More from Chris Sidick

Here is the link to the story in Friday's O-R about Chris Sidick being placed on the retired list:

Read the story here.

Here are a few comments from Sidick that didn't make the O-R story:

ON DEVELOPING AS A PLAYER: When I came out of college I was someone who had a good swing but I didn't know the first thing about the game of baseball. (Former manager) John Massarelli and even (former general manager) Ross Vecchio taught me when to hit the ball to certain places on the field, and why to hit the ball there. Those were the things I was focused on as a player. I was never focused on statistics.

ON PLAYING IN THE FRONTIER LEAGUE: Every single year it got better. There was a new stadium to play in each year, bigger crowds. ... I've heard all the horror stories from players who came from affiliated ball. They would lose a game 17-1 and a teammate would be happy because he went 3-for-4. All the players and coaches in this league have the same goal, and that's to win a championship. I had a blast playing for seven years. I was never playing for myself. Even though we never won a championship, we tried every game and gave it all we had each night. Everyone put their heart and soul into this.

One thing I'm proud of is we never took a game off. You can't because the competition in this league was so much better each year. When I first started out in the league, there were teams that couldn't bunt, that couldn't move runners over. By my last year, you just accepted that the team was going to advance the runner, and you hoping the pitcher could get out of the jam.

ON PREPARING FOR THE 2012 SEASON: I was behind. Usually, by this time of year, I'm a month into hitting. I'd be taking two one-hour rounds of batting practice each day for a month. I haven't taken any batting practice yet this year. And being 100 percent committed to training is something I was always taking seriously.

Sidick placed on retired list

Outfielder Chris Sidick won't be returning for an eighth season with the Wild Things. He has been placed on the retired list, the team announced today.

Sidick is the Frontier League's all-time leader in many statistical categories, including games played (588), at-bats (2,225), hits (635), runs (414), triples (56), walks (328) and total bases (1,001).

The owner of C Side Sports Academy, a baseball training facility that recently moved to a new building in North Strabane Township, Sidick had originally hoped to play a limited schedule of about 60 games this season. According to the Wild Things, Sidick has instead opted to concentrate on his business.

“This was a tough decision,” Sidick said in a press release. “It took me the entire winter to come up with the answer. I talked with many people who are or had been involved with the Wild Things organization. ... I am excited to continue to be involved with the Wild Things. They are a huge part of my past and what defines me.”

Last year, Sidick played in 91 games and batted .291 with seven triples, nine home runs and 21 stolen bases. A product of Canon-McMillan High School and Marietta College, Sidick had a .285 career batting average.

“Chris has been a constant for the Washington Wild Things organization and baseball team,” said Stu Williams, the team’s owner. “We are sorry to see Chris retire. He has been an outstanding player for us and a record-setter. We wish him the very best in his business ventures and in his life."

Sidick: One of 13 under 30

Wild Things outfielder Chris Sidick has been chosen by Whirl Magazine for its feature "13 under 30." The magazine features 13 "men and women, all under 30 years old, who are leading the way in their respective careers and community efforts in and around Western Pennsylvania."

Read the story here.

C-Side Sports Academy

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

Read the story here.

All-Decade Team: Outfield

Nobody has played in more Frontier League games than Washington's Chris Sidick. So it's no surprise that Sidick's name is found frequently in the league's record book.

Sidick holds Frontier League career records for:

Games (588)
At-bats (2,225)
Runs (414)
Hits (635)
Triples (56 - the player in second place has only 24)
Total bases (1,001)
Hit by pitch (57)
Walks (328)
Strikeouts (375)

Sidick also is second in stolen bases with 166, only 12 behind all-time leader Doug Schutt, and is fourth in sacrifices with 43, seven shy of the league record. And he holds the single-season record for triples.

So with all the games played, hitting and baserunning numbers to his credit, I find it odd that the first thing that comes to mind when analyzing Sidick's play is not his offense, but rather his defense.

For seven seasons, Sidick has roamed center field and covered more ground than any other outfielder in the league. After signing with the Wild Things in 2005 following a standout two-sport career at NCAA Division III Marietta College, Sidick quickly established himself as one of the most exciting players in the league as the Wild Things' center fielder and leadoff hitter. His ability to run down balls in the deep gaps of Consol Energy Park also drew raves from opponents. For example:

The Kalamazoo Kings were taking batting practice prior to a game in Washington a few years ago. On his final swing before exiting the batting cage, a slap-hitting rookie for the Kings smacked a ball about as far as he possibly could, driving it the opposite way to the warning track at the angle in right centerfield. The rookie, wearing a wide smile as if to say he had just laced a triple, quickly exited the cage. A Kings teammate and Frontier League veteran saw this and yelled, "Don't smile! Chris Sidick caught that ball in his back pocket."

The rookie probably might have never heard of Chris Sidick prior to that.

Sidick's offense hasn't been as consistent as his defense. He's had several very good years at the plate, some average ones and a couple of seasons when his average dipped to the .240s. He's also hit as many as 13 home runs in a season, stolen at least 30 bases twice and hit an unthinkable 16 triples in 2006.

For his longevity and all-around play, Sidick gets a starting spot in the outfield for the Wild Things' All-Decade Team.

Sidick currently owns C-Side Sports Academy in North Strabane Township.

All-Decade Team Outfielder: Chris Sidick (2005-11)

Useless information, V2.0

Some random thoughts and notes about the Wild Things and Frontier League:

* Has any Wild Things player ever had a better road trip than the one Chris Sidick (pictured) is having? In the first five games of the current six-game trip to Traverse City and Rockford, Sidick is 14-for-21 with 11 runs, 5 RBI, 2 home runs and 5 stolen bases. He has raised his batting average from .243 to .286.

A few other guys I recall having good road trips were Josh Loggins, Chris Carter and Mike Arbinger.

Loggins had a trip to Evansville and Chillicothe in 2003 in which he went 7-for-17 with 3 home runs and 9 RBI and was signed by Colorado during the trip.

When Washington ran off a 13-game winning streak in 2005, Arbinger and Carter were the catalysts. During a nine-game road trip to Gateway, River City and Mid-Missouri, Arbinger was 17-for-44 with 2 homers and 16 RBI. On the same trip, Carter went 15-for-38 with 5 homers and 15 RBI.

* According his Twitter account, Chris Smith, a right-handed pitcher who has been playing with the White Sands Pupfish of the independent Pecos League, has signed a contract to play with the Wild Things. Smith, who is from Louisville, was Lake Erie's first-round draft pick in the Frontier League draft in 2010. He played two games for Traverse City this year, including a rough outing out of the bullpen against the Wild Things at Consol Energy Park in May. Smith later signed with White Sands. In the Pecos League, Smith had a 3-0 record and 1.39 ERA in four outings. He struck out 28 in 26 innings.

According to the Twitter post, Smith said he will be a starting pitcher with the Wild Things.

* Former Wild Things relief pitcher Alan Williams, who was signed by the Milwaukee Brewers early in the Frontier League season, has been promoted from rookie ball to Class A. Williams was sent from Helena (Mont.) to Appleton (Wisc.), where he will play for the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers of the Midwest League. Williams pitched in nine games with Helena and had a 1-1 record, 4 saves and 2.57 ERA. He struck out 28 in only 14 innings.

* When Luis Rivera homered in the fifth inning Wednesday at Traverse City, it was the first time all season the Wild Things received a home run from the cleanup spot in the batting order. That one came 52 games into the season.

* Remember Steve MacFarland, who pitched for the Wild Things last year until an injury ended his season? McFarland was the Pittsburgh Pirates' 9th-round draft pick in 2006 but never made it past low-Class A with the Bucs. He was traded by Washington to another independent league last offseason. Since then, MacFarland has been released from three different indy leagues but is back in the Frontier. He was signed this week by the Florence Freedom.

Getting offensive

The rock group Blue Oyster Cult had a hit in 1977 with its song "Goin' Through the Motions." The Wild Things, their manager suggested, had not hits over the last six innings Thursday night against River City in part because they went through the motions at the plate.

"We need to become more offensive and be able to make adjustments throughout the game, not just go through the motions with our swings," Everson said following the 7-1 loss to the West Division-leading Rascals.

Thirty-seven games into the Frontier League's 96-game schedule, the Wild Things' offense is producing at a rate clip. But it's the wrong kind of record pace.

Washington is batting an anemic .225 as a team. The league record for lowest batting average for a season was set by Lake Erie last year at .229. That the Wild Things are even five games from .500 with that kind of offense is a credit to its pitching staff. Despite losing two lefties to affiliated ball, Washington is second in the league in ERA (3.35) and quality starts (21). The pitching staff deserves better support than it's getting.

The Wild Things' offense has been so poor this season that it would take their first 39 batters reaching base via hits tonight just to raise the team batting average to tie Rockford (.249) for 11th place in the 12-team league.

I don't think that's going to happen.

Second baseman Scott Lawson (.310) and center fielder Chris Sidick (.283) have been the only consistent threats in the lineup, and the former has had trouble staying on base because of baserunning mistakes. Other than those two, the offense has struggled mightily all seasson.

Even the designated hitter position has been a bust. Washington's DHs are hitting .191 with one home run, seven RBI and 41 strikeouts in 136 at-bats.

So what is manager Darin Everson to do about his offense? He brought in DH Bryan Fogle (.292) and third baseman Ryan Ditthardt (.143) last week. Does Everson continue to make changes or hope that his current players can fight their way out of what has been a collective funk?

Sidick activated

The Wild Things activated outfielder Chris Sidick, pictured, from the disabled list today, though he is not in the starting lineup for Game 1 of a doubleheader tonight against Kalamazoo. Sidick has not played since pulling a hamstring in a game at Florence July 11. At the time of the injury, Sidick was in the top five in the Frontier League in batting average and on-base percentage and was leading the league in stolen bases.

Only 2 all-stars

Oakland County manager Gera Alvarez, who will run the East Division team in next week's Frontier League all-star game, filled the final three spots on the team's roster Wednesday and none went to a Wild Things player. Alvarez added first baseman Joash Brodin (.276, 2 HR, 20 RBI, 10 SB) and pitcher Adam Dominick (2-2, 1.71) of Oakland County and pitcher Jeff Cinadr (1-1, 3 Sv, 1.99) of Lake Erie.

Washington will have only two representatives, outfielder Chris Sidick and pitcher Kevin Hammons, in the game at Southern Illinois July 14.

Sidick, Hammons named to East all-star team

Washington will have at least two representatives in the Frontier League's all-star game July 14 in Marion, Ill.

Outfielder Chris Sidick (.333, 22 stolen bases, .458 on-base percentage) and left-handed relief pitcher Kevin Hammons (2-2, 1.59, opponents batting only .176) were chosen Monday to the East Division team.

Oakland County manager Gera Alvarez, who will run the East team, will name three additional players to complete his roster. There's a chance that Washington closer Eryk McConnell (0-1, 8 saves, 2.81) will get one of those spots.

Lefty has right stuff

July is all-star month for most baseball leagues. The Frontier League's all-star game is July 14 at Rent One Park in Marion, Ill. and voting for the East and West Division rosters will be conducted over the next few days.

Each FL team must have a representative in the game. At this point, you have to say the Wild Things will be assured of only two players in the game. Who will they be?

Chris Sidick is seventh in the league in hitting with a .326 batting average. He also has a .450 on-base percentage has 17 stolen bases. He's a solid contender for an all-star spot, though outfielders with good statistics always are plentiful.

Closer Eryk McConnell has seven saves (second-best in the East) and should be pushing 10 by the break. That's usually enough to get you in the game and closers are always considered.

One Washington player who should be considered, but will be easy to overlook because of his role, is setup reliever Kevin Hammons (pictured). The left-hander has a 2-2 record and 1.71 ERA. The league is batting only .182 against Hammons and left-handed hitters have become automatic outs when facing the former Florida Marlins draft pick. Lefty batters are 1-for-22 with 12 strikeouts.

Hammons was a 24th-round draft pick of the Marlins in 2007 out of Tusculum College in Tennessee. He spent one year, with mixed results, in the Marlins' system with the Jamestown Jammers of the Class A New York-Penn League. In 12 games, Hammons had a 3-0 record with a 3.63 ERA. He walked 16 batters in 22 1/3 innings.

Washington manager Darin Everson says Hammons looks nothing like the pitcher he saw with Jamestown. Everson should know because he was the Jammers' manager that season.

"He's way more athletic and a lot more confident than when I saw him in '07," Everson said. "He really commands the zone now."

"Back then," Hammons says, "when I was with Jamestown, I put too much pressure on myself to succeed and be good on the mound. I put to much emphasis on baseball."

After being released by the Marlins, Hammons had a five-game stint with the Frontier League's Gateway Grizzlies in 2008 that didn't go well (0-2, 8.10). Hammons said a family issue prevented him from pitching to his potential with Gateway, and he spent the entire 2009 season out of baseball.

After Everson was hired as the Wild Things' manager last offseason, Hammons was invited to the team's invitation-only tryout in April and signed. He's making the most of his opportunity with Washington and might end up in the all-star game or get a second chance in affiliated ball.

"Everyone wants to get to affiliated ball, but if that doesn't happen then I hope we can take this team as far as it can go," Hammons said.

Sidick's sizzling start

While the Wild Things' bats cooled off during the first half of June, one player who bucked the trend is outfielder Chris Sidick. Now in his sixth season in the Frontier League, Sidick has the reputation of being a player who starts slowly and heats up sometime around the all-star break.

This year, Sidick has been the Wild Things' most consistent hitter. Entering Sunday's game against Traverse City, Sidick is tied for sixth in the league with a .343 batting average and is fourth in on-base percentage at .451. It's the best start of his career.

"He's the guy who gets our offense going," said designated hitter Jacob Dempsey. "And when he gets on base, he disrupts the other team so much because they're afraid he's going to steal. He helps the guys hitting behind him get better pitches to hit."

Sidick opened the season with a nine-game hitting streak and has reached base safely in all but three of the Wild Things' 27 games. He has 10 multiple-hit games. He had two hits, scored two runs and drove in two in the Wild Things' 8-run sixth inning Saturday night against Kalamazoo.

So what has been the key to Sidick's hot start? Perhaps a different batting stance? Maybe more batting practice in the offseason? What about working deeper into the count?

Nope. None of the above.

"I just think it's better luck," Sidick said. "I don't think I'm hitting the ball any different than last year. My strikeout rate is about the same as last year. The difference is I'm getting more hits to fall. Last year, I hit a lot of balls right at people. This year, those balls are falling in."

Tuesday night leftovers

If Darin Everson has proven anything in his short stint as the Wild Things' manager, it's that he's not afraid to call for a squeeze play, whether the suicide or safety variety. It was the latter that produced the winning run Tuesday night in Washington's 6-5 victory over Gateway.

Billy O'Conner put down a bunt on the first pitch he saw from Grizzlies reliever David Miller to score Luis Rivera from third base and give the Wild Things a 6-5 victory.

It's at least the second time Everson has used the squeeze play in the season's first three weeks. John Massarelli called for a couple of squeeze plays -- I recall one was with Brett Grandstrand batting and beat Kalamazoo -- with success during his four years as the Wild Things' manager. I don't recall any squeeze bunts called by Washington's other managers. I asked one of those managers why he never uses the squeeze and his response was "Scouts want to see hitters drive people in, not bunt them in."

Everson has shown he's playing to win and isn't afraid to try anything to get a victory.

* For the past week, the best job in the world was to be a Gateway Grizzlies relief pitcher. During a six-game homestand, while the Gateway starters toiled just about forever, the Grizzlies' hitters outscored the opponents 73-18 and hit eight home runs in a 25-1 rout Sunday over Lake Erie. The guys out in Bullpenville had less to do than the night guard at a sewerage treatment plant. David Miller, the Grizzlies' 6-foot-10 reliever, could have visited the family in Fort Worth for a week and nobody would have noticed.

So when Grizzlies were finally locked in a close game Tuesday, you had to excuse reliever Eric Gilliland if he was a little rusty when it came to recognizing the signal to enter a game. While Grizzlies manager Phil Warren held court on the mound during the bottom of the seventh inning, Gilliland trotted into the game from the left-field bullpen at Consol Energy Park.

The only problem was that nobody had called for Gilliland to enter and replace starter John Flanagan. Gilliland nearly made it to the infield before Warren and several Grizzlies began waving frantically for him to get off the field and return to the bullpen.

* One item of concern for the Wild Things has to be left-handed hitting Jacob Dempsey's .059 batting average (1-for-17) against lefty pitching.

* While Washington won in the 10th inning Tuesday, the key frame for the Wild Things was the fourth. That's when they scored two runs after having two outs and nobody on base. O'Conner, the No. 8 hitter, singled to right field and Chris Raniere followed with a line-drive single up the middle. O'Conner made it to third base on the play.

Chris Sidick then chopped a risky two-out bunt past the pitcher's mound for an infield single that scored O'Conner, and Michael Parker hit a sharp single off the glove of sliding Gateway shortstop Tyler Heil to give Washington a 5-3 lead.

Thoughts through 3 games

Some notes, observations and thoughts after the Wild Things' season-opening homestand:

* There were plenty of lasting images from the season's first three games and not many were positive for the Wild Things: Washington's baserunning blunders in the opener, the muddy and water-logged outfield, the empty seats ...

* On the positive side, you have to be impressed with the hitting of Adam Amar and Mark McGonigle. They could be two impact hitters. Chris Sidick is off to a better start than last year, which is a good sign. Michael Parker, who had a 24-game hitting streak last season, seems to be hitting the ball as well, if not better, so far this season.

* The Wild Things have to be concerned about attendance, or the lack of it. The 1,624 on hand for Sunday's game was the second-smallest crowd in franchise history. The 6,311 for the series was the second-smallest attendance for a three-game series. The opener didn't sell out -- for the first time. During the first inning of the opener, there was one section of seating along the third-base line that had four empty rows at the top. The same section had one person seated in the front row. The next section down the line also had one person seated in the front row.

There did, however, seem to be more people in the box seats for the opener than last year.

* The pace/length of games have gotten ridiculously long. And don't blame it on the between-innings promotions. Blame it on the "Moneyball" era and umpires.

Hitters today are taught to work the count like never before, and the umpires help them by refusing to call a strike a strike. The rulebook says the upper end of the strike zone is the midpoint between the top of the shoulders and the top of the uniform pants, and the lower level is the hollow beneath the knee. The strike zone, however, has become the bottom of the belt to the top of the kneecap.

I have some video/DVD copies of baseball games played in the 1960s and 1970s. The thing that jumps out to me when watching them is the strike zone. The zone was actually called correctly back then, players had to swing and the game moved at a quicker, more fan-friendly pace.

* Have you ever seen an outfield that was only partially mowed on opening day? I hadn't until Friday.

* This is the best Oakland County/Midwest team. The Cruisers/Sliders have more speed than ever before, Zach Pace is always on base, Joash Brodin and Jimmy Baker can hit, Luis Fernandez looks like a good defensive shortstop and pitchers James Albury and Kevin Asselin have track records of success. Too bad the Cruisers/Sliders are playing 51 of their first 57 games on the road. It's hard to stay in a playoff race with that kind of disadvantage.

* Washington catcher Billy O'Conner probably earned a few more starts by going 4-for-5 Sunday.

* Best line of the weekend came after Sunday's game, when someone brought a plate of alligator from the exotic foods stand into the Wild Things' clubhouse for the players and coaches to try. "We got the alligator from left centerfield," the person said. That might be where they'll find next weekend's entree: shark.

* There was no reason to play the Saturday night game. It should have been postponed. The outfield was a swamp Friday, and all the rain early Saturday made it worse.

* According to the Frontier League website, the Wild Things' July 31 game at Oakland County has been postponed and rescheduled as part of a doubleheader Aug. 1.

Sidick back for 6th season

The Wild Things announced today that center fielder Chris Sidick, pictured, has been re-signed for the 2010 season, which will be his sixth in the Frontier League.

A Cecil Township native, Sidick holds several league records, including career games (430), hits (460), at-bats (1,625), triples (44) and walks (256). He also holds nearly all of the Wild Things' career hitting records. Two that he does not hold are doubles and RBI.

A career .283 hitter, Sidick batted .240 last year with 61 runs, 81 hits, nine doubles, seven triples, nine home runs and 38 RBI. Sidick had a 16-game hitting streak and 24-game on-base streak last season. In 2008, he batted .311 with a career high in doubles (16) and RBI (45) and a league-leading nine triples.

“Chris has accomplished so much in his career with the Wild Things. We are proud of his contributions both to the team and to the local community," said Todd Marlin, managing director of the Wild Things.

According to Tim Perry, the Frontier League's unofficial historian, Fran Riordan, John Tavares and Phil Warren each played six years in the FL. Among pitchers, Matt Schweitzer and ex-Wild Things standout Aaron Ledbetter played six seasons. Schweitzer, a left-hander, is the only player in league history to play six seasons with a single team (Richmond 2000-05).

6 games, 6 questions

The Wild Things begin a season-ending six-game homestand Tuesday night with a series against the Kalamazoo Kings. Here are six questions to be answered during the homestand:

1. How long will it take for Chris Sidick to set the Frontier League record for career hits? Sidick tied the record of 458 hits held by Mike Breyman (Gateway, 2004-08) during Washington's win Sunday at Midwest.

2. Can the Wild Things avoid the basement? Washington is currently in fifth place, two games ahead of last-place Midwest, thanks to beating the Sliders in the last two games. The best-case scenario for Washington is a fourth-place finish.

3. Can Jacob Dempsey break the league's single-season RBI record? Dempsey needs nine RBI (I think - Midwest still hasn't reported the boxscore from Sunday's game) to tie the league record of 100 RBI set by Kalamazoo's Pete Pirman in 2005.

4. Will there be retaliation against Florence? Washington and Florence had a benches-clearing incident during their last series, played in July at Champion Window Field. The incident happened after a home run by Washington's Ernie Banks. Florence manager Toby Rumfield left the dugout and knocked Washington first-base coach Jon Cahill to the ground with a forearm shiver. Rumfield was suspended for five games. If there is going to be retaliation by the Wild Things, you'd think there would be no better time than the final series of the year, right? If you're not going to return to the league next year, then it doesn't matter if you get suspended, right?

5. What will the attendance be? The Wild Things are on the verge of finishing with their worst year, not only on the field but at the gate as well. They could, however, exceed last year's per-game attendance but that will be a difficult task because mid-week games after school has started never draw well.

6. Will Washington again be kind to Chuck Tiffany? You probably have never head of Chuck Tiffany, but the left-handed pitcher for Florence etched his name in the city's baseball lore in 1999 when he led Covina, Calif., to the Pony League World Series championship. Tiffany turned in perhaps the best world series performance by any player. He tied a series record with five home runs, including three in one game, and tied the record for wins (3) in a series. In the championship game against Chinese Taipei, Tiffany pitched a two-hitter, struck out 13 and hit two home runs. He went on to become a top-5 prospect in the Los Angeles Dodgers' system (he threw a no-hitter in the minors) before a shoulder injury derailed his career. Now with the Freedom, Tiffany has a 4-2 record. There is a chance Tiffany might pitch the Friday night game.

It's a record … sort of

Quiz time: When is a record not a record? Answer: When it's set in a suspended game.

The Wild Things' Chris Sidick set a record Sunday by playing in his 412th Frontier League game, the most by any player in league history.

Of course, Sidick's career statistics will show he won't set the league record, previously held by current Kalamazoo manager Fran Riordan, until Tuesday (weather permitting) because the Wild Things' game Sunday against Windy City was suspended in the third inning. The game will be resumed Friday when Windy City begins a three-game series in Washington.

Sidick, who already holds the Frontier League record for triples (42) and at-bats (1,560), is rapidly approaching several other career records. They are (league mark in parenthesis):

Runs: 303 (315)
Hits: 444 (458)
Walks: 243 (248)

Cleaning out the notebook

Some random thoughts, opinions and notes from the pressbox at Consol Energy Park:

* The Wild Things made one roster move Saturday, releasing pitcher Matt Maradeo. In his second season with Washington, Maradeo had a 1-0 record and 8.22 ERA in 12 games. The sidearming right-hander has been plagued by inconsistency and his numbers in Washington did match those he put up in the Chicago Cubs' system.

* Pitcher Justin Edwards, who left Friday night's game with back spasms, will not go on the disabled list. According to manager Mark Mason, the spams were related to Edwards being dehydrated. Edwards is expected to be out for two days. Opponents are batting only .222 against Edwards, who has 21 strikeouts in 20 2/3 innings.

* To fill Maradeo's spot on the roster, Washington will sign relief pitcher Aaron Guinn, a 6-5 right-hander from Mesa (Ariz.) State, which finished the year ranked No. 5 in NCAA Division II. Guinn had a 5-2 record, 9 saves and 1.40 ERA this year.

* It sure looks like center fielder Chris Sidick has lost his confidence when hitting against left-handed pitching. Sidick is only 2-for-25 (.080) with 10 strikeouts against lefty pitchers, but the average isn't the big concern. It's that many of his swings against lefties have looked bad.

* If you're going to attend a Wild Things home game and stay from start to finish, plan on being there a long time. Washington has played 12 home games with 11 going at least nine innings (there was a rain-shortened game against Gateway). of those 11, only one has been played in less than three hours, that being a 2-hour, 59-minute game against River City June 6. The Wild Things' nine-inning home games are averaging 3 hours and 8 minutes.

* Washington will have to drop a player from the roster Monday when Craig Snipp comes off the disabled list to pitch against Midwest.

* Phil Laurent doesn't get cheated on any of his swings. There's no check-swings or half-hearted swings with that guy.

* With the 13-run output Saturday night, the Wild Things are now in a three-way tie for the most runs scored in the Frontier League, though their record is only 10-17. Of all professional baseball teams that have played at least 27 games this season, only two (Midland of the Class AA Texas League and High Desert of the Class A California League) are averaging more runs per game than the Wild Things.

* Here's the humbling statistic: No team in pro baseball that has played at 27 least games is giving up more runs per game than the Wild Things (7.04).

* Manager Mark Mason on his team's 6.63 ERA: "I want a team ERA of 4.00 or under. If that's what our ERA was, then our record would be reversed. We've hit enough to win almost every game. The pitching has to come to the party."

* Has anyone noticed that closer Nick Peterson has 23 strikeouts in 11 1/3 innings pitched?

* Here's one that's hard to do: Chris Demons had two singles last night, which were his first singles all season. Demons had two home runs and a double but no singles in his first 32 at-bats.

* I forgot to mention this when I originally posted this article: Am I the only one who thinks the umpiring has gotten significantly worse this year? Talking to people from visiting teams, it seems to be that way around the league, not just in Washington.

The waiting is the hardest part

It's less than 24 hours until the on-field part of the Frontier League season begins for the Wild Things with their annual open tryout Saturday morning at Consol Energy Park. The Frontier League's tryout and player draft - each team must select at least 2 players - will be Monday and Tuesday in Washington.

If you check the Wild Things' roster, you might notice there are at least two positions in which depth is needed. One is catcher, where only Steve Pickerell and injured Kris Rochelle are on the roster.

The other position is first base, where Washington does not have a player with pro experience. Only Peters Township graduate Aaron Janusey is on the roster as a first baseman.

The Wild Things were expected to announce the signing of three more players as early as Wednesday, but that hasn't happened. Word is they were to sign catcher Alan Robbins, along with a first baseman/outfielder-type player and an infielder. Robbins was a teammate of Jacob Dempsey and Chris Carrara at Winthrop University and spent three years in the Philadelphia Phillies' system. he has the reputation of being a good catch-and-throw guy, better defensively than with the bat.

UPDATE: The Wild Things announced the signing of Robbins late Friday afternoon. Washington also signed one outfielder and lost another.

Signing was Alex Paluka, a Murrysville native and Franklin Regional High School graduate. Paluka played at the University of Iowa and Eastern Connecticut State before concluding his career at Point Park. Paluka played four years at Franklin Regional under Wild Things pitching coach Larry Wayman. Paluka batted only .235 for Point Park last spring.

"Alex is someone who we've worked out, and we've watched him hit. … We liked what we saw and wanted to give him an opportunity to come to camp," added Mason.

Washington also announced the retirement of outfielder Jason Appel who, judging by the current roster, would have seen significant playing time. This roster move leaves the Wild Things with only two outfielders with pro experience (none at the affiliated level), Chris Sidick and Matt Sutton. Not a good way to start camp.

C-Side Sports Academy

What do minor-league baseball players do during the offseason? Many of them teach baseball. Included in that group is the Wild Things' Chris Sidick, who operates C-Side Sports Academy.

Here are two links, one is a 35-second video of Sidick talking about his sports academy and the other is a slideshow of the building's construction (you'll notice at least two former Wild Things in the slideshow).

C-Side video.

C-Side slideshow.