Notes From The Nat

Sorry for the drop-off in updatery, folks, but I’m working on a reallybig freelance project that has taken me across country three times (sofar) and eaten up every minute that I don’t forcibly give to my wifeand 8-month-old boy. And on top of that, I’ve got a fever that, shouldanyone suggest it to you as a form of relaxation, you need to have thatperson committed immediately.

I had been quietly recovering for some time, thinking I should take thetime to update Notes, when 2005 Vancouver third baseman Jeff Baisley(left) came out last night with a three-home run game for KaneCounty that puts him firmly at the top of the Midwest League homeruntotals with 11 this season. The 34 runs he’s driven in are worth notingtoo - go Buttah!

Also worth noting on the ex-Canadians front is some kid they call NickSwisher, who used to show up at The Nat in 2002. The Swish was playingin Vancouver before I got to this fine city, but man, has he kicked onsince, lighting it up for Oakland in the majors. After 164 at bats inthe 2006 MLB season, he’s hitting .299, has smooshed 14 dingers, has 37RBIs on the board, and his OBP is approaching .500 - not too shabby fora kid that barely managed to hit .250 in his 13 games wearing red,white and blue. CBS Sportsline rates him, as of now, the #1 leftfielder in the game based on stats so far this season.

A guy who had great fun at the expense of batters in Van City last season was reliever Jason ‘Death’ Ray (no, not this Jason Ray).Though Ray (pictured right) showed Nuke LaLoosh velocity, he also showedNuke Laloosh control, while racking up ungodly K’s mixed in withhorrific walks, on his way to a . Well, the Death Ray has skipped alevel this season, moving straight up to High-A Stockton - and he’sbeing turned into a starter, and the results have been worth watching.As of the time of writing, Death Ray has a 3-1, 3.46line, with 48K’s thrown into the mix over 41.2 innings pitched over 9starts. And if that’s not enough, he has only given up 25 walks - farbetter than the 1:1 K:BB ratio of times past. If Ray continues to showpromise (and maybe gets a few longer starts), he’ll move up the ladderfast.

Just like Jason Windsor, 2004 Vancouver Canadiansstarter who found himself rested late last season in AA ball aftersuffering arm tiredness, but has bounced back this year (4-1, 2.97 inAA) and earned himself an early AAA promotion. Injuries in the Oaklandmajor league lineup have basically depleted the AAA bullpen, whichnecessitated Windsor’s early upward shift, which at the time wasconsidered a little risky. But Windsor has been en fuego since thepromotion, racking up a 3-0 record with a 2.08 ERA. His 16 K’s lookeven more impressive when you realize he has only walked 3 hitters in17.1 innings pitched. Sudennly, all those people who claimed Windsorwas, at best, a middle relief guy, are starting to wonder if they soldthe kid short.

Hey, I’ll come out and say it - he’s a #5 starter RIGHT NOW, and he’llblossom into a good #3 guy within the next 12 months. If anyone has thebulldog attitude necessary to make it in the bigs, it’s J. Windsor.

Whoelse has been awesome this season? Anthony "Pecs" Recker, that’s who(seen left). The Recking Ball has pounded a .340 BA in Kane County tothis point, including 3 long bombs, and an OPS of .903 - that’s somepretty sweet progress for the big man. Thanks to Saint from Athletics Nation for the heads up on that one.

Let’s see, who else from last year’s Canadians team is rocking out…oh yeah. Travis Buck is hitting .302 in AA after hitting nearly .350 inHigh-A earlier in the year, causing several to pontificate that he’llbe movig up shortly. If T-Buck ends up in AAA ball in the next fewweeks and he continues his doublee-hitting ways (he’s hit 6 in 53 atbats, and had notched 17 in Stockton), a September call-up to the bigsis a distinct possibility… and just think, you could have seen himplay in our town for $7 last season.

The bottom line on all this is, you guys in Vancouver (yes, I’m talkingto you) need to go support your damn ball team in 2006. Not justbecause it’s the least expensive family entertainment anywhere in thelower mainland, and not just because Oakland always gives us greattalent to watch when they draft, and not even because of local pride.

Go see your Vancouver Canadians because the guys you see at The Nat in2006, will be the Nick Swisher’s, Rich Harden’s, and yes, even SammySosa’s of tomorrow. And in some cases, like Travis Buck, it couldliterally be tomorrow…

We’ll be updating more frequently over the weeks ahead as the collegedraft looms. Got plenty of irons in the fire, and a very specialsurprise that will add to the look of the site in the days ahead.

Stay tuned!

Who is Carlos Gutierrez?

I’m damned if I could have answered that question a few minutes ago,but I can answer it now. Carlos Gutierrez is the latest signing of theOakland A’s, a free agent pick-up who isn’t waiting for the draft andwill be joining the Vancouver Canadians when the NWL season starts in June.

Gutierrez is an outfielder - a two-time CIAA player of the year, at that - and according to College Sports TV, he’s got quite the pedigree:

A native of the Bronx, NY and two-time CIAA Player of the Year(2005, 2006), he recently concluded his career as the all-time [school]leader in runs scored, batting average, career doubles, career triplesand career home runs. This past season was a remarkable one for him ashe led NCAA Division II in batting average and slugging percentage. His2006 home run total of 15 ranked second in the nation in addition tosetting a new school record for long balls in a season. He earnback-to-back Player of the Year honors after dominating the CIAA ranksfinishing first in runs scored, hits, RBI, home runs and total bases.He also finished 2006 with a .548 batting average, a single seasonrecord for the Viking baseball record books.

Not too foul. Added to that, he was signed by Oakland scout Neil Avent after seeing him play just once.

"He has the ability and a good track record which is why we wantedto sign him. With the kind of numbers he has put up, he is definitelythe type of player that is deserving of an opportunity. We are happythat he will not be around for another team to draft in June."

So there you have it. The draft hasn’t yet commenced, but Oakland got first pick.

In other news, Scout.comhas a good piece up about Dangerous Bradley Davis, wherehe says theOakland pitching coaches have helped him turn his change-up into anout-pitch. That makes four out-pitches the guy had right now…

Finally, Canadians Club President Dan Kilgras was interviewed in the Vancouver Suntoday, explaining that the Canadians won’t be seeing Oakland’s highround draft picks this year. Which sucks, but not as much as you mightthink. Truth be told, when the bonus babies appear halfway through theseason, the team has generally found its groove, and the new playerstend to mean a period of readjustment as the lineup gets juggled andpersonalities mesh. So okay, we won’t see this year’s Travis Buck, butmaybe that’ll give more chances to this year’s Jeff Bieker.

Oh, and I’d tell you more about the article, but Canwest Global, in oneof their more moronic business decisions, doesn’t let you read morethan the first few sentences online unless you subscribe to thephysical newspaper.
AnotherGutierrez article, this one about his naming to the 2006 CarolinaAll-State College division baseball team, can be found here.What’s most notable about it is the picture featured, with Gutierrezand his new A’s cap… It’s always nice to see another kid with one ofthose.

Note: Thanks to HawkerRob, you can read the full Sun article here. Interesting note at the bottom of the piece announces that the Vancouver Canadians open training camp is set for June 11 or 12. Can’t wait.

SUBSEQUENT UPDATE: Gutierrez never made it to Vancouver, instead spending his first pro season in Arizona and never getting traction enough to earn a promotion. At his age, that’s not good news…

When you speak of Alaskan baseball, you generally correct yourselfquickly and say, "What did I just say? ALASKAN baseball? Why on earthwould I say something as random as that? Alaskan baseball, that’s soweird. Bartender; another shot, sir!"

But they do have baseball in ‘Laska. In fact, they have a lot of it.And they get crowds. Well, compared to the Eugene Emeralds, anyway.

Why does this matter? Because I just touched base with ex-Canadianssidearm bullpen man, Zak "The Snake" Basch, who has taken a spot asAssistant GM with the Anchorage Bucs in the Alaskan League.

Basch had been MVP of the league previously, bamboozling all comerswith his 81mph scorchers coming at hitters from an angle somewherearound the where the second baseman stands, setting the all-time single-season relief record(0.62ERA in 43.2IP), and joining some elite Hall of Fame company in theprocess. He then got drafted by the Red Sox, traded to the A’s, whodidn’t seem to know what to do with him, and subsequently let go with asmall-sample, nasty stat line.

Not one to rest on his laurels, Zak ventured back to Alaska to catch upon old buddies, do a little radio, and then found himself in a frontoffice job with the Anchorage Bucs, which is kind of like puttingKirstie Alley in charge of a Jack in the Box - fun times!

Zak got into the news recently, when none other than the LA Timeswrote about the team approaching PokerShare.com, after the company hadoffered $100k for the naming rights to a small American town, andsuggesting they put their money somewhere a little more constructive -like the Bucs bank account. This wasn’t the first time The Snake hadfound himself in the news, so I decided to contact the Snakester and see how life in the Great White Northwest is treating him.

1. Every season, thousands ofball fans go on baseball pilgrimages - rookie ball, spring training,minor league bus trips, fantasy camp - what’s Alaskan ball got thatthose people really need to know about?

The Midnight Sun Game in Fairbanks, without a doubt. It is a mustsee. Every year on Summer Solstice (which is like a state holiday uphere), the Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks play a game at 10:30 pmwithout the aid of artificial light. That’s’ right. No lights, and thegame starts at 10:30 pm. I would go into detail, but you really have tosee it to believe it. The atmosphere is like nothing else any baseballfan has seen. I have played in two and witnessed another, and eachexperience was unlike the others in so many ways. And, 2006 is the100th Anniversary of the first ever MSG, which was played as a bar betbetween two local pubs in 1906.

2. People on the mainland view Alaska as this snow-covered NorthernExposure land of misfits, eskimos, moose and drunks. Tell me how wrongI am.

You’re not wrong. And it’s "Lower 48," not "mainland." Hawaiianscall it the mainland. Alaskans call it the Lower 48. But seriously, itis a land of misfits. I mean, who in their right mind moves to Alaska?People who are either running from something or chasing something. Butthese misfits share a sort of comraderie or patriotism that mostAmericans have only read about. It’s sort of like everyone’s in ittogether. Seriously, there used to be a law here that it was illegalNOT to pick up hitchhikers.

3. When you’re watching the Bucs roll over some weak ass team from god knows where, do you ever get the urge to warm up?

No. The only time I get the urge to warm up is when it’s 2-1 in theninth against a bitter rival. Then I get the itch. But it passes quick.I was only throwing 81 in my "prime," so I don’t even want to thinkabout what I’d be throwing now.

4. Is life as a sidearmer easier or tougher than life as a fireballer.It strikes me that it’d be pretty hard to get good coaching when you’rethrowing unorthodox stuff in the minors, and similarly, that it wouldbe easier to get ‘typecast’ as a mop-up or one-out lefty guy, while thebig
guns get all the chances.

It was just different. I definitely had advantages that otherplayers didn’t have, but I had disadvantages as well. People mightargue that the only reason I got a chance was because I threw sidearm,which is a farce, but it is a common perception. I definitely gottypecast, but the bottom line is that if you get guys out they’ll keepyou around, and I didn’t. So they didn’t.

5. PokerShare.com - what’s the deal you’re trying to grab with them?

I made the mistake of calling their PR firm to try to get a sponsorfor a new scoreboard at our field. As PR people, they blew it up into abig news story. We just want a new scoreboard. We don’t care ifpokershare.com buys it, or the State of Alaska buys it, or if NAPA AutoParts buys it. We know we can’t afford it, and we’re looking for help.We just happened to approach a very aggressive PR firm, and they ranwith it.

6. Is that the kind of thing you have to clear with the league first,or are you open to basically find funding for the team however you can?

The league has no control over how individual teams fundthemselves. Every team in the league is non-profit, 501c3, so we try toplay that up to get funding. The only roadblocks we run into are fromthe Municipality of Anchorage, since our Stadium sits on theirproperty. That can be a bit of a nightmare at times. But we love themanyway (make sure to put that last line in there, in case they readthis, haha)

7. The Cape Cod league is always considered the gold standard in summerball - is the Alaska League closing the gap, or are the powers that bepretty content with it being known as an irreverent second option?

You’ve got it backwards. In the 70s, the Alaska League was the goldstandard, and it has taken these last 30 years for the Cape Cod Leagueto close the gap. It’s kind of like when the media hops on the AL Eastbandwagon, and the Chicago White Sox roll through the playoffs. Itmakes you rethink the power of the AL Central. Maybe those games withthe Tigers were meaningful after all.

Really, how does one decide which league is the best? You play eachother, which is something the Bucs have been trying for years. We haveeven offered to pay for a Cape team, or even a Cape All-Star Team, toplay us. They want no part of it. So, to answer your question, I thinkI can speak on behalf of the entire Alaska Baseball League when I saythat we resent the perception that the Cape Cod League is the goldstandard in summer ball. Let’s decide it on the field.

8. You’ve played ball in the Boston system, and you played in theOakland system. If you could get another season in the minors (assumingyou wanted to), who would you want to be playing for?

The Tigers. I have been a Tigers fan my whole life, and it hasalways been my dream to play for them. But alas, it is not going tohappen.

9. Obviously people who want a career in baseball have to spend a lotof years climbing the ladder, whereas you basically walked right intoit - was this something you wanted to do, or something that just foundyou?

First of all, I would argue that most people would consider myposition as a very low rung on this baseball ladder. To answer thequestion, though, this is something that found me. I guess I could getphilosophical and say something like I just followed my path and thisis where it took me, but that would be a little too New-Agey for mytaste. However, if you knew the road that I took to get here, you wouldknow that it’s nothing I could have dreamed of creating for myself. SoI guess you could say it found me, but I was an easy mark.

10. Is it true that chicks dig the long ball? And if so, what does asidearmer do to combat such things when, say, on a road trip throughSpokane?

Please. Chicks dig out of shape, pus-throwing, hairy, bald20-something closers that throw 80 mph. Lucky for me, I happen to beone, so I never had any problems with the ladies. Especially inSpokane. All of the classy ladies live in Spokane, didn’t you know? AndYakima.

Oh, I know…

Note: Photo credit: Alaska Goldpanners.

In 2005, no pitching combo was as unassuming, yet totally important, for the Vancouver Canadiansas Joe Newby (left) and Joe Piekarz. The combo known as the ‘SteamingCup of Joe’, as we like to call it at Notes From The Nat, was notexpected to do much of anything in its debut season, based purely onthe fact that neither pitcher was drafted in the first 50 rounds.

But Oakland has a knack for spotting peanuts in the poop left over oncethe other teams have moved on, and Piekarz and Newby turned out to be acouple of cashews of the highest order.

Sure, there were games that Newby got smoked. Yeah, there were timesthat Piekarz looked shaky. But when the bonus babies got kickedupstairs, or blew shoulders, or just plain old blew chunks, it wasNewby and the Pike that were entrusted to steer the ship to a playoffbirth. And that they did.

Despite the fact that the Steaming Cup of Joe did a great job forVancouver last year, the fact remains that when the big team hasnothing invested in you, there’s always going to be talk that you’ll beamong the first cuts made the following season - especially if yourblow a lead or two - so the pressure is right on Piekarz and Newby, andwill pretty much remain on them for the duration of their minor leaguecareers. Throw hard and true, and there’ll be a spot. But get roughedup one too many times, and the door will swing closed faster than youcan say "Shawn Martinez."

So today, in the second rubber of the Kane County Cougars double-headeragainst the Clinton Lumberkings, all eyes were on Joe Piekarz as he wassent out to start, and the Piker did not disappoint, throwing fourinnings of 3-hit, 1-run ball to help the Cougs to a handy 5-1 lead.That allowed Newby to tag in for the 5th and 6th, which he cruisedthrough, not surrendering a hit and K’ing one batter.

Piekarz is 2-1 with a 3.12 ERA so far this season, while Newby opens his account with a 1-0, 0.00 line.

Newby has been lighting it up in spring training, having added a fewmph to his fastball, and is confident he’ll have a huge season, but hehad to negotiate a minor injury first. With that now out of the way, hecould be one of those guys, like Dallas Braden a season earlier, whocould come out of nowhere to make a career for himself this season.Watch this space.

News out of the Oakland system this week that Marcus McBeth would beshifting up a few levels from High-A Stockton to AAA ball in Sacramentowas worth noting for 2005 Vancouver Canadiansfans. Not that McBeth has ever played for Vancouver - he went straightfrom Arizona rookie ball to Kane County in his earlier years - butbecause a vacancy in Stockton meant someone would either drop down fromAA Midland, or move up from Low-A Kane County.

As it turned out, one of our ex-Vancouver alums in Kane County has beenhaving a scorcher of a season so far, and thus he was given the holyhand-up to the ‘Halfway to the Majors’ level.

Congratulations ‘Dangerous’ Bradley Davis.

Davis was a 14th round draftee, which means he was not expected tosuck, but also not expected to fly through the system, and perhapsthat’s why, despite a season plus of extraordinary relief pitching, hehad barely moved upwards until now.

Last year, Davis was the go-to guy in the results-heavy Vancouverbullpen, notching a 0.52 ERA over 34.2IP and racking up 44 K’s. In KaneCounty so far this season he’d continued that form, allowing just 6hits over 18 innings.

So how did he go in his first California League outing? He got the win.

3.2IP, 0R, 0ER, 2H, 0BB, 2K.

I’ve been saying for a year now that this kid has the stuff to go allthe way. He has a rubber arm, a great demeanor on the mound, he’s allbusiness and he throws some serious shit. It’s time folks put DangerousDavis on their radars - he’s going to make some ripples, and hisStockton debut is ripple #1.