Link Report for Games of Saturday, June 10th

[Mass Haas]

http://www.brewerfan.net/images/store/dailylinkreport.jpg

[Mass Haas]

Saturday's Daily Menu:

 

All times Central; pitchers subject to change --

 

Nashville: RHP Rick Helling in a rehab start at New Orleans (Nationals), 5:40 PM pre-game, 6:00 gametime; RHP Dennis Sarfate will piggy-back; the Zephyrs throw rehabbing RHP Pedro Astacio...

 

Audio link:

www.nashvillesounds.com/listenlive/

 

Huntsville: TBD at Jacksonville (Dodgers), 5:50 PM pre-game, 6:05 gametime; this was to be Carlos Villaneva's start prior to his Friday night call-up...

 

Audio link:

www.espn1450.com/

 

Brevard County: RHP Josh Wahpepah at home vs. Jupiter (Marlins), 6:00 PM

 

Audio link (opponent's):

www.jupiterhammerheads.com/

 

West Virginia: RHP Matt Kretzschmar at Hickory (Pirates), 5:50 PM pre-game, 6:00 gametime

 

Audio link:

www.sportsjuice.com/provi...e=wvpower.

[Mass Haas]

Follow Saturday's action as it happens:

Here's what you do, right click on each of the links below and choose "Open in New Window". Activate the Nashville Gameday. For the other links, choose "Log". While you're listening to your minor league game of choice (or watching/listening to the big league Crew when they are playing), simply refresh your game log browsers every so often. It's sweet!

 

Nashville:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_nozaaa_1

 

Huntsville:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_jaxaax_1

 

Brevard County:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_breafa_1

 

West Virginia:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_hicafx_1

[Mass Haas]

This link will be included in each daily report when the Nashville Sounds and/or Huntsville Stars are scheduled to play. Normally it is updated an hour or two prior to gametime:

 

Nashville Media Notes (Adobe .pdf format):

 

www.nashvillesounds.com/pdf/notes.pdf

 

Following Nashville's lead, Huntsville now makes its media notes available as well, nice:

 

www.huntsvillestars.com/i...eNotes.pdf

[Mass Haas]

Standings through Friday's action:

 

 Pacific Coast League (AAA) - American North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [b]Nashville 33 28 .541 - 21-11 12-17 L4[/b] Iowa 26 33 .441 6.0 13-14 13-19 W1 Omaha 25 36 .410 8.0 16-17 9-19 L2 Memphis 21 39 .350 11.5 11-17 10-22 L6 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Southern League (AA) - North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chattanooga 38 24 .613 - 24-11 14-13 L1 West Tenn 36 26 .581 2.0 16-17 20-9 L1 Tennessee 30 33 .476 8.5 18-12 12-21 L1 Carolina 29 34 .460 9.5 18-15 11-19 W1 [b]Huntsville 23 38 .377 14.5 9-19 14-19 L5[/b] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Florida State League (A+) - East Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- St. Lucie 37 24 .607 - 19-14 18-10 W8 [b]Brevard County 33 26 .559 3.0 17-12 16-14 W1[/b] Palm Beach 31 30 .508 6.0 16-14 15-16 W2 Daytona 30 31 .492 7.0 18-11 12-20 L4 Jupiter 27 33 .450 9.5 13-17 14-16 L1 Vero Beach 23 38 .377 14.0 13-17 10-21 L3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- South Atlantic League (A) - Northern Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lexington 37 23 .617 - 22-12 15-11 W1 Delmarva 35 24 .593 1.5 18-12 17-12 W1 [b]West Virginia 33 27 .550 4.0 17-12 16-15 W1[/b] Greensboro 32 29 .525 5.5 21-11 11-18 L5 Lakewood 31 29 .517 6.0 18-13 13-16 W2 Hickory 28 31 .475 8.5 14-12 14-19 L1 Lake County 26 35 .426 11.5 12-18 14-17 L1 Hagerstown 23 38 .377 14.5 13-14 10-24 L1

[Mass Haas]

The Huntsville Times Mark McCarter is in Milwaukee this weekend to check in with Huntsville alumni -- we'll post his updates here --

 

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.al.com/sports/huntsvi...amp;coll=1

 

There's a kid in this Hall; luckily he finds it

Ex-Star plays for the fun of it, hits HR in Brewers' win

Contact Mark McCarter at markcolumn@aol.com

Huntsville Times

 

MILWAUKEE - Sometimes, it gets too big. It gets too serious. Too grown-up.

 

Sometimes, you need to do what Bill Hall did.

 

"I went out there and tried to play like a kid,'' he said.

 

And, for all the trappings and money and hot air, isn't that what baseball really is at its core?

 

It's a kids' game.

 

For the generations raised on sandlot ball, it's skinned knees and grass stains and getting dirty and chattering Heybatterheybatterheybatterheybatter...swing! and games abruptly ending with mom calling at dark-thirty, "William Hall, you better come in this house this minute."

 

Or, on this day, abruptly ending when Bill Hall plopped a 10th-inning home run over the fence in right field to give Milwaukee a 4-3 comeback win over San Diego Thursday afternoon at Miller Park.

 

It was punctuated by Hall jogging around to home plate, where his joyous teammates hugged and jumped and jostled and chest-bumped and slapped palms in a crazed choreography, like a Little League World Series win.

 

Acting just like kids, they were.

 

"Any time you win a ballgame with a walk off (homer) ... it's always fun," said Hall, standing at his locker in undershirt, shorts and matching hyphens of glare-guard painted under his eyes.

 

"It's fun," said Hall, "when we get out there and try to beat up on each other. We look forward to it.''

 

If not for Hall's glove, his bat wouldn't have made a difference.

 

Hall, who played 41 games for the Southern League co-champion Huntsville Stars in 2001, seemed pigeon-holed as a utility man for the Brewers. But shortstop J.J. Hardy went on the disabled list on May 17. Hall took over at shortstop.

 

He was merely an Ozzie Smith clone on Thursday.

 

In the sixth, he made a sliding, over-the-shoulder catch of a Josh Barfield pop. In the eighth, he went deep in the hole and threw out Vinny Castilla, who, yes, runs like a man who is or should be connected to an iron lung, from the outfield grass.

 

In the 10th, after Padres' shortstop Khalil Greene booted the most routine of grounders to let the game go extra innings, Hall ended the inning with a 6-3 double play, soaring over a sliding runner and making a perfect throw.

 

"You won't see many double plays nicer than that,'' said manager Ned Yost.

 

For the second time in a month, it was Hall Homer Heroics. On Mother's Day, with mom Vergie in the stands, up from Nettleton, Miss., Billy beat the Mets with a 10-inning home run.

 

Last Sunday, she might not have been so proud.

 

Hall was called out on strikes. He petulantly dropped his bat at the plate. He was thrown out of the game. So was Yost, who had galloped to his support.

 

Afterward, Yost did the baseball equivalent of sending Hall to his room without supper and without TV privileges. He benched him for two games. If nothing else, it helped clear Hall's head, two days "not to have to think about baseball," to relax a bit.

 

"A lot of frustration built up on this team. We couldn't catch a break," Hall said, referring to an eight-game losing streak and his own personal slump (nine for his last 49 before Thursday's 2-for-4 game.) "We're out there battling and things weren't going our way. We tend to lose it a little bit. I regret it."

 

Funny how it happens.

 

Funny how close, and how far apart, they can be.

 

Acting immature and acting like a kid.

 

One a negative, the other a positive.

 

One sending you off with an umpire's gesture, the other carrying you off in your teammates' embrace.

 

***

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.al.com/sports/huntsvi...amp;coll=1

 

Like retractable roof, glove is half open

Hits - and errors - follow Weeks from Stars to majors

Contact Mark McCarter at markcolumn@aol.com

Huntsville Times

 

MILWAUKEE - Four hours from the first pitch, the retractable roof of Miller Park yawns halfway open. It's a brisk, breezy day, somewhere between, say, winter's frozen tundra and the Fourth of July.

 

The stadium is nearly empty. No one is on the field except for three men.

 

One is hitting ground balls. Another is catching throws.

 

The middle man, fielding the grounders and throwing to first base, working up a sweat, is Rickie Weeks.

 

There is the crack of the bat. There is Weeks, skittering like a crab to the right or left, gobbling up a ground ball. Then, upright again, to make the throw.

 

Again and again and again and again ...

 

It's all a part of a process. The Milwaukee Brewers are trying to make things come naturally for a Natural.

 

Few players ever wore a Huntsville Stars uniform who had more upside, more "Can't Miss" attached to them than Rickie Darnell Weeks Jr. He belongs in on an historic list, up there with Canseco, Tejada, Chavez and Hudson.

 

Weeks came to the Stars in 2004 as a No. 1 draft pick out of Southern University. Unanimous college player of the year, the sweet revenge against the big college teams who spurned him. Owner of the NCAA career batting average record, a has-to-be-a-typo .473. Fantasy-league types were already starting to call friends in Huntsville. "Should we draft Weeks now?''

 

Trouble is, when the big roof closes, the lights come on and the stands fill up, it's not a fantasy world. What you did for the Southern Jaguars and the Huntsville Stars isn't worth a dime.

 

Weeks is 23. He has played only 160 major league games. Sometimes, that becomes very obvious.

 

"It's going all right, but you've got your ups and downs,'' Weeks says, sitting at his locker in the Brewers' clubhouse, where he has just been teasing around with the sons of teammate Corey Koskie, acting like everybody's favorite crazy uncle.

 

"It's my first full season and I'm still trying to learn.''

 

The ups:

 

His offense. Going into the weekend series with St. Louis, which he started nicely with an RBI double in the Brewers' Friday night loss, he was batting .296 and was seventh in the league in stolen bases.

 

"What I've always seen from him," says teammate and childhood chum Prince Fielder.

 

The downs:

 

The second baseman had made 20 errors in 56 games. "It's like a golfer with the yips," says one Brewers observer.

 

Hence the early-afternoon work.

 

Fielding has not been as natural for Weeks as his hitting. Somewhere atop the to-do list of former Stars manager Frank Kremblas, who also worked with Weeks in Nashville, was to improve his defense, especially the footwork. It's been a slow process. Some believe Weeks' future may ultimately be as an outfielder.

 

"Obviously, people are looking at the defensive side of things," says Milwaukee general manager Doug Melvin. "He needs to improve. But Rickie is extremely hard-working.''

 

That brings to mind something Weeks said more than two years ago, the young Natural on the brink of his season in Huntsville, a veteran then of only 28 professional games.

 

"Somebody doubts you, somebody doesn't think you can do something, they don't have faith in you, it makes you work harder,'' Weeks said that spring.

 

And so it continues.

 

Outside, Milwaukee fans doubt his defense. Inside, under a roof half-open, the work goes on.

[Mass Haas]

With Rick Helling scheduled for 80-85 pitches tonight, the Sounds have scrapped plans for using Dennis Sarfate in piggy-back mode.

 

Sarfate starts Sunday, followed by Justin Lehr, Dana Eveland, and Ben Hendrickson the next few days.

[And That]

Not a good night to be a starting pitcher. Rick Helling, Matt Smith and Josh Wahpepah all with pretty bad performances, and Matt Kretzchmar didn't exactly twirl a gem (though IIRC, it was one of his best starts). Helling I understand - he's probably shaking off some rust, and Matt Smith just really isn't that good, but Wahpepah's continued slide is disturbing. Another 4 walks in 3 innings today, and what was one of the best ERAs in the system a month ago is now at almost 4.00.

[DHonks]

yeah Toby, we're all curious what's going on w/Wahpepah. He was a strike thrower w/great numbers a month ago.

[NYChez]

Re: Rick Helling's pretty bad performance ... keep in mind, if he gave up 4 runs in 5 innings in Milwaukee on Friday night, the Brewers would probably be going for the sweep on Sunday.

 

I don't care what Helling's performance is like in the minors. Get him to Milwaukee ASAP!

[bork]

They seem to be stretching Hinton out lately. 3 1/3 innings today. Could they be thinking of trying him as a starter later this year?

[Mass Haas]

Nashville Pre-Game Audio Chat with Starting Pitcher Ben Hendrickson:

 

www.nashvillesounds.com/a...206-10.wma

[Mass Haas]

Final: New Orleans (Nationals) 7, Nashville 6

 

Nashville Ste Game Summary:

Link, text follows --

 

www.nashvillesounds.com/n...ewsId=1997

 

Sounds' Skid Hits Five With Last At-Bat Loss

 

METAIRIE, La. -- Kenny Kelly's ninth-inning single capped a five-run comeback as the New Orleans Zephyrs defeated the Nashville Sounds, 7-6, on Saturday evening at Zephyr Field.

 

The Zephyrs extended their winning streak to seven games, while Nashville (33-29) has lost a season-high five in a row. The Sounds have lost all three games of the series by one run and fell to just 2-13 on the year in one-run decisions on the road.

 

New Orleans hit four straight singles in the bottom of the ninth against Nashville reliever Mitch Stetter -- only two of which left the infield -- to drive home Ryan Church with the winning run.

 

Travis Hughes (1-3), one of three relievers who shut down the Sounds over the final five innings, earned the win by striking out the side in the ninth.

 

New Orleans began its comeback after starter Pedro Astacio allowed five runs on six hits in the first inning as the Sounds batted around.

 

Tony Gwynn scored Nashville's first run from second when Brent Abernathy singled to center, moving Dave Krynzel to second. Nelson Cruz followed with a single to load the bases for Mike Rivera, who hit a two-run double to left.

 

Cruz was thrown out at home on a Jermaine Clark fielder's choice, then Mark Johnson singled to right to score Rivera and Clark on third.

 

Clark made it 5-0 on Chris Barnwell's single to left, and Gwynn popped to short to end the inning.

 

Kelly hit an RBI single and Brandon Larson roped a three-run double in the fourth inning to draw the Zephyrs (35-27) within a run. After Nelson Cruz hit a solo homer in the fifth to make it 6-4, Henry Mateo got the run back with a single in the sixth.

 

The Zephyrs tied the game in the eighth when Alberto Castillo singled, moved to second on a walk and came around on a pair of passed balls by catcher Mark Johnson.

 

Stetter (2-4) took the loss after he failed to record an out in the ninth.

 

Rick Helling took a no-decision in his first rehab start for Nashville after allowing four runs on six hits in five innings. The right-hander, who is currently on the Milwaukee Brewers' 60-day D.L. due to an elbow sprain, threw 74 pitches in the outing, 47 for strikes.

 

Chris Barnwell went 1-for-4 to up his hitting streak to 11 games while Cruz finished with a pair of hits to extend his season-best streak to nine contests.

 

Sounds second baseman Brent Abernathy was ejected after arguing a called third strike in the fifth inning. Sounds manager Frank Kremblas was ejected on Friday after arguing balls and strikes.

 

The Sounds look to avoid a sweep when the clubs wrap up the series with a 6 p.m. finale on Sunday evening. Right-hander Dennis Sarfate takes the hill for Nashville.

 

Nashville Box Score:

Justin Lehr singles as a pinch-hitter in the 6th; Mike Rivera gives Graham Koonce a night off at first base...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_nozaaa_1

 

Nashville Game Log:

So frustrating from a fan perspective to see a team load up on runs early (like the Brewers Friday night), and then get shut down the rest of the way...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_nozaaa_1

[Mass Haas]

Final: Jacksonville (Dodgers) 6, Huntsville 2

 

Huntsville Site Game Summary:

Link, text follows --

 

www.huntsvillestars.com/n...newsId=874

 

Hanrahan and Ruggiano Lead Suns Past Stars

 

Joel Hanrahan tossed seven scoreless innings and chipped in with a run-scoring single in Jacksonville?s 6-2 win over Huntsville Saturday night in the fourth game of a five-game set at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville. The Suns have taken the first four games of the series and all nine games against the Stars this season to improve to 43-20, while the Stars lost their sixth straight to fall to 23-39 overall and 14-20 away from home. The Suns have won 11 in a row, 19 out of 20 and 24 of their last 29 games.

 

Stars? starter Matt Smith, taking the place of Carlos Villanueva who had been summoned to the big leagues after Friday night?s game, retired the side in order on six pitches in the first inning but ran into trouble in the second. Andy LaRoche and Justin Ruggiano singled and Brad Cresse walked to load the bases before Adam Greenberg drew a four-pitch walk to force in LaRoche with the first run of the game. Hanrahan followed with a single to center to score Ruggiano and Chin-Lung Hu singled off the glove of second baseman Callix Crabbe to plate Cresse with the third run of the frame.

 

Smith gave up a run in the third on a Ruggiano sacrifice fly and departed after three innings, allowing four runs on four hits and three walks. He suffered the loss to fall to 0-3 and has yielded multiple runs in six of his eight outings since joining the team. Steve Bray tossed four innings in relief and allowed a Ruggiano long ball in the sixth to make it 5-0 Jacksonville. The right-hander went four frames for a third time this year and second against the Suns.

 

Steve Moss collected two of the three singles off of Hanrahan and was the only runner to reach third base against the right-hander, who matched his longest outing of the year, set against the Stars on May 25. Hanrahan fanned five and walked three and has held the Stars to a lone run on five hits over 14 innings. He won his fourth straight start to improve to 7-3 and move into a four-way tie for the league lead in wins.

 

Adam Thomas took over in the eighth and gave up sacrifice flies to Callix Crabbe and Ron Acuna before being replaced by Casey Hoorelbeke with runners at the corners and two outs. The right-hander retired Lou Palmisano on a ground ball to end the threat and set down the side in order in the ninth to record his sixth save and third against the Stars.

 

The series wraps Sunday afternoon with Stars? southpaw Jeff Housman getting the starting assignment against Suns? right-hander Spike Lundberg. Coverage of the game begins at 1:50 p.m. central time and can be heard on ESPN Radio 1450 AM locally and via the internet at www.huntsvillestars.com.

 

Huntsville Box Score:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_jaxaax_1

 

Huntsville Game Log:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_jaxaax_1

[Mass Haas]

David Weiser's

 

www.starsboxscore.com/

 

WORST TEAM EVER?

The Suns and the Stars provide, ironically, indication of their present situations....... To simply capsulize -- the Suns are hot, the Stars are not....... Jacksonville has now won 11 straight, 19 of 20, and 24 of their last 29. At 44-20, they own the 2nd best record in minor league baseball. (Class AAA-Charlotte is 43-18 in the Int'l. League.)....... The Stars, conversely, are going through hell. With a team of inexperienced A-ball players, for the most part, from last year, and no top-ranking prospects the caliber of Rickie Weeks, Prince Fielder, or Tony Gwynn (Baseball America ranks Brad Nelson 14th, Tim Dillard 16th, and Lou Palmisano 20th), the Stars have lost six straight and 28 of 36 since May 3rd.

 

Their 23-39 record is not quite as bad as their all-time worst (22-50 in the 2nd half of the 1988 season with the A's organization). It rivals last year's 1st half finish of 29-40....... But what they really beat is this current 8-28 slump that started May 3rd. There has been nothing like it in club history......... Going back to their 1988 season, they were at the very worst 2-18 at one point (from July 9-29) before they won 6 of 8........ Then they lost 12 of their next 15 --- 32 of 43 games, a .256 pct....... 8-28 comes out at .222.

 

The Stars finish up their series, and their year with Jacksonville, tomorrow at 2:05 with Jeff Housman (1-2, 2.77) facing Spike Lundberg, and must win to avoid the dubious distinction of failing to beat an opponent at least once in a season series for the first time in their history. The closest they've come is going 1-7 against the lowly Port City Roosters (anyone remember them?), a team that went 62-80 in 1996 and 1-7 against another losing team, the Greenville Braves in 2000........ The Stars managed to avoid the ignominy of an 0-8 record in 1996 by beating the Roosters, 10-3, while I was on vacation, August 23. In 2000, the Stars won the opener of a four-game series against the Braves, 6-3, then lost all the rest.

 

Saturday night, Matt Smith took the mound in the place of Carlos Villanueva, who was called up to Milwaukee for the 2nd time this season. No replacement on the roster was immediately named........ Smith, who went 4 2/3 innings in his only other start, his Stars debut coming on May 16 in a loss to the Smokies, was shelled in the 2nd, after retiring the Suns on six pitches in the opening inning...... A leadoff single by Andy LaRoche was followed by a single by Justin Ruggiano and a pair of walks, then two more singles before Tony Abreu hit into a double play........ The Suns had an early 3-0 lead, which was all they would need, but they made the most of their seven hits as you can see tonight.

 

The Stars were able to reach 3rd only once...... Steve Moss (.385 in June) lined a single to left to lead off the 6th, went to 2nd when Callix Crabbe walked, and advanced on Drew Anderson's ground ball fielder's choice. But Brad Nelson hit into a double play to end the inning for the 2nd time in this series.

[Mass Haas]

The Huntsville Times series continues from Milwaukee:

 

Link while active, text follows --

 

www.al.com/sports/huntsvi...amp;coll=1

 

Prince reigns in potential

After rough start, Fielder finds his form at plateas Brewers starter

Contact Mark McCarter at markcolumn@aol.com

Huntsville Times

 

MILWAUKEE - There they are, hanging together. They're on a rack in a downtown Milwaukee mall, one of those stores that will gladly sell you replica apparel with triple-digit price tags.

 

A Rickie Weeks jersey and a Prince Fielder jersey, right up there with Albert Pujols, Jackie Robinson, Hank Aaron, Derek Jeter and Stan Musial jerseys.

 

There they are, hanging together. They're in the Milwaukee Brewers' plush clubhouse, lockers side-by-side, squeezed together in a long row alongside the left wall.

 

They've only been hanging together a dozen years or so now, back when they were teammates on a youth baseball powerhouse in Central Florida, then reunited in 2004 with the Huntsville Stars. So close they've become Princeandrickie. Or Rickieandprince. That close.

 

"I don't think either of us could imagine (as kids) playing in the big leagues," says Fielder, "and on top of that playing together. It's pretty cool.''

 

"One good thing about it," Weeks says, "when you've got friends in the game, you talk to them when you're down."

 

There was, then, plenty to talk about as the 2006 season began, with Fielder named the Brewers starting first baseman after only 39 previous big league games.

 

Stumbling start

 

In his first nine at-bats this year, Fielder struck out seven times, including all four times in the opener. He left 10 runners on base. He wound up 0-for-11. If this were a Broadway debut, it would be the equivalent of an actor forgetting his lines, then tripping off the stage into the orchestra pit.

 

"I didn't really panic, but it was like, 'Geez, am I ever going to get on base again?' " Fielder told reporters.

 

In the third game, Fielder fought off an 0-2 pitch that shattered his bat. The ball plunked into left like a badly sliced 9-iron. But it drove in the game-winning run.

 

From little hits, great things have blossomed.

 

Fielder's average is hovering around .300. He has nine homers, the most recent a 471-foot blast at Pittsburgh, the third-longest home run in the six-year history of PNC Park. He was the National League's Rookie of the Month for April.

 

"People recognize it was the right thing to do (to install Fielder as a starter) this year," says Brewers general manager Doug Melvin. "There was a certain amount of risk in some people's eyes, but he's up here playing well. He started off his first two games and struck out quite a bit, but he's put that behind him and was one of the hottest players in the league the first month. We don't have many concerns about Prince. He's just going to get better."

 

When it's suggested he's making it look easy, Fielder laughs and says, "Yeah." With a pause, he adds, "Nice hotels, the flights aren't at four in the morning anymore. That's the only thing easier."

 

Milwaukee manager Ned Yost stresses that Prince's process is "an adjustment, readjustment, adjustment, readjustment period. He's come in new. As pitchers adjust to him, he has to adjust to them. It's all a part of it."

 

But as longtime teammate Corey Hart puts it, "he's gotten better as the pitching has gotten better."

 

Growing pains

 

Fielder, just now 22, has had to mature quickly on the field, and off. He has gone through a painful, public maturation process involving his father, Cecil, from whom he is estranged. (There isn't even a mention of him in the Brewers media guide, though he was once an American League home run champ.)

 

The elder Fielder squandered a $47 million fortune through gambling debts and bad investments, leading to a messy divorce and causing the family to lose a 19,500-square-foot, 50-room mansion in Melbourne, Fla.

 

Prince was once greeted by a process server after a minor league game as authorities tried to track down his father. Cecil also allegedly took a chunk of his son's bonus money.

 

All that, Prince says, is finally behind him. It has been three years since he has spoken to his father.

 

Prince is a father himself now, with sons Jaden and Haven. "Two kids and a wife, you've got to grow up a little bit,'' he says.

 

In his baseball life, he'll be content to grow up - and grow old - hanging together with Weeks. Ten years from now, where does he see himself?

 

"I don't know," Fielder says. "Hopefully, right here with Rickie."

 

Then, looking around the locker room, where veterans are sandwiched by empty lockers, Fielder adds, "Hopefully by that point, in 10 years, we can be like (Geoff) Jenkins and Carlos (Lee), and have bigger space. That'd be good to play your whole career with somebody, especially somebody who's your good friend."

[Mass Haas]

Final: Jupiter (Marlins) 11, Brevard County 3

 

First, from Scott Brown of Florida Today -- several players had comments about this fan in one of our Link Reports last season:

 

A true fan. The retirees who fill most of the game-day jobs at Space Coast Stadium and the season-ticket holders who rarely miss a Brevard County Manatees game have become a family to some degree through the years.

 

So, with a heavy heart, Carol Simonides spread the news Thursday evening at the Viera ballpark that Millie Zeller had passed away following a long and courageous fight against cancer.

 

Zeller, who faithfully attended Manatees home games for years, was more than just a fan. The Rockledge resident gave the players unconditional support and acted like a mother toward them in another way -- giving them cookies and other baked goods.

 

When Zeller attended what would be her final Manatees game last year, she took the players a big plastic bag filled with candy and gum. And get this: She actually apologized for not having the energy to make them something.

 

"She was just a wonderful, wonderful woman," said Simonides, a longtime employee at Space Coast Stadium. "She loved her baseball."

 

Brevard County Site Game Summary:

 

Hammerheads pound Manatees

 

Brad Davis and Jared Gaston both drove in two runs as visiting Jupiter downed Brevard County, 11-3, on Saturday.

Davis, who went 3-for-5 and scored twice, hit a run-scoring single in the third and smacked an RBI double in the fifth to give the Hammerheads (28-33) a 4-0 lead.

 

Gaston singled home Davis in the fifth and delivered another RBI single in a six-run seventh.

 

Jai Miller and Brad McCann each had three of Jupiter's 17 hits, while Colin Roberson singled twice and knocked in a run.

 

Jupiter reliever Daniel Barone (1-1) gave up three runs -- two earned -- on seven hits in 4 1/3 innings, striking out six and walking three, to get the win. Starter Timothy Wood walked one and fanned two over three hitless frames in his first outing of the season.

 

Manatees starter Josh Wahpepah (3-3) yielded three runs on five hits and four walks in 2 2/3 frames.

 

Hernan Irabarren belted an RBI triple in the fifth for Brevard County (33-27), while Alcides Escobar and Kyle Phillips each had two hits. -- Christopher Heine/MLB.com

 

Brevard County Box Score:

Catcher Kyle Phillips reaches in each of his four plate appearances -- he's made a nice early-on impression, hitting cleanup tonight, and at a young 22, we questioned the Twins' release of him earlier this spring; Josh Wahpepah's funk is troubling as it extends, and Ben Stanczyk would love to roll back May and June, yikes...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_breafa_1

 

Brevard County Game Log:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_breafa_1

[Mass Haas]

What's this? Two days running of media coverage from Viera / Melbourne? Wow...

 

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.floridatoday.com/apps...10350/1002

 

For Wahpepah, it's team first

Manatees struggle, but still in hunt in Eastern Division

BY JIM CAWLEY

FLORIDA TODAY

 

VIERA -- - Ask Brevard County Manatees pitcher Josh Wahpepah how it feels to be an All-Star, and he'll tell you "it feels good."

 

Ask him how it feels to help his team make a run at first place in the division, and he'll tell you it feels even better.

 

"I'm a big team guy," Wahpepah said. "I want to do my job as best I can to help us win. And if we all pull together and try to win, then we're gonna win because we've got a good ballclub."

 

Wahpepah was the starter in Saturday's game against Jupiter, giving up three earned runs in 2 2/3 innings. He took the loss as the Manatees were beaten by the Hammerheads, 11-3.

 

The No. 4 starter in the Brevard County rotation, Wahpepah has impressed in his first Florida State League season. The 6-foot-4 righty joined six of his teammates recently in being named to the All-Star Game on June 17 in Lakeland.

 

But Wahpepah (3-3, 3.97 ERA) is more concerned with the team numbers than his own. The Manatees (33-27) trail first-place St. Lucie by four games in the Eastern Division standings.

 

"We really want to win the first half because then you know you're going to the playoffs," Wahpepah said. "Then second half you can focus in . . . knowing you get the chance to go to the playoffs is pretty exciting."

 

But Wahpepah doesn't like getting too excited.

 

"I'm a pretty laid-back person; I try to stay as grounded as possible," he said.

 

A groundball pitcher, Wahpepah's best pitches are a sinking fastball and changeup. His formula for success is pretty simple: "I just try to keep the hitters off balance, work ahead and throw strikes," he said. "I try to keep the ball down in the zone and see what happens."

 

Wahpepah played high school baseball in Oklahoma before pitching for Cowley Community College in Kansas for two years. He then played a short season in the Pioneer League and moved up to the South Atlantic League last season, where he played for the West Virginia Power and current Manatees manager Ramon Aviles.

 

"Ramon is fantastic," Wahpepah said. "He's the same guy every day -- you're not going to get anything different with Ramon; everything is cut and dry."

 

For Wahpepah, one of those "cut and dry" lessons has been trying not to hold anything back.

 

"I've learned the importance of working ahead and throwing all of your pitches with conviction," he said. "You give everything you've got -- you can't baby stuff to the plate."

[Mass Haas]

Final: West Virginia 5, Hickory (Pirates) 3

Closer Dane Renkert with the performance of the night...

 

West Virginia Site Game Summary:

 

Salome knocks in three in Power win

 

Angel Salome drove in three of West Virginia?s five runs against the Hickory Crawdads at L.P. Frans Stadium on Saturday night to give him 50 on the year, and the Power went on to win 5-3.

 

The Crawdads drew first blood in the first inning on Brad Corley?s RBI single. The Power tied the game in the top of the third on Salome?s RBI double. The Crawdads regained the lead in the bottom of the third on a run-scoring double from Mike Carlin.

 

In the fifth inning the Power scored twice to take the lead and never looked back. Lorenzo Cain doubled down the right field line to bring in Scotty McKnight and Salome knocked in the second run on a sacrifice fly. McKnight hit a clutch two-out RBI single in the sixth inning to put the Power up 4-2 and Salome drove in the final run of the game for West Virginia on another sacrifice fly in the seventh.

 

The Crawdads threatened to tie the game in the eighth inning. The first three batters hit safely and Corley drove in Andrew McCutchen on an RBI single to knock Patrick Ryan out of the game and ended his scoreless innings streak at fifteen and two thirds. Dane Renkert came in with runners at the corners and nobody out and retired the next three batters without allowing a run to score. Renkert then shut the Crawdads out in the ninth inning to get the save.

 

Matt Kretzschmar (1-2) allowed two runs on five hits through five and two thirds to earn the victory, Renkert (4) pitched two scoreless innings and earned the save and Kyle Pearson (3-2) obtained the loss. The Power are 34-27 after the win and the Crawdads fell to 28-32 with the loss.

 

The Power will finish the three game series against the Crawdads on Sunday night. Hickory will start right hander Luis Valdez (3-1, 3.18) and the Power will counter with right hander Kevin Roberts (3-6, 4.70). The first pitch is scheduled for 6:00 PM (5:00 Central).

 

West Virginia Box Score:

Darren Ford on base three times, now 30-for-37 in stolen base attempts; 95 degrees in North Carolina Saturday night...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_hicafx_1

 

West Virginia Game Log:

K, K, ground out in the 8th -- wow, Mr. Renkert...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_hicafx_1