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.

Playoffs set

Southern Illinois clinched the final wild card playoff spot Sunday by defeating Lake Erie in the second game of a day-night doubleheader. The Miners, who are in the playoffs for the fourth time and trying for their first series victory, will begin the playoffs Wednesday at East Division champion Traverse City.

Two teams that made late-season playoff pushes will meet in the other series. West Division champion Gateway will host Florence, which finished in second place in the East. Florence is in the playoffs for the first time in the franchise's 10-year history.

Windy City and Schaumburg each missed the playoffs by two games. The Boomers led the West Division for the majority of the season. Lake Erie fell 2 1/2 game shy of the postseason.

Of the four playoff teams, only Gateway (2003) has won a league championship.

K Zone

To nobody's surprise, the 23 strikeouts by Wild Things hitters in the 15-inning win Saturday over Lake Erie was a team single-game record. After checking the final stats from seasons past and some boxscores, I found that the old record was 17 strikeouts, set last year in an Aug. 25 game at Windy City. Washington lost that game 2-1 in 11 innings.

One thing that I found to be interesting while checking this record is that the most strikeouts Washington's 2004 hitters had in a game was a mere 10.

Early trends

Each Frontier League team is five series into the season and some trends are beginning to appear. Some are quite surprising. Here are some things this guy has found most interesting about the first three weeks of the season:

* The most disappointing team to date has to be the Lake Erie Crushers. I had Lake Erie pegged for second place in the East, but the Crushers currently share the basement with London at 5-10. While the first 15 games of the season do not make or break a team, or are even cause for alarm, the stunning part of Lake Erie's start is where they're losing. The Crushers are only 1-8 at home.

* Word is that London has three players with passport problems and they're being put on the suspended list each time the Rippers return to Canada. When you're crossing the border each time you start a homestand or a roadtrip, why do you sign players who don't have passports? Not a smart move by the Rippers.

* River City is off to a 12-3 start, which isn't shocking considering the Rascals' recent success. But keep in mind that River City is doing this without two starting position players from last year, second baseman Doug Sanders and catcher Danny Sawyer, who are expected to join the team later in the season. Sanders is an assistant coach at Kent State, which has advanced to the Super Regional round of the NCAA tournament, and Sawyer earned a baseball part in the Jackie Robinson movie that is currently being filmed.

* Don't know which is more surprising: Washington is 6-8 with an anemic .187 team batting average or Gateway's pitching staff has given up the most home runs and walks in the league, yet is 8th in the league in team ERA at only 3.89.

* Traverse City's Jeff Flagg has a league-leading eight home runs. That's more than three teams, including Washington.

* While River City has the league's best record, the most impressive start might be that of Traverse City. The Beach Bums are 9-6 and have played only three home games.

Turn out the lights ...

Here's a link to a story from the Chronicle-Telegram about all of the lights and light poles being taken down at All Pro Freight Stadium in Avon, Ohio, home of the Lake Erie Crushers.

One of the light poles was damaged last year by high wind and came toppling down last month, falling inside the stadium.

Read the story here.

Ready to rumble

Maybe it was the heat. Maybe it was the game. Whatever it was, something made tempers flare Wednesday in Avon, Ohio during a game between the Lake Erie Crushers and the Rockford RiverHawks (the Wild Things' opponent tonight).

According to the Chronicle-Telegram, a benches-clearing brawl started in the third inning after Lake Erie had already forged a big lead. Lake Erie’s Evan Sharpley (recently picked up after being released by Traverse City) was walked on four inside pitches by Rockford starter Joe Scumaci while the Crushers had already forged a big lead. Sharpley and Rockford catcher Carlos Dominguez -- they were involved in a home-plate collision an inning earlier -- then got into an argument. Sharpley tackled Dominguez and the benches cleared. Five players were ejected. You can expected some suspensions.

Here is a link to the story. Make sure you check out the photos from the brawl. They have more than 70.

Read the story here.

Weekend washout

The Wild Things were rained out Saturday night in Avon, Ohio., and there were plans to play a doubleheader against the Lake Erie Crushers Sunday afternoon. To nobody's surprise, the DH was rained out. That means of the 36 innings the Wild Things and Crushers wanted to play during spring training, only 14 1/2 were completed. That will make cutting the rosters to 24 players more difficult. Those intrasquad games last week suddenly became more important.

Rain has been a pain throughout the league during spring training. A Windy City-Rockford doubleheader was rained out Sunday. Joliet and Normal played only 4 1/2 innings Saturday, and Evansville and Southern Illinois managed to play only three innings Friday night before being stopped because of rain.

Cleaning out the notebook

Some notes and thoughts and we head down the homestretch of the Frontier League season:

* It seems far removed from the Wild Things and Lake Erie Crushers, two teams who are playing out the string tonight at Consol Energy Park, but there are excellent playoff races in both divisions of the Frontier League.

Windy City rallied Tuesday night to edge Oakland County 3-2 as the ThunderBolts pushed their lead in the East to 2 games over the Cruisers. Meanwhile, Traverse City won a game over Kalamazoo that it probably should have lost and now trails Oakland County by only 1 game and Windy City by 3. Keep in mind that all of Traverse City's remaining 11 games will be played at home, including the final three against Washington.

In the West, Southern Illinois has ran away with the division title. The Miners clinched a playoff berth Tuesday. Gateway, meanwhile, missed a chance to pull closer to second-place River City. The Rascals lead Gateway by 2 1/2 games for the final playoff spot. River City has a big advantage in the remaining schedule as they do not play another game against a team with a winning record.

* Southern Illinois, which was 32-4 at one point, might have seen its championship chances take a big hit earlier this week. Joe Augustine (10-3, 1.97), who is a serious contender for the league's Pitcher of the Year Award, had an emergency appendectomy Monday. The team was returning from Lake Erie when Augustine began experiencing pain. When it was determined Augustine needed medical attention, the bus was within seven miles of a hospital in Louisville.

Augustine leads the league in wins and strikeouts (121). You might recall that Augustine pitched nine shutout innings last week at Consol Energy Park in the game Washington won 1-0 in 11 innings.

Southern Illinois manager Mike Pinto hasn't ruled out having Augustine back for the playoffs, saying his pitcher will be permitted to resume throwing in "10 to 14 days." Pinto called it a "50-50" chance that Augustine will return in the postseason.

* Washington pitcher Justin Edwards, who suffered a groin injury during a start earlier this month at Southern Illinois and was put on the disabled list, was activated Tuesday night and looked sharp against Lake Erie, allowing only one hit in six innings.

Had Edwards left the Southern Illinois game only one out earlier, Washington would have had an interesting decision to make with the right-handed pitcher. A one-out earlier exit would have left Edwards with 60 innings pitched, which is a magic number in the Frontier League. Throw 60 1/3 innings and your roster classification is bumped up one level the next season. Stay at 60 and you status doesn't change. Had Edwards been at 60, Washington could have kept him on the DL for the remainder of the season and his status for next season would have remained at L1. Each FL team is permitted a maximum of 7 L1 players and 3 L2 players.

It doesn't matter now because Edwards was at 60 1/3 and threw six more innings, but this is the time of year when you see guys throughout the league being benched to keep their status from changing. Typically, about half the teams in the league do this. The only Washington player who is near a status-change mark is pitcher Zach Groh, who is currently on the DL. Groh, who is an L1, has pitched 57 1/3 innings.

How good was that?

From pure baseball standpoint, there have a few really good Wild Things games played at Consol Energy Park, some real hard-to-watch clunkers and a whole lot of games that fall inbetween.

In this guy's opinion, Washington's 3-0 victory Thursday night over the Lake Erie Crushers was the best-played game at the nine-year-old ballpark. There have been more exciting games and wild finishes, but from a quality baseball standpoint that was the best-played game I can recall. There was tremendous pitching and enough outstanding defensive plays to fill a week's worth of games. If pitching defense is your game, that was one for you.

Washington's Jeff Sonnenberg, pictured, faced the minimum 27 batters in throwing a two-hit shutout with no walks. Only one Lake Erie batter reached a three-ball count. After each of the hits allowed by Sonnenberg, the next Lake Erie batter grounded into a double play. At one stretch, Sonnenberg retired 22 consecutive batters, getting 23 outs in the process.

First baseman Eric Stephens made two terrific defensive plays, going far to his right to snag a grounder by Jodam Rivera in the fourth and to a catch a liner by Raphael Turner to end the eighth. Center fielder Luis Rivera also tracked down Arden McWilliams' deep fly ball on the warning track in the sixth inning. Sonnenberg said he thought McWilliams' shot was going to be a home run.

The biggest defensive play came in the first inning when right fielder Mark McGonigle threw out Jodam Rivera, who was trying to score from second base on a single. Catcher Jared Dyer was able to block home plate with his left foot and make the tag.

Lake Erie also made some web-gem-like defensive plays, especially Rivera at shortstop and Andrew Davis at third base.

Was there ever a better performance by a Washington pitcher than the one by Sonnenberg? Washington pitchers have thrown two no-hitters -- Jason Hickman at Kalamazoo in 2002 and Eric Palmer in the second game of a doubleheader at Windy City in 2004 -- but neither was a shutout. Hickman gave up a run on a two-base throwing error, wild pitch and groundout. Palmer gave up a run on two errors.

Aaron Ledbetter had several outstanding games at home, as did Jared Howton, Ben Ally and Dave Bradley, to name a few. The one that stands out to me was Howton's game against Johnstown in 2002 when he threw a three-hit shutout with no walks and 13 strikeouts. Lake Erie, however, is a better team than Johnstown was in 2002.

While trying to think of a game that was better-played than last night's, I came up with a few possibilities. One was a pitcher's duel in 2006 when Rockford's Derek Roper beat Ledbetter 1-0. The other was in 2003, on Father's Day, when Ally pitched Washington to a 4-0 win over Cook County. Ally threw a four-hittter with one walk and 12 strikeouts in a game that lasted only 1:57. Cook County's James Clelland also threw a complete game and didn't walk a batter, striking out six.

Those games, however, fall short of the game played Thursday night because of defensive plays and Sonnenberg facing the minimum 27 batters. The latter, however, was odd because if you weren't watching the game closely or keeping score, you probably didn't know what was happening. After all, Lake Erie had two hits and Washington started the night with an error, the only one of the game.

This, that and some other things

After a week of much-needed vacation, it's time to get back to this blog. Here are a few thoughts and notes about the blog, the Wild Things and the Frontier League:

* While on vacation, I checked this blog using both my wife's laptop and my son's laptop. I knew Blogger had problems with the word verification system and was supposed to be working on a fix, still I was surprised to notice that word verification wasn't working when using each laptop. My guess is the word verification problem is related to Windows 7, which each laptop was using. I've never had a problem with the word verification when using Windows Vista at home or a Mac.

As a result of this, I decided to disarm the word verification for the time being. If we get hit with spam, I'll have to turn it back on.

* Pete Rose Jr., who was a finalist for the Wild Things' managerial job (he was brought to Washington for an interview and had some strong recommendations) last offseason was hired last week as the Florence Freedom's hitting coach.

* The winner of Cheap Publicity Stunt of the Week is the Lake Erie Crushers, who announced they they will offer two-time NBA MVP LeBron James a contract worth $1,600 a month, which is the maximum player contract in the Frontier League.

The Crushers also are offering James a host family to “eliminate the stress of a potential commute from the Akron area to Avon.” James also could get a luxury suite where he and other NBA free agents could hold a summit.

It’s all part of Keep LBJ in the C-L-E night during the Crushers game Wednesday. The team will wear special Cavs-themed jersey and with the number 6, which is the same number LeBron plans to switch to. Those jerseys will be auctioned off and, if LeBron comes to the game, the money will be given to the LeBron James Family Foundation.

* The Wild Things made two roster moves last week, putting pitcher Zach Groh on the disabled list and signing right-handed pitcher Matt Lackner (6-4, 210). I don't know if Groh is on the 7-day or 14-day DL because the transaction is not listed on the Frontier League website.

Lackner had a 5-4 record this spring at Park University, an NAIA school in Parkville, Mo. If you look at Lackner's statistics, one thing stands out: He threw three shutouts this season yet had an ERA of 5.00. That's hard to do.

As a junior, Lackner had a 9-1 record with one shutout and a 3.41 ERA.

Lackner made his Wild Things debut Saturday night and it was a rocky one. he entered in the ninth inning of a win over Windy City and faced five batters, giving up four hits, a wild pitch and three runs.

* Which is more surprising: The Southern Illinois Miners leading the West Division with a 31-4 record and 19-game winning streak or the Oakland County Cruisers being in first place in the East Division while playing only six home games, none of which were played in Oakland County, Mich.?

* One player who I thought had a good chance of ending up in a Wild Things uniform was former Seton Hill University catcher Pat Trettel. An NCAA Division II All-American, Trettel played at North Allegheny High School, where Wild Things coach Bob Bozutto is the athletic director. After going undrafted this month, Trettel signed last week with the Lincoln Saltdogs of the independent American Association.

Note to self: Find out when the Wild Things plan to make a decision on which turf company will install the new playing surface at Consol Energy Park.

* Former Wild Things pitcher Tom Cochran has performed well for the Carolina Mudcats, the Cincinnati Reds' affiliate in the Class AA Southern league. Cochran has a 4-3 record, 2.53 ERA and seven no-decisions in 14 starts. The league is hitting only .235 against Cochran, who finished last season in Class AAA.

Another day, another loss

The Wild Things lost another game Monday, 6-2 at Lake Erie. It was the 12th loss in 15 games for Washington, but at least this contest was memorable for a few incidents.

One was a blunder by the umpires that led to the ejection of Washington pitching coach Mark Dewey in the eighth inning. Here's what happened: Lake Erie's Dom Duggan apparently swung and missed at a pitch from Eryk McConnell but home-plate umpire Dan Diem ruled it a check-swing. Washington asked for an appeal, so Diem asked first-base umpire Gary Rosplohowski for help. The problem was that Rosplohowski wasn't paying attention. According to WJPA's Randy Gore, an appeal was requested "for about 10 seconds" before Roplohowski realized there was a game going on and called a no-swing. That led to Washington manager Darin Everson charging out of the dugout and Dewey getting ejected for yelling from the dugout.

Then, after the game, it seemed that Lake Erie starting pitcher Josh Roberts called out Washington catcher Alan Robbins. At least that's the way the story in the Elyria Chronicle-Telegram read. Washington had hit three Lake Erie batters in the game before Robbins was plunked in the leg by Roberts in the seventh inning. After getting hit, Robbins took a couple of steps toward the pitcher's mound before going to first base.

Read story here.

Avon calling: A taxing problem

Here's a link to a story about the city of Avon trying to get tax exempt status for 2009 for All Pro Freight Stadium, home of the Lake Erie Crushers.

According to the story, the city received a partial tax refund last year for the ballpark and the surrounding recreational complex and the state approved an exemption for 2009. However, there are questions as to whether the city misled the state on its prior application. Avon has field an amended application for 2009.

Here's the problem: The Ohio Revised Code exempts such a stadium from taxes if it is "used by a major league professional athletic team or a class A to class AAA minor league affiliate of a major league baseball team for a significant portion of its home schedule." The Crushers obviously are not affiliated with Major League Baseball.

According to Avon's mayor, tax exempt status for the ballpark will save the city $18,000 to $20,000 a year.

Read the story here.

Playoffs update

The Kalamazoo Kings have forced Game 5 in their best-of-five playoff series against the Lake Erie Crushers. The Kings won 7-5 in Game 4 Saturday afternoon. Lake Erie seemed to have punched its ticket to the finals by taking a 5-0 lead in the first inning against Kalamazoo starter John Brownell, who was pitching on three days rest.

However, after the rocky start Brownell shut out Lake Erie the rest of the way, throwing 141 pitches in a complete game.

“Brownell had a very impressive performance,” Crushers manager John Massarelli told the Chronicle-Telegram after the game. “You’ve got to tip your hat to him. That was about as impressive as I’ve ever seen."

Kalamazoo scored the tying run when Lake Erie center fielder Tyler Johnson tried to make a basket catch on what was described as a catchable fly ball and dropped it. The Kings scored two runs in the eighth to win the game.

Massarelli held a 10-minute closed-door meeting with his players following the game.

“I told them, ‘This is a hell of a series and it’s going to be a hell of a Game 5,’” he said. “I told them what I said from the beginning of the first game. It doesn’t matter how we do it, you can lose two and win three, or split at each home field like we’ve been doing, as long as we get that third win. It doesn’t matter how you win a five-game series. Home-field advantage is bull (bleep). It’s all about who gets to three first.

“We only won two, and so have they. That’s why we’re going to Game 5.”

Game 5 is Monday night in Kalamazoo.

In typical minor-league playoff fashion, Game 4 drew a crowd of only 1,319, the smallest of the year, to All Pro Freight Stadium. It was a rare afternoon game in Avon, Ohio. I haven't seen a reason why the game was played in the afternoon but I'm guessing it was because of the Ohio State-USC football game Saturday night.

River City, which won its first playoff series in 11 years, awaits the winner. The Rascals swept two-time defending champion Windy City. Former Wild Things first baseman Ernie Banks hit two home runs for River City in their Game 2 win. Banks was 5-for-15 with 5 RBI in the series.

All Pro Freight Stadium

WJPA Radio's Randy Gore sent us these photos from All Pro Freight Stadium, the home of the Lake Erie Crushers. It's a 5,000-seat ballpark that opened this season. It has an artificial turf playing surface, except for the pitcher's mound and home-plate area. You should be able to click on each photo and get a larger image.

Crushers' home debut

Here are two links to stories and videos from the Mourning Journal in Lorain, Ohio, about the Lake Erie Crushers' first game at All Pro Freight Stadium on Tuesday night. More than 5,000 showed up to see the ballpark and watch the Crushers' win over Windy City.

Page A-1 story and video.

Sports story and video.

UPDATE: Here is a link to video of the mayor of Avon giving a tour of the ballpark:

Mayor gives tour of ballpark.

And the winner is...

The winner of the name-the-team contest for the new franchise in Avon, Ohio is ...

OK, there's no drama here. You probably looked at the logo above and know the team will be called the Lake Erie Crushers.

News of the name was leaked last week but it became official today during a media event at Avon City Hall. According to the team's press release, there were more than 800 name-the-team entries. Approximately 1,500 people voted after the final list of seven names were revealed.

"Our goal was to select a name the team and the communities in our region could be proud of, a name that resonates with fans and reflects the best characteristics of our area," said team owner Steven Edelson, "The new ballpark will draw fans from Lakewood, Rocky River, all of Western Cuyahoga County, as far west as Sandusky, Lorain County and all the cities in between. It was vitally important to us that each of these areas play an active role in the process."

The winner of the name-the-team contest receives a 12-game mini-season-ticket plan. No word on if parking fees are included.

"To us Crushers demonstrates toughness, hard work and resilience. This is an apt description of the character of our region," said Edelson, "Our goal will be to live up to this description both on and off the field."

The Crushers' team colors appear to be red, black and white with a bit of brozne or gold (based on the logo). You have to wonder about that decision. The Crushers are the fourth team - Washington, Florence and Kalamazoo are the others - with red and black as their dominant colors.

Name that team

The Avon, Ohio team that begins play in the Frontier League next year -- with manager John Massarelli -- is conducting a name-the-team contest. The list of names is down to five:

Ohio Groove
Lorain County Ironmen
Avon Red Tails
Cleveland Artichokes
Lake Erie Crushers

My guess is the winner will be the Lake Erie Crushers with Lorain County Ironmen as the runner-up.

If the winning name is the Cleveland Artichokes, then the Massarelli-bashers will have a field day with him managing a team named the Chokes.