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.

Ch-ch-ch-changes

The revolving door on the Wild Things' clubhouse has been in full swing the last two days.

As manager Chris Bando said over the weekend, he's a patient man, but not that patient. He saw enough of the Wild Things' struggling offense (league-low .191 team batting average) during the six-game homestand and made several roster moves leading up to tonight's series opener at Windy City.

Gone is catcher Chris Anderson, who was off to an 0-for-13 start, and veteran outfielder Luis Rivera, who was batting .227. Rivera's average is fourth-best on the team. Third baseman/catcher Davis Page (1-for-5) was traded back to San Angelo of the North American League to complete an earlier trade. Page apparently was traded for himself. Washington acquired him five days ago from San Angelo.

Re-signed was catcher David Peters, who joined Washington in the offseason from the Florida Marlins system and then was dealt to the Pecos League before spring training. Peters has played in two games in the Pecos.

Also signed was outfielder Jeriel Waller, who was drafted in the 47th round last year by the Marlins. I can found no evidence that Waller played in any games in the Marlins' system after being drafted out of Grossmont College, a JC in California. On Waller's Facebook page, it says he attended San Diego Christian College.

Waller is the son of Reggie Waller, a former San Diego Padres scoring director, and nephew of Tye Waller, the Oakland A's first-base coach.

Left-handed relief pitcher Shawn Smith was put on the suspended list, apparently to make room for Steve Grife, who can be activated from the same list Friday. Washington also could activate pitcher Gary Lee, who has been serving as the bullpen coach.

Washington still has one open roster spot (assuming Grife or Lee fill one) and has room for an Experienced player.

The biggest surprise for the Wild Things this season is the trouble at the catcher position, especially when you consider Bando is a former major-league catcher. Washington has played four different catchers in nine games, and has had eight catchers on the roster since the start of spring training.

UPDATE: Shawn Smith was placed on the 7-day injured list and Gary Lee was activated for tonight's game.

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.

Shipped to the Pecos

The Wild Things cleared some room on their roster Wednesday by trading four players to teams in the independent Pecos League.

Washington sent catcher Brandon Peters, outfielder Rashad Taylor and left-handed pitcher Matt Kretchmer to the Roswell Invaders, and dealt former West Virginia University catcher Justin McDavid to the Alpine Cowboys. The Wild Things will receive players to be named in exchange for each of the four players heading to the New Mexico-based league.

Each of the players traded by Washington were signed during the offseason, and three had no pro experience.

Peters was the only catcher on the Wild Things' roster with affiliated experience. He was drafted by the Marlins and spent two years in rookie ball. Kretchmer played for several colleges including New Mexico State.

Taylor, you might recall, was signed out of Point Loma Nazarene University. Bando predicted Taylor would be "one of the most exciting players in the league. … I look for Rashad to catch everything in the outfield, steal bases and drive in runs."

These moves do clear room on the roster if Bando wants to sign more players who were released at the end of minor league spring training. According to my count (I've been using the Frontier League website's transactions page to keep track of the roster moves) Washington has 29 players under contract plus catcher Chris Anderson and pitcher Steve Grife, who are unsigned. Each FL team is permitted to have 34 players under contract, and all players chosen at the May 1 league draft in Washington are exempt from the 34-player limit.

UPDATE: The Frontier League just announced that Anderson has signed with Washington. The Wild Things also signed Marco Davalillo, a 21-yard-old catcher who spent two seasons playing for the Philadelphia Phillies' team in the Venezuela Summer League, and outfielder James Simmons. According to a story I found on the Internet, Davillilo's grandfather is the brother of former Pirates outfielder Vic Davalillo.

Though nothing has been announced by the Wild Things, I believe Simmons is a player who spent five years in the San Francisco Giants' system. He hit 10 home runs in high-Class A last year and was promoted to Class AAA Fresno, where he played 27 games and hit three home runs. In the five pro seasons, Simmons has a .239 career batting average and 81 stolen bases.

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.

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.