Hitting the Minor (League) Notes

If you are a Cardinal Fan living in Oklahoma, the past couple weeks have been good.  Not just because the St. Louis Cardinals are climbing out of their offensive funk.  Not just because after sweeping us, the tornado that is the Rockies these days, continued raping and pillaging the NL Central by sweeping the Brewers as well, keeping the Cardinals within easy striking distance of the leader spot.  But, mostly because both the Memphis Redbirds and the Springfield Cardinals made road trips to Oklahoma.  Nice of them to come to me.

 

Well, nearly to me.  Both Oklahoma City and Tulsa are at least two hours from my house. There have been some late nights, followed by going to work early the next day, so I could leave early to go back to the ballpark.  However, it is not like my favorite minor league clubs play here everyday, so when they are here, I gotta go! 

 

I always say, "Sleep is what you do when there is nothing better to do".  However, there is a little story that goes along with that:  At some point, there is nothing better to do than sleep. Friday, I hit that wall.  Slept 13 hours.  And, now I am ready to go again!

 

Memphis Redbirds

 

The Memphis Redbirds came to Oklahoma City for a four game series against the Redhawks. This is the last time the Redbirds will be in my state this year.  If I want to see them again, I will have to go track them down in Memphis or maybe Round Rock or both. 

 

As I watched the games, I listened to the St. Louis Cardinals games.  It was easy to get the games confused in my head because the St. Louis Cardinals seemed to be having the same problems with the Reds and the Rockies as the Redbirds were having with the Redhawks.

 

In the first game, the Memphis Redbirds did show the offensive fire power that they are so capable of, but has often eluded them this year.  Joe Mather had a fantastic night with two sacrifice flies, two doubles, one single, two runs and two RBIs.  Mather looks a 100% better than he did in April.  In April, he still looked thin and weak, like he had never completely recovered from the Spring Training bout of flu that had derailed his strong start. 

 

Infielder, Jarrett Hoffpauir, had a Gold Glove night at second base, while going 2-3 with a walk and an RBI.  Two fielding plays earned a star on my scoresheet:  1) a leaping catch of a line drive and 2) the pick of a grounder far to his right then the throw fired to first in time to catch the runner.

 

After the first game, the offense would slow to a trickle.  Game two had twelve hits, but only four runs.  Game three would have nine hits but no runs.  Game four would feature only six hits and no runs.

 

In game two and three of the series, it was easy to look at the score sheet and see that they game was really much closer than the score indicated.  However, game four was plain ugly with the Redhawks flamethrower, Naftali Feliz on the mound.

 

And, the lack of offense was complicated by the fact that the Redbirds' pitching was not particularly sharp.  All the while, pretty much the same thing was going on up in St. Louis.

 

There were two call-ups:  Jess Todd and Tyler Greene.

 

With Tyler Greene on third, Joe Mather hits a fly ball...

...which scores Greene

With Tyler Greene gone, Hoffpauir moved to shortstop and to the delight of the hometown crowd, Oklahoman, Casey Rowlett, got a start at second base.

 

Jon Jay is an outfielder to keep an eye on. He plays hard as evidenced by the large tear in his pants:

 

I will probably watching him a little more closely for one simple fact:  I have his bat.  It's cracked.  It's signed.  It's mine.  It has found a home in my office where it serves as a memento, conversation piece and potential weapon.  It may be cracked, but I bet it has one good skull cracker left in it.

 

I have no game, so you can be assured that it is in my possession through no effort of my own, but through the kindness of fellow baseball fans.  There is a family, who sits near me at Redhawks games.  The son is adept at snagging broken bats out of the dugout and getting them signed.

 

They know I am a huge Cardinals fan.  During the series, they acquired bats from Shane Robinson, Jarrett Hoffpauir and Jon Jay.  They came to the game early and got the bat signed for me.  They told Jay who it was for.  He asked if I was there. They said that I would be there later.  He said he would wave to me.

 

Which he did.  When he popped out of the dugout, they yelled at him.  He looked up at me.

 

I said, "Thank you!"

 

He said, "You're welcome."

 

And, off he went to abuse another piece of lumber.  Yep, I am oh-so-eloquent in person.  Still, my gratitude was sincere, as was his smiling response.  Best of luck to you, Jon Jay!

Here is Jon Jay and the bat before it was cracked:

And, no minor league coverage would be complete without a mention of last year's first round draft pick, Brett Wallace.  They say he has a plus bat, but you could not prove it by the five games I have seen him play this year (one at AA in Tulsa, four at AAA in OKC).  In five games, I have seen him on base one time.  One single.  Lots of strikeouts.  Lots of groundouts.  No walks.  One lone base hit in five games.

 

I know he does hit.  I know he has hit.  I know he will hit.  But, for all you Cardinal fans that have been calling for his call-up, back off.  Brett Wallace is not ready yet.

 

In response to my statement, "You've got a lot of talent out there", Redbirds Manager, Chris Maloney, said that they have been in a slump all year.  Yes, much to my surprise, the Redbirds Manager walked over and chatted with me during batting practice.  I had a nice conversation with the Mississippi gentleman about baseball and such.

 

Of course, it proved to me once again that while I might be a writer, I am so not a journalist. There I was with a great opportunity and no good questions.  I do not think, "So, who's pitching today?" qualifies.  Still, I thoroughly enjoyed the chat.

 

Later, however, I did think of the question I wish I would have asked.  With the call-ups of Greene and Todd, who had both been playing well, it occurred to me how difficult it is to "build" a team in the minors.

 

In the major leagues, a manager typically has his cornerstone players to build on.  For example, with the Cardinals, you start with Pujols and Molina, who are rarely missing from the lineup. You have a couple solid starters who always keep you in the game, like Carpenter and Wainwright.  Perhaps, you have a "go-to" arm or two in the bullpen, like Franklin.  Then you fill in and mix and match from there.

 

Now, you might lose a key player to injury.  If you are not in contention, you might lose someone to a trade.  However, you do not lose a player because he is "too good."

 

Not so, in the minors.  Your best starter is the "sixth man" in the big club's rotation.  Your closer is one major league injury away from being plucked from your bullpen.  And, whoever is swinging a hot bat, could be on a plane tonight to St. Louis.  With an ever changing cast of players, how do you build?  I wondered, if that was the hardest job of a minor league manager.

 

Or, is it herding 'birds?  I imagine keeping young men on task and out of trouble can be a challenge. Normally, I would say "herding cats", but a small bird somehow ended up in my house a few weeks ago, and I tried my best to herd it back outside to the great outdoors.  So, I can say from experience that it is nearly impossible to herd a bird. 

 

However, I believe the following look from the Redbirds manager might actually herd 'birds.  Here is the Chris Maloney coaching third base and looking like there might be hell to pay if more Redbirds do not find their way around the bases.

 

The AT&T Bricktown Ballpark continued its "Taste of the Big Leagues" promotion finally bringing Busch Stadium to me.  I must admit I was a bit disappointed at first.  I am not sure what I was expecting.  A replica of the arch?  Clydesdales?

 

There were only three Cardinals banners:  Enos Slaughter, Lou Brock and Dizzy Dean:

 

The photo op included seats from old Busch stadium.  That was kind of cool.

 

Of course, a big Stan Musial banner was a must.

 

The Busch Stadium food included toasted ravioli.  Although I promise you what they called "toasted ravioli" was not toasted ravioli.  If real toasted ravioli is like a piece of homemade pie, then what they were selling was a pop-tart.  Tasty, but not special.  However, the "Bratzel", a brat wrapped in pretzel dough, pig-in-a-blanket style, did not disappoint.  It was huge.

 

I slathered the Bratzel in mustard and ate contentedly as the crowning touch to the Busch theme played over the PA:  The Budweiser Song.  No, the Clydesdale's did not appear.  The crowd did not stand and clap along.  But, I could see and hear it all in my head.  It was beautiful.

 

 

 

Springfield Cardinals

 

The Springfield Cardinals returned to Tulsa this week.  Tulsa is a bit farther and unless I leave work early, I cannot make first pitch.  However, on Thursday, I left early to watch a double header.  It was a beautiful night and the Cardinals won both games with Trey Herne and Brandon Dickson on the mound. 

Trey Herne:

 

 

In the shortened seven-inning games, the Cardinals won 2-1 and 4-1.  In addition to the two one run outings by the starters, Tyler Norrick and Francisco Samuel turned in one hitless inning a piece.  Eduardo Sanchez turned in two.

 Francisco Samuel:

 

Starter, Lance Lynn, would not be so fortunate on Saturday.  He gave up three runs in six innings, which would not be bad except the Cardinals scored zero runs.  

Lance Lynn:

Samuel Freeman, joining the club from Palm Beach, threw two perfect innings with two K's.  His call-up was so fresh, that he was not listed on the roster. 

Samuel Freeman:

As I searched for his number on the roster, I heard a voice behind me say, "He's probably not on there.  He only joined the team today."  I turned to the voice, which belonged to the Cardinals' bus driver.  This information I obtained from his name tag.

 

 I suppose if I had game, I would have pumped him for all sorts of AA details, but instead I just lamely asked, "What's his name?", wrote "Sam Freeman" on my scoresheet and turned my attention back to the game.

 

 

Other player notes.

 

I enjoyed watching second baseman,  Daniel Descalso.  He has a nice glove and is batting .328.

 

 

 

Pete Kozma is a local boy and a hometown favorite even among the Drillers fans.  Kozma made his AA debut when I lasted saw the Cardinals in early May.  The shortstop is batting .245 and has accumulated 17 RBI's in that time.

 

 

Outfielder, Daryl Jones is hitting over .300, but never seems to hit when I am watching.

 

First baseman, Mark Hamilton, is putting together some good numbers:  batting .294 and slugging .521.  For that, he gets two pictures:

 

Fine, you are right.  I really posted two pictures because I actually caught the ball in both.  I have not figured out the trick to making pictorial contact with the ball consistently, but there are a lot of guys who have been trying for a lot longer to figure out how to do the same thing with a bat.

When I last visited the Drillers Stadium, I met a fellow Cardinals fan and had a nice warm baseball chat on an otherwise damp, chilly night.  Later, Scott took the time to find and comment on my blog and asked me to let him know if I was coming back when the Springfield Cardinals came to town.

 

So, during the Drillers/Cardinals games I enjoyed the rare treat of sharing the games with a fellow Cardinals fan.  Although since he usually is there rooting for the Drillers, he sometimes gets confused about who he should be cheering for.  I suppose that is understandable.

 

Although I do not mind watching games all by myself, it is a delight to watch them with a knowledgeable baseball fan, because they notice things that you miss.  I enjoyed his stories, insights and company.

 

As I am going through my billions of pictures, I cannot believe that I did not take one of Scott, who looked so great in his Eckstein jersey.  So much better than Eckstein ever did. 

 

Scott, if you are reading.  Next time in Tulsa, you bring Eckstein.  I'll bring Molina.  We will get a picture.  And, maybe even catch someone stealing second.

 

Potpourri for $500, Alex

 

Random notes.

 

I accidentally purchased a MILB.tv subscription for $29.95 or so.  Now, I can watch the Memphis Redbirds on my PC.  Yes, I know, I have an addiction problem.  But, as my mom puts it, it is a very wholesome addiction.

 

But, I have gotten to see Khalil Greene in his rehab starts.  The good news is that he looks good at the plate.  However, he did have a multi-error game at shortstop.  Not good.  The crowd booed.  It was ugly.

 

After a conversation in St. Louis, he is back in Memphis at third base, where he looks very, very good tonight.  I read that he was a third baseman in college.  Perhaps, playing shortstop is where the pressure gets to him.  Especially, on a team where the prevailing pitching philosophy is pitch to contact and let the defense work.  Maybe, third base is his comfort zone, his happy place.  It sure seems so, he just knocked in two and scored the go ahead run from second.

 

The Redbird skipper pulled Shane Robinson in the first inning of Sunday's game for not running out a ground ball.  Robinson did not start tonight, but he came into the game later.

 

New call-up, Pete Parise, threw two perfect innings in relief.

 

Jarrett Hoffpauir is on fire!

Redbirds win!

 

Up Next?

 

This weekend I will be in Kansas City for the I-70 series between the Kansas City Royals and the St. Louis Cardinals.  I am excited to see the renovations at the K.  I am excited to see my Royals.  I am excited to see my family and friends.  But, I am most excited to meet my brand new nephew who was born last week.  Yes, I am an addict, but I still know what is most important.