All-Decade Team: Relief Pitcher

One of the biggest challenges every Frontier League manager faces each spring is finding a consistent closer.

In the Frontier League, no lead is safe and most bullpens blow up like cheap cigars.

A consistent, reliable closer is gold. And the Wild Things were lucky and fortunate to find one in each of their first four seasons. Washington closers led the league in saves every season from 2002 through 2005.

No Washington relief pitcher was consistently reliable longer than Jim Popp, a Pittsburgh native who came out of the baseball wasteland that is the City League and Duquesne University, which no longer has a baseball program. The right-hander spent three excellent years (2004-06) in Washington and is the franchise's all-time leader in saves (38) and games pitched (102). He tied for the league lead in saves with 17 in 2005.

While there have been Washington relievers who threw harder or had better breaking pitches, Popp was the best at giving Washington a chance a win. For much of three seasons, Popp was durable, dependable and unflappable. For example:

* Early in his career, Popp had a stretch of 31 consecutive appearances without a loss.

* He ended his stay in Washington riding a streak of 51 consecutive outings without a loss. During that stretch, Popp was 5-0 with 24 saves.

Think about those numbers for a moment. Most Frontier League relief pitchers – it doesn't matter if they've spent years in affiliated ball, pitched in the ACC or Big Ten etc. or are products of small colleges – have trouble going a half dozen outings in a row without blowing up and losing a lead and game.

After his three productive seasons in Washington, Popp ended his career by playing four years for the Schaumburg Flyers of the now-defunct Northern League. Popp was slowed by injuries in two of those seasons, and he posted a 6-7 record with eight saves in 75 games for the Flyers.

All-Decade Relief Pitcher: Jim Popp (2004-06)

Letter from Leo

Received a letter from Leo Trich late Thursday. He asked that it be placed on the blog. So, here it is:


THANK YOU WILD THINGS FANS...and the players too!

It worked! Ten years later – Falconi Field, now called Consol Energy Park, is a proven success and is now on the tax rolls. Wild Things owners have purchased the ballpark at fair market value – which virtually equaled the bank mortgage owed by BSI, the volunteer group that developed and built the ballpark facility.

The ballpark was first built for just under $3 million in 2002, plus nearly one million in land and infrastructure expenses. Additional improvements were also made just after the second season, including purchasing more land for more parking and paving it, additional seating, a new scoreboard and a new highly visible sign facing Interstate 70. In all more than $2 million was spent for these and other add-on improvements.

Minor League pro baseball is going strong, with more than one million fans attending Wild Things games so far. When you add up all events, concerts, high school and college games, PONY Baseball games, numerous community events and a monthly antique show – and the ballpark facility attracts almost 400,000 visitors each year. To put that in perspective, that was the average number of people visiting the Mellon (Civic) Area in Pittsburgh annually.

New development near the ballpark – which served as an anchor for growth on the 60 acres originally owned by United Washington Associates, totals nearly $100 million. It is estimated that over 800 jobs have been created and nearly a half million in new tax revenue is being generated. So, the project suggested by the non-profit group – Ballpark Scholarships Inc., DID WORK. The concept of building a ballpark and bringing in minor-league baseball has enhanced the local economy and the quality of life in the Washington area.

It is not widely known, but over the years, BSI, in co-operation with the Wild Things owners, has made annual donations to North Franklin Township in lieu of taxes, totaling nearly $400,000. BSI also donated almost 20 acres of land along the perimeter of the parking lot area to the North Franklin Recreation and Business Authority for the development of public walking trails and a pavilion – just recently completed.

It should also be noted that under the sales agreement, BSI holds onto the gas and oil rights, so that any future monies generated from that asset will be used for scholarships. Since 2002, about $40,000 has been donated to area young people by BSI in the form of college scholarships. Additionally, all existing agreements with California University of PA and PONY Baseball will be honored by the new owners. It was also agreed to that the ballpark would continue to be used as a baseball facility for at least the next 10 years.

A few common questions about the ballpark:

Did BSI make a profit from this sale? NO – the payment was at fair market value (as required by the IRS, the State Attorney General’s Office and the Washington County Courts when non-profit assets are sold) and that amount equaled what was owed on the ballpark with improvements.

What percentage of taxpayer dollars was used to build the ballpark? Less than 20 percent. The vast majority of the construction money came from private sources. Only 18 cents per dollar spent came from state economic development funds.

The ballpark will now be taxable – but has any taxes been paid over the first 10 years? Each year, in co-operation with the Wild Things owners, donations in lieu of taxes have been made to the township. Those contributions have totaled nearly $400,000. In addition, the Trinity High School baseball teams have been allowed to use the ballpark at no cost to the school district or taxpayers.

Was anyone with BSI paid over the years: NO, all those who served on the Board (Leo Trich, Anthony Nicolella, Abe Key, Michael Smith, Phil Hamilton) did so as “volunteers." And like every other fan who attended Wild Things games – they pay for their tickets and have done so from day one. Accounting and legal services were done by Randy Guthrie and Colin Fitch – and although some fees were paid – much of what they did was done at a reduced rate or “free of charge” – to help make this project work.

Does BSI own part of the Wild Things? NO. At no point has BSI nor its board members owned or been part of the Wild Things ownership group.

More on the Lawson trade ...

Last Monday, the lead story on the North American Baseball League's website was the trade between the Wild Things and San Angelo Colts that sent second baseman Scott Lawson from Washington back to his native Texas. The Associated Press even ran the trade in its transactions section.

The trade involved five players and "future considerations." The Frontier League finally posted the trade on its website today and we've learned the identity of the future consideration. Right-handed pitcher Ryan Turner, also a native of Texas, has been dealt to San Angelo.

Turner, you might recall, was the pitcher Washington signed this offseason who had been drafted four times, including three by Tampa Bay, for whom he played last season. New Wild Things manager Chris Bando had said that Turner "should be at the back end of our bullpen."

Washington also signed right-handed pitcher Alfredo Caballero, who last year pitched for three teams in three independent leagues and compiled a 7-7 record and 5.77 ERA. Caballero was named the Pitcher of the Year in the hitter-happy Pecos League after going 6-3 with a 4.52 ERA for the Alpine Cowboys.

Caballero played his college ball at Incarnate Word, an NCAA Division II school in San Antonio. Caballero's statistics during his final season in 2010 were off the charts. As a reliever, he was 6-1 with 10 saves, a 1.26 ERA and 93 strikeouts in 57.1 innings.

The Wild Things also announced the signing of first baseman Mike Bando.

Hot Stove Banquet story

He're the link to the Hot Stove Banquet story that was written by former O-R Sports Staffer John Sacco.

Read the story here.

Hot Stove Banquet

The Wild Things will hold their second Hot Stove Banquet tonight at the Meadow lands Double Tree by Hilton Hotel in Meadow Lands.

The event will feature 2012 Pro Football Hall of Famer Dermontti Dawson, former Pirates Sean Casey and Bob Walk, and new Wild Things manager Chris Bando. Lanny Frattare will be the emcee.

There will be a cocktail hour, dinner, live and silent auctions and plenty of baseball talk. Among the items up for auction is a Dermontti Dawson autographed Pro Football Hall of Fame helmet.

I attended last year's Hot Stove Banquet and have to say it was an enjoyable evening. I wish I could attend tonight, but that's not possible. As for this sports writer, the Wild Things couldn't have picked a worse night (expect for maybe next Saturday) to hold this event. So if any of you attend, don't be shy about commenting on what happens.

Among the things that might come out of the event is some word on Washington's pitching coach. I had posted on this blog last month that it appeared that Tim Ferguson would be hired as Mark Dewey's replacement. No word has come from the Wild Things, though Ferguson does have a Linkedin profile page that states his job is Pitching Coach/Player Procurement at Washington Wild Things.

See the profile here.

All-Decade Team: Relief Pitcher

Though it might seem like light years ago, the Wild Things led the Frontier League in wins during each of their first five seasons.

So it was no surprise that Washington had a relief pitcher lead the league in saves during four of those first five seasons: Robert Garvin (2002), pictured, Anthony Kozol (2003), B.J. Borsa (2004) and Jim Popp (2005).

Though it was 10 years ago, Garvin's season remains the best ever by a Washington closer. And the interesting part of Garvin's story was that he wasn't assured of a roster spot when spring training began.

Garvin was one of the holdovers from the Canton Crocodiles franchise that was sold and moved to Washington. In one season with Canton, Garvin had mediocre results, posting a 0-4 record with a 4.29 ERA and two saves while playing in the pitchers' haven known as Thurman Munson Stadium.

Garvin did win a roster spot out of spring training in 2002 but it was a middle reliever. But after Garvin earned a three-inning save June 4 against Chillicothe and duplicating the feat four days later against Johnstown, Washington manager Jeff Isom opted to move the hard-throwing right-hander to back of the bullpen to replace Bret Giaudrone (remember him?) as the closer.

It proved to be Isom's second-best move (signing Josh Loggins was the best). Garvin became the league's All-Star reliever by going 2-2 with a 2.30 ERA and 18 saves.

The two most impressive parts of Garvin's season still have not been matched or topped by a Washington reliever:

* At one point, he converted 18 consecutive save opportunities.

* He walked only four batters ALL SEASON. That was in 47 innings (in a game last year, Washington relievers walked five batters in one inning). During a stretch of 15 appearances, Garvin was 1-0 with eight saves, ZERO walks and 24 strikeouts in 17.1 innings. For the year, Garvin struck out 59 and walked four.

It wasn't until his final outing of the regular season that Garvin blew a save. It turned out that the blown save was meaningless because Washington had clinched the East Division title a few minutes earlier when Richmond lost.

Garvin was signed by the San Diego Padres after the 2002 season.

When Garvin was with Washington, one knock against him was that Isom tried not to use him two days in a row. Isom said Garvin's arm seemed to take a longer time to recover from an outing than most relief pitchers.

However, when with the Padres, Garvin led the high-Class A California League in appearances in 2003 with 61. He was used on consecutive days eight times that season.

After the 2003 season, Garvin was selected by the Montreal Expos in the Class AA phase of the Rule 5 draft but didn't make a team. He ended his career back with Isom in 2004, pitching for Joliet of the Northern League and saved 21 games.

All-Decade Team Relief Pitcher: Robert Garvin (2002)

Waiting for Goudeau: Two trades made

The Wild Things have made their first two trades of 2012, one a five-player deal.

Gone are two players signed during the offseason and one of the top offensive players from last year's team.

Washington traded second baseman Scott Lawson, pictured, and outfielder Trevor Bloom to the San Angelo Colts of the North American League in exchange for three players. The Wild Things also dealt right-handed pitcher Mickey Jannis to the Abilene Prairie Dogs of the North American League.

Lawson had the third-best batting average (.280) among Washington's starting position players last year. Hitting out of the leadoff spot, Lawson had nine home runs and 37 RBI and also stole 16 bases. Lawson is a native of Texas. Bloom was a player Washington signed in the offseason out of San Diego Christian College, where new Wild Things manager Chris Bando is the head coach.

In exchange for Lawson and Bloom, Washington gets infielder Clint Stroud and pitchers Andy Wells and Corey Goudeau.

Stroud has one year of experience in independent leagues, bouncing between the Pecos and North American leagues last year. He did hit 14 home runs in 62 games for three teams. Stroud played college ball at Arkansas Tech in NCAA Division II and signed with Joliet of the Frontier League last February, but he never played for the Slammers.

Arkansas Tech, by the way, has one of the most unique nicknames in college sports: the Wonder Boys.

Wells is entering his third season as a pro and has already played for five teams. He was with four teams in three independent leagues last season and compiled a 2-4 record and 7.14 ERA in 14 games (12 starts). He did make two postseason starts for Roswell, which won the Pecos League championship. Wells was 2-0 (2.77 ERA) in those games.

In 2010, Wells pitched three games in the Frontier League with Evansville and was 0-1 with a 12.00 ERA and gave up 10 hits and seven walks in six innings. He played his college ball at two schools, Wagner and Siena.

Goudeau is entering his second season as a pro, splitting last year between two teams in the North American League. He went 2-6 with an 8.38 ERA in 25 games (8 starts). Goudeau was drafted by the Marlins in the 18th round in 2010 out of Frank Phillips College, a junior college in Texas. He reportedly signed with the Marlins, but I find no information about Goudeau playing with an affiliated team.

Jannis was the most experienced player the Wild Things signed during the offseason, having advanced to high-Class A for two games in the Tampa Bay system last year. Jannis pitched in 34 games over two seasons with the Rays.

Small-college hitters with no pro experience

I had mentioned in an earlier post that it might be interesting to check the performance of small-college hitters who had no professional or NCAA Division I experience before signing with the Wild Things. This was sparked by Washington recently signing four hitters from NAIA schools who apparently fall into this category. Another hitter signed by the Wild Things played at an NAIA school and has only 30 professional at-bats.

Before getting into the pros and cons of small-college position players, let's note that signing pitchers from small colleges is not a bad idea. There are good arms at all levels of college baseball. If you want proof, just look at some of the names atop the Wild Things' all-time wins list and which level they played in college: Aaron Ledbetter (NCAA Division II), Dave Bradley (Division III), Tom Cochran (Junior College), Ben Ally (NAIA), Justin Hall (Division II) etc.

The thought here is, signing small-college hitters is a risky proposition. If you don't see 90 mph fastballs on a consistent basis in college, what makes you think you'll hit 'em here, right?

And let's keep in mind that not all of the NAIA hitters signed by new manager Chris Bando are likely to figure prominently into the Wild Things' plans for 2012. The corps of a Frontier League team is built on players who were re-signed or are picked up when minor league spring training ends at the end of March, so the small-college signees might only be vying for backup spots. Bando, however, did say that outfielder Rashad Taylor (Point Loma Nazarene) "will be one of the most exciting players in the league. He has the rare combination of both power and speed." Taylor was rated the No. 6 draft prospect in the NAIA last year by Baseball America.

Looking back on the Wild Things' 10 seasons, there have been numerous small-college hitters who have been signed but were cut in spring training. They were guys like Devon Murphy, Rich Michalek, Ryan Price, Phil Kern and Jon Leber. Remember them?

I attempted to compile a list of small-college hitters (again, with no prior professional or NCAA Division I playing experience) who played in the regular season for the Wild Things. As best I can tell, there were 19 such players (10 from D-II, 5 from D-III, 3 from the NAIA and 1 from a JC) who fall into this category. One player, infielder Shayne Busti, signed with Penn State out of high school but ended up playing four years in D-II at IUP and California, so he's included among the 19.

Those 19 can be broken down into:

Impact players: 3 (Chris Sidick, Jay Coakley, pictured, and Brandon Ketron).

Contributors: 2 (T.J. Graves and Robert Morgan).

Solid backup: 2 (Brandon Cornell and Rene Quintana)

Little or No Contribition: 13

The Wild Things obviously struck gold with Sidick and Coakley, a pair of Marietta College products. Sidick has played seven seasons and is the Frontier League's all-time leader in almost every offensive category. Coakley had three highly productive seasons, mainly as a DH.

Ketron, who was signed out of Union (Tenn.), an NAIA school, made the all-star game as a catcher and then was signed by the New York Yankees, though his affiliated career netted only 11 at-bats over two seasons.

Together the 19 players combined for a .281 batting average and 96 home runs. If you throw out Sidick's numbers, it's still a respectable .275 with 41 home runs. But if you go beyond the three impact players, here's what's left: 16 players who combined for: .256, 6 home runs, 103 RBI.

There were some forgettable performances. Dan Penberthy, a Division III All-American from Wooster, who in 2003 went 0-for-10 with nine strikeouts. Also in 2003, outfielder Matt Rollins from Division II North Greenville, came on the recomendation of former major leaguer Doug Dascenzo of Brownsville. Rollins went 2-for-22 and was thrown out on all three of his stolen base attempts.

Josh Gaub, a catcher from Division II Ashland, was 2-for-13 in 2004 but will be remembered for his struggles throwing the ball back to the pitcher (think Mackey Sasser's pump fakes). Matt Cotellese, an outfielder from Division II West Chester, was 0-for-1 in 2009 and hurt his elbow warming up before game. He missed the rest of the season but was resigned the next year, but then left camp. Ryan Morrow, from Division II St. Mary's in Texas, was Washington's backup catcher for most of last year but was overmatched at the plate, going 1-for-29.

Based on the Wild Things' results, expecting small-college position players to fill more than one Rookie spot on the roster should be considered highly risky. And Washington is not the only team that has had mixed results at best with small-college position players. The last one to win the league's Jason Simontacchi Award (Rookie of the Year) was Kevin White with Richmond in 2004. He played at Presbyterian, which has since moved up from Division II to D-I.

First player re-signed

The Wild Things have re-signed right-handed pitcher Chris Smith for the 2012 season.

Smith is the first player from last year's team to be re-signed by new manager Chris Bando. Smith pitched in six games for Washington after being acquired in August from the White Sands Pupfish of the independent Pecos League. Smith had a 1-2 record and 4.50 ERA for Washington but his final outing of the year was his best. Smith pitched seven shutout innings, allowing only one hit and earning a win in a game Sept. 1 against Lake Erie.

All-Decade Team: Starting Pitcher

The first four starting pitcher spots on the Wild Things' All-Decade Team were easy to select. In no particular order, Aaron Ledbetter, Jared Howton, Dave Bradley and Ryan Douglas deserved spots. Each helped pitch the Wild Things to the playoffs. With the exception of Douglass, each played more than one season in Washington.

There is no shortage of candidates for the final starter's spot, which speaks volumes about the depth and quality of Washington's starting rotations over 10 years.

There is lefty Tom Cochran, who won 14 games and last year became the first former Wild Things player to make it to the major leagues.

There also is Matt McDonnell, who is fourth on the franchise's all-time wins list with 17 and had a respectable 3.75 ERA over two seasons.

Another candidate is Patrick Stanley, who won eight games in 2006 and had a 2.72 ERA. He also went on to advance to Class AA in the Detroit Tigers system as a starter.

Three pitchers from last year's solid rotation have to be considered. Casey Barnes was third in the league in ERA (2.34). Justin Hall won 10 games and might have been the league's best pitcher at season's end. Justin Edwards spent three years in Washington, won 14 games and was second in the league in ERA last year at 2.16. Edwards did make more appearances out of the bullpen in his career than he did as a starter.

There's also Brian Burks (10 wins in 2005), Matt Squires (10 wins in 2006) and Jeff Sonnenberg, who in 2010 had a 2.97 ERA and pitched a game against Lake Erie in which he faced the minimum 27 batters. And let's not forget Brendon Davis, who was 9-1 as a starter in 2005. Davis, like Edwards, pitched in more games as reliever than starter.

The pick here, however, is none of the above. The fifth spot in this writer's rotation goes to Ben Ally (pictured), a guy who played in Washington during its first two seasons. A right-hander, Ally holds the distinction of being the first Wild Things player to have his contract purchased by a major league organization. That was in 2002, when he went 3-1 with a 2.08 ERA in four starts. He struck out 30 with only four walks in 26 innings before being signed by Houston.

Ally was back in Washington in 2003 and posted a 9-7 record, 3.02 ERA and struck out 124 in 134 innings.

Ally's most impressive statistic? Of his 23 starts, six were complete games and four were shutouts. There's a chance that Ally might have made a difference in the 2002 championship series against Richmond had he still been with the Wild Things. In 2003, he pitched well in a playoff game at Gateway but got no offensive support.

Original Wild Things manager Jeff Isom considered signing Ally to be a coup. Ally had a 1.05 ERA in 2001 in the Philadelphia Phillies' system. It was the second-best ERA among all pitchers with at least 43 innings in Class A. According to Ally, he was released in the spring of 2002 because the Phillies said he looked overweight.

There are now 14 players on the All-Decade Team. At least five of the remaining 10 spots will go to relief pitchers.

All-Decade Starting Pitcher: Ben Ally (2002-03)