Follow through

Okay, it's Saturday. There's a few things to get to regarding potential rosters, but I wanted to actually follow through on something from earlier in the week.

If you click that link you will be taken to the post from earlier this week in which Rattler Radio provided links to a Ben's Biz Blog post about promotions that missed the cut in the Quad Cities River Bandits Name the Promotion Promotion.

One that caught my eye was a promotion involving a concession stand that would sell food items that are based on the opponent playing the River Bandits that night. Ben wrote this fateful sentence: I started to brainstorm some Midwest League possibilities, but they were embarrassingly unfunny. Please let me know if you come up with anything.

Then, I responded with: Check back on Saturday. I'm not doing anything. Besides, embarrassing and unfunny never stopped me before.

Before beginning the Embarrassment and Unfunny, a quick note. I've switched this around to a theoretical concession stand at Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium.

Beloit Snappers: Turtle Soup

Burlington Bees: Honey Nut Cheerios. Or, just hunny in trees. We'll just need to watch out for silly old bears.

Cedar Rapids Kernels: Corn on the Cob. Geez, this is easy.

Clinton LumberKings: Something with a lot of fiber.

Dayton Dragons: Komodo Dragon.....What? You've never seen The Freshman? Besides. We have to eat them before they eat us. Careful on that second link. Nature is not pretty.

Fort Wayne TinCaps: Apple Pie. Apple Juice. Apples. Apple Jacks. Apple Fritters. Apples.

Great.Lakes.Loons: Roast duck.

Kane County Cougars: Cougar. Again, eat them before they eat us. I know, Disney teaches us that the cougar and the elk become friends and go off to have adventures. Teachers can be wrong.

Lansing Lugnuts: Didn't Klinger try to eat a Jeep in an episode of M*A*S*H? I'm going to go with actual lugnuts. Or maybe walnuts, peanuts, cashews, and various other nuts. I haven't made up my mind yet.

Peoria Chiefs: I've got nothing...tasteful. What do you do with a team with a dalmatian for a mascot? Oh!? No. Nothing tasteful.

Quad Cities River Bandits: Fritos. Nothing but Fritos.

South Bend Silver Hawks: Only a few things are more majestic than a hawk in flight. A hawk on a spit slow-roasting over a mesquite fire is one of them.

West Michigan Whitecaps: Bottle caps made of white chocolate...Or, Frappucinos.

And just for the heck of it:

Wisconsin Timber Rattlers: Rattlesnake Steak.

Rattlesnakes are also a popular food in some southeastern and southwestern American cuisines and are sometimes sold in speciality meat shops. It has a flavor that has been described as similar to chicken or frog legs and a chewy texture similar to alligator.

Frog legs? Why would we serve those?

Field Photos (2/19)

These were taken at around 3:40pm on 2/19/20.



Trying to be positive on a Friday...
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The Sun was out.

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Part III

The chat about the minor league system of the Brewers continues with the writers of Bernie's Crew and Between the Green Pillars chiming in on the catchers....Wonder who they might talk about in here?

Let's see....Salome....Lucroy....Ah, here he is!

Jim: Perhaps no one has been talked about more than Brett Lawrie and his desire to play catcher in the major leagues. No one has really seen him handle a pitching staff or try to block balls in the dirt, however, so he is almost a complete mystery. Part of me believes his bat will be so advanced that Milwaukee may give up on him catching and stick him at either third base or second in an attempt to get his bat in the big leagues. Brett is a wild card, but we will know more after the season.

Aaron: The team needs to stop talking about Lawrie as a backstop and send him right to second base. There is almost no depth in the Brewers’ minor league system and Lawrie's bat, if it goes the way it has been for Canada, puts him in the upper echelon at that position. Furthermore, he'll make it to the majors much, much faster.

Ryan: The Brewers are probably best served by taking a look at him behind the dish this spring, and possibly into the season, and then making up their minds if they want to stick with him back there. I'm not going to rule it out as a possibility that he could stay at catcher, but my guess is that he's a third basemen when it's all said and done. Second base could also be a landing spot, but the scouting stuff I've seen seems to suggest that he'll outgrow the position. Whatever they decide, they need to make a decision quickly and then commit to it 100%

Lawrie has been projected by just about everyone to be with the Timber Rattlers at some point in 2009.

See the voice

Dan Walsh of Sports Bubbler.com has a three-part interview with Cory Provus, the new radio announcer of the Milwaukee Brewers.

Good stuff in there,including this: Provus has a cousin by the name of Brad Sham. You know. Brad Sham!?!? The play-by-play announcer for the Dallas Cowboys?!?! Brad Sham!

Okay, maybe I was the only one that found that interesting. But, isn't that what blogging is all about?

Visa problems

When you are fighting for a starting job in the Major Leagues, this is not good.

Outfielder Wladimir Balentien remains in Curaco with visa problems. Given the number of players who want his job in left field – Ken Griffey Jr., Endy Chavez, Mike Morse, Mike Wilson and Greg Halman – each day lost could be precious. The team is out of options with Balentien and Morse, so if they don’t make the team, they’ll be put on waivers.

Balentien ('04) is out of options? He is trying to get to Spring Training from Curacao.

"Mr. Junior."

Ken Griffey is back with the Mariners. A few former Timber Rattler players can't wait for Junior to get to camp.

When Mariners first-base hopeful Bryan LaHair was a teenager, his buddies pooled some cash together for a birthday gift.

They bought him a painting of Ken Griffey Jr. he'd seen while wandering around Cape Cod. Though he'd grown up in Massachusetts, surrounded by die-hard Red Sox fans, LaHair idolized the sweet-swinging Griffey.

"I tried to emulate his swing in high school," said LaHair, a left-handed power hitter. "It wasn't like his. But I had his posters up on my wall."

The painting went up there, too. It's now in the bedroom of LaHair's brother, Jeff, who phoned Wednesday night after the Griffey deal was announced to reminisce about a childhood dream.

"It's really strange because I used to sit there dreaming of being a teammate of his when I was younger," LaHair said. "I mean, a lot of kids probably did that. But for me, it's actually going to happen. My brother called me and reminded me of that."

Mariners young and old reminisced about their favorite Griffey moments and pondered what they'd ask the slugger once he arrives in camp Saturday. The Mariners have planned a 12:30 p.m. PST news conference, then will see Griffey take the field Sunday with his new teammates.

Catcher Jeff Clement had a similar conversation with his brother by phone Wednesday, remembering how he'd pretend to be Griffey during backyard Wiffleball games in Iowa. Clement had been wondering how he'd address his boyhood idol.

"What do you call a guy like that? What do you refer to him as?" Clement asked. "And my brother made the joke 'Just call him Mr. Junior.' "

And it isn't just the hitters.

"All the younger guys are very excited to have him in the clubhouse," Mariners pitcher Ryan Feierabend said. "A lot of the guys looked up to him. The guys I'm talking about are guys who watched him in the home-run derbies, stuff like that. As far as the veterans, I'm sure they're just as excited as we are."

Feierabend ('04), LaHair ('04), and LaHair ('05) won't have to wait much longer.

10% of the game is 90% Mental

Or something like that. Which make sense when talking about the current Seattle Mariner pitcher who will be trying to take over the closer spot in the bullpen.

In this corner!

One of the biggest games going in Mariners spring training is taking place inside relief pitchers' heads.

More specifically, the pitchers are vying for a closer's role left vacant in December by the trade of J.J. Putz. Competition for the job should be fierce, and the winner will likely be whoever gets his mental game as sharp as the "stuff" he throws.

Miguel Batista — published author, Spanish-language blogger and full-time closer — believes he has the mindset to unseat odds-on favorite Mark Lowe. Some critics feel that Batista, who turned 38 on Thursday, bottomed out as a starting pitcher last year and that the only thing keeping him around as a reliever is a $9 million guaranteed salary.

But Batista insists there are two things wrong with that thinking — two broken bones in his back that he says derailed his 2008 season before he even got out of spring training.

And in this corner! From the 2005 Timber Rattlers!

For Lowe — as well as closer candidates Tyler Walker, David Aardsma and Roy Corcoran — the mental side of pitching has presented different challenges. Late in 2006 Lowe underwent career-threatening microfracture surgery. A doctor poked small holes in the bone in his elbow, drawing blood to stimulate tissue growth that could replace missing cartilage.

Such surgery takes months, even years, to recover from. Lowe spent most of 2007 learning how to uncork pitches without fearing his arm would explode. Last year, his first full season back in the majors, he began getting his fastball back up to the mid- to high-90s.

But Lowe now does more than simply throw his fastball and slider as hard as he can, something he did when breaking into the majors in 2006 before the surgery. Instead, he worked on developing a change-up to keep hitters off balance on days his slider deserted him.

"I think in the past it's been a case of knowing what my body could handle coming off the surgery," said Lowe, who the Mariners appeared to be leaning toward heading into camp. "Knowing I could handle a lot of work. Going through last year and throwing a lot, it's not even a question any more.

Lowe is focused on the mental side, too.

"Baseball's one of those games where you play 162 games and one bad outing's not going to kill you," he said. "Even two, three in a row, you can still redeem yourself down the road. It's nothing to get caught up in."

Not get caught up in? That may be the best advice...ever. Now try and follow it.

Taking advantage of nostalgia

The West Michigan Whitecaps have something planned....

Six Friday baseball games at Fifth Third Ballpark this season are designed to take Detroit Tigers fans down memory lane.

Through a promotion by the West Michigan Whitecaps called "Tiger Fridays," the Tigers' Class A minor league affiliate will bring in former Tigers players who will throw out the first pitch and sign autographs on the concourse during the game at no cost.

"We think this is a tremendous idea that will only solidify our relationship with the Tigers," Whitecaps vice president Jim Jarecki said. "There are Tiger fans all around, and bringing these guys in will only bring back the memories of Tigers past.

Memories. Pressed between the pages of my mind.

On five of the Fridays featuring George Kell, Rick Leach, Dave Bergman, John Wockenfuss and Matt Nokes, the Whitecaps will give away bobbleheads of the individuals to the first 1,000 fans.

The Aug. 28 game will be a tribute to the 1984 World Series championship team and will feature pitchers Willie Hernandez, Dan Petry and Milt Wilcox. The Whitecaps will hand out 1984 World Series championship hats to the first 1,000 fans.

Not to be outdone....Or actually to be outdone, but not to be left out...

The Great Lakes Loons, in partnership with MidMichigan Health, have announced a series of six Loons’ home games during the 2009 season paying tribute to the 25th anniversary of the Detroit Tigers’ 1984 World Championship.

As a part of the Loons’ celebration of the 1984 Tigers, three members of the team are schedule to appear at Dow Diamond and meet with Loons fans. Those players are pitchers Dan Petry (June 18), Milt Wilcox (July 29) and 1984 American League Cy Young award and MVP winner Willie Hernandez (August 29).

In addition, the Loons are offering a three-game bobblehead series featuring 1984 Tigers players Kirk Gibson (May 27), Jack Morris (July 16) and Chet Lemon (August 10).

Advantage Whitecaps.

Field Photos (2/18)

Taken yesterday around 4:00pm. Compare them with the photos from 2/17.

In the immortal words of Q*Bert....

@!#?@!

This will have to do for Thursday Motivation today.



Click on the pictures for a larger image.

49 dies insquequo Oris Dies

Part II

The conversation about the Milwaukee Brewer farm system the writers at Bernie's Crew and Between the Green Pillars are having continues with Part II.

TOPIC

I think we would all agree that while the upper levels of the system are painfully thin on potential "impact starters," there are many intriguing arms in the lower minors. Who are we going to be talking about at this time next year as 2009's breakout pitcher?

Let's see.......

Aaron: I think you have to jump on the Jake Odorizzi train. Jake wasn't all that impressive in the few innings he got last season, but he has solid mechanics and already has four pitches in his repertoire. Odorizzi will probably spend most of the year in Appleton and will undoubtedly gain some strength as he grows into his body. In the end, I think he finds himself in the top 10 of most Brewer Prospect boards.

Ryan: I feel like we buried the lead a little bit here, because Odorizzi is clearly one of the better pitching prospects in the Brewers’ organization. Both Jim and I ranked him as the second best pitcher in the system, behind Jeffress. As Aaron mentioned, Odorizzi has four legit pitches, which is outstanding for a guy fresh out of High School. If he stays healthy, Odorizzi is almost certainly a big league pitcher, and possibly as good as a #2. He is the guy whose every start next year will be noteworthy, and I hope one of my trips up to Appleton will coincide with a start of his.

Click the link for the whole thing.

What might have been

Remember the post about the whole choose the promotion, um, promotion the River Bandits are doing?

Ben Hill did a little research and asked Ben Chiswick of the Bandits if there were any non-finalists that were interesting. Oh, you bet.

My favorite:

One hungry fan suggested offering food specials at the concession stand based on that night's opponent. For example, some sort of honey drink when we play the Burlington Bees or Chinese food when the Dayton Dragons are in town.

Ben, the one from Ben's Biz Blog, copped out.

I started to brainstorm some Midwest League possibilities, but they were embarrassingly unfunny. Please let me know if you come up with anything.

Check back on Saturday. I'm not doing anything. Besides, embarrassing and unfunny never stopped me before.

And this is all well and good. But, the window in the visiting radio booth at Modern Woodmen Park still doesn't open.

Field Photos

No baseball on TV for today. I thought about posting the first few minutes from Eastbound & Down, but far too much salty language and too many BUTT-ocks. Click here if you really must see it. I can't remember where I read it, but someone wrote that they enjoyed it the first time they saw it. It was called John Rocker's career. Again content warning on that link. So, be careful when (and where) you click.

Now, I haven't looked outside yet today. I do not know the effects of the Level Five Killstorm that hit -- or was supposed to hit -- last night. But, here is what Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium looked like at approximately 3:15 in the afternoon on 2/17/09.


Click for a larger image. Another couple of images tomorrow...maybe.

50 dies insquequo Oris Dies

Farm Report

The writers of Bernie's Crew and Between the Green Pillars have this over at SportsBubbler.com.

Part 1: Brewers Offseason Farm Report

Jim Breen, the author of the list over at Bernie's Crew and BC contributor Aaron Kittell will join Pillars’ regulars Ryan Topp and Jay Montague in discussing who ended up where and why, general trends within the system and taking a look forward at where the system is headed.

Just head over for the conversation.

Hear the voice

Right Field Bleachers has an interview with Cory Provus, the new radio voice of the Brewers.

There is audio and a transcript. Here is the start:

Can you talk a little about the interview process? How did you decide you were interested in the job and how did the whole process play out?

Well, let me tell you I was interested from day one. There have been a couple of jobs that have been open the last couple of seasons, but this is the only one that I’ve applied for because of the situation for a variety of reasons. I think it’s an exciting time to be a part of this team coming off a playoff run. It’s a young, exciting team. It’s a great offense. That played a role. The fact that the Brewers call Miller Park home, which is a terrific ballpark, and the fans are tremendous both home and on the road, that was a factor. Working alongside a guy like Bob Uecker, you know, I’m a student of the game of baseball. I’ve always loved it and there’s so much about the game that I know that Bob can teach me. That was a big role as well. And then I would say to top it all of is that I’m a family guy. I’m a Midwestern guy. My family is all in the northern suburbs of Illinois and that’s where they’re at and the fact that they’re only going to be about 50 minutes away from Milwaukee really kind of made this a perfect situation for me.

The interview process was great. It started picking up steam probably in mid January and that led to some phone calls and some interviews both at the radio station and with the team. And last week, actually two weeks ago, I flew out to Arizona and I had dinner with Bob and we had a great time for three hours, just kind of talking shop for maybe five minutes and then it was just laughing and telling stories for the remaining two hours and 55 minutes. So, everything kind of just fit in perfectly for me and I’m just excited to get going.

First broadcast on WTMJ is next Wednesday.

Did you notice

the new sign outside the ballpark? The one you can see on Highway 41?


This is a bigger deal than you may think:

Last year, Focus on Energy, Wisconsin's energy efficiency and renewable energy initiative, helped the franchise replace its outdoor incandescent message board with a state-of-the-art LED (light-emitting diode) alternative. The sign is located at Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium, on U.S. Highway 41 in Appleton, Wis.

Focus provided a $7,094 custom lighting grant to help fund the new LED message board, which uses only one-tenth the power of the old sign, saving 93,381 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity annually and $9,338 in energy savings on utility bills.

"We had a very positive experience working with Focus on Energy," said Rob Zerjav, president of the Timber Rattlers. "Focus walked us through the entire process - from showing our current energy usage to potential cost savings - even giving us suggestions on how to save energy in other areas of the ballpark."

That is from a press release at WisBusiness.com. For more on Focus on Energy, here is their website.

Picture from ECOS-Fox Valley

Miller Lite Tuesday (2/17)

The Camping Trip with THE CREATURE!



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The wait...

...it is almost over.

It looks like the legion of Milwaukee fans which has been itching to see their newest prospect, power-hitting catcher Brett Lawrie, stride to the plate in a Brewers uniform may have to wait just a little bit longer.

And the legion of Team Canada fans which has enjoyed watching the teenage phenom sport the maple leaf in international competition may get at least one more chance to do so before he officially embarks on what projects to be a great pro career.

Lawrie, who celebrated his 19th birthday last month, is on the provisional roster for Team Canada for the upcoming World Baseball Classic. And if recent history is any indication, he looks like a good bet to make the final cut.

The highest-drafted position player ever to come out of Canada, Lawrie was selected 16th overall last spring by Milwaukee out of high school in Langley, B.C.

Scouts drooled over the right-handed hitter's prodigious power, prominently displayed during an extended spring training exhibition doubleheader against the Seattle Mariners' Dominican League team in which he hit five homers. A pure hitter with outstanding bat speed and a good feel for hitting, the third baseman/catcher has the potential to be the whole package.

There's a joke in there about scouts and drool....but, I'm not gonna make it.

Who wants pizza?!

If you are at a Timber Rattler game this season and want a pizza, you'll be getting the best.

The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers are excited to announce a new partnership that makes Palermo's Pizza the official pizza of Time Warner Cable Field.

Palermo's is also the presenting sponsor of Fan Fest on April 7. Details on that will follow.

Official

Cory Provus has been finally been announced as Jim Powell's replacement in the Milwaukee Brewer radio booth.

Bob Wolfley of the Journal-Sentinel SportsDay column charts some fan reaction.

If blog posts are representative, some Milwaukee Brewers fans are not willing to forgive new team broadcaster Cory Provus for at least two sins they think he has committed, which he really has not.

First, he grew up in Highland Park, Ill., and followed the Cubs. Horrors. Then he went on to work for the Cubs the last two seasons on WGN Radio broadcasts. Double horrors.

The fact is, had he not worked for the Cubs, Provus would not have been the broadcaster WTMJ Radio announced Monday as the replacement for Jim Powell, who left to join the Atlanta Braves.

Provus, 30, will work Brewers games on radio with Bob Uecker.

Fans being fans, they think Provus' heart and soul is owned by the rival Cubs. They ignore the notion that WTMJ and the Brewers hired a broadcast professional, not a fan.

The same complaint was heard when the voice of the Chicago Bears, Wayne Larrivee, was hired to become the voice of the Green Bay Packers. After a time, what really was a non-issue became a forgotten non-issue.

I haven't seen any blog posts, but Matt at Chuckie Hacks has been charting some of the comments at the JS Online blog.

Back to SportsDay and the process...

Steve Wexler, the Journal Broadcast Group executive vice president of television and radio operations, said in a release that the station "considered hundreds of candidates" for the job.

"Cory came out on top," Wexler said. "His enthusiasm for baseball, his strong work ethic and his play-by-play skills will make him an excellent addition to our staff."

Provus said he would have a presence on WTMJ Radio during the Brewers' offseason. He said he might be used on WTMJ-TV (Channel 4) on occasion as well. His exact role in both those areas has not been worked out.

Provus said on Feb. 2 that he had dinner with Uecker in Scottsdale, Ariz., and it went on for three hours.

"We maybe talked shop for 5 minutes, and the rest was me laughing at his stories," Provus said.

"It was as pleasant and as nice as I could have hoped for," Provus said. "I got to know Bob a little the last two years, but this was the first time I really had a chance to talk to him."

Provus said he did not view his dinner with Uecker as a kind of interview, at which he had to pass Uecker's inspection.

"I really didn't look at it that way," Provus said. "Maybe others did.

First game on WTMJ is on Wednesday, February 25.

Your French lesson for today...

Phillippe Aumont pense déjà au mois de septembre

Phillippe Aumont a recommencé à lancer il y a quelques jours au site d'entraînement des Mariners de Seattle en Arizona.

Le moins que l'on puisse dire, c'est que le grand lanceur droitier a connu une première année frustrante dans le baseball majeur.

Les Mariners en avaient fait leur premier choix du repêchage universel en 2007 - le 11e au total - et on avait tous hâte de voir comment il allait se débrouiller avec les Timber Rattlers du Wisconsin, la filiale A de l'équipe dans la Ligue midwest.

Malheureusement, un insistant malaise au coude est venu perturber sa campagne.

La douleur était sournoisement apparue entre deux de ses départs. Une blessure qui aura finalement totalement transformé sa saison.

Aumont a ainsi été privé de plusieurs départs avec les Timber Rattlers.

Il a aussi raté le match des étoiles de la ligue, les Jeux olympiques de Pékin et un camp de perfectionnement des meilleurs espoirs des Mariners.

Pourtant, quand il est parvenu à lancer, on peut dire qu'Aumont s'est bien tiré d'affaires.

Ses chiffres avec les Timber Rattlers ? Quatre victoires, quatre défaites et une moyenne de 2,75 points accordés en 55 manches et deux tiers.

Ajoutez à ça 50 retraits sur des prises et vous avez le portrait d'une excellente prestation pour le jeune homme de Gatineau.

«J'ai bien hâte de retourner dans le feu de l'action, a-t-il confié récemment. Je me sens bien. Je n'ai plus mal.

«C'était un petit malaise. Rien de majeur. Quelque chose de juste assez fatigant pour que je me pose des questions. Le problème, c'est que c'est parti et revenu tout le long de la saison.

«On m'a fait passer plusieurs tests qui se sont tous avérés négatifs.Je n'ai donc jamais pensé que c'était vraiment sérieux.

«Mais comme ça ne guérissait pas, avec le temps je suis devenu un peu inquiet.»

Aumont a décidé de mettre son bras au repos complet vers la fin de l'automne, ce qui semble avoir réglé le bobo.

On peut donc comprendre qu'il avait hâte de remettre son bras à l'essai.

Ce qu'il a fait depuis la fin janvier, en préparation pour le camp d'entraînement des Mariners, qui a débuté hier et auquel il a été invité.

«L'an passé, ma présence au camp du gros club m'avait permis de prendre de l'expérience», se souvient-il.

«J'avais bien aimé entre autres côtoyer Erik Bédard.

«Il m'avait donné quelques conseils, des petits trucs qui m'ont grandement aidé par la suite.»

On le croit sur parole. Des conseils venant d'un gars qui aspire au Cy Young, ça se prend toujours bien...

UN OEIL EN SEPTEMBRE

Mais même si le camp d'entraînement n'en est qu'à ses débuts et que nous ne sommes que le 15 février, l'imposant lanceur de six pieds sept pouces a déjà encerclé une toute autre date sur son calendrier: le premier septembre.

Ce jour-là, les formations du baseball majeur feront passer leurs effectifs de 25 à 40 joueurs en faisant graduer ceux qui se sont démarqués dans leurs filiales. Et Aumont en-tend bien être de ceux-là.

«C'est ça, le but que je me suis fixé cette année, dit-il. Je veux être rappelé par le grand club quand viendra le september call-up.»

L'artilleur ignore le parcours que les Mariners lui feront prendre d'ici là, mais il se dit prêt à travailler aussi fort qu'il le faudra pour parvenir à endosser le même uniforme que les Ichiro Suzuki, Adrian Beltre et compagnie.

Les Mariners ont souvent démontré du flair avec leurs choix de premier tour. Ken Griffey Jr (1987), Alex Rodriguez (1993) et Jason Varitek (1994) en sont de bons exemples.

Les Mariners disputeront leur premier match préparatoire à Peoria le 25 février en recevant les Padres de San Diego.

Some of the translation is below. Copy and paste the above article into FreeTranslation.com for the whole thing.

Phillippe Aumont already thinks about the month of September

Phillippe Aumont recommenced to launch some days ago to the site of training of the Marinate Seattle in Arizona.

The less than one can say, this is that the big righthanded promoter knew a first year frustrating in the major baseball.

The Marinate had done their first choice of the universal repêchage in 2007 - the 11st one altogether - and one had all haste to see how it was going to unravel himself with the Timber Rattlers of the Wisconsin, the affiliate HAS team in the League midwest.

Unfortunately, one insisting malaise to the elbow came to perturb his country.

The pain slyly had appeared between two of its departures. An injury that finally totally will have transformed his season.

Aumont was thus deprived of several departures with the Timber Rattlers.

It also spoiled the game of the stars of the league, the Olympic Games of Peking and a camp of improving of the better hopes of the Marinate.

So.....

Aumont decided to put his arm to the complete rest towards the fall end, which seems to have regulated booboo.

One can therefore to understand that it was anxious to put back his arm to the essay.

Which it did since the end of January one, in preparation for the camp of training of the Marinate, that began yesterday and to which one it was invited.

"The past year, my presence to the camp of the big club had allowed me to take experience", it remembers.

"I had well liked among others to mix with Erik Bédard.

"It had given me some counsels, small things that big helped me afterward."

One believes it on word. Counsels coming from a guy that inhales to the Cy Young, that takes itself always well...

inhales to the Cy Young....Can someone get me a human translation...for free?

But even if the training camp is only to its beginnings and that we are only February 15, the imposing promoter of six feet seven thumbs already encircled an all other dates on his calendar: the first September.

That day, the formations of the major baseball facts to pass their effective ones of 25 to 40 players while doing to advance those that distanced themselves in their affiliates. And Aumont in stretches well being of those.

"This is that, the goal that I set up myself this year, he says. I want to be recalled by the big club when will come the september call-up."

52 jours jusqu'à ce qu'Ouvre le Jour