Day 1-Asheville

Driving from Johnson City to Asheville was beautiful scenery-wise, but we also stopped by the most well-run, clean and nice-looking as far as its architectural design,rest-stop that I have ever seen.
I could have lived in this place and the staff was friendly and helpful as well.
My only question is this -the pocket schedule of choice there was the Greensboro Grasshoppers, not the nearby Asheville Tourists or the Hickory Crawdads, who are closer to this stop than Greensboro. Kinda odd.

Finally pulling into McCormick Field, two things stand out.
One-the park is built into a mountainside.
Two-The parking is horrendous.
You need to park at the top of the "hill and walk down and around to reach McCormick Field.
Not the best place that I have ever seen to place your vehicle at for sure.
The Tourists (as did the Crawdads and Grasshoppers) open their gates 90 minutes before game time, unlike the local Suns and Keys which both open 60 mins before game time.
This could be helpful for autographs and I certainly would not argue with either of the local teams making a similar change.
However, Asheville was doomed to be a disappointment on the autograph front.
The visiting Lake County Captains enter the field from a clubhouse down the left field line and the access to them was very easy.
Only one problem, I only needed 3 Captains as they had been pretty much finished in their Hagerstown visits.
1st round pick Beau Mills signed a "top prospect" card, which basically looks like a 1959 Topps card without a picture, while newly recalled outfielder Lucas Montero signed his Lake County card and the newest Captain Ryan Morris signed his Bowman card.
Meanwhile, Ryan and Battlin Bob were struggling on the Asheville side.
Renovations to McCormick Field gave the Tourists a tunnel to their clubhouse from their dugout and that always means limited access and chances for signatures.
A poor day getting Tourists, although both of the players in the SAL prospect set-Hector Gomez and Daniel Mayora were gotten mainly because of someone else.
A lady asked a player to bring the "Dominican players" over to sign her ball, both players trotted over for that and we were able to get them as a result.
The Rockies top pick pitcher Casey Weathers signed for us, as the nights saving grace.
Casey talked briefly after we mentioned to him about
seeing his USA baseball teammate Ross Detwiler earlier in the week.
Outside of that, a disappointing autograph night.
The game was not a lot more exciting.
The Captains pummelled the Tourists and gave an unusual scoreboard early on.
I asked Ryan to grab a quick pic of the scoreboard.
Lake County's emergency starter Kyle Collina(replacing the promoted Josh Tomlin) threw 4 perfect innings in retiring every batter he faced.
The neatest thing about the field is the HUGE right field wall that is made of the type of metal that you would use on a roof.
Ingles, which is a local grocery store, sponsors the wall and its logo is all over it.
The concourse has another nice feature, they have painted this mountain and set up a map of the SAL and has different teams painted on it.
Nice touch and a lot of work.
In the end, the Captains won a 10-4 decision paced by 4 homers, including one by nice guy
Nick Weglarz.
In closing, McCormick Field was a nice field, once you got into the door and easy to get the visitors for autographs.
But if you are looking to get the Tourists,I would recommend either taking 2 days or targeting a handful of players that you want the most.
After a long day, we drove back to our hotel at the Asheville airport, where the worst Days Inn known to man awaited us.
A quick stop at Sonic Drive-in and off to sleep before the trip to Hickory.

A quick note of the passing of my aunt Mildred Easterday at the age 83.
"Aunt Wood" was one of the best people that I knew.
Her late husband "Uncle Robert" married Cherie and I 20 years ago (no pics available-LOL) and I always took pride in being the last family member to have that honor.
She was always terrific to me and lived a long and wonderful life and she will be dearly missed.

Back tomorrow with Day 2-Hickory

Photo Credits
Ryan Heimberger

Day 1-Stopping by the Appy League

Honestly, the trip did not start with the intention to see the parks that were not hosting games.

It turned out that way via the Domino theory, though.
I was just paying for gas in Pulaski, Virginia, and asked how far Calfee Field was, and the answer was three miles.

Long-time readers may recall a rant on the Toronto Blue Jays for their callous treatment of the citizens of Pulaski by not only abandoning them, but doing so at the last minute and therefore killing any hope of a replacement team for the 2007 season.

This decision not only hurt Pulaski, but it also hurt every other team in the Appalachian League.
With just 9 teams without a Pulaski squad, every team will have downtime during the course of the season.

After a few shots from the right field side of the stadium from outside the ballpark, we moved to the left field side to shoot a painted building with the Pulaski Blue Jays logo, where we discovered the gates were wide open.

I instructed Ryan to follow me as I walked around and keep shooting in case we were asked to leave.
I asked one of the two workers there if anyone was around to talk to or get old souvenirs, etc.

He said the man to talk to was Dave Hart, and he had just pulled up.
We were shocked when Mr.Hart not only allowed us to take pictures, but also offered us a complete tour of the facility and allowed us to actually access the field!
After quite a few pictures and a lot of general goofing around, Mr. Hart took us into the clubhouse, manager's office, trainers' room, etc.
It was a very nice experience and a new one for myself, Ryan, and Battlin Bob.

After a chat with Mr.Hart about the rumor of the Washington Nationals being interested in Pulaski, in which we offered our knowledge of the situation, we were told that there were 2 other teams showing interest, but Mr.Hart did not tell us which teams.
We found out shortly, though, as the leader of Pulaski Baseball Inc. called and asked us some questions, and the two names did come out.

Suffice it to say that Ryan would be very pleased if one of those 2 teams actually landed in Pulaski!
After some more info on the Blue Jays fiasco, we had to move on, but this was easily the highlight of day 1 and maybe the entire trip (although you may disagree as this series goes on).

Thanks again to Dave Hart and all the friendly citizens of Pulaski. If they get their team back, we will certainly attend a game there at Calfee Field in 2008!
What a beautiful field and setting for baseball!

Further down the road, we decided after having such a blast at Pulaski to stop by Bristol, Tennessee, home of the Bristol White Sox.
After a rough terrain walk produced a picture down the right field line,a walk in the opposite direction eventually led us to a Bristol city worker, who allowed us to look around and the meeting of another collector.
This gentleman was dubbed "Crazy Mel," and since I never got his actual name, I suppose Crazy
Mel will have to do!

Meanwhile, a trip around Devault Memorial Stadium was interesting, mainly because the seating is elevated around the field.
An odd look and feel for such a small ballpark.
After an attempt to purchase an '07 Bristol team set went awry (they were not available), our new friend Crazy Mel offered to let us follow him to Elizabethton, Tennessee, home of the Appalachian League's Twins.

After a harrowing 20-mile drive (Crazy Mel's driving gave him the name), and passing by the famous Bristol Motor Speedway, we arrived at the city offices as CM bought some 07 Twins sets.

As we have no need for Twins sets since their teams are not in the league with Frederick or Hagerstown, we settled for the 07 Appalachian League Top Prospect set.

That set is usually limited in number and more expensive than others online for that reason.
At the team's offices, which were basically a two-room office, we met a gentleman who was quickly named "Jim Cornette" after the legendary fast-talking wrestling manager.
I have not heard a human talk that fast since I actually heard Cornette talk in Knoxville in 1994.

But after 4 minutes of directions, which were done in 60 seconds, we decided to try to find nearby Johnson City, Tennessee, after a stop at Joe O'Brien Field, which we passed on the way.
If I tried to talk that fast-I would be stuttering for a week.
Even Battlin Bob was stunned at this guy!

Joe O'Brien Field was a solid, unspectacular little field that had similar seating to Bristol.
Again, like Bristol, the seating was somewhat elevated, making you look down into the field of play, and like Bristol, much of the field, even down the lines, was protected by netting.
Great for safety, but poor for foul balls if you are watching a game.
The feature that I liked the best was on the outfield fence-They keep the league standings there.
Back when I did my Suns GM feature, I suggested the Suns make the league standings more visible somewhere, but I did not think about the outfield wall.
Good idea by the Twins!

We left Crazy Mel behind in Elizabethton, as he waited for Loek Van Mil to get out of a car with a young lady (I cannot describe this, nor do I care to! LOL) and sped for a quick trip to Johnson City, Tennessee, and Howard Johnson Field.

This was a quick stop and go, as we still had to get to Asheville for that night's game.

We arrived and actually watched a bit of batting practice by the Johnson City Cardinals.
HJF is almost completely engulfed in fencing and spells difficulty for any autograph collector, but its most unique feature was a HUGE hill in right field.
This made the Hagerstown incline look puny in comparison.
I would not want to be the right fielder that had to play that everyday!
But as a fan, despite the mesh, you are right on top of the field, and it looks like a great place to see a game.
After a stop for a drink and gas, where Ryan got his first taste of the local icon Cheerwine, and I began my long love affair with diet
Sun Drop, we were on our way over the Smoky Mountains to Asheville for game number 1.

The Appalachian teams were kind, helpful, and all around terrific to deal with.
Suffice it to say, we were all impressed, and the Appy League will certainly be a part of next year's trip for sure!

Until tomorrow with game 1-Lake County Captains at Asheville Tourists

Photo credits
Ryan Heimberger
Shawn Heimberger
Battlin Bob McKain

Pirates rally to whip Phillies in finale

Using the bats of Freddy Sanchez and Matt Kata,the Pirates rallied from a deficit to grab a 8-4 win and take 2 of 3 from the hated Phillies.
Seven runs in the seventh inning did the damage and sent the Phillies spiraling out of town and out of control with two blown leads.
Ian Snell struck out 10 over 7 innings in earning his 8th win against 10 losses.
Matt Kata hit a pinch hit, bases clearing double to lead the Pirate eruption in the seventh.
The Pirates go on the road for 4 games in Denver vs the Rockies before traveling to Houston for 3 the weekend vs the Astros.

Pitching Matchup

Pittsburgh: Matt Morris (7-8) at Colorado: Ubaldo Jimenez (2-2) 9:05

Bullpen Notes

Looks like Michael Vick is going to the "hoosgow".
Too bad for him and his fantasy owners,but zero sympathy here.
After all,he did not have much for the dogs under his stewardship,did he?

Speaking of Vick,again here is a link for what could be done with those leftover Vick jerseys that one may not know what to do with.

Former Brown busto Gerard "Big Money Little Production" Warren was traded by Denver to Oakland today for an undisclosed future draft pick.
Al Davis and the Raiders continue to prove that there really is a sucker born every minute.

New poll up.
The results of the last poll was 8 that think I am too hard on Suns management,3 that say that I am right and 1 that was right,but need to lighten my rhetoric.
We will see.....

And speaking of dumb-how about me.
I was misreading a schedule too many times to excuse a mistake and kept promising a Tiger-Cats-Alouettes recap.
Problem was that this week is the CFL Eastern Division bye week.
The game is actually this Saturday.
My Mistake.

One on the signing front.
After a morning card show trip managed a 05 Bowman Kyle Winters followed by a nap,a quick post-game trip to the Muni managed to add this card to the collection,as Kyle signed it without a problem.

The Suns lost the finale' to Greensboro yesterday,but former Suns GM (as noted yesterday) Kurt Landis attended the game.
Wonder if Battlin' Bob wishes he would have went just to see if Kurt would have signed his plunger????

Finally-Ed Belfour to Sweden????
Sorry,but putting the aging tenders fading skills aside,the noted "sunny" dispositioned Belfour does not seem to be a good fit there.

Until later or tomorrow with the beginning of the trip re-caps

Photo Credit
Kata-AP Photo-Keith Srakocic

Pirates outslug Phillies and lots of news from the bullpen

The Pirates allowed 6 runs in the 1st two innings,but recovered from then on to post an 11-6 win over the hated Phillies.
Paul Maholm was rapped early,but settled down after that first two innings to finish with seven innings of work and improve his record to 9-14.
The second half work from Maholm has to be a bright spot for Pirate fans and gives at least a glimmer of hope for a reasonably solid rotation for 2008.
Freddie Sanchez continued his sizzling hitting with three more hits,including a two run homer (8).
Adam LaRoche added 2 RBI and 5 other Buccos knocked a run in as well.
The series concludes today at 1:35.

Pitching Matchup

Philadelphia: Kyle Lohse (7-12) at Pittsburgh: Ian Snell (7-10) 1:35

Bullpen Notes

Any of you Pirate fans miss playing the Phillies as much as I do?
I still hate the Atlanta Braves and not as much for Sid Bream,but more for their crying about the original divisional revamp.
The Pirates were supposed to be in the Eastern division with the Phillies,but thanks to the Braves wanting to build a rivalry with the then-new Marlins(and didn't that work out well),the ancient rivalry for Pennsylvania was watered down.
I cannot work up anywhere near the animosity for any of the central teams that I can for the Phillies.


Former Hagerstown Sun Marco Estrada threw 6 and 2/3rds hitless innings for Potomac Friday night vs Myrtle Beach.
Marco has had some injury problems this year,but it is nice to see him finishing the season strong.

The New Jersey Devils finished up the heavy lifting of this off-season with the re-signing of defenseman Paul Martin to a 3 year deal worth 11.5 million.
Glad to have Paul back in the fold.
I pretty much like what the Devils did this off season,except for the Dainus Zubrus signing.
Nothing against Zubrus or his play,but I thought the contract was a bit high.

Check the Post-Gazette today for interesting info that has been both here and other places about the Pirates turning down Ryan Howard for Kris Benson (OH MY GOD),the crappy players that the Pirates are always able to clear through waivers and the struggles of Daniel Moskos at State College!? (OH MY GOD II).
Most of this is not news to the hard core fans,but getting it into the mainstream should help cook the Captain even more.

On the signing front-

I will address the signing habits of the teams on the trip as I do the reviews.
I am trying to get caught up on everything here and I am hoping to get that started by Tuesday at the latest..

On Thursday,I was able to get most of the Greensboro Grasshoppers and finished up the last few last night.
Not a bad signing team,the big catches were outfield prospects John Raynor and Scott Cousins,along with the very personable Logan Morrison.
The lefty 1st baseman talked to me for a bit about the Grasshoppers dog mascot Miss Babe Ruth (more on her in the future) and how she retrieves the bats in her mouth without damaging the bats.
Logan also told me about the Babe being quite the cash cow (or dog) for the franchise.
When I tell you those numbers,maybe more teams could create income with this type of mascot.

Friday,I was able to finish up the Kinston Indians and Ryan was able to make progress on the homestanding Frederick Keys.
Kinston's major additions were Wes Hodges and Josh Rodriguez signing their Carolina League top prospect cards,Steven Wright adding his SAL top prospect card, Jared Goedert,the always friendly Frank Herrmann and former Hagerstown Sun pitcher and current Kinston pitching coach Tony Arnold.
Arnold talked for a few minutes about his playing days in Hagerstown for the Carolina League incarnation of the Suns.
Super nice fellow there.

Ryan got quite a few of the Keys including pitching prospects Brandon Erbe and Chorye Spoone along with shortstop Blake Davis,
Blake is always easy to deal with and root for.
I just wish that he was not in the Oriole organization!

Well,we are getting caught up on things,so hopefully we can do the trip stuff coming in the next day or two.

Photo Credit
Estrada-AP Photo-Keith Srakocic
Sanchez-MLB.Com-Shawn Davis

Suns defense foils Arnesen and Suns GM rebuffs Battlin Bob

Quick post on tonight's Hagerstown Suns 6-4 loss to the Greensboro Grasshoppers.
Erik Arnesen allowed 6 runs over 4 innings,but only 2 runs were earned due to less than stellar defensive plays.
On one play,left fielder Francisco Guzman made a tremendous catch for the second out,the Grasshopper runner was going to be doubled off easily by Michael Martinez's relay throw to 1st to complete the double play.
Problem was 1st baseman Robby Jacobsen was closer to home plate than his position and the ball flew into foul territory.
Instead of the inning being over,the game continued and as always happens following poor fundamental play,the next batter,Spike McDougall (Great minor league baseball name) homered off Arnesen and those runs proved to be the difference in the game.
On another play,Martinez allowed a ball to go right through his legs to lead to eventually 2 runs scoring for Greensboro in the inning.
Simply put-the loss can be placed on the Suns inept defense in tonight's game.
The official line for Erik-4 innings,6 runs,but only 2 earned,3 strikeouts and 2 walks.

I was surprised by the turnout for Plunger night as there was more people than I expected,but considering it was combined with Fireworks,it was about average.
But the laugh of the night came to Battlin Bob.
Bob asked Suns GM Will Smith if he would sign the plunger for him.
Admittedly this was done tongue in cheek,but here was a chance for Smith to show some humor and play along.
Instead,he continued to walk by and just offered a "nice".
Somehow,I get the feeling that Kurt Landis(Former Hagerstown Suns GM) would have gotten the laugh and signed it....

More tomorrow on Pirates and more catching up.........

Photo Credits
Arnesen and McKain-Ryan Heimberger

Random Ramblings on the last week

Here is some random ramblings on the last week that I have missed.
I plan on doing a post on each of my stops from the trip as time permits,but for now.........

The Pirates won 3 of 4 over the Giants in San Francisco,split a makeup doubleheader in Pittsburgh,lost 2 of 3 in New York before losing an 11-8 decision in Philadelphia last night.
The Pirates got unusual production power-wise as Ronny Paulino (9),Jose Bautista (10) and Matt Kata(1) (???) all hit homers,but was not nearly enough as Tom Gorzelanny was smacked around in a 5 inning outing.
Shane Youman then allowed 4 more runs over two innings to add to the carnage.
Anyone notice that Youman was far more effective in the 5th rotation spot than in the middle relief role???
Freddie Sanchez continued his hot hitting,as he knocked in 3 runs for the nite.
The series vs the hated Phillies continues tonight at 7:05.

Pitching Matchup

Philadelphia: Jamie Moyer (11-8) at Pittsburgh: Paul Maholm (8-14) 7:05


Bullpen Notes

The Pirates moved 3 of their best prospects from AA Altoona to AAA Indianapolis as 3rd baseman Neil Walker,outfielder Andrew McCutchen and lefty hurler Dave Davidson were all moved up.
Not sure if I agree with this,but it should not hurt anything for any of the three,although I still believe that McCutchen should at least return to Altoona for the beginning of the 2008 season.

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats dropped a close 19-17 decision to the Eskimos in Edmonton last Saturday night.
The Cats (1-6) travel to Montreal to battle the Alouettes (4-3) tonight.

Wily Mo Pena was acquired by the Nationals for the PTBNL.
Good deal for the Nationals,high reward-low risk.

In Jack Wilson news-Wilson cleared waivers and could easily be traded to the Tigers.
Bad news,the reportedly offered player Jair Jurrjens is now unable to be part of the deal,since he was promoted to Detroit.
Honestly,I would rather keep Wilson until the off-season now since the return haul will be less than expected.

In another ridiculous note-Craig Monroe,the average at best Tiger outfielder that was reportedly the hold-up in getting the Wilson deal done,was designated for assignment.
So the Pirates lost out on a solid prospect because they had to have a guy that was so good that 2 weeks later he was designated for assignment.
Dumb.

And the same goes for the Tigers for letting this deal fall through over a player like Craig Monroe.
They are far from blameless here.

Was in Frederick last night to see the Keys blast the Kinston Indians 13-1.
Game was a blowout,but was able to get the Kinston team finished for the year and some of the players remembered me.
Jim Deters told me that he remembered me "being around all the time,LOL",Josh Rodriguez talked briefly as we have a mutual acquaintance in Cory Van Allen and the longest talks were with former Lake County players Steven Wright( who unfortunately got the brunt of the Keys offensive outburst) and Josh Tomlin,who got promoted to Kinston the night we saw the Captains in Asheville.
Tomlin is a really cool and polite guy,so it is easy to root for him to do well.
His first start as a member of the K-Tribe is tonight vs the Keys.

Our favorite Sun Erik Arnesen starts tonight for the Hagerstown Suns vs the Greensboro Grasshoppers.
Erik's starts are nights that we root for the home team for sure.
We will recap here tomorrow.

Plus in a bonus-tonight is Plunger night at the Muni.
Next time your toilet is backed up,you can think of the Hagerstown Suns.

Did anyone notice the Pro-Suns (and anti-us) fans had a whole week to tell us what to be positive about and came up with .......

Until tomorrow,when we do an on the signing front on the Greensboro Grasshoppers and Kinston Indians, a review of Erik Arnesen's start tonight,Ti-Cats-Alouettes and more.

Photo Credit
Gorzelanny-Pittsburgh Post-Gazette-Matt Freed

Catching up soon

I will be catching up soon,as I recover from my baseball visits.
Just too wore down to think coherently,but I will catch up on Pirate baseball,talk about my stops on the road,compare the many stadiums/teams to the wonderful Hagerstown Suns and maybe some football as well...