103

In 103 days, April 5th and Opening Day for the 2007 Timber Rattler season will be here.

In the run up to the season, Rattler Radio will search out a baseball number that relates to the number of days to Opening Day.

Today, here is a list of retired pitchers with 103 career wins. Taken from The Baseball Page.

Steve Blass 1964-1974

Tiny Bonham 1940-1949

Johnny Morrison 1920-1930

Dave Roberts 1969-1981

Jim Rooker 1968-1980

Jack Scott 1916-1929

Willie Sudhoff 1897-1906

It looks like this list hasn't been updated since the end of the 2004 season. But, it serves the purpose for today.

Trying to get in the spirit -- Day 2

It snowed at some point last night. That helps a little.

Was rooting through YouTube trying to find Pavarotti's Adeste Fidelis or a good version of Silent Night to help a bit more.

Instead, I found this nugget from a Christmas episode one of my favorite shows. One of the main characters writes a new Christmas carol. From Crow T. Robot of Mystery Science Theater 3000 here is A Patrick Swayze Christmas:


Hurts, don't it?

Merry Christmas from Rattler Radio

Take Me Out to the Holosuite

This week's Baseball on TV episode is from the usually dark and intense science fiction series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. But, for some reason this seventh season episode was bright and lighthearted.

I could go on for about fifty pages about this episode, holosuites, Vulcans, and a lot of other obscure notes about this and any episode. But, that would truly reveal my lack of both a personality and a life. Plus, there is so much to do today...Like clean my oven.

Avery Brooks, who played Hawk on Spenser: For Hire, is Captain Benjamin Sisko. Sisko is the man in charge of DS9 and by the seventh season of the show, the main characters on the show have become great friends and teammates.

Now, in the very first episode of DS9, Sisko was revealed to be a baseball fan. This is even though it was revealed in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode Evolution that baseball is no longer played.

The plot of Take Me Out to the Holosuite is that a Vulcan, Captain Solok, a classmate of Sisko's at Starfleet Academy, arrives at the station to continue his goal of proving to Sisko that Vulcans are superior to humans. Well, I'm sure that there was another, more logical, reason for his visit to the station. But, this advances the plot of the episode.

Sisko discovers that the Vulcans on Captain Solok's crew have put a baseball team together. Sisko challenges them to a game.

The folks at DS9 are pretty good at fighting alien invasions from the Gamma Quadrant, dealing with transporter malfunctions, and handling Cardassian treachery, but baseball? Sisko and his son Jake are the only ones with any talent for or understanding of the game. But, they do come up with a cute name for their team, the Niners. Oh, please, make it stop.

Practice is a disaster, but the game goes on anyway.

The highlight of the game isn't any of the action, but this bit of infield chatter from the Niners:

Sisko: All right, Niners, let's hear some chatter.
Kasidy: Hey batter, batter, batter, batter, batter, batter!
Leeta: Hey batter, batter, batter, batter, batter, batter, batter!
Worf: Death to the Opposition!

Oh, that Worf!

Here's another sample of Worf at play. A Vulcan has missed home plate and Nog, the Niner catcher is at a loss for what to do. Chief O'Brien and Worf are helpful.

O'Brien: Nog, he didn't touch the base!
Nog: Wh-What do I do?!
Worf: Find him and kill him!!

Well, the Niners are being routed by the emotionless Vulcans. How emotionless? After each home run or grat play, the Vulcans just return to their bench with no cheering, clapping, or even a high five.

At the end of the game, the Niners get a meaningless run in the bottom of the ninth on a fluke hit by Rom, a Ferengi who was cut earlier in the episode. They celebrate as if they had just won Game Seven of the Federation Series. This confuses the Vulcans at the game and and the post-game blowout in the bar.

For the complete recap on this episode go to the TV.com page HERE. Don't go in too deep. You could get lost for days in there. Trust me.

Now, if you have stayed with this post to here, you deserve a little treat. A fan of the show has put together a music video of this episode to John Fogerty's Centerfield. Yep, you read that right. Just click on this little piece of YouTube magic to play it.

Now THIS is a Saturday morning movie

SPIKE TV has my Christmas present early.


As if Lee Van Cleef, Ernest Borgnine, and Donald Pleasence weren't enough, director John Carpenter adds in Adrianne Barbeau to this Kurt Russell masterpiece.

Now, if only Damnation Alley would be on next...

An easy prediction...Another injury

There was a post earlier this week about the Reds playing the Marlins in an exhibition game at Fifth Third Field in Dayton.

The Dayton Daily News has a brief article that makes a bold prediction in the headline:

Tickets to see Reds in Dayton will be hard to come by

Ya think?

Tickets for the Cincinnati Reds' exhibition game against the Florida Marlins on March 31 at Fifth Third Field will be scarce. They will be offered at $26 for stadium seats and $12 for lawn seats first to Dayton Dragons season-ticket holders, suite holders and corporate partners, the team announced Wednesday.

If there are any ticket left after this, it seems like those on the Dragon season ticket waiting list will get the next crack.

Not even this news will keep those fans away.

Griffey's hand in cast after accident in home

The misfortune that has plagued Ken Griffey Jr. throughout his seven-year career with the Cincinnati Reds — always on-the-field before — struck Griffey at home this time.

Griffey broke his left hand in a mishap at his Orlando, Fla., home this week. He preferred not to reveal the details of how the accident occurred or even when it happened.

But two sources familiar with the situation told the Dayton Daily News that Griffey broke the hand while playing with his kids. Griffey and wife Melissa have three children — a daughter, a son and an adopted son.

The injury is to Griffey's throwing hand, which will be in a hard cast for at least three weeks, then examined, the Reds said.

There is a handy list of Griffey's injuries and stints on the disabled list since joining the Reds HERE.

Two of those injuries were season-ending ones that happened with lots of time left in the season.

July 18 - remainder of the season, 2003 — Torn peroneal tendon in the right ankle. Griffey came up lame into second base following a sixth-inning double on July 16. He walked under his own power to the dugout, making the injury's seriousness unclear. But the team later announced his season was over and doctors would also perform arthroscopic reconstructive surgery on his right shoulder.

Aug. 12-remainder of season, 2004 — Torn right hamstring. After making a feet-first diving catch against San Francisco's Pedro Feliz on Aug. 4, Griffey walked to the dugout and told friend Barry Larkin, "I popped it." It was soon learned Griffey had torn the hamstring off the bone, which required season-ending surgery.

Ouch.

New things at Oldsmobile Park

There is some new construction going on at the home of the Lansing Lugnuts. They haven't updated their contruction gallery since November 1, so it may be finished already. Photos from the Lugnut website.

They are replacing seats:


They are painting the concourse red:


They are installing a new HVAC system for the Suite level:
Will update, if they update.

Update on the Snapper Website

http://www.snappersbaseball.com has a new message.

This Site Is Under Construction and Coming Soon.

Keep a lookout for what is coming soon.

Baseball History -- December 23

Complete entry for December 23 is at BaseballLibrary.com HERE.

Highlighted entries:

2000
The Brewers sign free agent OF Jeffrey Hammonds to a 3-year contract. The Giants sign OF Eric Davis to a contract. The Cardinals sign free agent OF Quinton McCracken to a contract.

Hey, Brewer fans, remember that Jeffrey Hammonds contract? Remember how well that went?

1994
With negotiations at a standstill, the owners unilaterally implement a salary cap.

And that salary cap is where now?

1975
Arbitrator Peter Seitz announces a landmark decision in favor of the Players' Association, making pitchers Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally free agents. Seitz is immediately fired by John Gaherin, chairman of the owners' Player Relations Committee. McNally, who retired June 8th, will not return to the ML, finishing with a 184-119 career record.

And so the Free Agent Era begins. McNally has an Appleton tie. He played for the Fox Cities Foxes in 1961.

1958
The Dodgers trade minor league infielder Sparky Anderson to the Phillies for OF Rip Repulski and pitchers Gene Snyder and Jim Golden. Sparky will be the Phils' regular 2B in 1959, his only big league season as a player. His 152 games is the most for a one-season career and his 119 total bases is the fewest ever for a player with 500 at bats.

Sparky was a great manager though.

Trying to get in the spirit

It hasn't been easy to get into the Christmas season this year for some reason. Trying to fix that...With, what, three days to go?

No baseball carols that I could find, but here is this little treasure from YouTube:




HERE is a little background on that clip:

One of the more surreal moments in pop music history took place Sept. 11, 1977, when the leading American pop star of the first half of the Twentieth Century met and performed with one of the more innovative rock 'n' rollers of the last half of the Century. Bing was in London on a concert tour and to tape his yearly TV Christmas special. It was Bing's idea that he should have as a guest on his TV show a young star. Someone suggested David Bowie. Bing had never heard of Bowie, but his kids had, and so an invitation was sent to the rock star. Bowie, as it turned out, was a secret fan of Der Bingle and jumped at the chance to perform with him.

Crosby died about a month later....Oh, wait, that isn't very Christmas-y. Just keep trying and enjoy the song.

MWL Websites

What the heck happened to the Beloit Snapper website?

This domain name expired on 12/16/2006 and is pending renewal or deletion.

Hmmmm.

The South Bend Silver Hawk website has a placeholder at their URL.

SilverHawks New Website Coming Soon!

I wonder what their definition of soon is.

Sandberg around the MWL

Have been taking a spin through Midwest League websites this week to see how the other teams in the MWL are promoting Ryne Sandberg and the Chiefs playing in their stadiums.

There are rumors of others, but I have found one other Sandberg package out there. It belongs to Kane County:

The Kane County Cougars are proud to offer the Cubs Affiliate Package for the 2007 season. See first-year manager Ryne Sandberg lead the Peoria Chiefs to Elfstrom Stadium this season. Our Cubs Affiliate Package includes seven games against Peoria, as well as three additional prime dates for a total of ten games (see list of dates below).

The Cougars will be hosting the 2007 Midwest League All-Star Game on Tuesday, June 19th at 7 p.m. As a ticket package holder, you have an early opportunity to purchase tickets before they go on sale to the general public in February.

Cubs Affiliate Packages are $108 for box seats and $90 for reserved seats. Receive the same great seats near the Chiefs’ dugout for all ten games within the package.

Then, there is the Timber Rattler Sandberg package.

Award season

An award for a member of the Peoria Chief family will be presented soon:

Vonachen to get 'Dizzy' Trout Award

PEORIA, Ill. -- Former Peoria Chiefs president and general manager Pete Vonachen is set to be honored as the newest recipient of the Paul "Dizzy" Trout Award by the Pitch & Hit Club of Chicago at a banquet set for Jan. 28 in Rosemont, Ill.

The Paul "Dizzy" Trout Award is an ambassador award for excellence and commitment to the game of baseball. Past winners have included White Sox executive Roland Hemond, pitcher/broadcaster Steve Stone, and White Sox organist Nancy Faust.

Vonachen was nominated for the Trout Award by Roland Hemond and selected by the entire Pitch and Hit Club which consists of more than 150 members. The main requirement for the award is a long and outstanding contribution to the game of baseball. Pete joins his son, Rocky, as Pitch and Hit Club Award recipients. Rocky, the Chiefs president, was named Minor League Executive of the Year in 2002 after the Chiefs moved downtown to O'Brien Field and won their first Midwest League title.

Pete Vonachen has long been associated with baseball in Peoria and helped bring the Chiefs to town in the 1980s. He purchased the team in September 1983, renamed it the Chiefs and set up an affiliation with the Chicago Cubs. He made national headlines by sitting on top of the clubhouse during a 20-game suspension and often was talked about on Cubs broadcasts by good friend Harry Caray. In 1992, the stadium the Chiefs called home was renamed Pete Vonachen Stadium.

After selling the team in the late 1980s, Pete led a group to repurchase the Chiefs in 1994 and set up an affiliation with the St. Louis Cardinals. He served as the Chiefs general manager and president until 1998, when his son, Rocky, took over the day-to-day operations. Vonachen delivered the eulogy at Caray's funeral in Chicago in February 1998, which was broadcast on WGN. The efforts of Pete, Rocky and the other Chiefs investors led to the opening of O'Brien Field in 2002, and the street in front of the stadium was renamed Pete Vonachen Way.

Good award for a good man.

More MILB.com predictions

Hey, what do you know? The MILB.com prediction reviews for the American League were posted today. AL East, AL Central, and AL West are all available.

For grins, here are the predictions they made for the Mariner system.

Organizational MVP: Jeff Clement. Even if the 2005 No. 3 overall pick hadn't hit .319-6-20 in 30 games at Wisconsin, you'd have to like the way his power should translate in the California League. If that's where he ends up going, the USC product should launch plenty of balls into the smoggy San Bernardino air.

Well, he made it to Triple-A and didn't play a game in the California League. But he also only played 82 games due to injuries and hit a combined .263 with just 23 extra-base hits. The actual organizational Player of the Year was Bryan LaHair, who hit a combined .309 with 16 homers and 74 RBIs between Double- and Triple-A.

"Tommy" on the farm: This spot is usually reserved for predicting the organization's "Cy on the farm," but with the loss of Felix Hernandez -- a future Cy in the bigs -- and a dearth of top pitching prospects, focus turns to a couple guys who could make some noise as they recover from Tommy John surgery. The Mariners have made the same type of high-risk/high-reward pick in the 12th round of each of the last two drafts. They selected Wichita State pitcher Steve Uhlmansiek in 2004 and St. John's hurler Anthony Varvaro in 2005, despite the fact that each was known to be facing surgery. Uhlmansiek returned in late June last year to pitch in 10 games in the Arizona Rookie League, posting a 3.78 ERA. Varvaro, who was a college teammate of Boston first-round pick Craig Hansen, should make a similar midseason return this year, and if fully recovered could vault to the top of the Mariners' Minor League pitching corps.

This one may not truly be decided for a while, but we'll take credit. Uhlmansiek pitched for short-season Everett and finished with a 4.07 ERA over 66 1/3 innings. The league hit just .229 against the lefty, who struck out 60 (albeit with 38 walks). Varvaro followed the same path as Uhlmaskiek in 2005. The right-hander pitched well in five games in the rookie-level Arizona League, finishing with a 1.64 ERA in 11 total innings while racking up 15 strikeouts against just five walks.

Catching bug: The Mariners won't pick a catcher in the first several rounds of the draft. With Clement, Kenji Johjima, Rob Johnson and Rene Rivera all awaiting their turn behind the plate, Seattle already has a potential logjam situation there.

What's your definition of "several?" If it's five, then we were right. The M's took Texas-Arlington backstop Adam Moore in the sixth round of last June's draft. He was, though, the only catcher Seattle signed from the draft (they took one in the 50th round, high schooler Tyler Sanford, but he's not in the M's system). Moore got off to a good start too, hitting .317 over 16 games for Everett to earn a promotion to full-season Wisconsin, where he hit .267 with seven homers in 44 games. He's a long way from entering the logjam though, and with his strong offensive skills and less-than-strong defensive ones, a position switch may be in his future.

International men of mystery: One or more of the following young Latin American players will put up big numbers in a short-season league: Wellington Dotel, OF; Jose Escalona, LHP; Carlos Peguero, OF; Alfredo Venegas, RHP.

Venegas didn't pitch in the United States, though he did do some nice things in the Venezuela Summer League. Dotel hit .261 with some pop (23 extra-base hits) over 207 at-bats in the Arizona League. Escalona actually pitched for Wisconsin in the full-season Midwest League and had a 4.06 ERA over 126 1/3 innings. Peguero hit .313 with a 1.029 OPS over 34 games in the Arizona League before being bumped to Everett, where he hit .204 in 25 games (still, he finished the year with a .520 SLG). If we're fishing, we'll take credit for Peguero's numbers in the AZL.

End result: We'll take the TJ surgery call and cobble the catching/draft and Latin players predictions into one total correct. That leaves us with a 2-for-4 showing in the Pacific Northwest.

Isn't it great when you can judge your own predictions?

Oh, one more

104 Days to Opening Day!

One more for the day

Back later. There are a few things that I need to take care of this afternoon. But, here is a good one from bleedcubbieblue.

This off season, they are counting down the top 100 Cubs of all time. Yesterday, the got to #60, one of my favorite Cubs -- here's a secret, I wore #6 because of him -- Keith Moreland.

Moreland's career with the Cubs began within the context of Dallas Green trying -- as [Tribune baseball writer Jerome] Holtzman said -- "to remake the Cubs in one day.".

And for the next six seasons (1982-1987) this "poor-throwing," "below-average defensively," "power-hitting", "rugged player" was a mainstay in the middle of the Cubs line-up as an outfielder, third baseman, or catcher (descriptions all used in the Holtzman article).
...
...Moreland showed up everyday (averaged 150 games per season), played hard (like the former college football player he was), did whatever was asked of him (multiple positions in the field and in the line-up), didn't complain, and produced consistent results (averaged .281, 17 home runs, and 82 runs batted in, decent numbers for the lower-power era in which he played). In six Cub seasons he hit exactly 100 home runs, good for eighteenth place on the all-time Cub list.

And here is an interesting story from the post:

Moreland pondered what to do with an autographed baseball that he failed to deliver to folk singer Steve Goodman prior to Goodman's death. The singer wrote a humorous song, "A Dying Cub Fan's Last Request," in which he conjectured that the perfect ending to his funeral at Wrigley Field would be for outfielder Keith Moreland to "drop a routine fly" during the post-funeral game. Moreland, amused, signed the ball after learning that Goodman really was dying, and entrusted it to the writer, who never found time to deliver it. Ironically, Goodman passed away just as the Cubs were about to clinch the Eastern Division championship.

More news from Fort Wayne

Tonight is the rematch of the November weekend series between the Fort Wayne Komets and the Elmira Jackyls. Remeber the last time these two teams met brawls, police, mayhem!

This game is in Fort Wayne and the people are stoked! Well, maybe not.

K’s hot-ticket game with Jackals may fizzle

“It feels the same to me. It’s just another hockey game,” Komets right wing Jonathan Goodwin said. “I don’t really expect any shenanigans. If there is, I guess we’ll have to deal with it when it comes. But I don’t really expect that at all.”

When last these teams met, splitting a pair of games Dec. 8 and 9 at Elmira, N.Y., they combined for 385 penalty minutes, 18 misconducts, and a couple of brawls. Twenty-one games’ worth of suspensions were handed down by the UHL, all to Elmira personnel, including three for general manager Robbie Nichols, who coached those games and had an off-ice confrontation with Komets center Bruce Richardson.

Even though Nichols took over formally as the Jackals’ coach this week -- Kris Waltze was retained as an assistant – the Fort Wayne players seem to feel this game will never match the hype.

“We’re not even concerned with who we’re playing,” Goodwin said. “I know we’re playing Elmira, I realize that, but we’re here to win games.”

Still, ticket sales have been high with the Komets expecting about 8,000 fans, 1,500 more than they normally expect for this time of year at Memorial Coliseum. Security around the Jackals’ locker room will also be beefed up.

Now THAT is hockey! Check that boxscore tomorrow morning.

More on the Fort Wayne project

Plenty on this at Fortwayne.com:

Bought out
Businesses, homeowners displaced by Harrison Square look at options

Where more than 100 young children go to school, a Wizards center fielder could be making a sprawling grab. Where Clyde Smith rocks in his front- porch swing, you could be sitting in the right-field stands, watching the catch. Where McMahon Tires sells … well, tires, you could be window-shopping instead.
...
Martin Luther King Montessori School at Lewis and McClellan Streets has agreed to sell its 13,000 square-foot building for $1.5 million, the assessed value. It has until Aug. 31 to vacate the building it has occupied since 2003.
...
In what one day could be seating along the right-field line of the stadium, the 62-year-old Smith sat on his front porch swing at 1324 McClellan St. Four months ago a man from Martin Goldstine Knapke approached him, asking if he was interested in selling his home. The city hired the Fort Wayne firm to initiate conversations with landowners, telling them only that a significant investment was being considered for the area and having them sign a confidentiality agreement if they agreed to sell.

Smith, who has owned the house since 1979, sold it and a slice of land nearby for $80,000. “I am happy to get out of here,” he said. “It’s more than I could get if I put it on the market.”
...
McMahon Tire has been located along Jefferson Boulevard near Ewing since 1988. “If the sale goes through, we will relocate,” said store manager Jeff Frane. “Where, I don’t know.”

He said even though the tire market downtown has been soft, the business would have stayed where it was. “We can still make a profit here.”

There is more about the businesses that will be displaced by the project at the story.

Now for the main question

Where will the money come from?
City working out details for public funds to pay for Harrison Square project.

With an October News-Sentinel/News Channel 15 poll showing just 36 percent of Allen County residents favor using public money to build a new downtown baseball stadium, city officials know they need to shield taxpayers from the financial impact of the project if it is to win widespread support.

So Mayor Graham Richard and others stressed this week property taxes will not be used to pay for construction of Harrison Square, which could require $160 million in public and private funds.

But even though private investors are expected to pay for half the project’s $125 million first phase, that still means the city will have to come up with the remaining $62.5 million.
...
Although details are still being worked out, at least three major funding sources will be tapped to repay the bonds the city will need to sell to raise the necessary capital.

Deputy Mayor Mark Becker said about $16 million in bonds can be repaid through two state-approved mechanisms that allow new taxes generated by Harrison Square to help pay the project’s construction debt.

If City Council agrees, the project will be declared a “tax incremental financing district,” (TIF) which means property taxes generated by the new hotel, stadium, condominiums and shops would be earmarked to pay off the bonds. The current amount of taxes paid on property within the project’s boundary would continue to be distributed among other governmental units for general use. The proposed parking garage would generate funds through its inclusion in the TIF district established to pay for improvements between downtown and the Jefferson Pointe shopping center.

So officials aren’t exactly right when they say no property taxes will be needed for Harrison Square. But the project won’t require a general tax increase.

More at the link.

Here is a section on the News-Sentinel site that is called What You're Saying. The comments here are more positive than negative. Here is one from each camp.

It’s amazing how public officials can find money to pay for something they want (i.e. sports stadiums). ... Too bad that “taxpayers” have to pay for their own homes to be connected to city sewers, and public officials can’t find money to pay for infrastructure that is truly needed. -- Mom D, Fort Wayne

I could go on and on about this topic, but in short, this is one of the greatest opportunities this city has ever had. Bravo to Sam Talarico, Tim Pape and Graham Richard, who have stood up and been leaders. Bravo to all of the numerous people who put hard work into this project. – Adam Welch, Fort Wayne

And at the same link there are some anonymous comments from the News-Sentinel Rantline. (Aside: I'll bet that a lot of thoughtful comments come into something called the Rantline.)

So much for the politicians listening to their constituents anymore! This is one less person who will be going downtown period if that baseball stadium gets built.

The sparse attendance I have observed at the Wizards games leads me to think we are foolish to pin our hopes of downtown revitalization on a new arena. Maybe our city planners should work a little harder to bring more business to downtown or to anywhere in town. Who’ll go to games if there are no jobs?

People want the downtown to prosper but they don’t want to do what it takes to make that happen. Let’s be progressive!

I say let the elite build their downtown baseball stadium. I hope others are like me and say, “Forget the Wizards. We can go to Memorial Stadium and support IPFW baseball.” It’s just about the same caliber. Besides, we go there for a dog and a beer and a game, and then we go home. We don’t go party, we don’t go shopping, and we don’t go out to eat.

I was right! Those are thoughtful.

Give MILB.com credit

They have gone back to their pre-season predictions for the minor league organizations and scored how they did.

Click on the division to be taken to their scoring of predictions about the NL East, NL Central, and the NL West.

Here is a sample of their scoring from their predictions of the Brewers.

MILWAUKEE BREWERS

Organizational MVP: There's a reason Ryan Braun was the No. 5 overall pick in the draft. He'll play at two levels and continue to show the power/speed combination, going 20-20 in his first full pro season.

Wow, we're good. Braun was indeed the Brewers' Player of the Year. He did play at two levels, starting with Brevard County in the Florida State League and ending with Huntsville in Double-A. And yes, he was one of a small handful of players in Minor League Baseball to go 20-20, finishing with 22 homers and 26 steals in his first full season.

Cy on the farm: Tim Dillard may have been the organization's Pitcher of the Year in 2005, but he'll yield to Yovani Gallardo in 2006. Gallardo will use his stuff and polish to level leap with Braun and lead the organization in ERA.

We are en fuego! Gallardo moved to the top of pitching prospect charts wth an outstanding 2006 season that earned him Brewers Pitcher of the Year honors. He made the same leap as Braun, going from Brevard to Huntsville and finished the season with the most strikeouts in all of the Minors (188). His 1.86 combined ERA easily led the Brewers organization and placed him third overall among all Minor League pitchers.

Go speed racer: Darren Ford is, by far, the fastest man in the organization. The 2004 draft-and-follow will show he's perhaps the fastest man in baseball by leading the Minors in stolen bases in his first full season.

We came oh-so-close to being perfect with the Brewers. Ford's 69 bases topped the organization and put him second overall on the Minor League list. Only the Rockies' Eric Young Jr. stole more, with 87. Ford was 69-for-84, an 82.1 percent success rate. EY was 87-for-118, for a 73.7 percent rate. So you could make the argument that Ford was indeed the better base-stealer.

End result: We went 2-for-3, with the one miss the equivalent of a bullet lined right at a fielder.

My guess is that their scoring of the Mariner predicitions will be posted later today.

Ex-Rattlers in Venezuela

SeattleMariners.com has the weekly update on their prospects playing in Venezuela. The highlighted players is Wladimir Balentien (WI '04).

Center fielder Wladimir Balentien, who was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Mariners in July 2000, is having a fine season for the Cardenales de Lara of the Venezuelan Winter League.

The 22-year-old is riding a four-game hitting streak and has hit safely in eight of his past 10 games. He is 5-for-13 with two home runs, three runs scored and two RBIs during the streak.

On the season, he is batting .279 with nine home runs, 23 RBIs, 20 runs scored and two stolen bases in 38 games.

Here is the website for Cardenales de Lara.

Other ex-Rattlers who have been in action recently:

RHP Rich Dorman -- Since signing with the Seattle organization, the 28-year-old has not made a start. On the season, he is 2-3 with a 3.21 ERA in 11 games (10 starts).

RHP Ivan Blanco -- The 23-year-old reliever has made two appearances over the past week. On Dec. 14, he allowed two runs on three hits while recording two outs. On Tuesday, the Venezuela native surrendered two runs on one hit and one walk while retiring only one batter. On the season, he is 2-1 with a 5.01 ERA in 16 games.

I had not seen anything about Rich Dorman resigning with the Mariners. That's good news for him.

Most of the other ex-Rattlers (Oswaldo Navarro, Jose Escalona, Cibney Bello, and Jon Nelson) down there haven't played for awhile.

Back to regular programming

BaseballAmerica.com had their organizational reports up yesterday for subscribers only. The feature story about the Mariners system is about Joe Woerman (WI '06).

Woes Left Behind

SEATTLE--After three years in the Mariners organization and still stuck at short-season Everett after the 2005 season, righthander Joe Woerman had a very pointed self-evaluation.

"It was really a reality check for me," said Woerman, an 11th-round pick in 2003. "I realized I needed to improve if I didn't want to lose my job. I saw a sports psychologist, and I just worked hard. It's not that I wasn't working hard before, but I became more focused."

Woerman focused his way to a long scoreless streak with the Rattlers and an eventual promotion to the California League.

Woerman's work at Wisconsin earned him a promotion to high Class A Inland Empire, where he was 2-0, 2.67 with 31 strikeouts and 15 walks in 30 innings.

"I had to make a few adjustments," he said. "The same pitches that were working (in Wisconsin) were getting hit."

Now Woerman hopes to make another jump next season, to at least Double-A West Tenn, which would get him closer to his dream of playing for the team he has rooted for since childhood.

Woerman was born in Edmonds, Washington, moved around a bit, and came back to the Puget Sound area in his youth.

"My dad was in the military so we moved around some," he said. "It was during those years when I was back in Washington that I started to follow baseball, and the Mariners were my team."

There is also a bit in there about his time in Hawaii Winter Baseball.