A look back

Every baseball season is memorable for multiple reasons. Wins or losses. Comebacks. Players. Plays. Games. The following are a few of the things that would make it on a Wild Things 2012 Highlights/Lowlights video:

* Starting with the most recent ... Andrew Heck becomes only second player in Wild Things history to play all nine positions in a game, doing so in the regular-season finale against Schaumburg. Heck does not commit an error and pitches two-thirds of an inning, allowing one run (unearned) with a strikeout.

* The Wild Things' bus broke down near Columbus, Ohio, during a trip from Lake Erie to Florence, Ky. It ended up being a 7-hour delay until a new bus arrived.

* Washington released outfielder James Simmons, who was signed in the offseason and had Class AAA experience, only five games into the season. Simmons later signed with the Bridgeport Bluefish of the Atlantic League, where he is hitting .284 with 11 home runs and had Bridgeport's only hit off Roger Clemens during the future Hall of Famer's comeback game.

* There was the night the lights went out in Washington. During a July 17 game against Evansville, the majority of the lights at Consol Energy Park are knocked out and the game is suspended because of insufficient illumination. It was completed the next morning.

* During a series at Windy City, and following a game against the ThunderBolts, the Wild Things' bus does not go directly back to the hotel, instead going to the airport to allow the team to pick up a new player. This is a first in franchise history, and it had to leave more than one player who was already on the bus wondering if he was about to be released to make room for the new guy. An uncomfortable situation to say the least.

* In Washington's first 10 seasons, only once did a player steal four bases in a game. After being acquired Aug. 1 in a trade with South Illinois, outfielder Darian Sandford stole four bases in a game twice for Washington. In 30 games with the Wild Things, Sandford stole 26 bases, but also was thrown out 16 times. Sandford led the Frontier League with 71 stolen bases.

* Prior to a game against Rockford in early July, pitching coach Tim Ferguson "resigns." It's the second time in 11 seasons that Washington's pitching coach resigned before the season reached the all-star break.

* The most bizarre event of the year happened after a July 24 home game against the London Rippers. Earlier in the evening, the Frontier League announced the Rippers would be suspending operations at 12:01 a.m. that night. The league did not prevent London from making trades. After the game, Washington manager Chris Bando and hitting coach Jim Tatum, along with two front office representatives, stood outside the Rippers' clubhouse and tried to broker trades for London players. They managed to get four players to agree to join the Wild Things in exchange for four players who would be assigned to the traveling Road Warriors.

* During an August series at West Division champion Gateway, the Wild Things went 14 consecutive innings without a hit.

* After having four players signed by affiliated teams last year, the Wild Things had only one this season, relief pitcher Nate Striz, who had his contract purchased by the Boston Red Sox. Striz ended the year as the closer for Boston's affiliate in the Class A South Atlantic League.

* In a series at Southern Illinois, Washington starts a game with pitcher Orlando Santos as the designated hitter. And he doesn't bat in the No. 9 spot.He bats cleanup.

* Washington signed two players, infielder Anthony Long and catcher Cody Coffman, had them on the active roster for three games, did not put them in a game and then released them. The Wild Things also drafted outfielder Michael Miller in the first round at the league tryout. Miller made the regular-season roster but was traded after five games and not getting an at-bat.

* The Wild Things had a fixation with the independent Pecos League. They either signed or drafted eight players from the Pecos. There were three pitchers, and only one made the team. He was released after appearing in only eight games. Of the five hitters signed, only two were on the team in the regular season, one did not register an at-bat and the other went 4-for-29 before being released.

* Washington tied the record for its longest game, playing a 17-inning contest at home Aug. 4 against Lake Erie. The Wild Things overcame 23 strikeouts by Lake Erie pitchers to win 2-1.

James rocks Roger

Roger Clemens made his independent baseball debut tonight, pitching 3 1/3 scoreless innings for the Sugar Land Skeeters against the Bridgeport Bluefish in the Atlantic League.

Clemens gave up one hit, a single to (guess who?) James Simmons. You might recall that Simmons began this year as an outfielder for the Wild Things. He was released after only five games and going 3-for-17. Simmons signed with Bridgeport in the Atlantic League, which is the top independent league and has many former major leaguers and Class AAA players.

Simmons is batting .279 with 11 home runs for the Bluefish.

Remember James Simmons?

During the last offseason, the Wild Things stockpiled former NAIA players with no previous pro experience and Pecos Leaguers. The signings were criticized, bashed and judged as bad. The critics were correct. Of the players from the NAIA-Pecos offseason haul, only infielder Shain Stoner has made a significant contribution.

One position player signed in the offseason who didn't fit the NAIA-Pecos mold was outfielder James Simmons, who had Class AAA experience in the San Francisco Giants' system. Simmons has size (6-3) and speed. He was expected to be the newcomer with the best chance to make an immediate impact with Washington.

Simmons, however, got off to a slow start with the Wild Things. He played in only five games, going 3-for-17 with seven strikeouts and was released May 25 -- before the seasson's first homestand was complete.

Simmons didn't stay unemployed very long. He signed with the Atlantic League's Bridgeport Bluefish. The Atlantic League is the top independent circuit, filled with former major leaguers and ex-Class AAA and AA players.

Simmons is currently batting .258 with the Bluefish with 10 home runs and eight stolen bases. He's in a 4-for-32 slump after getting his average up to .285 on July 21. Simmons also has a pair of muli-homer games, each against defending league champion York.

It seems as if this was one time when the Wild Things had the right guy in camp but gave up on him too soon.

Roster update

Washington's roster continues to change. Here's an update:

Released were sidearming relief pitcher Mickey Cassidy and outfielder James Simmons. Outfielder Mike Miller was traded to Roswell Invaders of the Pecos League. Simmons' release must have come in the last few minutes because he was a participant in batting practice.

Signed were third baseman/catcher Davis Page and outfielder Robbie Garvey. Page was signed Thursday and scored the game-winning run against Gateway. He was acquired from San Angelo of the North American League, where his manager was Doc Edwards. Washington manager Chris Bando played for Edwards when the latter was manager of the Cleveland Indians.

Garvey played two years in the Milwaukee Brewers system after signing as a nondrafted free agent. A native of Las Vegas, Garvey is in the starting lineup tonight in center field.

Outfielder Allen Boyer remains sidelined with a sore shoulder.

Relief pitcher Steve Grife, who is on the supended list, threw a bullpen session before tonight's game. He is eligible to be activated June 1. Grife was on the suspended list because he was an assistant coach at Mercyhurst College and not available for spring training.

First glances

Wild Things fans get their first glimpse of a Chris Bando-managed team tonight when Washington hosts Lake Erie in an exhibition game at Consol Energy Park. It's the first of four games in four days between the teams -- tonight and Friday in Washington, Saturday and Sunday in Avon, Ohio.

Between now and Wednesday, when opening day rosters must be set at no more than 24, the Wild Things must drop 16 players -- if nobody is added between now and the regular season. So there will be many players in Washington's dugout the next two nights who won't be here for the home opener May 22.

With a record number of players in camp, and no numbers on the back of the practice shirts, it was hard to tell who was doing what during the two days I spent at camp. There were, however, a few things I noticed:

* Outfielder James Simmons is big and fast. Make that very fast, especially going home-to-third or first-to-third. Most impressive position player in camp.

* The one player who appears to be a much better hitter than I expected is catcher Michael Surina. In two seasons of independent ball, Surina has a .214 career batting average. He doesn't have a .214 swing. The ball jumps off his bat and he could be an impact hitter in the middle of the lineup.

* Outfielder Luis Rivera has been bothered by a hamstring injury suffered early in camp. He sat out some intrasquad games but will play in the exhibition contests.

* Wish I could tell you more about the pitchers, but I only saw four of them throw, and two were Casey Barnes and Justin Hall.