Link Report for Sat. 9/13 - On the brink of a Championship

[MassBrew]

Saturday's Daily Menu :

 

Here's hoping this is the final Link Report for 2003!

 

HUNTSVILLE: RHP Pedro Liriano at Carolina (Marlins), 6:15 PM - pre-game at 6:00 PM; Stars lead best-of-five, 2-1

 

Audio link:

espn1450.com/

[MassBrew]

Wow, on the Stars' pre-game, it was just noted that the average age of the Huntsville position players in the starting lineup this evening is only 21.5 years old. That's incredible, and a game away from a AA championship. Go Stars!

[Mike2k33]

Rough start for the Stars.

 

Top 1st: Stars go down 1-2-3

 

Bot 1st: Krynzel and Varner let an easy fly ball fall in between them, goes as a double. Hardy then has a ball hit off his glove and go into the outfield, goes as an error, scores a run. Then Liriano gives up a two-run shot.

 

Top 2nd: Stars go down 1-2-3

 

 

C'mon boys, lets come back again.

[MassBrew]

Huntsville's only baserunner thus far reached on an error, I believe.

 

Carolina 4, Stars 0, after five innings

 

The kid for Billings in the Reds' system clinched the Pioneer League title with a no-hitter last night over a heavily favored Provo (Angels) team. Helena lost to the same pitcher in game one of the league semi-finals, a series they dropped two games to one.

[MassBrew]

Wow, in Friday night's victory, the Stars' first hit didn't come until the sixth inning, when they exploded for five runs; tonight they've now been no-hit through six.

 

I have to hit the road and will check things out when I get home -- if anyone listening can keep our readers posted on the game, thanks....

[Katuluu]

Hardy breaks up the no-hitter with a one out double in the 7th. His 5th of the playoffs.

 

Gemoll follows up with a single to score Hardy. It's now 4-1.

[Katuluu]

Not sure of the final score, as I had connection problems, but I do know the Stars did lose. Game 3 is tomorrow, at I believe 2 pm Eastern time.

[MassBrew]

Carolina (Marlins) 7, Huntsville 1

Thanks for the updates, Kat. Where's my legion of Link Report "helpers" from the regular season, who would chime in with the overnight box score? Oh well, guaranteed we're looking at the final report on Sunday, maybe it's just as well...

 

No report on the Stars' site yet, so David Wesier kicks things off...

 

David Weiser's www.starsboxscore.com Huntsville Update:

 

SUNDAY SHOWDOWN AHEAD

They might have come home champions as I type this, but the wheels fell off the victory wagon tonight. So tomorrow, it will be up to Greg Bruso, who delivered a Game Five victory over Birmingham to get them this far.

 

Unfortunately, Game Four went as it has so often this season for Pedro Liriano, who never missed a single start during the season, always seemed to pitch during the Stars' worst days in the field, and who too often tossed up the gopher ball........ On his days during the regular season when he gave up a home run, the Stars went 3-7........ As far as the suspicion that the Stars by chance don't play their best in the field when he is on the mound, that may have been so early in the season, but several pitchers including Mike Jones, Ben Diggins, Matt Childers, and Luis Martinez, in the end gave up a bigger percentage of unearned runs. Liriano got much better defense the last two months of the season........ That wasn't so tonight, as the Stars committed two errors in the first inning (even though they were charged officially with just one), but in the end, it really didn't matter. Nic Ungs ruled the day........ The Stars, who came in with an anemic average of .192 in the series against Carolina, couldn't get around on Ungs' deadly diet of fastballs.

 

The highlights are really lowlights........ Lead-off hitter Jesus Medrano hit a can of corn to right-center, an easy out it appeared to Dave Krynzel, but Krynzel lost the ball in the lights. Noochie Varner came over to back him up, but not wanting to make the same mistake he did last night of trying to share a fly ball, he watched the ball drop. Medrano was given a charitable base hit........ That happened once before to Krynzel at Five County Stadium during the season. These misadventures in the outfield have been unusually frequent in this series..

 

Instead of nobody on base and one out, Chip Ambres arrived at the plate with a runner on second and nobody out....... Ambres lined a ball to J.J. Hardy, but J.J. let the ball get through his legs for an error, his fifth in 11 games, going back to the last two games of the regular season. That scored Medrano and Carolina led, 1-0........ Matt Padgett, next, hit a two-hopper off Liriano's glove. Had it not, Alejandro Machado might have turned it into an easy double play, but Machado had to make a difficult barehand play to get the batter, 1-4-3. Josh Willingham fouled out and that would have ended the inning, but instead, it set up Aguila's moment.

 

With the count 2-2, Aguila hammered a slider deep to left field. All Brad Nelson could do was watch it go. Aguila pumped his fist in the air as he rounded second, a rather inflammatory gesture, but this isn't Birmingham....... For Aguila, the league's batting champion, it was only his second hit of the Championship Series. It's been a tough post-season for the league leaders. Aguila is 2-for-16 in the Championship Series. RBI leader and MVP Corey Hart has been a bust --- 5-for-32 in the post-season without a single run batted in. Billy Hall, the stolen base leader, is 2-for-14......... Only Bucky Jacobsen of the Tennessee Smokies seemed to escape the pattern. He hit .353, but of course, the Smokies didn't win the title and Jacobsen, the league's HR leader, didn't have a home run in the playoffs.

 

Ungs had carried a no-hitter for 6 1/3 innings, allowing just one baserunner who reached on an error, when the Stars finally put something together......... Hardy ripped a double down the 3rd base line, his fifth, extending a playoff record for the Stars. Hart moved him to third on a ground ball. With two out, Brandon Gemoll hit an RBI single to right-center field, his fifth RBI in the playoffs and remarkably, that leads the team in the post-season. The club record is 17 by Ramon Hernandez in 1997. Even though Hernandez had undisputably the best post-season for a Stars hitter in history, he ranks 8th in batting. The all-time list of top ten playoff hitters (all within the A's organization) is now up on the link to the standings.......

 

www.starsboxscore.com/standing.html

 

There was some controversy in that inning. Carolina manager Tracy Woodson came out to protest the bat Gemoll was using and the bat was impounded by the umps. At first, I thought this was George Brett and the pine-tar incident all over again as a couple of Gemoll's bats were brought out of the rack for comparison, but in the end, it seems the protest was over the bat's manufacturer. It seems there are 14 manufacturers that are approved by the league, and Woodson believed he had a bat that wasn't on the allowable list. Three of Gemoll's bats were removed from the game, but that was the worst that came of that. The run was still allowed........ How Woodson picked up on this in the middle of a game is beyond me.

 

The Mudcats sealed the game with three runs off reliever Ken Ray in the 7th inning, the first runs off a Stars reliever since Game One of the Western Division Series vs. Birmingham. Going into tonight, the Stars bullpen had given up just two earned runs in 29 2/3 innings........ Chris Ashby (4-for-9 in the series), hooked a double inside the third base line to score Padgett and sending Aguila to third. A passed ball would give the Mudcats another run. Ungs singled in the final run and that's all she wrote.

 

Carolina had scheduled left-hander David Marchbanks to go in Game Five, but it looks like they'll go with Trevor Hutchinson on short rest. Does that sound familiar?......... Hutchinson threw 6 1/3 scoreless innings in Game One, allowing just three hits, but short rest didn't work for Enemencio Pacheco as well as manager Wally Backman thought it would, so it seems likely that the Stars will see Marchbanks at some point....... Marchbanks made his Double-A debut on the last day of the season vs. Orlando......... Ungs threw 118 pitches for Carolina in authoring the only nine-inning complete game for the Mudcats this year.......... The Stars, again, will go with Greg Bruso (1-1, 3.60).

 

Since it was too inopportune to present my Top Ten list for the best games of the year, I'll do so here tomorrow. You can bet some of them, perhaps half, will be playoff games.

 

Assistant G.M. Cliff Pate has left the Huntsville Stars for basketball. More specifically, the Huntsville Flight. It will be quite a challenge...... The NBDL team will be in its third and final guaranteed year.

 

With the Midwest League season over (Beloit lost the Championship Series to Lansing in a three-game sweep), the Milwaukee Brewers have called up 2nd baseman Rickie Weeks, their #1 draft pick this year........ Weeks could be the Stars' 2nd baseman next season, according to the opinion of a lot of observers.

[MassBrew]

Huntsville Times Weekly Stars Notes Column:

Chock-full, and I'll interject here and there...

 

Kremblas to meet Brewers brass

By MARK McCARTER

Times Sports Staff markcolumn@aol.com

 

ZEBULON, N.C. - There are some obvious promotions ahead for the Huntsville Stars of 2003. Among the most deserving would seem to be manager Frank Kremblas, who has had consecutive winning seasons and now the Southern League championship series appearance.

 

He'll fly to Milwaukee on Monday to meet with Reid Nichols, the Brewers' director of player development, with Milwaukee's plans for Kremblas to be discussed.

 

Kremblas, the overwhelming choice as Southern League manager of the year, has had a significant impact on the Stars' rising prospects and a demonstrated a great knack for dealing with younger players. Ironically, this could work against him.

 

The Brewers might want to let him continue with the nucleus of prospects destined for Triple-A next year - J.J. Hardy, Corey Hart, Dave Krynzel, among them - or they might want him to work some magic with the next wave of prospects, including incumbent left fielder Brad Nelson and youngsters Rickie Weeks, Prince Fielder and Tony Gwynn Jr.

 

On the other hand, surely other organizations noticed his work. His invitation to coach in the Futures Game and now his hiring as a manager in the prestigious Arizona Fall League brings even more exposure and might lead to offers from organizations willing and able to pay more than Milwaukee.

 

Perhaps some of the decision will hinge on what Cecil Cooper, the former Milwaukee star, decides to do. He had expressed some interest a year ago in managing the Brewers and was then assigned the manager's job at Triple-A Indianapolis. With Ned Yost likely set for a long run in Milwaukee, even if Cooper is the heir apparent, that could be a long way off.

 

NOTE: Cooper has just indicated he'd love to work with some of the Huntsville kids as Indy's manager in 2004; if I'm not mistaken, he's expressed interest in a major league hitting coach job in the past as well, but Butch Wynegar's done a fine job in Milwaukee this year. - MB

 

In praise of Kremblas, pitching coach Stan Kyles said a few weeks ago, "With the young guns in here to keep them motivated and playing hard and getting them to understand it's a marathon and a sprint, he's done a good job there. His forte is obviously his communication skills. He's able to get things across whether you're a spring chicken or an old goat. He's definitely a bona fide major league manager in my book.''

 

Whether the Brewers appreciate that endorsement remains to be seen.

 

Starbrites

 

Hardy and Krynzel are on the list of candidates for the U.S. Olympic team for 2004. The team will train in Maryvale, Ariz., the Brewers' offseason home, and play a series of games against Arizona Fall League teams. Among those helping decide the Olympic roster is former Milwaukee GM Dean Taylor. The Olympic team is limited to players not on major league rosters, so if Hardy and Krynzel make the team it will prevent them from what would otherwise seem a natural signing to one of the Brewers' 40 major league contracts. ...

 

NOTE: Due to his young age when drafted in 2001 (eighteen), I don't believe J.J. Hardy needs to be added to the 40-man to be protected from the Rule 5 draft this year, but that's not the case with David Krynzel, who is wrapping up his fourth year (time flies!) in the organization. If Mark McCarter is correct here about 40-man spots and the Olympics, I don't see how David could make the squad. J.J. would seem to be a lock. Again, I could be mistaken, but that's my take. - MB

 

Catcher Mike Kremblas intimated after his heroics in Friday's win at Carolina that he may retire at season's end. ... Southern League MVP Hart has not driven in a run in the postseason. He was the league's regular season RBI champ. ... Stars pitcher Jason Shelley, who began the season in the independent Frontier League, is one of Baseball America's top candidates as Independent League Player of the Year.

 

Around the league

 

The final statistical champs: Chris Aguila, Carolina, .320; Bucky Jacobsen, Tennessee, 31 homers; Hart, Huntsville, 94 RBIs; Billy Hall, Carolina, 45 stolen bases; Hart, 149 hits; Hart, 40 doubles; Krynzel, Huntsville, 11 triples; Jacobsen, 84 runs; Enemencio Pacheco, Birmingham, and Corey Stewart, Mobile, 12 wins; Mike Lyons, Tennessee, 31 saves; Mike Nannini, West Tenn, 158 strikeouts; Joel Hanrahan, Jacksonville, 2.43 ERA. ... Patrick Kinas of Carolina was the broadcaster of the year while Jim Davis of The (Sevierville) Mountain Press and Auburn grad David Paschall of The Chattanooga Times-Free Press were named sports writers of the year.

 

Brewings

 

The Beloit Snappers won their first two rounds of the Midwest League's three-tier playoff system, but were beaten in three games in the finals by the Lansing Lugnuts. ... Weeks, the Brewers' No. 1 draft choice, was promoted to the majors from Beloit after the season. The second baseman will get some playing time, manager Ned Yost said. ... Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel writer Drew Olson on Midwest League MVP Prince Fielder: "The jury is still out whether he'll be the next Willie McCovey or the next Franklin Stubbs.''

[MassBrew]

Huntsville Box Score:

 GAME DATE: 9/13/03 HUNTSVILLE 1 AT CAROLINA 7 YTD YTD HUNTSVILLE AB R H BI AVG CAROLINA AB R H BI AVG A.Machado 2B 4 0 1 0 .182 J.Medrano 2B 4 2 2 0 .200 D.Krynzel CF 4 0 0 0 .171 C.Ambres CF 5 1 1 0 .250 J.Hardy SS 4 1 1 0 .286 M.Padgett RF 5 1 2 1 .231 C.Hart 3B 4 0 0 0 .156 J.Willingham 3B 4 0 3 0 .444 B.Gemoll 1B 3 0 1 1 .212 C.Aguila LF 5 2 1 2 .242 N.Varner RF 3 0 0 0 .219 C.Ashby 1B 4 0 2 1 .467 B.Nelson LF 3 0 0 0 .129 D.Niles SS 2 1 0 0 .167 K.Johnson CAT 3 0 0 0 .100 R.Jorgensen CAT 3 0 0 0 .300 P.Liriano PIT 1 0 0 0 .000 N.Ungs PIT 4 0 1 1 .286 D.Nolasco PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 D.Clark PH 1 0 0 0 .000 K.Ray PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 C.Barnwell PH 1 0 0 0 .261 M.Parker PIT 0 0 0 0 .000 TOTALS 31 1 3 1 TOTALS 36 7 12 5 HUNTSVILLE 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0- 1 3 1 CAROLINA 3 0 0 0 1 0 3 0 X- 7 12 1 E--J.Hardy, J.Medrano. DP--HUNTSVILLE 1, CAROLINA 0. LOB--HUNTSVILLE 3, CAROLINA 10. 2B--J.Hardy (5), J.Medrano (1), J.Willingham (5), C.Ashby (1). HR--C.Aguila (1). SB--J.Medrano (2). YTD IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA HUNTSVILLE P.Liriano (L,1-1) 4.1 6 4 2 2 2 1 1.93 D.Nolasco 0.2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 K.Ray 2.0 4 3 3 3 1 0 6.23 M.Parker 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0.00 CAROLINA N.Ungs (W,1-0) 9.0 3 1 1 0 5 0 1.13 WP--P.Liriano. PB--K.Johnson. SO--A.Machado, B.Nelson, K.Johnson 2, P.Liriano, J.Medrano, C.Ambres, C.Aguila, N.Ungs. BB--J.Medrano, J.Willingham, D.Niles 2, R.Jorgensen. T--2:33. A--1492

[MassBrew]

Carolina had scheduled left-hander David Marchbanks to go in Game Five, but it looks like they'll go with Trevor Hutchinson on short rest. Does that sound familiar?......... Hutchinson threw 6 1/3 scoreless innings in Game One, allowing just three hits, but short rest didn't work for Enemencio Pacheco as well as manager Wally Backman thought it would, so it seems likely that the Stars will see Marchbanks at some point....... Marchbanks made his Double-A debut on the last day of the season vs. Orlando......... Ungs threw 118 pitches for Carolina in authoring the only nine-inning complete game for the Mudcats this year.......... The Stars, again, will go with Greg Bruso (1-1, 3.60).

 

Actually, the difference here, David, is that there was no off (travel) day in the Birmingham series, and there was here. So Trevor Hutchinson will be pitching on four days' rest.

 

Which makes you wonder if Ben Hendrickson was considered for today's start. Perhaps if Greg Bruso hadn't pitched so well in a do-or-die game already, Ben would be on the mound. We're hearing that Ben will be the first man out of the pen if Bruso struggles early, and while that will be an adjustment for Hendrickson, it's not like he'd be asked to close or anything. Warm up and make your pitches. The Stars better not let this decision distract them from their task -- play defense and string together some offense, which they've basically done in all of one inning thus far this series.

[DuWayne Steurer]

Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel writer Drew Olson on Midwest League MVP Prince Fielder: "The jury is still out whether he'll be the next Willie McCovey or the next Franklin Stubbs.''

 

Well, duh, Drew.

[squarepusher]

Prince Fielder may be good... hey may be bad... or he may be so-so.

 

Just my prediction.

[MassBrew]

Yes, it's way after the fact for Saturday's Game Four, but this Huntsville Times game story takes an interesting look at "Bat-gate":

 

www.al.com/stars/huntsvil...177990.xml

 

Huntsville Stars' Championship History:

1985, 1994 - A's, 2001 - Brewers...

 

www.al.com/stars/huntsvil...177991.xml

 

Don't forget to check out the latest Brewerfan cover story interview (with David Krynzel), courtesy of Michael Clifton (madbad)...

 

www.brewerfan.net/fullArt...icleId=161

[lend d money]

I have always been impressed with Frank Kremblas. Whether it be with High Desert or Huntsville, he was never afraid to "get his fingers dirty." He always participated in batting practice and/or fungos. The same cannot be said for other minor league managers, inside or outside of the organization. He has a drill sargeant look and mentality. It appears he is well-respected by his players. He plays an agressive style of ball, which mixes well with our present minor league personnel(mostly absent of power hitters). Though he may deserve something better, I hope he remains a minor league manager at least until we get the Beloit class to the majors. He just seems to have certain expectations for players and it would be nice to see some of our defensively-challenged, upper echelon minor leaguers serve under his tutelage.