The Now Official Reno Silver Sox Blog

My final post

2008-08-29T11:11:00.000-07:00

Well, I went to the game last night to say goodbye to the hometown team. Yeah, I know...Ben Deach said check the website for 2009 ticket info; yeah, I know...GBL owners say they haven't made a decision but we all know the reality. And the other 200 people who were there last night know it too.

I want to start by saying thanks to guys like Curt Jacey, John Rice, and Ben Deach who busted their asses to make this thing work and to the great folks from the league office like Kevin Outcalt who actually listened to the fans. It was a fun three years that included a league title.

One thing I have never really discussed on this blog is that Kevin and Curt let me work with the team last year and John was the actual guy I worked with the most. I got to ask every question I wanted and got real answers. I got to hang in the booth for the better part of the second half and I got to try the different jobs that occur in there. It was a once in a lifetime experience and I really appreciated it.

It was a great three years and I had a blast going to the park and follwing the team. I told you my goal was to treat it like an MLB team so, through this blog, I think you saw how into this team I tried to be. I hope it added something to your enjoyment of the team as well.

Unfortunately, and this is no knock on the folks I just mentioned, the announcement of AAA baseball in concert with the tight budgets of GBL teams killed the Silver Sox. And no one is really to blame. You can't expect the GBL to continue to pour money into a team that draws in only 50-200 fans per game this year (with the exception of firework nights). And because of that, the people who did show up probably got a lessened experience from prevous seasons. Here are some examples:

-- All games in 2007 (home and away) were on the local ESPN affilate. This year, only home games were braodcast and it was only on the internet. This meant that you couldn't listen to the game at the stadium or on the way home if you had to leave. And, for the past month, no games have been broadcast at all.

-- I believe what was meant to be a monthly printed program became a one and done program. I never saw another one and, last night, there weren't any at all handed out. And, at no time this year did I get printed rosters like we got the last two years. This is key with a team with high turnover.

-- Speaking of turnover, the Sox sold zero players to MLB this year. Zero. Remember in 2006 we set the record for an independent team for the number of players we sent back to affiliated ball. Instead, we sent Crespi, Dixon, Brown and Senreiso--some of our best players--to other independent teams. If that is not a slap in the face to our team, I don't know what is. Brown was to complete a previous deal...the others? We got nothing in exchange.

-- And that is probably because the on-field product this year was SO bad. The pitching was the absolute worst I have seen in three years and it really detracted from games. I didn't count but I would wager that half the games we lost were the result of the other team scoring double digit runs. Because the entire pitching squad was so bad, guys would just stay out there and get bombed for 6,8, or 10 runs because there was no one else to come in. Last night was a perfect example when we got yet another "rent a pitcher" who got bombed and, with the expection of one mound visit by Leslie, stayed in the game depsite being totally ineffective. And even defense like the awesome plays from Hattig, Alvarado, and Madrid couldn't change that.

-- Giveaways were WAY down! There was the league wide giveaway of sun flower seeds and there was a (delayed) giveaway of a logo ball...but the other advertised giveaways like baseball cards and mini-bats went by the wayside. Just comparing this to Chico shows that other league owned teams are light years ahead of the Sox. This is part of minor league and major league baseball. This has to happen.

-- Website updates were atrocious. Last year we got game reports, player profiles, and an e-mail every time a player was sold to affiliated ball or to talk about roster changes. This year? No away games for the first month and then some reports from away games later; nothing on player movement (Crespi, Senreiso, and Dixon, our three best players. leave and no one tells us anything). Then our PA announcer of 2.5 years leaves. Again, no info to the fans. It made following the team very difficult unless you were hardcore enough (like me) to scour the internet for information. This hurt brand loyalty since we never knew who would be on the field from game to game (epsecially at the pitcher spot). I mean in the final games our DH was who??? A guy not on the roster and not on the GBL transactions page.

-- Speaking of transactions, the GBL quit trying to update this as well. Many transactions went unposted which is unacceptable since the league owns the team. They sign all the contracts so it is not like they didn't know when guys joined the team, even if it took a couple of days to be reported to them by local management.

-- On field entertainment fell to just a pizza box race, a dizzy bat race, and mascot race. This is less than last year (tricycle race, sign race, etc) and is way less than the other stadiums...just review the video I sent from Long Beach's sumo wrestling. The bottom line is, in yet another chicken and the egg scenario, I am not sure if the lack of fans killed the atmosphere or if the lack of promotions did. Either way, the stadium was dead silent a lot of the time this year. I mean I can hear coaches talking to players and players talking to each other...kind of cool but energy in a stadium really improves the environment.

-- My daughter caught a foul ball in Chico once and it was great for her. A real GBL ball with Kevin Outcalt's signature on it. We caught a foul ball tonight and it said "Minor League Baseball" and was signed by Pat O' Connor. Not only are the Sox not part of MiLB but O'Connor is not the commissioner. Not to sound snide but did the Sox get a cut-rate deal on balls that was cheaper than official GBL balls? This seemed pretty unprofessional.

-- Finally, advertising was way down. No radio ads on ESPN and no ads in the paper. I saw a TV commercial but it was so in frequent that in watching an A's game I saw it once. And to be honest, how many people are really watching an A's-Orioles game beside hard core fans who probably already have a decision in their mind about the Silver Sox.

In any event, I feel both the GBL and the fans gave up on the Sox this year and now they will be looking for a new home. If they tried to come back, I can't see it being economically feasible without stripping out even more of the stuff we have come to expect. Fan support is just not there. Remember that when the league debuted in Reno, their goal was 1500 a night to break even. So unless there are 1300+ paid no-shows a night, this team has been underwater all year.

I will always be a Silver Sox fan and a fan of the GBL. It was a good three years and I may have to take in a Chico game next year just to support the league. The GBL is a great concept and my appreciation for indy baseball has grown tremendously. I wasn't pleased with how it ended in terms of the experience fans got but, at the end of the day, it was what we allowed them to give us by not attending in larger numbers like we did in season one. In the end, the final homestand was the perfect ending...swept at home in front of 200 fans. Kind of the story of this season...swept out of town with only a few people even noticing they are gone. Sad, really, with as hard as the players and staff worked...and for the true blue fans who came all the time...like Richard with his lollipops and the girl who sat behind me and knew everything about every player. But it is what it is.

Thanks for reading for these two years...I enjoyed the interaction with everyone and the ability to follow our hometown team so closely.

What a difference a week makes...

2008-08-24T08:35:00.000-07:00

So if we hadn't hit rock bottom before, we are definitely there now. The hemmorage of good players continues as Senreiso and Brown have now moved on and the team is mired in a 6-game losing streak. And, it would appear, as close to an official word that the Sox are gone from Reno was found in the Tucson Citizen in an article about bringing the GBL to Tucson. In interviewing league owners and the commish, the author made this comment:

Former Tucson Sidewinders owner Jay Zucker is talking to the Golden Baseball League and the American Association to keep a pro team in Tucson after selling the Triple-A franchise to Reno, Nev.

The Sidewinders are set next year to move to Reno, which will lose its Golden League team, the Silver Sox.

http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/ss/fromcomments/88273.php

So there it is...the swan song of the Sox begins in a couple of days when they play at Peccole for the last time. So hopefully you can make it out for one last time and support the team.

Personal Update

2008-08-13T09:52:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of updates. We had a death in the family so I won't be blogging until 24 AUG.

For what it is worth, the Sox are 14 games under .500 with 15 games to play so a loss tonight will assure the Sox of finishing that way on the season. But, we'll see where we are in a week. Maybe there will be something to cheer about.

Series Report: Chico @ Reno (8-9 August)

2008-08-09T07:19:00.000-07:00

Game One: Despite some very poor pitching, the Sox had a very exciting come from behind victory on the backs of huge homeruns by Senreiso, McCoy, Brown, and Hattig. In fact, Senreiso belted two and Brown knocked a grandslam out of Peccole to lead the Sox to a 13-9 win. Jeffrey Leonard, to his credit, did his best to keep the team in the game. Chaffardet had another bad outing and was yanked after just three innings. I has to make you cringe when Chico's announcer reminds the fans that the early runs the Outlaws scored were "gift wrapped" as this just what they were. One in particular was the result of 2 wild pitches and a passed ball. And even with a huge lead provided by all this offense, the ninth was still a nailbiter as Billy Simon surrendered a 3 runs on two hits and two walks in the ninth inning. Chaffardet avoided the loss but his ERA climed to 9.17 and Simon's poor outing in the ninth increased his to 10.50. Kevin Picirillio also pitched. He is still not on the Sox roster and still has no first name on Howe Sports Data, but in case you were wondering, Rory Miller said his name is Kevin Picirillo, he is from Vacaville, CA, and pitched last in the defunct New York State League. No information on "B Wharton" who was an outfielder added to the Sox roster recently. But, the bottom line is that
a win is a win and so long as we have Senreiso (4-5, 2 HRs, 3 RBIs), Brown (2-5, 1 HR, 5RBIs), and Hattig (3-5, 1 HR, 2 RBIs), the Sox will still give fans something to cheer about even if the pitching still makes us pull our hair out!

Game Two:

Series Report: Reno @ Chico (August 4-7, 2008)

2008-08-04T16:02:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: D.J. Dixon is officially gone and is a member of the Winnipeg Golden Eyes of the Independent Northern League. Still no update on the GBL transactions page, the Sox webpage, or via e-mail. It would be nice to know why we sold our best player to another independent league, guys. Did he want it? Is it to improve relations with the Northern League? Did we get anything besides money back? And is this officially the sign that the Sox have given up on the season? Please let us know!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
"We plan on winning the second half. We have seen everybody now. The teams that beat us at the beginning are going to see an entirely different team. I expect to be playing (first half winner) Calgary for the title and whoever wins the other division, to be playing them in the championship."

-- Jeffrey Leonard in the July 15, 2008 edition of the Reno Gazette Journal

Game One: Now I am not sure if Jeffrey Leonard still believes this but one thing is for sure: The Sox have assured they won't be swept in this series as they have in the past two of three series. In fact, Landavazo had a great outing going 6.1 innings and giving up just one run in his second start of the year. In 18 games in the GBL this year, he is 2-1 with a 4.87 ERA but if you count his time with the Sox only, his ERA is 2.20. With no update on Kevin Frederick's condition, it looks like we have Hall, Russell, Landavazo, and maybe Chaffardet if he can find his groove. Other than that, it still looks like we have at least one position for starter by committee. And so far, that has not worked well for us. On the offensive side, John Hattig smacked homerun number 10 as the Sox won to bring their record to 6-12 with 26 games remaining in the second half. It is not looking good but "it ain't over 'til it's over".

Game Two: Steve Russell had a shaky outing and then the game became a blow out once Reggie Leslie entered the contest. Ever since Leslie went on the inactive list a while back he has been one our most inconsistent pitchers. Not sure if there is still a lingering injury but in any event, he is not pitching as well as he did before going on the inactive list. The Sox were held to just three hits as the Chico Outlaws stymied them once again. Two of those came from Senreiso, who is also rumored to be moving on soon--this has all the earmarks of a Florida Marlins fire sale...except that we are not getting anything back or building for next year. Of course, the recent loss of Dixon frees up playing time for Ryan Brown who is also a slugger, but just not in the category of Dixon. But maybe he'll be able to handle the increased playing time and really step up. Time will tell.

Game Three: An ugly win is better than a pretty loss and the Sox definitely proved that axiom to be true. After spotting the Outlaws 3 runs without a hit, the Sox looked on their way to losing another game. A combination of errors, wild pitches, and a balk made the Sox look like a little league team. But they clawed their way back in and with the lead changing hands several times and Todd Galetka blowing his second save in four days, the Sox were able to survive by the skin of their teeth. Closer Mitch Arnold was anything but dominant as he gave up a run on a hit and a walk in is one inning of work en route to his third save on the season. Not to beat a dead horse but Rookie Adam Geery (he was playing JUCO ball before coming to the Sox) looked very shaky defensively and it would be nice to still have Dixon behind the plate to take charge of the game. But it was not to be. Best offensive moment of the night? SS Doug Sanders, clearly the weakest hitter in the line-up knocked in the two runs that ended up being the deciding factor in this game. Great props to him as I am sure his lack of success this year has to be really frustrating. The worst the Sox can do tomorrow is split the series so that is some good news for a team desperate for some wins.

Game Four: Jesse Hall got lit-up for seven runs in the bottom of the 2nd inning and the outlaws never looked back as they cruised to a 5-hit shutout of the Silver Sox, 11-0. I didn't listen to the whole game (checked out around 8:30PM) but there was a debut by some guy named "B Wharton" and another appearance by "Picirillo"; at least that is what they are called on Howe Sports Data. As for the Sox website and the GBL website, not sure if those are updated since they have been infected with a trojan since last week. My anti-virus caught it the two times I logged on anyway but I figured I shouldn't push my luck. It seems the GBL main page and the Sox Roster. You can go to the Sox mainpage without a problem if you use the silversoxbaseball.com address. If you go from the GBL page or do the goldenbaseball.com/reno address it will try to infect your computer.

Series Report: St. George @ Reno (August 1-3, 2008)

2008-08-02T13:23:00.000-07:00

Game One: This game ended up with a lot more drama than us Sox fans would like. I worked late so I just headed home and turned on the game. However, it wasn't there. Mike Murray, PA announcer for the team resigned which put Ben Deach on PA duty and no one on announcing duty. There was no announcement on Mike so I can only assume it may not have been a completely amicable parting. In any event, I tuned to John Potter's broadcast for the game.

The next bit of drama came as Kevin Frederick had to leave with an unspecified injury during the second inning. I speculated that he may be hurt because it had been a while since he pitched and tonight didn't help that. There is no additional information on him on the website and without a home broadcast, there wasn't any provided last night.

The final drama came with the Sox blowing another lead to lose the game. Schnieder has blown at least three saves that I can remember. It is not a stat tracked by the GBL or Howe Sports so it is hard to tell exactly how many he has. I think, at this point, other than mentioning the bad pitching, there is no need to really dig into it. These guys are just not that good on the whole. There are some good pitchers and some flashes of solid work but for the most part, we lose a lot of games even though our hitters are racking up an average of 6.7 runs a game. Good pitching beats good hitting, and bad pitching erases good hitting as well. But I think my bigger issue with this is even though it was obvious Schneider was off his game, no one got up in the pen. I realize the guys are burned out but to watch your closer struggle badly and watching him give the game away was not enough to at least get a guy up? The feeling I got last night that our team really didn't care about winning the close game. It was all on Schneider, win or lose. And he lost it allowing 4 runs (3 of them his) on three hits and hitting two batters in that fateful 8th inning.

One bright spot was another big night from Ryan Brown who went 3-4 raising his average to .358 (2nd on the team) and he is now third in OPS behind D.J. Dixon and John Hattig. I am glad to see those three guys do well. They are really nice guys, have great chemistry with their teammates, and are solid ball players. With the losses continuing to rack up, these guys still give the fans a reason to come out to Peccole. Let's hope the Sox can turn it around in game two.

GAME TWO: Jesse Hall started for us and had a rough outing despite his current string of good starts for the team. He went 6 innings but gave up 6 runs along the way before yielding to Billy Simon who gave up two runs over his two innings of work. Mitch Arnold was able pitch a scoreless ninth but the damage was done. The Sox started the game up 3-0 but eventually lost 9-4. The potent Sox offense only managed 8 hits which included just two extra-base hits (doubles by Madrid and Alvarado).

On the rumor front, check out the comment on this blog entry indicating that Dixon and maybe Senreiso will be gone in a couple of days as their contracts were purchased. I am really happy for those two as they both have the skills to at least get a look (again) at the affiliated level. The bottom line is that at 23-37, the Sox are probably not going to catch red-hot Edmonton (34-29) or win the second half outright to make it into the playoffs. So since the pitching has never allowed the Sox to string together more than 3 wins at a time this season, even the loss of two power bats won't make a difference. So good luck, guys...I'll be keeping tabs on your progress just as we do for other guys like Kane Simmons (recently promoted to Class A Modesto for the Rockies).

GAME THREE: Another game, another loss, another sweep. I cringe writing that but it is what it is. Daniel Chaffardet started (it was supposed to be Derrick Landavazo) and got the loss, dropping to 0-3. He definitely pitched better this time but his supporting cast let him down as he allowed five runs, all unearned. The Sox decided to go with yet another new pitcher. He is not on the roster yet or the GBL transaction page but his name is Piccarillo. Unfortunately, despite a decent start, he allowed a grand slam and home run late in the game, pitching just 2.1 innings to establish his ERA in the GBL at 19.29. And St. George pitching was on tonight racking up 15 strike outs.

There is still no Sox broadcast which is getting frustrating because John Potter, although very good, really has nothing to add about our team or any insights into the players. I love what he does for the Roadrunners and just wish we could get that level of information as well for our guys. And the website continues to have a derth of information...rosters that still have Crespi but not some newer guys, no annoucement on Mike Murray who has been with the team since day one, and no information at all on the players. Last year, I really liked that when an acquisition was made, we got a quick e-mail to say where he came from with a quote on his potential from the manager or GM. We have no radio this year, no road broadcasts, and now no home broadcasts. I hate to bash the team since I am their biggest cheerleader with this blog but it is really starting to get disappointing. Game day activites are less than last year and that has turned off a few as you can see by the poll results on this blog. Many giveaways were delayed or never scheduled (for 3 months it has said check back for baseball card and mini-bat nights). It really feels like the Sox have mailed it in and that is sad for all those who have supported them through the years. And if the rumors are true about our two best players going to other INDEPENDENT teams (just like Crespi did), it really says a lot for what the players think of the team. With zero players sold to affiliated teams this year, I think it also says a lot about what the players think of Reno as a springboard back to affiliated ball. And, unless something changes in the next month, this will be the first season ever that the Sox never sold anyone back to affiliated ball.

We get the same e-mails every day telling us about the same promotions each week. I'd like it if we got one or two with some other information. Why did Crespi leave? What was Frederick's injury? What is Jeffrey Leonard's strategy for the way he uses his pitching staff? Again, I hate to bash the team on the "official" blog but there may very well be just four more weeks of Silver Sox ball EVER. Let's go out with a bang, guys!

Series Report: Chico @ Reno (28-31 AUG)

2008-07-29T10:24:00.000-07:00

There have been some interesting comments on the blog as of late. S.Sox, a Sox fan from the start and an anonymous poster who obviously has an inside track on Sox operations. To both, thanks for your comments. I always enjoy hearing from other Sox enthusiasts. I really am not sure how many people are reading anymore to be honest. Last year, the number was about 75-100. I got a lot of personal e-mails in addition to posts on the blog. This year, it has dropped off quite a bit. This kind of mirrors the drop in attendance at the ballpark. Not sure why so I put up a survey for you to post your thoughts. The last poll only got 27 responses so I know there are (were) at least that many readers.

GAME ONE: Say what you will about Sox pitching as a whole, but Jesse Hall and Steve Russell have found their grove and are putting up quality starts when their turn comes up. Kevin Frederick has show flashes of brilliance and may also finally be coming around after a very slow start to the season. Game one saw Hall have another 7 inning outing and he was in line for his team leading sixth win. Unfortunately, a 9th inning implosion and blown save by Mitch Arnold sent the game to extra innings. The Sox, however, were still able to recover and utimately win the game. The offense was solid again and all of the position players did their part to win the game. The Sox also introduced a new catcher to the home crowd, Adam Gerry, as well. He is not listed on the roster yet so when he is you can check out his background. He first played against Chico on Sunday. Maybe it is to give Dixon a break since they can still keep his bat in the line-up as the DH. Of course, that will probably eat into Ryan Brown's time since he and Steven Alexander platoon between DH and 1B. We'll see how that one works out.

GAME TWO: Despite the lopsided final score of 9-5, Derrick Landavazo actually pitched a good game before he ran out of gas and surrended 7 of the 8 runs in a huge Chico 8th inning. Up until that point, he held the Outlaws scoreless. I showed up to the park about 4:30PM for the scheduled double header but it was postponed to tomorrow. Because of other commitments, I had to leave but it was good to see that Ladavazo had a good outing. I am a little surprised that he was charged with zero earned runs despite the fact that there was just one error and it scored two of the seven runs. Again, I didn't listen but that accounts for three runs. Anyone know why the other four were unearned? Passed balls or something? Either way, it was a tough loss.

GAME THREE: Daniel Chafferdet started this game and continued his poor performance from his earlier start allowing 5 runs in the first inning before finally leaving after five having surrendered 7 runs and taking the loss, his second of the year. Doug Sanders, a middle infield, tried his hand at pitching again and was smoked for 4 runs in two innings as the first game of this double header went to Chico, 11-5. D.J. Dixon remained hot climbing to third on the team in homeruns (10) and continuing his team lead in average (.385), slugging (.650), and OPS (1.080). He is playing DH now so that may help the offensive numbers go up even more.

GAME FOUR: Errol Simonitsch, another reliever getting a start, was servicable giving up 3 runs in 4 innings of work. Unfortunately, Scott Navarro of Chico was better holding the Sox to just one run on the night. Lost in the mix was a good relief performance by Andrew Alvarado who went three inning surrendering just one run. I read in the RGJ that Scott Schneider was talking about how good the bull pen was. There is definite improvment there. If we can get some other guys besides Hall and Russell to keep us in games, we'll be dangerous.

GAME FIVE: Kevin Frederick must be injured or something because we haven't seen him pitch since the 24th. But another actual starter did pitch tonight and had an outstanding outing. Steve Russell pitched an amazing complete game improving his record to 5-7. The Silver Sox game report doesn't make this clear, but there were some VERY tense moments in the ninth inning. I was at home with the kids so I listened to guest announcer Chris Ciarlo call the game. He and Ben Deach have a great morning show and listening to them fawn over Kristen Remington was classic. They are right about one thing...she is the hottest newscaster we have in this town. But, I digress. In the ninth, after a man reached, Russell gave up a two-out homer to bring the game to 5-3. The very next batter took him deep too bringing it to 5-4. Finally, Steve closed it out with a big "K" and the Sox salvage the last game of this series. Tense moments but a lot of fun to listen to and I am sure probably a lot more fun to watch. One note to Chris...not sure if it was the guys in the pressbox or the fans but it was funny to listen to all the people in the background talk about how the game was unraveling.

So the Sox played Chico for nine straight games and were only able to win two games, both at home. That drops them to 5-9 for the second half and 23-35 on the season. They are in last place in their division and the league with 1 month to play. Calgary and Edmonton remain strong having the best records in the league so it will be a huge uphill battle for the Sox to make the post season. But it ain't over til it's over as they say so stick with it Sox Fans.

Series Report: Reno @ Chico (July 25-27, 2008)

2008-07-26T06:33:00.000-07:00

I guess I spoke too soon. With a sweep of Long Beach and a trip to play league worst Chico, I though they were primed to shoot up the standings. Unfortunately, Chico had other ideas and swept the Sox in a four game series.

Game One: The Sox decided to go with the new pitcher signed on July 23rd (Daniel Charffardet) who promptly got tagged for 9 hits and 8 runs in just 4 innings. His compadre for the July 23d signing day, Errol Simonitsch, was also unable to close the flood gates giving up 2 runs in his two innings of work. I didn't listen to the game and there no information in the game report from the Sox to indicate why position players Doug Sanders and Ryan Brown came in to pitch for the team but the good news is that they only allowed one run between the two of them across two innings.

Game Two: The Sox decided to give Nick Ginsberg his second start of the year and he responded with yet another poor outing. Gisnberg pitched just 2.1 innings allowing 5 runs on 4 hits and 5 walks. His season ERA has risen to 11.88 and in his 8.1 innings of work, he has allowed 12 runs, 12 hits, and 13 walks. Obviously, he is not the solution to the Sox pitching woes, at least not as a starter. The game settled down from there and actually was a very close game before Chico won in the bottom of the ninth off our closer Scott Schneider in a non-save situation.

Game Three: Steve Russell, one of our "legitimate" starters, pitched a gem before losing a heartbreaking pitchers duel 2-0. He pitched all six innings of the double header shortened game and allowed just two runs in the bottom of the second before settling down for the rest of the contest. Unfortunately, Trevor Caughley and his league leading 1.98 ERA held the Sox to just two hits in six innings before Todd Galetka, last year's save master, shut the door for good.

Game Four: The Sox went back to another newcomer and got similar results. Billy Simon made his first start for the Sox since being acquired on July 23rd. He played with St. George before being released where he went 4-4 in 17 games (4 as a starter) with a 11.67 ERA. Simon pitched just 1.2 innings and gave up 6 runs. Simonitsch, who pitched in game one, pitched the next 2.1 innings and gave up another 6 runs. He has pitched three times in the past 4 days and has been getting progressively worse. 1 run allowed on the 23rd, 2 runs allowed on the 25th, and 6 runs allowed yesterday. Seeing that the game was lost, Ryan Brown, our first baseman, was put in to pitch for the second time in this series and was lit up for another 4 runs as the Sox dropped the final game 16-5. At least Ryan got homerun #7 during the contest so it wasn't a totally bad day for him.

If anyone knows what the pitching rotation for the Sox is, can you let me know? I am thoroughly confused as to who is supposed to start, if we are still trying guys out, or if the strategy is to simply have a bunch of relivers each pitch 2-3 innings rather than have a true starter who can go 6-7.

In any event, the Sox now come home to Peccole for another 4 games with Chico. Hopefully they can reverse their fortunes at home. Reno now has the second half's worst record in the GBL. We need some wins so there is no time like the present to get that done. Let's go Sox!

And one final note...it looks like Ryan Crespi is headed back to play closer to home. No announcement on the Sox website but maybe Ben Deach will touch on it in the radio broadcast. He was a really good player and will be missed.

Series Report: Long Beach at Reno (July 22-24)

2008-07-25T10:38:00.001-07:00

For the first time this year, we got consistent pitching across the entire series and it resulted in a sweep of the Long Beach Armada who fell to 3-4 (second in the southern division) while Reno improved to 3-2 (third in the Northern division).

The pitching was not perfect but it is quite a bit better than earlier in the season. I realize field availability and money are a big part of the equation but I want to say again that I think there needs to be a longer spring training period with actual games played. Each of the past two seasons, I have seen it take too long for guys to get up to "game speed". Some guys come straight from college or from not playing for a while and then jump right into the season. And we all have heard that pitchers always take a little longer (at least that was MLBs argument on why the USA team got crushed in the World Baseball Classic but that is story for another day). The bottom line is that I don't like games where there are 15+ combined runs like we saw for the majority of games in the first half. Pitching was bad, errors were up, and the play was inconsistent to say the least. The quality of baseball in the GBL is key to making new fans so I want to see it be as good as it can. To me, the first half seemed like a warm up for this half, at least watching the initial games. Some guys did well (OC feasted on the poor pitching) and Edmonton and Calgary put good products on the field, but overall the level of play was not where it should have been.

But, anyway, it was good to see our starters finally start getting in a groove. Steve Russell gave us seven scoreless innings in game one and Jesse Hall and Kevin Frederick, doing the starter by committee thing, gave us a couple of wins thanks to a great effort by the bullpen. To Hall's credit, he got stung early and then settled down. I am concerned that both he and Frederick could only go about four innings each but the fact is they didn't let us get blown out in that period of time so they at least gave us the chance to win. Derrick Landavazo is becoming quite the workhorse out of the pen which is something we have needed all year. He is far from perfect (6 runs allowed in 2.2 innings during this series) but for the most part he can eat innings and keep us in the game.

Looking at the 'pen, I really like Mitch Arnold who has a 1.69 ERA in five appearances and is holding opponents to a .111 batting average. He is an imposing figure at 6'8', 235. He seems to have an interesting story too. Take a look at his profile on baseball cube: http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/A/Mitchell-Arnold.shtml. So he spent 4 years in Rookie Ball with 12 games in Low A. But then comes 2004 when they decide to promote him all the way to AAA for 4 games and then send him back to Rookie Ball. That is pretty weird to say the least. I am sure there is a great story there. But, being our best option out of the pen, I am not complaining.

I am still pleased with the offense and the coaches must be too since, unlike the pitching situation which has been likened to a revolving door, the offense is pretty much the same as it was in early June. I really think if the pitching can come around, the Sox can win the second half. It is going to be tough since the Canadian teams continue their dominance over the division but the Sox play league worst Chico 15 times over the final five weeks of the season and 24-29 St. George 10 times during that stretch. They also play Yuma 7 times (who is a .500 team) and Edmonton and Calgary three times each.

So what does that mean? Well, if they can dominate their games with St. George and Yuma (win 18 of 25 for example) and then at least pick up a game on Edmonton, they should be in great shape to win the division. The bottom line is, with Calgary winning the first half, Reno only has to beat Edmonton to make the playoffs--if Calgary wins again then the second place team goes to the playoffs.

One of the things I have never liked about indy baseball is that, to cut down on travel costs, you play a very unbalanced schedule. In our division we play Chico 22 times this year while we only play the Canadian teams 9 times each. Out of the division, we play St. George 18 times, Long Beach 11 times, OC 7 times, and Yuma 9 times. Of course, this year that helps since St. George is doing so poorly but you can see the obvious disadvantage it would put us in if St. George was doing as well as, say, Calgary. We would play way too many games against a non-division opponent. And the same exists in our division--what if Chico was as good as last year? And it makes it easier for some teams to make up ground...i.e. Calgary and Edmonton control their own destiny by playing each other. Reno and Chico have to win and hope that the Caandian teams lose to get into the playoffs. I don't have a solution since budgets are tight...just being more of a baseball purist that you can reasonably expect to be in the indy leagues.

Of course, Indy leagues do get some things right that even the affiliated guys don't in terms of putting the best product on the field. I have been to three CAL league games this summer (Modesto, Stockton, and San Jose). They all only use two umpires. The GBL (at least in Sox games) have put three on the field for those games. I have not seen nearly the amount of complaints with umpiring as we had last year so Kudos to the GBL for fixing that...and for fixing the the Tyler Ramsey thing. He was the worst umpire I have ever seen at the professional level and I haven't seen him at Peccole this year. Way to personal and Tyler is probably a great guy so I didn't mean it that way...but he caused way to much frustration with his rediculous calls last year for the Sox.

OK, the blog is probably too long at this point but let me do one more thing...Patrick Shabram e-mailed me with link to his blog discussing his thoughts for the future of the Sox. It is great and I posted some comments. You should too if you get a chance. Check it out at
http://www.caproparks.com/index.cfm/blog_61.htm

Series Report: Reno @ St. George (July 17-19, 2008)

2008-07-21T11:03:00.000-07:00

The Sox dropped the series 1-2. Pitching still looks to be the issues. None of the starters made it past the third inning and the game #3 starter, Kevin Frederick, who had been pitching great before the All-Star break only made it through two while surrendering six earned runs.

Another odd thing is that it is hard to tell who are the starters anymore. I have heard of teams having a closer by committee but it looks like the Sox are going with a starter by committee. Nathan Ginsberg got a start and (former?) starter Steve Russell came in in relief. Then Ginsberg relieved two nights later. Fields also has been coming on in relief. So other than Jesse Hall and Kevin Frederick, you really have to just show up to know who is going to take the mound to start the game.

Offensively, the Sox are in the bottom 50% of the league in most categories. Team totals are .307 AVG (6 of 8 teams), 62 HRs (#5), 301 RBIs (#6), 76 SB (#2) , and .379 OBP (#6). Hopefully the guys can step that up.

The Sox head home and will be here for 3 days before hitting the road again. So far the second half is shaping up like the first with the canadian teams in front and Reno and Chico in the cellar. Hopefully this changes or we will see an all-canada playoff (not that that is a bad thing) and, more important to Sox fans, the second straight season with the Sox out of the playoffs after winning the GBL championship in their first one.

All Star Break Report

2008-07-15T15:36:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of posts. My laptop is really messed up. Basically when I push the "N" key it disables my WLAN and pops up a help window. So, needless to say, typing became really frustrating. I tried updating drivers and BIOS, running a virus scan, cleaning the registry, cleaning the keyboard, and ended up formating the hard drive. Still not fixed. So after a few days of pulling my hair out, it looks like I'll just have to take it in...unless someone out there has something else I can look at.

So here are just some random thoughts to take us through the all star game:

STRONG FINISH: The Sox turned it on as the first half ended with some really good pitching performance. In fact, their one loss in the last week was on a day when they let a group of pitchers who hadn't played for the Sox have what amounted to a real game try-out. I think that is fine since we need to right the ship for the second half. Kevin Frederick has had two great outings and may establish himself as the the team ace with a few more performances like that.

ALL-STAR CONTROVERSY: On the last Sox home broadcast, there was a controversy over whether or not Ryan Crespi should have made it. Without getting into the merits of each outfielder who actually made it, I think the GBL should publish who made the selections (team owners, the commissioner, outside sources?). There will always be snubs but right now the process is anything but transparent. D.J. Dixon is one of the hottest hitters in the league so he deserved to make it. But Kevin Frederick only had one good start before the All-Star rosters were announced and he made the team without even being the best player on his team let alone the league.

NEXT YEAR?: The Reno AAA team is moving forward on the stadium downtown. Here are some pictures: http://reno.mlblogs.com/. So what is up with the Silver Sox? Are they headed to Carson City, Tucson, or ceasing operations? Or, will they try to compete with the AAA team as Amit Patel suggested in a newspaper article a few months back? Granted, a lame duck team kills attendance but a perceived lame duck team can do the same. I know the GBL is adding four new teams in 2009. Not sure if that includes a Sox relocation. But hopefully we find out something soon so we can stop the guessing.

JOHN HATTIG: S. Sox asked if I knew anything about his injury. No, I don't. But that will be a question to ask next time I get a chance. He seems like a great guy--the players and staff like him so I wish him a speedy recovery.

Series Report: Reno @ Chico

2008-07-07T14:20:00.001-07:00

There were some very good things to come out of the Sox trip to Chico. They won the series 2-1 and they did it with good pitching in addition to their solid offense. Granted, the third game was not as good as the first two but even the loss saw the pitching not give up the insane amount of runs we've seen in the past.

As for the first two, I want to first focus on the second game. Kevin Fredrick, who has been pretty inconsistent this year saw his best outing of the year pitching 8 solid innings where he didn't allow any earned runs. He went on to secure the win.

The first game also had the Sox come out on top behind a good start from Jesse Hall and a good relief appearance from Derrick Landavazo where the two combined to surrender just one earned run in the game. The night also saw a record attendance number from the fans at the Net as 4699 was the reported attendance. Without getting into the whole debate of actual vs. paid attendance, I still think whatever number was at the park was still a record setter. It is always good to see some great things coming out of Chico. The town really supports the club and the team is one of the best run from a fans perspective since the promotions are great, the giveaways are also good, and the game day experience and concessions are also some of the best in the GBL.

The Sox keep acquiring pitchers faster than the Sox website can keep up with. A new guy, Mitch Arnold picked up the save for Frederick with a scoreless inning of relief. Neither he nor the other new guy the GBL site says they signed (Andrew Alvarado) are listed so hopefully that gets updated soon so we can see some more info about them. Speaking of the website, Fuda has been released and Guilen is now inactive. And I don't think Reggie Leslie is 108 but, again, I am sure those things will be corrected soon.

The Sox get a day off before taking on the 23-16 Yuma Scorpions. Hopefully the Sox pitching continues to improve. Otherwise it will be a slugfest with the potent Yuma bats coming to town. They have the best batting average in the league (.340) and are 4th in homeruns (54). By contrast, the Sox are 5th in average (.308) and 5th in homeruns (50). Yuma and Reno are 6th and 7th repsectively in pitching with team ERAs over 8 and a half.

Series Report: Chico at Reno (July 1-3, 2008)

2008-07-03T13:48:00.000-07:00

Ok, I just got back from San Antonio so I missed blogging about the first two games of the series. But, as a short recap, the Sox split the first two games and pitching continues to be an issue.

The day started off listening to Sox catcher D.J. Dixon give an interview on the No Name Sports show on Fox Sports Radio. It was a good interview and, to summarize, here were a few interesting points:

-- Jeffrey Leonard is the best manager he has ever played for. For independent ball where if you don't produce you are cut, Leonard has shown a lot of patience and given folks every opportunity to succeed

-- Peccole is a hitter's park but if you try to hit a homerun, you won't. You have to just let it come.

-- Dixon was coached by current Sox coach Reggie Leslie when he was 12

-- Dixon understands the psychology of the game and understands how to calm a pitcher down

Pretty good interview.

The third game of the season was a really good game. Unfortunately, there were only about 70 fans or so in the stands when the first pitch was delivered. The area was very smokey from fires in California and people with allergies or small children were advised to stay in. I was hacking a little and my clothes did smell like I was around a campfire when I was done but it was worth it. Hopefully the players won't have many ill effects from the smoke.

As for the game, pitching for both sides was pretty weak for the first part of the game but calmed down later. Reggie Leslie started and got tagged for 7 hits and 6 runs (3 earned) in just three innings. Leslie has been getting hit hard in his last few appearances so he may be getting tired. He was in trouble for all three innings so hopefully he can get back on track.

Doug Sanders pitched two good innings and Scott Schneider pitched well initially but after a multi-base error in center and a wild pitch, Chico went out in front 9-7 in the 7th.

Ross McCoy (who threw out a runner in the first on a laser shot to home) got on board and then D.J. Dixon launched his team leading 8th homerun to tie the game. D.J. is on fire and has a .492 batting average and 1.288 OPS (On base + Slugging). Speaking of homeruns, this looks like the year that the homerun record (20) falls. St. George and Orange County both have 2 players each on the leader board with between 12 and 14 homeruns. Since we are still about 10 games from the end of the first half, it is well within striking distance.

The Sox would score one more in the bottom of the 8th and would go on to win behind Derrick Landavazo. Unfortuantely, he is not listed on the GBL transaction page and there were no rosters distributed at the game so I don't have a lot of info on him. That plus still using the program that opened the season makes it hard to follow the players. It is even harder when I have my son who only wants to watch baseball after playing in the bounce house so I do miss a couple of innings throughout the game. But even standing out there is good. As you know, after the Army I want to work in baseball operations so I like talking to game day staffers too since it gives me a different perspective on the how the team operates.

I have an Army function tonight so I won't be at the game. Since fireworks always bring out a big crowd, it makes for a much better game day atmosphere. Hopefully that translates into a win!

Series Report: Reno @ Edmonton (June 27-29, 2008)

2008-06-29T08:24:00.000-07:00

Well, let start by saying that I could not find the internet broadcast for the game so I didn't listen to any of them. And, game summaries posted on the GLB mainpage are pretty non-descriptive for this series. As a result, my commentary will be pretty generic since I don't know any of the finer details of the games.

There is one great thing I did notice from the box scores--The first two games of the series had the Cracker Cats held to single digit runs. That may not seem like a big deal but for a team that has the highest ERA in the league (9.15) and is only percentage points out of last place, it is a big deal. The lines scores show the Sox pitching staff is settling down even if it may not hold. Good outings by Chris Fields, Kevin Frederick, and Mario Guilen were nice to see. Fields had major control issues in his first outing so I was happy to see him rebound well. And Frederick has pitched poorly this season and we need him to step up and lead the bullpen. Though one good outing doesn't cure his issues (8.74 ERA in 22.2 innings where he has allowed batters to log 38 hits and a .373 average), it is a start in the right direction for the former Toronto Blue Jay.

Unfortunately, the Sox went back to their old ways losing 12-4 in the Sunday Matinee. But there is still a god news story on the pitching--Jesse Hall gave up just three earned runs across 6.1 innings in a quality start before Giorgio Fuda gave up the rest. And, D.J. Dixon hit a home run to join John Hattig and Juan Senreiso as a team leader with 6 dingers.

The Sox now head home for a 4-game set with the Chico Outlaws.

The reality is, that with 14 games to go in the first half and the Sox 9.5 games out of first place, the team needs to focus on the second half to have a shot at post season play. That will be hard because the two new Canadian teams seem to be in the driver's seat to secure those if the season ended today. However, Edmonton has looked more vulnerable than Calgary so perhaps if those two beat up on each other during the second half and the Sox can win some games, it is not out of the question for the Sox to be back in the post season.

Series Report: Reno @ Calgary (June 24-26)

2008-06-25T19:13:00.001-07:00

Well, if you read my last post, you know my opinion of the Silver Sox pitching efforts. Well, I guess it could be worse. I looked at the box scores from the last few days and Yuma has surrendered 70 runs in 3 games. You read that right--70! I thought I was reading football scores:

06/22/08 ST. GEORGE 30 @ YUMA 16
06/23/08 YUMA 19 @ ST. GEORGE 17
06/24/08 YUMA 12 @ ST. GEORGE 21

Well, it appears to be a league wide epidemic. A poster on the Our Sports Central website posted this:

Out of the 101 games played so far, as of June 23rd... 54 of those games had at least one team score 10 or more runs. Of those 101 games as well, there were at least 17 games where at least one team scored at least 15 runs or more. That's a lot of scoring.

So I guess everyone who has voted on the poll on this site for bad pitching are spot on. I am not sure why it is so bad this year. Definitely the worst year yet for pitching in the league. The Sox, unfortunately, lead that pack with a league worst 9.52 ERA. But whatever the reason, I believe it is hurting the GBL's image as a professional league. Granted, I know their metric is how many players they've sent to affiliated ball but I would argue that the average fan won't take the league seriously when you have the winning team score more than 10 runs in over half the contests. I scanned the Northern and American leagues and they are nothing like ours in terms of runs scored. The United, however, is pretty close. So I think we still have a ways to go attendance wise and quality wise (at least statistically speaking) before the GBL becomes a premier indy league. Not saying I'll stop being a fan, just putting it out there.

June 24, 2008 -- Well, the Sox pitching woes continue. Their pitching sent them to a 10-1 defeat to drop to 7-18 and lose their 5th straight game. Jesse Hall left in the 3rd (injury maybe?) giving up 4 runs on 5 hits and surrendering 4 walks with one strike out. Next in the shooting gallery was Chris Fields. First the good news--Fields pitched 3 scoreless innings in relief. Unfortunately, it came after a 6-run fourth inning marked by Fields throwing the ball away multiple times on an intentional walk, a hits batsman, and a run walked in. Scott Schneider was activated and pitched an inning of scoreless relief so that was good. However, it was too little too late as the Sox offense was held to just one run on a solo shot by Ryan Brown.

June 25, 2008 -- Well pitching put the team in a huge hole again but this time they were able to slug their way out of it against a very capable Vipers bullpen so my hat is off to the offense. Our pitching woes came from Kevin Frederick who is yet to get on track this season. Last night he gave up seven earned runs in just 4.1 innings of work. Frustration showed all night as he argued the strikezone with the umpire. By the team he was pulled, Jeff Leonard was ejected as he argued balls and strikes on his behalf. Then Frederick headed to the umpire with nothing to lose to continue the complaining. I feel his frustration since our pitching has been just plain bad. Kevin, as the sole pitcher with Major League experience probably feels the pressure moreso since he is not having a great year either--0-1 with a 9.61 ERA in 6 games. He left on two batters and Mario Guilen came in and allowed the bases to run full before surrendering a grand slam to Travis Drader. Guilen would settle down before yeilding to Reggie Leslie who gave up a run as well. The Sox would rally to take the lead and it actually held up as Eduardo Perez came in and closed the door for the win and his second save of the year.

On the offensive side, the Sox delivered a multi-faceted attack which included a home run from Juan Senreiso (6 on the year), a triple, 3 doubles, 9 singles and 4 stolen bases in front of 1007 fans in Calgary. D.J. Dixon continues to lead the team with a .398 and a .687 slugging percentage. Of course, Ryan Crespi also deserves a shout out since he has a .390 average with 22 more at bats than Dixon. He also is second on the team with 12 stolen bases (Gary Harris has 14).

June 26, 2008 -- More of the same as last night; pitching put the Sox in a hole and they slugged their way out of a loss. Russell gave up 6 runs in six innings; Schneider gave up 1 in 1; Fuda gave up 4 (1 earned) in 1.2; and DelaCruz struck out the only batter he faced to secure his third save on the season. Russell got the win.

Offensively, the Sox knocked out 23 hits and scored at least one run in every inning to batter the Cats in a 13-11 victory. Crespi and Madrid each had a homer while Steven Alexander chipped in with two.

Series Report: Calgary at Reno (June 20-21)

2008-06-22T09:42:00.000-07:00

Before I talk about this series I should tell you about my philosophy when it comes to writing this blog. I am a fan. I am not a "fan-boy" who never sees anything wrong with our team. I am also not a "hater" who likes to point out faults whenever I get a chance. And, ultimately, I am not going to tear down the team too much because I want people to come to the park, I want the Silver Sox and GBL to thrive, and I am not going to use this medium to affect that in a negative way.

That being said, I need to vent just a bit. Actually a lot.

What the hell just happened during this series? Not only did the Sox get swept but they were made to look like they were not even in the same league as the Vipers. The Sox gave up 36 runs in those games which is bad. But they also committed 13 errors in three games including 8 in one game alone. 8 errors? I have been watching baseball for the better part of 30 years and I can say that I have never seen 8 errors in any professional game, and I haven't seen it at any level that didn't include a tee at homeplate. I googled it and found this for the MLB:

RECORD FOR MOST ERRORS:

24, on June 14, 1876 Boston made 24 errors against St. Louis. Since 1893, the record is 12, by the Detroit Tigers against the Chicago White Sox on May 1, 1901 and also the Chicago White Sox against the Detroit Tigers on May 6, 1903.

Yes, I know these guys aren't major leaguers. But my greater point is there hasn't been more than 12 errors in an MLB game for over a century. And I bet if I could do a similar search at the minor league level, it would be pretty much the same. Errors are supposed to be rare and if you scan box scores at any professional level, I think we expect somewhere between zero and three. If we saw four or five we'd be concerned. How should we feel with 8?

There is no other way to say this...but other than about four guys (including Kaiser and Schnieder who are both on the shelf), the pitching staff is a train wreck. Most starters are only going a few innings per game and usually leaving after giving up 4-6 runs as well. I can count on one hand the number of times a relief pitcher has come in, pitched at least an inning and not given up a run. The team ERA is 9.45 and opponents are hitting .340 against us. .340!!! Last year we had some pitching problems but nothing close to this year.

I have nothing negative to say about the offense. They are scoring runs but we aren't winning because the pitching kills us before the offense even gets a chance. In the games we won, the offense had to score just an insane amount of runs to cover for the pitching. In those wins, the team scored 15, 11, 10, 16, 14, 13 and 13 runs. It is unrealistic to think they have to score than many to win. This Series they scored 5, 3, and 8 runs and lost them all. I think it is not a stretch to say if a baseball team scores 5 or 8 runs they should win the game more often than not. But with the Sox, we have lost every single game when the offense hasn't delivered double digit runs, en route to a 7-17 record and sole possession of not only last place in our division but last place in the entire league.

OK, end of rant.

I just had to get that out there. Mainly due to frustration but also to vocalize the frustration I think many people are feeling with this situation. I won't fault Jeffrey Leonard and staff for not trying to fix the problem. They have brought in 7 pitchers since the season began a few weeks ago and the roster now includes just four active pitchers who were on the opening day roster. But so far, none of them have been the key to solving this pitching dilemma.

I am not giving up on the team and hope you don't either. This is our team win or lose and we need to support them. Hopefully some of these new pitchers can make a difference and bring the winning ways back to the Silver Sox franchise.

I'd give a by game synopsis but I think the point has been made. The team now goes on the road to Canada. I'll be listening to the games and hoping the Sox can right this ship. Let's go Sox!

Series Report: Edmonton @ Reno (June 17-19, 2008)

2008-06-18T03:21:00.000-07:00

June 18: The Sox evened this series at a game a piece with a 13-9 inning; and if you take out Shawn Ravenscraft's two innings of work, the score would have been 13-3.

Tonight was another vision of how good the Silver Sox can be if they get good pitching. Jesse Hall and Jeremy Flanagan gave then just that as Hall scattered three runs given up across 6 innings and Flanagan came in for a scoreless inning of relief. The former is now 2-1 with a 5.70 ERA which is not bad at all and a welcome sight with the loss of Marc Kaiser earlier this week. Fulcher still has a little way to go to drop his ERA below 10 (it is currently 10.80) but a couple more outings like this and he can erase his slow start with the team. As for Ravenscraft...well, I like to talk about the play on the field and not get personal but sometimes those things mix every now and then. Shawn Ravenscraft has just not been effective this year and I think he is about to go the way of Mike Reeves if he doesn't step up his game, unfortunately. Reeves, as you'll recall, was a former starter who ended up going 0-2 with a 19.29 ERA in five games. Ravenscraft, also a former starter, is currently 0-0 with a 12.60 ERA in 5 games. He has 9 walks to 8 strike outs and has allowed 30 hits in 15 innings of work. The Sox entered the 9th with a 13-3 lead. After Ravenscraft's outing, they won 13-9. A little too close if you ask me.

The offense continues to amaze with home runs from Steven Alexander, Gary Harris, and D.J. Dixon. Dixon had the most amazing line of the night going 4 for 4 with 2 runs and 7 RBIs. Not sure the last time I saw someone with 7 RBIs at any level of baseball above little league so it is quite an accomplishment. Carlos Madrid and Ryan Crespi also had two hits a piece. Madrid chipped in with his third swipe on the a season as well.

So overall, a good game and a timely win for the Sox. Jeffrey Leonard seems to be losing confidence in his bullpen as he pulls guys quicker and made a lot of pitching transactions over the weekend. Here is one Sox fan hoping it all pays off!

June 17: This will be the week when the two newest GBL teams come to town. Unfortunately for the Sox, the story would remain the same, however, as the bullpen sunk any chances they had of winning the first of a three game set with the Edmonton Cracker cats.

First, some injury news. Carlos Madrid made his return to the actve roster for the first time since being sidelined with a hamstring injury at the end of May. And he didn't miss a beat going 1 for 3 with two batted in.

Marc Kaiser, however, will replace him on the inactive list as he is out indefinitely with some elbow trouble. Not a good sign for one of the few bright spots on our pitching roster. The other, Steve Russell, may also have been injured as he left the game after going just three innings in his fifth start of the year. Hopefully he is OK.

As for the game, well, you have heard this before...Sox are down 4-3 through four, bullpen implodes, and Sox lose 16-5. Edmonton is now 8-9 on the season while Reno falls to 6-13.

Mario Guilen looked to be off to a good start as he had a scoreless 4th inning of work but then gave up three in the 5th before settling down for a scoreless 6th.

At that point, the team brought in a pitcher named "Alvarez". I'd give you his first name but it isn't listed on the box score or on the team roster. And it is probably good for his self esteem to have it that way because this young man's first Sox outing netted 7 runs on 9 hits (3 of those homeruns) in just one inning of work.

Brian Fulcher came in and gave up his requisite two runs in one inning of work and then, seeing nothing to lose, Jeffrey Leonard brought in Steven Alexander to pitch the ninth. He actually pitched a scoreless inning. At the risk of badmouthing my favorite team, it is more than a little discouraging when the best pitchers in your bullpen are a bench coach (Reggie Leslie) and your first baseman (Steven Alexander).

The offense, for its part, still continues to improve. John Hattig pushed his average over the .300 mark with a 2-4 performance last night and Ryan Crespi continued his hot streak with a 3-4 outing that increased his average to .405. In fact, of the nine starters, seven are batting over .300 with an eighth (Juan Senrieso) right behind them hitting .280. Team slugging is at .485 which is pretty good and on-base percentage is also good at .389.

Defense is also doing better as the team averages under two a game which is tied for 5th in the GBL. Though that may not sound like a good place to be in a league of 8 teams, those errors have only resulted in 12 unearned runs in 19 games so we could live with that if our pitching was better.

So really, the Sox are doing very well in two categories...however, as the old saying go, pitching wins championships. And the Sox, far from contending for a first half title, are finding that pitching wins individual games. The Sox will be mid-way through the first half when they wake up on Saturday and when they do so, they will be under .500--the question is, how far under .500?

The Sox will send Jesse Hall to the mound for game two. I hope you can make it out to support your home team, Reno.

Exclusive Interview with Silver Sox Announcer Ben Deach

2008-06-16T18:38:00.000-07:00

Big thanks to Ben for taking the time to do this interview:

1. Please tell me about your educational background and how it led you to the sports broadcast industry.
I graduated from the Reynolds School of Journalism at the University of Nevada in spring of 2007. While I will always value my education, it was working my way up in the radio business that got me to where I am. I began working at Lotus Radio in Reno in 2006 doing behind the scenes work, and 2 months later I started filling in on ESPN Radio 630's local show. From there I was named play-by-play broadcaster for the Nevada Wolf Pack Women's basketball team which helped me to get the Silver Sox Broadcasting Job last year.

2. What has been your favorite experience related to sports broadcasting?

Last July in Chico the Silver Sox were down by a run in the ninth inning against Todd Gelatka, Chico's closer who at that point was the league's best. The Sox hadn't come close to scoring on him all year, but this time, things felt - and were -very different. Reno mounted an improbable rally when Kane Simmons came up with a clutch hit to tie the game, and Carlos Madrid knocked in the go ahead run. Chico then tried to come back in the bottom half, but the Sox hung on to win the most memorable game of the 2007 season.

A close second would be with the Nevada basketball team when Dellena Criner hit a 60 foot shot at the buzzer at a game in Boise in early 2007. Unfortunately, the shot was ruled to have been released a split second late. It's still my favorite single call of my short broadcasting career.

3. How do you prepare for a game and how long does it take?

I put in a lot of time preparing for any broadcast. Preparation is always the key in broadcasting, and I am a big subscriber to that theory. As the season goes on, it takes less time to prepare for each game. You learn things about the players every day and that helps to conduct a quality broadcast.

4. What are your initial impressions of the 2008 Silver Sox?

Offense is their strong point. After the three game sweep of Long Beach, it was made clear that Reno is one of the most prolific offensive teams in the GBL. Bringing Juan Senreiso back was huge. He is a great team leader along with a power threat. Then there is former Blue Jays infielder John Hattig, who is a great hitter and a solid third baseman. And with guys like Ryan Crespi, DJ Dixon, and Andre Alvarado stepping up big as well, the Sox will put up a great deal of runs this season.

5. What is your favorite part about working for the Silver Sox?

While broadcasting is no longer my main responsibility with the Sox, there is still nothing better than being behind the mic late in a close game.

6. For the local readers, tell us a little about your sports program, the no-name sports program. How did you get that job and what is your favorite part about the show?

Well I certainly hope we can lose that title soon, but it is Reno's only morning sports talk show live on Fox Sports Radio 1450, Monday - Friday at 8 AM. My favorite part of the show is when we get quality guests on with us. Silver Sox manager Jeffrey Leonard was on, along with Giants broadcaster Dave Flemming, and a number of well known local athletes. My co-host Chris Ciarlo and I focus on being up beat and entertaining on topics in and out of sports, as people always remember when we bring up things other sports shows would not.

Game Reports (12-14JUN 2008)

2008-06-13T12:02:00.000-07:00

I will be out of the area so there will only be capsule updates until I return on June 30th. I'll also post some team "notes"; basically observations beyond a simple game recap.

JUL 12, 2008, vs. Long Beach: Another good game for Sox fans as the Sox take a three game winning streak into their match-up with the Southern Division leading, 11-4 Orange County Flyers. The Sox swept the Armada and did it by scoring 40 runs in three nights, an average of over 13 runs per game. The Sox had good pitching for two games and decent pitching for the last game. Jesse Hall (1-1) gave up three earned runs across 6 frames and Mike Reeves, did very well with two scoreless innings. Shawn Ravenscraft gave up 1 run in 1 inning of work so he is still struggling. But the latter two have really struggled as starters so maybe some bullpen time will help. In any event, I know have no idea who starters #4 and #5. Kaiser, our ace this year, can't jump the rotation again with a double header looming on Saturday so we'll just have to wait and see who Jeffrey Leonard sends to the mound. I saw they signed a new pitcher yesterday so maybe he will be the guy.

JUL 13, 2008 @ Orange County: Well, it was good while it lasted. The Sox 3-game winning streak came to an end in Fullerton last night with an 8-6 loss to the Flyers. What made it hard to swallow was yet another bullpen meltdown for our Sox as Jeremy Flanagan got lit up for five runs in the bottom of the eight to squander a 6-3 lead. Our starting pitcher was player coach Reggie Leslie who came in last night with a pinch hit single. Well, tonight, he delivered a five inning performance that allowed just 1 run on three hits. Unfortunately, the bullpen let him down as Brian Fulcher gave up 2 runs in his one inning of work before Flanagan let the game slip away for good. Juan Senreiso got another homerun and he now leads the team with 4. Speaking of homeruns, Orange County is tearing up the league in that department with three guys leading the league all will 8 homeruns each. All are on pace to set a new league homerun record if they can keep up that pace. That mark is currently held by Peanut Williams who knocked 20 out of the park in 2006 for these same Flyers.

July 14th, 2008 @ Orange County. Tonight brought a double header. Though the Sox split the series, it comes as team pitching continues to be a bad news story. The team gave up 19 runs over the two game set which is even worse than normal considering that it was two 7-inning games. The starters this time were pretty bad including Marc Kaiser. Both he and Kevin Frederick, who made his first start of the year in game one, combined to give up 11 runs in just 6.2 innings. And, the bullpen didn't provide any stability either as all got bombed...Mario Guilen gave up 4 runs in two innings; Mike Reeves got an out before putting the next three guys on base and getting pulled; Shawn Ravenscraft gave up 6 hits and two runs in 3.2 innings. The lone bright spot was Brian Fulcher who got out of a bases loaded jam by retiring one batter. Mike Reeves and Kevin Frederick have not had a good outing all year; everyone else is hit or miss (usually miss); and, Marc Kaiser who has been doing well is starting a game every time there is a chance to do so which will wear him out before the season ends.

Some other observations: Everyone who wondered who the emergency catcher is now knows it is Ryan Brown who caught for game one...frustrations are getting high as both Steven Alexander and Kevin Frederick were tossed from game one for mouthing off to the umpire...John Hattig has quietly moved into second place on the team with three homeruns on the season...Andre Alvarado has show flashes of brilliance at SS but still leads the team with 8 of the 30 errors committed by the Sox; he is committing an error about once every two games. So far it hasn't killed the Sox since it there have only been 11 unearned runs on the year but on more than one inning they have kept innings going which lead to more runs being scored. As bad as the pitching has been, the Sox need every advantage they can get...so far the Sox have allowed 21 more runs than they have scored.

Game Report: Long Beach at Reno (6/11/08)

2008-06-11T21:33:00.000-07:00

It was another great night for the Sox as they not only have their first winning streak of the year but did it in convincing fashion winning 16-2. It was never even close as the Sox destroy Ryan Claypool with a 7-run inning plagued by some serious control problems by Claypool.

Andre Alvarado had a career night. The veteran of a single pro campaign with the independent Brockton Rox had three homeruns tonight. Not only did he start the night with zero, not only did he jump into a tie with Juan Senreiso as team leader in home runs with three, but he did it after never hitting a homerun in his professional career. I have been impressed with Alvarado all year. His defense has been pretty good and he also hits for average (.318 in 44 at bats) and has a good slugging average (.523) due mainly to the fact that he leads the team in triples with three. Ben Deach remarked that he is a genuinely nice guy which makes you happy when a guy like that has a big night.

With the early season pitching woes of the Sox, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the strong outing by Steve Russell. He only gave up 2 runs in 7 innings which is great. Newly Acquired pitcher Brian Fulcher came in and shut the door. So even the bullpen seems to be settling down which is a great sign.

Reggie Leslie, one of the team coaches was activated as a player today and came in to pinch hit for Juan Senreiso. He promptly delivered a single to right field and then took over in right field. Not sure if this is a stop gap measure or not but more power to the current Vacaville, CA-area High School baseball coach.

So the Sox will look for the series sweep as they send newly christened starter Jesse Hall to the hill. Hall started the season as a reliever until he started his first game last Saturday taking a loss in 6 inning pitched giving up 5 runs on 9 hits. However, the good news is that he had 9 Ks on the night to just one walk so if he can duplicate that performance, the Sox have a good chance of going into their series with Orange County on a three game streak. Of course, I probably just jinxed the team but I’ll take my chances.

My schedule won't allow me to make it to the stadium as I need to get some more stuff done before leaving for my Army training but I plan on listening to most of the game tonight.

My Trip Report and the Sox win last night

2008-06-11T08:23:00.000-07:00

I was away from Reno for the past six days on a short family vacation to northern California. I managed to squeeze in three games as well visiting the stadiums of the Oakland As, the San Jose Giants, and the Modesto Nuts.

The last visit actually had a GBL connection. I noted on the roster that they had a GBL Alum, Chris Malone. Having been to Chico for a game in 2005 and 2007, I mentioned that it was a great amosphere there. Well, a guy overheard me and said that Malone was with Chico for only one game and that he too liked Chico and thought it drew better than the Nuts based upon his trip there. The guy was Malone's father. Chris also pitched that night and we got to meet his whole family who was there to see it. I also heard some interesting stories about him which is always good to keep my family interested in the game. Malone pitched 2 innings giving up no runs; in his only start in Chico, by the way, he pitched six innings giving up one run.

As for the Sox, I got home in time to hear the last two innings of the game. The bottom line is that they won and we need more of that for sure. The days off again allowed Marc Kaiser to jump up in the rotation. He only went five and gave up five (four earned) but he did keep the Sox in it which at least gave them a chance. The bullpen, for their part, finished it out allowing just 1 run across the final four innings on good efforts from Mario Guilen and newly signed Jeremy Flanagan. The former got the win and the latter got the save.

Our two players acquired in the trade with St. George continue to make solid impacts on the team as Gary Harris is batting above .300 and stole 4 bases in last nights contest. Ryan Brown went 2-4 and had 4 ribbies as he also is hitting above .300 (his BA is actually .400 right now in limited action).

I will try to get to a game either tonight or tomorrow night and then I have some Army stuff to do so I won't be able to be a regular at Peccole until the first week of July. Hope to see you there!

Game Reports for 5-10 June 2008

2008-06-07T21:48:00.000-07:00

I'll be unable to listen to or attend games until next Wednesday so I will just give short comments based upon the box scores and team reports that are sent out. Thanks again for reading and I welcome your comments since I can't be at the game.

June 5th, 2008 -- It looks like things are finally coming together for the Sox. For the second night in a row, the starter gave an excellent performance but this time it lead to the Sox' 2nd win on the season and the first at home. Steve Russell went six innings giving up just 1 run on 4 hits while striking out 6. Juan Senreiso showed flashes of his 2007 team MVP season with a 2-HR, 5-RBI night and all but one Sox player got a hit in the game. The bullpen remains a cause for concern, however, as they gave of 7 runs in 3 innings but the Sox still were able to pull out the win.

June 6th, 2008 -- Wow, what a difference a day makes. After a two good starts and a win yesterday, the Sox pitching got shelled for 17 runs. Starter Mike Reeves was yanked after just three innings after he surrendered 8 runs. Two former starters, Shawn Ravenscroft and Jason Cline came in as relievers for this one and got blasted for their trouble surrendering another 9 runs before the night was through. John Hattig got a homerun in the losing effort and is now second to Senreiso (3HRs) with two jacks on the year. This latest pitching disaster has pushed the team ERA to 10.66 which is last in the league. In fact, second to last is Chico at 7.50 so the Sox are not only last but last by a wide margin. Again, I hope some changes are in order because I am not even sure who the starters on this team are after all the juggling of the pitchers. Hopefully the pitching coach has noticed some things and can make some adjustments; otherwise this will be a long season!

June 7, 2008 -- Some changes were made and hopefully this shake-up gets the team headed in the right direction. Danny Hall, acquired in the St. George trade, and Jason Cline, our #4 starter, were released today. No signings were announced so we'll have to wait for those. But for now, Hall (0-0, 18.00) and Cline (0-1, 18.90) are both headed elsewhere.

As for today's game, the Sox lost again, 10-3. Newly starting Jesse Hall gave up 5 runs in 6 innings which was servicable considering that the Sox score an average of 7 runs per game. Unfortunately, not only was there production below average tonight, but their bullpen once again made sure the game was out of reach by allowing 5 runs over the last 3 frames. I think the guy I am most surprised with is Kevin Frederick. He pitched 8 games with the Twins in 2002 and then 22 games with the Toronto Blue Jays going 0-2 with a 6.59 ERA in 2004. With that kind of experience, you'd think he'd be having a little more success against GBL hitters than his 0-1, 12.60 ERA statistics. Granted, the MLB experience is from 4 years ago but he still has it. He is one of the guys we need to get on track for the 'pen to be successful but he has been ineffective in his three games.

The Sox now get a two day break so hopefully some rested arms and some roster changes can get the guys on a winning streak. Let's go Sox!

June 8th, 2008 -- I found Carlos Madrid was officially listed on the inactive list (as of June 1) and there were two more releases today as C Gilbert Guilin (.333, 1HR, 3 RBI in 3 games) and RHP Paul Wilson (0-2, 15.63 ERA in 5 games) were both sent home. Still no signings as three roster spots (by my count after all the transaction) have opened over the weekend but we should see a completely revamped Sox Roster tomorrow night as they open a set against the Long Beach Armada.

The Armada, by the way, just had their catcher David Parrish picked up by the Rockies. Parrish, the son of MLB-great Lance Parrish, will report to AA.

Game Report: Long Beach @ Reno (6/4/2008)

2008-06-04T22:04:00.000-07:00

The Sox came home and we had a really good pitching duel. Marc Kaiser, able to jump spots in the rotation due to a 3 day break between series, went to the hill for Reno. His opponent, Nick Bierbrodt, pitched well for the Armada striking out 7 in the first 9 batters he faced. I am actually pretty familiar with Bierbrodt since he came to major league baseball with my favorite team, the Arizona Diamondbacks. He is much better than his current record (0-1, 6.43 in 3 games and 1 start) and he definitely showed it tonight.

Bierbrodt pitched into the 7th giving up just one run and 3 hits while Kaiser pitched into the 8th leaving with a 3-1 deficit.

Kaiser has been the anchor of this bullpen and it was good to get him in the first game vs. Long Beach since I still consider them the best team on paper as I explained in a previous post and he did not disappoint. Great game from our Ace as well as Long Beach's starter.

Unfortunately, the lead would get bigger for Long Beach as Jason Cline was again ineffective in relief as the final tally would be 6-3; the Reno offense would not be able to bail out the pitching this game as they only were able to manage 5 hits against the Armada pitching staff. They did score two in the bottom of the ninth so they definitely went down swinging. But they are 1-8 all the same so hopefully they can get the job done starting tomorrow when they send Steve Russell to the hill (0-1, 11.17 ERA) to battle Ryan Claypool (1-0, 9.00).

Reno pulls off 5-player trade with St. George

2008-06-02T22:33:00.000-07:00

After getting stomped by the Roadrunners for four of the last five games, it looks like Jeff Leonard saw that it was time to make a move. And what better way than against a team he's been watching closely for this past week?

Reno sends DH Will Henderson (.250, 1 HR, 2RBIs) and a player to be named later to St. George for 1B Ryan Brown (.188, 0 HR, 2 RBI), Gary Harris (.300, 0HR, 0RBI, 4 SBs), and pitcher Danny Hall (0-0, 13.50 in 4.2 innings).

Brown brings some power hitting 4 home runs in just 15 games. He went on the inactive list pretty quickly so we really never got to see what he could do. Harris will bring some speed having stolen 11 bases in 75 games for the roadrunners last season. And Hall brings a badly needed left hander to the bullpen but he got shelled by Reno this past week so we'll see if he is the answer to the problems the Sox have been having with pitching.

On what might be a bad note, Harris is supposed to play second for the injured Carlos Madrid. Though he isn't on the inactive list yet, bringing in a guy to play his position when we already have 2B Shaughn Neal can't be a good sign. Neal has struggled (.188 in 16 at bats) so this move may mean they need more than a stop gap measure at second. We'll see how it plays out but for now, Kudos to Jeff Leonard for being willing to make a move before the first half gets totally out of hand.

Ben Deach made a good point in his last radio broadcast. Last year there were way to many moves. There ended up being over 40 players who wore the Sox uniform last year and with a situation like that, no one really gets comfortable...to include the fans who like to see familiar names. But, as Ben pointed out, they also brought in Senreiso, Kane Simmons, and Adam Amar who all got signed to major league contracts at the end of the season. But he said Jeff Leonard and Curt Jacey will probably work for some consistency in the line-up.

So the key is to make moves that will improve the team quickly while not destroying the chemistry. That can be hard with only an 88-game season split into 44-game halfs (think mini-seasons). Since each half results in a playoff spot they are critical. To apply it to MLB standards, we would be about 30 games into the season right now, or entering May. As you know, most teams start to get nervous if their team is not doing well by memorial day. Well, to use this analogy, memorial day is less than a week away for these teams so if you see a chance to improve the team, you have to take it. But you do have to have a little patience as well especially if a guy is well liked in the club house. We'll see if this adds the spark we need. I hope so.

Game Report: Reno at St. George (May 31, 2008)

2008-05-31T21:01:00.000-07:00

For four innings tonight, it looked like we having a pretty decent pitcher’s duel between Devin Collins of St. George and our own Steve Russell. Collins retired nine batters without a ball leaving the infield. He got in a little trouble but pitched out of it. Russell got in some minor trouble but didn’t give up more than a single run in each inning. Through four, St. George led 3-1. Collins pitched a scoreless top of the fifth with a couple of Ks. But Russell couldn’t match it. He walked the second batter he faced, allowed a single, and then two more walks resulted in a run. Then former major leaguer Wiki Gonzales delivered a 2-run single and suddenly the Sox were down 6-1. Jeff Leonard, again with a quick hook, brought in Jesse Hall. Hall got us out of the inning but not before another run scored that left us with a six run deficit.

Devin Collins had a great outing going 6 inning giving up 2 runs on five hits and ringing up 6 batters . I think it was unexpected from most who have followed him during his career. In 44 professional games, this was only his second start. And he entered the game with three relief appearances this year that gave him a 7.11 ERA. So congratulations on a fine outing.

I couldn’t get the live audio feed via network1sports to work and after 6 complete the live stats feature died. As you know, Reno does not broadcast away games so I was pretty much stuck as far as this game went. I did try to flip over to IBN to watch the Chico game that the league advertised via an e-mail but could never get on. I retried multiple way for multiple times but nothing. So as of about 8:30PM, I guess my GBL night is over. I’ll update with a final score tomorrow when the final write up for the game comes out.
-------------------------------
UPDATE:

The Sox ended up losing the game 9-3 which drops their record to 1-7 as they head into a three day break before hosting Long Beach (3-2) for two, Orange County (4-3) for three and then, following a two day break, Long Beach for three more before hitting the road for a short two game series in Orange County.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, the Sox pitchers that came in after I lost contact with the game also couldn't shut the door as Paul Wilson gave up a run in his inning pitched while Kevin Fredrick did the same in his inning of relief. This was Frederick's first appearance of the series and only his second on the season. Not to tell Jeff Leonard how to do his job, but I think Frederick needs more work even if he is the closer for the squad. He has not been effective in his two appearances (0-1, 12.00 ERA) and the former major leaguer may need some more time throwing. Plus with the depletion of the bullpen, having a guy of his caliber not pitching is not a good idea. Again, there may be more to it such as an injury so I won't be too vociferous on this issue, I'll leave it to the manager to make that call.

That's all for the next three days. Thanks for reading.

Game Report: Reno at St. George (May 30, 2008)

2008-05-30T21:52:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately, the Sox one game winning streak came to a halt with another disastrous start from one of our pitchers as the St. George Roadrunners set new franchise records in most runs and hits in a game when they beat the Sox 18-5 while amassing 19 hits. Reno racked up 6 hits in the loss.

Our number two pitcher, Mike Reeves, got pummeled just like last time. Unlike last time where he gave up 7 runs in 4.1 innings, Reeves gave up 8 in just two innings. His first inning went well but things fell apart in the second when Reeves gave up 3 walks, hit one batter, and allowed a three run homerun . 11 batters would come to the plate resulting in 7 innings.

Reeves came back out in the 3rd but it was obvious that he was already done. St. George Roadrunner’s announcer John Potter noted that Reeves wasn’t fooling anyone with his pitchers. And that led to a walk and two singles and another run. Jeff Leonard had seen enough and hooked Reeves in favor of Mario Guilen. Unfortunately, Guilen couldn’t duplicate his 4 innings of scoreless relief from the other night and allowed two of the runners Reeves left on also came around to score. He was not especially effective going 3 innings giving up four runs on nine hits.

In an indication of how overworked the bullpen is, Jason Cline who started 3 games ago, came in for a relief appearance. As you’ll recall, he went 4.2 innings giving up 13 earned runs. But with three off days meaning it will be 5 days until he pitches again, it was a good strategic move by Jeff Leonard to put Cline out there and hopefully get him some more work to build his confidence. However, the Roadrunners had other ideas and continued the scoring as he went 3 innings but gave up 4 runs on five hits including a homerun. He also didn’t help his cause by throwing away what should have been a easy 1-3 putout in the 8th logging the team’s only error.
Reeves is quite the enigma. In 2005 he pitched with the Surprise Fighting Falcons. In 19 games he went 2-1 with an 8.86 ERA and 18 Ks. He was signed on June 6th and was released 47 days later.

Then Reeves came to the Arizona Winter League this year and, in 7 games with 6 starts, he went 3-1 with a 3.41 ERA, 35Ks and 12 BBs. Jeff Leonard had this to say about him:

“Reeves is a great all around pitcher. He is the type of guy you want starting a game and if a game goes into extra innings, he’s a guy you can call on in a pinch to close it”

However Reeves looks more like 2005 than this past summer as his current line after two starts is 0-1 with a 24.16 ERA and 2 Ks against 6 walks. I’m thinking he is on a pretty short leash now so hopefully he steps it up. None of us like to see thee guys do poorly but this is a business and if Reeves can’t get it done, he’ll be gone soon. With a short 88-game season, guys don’t have the luxury of working through a prolonged slump.

Marc Kaiser is doing as well as expected so he is anchoring the rotation. We just need the rest of our rotation to step up. Here is that rotation if you haven’t kept up with it.
1. Marc Kaiser (1-1, 4.85, 13K)
2. Mike Reeves (0-1, 25.08, 2 K)
3. Steve Russell (0-0, 10.80, 5 K)
4. Jason Cline (0-1, 25.07, 1 K)
5. Shawn Ravens craft (0-0, 14.54, 1 K)

Two off field notes for you…first, the Silver Sox sent out a game report for last night’s game so kudos to the team who didn’t send anything out for the first two games. I know it is harder to keep up with no one from the Sox front office there but I am glad they made the attempt. The Sox get very little exposure in Reno so anything they can do to keep the team on the minds of the fans is good. The RGJ gives them no coverage on the road but the Nevada Appeal does its best to grab those game reports to put in the paper. That is something the team should leverage…maybe the stars will align and one of the rumors of the Sox moving down to Carson City will come true and they’ll already have that solid relationship with the local paper. Now don’t run with that rumor because I don’t put a lot of stock in it especially if the rumor of being the only game in town is possible in Tucson. But it is still worth mentioning so I did.
The other note came from John Potter who reported that Carlos Madrid tweaked his hamstring a couple of games ago. It is similar to the injury that put Madrid out for most of the season last year. So he is going to be out of the lineup until the team gets back to Reno and an MRI is performed. Thanks for the update, John.

The final game of this series happens tomorrow as Steve Russell goes for the Sox. After that, the Sox will have a three day break until returning home to face the Long Beach Armada. They are probably the best team on paper with 4 former major leaguers and five guys with triple A experience. In fact, all but three of their players have played in affiliated ball. They look like the Yankees of our league; now we need to see if Steve Yeager can be the Joe Torre of the GBL and manage all that experience to a league title. In any event, they will play five games in Reno over the next two weeks. In fact it is only because of a five day break that they aren’t higher in the standings.

The schedule is a little wacky like that this year. Obviously, this isn’t the major leagues so costs are always a concern. As such, the schedule is designed to cut travel costs which is a smart move considering the ever increasing price of oil. That means in some cases teams play teams outside their division more than within their own. And it leads to odd series such as LB being off for 5 days, going to Chico for 3 games, taking two games off, coming into Reno for 2 games, going to Chico for 3, then coming back to Reno for 3 over the next two weeks. And we all remember how Chico had more home games than anyone in the league because they had already made commitments to sponsors even though they had to start the league later than they wanted. But I will never be someone to blame a schedule for what happens. Just pointing out that it is a little “un-baseball like”. At the end of the day, a few extra home games of 5 day breaks won’t be that big of a deal if your team isn’t that good.

Game Report: Reno at St. George (May 29, 2008)

2008-05-29T21:26:00.000-07:00

Finally!!!

Sox win their first game of the season and do it in convincing fashion beating the St. George Roadrunners 15-5. The best part of this was how well things came together for the Sox.

1. The Sox offense continued to roll and racked up an amazing 20 hits in this game. Everyone but Alvarado got a hit but even he chipped in drawing three walks and scoring all three times.

2. Juan Senreiso broke out of his slump in convincing fashion with a 5 for 6 performance including a 3-run jack. This night will raise his batting average by 169 points and it redeems the faith Jeff Leonard had in keeping him as the clean-up hitter through his 2-20 start.

3. Marc Kaiser pitched a great game going 7 innings giving up three runs and ringing up six on the night. Billy Shea wrapped up the game going two innings and ending the game by striking out former major leaguer Wiki Gonzales.

There was bit of bad news...Carlos Madrid was injured sliding into second on a double. He had to leave the game so hopefully there will be an update on his condition soon. Hopefully it is a minor thing and he is back in the line-up soon.

And, before I forget, for those who haven't seen it, St. George has a "live stat" option on their website that looks like a rudimentary version of the MLB Gamecast option they have on their website. I'd love it if all teams had that but so far St. George is the only one I see with that technology. It really makes it easier to follow the radio play by play and it allows you to get caught up if you come in late or have to step away. Kudos to the St. George folks for that as well as the game notes produced for each game; both give the team a professional feel and I for one appreciate the effort.

OK, let's hope we can sustain the momentum and that this last 5 game losing streak is the longest we have to endure this season. Great win, guys!

Game Report: Reno at St. George (May 28, 2008)

2008-05-28T21:57:00.000-07:00

Another night and another loss for the Reno Silver Sox. Boy, I am getting tired of writing that.

It looked like their fortunes were going to change when Reno got on the board first going up 3-0 and even turned a triple play during this game. But, in yet another frustrating pitching outing, Shawn Ravenscraft only made it 4-1/3 innings before getting pulled. He started out well going two innings without allowing a run. Then things went downhill quickly. In the third inning , after back to back walks followed by a throwing error by our pitcher, a series of hits led to him leaving the inning down 4-3.

The Sox would tie it at 4 in the bottom of the third but Ravenscraft was already done as he gave up a three run homerun. During the next inning, he got an out but then hit two consecutive batters. Jeff Leonard had seen enough and pulled his #5 starter in favor of Jesse Hall. Hall got out of the inning without further damage but 2-2/3 innings, 2 runs, and 4 hits later, he was lifted for Paul Wilson who was able to get Hall out of the inning. Of course, in similar fashion, Wilson gives up his obligatory runs (two in this case in 1-1/3 innings) , garnering his second loss on the season, and dropping the Sox to 0-5 where they now gain sole possession of last place in the GBL South Division.

Control was an issue all night as 5 Roadrunners were hit by pitches…3 by Ravenscraft, 1 by Hall, and 1 by Wilson. Errors, hit batsmen, passed balls and walks are killing our team. And that, along with the pitchers just not getting outs, cancels out anything the offense can do. The Sox have 38 runs in 5 games. With a team averaging almost 8 runs a game, it is pretty ridiculous that they cannot get a win. Let just hope that Marc Kaiser can right the ship tomorrow since the entire rotation is anchored by him. Kaiser (AAA) is by far the most experienced pitcher with Steve Russell as the only other guy with affiliated ball experience, albeit at the Class A level. Our other three pitchers have only pitched in independent ball.

Jeff Leonard is giving pitchers the hook a lot faster than he has during this short season. I am sure no one is as frustrated as he is. I think he showed that tonight when Wilson coughed up the lead for the last time and he got tossed for yelling at the umpire.

His guys just have not been able to get outs or go deep into the game. 6, 5, 4.1, 3 and 4.2 innings are not going to do it. With a smaller roster than the MLB (22 vs. 25), and a bullpen of just 5 guys with one of the best pitchers (Scott Schneider) on the inactive list, trotting those guys out every night and expecting them to pitch 2-3 innings a night is going to make for a long season.
And before you know it, the Sox will be out of first half contention. There are only 44 games in each half so if the Sox can’t fix things in the next two weeks or so, the first half will be lost. And that isn’t going to motivate anyone to play any harder.

On the offensive side of the ball, most of the players are doing pretty well but Carlos Madrid (.182, 0 HR, 5 RBI) and Juan Senreiso (.100, 0 HR, 2RBI) have yet to find their groove. Of course, we know what those guys can do and Jeff Leonard must see it too since he continues to let them hit in the second and fourth spots respectively. I'm hoping to see that confidence in them pay off real soon and that we see the Madrid and Senreiso of last year who destroyed GBL pitching. Meanwhile, new addition Andre Alvarado is red hot, batting .500 in 5 games with a .857 slugging percentage.

Finally, yesterday I mentioned that Ben Deach no longer broadcasts the road trips. What that also means is that there are no game updates either e-mailed to fans or put on the website. It is a little frustrating because we aren’t getting interviews with the players or Leonard while they are on the road. So where we would know why Jeff was tossed if Ben were there, now we have to guess. And the website basically goes dormant as, again, there are no game/team updates when the team goes on the road. Hopefully this is something that get changed as the season progresses.

Alright, don't forget to root on the team as they work to erase their slow start. You can listen to game on the St. George Roadrunner's site starting at 5:45PM (Reno time) with the pre-game.

Game Report: Reno @ St. George (May 27, 2008)

2008-05-27T21:50:00.000-07:00

Before I get to the game, I thought I would mention another change from last year: in addition to not having games broadcast on the local ESPN affiliate, Reno now doesn't send Ben Deach out for the road trips. I wrote to St. George announcer John Potter during the game and he said he found out about it today when he didn't see Ben and called to find out why. So for 44 games this year, Sox fans will have to listen to the opponent's play by play guy. That is not bad with guys like John, Rory Miller, and Jordan Moore but you do lose the personal touch for the team that Ben brought. Not sure if it was a cost cutting measure, if it is because Ben is now assistant GM, a result of Ben's new radio show on ESPN 630, or a combination thereof but it is still unfortunate all the same.

Another night and another poor pitching effort for the Silver Sox. Though the St. George Roadrunners did their best to give this game away, the 11 runs that starting pitcher Jason Cline surrendered on 13 hits in just three innings were insurmountable. Cline, only one of two left handed pitchers on the squad, was called in for relief work on Saturday where he pitched 1.2 innings and was equally shelled. He came into this game with a 10.80 ERA from that outing and then more than doubled his ERA to 25.07 with this loss.

As I said, St. George did do their best to give this game away as their pitching and defense were not much better than the Sox. The final tally for this game saw 21 runs, 31 hits, and 5 errors between the two teams. The 12 runs scored by the Roadrunners are the most they have scored in one game all season.

There were two pieces of good news for the Sox. First, Mario Guilen pitched four scoreless innings giving up just one hit in his first relief appearance. Second, the offense of the Silver Sox continues to be a bright spot with homeruns by Flowers, Hattig, and Henderson joining Guilen from Saturday to raise the team average to 1 homerun per game on the young season. And every Silver Sox player has at least one hit on the night. Unfortuantely, it is has not been enough to get around the very bad pitching as the Sox check in tied for last place with the 2007 GLB Champion Chico Outlaws with a league worst record of 0-4.

The Silver Sox will see the Roadrunners 18 times this season and one of the interesting story lines is the trade between these two teams that sent Brett Flowers and Steven Wright to Reno for Mike Done and Ryan Brown. Throw in Cody Nowlin who was traded to St. George by the Sox last season and you have the more former Silver Sox on the Roadrunners than any other team. Mike Done for his part hit a home run as did Brett Flowers so they are even there. Nowlin chipped in with a couple of hits and a run while Wright and Brown didn't play.

This was game one of a five game series. Game two sends the last starter in Reno's rotation, Shawn Ravenscroft, to the mound attempting to improve the team ERA tomorrow night at 7:05 PM local, 6:05 Reno time.

Game Report: Orange County @ Reno (May 24, 2008)

2008-05-25T09:21:00.000-07:00

In a true case of the chicken and the egg, was Reno's pitching that horrible this weekend or was the Flyer's offense just that good? Either way you look at it, the Flyers swept the Silver Sox in the opening series amassing 27 runs on 34 hits in the three game set. Making matters worse is the fact that two of the games were 7-inning affairs (one went to an "extra" eighth inning) due to them being part of a double header. So from an ERA standpoint, the damage is even more severe. In fact, after 3 games the starters have an ERA of 10.13 and the bullpen has an ERA of 8.78. And, of course, that doesn't count unearned runs.

The day was a rainy one but it never was enough to cancel the game. I guess on the bright side, since Peccole has artificial turf, there was no mud. But I am sure it was slick all the same. Perhaps that accounts for all the errors in the two games (9 total).

I didn't attend tonight but listened to Ben Deach's online stream. I thought the game would be broadcast live in streaming video by IBN as their website stated; apparently it wasn't though it may be archived now as Ben said it would be. I haven't checked yet.

In any event, the Sox offense made each of the two games very competitive. Both saw the game go down to the wire only to be blown by the pitching efforts at the top of the next frame.

Game one saw the Sox come roaring back in the bottom of the 7th (think 9th) capitalizing on a series of errors by the the Flyers and some key hits to tie the game. Unfortunately, half an inning later, the Flyers would slam the door permenantly.

Game two saw the Reno actually have a lead going into the final stage of the game before Kevin Fredrick, one of two Sox players with MLB experience, gave up three runs before recording an out watching not only the lead evaporate but also any chance for the team to salvage a win on the homestand.

Errors and miscommunication didn't help either. Senreiso overran a ball and yet another ball dropped to the ground between two players when Guilen called off the third baseman and then couldn't get the ball himself.

However, the good news came from the team catchers, D.J. Dixon and Gilbert Guilen. In addition to outstanding production during the two games, Guilen produced the first Silver Sox Homerun of the season and Dixon provided what Ben Deach called the "hit of the year" when he capped the comeback to tie the first game of the twin bill with a clutch drive.

Due to the doubleheader, the Sox will have two games off before meeting an improved Roadrunners team in St. George for a five game series. Hopefully that will be enough for the Sox to right the ship and allow them to secure their first win on the young season.

Game Report: Orange County @ Reno (May 23, 2008)

2008-05-24T14:28:00.000-07:00

Opening day was finally here and my family and I wouldn't miss it. That phrase takes on added meaning as it rained off and on all day leading up to the game. By the time we got to the ballpark, it had stopped though the seats were still totally soaked and the game time weather was just 50 degrees. But, it was still opening day and that is what mattered. At least to me. When the first pitch was thrown out, I counted less than 200 people in the stands. The reported attendance was 1211 so assuming that number is true, then there were 800+ season ticket holders and corporate ticket holders that were not there. Pretty sad for opening day but it is what it is. Hopefully as it warms up, more people will come out to the park.

One good thing about the lack of people was that you could hear everything coming from the field. Gary Carter, new coach of the Flyers, is very vocal and you could hear him giving instructions to the base runners and pumping up the troops any chance he got. It was nice to see a hall of fame player and, still being a fan of the game, I made sure I headed down to the OC dugout to get his autograph on my program. He was a nice guy and that autograph will end up in one of my baseball scrapbooks.

I showed up to the park hoping to listen to the game on the radio but it seems the Sox are no longer on our local ESPN affiliate. Must explain why I haven't heard a single commerical for the team. That is unfortunate because that means no one at the stadium can listen to the play by play unless they bring some internet capable device. I will say the RGJ coverage by Colby Balkenbush is better than last year but that was due to the paper having a writer who later was reassigned with no backfill. Darrell Moody of the Carson Appeal still provides the best coverage of the team with interviews and notes for every game. I check him out after each home game and I'd recommend you do the same.

Opening night started with the announcement that fireworks for Saturday would be postponed due to weather. But the season looked to be starting off great all the same as the first hitter for the Sox, Steven Wright, slammed a triple off the right field wall to start things. The Sox, sporting a new cap feauring their "R" superimposed on a baseball, looked to do their best to put the 33-42 season of a year ago behind them.

Here was the starting line-up:

CF Steven Wright
2B Carlos Madrid
RF Juan Senreiso
3B John Hattig
1B Steven Alexander
LF Brett Flowers
DH Will Henderson
C D.J. Dixon
SS Andre Alvarado
P Mark Kaiser

Unfortunately, it was all Flyers from there. Their starter, Andre Simpson, pitched 7 innings giving up just three hits and one run. While waiting for Gary to sign, I made sure to tell him as much. He seemed generally appreciative for the compliment...one of the good things about indy ball I would say.

OC was running on all cylinders as they not only got the great pitching from Simpson, they also had three homeruns from Sean Lorentz, Fernando Pacheco, and Pat Breen. And actually, the final score of 7-3 could have been worse. Twice the OC had Mark Okano at third with no outs and couldn't bring him home. Once he was picked off and once the OC hitters just got rung up without moving him over.

So it wasn't a good start to the season but baseball is here and there are still 87 games to go so that is what is most important. Hopefully they work out some of the kinks too as we saw a throwing error by Alvarado that led to a run, miscommunication between Madrid and Alexander that let a foul ball fall to the ground between them, and a balk by Jesse Hall. Little things like that killed the Sox last year so hopefully this was just an off night.

I will watch tonight's game on internet TV partly to evaluate it for this blog but also because I have a sick son who probably wouldn't benefit from being out in the weather I see out my window as I write this.

As with last year, I am going to be busy for the month of June but then should be at the park for about 95% of the rest of the season. But we are going on vacation and I have an Army school to attend in San Antonio so expect to see some baseball action from San Jose, Modesto, Stockton, San Antonio and Round Rock. I still expect to do reports on the Sox during that period so please keep checking in. I hope to go to one of the Armada games in June between trips so maybe I'll see you there.

The season is finally here

2008-05-22T19:35:00.000-07:00

Well, sorry for the lack of posts during the spring training period for the Silver Sox. Unfortunately, with the season starting earlier at Peccole than last year, I was pretty busy through spring training.

But the season is here and I'll have a full report from opening night as the Sox start the first of 44 home games this season.

Now looking at that schedule, there are quite a few double headers...6 that are scheduled so far. It looks like the team had a problem getting games on Sundays as there is only one the entire season. That probably accounts for all the double headers since there were five Sunday games in the original schedule the team had. They had a magnet schedule night to open the season but it isn't listed anymore so I assume all those things are related.

As for doubleheaders, I don't like having so many for the GBL. The reason is that the rules of the GBL indicate that the first game will be only seven innings unless it is a day night double header. Since the games start at 5 and 7, I assume these aren't day and night doubleheaders. From a statistical standpoint it is 24 lost innings or almost three games gone. But it also feels funny going to a game decided in 7 innings. For men's baseball, I really haven't seen that since little league. The GBL prices are pretty fair so I won't complain from that standpoint but you are paying full price for that 7-inning game so take that for what it is worth. And with full price being charged for each game, how many people who would normally attend two games on two nights now only attend one? They just don't seem like a good idea but since the GBL guys know this better than I, again, I have to assume they lost the use on the park on most of the Sundays during the season or they wouldn't be doing it.

The schedule also has six three day breaks in addition to the all-star break so if there is one benefit to all the double headers, the guys will get some extra rest. Maybe it will make a difference as the season wears on.

As far as the team goes, the squad looks pretty solid. We'll see how paper translates to the field starting tomorrow. But with four AAA guys (including two who also saw big league action) as well as a solid outfield of Senreiso, Flowers, and Wright, things look pretty good. We lost some speed with Victor Hall not coming back but I think the overall experience level of the team is a little better.

As for returnees, Carlos Madrid and Juan Senreiso are it. Maurice Coles, Chuck Sindlinger, Shawn Balteff, and James Johnson among others tried to come back for another season but were cut. But Jeff Leonard put his stamp on the team right away so it is clear that we are not the team of last year.

And finally, I want to applaud the Silver Sox for actually spending the money to go get two coaches. They tried player coaches last year and we saw how that went. I think this is the way to go. Let the players focus on playing and the coaches focus on coaching.

Anyway, that is all for now. See you at the yard.

2008-03-28T15:40:00.001-07:00

The first Silver Sox roster has been posted and you can check it out here:

http://www.silversoxbaseball.com/roster.aspx?SecID=853

There is only one player with affiliated baseball experience, pitcher Nick Moran who went 5-3 with with a 4.95 ERA in 14 starts for the Silver Sox last year. He made it to A-level and played there for four years with his last stop being with the Visalia Oaks when they were part of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays organization.

Speaking of former Sox, this roster includes 9 players from last years team in addition to the two players acquired from St. George (Flowers and Wright). So there is at least some experience with the Golden League which could be of help.

Of course, this roster if far from final. There are open tryouts on the 8th and 9th of April where a player or two might pop up followed by the releases from the affiliated rosters as the final spring training cuts are made. So there will be some roster shuffling to get down to the 22 roster limit by the first game (Reno opens at Home against the OC on Masy 23rd).

So stay tuned as we fine tune this roster to make a run at the GBL title once again.

First Look at 2008 Reno Silver Sox

2008-03-17T15:07:00.000-07:00

One of the constants of independent baseball is the turnover you get from year to year. Some players may be brought back but for the most part, the majority of the roster will be brand new. Here is your first look at the potential 2008 Reno Silver Sox:

Departures:

Manager Les Lancaster (free agent--Sioux City Explorers)

P/Pitching Coach Dusty Bergman (Contract Sold to Sioux City Explorers)

2B/Batting Coach Mike Done (traded to St. George Roadrunners)

1B Ryan Brown (traded to St. George Roadrunners)

SS Sam Walker (traded to Sioux City Explorers)

P Eric Thomas (traded to Sussex Skyhawks)

OF Kane Simmons (Contract Sold to Colorado Rockies)

1B Adam Amar (Contract sold to Toronto Blue Jays)

OF Juan Senreiso (traded to Laredo Broncos, sold to Washington Nationals)

ARRIVALS

Jeff Leonard signed as Manager

1B/DH Larry Bethea -- trade with Sussex Skyhawks (.272, 7HRs, 46RBIs, 0 SBs in 81 Games last year)

OF Brett Flowers--trade with St. George Roadrunners (.341, 3 HRs, 42RBIs, 1 SB in 62 games last year)

OF Steven Wright—trade with St. George Roadrunners (.294, 2 HRs, 28 RBIs, 13 SBs in 57 games)

DRAFTED PLAYERS (with AWL Stats)

RHP Shawn Ravenscraft (Played in NYSL; 3-0, 1.50, 30Ks)

LHP Jason Cline (Played in Frontier League; 4-0, 4.00, 30Ks)

INF Josh Richardson (Indiana University; .350, 0HR, 9RBI, 5SB)

RHP Billy Shea (Northwest Oklahoma State; 1-2, 8.25, 13 Ks)

INF Grant Berkovitz (University of Wisconsin, Milwuakee; .196, 0 HR, 9 RBI, 1 SB)

INF Shaughn Neal (Wingate University; .340, 0HR, 8RBI, 3SB)

RHP Ryan Weber (Played in NYSL; 1-1, 4.57, 20Ks)

RHP Mike Reeves (Played in GBL and American Association; 3-1, 3.41, 35 Ks)

RHP Mario Guilin (College of the Desert;0-0, 5.40, 1 SV, 16Ks)

LHP Josh Likens (Concordia College, 1-0, 9.64, 1 SV, 16 Ks)

LHP Kenny Salyer (Played in South Coast League; 0-0, 12.38, 7Ks)

1B Steven Alexander (Drafted by Phillies; .390, 9HRs, 33RBIs, 1 SB)

C D.J. Dixon (Played in South Coast League and NYSL; .327, 0 HRs, 4 RBIs, 2 SBs)

LHP James Kuzniak (Played in Mexican League; 2-1, 4.50, 22Ks)

Reno Silver Sox moving to Tucson?

2008-03-12T16:38:00.000-07:00

As you all know, the Tucson Sidewinders, AAA Affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks, are moving to Reno to begin play in 2009. I'd be lying if I didn't say I am excited about it. The D-Backs are my favorite team and getting to see their Triple A players as well as MLB players on rehab assignments is going to be great. And with the restaurants and shops that will be going in around the stadium, it will make a day at the park a very fun, all day experience.

Unfortunately, it looks like (according to a Chico Newspaper report found at http://www.chicoer.com/ci_8403246?source=rss) that the Sox are looking to move to Tucson. Here is an excerpt from the article:

The Silver Sox ranked fourth in the GBL's 2007 attendance figures with 1,291average, directly behind the Outlaws in third at 1,541. The club is expecting to relocate from Reno to Tucson after the 2008 season, when the Tucson Sidewinders, the Arizona Diamondbacks' Triple-A affiliate, are planning to complete a long anticipated move to Reno

Obviously, anything can change in the world of independent baseball but for now, it looks like the Sox are moving on. It is unfortunate because the GBL is doing well (well for a young indy league, anyway). I was hoping we would see the day where the league looks more like the American Association or Northern League where teams play in a non-college stadium and draw 3-4K on many nights and up to 6-7K on really good nights.

I will post sometime soon about why I like Indy ball better than afflilated minors but for now, just know that it is unfortunate that we are losing our Indy ballclub.

This blog will continue through the (potential) final season of the Silver Sox. I will be out of town for a couple of weeks in June so I will miss some games but expect game and/or series reports for the rest of the year. So I hope you'll help the team go out with a bang and come to as many games as you can!

Off Season Happenings

2008-01-28T13:02:00.000-08:00

As we all know, professional baseball has become a year round enterprise. No where else it that more true than with the Reno Silver Sox. Here are just a few of the changes as we head into winter league play.

-- Reno Silver Sox Manager Les Lancaster has decided to move on in professional baseball. He will now be the manager of the Sioux City Explorers of the American Association. Les will be missed but, being a Chicago Cub for life, I am sure he will like being close to not only the AAA affiliate of his Cubs but to Chicago itself. As many of you know, Les still goes back to reunions of former Cubs and he is a huge draw there.

-- Pitching Coach Dusty Bergman has also moved on and will join Les in Sioux City.

-- Reno moved quickly and signed former San Francisco Giant, 14-year MLB veteran, and two time all star Jeffrey Leonard as their new coach. He has a solid resume of minor league managing and coaching experience and will be a welcome addition to the team.

-- GBL Rookie of the Year Kane Simmons was signed by the Colorado Rockies and will report to Spring Training with a spot waiting for him with one of their minor league affiliates after that. Great job, Kane.

Alright, I think everyone is caught up on the team. I'll post again after the Arizona Winter League begins.

Season Wrap Up (Part 1 of 2)

2007-08-27T13:28:00.001-07:00

The year is over and it is a great time to reflect on where the team has been.

Early in 2007, two off the field stories took center stage as Mike Muranthony (AKA Mike Murray) became the first PA announcer in GBL history and the first I can remember ever to be ejected by an umpire when he played a soundbite from Major League. On a close play at the plate, the soundbite, “I think we got hosed on that play” rang through the park and umpire Tyler Ramsey sent Mike out of the stadium. This action garnered national coverage…ESPN, SI, CNN, etc.

Also, the GM of the Sox, Dwight Dortch, stepped down and Asst GM Curt Jacey moved into that position. Curt’s first priority, according the press release, was to bring more of a minor league feel to the park and I think he did just that. More promotions and some cosmetic changes to Peccole really made for a better game day experience.

On the field, three issues dominated. The first was injuries. You always have turnover on independent teams but it is not usually the result of the high number of injuries the team had to endure. Here is a comparison of the opening day line-up and the final game line-up.

OPENING DAY
Hall, Victor CF
Tully, Travis DH
Sherrill, J.J. RF
Johnson, J.J. LF
Hahn, Dustin 3B
Chikazawa, Masashi CAT
Nowlin, Cody 1B
Done, Mike 2B
Devoir, Jordan SS 1
Bergman, Dusty PIT

FINAL DAY

Hall, Victor CF
Done, Mike 2B
Cole, Maurice SS
Senreiso, Juan DH
Simmons, Kane LF
Amar, Adam 1B
Kowalski, Ryan RF
Sindlinger, Chuck 3B
Mcleod, Josh CAT
Moran, Nick PIT

That made for a rough year and I am not sure the team ever got back on track after such a high rate of turnover.

The next issue was defense. The Sox committed a lot of errors this season. They finished at 124. That is second in the GBL (behind expansion St. George), though they led the league in that category for almost the entire first half. Some were typical baseball errors though many were not the kind of mental mistakes baseball players should make such as the three most common for the Sox—dropping pop-ups in the infield, catchers throwing errant pickoff throws to third that allowed runs to score, and left side of the infield players who have no chance to get the runner headed to first but make a throw anyway that ends up sailing past the first basemen. These plays led to more than a few losses for the team.

Finally, there was the horrendous play of the bullpen. I can’t even think of another word to use. If you are one of those people who sees a 5-6 run lead as enough of a safety net that you can leave the park early, then you went home and saw much different box scores than the game you left this year. Statistically, I think it really hurt starters who got no decisions after they left with a lead. James Johnson (1-5) had nine no decisions; Nick Moran (5-3) had six. Les did his best to get new pitchers in but the former Chicago Cub pitcher ended up with a staff that produced a 5.81ERA over 655 innings while the released pitchers had a 8.41 ERA over about 132 innings. Consistently putting the offense in the hole and then having the shaky defense early on led to a lot of losses.

There were some good news stories this year, especially with the rookies brought in. Kane Simmons (.326, 18 HR, 54 RBI) and Adam Amar (.354, 5 HR, 19 RBI) provided the offensive spark, Maurice Cole (.277, 6HR, 20 RBI) and Sam Walker (.259, 1 HR, 25 RBI) shored up the defense late, and Josh Evans (4-0, 5.68) performed satisfactorily out of the bullpen, staying with the team all year and leading the team in appearances with 28. In all, the final lineup had seven rookies take the field so a lot of guys got some valuable experience.

Of the veterans, Juan Senreiso (.328, 7HR, 54 RBI, 20 SB), Victor Hall (.306, 9HR, 37 RBI, 46 SB), and, despite a poor first half, Mike Done (.282, 8HR, 42 RBI, 11 SB) were a core of solid offensive players. Offense was never an issue with this team.

Starting pitching was also pretty good and that is something that gets over looked when the bullpen is consistently bad.

The Sox will finish at 33-42 and Les Lancaster will miss the playoffs as a manager for just the second time in seven years. It was a tough year but still a fun experience for everyone who made it out to the park.

Season Wrap-up (Part 2 of 2)

2007-08-27T13:27:00.000-07:00

I have never claimed to be a baseball expert but like all sports fans, I have an opinion on what my team could do to become better next year. Most of these will focus on the league itself as the Sox are owned by the league. And they will be resource neutral meaning it is what I would do if the money were there to make it happen.

1. Longer Spring Training. This is by far the most important thing the league could do to improve the quality of play. This year it was right around 7-10 days which is way too short to get a team to gel. Learning the tendencies or your teammates is the most effective way to reduce errors. And too many errors just frustrate fans as it really make the players seem less skilled than they really are—especially those “easy” errors I mentioned in the previous post. Also, not everyone was playing competitive baseball over the months preceding the season. Then there are the college kids whose programs play, on average, about 60 games played mostly on weekends. Now these kids have to play every night, sometimes in stretches of 10 games or more, in a 76 game season. There were a lot of nagging injuries that guys are probably still dealing with and many (like some hamstring injuries) can be related to overwork and not enough conditioning to handle the grind of a season. And finally, a pitcher’s arm needs to get ready for the wear and tear of professional baseball. There are no pitch counts here and sometimes relievers even have to play back to back games due to the smaller rosters. Dusty Bergman has been doing this for a while. He knows how to stay in shape to pitch the 100 innings he did. But for a rookie, even a reliever, the workload can be very trying. In my opinion, I think that has a lot to do with the large number of pitcher injuries not just here in Reno but across the league. So, whatever needs to be done to get these kids together for 3-4 weeks as a team needs to be done to make the game better for the fans and, more importantly, to maintain the health of the players.

2. Spend money on getting umpires. Umpires have the ability to really ruin a game and we saw that on more than one occasion. One fan I know of in Reno cited the poor officiating as one of the reasons he wasn’t going to get season tickets in 2008. Anecdotally, I was told that some better umpires won’t do the GBL games due to low pay. They get paid but that doesn’t include travel, etc so it is not worth it to them. Because of the league having regional umpires as opposed to traveling league crews, sometimes you are stuck with what is available. In Reno, we loved seeing Ron Barnes come to town. But I can tell you the Reno fans knew the game was going to have issues when #45 (Tyler Ramsey) stepped onto the field. His experience is basically some college or below. He doesn’t conduct himself well, as with the Templeton ejection that I wrote about. Even if Templeton was being difficult, he was within the rules to do what he did. Tossing him just shows Tyler doesn’t understand the rules of the game. Tyler also seems to have a lot of reversed calls between him and his partner. This is not going to inspire confidence in his abilities. He and others have very inconsistent strike zones. I don’t think I have ever seen as many complaints over strikes and balls as I have seen this year. I know the league has a head umpire to watch these kinds of things so a) did he come to Reno and b) why did some of the umpires still have jobs at the end of the season?

3. No player coaches. No offense to Dusty and Mike since they are fine players, they obviously shared their knowledge, and were good leaders in the club house but the teams with player coaches did much worse this year. Reno (33-42) and other teams who used player coaches or some combination of player and non-player coaches ended out of the playoffs while Chico (44-32, first half winner) and Long Beach (48-28, second half winner) who had two non-playing coaches, will compete for the championship. The teams that used player coaches had varying levels of success but in the end they are all out. I think that if you had a guy with years of experience watching batters or pitchers he is more likely to be able to help fix small issues with mechanics than a mid to late 20s player who has spent more time doing than coaching. This too will improve the game on the field.

4. Player salaries should be re-looked. This year, the GBL had much less interest from the MLB teams if the number of players picked up is any indication. Our Sox who set an independent league record last year with the number of players sent to MLB teams sent a grand total of zero to the affiliated clubs this season. That trend existed across all clubs as there were less than half a dozen sent to the majors compared to last year when a guy was getting picked up from a GBL team every few days. The appeal of the GBL as a place to get looked at by scouts has tarnished a little. In the interim, I think player salaries should be bumped to help get some more guys out. If the GBL is seen as a step below the Atlantic League, Frontier League, the American Association, and Can-Am or even on-par with the UBL and SCL the league should pay a little more to players to see if we can’t get a solid guy to think twice before signing a contract with another league. The GBL can't match the Atlantic league but surely they can be the best paying of the lower teir leagues. Then as we get better players, the quality of my other issues improves, and the league expands to new markets, it will only help to improve the play on the field and maybe attract scouts more often.

5. Fans. The GBL needs to do whatever it can to have all teams mirror those teams that have good attendance. Now I know there are different variables in each market. But are there some consistent best practices that can be applied universally? Are there certain promotions, sponsors, or community partnerships, that will appeal to baseball fans in general? And are there some out of the box ways to get more people out? Bottom line, fans (and corporate sponsors) are the lifeblood that will allow money to do more of the things I would like to see changed. Players and fans also love being in an electric environment with a packed house. And then it multiplies as every one tells their friends what a great time the GBL games are. When you come and the stadium is dead it really detracts from experience even if the on-field product is top notch. When both are lacking, it will lead to folks not coming back. A poll on the Silver Sox site asked how many games people came to. The majority attended 1-5 games. And, the Sox ended the year with an average attendance of 1291 per game this year. Now it makes no sense as the Sox won the championship last year and increased their advertising budget and still went down from the 1573 they drew last year at each game. So the bottom line is all teams, not just the Sox, need to find a way to get those people in the 1-5 category to come to more games. What do they want? What didn't they like? Is there something low-cost that could be improved to get them to come to more games? These questions should be the focus of the off-season efforts of GBL management. Group Sales are also a good avenue since you get the ticket revenue but I think the team will benefit more from actual bodies in the stands even if more of the ticket revenue comes on a walk-up basis.

Again, I am no baseball expert. And when resources are limited, some things don't get the attention they deserve. But the GBL has a good thing going. I hope they can sustain the the gains they have made and continue to grow--if for nothing else than to ensure those of us in the isolated towns of the west (excluding OC and LB of course) have a chance to take our kids to the ballpark and teach them why baseball was the greatest game ever invented.

Well, thus ends my blog for this season. I appreciate all who read it and a special thanks goes out to those who posted on my blog or e-mailed me. There is no hit counter so that is the only way I know that people are enjoying what I am writing. Please feel free to write to me anytime even if just to talk MLB ball or whatever. Hope you have a great “off season” and I will see you again in 2008!

Game Report: Orange County @ Reno (8/25/2007)

2007-08-26T13:57:00.000-07:00

And with a split of a double header, the Reno Silver Sox season officially came to an end. It was a good season despite the record and I will post one final entry tomorrow with a season recap and some of my thoughts on how to improve for 2008.

But for today, let me discuss the game we had last night. The first game ended with Reno on the short end of the stick after a solid performance by OC's starting pitcher, Ben Fox. He'll end the season with a 5-3 record and a 2.99 ERA but he was red hot for the first part of the season with a sub-one ERA. He is a solid pitcher and he showed that last night sending the Sox to the showers in 1 hour, 35 minutes in a 7-inning game. Notice I didn't list the score? That was by design as the Sox were held scoreless by Fox en route to a 4-0 loss. It is always tough getting shut out though not as tough as watching my Orioles give up 30 runs in their loss. But I digress.

The fans did get to end the season on a high note as they won the night cap with a 13-3 offensive explosion that included the usual suspects, Kane Simmons (2007 GBL Homerun Champion with 18) and Adam Amar (.625 slugging percentage, second only to Simmons). However, the big slugger for the night was Maurice Cole (yes, the 5-9, 165 lbs rookie from Meridian, MS). He actually has 6 dingers on the year which is fifth on the team so it is not like Jason Tyner in the MLB but it is definitely not what you would expect. The bullpen was also solid as Shawn Balteff and Eric Thomas pitched an inning each of scoreless relief. Oh, if we just had another month...

Between innings, the team awards were handed out with GM Curt Jacey and Field Manager Les Lancaster giving Juan Senreiso team MVP, Kane Simmons rookie of the year, and Dusty Bergman pitcher of the year. I agree with all of those though I do have a comment on Senreiso. I think the guy is an outstanding player and just looking at him you can tell he is a remarkable athlete. But there were some times, especially late where he just didn't seem to hustle. I think the team MVP is more than stats; leadership plays a big role in that. Now I know Senreiso doesn't speak perfect English but heart is the same in any language. Of course, I would take him back next year in a heartbeat but with a very young team (the final roster has 10 rookies on a squad of 22) the veterans have to hustle every day to set the example. He was still an impact player for us, so maybe there were things he did off the field that I didn't see. Of course, if you look at hustle, a lot of guys dropped off at the end so I won't get on Senreiso too much. It must be tough to stay focused when your team is out of contention and no scouts are in the stands to watch you play.

The game ended with the players tipping their hats to the crowd and launching baseballs into the stands which, with t-shirts, $5 hats, and otter pops earlier, ensured as many souveniers as possible went home with the Reno faithful. There was an on-field chance for one fan to win a Hinda Ridgeline but he came up short. Before you criticize him, he had to throw a baseball through a hole about 8 inches in diameter from about 56 feet (front of the pitcher's mound). Even Roger Clemens would have a hard time doing that the required 2 out of three times. But, there was a prize to be won as a young fan was able to walk away with a flat screen TV after doing an impression of Tyler Ramsey's temper tantrum that sent our PA announcer home after he played a soundbite from the Movie Major League. Speaking of awards, Tyler solidified his position as worst umpire of the year to visit Peccole as he ruled a ball that was clearly over the bag and fair a foul ball. Sam Walker, having his double erased, glared at Ramsey for what seemed like an eternity. But it wouldn't be a Ramsey umpired game without some bad calls. I don't know the guy personally and have never talked to him so I am not trying to attack him as a person...I am sure he is a great guy. He is just not a good umpire at the professional level.

So with that, I'll close this post. Check back tomorrow for my last post of 2007; I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Game Report: Orange County @ Reno (8/24/2007)

2007-08-25T10:44:00.000-07:00

Well, if you love offense, then this was your game.

But, before getting to that, I have to comment on something that happened well before the first pitch was ever thrown. During the line-up card exchange, it was obvious that OC Manager Garry Templeton and home plate umpire Tyler Ramsey were getting into a heated exchange. Next thing you know, Ramsey ejects Templeton. Templeton, as those of you who listened to the OC broadcast know, went to the booth to be a commentator. I didn't hear him but the word I got was that Ramsey ejected him for not puttinh jersey numbers on the line-up card. The rule, as I understand it, is that in a professional game, only the player's name and position need to be listed. All else is a courtesy. Anyway, pretty dumb reason to eject a guy but maybe I didn't get the whole story.

In any event, it was an offensive explosion for the Sox including a 3-home run night by Adam Amar. I believe that is the first time this year and perhaps longer for that kind of night. It was a lot of fun to watch. Amar has always been a slugger this year and it is good to see him, as well as Kane Simmons who smacked league leading home run number 17 last night finish the season strong. Speaking of Kane, he is still within striking distance of the all time GBL homerun record. If he could have a 3-HR night in one of the last two nights, he will share the record with a guy on the opposite side of the diamond tonight, Peanut Williams.

Speaking of finishing strong, it was good to see Dusty Bergman pick up the win. He will finish 6-4 with a 3.40 ERA and 64 strike outs over 100+ innings. But there was a long stretch of no-decisions thanks to the bullpen that probably kept him from 8 or 9 wins. He is a really good pitcher who, despite some shaky appearances, proved overall that he is indeady worthy of his position as as #1 starter and pitching coach.

As far as an odd thing, did you notice all the OC players using the same bat? And every time a bat broke and a new one was used, they all used that as well. Not sure what that was...either a really strange baseball ritual or an attempt at saving money late in the season.

The game ended with a 13-2 victory in front of an announced crowd of 1498.

Hope to see you out at the yard for the last Silver Sox games of the year today!

Game Report: Orange County @ Reno (8/23/2007)

2007-08-24T07:44:00.001-07:00

Another wild ride for the Silver Sox saw a 40 minute 1st inning, a very rare baseball call, two visiting players ejected, and the Sox take a 10-4 lead into the 9th and escape by the thinnest of margins, 10-9.

The game started with a ball that hit the umpire near second base. The umpire (Tyler Ramsey, who all Sox fans will remember as the guy who ejected PA Announcer Mike Murray earlier this season) called the batter out. Third Base coach Mike Done argued and Ramsey, after consulting with the homeplate umpire, reversed the call. OC Manager Garry Templeton then argued for what seemed like 5 minutes. After returning to the dugout, OC pitcher Michael Natale continued the tirade and was ejected. So what is the actual rule?

When a thrown ball hits an umpire, he is considered part of the play and the ball is live. However, when a batted ball hits an umpire before passing an infielder besides the pitcher, it is a dead ball and the runner is awarded first base. So, as with the Victor Hall call I discussed on this board a couple of weeks ago, the umpires were right in their final decision.

Of course, Ramsey is never content to let a game go by without a bad call and he definitely made one of those later in the game as Maurice Cole clearly beat out a play at first by at least a step if not two and Ramsey still rung him up.

Still in the first, another bizarre thing happened. OC Starter Ben Fox had to leave the game. It looked like dehydration since the trainer brought a huge bottle of water out to the mound and the pitcher took off his hat and bent over a couple of times. Andrew Soto came in and after a long warm-up, finally pitched.

All said, the inning took about 40 minutes.

The game was going along fine as the Sox, aided by three errors by the Flyers, were able to put 10 on the board. Of course, as we have seen all year long, no lead is big enough for the Sox that the fans can chalk up the "W" early. Tonight was no exception.

The starting pitching was servicable as Adam Harendza gave up 4 runs in his six innings of work. But then the thing we Sox fans fear the most occured--Les turned the game over to the bullpen. Walentin gave up 4 runs in 2 innings and Eric Thomas, probably the most reliable guy the Sox have came in. He got Bret Levier out on strikes, which resulted in Levier hitting the showers early when he continued to argue the point with the home plate umpire. He then further delayed the game when he refused to leave the visiting dugout. When it got restarted, Thomas gave up a run to bring the score to 9-10 before he finally closed it out.

Harendza got is first win which was nice to see and Thomas got his team leading 7th save. They two teams will meet again tonight at 7PM for the second of four games in this final series of the year.

Announced attendance was 1117.

Game Report: Long beach at Reno (8/22/2007)

2007-08-23T11:30:00.000-07:00

Before I get to the game, I wanted to mention that there aren’t many people at Peccole who show up to watch batting practice but it is still interesting to watch. Some guys have some really nice swings that don’t necessarily translate to big numbers during the game. But it is fun to watch if you get a chance. Above is a pic I took of the Armada in the cage.

Silver Sox fans saw a team clinch the 2nd Half Championship last night—unfortunately it was the Long Beach Armada. The Silver Sox, last year’s league champions, are still in last place in the second half standings at 12-22 and are now 30-41 on the season.

The game was never really close after the Armada were spotted five runs. The Sox did their best but came up on the short end of this contest, 11-8.

I don’t really have a lot to say about this contest but I did want to mention that if you want newspaper coverage of this team, I hope you’re reading the Nevada Appeal out of Carson City (and on line). Darrell Moody does a great job with his column and I especially like the “notes” section he tacks on the end of each article. It is a professional touch and one you are used to seeing with MLB teams, not independent baseball. You’ve heard from me that I think the coverage in the Reno paper is lacking. I hope next year that can improve. On the radio last night, Ben mentioned that the RGJ sent Scott Oxarart on the last road trip with the team but is going to hold the story until Saturday. Personally, I think that is a mistake. Granted, it will be a “soft story” so it has a longer shelf life than a game report but doing so until the last day of the season means it has next to zero chance of getting new fans to the park. I know that is not the motive of the RGJ but in the end, the success of the Sox is good for both the GBL and the RGJ.

Most of you know about the short staffing at the RGJ (who in town doesn’t?) and that the paper is run from out of town by a corporate publisher. Those can’t help with the coverage the team gets but I hope next year they take a page out of the Appeal’s playbook and step it up a bit for the Sox fans in this town.

Announced Attendance was 1001.

Game Report: Long Beach @ Reno (8/21/2007)

2007-08-22T16:34:00.000-07:00

All I can say is "wow". Last night was easily one of the best Sox games of the year. It had more drama that we see in most major league games and, for the faithful who stayed until the end, a great finish...well, that and the first ever dizzy bat race between Slugger and Nugget!

The game was going along fine. The score was tight (3-2 Reno) and the Sox looked great on the defensive end of the ball. Through 8-2/3 innings, the Sox had no errors and starter Nick Moran allowed those two runs on a half dozen hits while amassing 10 strike outs! Of course, though, in true baseball fashion, you can't keep a good team down and first place Long Beach proved that when Gabe Mayorga hit a game tying homerun with 2 outs in the top of the ninth.

Mayorga was the last person you'd expect that from as he was hitting .249 with just three jacks over 211 at bats. But miracles are so much a part of baseball that you really can't use that word anymore. So congrats to a young man who got to have one of those at bats we all dream of.

The Sox hung tough and finally won on some good small ball when Done singled, stole second and then scored on a Sam Walker single. And, in addition to this being the first walk off win of the season for the Sox (according to Ben Deach on last night's broadcast) it also came after the Armada intentionally walked Chuck Sindlinger to get to Walker. Tell me that is not sweet revenge.

So a great game with a great result. The only negative I saw happened with Juan Senreiso. On one play he was on second when the next batter grounded to the pitcher. Juan, already starting towards 3B, just dropped into a jog as he figured he was out. Then the pitcher threw the ball away and Juan scrambled to get to third and/or potentially score. Then, a couple of pitches later, he got picked off third. First a complete lack of hustle and then getting picked off third in a tight game with the #1 team in the league. I am sure Les had a nice chat with Senreiso so I doubt we'll see that again. It just bugged me to see that lack of hustle. And it bugs me at every level. My favorite MLB guys are Ichiro and Griffey Jr. Ichiro sets the standard for hustle and Grif usually does too. However this year, Kenny hit a ball he figure was gone so he just watched it as he walked to first...and then it bounced off the wall so all he could get was a single. I am not going to say I was a good as Grif or even Senreiso but I can tell you that one thing I learned was you always run the play out because that is just how the game is played. It is something I have instilled in my children and it only takes a Griffey or Senreiso incident as I described above to point out why. But even good players make mistakes and the season is long. That is why mental toughness is such a part of baseball that many people take for granted.

Anyway, enough of the soapbox.

Announced attendance was 989.

Game Report: Long Beach @ Reno (8/20/2007)

2007-08-21T10:41:00.000-07:00

Before I begin, I’d like to extend a thank you to Sox Announcer, Ben Deach. I always wondered how the broadcast end of things worked for the team so I asked. Ben decided to put me on the air so I could get the full experience. So for the 4th inning of last night’s game, I got to talk about the team, the blog, and the league. It was an interesting experience; Ben has really come into his own as an announcer so it was a real pleasure to take the booth with him for our favorite team.

The game, unfortunately, didn’t go the way the Sox had hoped. The game drug on through 3-1/2 hours and ended with the Sox committing 3 errors and the team giving up 9 runs on 12 hits. The bull pen was serviceable…the good news is that Shawn Balteff and Matt Paris did their job giving up no hits and no runs. Unfortunately, starter James Johnson gave up six and reliever Josh Evans got pounded giving up 3 runs, 3 hits (including a homerun) and 3 walks in just an inning and a third. The offense was only able to score 4 runs on 9 hits.

Long Beach, or Los Angeles they like to be called on the road, is well on their way to a second half championship. Their magic number is two (they need a win and a Yuma loss to clinch) so we could see it happen tonight. Yuma was beaten by St. George last night…yes, the same St. George that has been in last place all year but now has given that “honor” to the Sox—Reno is now 13.0 games out of first place and a full game behind St. George.

The stadium was pretty empty and at one point I counted 5 people in general admission. The picnic area did have some folks but I am sure there were a lot of folks who bought tickets but didn’t show as paid attendance was 1000. It is sad that the turnout was lacking but with a weekday game and a team completely out of contention, it will be hard to get people to drive all the way to UNR to see them. Still, I would hope folks also would see that pro baseball is about to leave us on Saturday and we won’t see it again until next June. If you don’t see it now, you’re missing a great opportunity.

On a good note, I noticed that box scores have been in the RGJ more regularly this season as well as stories. That is good and hopefully it is a victory that can carry over to next season. Coverage was great this year with soft stories though the box scores and game write-ups were not as frequent.

And finally, the answer to the trivia question I threw out there yesterday was indeed Scott Schneider. So, congratulations to S. Sox for the answer. I don’t have a prize but if look me at the park, I’ll buy you the frosty beverage of your choice!

Game Report: Chico @ Reno (8/19/2007)

2007-08-20T08:35:00.000-07:00

I didn't make the game last night so I just have a quick post on last night's game...The Sox lost a tight one, 3-2. Dusty Bergman took the loss though his seven hits and three runs spread over a complete game are nothing to be be ashamed of. The Sox offense simply sputtered against a solid pitching outing by the Outlaws that included 11 straight batters retired by Greg Bicknell and Todd Glaetka locking down his league leading 16th save.

By the way, can anyone name player that holds the season record for saves in the GBL? Hint, he had 19 saves for the Reno Silver Sox last year.

That's all for now. See you at the yard tonight.

Game Report: Chico @ Reno (8/18/2007)

2007-08-19T13:53:00.000-07:00

The beginning of the last homestand of the season provided some excellent entertainment from the moment fans walked through the gate. In addition to a coupon in the paper for 2-for-1 tickets (which I used to put my family in Section 9 for just $18) the Sox also gave out free baseball cards to the first 500 fans. They were professionally designed and were by far the best giveaway of the year in my opinion.

The game proved equally exciting with both teams clawing for the victory. The lead changed hands multiple times and there was plenty of drama to enjoy. And, believe it or not, Reno's bullpen was lights out as Walentin, Evans, and Thomas combined for 2-1/3 scoreless innings of work in relief of starter Adam Harendza who had a rough start giving up 6 runs and 9 hits plus a balk in just under six innings of work.

It was probably one of the top five games of the year from a baseball purist perspective (i.e. good pitching, good offense, good defense, competitive from 1-9, etc.) Hopefully you were there to enjoy it.

Some notes:

-- Les was able to keep Mike Done's hot bat in the line-up without sacrificing defense. Done has struggled in the field as of late and even when he isn't committing errors, it still can be ugly with Adam Amar at first having to dig out more than a few errant throws from Done. However, Done is red hot at the dish having hit .400 with 9 runs, 2 homers, and 12 RBIs over the last 10. Our skipper was able to keep him in the game as the DH and was rewarded for that choice when Done smashed one of the Sox three homeruns of the evening.

-- Another homerun was sent over the left field wall by Kane Simmons who continues to lead the league with 16 home runs. That comes in 48 games as he joined the team about a month into the season. If he had been here all year I think he would be the all time GBL homerun leader by now. That record is held by Peanut Williams who had 20 dingers last season. There is still time for Kane to set a new record. Assuming 4 ABs in all remaining games, he will have to average 1 for ever 4.2 at bats to get 21 by the time the season ends on Saturday. By comparison, Barry Bonds has averaged 1 every 8.9 at bats from 1999-2007. Stiff competition but it is a possiblity.

-- Effort seemed a little lax last night. Granted, the guys came back from a short 2-game road trip in Orange County and it is the end of the season but I'm hoping they pick it up a bit to close out the year. Adam Amar had two foul pop-ups come his way. The first bounced off the top of his glove and the second bounced about a foot in front of him. One guy near us was giving him a hard time so I know Adam was probably getting tired of that since the guy wouldn't shut up for a full inning. Of course, I do feel the guy's frustration. Scott Dragecevich should have been out on the missed pop-up. Instead, he sent one over the left field wall a few moments later.

And I know Senreiso may not have the best range, but it did seem like he really didn't put too much effort into catching a couple of fly balls, prefering to play them on a bounce. It seemed like fielding wasn't as crisp as it should have been. But, I point it out just by way of analysis and not judgement. Maybe guys are worried about injuries or are jsut worn out. If it is not up to Les Lancaster's standard, he'll let them know.

-- Speaking of injuries, Carlos Madrid was on-hand though he was in the stands. He is still nursing the hamstring injury (I assume) that put him on the shelf a few weeks ago. Boy, injuries were out of control this year!

-- Chico brought their mascot for the game which I thought was a nice touch. Rascal and Nugget had a dance off in the bottom of the 6th. It is always nice to get more than you expect and the Sox did a good job with that last night.

Now I realize the Sox are out of the postseason but I hope that doesn't stop the fans from coming out. The team will finish against some quality opponents and it will be the last professional baseball Reno will see until next June. So give the team your 100% support to finish strong and show them you appreciate having pro ball in our town.

Final Road Trip Ends

2007-08-18T06:15:00.000-07:00

The Sox were able to split the final road trip of the year 1-1 against the Orange County Flyers but they still ended up with sole possession of last place as St. George only played one game during that stretch (which they won.)

The Sox did well in the first game jumping all over OC for an 11-6 win. The second game saw OC strike back in a 6-3 affair.

Bullpen and errors have been the story of this year but these two games saw both those factors not play into the final decision. There were three errors in those two games, including one more by Mike Done (pictured above). However, Mike more than made up for his lone miscue batting .333 with 2 runs and 3 RBIs in the two game set. And the bullpen was servicable with a 3.60 ERA ,4 strike outs, and 4 walks over 5 innings of relief work. So these issues haven't been completely fixed but they are not as bad as they were.

The Sox return home to finish out the year. Tonight is baseball card night so be sure to get there early so you can be one of the first 500 people who get that promotional item. The game is against their long time rival, the first half champion Chico Outlaws.

Game Report: St. George @ Reno (8/14/2007)

2007-08-15T14:06:00.000-07:00

So this is what last place feels like...

After getting swept by last place St. George last night (which was also St. George's first series sweep of any team this year), the Sox are now tied with them for a position they have never been in before--last place in the Golden Baseball League.

Bullpen implosions and key errors led to our team being in this position and last night was no exception. The scoring for St. George started in the second with Mike Done overthrowing 1st base from about 35 feet away. This allowed the inning to continue and ultimately cost the Sox 2 runs on 2 hits.

Starting Pitcher James Johnson was not overpowering but he kept the Sox in the game and even left with a lead.

He turned the game over to newcomer Joe Walentin. Joe looked great over 2-2/3 innings as he retired 8 of 9 batters including 4 by strike out.

But then, what every Sox fan felt was going to happen but didn't want to admit finally did. With 2 down in the ninth, Ryan Stevenson blasted a shot to right center. Knowing he had to get to third, Stevenson ran hard but looked like he has running out of steam halfway there. Done, receiving the relay, tried to nail him at 3rd but instead threw the ball into the St. George dugout allowing the run to score on Done's 20th error on the season and 3rd in two nights.

Of course, then the bullpen curse was in full effect as Walentin would allow two baseruns to reach safely and then, in a St. George fairy tale ending, former Silver Sox player Cody Nowlin hit what would turn out to be the game winning single, loudly clapping his hands as he reached first. Walentin would finally get the last out but not before surrendering 3 hits, 2 walks, 2 runs, and, most importantly, the lead.

The Sox would threaten loading the bases for Victor Hall in the bottom of the ninth. Victor would take the count to 3-2 and then, in a controversial play, Victor struck out. Hall, telling the umpire he was hit by the pitch on the calf, was told he went too far on his check swing and was called out.

I am going to be very direct and say I think the umpires are suspect at times and need help calling balls and strikes. I've been watching baseball for years and I know that where the catcher's glove is when the ball is caught doesn't determine if it is a ball or strike. So I am not one of those fans who boos every ball. However, I have spent this series in the area behind homeplate and I will say there is not a lot of consistency in what was called. And I am not the only one who felt this way as the umpire got complaints from both dugouts even going to the extent of raising his hand to the Sox dugout, removing his mask, and shouting "that's enough". I would love to have a camera in the outfield with the computer drawn box showing just how far they are off.

With that said, the Victor Hall call was the right call no matter how much the fans booed it. Here is the rule (editted for length):

Rule 6.05

A batter is out when:

(f) He attempts to hit a third strike and the ball touches him;

So good job to the umpire who made a call that most people in the stands didn't seem to understand. However, the fact that Les didn't come out should have been an indicator that the right call was made.

Attendance for the game was 1001.

Now it is off to SOCAL for a two game series (I will just do one blog on FRI to wrap up the series) and then it is back to Reno to finish out the season. As promised, I will write a blog for each game of the final homestand and then will post a year end wrap up the next week to close out my blog until next season. Hope you enjoy reading!

Game Report: St. George @ Reno (8/13/2007)

2007-08-14T07:00:00.000-07:00

For 7 innings last night, the fans were treated to a pitcher's duel between former Major Leaguers Dusty Bergman (Angels) and Mark Woodyard (Tigers). Bergman went 7 innings giving up one run and fanning five. Woodyard, went 8 innings giving up four runs (two earned) while striking out four.

Then in a scenario all too familiar to Sox fans, the bullpen imploded. Bergman left with a 4-1 lead but after the bullpen gave up 10 runs, 6 walks, and 6 hits over the last two, the Sox lost for the first time to St. George on the season with a final tally of 11-4.

Matt Parris, Shawn Balteff, and Josh Evans were all over the strike zone and had trouble getting the call. Now, I will be the last one to defend homeplate umpire Tyler Ramsey since that guy has the most bizarre strike zone I have ever seen. A pitch 8 inches off the plate will be a strike and then one that kisses the black will be called a ball. But the Sox pitchers didn't help themselves. I didn't count but at one point, Balteff threw what seemed like 10-12 consecutive balls. That is obviously not going to get the job done.

Defense on this squad has improved immensely. That being said, Mike Done still committed his team leading 18th error on what should have been an easy force out at home. Unfortunately, he hurried the throw leading to two runs. Done has improved greatly in the field and those 18 errors comes across 58 games so that is not too bad for a team that lead the league in errors for almost the entire first half. It just seems that when it rains, it pours. The errors for this team (and you have to include wild pitches and passed balls) seem to always lead to another mark in the "L" column. When you have a bullpen like we do, 1 error is all it takes to open the flood gates.

The Sox are now one loss away from being tied with last place St. George. The Roadrunners, by the way, are well on their way to setting the league record for worst record in a season. The Samurai Bears of '05 went 33-57 and the Scorpions of '06 went 32-48. St. George is at 15-48 on the season with 12 games to play so even if they won all of them, they still will have a 27-48 record. Wow.

Attendance was 1003 for tonight's game.

The Sox have one more home game tonight before hitting the road for a short 2 game stint in Southern California. They will then be back to close up the season with a nine game homestand. Hopefully you'll come out and support the team. They have some good promotions lined up like baseball card night (18th), family day (19th), and a season finale that includes a double header and fireworks on the 25th. Win or lose, they are still our home team so I hope to see you at the yard!

Final Stretch

2007-08-13T13:30:00.000-07:00

Well, the Sox went 3-4 against the two best teams in the league this last week which pretty much slammed the door on the season. The Sox are 10 games out of the second half playoff spot with 13 games left in the 38 game half.

Les Lancaster hasn't given up and made some moves this week to improve his team including trading C Jose Rodriguez, releasing P Jason Martinez, and bringing in three new players. Not sure if those were the missing pieces the team needed but they will pretty much have to win every game they have left and hope that Long Beach implodes and loses every game they have left. Yuma also has to do a nose dive to make this scenario possible. But it ain't over until it is over so I'll keep hope alive.

The Sox are back in town for a two game homestand against last place St. Goerge. Hopefully we can chalk those up as wins. But we'll have to wait and see.

There are some bright spots to look to:

Adam Harendza had a great outing last night as a spot starter pitching 6 scoreless innings. He has had some shaky appearances but has shown flashes of brilliance so hopefully there is more to come from him.

New Catcher Josh McLeod is red hot over the last five games batting .333 with 5 runs on 6 hits. Not sure he fills the void left by Chikazawa and Rodriguez but we'll have to see. Chikazawa brought the defense and Rodriguez brough the offense so hopefully Josh is a blend of the two.

Kane Simmons continues to lead the league in homeruns, checking in at 15 on the season. He's going to have to crank it up and average about a homerun every two games to set the league record but that is definitely within reach.

Hope to see you out at the yard!

It is officially time to worry...

2007-08-06T20:38:00.000-07:00

Graphic from http://success-and-happiness.net/images/worry.jpg

Well, I am starting week 2 of 2 here at beautiful Fort Hunter Liggett. I am in class all day learning those tasks that is designed to prepare me for battalion command and service on a general's staff (hence the name Command and General Staff College Intermediate Level Education--or simply "ILE"). We start at 5:30AM with physical training, get to class by 8AM, and finish up by 6PM. After that, we have about 2 hours of homework a night. Unfortuately, the closest town is 35 minutes from here so I have a lot of time in my room since it is kind of pointless to leave here. We did have part of Saturday off so I drove the three hours to Fresno to see the AAA Grizzlies play. It was pretty cool to see Russ Ortiz in a rehab assignment and to be around all the Giants fans as Bonds broke the record. But, I digress. The bottom line is I have a chance each night to tune into Ben Deach's radio broadcast.

Unfortunately, what I have been hearing hasn't been good. I left Reno last Saturday and from Sunday to Sunday, the Silver Sox are 1-6 in that time period. That includes an 0-3 series with first place Long Beach as well as a continuation of the losing streak against third place Orange County who Reno is yet to defeat this season.

And, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, the bullpen continues to be unreliable.

Here are the stats for the last 10 days for the bullpen:

Shawn Balteff-----> 0-2, 6.16 ERA
Eric Brock--------> 0-0, 10.19 ERA
Josh Evans-------> 0-0, 3.55 ERA
Adam Harendza--> 0-2, 10.31 ERA
Jason Martinez---> 0-0, 8.18 ERA
Eric Thomas------> 0-1, 1 SV, 7.83 ERA

That is just not going to get the job done. The Sox have scored and average of 7.4 runs per game during that same period so the offense is doing its job. And over those past 10 days, Juan Senreiso (.375, 10 R, 1 HR, 10 RBI) and Victor Hall (.361, 18 R, 1 HR, 5 RBI) have been on fire. Hall is also now up to 30 SBs on the year and Kane Simmons still leads the league in homeruns having reached a total of 13 on the season.

Time may have officially run out for the Sox baring some late season miracle and Les Lancaster is in serious danger of having a losing record. The Sox, 18-19 during the first half, are at 6-11 with the the second half having just 21 games to play. They are 8.5 games back of the Armada which leaves them very little time to finally get hot. I, being a true fan, will not say it is over until it is officially over (which could come in the next week) but it is time to worry.

On a seperate note, Masa Chikazawa was released by the team today. As I get more info on that, I will post more information.

Here is an article on the Masa Chikazawa release. Sad story really considering the heart this guy has. I really hope his baseball dreams work out. He brings a lot to the game that American players can learn from in terms of heart, work ethic, and attitude.

http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070808/SPORTS/708080420

Getting my baseball fix on the road

2007-07-28T21:39:00.001-07:00

I have to do a couple of weeks of Army training at Fort Hunter Liggett, CA. Since I have to sign in in the morning, I decided to drive down today so I don't have to wake up at 3AM to get there.

Anyway, I decided to stop by a Visalia Oaks game which seemed like a good fit as it is the High-A affiliate of my favorite team, the Arizona Diamondbacks. The stadium is tightly inserted into a neighborhood so it wouldn't surprise me if a few foul balls land in people's yards. Parking is limited to a lot with about 100 spaces or so, a dirt lot, or the street (which I used).

Well, I must admit that if you are a Sox fan, you don't know how good we have it. First of all, the stadium is old and run down and the field is pretty torn up in spots (and they didn't even bother to draw coaches boxes).

The first thing I did was check the internet (wireless rules); it listed the following as the promotion:

July 28 vs. Lancaster - 7:00 PM
Team Photo Giveaway & Autograph Day

I thought, wow, that might be a nice thing to get since maybe one or two of these guys will be a future D-Back. Well, they moved the promotion but decided not to update the website. So I headed to the souveneir stand and thought I'd at least get a pack of team cards. They wanted $20 for them! $20! When I asked why, they said because it included a Justin Upton card. Needless to say, I walked away.

So I headed to the concession stand. After standing in line for a few minutes, I finally got to the front of the line and placed my order. Well, all they do is give you a slip of paper and you stand in another line where the grill is to actually get your hot dog.

Finally, I got to my seat and here was my view:

Nice. So I figured I would just enjoy the game. Unless you came to see Lancaster (which was the D-backs affiliate last year by the way), you'd go home empty handed as they crusied to a 10-2 victory on 15 hits. The Oaks starter, Anthony Cupps, dropped to 2-10 with an ERA of 6.43 and the bullpen didn't do much better. The guy was missing with a curveball all night but they left him in there.

As far as atmosphere, there was no mascot, no onfield promotions, and very little music or sound effects. Outside, there was a leader board that someone forgot to fill out and just moving around from my seat was difficult. The first 3-4 rows only have an exit on the first base side or the tihird base side so if you sit in the middle, it is at least 100-200 feet of "excuse mes" before you get to an aisle. Very poor construction.

I think I was spoiled...I grew up attending Rancho Cucamonga Quakes game which were in the best (at the time) Class A minor league park in the country. Since then, I've seen A level games in Adelanto, CA (High Desert Mavericks) and Columbia, SC (Capital City Bombers). I thought I had a good idea of what an affiliated stadium was supposed to be like (since they claim they have a standard that is much higher than independent baseball). This stadium, though it had nice stadium seats in the bowl around the plate, was run down and a real disappointment.

So I left after the 5th and went to my hotel room to catch the end of the Sox game. They were up 5-2 when I joined the game but then Eric Thomas came in and blew the save for Johnson after Balteff had done his part to preserve the lead. I think Ben Deach jinxed him because he called him the team's closer. Everyone that even came close to that designation started pitching poorly so I think it is safer to just say we have a closer by committee (Pluoffe, Testa, Nikolic, Martinez, and Thomas have all faltered when they had to close out more than a game here or there).

So the OC Flyers were able to steal a 6-5 win. Thus ends my journey to find my baseball fix on the road. I guess on the bright side, Les picked up two new pitchers who should get a shot soon to see if they can shore up the bullpen. Eric Brock and Adam Harendza both come to the Sox from the now defunct New York State League. With the end of the second half coming up quickly, we need to start winning the close games if we intend to get to and win the playoffs.

Game Report: Orange County @ Reno (7/27/2007)

2007-07-27T22:41:00.000-07:00

Another beautiful day in Reno unfolded with the Orange County Flyers coming in for a three game set and their first meeting of the year with the Silver Sox.

It was sure to be a good game and it did not disappoint...OC (or "The OC" as the scoreboard read) was bringing their A game tonight...their ace Ben Fox (3-0, 0.67 ERA) took the mound with Peanut Williams (.340, 5 HR, 33 RBI), Scott Goodman (.259, 7 HR, 33 RBI), and Rich Pohle (.349, 5 HR, 38 RBIs) providing the heart of a solid line-up.

Of course, the Silver Sox countered with a stacked line-up of their own hurling their #2 starter Matt Parris (4-6, 4.12 ERA) who had Kane Simmons (.354 and league leading 11 HRs), Juan Senreiso (.345, 6 HR, 12 SB), and Carlos Madrid (.321, 4 HR, 25 RBIs) to back him up.

First blood was drawn by Senreiso who launched one over the fence in the bottom of the 1st. Senreiso looks like a ball player in a prototypcial fashion. Now I am not suggesting you judge a book by its cover but when he comes to the plate you can just see by his cuts that something is going to happen.

And speaking of unique styles, the OC's Mark Okano brings one. I thought he was Japanese for sure since he has the high leg kick you see in Japanese leagues but he is actually Hawaiian (of Japanese descent). OC's radio announcer, Jordan Moore, mentioned there was an article on the Orange County register about him and his hitting style but I couldn't find it. In any event, it was good enough for a homerun tonight.

OC's pitcher, Ezequiel Ruvalcaba tempted fate with the Sox and with their stacked line-up, he got burned. He loaded the bases (including one infield hit by Ryan Kowalski that was the best bunt I have seen all year--literally as close to perfect as you can get); and then Victor Hall made him pay with a baseclearing triple.

Parris pitched well though he put a lot of runners on. Balteff came in missing the strike zone but settled down for 1-1/3 solid innings of work before Martinez shut the door. What was a close game (5-4) going into the bottom of the 8th ended up being a blowout 10-4.

As for the park, attendance was 1358 and the energy level was up; 500 happy fans even went home with the night's giveaway of a free t-shirt. Even the mascots have stepped it up a bit. Early in the season, Nugget was pretty tame sticking to the on field promotions and walking around the stadium. Now he is on top of the dugout breakdancing (guess he learned some moves from the chicken!). That is what a mascot is supposed to do and it is great to see. Same goes for Slugger.

The Sox are firing on all cylinders. There may be some rough edges (pitching) but defense is much improved and the offense continues to churn out runs in bunches. Of course, the real test of whether or not the Sox have turned it around will come during their 6 game road trip next week. This blog chronicled their road woes of the first half and I would love to not have to do that again :)

Those six games, in case you were wondering, come during a 15-day consecutive game streak so the guys will have to reach down deep to keep up the pressure as they finish the season with two hungry contenders (LB and OC) as well as the 1st half champion Chico Outlaws.

If you haven't been out to the stadium, now is the time. The championship is around the corner and it is fast becoming "win or go home" time. We are in for a great second half.

See you at the yard.

Game Report: Yuma @ Reno (7/26/2007)

2007-07-26T23:02:00.000-07:00

Well, I made it to my first game after our long vacation and it was Reno taking on the red-hot Yuma Scorpions who had won 7 straight since the start of the second half. This is a really good team and one that has a pechant for fast starts. Remember that they also tore it up during the first half before coming back to earth as Chico would go onto win the first half.

Dusty Bergman did well in his first few innings before running into some problems. It was similar to the last game a saw with Bergman a few weeks ago when he pitched great and then was probably left in just a little bit too long. He allowed Yuma to sneak back in and left with a tie game (6-6). However, he was able to back into a win as the Sox retook the lead before the next pitcher came in. Following a stint by Adam Nikolic, Eric Thomas came in and closed out the game. He is huge. He is listed at 6-9, 240 and I would say that is completely legit. He is a very imposing figure on the mound and he throws hard.

Kane Simmons remains hot and knocked in another homerun tonight bringing his total to 11 in 26 games. How this guy went undrafted is beyond me but I am glad we have him for as long as it lasts. I think I'll make the prediction that he will be out first pick up by an MLB team in 2007. Let's see if I am right. I also heard his family was in town so I am glad he did well with them here.

And there were a couple of roster moves--C Joe Melton and 1B Ryan Brown were placed on the inactive list with various injuries. Melton was batting .278 with no homers or RBIs in limited action; Brown was .327, 4HRs, and 15 RBIs. Not sure how long they may be out but luckily the team has some depth at those positions so the team should be able to survive.

Pitching continues to be an issue and guys who were doing well are struggling a bit. Les should be introducing a new pitcher soon so that will be nice. It has been a revolving door at that position. Starters 1-4 (Bergman, Parris, Moran, Johnson) have been solid and doing well; the 5th starter is still up in the air--even though plenty of people have had a shot at the position. There is also no clear closer. But Les is an expert in dealing with pitchers and getting the most from them so between him and Bergman, we'll have to see if they can get the wins they need from this staff to capture the second half title.

Defense has been looking up for the team. We no longer lead the league in errors (St. George has that honor)--we have 87 but the good news is 31 of those came from guys no longer on the active roster. They still have 1 or so a game but it is far better than it was earlier this year.

I'll be at the game tomorrow for the first visit of the year by the Orange County Flyers and then I will be out of the area for a couple of weeks. I'd really love to make up for that missed time by having the season extended for a week or two with the playoffs. Come on Sox!

Road Trip: Reno @ Chico (July 23, 2007)

2007-07-25T10:14:00.000-07:00

We were on vacation for the past several days and saw a window to go to see the Sox play an away game so we took it. There is something special about seeing other ballparks but moreso, there is something special about supporting your team on the road.

We drove for 8 hours from our previous location (Woodburn,OR) and arrived about 90 minutes before gametime. Since we were staying at the Super 8 on Manzanita and 99 and only about 10 minutes from the Net, we let the kids swim for a while and got to the park about 6:45PM.

The first thing I noticed is that they charged for parking ($3), something I am not used to with the Sox. However, the next thing I noticed is the appearance of the ballpark. The facade looked nice, like a real stadium. Peccole is such that you see the backs of the bleachers where the Net had a concrete, decorated wall (flags, awnings, etc). It was a very good way to set the tone. Around the park, there was a souvenier trailer which had a much wider assortment of items then I am used to in Reno. They also had multiple concession points (3 that I counted with 1 that could be opened if the crowd required it). They also had a booth as we do in Reno where you pick up the night's rosters. In addition, they also gave out game notes and current statistics. This was a nice touch and I hope it is one all the teams institute.

There was a play area for kids as well as picnic tables down either line...again, another nice way to make sure families have a good time when the young ones get tired of sitting in 100 degree weather. They also had concession points in those areas with $1 candy bars. Speaking of concessions, they were all run by folks in Outlaw gear. At Reno, we get the Sedexho workers who have a contract to do all sporting events on campus. After seeing this, I wonder if Reno gets a cut of concessions or if theirs is smaller than Chico.

The stadium crowd was small (959) but that is defintely more than Reno draws on an average Monday night. The Outlaws staff also includes members who hold up signs to pump up the crowd (Charge, Wave, etc) and that helped get them going. Those staff members also dance on the dugouts and pulled up some fans to dance with them. And they collected trash throughout the innings.

The sightlines are great at this park. Reno, due to its continual building has structures (the batting cage/player building in right and the bullpen in left) that block views down the lines for all but those directly behind homeplate. There is a large amount of foul territory and on field pitchers mounds. In fact, the pitchers back up to the fence where the family areas are I mentioned earlier allowing for some interation with the players. There is also a much bigger pressbox/luxury seat area and more seats behind homeplate than in Reno.

And, their sound system is awesome...clear, perfect volume, etc. The scoreboard also has an Outlaws logo on it (wish we could get equal billing at Peccole where everything is about the Wolfpack at our park). Their programs were well done and published more frequently than the once a month we have in Reno. About the only negative thing I can say is that the lighting isn't as good as Peccole.

As for being in enemy territory, it was a fun experience. We sat in 101 (home team side) and when we first cheered everyone turned around to see why we would do such a thing in Chico. We later moved to the 301 side and it started fun as well. I got accosted by the mascot on the way over who put his arm around me and led me toward the exit; and my daughter got razzed by some kids in the playpark for wearing a Silver Sox hat. Of course, they were all friends after that. As for the Sox section, it included me, my wife, and a little ways down, Carlos Madrid's significant other. I have not been to a game that she has not been at--I guess she goes to away games too.

About the only negative moment came when some rowdy college kids sat behind us and began yelling obscenities at the Sox and made some derogatory comments about Reno and how the only thing from them that would ever stay there is the urine they left on the street. Eventually a staff member told them to tone it down and they did so in a sarcastic manner (shouting things like "If we can't cuss, can I say F You instead?)

As for the game, it was Reno domination from the first inning. James Johnson pitched well en route to his first win and the offense was also strong. Mike Done has really rebounded from a sub-par first half to be a prime contributor. And the pitching is much more solid as is the defense. I guess I'll throw out there again how I hope spring training is longer than 7-9 days next year. When you assemble a team basically from scratch, it is hard for them to gel and get in playing shape immediately. Even Juan Senreiso, our league player of the week, took a few weeks to find his groove--and he was playing solid baseball right up until he joined the Sox.

All in all, it was a great event and it is nice to say we followed our team on the road. The other two times I've done it didn't require traveling more than an hour or so. So this was our first official road trip! And on top of that my oldest daughter caught her first foul ball!

And, after seeing how Chico operates and how great their stadium is comparatively, I really hope the Sox do well enough to either command more decision ability at Peccole or interest some investors to build them a small park of their own. Our team plays great baseball (leads the league in HRs and SBs) and I would love it if people in Reno would just give them a chance and go see a game. The Sox have made great strides this year and it will be interesting to see how things turn out in the years to come.

What comes around goes around

2007-07-12T09:31:00.000-07:00

The Sox swept St. George to remain undefeated against the expansion roadrunners. That was the first three games of the series. Unfortunately, the second two saw Long Beach do the same to them. So a3-2 homestand led to an overall 14-18 record, 8 games behind league leading Chico.

Of course, the real story of the night was the appearance of the Famous Chicken. He did his normal routine of the eye chart, putting the hex on the opposing team, etc. And he danced on the dugout and acted as first base coach as well. He was great and I really enjoyed the night...probably because my family loved it so much too. It was great.

James Johnson, our starter, was a little shaky and Chris Wakeland took advantage of him early for a 2-run shot. The Armada took off to a 4-0 lead and the Sox wold claw their way back in to tie it at 5-5 in the bottom of the eight. Unfortunately, Chris Wakeland came up again and this time, with 2 outs and a 3-2 count in the top of the ninth, he sent another bomb over the fence to give the Armada a 8-5 lead which would hold for a 8-6 victory. Wakeland, no stranger to professional baseball, was a member of the Detroit Tigers in 2001. He now leads the league with 7 homeruns.

Overall it was a great night of baseball. Attendance was 2266.

I am going on vacation and then to an Army school for the next 4-weeks so posts will slow down significantly. Hopefully by the time I get back, Reno is on their way to a second half title and an eventual second GBL crown.

Chico-Reno Rivalry Hears Up

2007-07-10T15:45:00.000-07:00

The Sox-Outlaws rivalry continues to be a good one. Chico has established themselves as the best team in the league and took the most recent series at the Net 2-1 over Reno. After taking out Chikazawa in Reno, the Outlaws felt a couple hit batsmen by Dusty Bergman was retaliation and let him know by charging the mound and starting a bench clearing brawl. I think this is a natural rivalry and one that will only continue to build. If Reno can do well in the 2nd half, look out come championship time.

The Sox came home this weekend and swept St. George keeping the Roadrunners winless against Les Lancaster's boys. Of course, beating the Roadrunners doesn't mean the ship has been completely righted. There is still a lot of work to be done. It also looks like most fans skipped the series due to the heat (triple digits) and all the smoke in the valley from the various fires going on. I, too, skipped them do do other stuff but I probably needed that weekend to clean up around the house and get ready for vacation next week. So hopefully the Armada series will see more than the 1000 fans they averaged over the last three nights.

First, the bad news. The errors continue to mount and Reno now has a league leading 71 through 30 games. The first half ends in a little over a week so hopefully there is some re-tooling to be done. Here are two guys I see as close to getting cut:

-- Mike Peck. 0-0 with a 12.71 ERA over 8 games. He has 3 strike outs to 10 walks and a WHIP of 3.16. Recall that Peck was already released once this year by a GBL team. If you take his total stats, he is 0-2 with a 15.38 ERA in 9.2 innings with 18 walks and 10 strikeouts.

-- Joe Melton. Do we really need 3 catchers? He has only had 7 at bats since being acquired on June 29. And he has only hit .143 in those at bats.

There is another player who won't get cut because he is also a coach but he needs to step up his game:

-- Mike Done needs to step it up defensively. He now leads the team in errors and is just average on the offensive side with a .223 average with 1 HR and 9 RBIs in 103 at bats. He is also second on the team in strike outs with 29, well on pace to break the century mark. Not good.

As for good news, it comes with two groups...the veterans and the newcomers of the 2007 season. First the veterans:

-- Victor Hall is by far my vote for first half MVP. He is hitting .278 with 4 HRs, 18 RBIs, and a league leading 18 stolen bases. He is also the only player to start and play in every game this season.

-- Jose Rodriguez has a .315 batting average along with 6 dingers and 21 RBIs. And he wasn't even a starter at the beginning of the year. Awesome.

-- Carlos Madrid is a guy who has made it in this league on heart and determination. This undrafted player checks in with a .351 average,3 HRs, and 18 RBIs. Glad to see him do well for the second year in a row!

-- Dusty Bergman. How does a guy with a 3.25 ERA and a 3:2 strikeout to walk ratio end up with only 1 win? 13 of the 29 runs he gave up were unearned. Talk about no defensive support. But, he is our workhorse racking up a team-leading 44 innings (10 more than another positive suprise in Matt Parris) and 30 strikeouts.

And the newcommers:

-- Kane Simmons. Last year he was a college student. Now he is player of the week and the hottest Silver Sox player with a team high .357 AVG, with 5 HRs and 13 RBIs. And, did I mention that he has done that in just 42 at bats?

-- Juan Senreiso. His offensive numbers remind me of Alfonso Soriano. Hits for Average (.313) with a mix of power (4 HR, .625 SLG) and speed (5 steals). Solid outfielder as well.

-- Shawn Balteff. He just joined the team but across 5-1/3 innings he has allowed just one hit and one run in three appearances. His 1.69 ERA is only bested by the .059 average he allows opposing hitting. Hopefully he can keep it up because we need it! I don't think any Sox reliever has had three consecutive solid performances (Josh Evans and Adam Nikolic are close) so it is nice to see

That's all for now. Long Beach comes to town for a 2-game stint with the famous chicken coming in tomorrow. I have a dinner engagement tonight so I won't be at Peccole but you know you'll find me there tomorrow.

See you at the yard.

Game Report: Chico at Reno (7/3/2007)

2007-07-04T07:52:00.001-07:00

Before I get to the game report, I wanted to note that Masa Chikazawa took a brutal hit at the plate last night and was down for about 15 minutes. Paramedics were on scene and he was taken off the field on a stretcher. Ben Deach's game report said preliminary reports were that he would make a full recovery. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

UPDATE (7/4/2007): Ben Deach said on tonight's radio broadcast that Chikazawa was showing no ill effects from yesterday and is even on the trip with the team to Chico. He wasn't playing tonight but may play in the series.

As far as the game, the Sox lost 13-9 but before I get into the details, I wanted to talk about the atmosphere.

The crowd was the largest of the year at 2685. I read in an article that Fireworks are the number one draw of fans followed by bobbleheads. Unfortuately, with the latter, fans tend to leave the game early, but with fireworks the majority stay through the entire game. That was definitely the case and it was the best atmosphere at Peccole that I have ever experienced. Fans were into the game from start to finish, cheering loudly at times, and even starting the wave on multiple occasions. The lines for concessions took about 20 minutes to navigate due to the large crowd compared to the normal 2-3 minute wait in line so Sodexho (concessions company) clearly wasn't ready for crowd. This is obviously good and bad. My recommendation to soothe the crowd: Add more concessionaires if possible or put the radio broadcast on speakers for the crowd to listen to the game while they wait. If you actually could get CCTV that would be awesome but radio will also suffice.

Off the field, General Manager Dwight Dortch resigned and his assistant, Curt Jacey, was promoted to General Manager. And there were already changes during these last two games. There is now a second mascot named Slugger who you can check out below.

UPDATE (7/4/2007): San Diego fans confirmed that this new mascot was their old mascot before the team folded. Their loss is our gain I guess.

Then there are signs on the concourse listing the starting line-ups, current standings, and upcoming promotions. This is a great touch. The promotions are being changed slowly and thy now include a race of 3 Silver Sox behind the right field wall with the winner determining which section gets free otter pops. Add to this that that the Sox sent an e-mail to their fans saying the promotions schedule was going to be completely reworked, there would be a kid's club and a booster club established, and that there would be a greater focus on in stadium promotions, and it is easy to see the Sox are moving in the right direction. Curt said in an RGJ quote that he wants to get as many fans in the stands as possible. I think these moves will definitely help with that. Great job, Curt!

As for the game, the Sox strategy seems to be trying to outslug their errors and pitching problems. Some times it works, but eventually, you reap the whirlwind as we saw last night.

Monday vs. Chico, the Sox committed 7 errors and gave up nine runs. However, led by homeruns from Jose Rodriguez, Ryan Brown, and a pair from Kane Simmons, the Sox were able to score 10 and win the game.

Tuesday, they couldn;t repeat this feat. They cut their errors to the more standard 2 and added in a couple of longballs from Juan Sanreiso but then they gave up 19 hits and allowed Chico to score 13 runs. Add to this 5 walks and a Wild Pitch that scored a Chico run and it is easy to see that you can only tempt fate so long. Chico, on the other hand is is the best pitching team in the league with a team ERA of 4.54. Add to this that they also have the most dominant closer in Todd Galetka and you will see that if you give them the opportunity to score runs they will beat you. Kelly Johnston, a new pitcher just acquired yesterday, took the loss giving up six runs (all earned) in the last three innings of the game.

And, if you don't recognize many of those names, it is because there has been a lot of player movement. The Sox haven't put out a press release or e-mail on those moves and that is something I would like to see improved. I sent an e-mail to the team and posted my concerns on the Our Sports Central website that many league officials and staff read so hopefully it changes.

Anyway, here is a quick rundown since the start of the season of player movement:

PLAYERS LOST: P Brian Keating (retired), OF J.J. Sherrill(out for the year with a knee injury), OF J.J. Johnson (Out with a facial injury; return unknown), 3B Dustin Hahn (Retired), P Keaton Everitt (Out for season with shoulder injury), P Matt Scott (On inactive list, injury unknown), SS Jordan Devoir (On inactive list with shin injury, return unknown), OF Travis Tully (traded to Costal Bend Aviators of American Association), and P Marshall Plouffe (released)

PLAYERS SIGNED: P Mike Peck, P Chris Testa, OF Kane Simmons, C Joe Melton, OF Juan Senreiso, 1B Ryan Brown, P Kelly Johnston and OF Gary Snyder (he was later released)

UPDATE (7/4/2007): The Sox sent out two player movement e-mails so things are already changing under the Jacey leadership. Thanks!!! Ben Deach talked about some of the moves. 1B Cody Nowlin was also released as the SOX brought in UT Maurice Cole and OF Ryan Kowalski. They also brought in a pitcher--I don't have the exact spelling but it sounded like Shawn Bartleff.

Game Report: Yuma @ Reno (6/29/2007)

2007-06-29T22:46:00.001-07:00

This pic is of my son and Yuma manager Mike Marshall. Having grown up in the Los Angeles Area, I saw Mike a lot as an outfield for the Dodgers. He was really nice and also signed autographs for the crowd. Not sure my son Luke thought this was very cool since he was having fun high fiving the mascot (see below) but he'll appreciate it later :)

Onto the game. Well, Reno just came off a 3-game series at St. George where they scored an insane 44 runs. Yuma, having started at a blistering 12-2 had dropped the last seven. So it would be interesting to see what would happen to two teams that were better than their current records.

The game ended up being a heartbreaker for the Reno faithful. You guys know what I harp on every game...pitching and defense. This time, the pitching was really good. Dusty Bergman went 7-2/3 with 9 strike outs. I was thinking to myself that the Sox, who average over 2 errors a game, were doing well defensively. Then 3 errors later and a string of hits off Dusty Bergman in the eighth, who was left in just a little too long, sent the Sox to a 6-3 defeat.

Madrid and Hall blasted homeruns early and it looked like the Sox were on their way to another home win. But again, defense killed the team. Nothing too egregious this time--not like Mike Done dropping a pop fly or Jose Rodriguez throwing the ball into the outfield on a pick off attempt as we have seen in the past. But as we have seen too many times, if you give guys chances to beat you eventually they will. That was the case tonight and it definitely sent the home crowd out saddened after a pretty good game of baseball that was 3-2 Sox entering the eighth.

On another note, the Sox added two players before the game. Though they are not on the website roster or on the league transaction page, the roster handed out at the game now included C Joe Milton and OF Juan Senreiso. Senrieso, from the Dominican Republic, was the Sox starting left fielder tonight. He played in the Texas and Kansas City Organizations after being signed as an undrafted free agent. He spent last year with High Desert (A) and Wichita (AA). He only got 15 at bats with the latter but with the former he hit .287 with 15 HR, 60 RBIs, and 19 SBs in about 400 at bats. Unfortunately he also had 117 strike outs so that will be something to watch. I couldn't find any info on Milton so he may be a professional rookie.

Due to other committments, I won't be at the park until Tuesday but I will be listening to the games which now are broadcast on the internet. Check out the Sox official site for the link.

Attendance was 1456.

Thank you St. George!!!

2007-06-28T08:03:00.000-07:00

There is nothing like playing a team with a 8.03 ERA that allows opponents to hit .338 when you really need a win. And the Sox did just that as they swept the St. George Roadrunners on the road to move to 3-11 on the road and move out of the oh-fer category away from Pecolle. They now also get the fortune of facing Yuma who is on a 7-game skid after starting the season 12-2. Things are looking up for the Sox and it is about time. Here is a quick run down of the St. George series.

THE GOOD

-- The offense came to life with 52 hits and 44 runs in just three games. Wow!

-- Every position player who was in a slump broke out in convinving fashion and the numbers are starting to look the way they should for the team. Some examples:

Victor Hall (.316, 3 HR, 14 RBI, 10 SB)
Carlos Madrid (.349, 2 HR, 12 RBI, 3 SB)
Jose Rodriguez (.344, 5 HR, 13 RB, 1 SB)

-- Every starter is finally over the Mendoza line and the team batting average is at .261

THE BAD

-- The team continues to commit too many errors and contiues it average of over 2 per game. They now have 43 on the season in addition to 16 wild pitches. These have resulted in 28 unearned runs.

-- Injuries continue to plague the team. Nick Moran missed a scheduled start due to shoulder stiffness and Jordan Devoir fouled a ball off his shin causing a contusion and a bone chip. Moran is scheduled to start on Saturday so we'll see what happens; Devoir is out indefinitely. To help stem the tide, OF Kane Simmons was brought in. He is a professional rookie who went 2-4 last night in his debut. The GBL commissioner said Les Is working on bringing a couple more AA veterans this weekend. I hope we can get that done.

THE UGLY

-- Pitching continues to be an issue. Though the Sox scored 44 runs in three games, they allowed 30. Neither pitching squad has much to brag about.

-- The Reno starters had an ERA of 10.77 and averaged just under 4 innings per game; the Sox relievers had an ERA of 7.67 and averaged about 5 innings per game. There is way too many things wrong with all four of those numbers so we are not out of the woods on the pitching side. The only change is that now the starters are starting to get beat up. Remember that these numbers came against a 3-16 team.

-- Mike Peck continues to struggle since joining the Sox a few days ago. He had a 13.50 ERA during this series and now is at 0-0 with a 16.20 ERA with the Sox; before that, he was 0-2 with a 19.06 ERA with his previous team.

-- Marshall Plouffe continues to self destruct when he enters the game. He was slated to be our closer and looked good converting his first save. Since then, he has really dropped off a cliff. This series he had a 18.00 ERA and now stands at 0-1 with a 12.71 ERA on the season. Jason Martinez also struggled early but he is back on track now pitching fairly well. Hopefully Marshall can do so too.

That is all for this time--I'd love your feedback. I'll be at the park on Friday.

See you at the yard.

Road woes continue

2007-06-25T09:29:00.000-07:00

0-11.

Baseball fans love stats but Silver Sox fans probably don't like that one. It is the teams record on the road this year.

The Sox came home for a short 2-game series and swept the expansion St. George Roadrunners. Things seemed to be clicking and then the bus pulled up for the trip to Long Beach.

And, after getting swept by the Armada, things just looked ugly. Two of those games saw the Silver Sox get shut out. One had a season high 5 errors committed by the Sox and they now have 37 through 16 games, the most in the league. Four of the nine starting position players are batting under .200. And the team found out it now has its third player gone for the season when it was released that J.J. Sherrill will have season ending surgery. And, J.J. Johnson is on the shelf and the status of #3 starter, Keaton Everitt, is still up in the air. The team hasn't released any information on him but he missed his last start and was pulled after a couple of innings from his start prior to that.

The road trip continues tonight with a three game stand in St. George. On a positive note, Reno has crushed St. George with an 2-0 record and a combined score of 10-2 when they first met last week. Of course that was at Peccole but if there is a team who may provide an opportunity for the Sox to break the 0-11 road record, it will be the Roadrunners. But the Sox have to buckle down and cut down on the mental mistakes.

The 37 errors, including 11 by shortstop Justin Devoir alone, need to decrease significantly. The two first place teams demonstrate that pretty clearly. First place Yuma has 22 and second place Orange County has 16.

Then, the batters have to cut down on strike outs which are way to high. Chikazawa is averaging a K every two at bats and Madrid and Done about every three at bats.

And the pitching, while getting better, has to do more. It may seem unfair when the pitching is doing a lot better but they can't count on the defense to hold small leads. The team has given up 25 unearned runs this year. That means control has to be a focus. Wild Pitches (11 in 16 games) and poor Strike Out to Walk Ratios (Bergman for example has 14 SOs to 13 walks) are areas of concern.

25 unearned runs, by the way, means the Sox spot the opponents over a run and a half per game on average. You add the team ERA of 4.36 and that means, again on average, that the offense has to score 7 or more runs to win each game. With a team batting average of .225 and less than a home run a game (they have 14 on the season) that is just not going to happen consistently. Their runs per game average is 3.75 by the way.

And for one last stat, the season is 21% over. With a little over 3/4 of a season left, time to turn things around is slowly expiring. Though Yuma has come back to earth a little, they are still 12-6 and have a 7 game lead on the Silver Sox. That will quickly become a double digit lead by the half if the Sox can't turn it around quick.

On the positive side, the team has 21 stolen bases, 38 extra base hits, and, with one exception, the starting pitchers have a WHIP around 1.00. So the opportunities to score are happening and or being manufactured and the starting pitchers are not putting a lot of guys on base to come around and hurt them later.

Here's hoping they have a little magic up their sleeve and Les' new pitcher pick-ups will stay as solid as they have looked early on to take some pressure off of the starters...

Game Report: St. George @ Reno (6/18/2007)

2007-06-18T22:16:00.000-07:00

Well, the Sox pulled out a close one tonight with a 2-1 win over St. George to not only put themselves back on the winning track but also to have a great showing by the bullpen.

When we showed up, the two J.J.s took up seats just in front of us (see above). The Sox Website said they would be back tonight so I was surprised to see them in street clothes. I talked to J.J. Johnson and he said it will probably be about another week before he was back in the line-up. He confirmed he took the foul ball off the nose and he was wearing shades at night so I assume he's still feeling the effects of that incident.

6/19/07 UPDATE: Curt Jacey, Assistand GM of the Sox, was on the radio tonight and announced that J.J. Johnson has to have surgery on a bone under his eye and will be out for some time and placed on the inactive list. Sherrill had an MRI today with the results due tomorrow. And Keaton Everitt has an injury that kept him out of the game tonight (Matt Paris made another spot start).

But the pitching and defense are what dominated this game. St. George threw former Detroit Tiger Mark Woodyard who looked great pitching the entire game (8 innings) giving up just two runs. But he would be out dueled by Nick Moran (who only went 4 innings incidentally so he didn't qualify for a win), Josh Evans, and Adam Nikolic. And though the box score will show 3 errors by the Sox, there were two huge defensive gems that preserved the lead. Travis Tully sprinted to make an outstanding diving catch on a hard liner in the outfield and Mike Done made an excellent diving stop and gunned out the runner at first. Done for his part definitely made up for dropping a pop fly at second earlier in the game.

There was a scary moment when Masa Chikazawa took a foul ball off the shoulder but he was able to continue. With the other two big bats nursing injuries, it was good to see he wasn't hurting too bad.

All in all, a great game with the Sox playing great baseball. Unfortunately, I won't be there tomorrow night but I will try to listen to the last half of the game on the radio. Hopefully, they can keep the winning ways rolling!

Attendance for the game was 979.

The nightmare roadtrip comes to an end

2007-06-17T22:38:00.000-07:00

Picture from http://www.cuttingedgeprdx.com/Road_Trips/road_trips.html

Wow, what a difference a week makes. The Sox got hammered on the road with the following events:

-- They lost every game (0-7) including a 20-11 loss to Yuma. They now stand at 2-8 in last place.

-- They've committed 20 errors which is an average of 2 per game.

-- Their team ERA is above 5.00 and that includes 2 relief pitchers (Martinez and Plouffe) who are a combined 0-3 over 9 appearances with an ERA over 16.00 between the two of them.

-- Two of their best offensive weapons (Johnson and Sherrill) went down with injuries and neither went to Yuma to help battle the red-hot Scorpions

It was a rough week and now they head back to Reno for a two game homestand. There were some positives last week including:

-- Jose Rodriguez has 4 HRs which leads the league. He came into the season as the back-up catcher so I for one am glad the GBL uses the DH so we can keep his bat in the line-up.

-- The team batting average finally climbed above the Mendoza line (barely) so hopefully that is a sign the the offense is starting to click

Now the Sox will have to dig deep to get a win against the Roadrunners tomorrow night. They have to recover from a 12-hour bus ride back to Reno the will put them in around mid-morning and then be ready to play rested St. George squad who will have a full night's sleep after finishing a set in Chico and is riding a 2-game winning streak.

I'll be at the game tommorow night hoping the Sox can get back on the right track. Getting Sherrill and Johnson back will be key as will getting the bullpen back on track. The starters have dropped to a four man rotation after the retirement of the injured Brian Keating. And that bullpen which has looked shaky has also put in a lot of innings recently. But championship teams find a way to win and Les Lancaster is a winner so if anyone can get this team to play up to its potential, it will be him.

There was one transaction of note: The Sox signed OF Gary Snyder but then released him two days later after he got two games in the outfield and batted .222 with 4 strike outs in 9 at bats.
See you at the yard.

Quick Hitter Comments to end the week

2007-06-14T20:13:00.000-07:00

The Sox have a day off today and they can definitely use it. They are 2-5 behind some shaky outings by the bullpen and a weak offense.

The team ERA is 2.87 but that doesn't tell the whole story. While the starters have been solid and inning eaters at that, the bullpen has blown a couple of saves. Josh Evans has been pretty strong; Nikolic has a sub 3 ERA but one of his appearances led to a Sox loss. Perhaps most disappointing is is our now former closer Marshall Plouffe is 0-1 with 1 save and a 7.71 ERA.

The position players aren't helping the cause with a .197 team average, getting picked off base multiple times, and 12 errors over those seven games including 5 by Jordan Devoir.

We also have some roster turbulance with Brian Keating retiring and the two J.J.'s out with minor (I hope) injuries.

And their next three games are against the 6-1 first place Yuma Scorpions in the 106 degree Arizona heat.

I am sure Les Lancaster is working with these guys to get them on the same sheet of music. It is early in the season and these guys are too good to be playing this badly.

---------------------------------

If you wonder where I get my stats, it is from the Silver Sox stat page on Howe Sports Data: http://www.howesportsdata.com/howesportsdata/stats/baseball/gold/364tm.txt

---------------------------------

I will be leaving town this weekend for a San Jose Sabercats game so my game scores section won't be updated for a couple of days. But I'll be back at the park on Tuesday to bring you another game report.

--------------------------------

I know a lot of people are reading this blog but I've only got a few comments. Please let me know your opinions and thoughts. I allow anonymous posts so you don't even have to sign up with blogspot. Just join the dialog, let me know your thoughts on the Sox and the league, and let's have a place where people can talk shop on the GBL

-------------------------------

Those of you in Reno remember the days of no pro ball. We have an incredible gift with the Silver Sox so make sure you support them. And support their sponsors as well. Let them know you heard/saw their commercial in conjunction with the Sox. And, no, I don't work for the team. For those who don't know, I work at the University of Nevada Reno ROTC department. I'm just a baseball fan who wants pro ball in our community for a very long time. Now if any of you want to join ROTC, I probably can help you with that...

------------------------------

Don't miss the Long Beach Armada blog (link to the right). It is done by the team photographer so there are really great pictures there also.

-----------------------------

That's all for now. Have a great weekend.

Triple A Coming to the Sox' backyard and answers to questions about the league from the GBL commissioner

2007-06-12T12:17:00.001-07:00

Well the big news in Reno today is the announcement that a group has purchased the Tucson Sidewinders with the intent to move them to Reno to begin play in 2009. What this means to the Silver Sox is unknown right now.

Will the market support two teams? The Silver Sox attendance for opening day weekend averaged 1740 with the high coming on Saturday at 2216 for Fireworks night. Last year, the average attendance was 1573. And the break even point given in various interviews was in the 1600-1800 range. If many of those fans are pulled away by Triple A, the Sox could be in trouble. But with both teams playing on many of the same nights, it will be a hard sell for many to watch indy ball when the next big thing may be playing a couple of exits down or a big star is doing a rehab with the AAA team. I hope the Sox have a plan to react to this new info. They'll probably need to do whatever they can to get attendance way up in Reno and build brand loyalty so it makes that choice I just mentioned that much harder when the AAA team opens its gates. Peccole is a nice park but one can only imagine the amenities the new stadium (rumored to be in the $30M range) will have to offer.

But enough on the speculation. I also wanted to share some feedback the commissioner of the league gave to some questions I had. Kevin Outcalt is an excellent representative of the league and his user friendly approach is refreshing. Mayber some of the questions you have are the same as mine. For that reason, I'll post them below.

Does the sale of the Fullerton Flyers put the rest of the league at a disadvantage?

All teams, including the Flyers are under the same cap rules. However the GBL Bylaws do allow the Flyers to exceed the cap if they are willing to pay a luxury tax (similar to cap rules in most professional leagues). I like the innovativeness and marketing skills of the Flyers' new ownership group as they've already made noticeable awareness improvements with their use of James Denton (Desperate Housewives actor who is part owner) in marketing and season ticket sales campaigns and the re-branding/naming of the team to the OC Flyers to expand their reach broader in Orange County.

Are advertising budgets really low or does Reno just not do it?

Reno does have an advertising budget and is slated to begin about 60 days before the season with print, radio, and TV ads. That begins late next week -- I'll send you a separate email with the entire campaign if you are interested so you can watch for their ads. The Silver Sox did not have a radio deal last year, but one for this coming year is already completed. You'll be able to listen to all Reno games, home and away, on ESPN Radio which is, I believe, KPLY 630 AM in Reno. You're right, that should have happened in the first year but didn't get done. I'll respond to your email with some questions about effectiveness of the various Reno media in reaching fans that I'd love to hear your thoughts on.

How does a team get its players? Are there tryouts in every city or at a central location with a draft process. Do teams get their players back (those who decide to return)?

Teams have the ability to exercise a one year option for any players they want to bring back for another season. By November 15th players must either have their options exercised for the next year or they become free agents. Most GBL teams exercise options on 10-12 players. They fill the rest of the roster from either tryouts, the Arizona Winter League, working the MLB release lists, or by having players and agents contact them directly looking for a job. Your manager, Les Lancaster, is also considered one of the best in independent baseball at building winning teams and has taken his team to the playoffs in all but one of his eight years of managing and has twice earned Manager of the Year awards. One of the keys to his success is the stunning number of players that he gets signed by major league organizations which has given him a tremendous reputation with recently released players and agents. Les even had two of his off-season signees placed with the Orioles and Royals before they even played a game for the Silver Sox this year.

What is the GBL Salary Structure?

There is no minimum or maximum salary, but the monthly player payroll cap of approximately $20K for a 22 (or in some cases 21) man roster does put the monthly average salary at about your $1K figure. This applies to all teams, league-owned or locally-owned, although teams can go over but pay a cap excess fine/tax. Most teams have a number of rookies at the low-end, a number of players around the average, and a few more experienced players over. Our salary structure is very similar to the Frontier League ($600-$1200), but less than the Atlantic or Northern Leagues that go after more veteran players.

Why don't you have a Disabled List?

We eliminated the DL and Waiver Wire this year as, in our experience, they are really tools to constrain player movement. Stockpiling of players and placing them with phantom injuries on the DL, or selecting every player on Waivers to tie them up and keep them from playing for rivals are two unhealthy practices that occur frequently in Indy ball. In the GBL in 2007 for a short-term injury, the player stays with the team and recovers. For a long-term injury the player is either released and becomes a free agent after they have rehabbed, or can go on his team's Inactive List - player's choice -- and return to their team when they are ready.

Again, great responses from the league commissioner.

Game Report: Chico at Reno (6/9/2007)

2007-06-10T09:17:00.000-07:00

Well, the three game set came to an end with another Reno victory. It was made a nail biter by another bullpen breakdown. Les Lancaster said that was his concern and for two of the three nights, the bullpen was shaky after a strong performance by the starter.

Keaton Everitt was very strong pitching through a little trouble late but managing to put in seven solid innings were he allowed just one run. By that point, Reno was up 6-1 but the bullpen had another weak outing. Adam Nikolic came on but had control problems as he gave up a single and then three walks that would bring the score to 6-2 when that run was "walked" home. Jason Martinez came on and also gave up a walk. Marshall Plouffe was next in the chute. He is our closer and enters to "Ace of Spades" by Motorhead. He was really good last night but he got stung with a double and then a homerun that brought the game to 6-5. He struck out the last batter to end the inning but not before there were some definite nervous moments at the yard.

The bench players made their bid to be everyday players as Madrid, Sindlinger, and Rodriguez had strong performances for the Sox. They got the starts last night and made the most of them. Madrid had a couple of key hits including a shot that put the Sox on the board first. Sindlinger got on and put himself in a position to score and Rodriguez launched a homerun.

Derrick Loop looked pretty good early for the Outlaws though his move to first did cause some controversy. It was pretty close to a balk a couple of times and this was not lost on the Sox who argued their case to the umpires after Loop picked off two.

The crowd was the smallest of the year at 1301.

The Sox now go on the road. I won't go to another game until the 19th but you can still expect a couple of posts a week until then. I have some ideas including some thoughts the commissioner of the league posted in response to some questions I had as well as a few other baseball related items.

Thanks for reading.

Game Report: Chico @ Reno (6/8/2007)

2007-06-09T09:01:00.000-07:00

Before I get to the game I wanted to include the controversy over the PA announcer ejection from last game. The League Commissioner, Kevin Outcault, weighed in with the following on the Our Sports Central board:

After reviewing the umpire ejection report, a fairly unique one given that we haven't had an Announcer ejected before, and discussing the event with the folks in Reno and the GBL Supervisor of Officials, here's what we are going to do:

- Mike will issue a public apology at the Reno/Chico game tonight to the umpire crew.

- He will no longer use sound bytes or annoucements aimed at the umpires of any type during the game.

- To gain a better perspective of the skill needed to be a professional umpire, he will then take the field for the first inning on the 3rd baseline as the third umpire. He will be in complete umpire uniform and make easy calls, if any. Any close plays will be called by the professional umpires on the field so the integrity of the game is not affected. He will then return to the press box at the end of the inning.

Well, I was there to see it and, with shaky voice, Mike did apologize and did the job at third base. He even continued to announce players with a wireless mike over at third.

I picked up the Reno Gazette Journal this morning and found that the story was picked up by several news outlets and even made it's way onto ESPN.com: http://sports.espn.go.com/minorlbb/news/story?id=2898132 .

The managers weren't receptive to it accoring to their comments in the RGJ:

Mark Parent (Chico): "I say you leave things off the field off the field and things on the field on the field. But I don't own the league. They obviously have reasons why they do things. I've never heard of that happening (ejecting a P.A. announcer) before. I've been around a long time. I guess it happens but I've never heard of it"

Les Lancaster (Reno): "I personally don't think it should be done because it is minor league baseball. To me you're making a mockery of the game. But in independent baseball everything is possible. From that standpoint, it is a good idea. I also think it (the announcer umpiring) shows up the umpire (who ejected him). I think it should be just let go"

My take? Well I think I made it clear I didn't agree with the ejection. But the league agreed with the umpires that this incident crossed the line. So from that perspective, I see the logic of having Mike umpire. There were safeguards in place that he could be overruled by the actual umpires if there was a close call so it didn't affect the game. And it did get national media attention so at least people hear about the GBL. Of course, you always run the risk of people also dismissing the GBL as a circus side show when they hear this especially after Canseco and his horrible pitching or the new Armada team name also make national news. Hopefully the baseball purists will also see the number of players sold to the pros and the level of baseball being played here. But as for the umpire decision, I think it is innovative punishment. Now we need to do the same for fans that heckle a guy who is having a bad day and tell everyone in the stands how they could do it better. Let them face Nick Singleton or Nick Moran a couple of times while the player who had the bad day heckles them. I'd pay to see that :)

Speaking of Nick Moran, there was a game last night and he pitched pretty well. Steve Jones also did well for Chico. I may have to start keeping score at these games since the boxscores aren't in the paper for the second day (odd, since they were for the exhibition game but not the regular season?) and not on the Silver Sox website yet either. But these guys did strike out quite a few...I just don't know how many.

Reno went down early 2-0 but tied it up on a Victor Hall blast. That is the second time in two nights a member of the Sox outfield sent one deep to tie a game with one swing. Hall is supposedly the guy with the least power so I think J.J. Johnson needs to send one deep to gain the trifecta. Doing so at Peccole is no easy feat. Look at the dimensions. I'm a D-backs fan as you know and Pecolle is bigger than Chase down the lines (340 vs. 330) and only 7 feet shorter to straightaway center (400 vs. 407). It makes for more extra basehits but homeruns are a little harder. Still, the Sox have 3 in 2 days so that is nice.

Reno ended up going ahead on a two-base error committed on a Travis Tully grounder to Chico SS Jesse Kovacs. And, the Reno bullpen did its part making the lead stick behind strong performances by Josh Evans (wearing #16, not the #19 in the program), who got the win, and Marshall Plouffe, who got the save. Reno is on the board with their first win of the year!

The game ended with a fireworks show which was pretty good. The game also ended with a couple of cool moments I observed that really show this team has some quality individuals on it:

1. I saw Travis Tully sit on the field to watch the fireworks after everyone else left. I think it is nice that a pro ball player still thinks watching fireworks at the ballpark is a cool thing.

2. Big thanks to Victor Hall, Nick Moran, Jose Rodriguez, and Adam Nikolic who ran the guantlet of kids (including mine) to sign autographs for about 20 minutes after the game. The kids all line up behind the dugout so they knew what they were getting into.

Announced attendance for the game: 2216.

Another great night by the Silver Sox on the field and Dwight Dortch's crew off the field. We had a blast.

Game Report: Chico at Reno (6/7/2007)

2007-06-07T22:31:00.000-07:00

Opening night for the Sox was a great time. It started with a ring ceremony presentation to last year's players and the raising of the championship banner in left field. We really needed something like that for atmosphere as the park is definitely the homefield of a college team...the scoreboard, the marquee, and the concession stand all say "University of Nevada". And the outfield wall is lined with pictures of Wolfpack players who made the pros like Lyle Overbay, Chad Qualls, and Chris Singleton. There are a couple of sponsor signs that have the Sox logo on them but other than that it feels like we play at someone else's field. I can't wait for the day when the Sox have their own field because they deserve it.

The Sox used great spring training uniforms. They looked like style the D-Backs used to wear where it looks like a shirt underneath with another shirt on top with the sides cut out. Really sharp. Tonight, they were back in a traditional jersey but they had their names on the back. I think that is a great move as it helps the fans learn the player's names. I think when they can relate to one or two or gain at least a cursory familiarity, it can only help to build loyalty to the team.

The game was pretty exciting. Nick Singleton, the Chico pitcher, looked good while Dusty Bergman looked a little shaky with a lot of pitches that seemed to get away from him. But the good news is they both left with the score 4-4. The Sox were down early, 4-1 until J.J. Sherrill's monster bomb tied it up.

Les Lancaster said that his concern this year was the bullpen. Matt Parris came on in relief. He looked great in the exhibition game last Saturday but was a little shaky during this outing. He struck out the side but allowed a couple of runs in the process.

The radio announcers kept commenting that Masa Chikazawa is a fastball hitter and struggles with the breaking pitches. Well, not sure if that is the case but the one fastball he saw in the 8th was sent over the left field wall which was nice to see. By the way, the announcers also said the stadium was packed but it seemed like the stadium was maybe half full or less. Hopefully they were wrong about Chikazawa too or it may be a long season.

Unfortunately, that was the end of the Sox offense and the game ended 6-5.

A couple of memorable non-game moments...my daughter got to run the bases and beat Nugget around so she won a shirt they will be sending her. I am glad she got picked because she thinks baseball is boring and that made her have a great time.

The other was not so great. After the 7th, the umpire (#45) threw out the PA announcer. Why? Because he played a sound clip from the movie Major League that said "We got hosed on that call". And after he was ejected, there were no more announcements, player introductions, or music. That is pretty wierd. Imagine watching a Giants game and seeing Jon Miller get booted and have the rest of the broadcast be silent. A PA announcer and the music he plays serves to energize the crowd at key moments. Kicking him out seemed a little over the top. The GBL plays with 2 umpires so you can expect some close calls. They need to have a thicker skin. It is not like the PA announcer told people to harrass the ump or throw trash on the field.

After the game, my daughter was also happy to get Masa Chikazawa and J.J. Sherrill's autographs and can't wait to go back tomorrow and try to get some more. It is fireworks night and I think the Sox are primed to even this series after a close one tonight. Great game...thanks to all the Silver Sox staff and players for an excellent night of baseball.

Announced Attendance Figure for Opening Night: 1704.

Game Report: Chico @ Reno, 6/2/2007 (Spring Training)

2007-06-03T18:06:00.000-07:00

We attended the first game of the season last night and it was a fun experience. The weather threatened for the whole of the game and even sprinkled on us three times but it was still a great time.

The music was well chosen and they did a couple organ music spots--I hope they do it more often as it is key to adding to the drama of a baseball game when used at key moments. Hopefully the team sticks with the walk up music it used so we can start to associate it with a particular player when we hear it (just like the majors).

The stands were pretty empty--we counted about 150 people during the third inning but then again it was just a practice game. And it was only mentioned as part of news articles in the paper instead of in an actual ad. But that was fine with me. It was nice to stretch out a bit.

The game itself was interesting. All of the Silver Sox position players got in on the action so everyone got a look. And the game was going fast (it was at two hours in the middle of the 7th) so an extra inning was added so more guys could play.

Reno won 8-5 which is great, though meaningless, in an exhibition game. But the players did well manufacturing runs (Victor Hall swiped one easily as did Gabriel Riley) and Masa Chikazawa crushed the ball twice for a 2B and a 3B. Matt Parris looked great in the starting role and the Outlaws pretty much couldn't get the ball out of the infield against him. There was an outfield blunder of a ball falling between two Silver Sox who will go nameless for now. But other than that and the late game runs scored against (and by) the second squad, the team looked awesome and I am really looking forward to the season starting.

If you were there, let me know your thoughts on the game!

Update: As spring training comes to an end, the Sox trimmed their roster by releasing the following players: RHP Zook Richardson, C Chris Lebouef, C Robert Perkins, C Robert Davis, OF Josh Buhaglar, INF Patrick McCray, INF Jake Wheeler, INF Gabriel Riley, and RHP Kenneth Evoniuk.

Good luck to all of them in pursuing their baseball dreams!

Spring Training and your projected starting line-up

2007-06-02T12:03:00.000-07:00

Being an independent baseball fan requires a person to have a suspension of disbelief. By that I mean a fan has to treat the team just as they would a major league team. They have to buy merchandise, they have to know the stats of their players, and they have to attend practices and other events just as they would if the name on the marquee said "New York Yankees" or "Barry Bonds".

In that vein, I attended a spring training work out session for the team on WED. I and a co-worker brought the total to fans watching the team to "2". But it didn't really matter. I got a good look at the team (though to be honest about the only guys I recognized besides the coaching staff were Hall, Chikazawa, and Madrid as the uniforms were sterile--no numbers or names). I also got the chance to see Les lancaster directing players and giving advice on mechanics which was a neat experience. We stayed for about 90 minutes of a inter-team scrimmage which showed some good pitching, some decent offense, and a situation where three players didn't call the flyball properly leading to Les making sure they knew that wasn't going to cut it on the Sox. All in all, a good session to watch.The Sox do have an exhibition game against the Chico Heat on Saturday at 4PM which I plan to be at with my family. It will be a first look at the team in action.

And, like your favorite MLB team, we should know projected line-ups before the game so we see if there are any battles for the various positions. Here is where they stand:

C: Masashi Chikazawa
1B: Cody Nowlin
2B: Mike Done
SS: Jordan DeVoir
3B: Dustin Hahn
OF: J.J. Sherrill
OF: Victor Hall
OF: J.J. Johnson
SP: Dusty Bergman, Brian Keating, Keaton Everitt

There's your team, Reno! If you want to learn more about them and their lifetime stats, go to the baseball cube site at the right.

Welcome to my blog

2007-06-02T11:10:00.000-07:00

I decided to do a blog after posting a few times on the Our Sports Central GBL site (link to the right) and enjoying the chance to write about our home team. So why a blog about our local independent baseball team? Two reasons:

1. I believe in the mission statement of the GBL: Every child deserves the opportunity to grow up watching professional baseball.

2. I live in a professional sports wasteland: Reno, NV. For a city that has almost a quarter of a million people, we have exactly zero pro sports franchises...no major leagues, no arena football, no minor hockey, no affiliated minor baseball. But we do have the Silver Sox. And I for one love baseball and love having a home team. I plan to support them and to do my small part in making sure they are part of our commuity for years to come.

So what GBL experience do I have. As bad as it sounds, I have only attended one game in each of the previous seasons. I have followed the league via the web extensively but I have not seen a lot of baseball. I drove to Chico in 2005 (about 3 hours from Reno) to see Rickey Henderson and his San Diego Surf Dawgs take on the Chico Outlaws. And in 2006, I actually lived in Washington DC but I made the time to fly back for the first ever Silver Sox game.

This year will be different. I work on the campus of the University of Nevada Reno and am about a 5 minute walk from Peccole Park where the Sox play. It will be a fun summer and I plan to see as many Sox games as possible--or perhaps as many as my family will allow :)

So expect a couple of posts a week or so. I will definitely post about every game I go to but I will also put up other posts as I think about them. I'd love to hear your thoughts also as to what you want to see on this site.

Thanks again for reading.