The Problem with the Marlins

I pay attention to the Florida Marlins. They are my second-favorite major leage team. I do this because the Sea Dogs were affiliated with Florida for about 10 years. However, despite the fact that the Marlins have won more world championships than the Red Sox have in my lifetime, they have a history of very poor (in terms of quality, not in terms of wealth) ownership. The article "Dumb and Dumber" at the Hardball Times vividly illustrates this.

Here is a team that celebrated its first championship by getting rid of all their players and promoting their AAA team to the majors before they even raised a banner. Imagine the marketing campaign: "Come watch the guys wearing the uniforms that last year's World Champions wore!" I have always loathed Wayne Huizenga, the Marlins' owner at the time, because of the way he handled this, not allowing any goodwill to grow with the fans (resulting in increased profits) in celebration of a championship. The Hardball Times article points out something that I for some reason had never considered - that the Marlins bottom line losses (reputed to be $30 million - a number I never believed) weren't real at all. Among the factors contributing to the Marlins losing money were the following:

1. A poor stadium deal, with an exorbitant rent rate, no sharing of luxury box and club suite income, and very little parking and concessions income. All of this revenue went to the stadium, which is owned by who? Wayne Huizenga.
2. A below-market broadcasting deal with Sportschannel Florida, resulting in less broadcasting revenue than Florida's counterparts were earning. Sportschannel Florida is owned by who? Wayne Huizenga.

I'm sure that Huizenga also drew a salary from the Marlins, which also impacted the bottom line. This is exactly the type of thing that drives me crazy when baseball owners cry poverty, because believe me: related-party transactions are not limited to South Florida.

The current ownership (Jeffrey Loria, who John Brattain rightly points out as the man whe killed the Expos) has celebrated it's recent championship and wealth of young talent by complaining about how badly the team needs a new stadium. "Look, we're not going to be able to win a World Series every six years in this crappy ballpark!"

It's all just sickening and saddening.

The Marlins could (and should) be one of the jewels in MLB's crown, but they are portrayed as just another team that might not be able to get by. It's too bad, and it's about time MLB figured out that the fans might not like having this message slammed down their throats all the time.

Sea Dogs Bring out the Hitting Sticks

As (sort of) predicted a few days ago in this space, the Sea Dogs finally got some warmer weather and a chance to play, and the bats started to warm up. Though they lost three out of five games to the Navigators, the Dogs scored 36 runs over the final four games, including 12-3 and 14-2 victories on Sunday and Monday. Perhaps not coincidentally, the offensive surge also coincided with the return of Chris Durbin to the lineup. Durbin went 5-10 over the last three games (the two wins, sandwiched around a 9-6 loss in the second game of Sunday's double header), with a double, two homers and 3 RBI. Jeremy West was 8-12 with three doubles and 4 RBI. Brandon Moss 8-13 1 2B, 1 HR, 5 RBI. Dustin Pedroia, 4-11, 2 HR, 7 runs scored. Hanley Ramirez 5-13, 1 2B, 3 RBI, 5 runs. Jared Sandberg 2 home runs. Jon Lester and David Pauley also contributed fine pitching performances over the weekend.

With Portland's recent slump, they fell into second place behind the New Hampshire Fisher Cats. However, with a three game series in Manchester starting Tuesday, the Sea Dogs have an excellent chance to move back into the top spot. Jon Papelbon, Chris Smith and Kason Gabbard will get the starts for Portland, vs. Vince Perkins, Josh Banks and Cameron Reimers (I think).

Also of note, when Chris Durbin was activated, pitcher Charlie Zink, who has not pitched since returning from Pawtucket, was put on the DL. It'll be interesting to see what the verdict is on Zink. He hasn't really made his mark in AA yet, though I think he's pitched better than the numbers would indicate this season. I believe that his long-term development will be better off if he is starting rather than relieving (a knuckleballer out of the bullpen doesn't exactly inspire confidence), but at the moment he is the odd man out in the Portland rotation. I don't think that Papelbon, Lester, Pauley or Chris Smith are going to be put aside for Zink, as they are all legitimate major league prospects, in my opinion. Kason Gabbard is the fifth man in the rotation, and he hasn't really made his mark at AA yet either (23 BB, 18K, 4.47 ERA in 44 IP this season), so (barring a promotion or injury) he's the only guy that you would consider taking out of the rotation. Still, Gabbard is a lefty, only 23 years old, and not a "project", so I don't anticipate him being bumped either. My guess is that when Zink comes back, he'll be in the pen (I don't see him being sent down to Wilmington), but he'll get a lot of starts when the Sea Dogs start playing all of those rain-makeup double headers later in the season, and he'll get back into the rotation if Papelbon or Lester gets moved up to Pawtucket later this season (unless Anibal Sanchez comes into town).

More Sluggers

Based on a request from Chris, who commented on my earlier post, here are a few other low-BA, high-SLG hitters who might score well on the IsoP+ scale (and one guy that I forgot to look at earlier).

SLG IsoP IsoP+
422 222 162 Rob Deer
482 227 154 Cecil Fielder
448 223 172 Gorman Thomas
560 268 175 Ken Griffey, Jr.

I think for the guys with the real low BA's (Rob Deer's career BA is .220, Thomas' .225), a high percentage of their hits went for extra bases, they just didn't get enough hits to get the IsoP up there. Griffey has a very high slugging percentage, but he's played mostly in the very-high offense post-strike era. Fielder is kind of in-between - his BA is a more respectable .255, but he played more of his career in a higher-offense era than Thomas and Deer did.

In re-looking at the list of top IsoP+ players, it really is a collection mostly of the very best hitters (not just sluggers) in history, with only a couple of power-only guys (Kingman, McGwire, Killebrew) in the mix. Most of the high-power, high strikeout guys fall a little short when it comes to addressing the best sluggers of all time.

Thanks for the commentary, Chris, and if anybody thinks of somebody else who they would like to look at, let me know.

Shoppach Makes the Show

Former Portland Sea Dog Kelly Shoppach was promoted to Boston today, becoming the 112th Sea Dog to make it to the Major Leagues. An EL all-star while with Portland in 2003, Shoppach was hitting 279/392/571-11-28 in 40 games for Pawtucket. The only number that you'd like to see improve is the 43 K's. Ask Mark Bellhorn how much Red Sox fans like strikeouts. Shoppach's stay will likely only be until Doug Mirabelli returns from the DL, but it's a nice step forward for him. Always a stellar defensive catcher, Shoppach had a bit of a rough road with the bat last season. He's come back strong this year and if he can keep it going in the big leagues, he'll be one of the better catchers in the majors. I think that Red Sox fans really like having home-grown players on the team, so I hope the team keeps Shoppach as part of its future plans. Mirabelli is signed through next year, but I don't see him standing in the way of Shoppach's progress. Jason Varitek is still playing terrific baseball, but I think he and Shoppach will be sharing time by 2007.

There may be some domino-effect roster movement that affects the Sea Dogs. I'll try to keep up to date with that.

Meanwhile, I think they might actually play a baseball game tonight!

Another Rainout

Good golly Miss Molly. The entire series against Binghamton was washed out. Next up, the Sea Dogs travel to Norwich to play the Navigators. Here's a Press Herald article about how everybody is sick of the rainouts, and how they are costing the Sea Dogs quite a bit of revenue.

What's a blogger to do? How about I share with you a post that I made on the STATLG-L "Baseball (and Lesser Sports)" discussion list. One of the list members was looking into home run stats when Manny hit #400, and was marvelling about how Jimmy Foxx appears to be a better slugger than he was giving Foxx credit for. So we did a couple of different looks at it. I finanlly decided to look at what I call Isolated Power Plus (IsoP+). Isolated Power is simply slugging % - batting average. It looks at a hitter's ability to gather extra-base hits. IsoP+ compares a batter's Isolated Power vs. the league average IsoP, as adjusted for park factors. I took all of my numbers from Baseball-reference.com. Here's (most of) what I wrote there:

OK, I did a non-exhaustive study of Isolated Power andIsoP+, looking at just the top 100 guys in slugging % and top 100 HR guys. I didn't do the calcs for everybody, just the ones wholooked like they'd be in play. The condensed list (everybody over 190, I believe), in order of IsoP+:

SLG IsoP IsoP+
690 348 303 Ruth
632 292 230 Gehrig
588 325 223 McGwire
634 290 220 Williams
605 292 220 Greenberg
611 311 214 Bonds
609 284 214 Foxx
562 250 207 Mize
527 260 205 Schmidt
577 219 203 Hornsby

The next 10 (IsoP+ only)
Allen 198
Mantle 198
Stargell 198
Dimaggio 197
Kiner 196
Ott 196
Wilson 193
McCovey 193
Kingman 191
Killebrew 190

Kingman is the only guy on this list with a career slugging % below 500 (478), due to his very low batting average (236). McGwire, Schmidt and Killebrew are the only other guys on the list whose BA isn't above the league average (well, McGwire is at 263 vs. the league avg. of 262, but it's basically even).

Aaron and Mays are just below at 187 and 186 (along with Strawberry). Dan Brouthers was at 179, Manny at 174, Wagner 167, ARod 164, Vlad Guererro and Cobb 159, and Todd Helton pulled up the rear of those I calculated at 155. His slugging percentage (616, fourth all time!) benefits both from Coors and a high batting average vs. the league average.

So, Foxx indeed is one of the top sluggers of all time, no matter how you look at it, as is Hank Greenberg, who probably gets talked about less than Double X does. And it usually goes without saying, but Ruth's numbers are mind-boggling.

Ai yi yi!

Another day, another rainout. Last night was the 7th postponement due to weather this season, which is a franchise record. And yes, there are still three months left in the season.

So, what's a blogger to do? I've kind of lost my mojo over the last couple of days. It's tough to get into the rhythm when the games are getting cancelled all the time. I suspect that this, coupled with the fact that it's been cold and wet when they do play, is the very reason why the offense has been struggling so much lately. Tough to hit when you never even get to take BP!

So the Press Herald had this article about Manny Delcarmen. Delcarmen had an arm injury in '03 and is still somewhat in recovery from that, though the velocity is obviously there. It's a pretty positive piece, as these things tend to be, pointing out how Delcarmen has a 4.30 ERA and hasn't allowed an earned run in his last four games, but ignoring the 8 unearned runs (two on Sunday) that he has allowed this season. I think Delcarmen has a great deal of promise, but I don't think that I could look at his numbers and, keeping a straight face, put much of a positive spin on them. His stuff is electric, though, and I'm really hoping for him to get a little more control, because he can be a lot of fun to watch when he's on.

For those of you looking for some hardcore statistical analysis (the stuff that I enjoy reading but have no capacity to perform myself), here's a butt-kicking article at the Hardball Times about DIPS (Defense Independant Pitching Statistics) and its role in predicting ERA from year-to-year. This analysis looks at things that are solely under the pitcher's control: walks, strikeouts, and home runs. What it does not look at is balls put in play, because the result of those is quite dependent upon the defense and less under the pitcher's control (think of having a Mike Cameron in LF versus a Manny Ramirez). It's interesting stuff, but I'm posting it here not so much because I believe that the average reader of this blog (his name is Dave) will actually be able to sit through the analysis, but because it offers a window into what makes your host (me) tick. When I do offer some statistical analysis of the pitching (and I suppose I'm due to do so for the Sea Dogs), I tend to focus a lot on K rates and walk rates. My buy-in to the DIPS theory has a lot do do with that.

Hall of Fame Game (subtitle, more Bleepin' Rain)

While we were busy building arks here in Maine to deal with the torrents of rain that continued to fall, the Red Sox lost to the Tigers 6-4 in the annual Hall of Fame game in Cooperstown. (Try finding a box score, though). I thought that this would be a good opportunity to talk about how the minor leaguers performed, but there is very little information:

• Hanley Ramirez went 2-3.
• Wilmington starter Anibal Sanchez allowed four earned runs in six innings pitched.
• Manny Delcarmen pitched. No idea how he did.
• Third base coach Dale Sveum got a pinch-hit single, and also played some first base.

Would it kill anybody to have a box score out there? Even the Hall of Fame doesn't think that it's necessary. Most sites barely mention the game at all.

The Sea Dogs were postponed for the 7th time last night. We'll try again tonight. I'm scheduled to work this game. Hopefully the lull in the weather will last until the game is over.

Mets Prospect Review

Even better - let John Sickels do it for me. The pitching prospects (Petite and Bannister) are doing very well. One of the hitting prospects (Baldiris) is doing pretty well. One hitting prospect (Lydon) is in danger of no longer being a prospect.

Another Lost Weekend (Subtitle: Bleepin' Rain)

Bleepin' bleepedy bleep rain - that's what I've got to say. Gawd the weather has been miserable in Portland this spring. Other than the first weekend of the season (which was real nice - shirtsleeve weather), it's been cold, windy, wet and miserable for most of the season. For the third consecutive homestand, the Saturday game was rained out and scheduled for a Sunday doubleheader. For the third consecutive homestand, the rain remained through Sunday. I've been scheduled to work all of these Sundays. The first time both Sunday games were washed out. The second time, they managed to get one game in before cancelling the second game. Today the first game was delayed by 1 1/2 hours, but finally we played two.

Yay! Six hours in a rainy ballpark! Even better, the home team managed to push across just one run (in the first inning of the first game) in the process. Now the Sea Dogs' record vs. the Bowie Baysox is 0-6 for the season.

You can read about the Friday loss here, and the Sunday losses here.

And you can read about the offense's struggles here. For the weekend series, the Sox outscored the Dogs 10-2. Portland's starting pitching was pretty good, with only Jon Papelbon being saddled with a loss. Jon Lester struggled some with his command, but only allowed 3 hits and 4 walks in 7 innings on Friday night, while striking out 8. It was Manny Delcarmen's two leadoff walks in the 9th and some shaky defense that did the Dogs in that night. David Pauley ran up a high pitch count in striking out 9 through five innings of work in Game 1 on Sunday, but the Baysox scratched across one run off the bullpen in the 8th. Finally, Papelbon was "roughed up" (for him) giving up three runs on five hits and three walks (with only 4 K's) in the nightcap.

Scorer's Notes for the three games:

• Saw an unusual play on Friday - David Murphy tapped one to the right of the mound, which pitcher Cory Morris fielded, then outraced Murphy to the bag.
• Another unusal play on Sunday as Woody Cliffords was out stealing in the fourth when he took off for second before Papelbon began his delivery. He was thrown out easily. The Baysox were clearly timing Papelbon's set and delivery, as Gary Cates took off before Papelbon began his delivery in the following inning and ended up with the steal.
• Speaking of Cates, he's another small infielder. I mean, real small. I mean, Dustin Pedroia could kick his ass small. Naturally, he was 2-4 with a double, three walks, a sac fly, two RBI and two runs scored in the series, combining with Cliffords to lead the Bowie offense.
• We missed Bowie's best starter, Hayden Penn, but that didn't stop the other guys from shutting us down. Former Oriole Eric Dubose's six shutout innings on Sunday followed fine performances by Cory Morris (now with a 2.31 ERA in 37.1 IP) and Matt Bruback (2.95 ERA in 42.2 IP). Dubose now has a 2.09 ERA in 43 AA innings this year. Bowie's offensive numbers don't look that great, but the pitching has held up. Sound familiar?
• Another guy that I profiled with Bowie's prospects was Chris Ray, who closed out two games (on save) with four K's in the series.
• Attendance for Sunday was listed as 6,500. If you counted everybody for the two games combined, you wouldn't have reached 6,500 - but that's how many tickets were sold. I'm not sure how many people stayed for game two, but it probably wasn't quite 200. Slugger the Sea Dog personally greeted everybody in attendance with a handshake. We also got complemimentary general admission tickets as a thank you. The Sea Dogs do everything with such class!
• I watched the second game from the second row behind home plate. A great place to watch the game, but not so good for the scoring we do. It's hard to judge the depth of the balls put in play, and outfielders are sometimes blocked from view by the infielders. Still, especially with nobody in attendance, you can hear a lot from the players and the umps. For example, Bowie catcher Morgan Clendenin misjudged a foul pop and said a bad word that I won't repeat here.
• Manny Delcarmen was impressive on Friday, topping out at 97 on the radar and demonstrating why he is such an intriguing prospects. 8 pitches into the 9th, though, there were two runners on base and the winning rally was on. For the season he's pitched 15.1 innings, striking out 20 but allowing 16 hits and 12 walks, resulting in 16 runs allowed, though 8 unearned runs make his ERA a deceptive 4.70. Harness that thing, Manny, and you'll be going places!
• Jared "the Wicket" Sandberg is no longer at third base, but continues to be an adventure in the field. He has trouble judging fly balls and has an infielder's arm out there. On top of that, he's done diddly with the bat since the second week of the season. I'm praying for him to get promoted when Chris Durbin comes off the DL so I don't have to watch this boondoggle any longer.
• Next up: the Binghamton Mets return for a four game series. I'll be doing the first two games on Monday and Tuesday nights. If I get a chance I'll update the Mets prospects tomorrow, otherwise look for updates in the scorer's notes for the next two games. (The forecast? Rain.)

Comparing the Shortstops

Someone at the Big Jab forums (which I don't really participate in any longer) pointed out this article from Kevin Hench at Fox Sports, in which he compares the three "prize" free agent shortstops from this past winter: Edgar Renteria, Orlando Cabrera and David Eckstein. I'm going to ignore OC, because I truly believe that Renteria is worth $2 million per year more than Cabrera, and because the article is written from a "what a bargain Eckstein is" perspective. I'm also going to ignore at this time the folly in analyzing the relative worth of any of these signings after only 40 games. It's simply too early to tell.

While I don't necessarily disagree with the sentiment (Renteria is not worth 4 times Eckstein, especially given the guys coming up through Boston's minor league system), I do find fault with some of the analysis. While it's technically true that Renteria's career OPS is only 40 points higher than Eckstein's (it's actually 46 points - 746 to 700 - excluding this season), it's also true that this comparison punishes Renteria for being a better ballplayer. Edgar Renteria, while seven months younger than Eckstein, made it to the majors five years before his scrappy little counterpart. While David Eckstein was finishing college and working his way through the minor leagues, Renteria was playing full time in the majors, generally in ballparks that favor pitching. In those five years, Renteria posted a .721 OPS.

The better comparison between the two is over the last four years - the time that Renteria and Eckstein have both been in the major leagues. Over that time frame (excluding this season) Renteria's OPS advantage is huge: 776 to 700. Compared to league averages and ballpark adjusted, Renteria has an OPS+ of 105 over that time vs. 87 for Eckstein. Due to the somewhat funky way that OPS+ is calculated, this means that Renteria has been about 10% better than Eckstein with the bat. Looked at another way, Renteria has been more durable, averaging about 10 games per season more, and has created an average of 84 runs/season vs. Eckstein's 64 RC/season. Those 20 extra runs are worth about two wins per year.

Hench talks quite a bit about the defense, especially this year. I'm not certain how much to trust most defensive metrics, but Eckstein actually comes out ahead of Renteria on many (fielding %, zone rating, and Baseball Prospectus' metrics), which may be a bit surprising given Renteria's Gold Glove reputation. The question left unanswered (and difficult for me to answer) is, by how much does the fielding difference (if there is one) offset the offensive difference. Hench seems to rate them equally, but is that really the correct approach? I don't believe so, but I'm not sure where it all falls out.

My final beef is Hench's contention that the Sox "chose to invest money that might have helped retain Pedro Martinez or Derek Lowe in Renteria." That statement is patently untrue. The Red Sox had decided months earlier (before the season ended) that they weren't going to meet Lowe's salary demands, and they only signed Renteria after Pedro was offered an extra year by the Mets and chose to sign with them. The Renteria signing didn't come into play in the decision not to resign either pitcher. This is very sloppy reporting, in my opinion.

Could the Red Sox have saved some money without losing much on the field, had they signed Eckstein over Renteria? I would say that they certainly could have. But the Sox aren't in business to make a couple dollars of profit in the regular season, they are in business to win championships and make a bigger profit in the postseason. Those two wins or so (could be more - Renteria has shown a much bigger upside) provided by Renteria could be the difference between October baseball and October golf. Given time, I believe this deal will pan out for Boston.

Shameless Promotion - Total Recap!

At least it's not self promotion, but it is shameless nonetheless.

You may have noticed some of the links to the right of this page. One that I highly endorse is Total Recap Scoring - the best scorebook available on the web. We do a lot of scorekeeping here at Joe's SeaBlog, and when we're not working for BIS, we use Total Recap. Total Recap's comprehensive scoring system allows you to keep track of as much (or as little) information as you would like. Mark balls and strike to keep track of pitch counts. Note who sang the national anthem or threw out the first pitch. Write down the names of the umpires and coaches. Or just keep track of hits and outs. Total Recap allows you look back and relive the entire ballgame experience (there's even a notes section where you could write down the name of the guy selling peanuts, if you would like). Each Total Recap scorebook also comes with scoresheets commemorating one of several classic baseball games, like Game 6 of the 1975 World Series. Total Recap also features Total Recap Jr., the a simplified version perfect for introducing your youngster (or baseball newbie) to the joys of scoring baseball games. They are printed right here in the great State of Maine, so order your Total Recap scorebooks today!

Bowie Baysox top prospects

While waiting for the Sea Dogs to complete the sweep vs. Erie (they did, winning 1-0), I thought that I would look ahead to the top prospects of the Bowie Baysox, who come to Portland this weekend.
According to John Sickels' top 20 list, there are only three top players on the Baysox roster:

Hayden Penn (RHP, #4, B rating) has made 8 starts, with a 2.86 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and very impressive 56/12 K/BB ratio in 44 IP. Penn pitched 137 innings for three teams last season (including four starts in Bowie), striking out 122 and walking only 48. Penn pitched last night, so we won't see him this weekend.

Chris Ray (RHP, #5, B) has been pitching in relief this year. In 19 IP as the Baysox closer, he's got a 1.89 ERA, 0.68 WHIP, and 21/5 K/BB ratio. Ray was a starter last season, pitching 123.1 innings with a 3.65 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, and 120/37 BB/K ratio at two levels of A ball.

Sickels commentary: "Hayden Penn and Chris Ray are both solid Grade B pitching prospects. We need to see how they do in Double-A, but both have a decent shot to develop into rotation starters, though I don't think either will be an anchor or ace."

Tripper Johnson (3B, #7, C+) is the only hitter on the list. Sickels has this to say about him: "Tripper Johnson has been on and off prospect lists. I've always liked him as a sleeper and he spiked his home run power last year, but will have to show his bat will hold up in Double-A." He's been Bowie's top hitter among the guys who have been there all season: 305/355/445-2-14, but with 32 K's vs. 10 walks on the season. He hit 269/343/454-21-74 in 129 games at Frederick in 2004. He also made somewhat better contact, with only 93 K's in about 520 PA's.

The fact that there are only three prospects on this team doesn't mean the Baysox aren't competetive. They have three players with recent major league experience, Eric Dubose (who looked promising back in 2003), Simon Pond and Peter Bergeron. Both Pond and Bergeron have only played a few games for Bowie, and both are hitting well, making this a more dangerous lineup.

Red Sox top 20 update

As promised, John Sickles has done an update of Boston's top 20 prospects. Most of the Sea Dogs guys are looking very good.

Not looking so good was Charlie Zink, who pitched 3 1/3 innings in Pawtucket and gave up 12 runs on 13 hits and 5 walks. He was returned to Portland and backup catcher Jim Buckley was recalled to Pawtucket. This kind of move is made because the organization wants Alberto Concepcion to continue playing, rather than sit on the bench behind Kelly Shoppach. I imagine that this move puts Zink in the bullpen in Portland, which isn't my favorite place for a knuckleballer. I also suppose that Jeff Bailey becomes the backup catcher for now. The roster construction isn't ideal. I suspect another move will follow relatively soon.

Sea Dogs Batting Leaders

I probably should wait until the end of the Erie series, when we will be officially 1/4 the way through the season, but at that time the Sea Dogs will be back in town, and I'll be busy scoring the games. So here's a rundown of the top batters for the Sea Dogs this year. If a player leads the team in a particular category, it's in bold.

Dustin Pedroia: 347/434/521-4-23. 18 BB, 12 K, 954 OPS, 325 GPA, 26.9 Runs Created, 8.6 Runs Created/27 outs, .086 IsoD, .174 IsoP.
Just a tremendous season thus far for Pedroia. His high batting average lends a lot to the OPS figure, but he is third on the team in Isolated Discipline (OBP-BA), behind Jeff Bailey and Jared Sandberg, and fourth (behind Sandberg, Bailey and Chris Durbin) in Isolated Power. He's been a force with the bat - not bad for a little middle infielder.

Jeremy West: 320/387/484-2-9, 11 BB, 15 K, 870 OPS, 295 GPA, 22.8 RC, 7.3 RC/7, .067 IsoD, .164 IsoP
A consistently solid bat, though he's somehow still in single digits in RBI. A good mix of power (10 2b, 2 3b) and patience, his numbers pale only in comparison to Pedroia's.

Chris Durbin: 300/363/500-3-20, 8 BB, 13 K, 863 OPS, 288 GPA, 16.5 RC, 6.5 RC/27, .063 IsoD, .200 IsoP
Durbin has been a surprise with the bat this year. Second on the team in Isolated Power, and secone in RBI despite missing 10 games now with injuries. He's overshadowed David Murphy, his teammate from Baylor, thus far this year.

Hanley Ramirez: 302/358/468-1-14, 9 BB, 21 K, 826 OPS, 278 GPA, 20.7 RC, 6.0 RC/27, .056 IsoD, .167 IsoP, 7 3b, 22 Runs, 10 SB
Ramirez has been overshadowed a bit by Pedroia with the bat, but he's still having a solid season. He's got a funky extra base hit line: 4-7-1, but the power has been solid (5th highest IsoP on the team). The walk rate is about where it has been for his career, and he's cut his K's down just a bit from his AA rate last year. He's now striking out once every six at bats, which is in line with his low-A figures.

Jared Sandberg: 241/338/483-7-19, 16 BB, 35 K, 821 OPS, 273 GPA, 18.9 RC, 5.8 RC/27, .097 IsoD, .252 IsoP
Sandberg has provided the power for the Sea Dogs, but for a guy in his peak, with major league experience, the numbers should be better. He's striking out too much and his batting average is too low for this level. I think he's going up to Pawtucket soon, but if not look for his numbers to take off again.

Jeff Bailey: 235/381/431-3-9, 8 BB, 12 K, 812 OPS, 279 GPA, 8.4 RC, 5.8 RC/27, .146 IsoD, .196 IsoP
Bailey started a little slow, but has come on to provide the same things that he did last year - power and patience. He's the prototypical "old skills" ballplayer, and also leads the team with 4 HBP's.

These guys are all hitting pretty well, and there's a big dropoff between them and the other regulars - Alberto Concepcion, David Murphy and Brandon Moss. Hopefully we'll have a reason to write postive things about them before the season gets too much deeper.

Catching Up

I've not tuned into minorleagueball.com for a few days, and I missed a couple of items of interest to Red Sox fans:

1) A prospect retrospective of Wade Miller.

2) A "who the heck is Cla Meredith" entry, with this to say: "Now, Meredith got to the Majors a lot faster than I thought he would. He will need some adjustment time, but I like his chances to be a very useful bullpen fixture."

Also, according to the weekly schedule (a good idea for someone more organized than myself), he's going to review his Red Sox top 20 later today, and also have a "AA Transition Monitor". Both should be of interest to the loyal reader of this Blog.

Ignoring the Weekend

Mostly, anyway. The Sea Dogs were swept by Bowie over the weekend. The Dogs lost despite some good pitching by Chris Smith, in his first work since last season, and Jon Lester. David Pauley, however, reacted poorly after I said some nice things about him.

I had promised to preview some of the top prospects for the Bay Sox, but I never found the time to do that. They are coming to Portland this weekend, and I will get it done before then. That will probably be the case with the Erie Sea Wolves, who the Dogs will play over the next three days - I'll profile their prospects when they hit town. This series will be a challenge for Portland, as the Sea Wolves currently sport the best record in the Eastern League.

By the way, Erie has my least favorite nickname in the minor leagues. For one thing, they entered a league that already had a "Sea" team - the Portland Sea Dogs. For another thing, Erie is on a Lake. As if our kids aren't already geographically challenged, we don't have to intentionally misinform them, do we? Last but not least, this was a golden opportunity to have a real cool nickname: how about the Erie Sounds, or the Erie Coincidences? Oh, sure, maybe these names don't lend themselves to a kid-friendly mascot, but I think you could market the team nonetheless, no? Anyway, I will always and forever root against the Sea Wolves solely because I hate their nickname. I'm like that.

Fast-Track Minor Leaguers

Here's an article from yesterday's Maine Sunday Telegram about a few of the Red Sox minor leaguers who are on the fast track to the majors, including Dustin Pedroia, Cla Meredith and Abe Alvarez. Theo Epstein has focused on college players in his drafts, and this is paying quick dividends. For the first time in several years, the Sox have a number of players who look poised to hit Boston (or, very likely, somewhere else in the major leagues) over the next couple of years.

People talk about the Yankees as if they have always been a bought team, but a large part of their core that won four championships between 1996-2000 was home grown: Jorge Posada, Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams, Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera. I think that the Red Sox are on the verge of having that kind of influx of young players over the next few years. It will be exciting to watch if it materializes.

Sea Dogs Players honored by the Red Sox

Red Sox Minor League Players of the Month

The Red Sox named their minor league players of the month for April, and the award list was dominated by Sea Dogs players:

Chris Durbin - Offensive Player of the Month, as well as co-winner of the Quality Plate Appearances Award.
Jeremy West - Co-winner of the Quality Plate Appearnances Award.

Cla Meredith - Pitcher of the Month

Dustin Pedroia - Baserunner of the Month

Former Sea Dog Kelly Shoppach, who seems to have reignighted his prospect star in Pawtucket this year, was named Defensive Player of the Month.

The only award winner who has never played in Portland was Pawtucket second sacker Alejandro Machado, who was named Base Stealer of the Month.

Durbin celebrated by being placed on the DL with a strained hamstring. His roster spot will be taken by Kenny Perez. This can't be a good sign for Perez, who last season appeared to be an OK prospect. I don't think that he's going to start in front of Hanley or Pedroia in Portland, and he's lost his job in Pawtucket to 31 year old career minor leaguer Luis Figueroa. Perez has struggled, however, and he probably needs more at bats at AA.

I'm only speculating here, but my guess is that when Durbin comes back, Perez stays behind and plays third base, and Jared the Wicket moves up to Pawtucket, where catcher Shawn Wooten is manning the hot corner (and batting .215) for the PawSox. Despite Sandberg's recent struggles with the bat, this seems to be the best configuration for these teams. Perez shouldn't be sitting behind a couple of guys in their 30's in AAA, while Sandberg has major league pedigree and seems to be a better fit for Pawtucket. Furthermore, Sandberg is five and a half years younger than Wooten (Sandberg is 27), so he still has a lot more upside than Wooten does. If your goal is to develop younger players, and at the same time have guys ready to fill in at the major league level if someone gets hurt, I think this makes the most sense.

Boston Globe article about Dustin Pedroia

Here's an article in the Boston Globe about Dustin Pedroia. Chris Snow is suggesting that Pedroia is on the fast track to the majors, and there's really nothing that I've seen thus far to contradict that statement. He's very selective at the plate, sees a lot of pitches, makes great contact when he swings, and has a fair amount of pop (which is surprising, given his size). This is all summed up by the following:

He's been using a wooden bat for less than 10 months, and in
that time, playing in Single A and Double A, he has more extra-base hits than
strikeouts. At low A Augusta, high A Sarasota, and now Double A Portland, he's
cranked out 30 extra-base hits and fanned just 18 times.

That's a phenominal stat. Actually, his entire batting line is impressive. So far, Pedroia has done the following in professional baseball:

400/474/560-1-5, 6 BB, 3K in 12 games (50 AB) at Augusta (low A)
336/417/523-2-14, 13 BB, 4K in 30 games (107 AB) at Sarasota (high A)
342/432/477-2-20, 17 BB, 11K in 28 games (111 AB) at Portland (AA)

Pedroia is showing just a little less power and striking out a little more often at AA than he did in the lower levels, but his on base skills have been extraordinary. I'll be disappointed if he moves up to Pawtucket before the season ends, but the job in the minors is to get the guys ready for the majors, and unless there is a setback of some sort, I think Pedroia should be kept on the fast track. When a guy is hitting .342 (and he's faced a lot of top pitchers this year), he's got the league figured out!

Pedroia has also been solid on defense. He seems to have a ton of range, he has good hands and certainly a strong enough arm for second base. In my scoring gig, I am supposed to note when a player makes a "great play", and I've marked Pedroia down more than any other Sea Dog (Hanley Ramirez and Brandon Moss have been noted a few times, too). I really don't see any holes in his game, other than the fact that he's not going to be a big home run hitter in the majors. I see Pedroia as turning into a Bill Mueller kind of batter: good average and a lot of doubles. I actually believe that Pedroia will probably be a better hitter than Mueller, because he is so good at working the strike zone.

I'm glad to see the Globe is keeping tabs on the kids on the farm.

Dogs win two

The Sea Dogs won the last two games of the series against New Hampshire, 6-1 on Tuesday night and 6-5 on Wednesday afternoon. Tuesday's battle of between the aces failed to materialize, as Portland victimized Josh Banks for six runs over five innings in handing him his first loss of the season. Portland managed only seven hits, but five were for extra bases, including home runs by two of the guys who have been slumping this year - Brandon Moss and Stefan Bailie. Jon Papelbon pitched six strong innings, with a first inning home run to Kevin Barker the only hit allowed. Papelbon has an unusual stat line this year - six home runs allowed, but only nine runs allowed on the entire season. If not for that pesky long ball, he'd have an ERA below 1.00.

There were encouraging signs from the lineup in Wednesday's game, as the Dogs scored five runs off Victor Perkins. They were shut down for 3 2/3 innings by James Vermilyea, who struck out seven. Kason Gabbard had his first good start in a couple of weeks, allowing only two runs in 5 2/3 innings pitched before Manny Delcarmen and Conor Brooks gave up the lead. Portland strung together a couple of hits and a couple of walks in the bottom of the 9th to collect the win.

The Dogs are off to Maryland to face off against the Bowie Baysox, who are 14-19 on the young season. I plan to profile some of the Baysox prospects in the next day or two.

Jim Baumer speaks at Lisbon Historical Society

As noted previously, Jim Baumer spoke tonight at the monthly meeting of the Lisbon Historical Society. Baumer's experiences growing up in Lisbon and following the town team (the Roberts 88ers) greatly influenced his love of baseball, and eventually inspired him to write his current book. While the book ("When Towns Had Teams") will look at the history of town team ball throughout Maine, tonight's talk focused on the various teams from Lisbon.

Baseball boomed in this country in the post depression years. There were hundreds of minor league teams throughout the country, and thousands of players tried their hand at pro ball. Many young men played for a couple of years then went to work at "real jobs", often in mills where they would play for the local town teams. The towns maintained strong identities and the baseball teams were a source of pride, particularly in a small town like Lisbon. Rivalries were formed with other towns, and beating one of the "city teams" was an event to be celebrated. Lisbon was represented by a succession of teams, including the Worumbo Indians, the Lisbon Merchants and the Roberts 88ers.

The Worumbo Indians existed in the 1930's and 1940's, and at one point featured future major leaguer Eddie Waitkus. They were sponsored by the Worumbo Textile Mill, and most of the players held jobs in the mill. In the 1950's, the Lisbon Merchants were the local team, sponsored (perhaps not coincidentally) by the town's businesses. Jim's earliest memories were of the Roberts 88ers (Roberts pharmacy, I believe), the team that his uncle Bob Baumer played for. According to Jim, the players on this team were as much his heroes as Carl Yastrzemski, Reggie Smith and Jim Lonborg of the Red Sox were. The local men took their baseball seriously and were role models for how to play the game "the right way". For Jim, it was a thrill just to play catch with these men. Several former Lisbon players were in attendance Wednesday evening, and inevitably stories were being swapped by the end of the night. I'm not always convinced that the stories are 100% factual, but it's fun to listen to the former players remenisce about the good old days.

Jim spent some time reflecting on some of the many accomplishments of the Lisbon teams, but he also spoke about the decline of local amateur baseball. At present, there are only two amatuer leagues in the state, the Twilight League in Southern Maine, and the Bay League in the Bangor area. As town have become less identified with the teams, it's been more difficult to gain the financial support needed to run the leagues. Whereas the Lisbon teams used to charge admission to their home games, now it is a challenge to get sponsorship from the local businesses. Jim, who coaches a team in the Twilight League, is working diligently to drum up support for the amateur leagues. He sees how local baseball was passed down from generation to generation (his son now plays in college and in the Twilight League), and hopes to see this tradition continue for years to come.

Baseball at any level is fun to watch and worthy of our support. We focus a lot on the professional game (admittedly, the primary focus of this site), but there would be no professional players without the amateur training ground. So its my challenge to everybody who reads this blog (both of you!) to get out to a local amateur game this summer, and try to keep the tradition alive.

Also, keep your eyes out for Jim's book, which he hopes to publish around the time of the World Series this fall. I'll post updates as I get them. Jim Baumer's labor of love promises to be a good read and a trip back in time well worth taking.

I had a terrific time at the Lisbon Historical Society meeting. I didn't know a single soul in the room, and had a few people look at me sideways and say, "Do I know who you are?" I met quite a few people who are interested in preserving local history. The LHS has done a lot of work accumulating any printed articles of local interest, cataloging and making them available to the public. They also have a nice display of local artifacts - pictures, baseball uniforms, artifacts from the local mills, etc. It's clearly a mission that its members take seriously, and they do it very well. Congratulations to them for caring so much.

UPDATE: Jim actually referred to me and my blog in his blog. Am I starting to arrive?

When Towns Had Teams

Tonight at 7:00 pm, Jim Baumer will be giving a talk to the Lisbon Historical Society about his current book project, "When Towns Had Teams". The book is about they heyday of town team baseball in Maine, post WWII. I'm looking forward to the talk, and I'm sure that Jim will have some interesting observations about the greater societal forces at play in the decline of town team ball in the state.

As stated above, the talk begins at 7:00 pm, and it will take place at the Marion T. Morse Center (former elementary school) on School St. in Lisbon Falls.

Dogs lose first game to Cats

The Sea Dogs lost the first game of the three-day showdown with the NH Fisher Cats, 4-2 Monday night. The weather was good, mild temps and very little wind – a welcome change from the recent games that I have attended. The game turned out to be a nifty pitchers duel between the #3 guys for each team – David Pauley for Portland and Ismael Ramirez for New Hampshire. I think that both of these guys are pretty decent prospects, and they seem to have similar games: fastball around 90 mph, breaking stuff (looked like a slider for Ramirez, whereas Pauley’s got a curve), a mixture of speeds. Ramirez was fun to watch as he slings the ball with a three-quarters delivery and keeps hitters off balance (a lot of popups from the Dogs last night). He also throws a little harder than Pauley, topping out at 92 on the admittedly balky radar display.

Pauley was a nice pickup for the Red Sox. He’s got good control and he’s done a good job handling AA pitching, and although I wouldn’t call him dominant, he doesn’t get himself into trouble, either. The trade that acquired Pauley was a good one for the Sox. They gave up a utility guy in Dave Roberts – 4th outfielder and pinch runner who wasn’t going to play a whole lot, and in return they got a similar player in Jay Payton (who has more power and hits from the right side), a versatile backup infielder in Ramon Vasquez, and Pauley, who has a chance to be a good mid-to-back of the rotation starter in a few years. I don’t think that he has the upside of Papelbon or Lester, but he’s definitely a guy who could be helpful in the future.

Scorer’s notes:

After looking like he was going to feast on AA pitching, Jared "The Wicket" Sandberg is in a sluuummppppp! He’s been striking out a lot and not making good contact at all (two foul pop outs last night). Maybe it’s the cold weather, but his poor hitting combined with his shaky defense (12 errors at third base, hence the nickname) have certainly been detrimental in the last couple of weeks. The offense in general would benefit from somebody in the lower half of the order getting hot. The top 4 (Ramirez, Pedroia, Durbin and West) continue to get on base a lot, but the rest of the lineup hasn’t been coming through. Jeff Bailey was one of the best hitters on the team last year, but hasn’t found his groove yet. Brandon Moss is a top prospect who has yet to hit. Stefan Bailie just returned to the lineup. When these guys start to hit like we know that they can, this is going to look like Boston North this summer.

The Sea Dogs actually "manufactured" a run in the first inning. Ramirez singled, was sacrificed to second by Pedroia (he was clearly bunting for a hit, but the scorer gave him a sac anyway), stole third and scored with some aggressive baserunning on a ground ball to a drawn-in second baseman. They used a lot of small ball strategies last season when they didn’t have the bats, but we haven’t seen a lot of it this year, especially with the top of the lineup. Portland’s been in a bit of an offensive funk lately and they were facing a good pitcher, so it seemed like a good idea at the time. And it’s fun to watch, though I don’t think that giving up outs in the first inning is really the best strategy.

Portland scored in the first two innings and looked like they were going to get to Ismael Ramirez like they have other top pitchers. Then David Murphy was picked off second base by the catcher to end the second inning, and the Dogs lost all momentum. They had just two more base runners all night, one of whom was erased on a stolen base attempt.

Mid May Showdown

The New Hampshire Fisher Cats are coming to town for a showdown between the top two teams in the EL North. As has been my practice, I reviewed John Sickels' top 20 Blue Jays prospects to see who to watch over the next three days. According to Sickels, there are five guys to look out for:

Josh Banks rates a B, and is #4 on the list. He's been dominant thus far in '05: 6 starts, 37 2/3 IP, 1.67 ERA, 0.80 WHIP, 33/3 K/BB ratio. Last year was his first in pro ball - he dominated A ball before being promoted to New Hampshire, where he had a 5.03 ERA in 90 IP, but with decent peripherals (1.28 WHIP, 76/28 K/BB). It looks like he'll be pitching on Tuesday vs. Papelbon (I think), which will be a real good matchup that I won't be able to attend.

Shaun Markum has been almost as good as Banks: 6 starts, 39 1/3 IP, 2.29 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, 27/4 K/BB ratio. Sickels ranks him the Jays' #10 prospect with a B- rating. This is his first taste of AA. He's pitched very well in A ball in his career: 182 1/3 IP, 2.81 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, 202/27 K/BB. He pitched Sunday, so the Dogs will miss him.

One below Markum, also with a B- rating, is James Vermilyea, who has pitched out of the bullpen this year. 16.2 IP, 2.16 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 12K/4BB - all very good numbers. He spent half of last season with the Cats, posting very similar numbers in the process.

At #15, with a C+ rating, is Ismael Ramirez, who should be the starter in tonight's game. He's made five starts, pitching 27.1 innings with a 3.62 ERA and 1.10 WHIP and 17/5 K/BB ratio. Ramirez posted a 2.72 ERA and 1.06 WHIP in a full season in the High A Florida State League last season.

Vince Perkins is one notch below Ramirez and should be starting Wednesday's matinee. He's started six games, with 31 IP, 3.19 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, and 28/15 K/BB ratio. Perkins is the only one of these guys with a high walk rate, and he spent some extra time in A ball because of it.

Like Norwich, New Hampshire's batters seem to be as weak as the pitchers are strong (is the new ballpark in Manchester a pitchers park?), which is why they are not likely to be able to hang with the Sea Dogs for the full season. Portland is a much better balanced team on paper. Top hitters are 29-year-old DH Kevin Barker, who is hitting 248/322/396-2-14 on the young season and leads the team in slugging and RBI. He's a veteran of 85 major league games with the Brewers and Padres. 2B Carlo Cota is hitting 245/286/367-2-13, but has already struck out 32 times vs. only six walks. Starting catcher Erik Kratz leads the team with a 329 OBP (overall 230/329/361-2-9). Overall, this appears to be a pretty weak bunch.

More Transactions

Call it the Reverse of the Curse of the Sea Blog. Just yesterday I wrote about how Charlie Zink seemed to be pitching better than his 6.65 ERA would suggest. Today, he was promoted to Pawtucket. Looks like he'll be in the rotation with Jeremi Gonzales remaining in Boston for a while.

From a pure merit standpoint, Zink wouldn't be the guy that you would have promoted. Jons Papelbon and Lester and David Pauley have all pitched better than Zink and are the stronger prospects at this stage of their careers. But Zink is a knuckleballer and seems to gain less from spending more time at the AA level. It seems to me that either the knuckleball is working or it's not working, and it doesn't really matter how good the guy in the batter's box is in either case. Zink's knuckler seems to be working well at this point.

Zink's roster (and rotation) spot will be taken by Chris Smith, who was leading the EL in strikeouts last season before he was shut down with an arm injury.

Also, erstwhile Sea Dogs closer Cla Meredith was promoted to Boston after being in Rhode Island for less than a week. Unfortunately things didn't work out so well for Meredith in his debut. In a somewhat peculiar move, he was thrown right into a tie ball game with a runner on base. Cla allowed a couple of walks before giving up a grand slam to Richie Sexson. John Halama was saddled for the loss, but it was a tough situation for Meredith to give up his first runs of the season, and hopefully he'll get a chance to redeem himself under better circumstances real soon. Blaine Neal, a former Sea Dog (when they were affiliated with the Marlins) who has struggled thus far with a 9.00 ERA and 2.25 WHIP, was released to make room for Meredith.

Wade Miller, who never did get to pitch in Portland, made his Red Sox debut and looked good, giving up two runs and striking out six in five innings.

Walking in the Rain

The Sea Dogs won the first game of Sunday's doubleheader, 3-2 in 10 innings. Fortunately for those required to work, the second game of the double header was rained out. This was a miserable day in the cold, wet rain, with lots of delays to put the "drying compound" (whatever this substance may be) on the mound, around home plate and around all of the bases. 'Course, since the compound can't do anything about the fact that water is falling from the sky, it's only a temporary fix.

As is usually the case with these things, the rain was fairly light through most of the game, and things were moving along at a pretty good clip for a while. The temp was pretty cold (probably low 40's) and the wind was brisk, but things were manageable. In the minor leagues, double header games are only scheduled for 7 innings. And so it was that we headed to the 7th inning with the pitchers throwing strikes, the batters swinging early, and the game (a 1-0 Portland lead) less than 1 1/2 hours old.

It was too good to last.

Jon Lester was cruising entering the 7th, having thrown just over 70 pitches (if I recall correctly) and allowing only three hits while striking out 8. Leadoff batter Dan Ortmeier hit a hard fly ball to left. On an ordinary day, I'd say this ball was gone. But, this was not an ordinary day - a strong wind in from left field knocked the ball down. Problem was, left fielder Chris Durbin had no idea where it might land. It landed behind him for a leadoff triple. Two batters later, center fielder Randy Walters knocked in the tying run with a double. As things played out, Norwich would not have scored if not for the misplay.

And, of course, the baseball and weather gods being sadistic on occasion, this is when the rain really started to fall.

The next three innings were spent in a desparate and somewhat futile attempt to keep the paperwork dry. I was fairly successful, if I do say so myself, but it's tough to keep the paper dry when your hands are wet. I had to ditch my ball cap because drips kept falling off the brim onto my score sheets. Fortunately I had my tocque with me to keep my head warm.

One of the sad parts of the scorekeeping job is that sometimes one finds oneself rooting not for the home team to win, but for the game to end by the quickest means possible. So, when the Navigators scored in the top of the 8th, I was hoping for anything but a one-run rally by the Sea Dogs to tie things up again. That, of course, is just what I got, with Stefan Bailie doubling for his first hit of the season and Alberto Concepcion chasing home pinch runner Raul Nieves with a two-out single. The Navigators rallied again in the 9th, but Chris Curry was out on an ill-advised attempt to score from second on a shallow single - the second outfield assist by Brandon Moss in the game. Finally, Manny Delcarmen shut down Norwich by striking out the side in the 10th, and the Sea Dogs pushed home the winning run without ever putting a ball in play - Norwich pitchers struck out two Dogs batters of their own, but also issued four walks in the inning (two by Brian Mazone, two by Anthony Pannone), the final one to Dustin Pedroia forcing home Jeff Bailey for the win. For their part, the Norwich pitchers (each of whom also let a wild pitch sail back to the screen in the inning) blamed the wet baseballs for their troubles.

So it was an entertaining if soggy game. The drizzle appeared to be letting up a little, and I had no sooner plunked down my $4.50 for a hot dog and hot cocoa to prepare myself for another two hours in the rain when the announcement came that game two was cancelled due to wet conditions. It was the right call and I was glad that it came, but couldn't they have decided two minutes earlier?

Scorers notes:

Due to a car accident on Allen Avenue that I was directly behind and therefore a key eyewitness, I was a couple of innings late to the game. Thankfully my co-scorer Colin was there and I was able to catch up my score sheets at the end of the game. I don't know what I would have done if I were the only one working - maybe BIS would have fired me - but I thought it was better to be a good citizen and call 911 than to make sure that I got every pitch scored for some baseball consultants.

Lester appears to be getting into a groove. Early in the season he was having some trouble with his command and getting into high pitch counts, resulting in some short outings. Today he was really on, and I have no doubt that he would have completed the shutout under better weather conditions. Lester lowered his ERA to 3.86, and has now allowed 32 hits in 32 2/3 IP, with just 9 walks allowed vs. 34 K's. He and Jon Papelbon are really living up to their advanced billing.

Delcarmen now leads the team with 4 wins - all in relief. He's also pitching well after a couple of rough outings at the beginning of the season. This was the first time that I've gotten to see him pitch, but I didn't take a lot of notes, because who wants to take notes in the rain. He did blow the Navigators away in the 10th, I can tell you that much. The Red Sox prospects guys now have him ranked #19 in the organization (though only #8 on the team!)

Friday Night Loss

The Sea Dogs lost to the Norwich Navigators 6-3 on Friday night at Hadlock Field. The pitching matchup was a contrast in styles, with knuckleballer Charlie Zink taking the mound for Portland and flame thrower Merkin Valdez toeing the rubber for the Navigators. Though he didn't get up to 99 on the radar (he topped out at 96 on this chilly evening), Valdez fared better than in his first two outings against the Sea Dogs, allowing just two hits while striking out six in 5 1/3 innings pitched. Again, however, he struggled with his control, walking four and hitting a batter. Valdez has electric stuff, but I think that it's important for him to improve his command and get his pitch counts down. He threw 99 pitches on Friday and didn't get through the sixth inning. On the year, he's averaged less than 5 innings per start in six outings.

The struggles continued for Charlie Zink. He gave up five runs in six innings, though he was quite strong outside of the second inning, when the Navigators put together a five run rally on five hits and one walk. Zink has allowed 17 runs in 23 innings pitched, though his peripherals (22 hits, 8 walks) aren't too bad. As with most knuckleballers, teams tend to run on Zink, which leaves him with less margin for error. I would expect his ERA to come down if he keeps his WHIP below 1.30 (as it is now), and I think that he'll end up having a decent season.

Scorers notes:

This was the first game for Stefan Bailie, who missed the first part of the season while recovering from knee surgery. It was a rough one, he was 0-4, striking out once and hitting into a bases-loaded double play.

Jeff Bailey had a rough game, too. He did have an RBI single, but he was hit by two pitches, including one in the 9th that sent him out of the game for pinch runner Alberto Concepcion.

"Pinch runner Alberto Concepcion"? I wasn't expecting that one at all.

Big lefty reliever Erick Threets recorded the final out for a save. Like Valdez, Threets was popping the radar in the upper 90's, though it was just for one batter.

Tim Huttig had a big game for Norwich, with two doubles, two RBI, and a lean-in hit by pitch on a slow knuckler by Zink. Huttig now leads Norwich with a .298 batting average.

Justin Sturge had a nice three inning relief appearance for the Sea Dogs, allowing one unearned run on one hit, one walk, and one Jared Sandberg error. This is at least the third game that I have attended in which Sandberg has made two errors at third base. He started off hitting well but has been in a slump lately. He's going to have to hit a hell of a lot better to move up, 'cuz the defense just isn't cutting it right now.

Hardball Times

Here are a couple of articles from the Hardball Times that I found interesting.

In the first, John Brattain discusses why Don Fehr should resign. At the bottom is a totally unrelated bit about classic bullpen failures in recent years. One of these games was the June 6, 1998 game between the Sox and the Braves, in which Tom Gordon and Way Back Wasdin blew a 6-1 lead in the 9th. This game came famously in the middle of Gordon's once-record save streak (was it 50 or so?), but, since it was a five-run lead, there was no "save situation", therefore no "blown save". Which should tell you about all you need to know about what a crock that record was. The save rule in general is a crock, but that's a discussion for another day.

The second is the Business of Baseball Report, which doesn't have anything earthshattering in it, but it's a recently-added feature that illustrates how the Hardball Times web site is growing stronger all the time.

More Sea Dogs Roster Moves

In the most disappointing news (for me personally) of the young season, Cla Meredith was promoted to Pawtucket before I got a chance to see him pitch. He converted all nine of his save opps this season and did not allow a run in 15 innings pitch in Portland (of course, his stats have been disappeared from the Sea Dogs web site), so a promotion was appropriate, but I was hoping to see his stuff before he went away.

(OK, Minorleaguebaseball.com has his stats: 1-0, 9 sv, 12 G, 15 IP, 5 H, 3 BB, 12 K, 0.00 ERA. Outstanding!)

Also, Stefan Bailie is to be activated from the disabled list. The slugging first baseman hit 308/364/590-8-28 in just 37 games inPortland last season. Sheldon Fulse, who has been the 4th OF this season, has been placed on the DL.

No word on the web site as to who is replacing Meredith on the roster.

Recently released players Talley Haines and Mike O'Keefe found other jobs. Haines signed with the West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx (what the hell is that?), AA affiliate of the Cubs, while Mike O'Keefe actually landed with the Richmond Braves, his first career taste of AAA baseball. Good luck to both of them!

Navigators come to town

The Sea Dogs have been out of town and the auditors have been in town, the result being that the Blog has suffered for a few days. The good news for you, the loyal reader, is that the Dogs are back home starting tomorrow (Friday) night, and I'll be doing all the games this weekend (as always, weather permitting).

This weekend Portland hosts the Norwich Navigators, who they also met opening weekend at Hadlock. The Navigators are currently 11-15 and in last place in the EL North. I highlighted a few of the Norwich prospects in my April 8 post, and I'd like to give a couple of updates.

Merkin Valdez, the top prospect for the Giants, has made five starts and is currently 1-0 with a 2.70 ERA, numbers that you would expect with his eye-popping upper-90's heat. Valdez, however, has allowed 6 unearned runs, 27 hits and 11 walks (vs. 21 K's) in 23 1/3 IP, which is consistent with what I saw when I watched him pitch. The Sea Dogs have had little problem with Valdez, who should be starting Friday's game.

Alfredo Simon, who will not pitch this weekend, is 1-3 with a 6.10 ERA in 6 starts thus far. His peripherals are better than the numbers indicate: 39 hits (3 HR) and only 7 walks in 31 IP, with a 3:1 K:BB ratio.

Billy Sadler has a 3.45 ERA and one save in 8 games (15.2 IP). He's struck out 15 but walked 9 while allowing only 9 hits thus far.

Fred Lewis is hitting 260/336/333-0-4 with 3 steals in 7 attempts through 24 games played. With zero power, he needs to get on base more and not make outs on the bases.

Norwich doesn't have a lot of great hitting stats thus far. Top producers have included Dan Ortmeier (258/324/412-3-17, 9 SB), Anthony Labarbera (274/398/333-0-13, 16 walks) and Eric Von Schell (231/307/396-4-14). Chris Begg (2-2, 1.82 in five starts) and David Aardsma (3-2, 2.88 in 5 games) lead an impressive pitching staff. Given these numbers, it's likely that Norwich is a "pitchers" park, but I don't know this for sure.

Red Sox Fever - catch it

I went to see the movie Fever Pitch, starring Drew Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon, over the weekend. It's a serviceable romantic comedy - some good laughs and the lead characters are appealing. I like Drew, but she's still got that little-girl lisp thing going on (like she had in ET, when she was about six years old) that is cute at the same time that it makes it a little tough to picture her as a brainy mathmetician. Maybe I'm just an insensitive boor who is stereotyping her. Anyway . . . .

As most people reading this blog are likely to know, Fever Pitch follows the romance between Barrymore, a workaholic bucking for a promotion, and Fallon, a high-school math teacher who is a Red Sox fanatic with season tickets behind the first base dugout. Predictably, it's difficult to maintain momentum in a relationship when one person is committed to the one unwavering relationship he has always had - the Boston Red Sox. Ultimately, Jimmy Fallon does the right thing and the two lovebirds stay together in the end, and there are a couple of amusing turns along the way. It's nice that Ione Skye is back in a mainstream film - her career has, shall we say, been a little bumpy since Say Anything all those years ago. The only cast member that I really found objectionable was Jessamy Finet, who was about as annoying as anybody in the movie "Still We Believe". My objections were more with her role in the previous movie, however, because she was fine in this one.

I'm inclined to say that this movie is required viewing for Red Sox fans. There is a lot of Fenway in the movie, there are cameos from Sox players (Damon, Varitek and Nixon - the biggest upset of the year was the fact that Millar didn't have a role in this film!) and it's gratifying to see people who are more obsessed than you (the viewer) are. Also, it relieves the 2004 season, and you really can't get enough of that as a Sox fan. And even non-Sox fans might enjoy the show, as it gives good fodder for making fun of any sports fanatic. The movie is based on the book by Nick Hornby, author of High Fidelity and About a Boy, as well as a fun little collection of essays called Songbook (which was published in the UK under the title 31 Songs), though thankfully it's been changed from the original, which dealt with soccer fanatacism. So, go see it for a little light entertainment.