tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-40426030046410492042024-03-14T03:36:31.142-07:00Wild about Things<I>Observer-Reporter</I> sports editor Chris Dugan provides the latest on
Washington (Pa.)'s favorite baseball team and its Frontier League foes.Chris Duganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07239434367459789061noreply@blogger.comBlogger1143125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4042603004641049204.post-67435846873368425502016-09-21T21:09:00.000-07:002016-09-21T21:09:17.323-07:00Massarelli out as T-Bones manager<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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Former Wild Things manager John Massarelli will not return in 2017 as manager of the Kansas City T-Bones of the independent American Association, the team announced Wednesday. Massarelli had been with the T-Bones for three years and had a 139-160 record, including a 42-58 mark this season.<br />
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<a href="http://wyandottedaily.com/t-bones-managers-contract-not-renewed/">http://wyandottedaily.com/t-bones-managers-contract-not-renewed/</a><br />
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<br />Chris Duganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07239434367459789061noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4042603004641049204.post-20953348509820734412016-09-20T13:59:00.002-07:002016-09-20T13:59:26.712-07:00Otters win it all<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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Here is the link to the story from the Evansville Courier-Press about the Evansville otters defeating River City 1-0 Monday night in the decisive Game 5 of the Frontier League championship series.<br />
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<a href="http://www.courierpress.com/story/sports/baseball/otters/2016/09/19/ackerman-wills-otters-frontier-league-title/90638888/">http://www.courierpress.com/story/sports/baseball/otters/2016/09/19/ackerman-wills-otters-frontier-league-title/90638888/</a>Chris Duganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07239434367459789061noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4042603004641049204.post-35135985188752875212016-09-07T08:09:00.003-07:002016-09-07T08:13:33.434-07:00Not much has changed<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Because not much has changed with the Wild Things, I've felt the need to break a basic journalistic rule and pull out a section of a blog post I made at the end of last season and include it in this post, almost word for word. I made a few changes to update facts. Here you go:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">The upcoming offseason will be the most important one in Wild Things history. There are many topics that must be addressed, including getting a naming rights sponsor for the ballpark to replace Consol Energy. A good game plan for the future is desperately needed.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">The first question to be asked in the offseason should be this: Is it really in ownership's best interest to run two teams, the Wild Things and the Pennsylvania Rebellion of the National Pro Fastpitch league? If you think things are bad with the Wild Things and the Frontier League, then you need to check out the Rebellion and the NPF. The Rebellion make the Wild Things look like the New York Yankees. The Frontier League's officials and business model make the NPF's look like the latter is being run by the kids who operate the neighborhood lemonade stand. The Rebellion missed the playoffs in a five-team league in 2015, then finished last in a six-team league this year. Four teams went to the postseason in 2015. One of those playoff teams was a first-year team that wasn't wasn't even allowed to acquire players through an expansion draft but still finished ahead of the Rebellion. This year, another expansion team finished ahead of the Rebellion and made the playoffs.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">How any NPF team can remain in the financial black is beyond me. Judging by their poor attendance and the cost of having to fly to Florida, Texas and South Carolina to play games, the Rebellion have to be losing money.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">A lot of money.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">I have a feeling the Rebellion's financial losses are impacting the Wild Things. If that's the case, it's a very bad sign. One of financial trouble ahead. And the solution is not to raise ticket or parking or concession prices.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Operating two teams, with one front office staff, and neither team able to sell out a small ballpark (the Wild Things did have one sellout in 2016), makes no financial sense. The time to pull the plug on the softball team, if it is indeed a financial drain on the Wild Things, should have been before 2016, which happens to be the final year for Consol Energy's naming rights deal at the ballpark. A 10-year-contract was announced by Consol and the Wild Things in April of 2007. That means the deal ran through this summer. If another company doesn't step forward and put its name on the ballpark, it will be a big financial hit for the Wild Things.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">There also has to be changes in the Wild Things' baseball operations. When you miss the playoffs eight times in nine years, there is something very wrong. The way you find players, the people you get recommendations from, where you're looking for players, the kind of players you sign, it all has to be re-evaluated and changed. Somebody needs to think outside the box.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Somebody in the front office or ownership needs to answer this: Why has a franchise that could pack the house almost every night fallen so far so fast that now it can't fill half the ballpark unless pyrotechnics are involved? If the answer is because the novelty of pro baseball in Washington has worn off, then that's too late to change. If it's the economy, then the Wild Things can't change that. But if it's because the front-office staff can only spend half its time selling tickets to Wild Things games because the other half is spent hawking Rebellion tickets, or if it's because the games have become boring, or the parking fee and ticket prices are too high, or the giveaway items have become either worthless or few and far between, or the team can't win, or the between-innings promotions are stupid or nobody in Pittsburgh/Westmoreland County/Fayette County hears/reads/knows about the Wild Things, or the customers are not treated with respect etc., then those things can and must be corrected. In other words, eliminated.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Now, back to this year and some new thoughts.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">The Wild Things desperately need to improve their public image, especially in Washington. They have looked like the bully bad guys in the situation with the Trinity School District and how much it has cost the Hillers' baseball team to play at CEP. The Wild Things say they weren't overcharging Trinity for playing at CEP but rather they were getting a tax abatement. Call it what you want, a tax abatement or fleecing the local school district. It all semantics. The reality is the Wild Things need to charge Trinity and every other school that plays at CEP (or whatever it's called next year) the same fee, either a per-game rate or a per-hour rate. That shouldn't be a difficult thing to figure out.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">The Wild Things also looked bad when they flexed their muscle and caused the Trinity/W&J deal that would have had the Hillers playing at Ross Memorial Park next year to fall through. Multiple sources have said the Wild Things threatened to put a fence around their parking lot if Trinity moved its games to CEP. That fence would make it impossible to park more than a few cars at Ross Memorial, so W&J pulled out of the deal. The Wild Things certainly have the right to fence in their parking lot, but this entire situation should have never reached the point where the team looks like the kid who says, “If I don't get my way, then I'm taking my marbles and going home.”</span></span></div>
Chris Duganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07239434367459789061noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4042603004641049204.post-57125149644509734662016-09-05T09:45:00.001-07:002016-09-06T07:35:36.527-07:00Playoffs? They went thatta way<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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For the eighth time in nine years, the Wild Things and the Frontier League playoffs went their separate ways.<br />
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In other words, not much has changed.<br />
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The Wild Things have gone 15 seasons without winning a championship, which is currently tied for the fourth-longest title drought in independent baseball history and the second-longest in the Frontier League. Chillicothe played 16 years without winning a title.<br />
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The Wild Things finished this season with a record of 46-49. That's an increase of four wins over last year, so there is some improvement going on. But in the Frontier League, you can go from expansion franchise to champion in less than a year, so improving the win total by a few is nothing to get excited about, especially when the team still has a losing record -- for the seventh time in eight years. In the Frontier League, one year usually doesn't have much impact on the next -- unless you're the Wild Things.<br />
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There has been only one postseason game played at Consol Energy Park since 2007.<br />
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One!<br />
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That's all. One night of playoff baseball in nine years.<br />
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That's pathetically sad.<br />
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You would think that by pure blind luck the Wild Things would fall into a season of making the finals.<br />
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The reasons the Wild Things missed the playoffs this season came down to two things: their offense was the worst in franchise history and they couldn't beat the league's best teams, going 8-22 against the four teams that made the playoffs. It also didn't help that their two best pitchers, Trevor Foss and Zac Grotz, had their contracts purchased by major league organizations in August, while the Wild Things were in the midst of a playoff race. You simply can't replace top-notch pitchers in August.<br />
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Washington was mostly terrific on the mound, OK in the field and woeful at the plate. The Wild Things gave up the fewest runs in the league yet had a losing record. That's almost impossible to do.<br />
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Foss' performance was the highlight of the season. A right-hander who was signed in the offseason out of the Los Angeles Angels' system, Foss had an 8-3 record and won the league's ERA title at 2.50. He threw eight complete games and was within one CG of the 16-year-old league record when he had his contract purchased in early August by the Cleveland Indians.<br />
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The pitching was good enough to get Washington to the postseason. The hitting, however, was what prevented that from happening.<br />
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With the exception of right fielder David Popkins (.281, 15 HR) and designated hitter Ricky Rodriguez (.289, 9 HR), Washington's offense sputtered badly. A few other players had some good stretches, but they lacked consistency.<br />
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Washington's situational hitting was abysmal. Two statistics show just how bad it was: the team batting average with two outs and a runner in scoring position was an anemic .199, and the Wild Things had only seven sacrifice bunts all season. Some of those sacrifices weren't by design. Several were attempted bunts for a hit that just happened to advance a baserunner.<br />
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Washington finished last in the league in batting average and runs, was tied for last in on-base percentage and was next to last in doubles.<br />
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The .235 team batting average and 356 runs each are franchise record lows. Oh, for the days of the 2005 Wild Things, who had a .298 batting average and scored 645 runs. It might have taken the 2016 Wild Things 200 games to score 645 runs.<br />
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During the last-month playoff push that fell three wins shy of a wild-card spot, Washington played every game with at least two hitters in the starting lineup who sported a batting average of less than .200. Sometimes it was more than two sub-.200 hitters in the lineup. It's hard to win with that kind of pop-gun offense.<br />
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The lack of offense has been a long-running problem for the Wild Things, and one that somebody needs to spend time analyzing and finding a way to correct. Washington has finished last in the league in team batting average four times in the last six years and hasn't finished higher than ninth in that span. It's hard to be that inept on offense for that long, but if Washington is last in offense again next year, then you can add another year to the championship drought.Chris Duganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07239434367459789061noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4042603004641049204.post-18641158303313903822016-08-30T08:02:00.002-07:002016-08-30T13:49:19.444-07:00To play or not to play? That is the question<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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After being around baseball for 45 years, I have become confused.<br />
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I used to know when a game should be delayed by rain. I used to know when a game that was delayed by rain should be resumed. I used to know when a game should be deemed postponed by rain.<br />
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Now, I'm not so sure.<br />
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And I'm blaming it on the Internet and cellphones.<br />
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The rule of thumb for rain delays used to be simple: you play if it's not raining and the field is playable; you don't if it's raining too hard or if the field conditions are dangerous.<br />
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These days, we have synthetic turf fields (often funded by taxpayers) that drain faster than your bathtub, turface, Doppler radar, 24-hour weather channels and some people still can't figure out when to play, when to stop playing and when to resume playing.<br />
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Here are a couple of examples:<br />
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* The Wild Things' game Sunday against Joliet. Important game in the Frontier League East Division standings for both teams, but especially Washington. The game was properly halted in the seventh inning, at 7 p.m. on the dot, when heavy rain began falling. Joliet led 4-2 at the time. A strong storm blew through and the radar looked ugly, with plenty of blue, yellow and green patches. The rain subsided to a few drops -- not nearly enough to stop a game -- by 8:45 p.m.<br />
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Players mingled on the field, what few fans remained in the ballpark gathered and waited on the concourse, what little water was standing on the field had long since drained off.<br />
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The only thing left was for the umpires to return to the field and tell the pitchers to begin warming up.<br />
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From what information I could gather, they had already decided the the game was postponed. They just hadn't told anybody. The radar looked too bad to resume playing, they deemed.<br />
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Therein is the big problem. Anybody who knows weather in Western Pennsylvania knows it's often unpredictable at this time of year. Storms pop up out of nowhere, others break up (for reasons I and local TV weathermen can't figure out) with no rhyme or reason. We had an example earlier this month when the Pony League World Series, which is played at Washington Park on the east side of the city, had heavy rain and a delay of about 90 minutes. At Consol Energy Park that same night, not a drop of rain. No rain delay in the Wild Things game. The radar said it was raining and it sure looked bad, but there was no rain.<br />
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In the days before cellphones and the weatherunderground app, the Wild Things and Slammers would have resumed playing Sunday. And it would have been the right decision. After the decision to cancel the game, I had enough time to do some interviews, walk back and forth between the pressbox and clubhouse, write a 22-inch story, walk to my car and drive to the office without encountering more than a dozen drops of rain.<br />
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An important game like that one should have been resumed. Back in my day (I can't believe I wrote that), the game would have been resumed. No radar, no cellphones. Just extending your hand and feeling if it's raining and looking at the condition of the field was all that was necessary.<br />
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* Earlier this season, and one of the reasons the Wild Things needed to play Sunday, was their decision to cancel (not postpone) a game against Normal. It was July 28 and the final game of a three-game homestand against Normal. It had rained all day. At 6 p.m., one hour before game time, it was decided to cancel the game. There were various reasons. One was that because of the all-day rain it was feared that nobody would show up. The Wild Things wouldn't make any money if they played. It also was a game Trevor Foss was scheduled to pitch for Washington. The Wild Things, who were in a playoff position at the time, were looking at a worst-case scenario of starting the game with their ace on the mound, having the game rained out after an inning or two and not being able to throw Foss for another five or six days. So they banged the game.<br />
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Because it was the last scheduled game with the CornBelters, it would not be made up. When Washington dropped below the playoff line, that missed game starting working against the Wild Things. It's one less game they have a chance to win.<br />
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What happened that night and the next day? Well, it stopped raining at 6:30 p.m. and didn't rain again for two days. The sun even came out at 8 p.m. It was sunny, there was no water on the synthetic turf and the game was banged before even a pitch was thrown. Then, the next day, Foss started for Washington in Florence and that game was suspended in the fifth inning because of rain. Foss was a signed a few days later by the Cleveland Indians.<br />
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* One thing that has been growing in popularity, it seems, is the rain delay with no rain, especially at the scheduled game time. We had one example at Consol Energy Park a few years ago when the start of a game was delayed more than 30 minutes because rain was in the forecast. It never rained. Imagine that.<br />
<br />
Several Pirates games over the past three years had the same scenario -- rain delay but no rain. Yet there was a game against San Diego in 2006 (see photo) that was wasn't stopped despite steady rain that left puddles all over the infield. One Padres player commented after the game that he had never been positioned behind a lake during a game.<br />
<br />
It reminds me of what a former minor league general manager once told me about a game he was involved with. It is the home team's decision to start or delay game before the first pitch is thrown. Once the game starts, then it's up the umpires to decided to delay, resume or continue. The former minor league executive told me his team was hosting a game against a Chicago Cubs affiliate. The Cubs had one of their top prospects pitching that night. The sky was darkening at game time and rain was in the forecast. The decision was made not to delay the game, which triggered a tirade by the prospect about starting a game with a chance of rain.<br />
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That old baseball executive told me, "I'll never delay a game because it <i>might </i>rain. You know why? Because it <i>might not</i>."<br />
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In other words, he'll delay a game if it's raining and he'll play if it's not. No radar apps needed.<br />
<br />
Sounds like a good system to me.Chris Duganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07239434367459789061noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4042603004641049204.post-1857994947981614022016-08-27T10:19:00.001-07:002016-08-27T10:19:29.409-07:00Just like Richmond<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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As I sat at Consol Energy Park Friday night watching the Wild Things drop a pivotal doubleheader to the Joliet Slammers, I found myself thinking I had watched these games before. Like 14 or 15 years ago.<br />
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That was when another team that, like the Slammers, wore green and orange and tormented the Wild Things with their impressive hitting. The Richmond Roosters used to frustrate Washington pitchers by spraying two-out singles all over the ballpark and then smack a long multi-run homer, just like Joliet did Friday night. Heck, Richmond even had Chris Mongiardo in their dugout as the pitching coach, just like the Slammers did Friday night.<br />
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The only difference in the visitor's dugout was that Jeff Isom was calling the shots from that side of the field. Back in 2002 and 2003, Isom was Washington's manager, wearing red & black. This time, he was wearing green and orange.<br />
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Washington edged Richmond for the East Division title in 2002, but the Roosters beat the Wild Things 3 games to 1 in the championship series. One of those Richmond wins was a 14-7 thumping in Game 2 at what was then known as Falconi Field.<br />
<br />
Joliet's 5-1 and 4-2 wins felt a lot like that 14-7 game against Richmond. Though the scores were closer, it never felt like Washington had enough firepower to win.<br />
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For the Wild Things, the big difference in playing the current edition of the Slammers and the 2002-03 Richmond Roosters is this year's Washington team just doesn't have the hitting to get into a slugfest with an opponent. The Wild Things don't have a Josh Loggins or Shaun Argento or Jay Coakley or Brad Hensler or Joe Cuervo or ... well, you get the point.<br />
<br />
Washington has to pitch well, field well and even catch breaks. They didn't get the latter against Joliet. When the Slammers scored five runs in the fifth inning of the opener, the Wild Things should have been out of the inning unscathed. With two outs and a runner on second base, the Slammers' Marc Flores hit a ball back up the middle. The ball struck pitcher Matt Fraudin in the side of his right foot and deflected toward the third-base line for an infield single. Had the ball not struck Fraudin, it would have been gobbled up by shortstop Austin Wobrock for an easy inning-ending out. Wobrock played a shift against Flores the entire night and was positioned directly behind second base, where the baseball was headed before Fraudin's foot got in the way.<br />
<br />
Joliet went on to score five runs in the inning and won the game. On the night, the Slammers had 20 hits to the Wild Things' nine. Washington had its chances but went an unthinkable 1-for-17 with runners in scoring position, including 0-for-12 in the opener. Three times in the first four innings of the opener Washington had a leadoff extra-base hit. None of those runners scored. It was that kind of night for the Wild Things, who are last in the Frontier league in batting average, runs, hits and on-base percentage.Chris Duganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07239434367459789061noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4042603004641049204.post-73866031314457033492016-08-18T14:08:00.000-07:002016-08-18T14:08:18.543-07:00Grotz sold to DodgersThe Wild Things have sold the contract of pitcher Zac Grotz to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Grotz had a 4-2 record, 10 saves and a 1.36 ERA in 46 1/3 innings. He recently moved from closer to starter after Trevor Foss was sold to the Cleveland Indians.<br />
<br />
By my count, Grotz is the 33rd different Wild Things player to have his contract purchased by a major league organization.<br />
<br />Chris Duganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07239434367459789061noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4042603004641049204.post-12407423160792999272016-08-18T09:06:00.001-07:002016-08-18T09:06:06.461-07:00Another good start for FossFormer Wild Things pitcher Trevor Foss had another good start for Class A Lake County in the Cleveland Indians' farm system. Foss pitched Monday against West Michigan and threw seven strong innings, allowing only two hits and one run. He did not issue a walk and struck out five. Over his last two outings, Foss has a 2-0 record, allowing one run, six hits and no walks in 13 innings.Chris Duganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07239434367459789061noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4042603004641049204.post-5249788400789273882016-08-13T07:44:00.000-07:002016-08-13T13:58:01.948-07:00How many wins will it take?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-APljZkf7a9s/V68xgw6bWZI/AAAAAAAACy4/TnIWE75tuIUMFv_uTEMFsf9y0TrQTihfgCLcB/s1600/number.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-APljZkf7a9s/V68xgw6bWZI/AAAAAAAACy4/TnIWE75tuIUMFv_uTEMFsf9y0TrQTihfgCLcB/s320/number.png" width="320" /></a></div>
Wild Things manager Gregg Langbehn, when analyzing his team's position in the playoff race, said earlier this week that, "We've put ourselves in a position, with 24 games remaining, where we have to find a way to win about 17 games because there are so many teams fighting for a playoff spot."<br />
<br />
That statement was made two games ago. Since then, Washington has gone 1-1, leaving it with a 35-38 record. They are six games behind first-place Joliet in the East Division standings and 3 1/2 back of Normal, which currently holds the final wild-card playoff spot. Because of one rainout (when it didn't rain that night) that will not be rescheduled, Washington will play only 95 games. There are 22 games remaining, including a doubleheader Sunday at Windy City.<br />
<br />
So, how many of those 22 games will the Wild Things have to win to gain a playoff spot?<br />
<br />
The Frontier League has been playing 96 games since 2004 and the average number of wins for the fourth-best team in those seasons is 53.41. In the six seasons in which the league has had 12 teams and played a 96-game schedule, the fourth-best record has an average of 53.11 wins.<br />
<br />
That means, based on history, the Wild Things would need to go 19-3 to get to 54 wins.<br />
<br />
But this is not a typical year in the Frontier League because so many teams -- actually, all of them -- are still within striking distance of a playoff berth. That means more wins for the league's bottom feeders, which in turn means the fourth-place team should have fewer than 54 wins at season's end.<br />
<br />
The best way to guess how many wins it will take to finish as the final wild card is this: If Normal plays just one game over .500 for the rest of the season -- it has 21 remaining -- then the CornBelters will finish at 50-45. Based on this, it will take 51 wins for Washington to get the final wild card, meaning the Wild Things need to go 16-6.<br />
<br />
For a team that hasn't won more than four consecutive games, that's asking a lot, though it's not mathematically impossible.Chris Duganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07239434367459789061noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4042603004641049204.post-40985962519632337392016-08-08T19:56:00.001-07:002016-08-08T19:56:12.745-07:00Rough seas<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-x2DEHEIJX6U/V6lGLkzD47I/AAAAAAAACyo/kYOx9ISHmswnhAxmWXKKNG2-QEbyULoUACLcB/s1600/sinking-ship.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-x2DEHEIJX6U/V6lGLkzD47I/AAAAAAAACyo/kYOx9ISHmswnhAxmWXKKNG2-QEbyULoUACLcB/s320/sinking-ship.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Remember all those good vibes from the Wild Things as they approached the all-star break? Washington was tied for first place in the East Division and holding one of the Frontier League's four potential playoff spots.<br />
<br />
Fast forward less than a month and the Good Ship Wild Things is taking on water at a rapid rate. The ship might not be sinking but the water buildup in the engine room is causing coughs and sputters.<br />
<br />
Washington is 5-15 since the all-star break, has lost a season-high six consecutive games and ended its nine-game road trip Sunday with a 2-7 record. Somehow, the Wild Things are still in third place in the East Division, but 5 1/2 games behind first-place Joliet. Forget for a moment about the wild card. Washington is closer to having the worst record in the league than it is to being in a playoff spot.<br />
<br />
So what has gone so wrong so fast?<br />
<br />
It has been a combination of things. A season-long offensive slump has finally caught up with the Wild Things. the pitching staff that carried the team in the first half of the year is leaking oil and ace pitcher Trevor Foss, who could be counted on to win every fifth or sixth day and give the bullpen the night off, had his contract purchased by the Cleveland Indians.<br />
<br />
First, let's examine the offense. Washington is 11th in the 12-team Frontier League in hitting. The Wild Things haven't been above 11th in team batting average since the opening week of the season but they were finding ways to win games in the first half of the year. At one point early in the season, Washington had seven players hitting less than .200, and five of those were starters, but they were winning.<br />
<br />
The team batting average is up to .237, which is almost the season high. But some of the pieces in the offense are struggling, even after Washington put up nine runs in a loss Sunday at River City. Let's examine the numbers:<br />
<br />
Jamodrick McGruder is on streaks of 0-for-15 and 2-for-27.<br />
<br />
Jimmy Yezzo is 3 for his last 19, and 6 for 31.<br />
<br />
Chris Grayson is 4-for-22, even after getting three hits Sunday.<br />
<br />
Grant Fink hit a couple of home runs on the road trip, but he's also 4-for-26.<br />
<br />
Zach Fish hasn't exactly made an impact as he has one hit in 13 at-bats. He was released Monday.<br />
<br />
Kyle Pollock, who had a nice hot streak at midseason, is on a 3-for-26 skid.<br />
<br />
Logan Uxa has one hit in his last 12 at-bats.<br />
<br />
Washington's is batting only .217 with two outs and runners in scoring position. That's the worst average in the league.<br />
<br />
Getting the leadoff hitter of the inning on base has been a huge trouble spot. Washington batters are hitting only .236 when leading off an inning, which is second-worst in the league. Only Windy City is worse, at .229.<br />
<br />
Those numbers will cause any team to lose games rapidly.<br />
<br />
But Washington had those kind of ugly offensive numbers all season. They were winning games because the pitching was bailing out the offense.<br />
<br />
Now that Foss is gone -- actually, it started before he left -- the pitching has been faltering.<br />
<br />
Let's look at the numbers:<br />
<br />
Chase Cunningham is 0-4 with an 11.66 ERA in his last four starts. He hasn't made it out of the fifth inning in any of those starts.<br />
<br />
Luke Wilkins is winless since July 1 and has a 5.94 ERA over that period. Washington has lost seven consecutive games in which Wilkins has pitched, though not all of those can be blamed on the pitcher.<br />
<br />
Sam Agnew-Wieland's last three outings have produced 13 earned runs over 9 2/3 innings, an ERA of 12.10. He, too, was released Monday.<br />
<br />
Not all of the pitching has been bad. Matt Fraudin has been spectacular. Somehow he lost Saturday while allowing only four hits at hitter-friendly River City. How does that happen? Closer Zac Grotz, who hasn't had many opportunities to close recently, has allowed only one run since the break.<br />
<br />
Basically, the Wild Things still aren't hitting, the starting pitching is not what it was in the first half of the season and even the fielding his been shaky since the break. It has added up to some rough sailing for the Wild Things, who need to right the ship before it's too late to send out an SOS.Chris Duganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07239434367459789061noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4042603004641049204.post-47390121932632959472016-08-07T00:16:00.004-07:002016-08-07T00:16:48.767-07:00More on the Wild Things-Trinity School District battleAn editorial from the <i>Observer-Reporter</i> about the fighting between Wild Things ownership and the Trinity School District.<br />
<br />
Again, the reader comments are priceless.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.observer-reporter.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20160804/OPINION01/160809787#comment-2824083488">http://www.observer-reporter.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20160804/OPINION01/160809787#comment-2824083488</a>Chris Duganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07239434367459789061noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4042603004641049204.post-58316354922990176202016-08-04T13:34:00.001-07:002016-08-04T13:34:47.765-07:00Wild Things, Trinity battling over CEP use, fees<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GWIB7B9Nqn8/V6OmLOxSB_I/AAAAAAAACyY/b9EJnvbhNJUl2cGEZitc9CTojezLumT_gCLcB/s1600/AR-160809832.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GWIB7B9Nqn8/V6OmLOxSB_I/AAAAAAAACyY/b9EJnvbhNJUl2cGEZitc9CTojezLumT_gCLcB/s400/AR-160809832.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Consol Energy Park<br /></b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Below is a link to an interesting story by the <i>Observer-Reporter's</i> Karen Mansfield regarding the battle between Wild Things ownership and the Trinity School District over the use of Consol Energy Park, a tax abatement, fees charged to high school teams for use of the ballpark, a potential switch by Trinity to W&J's Ross Memorial Park and some tactics by the Wild Things that blocked the move.<br />
<br />
Wild Things owner Stu Williams, who sued the Frontier League last year, is looking bad in this one on different fronts while Trinity's baseball boosters are threatening to demonstrate/picket at Wild Things home games. The next home game is Aug. 9. That's an early start because it's a doubleheader that begins with the resumption of a suspended game from May 22.<br />
<br />
Some of the comments on the story are priceless.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.observer-reporter.com/20160803/wild_things_owner_says_tax_abatement_didnx2019t_fleece_trinity">http://www.observer-reporter.com/20160803/wild_things_owner_says<br />_tax_abatement_didnx2019t_fleece_trinity</a>Chris Duganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07239434367459789061noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4042603004641049204.post-77458731590676021082016-08-03T22:42:00.000-07:002016-08-18T14:08:02.093-07:00Foss sold to Indians<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DD66LJB8Vec/V6LVzKYqpFI/AAAAAAAACyI/IHAg0lm-1zwH5xkdufH0wdUt8VEc025qACLcB/s1600/foss.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="195" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DD66LJB8Vec/V6LVzKYqpFI/AAAAAAAACyI/IHAg0lm-1zwH5xkdufH0wdUt8VEc025qACLcB/s400/foss.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The Wild Things announced Wednesday that the contract of right-handed pitcher Trevor Foss has been sold to the Cleveland Indians.<br />
<br />
And so goes the ace of Washington's pitching staff. Foss was 8-3 with a 2.50 ERA. He led the league in complete games (8) and innings pitched (100 2/3), shared the lead in wins and was second in ERA at 2.50.<br />
<br />
I'm pretty sure that, unlike other teams in the league, the Wild Things do not keep count of how many of their players are sold to major league organizations. Thus, I'm taking it upon myself to figure out how many. I can recall 32 players, including Foss, who have gone directly from the Wild Things to affiliated ball. One player had his contract purchased three times. Another player, pitcher Justin Mattison, was drafted by the Wild Things at the Frontier League tryout and then signed almost immediately with San Diego, so I don't know if he should count or not. He signed with Washington the following year. Some players never played in a regular season game with Washington, while others played less than a half dozen games with the Wild Things.<br />
<br />
Three players, at least, were signed for affiliated ball or spring training after playing with the Wild Things.<br />
<br />
The following is the list of players I can recall going from the Wild Things to the affiliated minor leagues. If you know somebody who is not on the list, please let me know.<br />
<br />
RHP Ben Ally -- Houston<br />
SS Mike Ambrose - Pittsburgh<br />
1B David Anderson - Baltimore<br />
RHP Corey Bachman - Toronto<br />
RHP Casey Barnes - Philadelphia<br />
OF C.J. Beatty -- Chicago White Sox<br />
RHP Dave Bradley - Milwaukee<br />
C Adrian Bravo-Carmona - Tampa Bay<br />
RHP Trevor Foss - Cleveland<br />
RHP Robert Garvin - San Diego<br />
SS Brett Grandstrand -- Tampa Bay<br />
OF Stewart Ijames - Arizona<br />
OF Scott Kalamar - Arizona<br />
OF Josh Loggins - Colorado<br />
C Brandon Ketron - New York Yankees<br />
OF Quincy Latimore - Pittsburgh<br />
RHP Michael Lucas - Chicago White Sox<br />
RHP Troy Marks - Arizona<br />
LHP Justin Mattison - San Diego<br />
LHP Steve Messner - San Francisco<br />
LHP Vidal Nuno - New York Yankees<br />
C Pat O'Brien - Chicago Cubs<br />
RHP Travis Risser - Tampa Bay<br />
RHP Chris Rivera - Chicago Cubs<br />
RHP Nathan Striz, Boston<br />
RHP Darian Sanford - Chicago White Sox<br />
RHP Chris Smith - New York Yankees<br />
OF Chris Tuttle - St. Louis<br />
C Jim Vahalik - Baltimore<br />
LHP Alan Williams - Milwaukee<br />
RHP Mark Williams - Milwaukee<br />
LHP Al Yevoli - Arizona, Atlanta and Chicago Cubs<br />
<br />
Signed later in career:<br />
LHP Tom Cochran - Cincinnati<br />
INF/OF Chad Ehrnsberger - St. Louis<br />
OF Josh Loggins - ClevelandChris Duganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07239434367459789061noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4042603004641049204.post-59313752369653927452016-08-01T13:52:00.001-07:002016-08-01T13:52:41.908-07:00Heck named head coach at North Allegheny<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OUY02r43gXU/V5-2hM5Ud-I/AAAAAAAACx4/bE7StsvlJIAyVP1nk5IGSRtWSYLZT5x_ACLcB/s1600/Heck.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OUY02r43gXU/V5-2hM5Ud-I/AAAAAAAACx4/bE7StsvlJIAyVP1nk5IGSRtWSYLZT5x_ACLcB/s1600/Heck.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Andrew Heck</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Wild Things left fielder Andrew Heck has been hired as the head baseball coach at North Allegheny High School.<br />
<br />
Though in his fifth season as a player in the Frontier League, Heck also has been a high school baseball coach for the past four seasons at Sewickley Academy. He had a 39-27 record at Sewickley Academy and led the Panthers to the WPIAL semifinals and state tournament in 2014.<br />
<br />
At North Allegheny, Heck will be reunited with former Wild Things manager Bob Bozzuto, who is NA’s athletic director. Heck succeeds Andy Maddix, who resigned after this past season.<br />
<br />
North Allegheny is one of the top baseball programs in western Pennsylvania as the Tigers were 142-54 in nine seasons with two WPIAL championships under Maddix.<br />
<br />
Heck has worked in various capacities for the North Allegheny athletic department the past few years.Chris Duganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07239434367459789061noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4042603004641049204.post-64671766737454063282016-07-30T12:11:00.001-07:002016-07-30T12:11:33.841-07:00Rainouts, schedule and trade talk<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pon1x--GrXU/V5z71VLGXXI/AAAAAAAACxo/nO22-7hjqTsc3fT6w_-WNDtLIipiBcGQQCLcB/s1600/brown.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="203" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pon1x--GrXU/V5z71VLGXXI/AAAAAAAACxo/nO22-7hjqTsc3fT6w_-WNDtLIipiBcGQQCLcB/s400/brown.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The last two days of interesting weather have provided some curious decisions for those involved in Wild Things games.<br />
<br />
On Thursday, what had been a day-long rain prompted the Wild Things to cancel their game against Normal at Consol Energy Park. The decision was announced at about 5:30 p.m., or 90 minutes before the scheduled start time.<br />
<br />
I don't think either team really wanted to play the game. It would have been a terrific pitching matchup as both teams were scheduled to throw their ace, Trevor Foss for Washington and Michael Schweiss for Normal. The weather forecast was for the rain to stop before game time but be back about 9 p.m. The thought of starting a game with your ace on the mound and then having it rained out after a few innings was what concerned both teams.<br />
<br />
The CornBelters, I'm sure, were happy with the decision to bang the game. Not playing meant that if Normal and Washington tie for a wild-card playoff berth, then Normal wins the tiebreaker based on winning the season series, 3-2. The CornBelters also were happy to get out of town early because they were looking at a long bus ride back to Illinois and a home game Friday night against Lake Erie.<br />
<br />
So what happened with the weather? It stopped raining about 6:30 p.m. and didn't start raining again until ... oh, more than 30 hours later. Not a drop fell Thursday ninth after 6;30 p.m.<br />
<br />
The scenario reminded me about what I a professional baseball executive once said to me: "I'm not going to hold up the start of a game because it <i>might </i>rain. You know why? Because if <i>might not </i>rain."<br />
<br />
The game should have been played Thursday night. Can a game really be rained out if it never rained during the three-hour window in which the game was scheduled? I guess so.<br />
<br />
And wasn't synthetic turf at CEP supposed to eliminate situations like Thursday night?<br />
<br />
On to Friday night in Florence and what happens to the Wild Things? They sent Foss to the mound and exactly what they were trying to avoid Thursday happened. They play into the fifth inning and rain causes the game to be suspended. No decision for Foss.<br />
<br />
It seemed like a quick decision to suspend the game. I wasn't in Florence, Ky., Friday night but according the weather.com radar, it seemed that the rain stopped sometime around 10:15 p.m.<br />
<br />
One thing I've noticed in 15 years of covering the Frontier League is that as soon as rain is spotted within 20 miles of a ballpark, everybody from the umpires to the players to the coaches to the event staff want to immediately go home. Either these people really don't like their jobs, have no patience or don't understand that it rains for an hour or so a lot in this part of the country.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Checking the schedule</b><br />
<br />
With 10 teams either in or within eight games of a wild-card playoff spot, it's apparent the schedule might play a key role in who gains those two coveted wild-card berths come September.<br />
<br />
Teams that play the majority of their remaining games at home, or don't have to play the powerful Southern Illinois Miners (43-20), should be thanking the schedulemaker. The following is a breakdown, entering Saturday's play, of remaining games on the road and games left against the Miners for each team except Southern Illinois. I might be off by a game for a team or two because of a doubleheader or suspended contest that I was not aware of when checking the schedules online.<br />
<br />
<b>Road Games Remaining:</b><br />
21 -- Washington<br />
18 -- Normal<br />
17 -- Joliet<br />
17 -- Traverse City<br />
17 -- Windy City<br />
16 -- Evansville<br />
16 -- River City<br />
16 -- Schaumburg<br />
15 -- Lake Erie<br />
12 -- Florence<br />
12 -- Gateway<br />
<br />
<b>Games Remaining vs. Southern Illinois</b><br />
6 -- Evansville<br />
6 -- Gateway<br />
4 -- Joliet<br />
3-- Florence<br />
3 -- Lake Erie<br />
3 -- Normal<br />
3 -- River City<br />
2 -- Schaumburg<br />
0 -- Traverse City<br />
0 -- Washington<br />
0 -- Windy City<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Trade talk</b><br />
With so many teams likely to be in the playoff hunt Aug. 15, which is the Frontier League's transactions deadline, don't expect many trades within the league. There won't be many sellers, like the Wild Things were last year, in 2013 and a bunch of years before that.<br />
<br />
During the franchise's early years, when it was a playoff regular, the Wild Things usually were able to acquire a key player at the transaction deadline or earlier. There were good acquisitions like Jason Kane and Ryan Bethel, some OK pickups like Eric Fisher, a few forgettable ones like Gerard Haran and a real steal in Aaron Ledbetter.<br />
<br />
This year, teams might have to go outside the league, to the American Association, Can-Am League, Pacific Association or (gulp!) the Pecos League to find an extra arm or bat.<br />
<br />
"We've had offers," Washington manager Gregg Langbehn said. "You would think, with so many teams in wild-card contention, that it won't be easy to make a trade. It will take only two weeks of going 9-3 or 10-2 and you're right right back in it. It makes it fun. It's good for the league. Nobody is going to be lying down."<br />
<br />
Washington started its nine-game road trip Friday night in Florence.<br />
<br />
"This is going to be a big road trip on a number of levels," Langbehn said. "One is for us to see where we are at the (transactions) deadline."Chris Duganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07239434367459789061noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4042603004641049204.post-67217418735218149162016-07-24T21:03:00.000-07:002016-07-25T13:11:00.242-07:00Epic loss<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RzdBwb9nae0/V5WMiB7r8QI/AAAAAAAACxY/hJEqDAc3CScA8roWNM6PTUyqllUN268FwCLcB/s1600/39499960.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RzdBwb9nae0/V5WMiB7r8QI/AAAAAAAACxY/hJEqDAc3CScA8roWNM6PTUyqllUN268FwCLcB/s320/39499960.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
<br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The Wild Things have had plenty of low points/lowlights in their 15-year history.<br />
<br />
They have been up 2-0 in the league championship series and then lost three in a row, the last in game in one-sided 10-3 fashion.<br />
<br />
They have lost as many as 57 games in a 96-game season.<br />
<br />
They have finished a season 20 games out of first place.<br />
<br />
They have used a coach-by-committee approach instead of employing a manager.<br />
<br />
They have lost games after they were leading and within one strike of a victory.<br />
<br />
Like every team that has ever played the game, they have lost games in blowout fashion. Heck, even the 1927 New York Yankees lost a game by 10 runs.<br />
<br />
However, the Wild Things have never lost a game like they did Sunday at Southern Illinois.<br />
<br />
There is nothing surprising about losing to the Miners. Southern Illinois is the best team in the league and is going to cruise to the West Division title. The Miners are 6-0 against the Wild Things and have beaten Washington in 10 of the last 11 meetings.<br />
<br />
So a 12-10 loss for Washington to Southern Illinois is nothing new. What is different is the manner in which the Wild Things lost Sunday night.<br />
<br />
They led 10-1 in the fifth inning.<br />
<br />
Then they gave up 10 runs over two innings.<br />
<br />
I cannot remember another game in which the Wild Things blew a nine-run lead and the game.<br />
<br />
The only thing I can compare this game to was back in 2005, in a game at Rockford, Washington led 20-2 before settling for a 20-16 win.<br />
<br />
That game, however, was a win. This was a punch-to-the-gut loss.<br />
<br />
We keep being told that this is a good Wild Things team. It's in second place in the East and currently holding what would be a playoff spot.<br />
<br />
Good teams don't blow nine-run leads.<br />
<br />
And the Wild Things did so in what was actually less than two innings. The Miners scored 10 runs during a stretch in which they made only four outs.<br />
<br />
There is plenty of room left for second-guessing. The Wild Things made only one pitching change during Southern Illinois' 10-run outburst.<br />
<br />
The bullpen was depleted, you say, because long reliever Brian O'Keefe was making a spot start and Luke Wilkins, a starter, threw two innings of relief Saturday night. Only late-innings relievers were left in the bullpen.<br />
<br />
Well, that's what happens when you play for weeks with only 22 active players, which is two under the Frontier League limit. Another pitcher or two might have come in handy Sunday.<br />
<br />
After scoring 10 runs in a little more than three innings off Southern Illinois ace Rick Teasley, the Washington hitters were shut out for the final six innings by five Miners relievers. Just one run off the Miners' bullpen might have changed the way the game played out over the final two innings.<br />
<br />
Maybe Southern Illinois doesn't have a five-run fifth if the inning didn't start with a walk. And maybe the Miners wouldn't have a five-run sixth if the inning didn't start with a booted routine grounder.<br />
<br />
That's all a lot of ifs and buts. You can second-guess, replay games and replay scenarios all you want. It changes nothing.<br />
<br />
The fact is, the Wild Things lost a game they should have won with ease.<br />
<br />
It was a loss like no other in the franchise's history. It was the lowest of lows.<br />
<br />
And it will be interesting to see how this team reacts to such a landmark loss. Do the ill-effects linger? Does the roof fall in on this team, which is only 2-7 since the all-star break? Does the team use the loss as inspiration because making the playoffs might mean a first-round series against and another shot at Southern Illinois?<br />
<br />
We'll find out over the next few weeks.Chris Duganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07239434367459789061noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4042603004641049204.post-71377740147072123902016-07-23T19:38:00.000-07:002016-07-23T20:41:24.484-07:00West is best<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZAhSfp6dQhU/V5QpMvwxeQI/AAAAAAAACxI/sFplEBilZ-cYLGliYWWfs6oqMRk7Sw1vwCLcB/s1600/Tour_West_is_best-500-200x200.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZAhSfp6dQhU/V5QpMvwxeQI/AAAAAAAACxI/sFplEBilZ-cYLGliYWWfs6oqMRk7Sw1vwCLcB/s400/Tour_West_is_best-500-200x200.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
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Anybody who has followed the Frontier League doesn't need me to tell them this, but if you haven't been paying attention, then you should know that the West Division is much better than the East this season.<br />
<br />
Much, much, much better.<br />
<br />
The difference, at this point in the season, is significant.<br />
<br />
Think varsity to junior varsity different.<br />
<br />
Think Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Cleveland Browns different.<br />
<br />
Think prime rib and cereal different.<br />
<br />
If the result of the all-star game -- a 11-4 win by the West -- didn't tell you that the West (shouldn't it really be the South, if you're going to base the divisions on geography?) is vastly superior, then I have some other numbers:<br />
<br />
* As I write this, no East team has a winning record against West opponents. Lake Erie has the best record at 11-11, but the Crushers are 5-11 in their last 16 against the West.<br />
<br />
* Traverse City is 11 games under .500 against the West at 6-17.<br />
<br />
* The league has been playing East vs. West since returning from the all-star break. No East team has a winning record in this period. Joliet, the first-place team in the East, is 2-7 against the West since the break. The record of the East against the West since the break is 15-34.<br />
<br />
* Each of the last two nights, the Wild Things had a chance to move into first place with a win over West leader Southern Illinois. Both times Washington lost. The Wild Things are 0-5 against the Miners, and 2-6 since the all-star break with all of those games against the West. They are 10-14 on the year against the West.<br />
<br />
* Florence, the last-place team in the West at 26-33, has a winng record (12-11) against the East.Chris Duganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07239434367459789061noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4042603004641049204.post-7566410539603786372016-07-15T13:26:00.000-07:002016-07-15T13:33:41.140-07:00How I spent my Thursday night ... and enjoyed itThe week of Major league Baseball's all-star break probably is the worst for a "staycation."<br />
<br />
Outside of the all-star game, I usually find nothing interesting at night on the 200 or so channels on my cable television package from Monday through Thursday of this week. Last night, while my wife and youngest son were binge watching "Practical Jokers," I decided to boot the old desktop computer and watch some baseball, the independent variety.<br />
<br />
The American Association and Can-Am League both do a great job of live streaming games, unlike the Wild Things' web streams that look like they are produced by a second grader. I went to the American Association site thinking maybe former Wild Things pitcher Shawn Blackwell might be on the mound for Sioux Falls at St. Paul. No such luck. Blackwell wasn't pitching.<br />
<br />
For some reason I still can't explain, I visited the Can-Am homepage and clicked on a game between the New Jersey Jackals and Rockland Boulders. Rockland was up 3-0 in the sixth inning and who is on the mound for the Boulders? Former Wild Things relief pitcher Pat Butler. I decided to watch half an inning and saw New Jersey score six runs, five charged to Butler.<br />
<br />
That was all I could take from that game, so I went into the family room and began watching "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken" for about the 10th time in my life. By the way, doesn't an aging Mick Jagger now look like Don Knotts circa 1966?<br />
<br />
During a commercial break about 40 minutes later, I returned to my computer and realized that I had left the live streaming of that Jackals-Boulders game running on the screen. The next pitch I see, Marcus Nidiffer, a catcher for Rockland who once played for Wild Things manager Gregg Langbehn at Traverse City, gets plunked by a pitch. That's when all the fun started. Benches emptied. Rockland comes back from down 8-3 in the ninth to force extra innings, having the potential winning run thrown out at the plate. Then some ejections. Then in the top of the 10th, a person in a red jersey (at the time I thought it was a bat boy) goes running behind home plate just as the inning is about to start. It's the New Jersey pitcher who plunked Nidiffer charging the Rockland dugout.<br />
<br />
Though football season doesn't start for a few weeks, our old friend Pat Butler makes the first tackle of the 2016 season as benches empty again. There are more ejections, though no punches are thrown.<br />
<br />
The crazy thing about the ejections is, the booted players from New Jersey must walk through the seating area to get to the visitor's clubhouse. That, obviously, is not a good situation but it made for some great entertainment.<br />
<br />
In short, it was a fun Thursday night watching the shenanigans going on in another independent league. Below is an entertaining 10-minute video of the highlights/lowlights.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=da5Jr28tT0Y&feature=youtu.be">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=da5Jr28tT0Y&feature=youtu.be</a>Chris Duganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07239434367459789061noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4042603004641049204.post-31614520903948738932016-07-15T08:02:00.004-07:002016-07-15T08:02:58.077-07:00Back in action<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mlTOnVrZYQA/V4j696RfdnI/AAAAAAAACw4/ZHZ-l7GP64EPu2w_sWdaoYoAIU-__62QgCLcB/s1600/SECOND%2BHALF.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="248" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mlTOnVrZYQA/V4j696RfdnI/AAAAAAAACw4/ZHZ-l7GP64EPu2w_sWdaoYoAIU-__62QgCLcB/s400/SECOND%2BHALF.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
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The Wild Things (27-22) begin the second half of the season tonight by opening a three-game series against West Division-leading Southern Illinois at Consol Energy Park.<br />
<br />
It seemed that after a win Sunday over Schaumburg the staff (not the coaching staff) was ordered to make a big deal out of moving into a tie for first place in the East Division with Joliet. As far as I know, nobody has ever won a Frontier League division title at the halfway point in a 96-game schedule, but maybe we can learn a little from history.<br />
<br />
This is the fourth time in 15 seasons that Washington has been in first place at the all-star break. The last time was two years ago when the Wild Things were 32-19 at the break. That 2014 team finished 57-39 and in third place in the East. It went on to win a wild-card game at Evansville but lost a semifinal series to River City. The current team, though four games off the pace of the 2014 squad, seems to be in better shape. Remember, that 2014 team had manager Bart Zeller resign the day before the all-star break after a dustup in the dugout with the pitching coach, then right fielder Stewart Ijames had his contract purchased by Arizona minutes before the first game after the all-star break.<br />
<br />
The 2007 team was sitting in first place with a 28-17 record at the all-star break and cruised to the East title by 8 1/2 games with a 55-40 record. That team beat Gateway in the first round of the playoffs before losing to Windy City in the finals.<br />
<br />
The first time Washington was in first place at the all-star break was in 2004. That team went on to win the East at 62-34, eight games better than second-place Evansville. The Otters then swept the Wild Things in three games in the first round of the playoffs.<br />
<br />
So history tells us that the three Wild Things teams that were in first place at the all-star break all made the playoffs, with two winning division titles. That doesn't guarantee this year's team anything but, hey, so far the season has been more fun than in 2012, when Washington was buried in seventh place in the East with an 18-29 record and 13 1/2 games out of first place at the break.Chris Duganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07239434367459789061noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4042603004641049204.post-76319797985054987932016-07-10T07:46:00.003-07:002016-07-10T07:46:43.146-07:00Halfway home<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-15RERfG3qYI/V3k9dhzxK1I/AAAAAAAACwU/8TNOYym_LhcJFQ4pFBBH-485EBeJN_OXwCLcB/s1600/halfway.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-15RERfG3qYI/V3k9dhzxK1I/AAAAAAAACwU/8TNOYym_LhcJFQ4pFBBH-485EBeJN_OXwCLcB/s200/halfway.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
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The Wild Things reached the halfway point in in their season Saturday night with one of their best games, a 5-0 shutout of the Schaumburg Boomers (the second 5-0 win over the Boomers this season). Washington matched its season-high with 14 hits and allowed only five, three of which didn't leave the infield.<br />
<br />
The win came one night after one of Washington's most disappointing losses, a 5-4 setback to the Boomers in a game the Wild Things led 4-1 in the seventh inning. A hit batsman, a walk, an infield dribbler that went for a single and two wild pitches (on consecutive pitches) contributed to a three-run most seventh. Schaumburg won the game with two doubles in the eighth.<br />
<br />
Washington has a 26-22 record at the midway point. The Wild Things trail first-place Joliet by only one game in the East Division. They have made up 2 1/2 games in the last week.<br />
<br />
The Frontier League has changed its playoff format this year by eliminating the wild-card games, which trims the number of postseason qualifiers from six to four. The two division winners will qualify along with the two remaining teams with the best records. Entering today's series finale against Schaumburg, which is the final game before the all-star break, Washington currently holds the final playoff position.<br />
<br />
This begs the question: Do you consider the Wild Things contenders or pretenders?<br />
<br />
And plenty of other questions, such as:<br />
<br />
Can this team stay in playoff contention if they continue to be last in the league in team batting average (currently ,235 -- it has gone up .007 in the last week)?<br />
<br />
Will the hitting improve?<br />
<br />
Are center fielder Chris Grayson and second baseman Jamodrick McGruder the impact players the Wild Things' offense needs?<br />
<br />
Only two teams have more quality starts than the Wild Things' 25. Can the starting pitching hold up over the final 48 games?<br />
<br />
The bullpen was the most dependable part of this team for the first 39 games but it has two blown saves since June 29. Is it just a bad stretch or is the bullpen beginning to leak oil?<br />
<br />
These questions will be answered over the 48 games. Stay tuned.Chris Duganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07239434367459789061noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4042603004641049204.post-2997413925422323912016-07-03T13:58:00.002-07:002016-07-03T13:58:59.469-07:00Austin retires; more roster moves expected<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jXb_W9uSLm8/V3l8MutAm_I/AAAAAAAACwk/N-Hm67TUh_wZgpJGJm176TbdDNnC7QbZgCLcB/s1600/WILDTHINGS_04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="302" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jXb_W9uSLm8/V3l8MutAm_I/AAAAAAAACwk/N-Hm67TUh_wZgpJGJm176TbdDNnC7QbZgCLcB/s400/WILDTHINGS_04.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Jamal Austin (5)</b><br />
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The first of what could be a flurry of roster moves for the Wild Things happened Sunday when starting center fielder Jamal Austin was placed on the retired list.<br />
<br />
Austin was Washington's third-leading hitter with a .273 batting average out of the leadoff spot. He had seven doubles, two triples and a team-leading 13 stolen bases.<br />
<br />
Washington's active roster was at 22 -- the league minimum -- for Sunday's game against the Florence Freedom.<br />
<br />
The scuttlebutt is that more roster moves -- and they are likely to be significant -- will happen before the Wild Things begin a series Tuesday at East Division leader Joliet.Chris Duganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07239434367459789061noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4042603004641049204.post-67579285663140925762016-06-30T14:43:00.003-07:002016-06-30T14:44:05.506-07:00A championship Wild Things fans can enjoy<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GerSE64V5qQ/V3WSSNLa5RI/AAAAAAAACwA/b1X7p9cF4vg8O_P9uhNHB4a2gmAzqGafwCLcB/s1600/CWS%2BFinals%2BBaseball_Stea.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="270" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GerSE64V5qQ/V3WSSNLa5RI/AAAAAAAACwA/b1X7p9cF4vg8O_P9uhNHB4a2gmAzqGafwCLcB/s400/CWS%2BFinals%2BBaseball_Stea.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Coastal Carolina -- NCAA national champion</b><br />
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Coastal Carolina won the College World Series championship Thursday afternoon, defeating Arizona, 4-3, in the decisive game.<br />
<br />
Why is that news on a blog about the Wild Things?<br />
<br />
Well, you might recall that Coastal Carolina used to be the favorite feeder system for the Wild Things. That was back during the days of managers John Massarelli, Greg Jelks and even Mark Mason.<br />
<br />
When I heard that Coastal had won the championship -- I didn't get to see today's telecast -- I couldn't help but think about two guys who were (maybe they still are) Wild Things season-ticket holders who sat in the upper bowl in the section in front of the press box. One day during the Massarelli era, I was walking from the clubhouse to the press box about 45 minutes before game time. In that day's edition of the <i>Observer-Reporter</i>, I had written a one-sentence note that the Wild Things signed a player the previous day who was fresh out of Coastal Carolina.<br />
<br />
As I was walking up the upper bowl steps, I overheard one of the gentlemen say to the other, "I don't know why they keep signing guys from places like Coastal Carolina. What the Wild Things need is to sign players from places like USC."<br />
<br />
I guess that's the USC in California that is currently a middle-of-the-pack team in the Pac-12.<br />
<br />
There wasn't a bad player who ever came from Coastal Carolina and pulled on a Wild Things uniform. Outfielder Chris Carter is still involved in Coastal Carolina's program as its Director of Baseball Operations. You have to feel good for him because Chris is a first-class guy.<br />
<br />
Those other Coastal Carolina-to-Washington players included guys like Brett Grandstrand, Randy McGarvey, Travis Risser, Chris Raber, Ryan McGraw, David Anderson (he played all of two games with Washington before being signed by the Baltimore Orioles) and Alex Buccilli. Matt Sutton even spent some time at Coastal Carolina before transferring to North Carolina-Wilmington. There probably were a few other Coastal players who have come through Washington but slipped my mind, All of those guys, however, should pour a few cold ones tonight and remember that they helped put down the foundation for a program that can be called national champion.Chris Duganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07239434367459789061noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4042603004641049204.post-54972466883584613602016-06-30T08:39:00.001-07:002016-06-30T08:39:42.862-07:00Up in smoke<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Vj2bPgsPT_A/V3U9BgVzGnI/AAAAAAAACvo/YN2UtGOJq-cZxaDLpLhCkI9a_Y0-Jkm3gCLcB/s1600/kaboom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="199" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Vj2bPgsPT_A/V3U9BgVzGnI/AAAAAAAACvo/YN2UtGOJq-cZxaDLpLhCkI9a_Y0-Jkm3gCLcB/s200/kaboom.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
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The Wild Things' 2-1 loss to Gateway in the second game of a doubleheader Wednesday night was probably their most frustrating setback of the season.<br />
<br />
Washington was within one strike of sweeping a twinbill and extending its winning streak to three games when Gateway shortstop Logan Davis swung late and poked a Zac Grotz pitch the opposite way, just inside the third-base bag and up the line for a two-run single.<br />
<br />
The loss left manager Gregg Langbehn open for criticism for going to the bullpen to start the seventh when starter Chase Cunningham was working a two-hit shutout and had thrown only 75 pitches. That criticism comes with the territory when the bullpen doesn't do its job. And what Langbehn was doing was playing to his team's strength.<br />
<br />
Let me explain: My seat at Consol Energy Park is located within earshot of the visiting radio broadcaster. Almost all of those broadcasters, at some point during the series, will mention that the Wild Things are last in the league in team batting average "but somehow is around/above .500, which is amazing."<br />
<br />
The biggest reason -- other than being 7-2 in Trevor Foss' nine starts -- why Washington is 21-19 with a batting average of only .226 is the reliability of the bullpen. The two runs given up by Grotz Wednesday doubled his season total. That's in 17 outings.<br />
<br />
While bullpens around the Frontier League have been blowing up like cheap fireworks sold in mall and grocery store parking lots, Washington's has been amazingly good. Here is a look at the number of blown saves to date for each Frontier League team:<br />
<br />
8 -- Joliet<br />
8 -- Lake Erie<br />
7 -- Southern Illinois<br />
6 -- Evansville<br />
6 -- Florence<br />
6 -- Gateway<br />
6 -- Normal<br />
6 -- Traverse City<br />
5 -- Schaumburg<br />
4 -- Windy City<br />
2 -- River City<br />
2 -- WashingtonChris Duganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07239434367459789061noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4042603004641049204.post-34943599878157290202016-06-29T14:55:00.000-07:002016-06-29T14:55:37.840-07:00Wild Things' worst trade ever<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MaAySU4j_zw/V3Q0K6oWmOI/AAAAAAAACvY/OS7Ljut_gKo9vTLEiiNYpI4p-owwAB5zACLcB/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MaAySU4j_zw/V3Q0K6oWmOI/AAAAAAAACvY/OS7Ljut_gKo9vTLEiiNYpI4p-owwAB5zACLcB/s1600/images.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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Trades are always a roll of the dice, even in the Frontier League. Sometimes you strike it rich in a trade, such as when Washington acquired record-setting pitcher Aaron Ledbetter from River City. Most trades make little impact one way or another, and many involve teams sending players who are ticketed for the unemployment line to another team for the every-popular player to be named.<br />
<br />
Then, sometimes a trade simply makes no sense. One such deal was made by Washington last summer when it sent pitcher Matt Sergey to the Laredo Lemurs of the American Association. Sergey, who might recall, pitched the only perfect game in Frontier League history in August of 2014 against the Gateway Grizzlies, the team the Wild Things will be hosting in a doubleheader tonight.<br />
<br />
Sergey made 11 starts for Washington last year and had a 3-4 record with a 2.76 ERA. With any kind of offensive support at all (sounds like a line used when describing every Washington pitcher in the last five years), Sergey's record could have been 7-2. But Sergey had fallen out of favor with manager Bob Bozzuto for sure, and apparently also with pitching coach Ben Moore. A cranky arm was part of Sergey's problem, but when Sergey was healthy and on, then he was almost hittable.<br />
<br />
Bozzuto wanted to clean house and plan for 2016, so he traded Sergey to the Laredo Lemurs of the American Association in exchange for two players to be named. Washington did get catcher Alex McKeon from Laredo this spring, but he was likely the player owed to the Wild Things in the Jeudy Valdez trade from last year.<br />
<br />
So Washington still has nothing to show for the Sergey trade. Meanwhile, all Sergey did for Laredo was pitch 20 innings late last year for Laredo. They were 20 <i>scoreless </i>innings. Then, in the postseason, Sergey went 1-0 in two starts with a 2.79 ERA and helped the Lemurs win the American Association championship.<br />
<br />
This year, Sergey picked up where he left off by going 4-0 in seven starts with an 0.81 ERA for Laredo. If you're counting, that's 73 2/3 innings pitched with a Lemurs and only seven earned runs allowed in 12 starts. That's an ERA of 0.86.<br />
<br />
Think the Wild Things could have used that kind of production?<br />
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By the way, Sergey, who was ready to be put on the scrap heap by the Wild Things, had his contract purchased Tuesday by the Oakland Athletics.Chris Duganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07239434367459789061noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4042603004641049204.post-15568513636460249962016-06-27T21:55:00.003-07:002016-06-27T22:00:48.917-07:00First managerial change<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Chris Mongiardo (36)</b></td></tr>
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The Frontier League's first managerial change of the season happened Monday when the Lake Erie Crushers dismissed Chris Mongiardo and replaced him with Cameron Roth, who was the Schaumburg Boomer's pitching coach.<br />
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Mongiardo was in his third seasons as Lake Erie's manager and in his seventh season as a manager in the Frontier League. With the Crushers, "Mong" had a 106-120 record including a 17-19 record this year.<br />
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Mongiardo was the manager of the Richmond Roosters from 2003-05 and spent seven games as manager of the Canton Crocodiles in 1999. He also was the pitching coach for Richmond in 2002, when the Wild Things and Roosters played in the Frontier League championship series.<br />
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Mong's trademark was he has never seen a pitching change he could not make. I<span style="font-family: inherit;">n 36 games this</span> season, Mong made 159 pitching changes, an average of almost 4 1/2 per game. Lake Erie, by my count, has made more roster changes this season than any Frontier League team. I'm not sure if the ever-changing roster of the Crushers had anything to do with its new owner wanting to change managers.<br />
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The Crushers are in fifth place in the East Division but only 4 1/2 games games out of first place.<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Owner Tom Kraming told the Lorian <i>Morning Journal</i>, <span style="color: #333333; line-height: 22.652px;">“We had run into a situation where we felt like we needed to move now,” Kramig said. “I didn’t like the direction the ball club was heading on the field.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">“And it was primarily a communication issue between ownership, the front office and Chris. That’s pretty much as far as I’ll go.”</span></div>
Roth, 27, is a former Schaumburg player who is a native of Virginia. He has no managerial experience.<br />
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Lake Erie's next game is Tuesday night at home against Florence.Chris Duganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07239434367459789061noreply@blogger.com0