Link Report for Fri. 4/24 -- LATE UPDATES: T-Rats photos, Tempers Flare at Dunedin

[Mass Haas]

Appleton Post-Cresent Blog Post with additional quotes and information, click on the link for full text

 

"First time on a big league mound," Cody Adams said. "The mound's plush, it's perfect, like how you'd expect it to be. … I didn't know what to expect. I just tried to go out there and throw strikes."

 

"One of our pitchers got it back for me. He had to trade three balls to get it. Liam Ohlmann, he got that. And I'm very gracious towards him." - Brock Kjeldgaard on retrieving his home run ball

[Mass Haas]

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Timber Rattlers pitcher Liam Ohlmann (right) watches his teammates take batting practice at Miller Park in Milwaukee on Friday. Photo for The Post-Crescent by Wm. Glasheen

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

Timber Rattlers get a taste of the future while beating Peoria at Miller Park

 

MILWAUKEE - The dream could be seen as the bus clipped along I-94, filled suddenly with a bunch of gawking ballplayers.

 

It was a jewel, a cathedral of tan brick and olive-splashed steel, rising into the foreground with every inch the giddy group drew closer.

 

For one day anyway, it was home. Really.

 

"You can't explain the wide eyes that we saw when we pulled up and guys were pulling their cameras out and taking pictures," Wisconsin Timber Rattlers manager Jeff Isom said of his players before a slight smirk revealed his own "kid-in-a-candy-store" excitement.

 

"It's no different (for me) than the players," he added. "I was wide-eyed when I came in. But once the game starts, we still have to play out there on the field. It's no different than any other place. It just has a few more decks than what we do in Appleton."

 

"It" would be Miller Park, where the Rattlers played host to the Peoria Chiefs on Friday in a contest that put the finishing touches on a four-game Midwest League series - the first three of which were staged about 90 miles up the pike at Fox Cities Stadium in Grand Chute.

 

For the record, Wisconsin beat the Chiefs 5-3, and while the outcome capped a sweep, it certainly wasn't the cherry on the sundae.

 

Friday's game was all about taking advantage of one very awesome perk this new player development partnership between the Rattlers and Brewers provides: The chance to see and feel what a day in the bigs is all about.

 

"This is what I'm going to work for. This is my dream," said Wisconsin center fielder Cutter Dykstra, whose belly-flop dive and snare to retire the first batter of the game drew an approving ovation from the 17,880 fans in attendance.

 

"This is what I'm going to bust it for every day, give everything I've got. I look at it as a goal. Everyone wants to get here, and you've got to work hard to get here."

 

Wisconsin is the Brewers' Class-A affiliate and a crucial organizational starting point as players try to get acclimated to the grind of their first full season - 140 games of professional ball.

 

The next rung is the high-A level, followed by Double-A, then Triple-A and, finally, the majors for those deemed the chosen ones.

 

It can be a steep and treacherous climb, which is why Rattlers hitting coach Matt Erickson tried to convey the importance of soaking up the Miller Park experience while also using the trip as a motivator to reach the ultimate.

 

He would know, too. The former Appleton West standout appeared in four games with the Brewers in 2004. He lived the dream.

 

"When we took our (stadium) tour, we went to the home clubhouse, and I ran over to my locker and jumped in my seat and said, 'This is where I was for four days, fellas!' " Erickson said with a chuckle. "You never know. It could be years away. It could never come again. And I think these people understand that, or we're trying to make them understand that, through work ethic, the possibilities are endless. This is the pinnacle of our profession, and they not only get the chance to hear about it, but today, they get to see it and live it for one day.

 

"It was fun to see the excitement as they came down the highway, as they saw Miller Park for the first time, a lot of them. A lot of flip phones opening. A lot of people taking pictures of their lockers with their uniforms in. A great opportunity to see what the possibility is for these guys."

Like a vast assortment of flavored sunflower seeds?

 

"In our clubhouse in Appleton, we have regular sunflower seeds," Isom laughed. "Here, they've got barbeque. They've got ranch. They've got every kind of sunflower seeds you can imagine. They've got gum here. It definitely is motivation for guys to move through the ranks and get to the big leagues. This is kind of the carrot, if you will, dangling in front of them."

 

Dykstra, meanwhile, enjoyed checking out the Brewers' high-tech video room and clubhouse weight room, "with all the protein powder laid out for you," he said. "We were joking when we walked in today, 'We're carrying our bags, but when we get here, we won't be carrying our bags.' "

 

Then there was Rattlers first baseman Brock Kjeldgaard, whose 415-foot blast in the fifth inning easily cleared the right field wall for a two-run shot and gave his team the lead for good.

 

What did he take from Friday's fantasy?

 

"When I hit it and was rounding the bases, I thought I was going to trip," he said with a smile following a three-RBI night. "The only word to describe it is exciting. … Hopefully, it's not the last one (I'll hit) in a big league park. That's the goal, obviously, to make it to the big leagues and stay out here for a long time."

 

Keep dreaming, kid. Keep dreaming.

[Mass Haas]

Journal-Sentinel article on the game, more from Lawrie and Dykstra

[wvpowerblkwel]

Is no-one else paying any attention to the numbers Caleb Gindl is putting up?

Caleb Gindl a big three-run bomb to go with two singles -- the kid is simply raking

 

Hello our West Virginia friend -- as copied form above, just about every day!

Not talking about you Mass.....just nobody else that I usually engage in stimulating baseball talk! Mark my words....AA, in less than 3 weeks! You can quote me there sometime soon I promise!

[Mass Haas]

Post-Crescent Photo Gallery

Wily Peralta looks solid, doesn't he -- not your prototypical rail-thin Latin pitching prospect...

 

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[Mass Haas]

From Friday -- quite a few details of note:

Dunedin Site Game Summary

 

Tempers flare in Jays' 5-3 loss to Manatees

By Tim Livingston / Dunedin Blue Jays

 

Maybe it was the 11 a.m. start time. Maybe it was Brevard County Manatees starter Mike Jones plunking Dunedin center fielder Darin Mastroianni square in the back to load the bases in the fifth.

 

Whatever it was, Omar Malave was not happy with many things in Friday's series opener, as the Manatees took care of the Blue Jays, 5-3, for their fourth consecutive victory over the Blue Jays.

 

The Manatees had gotten out to a 4-0 lead halfway through the contest thanks to four RBIs from right fielder Caleb Gindl, who smacked an RBI single in the third and crushed a ball over the right field wall for a three-run homer that landed on top of the Blue Jays office roof.

 

In the bottom of the fifth, the Jays got one back on a solo homer from right fielder Moises Sierra, his second of the season. Then, Adam Loewen smacked his first professional base hit in his second at-bat of the day, having been activated from the DL on Friday morning. Third baseman Jesus Gonzalez followed with a single of his own and then catcher Jon Jaspe walked to load the bases.

 

Jones then threw a pitch that got away from Mantees catcher Martin Maldonado, and Loewen came home from third to make it a two-run ballgame. The very next pitch, Jones hit Mastroianni, which raised the ire of Malave. He and Manatees third baseman Zelous Wheeler exchanged words, and that brought home plate umpire Matt Cunningham out to administer a warning to both sides and talk to both managers.

 

Shortstop Justin Jackson was then hit with a pitch, but it was not deemed intentional, as Jones had two strikes on Jackson. Gonzalez scored to make it 4-3.

 

Things stayed pretty calm until the bottom of the seventh inning. After the Jays got two runners on with two out, left fielder Eric Thames stepped to the plate with a chance to tie the game, but was called out for leaving the box during the at-bat, raising the ire of Malave once again.

 

Malave would walk down the line to argue with Cunningham, and after about 30 seconds, Cunningham threw Malave out of the game. The small but vocal crowd at Dunedin Stadium voiced their displeasure, as well, but the damage had been done.

 

The Manatees then added their insurance run in the top of the ninth when first baseman Steffan Wilson hit a home run to left-center field to make it 5-3 and set the stage for closer Rob Wooten, who notched his third save of the year.

 

Ryan Page took the loss for Dunedin and fell to 0-3 on the year, as he has a 9.64 ERA in this three starts so far. Jones improved to 2-0 with the win for Brevard County, who won their ninth game of the season to hang on to first place in the Florida State League North Division.