Banks gone, Smith signed
Ernie Banks' second stint with the Wild Things ended in the same fashion as his first -- with a trade.
Banks (above left) was traded Wednesday by Washington to the Southern Illinois Miners. In exchange for the first baseman, the Wild Things acquired rookie relief pitcher Joe Tarallo and the Miners' first-round draft pick next year. That pick will likely be No. 10 or 11.
Unlike his first go-around in Washington, Banks struggled mightily at the plate, hitting only .207 in 42 games. He had two home runs (each during the last road trip) and only 13 RBI.
Banks will be heading to Southern Illinois for the second time. He started last season with the Miners, playing 29 games before ending the season in another independent league.
Banks will have an opportunity to play regularly as Southern Illinois has lost first basemen Matt Fields (wrist) and Gordon Gronkowski (foot) to injuries.
"We were definitely looking for another pitcher, and there was some interest from other teams in Ernie," Washington manager Darin Everson said. "He's going back to a place he's been before. The trade narrows out lineup a little bit. Instead of having two experienced hitters on the bench each night we only have one. What is means for the guys who are here is more playing time. It's time to make a push."
In Tarallo (0-0, 3.38), the Wild Things get a pitcher who has appeared in 16 games with Southern Illinois and Florence. He averages more than one strikeout per inning.
The trade was part of a flurry of moves by the Wild Things.
Relief pitcher Michael Cotter (0-0, 6.35) was released. Washington picked up Cotter in a trade with a team in another league only three weeks ago.
The Wild Things signed Chris Smith, a right-handed pitcher who had been playing in the independent Pecos League after beginning the year with Traverse City. He was released by the Beach Bums after only two relief appearances, including one against the Wild Things at Consol Energy Park.
Smith was a draft pick of Lake Erie last year but lasted only one outing. He will start Friday night against Rockford as the Wild Things switch to a six-man pitching rotation.
TRIVIA: Banks is not the first player traded twice by the Wild Things. I can think of one pitcher. Anyone willing to guess who that might be?
Labels: Chris Smith, Ernie Banks, Michael Cotter
posted by Chris Dugan at
8:54 PM
11 Comments:
Why is there such a lack of participation on this blog now? Is it due to a lack of interest in the Wild Things?
Is it because of the moderation feature now in place? I think it is the latter. There is plenty to talk about but who wants to take the time to send a comment when they are not sure it will even be allowed to be read?
Ron Wilson doesn’t comment any more, neither does Natural Grass. The blog was much more controversial then but it also a lot more fun to read. Ever since the issue about the playing surface was banned things have been almost as boring as watching the Wild Things play.
I think there are more subjects being discussed now. Before it was just Ron Wilson and somebody called Natural Grass goin on and on about turf and not being able to eat crackers at their seats and stuff like that. Who cares about that?
Anonymous:
Perhaps you have concluded the whole issue.
Watching the Wild Things playing on TP turf is double boring.
Ron, Ima Fraid, it is time for you to come back!
Also, it is harder to find the blog since it is no longer a sections under sports directly and you have to go under sports and find the blog section further down the page.
Another moderation feature?
I was watching paint dry the other day. It was alot more fun than watching the WT.
If one cannot find the blog than they are somewhat challenged.
Why can't we all just focus on how bad the ownwership group is? Talk about challenged - you can't get much more so than this group.
All things Wild Things suck.
Anonymous said...
“Before it was just Ron Wilson and somebody called Natural Grass goin on and on about turf “
I suppose that means that if it doesn’t interest you, then it isn’t worth talking about – right? You are just a selfish person? So, what do have to contribute? I’m willing to listen to what you have to say.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Another Anonymous said...
“All things Wild Things suck.”
I’m sadly convinced that your are right about that. The Wild Things are just plain boring. Anybody remember when CEP was ‘alive’ every single night? We could hardly wait for the game to start and were usually not disappointed. There were even “Victory Balls” after every win and it was fun for the players and the fans. Now, on the rare occasions when the Wild Things do win, the players break their butts congratulating themselves and ignore the fans that suffer the team’s usually pathetic performance every single day.
The glory days are gone. Will they ever return? Well, unless ol’ Stu Williams and the rest of the cheap ownership group make some positive moves, probably not. Hey Stu, ever hear of Chillicothe, Johnstown, Canton, Richmond, and on, and on? How about Kalamazoo? Is that what we have to look forward to? Unless you learn how to run a ‘professional’ baseball organization real quick, I’m afraid so! Before we can expect real professional baseball, we need professional leadership. As things now stand, nobody even knows who is in charge of selling beer.
Ima Fraid (not really afraid).
Addressing the first post on this topic, I would agree that the comments on this blog are quite boring, but only because of a lack of real baseball fans taking part. You read the blog, why not participate? And I disagree that the blog was more interesting before the comment moderation came into place. Nothing is more boring that talking about politics on a baseball blog. The Wild Things are cheap & greedy, we get it. And the same people who used to use names still DO post, it's pretty obvious.
Anyway, this is boring, let's talk baseball...
Holy schnikies, the lumber came out in full force against the hapless Rockford Riverhawks last night! What in the world has gotten into Luis Rivera? 2/4 with a homer, a double, and 4 RBIs last night. He could have had 4 homers if the wind would have been blowing the right way. He just happened to hit them to the deepest parts of the ballpark. This guy was putting on a power display not seen since Jacob Dempsey. Let's hope it continues, Rivera is turning into a RBI machine as of late. He did make 2 errors last night, neither of which caused any harm. And he still has a cannon of an arm. He threw one from the rightfield corner that hit the shortstop on a fly. Last year, Rivera had a rough start and turned on the jets as the season progressed. The same is happening this year. Perhaps we have at last found our cleanup hitter?
Chris Sidick has been phenomenal as of late, anybody paying attention? 3/3 last night, 3 runs scored, 1 RBI, 2 walks, a stolen base and a sacrifice bunt. Only a perfect throw from Rockford's Greg Van Horn prevented Sidick from getting his 2nd double of the night, on what was his 600th career hit. Congrats on one heluva game to Chris!
Doug Thennis' hitting has really heated up, anybody noticing? Estee Harris has come alive after a slow start, although he had 3 whiff's last night.
I was initially disappointed to see Drew Rossi at shortstop, because I love hearing Ted Nugent's "Stranglehold" on the PA system when Kevyn Feiner comes to the plate. But Rossi had a great game, 4/5, 2 RBIs and 2 runs scored.
Addressing the original topic here, if Ernie Banks and Josh Banda had produced ANYTHING close to expectations this season, no doubt the Wild Things would be running away with the East Division. 2 proven sluggers who just suddenly lost their stroke.
One last thought, it serves the Wild Things right that Lake Erie's Randy Sturgill beat them on Monday night. A great local guy that they let slip right through their fingers! Randy suffered his first loss of the season last night against first place Joliet, albeit due to no run support. Go Randy!
What could be more boring than sombody telling us in detail what we already either heard or saw for ourselves? Perhaps this person, just as the reporters on Fox and CNN, thinks we are not able to figure it out ourselves so he feels an obilgation to set us all straight. Give me a break. For a guy that was given the boot by the WT he sure thinks it all.
And so here we go yet again...
The above poster said that in obvious reference to me in his delusion belief that I am Greg "Dutch" Thompson, the ballpark's on-field emcee until last year. Buddy, unless I have lost significant height, I'm not "Dutch". The only thing "Dutch" about me is part of my ethnic makeup (along with 5 others). Do I have to wear a shirt that has "I'M NOT DUTCH" in big letters to the ballpark the next time for you to get it? And don't you think if Dutch had even attended a game, that SOMEBODY would have sighted him and reported it on here?
Great insightful, baseball-related comment on the blog. By the way, forgot to credit the bullpen the other night for a great job relieving Edwards. I think Everson errored in leaving Edwards in there a few hitters too late when he was clearly laboring.
Jeez, that’s just a tad rough on Swisscheda. It might be more than you want to read but why should he be criticized for expressing his views? There are too many here that think just because you disagree with their views that they should not post anything, Hogwash! There is such a lack of tolerance anymore.
Ol’ Swiss, keep on posting, I enjoy what you do. I also agree with you about “Stranglehold”
Ima Fraid
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home