The Saguaros move to 14-6 on the season with a 3-2 win over the Surprise Rafters(Box/Game Story).
Bill Rhinehart was 0/3 with a walk and a K.
Ian Desmond was 0/2 with a RBI.
Zech Zinicola pitched 1 innings allowing no hits or runs to pick up his first save of the AFL season. His ERA is now down to 1.74.
The final day of MLB's 2008 Minor League Baseball Yearly Awards (MiLBY).Today they announced their pick for Best Hitter. Once again no Nationals are on the list.
OVERALL: Matt Wieters (Orioles)
Triple-A: Nelson Cruz (Rangers)
Double-A: Lou Montanez (Orioles)
Class A Advanced: Carlos Santana (Indians)
Class A: Michael Stanton (Marlins)
Class A Short-Season: Roberto Lopez (Angels)
This season I saw 3 of the 6 players picked by MLB/MiLB as being the best hitters in the Minor Leagues (Wieters pictured top, Montanez in the middle and Stanton on the bottom). Wieters is by far the best of the bunch, as of right now, so today’s announcement was no surprise to me; more on Wieters later. Stanton is a raw talent, just 18 years old, in the Marlins system that despite 153 strikeouts he still managed to bat .293 with 39 homeruns, 97 RBI’s and 89 runs scored. He has so much talent it is just amazing. He had 26 doubles too. The sky is truly the limit for Stanton. All Montanez did this season is win the EL Triple Crown despite missing the final month of the season for a call up to Baltimore. I am a little less enthusiastic about Montanez then the other two but he is still a decent player. In my opinion Montanez is probably a 4th outfielder, while Wieters and Stanton are future All-Star caliber players.
I saw Matt Wieters play for both Frederick and Bowie this season and in my opinion he was the most polished hitter I’ve ever seen; not to mention one of the best defensive catchers I’ve seen in years. He makes the necessary adjustments DURING the at-bat, he has great plate discipline, and can hit for power and average from both sides of the plate. The Orioles have an extremely gifted player in Wieters.
Schedule for announcing the awards are as follows:
Monday: Best Team
Tuesday: Best Single Game Performance
Wednesday: Best Reliever
Thursday:Best Starter
Friday: Best Hitter
Earlier this week I gave my assessment of each of the Nationals prospects participating in the prestigious Arizona Fall League (Pitchers /Position Players). MLB.com just published an article with Nationals pitching coach Randy St. Claire discussing his observation of each of the Nationals pitching prospects. It’s a very interesting read that I highly recommend you check it out (St. Claire visits AFL prospects).
Overall it is pretty encouraging as most of the players are pitching well in the AFL and are making the necessary adjustments in their mechanics/delivery.
I had pointed out in my review of VanAllen that there was something holding him back wether or not it was his mechanics or delivery maybe even both. St. Claire seems to think that VanAllen has issues when “his arm drags and he elevates the ball”.
Below is a brief recap of the article summing up St. Claire’s view on each player. Please read the entire article here:St. Claire visits AFL prospects
St. Claire on Adam Carr:
"He made a lot of progress," St. Claire said. "He has settled down and his delivery is a lot more controllable. His control is a lot better. He has made progress for a kid who hasn't pitched much."
St. Claire on Ross Detwiler:
"He has been working very hard on keeping his lines to where he can [throw the ball on] both sides of the plate," said St. Claire. "Ross commanded the ball pretty decently. It was really nice to see him make that adjustment. I know he is working hard at it. That is something it takes a little while to correct. He was a little inconsistent with the curveball. He did throw some good ones, however."
St. Claire on VanAllen:
He is pretty quick to the plate and, at times, I think he wants to be too quick. His arm drags and he elevates the ball," St Claire said about Van Allen's delivery.
St. Claire on Zech Zinicola:
"I saw him pitch twice and he threw [exceptionally well], especially the second time after we worked on a couple of little things," said St Claire. "I don't know if they are inviting him to Spring Training, but I told Jim I would love to see him in Spring Training. He really impressed me."
During the August 23, 2008 game vs Portland the grounds crew was kind enough to let me know that 17-year major league veteran Devon White was in town working with the Senators outfielders. In 2007 he was served as the Washington Nationals Roving Outfield Coordinator. Earlier this week he was promoted by the Nationals to Special Assistant, Player Development.
White, was drafted by the California Angels in 1981; finished 5th in the 1987 AL ROY voting. He went on to spend 17-years in the Major Leagues playing for Angels, Blue Jays, Marlins, D-Backs, Dodgers and Brewers. A 3-time All-Star (89, 93, 98) he earned 7 Gold Gloves, and won 3 World Series (Blue Jays 92-93 and Marlins 97). In 1998 he was named the D-Backs Player of the Year. His career ended in 2001 as a member of the Brewers.
Day-Three of MLB's 2008 Minor League Baseball Yearly Awards (MiLBY).Today they announced their pick for Best Starter. Once again no Nationals are on the list.
OVERALL: Jhoulys Chacin (Rockies)
Triple-A: Charlie Zink (Red Sox)
Double-A: Vincent Mazzaro (Athletics)
Class A Advanced: Tim Alderson (Giants)
Class A: Madison Bumgarner (Giants)
Class A Short-Season: Kyle Nicholson (Giants)
Schedule for announcing the awards are as follows:
Monday: Best Team
Tuesday: Best Single Game Performance
Wednesday: Best Reliever
Thursday:Best Starter
Friday: Best Hitter
Saguaros win 12-6 (Box/Game Story).
Not much to report on the Nationals as none of their position players played yesterday for the Saguaros.
Ross Detwiler pitched 1 innings and gave up 3 hits, no runs, and struck out 1.
Adam Carr pitched 1 inning allowing no hits while striking out lowering his ERA to a stingy 1.08; hitters are now batting .212 against him.
Congratulations to Matt Stairs and the Philadelphia Phillies, 2008 World Series Champions!!!!
A few more pieces of Matt Stairs memorabilia to commemorate the Championship.
1991 ProCards
1992 Leaf
1992 Upper Deck
Links to More of my Stairs Memorabilia:
Memorabilia Monday World Series Edition
Memorabilia Monday on Wednesday
Matt Stairs (91) Traded To Phillies
UPDATE: I've updated this post to include links to a few articles on Stairs.
Stairs’ way to heaven
http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/front/article/464860
Phillies chill with family on day off
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081028&content_id=3650799&vkey=ps2008news&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb
Stairs second World Series winner from the province
http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/sports/article/464885
Former Cubs outfielder Matt Stairs is Philadelphia Phillies' class clown
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/chi-25-series-stairsoct25,0,32545.story
Matt Stairs climbs from N.B. to World Series
http://timestranscript.canadaeast.com/sports/article/463736
Hockey stays dear to Stairs's heart
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20081024.SERIESPLUG24/TPStory/Sports
Stairs' motto: What, me hurry?
http://www.thestar.com/Sports/Baseball/article/521697
As we continue on it brings us to the AFL Mid-Season Review Part 2: Pitchers. (Part 1)
LHP Cory VanAllen has an 11.17 ERA in 9.2 innings pitched over 4 games. He has allowed 13 runs (12 earned) on 18 hits. Alarming stat is AFL batters are hitting a combined .391 average against VanAllen. VanAllen did play in the AFL’s Rising Stars game and pitched a scoreless inning.
VanAllen AFL Grade (F): Despite his appearing in the AFL Rising Stars game he has not played well. As it was for Davis it can also be said for VanAllen, that numbers don’t lie. VanAllen is either ‘lights out’ or he gets “lit up”. I’ve seen him perform well and not so well. I’m not sure if he has a command problem or a problem with his mechanics, It’s probably a little of both at times, either way there is something that seems to be holding him back.
LHP Ross Detwiler, Washington's top pick (6th overall) in the 2007 draft, has appeared in 3 games logging 6 innings pitched. He has allowed only 4 hits and is holding batters to a .190 average.
Detwiler AFL Grade (B+): He has pitched well in his 3 performances but has only 1 strike out. Hopefully he gets a few more innings in to better gauge where he stands against better hitters. At this point I think Harrisburg could be a possible starting place for Detwiler next season (don’t hold me to that as its way to early to start assigning players).
RHP Adam Carr, 24, owns a 1.23 ERA in 7.1 IP in 7 games played, while holding some of the top prospects in the minor leagues to only a .233 batting average.
Carr AFL Grade (B+): Something seems to have clicked for Carr in the AFL. After struggling at Potomac and Harrisburg he goes to the AFL and puts up decent stats.
RHP Zech Zinicola emerged as Washington's 2006 Minor League Pitcher of the Year. Zinicola is participating in his 2nd AFL, so far he has allowed only 2 earned runs over 9.1 innings (1.93 ERA) in 6 appearances, Zinicola is also holding AFL hitters to a combined .212 average.
Zinicola AFL Grade (B+): Zech struggled in 2007 with being a thrower vs. a pitcher. He has nasty stuff but had problems falling behind in the count and then not being able to use his top-notch slider. At times he had the same problem in 2008 but he seemed to make the change from thrower to pitcher. His maturing as a pitcher along with his AFL stats could earn him a spring invite.
Overall Review and Grades:
Pitching (B- or C+): Overall the Nationals prospects have pitched well, with exception of VanAllen. Detwiler, Carr and Zinicola have all performed well in the AFL, which is typically deemed a ‘hitters league’.
Position Players (C+): Davis’ solid 2008 performance has carried over to the AFL. Both Rhinehart and Desmond have shown recent flashes of why they are prospects but they still have things to work on.
The difference between a MLB player and a MiLB player is, a MLB player can repeat their peak performance night after night, while a MiLB player has potential and shows flashes of brilliance but can’t deliver on a nightly basis; at least not yet. The Nationals have players to be excited about; some of whom could see time in DC at some point in 2009. As the Nat’s continue to make improvements to the farm system Harrisburg will continue to reap the rewards and could possibly return to the dominance of the 90’s (Let’s hope).
Just a quick guess where the AFL players will start 2009 (Again, don’t hold me to this as it is way too early to start assigning players). I probably won’t start getting serious about assignments until mid-March 2009.
Cory VanAllen: Harrisburg
Ross Detwiler: Harrisburg
Ian Desmond: Harrisburg, possible Syracuse
Zech Zinicola: Syracuse or DC depending on spring training.
Adam Carr: Harrisburg or Syracuse
Leonard Davis: Syracuse, possible DC
Cards shown in this post are not part of my collection. They are free stock photos available on various Web sites.
With the AFL season about half over I thought it was time to sit down and see how each of the Nationals player’s have progressed. I will present my review of each player’s performance and assign a grade to that player. The grades and review will strictly be based on their AFL performance thus far. It will be broken down into two posts, Position Players and Pitchers.
By now everyone probably knows that the Nationals players are on the Peoria Saguaros; tied for first in the AFL American Division with a 12-6 record. Overall the team has done well except for a stretch were the lost about 5 games in about a weeks time.
Now it is time to take a look at the Nationals players:
1B Bill Rhinehart has struggled in the AFL. In 12 games played he is hitting .244, 12 RBI’s and 8 runs scored. On the positive side he has 6 extra base hits (2 HR’s and 4 doubles). Rhinehart has come on strong over the last 5 games where he has all of his extra base hits and RBI’s and 6 of hit total 10 hits.
Rhinehart AFL Grade (C-): I would like to see him get back to the dominate hitter he was with Hagerstown, Potomac and his first few weeks with Harrisburg. He has struggled making the adjustment of facing better pitchers since his promotion to AA and the first few weeks in the AFL. The last few games show what he is capable of. I’m still wondering why he changed to a more open stance, from a straight on stance that worked so well at the lower levels? It makes me think he had problems picking up off-speed pitches or something.
SS Ian Desmond - His average is up to .256. Desmond has appeared in 13 games, registering 11 hits (3 for extra bases), 10 runs and 8 RBI’s. Another important stat that should not be overlooked is Desmond’s strike out’s (13) and errors (8). He has showed some better plate discipline in the AFL as he walked 11 times so far. The errors are troubling as the major reason why he was such a high prospect was for his defense. In fairness to Desmond he covers more ground then he average SS and makes plays that others can’t but he often has difficulty making the routine plays.
Desmond AFL Grade (C-): All of his stats are okay; nothing that would jump out at you. His errors have always concerned me because I believe he has a much better glove then what he actually displays on the field.
OF Leonard Davis – He was named the Nationals 2008 Minor League Player of the Year. So far he has carried the momentum over to the AFL as he has 14 hits in 11 games for a .326 average. Davis has 5 extra-base hits (one double, 2 triples, and 2 home runs), 8 runs scored and 12 RBI’s.
Davis AFL Grade (B+): The numbers don’t lie. Whether it’s at Potomac, Harrisburg, Columbus or the AFL he continues to deliver. He has set himself up for a good 2009; in which he could see time in DC because of his capability to play many positions.
Cards shown in this post are not part of my collection. They are free stock photos available on various Web sites.
Day-Three of MLB's 2008 Minor League Baseball Yearly Awards (MiLBY).
Today they announced their pick for Best Reliever
OVERALL: Robert Delaney (Twins)
Triple-A: Jason Bulger (Angels)
Double-A: Robert Manuel (Reds)
Class A Advanced: Anthony Slama (Twins)
Class A: Clay Zavada (Diamondbacks)
Class A Short-Season: Pat Venditte (Yankees)
Schedule for announcing the awards are as follows:
Monday: Best Team
Tuesday: Best Single Game Performance
Wednesday: Best Reliever
Thursday: Best Starter
Friday: Best Hitter
A night after beating up on Mesa they returned the favor defeating the Saguaros 10-1(Box/Game Story). Senators pitcher, Cory VanAllen had another rough outing allowing 8 of Mesa’s 10 runs in just 2.2 innings pitched. The win puts the Saguaros in a tie for first place in the AFL American division with Mesa, both teams have a 12-6 record.
Bill Rhinehart 1/4
Ian Desmond 0/4 with 2 strike outs
Cory VanAllen allowed 8 hits, 7 runs (all earned) in 2.2 innings pitched. He threw 59 pitched in the 2.2 innings. He hit a batter and allowed a homerun.
Zech Zinicola pitched 1 inning allowing no hits.
Day-Two of MLB's 2008 Minor League Baseball Yearly Awards (MiLBY); which they claim are the “best of the best” performances from the 2008 season
Today they announced their pick for "Best Single Game Performance"
OVERALL: Micah Hoffpauir (Cubs)
Triple-A: Micah Hoffpauir (Cubs)
Double-A: Tommy Everidge (Athletics)
Class A Advanced: Tommy Hanson (Braves)
Class A: Bruce Billings (Rockies)
Class A Short-Season: David Francis (Braves)
Schedule for announcing the awards are as follows:
Monday: Best Team
Tuesday: Best Single Game Performance
Wednesday: Best Reliever
Thursday: Best Starter
Friday: Best Hitter
Saguaros move into sole possession of 1st place with a 13-2 win over Mesa (Box/Recap). Entering yesterdays game the Sags were tied with Mesa for the top spot in the AFL American Division with an 11-6 record. Senators/Nationals players accounted for 9 of the Sags 13 runs (Rhinehart 3 rbi's and a run scored; Desmond 3 rbi's and 2 runs).
Bill Rhinehart 2/5, 2 doubles, 3 RBI’s and a run scored.
Ian Desmond was 3/3, just missed a cycle (needed a home run), 3 RBI’s, 2 runs scored and, walked twice.
Adam Carr pitched 1 inning allowing no hits or runs. His ERA is now at 1.23 in 7.1 innings pitched during the AFL. He has held the top prospects in the minors to an overall average of .233.
This week MLB is unveiling their 2008 Minor League Baseball Yearly Awards; which they claim are the “best of the best” performances from the 2008 season
Starting today and running through Friday MLB will announce a winner in each of the following categories:
Monday: Best Team
Tuesday: Best Single Game Performance
Wednesday: Best Reliever
Thursday: Best Starter
Friday: Best Hitter
Each level (Short Season, Low-A, High-A, AA, AAA) will have a winner and then there will be a overall winner announced too.
Today’s winners for Best Team are:
OVERALL: Augusta GreenJackets (Giants)
Triple-A: Sacramento RiverCats (Athletics)
Double-A: Trenton Thunder (Yankees)
Class A Advanced: Potomac Nationals (Nationals)
Class A: Augusta GreenJackets (Giants)
Class A Short-Season: Spokane Indians (Rangers)
The Washington Nationals were represented by the High-A Potomac Nationals.
The Double-A Eastern League, Trenton Thunder were picked as the best Double-A Team for 2008.
10/24 - was the AFL Rising Stars Showcase Game
10/25
Saguaros win 15-4(Box /Game Story).
Leonard Davis was 1/4 with a home run, walked, 2 runs scored and 3 RBI’s.
Bill Rhinehart was 2/6 with a home run, double, 2 runs scored and 3 RBI’s.
Ian Desmond was 0/4, 2 walks, scored a run and struck out twice.
10/26 - Off
Bob Natal was drafted by the Montreal Expos in the 13th Round of the 1987 amateur draft. He played for the 1991 Harrisburg Senators. That Senators team that finished the season with an 87-53 record but lost in the EL Championship game to Albany.
Bob Natal was the primary catcher for the Senators 1991 team as he played in 100 games (Joe Siddall played 76 games, Tim Laker played 11 games and Chris Hirsch played 9 games). Natal batted .256, 13 homeruns, 47 runs scored, and 53 RBI’s.
Natal was picked up by the Marlins in the 1992 expansion draft. He played parts of 6 seasons in the Major Leagues for the Expos (92) and Marlins (93-97). He finished out his playing career in 1998 with Durham (Tampa Bay) and Charlotte (Marlins).
I spoke with Natal several times after the 1991 season. He offered me various baseball tips/tricks. He was an avid baseball card collector and my uncle owned a card shop. At times I would help him get some cards he was looking for.
Practice Ball Autographed on the sweet spot.
1991 ProCards - Autographed
1992 Donruss The Rookies Autograph
The AFL National team defeated the AFL American team 7-6 (Box /Game Story).
Cory VanAllen pitched 1 inning giving up 1 hit and no runs for the AFL American team.
"The Nationals announced on Friday that Jim Riggleman, Marquis Grissom, Pat Listach, Rick Eckstein and Randy Knorr will be members of manager Manny Acta's coaching staff in 2009."
For more information please visit: Nationals add five to coaching staff
This week’s edition of New Photo Friday is from the June 7, 2008 game vs. Bowie. Harrisburg jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the 2nd inning. The 2nd inning scoring went like this; with Ofilio Castro on 2nd Seth Bynum singled (Castro moved to 3rd), Castro then scores on a throwing error on a pick off attempt by Bowie pitcher Brad Bergesen (Bynum moved to second). Mike Daniel singles to right fielder Nolan Reimold. Bynum was running on the hit by Daniel, he showed no signs of stopping at 3rd. As Bynum rounded 3rd I noticed Reimold was loading up for a throw to home. I focused on Bowie catcher Brian Peterson, a 9 yr minor league vet. I was hoping for a close play. The throw from Reimold was right on the money and it was there in plenty of time. Bynum was going to be out by a mile. Peterson positioned himself in front of home plate, but more up the 1st base line to receive the throw from Reimold, as opposed to where he should have been on the 3rd base line. As Peterson tried to reposition himself to make a diving tag, Bynum slide into the tag and the ball was jarred loose. Bynum was safe.
Harrisburg went on to lose 13-2 (Box/Recap). They managed to score only 2 runs, on 10 hits while stranding 7 men on base.
#1 - Bowie catcher Brian Peterson is waiting on Seth Bynum at home.
#2 - Bynum is sliding in to home as Peterson attempts to make the tag.
#3 - Bynum slides in to home as the ball is dropping out of Peterson's glove.
#4 - Bynum touches home.
Saguaros defeated the Surprise Rafters 9-1 (Box/Game Story)
Bill Rhinehart 1/5, a double and a RBI
Ian Desmond 1/4 a home run, 1 RBI and 2 runs scored. He committed his 8th error in the AFL, in only 10 games played.
Zech Zinicola pitched 1 inning allowing 1 hit and no runs
Adam Carr pitched 1 inning allowing 2 hits and no runs
Saguaros stay tied for first place with an 8-1 victory over the Surprise Rafters (Box/Recap).
Leonard Davis was 2/4, homerun, 1 RBI, 2 run’s scored
Visitors of the Harrisburg Senators Web site may have noticed that GM Randy Whitaker’s blog is missing. After nearly a year of writing his blog, ‘A Fan is a GM’ , Whitaker has “cut the blog out”. He says it was “time to move on” because he “couldn’t designate enough time to do it well.” He had this to say about his blogging experience, “It was fun but, as you know, time consuming to do correctly.” He hopes “people understand” his reason for stopping the blog. Whitaker says the Senators will “certainly be communicating in many other ways.”
For the time being, archived blog posts can still be accessed via http://www.senatorsbaseball.com/blog/
Saguaros were outslugged by the Javelinas 11-18 (Box/Game Story).
After starting the AFL season with a 7-0 record the Saguaros have lost 5 of their last 6 games and are tied with Mesa for first place.
Bill Rhinehart went 1-4 with a 2 out grand slam, 4 RBIs, 2 walks
Leonard Davis went 2-3 with with 1 RBI
Ian Desmond went 0-2 with 2 walks, a runs scored, 1 RBI.
Sometimes you might hear people talk about how much "traffic" there site has received, how many "hits" it got, how many "page views" they had. Basically this is a way for the site/blog to monitor how many people visit their site. With all the craziness during this season I really didn’t have a chance to monitor how many people actually visited this site during the season. I went back and checked the stats and was surprised to see that there were more than 12,000 ‘hits’ from April 3 until September 1. That more than doubled my expectations of getting 5,000 total ‘hits’ during that time period.
I want to thank everyone that visits SFU on a regular basis and also the occasional reader. You’ve helped me accomplish my goal and have helped make SFU a success. Hopefully the momentum will carry over to the coming months and years.
I want to thank everyone for their e-mails and continued support. You are always welcome to e-mail me or post comments on the topics. I look forward to hearing from you.
**Disclaimer: I also want to make sure everyone knows that their personal information is safe. No data is collected that would directly identify an individual user. The information I receive is limited. Again, no personal information is collected. If you have any concerns please contact me and I will do my best to answer all questions you might have.
Joe Kerrigan has been named pitching coach for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Major League Club.
Kerrigan served as the pitching coach for the 1991 Harrisburg Senators. The Senators finished the season with an 87-53 record and in first place in the Eastern League. They lost to Albany in the Eastern League Championship.
The 1991 Senators pitching staff, directed by Kerrigan, turned out 10 players that competed at the Major League level:
Matt Maysey
Stan Spencer
Chris Haney
William Brennan
Chris Bushing
Reid Cornelius
Matt Grott
Jonathan Hurst
Pete Young
Richie Lewis
As a player Kerrigan was selected by the Expos in the First Round of the1974 draft. He played parts of 4 seasons in the majors with: Montreal (76-77), Baltimore (78 & 80). He spent 7 seasons in the minors. He ended his playing days in 1982 as a member of the Denver Bears, affiliate of the Texas Rangers.
After his playing days Kerrigan served for the following organizations:
1983-1986 Montreal Expos as the Bullpen Coach
1987 Jacksonville as the Pitching Coach
1988-1990 Indianapolis as the Pitching Coach
1991 Harrisburg Senators Pitching Coach
1992-1996 Montreal Expos as the Pitching Coach
1997-2001 Boston Red Sox as the Pitching Coach
2003-2004 Philadelphia Phillies Pitching Coach
2005 Yankees Special Advisor to the GM
2006-2007 Yankees Bullpen Coach
2008 season in Philadelphia as a pre and postgame radio/TV personality
For more information on Kerrigan's hiring please see the Official Pirates Press Release
Saguaros fall to the Javelinas 4-2 (Box /Game Story).
The Saguaros have struggled late. After starting 7-0 they have lost 4 of their past 5 games. Despite the loss the Saguaros are still in first place with a 1-game lead over Mesa.
Leonard Davis was 1/4 with a triple
Bill Rhinehart was 0/4
Ian Desmond was 1/4
Zech Zinicola pitched 1.2 innings giving up 2 hits and a run scored.
Adam Carr pitched a hitless/scoreless inning.
10/17
Lost 18-10 (Box /Game Story)
Leonard Davis was 0/5
Bill Rhinehart was 1/3 with 2 runs and a RBI
Ross Detwiler pitched two innings allowing 2 hits, no runs, a walk and no strikeouts.
Zech Zinicola pitched a scoreless inning, striking out 2. He has lowered his ERA to 1.59 in 4 AFL games. Over his last two appearances he has pitched at total of 3 scoreless and hitless innings.
10/18
Lost 3-1 to Mesa (Box /Game Story)
Ian Desmond was 0/3 with strikeouts.
Cory VanAllen pitched 3 innings, allowing 2 hits and no runs while striking out 3.
From MLB.com – AFL Weekely Review
PEORIA SAGUAROS(Cardinals, Mets, Nationals, Padres, White Sox)
THIS WEEK: The Saguaros are no longer undefeated, running their record to 6-0 before suffering their first loss. They were 3-3 on the week and remain atop the American Division at 8-3 overall. Their .288 average is fourth in the AFL and their 4.45 ERA is third.
HARDEST WORKING MAN IN PEORIA: That's Padres outfielder -- for now, at least -- Mike Baxter. Even though he is only on the Saguaros roster as a taxi squadder, meaning he is activated on Wednesdays and Saturdays, he's been spending time at San Diego's instructional league complex, honing his catching skills to add to his repertoire. The extra hours in the hot gear and hotter sun haven't been hurting his bat, though, as he was hitting .462 with three doubles and four RBIs in four games. A 2005 fourth-round pick out of Vanderbilt, he moved to the outfield from first base and batted .264 with nine homers and 65 RBIs this season between Class A Advanced Lake Elsinore and Double-A San Antonio.
WHO'S HOT: Mets 2B Daniel Murphy was third in the league with a .440 average and ranked among the AFL leaders in runs scored (10), OBP (.559) and slugging (.640). ... White Sox C Cole Armstrong was batting .385 and had a four-hit game in an 18-10 loss to Mesa on Oct. 17. ... Cardinals OF Shane Robinson was tied for third in the league with nine RBIs. ... Mets LHP Jason Vargas, who is rehabbing from a lost 2008 season, had yet to allow an earned run in 7 2/3 innings, walking one and striking out six. ... Nationals LHP Ross Detwiler had tossed six scoreless innings.
NOTES OF INTEREST: Mets 3B Shawn Bowman was named the league's first Player of the Week after hitting .545 with six hits, five runs scored, two homers and five RBIs in three games. Since then, he's "cooled off" to a mere .345.
View the entire article at: AFL Weekly Review
Report by Lisa Winston, reporter for MLB.com
With all the hype surrounding the dramatic homerun by former Harrisburg Senator, Matt Stairs I completely missed the fact that another former Senator is still active in the MLB Playoffs. Tampa Bay Rays OF/DH Cliff Floyd was a member of the 1993 Harrisburg Senators (One of the Top 100 teams in MiLB History). Stairs is headed to the World Series with the Philadelphia Phillies. He was acquired in a trade from the Toronto Blue Jays at the end of August (for pitching prospect Fabio Castro).
Floyd and the Rays followed with a win over the Red Sox’s yesterday. One of my fondest memories as a young Senators fan was being allowed to ‘play catch’ on the field during warm-up’s with Cliff Floyd, Rondell White and Chris Martin.
It’s good to see two former Senators square off in the World Series. Both players are towards the end of their careers but they are team leaders, and still contribute on the field as well. Best wishes to both of them.
MLB Player Page:
Cliff Floyd
1992 Topps Rookie Card - Autographed
Matt Stairs
1992 Bowman Rookie Card - Autographed
On the left side toolbar I added a new category of links to the following AFL pages (located under the slideshow):
AFL Main Page
Saguaros Roster
Player Pages for:
Adam Carr
Ross Detwiler
Cory VanAllen
Zech Zinicola
Ian Desmond
Bill Rhinehart
Leonard Davis
Hopefully this will help you keep track of the Nationals/Senators players playing in the AFL. Links will be removed after the AFL is over.
Due to being sick (still recovering) I missed a few days of AFL updates so here they are.
The Saguaros are in first place with an 8-1 record entering today’s game vs. Mesa. Cory VanAllen will start tonight’s game and is looking to rebound from a difficult start to the season (over 11 ERA).
10/15
Peo Saguaros win 3-2 over Phoenix (Box / Game Story).
Leonard Davis was 2-3, double, Run scored and a RBI.
Bill Rhinehart played first base but did not register an at bat.
10/16
Saguaros continue their AFL dominance with a 8-2 victory over Mesa (Box / Game Story).
Ian Desmond was 2-3, Run scored and a RBI.
Adam Carr pitched the 9th inning allowing no runs on 2 hits while striking out 1.
Signed by the Pirates in 1987, Carlos Garcia made his City Island debut in 1989. In 1989 he batted .282 in 54 games. In 1990 he batted .277, 5 homeruns, 36 runs scored and 12 stolen bases in 65 only games. See as how Carlos was a standout SS for the Senators and went on to play all 1B, 2B, 3B, and SS in the majors, people tend to forget that he pitched in 21 games for the Senators in 1990. He started 20 of those appearances and finished the season with an 8-10 record and a 3.98 ERA (not bad for a SS prospect).
Carlos Garcia played parts of 13 seasons in the majors, with Pittsburgh (90-96), Toronto (97), Anaheim (98) and San Diego (99). Garcia finished 9th in the Rookie of the Year voting in 1993. He was an All-Star with the Pirates in 1994. He finished off his playing career with Yankees Triple-A affiliate in 2000 & 2001. Since retiring he has served as a minor league coach in the Indians organization (2002-2004), 3rd base coach for the Mariners (05-07) and is currently the Minor League infield Coordinator for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
After 18-years, Carlos returned to City Island on 8/10/2008 with the Altoona Curve. My good friend Jane Bratz mentioned that he was at the game and I managed to take this photo of him between innings.
Posts might be slow over the next few days as I seem to have got sick. New Photo Friday will be posted on time this week, as long as I don’t get any worse. It's wrote and ready to be posted.
Dispite solid performances from Nationals/Senators players the Saguaros were handed their first loss of the AFL season by the Surprise Rafters 8-6 (Box/Story)
Bill Rhinehart was 2/4 with a run scored
Ian Desmond was 1/4with a run scored and a RBI
Zech Zinicola came in to pitch the 8th and 9th innings striking out 2. He allowed no hits or runs. Currently has a 1.93 REA in 3 AFL appearanaces.
Here are two articles I saw over on the Nationals home page:
Detwiler getting closer to bigs in AFL - Also provides a recap of the first week in the AFL.
Maxwell ready to make up for lost year
This is an interesting article, CBS 21 News Investigation: Not Telling the Truth . It’s regarding the National Sports Hall of Fame project. It is being alleged by CBS 21 News that “the club’s (Senators) new owner kick in $150,000 to the project”.
Source: CBS 21 News
This weeks Memorabilia Monday is of Wes Chamberlain, who played for the 1989 Harrisburg Senators.
With the Senators in 1989, Chamberlain, batted .306, 21 Homeruns, 87 RBI’s and 65 runs scored.
Chamberlain’s MLB career spanned 6 seasons, Philadelphia Phillies (1990-95) and Boston Red Sox (1995).
In 1990 Chamberlain, along with another former Senators Tony Longmire, were sent by Pittsburgh to Philadelphia for Carmelo MartÃnez. In 1991, he finished 5th place in the NL Rookie of the Year Award vote. He also appeared in the 1993 World Series.
In 1996 he was signed by Chiba Lotte Marines to play baseball in Japan.
Chamberlain played baseball Independent League for the Gary Railcats and Winnipeg Goldeyes of the Northern League. Where he was selected as an All-Star in 2000 and 2003. He finished his playing career in 2004 with the Goldeyes.
The card is a 1991 ‘large card’ of when Chamberlain played for the Phillies.
I spent the weekend with family, enjoying my son’s 4th Birthday Party and trying to relax/recover from a cold I’m fighting.
In MLB Playoff News: Former-Senator, Matt Stairs delivered a pitch-hit homerun for the Phillies to help them to a 7-5 victory (Game Day Recap). The Phillies are 1 win away from advancing to the World Series. Previously posted Stairs Memorabilia: Post 1 & Post 2
AFL News from the weekend
10/11
The Saguaros defeated the Javelians 5-2 (Box / Recap)
Leonard Davis was 2/5 with a run scored and a RBI.
Bill Rhinehart was 0/4 with a RBI
Zech Zinicola pitched 1 inning allowing 2 hits, walked 1 but allowed no runs.
10/13
The Peo Saguaros remain undefeated with an 11-6 victory over the Surprise (Box / Recap)
Leonard Davis: 2/5, run, triple, and 3 RBI’s
Ian Desmond 0/3, a run scored, walk and a strike out
Cory VanAllen pitched 2 innings, giving up 5 hits, 4 runs (all earned) while striking out one
Ross Detwiler came on in relief and pitched 2 innings allowing only one hit and no runs.
Adam Carr entered in the 9th inning allowing 1 run on two hits while striking out 2.
Saguaros defeat the Peo Javelinas 7-5 (Box/Recap) to stay undefeated (4-0 on the season).
Leonard Davis was 1-4.
Ian Desmond had a rough game going 0-3 with 3 strikeouts.
Adam Carr got the save pitching 1.1 innings, giving up one hit while walking one and striking out one. That is Carr’s first save in the AFL.
This week’s New Photo Friday takes you to Hagerstown, Maryland where the Nationals Low-A affiliate, Hagerstown Suns play. This was my first 'road trip' representing MLB Advanced Media. I made the 1 hour 15 minute ride to Hagerstown on May 6th to watch the Suns take on the Greensboro Grasshoppers (Marlins). On this trip I met another photographer, Rodger Wood, who shoots for Baseball America and a few other places too.
There is a lot of hype surrounding outfield prospect Michael Burgess. He split the 2008 season between Hagerstown and Potomac. Burgess combined to hit .246, 24 home runs, 79 RBI's with 72 runs scored. He won the SAL Homerun Derby. The free-swinging Burgess struck out 162 times in 2008 (lacks plate discipline), and in my opinion has trouble recognizing some pitches. He is only 20 years old, so he has plenty of time to improve. My best guess is he will reach Harrisburg in late 2009 season, or more likely we'll see him in 2010. I think he needs a full season at High-A Potomac. Senators fans are in for a treat when he gets here. He always hustles, plays hard, and is nice guy. Here is a sneak peak at Burgess...enjoy.
Burgess deep in thought between innings
Burgess went 0-4 but made good contact in all 4 AB's
Running in from the outfield. He has a solid arm and decent range.
Again, more contact but failed to reach base in this game.
The Peo Saguaros continue their early dominance of the AFL with a 9-2 victory over Mesa(Box /Recap), to move to 3-0 on the season.
Bill Rhinehart was 0/2 with a walk.
Ian Desmond was 1/3 with a walk and a strikeout.
Ross Detwiler pitched 2 innings giving up one hit while striking out one and walking one.
The Peoria Saguaros move to 2-0 on the season as they defeated Scottsdale Scorpions 10-7 (box/recap).
Leonard Davis was 1-4, RBI and a stolen base
Bill Rhinehart was 1/4, RBI, scored a run
Zech Zinicola, who blew the save opportunity, pitched 1 2/3 innings. He gave up 2 hits (one was a home run by Red Sox prospect Josh Reddick), one walk, a wild pitch, a balk and two strikeouts
As I stated previously there is going to be a delay in posting this week. I have a few issues I'm trying to resolve.
Continuing with my post of Matt Stairs memorabilia from a few weeks ago, I decided to add a few more Stairs items for Memorabilia Monday this week.
Stairs was one of my favorite Harrisburg Senators players while I was growing up. He is currently on the Phillies playoff roster, though he has not appeared in a game.
Matt Stairs Autographed Baseball (on Sweet Spot)
Matt Stairs Autographed newspaper article from when he hit for the cycle
For those interested, According to Lancaster Online, Garrett Guzman waived his preliminary hearing and now awaits a pre-trial hearing. No date has been set.
Source: LancasterOnline.com
Over the next week or so there may be a delay in posting the New Photo Friday and Memoribilia Monday. I will try to get them posted as soon as possible, time permitting.
