Washington breaks ties with Banks
The Wild Things have traded first baseman Ernie Banks (pictured) to the River City Rascals in exchange for left-handed starting pitcher Chris Ingoglia and outfielder Ryan Groth.The Wild Things also signed catcher Kyle Obal and announced the retirement of pitcher/catcher Josh Eachues.
Banks is fourth in the Frontier League with a .343 batting average and leads the league with a .686 slugging percentage. He has 19 home runs and 55 RBI.
Ingoglia has a 5-7 record and 6.66 ERA. The league is batting .321 against him. This is Ingoglia's second year in the Frontier League. He had a 6-8 record last year with Florence.
Groth has played in 29 games with the Rascals and has a .270 batting average with three home runs and 14 RBI. Groth has one year of experience in affiliated ball.
Obal played this spring for Temple University after transferring from Winthrop. He batted .313 and did not have a home run.
There is no questioning Banks' ability to hit. The trouble spot for the first baseman has been his attitude. He was suspended by the team for 14 days early in the season after being ejected twice in a three-game series at Traverse City. He was at the center of the benches-clearing incident at Florence last month and had to be restrained last week during a similar incident against Lake Erie.
After being robbed of a hit Saturday night by Kalamazoo third baseman Amos Ramon, Banks returned to the dugout and either threw or knocked several plastic cups onto the field that were retrieved by Brett Granstrand.
Mason said Banks' attitude wasn't the primary reason for the trade.
"It was a combination of stuff," Mason said. "We were looking for a pitcher and an outfielder, which we were able to get. They wanted a first baseman because their guy is returning to school. The deal made sense for both teams.
"We're getting a guy who is hitting almost .300 as an outfielder, and Ingoglia is a guy we wanted in the offseason but couldn't get anyone to deal with us. We tried to trade for him in the offseason."
Eachues was retired because he suffered a broken right collarbone when hit by a foul tip in the ninth inning Saturday night.
The Wild Things are expected to make several more roster moves after Sunday's game. They are hopeful of re-signing outfielder Tim Alberts, who played with Washington last year. Alberts was with Joliet of the independent Northern League thisseason but was placed on waivers over the weekend.
Labels: Chris Ingoglia, Ernie Banks, Josh Eachues, Kyle Obal, Ryan Groth
posted by Chris Dugan at
1:35 PM
36 Comments:
Giving up BANKS is giving up a lot, even if he does have an attitue or maybe, it's a strong desire to win. He is a player and he seems to give it his all. Maybe the Things are learning from the Pirates! BAD MOVE!!!
Great move!!!
Banks makes a fool of himself. He is deffinately too good in his own mind. It's too bad it took this long to get rid of him. No doubt he plays the game hard, never did he play the game right.
No one seemed to like him but he did put up the numbers! He looked like a fierce competitor! I agree that the move was not good! BUT, who knows how the new players will be. Taking a chance and giving up a sure thing does not seem like a good idea...especially with the slide that's going on!
Ross-Frontier League General Manager of the year.
LONG LONG OVERDUE !! OVERATED BUM CLUBHOUSE CANCER , BAD ATTITUDE IDIOT
"we're getting a guy hitting almost .300" - mark mason
.270, while closer to .300 than .200, is NOT almost .300.
do the wild things try to get the worst pitchers available or does it just seem that way?
first off... banks and the statement "it's a strong desire to win. He is a player and he seems to give it his all." from before is more like... banks plays for banks with no knowledge of the game and no regard for the other members of his team. he has disrespected himself and the organization with his toddler actions and needs to grow up and be a man.. mommy and daddy can't hold his hand anymore and give him timeouts! plus the last 10 games his numbers were not good and getting worse!
Why not just say you wanted to get rid of Banks instead of trying to tout a trade that brought you a .270 hitter and a pitcher with an anti-Christ ERA? I also thought it was hilarious when Mason said they were getting a guy who was hitting almost .300. With that kind of reasoning, you could also say they're getting a guy who's hitting almost .240. Spin, baby, spin.
Great Move!
sort of like--if you USED to be a night editor you can still say you're a night editor...spin baby spin.
Anything Mason does or says is hilarious. Where's Greg Jelks when you need him? Mason gets very little blame for this mess. I guess he's the Teflon Manager.
BANKS was far from being the cancer in the locker room....best you check which infielder has no "I" in team. It's hard to believe that no one says anything about him! Banks did put up the numbers! A lot of players have tirades and tantrums but they are still accepted! Hope he does well eslewhere and comes back to haunt the Things! NOT A GOOD MOVE!!!!
best you check which infielder has no "I" in team. It's hard to believe that no one says anything about him!
I agree about Mr. E-6 and also agree BAD MOVE. It's funny that we Grandstrand pops up and scream F@@K at the top of his lungs, nobody rips him here.
If you rip Banks for swearing then rip Grandstrand as well. He is much more disliked than banks was
typo. that should say when he pops up instead of we
Maybe they'll trade DiFabio next!
Granny does it, Banks does it, Sidick does it, Sutton does it, Psomas does it. So what now?
The difference is in the 15 or so games I've watched is that Banks just seems to take it to another level and or sometimes just seems to have too much of an ego about him. Just my thoughts. I personally think its more important to ask the question of Jelks and Mason, Jelks was hung out by everyone in SW PA last season and Mason is just skating by, why is that???
definately agree with you about your comments of jelks vs. mason. why has mason been given a free pass?
last homestand, mason was out managed by massarelli in the lake erie series. especially when it came to the use of the bullpens. now he doesn't have a quality lefty to turn to, but he has to be a better in game manager. he has cost them a few games
last homestand, mason was out managed by massarelli in the lake erie series
i agree with you totally about mason, but don't forget that his ego filled SUPERSTAR shortstop threw two games away for him as well
I'm sure mason is part of the problem and you are right that jelks would have come under fire already, but what options does he have.
He has no talent and his best player just got dealt. he has the worst defensive infield ever. The worst rotation ever and who is he really susposed to call on out of that pen.
I know he assembled that team, but apparently he didn't have much here to pick from.
Blame the manager, yeah, but also these players have to be held accountable
If you watched the last 2 games, you realized that these players have no pride. they threwin the towel on the road at midwest and are just going through the motions. Atleast Banks played with passion and showed some emotion, even though he was too much to handle
Which team logs the most road miles/hours on the bus. I believe it would be Washington by quite lot.
Traverse City is probably the second most.
I think this hurts Washington in two ways:
1. The team is tired from sleeping on the bus so many times.
2. Who would want to play for the team that spends so much time on the bus?
Washington and Traverse City have the worst records in the East. Could the length of road trips be the reason?
Fortuately, only one more long trip remaining this season.
The more this league heads west, the more effect there will be on Washington.
Washington needs to get into another baseball league with shorter trips.
Anyone else agree?
This also would have an effect on attracting high quality managers and coaches.
I wonder how long Ross or Chris Dugan would stick around if they took these long road trips.
Look for some major changes at the end of the season in the front office. If I had a crystal ball, this would be my opinion, and opinion ONLY, A certain GM has already accepted a position at Cal U and will be leaving at the end of the season. A certain groundskeeper will be leaving shortly behind him and heading back east, a certain PR person will be leaving and working for the tourism board or a new casino. By Thanksgiving, there will be no one from the original staff of 2002 left. IMHO, great job Franni!
How does Parkers name never get brought up?! He not only curses after an out (more than Banks, or anyone for that case), he does not care about the Wild Things. If you watch a game (which it appears no one in here does), you would see the lack of care in Parker. He has much worse "tirades" than Banks and complains worse than any player. If you are going to throw the best player under the bus (Banks) for being emotional and caring, then throw Parker in for being the opposite. At least Banks put up numbers while everyone complained about his attitude. If you want to talk about a cancer in the locker room, subtract Banks name (because he was NOT) and do add Parker. Do some research, he is a big cancer.
If I had to go on all those long road trips, I can assure you of one thing: My wife would be thrilled to get rid of me.
Ernie is gone - GOOD RIDDENCE TO BAD RUBBISH.
Ross has NOT accepted a job at Cal U, Steve the Wacty one doesn't have enough smarts to shove off, and Christine would do herself a big favor if she does leave.
Did a quick calculation of travel for three teams – Washington, Traverse City and River City – using the mileage chart in the FL media guide. This is distance from city to city and assuming River City returns to O'Fallon after each game at Gateway (40 miles). Here is what each team will travel this season:
Traverse City: 8,307 miles
Washington: 8,275 miles
River City: 7,614 miles
The last time I did this was back in 2005 and discovered that Ohio Valley, the league's traveling team, spent 2,000 fewer miles on the road that year than did Mid-Missouri.
How approiate that Banks be traded to a team called "Rascals". He would fit right in with that.
Not to worry, River City will soon regret trading for that nut job.
Ross has NOT accepted a job at Cal U,
Now that is some quick defending there, looks like a front office employee who is trying to cover the tracks of Mr. Vecchio and Cal U. Too late, cats out of the bag
CEP is a small place, people talk
The big questions are: Will there be an ownership change before next season? With Ross having one foot out the door, will Mason be given the ax? Has anyone seen Franni lately (talk about absentee ownership)? Will the Grumpy Old Men of the First-Base Line stay out of the old folks home long enough to return to CEP next year? Does Greg Jelks laugh when he looks at the Wild Things record and say to himself they got what they deserve? Will there be a pitching coach next year? Is an ownership change the only way the Wild Things can mend its fractured relationship with the community? Will anyone get to park in the roped-off first four rows of the lot at CEP, or will they be left empty again next year? Will Bill DiFabio realize fans don't show up to hear him scream? Will the Wild Things hold a Grumpy Old Men promotion next year? Will Franni agree to be interviewed? Will the Wild Things sign only players who have taken a vow of silence to appease the Grumpy Old Men who don't like to hear anyone curse? Will the commissioner show up in Washington to see what a mess this organization has become? Will the Wild Things finish in last place this year? Will Dutch pass through puberty and have his voice stop cracking? Will the Nazi usher invade France? Will Swisscheda trade in the clunker he won for a new car? Will Jamal move to the River City forum? Will Franni require you to stop three times instead of two before entering her parking lot next year? What does Franni have planned as changes for next year?
These questions and many others will be answered and blundered over the next year by the Wild Things.
Are you lost? Franni is gone and has been gone for weeks. She flipped out on the workers during the concert and has been removed from front office and day to day operations. Its a much nicer place around here, I mean at CEP, these days
If Franni is gone, then who is running the Wild Things organization?
Perhaps no one by the way it looks now days.
Remember, Grumpy Old Men was a good movie, not a Lemon Jack!
These questions and many others will be answered and blundered over the next year by the Wild Things.
.......................
Franni is on 'vacation'. I always thought a vacation was for people that actually worked and did something productive.
Who care about all this anyway.
BTW: Ross will NOT be going to Cal U. Somebody out there would kick his ass.
Banks will be truely missed, someone who care about winning and teamwork.Banks never left his wingman and always loves to win,that was part of his attitude wanting to win.If his hitting sucked and the team loss,he would blame himself for the loss. SO WHO ARE WE TO JUDGE.BE BLESSED
Nice start by Ingoglia. Worst trade EVER.
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