Notes From The Nat

A few weeks before Vancouver hitting coach Ben Winslow was due toarrive in Vancouver, Notes From The Nat had the scoop that he’d notonly been dating former Canadians press honcho Leanne Cass, and had notonly got engaged to her, but had actually just married her in a quietrural setting. At the time, it was a giant scoop - we even hadpictures!

But out of respect to Benny, we decided to wait until the news was outthere a little before talking about it in public - after all, a guy’sprivate life is his private life.

Well, last night after Vancouver’s loss to Eugene, Benny the Jet talkedto the TEAM 1040 guys and told the entire city the news that a selectfew had known previously - he has a Mrs Winslow in tow.

So congratulations to the happy couple - both are tremendous folks,clearly head over heels for each other, and if any one person in theA’s organization deserves to find true happiness, it’s a selfless dudelike The Jet.

Thankfully, I’m a pretty fast typer, so I managed to transcribe theinterview on the fly, and though it’s not word for word exact (hey, I’mnot THAT fast), it’s pretty darn close. Enjoy.
Was there anything positive to come out of yesterday’s game?

BW: Well, the good thing about this game was the weather was reallynice, and when you’re in the batter’s box and the girls are out waitingfor you in the stands, and the sun is out, everything’s okay, you know?(laughs) Actually, it was pretty bad, but we’re not worried about it.It’s one game.

The C’s have hit a bit of a slump though…

BW: Yeah, we’re not too good right now. We were running hot bats butright now we have become ice cold. That’s baseball, that’s somethingevery hitter goes through, ups and downs, cold streaks, but we havegood pitching and are looking forward to the future. I think once acouple of guys break out of slumps, we’ll start winning a lot ofballgames.

You lost Chad Boyd and Toddric Johnson to Kane County - how do you feel when you lose a couple of guys like that?

BW: It’s a mixed reaction. There’s three parts of it as a player -you’re obviously excited for the guy, you’re sad it’s not you, andyou’re sad you’re losing him in the lineup. That’s a bunch of emotionsgoing on, but it’s really about development here, you know? We’re moreconcerned with that guy playing in the majors, than we are about himwinning in Vancouver. That’s the reality.

You’ve got Matt Sulentic, however, to take their place…

BW: Yeah, that guy, I tell ya, he works his tail off and it’s fun towatch. He’s always pulling coaches and guys into the cage and he’s like"throw to me", which is awesome. He’s a high school kid, so he has someserious work to do in the outfield, but as far as hitting, he’s top ofthe high schoolers in the country and he’ll be something special.

What about your new lead-off guy, Larry Cobb?

BW: He’s the scrappiest dude you’ll ever find as a lead-off man. Iswear, he was born in a junkyard, he’s all sorts of tough. He just getsit done, no matter how ugly he might have to get to make it happen, hegets it done.

And Jermaine Mitchell…

BW: I tell you, you dont wanna blink when Mitchell is in the batter’sbox, he hits the ball, he gets on base, and when he does, he’s one ofthe fastest guys I’ve played with - he just flies, so even when his batis cold, he’s a chance to get on base and score.

How did you get to become a coach in Vancouver?

BW: I went to college and that didn’t pan out too well, but a littlelater I thought I had a chance to play, so I knocked on Oakland’s door,they let me in to try out, and I spent three seasons running aroundlike a crazy guy. They gave me a contract and decided I was good enoughto coach, and they’ll probably rethink that seeing how we’re hittingright now. (laughs)

You were a bit of a utility guy when you played, right?

BW: Oh yeah, I lied my ass off, tole them I played everything. I wasalways second baseman in college, but I lied and said, sure, I can playthird. Yeah, I can take first, outfield, pitching… Just play me.They’re like, ‘We’ve got an injured guy, can you play that position?’and I’m all ‘Oh yeah, I play that spot, send me out there, coach.’

Rick Magnante: discuss.

BW: He’s an amazing professional, so articulate, so precise, a greatmanager, just incredible to be around and learn from. When we get in aset routine, get the guys used to bus trips and playing every day, youcan bet we’ll have a good season with him running the show.

Talk about the transition for these guys to wooden bats.

BW: well, nowadays most colleges are using wood through their seasons,taking batting practice, summer ball, etc, so there’s a change, butit’s not as big a change as it once was. to be sure, you’ve gotta takea better swing with wood.

What do you think of talk that the C’s might bring in the outfield wall?

BW: I think it would ruin it. (laughs) Not ruin it, the atmosphere hereis amazing for baseball, but that’s part of the aura of this place, thebig outfield. It’s almost mythical in how far you have to hit a ball.

Should they just bring in the center field maybe, so people might hit the occasional home run to center?

BW: Oh, center field happened when I was here. But I hit it from secondbase. (laughs) They should keep it how it is, maybe clean up the wall alittle, shoot down some of those birds so there’s less poop out thereto roll around in. But it’s fine as it is, I think.

This is your first time in the press box, right? have you been here before?

BW: No, I haven’t, I love it up here. My wife used to watch me from uphere, she used to watch me play. Well, I didn’t play much but shewatched me. My behind looks really good from up here, I guess.

That’d be Ms Cass?

BW: Ms Winslow now. Yeah.

You’re still pretty young, right?

BW: Yeah, I’m not much older than the guys I’m coaching, and I actuallyplayed with a couple of these guys. Obviously I was their father figureand still am, so it feels good to feed them knowledge and… No, I’mgoofing off, but I did play with some of the guys down there, andthey’re pretty respectful, despite that.

What’s behind the C’s hitting slump of late?

BW: Well, I’ve always said that hitting as a team is indicative of thecoaching, and I struck out a ton when I was playing, so clearly they’relearning plenty from me. What are ya gonna do?

The errors aren’t helping…

BW: Again, I made a lot of errors too. Blame me. It’s all my fault. (laughs)

Thanks Benny.

2004 Vancouver Canadiansstarting pitcher Jason Windsor had a big old time in AAA ball lastnight, striking out ten hitters in just (get this) 5.2 innings of work.He gave up one earned run on four hits with three walks, and admittedlyhe threw a lot of pitches to get through that 5.2 innings (110, to beexact), but when you consider that 3.1 of those innings were K’s,that’s pretty amazing stuff.

Windsor isn’t being rushed to the majors by the A’s, who still no doubtwant to ensure that his tired arm troubles of the last few seasons arefar behind him, and the big club will have little interest in startingWindsor’s clock before they have to, wanting to get the best possibleuse out of him for league minimum pay - but man, you’d have to thinkhe’s close.

And that’s why you should go to today’s Nooner at The Nat - because theguys you see swinging and pitching in Vancouver red and blue today,will be turning out in Oakland green and gold tomorrow.

If I told you the weather was outstanding at Nat Bailey Stadium rightnow, chances are you’d think the phrase redundant, for I think I’vesaid those words for every single game I’ve seen in the NWL so far thisseason. When I moved up to Vancouver, having lived all over the US,Japan, and Australia, friends thought I was insane.

"Canada?! But it’s freezing up there!" they’d yell. Oh, if only they knew…

So today the Vancouver Canadianswill be looking for vengeance against the usually crap but suddenlydominant Eugene Emeralds, the San Diego Padres affilliate that hasnotched 29 runs in just the past two games played - one of them againstthe C’s, in which they beat us 12-6.

Will the Canadians turn it around, having lost Don Sutton to injury andToddric Johnson and Chad Boyd to Low-A promotion? Sure, I’ll be a homerand say ‘yes’, but the truth of the matter is they’ll need a fewplayers to bust out of slumps for it to happen.

On the mound for Eugene stands pitcher Orlando Lara, who has onlymanaged to stay in for 6 innings total over the two games he’s startedthis season, and has racked up a record of 0-0, 6.00 while he was atit. In comparison, C’s starter Inoel Deaza has a 2-0 record with a 2.25ERA, striking out 7 and walking only 2.

On paper, that puts the C’s in good shape, but Vancouver bats have beenhurting of late, and the Eugene hitters have been en fuego.

Best way to see what’s about to go down? Come to the ballpark. Ticketsstart at $8, the beer is cold, and every seat is a guaranteed suntan.

The line-ups:

VANCOUVER CANADIANS
Larry ‘Corny’ Cobb DH
Mike ‘Fearless’ Affronti SS
Jermaine ‘J-Train’ Mitchell CF
Jake ‘The Rake’ Smith C
Matt ‘Authentic’ Sulentic RF
Alex ‘Exxon’ Valdez 3B
Andre ‘DJPJ’ Piper-Jordan LF
Mike ‘The Keg’ Klug 2B
Greg ‘The D-Bomb’ Dowling 1B
Inoel ‘Vowels’ Deaza RHP

EUGENE EMERALDS
Mike Epping CF .350
Tom ‘Stin’ King SS .146
Matt Antonelli 3B .281
David ‘Deep’ Freese DH .343
Chad ‘Felicity’ Huffman LF .389
Casey Smith 1B .333
Willy ‘Crawfish’ Crafort RF .300
Kody ‘Velveeta’ Valverde C .273
Ray ‘Choke’ Stokes 2B .154
Orlando Lara LHP 0-0, 6.00

As the game continues, we’ll be doing updates every inning, telling youexactly what’s going on at the ballpark. In the meantime, if you wantto listen to the webcast call, click here.
(more…)

You might have noticed a new name appeared on the Vancouver roster recently - that’s Jason Fernandez,an 11th round draft pick for the Oakland A’s out of the University ofLouisiana, Lafayette, who made a name for himself as a shortstop beforea summer league coach suggested he put his rocket-like arm to work as apitcher.

His only season for the Ragin’ Cajuns was a 9-2, 2.86 year which sawhim named to the All-Louisiana second team after holding opponents to a.233 average, and his final game of the year saw his victory earn ULL aregular season conference title.

Oakland has elected to draft several players over the past few seasonswho had only one season in their chosen position, and Fernandez seemsto be one of the latest. Following the Moneyball ethos of finding valuein underappreciated areas of the market, Jason ‘Death’ Ray was selectedas a pitcher last year, having less than a full season under his beltin that position after converting from the outfield, and his progresshas been fast through the A’s system as he has come to terms with thenuances of the role.

Grabbing Fernandez so early in the draft is indicative of the fact thatthe A’s see promise far beyond the pitcher’s current stat line, andrealize that a few years of honing as a professional will likely seethe 6′2", 180lb hurler improve exponentially, though the fact that hewas a Roger Clemens Award finalist, and ranked 39th in the NCAA forERA may have helped his cause.

That the A’s were able to agree terms with a kid who could easily havesimply returned to college and likely been drafted higher in a year’stime is testament to their reputation as a great system for pitchingprospects.

?[Signing] was a trying decision for him,? Fernandez?s father Mike toldthe Louisiana Advocate on Wednesday. ?It really beat him up for 2 or 3weeks, but he knew Oakland was too good an organization to pass up anddecided to take the offer,? - an offer that includes college tuitionduring the off-season so he can finish his degree in sports management.

?We found out that Oakland was one of the better organizations to bewith if you?re a pitcher," Fernandez continued, "[which] had a bearingon his decision […] Like all kids, Jason had a lifelong dream to playpro baseball and has a chance to fulfill that dream.?

When your luck runs out in baseball, it really runs out, and right now it seems like the Vancouver Canadianshave used up their 2006 quota of luck in a fairly major way. After aroad series that saw them lose three games to a team that scored 1 run,3 runs and 2 runs to beat them, the C’s came home after a long bus rideand were told they wouldn’t have to worry about taking batting practice(hurray!), and oh yeah, their lead-off hitter and #3 (Todd Johnson andchad Boyd) had been shipped off to Kane County.

Greeeat. That’s what you really need when your bats have run cold - two of your best hitters booted upstairs.

So with no BP on the day, you might have expected that the C’s wouldtake a few innings to hit. You’d be wrong, as the C’s finally startedswinging like they had against Yakima in the opening series of theyear, but that burst of lumber enthusiasm unfortunately coincided withthe pitching finally falling into a hole the size of Surrey.

Starting pitcher James ‘Doogie’ Heuser had started the season withflair, rippping through two early season starts with great numbers, butthe Eugene Emeralds came out of the gate swinging hard, and Doogieended up getting beaten like a fat kid’s pinata before the Canadianseven had a chance to swing a bat.

Full report follows.
(more…)

C|Net, the high technology website that has a budget that could buy andsell this blog a million times over, has spent a little time in thePacific Northwest of late, and the resulting articles have made prettyinteresting reading. the first, last week, discussed how the Vancouver Canadians have embraced wireless technology, offering free wi-fi to fans at the ballpark who might, for whatever reason, need access to the internet.

I have to admit, I love this eventuality. While the access isadmittedly slow, and you have to put up with ads every few clicks (hey,they’ve gotta pay for the service somehow), it allows me to take mylaptop to the ballpark and answer email, run my business, and mostimportantly, live-blog the game itself. This is mondo cool.

So C|Net takes things further this week, going into the clubhouseitself to see how hitting coach Benny Winslow uses technology to trackplayer performances, communicate with the A’s, and how the media officelacks the technology required to submit scoring details online, andmust phone it in between innings instead.

It’s a great piece. Go look.

As a pitcher, you know your team has let you down when you concede onlyone hit for the entire game, and end up losing 2-1. And tonight, aswith much of the last series, the C’s offense and defense left thepitchers hanging. Admittedly they were facing a rehabbing AA pitcher(who inexplicably stayed in for seven innings - some rehab!), butstill, to end up with the same number of hits as you have errors isjust not on.

Pascuel ‘El Gigante’ Manzueta was godlike on the mound tonight,throwing a no-hitter into the 5th, when a 2-out walk to Joshua‘Elastic’ Banda was driven in by an uncharacteristic Geoff ‘Propane’ Strickland triple.

Manzueta was relieved at that point by Scott ‘please sir, can I havesome’ Moore, who threw two great innings of scoreless relief, strikingout four and giving up no hits or runs, and when ‘Fearless’ Affrontidrove in DJPJ to level the scores in the 8th, it appeared as thoughanother C’s last minute comeback was in the offing. Alas, with two mein scoring position, the J-Train, Jermaine Mitchell, struck outswinging to end the inning.

But hey, at least the scores were level… I mean, that’s a good base to work from, right?

Sure. Unless you have a Greg Dowling to let one runner on base, then anExxon Valdez error at third to let another runner on base, and then twowalks by reliever ‘My name is’ Earl Oakes, to allow Tri-City to take a2-1 lead.

In the top of the 9th, needing a big inning to get back into the game,Exxon Valdez struck out looking, then broke his bat on the ground inprotest, earning himself an ejection by the ump. Matt Sulentic followedsuit (albeit without the histrionics) by watching a strike three of hisown, and while Mike’ The Keg’ Klug got on base by virtue of a throwingerror, last year’s rube of the night, Tri-City closer George Delgado,kept his cool on this occasion and got Greg Dowling to fly-out to endit.

All told, miserable stuff with the wood, excellent stuff with the ball.To think that the C’s lost this game 2-1 to a team that managed justone hit is diabolical. When you realize they’ve lost 3 of 5 to a teamthat has scored 1 run, 3 runs, 1 run, 5 runs and 2 runs, is enough tomake you want to go out and stab puppies in the eye.

The C’s started this season playing insanely good small ball, mixed inwith fabulous long ball, but right now it seems as if everyone on theteam has decided to start gunning for the fences.

People, get it together - low, hard, line drives. Deep singles. Keepthe base runners moving. Come on, you’re pros, you know this stuff.Give the pitchers some breathing room, damn it.

Next home stand starts Thursday night, 7:05pm at Nat Bailey Stadium,against the Eugene Emeralds. It’s a three-game affair, with Canada Dayfireworks on Saturday night and a nooner on Friday.

Must-see baseball from top to bottom!

Note:

	June 28, 2006
	Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Vancouver 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 3 3 Tri-City 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 X 2 1 2 box | log W: J. Freeman (1-1, 4.50); L: E. Oakes (0-1, 0.00); SV: G. Delgado (2) HR: None.

The Oakland Athleticstend to pick up a lot of catchers who are finalists in the Johnny BenchAward for the nation’s top college catcher. In 2004, they grabbed the1-2 combo of Kurt Suzuki and Landon Powell, both of whom are well ontheir way to the Majors it would seem.

Well, 2006 sees the A’s with another Bencher on the roster - andtonight it was announced that Jake ‘The Rake’ Smith has come home withthe top prize.

If you wondered why he wasn’t at tonight’s game, he was in a banquetroom in Wichita Kansas, listening for his name to be read out by Benchhimself, and beating out tough competition in Jeff Kunkel of Michiganand Eddy Rodriguez of Miami.

"Just to be in the presence of Mr. Bench and what all he’sdone for baseball, to hear my name called, I can’t describe what wasgoing through my body," Smith told The Daily Reflector after winningthe award.

For more on Smith’s honor, including reactions from his college coach, parents, and the kid himself, you can read more here.

Lyndon Little of the Vancouver Sun has done a piece about Smith’s award, and it’s a sizable one. Select chunks:

"I got a chance to pick [Bench’s] brains a little bit,especially the night before at our dinner," says Smith. So what sort ofadvice did the former Cincinnati Reds’ star offer the young C’s player?"He told me that catching in pro ball can be a real grind," grinnedSmith. "He said, if a infielder gets hurt the trainer rushes out on thefield. The same thing if a pitcher hurts himself. But if a catcher getshurt they just say in the dugout, ‘Oh, he’ll be all right. […] But healso told me to stay positive and work hard and things will work out."

The Greensboro NC News-Record also ran a piece on Smith:

"All the way back to Little League, coach-pitch, whateveryou want to call it," Smith said. "I just like being involved in everyplay. I get bored out there. I love the action, love being able tocontrol the game, call the pitches; it’s just real competitive nature."

Smith was speaking from Vancouver, hours before he was scheduled to start for the Vancouver Canadians, a Single-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics in the Northwest League. Oakland drafted Smith in the 21st round this month. He was hitting .154 with one home run in seven games through Wednesday.

"Just being able to play the game I love, doing it every day — it’s a job, but I love it," Smith said.

Catching has taken its toll. Smith, 23, has had three knee surgeries.Even he can’t help but wonder what his college career might have lookedlike had he stayed healthier. "I’d be lying to say I didn’t," Smithsaid. "You think, ‘The past couple years, if I’d been healthy, I’d havebeen able to do this and that… But I look at it as everything happensfor a reason. I might have been a different person. I fought through mybattles, stayed positive and good things happened."

Note: Also in the news today, C’s head coach Rick Magnante speaks to 24 Hours,and in true 24 Hours fashion, the result is a mealy-mouthed,largely-without-point mess of trivial asides, rather than an actualstory. But hey, it’s press, and the C’s don’t get enough of that thesedays, so suck it up.

The explosion of blogs as a form of communication has beenoutstandingly fast, productive, and beneficial to peopple all over theworld. From soldiers in Iraq blogging about the reality of thesituation on the ground (which is much different to what Fox News wantsyou to think), to political blogs finding and running their ownpeople-powered political candidates (and winning!), to sports blogslike this giving fans a way to stay in touch with players long sincedeparted from the local team, the blogosphere is quite literallybecoming a people-first medium that can unite us all.

So why am I blabbering on about the power of blogs? Well, you might recall that in the pre-season, the Athletics Nation blogusers got together and pooled their resources to buy a whole wack ofAthletics tickets to give to underprivileged children’s groups, andNotes From The Nat willingly took part, handing over what we’d made inadvertising for the previous season (it wasn’t much, but it helped).

You may also recall that I put out the call to other bloggers to gathertheir users and make similar donation drives. Well, we decided here atNotes From The Nat to lead by example, and thus, today we sent themoney raised from this season’s advertising so far to an organizationcalled Kiva.

What Kiva does is kind of like what Napster used to do, only instead ofoffering peer-to-peer music downloading, it offers peer-to-peerfinancing to third world people who need help starting a business.

That is, if a person in Tanzania wants to start a business sellingcattle, so that they can feed their family and send their children toschool, and there’s no local bank or loan company to speak of, suchpeople can go online to Kiva, post their project details, and actuallyborrow money from people like you and me. On our end, we can lend aslittle as $25 at a time, and we get monthly updates letting us know howthe business is doing. As far as repayment rates go, Kiva getsrepayment rates of over 96% - way better than banks do in North America.

Now, there are on-the-ground non-profit organizations involved, whichensure the borrower is actually legitimate, and that he/she understandshow a profitable business is supposed to be run, and those people dothe delivering of the loaned money and the handling of repayments, soit’s all very much legit.

To be sure, Kiva isn’t charity. You’re not donating money, you’relending it. When the money is repaid, you can take it back and depositit in your Paypal account, or you can re-lend it to another borrowerand keep the circle going. You’re not LOSING money, you’re USING it tohelp someone in the third world claw their way out of poverty. Andreally, when you think about it, the hundred bucks you have sitting inthe bank is earning, what, about $0.93 in interest each year - so whynot put it to better use, rather than just leave it sitting there?

I’ve been watching the growth of Kiva for some time, making sure itwasn’t a flash in the pan, or even worse, a scam, but it isn’t, andit’s getting huger by the week. So this week, Notes From The Nat boughtin.

We lent money to a Ugandan man who is a furniture maker and needed tobuy lumber to get his business rolling, and the reason why is simple:to us, $25 is three beers on a Friday night. But to this guy, $25 isenough timber to make furniture for three or four customers, and thusfeed his kids and send them to school for months.

Think about it - what’s $25 to you? A nice lunch? A tank of gas? Nowthink about what $25 would mean to someone in a country where theaverage yearly income is $12. It’s a REAL helping hand.

We’re always told that to give a man a fish feeds him for a day, but ifyou teach him to fish, he’ll eat forever. Well, we prefer to take thatto the next level, and buy that guy a truck so he can take his fish totown and make some serious money, maybe employ some people, andactually help develop his local economy.

So if you enjoy Notes From The Nat, click the image below and learnmore about Kiva. And if you have your own blog, spread the word and getyour users to join in. Sure, it’s not about baseball, but our way oflooking at the world is, if you can do one thing each day that benefitssomeone else, you’ve made the world a better place.

Your turn.

A year ago, the Vancouver Canadianscame to Tri-City and, down four runs with the game about to end, scoredfive to win it at the final bell. The pitcher they were facing that daywas George Delgado.

Today, going into the 9th down 5-1, the pitcher for Tri-City was none other than George Delgado.

It’s true - lightning does strike twice. Let’s talk you through it.

(more…)

You know, sometimes the dice just keeps on hitting seven, no matter how many times you throw it. This was one of those nights.

The Vancouver Canadiansmanaged only three hits all night, and only one earned run, but DonSutton’s long bomb with a man on base was the difference between twoteams that, once again, demonstrated the fine art of pitching fury.

Scott ‘Three Card’ Deal was lights out on the mound for the C’s, andthough Matt ‘Boat Trip’ Manship allowed Tri-City to bring in a runduring his sole inning of work, Ben Jukich closed up shop on a gamethat, in all honesty, we deserved to lose. Tri-City managed 9 hits toour 3, they left at least eleven men on the bags, and if not forsensational infield defense and strong hurling, we’d have been slammedlike a chess club team playing Dodgeball against the Oakland Raiders.

Sutton (seen left) breaks out of his slump, Valdez continues to showthat he is the answer to Vancouver’s third base dilemma, Deal deals outsome pain on the mound, and we climb off the bottom of the NWL WestDivision, even though our for-and-against would see us leading the NWLEast.

Welcome to the Northwest League. It’s just plain weird.

Note:

June 26, 2006
	Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Vancouver 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 3 3 1 Tri-City 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 9 1 box | log W: S. Deal (2-0, 0.82); L: J. Sullivan (0-1, 0.90); SV: B. Jukich (2) HR: VAN: D. Sutton III (1).

It was no surprise tonight that the first two Canadians run-scorerswere Todd Johnson (left) and Jermaine Mitchell. It was also not a surprisethat Tum-Tum Boyd was not in the game, as a commenter on the blog haspointed out that Kane County is listing him as being a part of theirroster as of today.

Good for you, Tumster, but we’ll miss you plenty in Van City, even ifthe shift does open an outfield spot for 3rd round draftee MattSulentic.

Sadly, poor bunting cost the good guys dearly in a game that was never anything less than a damn tight ballgame.

The line-ups:

VANCOUVER
Toddric ‘Hot Toddy’ Johnson LF .385
Larry ‘Corny’ Cobb DH .333
Jermaine ‘J-Train’ Mitchell CF .375
Jake ‘The Rake’ Smith C .136
Matt ‘Authentic’ Sulentic RF .200
Don ‘Sweetums’ Sutton 1B .111
Mike ‘Full Frontal’ Affronti SS .292
Alex ‘Exxon’ Valdez 3B .158
‘Slippery Sam’ Hernandez 2B .308
Inoel ‘Ennui’ Deaza P 1-0, 1.50

TRI-CITY
Anthony ‘Traction’ Jackson CF .200
Michael ‘M&M’ McKenry C .158
Josh ‘Elastic’ Banda 1B .182
Victor ‘Ferrigno’ Ferrante LF .280
Matthew ‘Pencil Neck’ Repec 3B .222
Daniel ‘Senora’ Mayora SS .304
Bret ‘Ham’ Berglund RF .000
Geoff ‘Propane’ Strickland 2B .130
Steve ‘Swampy’ Boggs DH .000
Aneury ‘Ennui 2′ Rodriguez P 0-0, 3.60

Proceedings started well in Tri-City tonight for the red, white andbluesters, with an error getting Hot Toddy Johnson on to the bases withthe lead-off at bat. Corny Cobb singled Mitchell around to 3rd. SoonJermaine Mitchell was on base via a fielder’s choice, and he duly stolesecond without a problem, before Johnson scored on a Jake The Rakeground-out. A Matt Sulentic single drove Mitchell in to give the C’s a2-0 lead, and it was looking for all intents and purposes like theDev’s were coming out soft for game two of the series.

As Slippery Sam Hernandez ground into a double play to keep Vancouverfrom scoring in the 2nd inning, the dogs were barking for a big gamefor the visitors, but then came Ferrigno.

Victor ‘Ferrigno’ Ferrante spotted an Inoel Deaza fastball just sittingthere with a bright orange safety vest slung across it, waving itsarms, desperate for some attention. Ferrante gave it plenty, poundingit over the left field wall to bring the Devils back into contention,2-1.

That seemed to put the fear of Zool into the Canadians, who promptlydropped their bats and flat out refused to come out of the dugout forthe remainder of the game.

Don Sutton, always one to tangle with a grizzly if the challenge isthrown out there, managed a single in the 4th, but all around him fell,leaving him high and dry, and the 5th saw that form taken to a new lowas Tri-City pitcher ‘Ennui 2′ Rodriguez struck out the side swinging.

Vancouver’s starter, ‘Ennui’ Deaza, got the flibbertyjibbits in thebottom of the 5th, giving up a lead-off single to Traction Jackson,then smacking Mike McKenry in the helmet with a pitch, thenintentionally walking Ferrigno to load the bases for a Pencil NeckRepec sac fly. Scores tied, 2-2.

Mike Affront got a single in the top of the 7th, which at this stage isalmost something to celebrate, and with the ball, Pat Currin improvedupon his previous poor form, mowing through an inning without aproblem, but the following inning saw a return to his errant ways,giving up a single, a sac bunt and another single to score TractionJackson and give the Double-D’s a 3-2 lead that Vancouver couldn’t comeback from.

So what led to the loss? One word: bunting. In the opening few games ofthe season, the C’s bunted like madmen, smallballing teams tofrustration and heartache, but lately they seem to think that there’sno need for a sac bunt - they want every bunt to be a single, andthat’s a surefire way to see your bunt end up a foul ball instead.

Tri-City bunted their guys across, and sac flied them home in a tightpitcher’s duel, while the canadians looked singularly unable to eek outa hit or a walk, let alone a bunt.

But hey, it’s the first road trip as a pro team for some of these kids - they’ll settle in. Hopefully.

GAME NOTES:
* Pat Currin earned his second loss in two appearances, and while hecompiled a 4.50 ERA on the night, that was good enough to bring hisseason ERA down to 16.20. No further comment required. Pick it up, kid.

* Mike Affronti’s 2-4 night sees him raise his average to .308, andhe’s still moving about nciely in the field, even after yesterday’sgame-losing error.

* With a 1-4 effort tonight, Don Sutton is halfway to Mendoza. Which I guess means he just passed the ‘Mend Line’.

* Larry Cobb is quietly showing his stuff. He only pulled a 1-4 night,but his average has grown to .300 since he joined the team.

* The Canadians webcast call is on the road, so be sure to tune in totomorrow’s game and send the lads an email atbroadcast@canadiansbaseball.com - tell them Haas Pratt sent you, justto mess with their heads.

Note:

	June 25, 2006
	Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Vancouver 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 5 0 Tri-City 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 X 3 5 1 box | log W: S. Jarrett (1-0, 0.00); L: P. Currin (0-2, 16.20); SV: P. Chivilli (1) HR: TRI: V. Ferrante (1).