Useless information

Cleaning out the notebook prior to the restart of the Frontier League season Friday night:

The topic of discussion in manager Darin Everson's office prior to the Wild Things-Gateway game Sunday was how many wins will it take for a team to secure a playoff berth from the East Division?

The Frontier League went to a 96-game schedule in 2004, and since then the playoff team with the worst record each season has averaged 52 wins. There was a low of 46 (Evansville in 2006) and it took 56 wins to make the postseason in 2009. It doesn't look like the East will have a team pull away from the pack, or one that finishes with less than 30 wins, so the magic number will likely be closer to 52 than 56.

What does that mean for the Wild Things? To get to 52 wins, they need to go 33-16 after the all-star break.

* In Wednesday night's Frontier League All-Star game in Avon, Ohio, Washington's Casey Barnes and Jhonny Montoya each pitched a scoreless and hitless inning. Justin Hall gave up one solo home run in his inning. Catcher Blake Ochoa went 1-for-2 with a walk, and second baseman Scott Lawson was 0-for-1 with a throwing error.

* Washington does not have a home run from the No. 4 spot in the batting order all season.

* Remember Joel Hartman, who was a utility player for the Wild Things last year before suffering a season-ending finger injury? He joined a team in the Pecos League, based in New Mexico, after being released in spring training by the Wild Things. Hartman suffered another season-ending injury recently. According to the Pecos League website, Hartman broke a leg during a play at home plate.

* In Ernie Banks' first 128 at-bats with the Wild Things in 2009, he hit 12 home runs. In 128 at-bats this year, Banks does not have a home run.

* Both Vidal Nuno and Alan Williams -- the two Wild Things pitchers signed this season by MLB organizations -- are off to strong starts with their new teams. Nuno is playing for Staten Island (Yankees) in the Class A New York-Penn League. In five relief appearances, Nuno is 4-0 with one save and a 0.98 ERA. He has 17 strikeouts in 18 1/3 innings with only three walks. Williams is with Helena (Brewers) in the rookie-level Pioneer League and has a 1-1 record with three saves in seven outings. The lefty has pitched 11 innings and struck out 24 with only three walks.

Former Wild Things pitcher Tom Cochran, who is in Class AAA with with Cincinnati, took the loss last Saturday in Louisville's 2-0 setback against Indianapolis, the Pirates' top affiliate. Cochran started the game and gave up only one run in five innings to drop his record to 6-2.

* Rockford, which is in fifth place in the East, made a key signing over the weekend, bringing back Jason James. The outfielder has one Frontier League batting title and finished second twice.

* In 46 games this season, Everson has used 45 different batting orders.

* Gateway manager Phil Warren on starting the season with three former West Virginia players and an ex-Pitt player on the Grizzlies' roster: "This is an area of the country that seems to get overlooked in the (major league) draft, for whatever reason."

* Despite losing Nuno, the opening day starter, Washington is tied for second in quality starts with 24. Florence also has 24. Windy City is tops with 28.

Wild Things Average Attendance
at the All-Star Break:
2002 - 2,942
2003 - 3,390
2004 - 3,242
2005 - 3,048
2006 - 3,133
2007 - 3,180
2008 - 2,899
2009 - 2,734
2010 - 2,373
2011 - 2,176

It always could be worse

Warning: This is not a post about the Frontier League or the Wild Things, though you might think differently about each after reading the following:

Minor-league baseball is filled with thousands of interesting stories, with most prompting the same question: Why do people do this for a living? It doesn't matter if the story is about a player, coach, umpire, owner ... you often wonder if the time and effort is worth the reward.

With that in mind, the following are links to two stories that I came across while searching for information about two players, former California University standout outfielder Sam DiMatteo and ex-Wild Things utility player Joel Hartman. Neither story is about DiMatteo or Hartman, who are currently playing in the Pecos League, an independent circuit with teams in New Mexico and west Texas. This is the bottom of the ladder in independent baseball.

The first link is a story about the Pecos League having a traveling team that played three "home games" in Carlsbad (N.M.). The second link is to press release that actually appeared on the league's website. You'll be be shaking your head in disbelief after each story. I know I was.

Read the Carlsbad story here.


Read the website story here.

Cutdown day

On roster cutdown days in the NFL, teams use someone from their personnel department to go into the locker room and ask players to report to the head coach or general manager. This messenger is called the "Turk."

Well, the "Turk" arrived at Consol Energy Park Monday and there were a few surprised people.

As expected, the Wild Things placed pitcher Justin Edwards on the disabled list while he works his way back from offseason shoulder surgery. Let go were pitcher Blake Hennington and outfielders Joel Hartman and Jeremy Richter. Catcher Greyson Schram was put on the suspended list, which means former California University catcher Stephen Hermann had his chances of making the roster for opening day greatly increase.

The biggest surprise was that pitcher Zach Groh, pictured, was released. Groh had spent three seasons in Washington, and had good results in a five-inning outing during a spring training game Friday against Lake Erie. Groh said afterward that it was only the second time during camp that he had faced hitters.

Groh's release was even more surprising when you consider Washington is two under the limit for players classified as "Experienced" by the Frontier League's roster rules. Only three of the Wild Things' pitchers are classified as "Experienced."

Monday's moves leave Washington with 27 active players. They must get down to 24 before Thursday's season opener. However, being two under the "Experienced" limit makes me think there will be a new player or two arriving before the team leaves Wednesday for Joliet, Ill.

Changing the blueprint?

The Wild Things announced the signing of seven players to contracts during a two-day period last week. Nothing surprising about that. Mid-to-late April is the busy period for Frontier League transactions. Plus, first-year manager Darin Everson said he wants to bring 32 players to spring training, and he was more than a dozen short of his goal.

Several things, however, stand out about the signings of pitchers Matt Vieira, Jeff Sonnenberg, Kevin Hammons, Matt Lyons and Ben Rodewald, ultilty player Joel Hartman and infielder Devin Murphy. One is that six of the seven are rookies (Hartman is an L1), according to Frontier League standards. Washington still has open L2 and Veteran roster spots. The second noteworthy thing is where the new players come from. Only two of the seven have experience in affiliated ball, which often seemed to be a requirement for players on past Wild Things teams.

Of the seven newcomers, Vieira and Hammons played in the Florida Marlins' system, in which Everson did his coaching the past four years. Hammons, however, last played in affiliated ball in 2007, when he played for Everson in the New York-Penn League. Hammons posted an 0-2 record with Gateway of the Frontier League in 2008, his last year in pro ball.

“I saw some improvement on Kevin’s delivery from our time together in the past, and he seems very focused and determined to become an impact left-hander on the mound for us,” Everson said.

Hartman spent the last two years playing in independent ball in Texas, and his numbers were quite good last season (.290 with 40 stolen bases in 55 games).

This is what we know about the other four guys:

- Rodewald: Drafted out of high school but did not sign. Played at Central Michigan University but his last season there was 2007.

- Lyons: Played the last two years in a sandlot league.

- Sonneberg: Played winter ball in Australia.

- Murphy: Also has no pro experience, having last played in college in 2008.

Those aren't your typical Wild Things backgrounds. That doesn't mean these guys can't play. What it does tell me is either there were fewer cuts than normal by affiliated teams this spring or Everson is thinking outside the box – working without Washington's previous blueprint. In past years, the Wild Things were heavy on players who had affiliated experience, were natives of Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, Virginia, Maryland and New Jersey and/or were released by the Pirates, Phillies, Mets and Astros. You could almost correctly guess who they were trying or not trying to sign.

Who knows if any of these guys will make it to opening day. Vieira, however, looks lock a lock to make the team while Hartman and Sonnenberg – who was dominant pitcher for a very good NAIA school – seem to have a solid chance to stick around this summer. We do know that the Wild Things aren't rejecting players because they live outside the Eastern time zone or have no experience in affiliated ball.