State of the Penn League
Here is the link to an excellent story written by the Centre Daily Times' Guy Cipriano (a Washington County native who got his start in the biz at the Observer-Reporter). Guy writes about how changes in the first-year player draft, signing date and the college season have caused the level of play to drop in the New York-Penn League.
It's interesting that the Wild Things have more outfielders (2), who were drafted in the first three rounds than the State College Spikes (Pirates affiliate) have players on their 31-man roster who were taken in the first three rounds of any draft.
Read the story here.
It's interesting that the Wild Things have more outfielders (2), who were drafted in the first three rounds than the State College Spikes (Pirates affiliate) have players on their 31-man roster who were taken in the first three rounds of any draft.
Read the story here.
Labels: New York-Penn League, State College Spikes
posted by Chris Dugan at
9:29 AM
10 Comments:
Probably the only person that knows what the break-even attendence for the Wild Things would be Ross Vecchio.
I would think it might be higher that I would guess, because less attendence means less parking, concessions and other sales. The only fixed income would be the advertising, while the expenses would be fixed except when they send employees home early.
I did a lot of break-even analysis before I retired. However you need access to imcome and expense to do a good calculation.
I know management stated the the breakeven for soccor was about 2000 and they did not hit that, thus no professional soccer in Washington.
Which professional baseball team in W. PA. is in first place and which one is in last place?
Who would have believed before the season started that on July 15, the Wild Things would be in last place and the Pirates in first place in their respective divisions.
Go Bucs.
PS-the one in first place plays on a natural grass field.
The Pirates are in first place and the Wild Things are in last.
Hahahahahahahahahahahaaha!
Are all pre-game and post-game interviews and comments sort of silly, or what?
Last night Radio Randy was, as usual, trying to put a positive spin on the WT season so far. His comments were the usual stuff about the team being in a position to make a run at the play-offs, yatta, yatta. Then the team hits the field and immediately goes into its Keystone Kops – Part 2, act. How can Randy even think positive about this team? When a team has as many errors as it does hits in a game there is a REAL problem. So far all Smiley has done to improve things is get more players have been cut from teams that demand excellence from there players. The result? It speaks for itself! Smiley has further hurt the team with his constant questioning of umpire’s calls. The umpires are far less prone to give the benefit of the doubt to a manager that is whining all the time.
Last evenings pre-game interview with Ochoa was almost disgusting. I can understand the problem with his difficulty with learning to speak English but I cannot agree with his reason for wanting to learn it. He said it was it was important for him to speak English because he is a catcher (that will be a subject for debate some other time). NO BLAKE! Stop being so strongly in love with yourself. The reason you should speak English is because you are living here. I hope you don’t expect us to learn whatever language you speak in your native country. You sure have learned poor grammar very quickly. Wish you would now try to learn how to catch!
I just got done reading an article in todays O-R that Jason Dillie is taking part in a play at Little Lake Theater. Is this the same Jason Dillie that was the Wild Thing's mascot?
I know he was the best attraction at the ballfield and many people came out just to see his performance.
Could Jason's departure have something to do with the attendence continuous annual drop?
No one (not even Mr. Smiley) has come close to replacing him!
"Is this the same Jason Dillie that was the Wild Thing's mascot?
I know he was the best attraction at the ballfield and many people came out just to see his performance."
I've said the same thing several times on here, that guy was worth the price of admission ALONE, whether you had children or not. My guest at the game last night turned to me in the 8th inning and remarked how boring the mascot was.
But I believe the biggest reason the Wild Things aren't drawing well is their dismal record. Just look at the Pirates recently. First place, big crowds. A lot of sports fans are bandwagon fans. They only want to see a contender. There's always die-hards like myself who are a fan, win or lose. But a lot of folks aren't passionately into it, as witnessed by the hundreds who leave before the game is over (do you do that at a movie?). Put together a long winning streak and a climb in the standings and it would be interesting to see if my theory holds water.
Casey Barnes....wow, what a find. How in the world is this guy going to finish the season here without getting snatched into affiliated ball?
Chris Sidick's 0-for night last evening dropped his average to .244. Wow. He's got to snap out of it soon. Don't look now, but the new guys, Battle and Harris, are batting .222 and .176, respectively. Lawson, Thennis and Stephens are the only players hitting as high as .250. That's incredible.
Ernie Banks remains on the roster and spends the first 2 games on the bench, baffling. There's no unemployed first baseman out there?
It was nice to see the all-decade team last night, some of whom played before I began attending games. But how in the world could Aaron Ledbetter, the all-time greatest pitcher in the league, not be named as the best right-handed starter?
The Wild Things managed to squeak out a win last night but no thanks to their “all-star” catcher, Blake, or is it Blank, Ochoa? Another God awful throw to 1st base to try to pick off a runner who was standing almost right on the bag. Of course the throw was not playable by Thennis and lands up way down the right field line. Then, during the home half of the 4th inning, in a clutch situation, Mr. Ochoa manages to hit into rally killing double play. WOW!!!!!
The bats really came alive (NOT) last night with three base hits. These were pretty much offset by just 2 errors. So, lots of hitting and the continued great defensive work make me very hopeful that the Wild Things have a lot to look forward too. LOL. Now, if Mr. Smiley would only resi………..naw, that won’t happen, not to the Director of Baseball Operations, never.
"I hope you don’t expect us to learn whatever language you speak in your native country. You sure have learned poor grammar very quickly."
Whoever wrote this probably can't speak English let alone another language. By the way, Spanish is Ochoa's native language. Can't believe you couldn't figure that one out.
I'm amazed that guy's comment was even posted.
"Whoever wrote this probably can't speak English let alone another language."
First, I don’t live in another country, don’t plan on living in another country, and don’t need to speak another language. If you are a pessimist you need to learn how to speak Spanish, no doubt about that. Nobody is knocking Ochoas effort to learn English, just his reason for trying to learn it.
Yeah, it sure would be terrible for a catcher to be able to communicate with his pitcher(s). Good idea.
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