Minor League All-Star Thread: Latest, AAA Game VCR Alert

[THE HD BP]

I was at the Home Run Derby and All Star Game yesterday and though the wind might have been blowing none of Travis' homers were truly aided by it. The reason is the wind was blowing out to LEFT FIELD, meaning it would actually knock down his drives to right. The most impressive shots of the night were hit by Potomac's Tony Blanco who hit a couple shots that might still be going, but Travis came through in the clutch both during the derby and again during the game.

The Mavericks actually stole the show as Travis was easily the MVP, with a pair of rbis, a run scored and even a Stolen base and Callix put on a strong performance turning a pair of double plays and hitting the run scoring triple off the right field wall.

[MassBrew]

Prince Fielder has been named an injury replacement for West Tenn (Cubs) first baseman Micah Hoffpauir, on the Southern League Western Division All-Star team.

[Schmidty01]

When Johnny Rayburn has a higher BA than you, don't you feel a bit embarrassed to be named to an all star team that you didn't earn your way on?

 

They should call it the All-Star (and those who should have been all stars, but are struggling this year but we'll but them on the team anyway because more people will come to the park to watch the "famous players") Game.

[MassBrew]

Prince gets royal treatment

Stars first baseman joins Nelson as All-Star starter

By MARK McCARTER

Times Sports Staff markcolumn@aol.com

 

Not a bad jump for Prince Fielder. In two days' time, the Huntsville Stars first baseman went from being left off the Southern League All-Star team to the starting lineup.

 

Mobile manager Gary Jones, who'll manage the SL West team in the July 13 All-Star Game in Chattanooga, has announced two Stars will be in his starting lineup.

 

Fielder, who was added to the team as a substitute for an injured player, will bat third and left fielder Brad Nelson will bat fifth.

 

The West batting order: CF Dwaine Bacon, West Tenn; 2B Josh Barfield, Mobile; Fielder; 1B Greg Sain, Mobile; Nelson; 3B Matt Craig, West Tenn; C Carlos Maldonado, Birmingham; RF Aron Weston, West Tenn; SS Ronny Cedeno, West Tenn. Jones has tabbed his ace Chris Rojas as the starter.

 

The East lineup, as announced by Tennessee skipper Mark DeJohn:

 

SS Josh Wilson, Carolina; 2B Willy Aybar, Jacksonville; 3B Edwin Encarnacion, Chattanooga; 1B Jason Stokes, Carolina; DH Jesse Gutierrez, Chattanooga; C Josh Willingham, Carolina; RF Papo Bolivar, Tennessee; CF Skip Schumaker, Tennessee; LF Adam Stern, Greenville.

 

Brian Rose of Chattanooga will be the starting pitcher for the East.

[MassBrew]

MARIETTA, GA ? The Southern League of Professional Baseball Clubs announced today a managerial change for the 2004 Southern League All-Star Game, set to take place July 13 at BellSouth Park in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Gary Jones, previously named manager of the Western Division All-Stars, will be unable to attend due to the death of his mother. He will be replaced as manager by current West Division All-Star coach Frank Kremblas. Kremblas, the manager of the Huntsville Stars, managed the 2003 West Division All-Stars as well. He will be joined on the coaching staff by Huntsville pitching coach Fred Dabney.

 

?We understand Gary?s situation and wholeheartedly support his decision to be with his family during this trying time,? said Southern League President Don Mincher. ?We greatly appreciate Frank Kremblas and Fred Dabney stepping in to take the reigns.?

 

Western Division Manager

Frank Kremblas ? Huntsville Stars

 

Frank Kremblas was named Gary Jones? replacement as the Western Division All-Star manager. Kremblas, the manager of last year's Western Division All-Stars, is in his third season as manager of the Huntsville Stars. This is his fifth season as manager or coach in the Brewers? farm system. Overall, Kremblas is in his 15th year of professional baseball. Last year, Kremblas guided the Stars to a 75-63 record and the Southern League Western Division Championship. He also served as a coach for the U.S. team in the Futures Game, held during the 2003 Major League Baseball All-Star Weekend in Chicago. As a player, Kremblas was a 23rd round draft choice of the Cincinnati Reds in 1989 out of Eastern Kentucky University. His playing career ended in Triple-A Louisville in 1996.

 

Western Division Coach

Fred Dabney ? Huntsville Stars

 

Fred Dabney is in his fourth season as a minor league pitching coach and first with the Milwaukee Brewers? system. Last season, Dabney helped guide the Stockton Ports to a 77-63 overall record and his pitching staff posted an outstanding 3.99 earned run average, second in the California League. He spent the two prior seasons with the Charlotte Rangers in the Florida State League, where his staff recorded a league-best 3.40 ERA in 2002 and ranked third with a 3.37 mark in 2001. A left-handed pitcher, Dabney played 11 seasons in the Chicago White Sox, Cubs? and New York Yankees? systems prior to 1999. He was originally chosen in the 15th round by the White Sox in the 1988 June draft and attended Seminole (Okla.) Junior College.

[MassBrew]

Congrats to 2003 Brewer Pete Zoccolillo (Rangers), who will face some old friends as a member of the AAA Pacific Coast League team, to which he was just added. Of course, the now-legendary Bucky Jacobsen will be playing for the PCL squad, as well.

[MassBrew]

Topprospectalert.com with a nice photo for Travis Hinton friends and family -- receiving Cal League All-Star Game honors...

 

http://www.topprospectalert.com/mlramblings/images/thinton1.jpg

[MassBrew]

ESPN2 next Wednesday night - 6:00 PM Central with Sean McDonough, Buck Martinez, and Kyle Peterson -- two former Brewers on the call...

 

http://www.ilbaseball.com/images/asg2004.jpg

 

And by the way, it's official -- your International League starting pitcher:

 

http://espn.go.com/i/mlb/profiles/players/7060.jpg

 

Congratulations, Ben! See you in Milwaukee five days later! (Well, that last part's not official, but c'mon...)

[jwaltz]

Hopefully he brings Kyle with him. Kyle would be great in the booth in Milwaukee.

[nikip43]

Wow, big props to Ben...should be fun seeing him in a relaxed format before things get a little more pressure packed for him heading into a pennate race.

 

if he's anything like his bio says though a playoff race is something he'd relish

[burniebrewer]

A well deserved starting nod. I'll definitely be watching.http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/happy.gif

[MassBrew]

VCR ALERT:

 

Futures Game (3 p.m. Central Time Sunday, ESPN2) at Minute Maid Park (Prince Fielder, Rickie Weeks)

 

Link includes Fielder audio and video at FanFest:

 

mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/ml...;fext=.jsp

[bullox]

Prince, starting at 1B, smashed a basehit into left field his first time up. Looked pretty good going the other way with it. Also looks pretty decent on defense at 1B.

 

Rickie will come off the bench.

[Viva La Grinch]

I bet that if you look into Bob Brainard's background, you will find a degree from the Gary Miller School of Sideline Reporting.

[MassBrew]

Huntsville Times Article:

 

Huntsville reps savor trip to Futures Game

By GENE DUFFEY

For The Times

 

HOUSTON - Prince Fielder sat in one of the heavily padded chairs in front of the big screen television in the Houston Astros clubhouse.

 

The Huntsville Stars first baseman was enjoying the luxury of the major leagues before Sunday's All-Star Futures Game at Minute Maid Park.

 

"It's a good feeling," said Fielder, who dressed in the locker usually occupied by Houston right-hander Wade Miller. "It makes you want to work that much harder."

 

Fielder started at first base and batted cleanup for the U.S. team, getting a single to left and striking out in his two at-bats.

 

Rickie Weeks, his Stars teammate, entered the game in the fourth inning at second base and popped up to second in his only at-bat.

 

The U.S. beat the World team 4-3 in the seven-inning game.

 

"It's everybody's dream to be here," said Weeks, sitting in a director's chair in front of the locker where Carlos Beltran dresses.

 

Minute Maid Park looked very inviting to a player from Double-A ball, Houston's locker room is five times the size of the home team's quarters at Joe Davis Stadium.

 

"It's a state-of-the-art facility," Weeks said. "Taking batting practice on a big league field, what more can you ask for?"

 

"Everything's a little nicer," added Fielder. "The clubhouse is better. You feel a little more comfortable here. I'm going to take advantage of it and have fun."

 

Weeks learned a little about life in the big leagues at the end of the 2003 season when he was called up to Milwaukee. He appeared in seven games with the Brewers in September.

 

"You got a taste of the people you'd been seeing on TV all your life," he said. "That makes it more appealing to go out and play ball (in the minors)."

 

Any player in the minors would have relished this weekend.

 

Instead of a bus trip to Greenville or Mobile, Weeks and Fielder flew to Houston on Saturday. They stayed at the Hyatt-Regency.

 

Nice place, Weeks reported.

 

"The bus trip is a start," Weeks said of his career. "But you've got to go out there and work hard and hopefully get back up to the big show."

 

Milwaukee's back-to-back No. 1 picks the last two years spent Saturday with family.

 

Several of Fielder's uncles and cousins live in the Houston area. He hung out with them and ate dinner at their house. He had been to Texas for Christmas.

 

Weeks' parents flew in from Altamonte Springs, Fla. So did his girlfriend, KaShanna, from Savannah State, where she is a grad student and volleyball coach. KaShanna's brother lives in Houston and attends Prairie View A&M, about 50 miles northwest of the city.

 

The entourage gathered for dinner Saturday night at the year-old Downtown Aquarium.

 

Fielder's father, Cecil, arrived from Atlanta, where he owns a cable TV station. He watched the Futures Game from the U.S. team dugout and participated in the celebrity softball game later.

 

"This is awesome," Cecil said.

 

The elder Fielder acknowledged that his son doesn't always enjoy being known as the son of someone famous. "He wants to be his own man," Cecil said.

 

"I'm playing baseball, I'm healthy, I'm exactly where I want to be," said Prince, who is hitting .256 with 14 homers and 46 RBIs for Huntsville. "I let the Brewers worry about where I am.

 

Fielder, 20, struck out on three pitches in his second at-bat, flailing away at a fastball out of the zone for strike three.

 

"It was over my head," Fielder said. "I had no business swinging at it. These (pitchers) are real good and you only get one at look at them. They have the advantage."

 

"There was some pretty good stuff out there," Weeks said.

[MassBrew]

You can listen to tonight's Southern League All-Star Game here -- it's a small link, but you'll see it...

 

www.lookouts.com/

 

After three innings (as of 7:10 PM Central), it's the East 8, West 4 (Prince Fielder and Brad Nelson represent the West squad -- I don't have details for you at this time.)

[403137]

East won the game 10 - 6.

 

Brad Nelson won his second home run derby (he won the Midwest League contest in 2002) tonight, receiving the award after the game from the league president.

[deeswan]

Can't find a box, but Prince did homer to open the scoring for the west.

[MassBrew]

The forecast is dank and gloomy in Rhode Island, but hopefully the AAA All-Star Game will be good to go.

 

VCR Alert: 6:00 PM Central Wednesday 7/14, ESPN2

 

I was unlucky in that I saw Ben Hendrickson's roughest start this season on this same mound in May -- pretty sure he'll put on a show for us tonight.

 

As mentioned elsewhere on the forum, former Brewer first base farmhand Bucky Jacobsen (putting up ridiculous monster numbers for AAA Tacoma -- Mariners) continues to win over fans wherever he is, as he's become a favorite of the locals and media here as well during the Fan Fest activities this week.

[403137]

From the Huntsville Times:

 

Wednesday, July 14, 2004

By BRUCE McLELLAN

Times Sports Staff brucem@htimes.com

Former homers early in Double-A game; latter wins HR derby

 

CHATTANOOGA - Maybe the Huntsville Stars should copy the Chattanooga Lookouts and put a section of seats and a pavilion behind right field at Joe Davis Stadium.

 

Stars outfielder Brad Nelson and first baseman Prince Fielder sure liked to hit home runs over that section at BellSouth Park on Tuesday.

 

No, that didn't help Nelson and Fielder win the Southern League All-Star Game. The Eastern Division All-Stars used their own home runs to beat the Western Division 10-6. But at least Nelson and Fielder - both left-handed hitters - gave the West's fans some entertainment.

 

First, Fielder hit a pair of batting practice home runs over the pavilion that looked like they might make it to the Tennessee River, which was just visible on the horizon.

 

Then, Nelson won the league home run derby by hitting home runs on the first three of his five swings in the final round.

 

Finally, Fielder gave the West their only lead in the top of the first inning with a 330-foot home run over East right fielder Papo Bolivar of the Smokies.

 

"I saw Papo, and he didn't move," Fielder said. "So I figured either he's camping (under it) or it's going out."

 

That home run came against East starting pitcher Brian Rose of Chattanooga with a runner on base, one out and a 3-0 count.

 

"I was looking for a good pitch to hit, and I guess I got it," Fielder said of the outside fastball. "I put a good swing on it."

 

The 2-0 lead Fielder earned didn't last long. Jesse Gutierrez of the Lookouts led off the bottom of the second with a solo homer off West starter Chris Rojas of Mobile, and the next five East batters got hits.

 

"I just came out being aggressive trying to throw strikes, and they came out just as aggressive and were able to put good wood on the ball," Rojas said of his first career all-star appearance. "A lot of the pitches were up."

 

Rojas, 6-3 with a 3.70 ERA, said he might not rely as much on his fastball if he could replay the second inning.

 

"I probably would have mixed it up more," he said. "Maybe thrown more off-speed stuff."

 

The final five West pitchers allowed only two more runs, and Greg Sain of Mobile hit a two-run homer to help close the gap. But the final five East pitchers gave up only three hits and a run while pitching an inning apiece.

 

"After the second inning it was a pretty good ballgame," Kremblas said. "Unfortunately, those eight runs in one inning count."

 

The East finished with 14 hits to the West's 10.

 

Nelson, who has hit 13 homers for the Stars this season, couldn't duplicate his home run derby magic in the game and went 0-for-4. Fielder, who has 12 homers for the Stars, was 1-for-2 Tuesday, and Kremblas kept him in only four innings. Fielder played in the Futures All-Star Game in Houston Sunday, his return flight to Chattanooga didn't arrive until 4 p.m. Monday and he had to wake up early Tuesday.

 

"I talked to him before the game," Kremblas said. "I said, 'How do you feel?' He said he was tired."

 

But Fielder said he had fun on his all-star odyssey.

 

"I'm just enjoying the fact that I could be mentioned with these other top players," he said. "It's a good feeling to be in the same game with these guys."

 

Especially when you have seats in right field to aim for.

[MassBrew]

Nelson blows away derby competition

By BRUCE McLELLAN

Times Sports Staff brucem@htimes.com

 

CHATTANOOGA - Huntsville Stars manager Frank Kremblas saw which way the wind was blowing and felt good about the Southern League All-Stars home run derby.

 

The wind was blowing in from left field at BellSouth Park Tuesday evening, making it harder for a right-handed hitter to yank home runs.

 

That was an advantage to two left-handed sluggers whom Kremblas managed: Prince Fielder and Brad Nelson were in the home run derby because their home run totals were among the top three on the West team.

 

Kremblas, who was managing the West, felt particularly good about Nelson.

 

"I expected Brad to win it," Kremblas said. "He's got a lot of power."

 

Kremblas was right. Nelson hit home runs on the first three of his five swings in the final round to beat Chattanooga Lookouts catcher Brian Peterson, who had no homers in the round.

 

Nelson had only two homers in 10 swings in the preliminary round, but that was more than either of his West teammates in the competition and allowed him to advance. Fielder and Mobile first baseman Greg Sain had one homer apiece in the derby preliminary round.

 

By the second round, Nelson, who has hit 13 homers this season, relaxed and got in a groove with the event's pitcher, Lookouts pitching coach Jamie Dismuke.

 

"I think he figured out the spot I liked," Nelson said.