He's beaten the Pirates and the Wild Things
By now, you probably know that Andrew Werner (pictured), the San Diego Padres pitcher who threw four-hit ball into the seventh inning Wednesday in his major league debut to beat the Pirates, began his professional career in the Frontier League, where he was playing as little as two years ago.Werner actually made his professional debut at Consol Energy Park on July 17, 2009, tossing a scoreless inning of relief for Evansville against the Wild Things. Two days later, he pitched another scoreless inning of relief against Washington with exactly the same statistics: one walk and two strikeouts. Werner finished the year with a 3-2 record and 5.64 ERA in 10 games.
In 2010, Windy City traded an outfielder named Vinnie Scarduzio to Evansville in exchange for Werner. With the ThunderBolts, the lefty had a 10-4 record and 3.51 ERA. Werner made two starts against the Darin Everson-managed Wild Things that year (each game was in Crestwood, Ill.), posting a 2-0 record. In a June 28 game, he pitched six innings to beat Tim Smith, 5-2.
On Aug. 29, 2010, Werner beat the Wild Things again, going 6.1 innings and giving up four hits, four walks and three earned runs (a pitching line that was very similar to his outing against the Pirates) in Windy City's 8-7 victory. Justin Edwards started that game on the mound for Washington but Kevin Hammons was the losing pitcher.
One article I read late last night mentioned that Werner had tryouts with three Frontier League teams and was rejected before Evansville signed him. The article didn't name the three teams.
Labels: Andrew Werner, Pittsburgh Pirates, San Diego Padres, Windy City ThunderBolts
posted by Chris Dugan at
8:32 AM
14 Comments:
This is really not of interest to any of us right now. Are the WT moving to WV or not. That is what interest me now.
Speak for yourself. I found it interesting that the Pirates were handcuffed by a Frontier leaguer while in a pennant race.
Anon,12:50PM
You are correct. I should have said of interest to ME, not US.
Sorry
Anonymous... 12:50 PM... I agree with you... Kudos to this young man
The Pgh. TV stations sports deparments were bashing the guy because he pitched in the frontier league.
If he had pitched for the Pirates and did the same, they would have raved how the Pirates found a quality player for an independent league.
If he had tanked, you would never have heard about his frontier league heritage.
One of the few Frontier League payers who made it.
Band the Bandos, boo Stu! (Thanks Ima Fraid and Swiss)
If you want reason No. 167 for why Bando should be fired here it is:
Trailing 4-3 against a team in playoff contention he sends up a hitter batting .178 to lead off the top of the 9th. Why?
The answer has to be:
A. The batter is his kid.
B. He's trying to get Florence into the playoffs.
C. A and B.
If I were the manager of Lake Erie, Southern Ill, Windy City, Gateway or Schumburg, I'd probably like to take a swing at Bando about now. How do you justify letting a .179 hitter bat in the 9th inning of a one run game against a team trying to make the playoffs? You can't.
Ban Bando.
He’s just like the organization that he works for – no integrity.
.
Some things that were supposed to happen in 2012 But Never Did
1) Concession kiosk all around the concourse so we would not have to miss any of the action on the field during a game.
2) A “system” that would insure that people could not buy GA tickets and then sit in a box seat.
3) Every person entering CEP would have their ticket checked to insure that those with reserved seats would not find their seats occupied by some freeloader.
4) A new field manager with Major League “connections” to recognize and draw more talent to the team. We all know how well that worked out don’t we? What we got was a manager that was about as inspiring as a dead whale and that hid all season in the dugout along with his equally under-talented son. Both of these individuals represent a new low in Wild Things history. Never mind the fact that Daddy’s boy was retained all season costing the Wild Things a valuable roster spot.
5) A competitive team. That’s a good one if you’re into jokes!
6) Bus trips to nearby Frontier cities. The team was sooo bad that there was not enough people sign up to make it happen.
7) The Wild Things asked for suggestions for improving the stadium and our enjoyment of the games. Not even one of those suggestions was ever implemented.
8) Not really very important but, a new and better Wild Thing mascot. Really? Minor League the Dog is better than the one selected to be the tha mascot.
There other promises made too, but you get the point. All talk – no action!
What We Actually got in 2012
1) A pretty good MC in Tony Summers.
2 )Much higher prices for everything from parking to concessions.
3) A field manager that makes Jelks and Mr. Smiley look like Rhodes Scholars.
4) A bunch of poor Interns forced to dress like chickens and cows trying to sell milk and cookies and a woman with no sense of self worth waving a towel screaming “Let’s Go Wild Things! How friggin’ inspiring can it get?
5) Nepotism – Need I say more?
6) Not a politician in sight. Nobody wants to be associated with a loser.
Let’s go Wild Things and don’t stop until you get to West Virginia.
Ban the Bandos
Boo Stu
Buttons and his .174 batting average starting again tonight when the opponent is in the middle of the playoff hunt.
If I'm John Massarelli I'd like to know why Bando is trying so hard to get Florence into the playoffs.
Swiss needs to rewrite the words to that Beverly Hillbillies song. Buttons batting .174 not .191.
Might be time for Swiss to rewrite lyrics for that Country Roads song.
I was in the Cincy area the weekend and attended the game in Florence last night.
Free parking at Florence in a well lighted fully paved parking lot with parking lines marked.
I bought the $10 ticket which was equilivant to our $12 ticket. The seats behind home plate similar to the Wild Cubs are $12 a seat compared to $15 at Stu's.
No bleacher seats. They have lawn seating, but you must bring a blanket or folding chair. These are $7 where the W. Cubs GA is a five spot.
A 20 ounce beer was $4.75.
Hard to compare concession prices as Florence had mets, brats, rib-eye steak sandwiches in addtion to dogs and burgers.
Food okay, but nothing to rave about.
What is worth raving about is their stadium. Everything, concessions, rest rooms, beverages face the playing field.
The only bad thing is fake turf like the Wild Cubs.
The only thing I see better in Stu's den is the mascot.
Florence Belle is bad and on a good day would be worse than any Wild Thing mascot at his worst.
No moonshine on the menu. I guess we will see in it WV next year.
Buttons played and contributed nothing.
The Florence team wore uniforms that looked like the Wild Things when they were good and the Wild Cubs wore unifors that looked like Florence's in the past.
I think Lenny Randle was trying out to be the Wild things mascot!
So is it 6 more games and the West Virginia Wild Things are born? Are they playing in Bridgeport, Morgantown or Parkersburg? Can't wait to hear if Bill Defabio will mention season ticket deposirts. Oh, yes I can. Won't be going to game Tuesday. I've seen enough of the Bando Bunch. Ban the Bandos.
That would be a good job for Randle.
He sure isn't much of a coach.
Ban the Bandos
Wow you people are depressing
Lenny should put on the Wild Thing outfit and coach first base.
He would be more entertaining than any Wild Thing mascot since Jason Dillie quit or was let go.
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