
We arrived early to get tickets and asked around about a local place to get lunch and the place that most recommended didn't open until 12.
A lot of places around the stadium (this happens in other urban stadiums) didn't open until 12, which I wonder about since the stadium is supposed to drive people to the surrounding areas, yet if you open at 12 for a 1 o'clock first pitch, I would think that defeats the purpose.

We ate at one of those places that doesn't look like much from the outside, but serves great food inside as we went into Washington Square, a local bar and grill.
Washington Square was exactly like one of those bars that you see on television, complete with locals with the local accent'.

Mike had the famous wings (they didn't have boneless) and I had the other local item- Beef on Weck, a roast beef on a Kimmel weck roll.
Kimmelweck is a harder, chewier roll and it's a little hard to bite off, but the sandwich was quite good-especially with a small cup of horseradish, which I love.
I really liked Washington Square, I mean how could you not like a bar with sports pictures all over the place including a team picture of the old Buffalo Braves?

Coca-Cola Field was the first of the retro parks to be built, preceding even Baltimore's Camden Yards in 1988.
Buffalo was going after a baseball expansion team and despite the dazzling stadium came up short of the more populated Miami and Denver areas.
Buffalo still is the largest minor league stadium in the country and despite other great Triple-A parks that I have visited
(Louisville, Nashville, Durham, and Columbus have great parks),Buffalo's stadium has a special spot with fans (like Baltimore in the majors) because their park was the originator of all the ones to come.

I really liked Buffalo,I liked how it was snugly placed inside the Buffalo skyline rather than the skyline being beyond the outfield.
The other thing that I liked was the northern New York thing- the farther north that you start seeing Canadian flags and in Buffalo before the game, the Canadian anthem is played as well.

Normally, the only time the Canadian anthem is played is when a Canadian team is involved, which wasn't the case on this day, unless Gwinnett, Georgia moved way north!

It wasn't perfect, the concourse is a little cramped for a stadium of its size and the two gift shops were downright claustrophobic and that is from someone that generally isn't bothered by such problems.

We left Buffalo to go to Batavia, basically going from the hardest level of graphing (AAA) to the easiest (short season).
Even though we didn't graph Buffalo, since there was really no one that I needed for my sets, and decided to save the AAA aggravation, I was looking forward to bringing the briefcase out and working on the Williamsport Crosscutters.
The short-season affiliate of the Phillies, Williamsport was the visiting team and I would do them, while Mike did the home Muckdogs.

I didn't have to learn the layout as I had been to Dwyer Stadium last summer, so when we arrived in the middle of the 5th inning of game one, we were able to settle in.
My problems started at the end of game one, when the Crosscutters rallied to force extra innings, but then blew the game with defensive mistakes.
This meant the Cutters were not in the best moods as they entered the clubhouse, so I only got a few, but the top prospect-outfielder Jhailyn Ortiz signed two of eleven.
Ortiz was aggravated, but his family was there, watching his father, you could clearly see the pride that he had in his son.
I did get another player or two as they came onto the field for game two, but the biggest catch was former World Series hero and Williamsport manager Pat Borders, who joked about the shape of Bowman Field (who was hosting the Pirates-Cardinals game that night) when they returned to town

In between games, we decided to eat a small dinner and we planned on my return to Bourbon and Burgers, which I loved last year with Doug Hopkins.
We were disappointed to see that they were closed on Sundays, so we needed to find someplace that we wanted to try and reasonably quickly.
Around a corner, we found a small Irish pub called O'Lacy's that we decided to give a try.
I had a sandwich called the Harold that was on "weck" again with roast beef and ham with another cup of horseradish.
I enjoyed it, although if I had to choose between Washington Square and O'Lacy's, I'd go with the Buffalo pub, but not by much.

Williamsport controlled the second game and held a 3-0 lead entering the final inning and I felt like I was able to get some cards signed after a disappointing start.
That thought disappeared when Batavia scored four runs and won the second game that they should have lost on this day.
The Crosscutters were leaving town, so they just wanted to get on the bus and I was only able to get a few more players in one of the worst days graphing that I can remember -And it was in the New York/Penn League, which I usually do well in!

Disappointed (especially next to Mike's haul, where he did massive numbers with the happy pack of Muckdogs), we began to drive to Niagara Falls, which neither of us had ever seen, but wanted to.
Really, if you get this close, you should go see the Falls!

We drove to our hotel and expected to watch the Pirates and Cardinals play at Williamsport's Bowman Field, but there was a television reception problem with the hotel and ESPN wasn't on our television, due to some sort of issue!

The really odd thing was ESPN 2 and ESPN News were fine.
Mike and I watched the game on my laptop, prepped cards for the final day, and planned just how we wanted to allow the final day to play out.

While Mike went to bed, I did what I often do on the road- watch local TV.
I've written before on how I like to watch different market news people when I am on the road and remember them for future reference (remember this post and I'll be doing another one over the winter), just see how things progress.
I don't always find people that I look at and they stand out, but I saw a commercial for a new upcoming local show (a preview of the Now Buffalo show can be found here) in Buffalo and decided to watch to see if I could see more.
I only saw the same commercial another time or two, but I looked this person up on YouTube and her video work screams potential star in the news "biz".

'
Hannah Buehler was her name and I bet that eventually, we'll see her in the cable news arena- if she wants it and at minimum, she'll be the top local star in Buffalo, where she was born and raised.
Bet on Hannah making an appearance in the "If I ran a network" bi-annual post later this year...

I found myself pulling for the Bills ( and the Sabres too) a little more now since I've been there.
It reminded me a lot of Cleveland a sports-crazy "Rust Belt" town that deserves a break.
It's hard to believe since the Browns have been so terrible, but it's the Bills that currently hold the longest streak of not reaching the playoffs.

A good day, although I was mad at myself for not doing better with cards in Batavia.
Mike and I are almost planning on making Batavia (and Auburn more on that next time) an every-year stop.
Those parks are old-school baseball and (usually) easy to graph.
One day to go on the road trip, which I'll try to fit in during a busy week...

Road Trip :Harrisburg and Fred's Buddy Roy?

I'm interrupting my road trip to New York to talk about an interesting night in Harrisburg with the Senators with good company,namely my lovely wife for the evening.
Of course,it wouldn't be Harrisburg without the appearance of the irrepressible Fred Landucci and the must for the evening was seeing the Akron Rubber Ducks for the first time this season.

I needed to make the trip to Harrisburg for the first time since June because the Rubber Ducks team set was out and I needed to work on that.
I always make doing Akron,Altoona and Richmond the must have team sets in the Eastern League,so this was a drive that I needed to make.
As usual,Fred Landucci was waiting for Cherie and I at the gate and as we descended down the steps to reach field level to do some pre-game graphing,a gentleman hollered out to Fred some words that I couldn't make out.
Fred responded "AH I don't have time for you,Roy!".
I asked Fred,if Roy was a friend of his and did was he friends with Roy?
The crisp and quick retort was no and just then the theme of the evening was set-Fred and his pal Roy!

There were few graphers in town.mainly because the Ducks and their two top prospects had been in town earlier in the season in Francisco Mejia and Bobby Bradley.
Fred had gotten Mejia's top 100 finished for me in Akron's previous visit,so now it was just my and Mike Oravec's team set cards.
Francisco was the first player that I was able to write off as he signed both cards for me and Fred helped with the final card to finish Mejia.
Bobby Bradley signed just one of two,so we'll see how Fred might do on Thursday with a little mop up...

One great story was when I asked Cameron Hill to sign.
Cameron came right over and signed my two cards and Fred said that we still needed to get Bobby Bradley and wondered if he would walk right over to us.
Cameron said  (paraphrased) "Probably not,these big prospects usually don't sign".
I haven't heard honesty from a player about a player like that since Ron Davenport ripped Jordan Schaefer in 2007.

All the while as the pregame went and we were joined by Dan and Bobby (Great guys,Harrisburg locals and how could they be bad as Xavier fans?),I continued to ask Fred about his friend Roy.
Roy apparently is a Senators season ticket holder that Fred dislikes because he pays for general admission seats and yet sits in the first row right beside the Senator dugout in seats far better than he pays for.
Fred says the Senators allow this for some reason and even though Fred has great seats that he pays for (he usually climbs the steps to sit with me when I come to Harrisburg),this rightfully angers him and the fact that Roy revels in this makes it even worse for Fred.

As the game was played and after I missed the only Akron run of the night  (a Mejia homer) while I waited in line for a cheeseburger (Cherie was nice enough to come with me right after work,so I felt I should get her something to eat!),we climbed to the top of the stadium.
There isn't a bad seat in the place,so I like to sit away from people,but who was right in our line of vision to the field?
Roy.
That meant more comments from me about Fred's new friend Roy and Fred offering his various complaints about Roy and his life!
Me: You sure know a lot about Roy,Is Roy coming to the GGG-Canelo party?
Fred:No,I wouldn't invite him-----------comments about Roy here....

Meanwhile on the field,the Senators and Rubber Ducks went into extra innings with Harrisburg blowing a chance to win it in the 9th.
As we looked at Roy in his seat as he cheered on the Senators with another grapher that Fred hates that is lovingly dubbed "Baseball Pants" in front of another fan that was quickly named Frank Howard since he was wearing a Nationals/Senators batting helmet and the guy had some resemblance to the 80 plus year old slugger.
Harrisburg had a chance to win in the 10th,but the runner was held at third with one out on a single and the next two "Favorites of Fred"-Khayan Norfork and Stephen Perez,long time Harrisburg journeymen each made outs to prolong the game.

Roy was having a good time,while I reminded Fred of Roy not paying for his seats.
Harrisburg again had a chance to win in the 12th as Dan Gamache led off the inning with a double.
Drew Ward then singled and as I gathered my belongings to prepare for postgame,left fielder Dorssys Paulino uncorked a throw for home.
It was long enough,but way high.
Gamache would have been safe easily,if he slides-but he doesn't and Paulino's throw hits the mitt of Francisco Mejia and right into the hip of Gamache for the out.
As the crowd groaned,Fred yelled at Roy to sit down.
Akron's Mitch Brown walked the next two batters (one intentionally,one not),up stepped Stephen Perez again to Fred's complaints and Roy's cheers.
This time,Perez singled to end the game and finally send Fred,Roy and the few remaining fans home with a rare Senators win (Harrisburg is racing to the finish with Richmond to avoid the cellar).

Fred helped me graph Akron postgame and got some more players for the team set (I was able to acquire most of the prospects I really needed except for Bobby Bradley for Mike and Greg Allen for both of us) and I was able to hang out with Dan and Bobby more as well.
I always have a good time in Harrisburg.
It's not the prettiest park to watch a game on the circuit and it's not the easiest to graph either,but it's close enough to the top on both lists to make it my favorite place to go on the local circuit.

Thanks to everyone and even Roy wherever you are for making my final trip of the year a fun night...

I still have two stops on the New York trip coming up soon,but I'll be working on football for the next few days!
Stay tuned!

Road Trip:Scranton,Pain and the rain

My road trip through New York with Mike Oravec didn't begin well,but the fun always is around when Mike and I take trips and despite a slow start,it still was a great time...

We drove to Scranton Pa. for our first stop as the Railriders were hosting the Durham Bulls.
There wasn't anyone on either team that I really needed,but the Railriders have a legends series that they bring in a player a month (usually a former Yankee) to sign autographs and meet fans.

Neither of us had a burning desire to graph the team,but the chance to add Hall of Famer "Goose" Gossage to my 1988 and 1990 Score set was intriguing enough to start the trip in Scranton.
Sadly,we were both dismayed by the Railriders customer service.
We were in the door among the first few non season ticket holders,went straight to line up for the Goose and were as far up the line as we could be.
Yet,we never made it to the Goose.

The people in line in front of us said that this was the third time in a row that they wouldn't get the guest to sign.
That sounds like a rigged game to me-The team advertises the player using "Come See" and with letting the season ticket holders in first ( as they should),the line rarely gets to the fans that come to get the player.
Perhaps a better way would be to have a line of season ticket holders and a second line of non-holders that are told up front that they may not get one,but the chances are their's.
And of course,there's the always present rent a cop,who gave rudeness a new name.
This guy strutted up and down the line,shouting out time remaining and lied to everyone that spoke to him-"Gossage isn't taking any pictures" (Not true), "We have no control over how long he signs" (You are paying him,put more time in the contract),"Everyone is always mad at me during these things" (Ok,they weren't all lies)...
I'd go back to Scranton,but never for a legends evening.
They were rude,disrespectful to fans (I didn't have words with anyone) and I feel like they ran a con game-.

Mike and I's plans to go next to Binghamton for the second game of the doubleheader between the Rumble Ponies and Portland Sea Dogs.
However,we ran into a huge thunderstorm and pouring rain that we knew was unlikely to allow them to continue (they didn't) and going north meant getting colder in the rain too.
Since your author is an idiot and left his sweatshirt on the counter when he left-he was very cold.

Fortunately,we pulled over and called Jason Christensen,who we were supposed to meet up with the game and asked if he was at the stadium.
He wasn't,but he said we could come to his home to swap cards that I brought up for him and he graciously loaned me a shirt to wear (I wore it for the remainder of the evening as my "jacket').
Thank heavens that the rest of the weekend weather was good!
We spent a little time with Jason and his family,who had met on several of their visits to Hagerstown and then drove to our hotel between Batavia and Buffalo about two hours away.
The ride was fun and the rest of the evening was uneventful.

Not the greatest of stories for day one,but I promise the stories get better on the next two installments...

Road Trip:Charlotte

My final day of my trip with Fred Landucci finished off in Charlotte before I went home for two days of somewhat rest before my final trip of the season.

Before that trip (I just arrived home from that one-look for trip stories as the week goes by) though,lets finish up this one with my good buddy Fred.

I liked our hotel in Kernersville,but we had lots of time to kill and not a lot of ways to kill it.
So,the solution?
We drove and talked a lot and it's always good time to talk on the road.
I've always thought (and heard before,it's not original thinking) that you really get to know a person on the road and on the rare occasion that you are on the road with someone that you dislike that you can either grow to like them a little or worse-a minute can seem interminable.

So,we drove,looking for things to do.
Stop number one-The world's hottest ballpark in Kannapolis NC.
I wrote about the heat on the seat in Kannapolis when Mike Oravec and I visited the area and Mike and I have tried to get across to people just how hot that place is.
You never are quite able to get the point across,so I walked Fred down to where we were and explained before he sat down-Now this is 11 AM,not 2 PM,so we had three more hours of sun on the seat,look where the sun is now and imagine where it is over the three hours to come and the temperature is 85 right now-add about 10 more degrees.
Now sit down and tell me.
Fred sat down and in about five seconds hollered "MY ASS IS ON FIRE"!!!
I couldn't stop laughing!
We walked around the stadium as Fred's ass tried to cool itself before he went to the team shop to buy a hat from the team.
I'm glad someone now knows a small fraction of what we dealt with that day!

We had considered the NASCAR Hall of Fame,but Fred thought that it would likely be expensive and with neither of us being huge NASCAR fans,it would likely be more money (not to mention the always present parking fees) than it would be worth.
We started driving with good conversation,stopped at Cabela's that ended with this classic conversation.
Me: Hi,I'm looking to take my friend someplace inside and cool so the heat doesn't get to him.
Any place close like that?
Jeremy: Well,there's Carowinds next door.
Me:The amusement park?
Jeremy:Yes.
Me:That's outside and I'll pay through the nose to do it.
Jeremy: Uh huh.
Me:Walking away,shaking my head..

The resulting nothing of that conversation meant that we just kept on driving,enjoying the weather and finally arriving in Blythewood South Carolina at the Lizard's Thicket.
The Thicket is a local chain with most of them located in the Columbia South Carolina area and features homestyle cooking and Fred decided on it off this exit over the other entry-Groucho's Deli.
I thought the food was good with lots of southern style options.
I chose the meat loaf and it was very good with southern slaw (a cole slaw variation) and fries.
It might not be for everyone,but if you like hearty comfort food,The Lizard's Thicket might be for you...

We drove back to Charlotte to wait for the Charlotte Knights and found a great spot in a parking deck across from the ball park.
Fred and I waited as long as we could before waiting in the line.
The noted Southern humidity was going to be a factor and I didn't want Fred to be worn out with such a long drive home.

The game wasn't as important as the guest of the day-former Tiger and Twin ace Jack Morris.
Fred would make a mistake,but his mistake would turn out to be a blessing in disguise as I'll say shortly.
There are signs all around the Charlotte stadium,take all metal items out of pockets and listed a bunch of those kinds of things to remove-including pocket change.
Fred didn't do that and left change in his pockets,setting the alarm off  and taking about five minutes to complete.

That was frustrating a half hour later when Morris went to the field for a pre-game interview and for the 1st pitch-the line was cut off right in front of me!
That meant that I could either graph the Charlotte Knights or remain in the line for Morris.
I needed Morris on his 1988 and 1990 Score's and my hope was that I could get Morris to sign one and get back in the line to get the second.
The cut off spoiled that plan and would have meant our Charlotte departure would be far longer.
As I talked to the lady in charge about our drive home etc,she offered this "tell him that and see what happens,he did sign two for someone early over the protests of the handlers".
By the way,the handlers in Charlotte were great for this-they aren't all great,as you'll see in a future post.
When Morris came up and I stepped up,I put two cards in front of him and asked "Mr,Morris,could you please sign two? We have close to a seven hour drive after this"
His response: "Guess you better start going then" and added a smile.
I said "As soon as you sign,we are gone!"
Things happen for a reason sometimes-had Fred prepared better in the security portion,we would have been closer in line,gotten one item early and maybe not gotten our second.
Funny,how things bounce sometimes.

That wasn't quite true even as Morris signed both,but it was close as after a few pictures of the field and a run to the gift shop (Rachel had selected Charlotte as her trip shirt) before leaving.
Charlotte did a great job in making their stadium (the NFL Panthers play down the street) safe,easy to find and with easy access to the freeways to move people away,Charlotte might be the easiest big city stadium that I have seen yet to get in and out of.

That was about as exciting as it got on the way home.
Fred and I stopped at another Cookout for dinner before leaving the area.
As I noted earlier,Cookout is good,cheap and filling,so you can't beat it for road eats!

Thanks to my good friend Fred Landucci for a great trip and great time!
Fred has been a great friend to me and my family and I hope to take trips with him next year as well!
The plan was to work on more posts and start the final trip of the year with Mike Oravec next,but a little thing called Kyrie Irving getting traded has gotten in the way.
My take on the massive deal sending Irving to the Boston Celtics on the next post....