All posts by Lisa Sorg
Lisa Sorg ·
26 May 2009, 7:06 PM ·
1 Comment
Fernando Perez wrote an entertaining post on The New York Times blog about batters choosing their music to accompany their walk to the plate. Who knew Perez loved the theme from The Price Is Right? Or that Evan Longoria favored “Down and Out” by Tantric?
Here are some Indy suggestions:
Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way” for the Rays’ Carlos Peña, who ranks No. 2 in the AL with 35 walks this season.
Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” for San Diego’s Brian Giles, who is batting .175.
Outkast’s “The Way You Move” for the Rays’ Carl Crawford, Major League Baseball’s leader in stolen bases with 29.
Buffalo Springfield’s “Expecting to Fly” for right fielder Jeff Francoeur of Atlanta, who has 85 put-outs and no errors.
Neko Case’s “The Needle Has Landed,” to the Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez. No explanation necessary.
Baseball Alex Rodriguez, Brian Giles, Carl Crawford, Carlos Peña, Fernando Perez, Jeff Francoeur
Lisa Sorg ·
20 May 2009, 10:15 AM ·
1 Comment
Mudcats’ right-hander Justin Mallett shined on the mound Monday night, despite his team’s loss to Jacksonville in the second game of a doubleheader. He looked confident over five innings, striking out six and walking just two. He also proved he has excellent reflexes—or survival instincts—snagging a sharp line drive drilled back to the mound.
Apparently the Reds’ brass noticed, and now Mallett is headed upstairs to the Triple-A Louisville Bats, where he was assigned to begin this season. (Question for the Reds: How about giving a break to center fielder and leadoff batter Chris Heisey, the Southern League’s No. 2 hitter?)
However right-hander Misael DeJesus has struggled this season, posting a 9.85 ERA over seven starts, walking an average of almost one batter per inning (26 walks in 28 1/3 innings). He’s been reassigned to Sarasota, the High-A team in the Florida State League, for some woodshedding.
While you’re filling out your scorecards, note there will be a new Mudcat on the mound Friday night against Chattanooga: Right-hander Zack Stewart, who’s being promoted from Sarasota. A Texas Tech grad, he was the Reds’ third-round pick in last year’s draft and ranked as Cincinnati’s 15th best prospect by Baseball America. Stewart is 1-1 with an ERA of 2.13.
Baseball, Carolina Mudcats Chris Heisey, Cincinnati Reds, Justin Mallett, Louisville Bats, Misael DeJesus, Zack Stewart
Lisa Sorg ·
19 May 2009, 2:24 PM ·
Comment
I blame physics. Or meteorology. Or both. The Carolina Mudcats pounded the hell out of the ball Monday night, pummeling it down the first and third base lines, nailing line drives into fielders’ gloves that seemed to smoke from the friction, powering it deep into the warning track. But only one of the five hits sailed out of the park—Sean Henry’s homer in the bottom of the second—as the ball met some unseen force that felled it as if someone had shot it at skeet practice.
The result of the invisible hand of physics: A 4-1 loss to the Jacksonville Suns in the second game of a doubleheader that lasted past 11 p.m. (Here’s the box score.)
[Pictured: Pitcher Federico Baez, who was promoted to Triple-A Louisville.]
The folks in the press box debated whether it was the wind blowing into the park. Nope, the breeze was too gentle. I’ve sneezed with greater force. The dry, 52-degree air: Is it heavier or lighter than humid air? And if it’s heavier, then the weather’s the culprit and everyone knows there’s not a thing anyone can do about the weather except talk about it. A Google search ensued. One of the media folks who had experience as a chemical engineer noted that nitrogen in dry air is heavier than water vapor in humid air. Voila! Dry air is denser; it robbed the ball of some of its lift. It was the weather.
Or just as likely, it was the Mudcats’ bullpen.
Right-hander Justin Mallett entered the game at an unimpressive 0-2, but stymied the Suns in five impressive innings. He threw just 72 pitches, striking out the side in the top of the second for a total of six strikeouts and two walks and three hits.
Reliever Ruben Medina held his own in the sixth, but allowed the tying run on a sacrifice fly in the top of the seventh—ostensibly the last inning of the game. (Doubleheaders are shortened.) The beer taps had been turned off, a sure way to end a party. The stands, already sparsely populated because of the cold and the fact the game was held on a weeknight when the Hurricanes were on TV, had begun to empty out. I walked the concourses to see who was left. Behind the plate, men with radar guns aimed at the pitcher. (Like a thirsty woman in the desert who sees a mirage, I envisioned the guns were hair dryers that would thaw out my bones.) I counted the fans. Section 206, three; Section 207, 14; Section 213, Row F, the sound of one fan clapping.
Knotted at one run a piece, what was supposed to be a shortened game went into extra, extra innings. Camillo Vazquez took the mound in the top of the 10th, which should have given the lingering Mudcats’ fans pause. His control issues were foreshadowed April 22 against Huntsivlle, when he pitched 10 consecutive balls and faced just three batters—including one he nearly beaned—before being yanked. I know, I know, it’s been a long day. The bullpen is running low. But when the game’s on the line, who do you turn to? Vazquez?
He walked four, threw a wild pitch and allowed three earned runs in one inning.
The Mudcats had no answers in the bottom of the 10th. Game over.
Tonight’s meterological forecast: another dry, chilly night with the wind blowing into the park. Jordan Smith (2-0, 2.96 ERA) is on the mound for the Mudcats, facing Jacksonville’s Kyle Winters (0-0, 4.09 ERA).
Transaction note: Mudcats’ right-hander Federico Baez has been promoted to Triple-A Louisville, with the statuesque Logan Ondrusek joining the Mudcats from High-A Sarasota. Baez, a reliever, has been the winningest pitcher on the Mudcats’ staff, compiling a record of 3-2 with a 3.38 ERA over 13 games.
Ondrusek, 24, becomes the tallest Mudcats player at 6’8.” Ondrusek dominated the Florida League this season, posting a 2-0 record with a 0.96 ERA over 13 bullpen appearances.
Baseball, Carolina Mudcats Federico Baez, Jacksonville Suns, Justin Mallett, Logan Ondrusek, Sean Henry
Lisa Sorg ·
18 May 2009, 7:58 PM ·
Comment
FIVE COUNTY STADIUM/ ZEBULON—Nary a soul was in line at the ice cream stand at Five County Stadium this evening, as cold temperatures had fans bundled in blankets and big coats for a doubleheader. I arrived at the first Mudcats game late—a 5:30 start for the make up game from yesterday’s rainout—but caught the last three innings.
The ‘Cats defense looked shaky: a ground ball eluded 3B Juan Francisco, who apparently thought taking one step to his left and flailing his glove would suffice. D for Effort, Francisco.
Nonetheless, the ‘Cats reliever, Derrik Lutz got out of a bases-loaded jam and outfielder Todd Frazier drilled a line drive to left field in the bottom of the seventh in a shortened game to win the shortened game.
Carolina is now 15-21 and three games behind in the Northern Division of the Southern League.
Game 2 starts in 15 minutes.
Carolina Mudcats Derrik Lutz, Jacksonville Suns, Juan Francisco, Todd Frazier
Lisa Sorg ·
16 May 2009, 1:42 PM ·
Comment
Carolina Mudcats’ Mike Griffin is probably glad he’s been promoted to Triple-A Louisville Bats—and even happier it happened after the come-back thumping the Bats’ received at the horns of the Durham Bulls last night.
Griffin, who divided his time between second base and right field, gets the bump-up in the Reds’ organization after batting .271 over 30 games this season. He hit 29 homers and had 36 RBIs. He joins the Bats as they meet the Norfolk Tides in Virginia tonight.
Meanwhile, ‘Cats catcher Korey Feiner has been activated from the disabled list and will be on the active roster for the first time this season effective tonight.
Carolina Mudcats Korey Feiner, Louisville Bats, Mike Griffin
Lisa Sorg ·
5 May 2009, 1:46 PM ·
Comment
Carolina Mudcats’ right-hander Dallas Buck has been placed on the seven-day disabled list with an inflamed right shoulder. Buck, who underwent Tommy John surgery on his elbow last year, is 2-1 with a 3.42 ERA in 26 innings pitched.
Matt Klinker has been promoted to the Mudcats from Sarasota, the High-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. He will make his Double-A debut tonight against the Mobile BayBears. A Greenville, S.C., native and Furman grad, Klinker was 0-0 with a 5.40 ERA in his five starts with Sarasota.
Klinker spent the first half of the 2008 season at the Dayton Dragons, the Reds’ Low-A affiliate, and posted a 6-4 record in 18 starts with an ERA of 3.26.
Baseball, Carolina Mudcats Dallas Buck, disabled list, Matt Klinker, Sarasota
Lisa Sorg ·
25 Apr 2009, 10:33 PM ·
Comment
This hasn’t been a good week for Mudcats’ pitcher Jordan Smith. He was ejected from Wednesday’s game against the Huntsville Stars after arguing about a check swing call, and now he’s been placed on the seven-day disabled list retroactive to April 24.
Meanwhile right-hander Justin Mallett has been assigned to the Mudcats from Triple-A Louisville. In the last 10 games for the Bats, Mallett has pitched two innings, striking out two and allowing two hits.
Carolina Mudcats Jordan Smith, Justin Mallett, Louisville Bats
Lisa Sorg ·
22 Apr 2009, 5:13 PM ·
Comment
Don't mess with the manager, boys and girls. (photo courtesy of Carolina Mudcats)
FIVE COUNTY STADIUM/ ZEBULON—I went to baseball game this afternoon and a hockey match broke out.
Wild pitches, wild tempers and wild wind prevailed at the Carolina Mudcats’ homely contest versus the Huntsville Stars, which featured two ejections, a hit batter and Juan Francisco’s ballsy slide across the plate to score the winning run in the bottom of the ninth.
The final score was 7-6, but Mudcats’ manager David Bell and starting pitcher Jordan Smith also had scores to settle with home plate umpire Jason Cooksey. Bell and Smith were both ejected in the top of the sixth inning after heated arguments with Cooksey over a check swing. Bell bellowed at Cooksey so close to his face that he probably could have counted Bell’s fillings. (Gold, mercury or white? Inquiring minds want to know.) Finally, the Mudcats’ coaching staff sped onto the field to restrain Bell, who had become so overheated that it appeared he might punch Cooksey in the face.
And all of this, ladies and gentlemen, on Education Day, when 3,000 schoolchildren had converged on the park. They got an education, all right: Fighting and bad behavior is for adults only.
Continue reading »
Baseball, Carolina Mudcats Bobby Bramhall, David Bell, Huntsville Stars, Jordan Smith, Juan Francisco, Robert Hinton
Lisa Sorg ·
21 Apr 2009, 5:45 PM ·
1 Comment
Logan Parker
FIVE COUNTY STADIUM/ ZEBULON—It was somewhere around the seventh inning when the Carolina Mudcats mascot removed his head. To be clear, he did not publicly decapitate himself at Five County Stadium, as that would likely have sent children into relentless crying fits or have traumatized them into a permanent, stony silence. But in the privacy of the press box, populated only by peanut-popping reporters, Muddy the Mudcat could openly take off the upper part of his costume, maxillary barbels and all.
Aside from the sad realization that Muddy is not really a fish, Monday night was a beautiful night for baseball. Towering pink storm clouds had scuttled away from Zebulon toward the coast. The air was crisp and clean and carried the scent of hot dogs to the upper decks. It was the first home game of the season, which makes spring official and summer almost within reach.
So given the near-perfect circumstances, the Mudcats’ 12-3 rout of the Huntsville Stars seemed not only obligatory but cathartic: Continue reading »
Baseball, Carolina Mudcats Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Dallas Buck, DBAP, Five County Stadium, Huntsville Stars, Jeremy Jeffress, Jimmy Buffett, Juan Francisco, Logan Parker, Muddy the Mudcat, Sean Henry
Lisa Sorg ·
14 Apr 2009, 1:06 PM ·
Comment
Carolina Mudcats’ Chris Heisey is the featured “farmhand” on redreporter.com, an excellent blog devoted to the Cincinnati Reds.
Heisey, the leadoff batter and an outfielder, homered off Mississippi Braves’ pitcher Tom Glavine (rehabbing in AA until he’s activated with Atlanta this week) in yesterday’s ‘Cats 6-2 win.
Redreporter notes that Heisey’s defense is “good enough for him to play all three outfield positions,” and that his batting average (.412) and on-base percentage (.583) have served the Mudcats well.
Baseball, Carolina Mudcats Chris Heisey, Cincinnati Reds, Mississippi Braves, Tom Glavine
