The process begins

Battlin' Bob sent me this link about five seconds after I read this article as the latest attempt to bring Hagerstown into the 21st century (if not the late 20th) and bring a new stadium to Hagerstown.

There have been attempts to pull this off in the past and even a fund put into place to help pay for a new facility,but the efforts never seem to get off the ground.
This time,however,I think that there should be a legitimate chance of finally having what other cities in the state have-a stadium that the community can be proud of.
Tony Dahbura is a heavy hitter in the community and for the first time that I can remember,the Suns have a local businessman with the type of credibility to move things in the proper direction.
In the past failures,the team usually had out of town owners/representatives and in this area,that usually doesn't bode well for success.

The Hagerstown City Council discussed a new stadium for the Suns as being a "cornerstone of an East Hagerstown revitalization project" and deciding to lobby Annapolis for funds to contribute to such.
My question is this-Why has it taken this long to lobby for state funding to replace/renovate a eighty year old facility?
The Hagerstown Suns are Western Maryland's (sorry,Frederick isn't Western Maryland) only professional sports franchise and were the only pro team in the state outside of the Baltimore city limits from 1981-1989.
It was the success of the Hagerstown franchise that enabled cities like Frederick,Salisbury,Bowie and Aberdeen to successfully lobby for state funding to help pay for state of the art stadiums,while leaving Hagerstown with a field that is the laughingstock of pro baseball and I say that with no disrespect to the Suns employees as there is only so much that one can do with what one has.
I like Municipal Stadium and its bizarre charm,but I don't have to play there and the flaws in watching a game there are more than I care listing right now.

Talking to players on the opposing teams that come to town,I know how the Muni is thought of and how (no pun intended) it makes our town look minor league.
Hearing about the glittering parks in Lakewood,Charleston and having seen the terrific one in Greensboro,it is difficult to swallow having Hagerstown being the area that is spoken of with eye rolls,guffaws and jokes because of the state of the Muni.

I understand the thoughts of those that argue for spending on other areas,but isn't the quality of life in Western Maryland just as important as those in the suburbs of Baltimore and Washington?
Doesn't Hagerstown deserve something similar to what Frederick and Salisbury have?

If this idea does not get off the ground,then the County Commissioners and City Council need to step up and explain why the doubling of the area hotel/motel tax that was intended to help pay for the stadium has not only not been used for its purpose,but where indeed the funding has gone.

As for some of the politicians,I would love to have an opportunity to ask some of these gentlemen where they stand.
Because from where I sit,I see many of these office holders showing up at games,tossing a hat on,throwing the first pitch as the team treats them with pomp and circumstance and then as soon as the evening is over,having not a whit of interest in helping the Suns and the area have something to be proud of.
I can understand someone being against what could be considered a luxury item in these economic times,but if that is the case for a politician,please stay away then as one only looks like a hypocrite and I would think that no one running for office wants that look.

In closing,I am hoping that anyone reading this would consider supporting a new field for the Hagerstown Suns and giving the team,the town and the area finally what it deserves-what other towns have had for years.......

Back after a few crazy days-Pirates edition

It took a while,but I am back after a few crazy,but fun days.
Lots of personal things going on (all good) that have kept me hopping!
I'll attempt to catch up sometime today,but fair warning-I haven't seen the last three Pirate games,so not sure how much I bring to the table on that.

I did see the Pittsburgh debut of James McDonald,who was very impressive.
I really liked McDonald's overhand curve,which you don't see from righthanders nearly as much as you used to.
It seems to me that righties favor the slider more than the curveball in today's game.

I also saw the Pedro Alvarez walkoff homer game and that had to be the most excitement that I had seen in PNC Park in quite a while.
It is evenings like that one that give Pirate fans hope for the Huntington plan working out and showing that Pittsburgh fans can care about the Bucs just as much as they support the Steelers and Penguins.

I should be in good shape to see tonight's game (last before I return to work) and tomorrow's (thanks to San Diego for scheduling a late afternoon game) before missing Friday's game in Houston before seeing the final two games against the Astros.

The Pirates fired pitching coach Joe Kerrigan and bench coach Gary Varsho,both supposedly for disloyalty to John Russell,who apparently has entrenched himself into the organization as a stalwart as he claimed the firings were "His call".
Don't look for this to change much on the field much in either a positive or negative fashion.

The Pirates did make a few roster moves as Ryan Doumit returned from a rehab assignment,which meant that Erik Kratz was returned to Indianapolis.
Indianapolis backup Luke Carlin was then sent to the Indians as the past considerations for Brian Bixler,Bixler was traded to the Nationals last week in return for cash considerations.
Whew!

We mentioned the Pirates had come to an agreement with 4th round pick Nick Kingham before we left,but Kingham signed for a bonus of 480,000.
The Bucs also signed Brandon Cumpton a Georgia Tech righthander and ninth rounder as well as seventeenth rounder Ryan Hafner.
Cumpton is headed to State College with Kingham and Hafner headed to the GCL.


The Pirates are still in talks with Jameson Taillon and Stetson Allie.
The deadline is midnight next Monday and I look for things to go down to the wire,but I am encouraged that both sides have been quiet about the discussions.
That is usually a very good sign.

Pittsburgh is currently 39-73 on the season and with the latest Baltimore win streak have moved to just a half game behind the Orioles for the leagues worst record and therefore first pick in next year's draft.

I hope to be back later with more news on the Hagerstown Suns move for a new ballpark and the Devils having to try to sign Ilya Kovalchuk all over again after his contract being voided.

Thinking about Little League baseball

I think about my coaching days so often, usually sitting around someplace with Ryan and Corey or when a former player speaks to me, usually at a Suns game or somewhere else in the community.
I look back quite fondly at many things, not so fondly at others, and quite bitterly at a few.

But few things make me feel better than when a grown man tells me how much he enjoyed playing for me or how much they learned about the game from me or even in some cases that they hope that I would make a future comeback and coach their children.
I have given thought to it, but on each occasion, two things come to mind-I have never lost a game since joining the autograph game and having to tell the lovely Cherie that I am stepping back into that pit.
She remembers the downside to coaching without the joys of it-disgruntled parents, board of director types that know little about the game other than pushing their kids for undeserved All-Star squads in return for their efforts, losses that eat at you, and the time that you need to put into your team in order for them to be their best.

These things popped up today when Battlin' Bob sent me this link to an article in the Hagerstown Herald-Mail about a fight during downtime at the Maryland state tournament for 11 and 12-year-olds.
Full disclosure-I coached for years at Halfway little league (the league that this team represented) and I know personally one of the gentlemen involved, so I could be claimed to have some sort of bias.
I have no more information about this incident than what you read and I have spoken to no one from Halfway that could be involved with the league, but I will say this-I know Les Martin, he is a good baseball man and more importantly- a good man.

Managing baseball can be difficult and managing All-Star baseball is the toughest of the bunch.

First of all, I have stated many times over the last 16 years this fact-Usually there are 10 players that could be justifiably picked for the final two spots on any All-Star roster and it really is that close for those final spots.
And often those spots go to an undeserving player that played on a team with a dad for a manager or someone that had a parent on the board of directors.
That not only screws over a more deserving player (Funny, how that never is placed on those blurbs on the Little League World Series broadcasts: Joey Smith age 12, favorite team Detroit Tigers, likes Dirtbikes, should have never been on the team to begin with because he hit .176, but mom was the concession stand manager, so Bob Jones, who batted .612 stays home because his parents aren't in the same bowling league as the league player agent) but hamstrings the manager as he now has to find playing time for the player somewhere and a better player pays the price-like it or not.

Plus that player often has the parent complaining about the manager "Colton played third base every inning for Ledo Pizza and now you play him two innings in right field".
No mention of Colton playing every inning on a 3-17 team or that he would have been a part-time player on a good team, just that you are a moron for not playing him enough as the geniuses at Ledo that won three games knew how to use him!

Dealing with parents and league officials was the worst part of the job.
The same bunch that always spins this longtime line "It's all for the kids" were the same people that were upset if you didn't win enough games.
The coaches are never safe-win championships, then "my kid didn't play enough", lose games "How much can you know, we ARE 4-16 you know".

Perhaps Les Martin shouldn't have stooped to the level of the fans and slugged it out with Mr.Downes (Parent's name), but I can understand his frustration and I can certainly say that I wished I had done that (In that moment only) a time or two.

I had my share of issues, never to that degree because I always remembered from day one this old Buddy Ryan line-"Listen to the fans and you might as well sit up there with them".
I ran the club, not the fans and I had my share of fans and quite a few detractors (many from other clubs, but some on mine as well) just like Buddy did, but things had to be done my way, and success or failure could fall on my decisions.
Now that I think about it, there was a lot of Buddy Ryan in my coaching days!

In any event, little league baseball isn't as pure as it likes to put on, not that makes them any different than any other organization and even though the fight doesn't cover anyone with glory, it is surprising to me that it doesn't happen more often than it does.
The changes that I would make in that would be astounding, but I'll keep quiet for now, one never knows-I get a few requests a year to make a comeback, you know!!

Until tomorrow with Pirates-Rockies...
P.S.-If any of this interested you in the slightest, there are stories about youth baseball that could fill MANY slow news days in the fall and winter when they are more prevalent, just let me know.

Pirates pitching revolving door

The Pirates revolving door on their pitching staff continues to spin as two pitchers join the team,one is designated for assignment (likely to wind up back at AAA) and a catcher travels back to Indianapolis.

Chris Resop was claimed off waivers from the Braves and Chan Ho Park arrives from the waiver wire courtesy of the Yankees.
Steven Jackson was designated for assignment and should clear that process and Jason Jaramillo returns to the I-Tribe.
Resop is an interesting case as he looked like a nice bullpen arm with the Marlins in 2006,but has struggled since,although his numbers at AAA have remained strong.
Resop has better than expected velocity for a groundball pitcher and other teams were reportedly interested in him.

Park has lots of baggage,I know,but has always been a better National League pitcher than an American Leaguer and despite an ERA of over 5 with the Yanks,still has a K/BB Ratio of 29 to 12.
Park's contract is only through the end of the season,so he really is a low risk stopgap in Pittsburgh.
If either or hopefully both can help the suddenly ailing middle relievers,these would be worth the cost.

Jason Jaramillo loses out for the backup catcher role to Erik Kratz and returns to the Hoosier State in what really is a choice between playing once or twice a week for Pittsburgh or every day for Indy.
If Jaramillo showed any bat at all this season,he would be the pick.
However,that has not been the case.

James McDonald makes his Pirate debut tonight against Jeff Francis and the Colorado Rockies.
I am looking forward to seeing McDonald,who I might have only seen pitch one for the Dodgers.

Steve Pearce was placed on the 60 day disabled list and his season is finished.
Too bad for Pearce,who was showing signs of being able to establish himself as a major leaguer.

The Pirates signed their fourth round pick in righthanded pitcher Nick Kingham.
Kingham was signed away from an Oregon commitment for an undisclosed,but likely well over slot number.

Forgot to mention in the earlier post about I enjoyed Paul Maholm plunking Mike Leake after Leake hit Andrew McCutchen.
Leake didn't mean tothrow the beanball,but there is always baseball justice to pay and Leake took his medicine.

Wrappin up the Reds

I was getting ready with a recap of the Pirates down to the wire win until I discovered that today's game against the Reds was a 12:35 start.
Therefore I decided to do a series wrapup all in one post.
Lots of Pirate news,so I'll use this one for the Reds series and a later one today on the Pirate news.

Pirate Hooks

1) The Pirate bullpen looked dreadful in each of the three games,even in the victory.
This is understandable when you consider the trades that Neal Huntington made at the deadline,but every arm that was used with the exception of Evan Meek and Joel Hanrahan was lit up in both victory and defeat.

2) Game one had very little to say as two hits off Travis Wood "would" indicate,but one was Ross Ohlendorf getting line drived again,but this time being able to stay in the game.
Ohlendorf took a shot off the knee that bounced to first sacker Garrett Jones for the out.

3) Game two was a game that I was lucky to see as I was invited for a Sonic run with Ryan,Battlin' Bob and the Jeff and I figured that I would miss most of the game,but a rain delay meant that I missed just two batters.
The Pirates put six runs on the scoreboard off Mike Leake in the second and figured to cruise home,but the Reds chipped away until a Pittsburgh insurance run in the fifth off Neil Walker's single would be the game winner.

4) Pittsburgh seemed to get to Leake mainly because it seemed like the rookie was shaken a bit when his fastball drilled Andrew McCutchen in the neck and left him prone for minutes.
Leake wasn't throwing at McCutchen,but it did seem to break his concentration and allow the Pirates to have a big inning.

5) McCutchen was back in the lineup the next day and homered to lead the game off .
That would be the Pirates only run until the Reds had the contest well in hand.

6) More McCutchen-a diving attempt for a catch in the seventh inning on a Laynce Nix smack left a chunk of grass away from the surface that looked more at home on the golf course than at PNC Park.
The slow motion replay was pretty cool to watch.


7) The game also featured four runs batted in by Neil Walker,who boosted his average back above .300 in the win.
Walker has played so well that I am enthused about his future,but keep in mind that the Pirates have seen this movie before and been disappointed most notably at second base
by Warren Morris.

8) Not a lot to say about yesterdays loss either other than was nice to see some power,albeit meaningless power considering the score as the Buccos pounded three out of the park from McCutchen,Jeff Clement and Pedro Alvarez.

9) Jeff Karstens was the loser,but he wasn't awful with three runs in five innings.
The next three pitchers were though,Sean Gallagher was the best of the three,but Wil Ledesma and Steven Jackson were terrible as the pair combined for five runs over the course of an inning of work.

Back later with a few thoughts of the latest Pirates maneuvering with the roster.

Pounded again

For the third day in a a row,the Pirate offense was invisible as again the St.Louis Cardinals cruised to another victory at Busch Stadium this time by a score of 9-1.
Zach Duke was the loser and drops to 5-10 on the campaign.
The Pirates return home to host the Cardinals competition for the NL Central title as the Cincinnati Reds come to town for three games.

1) I thought Zach Duke had some bad luck in the fifth inning until the Albert Pujols blast that turned a 3-1 lead into a 6-1 rout.
Lots of balls just dropped in and those things happen in the game.

2) However,it sure looked to me that Duke was rattled by those breaks when pitching to Pujols.
Duke made a mistake early in the count and was fortunate that Pujols just fouled it off.
He didn't miss the second time.
You just cannot make mistakes to a hitter like Albert Pujols.

3) Ryan Doumit seems confused by the Pirates bringing in Chris Snyder as the full time player behind the dish.
He shouldn't be.I like Doumit,but between his defensive problems and his issues with concussions,the Pirates needed to cover their rear.
Pretty easy to understand to me...

4) The Pirates brought up Justin Thomas from Indianapolis to fill one of the vacated bullpen spots from the trades.
Thomas pitched one scoreless inning.

5) Argenis Diaz stroked his first big league hit with a single up the middle in the ninth.
Diaz isn't expected to hit much,so anything that he provides with the stick is a pleasant bonus.

Wheelin' Dealin' and Losin'

With three trades yesterday combined with a 11-1 beating at the hands of the Cardinals,which would you rather read about?
Jeff Clement's long home run (6) scored the only Pirate run as Daniel McCutchen picked up the L and now is 1-5.
Pittsburgh attempts to avoid the sweep this afternoon with Zach Duke (5-9) vs Adam Wainwright (14-6).

A few words on the Pirate deals from yesterday instead of writing about a rear end kicking.

I like the Chris Snyder deal as the Pirates appear to be setting themselves up for a future without Ryan Doumit.
Doumit will likely be moved over the winter or even possibly before the deadline for waiver deals.
Snyder will not hit for a high average,but he should be able to equal Doumit's power numbers and will give the Pirates a strong armed catcher for the first time in years that will make opposing runners think a bit.
Snyder is signed through 2011 and the team will have an option for 2012 of over six million,which will likely be declined as hopefully Tony Sanchez will be ready to take over the tools of ignorance by then.
The best part of bringing in Snyder?
The cost as Arizona sent three million to kick in towards Snyder's salary,sent AAA shortstop Pedro Ciriaco to the team (assigned to Indianapolis) and took three players off the roster that aren't huge losses,if losses at all.
D.J. Carrasco has been decent out of the bullpen,but his types are a dime a dozen and Bobby Crosby along with Ryan Church are additions by subtraction,especially Church,who has been terrible all season.

The swap with the Giants looks to be kinda blah as Javier Lopez has been the best lefty in the pen,but bullpenners are inconsistent from year to year and I don't blame the Buccos for shipping him away.
Righthanded pitcher Joseph Martinez and lefty swinging outfielder John Bowker made up the return and both were assigned to Indianapolis.
Bowker has been hugely productive in AAA and has never truly been given a real chance to play every day.
After Garrett Jones and his success with a similar track record as Bowker, I can see why Bowker had some appeal to Neal Huntington.
Martinez has been up and down between AAA Fresno and San Francisco this season as a reliever,but the Pirate plan on using Martinez as a starter.

The Octavio Dotel deal to the Dodgers is a deal that I like as both players from the Dodgers could be productive players down the road.
Power armed righty James McDonald will be joining the Pirates as a long reliever and should be in the rotation before the season ends.
Outfielder Andrew Lambo was assigned to AA Altoona and could be the steal of all the trades.
Lambo was the Dodgers top prospect entering the 2009 season,but was suspended during that season for drug usage that is reported to be marijuana.
If Lambo is right,this could be a huge pickup for Pittsburgh.
Dotel had pitched well for the most part,but Joel Hanrahan and Evan Meek deserve a chance to move to bigger roles out of the pen and Dotel was only going to block their upward movement.
Jeff Clement and Argenis Diaz were promoted from Indianapolis to fill open spots on the roster.

Overall,I have no problem with any of the deals and all have chances to be winning trades,especially considering the entire picture.
I hope to do a similar piece on the Indians trades over the next few days....