Sunday, January 30, 2011

Trip to Dunedin


I went to two away games during the 2010 season. To Clearwater to see the Threshers which I've already covered, and to Dunedin to see the Blue Jays. The trip to Dunedin almost didn't happen because the weather was horrible that day. The game started at 4pm and it had been raining all day. The trip took a lot longer than I had anticipated because I got lost. Dunedin is a place that Ive never been before and the field was further away than I had thought. I got to the stadium and parked near the road which was a good idea because the stadium is so small that every foul ball that goes back ends up going over the roof and into the parking lot. Tickets were 6 dollars for general admission and parking was free. I went in and sat on the visitors side, really you could sit anywhere its such a small intimate field. The only thing is if you sit in the infield you will have to look through the fence but if you want to be really close and not worry about foul balls then its perfect. it was sprinkling on and off so I sat up under the awning but it was still so close that I wasn't missing out on anything.

The game itself was pretty good. Josh Romanski was the starter in only his second start for Tampa. He actually did really good. Dunedin didn't get a hit until the third inning and was kept off the board until the fifth inning on a solo home run. Tampa scored on a single and stolen base by Myron Leslie and was driven in on a double by Jack Rye.
Things got a little funky in the bottom of the 7th inning. I really wish I could tell you all what happened. Somewhere between a double, a pitching change, a passed ball, a single, a wild pitch, a ground out, a walk and a fielders choice.... Myron Leslie committed an interference. How he committed an interference is really beyond me and all the people around me. It was apparently also beyond the Tampa Yankees manager because he yelled his head off out there trying to figure out what had happened. He ended up getting ejected. Torre Tyson is a volatile person and he certainly walked off the field with a fire.
Honestly I think it all started in the fifth inning when Jose Gil was thrown out at home on a double play ball. Honestly I think it was a blown call by the umpire because the pitcher was standing in the basepath so Gil had to run around him and push him aside to get to homeplate which caused him to not be able to slide into home. Had he been able to reach home plate without an obstacle in his way he would have scored easily. This should have warranted an interference call and Gil argued with the ump as did Tyson but to no avail which is why I think they were so mad about the interference in the 7th inning. The fans behind home plate let Gil have it the whole next inning since he was behind the plate to catch the bottom of that inning.
The rest of the game went pretty smooth, no one else scored until Gil hit his fifth homer of the season over the high right field fence. It was no cheapie and we all stood up and cheered louder than ever because it was kind of a rub it in their faces hit and I think Gil was happy because he had taken a lot of flack since the issue in the fifth inning. If only they could have won because of that home run.

This is oddly the only picture I took inside the stadium, it was sprinkling so I must not have wanted to take my camera out of my bag.


Here is the box score:

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=t587&gid=2010_08_29_tbyafa_dunafa_1&cid=587&t=g_box


Something I want to note is that as much as I like him, Bradley Suttle is not clutch. I went to many games where he came to the plate with the chance to tie it up or win it with just one hit and he didn't come through. He did hit a walk off home run ending a 14 inning game so I wont hold it against him.

It ended up never really raining so I'm glad I didn't scrap the trip for another time. I ate dinner at Casa Tina in Downtown Dunedin right down the road from the stadium. It was a good meal and was reasonably priced. It was a pretty long drive so I might not make it to Dunedin much next season.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Fantasy Camp Games

I have a lot of reading to do for school tomorrow so I decided it was the perfect time to summarize my time at the Fantasy Camp Games yesterday.

First off, I think it is a great thing that the New York Yankees and other teams do for their fans by offering this experience. It was a little funny though seeing overweight middle aged and old men in the Yankees uniform but I bet they wouldn't give up their experience at the camp for the world. Some of these men have been going to fantasy camp for years.

I got to George Steinbrenner Field Saturday morning around 9:15. The gates hadn't opened so I decided to get a look at the new statue of George that was just put up a few weeks ago. It was pretty spiffy, I took a picture of it for good measure. I went to the gift shop but they had not gotten anything new in since I had been last though the toaster that burns the Yankees interlocking NY logo into your toast looked appealing. I bought a deck of 2010 Yankees cards because out of the 20 packs of cards I've bought I only got Andy Pettitte, Curtis Granderson and 2 of Kevin Russo.

When the gates opened up they informed us that there would be no autographs which I thought was weird because isn't baseball about getting autographs? They followed the no autographs thing pretty strictly inside too and had security guarding the part of the dugout that the players would normally stand and give out autographs. When I got in, I went to sit on the Greats side which was the home side and where I normally sit for Tampa Yankees games. I sat there for about an hour until I was so cold I couldn't operate my camera. While I was sitting on that side I got some good pictures of Mickey Rivers, Homer Bush and Jeff Nelson. Honestly I had only heard or read about half the Greats there. The only Yankee Greats in Attendance that I actually had seen play was Jeff Nelson, Homer Bush, Luis Sojo, David Wells and Daryl Strawberry.

I eventually moved towards the visitors section but was still behind the net because I am afraid of foul balls. I found the head of the Tampa Yankees Booster club and sat with her and a bunch of other Tampa Yankee boosters, they were all smarter than me and were sitting in the sun from the get go. I don't really recall anything special about the games except that maybe we should try to get Homer Bush to come out of retirement and be our DH. Also, that Jeff Nelson is/was not only a good pitcher but played some pretty snazzy defense at shortstop at the fantasy games when he was done pitching for the day, especially for such a tall guy. Daryl Strawberry was there but he doesn't play because he is 100% retired and that means he never picks up a bat or glove.
One thing that I found outstanding is that some of these guys have still got the ability to not only hit a ball, but hit the ball far. Homer Bush got I think 3 doubles and a triple, and not just because the fielders(fantasy campers) were bad out there, the guy hit some hard line drives. Jeff Nelson was also one of the better hitters, especially for a pitcher. I know the level of pitching at these games is not ML level, or even U-16 league level, but still.

The Greats that participated were:

Jeff Nelson- Pitcher and SS
David Wells - Pitcher and outfield
Chris Chambliss - First base
Mickey Rivers - Second Base
Bucky Dent - SS
Luis Sojo - Third base
Homer Bush - outfield
Jesse Barfield - Outfield
Oscar Gamble - outfield
Mark Torrez - Pitcher
Paul Blair - did not play
Al Downing - did not play
Daryl Strawberry - did not play

Im sure there was someone I forgot but you can check out my picture on the sidebar for a pictoral recap.

Overall, it was a fun experience especially being able to see some of the guys I have only read about in books or seen in documentaries and highlight reels. Being at the field made me really hungry for some baseball. March cannot come soon enough.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Just a few updates because I am starting to get busy with school.

This Saturday they are having the Fantasy Camp games at George Steinbrenner Field. This is where the fantasy campers play the greats, or that's what they told me. Anyway Ill take pictures and let you all know who was there and how it went.

Also, Im working on a piece about my trip to Dunedin stadium this past season but it probably wont be up until this weekend.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

My case for Pat


Pat Venditte is widely known as the switch pitcher in the Yankees organization. Some think that is just a gimmick but it probably did punch his ticket to the minor leagues. The Yankees tried to draft Pat in the 2007 but he would not sign. The Yankees eventually signed him in 2008.(info from his wikipedia page) I'm not really focusing on anything here but his 2010 season in Tampa.

At every game you go to they sell a program with the lineup card and stack of information containing numbers from around the league. Pretty much every team is represented somewhere in the stats pack so for $2 its a pretty good deal. There is a section in the pack focusing on reliever numbers. Venditte is the only reliever represented in every category. This information was taken from the Sept. 5 packet once Venditte had been promoted to Trenton, its also from the end of the season so he wouldn't be bumped out of any of the categories.


Lowest Batting Average: Venditte ranked 2nd allowing 49 hits in 247 AB good for a .187 AVG
Highest SO/9 IP Ratio: Venditte ranked 4th striking out 85 in 72.2 innings for a ratio of 10.53
Lowest BB-IBB/9 IP Ratio: Venditte ranked 3rd with 14 walks in 72.2 innings for a ratio of 1.61
Fewest Baserunners/9 IP Ratio: Venditte ranked 1st with 65 in 72.2 innings for a ratio of 8.05

Venditte ended his 2010 season in Tampa with a 1.73 ERA. He allowed 49 hits in 72.2 innings pitched. The opposing team scored 17 runs/14 earned. He allowed 2 HR, 14 walks and struck out 85. He ended his 2010 Tampa season with a 4-1 record. All this can be found on his milb.com player page. http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?pos=P&sid=t587&t=p_pbp&pid=519381

So Venditte has some pretty good numbers, whether you consider him worthy of standout status... I trust you can make your own decisions. But something has to be said in that he consistently ranked in the top 5 of all the reliever categories. That cannot be a fluke.

I know Venditte had a rough start in Trenton in 2010 so I'm not sure what the future holds for him in the higher levels but he sure was fun to watch in 2010. I wish him the best of luck.

Just an aside:
The departed Jonathan Ortiz, closer for the Tampa Yankees in 2010 became a minor league free agent and was picked up by the Oakland Athletics organization. Ortiz closed the season with 21 saves. He ranked in the top 5 in 3 of the four categories for relievers and was tied with a .202 AVG against which technically puts him ranking in all four of the categories for relievers. He ended the season with a 2.47 ERA and a 7-1 record. I am sad to see him go but he would have probably ended up in Trenton in 2011 anyway.

This post focused on the stats of the game which I don't really like as it becomes boring to me and sometimes difficult to understand. I promise not to make them all like this. On a personal note I can add that I saw one of the home runs off Venditte. I had taken my dad to one of the games and just as they called for Venditte from the bullpen, my dad decides he want a drink and to use the restroom. I told him he had to wait to see the switch pitcher but he left anyway. As soon as my dad was out of sight, Venditte made his first pitch and the ball proceeded to sail over the left field fence. Let's just say that my dad got an ear full when he came back from me blaming him for the home run because he left therefore messing up the mojo.

By the Numbers


I attended 22 Tampa Yankee games in the 2010 season between June 5 and September 13. I got a late jump on the season and I am sad to admit it was just because I wasn't really aware how cheap the tickets were and the fact that I didn't know I didn't care if I went to the game alone. So I decided to make a post of the numbers relating to my season. How many wins and losses I saw, who I saw pitch etc. It took a bit of exhausting research partly because I went to some double headers, some games I got into free because I went too late to buy a ticket and some tickets I exchanged because the game I had originally gone to got rained out. Hopefully I got it all in here.

Wins - 12
Losses - 10

Teams I saw and how many times I saw them.

Fort Myers Miracle(Twins) - 0
Palm Beach Cardinals(Cardinals) - 0
Jupiter Hammerheads(Marlins) - 1
Bradenton Marauders(Pirates) - 1
Lakeland Flying Tigers(Detroit) - 1
Brevard County Manatees(Brewers) - 2
St. Lucie Mets(Mets) - 2
Daytona Cubs(Chicago Cubs) - 3
Charlotte Stonecrabs(Rays) - 3
Dunedin Blue Jays(Blue Jays) - 4
Clearwater Threshers(Phillies) - 5

This includes Two away games where I went to Dunedin and Clearwater. Both were losses.

I went to 20 games where the starting pitcher was actually in the starting rotation.

Starter - games started - decisions - outcome

Shaeffer Hall - 6 games - 4 decisions - 2 wins and 2 losses
Dellin Betances - 3 games - 3 decisions - 3 wins
Manuel Banuelos - 3 games - 1 decision - 1 loss
Graham Stoneburner - 2 games - 1 decision - 1 win
Craig Heyer - 2 games - 2 decisions - 2 wins (this includes the clinching championships game)
Josh Romanski - 2 games - 1 decision - 1 loss
Brett Marshall - 1 game - no decision (Preston Claiborne took the loss in relief)
Adam Warren - 1 game - no decision (Noel Castillo took the loss in relief)
Adam Olbrychowski and John Van Benschoten were the other two starters - neither got a decision.

The relief pitcher took the win or loss in 10 games I attended. This is probably because the starting pitcher only goes about 5 innings or so each game.

2 games stick out for me in how tough they were to sit through.

On July 2nd I went to a double header against the Daytona Cubs. This game had previously been started by Manny Banuelos but got rained out in an early inning. Double headers in the minor leagues are 7 innings. This game was to be completed at 9 innings and the game following was to go 7. This game though went 14 innings. It featured a hitless inning thrown by Sergio Mitre who was doing his rehab with Tampa and a blown save by Jonathan Ortiz. I distinctly remember the fans in front of me after he blew the save reminding the guys on the field that they had to play another game when this one ended. We eventually won the game on a walk off home run by Bradley Suttle. We also won the second game pitched by Dellin Betances. Interesting note: Mitch Abeita caught all 19 innings that day.

On August 20, the day that Manny Banuelos was in the stands charting the game.(the day I got his autograph) we lost...6-18... This game was started by Shaeffer Hall who took the loss. Anyone remember the game against the Blue Jays where the Yankees won and Brett Gardner hit the grand slam? When we scored 11 runs in one innings? You remember how great it felt when that inning went on for 30 minutes and you were hoping it wouldn't end? Yeah well this was the opposite. It featured a 9 run 7th inning that took two pitchers to finally end. I switched seats thinking maybe if I move then they will get an out. It didn't work so I and a few other people moved seats and it was finally over. I stayed for that whole game surprisingly.

Well that is a recap of all the Tampa Yankee games I went to in the 2010 season. I am buying season tickets for 2011 so I will be able to go to a lot more. I also plan on going to more away games to fields I didn't visit in 2010. I will be posting hopefully a lot of information from some of the games I go to in 2011 so check back frequently come April. And as always, comment here letting me know what you think. I like feedback.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Brighthouse Field and Chase Utley




On August 14, 2010 I read online that Chase Utley of the Philadelphia Phillies would be playing his first rehab game with the Clearwater Threshers of the Florida State League. Luckily for this Tampa Yankee fan, the Threshers were playing my Yankees at Brighthouse Field just over the bridge. I knew this was going to be a once in a lifetime opportunity so I knew I had to go. I called my friend and asked if she wanted to go with me and she said she would.




Brighthouse Field is located at the end of a shopping plaza next to a very busy highway, not the place you would think to see a baseball field but once you are inside you really forget whats on the outside. My first impression of this field was that it smelled really good. They have a restaurant behind the left field fence called Frenchy's and throughout the whole game the smells of food wafted through the stadium. Brighthouse field is a smaller more intimate field with nice luxury boxes that still keep fans close to the action. The only mistake we made on our visit was that we bought tickets on the Home side of the field. oops. They check tickets to make sure you are sitting in your section so we weren't able to move but it turned out okay. We are both Bradley Suttle fans and since he played third base we got an up and close view, it is also the side of the field where they do their fan involved activities.

Bradley Suttle(#36)


The game itself was a pretty awful game. Here is a link to the box score:

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=t587&gid=2010_08_14_tbyafa_clrafa_1&cid=587&t=g_box

It took forever us to get even a hit while the Threshers were just racking them up, as a fan in enemy territory it was not fun. The worst moment, was when Shaeffer Hall, our pitcher for the game, went to cover first on a ground ball to the right side. As he got to the bag he tripped...over the bag.... and just fell to the ground, I personally was wondering if he was okay but all I could hear around me was laughter. Now I agree that it was kind of funny but only after he got up and shook himself off. I had forgotten how Philly fans were.

We watched Utley play the field without making any errors which I guess was good for him. We also got to watch him strikeout which was good for me. We missed his triple because we had gone to get drinks but he wasn't able to score so it was okay. At the end of the game, which we luckily didn't get shutout or no hit(Suttle had 2 of the 3 hits) they had a fireworks show which they do after every night game, we decided to beat the foot traffic out and left as it started but sat in the parking lot to watch before leaving.

Overall it was a fun trip. I enjoyed visiting another minor league field even though my team did not win. If you are ever in Clearwater or Tampa I would recommend visiting this field. Tickets are (or were) $6.50, sit on the first base side if you want to be in the visiting team section. Parking on the day we went was $2.00.

Monday, January 10, 2011

I want to rush for 1,000 or 1,500 yards, whichever comes first.

I get baseball. I have been a baseball fan since before I can even remember. I know the basics like 3 strikes and you're out. 4 ball and you can walk. 9 innings, 9 players. 7th inning stretch, I get it all. I also know what ERA is and Batting Average. I know that an OBP of .300 is not too spiffy. I can tell you that the Yankees had an awful time with BaBIP in the ALCS and the Rangers did not. I have no clue what WAR is or FiP and I know that UZR is overrated. I get it all. I can tell you all about how the Yankees rallied to beat the Dodgers this past season and the guy on first threw to the catcher after stepping on the bag which only took a second because he was trying to go for the double play but he didnt think about Grandersons speed so the ball didnt get to the plate in time which set the Yankees to come all the way back and for Robinson Cano to hit a two run home run which won the game... phew. I can talk about baseball for hours...and I do...which annoys everyone around me but I dont care because I'm talking about my favorite thing.

What I don't get is football. I know that a touchdown is worth 6 points and then you go for the field goal which gives you 1 point. Or you can try for the two point conversion. There is the field goal which is worth 2 or 3 points...not so sure, and my absolute favorite; the touchback or safety which is when the quarterback gets taken down in the endzone worth 2 points. But besides that, I am absolutely clueless.

So why am I telling you this?

Well as I said, If you're around me at any time you will inevitably learn or be told something baseball related. Whether its a little trivia or interesting story I came across such as this: The Rays were no hit twice in 2010. Once a perfect game and once a not so perfect no-hitter from Edwin Jackson. They also had their own no-hitter throw by Matt Garza(who didn't beat the Yankees at all in 2010) Why I bring all this us is because last year when the Yankees sent Ian Kennedy to Arizona and got Granderson from the Tigers, Detroit sent Edwin Jackson to Arizona and got Max Scherzer who started the game as the opposing pitcher when Garza threw the no hitter. Now I know this doesn't affect how Garza performed that night but had that trade not gone down, Edwin Jackson would not have been able to throw a no hitter against the Rays and Scherzer would not have lost a game where he only allowed two hits(one of which a grand slam)

That is just an example of something I might inform you of if we were to say, meet in a long line or work together. It sounds pretty convincing though like I researched everything and made all these connections which I did and its only because I find every aspect of the game and coincidence to be interesting.

Football on the other hand? The other day I was talking with a coworker about broken bones. How I get disgusted by them and probably wouldnt handle seeing one in person. I decided to attempt to explain The Blindside to her, if you haven't seen it you should because its good. Anyway, in the beginning of the movie they explain the reason for the position that watches the quarterbacks blindside(I dont know what its called, I told you I dont know football) in it, they show video of the quarterback Joe Theismann getting tackled from behind and the bottom of his foot is where his shin is supposed to be and his shin is up by his knee. Gross. As I am explaining this to my coworker she starts laughing. I was like, this is serious the guy broke his leg and thats why they created the blindside(thats what they say in the movie okay?) She explains to me that she wasnt laughing at the story but the way I was telling it, because I absolutely know nothing about football, not even enough to pretend I know what Im talking about and she thought it was funny that I can talk baseball for hours but cannot retell a simple story involving football.

And you know what?

I am perfectly fine with that :)

Sunday, January 9, 2011


I wanted to be this guy when I was little. Too bad I wasn't Male(still not actually) Cuban or as talented. But who wouldn't want to be able to lift their leg that high and then throw a ball in a straight line?

Photo: Joe Giza for The New York Times