Link Report for Games of Thursday, June 10th

[hardytheman]

well, i dont think overall the minor league teams look like crap, but besides hd and beloit to certain degree, our two top teams do look like crap offensively at times. Especially Huntsville.

 

However, Im gonna stay calm about it. Huntsville is filled with a lot of first year guys, prince, rickie, tony, Nelson to a degree, and filled with guys who will prolly never make it out of AA ball.

 

I second half of the season will tell a lot more than the first half IMO.

[igor67]

Now I could attempt to scrounge up a comprehensive list, but what is currently escaping hoffy and others is that our system is entirely devoid of the beast I call the "Minor League Masher". These are players who way back, when Reed was talking about our great minor league team records and prospects, where a prime explanation. These are the 4A vets who go to AAA and absolutely kill the ball, and Liefer is really the only guy in the system like that and he's been promoted. Our AAA championship team had like 2 or 3 atleast. Jim Rushford largely fit the bill for a couple of years. Other luminaries include Brian Lesher, and Bobby Darula. Keith Luola (sp) was a middle infield version the last few years. Derek Lee was a pitching version. Regardless of the prospect performance the abscense of these types of performers will hurt a minor league teams record, while we go with almost nothing but young guys some of whom will struggle.

[squarepusher]

[ Wow! If I said that, I would need to look over my shoulder for a hit man hired by the insiders. Aren't you guys going to savage Homer so he never, never dare dissent again. ]

 

Hoffy, don't be a tool. I was just beginning to really enjoy the contributions you've made to the forums.

 

Can 1,047 other users really all be considered insiders? This is like some bizarre Wonko the Sane situation.

[MassBrew]

Daily Press High Desert Game Story:

 

Mavericks snap 11-game losing streak

Hinton's grand slam powers High Desert past Lancaster

By TIM HARAN/Staff Writer

 

ADELANTO ? Mired in a season-long losing streak, the High Desert Mavericks insisted it was only a matter of time before the team put together all the pieces and started to turn things around.

 

It happened, at least for one night, Thursday as the Mavs topped the Lancaster JetHawks 10-6 in front of 1,590 at Mavericks Stadium.

 

High Desert hit three home runs, including a grand slam by first baseman Travis Hinton, while starting pitcher Jesse Harper allowed just two runs on four hits in 4 1-3 innings.

 

Ahead of his first start for the Mavs, the right-handed Harper acknowledged that it might take a few games for him to feel comfortable throwing in the California League.

 

It took the 6-foot-4 hurler, who had pitched in the Florida State League before being picked up off waivers this week from the Toronto Blue Jays, about two-thirds of an inning to settle in and help the Mavericks snap their 11-game losing streak.

 

"We've heard good things about him and they were correct," High Desert manager Mel Queen said. "He knows how to pitch, moves the ball around, doesn't beat himself."

 

Harper, who struck out the JetHawks' first batter of the game on three pitches, remained in control much of the night. He struck out six and walked two.

 

At the plate, the Mavericks batted around in the third inning, loaded the bases twice and exploded for five runs on three hits. Hinton, who had hit a two-run homer in the first inning, launched a first-pitch fastball over the right-centerfield wall to drive in four Mavericks. Hinton has hit three home runs in his last two games and now has nine on the year.

 

"My second time they had just walked the bases loaded and I thought he was going to try and get in on me again, so I was just ready for it," Hinton said. "Any time you get up with the bases loaded and no outs, you hope to cash in on some of the runs."

 

The JetHawks cut High Desert's lead to two runs in the sixth before Dan Boyd, who hit a solo home run on Wednesday, jumped on the first pitch thrown by Lancaster reliever Jered Liebeck in the seventh inning and hit a two-run homer to give the Mavs a cushion.

 

"We've been swinging the bat all along," Queen said. "Every run's important but you think that when you've got a fairly decent lead you might be safe. But if (Boyd) doesn't hit that two-run home run they make it a one-run game (the next inning)."

 

Mavs' reliever Eric Henderson picked up the win, which was the team's first since May 28. It did much to help eliminate the sour taste of losing.

 

"It's the first time we've seen smiles in the clubhouse for about two weeks," Hinton said. "I think that says it all."

 

High Desert (21-40) will travel to San Bernardino tonight for the first game of a three-game series against the 66ers.

 

NOTES: Outfielder Chris Morris returned to the Mavs' lineup Thursday after missing the last seven games with an injured lower back. Morris, who is second in the Cal League in stolen bases with 24, went 1-for-3 and drew a walk. ... Hinton, who went 3-for-4 with six RBIs, extended his hitting streak to seven games.

 

Tim Haran can be reached at 955-5303 or via e-mail at tim_haran@link.freedom.com

 

Aaron J.H. Walker/Victor Valley Daily Press Staff Photographer

High Desert's Kennard Bibbs gets a base hit to start the Mavericks' two-run first inning Thursday. The Mavericks beat the JetHawks 10-6.

 

http://www.vvdailypress.com/storypics2/061104_mavs.jpg

[MassBrew]

Huntsville Times Game Story:

 

Baron has a grand ol' time

McNeal continues big series against Stars with slam, six RBIs

By MARK McCARTER

Times Sports Staff markcolumn@aol.com

 

At game's end, Aaron McNeal threw his head back and pointed skyward. It was a traditional, prayerful salute toward heaven.

 

Then again, he could have simply been looking up and seen one of his home run balls, completing still another orbit.

 

McNeal, 26, is a soft-spoken, devout Christian who will begin study this fall at a divinity school in California. But the last two nights, the preacher-to-be has bedeviled the Huntsville Stars.

 

McNeal mashed a grand slam, a solo homer and an RBI single, driving in six runs as the Barons clobbered the Stars 8-1 on Thursday night. That makes him 6-for-10 with eight RBIs in the past two games. Simply put, said Stars manager Frank Kremblas, "He's killed us.''

 

And perhaps killed their last hopes for a pennant. The Stars, who end their series with the Barons tonight at 7:05, have dropped seven of their last nine. At 30-31, they are in fourth place, three games behind West Tenn and Mobile (both 33-28) with nine games to play.

 

But, bad streaks can U-turn with an instant, dramatic screech of tires and brakes. Witness Aaron McNeal.

 

Coming into Wednesday's game, McNeal had gone hitless in his last 10 at-bats. Then he became the Terminator.

 

"This game is day-by-day,'' McNeal said. "You have to take it a day at a time and go out there be confident and be positive.''

 

Some generosity from a Stars pitching staff that is struggling - 69 runs allowed in this nine-game stretch - hasn't hurt. Said Kremblas, "He's gotten good pitches to hit, and he's hit them.''

 

A year ago, Stars first baseman Prince Fielder batted .313 with 27 homers and 113 RBIs at Beloit in the Midwest League, and seamheads all over the country drooled at his potential.

 

Four years earlier in the same league, McNeal made those numbers look skinny. He batted .310 with 38 homers and 131 RBIs.

 

McNeal, in his ninth pro season and having bounced to his fifth organization, has had the misfortune of finding slugging outfielders and first basemen in his path with each employer, impeding his progress. Like Jeff Bagwell at Houston. Ryan Klesko at San Diego. Mo Vaughn with the Mets. Jim Thome with the Phillies.

 

"I've been in that situation, but I've got to stay positive,'' McNeal said. "For me, God's in control of my life and whatever happens. I just go out with a positive attitude and play hard, and you never know.''

 

He was, in his own words, "on the fast track'' with Houston. Then he was injured. And, he confessed, even though he had grown up in the church, "I was doing some things I knew would ruin my testimony if I got to the big leagues.

 

"I think,'' McNeal said, "the Lord really humbled me. And I thank him for it. I thank him for what I've been through because what I've been through, it's made me a lot stronger.''

 

McNeal, who had singled in the first two runs in Wednesday's 8-3 mauling of the Stars, got things going again Thursday. He blasted a solo homer, leading off the second, against Chris Saenz, who fell to 4-4 and, curiously, 3-3 with a 4.67 ERA in nine starts since pitching six shutout innings against St. Louis in his April 24 major league cameo.

 

Scott Bikowski stretched it to 3-0 in the fourth on a two-run homer, then McNeal crunched his grand slam in the fifth, his 15th homer on the season. To assure equal treatment, he singled in a run in the sixth off reliever Jason Shelley.

 

On the other side of the ledger, the Stars actually matched the Barons' total of 11 hits, with three from Chris Barnwell. But they left 12 runners on base.

 

The Stars' lone run was a ninth-inning afterthought when Kade Johnson doubled and later scored on a Rickie Weeks sacrifice fly.

 

"We swung the bats better,'' Kremblas said. "I thought they (Barons) did a good job of making pitches with guys in scoring position.''

 

They also did a good job of having Aaron McNeal hitting well with runners in scoring position. Of course, these days, McNeal merely walking to the plate puts himself in scoring position.

[gregmag]

Hoffy, just out of curiosity, what would it take to get you to stop whining about how everybody who doesn't bow down to your superior wisdom and knowledge is part of an evil cabal? How about if we all sign a statement that says:

 

"Hoffy is right about everything. Hoffy's judgment about what kind of information, and how much of it, is needed to support his opinions cannot be questioned, because Hoffy's opinions are infallibly true. The Brewers' farm system sucks because Hoffy says it does. This is Hoffy's world, and we all just rent space in it. Thank you, Hoffy, for being right about everything and just for being you."

 

Would that do it? Because at this point I'd happily sign onto it if it would only make you SHUT UP ABOUT HOW EVERYONE HERE PERSECUTES YOU!!!

 

Or you could just grow some self-respect. Please keep in mind -- in all seriousness -- that I often agree with you and always value your opinions about baseball. But. This. Paranoid. Crap. Must. Stop.

 

Please.

 

Greg.

[lend d money]

I would be lying if I said I am an optimist by nature. I tend to evaluate things at face value. However, I do think a few people are unnecessarily jumping ship on the minor league teams. Let's evaluate:

 

AAA- Hardy lost due to shoulder injury. Krynzel lost due to foot injury. Lots of movement back and forth with parent club regarding pitching staff.

 

AA- Jones, Ford, Shelley, Miller and Parra all lost from pitching staff for majority of season due to injury. No depth in lineup.

 

A+- What can you say? They will always be treated like the ugly step sister.

 

A- They were hampered by a slow start by Moss and Murray early in the season. Those players became injured and were replaced by more productive players. They have returned to the lineup and are starting to resemble the players they were expected to be. Also, the Snappers are gradually abandoning the "piggyback" system. By extending the pitchers, the Snappers should be able to take advantage of their depth in the second half. Only concerns among the pitching ranks is one person has yet to truly emerge as THE guy and the closer situation is a little tenuous. I will be disappointed if they aren't in the second half playoff race.

 

I'm sure I didn't touch on everything. However, these are valid reasons(not excuses, with the possible exception of the Snappers) for these teams not performing to expectations. If we are healthy and not winning in the second half(except HD), we might have a reason for complaint. For right now, we unfortunately need to be patient.

[huntsvillefan]

I always assumed that Huntsville wouldn't be wort watching until the second half. Hart, Hardy and Krynzel all took a few months to adjust to AA and Weeks & co. were always going to be similar.

I'd like to see Weeks given a little protection by dropping him to the 3 slot with Prince at 4. If Knox is staying he could move to lead-off or alternatively Raburn could play SS all the time & lead (please, please, please).

This team could still have a great second half.

We are the only team that doesn't mix our young prospects with experienced players and that is always going to make it tougher for us to win ( I also think it does a disservice to the prospects- but thats another thread)

[biedergb]

Let's not forget that Prince was playing High scool baseball 2 years ago, and only in low A last yeat. This time last year Rickie and AG Jr were playing college ball, so this is quite a step for many of them. They are highly talented, obviously, but still are playing against highly talented competition. From the recent trend of AA players going to the Majors in recent years, I'd guess that Low A to AA is a bigger step than AA to MLB (despite Brewer management's contention that High-A does not exist).

I think we were spoiled last year by Mike Jones' success from the Beloit-Huntsville shuttle. They're young, talented and hopefully learning from mistakes and struggles. I too look forward to a potential surge in Huntsville this second half (especially if pitching gets and STAYS healthy).

 

-Greg