Hits and misses

Final MLB rosters were set a few days back, but what are you gonna do?  Quick status report on some of the FLPs that the blog follows.

2007 Lynx alumnus Joe Bisenius, begins the 2009 campaign in Reading.  Joe split 2008 between Lehigh Valley and Reading, appearing in just 43 games.

Another Ottawa pitcher, Brian Mazone appears to have just missed making the Dodgers 25 man roster – and not everyone is happy with that turn of events (WARNING: for those of you not fond of Hannah Montana, you may wish to turn your speakers down.  Or off).

On the brighter side, former battery mates J.A. Happ and catcher Jason Jaramillo have both made their respective MLB squads – Happ with Philadelphia and Jaramillo with the Pirates.  JJ’s promotion over Robinson Diaz was seen as a victory of his defensive ability and game calling talent.  Jaramillo will backup starting catcher Ryan Doumit to start the season, and will be reunited with Former Lynx manager, John Russell.

“I’m so excited,” Jaramillo said. “It was an unbelievable moment when I got called in and they let me know I made the ballclub. There’s a lot of stuff that flashed in my memory.

“It’s been a long road, but I’m ready to get started on this journey now.”

Happ, on the other hand, narrowly missed out on being named the Phillies fifth starter – he lost the final spot in the rotation to Chan Ho Park, and wasn’t entirely pleased about being sent to the ‘pen:

Asked what explanation he was given for the decision, a disappointed Happ paused a moment later in the day, then simply answered, ”He [Park] had a good spring,” before quickly adding, ”I feel like I had a good spring as well.”

”If I can get a job in the bullpen and if I can have some success down there, then I think an opportunity will come where I can get back a starting job,” Happ said.

”If he’s one of the best 12, I think he’d benefit from being up here,” pitching coach Rich Dubee said. ”I think he’s proved himself last year at Triple-A and I think he proved himself somewhat up here. I think the key factor is how much work he gets if he does make our staff.

”He’s not a guy we want to let sit around and not get any work because he’s still in the process of becoming a consistent major league pitcher.”

Finally, blog favorite Joe Thurston has made his way back to the bigs, this time in a St. Louis Cardinals uni.

La Russa declined to go into much detail as to why Barden started over Freese in the opener, but he was more forthcoming about the choice of Thurston. The coaching staff has liked Thurston’s defensive play at third base, and the hope is that his left-handed bat will help against Snell.

Thurston also took the No. 8 spot in the batting order — a spot that evidently will be occupied by Cardinals pitchers less often in 2009. La Russa acknowledged that Thurston fits the profile of the “second leadoff” hitter, but didn’t want to stack left-handed hitters in three consecutive spots — ninth, first and second.

In last night’s game against Pittsburgh, Joe went 2-5 and drove in two runs.

Joe Thurston beats Pirates catcher Ryan Doumit’s tag – April 7.

Blog neglect

And not for lack of information – in fact, there’s so much FLP type news it’s been impossible for me to keep up with.

First off – it doesn’t appear that Jason Jaramillo will be cracking the lineup for the Pittsburgh Pirates.  With an average in Spring Training well below the Mendoza line (around .148 last time I checked), he may have lost the back-up role to Robinson Diaz.

 

Former Lynx manager, John Russell has some tough decisions to make.

Meanwhile, FLP J.A. Happ is locked in a duel with Chan Ho Park for the fifth spot in Philadelphia’s rotation.  J.A.’s ERA in ST is hovering just above 3 (3.15), while Park is just below at 2.87.  Philly GM, Ruben Amaro Jr. has indicated that either could be used in relief as well.  One wonders if the fact that J.A.’s a southpaw will tip the scales in his favor.

J.A. in Philly red.

Interesting find over on Bobby Valentine’s blog * (Valentine is the manager of the Chiba Lotte Marines of the Japanese Pacific League) -

I’m looking forward to getting to know Gary, who is a very talented artist, as well as a very talented baseball player. He’s from Connecticut yet I had never met him before last year. Gary was a player for the La New Bears last year, a team that we had a working agreement with in Taiwan. He did a fabulous job for them, hitting .323 and slugging .500 and with an almost .400 OBP. Gary can play first base, in the outfield, and of course DH. I’m looking forward to his contributions.

Obviously he’s not the highest-paid player on our team ― he may be the lowest-paid player, or one of them ― but I think his contributions will be very, very large.

He’s the type of player who just wants an opportunity; he’s always fought for everything he’s gotten. He reminds me truly of our fans; who never give up. When they believe in something, they give their all, every minute of the day, and fight to the bitter end. Gary seems to have that same kind of spirit.

As a token of his gratitude to Valentine, Gary arrived in camp with a gift for his new manager -

In his debut with the Marines, Gary hit two doubles in a 9-1 win over the Tohoku Rakuten Eagles.

* unfortunately, Valentine has elected to discontinue his blog.

Dispatches from the wilderness

Even as the UOLB sinks deeper into irrelevance, many of the team’s alumni begin their 2009 campaign.  Some, in new uniforms seem right on the cusp of making the big club -

kanganzhu: Both [Jason] Jaramillo and [Robinzon] Diaz will battle for the backup catcher position. Since both are relatively new to the organization, could you give us your early impressions of both players as they fight for the roster spot?

Russell: Jaramillo comes from us in a trade for Ronny Paulino. We’re excited to have him. I was fortunate enough to work with him when I managed the Phillies in Triple-A. He was my catcher. He’s a student of the game with solid catch and throw skills. He’s a switch-hitter, which is valuable and gives us options.

while others continue to struggle -

The Phillies were humbled by the Pittsburgh Pirates to open pre-season baseball. The Pirates picked up an 8-2 win behind nine pitchers… The loss went to Joe Bisenius (0-1), who was hammered for four earned runs in one inning of work, with the big blast coming in the form of a three-run home run by Shelby Ford.

And from the “has it really been that long since I updated the blog?” department, a long overdue congratulations to Former Lynx catcher and good guy, Dusty Wathan on his promotion to the Lakewood BlueClaws, the Phillies Class A affiliate in the South Atlantic League.

Q: What surprised you the most in your first year as manager?

Dusty Wathan: The only thing that surprised me was what you forget about, what you assume guys know. But you had to teach them. That’s not the way we’re going to do this. This is the way we’re going to do this. Nothing serious, but just the way we do things in the pros.  

And finally on this late February morning (some 40 days removed from Opening Day), I’ve been asked by a few people about the status of the legal issues as between the City and the Ottawa Lynx.  The short answer is that it is ongoing, some two and a half years after it began.  Among other things, this should serve as a cautionary tale for local sports franchises that believe the City will respond quickly and/or reasonably when they’re confronted with a lawsuit. 

But it probably won’t.

December FLP updates

(Courtesy FOTL, Ken Throop updates us on the last update)

Rich Gale was the Lynx pitching coach in 1994, his only season with us. He
took over from Mike Parrott, our first pitching coach in 1993, & was
replaced by Chuck Kniffin for the 1995 season.

Further to the coaching transactions you mentioned, i received an e-mail
today from the Syracuse Chiefs announcing that former Montreal Expos
infielder Tim Foli has been named manager of the Chiefs for the 2009 season.
Tim was the manager for the Columbus Clippers, Washington’s AAA affiliate
last season. Also named to the staff was former Toronto Blue Jay Darnell
Coles as the hitting coach, & named as pitching coach is former Oakland
Athletics pitcher & former Lynx pitching coach Steve MacCatty (2003-2005).
Also, hired by the Nationals to be the head trainer this year is former Lynx
trainer Mike Quinn (2002). Foli was with the World Series champion
Pittsburgh Pirates in 1979, & Coles played for the Blue Jays when they won
the World Series in 1993.

Thanks for the help Ken!  In more news of the Friend of the Lynx variety, Neate Sager’s Out of Left Field made it to the second round of voting in the Canadian Blog Awards.  No word yet on the results of the round two voting.

There’s a mountain of post-season IL stuff and player transactions to get to – more later.

Catching up

FOTL and the blog in general, Tricia catches me up on some of the goings on of the alumni of your Ottawa Lynx.  Honestly, if I had a shred of decency, I’d hand the reins of the blog over to Trish; most of what has appeared in the FLP department is courtesy of her work.

FLP updates

National League
PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES-Named **Pete Mackanin** bench coach and Sam Perlozzo
third base coach.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS-Named Matt LeCroy manager, **Rich Gale** pitching
coach, and Ramon Aviles coach for Hagerstown (SAL).

Atlantic League
NEWARK BEARS-Named **Tim Raines** manager and signed him to a two-year
contract.

Thanks Trish!

Some time ago, friend of the blog Neate Sager fired over a quick report on the whereabouts of the Ottawa Lynx’s unofficial photographer, Patrick Shanks.  Some of you may know that Patrick is also in a soon to be famous local “garage” band.

Neate reports:

“Thought you might like seeing this… I am in awe a redheaded guy can wear a red shirt in public and pull it off.”

(courtesy of Andrew Carver’s Natcaprock blog)

Waffle house

September begins with an explosion of pop-garage sweetness down at Popes Lane (I idly wonder if there’s any connection with my neighbours in Pope House). The lane’s inhabitants were having their Labour Day shindig, replete with inflatable castle, champagne and live entertainment from Ottawa’s pancakinest duo, Shanker and Romps.

Merchandising action!

That garage in full!

As always, more later.

September numbers

Thought I’d take a quick look at how the three former Lynx affiliates (including Washington) were doing in the run-up to the post-season.

Tied with San Diego for the worst winning percentage in all of MLB (.386), the Washington Nationals are going nowhere in 2008.   The Baltimore Orioles under FLC, Dave Trembley haven’t fared much better; they currently sit last in the AL East, 15 games below .500 (64-79).  One bright note: Trembley will return as manager in 2009, with a club option for 2010.

The Phillies on the other hand, are in the thick of a division and Wild Card race.  As of this morning they trail the NL East leading Mets by 2.5 games and the Brewers by 3 in the Wild Card.  With 17 games left (and remembering the Mets’ 2007 collapse) anything can happen.  FLP, J.A. Happ appeared in last night’s loss to the Marlins, and got tagged for three runs (including a homer), but not the loss after 3 1/3 innings of middle relief.   For the season, he’s appeared in five games (17.1 innings total) and has an ERA over 5.  His best appearance was on July 9 when he went 6 1/3 innings, giving up two runs (although these were runners left on, charged to J.A.) – he probably should have picked up the win, which eventually went to another FLP, Clay Condrey.

Another FLP added to Philadelphia when the rosters expanded was Andy Tracy.  In very limited use, (i.e. 4 at bats), Andy’s gone o’fer, with a walk, a K and a lone RBI.  His season in AAA was impressive – .288 (20 pts. higher than his MiLB lifetime average) with 22 HRs and 85 RBI.

More to come.

Catching up with John

I should’ve taken the time to blog this a few days ago when the Pirates were a little closer to .500 for the season – as of this morning they’ve slipped to 25-29 and are 8.5 back of the division leading Cubs.  This time last year, they were 23-30 with manager Jim Tracy at the helm and en route to a 68-94 season, 6th in the NL and 17 games back of the lead.

Certainly the hopes, if not expectations of the Pirates faithful are that things will be different this go-round with John Russell at the controls.   As of Tuesday, the mood in the clubhouse was still positive:

The Pirates blew a two-run lead in the eighth inning Saturday and trailed the Chicago Cubs — again — in the bottom of the ninth. Closer Kerry Wood was on the hill, and the bottom of the batting order was due up.

Yet, the mood in the Pirates’ dugout was hardly doom and gloom. Every player was on the top step, leaning over the railing and jawing, an unbroken line of black-and-gold warmup jackets.

“The guys were into it,” manager John Russell said. “They were picking each other up, continuing to put the pressure on, believing they can win. It was outstanding.”

In recent years, “We will” was little more than a hollow marketing slogan at PNC Park. This season, the catchphrase is gone — but the sentiment has come to life in the Pirates’ clubhouse. 

“The atmosphere has been very different, even on the bench, every game,” outfielder Jason Bay said. “Stuff like that has been the difference this year. It’s nothing you can lay your finger on. It’s just … a different feel.”

Maybe that’s why Luis Rivas connected on an 0-2 pitch and lofted a sacrifice fly to tie the game, denying Wood his fourth save in eight outings against the Pirates. Maybe it helped Bay rip the game-winning single in the 14th inning.

The source of this quiet confidence, everyone in the clubhouse agrees, is Russell.

Certainly, a winning season would be a huge achievement for John and the Bucs – they’ve not had one since 1992, the year the Blue Jays won their first World Series.  Here’s hoping that John can help the Pirates tack on at least 56 more wins over the remaining 108 games.

“I’m not a guy who’s going to crack a whip, or scream at ‘em all day long.  I mean we’re going to have fun, but we’re going to do it right.”

Catching up with Dave

It’s been a while since the blog checked in on FLC, Dave Trembley.  Rumor has it that Mr. Trembley might appear to be a little gruff, but beneath the tough exterior was a heart of gold.  Since being elevated to manager of the Baltimore Orioles at the end of last season, Dave’s record is 65-78.  Currently the team sits right at .500 with a 25-25 record.

From the little known fact department: Dave never played a game in the majors.

Trembley never got beyond a Canadian amateur summer league, so he doesn’t have eye-catching playing credentials he can point to when impressing upon a player the need to do things a certain way.

“Players don’t really care about that,” said Trembley, who managed 16 consecutive years in the instructional league, in addition to winter ball stints in Venezuela and Mexico.

“They want to know two things: Do you know what you’re talking about, and can you help them? Are you going to panic? Have you been through it? I managed 2,000 games (2,782, actually) in the minor leagues, for goodness’ sakes.”

Long time Lynx fans will likely recall the MiLB umpire strike of 2006, and the quality of the replacement officials was arguably less than stellar.  We missed the game when Dave, fed up with the bad calls, finally snapped and summarily “tossed” the entire umpiring crew.  Pretty sure you’ve seen this before, but it looks like he took this routine to Camden Yards… (sorry, WordPress wouldn’t permit the video embed, so you’ll have to follow the link to see it.)

 

Blog change?

Is is time to rename the UOLB, the “Unofficial Gary Burnham blog”?  Friend of the Lynx/blog, Tricia, was kind enough to send a link from Taipei to a story written in English (as opposed to mandarin).

While Yu was the big winner with five hits in the game, the night also belonged to the Bears’ foreign slugger Gary Burnham, who drove in a half-dozen RBIs on a 4-for-7 night, including two doubles and a three-run home run.

“Foreign slugger”.  Nice.

Tricia’s still on the case, looking for Gary’s stats.  In other FLP, err… FLC news, with John Russell at the helm, the Pittsburgh Pirates have a record of 22-25, six games behind the NL Central leading Chicago Cubs (28-19).

“I like where we’re at,” Russell said beforehand. “Obviously, I’d be happier with some more wins. But I think what we’ve been through to this point really sets up our season. We’ve had to deal with our injuries, like Jack Wilson and Ryan Doumit. We’ve struggled with our starting pitching, too. But we’re still right there. If we can piece things together, it will be interesting to see what happens.”

He added that he has appreciated what he considers a vibrant, upbeat attitude among the players, even in down times.

“That’s why you’re starting to hear guys frustrated when they lose. We believe we can win.”

And finally, it seems like at least one beat writer in Rochester can’t see too much of FLP, Howie Clark:

Howie Clark should play every day

That’s right. The versatile veteran brings a spark to the Red Wings and should be a regular.
Today, with the Wings mired in a seven-game losing streak, manager Stan Cliburn asked Clark to address the team. Howie is not a vocal guy, but he’s well-respected by just about everyone who knows him. He was even the captain of the 2002 Red Wings.
Howie spoke to the club about trying to do too much too soon, and not being patient. Then he went out tonight and clubbed an RBI triple in the seventh inning to put the Wings ahead to stay 3-2.
I’m not a fan of constant lineup switches, but I understand Cliburn has a lot of talent that needs to play. But one constant should be Howie.

Turning things around

Former Lynx Coach (FLC) John Russell probably didn’t hesitate when the call came from Pittsburgh last fall, but one wonders if he isn’t just a little uncertain now, some six months later.  The Pirates have had fifteen consecutive losing seasons.  Fifteen.  Presumably no one is looking at John as the entire “answer”, and expectations that this team will make the playoffs are probably quite low, but the new skipper will still face a great deal of scrutiny.

“The difference I need to make is in the clubhouse and on the field,” Russell said. “Accountability is the backbone of what we’re going to do. There is going to be accountability.

“There’s going to be attention to detail. We’re going to try to win, and we’re going to try to win today. I’m going to be accountable for what happens — myself and my coaching staff and the players. That’s one of the things I’m going to instill in them. If we do it right, we’re going to win more games. It’s worked for me in the past.”

So far this spring, they’re 9-15 – but as they say, it’s just Spring Training.  And it’s reassuring to know that players, and not all of them his, have a great deal of confidence in his abilities.

(David) Ortiz, now an All-Star with the Boston Red Sox, became one of several former Miracle players under Russell in 1996-97 to reach the majors. Others include Torii Hunter, A.J. Pierzynski, Jacque Jones, Corey Koskie, Mark Redman and Doug Mientkiewicz, who’s with the Pirates, trying to make the team as a utility player.

“He hasn’t changed,” Mientkiewicz said of his manager’s demeanor and style. “He’s exactly the same. He’s in the perfect spot.”

“He has that quiet confidence that a manager needs to have,” said Twins right fielder Michael Cuddyer, who played for Russell in 2002 at Triple-A Edmonton. “He never blew up at people. There’s different styles. Not one way is right, not one way is wrong.”

Count Cuddyer and Ortiz as players who like Russell’s style.

“Russell is my man,” Ortiz said. “He’s my man. He was one of the best managers I’ve ever had. He makes it fun.

“He’s a guy who doesn’t talk too much. But he makes you feel comfortable. I knew that he was going to be at the major league level as a manager one day. He doesn’t talk too much, but he says everything that needs to be said. I was happy for him. He knows what’s going on.”

(emphasis mine).