Whitecaps defy White House

or something like that. What do you expect when the headline in the Grand Rapids Press looks like this?

Michelle Obama's obesity initiative versus the Whitecaps' Declaration of Indigestion: Who wins?

Before getting to far into this story one of the questions you are probably asking is..."Declaration of Indigestion?" Which really isn't a question. It's more of three words with a question mark stuck on the end.

The Declaration of Indigestion is: A foot-long hot dog somthered [sic] in Philly cheese steak, cheese, peppers and onions and served on a gigantic sub roll. Click the link for a picture of a man eating the latest convention breaking food item of the Whitecaps.

TO THE COLUMN by Troy Reimink which is filed under the word 'Outrage'. No. Seriously.

The West Michigan Whitecaps are letting fans decide which ridiculously unhealthy new items will join the Fifth Third Burger on their concessions menu for the upcoming season.

In vaguely related news, First Lady Michelle Obama on Tuesday announced she would lead a nationwide effort to combat childhood obesity in partnership with public health officials and private organizations. One can only assume that list of partners will not include the Whitecaps.

Let's have some fun, shall we? Here's some text from the CNN story on Obama's announcement juxtaposed with descriptions of Fifth Third Ballpark food contenders. See if you can guess which is which.

Why do I have a feeling that Mr. Reimink's idea of fun is different from my idea of fun?

Click through if you want to kill that little smile that you thought about having today.

This better not give anyone any ideas

I've known about this one for awhile, but didn't mention anything about it directly. Then, Ben got the job with the Whitecaps and the cat was out of the bag.

A Cardinals fan actually put it all together between complaining about untucked shirts and this was the result.

Quad Cities River Bandits silence radio broadcasts

Back in March 2008, the River Bandits and Miller Media Group, the owner of WYEC (93.9 FM, Geneseo, Illinois), had announced a three-year agreement to air the team’s 140-game schedule on the station. Games were also streamed on the team’s website.

Ending the deal a year early seems especially counterintuitive as the Quad Cities baseball operation is definitely on the rise. Total attendance (236,401) and average attendance (3,694) last season were both the highest since 1995 and rank among the top five years the history of the franchise. Since the ownership change, attendance has grown 64 percent on a per-game basis (from 2,254 in 2007) and 59 percent on an annual view (from 148,773).

A 2009 study by Street & Smith’s SportsBusiness Journal ranked the Quad Cities #31 of 239 minor league sports markets, best of all Cardinals minor league affiliate metro areas.

In confirming the news, Miller Media Group’s Kewanee, Illinois cluster sales manager Fletcher M. Ford was quite direct. He explained how the change was made and communicated.

“Your Easy Choice 93.9 WYEC was served notice from Kirk A. Goodman, Vice President and General Manager in late 2009 explaining the intention of the Quad City River Bandits not having a radio broadcast partner in the upcoming season for its fans,” Ford explained.

Ford wanted to make it clear that Miller Media Group was not a part of any evaluation process.

“This decision was made solely by the management of the Quad City River Bandits,” Ford said.

Goodman offered further details.

“We are indeed discontinuing our radio broadcast,” Goodman stated Monday. “We were being charged a very high rate to be on a station located 55 miles from our ballpark and in addition to that cost and the expense of paying for the salary and travel for a broadcaster did not make fiscal sense for our team.”

Apparently no alternatives that offered a match could be found.

“We made an effort to bring the broadcast to a more local station but none of the formats of the stations for the two main radio groups in our market worked with what we were willing to offer in return.

“It was strictly a financial decision…to pay what was necessary for our broadcast to be on the air was not worth the return we saw from having a broadcast,” Goodman said.

Nothing personal. Just business. That worked out so well for Tessio.

Our Friends in High Desert

Since Jim Horner, a former Rattlers player and Manager, is going to manage the High Desert Mavericks in 2010, I'll share the latest on the Saga of the Mavs.

Bretts yet to sell Mavs after waiver period

The waiver period for Brett Sports and Entertainment to sell the High Desert Mavericks ended after six months, but the company still hasn’t struck a deal.

Brett Sports and Entertainment, the owner of the Mavs based in Spokane, Wash., completed a purchase of the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes in August. Because Minor League Baseball prohibits ownership of more than one club in a league under the rules adopted by all clubs and leagues, Brett Sports was given a six-month waiver period to sell the Mavericks.

Brett Sports chief operating officer Andy Billig said he has talked with a number of potential buyers, but nothing is imminent. He added that it’s not unusual for a sale to take a long time because the purchase is large. Billig said even when the sale process starts, it takes months to complete.

“We are talking to Minor League Baseball and the California League on how to proceed,” Billig said. “Those discussions are on-going. Nothing’s been determined.”

Brett group unable to sell High Desert Mavericks

The Mavericks, who reached the championship series in the California League in 2009 before being swept by the San Jose Giants, have been the subject of move rumors for the last couple seasons. One scenario had the team moving to Carolina League along with the Bakersfield Blaze. Those rumors had the Mavericks moving to Richmond, Virginia, which has since seen the former Connecticut, Defenders (Double-A) move into town. More recently, the Mavericks wanted to move to nearby Apple Valley, California until a deal to build a new stadium was voted down by city leaders. The team has been unhappy with upkeep at Mavericks Stadium by the City of Adelanto.

Episode Eight: "The Offseason"

Reminds me of....

Construction Photos: 2/10/10

It may have snowed yesterday and last night, but the work crew is out making progress on the new seating areas. As always, click the image for a larger picture.

Here are two shots of the first base area that used to be the visiting bullpen.

Here are two shots of the progress on the third base side.

This picture was included so that you can imagine green grass as far as the eye can see.

Think of it as a concentration exercise.

We're gonna be on the TV

Head over to the main site for the full details, including the Sports32 broadcast schedule.

Time Warner Cable will telecast a minimum of 12 Wisconsin Timber Rattlers games live on Sports32 in 2010. This season will be the fourth year for Rattlers games shown on Sports32. The schedule begins on Opening Night - April 8, 2010 - when the Timber Rattlers host the Kane County Cougars at 6:35pm. Other games may be added to the broadcast schedule at a later date.

Do you remember the Hook-A-T? (UPDATE)

Timber Rattlers Pitching Coach Chris Hook is in The Interrogation Room (Update: NOW. Link Added). These are the two pictures of him that I had to choose from to put with the article.




For the backstory on these shirts, click here and here.

Lesson learned

Efrain Nieves ('09) had a tough year with the Timber Rattlers. He's done better in the World Cup, the Winter League in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean Series.

This article from MLB.com after he picked up the win on Saturday for Puerto Rico has an interesting quote from the youngster as to why he may have struggled in the Midwest League.

"The truth is that I didn't prepare myself for such a long season," Nieves, 19, said. "And as result, I didn't up the numbers that I should have. This year is totally different. I've been working hard every day, running on the beach and working out all winter time. I'm going to be ready this time."

The weird thing is that the article has no context for the comments and just throws it in there. In fact, there is no mention of Nieves before that quote. It's really odd. It may be accurate, but it is odd.

A life goal

One of the things that I must do at some point in my life is get on Jeopardy!. Duk over at Big League Stew had a post up last week that I didn't see until yesterday. This post brings together a couple of things that are important to me...Baseball and Jeopardy!.

Here is the question:

If you were on 'Jeopardy!' and the final category was baseball how confident would you be in making your wager?

The setup is the Clavin Gambit. You're up by a lot heading into Final Jeopardy. Do you risk it all to win a lot or do you leave money on the table.

Duk managed to find a website that has every game of Jeopardy! for the last 26 seasons. And I thought Star Trek fans were obsessive.

There have been 10 times (that he found) in which Baseball was a topic in Final Jeopardy!

I -- being an all-or-nothing kind of guy -- would go for broke. And with an answer like this...I would profit!

5. BASEBALL (9/11/02): "It's the only team to win World Series titles in three different cities for which it played.

Caribbean Series is over

No Rattlers (or Foxes) alums played on the final day of the Caribbean Series -- which was won by the team from the Domincan Republic.

Ex-Rattlers in the Series:

Puerto Rico:
Martin Maldonado ('09): 1-for-5
Efrain Nieves ('09): 3.2IP, 3H, 0R, 2BB, 4K, 1-0

Venezuela:
Carlos Maldonado ('98): 1-for-10, RBI

Feeling hip

Rob Johnson ('05) has recovered enough from his off-season surgeries to have an article with the following title written about him.

Mariners’ Johnson feeling pretty hip

About 31/2 hours northwest of here, an Elvis tribute artist swivels his hips and melts the hearts of 70-year-old women during a two-hour show in Laughlin.

Down in Peoria, Rob Johnson can do a similar thing for the trainers and coaches who’ve been watching him work out at the Seattle Mariners’ spring training complex. Well, without the sideburns, hairy chest and jumpsuit.

Johnson is the Mariners’ starting catcher, not an Elvis wannabe. But if he really wanted to gyrate those hips, he can do it now.

It has been nearly four months since Johnson had the first of two operations to repair damaged cartilage and remove bone chips from each hip. Through a winter of recovery and rehab, Johnson has what he hasn’t experienced in a long, long time — flexibility and a lack of pain.

“It’s 100 percent different, 100 percent better, the fluidity in the way my hip joints are moving,” he said.

The real reason I linked this article is for the Elvis references. well done, Mr. Kirby Arnold of the Everett Herald.

South Bend improvements

They have been approved.

South Bend is ready to play ball when it comes to renovating Coveleski Stadium.

On Friday, the South Bend Redevelopment Commission approved phase one of the stadium renovation project, which includes improving the field lighting, repairing cracks in the concrete, and renovating the restrooms.

The first round of improvements should cost about $1 million.

Late last year, city officials talked about a long list of park improvements that could cost tens of millions of dollars.

“We’re going to go back and we’re going to reevaluate the whole list,” said Bill Schalliol with the South Bend Department of Redevelopment. “We originally talked about doing a bunch of phases and spreading it out over time, what we may do is really kind of hone in on the key items we need to accomplish.”

Rattler Alumni Report: Caribbean World Series (Day Five)

Puerto Rico 7, Venezuela 1

Puerto Rico:
Efrain Nieves ('09): 2.2IP, 3H, 0R, 3K, WIN

One of these men...(UPDATED)

...wrote the article that will be used for this week's Flashback Friday.

This is an ad from the 1976 program.

The answer will be revealed later today.

UPDATE:
Here is the link to this week's Flashback. Click for the answer.

Here is the full ad that was cropped to fit the space for the picture over that the Flashback this week.

I should have made him 42

I just used a version of this "joke" over at the Timber Rattlers Twitter account. But, I don't know how many of you follow us over there...

Background, I have been counting down to Opening Day by giving little clues to former Foxes, Papermakers, and Timber Rattlers. Today, I picked Blue River, Wisconsin native Doug Adams from the '66 Foxes.

If I had been thinking clearly this morning, I should have picked someone else.

Doug Adams belongs at 42 days left until Opening Day.

My mistake.

Rattler Alumni Report: 2010 Caribbean Series (Day 3)

Dominican Republic 3, Venezuela 2

Venezuela:
Carlos Maldonado ('98): 0-for-4

Puerto Rico 5, Mexico 3

No Alumni involved

Extending the traditional "Rattler Radio" welcome

Welcome to the party, pal.


Or -- in this case -- welcome back to the party, pal.

The West Michigan Whitecaps announced today that Ben Chiswick has been named the new radio play-by-play announcer for the Whitecaps.

Chiswick spent the last four seasons as director of broadcasting and media relations for the fellow Midwest League Quad Cities River Bandits.

Rattler Alumni Report: 2010 Caribbean Series (Day 2)

Venezuela 5, Puerto Rico 2

Venezuela:
Carlos Maldonado ('98): 1-for-3, RBI

Puerto Rico:
Efrain Nieves ('09): IP, 0H, 0R, 2BB, K

Dominican Republic 7, Mexico 1

No Alumni Involved

Good bye, Bubbler

One of our biggest on-line backers from Milwaukee is shutting down. SportsBubbler.com has its final day today. The project of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel is being folded into JSOSports.com after today.

My understanding is the Jim Breen's excellent Bernie's Crew is moving over to the new site, and I'll update the sidebar with a new link when that is official.

Dan Walsh approached me around this time last year about writing a weekly column for the Bubbler. That's where This Week in Timber Rattlers Baseball was born. The final edition of my column (at least the final one at the Bubbler) may be found here.

Dan and the gang were always good to the Rattlers. They were there with coverage, a word, or a link when we had some news up here in the land of the Future Brewers.

More importantly, Dan got it. There are as many passionate sports fans in Wisconsin as there are sports options in Wisconsin. The Bubbler gave fans a voice and gave teams -- that are at times overshadowed -- coverage. It's not all Packers, Badgers, Golden Eagles, Brewers, and Bucks. There are Admirals, Panthers, and, yes, Timber Rattlers among others in there, too.

For that, I am grateful.

Dan's final post is here. A quick taste.

I've never been a great writer, but that wasn't the point. My goal was to entertain and provide an outlet to fans to discuss the topics of the day - sports and/or entertainment. I hope I was able to do that. I've meet some great people along the way like klwillis45 (the DD's first 'fan') and people I feel I at least know a little about, crichar3, BrewTownBoozer, brbutler, burniebrewer. rdeglow, coach and MushroomCloudMoFo (a great name) and many others I'm probably forgetting. Post-it Note Paul was a huge help as he knew more about sports blogs than I did and told me what I was doing right or wrong. Plus he kept telling me, "you gotta have more babes with big knockers on the site" So you can thank him for that. And thanks to all the readers who never commented, but showed up on my pageviews count. Your readership was greatly appreciated.

And your efforts were appreciated up here in Timber Rattler Nation. Thank you and good luck, Dan.

That time year

If it is about two months to Opening Day, it must be time for an article about what is going on with a new stadium for the Beloit Snappers.

The topic of conversation at the Country Club of Beloit on Monday evening was as much about a new stadium as one that hasn’t been built.

The Beloit Professional Baseball Association, Inc., kicked off its 29th season for the Snappers with its sixth annual Winter Hot Stove Banquet. It featured current Minnesota Twin and former Snapper Brian Duensing, Twins legend and current special assistant Tony Oliva, Twins director of minor leagues Jim Rantz and former Twins general manager Terry Ryan, a Janesville native, who now is a senior advisor to the general manager.

It also included Snappers pitching coach Gary Lucas and new Snappers hitting coach Tommy Watkins.

And while members of the Twins organization glowed over sparkling new Target Field, set to host the Twins this spring, they were also mindful of the plight of their Class A affiliate, the Snappers, in an effort to build a new stadium.

Venerable Pohlman Field is a Midwest League staple and has hosted the Snappers since 1982. But it’s outdated, and if a new stadium isn’t built in the near future, the Snappers could be forced to leave Beloit.

...I'm sorry...did you just say 'Venerable'?

"We’re basically focusing on a plot of land right on the Interstate, basically right by where 43 and 90 share,” Vohs said. “We did a study last summer that came back positive, basically checking to see if the site was able to support a stadium.”

Vohs said that using tax dollars to finance the stadium would be “pretty much impossible.” As far as a timetable for construction, it’s definitely too early to tell. Vohs said the absolute earliest season to begin play in a new stadium would be 2012 if everything goes well.

“We don’t want to go and start showing pictures all around town or around the area, and then all of a sudden the money isn’t there,” Vohs said.

Read it all.