Record-tying month

The Wild Things wrapped up a forgettable June with an 8-6 come-from-ahead loss Saturday night at London. It left Washington with a 9-19 record in June, which ties the franchise record for most losses in a month.

This is the third time 11 seasons that the Wild Things have lost 19 games in a month. In June of 2010, they went 10-19. The worst month in franchise history was August of 2009 when they were 8-19.

Let's go to our ring announcer ...

In an earlier post on this blog, I told you about how the Frontier League's London Rippers are not permitted to sell beer at their home games at, of all places, Labatt Park. The reason is a law that restricts liquor licenses to only one per address, and the one for Labatt Park is held by the London Majors, an amateur team that also plays at the park. This must be a London law because I can't imagine the Toronto Blue Jays are selling beer at the Rogers Center and the CFL's Toronto Argonauts are not.

In a move straight out of 1970s pro wrestling, Rippers manager David Martin has come up with a solution, albeit a ill-advised one, to settle the liquor-license debate. He has challenged the Majors to a best-of-three series with the winners gaining control of the liquor license and the loser having to leave town.

To use wrestling terms, the Rippers are playing the role of the heels and the Majors are the faces. The only thing missing is Mean Gene Okerlund as the ring announcer.

If Frontier League commissioner Bill Lee heard about this idea during morning, then it surely brought up his eggs. Thuis is one problem the league doesn't need.

"Obviously, this park isn’t big enough for the two of us," Martin told the London Free-Press. "They’ve been doing everything they can to block us and now this has become a manipulative thing. They’re trying to make bad business for us, so I’ve got nothing to do but fight for my ballclub."

Majors co-owner Scott Dart, not wanting to get involved in a "Battle for Labatt" made the right move and declined the offer.

“Bottom line? No," he said.

Here are links to two stories about this issue:

http://www.lfpress.com/sports/baseball/2012/06/26/19923246.html

http://www.ballparkdigest.com/201206265095/independent-baseball/news/no-beer-for-rippers-fans-owner-seeks-unique-solution

Minor-league baseball has a history of whacky and strange promotions, but this one is simply a bad idea. As I said previously, the Frontier League really doesn't need London or all the hassles that have come with putting a team in the city (not to mention all the bad press the Rippers are getting). And the Rippers have more important problems. Maybe they should be focusing more on trying to get work visas for three of their players who can only play in road games than beer.

This entire issue smells of an incident in the independent Pecos League last year:

http://www.pecosleague.com/pecosleague.asp?page=28&article_id=84

Record-setting season

The Wild Things will set at least one team record this season: most players used.

Washington made another roster move Monday, releasing 6-8, 275-pound designated hitter Tim Leary and signing outfielder Tanner Leighton, who recently completed his senior season at The Masters, an NAIA school in California.

Leary was batting only .130 (6-for-46 with 20 strikeouts) since joining the Wild Things June 7. Leighton, who is from Meridian, Idaho, the hometown of former Pirates pitcher Vernon Law, batted .322 this spring with three home runs and 31 stolen bases.

Leighton becomes the 48th player to appear on Washington's roster during the regular season, which is more than the Wild Things used in any of their previous 10 seasons. They used 47 in 2009.

When Leighton makes his debut, he will be the 46th player to get into a game this year. The Wild Things signed two players, infielder Anthony Long and catcher Cody Coffman, but released them before they ever played in a game.

Washington manager Chris Bando said before the series against Lake Erie began that he had one more roster move to make. This, apparently, is the move and the flurry of roster moves will be stopping, for various reasons. One is that the Frontier League has a limit of 25 transactions (not every roster move counts as a transaction) per team during the regular season. Washington is at 21 moves, according to the league office.

"The first third of the season, you find out who will be your team. The second third of the season, you build team chemistry. The final third, you make a run for the playoffs," Bando said. "That's what we're going to do."

Bando said many of the roster moves were made because several players classified as Experienced by Frontier League roster standards did not play to the level that the coaching staff expected. Many of those players were replaced by rookies from NAIA schools in California.

"We made some poor decisions on some of the Experienced guys who we thought would be productive," Bando said. "They didn't pan out. We will have to be better at selecting our Experienced players in the future.

"Because we had some Experienced guys who didn't produce the way we expected, we went with the approach of signing all young college guys and sinking or swimming with them. What we found out is, you can't miss on your Experienced guys. They have to be the nucleus of your club. In years to come, we don't want to be having as much turnover as we've had."

Tap runs dry

Here's a story from the London Community News about the London Rippers not being able to acquire a liquor license to sell beer at Labatt Park. Yes, there's no beer available during Rippers games at Labatt (the beer company) Park.

The Rippers can't get a beer license because only one can be issued per address and the London Majors, an amateur team (in other words, a beer league team) holds the license. The Majors have been playing at Labatt Park since the 1920s.

If you've followed the Rippers' story in London, the Majors weren't happy about the Frontier League moving in on their territory. An attorney for the Majors said the Rippers can use their liquor license, but it will cost the Frontier League team a mere $500 per game. That's $24,000 for the remainder of the season.

 “(Our liquor licence) is something we don’t want to lose just for the sake of playing nice with another team that’s here in the city with us," Majors owner Scott Dart said.

There comes a time, when the Rippers and the Frontier League have to ask themselves, "Is it really worth playing baseball in London, Ontario?"

The legaue has had one franchise (the Werewolves) fail in the city. The ballpark is old. Judging by the attendance and what we've been reading out of London, the majority of the people in the city don't care about the Rippers or want them out of town. Traveling across the border is a pain. Getting passports for players on short notice, is troublesome.

“They said London was open for business. I brought mine down and all I’ve found is doors closed,” said Rippers manager David Martin, who also runs the day-to-day operations of the organization.

Sometimes, you need to admit you've made a mistake and move on, in this case, to another city.

http://www.londoncommunitynews.com/2012/06/rippers-come-out-swinging-against-city-london-majors/

Consol Energy Park II?

West Virginia University has released artist renderings of a proposed ballpark in Morgantown that would house the Mountaineers' baseball program and possibly a professional team.

The renderings have been prepared by Kevin Turkall of Designstream LLC in Pittsburgh. It shows a park with only a few suites and and apparently no outfield berm, but there is a grass area down the left-field line (sound familiar?). My guess is there is no more than 3,500 seats.

What struck me almost immeditaely is how much this park looks like Consol Energy Park, right down to the five rows of setas in the lower bowl.

Where to get signed

With former Washington closer Nate Striz being picked up by the Boston Red Sox, I was wondering which Frontier League team in recent seasons has done the best job of getting players signed by affiliated teams.

Much to my surprise, the Wild Things had the most players signed in the calendar year of 2011 (4) and only Windy City has more since the start of 2010.

Some players, such as Washington's Casey Barnes, were signed and have since returned to the Frontier League. Other players, such as catcher Adrian Bravo-Carmona (remember him?) never played a game in the Frontier League before having their contracts purchased. A few others, like former Wild Things pitcher Vidal Nuno, have stuck in affiliated ball and are excelling. Nuno was signed by the New York Yankees last year and began his stint as a middle reliever for a team in the short-season New York-Penn League. Now he's a starting pitcher in the Double-A Eastern League and has a 1.08 ERA in six starts for the Trenton Thunder. Nuno recently tossed 5.1 shutout innings in a start against the Altoona Curve.

Players moved to affiliated ball since Jan. 1, 2011 (according to the transactions link on the Frontier League website):

Washington - 6
Windy City - 5
Joliet - 4
River City - 4
Gateway -2
Lake Erie -2
Traverse City - 2
Evansville - 1
Southern Illinois - 1

If you go back to Jan. 1, 2010, then you can see that Windy City has been the runaway leader in moving players to affiliated ball:

Windy City - 14
River City - 7
Washington - 6
Traverse City - 5
Joliet - 4
Gateway - 3
Florence - 2
Lake Erie -2
Oakland County - 2
Evansville - 1
Normal - 1
Southern Illinois - 1

Of the 46 players who have been sold to the affiliated ranks, since Jan. 1, 2010, 33 have been pitchers.

Blackkkkkkkkkkwell

Here are two clips from the Wild Things game Monday in London. Both are of Washington pitcher Eric Blackwell striking out hitters.

Labatt Memorial Park

Here are some photos taken by WJPA Radio's Randy Gore of the London Rippers' Labatt Memorial Park.

Labatt Park is the "oldest continually operating baseball grounds in the world," with a history dating back to 1877. It seats 5,200. Among those who have played at Labatt Park are Satchel Paige, Denny McClain, Ferguson Jenkins, Albert Belle, Jeff Bagwell, Bernie Williams and Travis Fryman.

You should be able to click on the photo and get a larger image.

Striz signed by Sox

According to the Twitter accounts of Matt McConnell and Chris Smith, Wild Things closer Nate Striz (pictured) had his contract putchased by the Boston Red Sox.

Striz has a 2-1 record, 3 saves and a 1.46 ERA in nine games with the Wild Things. He has 17 strikeouts and only one walk in 12.1 innings.

Striz pitched 1.1 hitless innings Friday night in Washington's 3-2 win at Florence.

This brings to five the number of former Wild Things in affiliated ball. Striz joins Tom Cochran (Lehigh Valley, Triple-A Phillies), Vidal Nuno (Trenton, Double-A Yankees), Alan Williams (Brevard County, Single-A Brewers) and Mark Williams (Wisconsin, Single-A Brewers).

Another roster move

The Wild Things made another roster move Friday, releasing catcher Joel Carranza and signing catcher Andrew Heck (pictured).

Carranza was acquired in the season's first week from a team in the independent Pecos League. He struggled offensively, hitting only .138 (4-for-29) though half of his hits went for home runs, including a grand slam against Gateway. After hitting the grand slam and driving in five runs in the that game, Carranza went into an 0-for-20 slump.

Heck is a local player, from North Hills High School. He played college ball at Duquesne before the school dropped the program following his junior season in 2010. Heck led the Dukes in nine offensive categories when he hit .408 with 10 home runs and 15 stolen bases as a junior. He set the school's single-season record for hits (91) and doubles (25).

Heck transferred to Oklahoma State for his senior season but played in only 15 games (eight starts) and batted .214 with no home runs.

At Duquesne, Heck was a teammate of the Wild Things' other catcher, Rick Devereaux, who transferred to Pitt when the Dukes quit playing baseball.

The interesting thing about the signing of Heck is he's listed as a catcher. I don't know how much he played the position at Oklahoma State or Duquesne, but judging by the fielding statistics it doesn't appear to be very often. At Duquesne, Heck also was a pitcher, so you know he didn't spend much time at catcher.

I think Heck even had a tryout with Southern Illinois, but as an outfielder. At Oklahoma State, Heck was listed on the roster as an outfielder and pitcher. At Duquesne, he was listed as a pitcher/infielder.

The addition of Heck might turn out to be a good one. Only time will tell. But with all the problems the Wild Things have had at catcher -- this is the sixth catcher they've had since the season started and they lead the league with nine passed balls -- you would think Washington would try to sign a backstop who has significant experience at the position in affiliated ball. The best catchers the Wild Things have had, guys like Randy McGarvey, Shaun Argento, Pat O'Brien, Mario Graza and Kris Rochelle, were catchers who were drafted.

This signing reminds me of something a former Wild Things player mentioned after Washington signed a catcher/third baseman out of the college ranks (the guy never made it to Washington). "The best catchers I played with or against were catchers-only," he said. "I never saw a good catcher who played behind the plate one day and then at third base the next. The good ones play catcher and that's it."

The moves continue the Wild Things' run of transactions that is at a record pace. Teams in the league are permitted only 25 transactions (not every move is considered a transaction) per season and Washington already is well past the halfway point -- and we still have a month left before we get to the all-star break.

Gas up the bus

The Wild Things begin their longest road trip of the season tonight. It's a nine-game journey that will take them to Avon, Ohio, Florence, Ky., and London, Ontario. Included in the trip is an absolute ridiculous scenario of a night game Saturday in Florence followed by a 398-mile overnight trip to London, which will include a stop of about an hour to go through customs at the U.S.-Canada border, and then a 1 p.m. game Sunday in London. Think about that for a moment, a day game after a night game, with a 398-mile bus trip, and a stop at the border.

Can you say bad scheduling?

We've already seen some puzzling scheduling this year in the Frontier League. London played a series finale in O'Fallon, Mo., then made the league's longest trip, 701 miles, back to Canada for its season opener the next day against Gateway. To the Rippers' credit, they didn't let the travel become an excuse because they beat the Grizzlies that night. Rumor has it that Gateway, which was traveling from Washington to London, was delayed an extra hour at the border because the Grizzlies had faxed their paperwork to a different crossing station.

We've also had River City driving to Washington for a three-game series, then turning around and going back home to Missouri for a home series the next night. Normal just concluded a 12-game road trip with a series in Washington.

It seems that every team that has rolled into Washington has at least one complaint about its travel schedule. This sparked a Sunday night project for me as I watched the Kent State-Oregon college baseball Super Regional game: find out which Frontier League teams have the best and worst travel schedules this year.

The team that has the biggest complaint is (drum roll, please) ... Washington.

I did not notice just how bad Washington's schedule is this year because it starts out (with the exception of the Florence-to-London night-day scenario) relatively easily. But Washington's travel schedule from July 31 until the six-game homestand to conclude the season is bad, bad, bad. The worst month of travel any team in the league will endure.

The late-season stretch includes:

* a trip from Avon, Ohio to O'Fallon, Mo., without an off day.
* a trip from O'Fallon, Mo., to Washington without an off day.
* three scheduled off days that will be used as travel days.
* trips from Washington to Normal, Ill., Sauget, Ill., and Rockford, Ill., with returns trips from Normal and Sauget for home games the following nights.

From the first series of the year until the final out of the regular season, Washington will travel more miles (11,345) than any team in the league. And this year, it's not so much that Washington is a perimeter team in the league, it's because of bad scheduling. For example, why send Washington, the Eastern-most team in the league, to St. Louis twice? One six-game trip, to play Gateway and River City, is what should be happening. Instead, Washington, London and Lake Erie each makes two trips to St. Louis. Traverse City, at least, goes only one time.

But Washington isn't the only team with strange road schedules. For example, Florence has a stretch in July in which it travels to Sauget, Ill, then to Traverse City, Mich., then back to the St. Louis area and O'Fallon, Mo.

When calculating the mileage for each team, I did not take into account if a team travels back and forth each night to play a close rival. For example, when Windy City plays at Joliet, it might opt to drive the 52 miles roundtrip each day of the series instead of one 26-mile trip and three-night stay at the Fairfield Inn in Joliet. I credit Windy City for one 26-mile trip.

Here are the miles each team will travel:

11,345 - Washington
10,729 - Traverse City
10,599 - London
 9,273 - Southern Illinois
 8,716 - Lake Erie
 8,241 - River City
 8,148 - Florence
 7,773 - Gateway
 7,587 - Rockford
 7,517 - Evansville
 7,231 - Joliet
 6,745 - Schaumburg
 6,357 - Windy City
 6,255 - Normal

It was surprising to me that Normal, which has the 12-game road trip, will log the fewest miles. But the CornBelters did open the season with a nine-game homestand.

From the start of the season until Aug. 1, Schaumburg's travel schedule compared to every other team in the league is stunningly easy. While other teams are criss-crossing the country, the Boomers will have plenty of time to hang out at the country club pool if they please. The Boomers make only two 500-mile trips all year.

Some of the interesting facts that I discovered:

* London logged more miles (1,533) before playing its seventh game of the season than Schaumburg will from May 29 to July 2.

* Normal's 12-game road trip covered only 102 miles fewer than Schaumburg will log during a 16-series stretch from May 25 to July 18.

* Windy City does not leave the Chicagoland area from July 6 through July 30. During that span, it's longest road trip is 26 miles.

* Washington has seven consecutive series (July 31-Aug.23) that will require at least 508 miles of travel. The Wild Things have 12 trips of 500+ miles. That's the most in the league. Second is Southern Illinois with eight 500-mile trips.

* Windy City and Joliet each make only one 500-mile trip all season, and Joliet's is from Washington to Normal, Ill., for the season finale.

UPDATE: I received today from WJPA Radio's Bob Gregg copies of several emails that confirm the Wild Things' game Sunday, June 17 at London has been changed to 6:30 p.m. That will make the travel from Florence more managable. But if you check the Wild Things' website, it still lists the June 17 game as a 1 p.m. start. London's website also lists all home games as being 1 p.m. starts, and there is no designation that the June 17 start time has been changed. I'm not in the business of running a baseball team, but I think letting people know what time your games begin is rather important.

Manager trivia

While going through some old statistics and schedules this afternoon, I noticed something that might make for a good trivia question. Let's see how long it takes for someone to come up the answer to this one (it's not very difficult):

Who are the only two managers in Wild Things history who were never swept in a series at home?

Desperate times

Desperate times call for desperate actions.

Judging by the last two games, the Wild Things are a desperate bunch.

That much was obvious Tuesday night when Southern Illinois leadoff hitter Darian Sanford reached third base with one out in the top of the first inning.

Then, Washington brought its infield in.

The entire infield.

Three batters into the game. Three!

If that wasn't a desperate move, then I don't know what one might be in baseball.

It had to send this message to starting pitcher Gary Lee and his fielders: If you give up this one run, then the game might be over because the coaching staff doesn't believe the offense can score more than one run.

That's the only conclusion I can make.

I remarked, at the time, that this was the only instance I can recall of a team playing its infield in only three batters into a game.

I should have waited until Wednesday night.

That's when Sanford led off the game with a triple down the right-field line, and then the Wild Things brought their infield in. Again.

This time, however, only two batters into the game. Two!

Desperate times.

The move might have backfired because Southern Illinois' Jake Kaase hit a groudball that went for a single through the drawn-in infield. If the infield was playing back, first baseman Aaron Guinn would have been able to make the play, and Sanford might not have tried to advance on an infield grounder with no outs. Then again, maybe he would have scored. Kaase's hit, though, was followed by a popout between home plate and first base, then a tapper back to the mound.

It turned out that the run didn't make a difference in the outcome of the game, but it does show how desperate the Wild Things are to make something positive happen for them during this stretch of nine losses in 10 games. It has led to some bizarre strategies. In this homestand, for example, Washington has:

* had its No. 3 hitter try to bunt for a hit with two outs and nobody on base.

* had its No. 5 hitter try to bunt for a hit.

* tried to steal second base when trailing by three runs, and with no outs, in the seventh inning.

In the series last weekend at Joliet, Washington was bunting and using the hit-and-run late in a game it was losing by double figures.

It wasn't surprising that a Washington batter was plunked by a pitch the next day.

Some might say that was a violation of baseball etiquette.

Others might call it desperate times.

Early trends

Each Frontier League team is five series into the season and some trends are beginning to appear. Some are quite surprising. Here are some things this guy has found most interesting about the first three weeks of the season:

* The most disappointing team to date has to be the Lake Erie Crushers. I had Lake Erie pegged for second place in the East, but the Crushers currently share the basement with London at 5-10. While the first 15 games of the season do not make or break a team, or are even cause for alarm, the stunning part of Lake Erie's start is where they're losing. The Crushers are only 1-8 at home.

* Word is that London has three players with passport problems and they're being put on the suspended list each time the Rippers return to Canada. When you're crossing the border each time you start a homestand or a roadtrip, why do you sign players who don't have passports? Not a smart move by the Rippers.

* River City is off to a 12-3 start, which isn't shocking considering the Rascals' recent success. But keep in mind that River City is doing this without two starting position players from last year, second baseman Doug Sanders and catcher Danny Sawyer, who are expected to join the team later in the season. Sanders is an assistant coach at Kent State, which has advanced to the Super Regional round of the NCAA tournament, and Sawyer earned a baseball part in the Jackie Robinson movie that is currently being filmed.

* Don't know which is more surprising: Washington is 6-8 with an anemic .187 team batting average or Gateway's pitching staff has given up the most home runs and walks in the league, yet is 8th in the league in team ERA at only 3.89.

* Traverse City's Jeff Flagg has a league-leading eight home runs. That's more than three teams, including Washington.

* While River City has the league's best record, the most impressive start might be that of Traverse City. The Beach Bums are 9-6 and have played only three home games.

Border wars

We know that the Frontier League and Wild Things ownership have expressed interest in putting an expansion team in Bridgeport, W.Va., as early as 2014. With recent news coming out of Morgantown, W.Va., one has to wonder if this is a good idea.

Monongalia County approved a tax-increment financing (TIF) district for Morgantown, which clears the way for the way for West Virginia University to build a ballpark that could be shared with a short-season New York-Penn League team.

The district applies to University Town Center, the shopping area just off the Star City exit. A reported $20 million ballpark is in the works.

WVU athletic director Oliver Luck is behind the push for a new ballpark to help elevate the Mountaineers' baseball program to where its competitive in the Big XII Conference.

Luck said he has been talking with teams in the NY-Penn about a team moving to the ballpark when it is built. There is a precedent for a successful college/pro partnership in that league with Penn State and the P:ittsburgh Pirates' State College Spikes sharing Medlar Park.

While a NY-Penn franchise would have to be for sale or able to move to Morgantown, WVU does have one person who could help make pro baseball happen. Ken Kendrick, owner of the Arizona Diamondbacks, is a WVU graduate and influential booster. There are rumblings that Arizona's affiliate in Yakima, Wash., which plays at the same level as the New York-Penn, has a lease that expires in 2015 and is on its way out of town.

Hmmm.

What does all of this have to do with the Frontier League? Well, if a Bridgeport franchise is going to be successful, it will have to draw a significant amount of fans from Fairmont, which is less than 20 miles to the north. Bridgeport probably doesn't have enough population to support a Frontier League team if it doesn't get support from Fairmont. But a person living in Fairmont can just as easily drive to Morgantown as Bridgeport. Plus, you have to believe the ballpark in Morgantown is going be significantly bigger and nicer than Bridgeport's.

The Wild Things also draw fans from Greene County, and if you live in, say Waynesburg, its faster to get to Morgantown than to Washington's Chestnut Street exit.

I'm not sure about how far all the Class A Midwest teams are to Frontier League teams, but it seems that the FL clubs do not do well at the gate when located close to affiliated teams. For example, Canton/Akron, Kalamazoo/Battle Creek. Maybe Joliet and Schaumburg will do well against some Midwest League competition, but Bridgeport doesn't have the same kind of population base as those two areas.

One interesting side note to this Morgantown ballpark is that several media outlets are still reporting that Luck wants the ballpark to have a synthetic surface. That might rule out an affiliated team in Morgantown. If it does, why wouldn't Wild Things ownership partner with WVU instead of Bridgeport? It would make more sense to have a Washington-Morgantown rivalry than a Washington-Bridgeport rivalry.