Pitching in

It's three months before the Frontier League's tryout camp at Consol Energy Park and the Wild Things are still without a pitching coach. Or are they?

Former Pirates pitcher Mark Dewey, who spent the last two years as Washington's pitching coach, recently accepted the same position with the Milwaukee Brewers' high-Class A affiliate.

Speculation was that new Wild Things manager Chris Bando would hire another former major league pitcher, Anthony Telford, as the pitching coach. Bando and Telford were together in 2007 as manager and pitching coach with the Aiken Foxhounds of the now-defunct independent South Coast League. Dewey also was with Aiken as a player/coach.

Now, it appears that Telford has, or will be, taking a job in affiliated ball, leaving the Wild Things again in need of a pitching coach. About a week ago, word surfaced that Tim Ferguson might be the Wild Things' pitching coach. Ferguson was the manager of the Ruidoso Osos of the independent Pecos League last year and guided them to the runner-up finish.

Ferguson is Program Director of the Florida Developmental Baseball Program and is the head coach at Lake Worth Christian School. Her also was the coach at Wellington Christian School in Florida. I believe that's the same Wellington that produced former Pirates first-round draft picks Bobby Bradley and Sean Burnett.

The Wild Things said they have not hired a pitching coach, though an announcement could be coming soon.

Another catcher signed

According to the Frontier League website, the Wild Things have signed catcher Adrian Bravo-Carmona.

A quick Internet search shows that Bravo-Carmona follows the familiar script of signees for new Washington manager Chris Bando. Bravo-Carmona is from California (Riverside) and played at an NAIA school the last two years, Mid-American Christian University in Oklahoma. He also played at San Bernandino Valley College.

Bravo-Carmona batted .366 last year as a senior with 12 home runs and 38 RBI. As a junior, he hit .421 with 14 home runs and 31 RBI.

The most interesting thing I could find on Carmona-Bravo is that he was listed on Mid-American Christian's roster as being 5-8 and 220 pounds as a junior and 5-10, 205 as a senior. There wasn't much information available.

The signing brings the number of catchers under contract for spring training to four. Each is classified as a rookie by Frontier League roster rules.

Note to self: Research how small college position players with no prior pro experience have fared with the Wild Things. I can quickly think of two (Chris Sidick and Jay Coakley) who made significant contributions.

Ah, Shucks! He's going to Nebraska

Justin Edwards won't be pitching for the Wild Things this year. That was a given because he aged out of the Frontier League after last season.

He also won't be playing in Pennsylvania this summer, though he did finish last season with the York Revolution of the independent Atlantic League.

Edwards recently signed a contract to pitch for the Lincoln Saltdogs of the American Association. I'm not sure how he ended up going from York to Lincoln because of last week he was still listed on York's roster on the Revolution's website. He's gone from the roster now, but the league doesn't list a transaction involving Edwards.

Edwards played three seasons in Washington. He appeared in 84 games including 22 starts. He had a 14-10 record, 3.56 ERA and struck out 213 in 230 innings. The 213 strikeouts is second on the Wild Things' all-time list.

Springing forward

Here's a sign that spring is just around the corner: The San Diego Christian College baseball team that new Wild Things manager Chris Bando coaches is scheduled to play its season opener this afternoon.

All-Decade Team: Starting Pitcher

While sitting in the upper deck of Altoona's Blair County Ballpark in 2004 and watching the Curve play Harrisburg in a Class AA Eastern League game, I scanned my program and noticed a local pitcher listed on the Senators' roster. A guy named Ryan Douglass, who was listed as being from Pittsburgh.

This was the same Ryan Douglass who was a standout pitcher at Canevin High School almost a decade earlier. I couldn't help but think that a guy who was pitching out of the bullpen in Double-A after being a pro for eight seasons might be at the end of his run in affiliated ball.

"I wonder if the Wild Things could get him to play in Washington if he gets released," I said to my oldest son, Brian, who was 10 years old at the time and had no idea what I was talking about. It was nothing more than wishful thinking, I reasoned. If Douglass would get released, then he'd probably end up with another organization, in a different independent league or retire.

Douglass pitched that night, throwing three innings of relief. He did give up a two-run homer to Brad Eldred (remember him, Pirates fans?), but struck out five and did not walk a batter. Douglass showed the kind of presence, poise and command that you don't see from typical Frontier League pitchers. That left me believing that seeing Douglass in a Wild Things uniform was a longshot at best.

A few months later, Washington beat the odds and hit the jackpot.

Former general manager Ross Vecchio lured Douglass, who had been released from the Montreal Expos system after the 2004 season, to the Wild Things and Frontier League. The opportunity to pitch close to home was the sales pitch.

While Douglass didn't have the same velocity on his fastball that made him an 18th-round draft pick out of high school by the Kansas City Royals, he did show pinpoint control and the savvy learned from 64 outings at the Double-A level.

Douglass played only one season for Washington and posted an 11-3 record with a 3.25 ERA and yielded only 16 walks in 119 innings (just three walks in his last 40 innings). He was a big reason the Wild Things won the East Division with a 63-32 record.

Douglass was the starting pitcher for the East in the All-Star game, which was played at Consol Energy Park. He also won the opening game in the division playoff series against Chillicothe.

That was enough to land Douglass a spot on the All-Decade Team.

Only one starting pitcher spot remains on the All-Decade team. Who should fill it? Ben Ally? Tom Cochran? Patrick Stanley? Justin Hall, Casey Barnes or Justin Edwards from the 2011 team? Somebody who hasn't been mention?

All-Decade Starting Pitcher: Ryan Douglass (2005)

Turn out the lights ...

Here's a link to a story from the Chronicle-Telegram about all of the lights and light poles being taken down at All Pro Freight Stadium in Avon, Ohio, home of the Lake Erie Crushers.

One of the light poles was damaged last year by high wind and came toppling down last month, falling inside the stadium.

Read the story here.

Where's Wulf? In London

Wondering why Taylor Wulf, who was the Wild Things' closer last year, wasn't listed among the players who had their contract option picked up or declined by Washington last month? Here's why:

Wulf played for Oakland County in 2010 and was acquired by the Wild Things in a special draft of Cruisers players last year. The Cruisers franchise, though dark last year, was purchased in the summer of 2011 by the London Rippers, who will make their debut in 2012. By doing this, the Rippers re-acquired the rights to the players from the 2010 Cruisers who are still in the league. Those players are Wulf, first baseman Joash Brodin (River City in 2011), catcher Dan Killian (Evansville) and pitcher Wayde Kitchens (River City).

The Rippers also picked up Nick Schreiber, a right-handed pitcher who played last season with the Lincon Saltdogs of the American Association. Schreiber played in the PSAC at California University, where he was 10-8 with five saves over his junior and senior seasons. At Lincoln, Schreiber had a 6-1 record.

C-Side Sports Academy

Here's a story about Chris Sidick's C-Side Sports Academy and his future with the Wild Things, plus a look inside the new building located off Mansfield Road and Route 19. Photos are by the O-R's Jim McNutt.

Read the story here.

All-Decade Team: Starting Pitcher

Quiz time:

Only two pitchers have won at least 20 regular-season games with the Wild Things and two more in the playoffs. Who are they?

(Insert final Jeopardy theme music here).

One, obviously, is Aaron Ledbetter, the Frontier League's all-time winningest pitcher. The other is a right-hander who came from an NCAA Division III school and spent two stints in affiliated ball.

Dave Bradley, who set the Division II single-season wins record (18) and had a 29-3 record over his final two years at Marietta College, was the mainstay of the Wild Things' pitching staff in 2002 and 2003.

Bradley was the first of many former Marietta standouts to sign with the Wild Things. After being released by the Cincinnati Reds, Bradley opted to continue his career with a first-year Frontier League team and be coached by another former Marietta pitcher, Kent Tekulve.

Bradley had a 21-9 record with the Wild Things and finished no lower than second in the Frontier League in wins each of his two seasons. Bradley was the winning pitcher in Game 2 of the Wild Things' playoff series against Kalamazoo in 2002. In the finals that year against Richmond, Bradley relieved Jared Howton in the rain-suspended Game 1 and was the winning pitcher.

Bradley was charged with the loss in Game 4 of the finals, and was a hard-luck loser in Game 1 of the playoffs series against Gateway in the 2003 playoffs. The latter game was played in rain and swamp-like field conditions.

After his days in Washington, Bradley was signed by the Milwaukee Brewers and made the Class AA Southern League All-Star game in 2005. After that season, Bradley was selected by the Oakland Athletics in the Class AAA phase of the Rule 5 Draft. He never did play at Class AAA, instead spending 2006 back in Class AA with Midland of the Texas League, where he had a 6-11 record as a starting pitcher.

All-Decade Starting Pitcher: Dave Bradley (2002-03)

Lefty signed

The Wild Things continued their run of signings by adding pitcher Nick Cicio, a 5-9, 170-pound lefty from Baltimore, Md. Cicio was signed as a nondrafted free agent last summer by the Minnesota Twins after finishing his college career at Central Florida.

This is a signing that intrigues me. Cicio played two seasons at Central Florida and had a good senior year out of the bullpen with a 4-3 record and 2.23 ERA and four saves. He struck out 56 batters in 60.2 innings. Cicio also led the Golden Knights in appearances with 28.

Those are excellent numbers when you consider he pitched in Conference USA, which is a very under-rated league, better than some of the "BCS" conferences. One of Cicio's losses was in the NCAA tournament against Alabama, but he gave up only one run in five innings in that game.

Cico then put up good numbers in the rookie-level Gulf Coast League for the Twins. Though I've written about rookie league stats not giving a good indication of a player's ability in the Frontier League, Cicio's statistics make you wonder why he wasn't kept around by the Twins and invited to minor-league spring training. He pitched in 13 games and had a 2-0 record, gave up less than one hit per inning and struck out 20 batters in 20.2 innings. The most impressive statistic is Cico walked only two hitters. That should be enough to keep you in the organization for a few more months.

Remember the post about Jared Howton and the All-Decade Team? There's an interesting comment in there about left-handers who throw strikes, which is why Cicio is one of the most interesting players the Wild Things have signed this offseason.

Wild Things sign catcher

The Wild Things have signed another rookie player, Justin McDavid, who played the last two seasons at West Virginia University.

McDavid (6-3, 190) is from Queen Creek, Ariz. He batted .290 in 2010 and .276 last year for the Mountaineers. He had five home runs and 53 RBI in 2010, averaging more than one RBI per game.

“He’s a local kid and is a strong left-handed hitting catcher who is versatile and athletic enough to play corner infield,” new Wild Things manager Chris Bando said. “He has a strong arm and is a gap-to-gap hitter.”

All-Decade Team: Starting Pitcher

During the Wild Things' first spring training, back in 2002, I asked manager Jeff Isom what kind of pitcher has a track record of success in the Frontier League. It didn't take him long to come up with an answer. Isom said that left-handers who throw strikes on a consistent basis usually dominate the league.

Maybe Isom was saying that because he was a former left-handed pitcher in the Pirates' system. But, Isom did sign two left-handed starting pitchers for the Wild Things' inaugural season. One was Jason Hickman, a former 8th-round draft pick of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who was Washington's No. 5 starter, had a 6-6 record and threw a no-hitter.

The other lefty was a player who spent one season as a reliever in the Cincinnati Reds' system. Jared Howton had signed with the Reds as a free agent after being a fifth-year senior at Texas-San Antonio.

Howton made only one start for Billings (Mont.) of the rookie-level Pioneer League, but he flourished in the rotation for the Wild Things. Howton was the Frontier League's 2002 Pitcher of the Year after posting an 11-3 record and amazing 1.89 ERA. The latter remains the record for a Washington starting pitcher.

Only one of Howton's first three appearances for the Wild Things was as a starter, but once inserted into the rotation for good on June 7, Howton dominated. His ERA from June 7 on was only 1.45. Only twice in Howton's final 13 starts did he give up more than two runs.

Perhaps Howton's best outing for Washington came in an August game at home against Johnstown when he tossed a three-hit shutout, did not walk a batter and struck out a team-record 13 batters. He retired 16 of the first 17 hitters.

Howton also pitched a five-hit complete game at Kalamazoo to beat the Kings in the first playoff game in Wild Things history.

In Game 1 of the 2002 championship series against Richmond, Howton pitched four effective innings before rain forced the game to be suspended. He never pitched again in the series.

Injuries were the other story with Howton. Bothered by a shoulder impingement that eventually ended his 2003 season at midseason, Howton was limited to 11 starts. He still managed to pitch through the pain and post a 7-2 record.

For two seasons, Howton was 18-5 in the regular season, 1-0 in the playoffs and the 2002 Frontier League Pitcher of the Year. That was more than enough to earn a spot on the all-decade team.

All-Decade Team Starting Pitcher: Jared Howton (2002-03)

All-Decade Team: Catcher

NOTE: Thought I had published this two weeks ago, but did not. Better late than never, I guess.

Former Wild Things manager John Massarelli was a catcher in the minor leagues. So was ex-manager Darin Everson. So it shouldn't be a surprise that the Wild Things have put a emphasis on the position when building their teams.

Catcher was one of the Wild Things' strengths during the franchise's first 7 1/2 seasons. Things started going sour after Kris Rochelle left the team midway through the 2009 seasons, but overall Washington has been much better at catcher for a 10-year period than almost all the other Frontier League franchises.

Some years, such as in 2005 with Randy McGarvey and Pat O'Brien and 2007 with O'brien and Mario Garza, the Wild Things had a nice platoon situation at catcher. Others years, they went with just one primary catcher. When Massarelli was the manager, you could his influence on the catchers. He would often have them on the field prior to batting practice working on blocking pitches and even blocking home plate. Mazz kept a large foam dummy in his office that was called "Johnny Baserunner." The dummy/pad was used when teaching the catchers how to protect themselves during a collision and how to block the plate.

But when choosing the Wild Things' all-decade catcher, I have to go with a guy who played for a manager who no catching background.

Shaun Argento was the Wild Things' catcher during their first season in 2002. He played for manager Jeff Isom, who was a former pitcher in the Pittsburgh Pirates' system.

One of four holdovers from the Canton Crocodilles franchise that was sold and moved to Washington, Argento had already made his mark in the Frontier League, having been named to the league's 10th anniversary team. However, 2002 was Argento's best.

Argento finished third in the league with a .352 batting average in his only season in Washington. He also was second in triples with five, which is amazing considering he was a catcher. Argento hit 20 doubles, five home runs, drove in 62 runs and even stole 10 bases. A former Atlanta Braves farmhand, Argento was the leader – both on the field and in the locker room – of the 2002 team.

Argento landed a spot on the FL's postseason all-star team in 2002. Though the league doesn't release such information, I'd be surprised if Argento didn't finish second to Richmond's Phil Willingham in the MVP voting. He was that important to the Wild Things' success.

A good defensive catcher, Argento called the first no-hitter in Wild Things history, thrown by Jason Hickman at Kalamazoo. It was the third time a no-hitter was thrown in the Frontier League while Argento was behind home plate. Argento also was the best of the Wild Things' catchers at picking runners off first base.

Perhaps the best game Argento played was one at home against Johnstown Aug. 6, 2002. he hit a two-run homer early int he game, picked a Johnnies runner off first base int he sixth inning, and then picked another runner off third base in the seventh.

Unfortunately, the Wild Things' chances of winning the league championship took a huge hit only 17 days later when Argento broke a thumb while sliding into third base during a game at Chillicothe. It was a season-ending injury.

With Argento gaining on spot on the roster, the next question is, who is the backup catcher?

All-Decade Team Catcher: Shaun Argento (2002)

Frontier League tryout returns to Washington

The Frontier League's annual open tryout and player draft will be returning to Washington's Consol Energy Park April 30-May 1.

This will be the first time the tryout has been held in Washington since 2009.

All 14 Frontier League teams will be represented at the tryout, and Major League Baseball scouts have been in attendance each of the past seven years. Advance registration is available on the Frontier League's website under the ”tryouts” link. Walkup registration will begin at 8 a.m. April 30 with the workouts beginning at 9 a.m.

Following the second day of workouts, the league draft will be held. Each team is required to draft a minimum of two players. With the league expanding this year to 14 teams, at least 28 players will be selected. With the league at either 10 and 12 teams, an average of 35 players have been drafted and signed to spring training contracts over the past seven years. Several draftees have gone on to be signed by major league organizations, including pitcher Chris Jakubauskas who has pitched in 69 games in the majors.

And, keep in mind, no metal cleats will be allowed.

3 more signed

The Wild Things recently signed three more players, bringing the total of newcomers already under contract for spring training to 15 (and possibly 16 -- still not sure of Mike Bando's status).

Nothing about the latest signings has been released by the Wild Things, but here's what my research has revealed: The three signees follow a familiar pattern for new manager Chris Bando. Each of the three players is from California. Two played small college ball in California. Two of the three do have pro experience.

Signed were right-handed pitcher Alan Gatz, catcher David Peters and utility player Garrett Jenner.

Gatz is from Torrance, Calif., and played at El Camino Junior College and Cal State-Dominguez Hills University, the latter an NCAA Division II school. Last year, Gatz played for Ruidoso in the independent Pecos League and had a 6-3 record in 13 starts. The Pecos League is a hitters league and Gatz's numbers reflect as much. In 73 1/3 innings, he gave up 102 hits and nine home runs. He walked 32 and struck out only 50, but was selected for the midseason All-Star game.

Peters was drafted by the Florida Marlins out of Lakewood (Calif.) High School in 2009 and signed. He spent two years in rookie ball and put up respectable numbers in his second year, which was 2010. I could find nothing that showed Peters played pro ball last summer.

Jenner has an interesting background. In 2009, he played at William Penn University, which is an NAIA school in Oskaloosa, Iowa. He put up good numbers, leading the team with 14 home runs and 49 RBI. But in 2010, Jenner was playing for a barnstorming team called the "Heroes of the Diamond," a military team similar to the one the Wild Things played an exhibition game against a few years ago.

I found no record of Jenner playing in 2011, so he was likely serving in the military.

With the 15 (or 16) newcomers, the Wild Things have at least 25 players on their roster.

All-Deacde Team: Starting Pitcher

If there is one phase of the game the Wild Things have built each of their 10 teams around, then it's starting pitching. It's why Washington has finished among the Frontier League's top four teams in ERA seven times.

That's also why choosing five pitchers for the all-decade team's starting rotation will be difficult. There are at least eight pitchers who have legitimate cases for being on the team. The No. 1 spot in the rotation, however, is not open for debate.

Aaron Ledbetter, the Wild Things' and Frontier League's all-time leader in wins, gets the top spot in the rotation.

Ledbetter was acquired by Washington in 2006, in what turned out to be a steal of a trade. Washington sent pitchers Greg Lasinski and Shawn Phillips to River City in exchange for Ledbetter, who already was an all-star pitcher with the Rascals. Lasinski and Phillips combined for four wins with River City. Ledbetter, a right-hander from Fort Smith, Ark., had a 27-9 record in 2-plus seasons with Washington.

After being acquired in early August 2006, Ledbetter went 4-1 down the stretch with the Wild Things and helped them win the East Division title by a half-game over Chillicothe. In 2007, Ledbetter had a phenomenal year, going 14-2 with a 2.71 ERA and was named the league's Pitcher of the Year. Ledbetter also pitched Washington to road wins in the playoffs over Gateway and Windy City in 2007.

Though he slowed a bit in 2008, Ledbetter still managed a 9-6 record.

While most Frontier League pitchers rely heavily on two pitches, Ledbetter's strength was his ability to throw four pitches for strikes. In his first 29 regular-season starts with Washington, Ledbetter issued more than two walks only two times.

Another thing the separated Ledbetter from other pitchers was his ability to pitch on three days rest without a dropoff in effectiveness. In 2007, Ledbetter made three starts on three days rest. He won all three games, and in doing so didn't give up a run (19 scoreless innings). Ledbetter's last six regular-season starts with Washington in 2006 were made on three days rest. In those outings, Ledbetter was 3-1 with a 2.23 ERA.

All-Dacade Team Starting Pitcher: Aaron Ledbetter (2006-08)