Link Report for Games of Thursday, April 7th

[Mass Haas]

David Weiser's update of his site includes a box score, we'll have one below shortly:

 

www.starsboxscore.com/

 

"In our sundown perambulations of late, through the outer parts of Brooklyn, we have observed several parties of youngsters playing "base", a certain game of ball.... Let us go forth for awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms.... The game of ball is glorious." ---- Walt Whitman.

 

Brett Pollock opened the 2005 Stars season, not with this quote that Steve Kornya used to open his gamecasts with, but with another, poetically describing the head game that goes on between pitcher and batter........ I thought it was a good, creative way to start his first gamecast...... The game itself wasn't a great showcase for Brett, I thought. For one thing, the audio quality from Carolina was tinny, maybe because of the weather. For the other, it was a boring game, and unfortunately, Brett sounded a little bored himself, rarely wavering his voice and modulating above a monotone. There wasn't much opportunity, to be fair, to show excitement. Not when the only run scored comes by way of a sacrifice fly by the pitcher.

 

In the 3rd inning, Rex Rundgren, who played with the Mudcats toward the latter half of last season, singled on a ground ball to Tony Zuniga. A balk by Dana Eveland moved him to second. A passed ball by Vinny Rottino moves him to third. Finally, pitcher Josh Johnson, a 6'7" hard-throwing prospect, hit a fly ball to Ben Van Iderstine in left........ Rundgren scored and that was all Carolina would need, as Carolina pitchers were able to strike out 11, the most against Huntsville in an opener since 2001.

 

It was the shortest season opener for the Stars since 1995 when they shutout Chattanooga, 10-0...... And it was the lowest scoring contest as well....... It was the first shutout of three they've lost on Opening Day......... The Stars had a couple of opportunites, most notably in the 1st inning after Tony Gwynn, Jr. led off with a walk on a 3-1 pitch from winner Josh Johnson. He stole second, the first of three stolen bases for the Stars, and went to third on a one-out wild pitch, but Johnson struck out Brandon Gemoll on a 3-2 fast ball and Nelson Cruz flied out to James Shanks to end the inning....... Van Iderstine had the first hit for the Stars this season, a single through the right side in the next inning, but was doubled up by free agent 3rd baseman Zuniga to end the inning. The Stars remaining two hits were infield singles by Gwynn, Jr. and Nelson Cruz.

 

Without any offense, and there doesn't seem to be much, the Stars are in trouble...... Even Don Money admitted he would have to have a running game to win, although he wouldn't run his way out of an inning the way Frank Kremblas would many times........ Frank, by the way, beat New Orleans with the longball help of Prince Fielder in a rain-shortened six inning affair, 7-3. Fielder hit a two-run HR and Steve Scarborough also added one.

 

More at the link above...

[Mass Haas]

As of "post time" here, box scores aren't available in a convenient cut-and-paste format, so we'll link. We'll convet to viewable should they become available later on...

 

Huntsville Box (and a nasty version of game log -- nasty in a bad way, that is):

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_cmcaax_1

 

West Virginia Box (and poorly-formatted game log):

2004 3rd round RHP Josh Wahpepah the star of the game...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_hagafx_1

 

The new stat / box score folks have a lot of kinks to work out...

[foamboy1]

What is the relationship between Mass Haas, and MassBrew? Once you hit 1,000,000 posts you are auto-assigned a new screen name and start at zero again?

[batman]

The box scores that Nashville publishes are the most beautiful I've ever seen. Whomever is doing those deserves major props.

 

Great coverage for the openers... if this keeps up and milb.com gets its act together, we'll be in for an info-filled season.

 

~Bill

[bjamesw22]

Doesn't it almost seem as though they are being done in an Excel spreadsheet? I guess I'm saying that just by the way "Players" seems to be centered over a large center and merged cell and not left aligned over the players names, and also by the way that the last zero of the 1.000 batting averages are cut off with the cells not resized to fit them.

 

But that is just a guess.

 

I teach Microsoft Office and we are currently in our Excel unit. I really wasn't trying to be nitpicky about it either, it was just an observation.

 

EDIT: Do they have programs for that kind of thing like they do for stats?

[Mass Haas]

Hagerstown Suns baserunner Dante Brinkley is late sliding into second base as West Virginia?s Alcides Escobar prepares to make the tag during the Suns? season opener Thursday night at Municipal Stadium.

(Photo credit: Ric Dugan / Hagerstown Herald-Mail Staff Photographer)

 

http://www.herald-mail.com/photos/00006394-constrain-180x220.jpeg

 

Hagerstown?s Wilson Batista slides into second under the tag of West Virginia?s Hernan Iribarren during the first inning of Thursday night?s game. (Photo credit: Ric Dugan / Hagerstown Herald-Mail Staff Photographer)

 

http://www.herald-mail.com/photos/00006395-constrain-180x220.jpeg

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.dailymail.com/news/Sp...005040817/

 

Suns have more power in opener

Matt Lockhart

Charleston Daily Mail Sportswriter

 

HAGERSTOWN, Md. -- The West Virginia Power is off.

 

It just hopes for brighter days.

 

In a gloomy, drizzle-filled baseball season opener Thursday night here, the Power struck out -- repeatedly.

 

This trip north -- just a few miles from the Civil War site of the Battle of Antietam -- left the Power looking at the south end of a 9-1 loss to the Hagerstown Suns.

 

"We fell behind early," Power Manager Ramon Aviles said, as rain beat down on the Municipal Stadium grass.

 

Thus was the story of Power pitcher Mark Rogers, the Milwaukee Brewers' first round pick in 2004.

 

His first inning, for the first-year, was in need of first-ball strikes. When those didn't come, the Suns short-circuited the hard-throwing Power right-hander for four quick runs.

 

"When you fall behind the hitters, you have to come with a fastball and that's the easiest pitch to hit," Aviles said.

 

The Suns had little trouble, even against a mid-90s pitcher like Rogers. The 19-year-old walked the first batter he faced and plunked the next one in the helmet en route to the four-run inning that saw two singles and a double from Hagerstown bats.

 

"I threw a lot of fastballs on fastball counts, which I don't normally do, and got hit," said Rogers, who gave up six runs (five earned) five hits and five walks in three innings.

 

"It all started by not getting ahead of hitters. I kept the ball down, which was a positive, but I gave up a lot of ground balls in holes. A lot of that is because I was behind."

 

A lot of the offensive struggles for the youthful Power team came because they couldn't get ahead.

 

It can thank sinker-baller Gabriel Hernandez for that.

 

The 6-foot-3 pitcher for the Suns -- an affiliate of the New York Mets -- welcomed the Power to the Class A South Atlantic League with six strikeouts and just two hits in 4 1/3 shutout innings.

 

"Awesome," Power catcher Carlos Corporan said of the 18-year-old Hernandez's performance in front of 2,422 soggy fans.

 

Corporan, who threw out three runners and laced a double, scored the Power's first and only run in the seventh inning on a RBI double off the left-center field fence by Freddy Parejo, to cut the deficit to 7-1.

 

Those were two of just four hits allowed by Suns pitchers.

 

"We couldn't get any kid of offense going to come back," Aviles said.

 

"I thought Hernandez pitched pretty good. They kept hitting."

 

To Rogers' credit, this is a Hagerstown team - which visits Charleston for Thursday's opener at Appalachian Power Park -- that could be one of the top clubs in the SAL. It's certainly not going to be a repeat of the 49-88 the town had with former affiliate San Francisco.

 

Twelve of the top 50 prospects in the New York Mets' minor league system are here in Hagerstown, according to InsidePitchMagazine.com.

 

Former West Virginia University shortstop Grant Psomas welcomed the Power to Maryland by smacking two homers off Josh Wahpepah and Robert Hinton.

 

His last one, a two-run blast, went more than 400 feet and over a three-story high center field fence.

 

"Opening day is special," Aviles said.

 

"I think both teams were excited about getting on the field to start the season."

 

Perhaps that's why eyes were initially glaring at the carpet floor when Aviles walked in the crammed clubhouse.

 

"Come on guys," he said. "No one said we were going to go 140-0."

 

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.dailymail.com/news/Sp...005040829/

 

Power player rarely goes hitless at plate

Matt Lockhart

Charleston Daily Mail Sportswriter

 

HAGERSTOWN, Md. -- Hernan Iribarren isn't strutting around like he was the top hitter in Milwaukee Brewers' farm system last year.

 

"That is in the past," Iribarren said of his time between the Arizona Rookie League and Class A Beloit in 2004. "I hit pretty well."

 

Hit pretty well? No Brewer minor leaguer came within 100 points of his combined .422 average.

 

"This year is a new year," the Barquisimento, Venezuela, native said.

 

The past includes the Most Valuable Player honors in the Arizona League, after he batted .439 with four homers and 36 RBI in 46 games.

 

"I am so excited because I made all my goals," Iribarren continued. "Every time I went to the ball park I concentrated on my work. I am very happy for that."

 

It's paying off.

 

Iribarren's 1-for-4 night from the plate in Thursday's West Virginia Power 9-1 season-opening loss to Hagerstown gives him hits in 56 of his first 62 minor league games with the Brewers.

 

Iribarren said he spent his winter in the Venezuelan League, honing his skills with several Major League players.

 

"They taught me a lot of things that are good for me because I am a rookie starting my career," he said. "It helped me out."

 

* * *

 

Some Power firsts, for baseball historians:

 

First hit: Iribarren's first inning drag bunt went just beyond Hagerstown pitcher Gabriel Hernandez.

 

First batter: Second baseman Alcides Escobar flew out to centerfield to lead off the game.

 

First run: Left fielder Freddy Parejo stroked a run scoring double off the left-center field fence to bring in Carlos Corporan and cut Hagerstown's lead to 7-1 in the seventh.

 

* * *

 

Catcher Carlos Corporan showed off his arm early Thursday. The Catano, Puerto Rico, native nailed two runners trying to steal second in the second inning.

 

Corporan then threw out another runner in the third against the run-happy Suns, who attempted six steals. .

 

Aviles was pleased with his team's defensive play in 9-1 loss.

 

"We played pretty good defense," he said. "We turned three double plays, and the kids never quit."

 

* * *

 

New South Atlantic League rules prohibit hitters from leaving the batter's box during an at-bat in hopes of speeding up games. The hitters must keep one foot in the box at all times, unless the pitcher or catcher calls a timeout. There are other more detailed and less likely scenarios that would enable the batter to leave the box. The penalty is an automatic strike.

[ja002h]

I have a feeling the "power" puns are going to get really old really really fast.

[Mass Haas]

It does appear that Nashville starter Jose Capellan's exit was related to a blister issue on his finger.

[Mass Haas]

With dual newspaper coverage in Nashville and Charleston, we're bound to get some duplication. But there are new quotes and updates here as well, so we'll post if that's the case:

 

Link while active, text follows:

 

www.nashvillecitypaper.co...s_id=40557

 

Short but sweet win for Sounds

By Terry McCormick, tmccormick@nashvillecitypaper.com

 

Sounds starter Jose Capellan pitched well in Nashville?s season-opening victory on Thursday.

Photo by Mike Strasinger

 

http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/uploaded/0408sounds.jpg

 

Everything went according to plan for the Nashville Sounds? 2005 season opener.

 

The only snag was that the game became an abridged version, as heavy showers doused Greer Stadium in the top of the seventh, shortening the Sounds? 7-3 victory over the New Orleans Zephyrs to a six-inning affair. The game, played before 4,855 fans, was called after a 29-minute wait.

 

The Sounds? prized prospects showed glimpses of what could be in store this season, as first baseman Prince Fielder slugged a two-run homer in the fifth inning and finished with three RBIs.

 

Top pitching hopeful Jose Capellan looked sharp for 4 1/3 innings before giving way to Chad Paronto (1-0) after suffering a blister on his pitching hand.

 

Trailing 1-0 after a half inning, the Sounds took control of the game in the first inning, taking advantage of wildness by New Orleans starter Sun Woo Kim to score four times in their first turn.

 

Kim (0-1) issued back-to-back walks to Dave Krynzel and Rickie Weeks, before Fielder lined an RBI single to plate Krynzel to tie the game.

 

A fielder?s choice by Corey Hart scored Weeks to give Nashville the lead before two more walks from Kim to Brad Nelson and Kevin Orie set up veteran catcher Pat Borders? double. One run scored on the hit and Orie concluded the scoring, coming home when Endy Chavez misplayed the ball in center field.

 

?[Nashville pitcher] Rick Helling said over on the bench that [Kim] could get wild,? Sounds manager Frank Kremblas said. ?We looked at his stats from last year, and he can get a little wild at times. We had some good at-bats, with the two-strike walk from Krynzel and then Rickie Weeks had a walk, and obviously Prince got the big hit in the gap that scored the runs. And we had a big two-out hit from Borders.?

 

The Sounds added a single run in the fourth when shortstop Steve Scarborough hit the guitar-shaped scoreboard in left field with Nashville?s first home run of the year, a solo shot that extended the lead to 5-2.

 

In the fifth, Fielder, son of former major league standout Cecil Fielder, launched a two-run shot the opposite way to left field to finish off the Nashville scoring.

 

For Fielder, who hit 23 home runs last year at Double-A Huntsville, it was a matter of staying patient with two strikes at the plate and not trying to do too much with his swing.

 

?That?s what I?ve been working on with two strikes, trying to put the ball in play, and I made good solid contact,? Fielder said.

 

?It was a two-strike swing and he didn?t try to do too much with it, and obviously he?s strong enough to hit it out the opposite way,? Kremblas said.

 

The four-game series continues tonight at 7:05 with right-hander Ben Hendrickson going for Nashville against New Orleans right-hander Chad Durban.

 

On Saturday, left-hander Jeff Housman goes for the Sounds against Zephyrs? right-hander Jon Rauch at 7:05 p.m.

 

The series concludes with Sounds right-hander Helling facing right-hander Brian Powell in a 2:05 p.m. Sunday game.