Category: Delmarva Shorebirds

My adopted hometown team.

Shorebird of the week 8-10-2006

Shorebirds outfielder Jarod Rine peers over to get the sign from his third base coach.

This week I’m picking outfielder Jarod Rine as my SotW. One of the newest Shorebirds, Rine struggled with Frederick during the first half of the season (.213/2/21 in 70 games) but has picked things up a bit during this stop in Delmarva, hitting .231 (12 for 52) in 15 games here. Better still, he’s 8 for his last 27, which is a solid .296 clip.

So Rine is getting back into a little bit of a groove as he tries to get his pro career back in order. The 9th round pick in 2003 (out of West Virginia) needs to resurrect a good batting stroke as his time in the organization is becoming limited by his advanced age (he’ll turn 25 in November.)

It’s odd that he wasn’t here last season for me to recall him, so he must have been in Frederick (or above) all last season. This really had to come as a shock, as I’m sure being sent down generally is for any ballplayer. Hopefully a month in Delmarva will turn things around for him and allow him to rejoin the Keys before the season is done.

Shorebird of the week 8-3-2006

Slugger Vito Chiaravalotti returns to the dugout after a seemingly rare out.

It’s said that chicks dig the longball. While I cannot vouch one way or the other regarding his marital status, I must say that if the adage is true, women all over Delmarva are smitten with Vito Chiaravalotti. It’s obvious by the number on his jersey that he fancies himself a slugger – those of us who are a certain age recall the old blue and white #44 Braves uniform that belonged to home run king (in the non-steroid and juiced ball division) Hank Aaron.

Vito came to the Shorebirds via a trade with the Toronto Blue Jays organization on July 10. Now I was asked a question after last week’s SotW about whether Chiaravalotti would be able to get to the Show (the big leagues.) That may be a lot to ask of a guy who was only a 15th round pick in 2003 (by the Jays, out of the University of Richmond) and wasn’t exactly burning up the Eastern League at the age of 25.

With the Blue Jays AA team, the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, Vito was hitting just .190 in 42 games with 6 home runs and 18 RBI, striking out 45 times in just 137 at-bats. Move him down two levels to a team in a league that’s considered the inferior of the two low-A leagues (Toronto’s low A affiliate is currently the Lansing Lugnuts of the Midwest League) and it’s no wonder that he’s matched his home run and RBI totals amassed in 42 AA games in just 18 games with the Shorebirds. In 67 at-bats with the Shorebirds Vito’s hitting .313 with 6 home runs and 19 RBI, including a majestic pinch-hit grand slam on Monday night. Basically he’s doubled his output.

So it’s hard to tell what kind of future he has in the Baltimore organization. While it’s said that he was traded to the Orioles organization, I’ve yet to find out who he was traded for, whether it’s the ever-popular “player to be named later” or the more common “cash considerations.”

However, one thing is certain – Vito Chiaravalotti has put the lie to the notion that it’s hard to hit a ball out of Perdue Stadium. Just in the few games I’ve seen him he’s mashed a couple well over the fence. So as soon as I got a picture of him, he was destined to be SotW.

And thanks to my friend Sandra Lane, who was understanding enough to let me borrow her camera to take the shot. I have another better one of another Shorebird player who’s likely a future SotW as the opportunities dwindle to a precious few. There’s only 4 more to be picked, and I’ll pick the Shorebird of the Year on September 7th, with a rundown on how the SotW’s fared for the season.

July standings report

Tonight it’s not just about the standings, there’s commentary below. Bear with me.

But first, it’s time to take a look at how my teams are doing.

The Shorebirds have one piece of good news. While they are last in the league in batting, they’re not last in the SAL North standings anymore as Lexington (the first half champion) has slipped below the 13-23 Delmarva mark (the Legends are 13-25.) But as it stands, the Lakewood BlueClaws are taking advantage of a relatively easy second half schedule to reach just past the midpoint of the second half with a 26-12 record. This puts Delmarva 12 games in arrears with only about 32 games to go. The BlueClaws are 5 clear of Lake County, who’s second at 20-16. In the middle, the remaining SAL North teams are tightly bunched 2 1/2 games apart – in order it’s Hickory, Greensboro, Hagerstown, and West Virginia. (The latter two are actually tied at 17-20.) On the south side, recent departee Augusta took 3 of 4 from us and is blowing away that division with a 30-8 record. With just over a month to go, it’s starting to look like a Lakewood-Lexington showdown for the North title while an all-Georgia South tilt would feature Rome and Augusta.

The rest of the season for the ‘Birds has a shortage of home contests. They’re off tonight as they’re en route to North Carolina for sets with Asheville and Kannapolis, then it’s home to face the West Virginia Power. That brief homestand rolls into their final 8 games outside Maryland, a roadtrip to Lake County and Lakewood. They close out the home season with Hagerstown and Lakewood before the last series across the bay in Hagerstown ends the campaign. All of these are 4 game sets.

Meanwhile, it looks like things are back to normal for my Toledo Mud Hens. After leading the IL West at the All-Star break, they’ve slipped back into the pack, now residing in third place behind both Indianapolis and Louisville. Their 57-53 record places them 3 1/2 behind the Indy Indians (Pittsburgh’s AAA affiliate who’s 59-48) and 1 1/2 games behind the top Cincinnati farm club (the Bats are 58-51.) But look for the Hens to go in the tank as they’ve announced the sale of playoff tickets beginning Thursday.

Toledo does get some advantages the remainder of the way, however. The schedulemaker was somewhat friendly to the Hens as they face Louisville 6 more times, all at home. Meanwhile, they face Indianapolis just 4 more times (including tonight and tomorrow in Indiana) with the last two at home. The Hens will see Columbus 12 times in that stretch, along with 12 more games against the whole of the South Division (4 with Richmond and Durham, 2 with Norfolk and Charlotte. Except for Charlotte, the South teams are all under .500.) But Louisville and Indianapolis see more of the South than the Hens do, which may be a benefit – plus they square off just 8 more times against each other.

Of course, then you have the mack daddy, the Detroit Tigers. With a 70-35 record going into tonight’s game at Tampa Bay, the Tigers stand atop the AL Central with a 7 1/2 game bulge over Chicago and 8 1/2 over Minnesota. According to Baseball Prospectus, the Tigers have a 95.7% chance of making the playoffs. A win tonight and the Tigers will equal last season’s victory total with 56 games to play. (Yes they did, routing Tampa Bay 10-4.)

The stretch before Labor Day does have possible landmines though. After finishing with Tampa Bay, the Tigers face the bitter rival Indians at home before a critical three-gamer against Minnesota. Then a huge six-game road trip against both colors of Sox (White then Red) looms. Doesn’t get much easier at home either as Texas and the White Sox invade for four games apiece. The month ends with another tough six-game trip to Cleveland and New York. Finally, Labor Day weekend begins a six game homestand against Los Angeles and Seattle. But no real breathers until September is a few days old.

So that is your standings report about the teams that matter. Now I’m going to write about something that’s relatively near and dear to my heart.

People who know me and my passionate love of baseball probably know that I’m a frequent patron of Perdue Stadium. So far this year I’ve made it to 23 games, which is about on pace with last year (think I was at 27 last season.) Despite all of my seasons in Toledo, I doubt I made it to many more than 100 Mud Hens games, most of which I attended at the old Skeldon Stadium during the 1980’s (before I was married.) In some respects then, our humble stadium is my second home.

Last night’s power fiasco made it clear that Perdue Stadium is overdue for some renovations. If you weren’t there, you wouldn’t have seen anything about it in the Daily Times. But the game started with the first base side’s concession stands on the disabled list due to a mechanical problem. They finally did get them fixed about the third or fourth inning, but then the scoreboard began to malfunction around the seventh inning.

But the coup de grace was a subtle “pop” that I heard which made me look and realize the entire second and third levels had lost power. This included all of the concession stands, restrooms, luxury suites, and press box. The final 3 1/2 innings were played (it was an 11 inning game we lost 8-5) with the only noise coming from the crowd (a pretty sizeable one that was plenty loud and spirited enough). They did eventually restore power to the second level but the luxury suites, press box, and scoreboard didn’t function the rest of the way. In the last inning they were giving away hotdogs, likely as an alternative to them spoiling.

However, the problems with the electrical system didn’t begin last night, for pretty much the last month the fans have done without at least some of the scoreboard and video board elements. This started with the heavy Fourth of July storm.

It seems to me that stadiums come due for renovations every 10 to 15 years. Obviously I was not here in 1996 when the stadium opened, but I have it on pretty good authority that the scoreboard and video board are original with Perdue. Electronic equipment, particularly that which sits in the elements, does have a limited life span.

But another question occurs to me – is the team in a sort of limbo because of offers to buy the club from Comcast? I’m of the thought right now that the Shorebirds management will likely get whatever repairs need to be done to get the stadium through the final 12 games this season, but any long-term fixes will not occur unless and until ownership is settled. More worrisome is a persistent drop in attendance.

In 2002, the Shorebirds drew 253,171 fans for 68 home games, or an average of just over 3,700 patrons each night. The total fell to 228,344 in 2003, rebounded slightly to 230,536 in 2004 (I believe this was the first year Comcast owned the club) but again slipped last season to 219,361 despite having a playoff team. This season, if the current average is maintained for the final 12 home games, we’ll have just over 207,000 pass through the turnstiles. (The Shorebirds have had some bad luck weatherwise, though, they’ve lost 5 of their 70 home dates this season.) Through 53 games, the total attendance mark stands at 168,872 – a shade under 3,200 per game.

Now because they have 5 fireworks games scheduled in August plus an appearance by the mascot Reggy, they might get enough behinds in the seats to pass last year’s total by a few thousand. But I think the Shorebirds need to work on ways to create a little more buzz, and one method would be to invest in items that make the fans’ experience more comfortable.

I’ve been to a number of minor and major league parks over the last half-dozen years and there’s items I’ve seen in and about them that I think would be a good fit for Perdue Stadium (and not cost a whole lot.) But they enhance the enjoyment of the game moreso than the between-innings antics do.

To me, the first order of business is (preferably) replacing the scoreboard and videoboard or at least giving them a major overhaul so they work properly. It would also be nice to have a smaller auxiliary scoreboard installed on the first base side between the upper and lower deck, this board would simply have the score, balls/strikes, and outs. This way folks on the third base side (like me in my usual place) could glance up to see the count while being able to watch the pitch on the way, rather than turn my head. Toledo actually installed one after the first season in their new stadium because the third base side fans complained about the lack of a second scoreboard.

Another nice touch would be to expand the TV service that exists in the luxury box areas and do a closed circuit broadcast to the concession stands so those waiting in line can still follow the action without turning around. The new stadium in Cincinnati has this feature at their upper deck stands as the concourse is below the highest seats. In some parks, they instead place certain food and pop vendors on the side of the concourse facing the field so one can buy his or her items without losing sight of the game. Toledo is one park that features this (so do Detroit and Indianapolis, among others.) You still can’t do items requiring heavy cooking this way, but ice cream and pop can be done thusly. If they’re going to revamp the electrical system, why not add that capacity?

I’d like to see our hometown team stay that way. We got our team from another city that didn’t support it when they had the chance, so it’s up to the fans to support the one we have. But Comcast, or whoever may become the owner of the club, needs to meet the fans at least halfway and improve the facilities that the team calls home.

And as a final P.S. – tell Cheap Channel to bring back the local bands for Thirsty Thursday next season. Whiskey and Cowboy are a pretty damn lame substitute.

Shorebird of the week 7-27-2006

Shorebird infielder Blake Davis in his first pro at-bat July 11.

Sometimes in life you get to see a first. Once in awhile, it’s the beginning of something special. The jury is still out on the second part, but I happened to catch the professional debut of this week’s SotW a couple weeks back. While he’s not setting the SAL on fire yet, Blake Davis has moved into the starting shortstop role for the Shorebirds and is doing a respectable job at the plate. Thus far in 14 games he’s 14 for 53, which translates to a .265 average – 30 points better than the team’s as a whole. In addition, the speedy Californian has stolen 4 bases. For a full season that works out to 40 so he’s a threat to run.

Drafted in the fourth round this year out of Fullerton State, Davis may well be on a fast track up the Orioles chain. Generally the draft class of 2006 toils in Bluefield or Aberdeen but Davis made his debut in a Delmarva uniform. With Miguel Tejada being the subject of trade rumors because the Orioles are “sellers” at the trade deadline, the roadblock for Davis’s major league dream may be shoved aside. While he’s certainly not ready at this early career stage, it’s quite possible this picture may be of a future double play partner to Brian Roberts.

For the record, that initial at-bat led to a groundout to second base. However, he did get his first pro hit later in the same contest, a bloop single past the diving Lexington shortstop.

Shorebird of the week 7-20-2006

Shorebird catcher Zach Dillon checks his sign during a recent game.

When a team is last in the league in hitting, any offensive shot in the arm is good. When it comes from a player who plays a position that’s been lagging in offense much of the season, it’s a bonus. Catcher Zach Dillon has provided this offensive spark, at least in his first 21 games.

The Iowa native and product of Baylor University is knocking the ball around at a .313 clip in his 64 at-bats, with a homer and 10 RBI (and as an added bonus, 13 walks vs. 11 strikeouts.) He’s certainly not playing like a 20th round pick – usually those are the guys you pick to fill out the rookie league rosters and maybe they’ll stick for 2-3 seasons.

With this offense, skipper Gary Kendall is finding it tough to keep Dillon out of the lineup. Considering the other three catchers that have played most of the year (Dahlberg, Gutierrez, Snyder) are hitting a combined .203, the offensive hole behind the plate just found a filler. With this bat, the Shorebirds can be just a little more patient with some of the defensive lapses (3 errors in 21 games.)

It will be interesting to see whether this offense continues. Right now, he’s leaped over the two catchers picked in front of him this year (one apparently is unsigned, the other in rookie-league Bluefield) as well as last season’s #1 pick (former SotW and Aberdeen catcher Brandon Snyder.) But with the offensive struggles of the Shorebirds it seems like the hot bat will be in the lineup as a catcher or designated hitter for as long as the embers glow.

Shorebird of the week 7-13-2006

Trevor Caughey of the Shorebirds gets warmed up for last Sunday's contest as Mark Fleisher looks on.

This week’s SotW is stylish lefthander Trevor Caughey. He’s another former Frederick Key who was sent down as he was struggling a bit in the Carolina League. The struggles have lessened a bit here in Delmarva but the 9th round 2002 Oriole pick will still be given a pretty good chance to work himself out of his funk. Right now the 23 year old native of California is one of just two lefties on the Shorebirds’ staff, the other southpaw being fellow Frederick refugee Russ Petrick.

For the season, he has respectable numbers with two exceptions: he had a 5.50 ERA with Frederick and is toting a high 6.41 ERA for the Shorebirds. I’d have to say the key reason is the longball, as he’s surrendered 8 home runs in just over 40 innings of work this season (though none here.) 22 walks is a bit worrisome but not horrible, and he’s got good enough stuff to average over a strikeout per inning.

With his age and the fact he’s been in the O’s system for awhile, this might be one last chance for Caughey to get his act together. Fortunately, he is in a good position as one of just two lefties on the staff at the moment, so he’s going to see a lot of work. Rarely has a starter for Delmarva gone more than six innings this season, so relievers get a lot of opportunities. It appears that number 9 will get a lot of trips to the hill as the season winds down.

Standings report: All-Star break

Back once again, this report comes as the leagues above the AA level take their annual All-Star break. But we’ll start with our local Delmarva Shorebirds. I’m hoping placing them in this report works the same magic for them as it did my Mud Hens (see below.)

As of tonight, though, it’s been a REALLY tough start to the second half for the Shorebirds. They are in the basement of the SAL North with a 5-12 record, and the only team holding them out of the league basement is the woeful Kannapolis Intimidators. While the Pirates and Royals are tanking in the bigs, they have nothing on the 24-63 (combined record) train wreck that is Kannapolis. But this stretch of bad baseball has placed the Shorebirds at .500 for the season (42-42) and sank them 9 1/2 games behind division-leading Lakewood, who has shaken off an 0-9 start to the season and stands 3 games clear of 10-8 Lake County in the SAL North. In particular, Lake County has fattened their second half record at the Shorebirds’ expense. The Captains are 8-3 against Delmarva in the second half, which means that they are 2-5 against the rest of the SAL.

Now I thought that the second-half schedule looked really easy for the Shorebirds because they played Lake County so much. But the Captains turned the tables and, with Lakewood, have used Delmarva as a springboard to pace the division.

The saddest part about this season is that I’ve been to 17 Shorebird games so far, and 9 of those have been against the Captains. Fortunately, we play them just one more series away, and guess where I’m going on vacation? It’s my week off and my stepdaughter lives near Cleveland, what can I say.

Now, speaking of Ohio teams, the last time I did a standings report my Toledo Mud Hens were tanking. Whether it was the excitement of hosting the AAA All-Star game, learning from their parent club Detroit, or just an early-season slump shaken, the Hens have surged into first place in the IL West at the break with a 50-41 record. It could be home cooking as well, as Toledo has crafted a league-best 30-16 record at Fifth Third Field. But their lead is tenuous as bitter rival Indianapolis lurks just a half-game back at 48-40 (and has 3 games in hand to the Mud Hens.) The Indians currently are positioned as the league wild-card, just as they did last season. Louisville sits just 1 1/2 back in third at 48-42, which means the IL West has all the makings of a late-season shootout. Only instate foe Columbus appears out with a 9 game hole (39-48); however, Toledo was 6 back at the first pole and the IL generally has all divisional games to round out the end of the schedule. Right now it appears that a wide open race is also going for that wild-card spot, as 9 of the league’s remaining 11 non-division leaders are within 9 games of the wild-card, four are within 4 1/2 games. Only the two Virginia teams (Norfolk and Richmond) appear out of the running.

And then you have those Tigers. Restore roar – check.

Last season I did an in-depth analysis of all the American League teams by remaining schedule and how easy or hard it was. This year it’s back, because it was so fun to do last year! Teams are listed in order of overall standing, which I like a lot better this year than I did in 2005! Schedule rank is easiest to hardest.

1. DETROIT (59-29), 1st in AL Central by 2 over Chicago.

Remaining games: 74 (33 away, 41 home).
Opponents: Chicago 13, Boston 3, New York 3, Toronto 3, Minnesota 10, Oakland 3, Texas 6, Los Angeles 3, Seattle 3, Cleveland 9, Baltimore 4, Tampa Bay 4, Kansas City 10.
Finished with: None.

Strength of schedule, all opponents: +164 (3rd)
September opponents: -53 (1st)
Last two weeks: (at Chi, at Bal for a makeup game, at KC, Tor, KC) -50 (2nd)

Critical stretch: All 13 games playing against the White Sox. The Tigers must do better than the 1-5 mark they’ve had thus far against the Pale Hose.

2. Chicago (57-31), 2nd in AL Central by 9 over Minnesota, lead wild card by 6 over New York.

Remaining games: 74 (40 away, 34 home).
Opponents: Detroit 13, Boston 3, New York 6, Toronto 3, Minnesota 12, Oakland 3, Texas 3, Los Angeles 4, Seattle 4, Cleveland 7, Baltimore 3, Tampa Bay 3, Kansas City 10.
Finished with: None.

Strength of schedule, all opponents: +296 (8th)
September opponents: +38 (5th)
Last two weeks: (Det, Sea, at Cle, at Min) +81 (10th)

Critical stretch: The White Sox come out of the break with 15 of 21 on the road, including a trip to New York and Detroit, and a longer trip to Baltimore, Kansas City, and Toronto.

3. Boston (53-33), 1st in AL East by 3 over New York.

Remaining games: 76 (32 away, 44 home).
Opponents: Detroit 3, Chicago 3, New York 9, Toronto 8, Minnesota 3, Oakland 10, Texas 1, Los Angeles 6, Seattle 6, Cleveland 4, Baltimore 9, Tampa Bay 5, Kansas City 9.
Finished with: None.

Strength of schedule, all opponents: +10 (1st)
September opponents: +83 (6th)
Last two weeks: (Min, at Tor, TB, Bal) +18 (7th)

Critical stretch: The 9 games with the Yankees are on 7 dates because of first half rainouts. The Boston nine also has two west coast trips in late July and late August, the August trip has no scheduled off days on either side of a 9 game trip to Los Angeles, Seattle, and Oakland.

4. New York (50-36), 2nd in AL East by 2 games over Toronto.

Remaining games: 76 (38 away, 38 home).
Opponents: Detroit 3, Chicago 6, Boston 9, Toronto 13, Minnesota 3, Texas 3, Los Angeles 7, Seattle 6, Baltimore 13, Tampa Bay 10, Kansas City 3.
Finished with: Oakland, Cleveland.

Strength of schedule, all opponents: +265 (6th)
September opponents: -44 (2nd)
Last two weeks: (at Tor, at TB, Bal, Tor) -8 (5th)

Critical stretch: The Yankees play their last 24 games against AL East foes, but just 4 against Boston – all in Yankee Stadium. The other three teams they play home-and-home.

5. Toronto (49-39), 3rd in AL East by 9 games over Baltimore.

Remaining games: 74 (39 away, 35 home).
Opponents: Detroit 3, Chicago 3, Boston 8, New York 13, Minnesota 4, Oakland 7, Texas 3, Los Angeles 3, Seattle 9, Cleveland 6, Baltimore 6, Tampa Bay 6, Kansas City 3.
Finished with: None.

Strength of schedule, all opponents: +298 (9th)
September opponents: +245 (12th)
Last two weeks: (NY, Bos, at Det, at NY) +254 (14th)

Critical stretch: The schedulemakers gave the Jays a sick last two weeks, didn’t they?

6. Minnesota (47-39), 3rd in AL Central by 7 1/2 over Cleveland.

Remaining games: 75 (34 away, 41 home).
Opponents: Detroit 10, Chicago 12, Boston 3, New York 3, Toronto 4, Oakland 3, Texas 3, Cleveland 14, Baltimore 6, Tampa Bay 7, Kansas City 10.
Finished with: Los Angeles, Seattle.

Strength of schedule, all opponents: +293 (7th)
September opponents: +113 (7th)
Last two weeks: (at Bos, at Bal, KC, Chi) +14 (6th)

Critical stretch: 46 of their last 75 games come against AL Central foes. The Twins were hot during June and particularly during interleague play, but could do no better than putting some daylight between themselves and the Indians.

7 (tie). Oakland (45-43), tied for 1st in AL West with Texas, 2 games ahead of 3rd place Los Angeles.

Remaining games: 74 (39 away, 35 home).
Opponents: Detroit 3, Chicago 3, Boston 10, Toronto 7, Minnesota 3, Texas 9, Los Angeles 10, Seattle 9, Cleveland 4, Baltimore 6, Tampa Bay 6, Kansas City 4.
Finished with: New York.

Strength of schedule, all opponents: +191 (5th)
September opponents: Even (4th)
Last two weeks: (Cle, LA, at Sea, at LA) -51 (1st)

Critical stretch: The Athletics can help themselves out immensely by doing well on an East Coast trip to Boston, Baltimore, and Detroit coming out of the All-Star break. They end with 17 games in 17 days, but the last 14 are against teams currently under break-even.

7 (tie). Texas (45-43), tied for 1st in AL West with Oakland, 2 games ahead of 3rd place Los Angeles.

Remaining games: 74 (43 away, 31 home).
Opponents: Detroit 6, Chicago 3, Boston 1, New York 3, Toronto 3, Minnesota 3, Oakland 9, Los Angeles 13, Seattle 13, Cleveland 6, Baltimore 7, Tampa Bay 4, Kansas City 3.
Finished with: None.

Strength of schedule, all opponents: +110 (2nd)
September opponents: -17 (3rd)
Last two weeks: (Sea, Cle, at LA, at Sea) -45 (3rd)

Critical stretch: Eerily similar to Oakland, the Rangers can help themselves out immensely by doing well on an East Coast trip to Baltimore, Toronto, Boston (for a makeup game) and Chicago coming out of the All-Star break. While their last 4 opponents are common with Oakland’s, they do have the advantage of two off-days in that stretch.

9. Los Angeles (43-45), 3rd in AL West by 1/2 game over Seattle.

Remaining games: 74 (35 away, 39 home).
Opponents: Detroit 3, Chicago 4, Boston 6, New York 7, Toronto 3, Oakland 10, Texas 13, Seattle 7, Cleveland 6, Baltimore 3, Tampa Bay 6, Kansas City 6.
Finished with: Minnesota.

Strength of schedule, all opponents: +185 (4th)
September opponents: +152 (10th)
Last two weeks: (at KC, at Oak, Tex, Oak) -30 (4th)

Critical stretch: Los Angeles has a huge early September homestand where they host Baltimore, Toronto, and Chicago. They can gain quite a bit on teams ahead in the standings should they get hot in August. Their last two weeks are rather easy schedulewise.

10. Seattle (43-46), 4th in AL West, 1/2 game behind Los Angeles.

Remaining games: 73 (40 away, 33 home).
Opponents: Detroit 3, Chicago 4, Boston 6, New York 6, Toronto 9, Oakland 9, Texas 13, Los Angeles 7, Cleveland 3, Baltimore 3, Tampa Bay 6, Kansas City 4.
Finished with: Minnesota.

Strength of schedule, all opponents: +307 (10th)
September opponents: +115 (8th)
Last two weeks: (at Tex, at Chi, Oak, Tex) +122 (11th)

Critical stretch: Seattle embarks on a 11 game road trip in as many days to all three of their division rivals August 10th through 20th.

11. Cleveland (40-47), 4th in AL Central by 9 games over Kansas City.

Remaining games: 75 (40 away, 35 home).
Opponents: Detroit 9, Chicago 7, Boston 4, Toronto 6, Minnesota 14, Oakland 4, Texas 6, Los Angeles 6, Seattle 3, Tampa Bay 7, Kansas City 9.
Finished with: New York, Baltimore.

Strength of schedule, all opponents: +401 (11th)
September opponents: +170 (11th)
Last two weeks: (at Oak, at Tex, Chi, TB) +48 (9th)

Critical stretch: The Indians probably need to be at .500 by the end of July to have a chance. They face Minnesota 7 times, the Angels, Detroit, and Seattle 3 games each, and finish the month with a game against Boston. Tall order. Last year they had the easiest second half schedule, what goes around comes around.

12. Baltimore (41-49), 4th in AL East by 1 1/2 games over Tampa Bay.

Remaining games: 72 (36 away, 36 home).
Opponents: Detroit 4, Chicago 3, Boston 9, New York 13, Toronto 6, Minnesota 6, Oakland 6, Texas 7, Los Angeles 3, Seattle 3, Tampa Bay 9, Kansas City 3.
Finished with: Cleveland.

Strength of schedule, all opponents: +505 (13th)
September opponents: +329 (13th)
Last two weeks: (at TB, makeup game vs. Det, Min, at NY, at Bos) +123 (12th)

Critical stretch: Baltimore only plays 18 more games against teams currently under breakeven. Nine of these come prior to August 2nd, along with seven against Texas and Oakland, who are each over .500 by just two games. To have any chance, they need to win about 14 or 15 in that stretch before the schedule hammer comes down.

13. Tampa Bay (39-50), 5th in AL East by 1 1/2 games behind Baltimore.

Remaining games: 73 (34 away, 39 home).
Opponents: Detroit 4, Chicago 3, Boston 5, New York 10, Toronto 6, Minnesota 7, Oakland 6, Texas 4, Los Angeles 6, Seattle 6, Cleveland 7, Baltimore 9.
Finished with: Kansas City.

Strength of schedule, all opponents: +423 (12th)
September opponents: +137 (9th)
Last two weeks: (Bal, NY, at Bos, at Cle) +44 (8th)

Critical stretch: Between September 22 and 27 they play New York four times in Tampa and the Red Sox twice in Boston. That will likely be their only impact on the division race.

14. Kansas City (31-56), 5th in AL Central by 9 games behind Cleveland.

Remaining games: 74 (38 away, 36 home).
Opponents: Detroit 10, Chicago 10, Boston 9, New York 3, Toronto 3, Minnesota 10, Oakland 4, Texas 3, Los Angeles 6, Seattle 4, Cleveland 9, Baltimore 3.
Finished with: Tampa Bay.

Strength of schedule, all opponents: +505 (14th)
September opponents: +362 (14th)
Last two weeks: (LA, Det, at Min, at Det) +208 (13th)

Critical stretch: The stretch could begin as early as July 31 if there’s any viable veteran trade options, but certainly the 27 games in September against some stiff competition will prove to be a test for the Royals’ top prospects, who will have a lengthy audition.

I was going to do the National League, but after interleague play it’s apparent the AL is dominant, and the Nats are pretty much out of it anyway. And by the way, since all this numbercrunching took so long, I went to the Shorebirds game tonight and they won 7-6 in 11, so make the ‘Birds 6-12 on the half.

Shorebird of the week 7-6-2006

Shorebirds infielder Ryan Steinbach is a picture of concentration as he prepares for an at-bat in a recent game.

This week I give SotW honors to infielder Ryan Steinbach, one of the newest Shorebirds. He joined the team after the All-Star break as he was sent down from Frederick to get more playing time. Despite being on the Keys’ roster for over a month, he only found his way into 8 games and could only muster a puny .105 average in the limited action (just 19 at bats.) It was odd that the Orioles’ 20th round pick in 2005 (hailing from a school called IPFW – Indiana/Purdue at Fort Wayne) would make a two-level jump anyway, as he skipped the Shorebirds this spring. He was a starter in Aberdeen last season, hitting .272 in 65 games. Thus, in the natural order of the Orioles’ system, he’s just about where he belongs now and I’m sure is itching to get some playing time and at-bats in order to return to Frederick.

So far it seems to be going reasonably well, as he’s already nearly doubled his total number of Frederick plate appearances in just a couple weeks. More importantly, he’s brought his average up to .241 and the switch-hitter has shown a keen eye at the plate with 8 walks in 11 games.

Probably the biggest knock on Steinbach would be a lack of power – in 298 professional at-bats he has yet to hit a home run and has just six extra-base hits to his credit (including his first triple for Delmarva.) So he’s certainly no Miguel Tejada, but seems like a prototypical #9 hitter – he has the ability to at least get on base and turn over the batting order. And home runs may be a bit deceiving at this level anyway since the entire Aberdeen team managed just 37 in 75 games last season.

It’s now up to Ryan to take advantage of the opportunity to play every day, and so far he’s done a decent job of holding on to that starting role.

Ehrlich Night with the Shorebirds

There were 6,022 people in attendance at Perdue Stadium tonight to watch the Shorebirds do battle with their SAL North foes, the Lake County Captains. Generally Saturday night fireworks draw a large crowd, but tonight there were about 200 of those people mostly wearing something in common and sitting in one section.

About 200 people were in the house to show their support for Governor Ehrlich and his reelection bid.

And the show of support was appreciated by the campaign as Governor Ehrlich made it down to Salisbury. Here he’s shown with District 38B Delegate candidate Michael James, son Drew (hidden in the picture) and representatives from our service branches.

Governor Ehrlich greets the Navy's representative as the military is honored in a pregame ceremony.

Since Michael James was using this appearance as a fundraiser and has already shown his support of the Shorebirds with a large political advertisement on the outfield wall, he was allowed to throw out one of the first pitches, along with the five service branch representatives.

District 38B Delegate hopeful Michael James shows good form in throwing out a ceremonial first pitch.

I’d have liked to get the photo of the service reps throwing out five simultaneous first pitches, but I missed the moment. Ever the politically savvy person, Governor Ehrlich deferred his first pitch duties to son Drew. I think he’s had practice at this:

Drew Ehrlich, son of Governor Robert Ehrlich, throws out his ceremonial first pitch at the July 1st Shorebirds game.

And after the game started, the governor does what politicians are seemingly born to do, work the crowd. But a few innings into the contest, he stopped over to join his supporters.

Governor Ehrlich watches with supporters at a Shorebirds game in Salisbury.

Now, the Governor is a busy guy and obviously a lot of people who were amongst his supporters needed to bend his ear. I did spy District 38A Delegate Page Elmore in his normal public bright red shirt speaking to the Governor briefly, along with a host of other well-wishers. But Governor Ehrlich was nice enough to pose for pictures with a large number of folks, sign a few autographs, and generally make himself a little bit available to us folks at the game. By the way, I took advantage of the opportunity to have a pic taken with Governor Ehrlich but it’s not resizeable to my blog’s format. This may be the one and only time I’m to the left of the governor!

So it was a really fun night – baseball, fireworks, and politics all converging on a lovely warm summer evening. The only downer was that the Shorebirds, after scoring in the bottom of the ninth to tie it at 1 run apiece, broke down in the 10th and lost the game 3-1. Three errors did us in, one allowed the first Lake County run to score as catcher Zach Dillon dropped a relay throw. Had the play been made, Delmarva stood to win a 1-0 thriller.

The scoreboard tells the story as the Shorebirds drop an extra-inning affair to Lake County.

Of course, if I find out about an O’Malley night I’ll have to secure the tickets to that (from my workplace, I’m not giving money to his campaign!) That would be an interesting study in comparison. But I doubt Martin O’Malley is really planning on spending much time on the Eastern Shore because we’re pretty solid Ehrlich country here. We really appreciate the governor spending some time tonight securing his base though.

Shorebird of the week 6-29-2006

SAL All-Star Quincy Ascencion of Delmarva is snapped midswing in a recent game.

This week the SotW honors go to Quincy Ascencion. The outfielder has been a fixture in the Delmarva lineup for most of the season as he was in 2005. He got off to a slow start in 2006, but he’s had a habit of slow starts. The undrafted 23 year old native of Curacao has slowly worked his way up the Orioles system and hopes to someday join the exclusive club of major league players born on that island, a self-governing part of the Netherlands Antilles off the Venezuelan coast. The most notable player of this five-man group is Atlanta’s Andruw Jones.

Quincy has improved on last year’s numbers (.254 average, 3 home runs, 44 RBI in a team-leading 126 games played) enough to merit the All-Star selection. The average is up to .274 and he’s ripped a team-leading 18 doubles thus far in 2006. Definitely a line-drive contact hitter, he’s homerless on the season so far but does have a little bit of power potential. Despite being placed mostly in the 6 through 9 spots in the batting order until recent weeks, he’s still managed to amass 25 RBI so far, good for fifth on the team.

So Ascencion had been quietly having a good season until he was selected to the SAL All-Star team. Now the rest of the league knows a bit about this young man who’s still a trailblazer in his homeland.

Shorebird of the week 6-22-2006

CJ Smith of the Shorebirds strides into a pitch in a June contest against Lakewood.

This week the SotW honors go to a returning veteran of the 2005 Shorebirds, first baseman CJ Smith. A product of the University of Florida, the Gator was another high pick the Orioles have placed on the Delmarva roster, chosen 4th by the Orioles in 2004. He was drafted high enough and had enough of a profile (being from a nationally known college program) to have his own blurb on the draft board (from mlb.com):

TALL & WIRY. SOME STRENGTH. HAS PUT ON 15 LBS SINCE LAST YR. BUILD SIMILAR TO FORMER ML PLAYER PAUL O’NEILL. SLIGHT SPREAD STANCE, FLEXED KNEES. BALL JUMPS OFF BAT. WILL SHOW SOME PWR. CHANCE TO HIT FOR MORE PWR IN FUTURE W/ SOME ADJUSTMENT. BETTER RUNNER UNDERWAY. PLAYABLE ARM. GOOD ATHLETE. SHOULD HIT FOR SOME PWR. STRONGER THAN LAST YR.

Interestingly enough, he was drafted as an outfielder but he has good size (6′-3″) for a first baseman as well.

What he does need to work on is his hitting. The transition from college to pro has seen the 24 year old suffer at the plate. In 83 games here last year, he had just a .227 average but was a solid RBI producer with 45 knocked in. That total was third on the team, very good considering he had 295 at bats compared to over 400 AB’s for the two players in front of him. CJ’s on a slower pace this year though, with just 10 RBI in 88 at bats and only a .205 average.

But with a name like CJ, he’s almost bound to be a fan favorite. Hopefully with our support he can find the key to improving his batting average to a more respectable number.

And as suggested, several changes were made to the roster at the All-Star break.

The Shorebirds gained three players who were sent down after stuggling with high-A Frederick: pitchers Trevor Caughey and Russ Petrick (who pitched here in 2005) and infielder Ryan Steinbach. Taking their places on the Frederick roster with a promotion were Jon Tucker, Trent Baysinger, and SAL All-Star Jim Hoey.

Meanwhile some Shorebirds who had a tough time here became IronBirds in Aberdeen. That list included pitchers Kyle Schmidt and Luis Lebron (both who were here very briefly), infielders Rob Marconi and Rene Aqueron, and former SotW catcher Brandon Snyder. All three hitters were under .200 at the time of their demotion.

First half Shorebirds standings report

It was a tough finish to the half for the Shorebirds. After battling the Lexington Legends tooth-and-nail through most of May, they fought to a draw in a visit to Lexington in their last May series. That seemed to take the wind right out of the Delmarva nine’s sails though, as they plummeted to a 6-12 finish in the first half while Lexington amassed a 14-4 mark in the same stretch to win the SAL North going away. In fact, the West Virginia Power snuck by the Shorebirds and grabbed second place at the halfway mark.

But as usual in the SAL, everything starts afresh on Thursday. All Lexington’s great finish got them was a playoff date in September, but nothing says they can’t have a poor second half. In the topsy-turvy world of the South Atlantic League, last year’s champion can be this year’s doormat – case in point, the Kannapolis Intimidators, who won the 2005 SAL pennant but frightened no one except their fans with a 20-50 first half mark this season.

So what I’m doing here is a rehash of the first half standings, and adding commentary on each team’s second half schedule. There’s a scheduling quirk in the SAL this season. To avoid scheduling onerous roadtrips for some teams, the league is divided into four groups, which are as follows:

What I’ll call group 1 includes Delmarva, Hagerstown, Lake County, and Lakewood.

My group 2 is the rest of the North Division: Greensboro, Hickory, Lexington, and West Virginia.

Turning to the South Division, group 3 is Asheville, Augusta, Greenville, and Kannapolis.

Group 4 is the Georgia group (almost): Charleston (SC), Columbus, Rome, and Savannah.

The oddity is that Group 1 teams do not play Group 4 teams, so they’ll not have to face 3 of the top 4 South Division teams at all this season, while the Group 2 teams will play all eight South foes in the second half. Obviously the league doesn’t want a 13-14 hour bus trip (such as between Lake County and Columbus) to happen often. So Group 1 teams will have 4 games against just the Group 3 teams in the South in the second half, which as noted turns out to be an advantage.

Here are the standings for the first half along with the strength of their schedule in the second half. To determine that, I simply figured out the games below or above .500 for each remaining team on the schedule – for example the aforementioned Kannapolis team is a factor of minus 30 for each time played, and 44-25 Lexington would be a factor of plus 19 every time.

1. Lexington Legends (44-25, won division by 5 games.)

Second half schedule factor: minus 38 (3rd easiest). They play 4 games against each team in the other three groups, as well as 6 against Hickory, and 8 against Greensboro and West Virginia. They have 35 home and 35 away games.

First half summary: A 14-4 finish featuring an appearance by Roger Clemens boosted the Legends to the first half title.

Key games in second half: They play the South first half champion Rome Braves at home August 2-5 in what could be a championship preview.

2. West Virginia Power (39-30, second place 5 games back.)

Second half schedule factor: plus 32 (5th easiest). Just like Lexington, 4 games against the teams in the other three groups, along with 6 against Greensboro and 8 against Hickory and Lexington. They also are even with 35 home and away games apiece.

First half summary: Improved throughout the half from also-ran to second place club.

Key games in second half: A stretch from August 2-22 where they play 16 of 20 games at home, the lone road trip in the middle to Delmarva. The first homestand features Columbus and Rome, the second against division foes Hickory and Hagerstown.

3. DELMARVA SHOREBIRDS (37-31, third place 6 1/2 games in arrears.)

Second half schedule factor: minus 273 (easiest). As mentioned, they play only the four games each against Group 2 and Group 3 teams, along with 12 against Hagerstown, 15 against Lake County, and 11 against Lakewood. The schedule maker did give them a slight disadvantage of just 33 home games against 37 away from Perdue Stadium.

First half summary: Great pitching throughout, but a batting swoon cost the Shorebirds the first half title.

Key games in second half: They play the top two North teams as well as the second place South team (Augusta) a total of 12 times, all at home. By the way, if you’re sick of seeing Lakewood after 14 home games against them (of our 37 total), we don’t see them here again until the final home series August 28-31.

4. Lakewood BlueClaws (37-32, fourth place 7 games back.)

Second half schedule factor: minus 268 (2nd easiest). Just like Delmarva, only 4 against each team in Group 2 and Group 3. They play the Shorebirds 11 times, Hagerstown 15 times (11 at Hagerstown), and Lake County 12 times. They’re another even 35-35 team as far as road/home goes.

First half summary: After an 0-9 start, they rebounded with solid pitching to grab a first-division finish. Had they not dug such a hole, they may have been playoff-bound.

Key games in second half: A 12 game homestand August 11-22 against Lexington, Hagerstown, and Delmarva.

5. Greensboro Grasshoppers (36-34, fifth place 8 1/2 games back.)

Second half schedule factor: plus 74 (7th easiest). As with the other Group 2 teams, it’s 4 against everyone in the South and 4 against the Group 1 teams. They also have 8 against Hickory and Lexington, with 6 against West Virginia. They have 35 each at home and on the road.

First half summary: The Grasshoppers leaped into contention in early June after taking 3 of 4 at Delmarva, but the strong Lexington finish (at their expense) squashed the Grasshoppers’ hopes.

Key games in second half: Their final seven games (August 29-September 4) are at West Virginia and Lexington.

6. Hickory Crawdads (33-36, sixth place 11 games behind Lexington.)

Second half schedule factor: plus 94 (toughest). The final Group 2 team, they play that schedule along with 6 against Lexington and 8 each against Greensboro and West Virginia. They do get an advantage from the scheduler of 37 home games in the half against 33 on the road.

First half summary: The ‘Dads never really got going, they scuffled throughout the half and pretty much inhabited the second division throughout.

Key games in second half: A July 24-31 roadtrip to Columbus and Rome could drown the Crawdads’ chances for a second half crown.

7. Lake County Captains (29-41, seventh place 15 1/2 games out.)

Second half schedule factor: plus 16 (4th easiest). As with Delmarva and Lakewood, they get to skip most of the Georgia teams and Charleston, SC. They do play the obligatory four each against the Group 2 and 3 teams, along with Delmarva 15 times, Lakewood 12 times, and Hagerstown 11 times. A 35-35 split home to away is on their second half docket.

First half summary: Lake County’s Captains hit a late-winter iceberg at the end of April. After a 14-10 start they sank through the standings as they only won 15 more first half games.

Key games in second half: They finish with 8 road games August 28-September 4 at Hagerstown and Lakewood. Also, they start the second half at home with Delmarva for 4 games.

8. Hagerstown Suns (28-42, last place and trailing by 16 1/2.)

Second half schedule factor: plus 35 (6th easiest). The same deal as Delmarva, Lake County, and Lakewood, with 12 against the Shorebirds, 11 against the Captains, and 15 against the BlueClaws. Having 11 at home against Lakewood helped them have a 37-33 home to away advantage in the second half.

First half summary: Never in contention, but they managed to lay the wood to cross-state rival Delmarva at the end of the half.

Key games in second half: They have 17 of their first 22 games at home to begin the second half. Last season they won the first half title and tanked in half number 2 – so they hope for a reversal in fortune like Delmarva had last year. But there can be no all-Maryland playoff this season.

Just in: The North Division won this year’s SAL All-Star Game 4-0 at Lake County. There were four Shorebirds on the winning North team:

Quincy Ascencion started in left field and batted ninth. He played the entire game, collecting a single in 3 trips.

Brandon Erbe pitched the fourth inning, allowing one hit but striking out 2.

Chorye Spoone got the final out of the eighth inning. His first batter reached on an error and stole second but he got the strikeout to end the South’s inning.

Jim Hoey was selected to the team but didn’t pitch.

Also, the pitching coach for the North was the Shorebirds’ Kennie Steenstra.

So ends post number 150.