Notes From The Nat

Usually, the last game of an NWL season is a somber occasion for C’s fans.

We don’t get a long season, and we don’t get to see the players again, unless they’re slumping or rehabbing sometime down the road, so more than at any other level of ball, the end of a Vancouver Canadians season is not just an end to ball for the next nine months - it’s also an end to friendships, in some cases relationships, it’s the last time fans will see their favourite players, the last time we’ll see staff who move on to other things, the last we’ll hear of the team on the TV and radio… and if you’ve just lost in the playoffs (as the C’s have often), it’s an even harder time.

But this time around, two things changed from years prior to make the end of season 2007 a happy time. 

1. We won the final game of the year. That never happens.

2. See picture above.

After a 4-1 victory to the C’s, Delany Dunn and his betrothed, Lisa Marie, gathered at home plate under a frequently collapsing wedding arbour ("Hey, security guy! Hold this up and try not to stand out behind the bride!"), and vowed to spend the rest of their days together.

It was a light-hearted event that took longer to set up than get through, and bride and groom were beaming wide enough to be noticeable in the cheap seats, a place where a good 300 or so fans could be found long after the game had ended. The possibility of an open bar may have had something to do with that, as the chants of "go wedding, go!" ran long and hard in the lead-up.

Lyndon Little of The Sun has more. 

"Lisa Marie [her parents were both huge Elvis fans] and I were initially planning an ‘08 ceremony," Dunn said. "When my mother took ill we decided to move it up in hopes she could be there. Unfortunately, she passed away. But since we told her we were definitely going to be married on Sept. 5 we decided to stick with that date."

When the Canadians’ management caught word of the impending nuptials they approached Dunn about a park ceremony. With the club’s business connections the team was able to arrange some commercial support for the event, including sponsorship of Watson’s bridal package.

I want to know what part of that bridal package required a sponsorship by a Go-Kart track - but it wasn’t just the wedding at home plate that made this a special day - I witnessed many things that had me smiling, despite an umpiring performance clearly intended to get everyone home early.

The first was the crowd of people who now surround Bud Kerr whenever he’s at a game. It used to be Bud would have a few friends around him, swapping stories, but the guy is a media darling these days. He’s working on a documentary about the team, he’s got a museum in his name in the works, with next year being spoken of as a likely opening date, he’s got artists and archivists and ball fans and, yes, the ladies, crowded around him like he’s the guru of all things ballish. Which, when it comes to ball in this town, he kinda is.

The second was walking up to the window of the broadcast booth and finding not Rob Fai and Mark Lenden of TEAM1040, and not the regular webcaller, and not even HawkerRob, who’d done the call the night before. No, instead, there sat the father/son team of Dancing Hans and Lurch the Audio Intern doing the webcast call.

This is kind of like getting into a taxi and discovering that you’ve been picked up by Carrot Top. Or waking up in the morning, rolling over and finding your high school geography teacher, a midget named Cindy, and a Tauntaun sleeping beside you. It’s so random, your brain could just pop.

The third awesome thing of the day was seeing HawkerRob and Dave TheAncient Mariner stepping back out onto the concourse with trays ofGranville Island’s finest, their pennance paid, the crowd quenched, anda certificate for the Beerhawker Player of the Year firmly in hand.More on that in subsequent posts.

But the best thing of the day is something I saw that made my season: A nigh-mulleted drunk dude over in what used to be the smoking section had spent a good part of the day cheering on the team among a group of folks taking long tokes on what you might refer to as ‘BC’s finest’. The guys in the booth had been trying to get the security employees to go de-doobie them for a while, without much luck, but they weren’t doing any harm beyond the obvious breaking of laws. I suspect Julio Rivera might have been getting high just from the breeze, but I digress.

So this mulleted Anthony Kiedis lookalike was hanging about, having a good time, when a hard hit foul tip comes zinging his way. Defying his stoned and drunk state, he zips out a hand and bare-palms it without a flinch, turns to the crowd and raises his arms defiantly with ball in hand, earning a big cheer.

But then comes the good bit… he reaches across the fencing and hands it to a completely random little girl.

Now, that happens all the time at The Nat. In fact, if you don’t give a foul tip to a kid, you’ll pretty much earn the wrath of the faithful and be shunned by the hawkers, but what happened after the game with this guy took it to the next level.

Somehow, Mulletman acquired a bat from a player. This is the holy grail of autograph hunters - you NEVER get a bat. Not ever. I’ve seen literally hundreds of people ask for one, and never have I seen someone get one. Instead, the look they’ll get from the player ranges from a "dude, sorry, not going to happen" to "I can’t believe you’d even be so presumptuous as to even ask".

But this guy got one. And just like the foul tip, when he snagged it, he raised it in the air in celebration, to a big cheer from those around him.

And then he walked over to a guy in a wheelchair, put it on his lap, shook his hand and went about his business.

That’s Nat Bailey Stadium. That’s why I love the place.

Let’s get to the game.

3,284 were on hand for the finale of NWL West 2007, and they weren’t disappointed with what they saw. JD Pruitt opened the game with an infield single to 2nd base before Runway Richard was hit by a pitch to put the C’s in a strong position early. Matt Sulentic and The Pied Piper of Hamblin both struck out (Sulentic looking for a walk, and Hamblin looking for the parking lot), before Greg Desme ripped a rifle shot down the third base line, bringing both runners home. C’s up 2-0.

C’s starter Pedro Figueroa got himself out of a jam nicely in the 3rd, when with men at 1st and 2nd and only one out, he drew the Aquasox hitters into a ground-out fielder’s choice, and then struck out the always threatening Denny Almonte looking.

Matt Sulentic was robbed by a bad umpiring call in the 4th, when he was judged ot have been caught stealing 2nd. Mental replay in my head after a good night’s sleep indicates the ump was high, and the pity of it is that with Richard and Hamblin singling around him, and Desme drawing a walk, if Sulentic hadn’t been told to go (or hadn’t had NWL-standard umps to deal with), he would likely have scored a run.

But whatever.

Figueroa picked up an injury in the bottom of the frame, with what looked like maybe a hammy strain as he stumbled off the field. There was no panic about him, so no drama ensued, and being as it’s the last game of the year, all it really meant was Flyin’ Bryan Collins entered the game early, with a man in scoring position.

A subsequent double to Jeff Dunbar brought the scores back to 2-1 Vancouver, but that would be the closest the Flipperkids would get.

The American Dream, Dusty Napoleon’s "put me in coach, I’m ready to play" routine of late continued in the 4th as he ripped a double down the first base line, and a base hit to The Frashmaker plated him with time to spare. 3-1 C’s.

I decided to move up to the front row, right behind home plate, for the 5th inning, and it proved to be a good idea, albeit one that nearly killed my camera.

Dan Hamblin drilled double to left that, because of my line of sight, I could actually track the spin of it off the bat. It started out hit hard and low, right at the third baseman, but soon began to spiral out of his reach, slamming down on the turf just inside the line and continuing to scurry off towards the C’s bullpen. It was something to see, up so close that you could follow it’s trajectory like you fired it out of a rifle. Hamblin really does hit balls hard - every time.

More fun followed in my front row seat, as a Greg Desme single saw Hamblin not amblin’ as he motored home and Aquasox replacement catcher Blake Ochoa (there’s two names that don’t go together) missed the ball entirely, turning to watch it miss my camera by a handful of inches (as seen left).

Just so you know, no, I didn’t flinch. I was getting the shot - no time for flinching. Oh, and there was no zoom used for that pitcure; That’s how close you are to home plate when you’re watching a ballgame at Nat Bailey Stadium from the front row. In fact, if The Nat were to be built now, it wouldn’t be legal for NWL ball, because home plate is so close to the backstop. It’s only that the ballpark was grandfathered in under old rules that such an anomaly exists, but holy crap, does it make for a great baseball experience.

Anyhow, C’s up 4-1.

From that point on, the Aquasox were making travel plans and the C’s were swapping phone numbers and email addresses to keep in touch through the off-season. Aaron Jenkins, Scott Hodsdon and Leo "you can leave your hat on" Espinal pitched an inning each without threat of a run being scored on them, with Hodsdon striking out the side in the 8th, and the home fans went home for another nine months, tanned, slightly drunk, and with plenty of cut price merchandise in hand.

Thanks for the season, C’s.

 

September 5, 2007
	Final    1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9      R   H   E   Everett   0   0   0   1    0   0   0   0   0      1   6   1   Vancouver   2   0   0   1   1   0   0   0   X      4   11   0  box | log W: B. Collins (1-1, 6.59); L: E. Paredes (7-6, 3.99); SV: L. Espinal (12) HR: None.

If only one thing comes from this NWL season for the Vancouver Canadians, it’ll be the realization that Oakland’s once vaunted desire for OBP machines is officially a thing of the past.

Quite frankly, these C’s - say what you want about their ability to make contact, or hit for power, or pitch a ball over the strikezone without it getting whacked at - are the worst bunch of hackers I think I’ve ever seen at The Nat.

I say this when the collective 8 K’s given up by the Canadians is actually a good day for them, in plate patience terms. Previously we’ve seen them amass as many as 17 K’s in an evening, and almost always ten or more, but tonight’s K’s were textbook examples of where not to let the blod rush to your head.

Take Michael Richard’s 0-4 performance as lead-off guy. Sure, he took one walk. But he also sat twice on K’s and never made fair contact all night. Behind him, the less heralded Justin Frash [seen above, doing The Robot], who would have reason to swing for the fences based on his season to date, put together a workman-like 2-3 with a double and two walks - crossing home plate twice in the process.

Dan Hamblin had a good night, driving in two and scoring twice more with a 2-5 performance, so his pair of K’s on the evening are respectable enough - but behind him, Greg Desme’s 1-4 with three whiffs and nobody driven in serves as a game-long rally vaccuum, highlighted all the more by Dusty Napoleon’s ensuing 2-5 outing with 2 RBIs - in the #6 spot on the lineup.

But perhaps the clearest K of the night - the one you could see coming a mile away - came in the final at bat of the evening: With the C’s down by three and Napeolon on first base with one out (Desme K’ed, natch), Julio Rivera was brought in to pinch-hit for Dante Love.

Now, in a game situation like this, the obvious desire is not a homerun, because then you’re still down by one with nobody on the bags. The obvious need is to get on base, however you might be able to make that happen, and look to build a little pressure on the pitcher. Bloop one into shallow outfield, knock a single up the middle, take a walk, get hit on the elbow - whatever you need to do - just don’t strike out.

So what does J-Riv, the kid who has never met outside junk he wasn’t prepared to wish on a star with, do in this situation?

He swings hard at three pitches, misses all three, and sits down.

Thanks for coming.

In the end, Vancouver’s pitching was solid, even though it rained on them all night. But four defensive errors turned a tight game into a cakewalk, and with only two walks being earned all night by players not named Justin Frash, the C’s didn’t have the gumption to make this one worth writing home about.

When it rains, it pours…

September 3, 2007
	Final    1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9      R   H   E   Everett   0   1   0   4    0   1   0   1   1      8   13   1   Vancouver   3   0   0   0   0   0   2   0   0      5    12   4  box | log W: P. Roy (3-0, 6.21); L: I. Deaza (5-7, 3.90); SV: A. Brown (6) HR: None.

Have you ever had one of those days when nothing goes right, everything goes to hell, and somehow it works out that hell was better than what you had planned?

The Vancouver Canadians could not have tried harder to lose this game if they started throwing pitches over the right field wall, and yet somehow, out of the ashes of assdom, crawled Justin Frash [seen left] and Walt Correa - two hard slumping bottom-of-the-lineup guys that may otherwise have written this season off as being nothing more than "yikes" material, but tonight instead slapped on the superhero duds and dragged their teammates, kicking and screaming, to victory.

Compare and contrast the top and bottom of the order:

Round 1: Pruitt vs Frash 

JD Pruitt: Leadoff guy.
Role in the team: Get on base.
Performance tonight: 0-5 with three K’s.

Justin Frash: #8 hitter.
Role in the team: Just don’t screw anything up.
Performance tonight: 2-3 with two doubles, three RBIs, and two runs scored.

Score 1-0 to the scrubs.

Round 2: Sulentic vs Correa

Matt Sulentic: #3 hitter.
Role in the team: To use contact and/or power to move the runners along and build rallies.
Performance tonight: 0-4 with 2 K’s.

Walt Correa: #9 hitter.
Role in the team: Don’t let the bat fly out of your hands and injure anyone in the dugout. Anything else is cream.
Performance tonight: 1-4 with one home run, two RBIs, and a run scored.

Score 2-0 to the scrubs.

Round 3: The Meat vs the Filler.

The Meat: Hamblin and Desme
Role in the team: Score, and drive in, bulk runs.
Performance tonight: 0-7 combined, with one walk and four K’s between them.

The Filler: Rivera and Napoleon.
Role in the team: Couple of hits here and there.
Performance tonight: 2-7 combined with 1 walk and 2 K’s between them.

Score: 3-0 to the scrubs.

See what I’m getting at here?

Anyhoo, the game report: It sucked until the 8th inning. The C’s pitchers were holding things together, with starter Beanpole Brent Lysander striking out 8 with no walks and just one earned run over 6 innings pitched, but three defensive errors saw the score blow out to 3-0 against, with 15 K’s on the night for the C’s ensuring that runs had been in short supply, when the kid least likely to draw a lead-off walk - Julio ‘The Windmill’ Rivera - drew a lead-off walk.

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EDIT: The only reason these recaps are late is because the wireless internet in the C’s hotel was less than stellar

Finishing off the 2007 road portion of their schedule, the Vancouver Canadians opened up a three-game set in Everett Friday night, hoping to down the Aquasox, who are battling with Eugene for 3rd place in the West Division.  Vancouver put former Stockton Port Jose Guzman on the hill, to counter NWL LHP Starter of the year Edward Paredes of the hometown Aquasox.

The C’s lined up like this:

LF ‘Beaned’ Pruitt
SS ‘Rocket’ Richard
1B ‘Gamblin’ Hamblin
CF ‘Deadly’ Desme
RF ‘Authentic’ Sulentic
C ‘El Shot’ Rivera
3B ‘Ham’ Frash
2B ‘Manta’ Ray
DH Dusty Napoleon
SP ‘Goose’ Guzman

Vancouver had a tough first two at-bats against Everett, with JD Pruitt going down swinging, and then Michael Richard battling back from a pitcher’s count to reach on an error by SS Ogui Diaz that let Richard stand on first.  Dan Hamblin singled, followed by a walk by Grant Desme to load the bases, and suddenly Vancouver was looking pretty good against the NWL all-star. 

Richard scored because of another defensive fielding error by Everett, that allowed Matt Sulentic to reach base, but Julio Rivera grounded into the 5-4-3 DP to end the inning. 

Everett got offensive in their half of the inning, striking for two doubles and a single to open the bottom of 1.  Manelik Pimental walked, with already one runner coming into score, before Joe Dunigan brought another one home on a 6-4-3 by the C’s defence.  Kalian Sams struck out but Everett did damage, 2-1.

Vancouver had even more chances in the 2nd, and it was all started by a Justin Frash single.  Frash stole second and advanced to 3rd on a throwing error by Jeff Dunbar, the catcher, who sent the ball flying into center field.  Justin Frash tried to steal home after Matt Ray struck out, but Frash didn’t get down in time to tie the game, instead there were two out.  Dusty Napoleon and JD Pruitt drew back-to-back walks with two gone, before Mike Richard took four balls to load the bases.  Dan Hamblin stranded the bases loaded as he struck out, still 2-1 frogs. 

Vancouver had some chances in the top of three, but it was the Aquasox who struck again.  Already leading 2-1, Roberto Mena singled ansd stole second, before scoring on Manelik Pimentel’s outfield hit.  3-1 for the Frogs.

Another semi-productive inning happened in the 4th, and it all started with a Dusty Napoleon double.  Napoleon reached third on Rocket Richard’s sac bunt, but Dan Hamblin, for the second time in the game, stranded a runner at third.

The 5th inning was an inning Everett would like to forget, because the C’s did more damage than expected  from a team who is in the bottom two in team batting in the NWL.  Grant Desme walked, before advancing to third on a Matt Sulentic double.  Julio Rivera stepped up to the plate with three dingers on the season prior to Friday night, and sent a shot to right field, that just about passed the outfield netting.  None-the-less it was a home-run, and the C’s took the lead for the first time in the game.  4-3 Vancouver.

That marked the end of the game for NWL all-star pitcher Edward Paredes for Everett, who was replaced by Brandon McKnerney.  McKerney struck out Justin Frash, got Matt Ray to ground out, before giving up a single to Dusty Napoleon.  JD Pruitt hit another single, advancing Napoleon a base and keeping the C’s rally alive.

Michael Richard reached first on a fielding error that scored Dusty Napoleon, 5-3 C’s.  Dan Hamblin, unfortunately, flew out to end the inning. 

We now go to the bottom of 6, which happened to be the last inning for Jose Guzman on the road this year.  The Goose got Manelik Pimentel to strike out, and Joe Dunigan to fly out before Kalian Sams belted a shot to left-center that cleared the outfield netting for his 7th home-run of the year.

Guzman was taken out after this, and in came Pedro ‘Fireball’ Figueroa.  He gave up a walk to Kris Sanchez to open his game on the hill, but Jeff Dunbar got a swinging K to end the inning.  5-4 Canadians.

Now in the bottom of the 8th, with Figueroa still on the mound, Everett made sure they didn’t lose in front of a crowd that was announced just over 3,200.  Manelik Pimentel was out to lead off the inning, but Joe Dunigan opened up a huge rally for the Flipper Kids.  He advanced to 2nd on a wild pitch, and scored on Kalian Sams’ single to left.  Kris Sanchez singled to bring Sams to 3rd, before Sanchez was taken out in favour of pinch-runner Tyson Gillies. 

Leonardo ‘El Diablo’ Espinal came into pitch for Vancouver, and got off to a shaky start.  He gave up a wild pitch to score Kalian Sams, and on Jeff Dunbar’s single to center, Gillies headed to 3rd.  Another wild pitch brought Dunbar to 2nd, and the Flipper Boy Gillies scored on a sac fly.  Roberto Mena grounded out to end the inning.

Everett struck for three in the 8th, only to take the game 7-5.  Aquasux win. 

Today it was revealed that Uptown Corey Brown’s season is over. He’ll be having surgery on a torn ligament in his pinkie finger, which came from a face first slide into home plate last week.

What’s odd is that Brown [seen left] says he slides head-first because he’s "not the best person" at sliding feet-first. Apparently this is the second time he’s damaged a finger sliding head-first, and he’ll be having both seen to with season-ending surgery, but maybe a few sliding sessions might be in order over spring training.

Big news coming out of Tri-City is that the Dust Devils have set a new single season attendance record, with 70,004 paying customers having walked through their gates thus far. Good for them.

Of course, that figure puts them at second last in the entire leaguein terms of home attendance, and if Yakima can raise 6500 people overtheir next two home games, they’ll pass the Dust Devils and leave themin last place, so take it with a grain.

In other news, Ian Walker, who you might recall did a series of video blogs for The Province earlier this season when he was granted a walk-on tryout for the team, is engaged to be married on the 29th of September.

Why is this newsworthy?

Oh, because he’s marrying Bif Naked [seen right].

Meanwhile, the Volcanoes want to eat our souls. Inoel Deaza, on the other hand, is looking to save us all. 

The lineups:

VANCOUVER CANADIANS:
Bomber Pruitt DH
Runway Richard SS
Excellentic Sulentic RF
Amblin’ Hamblin 1B
Destructor Desme LF
The Frashmaker 3B
‘Given up on a nickname’ Rivera C
Lost Correa 2B
3-0 Keough CF
Dealin’ Deaza P

SALEM-KEIZER WITCH-KINGS:
‘Shufflin’ Shane Jordan CF
‘Bouncin’ Brock Bond 2B
‘Syndrome’ Downs 1B
‘Shakin’ Baker LF
‘Tetherball’ LaTorre DH
‘Undangerous’ Davis 3B
‘Billy Dee’ Williams C
‘Filthy’ Flores SS
‘Eh’ Edwards RF
‘Bow Wow’ Bauer P 

Listen to the game NOW by clicking here, or you can check back often as we live-blog it.

On to the game.

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JD Pruitt [seen left] opened this NWL season like an all-star, albeit in an unlikely way. With an OBP that was at one stage pushing .700, and a flurry of "I shall not duck" HBP activity, and yes, even a little bat on ball action, Pruitt was a frontrunner for the Notes From The Nat soon-to-be-annual ‘One to Watch’ award.

Soon he was breaking the NWL HBP record. Then he was smashing it. Then he was obliterating it in a way that will not be touched - ever.

But once you’ve figured out that Pruitt’s plate crowding and non-flinching routine works at this level primarily because opposing pitchers…:

1) Get freaked out by it and start overthinking their pitches.
2) Try to brush him back, not realizing he won’t be brushed.
3) Try to keep the ball away from him, only to stray outside and give up a walk.

…and then you realize that pitchers next season and in higher levels of ball won’t be making the same errors, you start looking at other aspects of his game, and the sub-Mendoza batting average jumps out at you like an evil clown. 

I’m sure he’s had it pointed out to him by the Oakland A’s higher-ups, who are no doubt happy with the size of his cajones, that things like baserunning, defense and bat-on-ball contact are important parts of the game too. And he’s certainly answered way too many questions like, "Don’t you get hurt sometimes?" and, "Are you trying to get hit?" and "What’s with your batting average?"

So JD has decided to put the HBPs behind him and just freakin’ swing.

Shane Keough has also had a weird year, coming off a back injury last season, dealing with issues in his swing, suffering a little hard luck with good hits that went to the wrong places, and hustling for a regular outfield spot in an outfield packed with quality. He too struggled with his average all season, and with season 2007 nearing a close, he knew it was time to get ornery and smoosh the ball some.

Last night, Keough and Pruitt took the wheel in front of 5000 fans who had largely come to watch a guy in a chicken suit, and they raced the C’s to a solid home victory over a team that, for the most part of the season, has looked unbeatable.

And they did it, surprise surprise, with the long ball.

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Not to shake off my responsibilities or anything, but to write a full game report on tonight’s game would be somewhat of a futile exercise. First of all, it would take half the night. And second of all, the important parts can be summed up with the logs of just three innings, and the set-up that, as the C’s entered the 6th inning, they were down 5-0 and well and truly on the ropes.

Then: this happened.

Vancouver Top 6th
    * Daniel Hamblin walks.
    * Greg Desme singles on a ground ball to right fielder Kellen Kulbacki. Daniel Hamblin to 2nd.
    * Dusty Napoleon hit by pitch. Daniel Hamblin to 3rd. Greg Desme to 2nd.
    * Julio Rivera singles on a line drive to left fielder Brad Chalk. Daniel Hamblin scores. Greg Desme to 3rd. Dusty Napoleon to 2nd.
    * Walter Correa singles on a line drive to left fielder Brad Chalk. Greg Desme scores. Dusty Napoleon scores. Julio Rivera to 3rd. Walter Correa to 2nd on the throw.
    * Shane Keough singles on a line drive to center fielder Danny Payne. Julio Rivera scores. Walter Correa scores. Shane Keough advances to 2nd, on throwing error by center fielder Danny Payne.
    * Pitcher Change: Matt Handley replaces Christopher Perez.
    * J. D. Pruitt pops out to pitcher Matt Handley.
    * Michael Richard hits an inside-the-park home run (1) on a line drive to center field. Shane Keough scores.
    * Matthew Sulentic grounds out, second baseman Andrew Parrino to first baseman Robert Blauer.
    * Daniel Hamblin walks.
    * Greg Desme singles on a ground ball to right fielder Kellen Kulbacki. Daniel Hamblin to 2nd.
    * Dusty Napoleon pops out to pitcher Matt Handley in foul territory.

Wow. C’s lead 7-5.

And they weren’t nearly done destroying pitchers yet.

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These post-game reports are getting easier to find headlines for these days. Rather than make up something witty, I just cut n paste the headline from the previous day’s game, change the name of the homerun hero, and hey presto - it’s done!

Greg Desme pounded one out yesterday to get the C’s over, and not to be outdone, Amblin’ Danny Hamblin cranked a pair tonight, pushing him within one dinger of Dan Johnson’s Vancouver Canadians single season homerun record (12), and setting the Canadians up for a 7-2 lead just three innings in.

That didn’t last long, as the Eugene Emeralds posted three in the bottom of the 3rd and notched single runs in both the 4th and 5th inning to level the scores, but the C’s are rampant right now - they won’t just post a lead, but they’ll come back from a deficit, overcome iffy relief pitching, send homeruns over the wall - whatever you need.

Sure, Goose Guzman had a sorry start (5 runs conceded in three innings pitched), Junk Jenkins couldn’t find the strikezone with a team of tracker dogs, a map, and a GPS system (1 hit, 2 walks, 1 homerun in 0.1 innings pitched),  and Shane Keough got caught stealing AND picked off on the base paths (1-3 on the night), but none of that could stop the Van City marauders.

And just quietly, the C’s have bounced back from their momentary last place spot a few weeks back to reclaim second spot in the NWL West, and that’s without Uptown Corey Brown, who is down with injury.

In fact, if the C’s were playing in the NWL East, they’d be headed to the playoffs right now. Wrap your noodle around that one!

Go C’s.

August 26, 2007
	Final    1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9      R   H   E   Vancouver   3   0   4   0   1   1   0   0   0      9   14   5   Eugene   1   1   3   1   1   0   0   1   0      8   10   0  wrap | box | log W: L. Martinez (4-4, 7.28); L: J. McBryde (1-4, 4.64); SV: L. Espinal (11) HR: VAN: D. Hamblin 2 (11). EUG: K. Kulbacki (7), R. Blauer (1).

Been away on business, so here’s the MiLB wrap-up of Saturday’s game:

Greg Desme hit a three-run homer and Brad Hertzler pitched seven solid innings as visiting Vancouver defeated struggling Eugene, 7-3, on Saturday.

The Canadians (31-33) held a 4-3 lead when Michael Richard led off the eighth inning and reached on an error. After Matthew Sulentic walked, Desme sent a drive over the left-field fence for his first professional homer.

Hertzler (3-5) allowed three runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out six over seven innings for his first victory since July 29.

Vancouver trailed, 3-0, when Sulentic lined a two-run double in the sixth. Dan Hamblin delivered a run-scoring double and Dusty Napolean hit an RBI groundout to plate the go-ahead run.

Emeralds starter Jeremy Hefner (2-3) was reached for four runs on four hits and two walks with six strikeouts over 5 1/3 frames.

The Emeralds (31-34), who have lost eight in a row, scored all their runs in the first. Luis Durango led off with a single to extend his home hitting streak to 29 games and, one out later, Rob Blauer walked before Kellen Kulbacki slugged his sixth homer. –Danny Wild/MLB.com

Yes, you heard right - we’ve got Greg Desme, fit, ready to slug, and wearing red and blue.

On a day in Vancouver when there was no breeze at Nat Bailey Stadium, and the shirtless Nat Bailey fans were more properly described as topless, the Vancouver Canadians gave up five runs in the fourth inning, en route to a 9-5 loss in front of 4,300 strong.

Why do Ernie Dragan [pictured left] and Spencer Flynn have no friends?  Well, I’m sure Ernie, Nat Bailey Stadium beer hawker extraordinaire, does in actuality have a friend or two, but in the case of home plate umpire Spencer Flynn, I’m not so sure.

The Canadians lined up like this to close out their 5-game home-stand against Boise:

LF JD ‘Beanball’ Pruitt
SS Michael ‘Rocket’ Richard
1B ‘Amblin’ Dan Hamblin
DH ‘Downtown’ Corey Brown
RF Matt ‘Excellentic’ Sulentic
2B Walter ‘Demon’ Correa
C Dusty ‘Pastry’ Napoleon
CF Shane ‘3-0′ Keough
3B Justin ‘Ham’ Frash
SP ‘Deadly’ Inoel Deaza

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A week ago, the Vancouver Canadians had seemingly hit rock bottom. They’d lost 10 of their last 12, they’d sunk below Everett in the standings (something akin to sinking below the Devil Rays), they’d lost players to promotion and demotion without getting anyone back, and the hometown crowds were falling like the team’s chances of making the playoffs.

But something happened with these C’s when they looked up to see the Flipperkids ahead of them in the standings. Seemingly, they decided as one, this cannot stand. 

And thus tonight they tackled the Boise Hawks, who would love love love the C’s to lay down for them so they could continue their own playoff chase, but sadly for the Spudmonkeys, the men in red came to play.

And they would not be denied.

The lineups:

VANCOUVER CANADIANS:
Beanball Pruitt LF
Runway Richard SS
Amblin Danny Hamblin 1B
Uptown Corey Brown CF
Excellentic Sulentic RF
Lost Correa 3B
Unrequited Love C
Manta Ray 2B
Road Record Hodsdon P

BOISE SPUDMONKEYS:
Tony ‘Tee-ball’ Thomas 2B
Jonathan ‘Whiffy’ Wyatt OF
Brandon ‘Oh my god, they promoted me despite a .222 average’ Guyer OF
Joshua ‘Cousin-chaser’ Donaldson C
Marc ‘Swing and miss’ Sawyer  1B
Jovan ‘Parts Unknown’ Rosa SS
Andrew ‘The Pylon’ Rundle OF
Bill ‘Mendoza thinks I suck’ Moss 2B
Michael ‘Greenhorn’ Bunton P 

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On a night when there were more dogs at Nat Bailey Stadium than in Michael Vick’s backyard, the Vancouver Canadians and Boise Hawks engaged in a pitched battle in which neither side was prepared to.. ahem.. roll over.

The C’s, now mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, turned out a lineup that shifted Walt Correa up to the number two spot in the lineup, slotted Julio Rivera in at catcher, threw Dante Love into the DH spot and, well, hoped for the best.

For the first few innings anyway, the best was what they got, with a Dan Hamblin sac fly scoring Michael Richard in the 1st, and a pair of beaned batters setting the table for a pair of RBI ground-outs in the 2nd.

But the Hawks are nothing if not resilient, and thus they got on top of C’s starter Jose ‘Goose’ Guzman in the 3rd, taking advantage of a single, double and a hit batter to notch two runs in return, trailing Van City 3-2.

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