Showing posts tagged “Greg Zaun”
Adam Sobsey ·
15 Aug 2009, 5:33 PM ·
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The callup of Reid Brignac to Tampa was expected. Rays’ designated hitter Pat Burrell hurt his neck again, which means more time at DH for Jason Bartlett and Ben Zobrist, both of whom play a lot of middle infield. Chances are good that Brignac won’t be back this year, as he was likely to be promoted anyway when rosters expand on September 1. And as I wrote yesterday, the Bulls were about to have too many infielders with the arrival of Joe Dillon, who was outrighted to Durham and should be in uniform (and perhaps on the field) tonight.
Much more surprising was the trade of Rhyne Hughes (pictured) to the Baltimore Orioles. The move completed the deal that brought Greg Zaun to Tampa for a Player-to-Be-Named-Later (or at least that’s what I assume). Hughes was assigned to the Norfolk Tides, a division rival whom the Bulls play six more times before the season ends. Hughes will probably DH and share time at first base with Wade Davis’s least favorite player, Michael Aubrey.
Who really knows how these deals are consummated? It was easy enough to assume that the Orioles would wind up with a catcher in return for Zaun, less because Zaun is a catcher than because the Tampa Bay Rays have 149 catchers on their 40-man roster and need to move at least one of them. So much for that.
What does this mean for the Bulls? Well, for one thing, one of their best hitters is gone. Hughes was leading the team in batting average, slugging and OPS. His doubles rate was actually higher than that of teammate Jon Weber, who leads the league. Hughes played in 56 games for Durham and hit safely in 37 of them, including a recent team-high 13-game hitting streak. His big problem was plate discipline. He’d walked only 12 times in 230 plate appearances, with 69 strikeouts. Still, his big power bat will be missed.
Expect to see a fair amount of Joe Dillon at first base, where he’ll probably be Chris Richard’s main backup. Expect also to see more of Elliot Johnson at shortstop with Brignac gone. Ray Olmedo will see a good deal of time there, too. And as for Charles in Charge (I mean Bulls’ manager Charlie Montoyo, of course), the deletions of Brignac and Hughes actually make his life a bit easier. The “too many pieces” he was wondering what to do with last night just got resolved—for now, of course. His job will get harder again soon enough. The one thing you can count in Triple A, as in life, is change.
Bulls vs. Yankees in about 90 minutes. Finish your chores and get to the DBAP, stat!
Baseball, Durham Bulls, Tampa Bay Rays Bulls on the Move, Greg Zaun, Joe Dillon, Reid Brignac, Rhyne Hughes, trade
Adam Sobsey ·
8 Aug 2009, 5:00 AM ·
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DBAP/ DURHAM—And by “wonder-full,” I mean full of wondrous things. If you’re one of those quick-and-dirty types who stops reading at the jump, let me dispense with the summary:
The Bulls battled back from a 6-2, sixth-inning deficit. They scored three times in sixth inning and twice in the eighth inning and took a 7-6 lead into the ninth against Syracuse. Joe Nelson, the fifth Bulls pitcher, came in to save the game, but he put two men on with a single and a walk. With two outs and a full count on Justin Maxwell, he threw a fastball that tailed back toward the middle of the plate, and Maxwell tattooed it. His long, high drive sailed over the Blue Monster—just foul, it appeared to us, up in the press box. But home plate umpire Fran Burke, the only one of the three officials with a straight-on view of the play, called it fair.
Things went nuts. The Bulls all argued. Charlie Montoyo charged out of the dugout to join them. We watched two replays in the press box, both of which seemed to show the ball crossing in front of the screen that extends from the foul pole—which would indicate a foul ball. Charlie Montoyo implored the umpires to watch the replay on the big screen behind them. They didn’t. The call stood. Montoyo was so mad, he threw not only his hat but also the photos of his kids that he keeps in his back pocket. He went into ultra-argue mode, which is manager-code for Eject Me Now, Please. Crew Chief Kevin Causey complied and ejected him. Montoyo, as if only now realizing just how mad all of this had made him, then had to be held back by one ump while he yelled at another. Finally he departed, but not before picking up the photos he’d thrown. A fan threw beer on the field and was escorted from the ballpark. After the game, which the Chiefs won, 9-7, Bulls’ General Manager Mike Birling had a brief, heated exchange with with one of the umpires.
And that was only one exciting sequence in a game full of them.
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Baseball, Durham Bulls, Tampa Bay Rays Anthony Michael Hall, Baltimore Orioles, Bulls on the Move, catcher's interference, Charlie Montoyo, ejection, Elliot johnson, F.O.B., Fran Burke, Greg Zaun, injury, Jack Spradlin, Joe Nelson, John Hughes, John Jaso, John Meloan, Jorge Julio, Justin Maxwell, Justin Ruggiano, Kevin Causey, Matt DeSalvo, Matt Joyce, Reid Brignac, Rhyne Hughes, Shairon Martis, Shawn Riggans, Sixteen Candles, Syracuse Chiefs, Winston Abreu, Zechry Zinicola
