Category: Delmarva Shorebirds

Do the names Wade Townsend, Beau Hale, Rick Elder, Mike Paradis, and Jayson Werth ring a bell? If you really follow the Orioles, they should. These five players were all among the first Oriole picks in the amateur draft over the last ten years. More familiar names like Chris Smith, Adam Loewen, and 2003 first rounder Nick Markakis also join that list.

This year’s edition of the Shorebirds was slated to have two number one picks on the infield – alas, 2006 top pick Billy Rowell is injured and not on the Shorebirds’ opening roster. But my initial pick for Shorebird of the Week Brandon Snyder is healthy enough to play and is slated to man first base this season.

After a great rookie campaign in 2005, Brandon hit a serious speed bump in 2006. He only batted .213 across two levels (Delmarva and Aberdeen) and a shoulder injury compacted his season to just 72 games played. Because of this injury, first base is now Brandon’s home.

Because of the injury and learning a new position, the 2007 campaign will go a long way to determining whether Snyder will be a member of the first group of five first-round busts I opened this post with, or a solid big leaguer like Nick Markakis is becoming.

This time next week monoblogue will have returned to a “tradition” began last year. Just like in 2006, Thursday nights will reveal the Shorebird of the Week. For the next 22 weeks I’ll pick out a worthy player and at the end reveal my pick as Shorebird of the Year. (If you recall, last year’s SotY pick was Ryan Finan, here’s the rundown of my 2k6 SotW picks.)

I was reading Fox Sports writer Dayn Perry’s rundown of his top 100 prospects over the last few weeks and he’s got three Orioles up-and-comers on the list – two of whom should see significant time with the Shorebirds this year. Infielder Billy Rowell is ranked #45 and pitcher Pedro Beato is ranked 89th. Both of these players were first round Oriole picks last year. Meanwhile, my pick for best prospect on the Shorebirds last year, pitcher Brandon Erbe, was tabbed as the #63 prospect by Perry. Now, Dayn Perry may not be the greatest baseball prospect picker but I recall he was picking the Tigers to do a lot in 2006 while everyone else was placing them 4th in the AL Central. So who was right?

The great thing about this time of year is that every team in the SAL (and all the other leagues) figures it has some chance to succeed. I noted a couple weeks back that the hitting prowess of the Shorebirds should improve with some good batters moving up the ranks from Aberdeen and Bluefield. If we can keep the top-notch pitching we’ve had but lose the shackles of our punchless 2006 offense, there’s a pretty decent chance the Shorebirds could play deep into September. Either way, I’m looking forward to a month’s worth of summer evenings at the ballpark.

On Saturday, the Shorebirds will have their preseason open house. I’m anxious to see what the new ownership group has done with the place. I’m even more excited about showing up on Friday, April 13th for the season home opener against the West Virginia Power. Hopefully the Shorebirds will be off to a torrid start and keep it up all summer.

As alluded to in my previous post last night, there is a complaint about the 2007 Shorebirds schedule provided to them by the South Atlantic League. Last year a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth occurred regarding the sheer number of times we play certain opponents while we don’t even see other teams in the league come to Perdue Stadium whatsoever. While the SAL has 16 teams including the Shorebirds, only 9 paid a visit to our humble abode last season. Missing from last year’s home schedule were Asheville, Charleston (SC), Columbus, Kannapolis, Rome, and Savannah. (In fact, we did not even play Charleston or the Georgia teams at all except for Augusta.)

Obviously this is a product of having a relatively far-flung league and single-A travel budget. While it’s not so bad for Delmarva, a Georgia trip for the Lake County Captains would be like the Bataan Death March for them. Though the 8-9 hour bus ride to Delmarva is still not a bargain for the Ohioans, their other two common destinations (Lakewood and Hagerstown) aren’t such a bad trip from the shore of Lake Erie. So we ended up seeing the Lakewood BlueClaws, Hagerstown Suns, and Lake County Captains a combined 46 times in 70 home dates. Lakewood was our most frequent guest with 18 contests over 5 separate visits.

So what does the 2007 schedule hold for the Delmarva nine? Well, the bad news is that we once again see Lake County (18 times), Lakewood (16 games), and Hagerstown (12 dates) 46 times in 70 home games. The REALLY bad news is that we have a stretch of 67 games overall from May 4 to July 16 when those three teams are the extent of our opponents. And the REALLY, REALLY bad news is that Perdue Stadium is dark from June 10 all the way through June 27 as the Shorebirds have back-to-back roadtrips to Lake County and Lakewood (in that order) sandwiched around the league All-Star break. Lakewood is our last home game prior to that stretch and the BlueClaws are the opponent upon Delmarva’s return.

The league did improve a little on 2006 though. There were three occasions where the team we finished a homestand with was the very first opponent on the next one (Lakewood once, Lake County twice.) This year, the situation only occurs for the aforementioned Lakewood games surrounding the long June road trip.

So having the first 12 games of the season at Lexington, at Hickory, and home to West Virginia will be somewhat of an anamoly for the Shorebirds. The other long stretch without our three oh-so-common opponents will be about a month from mid-July to mid-August when we’ll host Hickory, Kannapolis, Asheville, and Lexington while roadtrips take the Shorebirds to West Virginia/Greensboro and Greenville/Columbus.

Of course, the final 11 games will be with our big three, although for the first time in the three seasons I’ve lived here the Shorebirds will finish the season at home on Labor Day (hosting Lake County.)

There are a couple benefits to the unbalanced schedule though. Fans of the Phillies and Nationals will have a lot of chances to see their future talent as Lakewood is a Philadelphia affiliate and Hagerstown just switched affiliation over the winter to become a Nationals farm club. So the Maryland rivalry becomes more intense. With Lake County here so often I can keep tabs on what talent the archrival (to my Tigers) Cleveland Indians may have in the future.

However, because of this stacked schedule, if you like the Giants, Yankees, Devil Rays, Braves, Red Sox, or Mets and want to see their SAL affiliates, you’re out of luck. If you’d like to see what minor league talent the Brewers, Marlins, Pirates, White Sox, Rockies, or Astros have to offer, you only have a brief chance to see that when they come to Delmarva. Blink and you might miss them.

I’m here writing this on Saturday night but my thoughts are turning to spring…I figured this would be a nice post-election break from the political routine! So this actually appears on Wednesday.

Blogging through fellow MBA member Oriole Post, I ran across this article last week by Jeff Zrebiec in the Baltimore Sun regarding the poor progress of Oriole hitting prospects. As it turns out, it appears the Shorebirds will be the beneficiaries of most of the more promising players, including one returnee. If it all pans out we may have one of the best hitting infields in the SAL. Around the horn:

At third base, we may get 2006 first round pick Bill Rowell. He split time between both of the Orioles’ short-season squads in Bluefield and Aberdeen, hitting a combined .328 with 3 homers and 32 RBI (and a sick .917 OPS), outstanding for a raw 17 year old (at the time) player. While he’s barely 18, the 6′-5″ Rowell will tower over most of his teammates. And it’s not unheard of for the Shorebirds to have an 18 year old in their midst since pitcher Brandon Erbe spent the season here last year at that tender age. Also in Bill’s favor for starting at Delmarva is the fact he was a 2006 Baseball America Rookie All-Star.

Shortstop would be manned by Pedro Florimon, who also spent time at both Bluefield and Aberdeen last year. Pedro struggled a bit at Aberdeen with a .248 mark in 26 games but still put together a nice season, combining for a .293 average with a homer and 13 RBI. The switchhitting Dominican did reasonably well in getting on base with an OBP of .403 between the two teams. Not really fleet enough to be a leadoff or #2 hitter, Florimon still could be a dangerous #9 hitter who wouldn’t slow up the top of the order when he got on base.

Moving to the keystone sack, second base might well be held down by Ryan Adams. Last year’s 2nd round draft pick by the O’s was a shortstop last season but may move left a few paces to take over the 2B position in Delmarva. Adams spent much of the 2006 season in Bluefield but got a cup of coffee in Aberdeen during the final week of the campaign. Combined he hit .263 in 40 games while plagued with hamstring problems. He did manage 3 home runs and 12 RBI, plus a solid .782 OPS.

A Shorebird returnee in a new position will take over the 1B position. In 2005 Brandon Snyder was the Orioles’ first pick in the draft and the youngster was primed for a big 2006 in Delmarva behind the plate. But he never got untracked, was sent to Aberdeen, and had his season end under the knife with surgery on his left (nonthrowing) shoulder. So Brandon will remove the tools of ignorance and start out Delmarva stint #2 by donning a slightly different glove and finding out about catching, not just blocking, balls in the dirt. 2006 was a lost season offensively for Snyder, batting just .194 for the ‘Birds with 3 homers and 20 RBI in 38 games. (For hitting so poorly, the RBI total was very good.) Adding in the numbers for Aberdeen, Snyder had only a .213/4/31/.590 season (average/HR/RBI/OPS) – especially concerning was striking out 98 times in 268 total at-bats. Hopefully with the experience of last year, a fresh position, and a healed shoulder, Snyder can show more of the reason he was drafted highly and return to his 2005 form.

The biggest problem with the 2006 Shorebirds was their ineptitude at the plate, especially in the second half. With an infield boasting the last two Oriole #1 draft choices plus a #2 (Florimon was signed as a free agent as Dominicans aren’t subject to baseball’s amateur draft), here’s hoping that this year’s edition will be able to put more runs on the board and better support the very good pitching we’ve had here the last few seasons.

I know we’ve have a relatively chilly week, the college football bowl season is ready to begin, and we’re in the midst of the holiday season, but I’m thinking baseball. Recently our Shorebirds were sold by Comcast-Spectacor to a California-based company called 7th Inning Stretch, LLC. The Shorebirds join the Stockton Ports of the California Legue as teams owned by this group. Obviously, being a Shorebirds fan, my interest was piqued and what I wondered about was what I could expect as a fan in 2007. So I looked into some of the things that the Stockton Ports have to offer.

The Ports are the class “A” (Advanced) affiliate of the Oakland Athletics; in other words, they are one rung above Delmarva in Oakland’s minor league chain (the same level as the Frederick Keys in the Orioles system.) I bring this up because, much like Delmarva, the fans in Stockton get a large player changeover each year as prospects move up or down.

Stockton just opened a new downtown stadium in 2005, so the ownership of the Ports obviously spent the time and effort (or at least lobbied the city and state well) to upgrade the facilities where the Ports play. The Ports doubled their attendance from 2004 to 2005 and now have attendance numbers almost identical to what the Shorebirds draw – last year the Ports drew 213,724, which is within a good night’s crowd of Delmarva’s total. The Ports toil in a more competitive environment though, as the city is about an hour or so from the Bay Area and their CL rival Modesto is just a few miles down I-5. It takes away some of the advantage Stockton would have by being in an area more populous than the Eastern Shore. While the Shorebirds don’t need a new facility, it would do the new ownership well to make some upgrades in the next season or two. Job one in that respect has to be a new scoreboard and video board. And it wouldn’t hurt for Sherman to get a bit of a makeover.

Because the teams in the minor leagues are only as good on the field as the players provided to them by the parent organization (something the O’s have been lacking for most of the last decade) much of the fan interest is spawned by whatever promotions are dreamed up by the team brass. As an example, it’s pretty common now in the minor leagues that weekend night games have fireworks at their conclusion. For the weekday games, a cottage industry of various entertainers make the rounds during the summer. Shorebirds fans are familiar with the antics of Myron Noodleman, the purple mascot Reggy, and other acts that make appearances at Perdue Stadium. Another gimmick is the alternate uniform nights, where the Shorebirds wear a different cap or jersey (or both) for a particular cause and they’re auctioned off to benefit that organization at game’s end with the player’s autograph. Personally I thought the Harley-Davidson uniforms with the flames were pretty cool. Not so sure about the pink ones.

But in looking at some of what the Ports did, there’s a couple neat things that they could bring to Delmarva. For one, I’d love to know how their Singles Night turned out. Basically it’s “speed dating” but by being at the ballgame (which means you’re probably baseball fans) you’re assured that you have at least one thing in common with the person opposite you. They also did a Wing Fest at the ballpark, which had to be pretty good. (Gee, does that tie in to Delmarva or what?) The Shorebirds do similar items on a more limited basis (such as toward the tail end of last season they had beer/wine tasting nights) but this effort in Stockton was open to anyone. Other events the Ports hosted were a Salute to Military Night, a Foster Care Night, a ’70’s Night (as for me I’d prefer an ’80’s night because the tunes were better), and a Law Enforcement Night. (I think the Shorebirds had a facsimile of Law Enforcement Night on a Sunday afternoon last season.)

In turn, there’s a few promotional items I’d like to see the new management keep. I really liked the car show, that needs to stay. Related to that, honoring Delmarva’s agricultural heritage also needs to continue so keep the Ag Day too. I’m sure Perdue, Mountaire, and others will also maintain their particular dates. And bring back the Redskins cheerleaders too.

Hey, while I’m doing requests I may as well ask that a couple things be brought back that were missing last season. First of all, I liked having the two onfield hosts better. Obviously the onfield hosts are typically younger folks and they move on to bigger and better things, but I enjoyed having the banter between the two rather than just one last season. Second and more importantly, bring back the bands!!! Of all the things I missed last season, that was far and away #1! It makes Thirsty Thursday just SO much better.

I had one other Shorebirds item to throw in. Many fans may recall outfielder Lorenzo Scott, who played here all of last season. Because of his advanced age compared to other Shorebirds I felt he was going to have to jump at least one or two levels next year to have a shot at the bigs.

The good news for Scott is that he was selected by the Florida Marlins in the AAA portion of the Rule 5 draft during the winter meetings. (This draft is for players not protected on a team’s 40-man roster that have played in the minor league system for at least either 4 or 5 seasons, depending on their age when signed. This way a team can’t hide a good player in the minors for more than a few seasons.) What this means is that the Marlins have to keep Scott on their AAA roster (or higher) for the duration of the 2007 season or offer him back to the Orioles for a monetary sum. So Lorenzo should get at least some opportunity to prove himself at a higher level.

Now our version of the hot stove league can begin and it’ll be interesting to see how the Orioles decide to staff the Shorebirds next season. April 5th will be here before we know it and we’ll begin to judge our experiences with 7th Inning Stretch, LLC accordingly starting April 13th (or earlier if they do a fan day in March like Comcast did for at least the last two seasons.)

But whoever owns the Shorebirds can look for me there frequently. I have to get my pics for Shorebird of the Week sometime!

Tonight I’ll close the book on the Shorebirds season by reviewing the numbers and also taking a look at how the players I selected as Shorebird of the Week fared, and, of course, select my pick for Shorebird of the Year.

First of all, the final Standings Report.

The Shorebirds finished the second half on a 5 game losing streak, with four of those coming at the hands of the Hagerstown Suns across the Chesapeake. As a result, Hagerstown passed us and Delmarva brought up the rear in the SAL North with a 27-42 second half record, 19 1/2 back of Lakewood, who won the half with a solid 47-23 record. What I’ve done is laid out the overall season records of each team in the 16 team league in order of finish. The parenthesis afterward indicate their finish in each half. An asterisk indicates the team is with the Shorebirds in the North Division.

1. Augusta 92-47 (2,1)
2. Lakewood* 84-55 (4,1)
3. Charleston 78-62 (3,3)
4. West Virginia* 74-62 (2,2)
5. Lexington* 75-63 (1,6)
6. Asheville 74-63 (5,2)
7. Columbus 72-68 (4,4)
8. Rome 71-68 (1,6)
9. Greensboro* 68-69 (5,5)
10. Hickory* 67-70 (6,4)
11. Greenville 67-73 (6,5)
12. DELMARVA* 64-73 (3,8)
13. Lake County* 64-74 (7,3)
14. Hagerstown* 58-82 (8,7)
15. Savannah 56-83 (7,7)
16. Kannapolis 42-94 (8,8)

Ironically, last season Kannapolis was the league champion (over Hagerstown) and this season both are among the bottom feeders. Had the standings been kept for a full season, Kannapolis would’ve finished a whopping 48 1/2 games out.

As an aggregate we finished 19 games behind Lakewood, who would have won a full-season title by 8 1/2 games over West Virginia, bridesmaid in both halves. But the BlueClaws get to square off against Lexington instead for the North title. The South Division playoff features the Rome Braves against the Augusta Greenjackets. The Greenjackets were runner-up to Rome in the first half but blew away the South in the second half. Despite the fact that the playoffs are set so the first-half winners have home field advantage, the pitching of both Lakewood and Augusta should carry them through to a pretty good matchup for the SAL title. If Augusta plays like they did when I saw them here, though, the Greenjackets should master the BlueClaws and take that colorful matchup.

If you look at the numbers, what most likely killed the Shorebirds this season was ineptitude at the plate. They had an aggregate batting average of .237 which was dead last in the league, and a full 40 points behind West Virginia, the squad with the best average. Some of Delmarva’s other team offensive rankings:

Runs scored: 582 (4.25 per game), 12th
Doubles: 231, 8th
Triples: 27, 11th
Home Runs: 79, tied for 12th
Walks: 534, 2nd (Columbus led with 569)
Strikeouts: 1,068 (3rd)
Stolen Bases: 101 (12th)
On-base percentage: .325 (10th)
Slugging percentage (total bases/at-bats) .355 (14th)
OPS (total of on-base and slugging percentages) .680 (13th)

All in all, they had an anemic and punchless offense this season, which did them in on a number of occasions.

On the other hand, the pitching was great for the first half of the season but faded toward the end. The Shorebirds finished 8th in the league in total ERA with a 3.76 mark. Lakewood paced the circuit with a solid 3.10 ERA, which is the reason they’re in the playoffs. Other pitching rankings among the SAL teams:

With just 4 shutouts, Delmarva outpaced only Hickory (who had 2) in the category.
Saves: 36, 6th
Runs allowed: 623 (4.56 per game), 10th
Home Runs allowed: 76, tied for 3rd
Walks allowed: 471, 9th
Strikeouts: 1015, 10th
WHIP (walks+hits/innings pitched) 1.37, tied for 9th

Aside from the stinginess of our pitchers in giving up the longball (which may be a factor of Perdue Stadium), our pitching faded at the end into mediocrity. Both categories quickly explain why Delmarva wasn’t much of a factor in the SAL this season.

Looking ahead to 2007, we may get some help. While Bluefield (the Orioles Appalachian League rookie team) only finished 31-38 (8th in the 10 team league), Aberdeen (Baltimore’s Class A Short Season club) finished 41-34 and tonight’s loss (along with a comeback win by Brooklyn) cost them the wild-card berth in the NY-Penn League.

During the season, each Thursday I selected a Shorebird of the Week, in total 22 players were honored. Here’s a rundown of how they fared on the season.

April 6: Josh Potter

Potter spent the full season in a Shorebirds uniform as he did in 2005. For the year, the Pennsylvania native made 42 appearances with one start, posting a 4-8 overall record with a solid 3.04 ERA and 2 saves. Most importantly, he walked only 34 in 91 2/3 innings while striking out 70. Potter will turn 24 just before next season, hopefully 2 good Delmarva seasons will get him up the ladder for 2007.

April 13: Arturo Rivas

A fan favorite, Rivas batted .257 in 93 games with Delmarva before being called up to Frederick. In 35 games with the Keys he actually hit better, a .275 mark. Arturo ended up among the Delmarva team leaders in RBI despite only being here about 2/3 of the season, collecting 42 RBI’s and 5 home runs. The Venezuela native turns 23 during the off season, so starting 2007 in Frederick would probably be right in line with his development.

April 20: Lorenzo Scott

Scott’s 29 stolen bases paced the team, but one thing he’ll have to work on for a chance in 2007 is making better contact – 140 strikeouts is far too many for a leadoff hitter (although he also walked 60 times, which was second on the team.) Toward the end of the season Scott usually batted in the 9th spot.

Lorenzo finished with a .258 average in 113 games, with 4 home runs and 32 RBI. The onetime Ball State Cardinal will turn 25 about the start of spring training, which means he may or may not get that chance at another Delmarva season. It may come down to one final shot for him to maintain his career come March.

April 27: David Hernandez

One of a crop of young Delmarva starters with good stuff, David was among those pitchers who seemed to tire in the second half of the season as the innings mounted. Hernandez ended up leading the team with 145 1/3 innings pitched in 28 starts. He also was responsible for the most “K”‘s being plastered on the board with 154 (4th in the SAL.) David’s record on the season was a somewhat deceptive 7-8 and he finished with a 4.15 ERA. The only concerns for the Orioles brass would be walks and longballs – David had the second-most on the team in each category, walking 71 and giving up 13 home runs. But he won’t turn 22 until May of next year, so another half-season in Delmarva wouldn’t hurt in getting him valuable experience.

May 4: Chorye Spoone

The second of three young Shorebird starters I selected as SotW, this 20 year old (turns 21 a week from Saturday) also had a team high 7 wins but 9 losses. Similarly to Hernandez, the Maryland native tired after the All-Star break, going from a excellent 2.33 ERA before to a 4.56 ERA afterward (overall his ERA was a respectable 3.56.) Spoone was the pitcher who allowed the most walks on the team (80 in 129 innings) so he needs to work on control for next year. I’m guessing he’ll be a mainstay of Delmarva’s 2007 pitching staff.

May 11: Kyle Dahlberg

The stocky backstop just did hit his weight this season (he’s listed at 6′-3″ and 211) as he managed a .218 average in 71 games. Kyle split catching duties with a number of players this season, mainly Brandon Snyder in the first half of the year and Zach Dillon toward the end. But he ended up leading that group in games and at-bats. While the average may not seem like too much, bear in mind that Dahlberg hit just .174 for Aberdeen in 2005 so maybe another season in Delmarva for the 23 year old (24 just after Opening Day) could start him hitting enough to move up the chain.

May 18: Mark Fleisher

If nothing else, Mark has the most vocal fans (or at least fan) of any player. Even on the radio broadcasts from Hagerstown, I’d hear the yell, “Come on Mark!” But Fleisher put together a pretty good 2006, he was right up among team leaders in most of the offensive categories. For the season he batted .261 with 16 homers and 67 RBI, and showed a good eye at the plate, striking out just 84 times in 421 at-bats. Mark was especially good after the All-Star break with a .275 average, 9 homers and 38 RBI. Since he’ll just turn 23 in a few days, I think he’ll have a pretty good chance of seeing Frederick sometime in 2007 – the question is whether we’ll see much of him in Delmarva. Just work a little bit on that fielding.

May 25: Brandon Snyder

Perhaps it may have been a little bit too much to live up to. Brandon started the season here but after the All-Star break the #1 Oriole pick in the 2005 draft found himself sent down to Aberdeen. To make matters worse, he’s spent time on the disabled list at both stops. Thus, 2006 was sort of a lost season for Brandon.

With the Shorebirds he hit just .194 in 38 games, with 3 home runs and 20 RBI while striking out 55 times in 144 at-bats. He fared better in Aberdeen, hitting .234 in 34 games. While it could have been in the Orioles’ plans to send the 19 year old prospect down once Aberdeen got its season going, I’m sure they would’ve liked to see him with about 350 at-bats or so in maybe 110-120 games.

Hopefully 2007 will finally be a full season for Brandon and I think the Shorebird fans will be reacquainted with him come April.

June 1: Brandon Erbe

The youngest of the SotW starters’ trio, Brandon was treated with kid gloves this year. While he made all but one appearance as part of the regular pitching rotation, I don’t recall him going more than 5 innings in a start and by the end of the season he was going just three or four. But I predicted not much more than 100 innings for the 18 year old, and he finished at 114 2/3 for the season. Quite possibly the talent may be worth the special care for the Orioles though, as he struck out 133, walked only 47, gave up just 2 home runs, and allowed only 88 hits. Outstanding numbers that a 5-9 season record fails to show, but a 3.22 ERA does give a clue to. Like the others, Brandon fell off his terrific first half numbers as the season ground on, going from a 2.34 ERA in the first half to a 4.25 mark in the second. Erbe is probably one of (if not the best) pitching prospects the Orioles have so hopefully you saw him this season.

June 8: Juan Gutierrez

In 2005, Juan put together a nice campaign for the Shorebirds and he was expected to mentor the younger catchers when the Orioles placed him back here for another season. Unfortunately, this season was one of regression for Juan and quite possibly may have been his swan song in the pro ranks. While he did shine in a brief callup to Frederick (.387 in 10 games) Gutierrez had a disastrous offensive season with Delmarva, hitting just .162 in 67 ballgames. Even worse, he managed just a .129 mark after the All-Star break. In the world of pro baseball, a 25 year old player who isn’t hitting low-A pitching is likely looking for work. You have to hope that he stays in the game somehow, but I’m afraid his playing days are done.

June 15: Brad Bergesen

When healthy, Bergesen was as solid as any of the other starting pitchers Delmarva sent out; in fact, of the group he likely had the most pinpoint control – allowing just 10 walks in 86 1/3 innings. But Bergesen lost two large chunks of the season to various maladies and that put a damper on what was otherwise a decent season. Bergesen finished 5-4 with a 4.27 ERA and typical of a pitcher who stays around the plate, gave up 97 hits in that 86 1/3 innings. Fortunately, he also has age on his side, as he’ll only turn 21 this month. Brad is another pitcher who I’m thinking the Shorebirds will be counting on in 2007, at least to begin the season.

June 22: C.J. Smith

C.J. was a player who played here in 2005 and went to extended spring training this season, but upon his return to Delmarva couldn’t find either consistent playing time or his hitting groove. After a forgettable 36 games where he batted just .183 with a homer and 12 RBI’s, the Orioles organization let him go. However, the 24 year old native of Florida did latch on with the St. Louis organization, where he toiled for a team called the Swing of the Quad Cities. There he did a little better, batting .237 in 25 games. More importantly, he improved his OPS from an anemic .550 with the ‘Birds to a more respectable .728 mark. (SAL average is about .700 for that stat.) Whether the signing by the Cardinals organization was just to fill a need or if he’s gained back a little bit of prospect status remains to be seen (C.J. was a 5th round pick by the O’s in 2004.) But it’s unlikely we’ll see him playing in Perdue again.

June 29: Quincy Ascencion

“Q” is another fan favorite who was rewarded by being selected to the league’s All-Star team this past June. What surprised me in looking up his numbers was the fact he stole 14 bases, he’s more fleet of foot than I would’ve guessed. But Quincy had a nice season here, hitting .260 in exactly 400 at-bats. While he hit no home runs on the season, he did show enough line-drive power to finish third among the Shorebirds with 27 doubles. And with the exceptions of the bagel in the home run total and two fewer steals, Quincy managed to improve upon his 2005 numbers so it’s possible he’ll get a shot at playing in Frederick next season. Since he’ll be 24 by then, it may be up to the Orioles to test him at a higher level since he’s played two full seasons at Delmarva.

July 6: Ryan Steinbach

Honestly, I was surprised Ryan didn’t do better this season at either stop. In the times I saw him, he looked like a pretty decent player. But the numbers weren’t there – he hit just .217 in 60 at-bats here and only .156 in 19 games at Frederick. Turns out it’s a real possibility I may have seen his one and only pro home run here back in August as he dropped one just over the M & T Bank sign. He ended the season with the Keys going 5 for his last 17 but striking out 8 times in that period as well. The one thing he did well for the Shorebirds – he walked 17 times in his brief stay, which gave him a .397 on-base percentage despite the .217 batting mark.

July 13: Trevor Caughey

Trevor, we hardly knew ya. He literally made his last appearance for the Shorebirds the day before I picked him as SotW. I believe he’s been let go by the Orioles organization but the Minor League Baseball website still shows him as active. Pitching just 5 1/3 innings for Delmarva, he finished with a 6.75 ERA, most of the damage being done in one terrible outing against Lakewood where he gave up 4 runs and walked 3 in 2/3 of an inning. But he wasn’t doing well at Frederick either, showing a 5.50 ERA in 36 innings spread over 25 appearances. He struck out 37 but gave up 8 gopherballs, which likely was his downfall.

July 20: Zack Dillon

One of the few second-half additions that made a positive impact, Zack became a regular at catcher and when he was rested from duties behind the dish, he usually was placed in the DH slot. 2006 marked the pro debut for Zack (who played college ball at Baylor), and he did quite well, hitting .262 with 3 homers and 21 RBI in 54 games here. Especially to his liking was Perdue Stadium, he hit .288 here but .239 elsewhere in the SAL. He can be forgiven for tailing off at the end of the season, as he finished the campaign mired in a 3-for-23 slump that dropped his final average 20 points. I think Zack will begin the 2007 season here sharing time with Brandon Snyder at catcher but getting those extra plate appearances as the DH. It’s sort of unusual for a 20th round pick to start at this level, but Zack did a nice job.

July 27: Blake Davis

Blake is another Shorebird who went from college campus to Perdue Stadium, after finishing at Cal State-Fullerton and getting selected in the 4th round by the O’s he made his pro debut here July 11, a game I attended. I seem to recall he booted his first chance at shortstop (one of 17 errors he committed in 50 games) but at the plate he was among the leaders, hitting .271 with 3 homers and 20 RBI, and swiping 9 bases. With the advanced placement, he may get a shot at jumping to Frederick quickly (if not before) next season based on these numbers and the regard they place him as a 4th round selection.

August 3: Vito Chiaravalotti

Vito was likely the closest thing to an overnight sensation that the Shorebirds had this year. Acquired from the Blue Jays organization in July, Vito wowed the fans with what seemed like nightly moon shots that majestically soared well out of Perdue Stadium. He was here for just 28 games and collected 27 RBI in that span, hitting .262 and 8 longballs during his month or so stay. But the longball magic seems to be limited to Delmarva. When Vito was picked up by the Baltimore organization, he was hitting only .190 in 42 games at AA New Hampshire. Drop him down two levels and he crushes the pitching.

But with Frederick he hit a horrid 3-for-40 (.075) without a home run. For the season as a whole, just a .201 average. While Vito was a great find for the month we had him, it’s not likely that a guy who turns 26 in October will be playing pro ball much longer.

August 10: Jarod Rine

Jarod might be another player on the last stop of his pro career. You know, I always hope that players who are sent down can find that spark that sends them back on their way up the organizational ladder, but even being picked as SotW did nothing to enhance Jarod’s chances. Following up a .213 average in 70 games in Frederick by hitting only .155 here doesn’t do much for career longevity. Compounding that was the .209 mark Jarod posted last season for the Keys. There’s no doubt Jarod is speedy (21 stolen bases each of the last two seasons) but in baseball you rarely can steal first and that’s likely Jarod’s downfall – at 24 (25 in November) it wouldn’t be a surprise to find the Orioles cutting him loose, even though he was a 9th round draftee.

August 17: Jon Tucker

Jon was the batter who had the highest average for Delmarva, hitting .280 in his 261 at-bats with the Shorebirds. He briefly made it up to Frederick and was respectable there, hitting .250 in 60 at-bats. The most important stat to me though was the fact that he struck out and walked an equal 43 times apiece, and that’s why Gary Kendall often placed him in the leadoff spot despite only 9 steals (compared to Lorenzo Scott’s 29.) And you can’t overlook 21 extra base hits among his 73, which is good for a small guy (5′-7″, 170) – heck, several bigger Shorebirds didn’t have that good of a ratio. He turned 23 during the season so I think Jon may be ticketed for Frederick in 2007.

August 24: Stu Musslewhite

I don’t know what it was about Stu, but despite hitting only .237 and just 3 home runs, he found himself third on the team with 53 RBI’s. And he always seemed to find a spot someplace in the lineup, whether playing short, second base, or third base. He even would run out between innings when he wasn’t in the lineup and catch the warmup tosses by the pitcher. Yes, odds are as a 24th round pick, the Orioles chose him simply to fill out the rosters at the low minor league levels, but you gotta root for a guy who may not be the most talented but certainly seems like a gamer who can make a difference. It says something when a guy who doesn’t hit all that well still manages to drive in that many runs, including a walkoff grand slam.

August 31: Ryan Finan

Ryan led the team in the following categories:

131 games played, 427 at-bats, 80 runs scored, 112 hits, 31 doubles, 17 home runs, 78 RBI’s, 198 total bases, and 85 walks. He was the top qualifying batter (370 at-bats to qualify) with a .392 on-base percentage and a .464 slugging percentage.

With that record, two things are certain – number one, if he’s not given a shot in Frederick next year it’s criminal; and number two, I saved the best for last as far as SotW picks go.

I’m picking Ryan Finan as this season’s Shorebird of the Year. Honorable mention as best prospect belongs to Brandon Erbe.

And I’ll start this all up again April 5, 2007. That will be next season’s lidlifter for the Shorebirds as they begin on the road in Lexington. The first home game will be a Friday the 13th affair against the West Virginia Power, just 218 days from now. Boy does that suck, I hate off-seasons.

This is probably the most overdue honor I could give, as I’ve actually had the picture I’m using tonight for several months. Be that as it may, Ryan Finan is this season’s final SotW. The folks at Mountaire also honored Ryan on Sunday as the Shorebirds’ “Batter of the Year.”

For much of the year, Ryan’s held down the third base job and done pretty well at it. But it’s at the plate he’s done his best work. On the season he leads the team in games (127 including tonight), at-bats (413), runs (78), hits (107), doubles (tied with Mark Fleisher, 29 apiece), home runs (hit number 17 tonight), RBI (75), walks (81), slugging percentage (total bases divided by at-bats – .455) and is 5th in the SAL with a .389 on-base percentage. He’s just behind Jon Tucker’s .392 for the top Shorebirds spot but Tucker hasn’t played enough here to qualify for the league lead.

Whew! I’d say Finan’s been a dominant offensive performer. The only quibble one may have is that he’s hitting only .259 on the season but no Shorebirds with significant playing time except for Blake Davis and Jon Tucker are hitting over .270 anyway. Not bad for a guy who wasn’t taken until the 21st round in the 2004 draft. I can think of a few names on that 2004 draft list who failed to make anywhere near the impact Finan has in a Shorebirds uniform.

2006 was Finan’s second go-round with the Shorebirds; last year he appeared in 10 games here but only managed to hit .195 in 41 at-bats. Obviously this year he’s gotten the hang of this level so hopefully next season will see him moving up to Frederick full-time.

Next Thursday will be the season wrap-up for the Shorebirds as I review the season’s SotW honorees and how they fared, and pick out my Shorebird of the Year. Ryan Finan is definitely in the running!

A mainstay of this season’s Shorebird lineup, Stu Musslewhite is the selectee for SotW. The versatile infielder has seen action mostly at second and third base this year, with some shortstop thrown in for good measure. That was his position at TCU prior to being drafted last year by the Orioles in the 24th round; however, with Miguel Tejada seemingly a perpetual Oriole shortstop, it makes sense to try Musslewhite at other positions – heck, he’s even the guy who goes out to warm up the pitchers prior to the inning at times.

While Stu hasn’t had a superb batting average this season (only hitting .239 prior to tonight’s action) he’s managed to maintain third place in the season’s RBI totals with 50 despite just 3 homeruns. The two players in front of him (Ryan Finan and Mark Fleisher) have 15 and 14 homers, respectively and are both hitting in the .260 range. So Musslewhite seems to have a knack for getting runs home in one way or another – it doesn’t have to be a hit to drive a run in, sometimes simply putting the ball in play will do even if you make an out.

Musslewhite will only turn 24 during this final homestand (Monday) so he does have a little more time to get things together. Perhaps another turn with the Shorebirds in 2007 to bring that batting average up and he may be on his way to a nice career as a utility guy for the Orioles or some other team. In this day and age of larger pitching staffs, flexibility with position players is a key element.

And it may not have been noticed, but a former 2006 Shorebird made his debut for the Orioles last night. Jim Hoey was called up to Frederick after the SAL All-Star Game in June, jumped to Bowie shortly thereafter, and was called up yesterday by the O’s as Chris Britton was sent to Bowie for a few days. He came on in the 7th inning last night against the Twins with 2 outs and one on, walked Torii Hunter, but struck out Jason Kubel to complete the inning. So Jim Hoey now has had a sip of coffee in The Show and probably will remain there for the balance of the season. He’s the first Shorebird I’ve watched to make it to the bigs!

A 5′-7″ and 170 pound scrappy and speedy sparkplug, Jon Tucker is this week’s Shorebird of the Week. He would’ve made it to monoblogue a little bit earlier but the Orioles decided for a time that the Frederick Keys needed his services more than Delmarva did. I think even the Shorebirds were surprised they got him back, as they assigned the #6 uniform Jon was wearing to Blake Davis. So Tucker wears #5 now, as he did in this photo.

The small stature probably affected his prospects according to the scouts, as Tucker wasn’t drafted until the 20th round two years ago, despite being from a major college program (University of Florida.) The Orioles did take a chance on him and he’s done a pretty good job holding down second base for Delmarva, hitting .256 in 57 games here. Tucker even has a little bit of power, as 17 of his 51 hits this season here are extra-base hits (11 doubles, 3 triples, and 3 home runs.) Better still for a guy who’s generally been a leadoff hitter, Tucker has 36 walks compared to 35 strikeouts.

Jon fared all right in Frederick, hitting .250 in 18 games, but the power stroke wasn’t there as he managed just 2 doubles out of 15 hits. After a month in Frederick, Tucker was sent back down and picked things back up like he never left, with the exception of the new uniform.

It’s apparent that the time Tucker spent in extended spring training did him good (he didn’t join the Shorebirds until May 10.) With only a couple weeks left in the season, it looks like Tucker should end up with about 250 at-bats in Delmarva – this should be a good indicator of whether he’ll stay here in 2007 or make the jump full time to Frederick.