Showing posts tagged “all star”
Adam Sobsey ·
17 Jul 2009, 5:00 AM ·
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That devious Rick Sweet. The Louisville Bats’ manager guided the International League All-Star squad to a 6-5 win over the Pacific Coast League All-Stars on Wednesday night in Portland, Oregon. In order to do it, he needed a big helping of Durham’s Dale Thayer, a late addition to the team when leading vote-getter Clay Buchholz declined to participate. Sweet summoned Thayer in the fifth inning. Two runs were already in, narrowing the score to 4-3 Internationals, and there were runners on first and third with just one out. On the very first pitch he threw, the unflappable Thayer got Alcides Escobar to pop out to right field, and the Colorado Sky Sox’ Eric Young was doubled off of first base to end the inning. Rally over. The IL scored twice more in the next inning, the PCL All-Stars never tied the game, and Thayer’s two-outs-with-one-pitch was the turning point.
Sweet rewarded Thayer for his heroic one-pitch effort by sending him back out for the sixth inning, too. Thayer worked around a one-out walk and held the PCL scoreless, throwing 1 2/3 shutout innings all told. This from a guy who wasn’t even supposed to be on the team.
But it was vital to Sweet that Thayer pitch plenty in Portland, and it had nothing to do with winning that night’s game, which was merely an exhibition. It had to do with winning the next one, which wasn’t. And although his Bats lost to Durham Thursday night, 4-3, Sweet’s ploy almost worked.
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Baseball, Durham Bulls all star, All Star Game, Chris Richard, Craig Albernaz, Dale Thayer, Elliot johnson, injury, Jason Cromer, Joe Bateman, Louisville Bats, Matt Maloney, Ray Sadler, Reid Brignac, Rick Sweet
Adam Sobsey ·
13 Jul 2009, 12:39 AM ·
1 Comment
Even though I am psychic, I was half-kidding when I ended my last post with a borderline prediction that the Bulls and their bricolage of relievers would end their four-game losing streak and beat Norfolk on Sunday. Sure enough, Durham rolled, 9-2.
I was half-kidding not only because Julio DePaula + Calvin Medlock {not =} Andy Sonnastine, but also because the Bulls have suffered a big losing streak before and could easily have another one. But I was half-not-kidding for a few reasons: one, the Bulls hadn’t played terribly during the skid, as they had during the Horrible Homestand of mid-June; two, the hitting was still potent; three, in hindsight after I suggested the Bulls would win on Sunday, it became clear that a victory would balance so many accounts that it was virtually assured.
Also, dare I say that the Bulls needed this game?
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Baseball, Durham Bulls, Tampa Bay Rays all star, Calvin Medlock, Charlie Montoyo, Dale Thayer, Dave Myers, Elliot johnson, Henry Mateo, I Am Psychic, injury, Jake Arrieta, John Jaso, Jorge Julio, Julio DePaula, Justin Ruggiano, Mary Steenburgen, Michel Hernandez, Norfolk Tides, Ray Sadler
Adam Sobsey ·
2 Jul 2009, 2:07 PM ·
1 Comment
The 23-year-old Bulls’ shortstop (pictured, right) is batting .294/.352/.451/.803, with 18 doubles and four home runs. He also has an excellent 19/27 BB/K ratio in 229 plate appearances. He has good range at shortstop, especially to his right, and a very strong arm. To my eyes, his 10 fielding errors are partially the result of inexperience.
Brignac was the only Durham Bull elected/selected to the International League All-Star team. The only other legitimate candidate, relief pitcher Winston Abreu, was called up to Tampa. I don’t know if that makes him ineligible—I suspect it does—but the relievers who made the team all had strong cases, too.
Brignac’s only competition for the starting slot was Toledo’s Brent Dlugach. Dlugach had somewhat similar numbers, but Brignac has more doubles and five fewer homers in 22 fewer games (don’t forget, Brignac was up in Tampa for about three weeks), and Dlugach has three times as many strikeouts than Brignac but only four more walks. Overall, Brignac was the right choice.
The AAA All-Star game, which pits the International League against the Pacific Coast League, will be played July 15th in Portland, Oregon. The game airs on ESPN2 at 4:05 p.m. EDT.
The complete roster is below. Every player I voted for except one (not counting those since promoted to the majors) made the team; on reflection, the player selected over mine was a better choice. The manager is Louisville’s Rick Sweet.
* * PLAYERS ELECTED * *
C WYATT TOREGAS COLUMBUS
1B BARBARO CANIZARES, Gwinnett
2B SETH BYNUM, Syracuse
SS REID BRIGNAC, Durham
3B ANDY MARTE, Columbus
OF SHELLEY DUNCAN, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre
OF AUSTIN JACKSON, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre
OF DREW STUBBS, Louisville
DH MIKE CERVENAK, Lehigh Valley
SP CLAY BUCHHOLZ, Pawtucket
SP CHRIS TILLMAN, Norfolk
RP FERNANDO CABRERA, Pawtucket
RP JIM MILLER, Norfolk
* * PLAYERS SELECTED * *
C ERIK KRATZ, Indianapolis
INF CHRIS STEWART, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre
INF BROOKS CONRAD, Gwinnett
INF BRENT DLUGACH, Toledo
INF ANDY TRACY, Lehigh Valley
OF JORDAN BROWN, Columbus
OF JORGE PADILLA, Syracuse
P CHRIS BOOTCHECK, Indianapolis
P ANDREW CARPENTER, Lehigh Valley
P NELSON FIGUEROA, Buffalo
P JUSTIN LEHR, Louisville
P J.D. MARTIN, Syracuse
P ANTHONY SWARZAK, Rochester
P CARLOS TORRES, Charlotte
P LUIS VALDEZ, Gwinnett
Baseball, Durham Bulls all star, Reid Brignac
Kate Shefte ·
21 Jan 2009, 9:42 PM ·
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Whoever mans the iPOD in the Hurricanes’ locker room at the RBC Center has taken to playing a song that describes the team’s play of late. If you have a young daughter or listen to the radio, you’ve probably heard it before.
The lyrics go a little something like this:
“Cause you’re hot then you’re cold
You’re yes then you’re no
You’re in and you’re out
You’re up and you’re down…”
(“Hot N Cold,” Katy Perry, One of the Boys, 2008)
After two straight wins, the Hurricanes fit into the “hot” category going into the All-Star break, but fans know all too well that that status could change on a dime. The ‘Canes took down the Pittsburgh Penguins last night, 2-1, a night after shutting out the Maple Leafs 2-0, in a game that quietly served as payback for Toronto’s exhilarating and perplexing 6-4 defeat at the RBC Center last Thursday. In their last 11 games, the Hurricanes have won four in a row, dropped five in a row, and then followed up with two wins.
After allowing a scary 21 goals over that five-game losing streak, Cam Ward has now let one puck by him in his last two games.
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Carolina Hurricanes, Hockey all star, break, Eric Staal, Pittsburgh Penguins, Ray Whitney, skills competition, winning streak
