More Baseball America

Jim Callis' Ask BA column on Friday took the following question first:

What do you think if the numbers that Marlins righthander Rick Vanden Hurk and Mariners catcher Jeff Clement are putting up out here in Hawaii Winter Baseball? Vanden Hurk's ERA is a little high (4.11), but he has 55 strikeouts in 35 innings. Clement isn't catching every day here, so maybe that has something to do with it, but his statistics are lousy: .174 average, one homer and 12 strikeouts in 46 at-bats.

SSgt Justin Rusnak

Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

The answer regarding Clement (WI '05) from Callis follows:

Clement has had a strange year. Though the Mariners had Kenji Johjima in the big leagues, they jumped Clement to Double-A. He got off to a good start before he jammed his left knee into a wall while chasing a foul popup, requiring surgery to repair a torn meniscus. Clement also had bone chips removed from his left elbow and missed two months. When he came back, Seattle inexplicably promoted him to Triple-A, where he predictably struggled.

I'm giving Clement, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2005 draft, the benefit of the doubt. He has been hurt and he has been pushed, and I still believe in his bat. His main point of emphasis is supposed to be his defense, which may be taking away from his offense. With Johjima coming off a solid rookie season and signed for two more years, I could see the Mariners moving Clement to another position to turn his bat loose and get it in their major league lineup sooner.

There is a Hawaii Winter Baseball Top 15 prospect list for BA subscribers. Clement checks in at number 13.

Only three other Midwest Leaguers make the list and they all played this season. John Mayberry, Jr of Clinton is #2; Will Venable of Fort Wayne is #11; and John Whittleman of Clinton is #15.

Also for BA subscribers, there is a list of top 20 prospects in the just completed Arizona Fall League. No ex-Rattlers on that list. Only three players with Midwest League ties made that list. #10 Kevin Slowey who was with Beloit in 2005; #16 Mark Reynolds, s South Bend Silver Hawk in 2005; and #20 Eric Patterson who played for Peoria in '05.

Brewer fans take note. Ryan Braun was named the #2 prospect in the AFL this year.

Transactions

BaseballAmerica.com had these up on 11/15 on their transaction page.

Seattle Mariners
Signed 3B Brant Ust
Signed RHP Cibney Bello
Signed RHP Renee Cortez
Signed RHP Jared Eichelberger
Signed RHP Jesse Foppert
Signed SS Rey Ordonez
Signed SS Carlos Triunfel
Released 1B Bryan Sabatella
Released 2B Juan Guzman
Released OF Robert Gary

I believe that should be Alex Gary instead of Robert?

Also of note, the Cubs released former UW-Oshkosh Titan Casey Kopitzke.

Intercontinental Cup XVI - Day 11 UPDATE

In games involving ex-Rattlers:

Chinese Taipei beat Japan 4-0 and Yung Chi-Chen (WI '05) went 3-for-3 with an RBI to help Taiwan win the bronze medal.

Italy lost 3-2 to Australia. Alex Liddi (WI '06) was 1-for-3 with a triple for the Italians, who finished in sixth place.

For the tournament, Liddi was 8-for-35 (.229) with no homers and four RBI. Chen went 17-for-36 (.472) with a homer and nine RBI.

The championship game between the Netherlands and Cuba is still going on right now; tied 2-2 in the bottom of the ninth with the Netherlands batting.

UPDATE: It's a final now. Cuba beat the Netherlands 6-3 in eleven innings. Both teams scored a run in the tenth. Cuba scored three in the top of the eleventh for the Gold.

Intercontinental Picture of the Day. Alex Liddi's triple against the Aussies.

Photo IBAF© 2006 by Patty Ortín

Baseball History -- November 19

Complete entry for November 19 is at BaseballLibrary.com HERE.

1979
The Astros sign reentry free agent Nolan Ryan, formerly of the Angels, to a 4-year, $4.5 million contract, making him the highest-paid player in the ML.

Nolan Ryan, the first million dollar man in baseball.

1939
The National Professional Indoor Baseball League, headed by league president Tris Speaker, begins play. The league has 10 clubs, one in each then major-league city except Washington. Alas, it disappears within a month.

Indoor baseball? TIME thought the startup was worthy of a writeup in 1939.

Last week softball (minus its rover) was brought back indoors, stripped of its aliases and launched as a big-time winter sport. Patterned after major-league baseball's setup, the National Professional Indoor Baseball League sold franchises to New York, Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Boston, Cleveland, Chicago, Cincinnati, St. Louis. Each club, locally financed, is to play a 102-game schedule from mid-November to mid-March, with a World Series at season's end between Eastern and Western champions.

Though big names are notably absent from the roster of players (most of whom are drawn from the 10,000,000 sandlot baseballers and softballers in the U. S.), many a onetime star has turned promoter of indoor baseball. President of the league (at $7,500 a year) is 51-year-old Tris Speaker, Cleveland's baseball Immortal who has spent the past nine years as a radio sportcaster, Hollywood actor, minor-league club owner, wholesale liquor dealer and steel salesman. Managing the Cleveland club is another onetime Indian, baldpate Bill Wambsganss, only baseballer ever to make an unassisted triple play in a World Series (against the Dodgers in 1920).

It doesn't say in what arenas these teams played. Hey, it was Indoor Baseball in 1939. Those things were just known back then and didn't need to be put into a news sotry.

Rattlers in Paradise

Arizona Fall League is over.

Phoenix won the Championship with a 6-2 win over Grand Canyon.

In Hawaii Winter Baseball, that doubleheader on the schedule of the Waikiki BeachBoys didn't happen. They lost 7-4 to West Oahu. The HWB website hasn't put a boxscore on their website since last Saturday. So, no link.

Ex-Rattlers for the BeachBoys included:

Sebastien Boucher (WI '05): 1-for-5
Jeff Clement (WI '05): 1-for-4 with his second home run in Hawaii, a solo shot
Joe Woerman (WI '06): 1-1/3 inning pitched four hits, three runs, two walks, two strikeouts, and the loss.

Mariner farmhand Reed Eastley was 1-for-4 with an RBI.

Sunday's Schedule:
Waikiki at Honolulu 7:00pm Hawaii Time

Blackout Biggins

This week's Baseball in a TV Series post is about Wings.

Wings was a sitcom that ran on NBC from 1990-1997. The setting was an airport on Nantucket Island and the characters were, um, characters. The main stories usually revloved around two brothers (Brian and Joe Hackett) who ran a small airline (Sandpiper Air) and the operator (Helen Chappel) of the lunch counter at the airport.

But, Blackout Biggins was a fourth season episode that focused on Roy Biggins, the slimy owner of Aeromass, a larger airline based out of the same airport.

Roy complains about a rap version of the National Anthem performed at a Red Sox game and states that he could do a better job.

Through a device on sit-coms known as "Hey, I know someone who..." Brian gets Roy a chance to sing the anthem at Fenway.

Roy fails miserably and faints at the completion of his attempt. Not only does he catch more grief than usual from the workers at the airport, a TV sportscaster ramps up the ridicule with continuous replays of the faint.

Roy, who is used to dishing it out, demands another shot at the anthem. Helen, a cello player, agrees to help with some music tips.

The Red Sox give Roy another chance and the whole group heads to Fenway for a chance to watch Roy fail again.

Roy nails the anthem, but due to a malfunction of the PA system no one hears him. There is a scene at the end where he is trying to sing the song one more time, but the game is ready to start. If I remeber it right, security guards drag Roy off the field.

Good episode of a nice show.

Intercontinental Cup XVI - Day 10

In games involving ex-Rattlers:

Cuba beat Chinese Taipei 5-4 in a semifinal game. No box score at the site yet.

Italy beat Korea 8-3 with six runs in the top of the ninth.

Alex Liddi (WI '06) was 1-for-4 and played third base for the Italians.

Day 11 Schedule:
Italy vs. Australia in the fifth place game.
Chinese Taipei vs. Japan in the bronze medal game.

The championship game for the Intercontinental Cup is:
Cuba vs. The Netherlands

Your Cup Picture of the Day is Taichung Stadium at night:

Baseball History -- November 18

Complete entry for November 18 at BaseballLibrary.com is HERE.

Highlighted entries:

1997
The expansion draft for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and Arizona Diamondbacks is held in Phoenix, Arizona. Florida pitcher Tony Saunders is taken with the 1st pick by the Devil Rays, while the Diamondbacks select pitcher Brian Anderson from Cleveland. Following the draft, the Diamondbacks acquire 3B Travis Fryman from the Tigers in exchange for infielders Joe Randa and Gabe Alvarez and P Matt Drews. They also obtain OF Devon White from the Marlins in exchange for P Jesus Martinez. In a rash of moves, the Devil Rays get 1B Fred McGriff from the Braves in exchange for a player to be named, C John Flaherty from the Padres in exchange for P Brian Boehringer and IF Andy Sheets, SS Kevin Stocker from the Phillies in exchange for Bobby Abreu, and sign free agent P Roberto Hernandez to a 4-year contract.

The entire draft is HERE.

Also in 1997
In one of their best swaps ever, the Red Sox obtain Cy Young Award winner Pedro Martinez from the Expos in exchange for P Carl Pavano and a player to be named.

If the Expos were still around, it would be the Curse of Pedro. I wonder if that curse made it through Customs to Washington.

1987
Cubs OF Andre Dawson becomes the first player from a last-place club wver to win an MVP Award, taking National League honors for his .287-49-137 season.

The story here is that no team wanted Dawson before the season started. He signed a blank contract with the Cubs and GM Dallas Green filled in the terms. Dawson signed a little better contract leading up to the 1988 season.

1966
Sandy Koufax announces his retirement, due to increasing pain in his arthritic left elbow.

Koufax (you can find his complete statistics HERE) was about six weeks shy of his 31st birthday when he retired from baseball. In his first six seasons with the Dodgers, he was 36-40. In his final six seasons, Koufax won 129 games. He was inducted to the Hall of Fame in 1972.

Rattlers in Fall Ball

The Arizona Fall League Championship is today. The Peoria Javelinas did not make it to the final game. They finished 14-18 and in third place in their division of the AFL. Final statistics for the season are HERE.

In Hawaii Winter Baseball, the Waikiki BeachBoys lost 4-3 to West Oahu. (No boxscore available on line yet)

The only ex-Rattler to get into the game for the BeachBoys was David Asher (WI '06). He pitched a scoreless inning with a walk and a strikeout.

The BeachBoys are 18-14 and lead Honolulu by 4-1/2 games in their two-team division.

Saturday's Schedule:
West Oahu at Waikiki (Doubleheader) 7:00pm Hawaii Time

Weekly Mariner look-in

The Mariners have an update on how some of the Winter and Fall League players are doing at their site.

Michael Garciparra (WI '03): gets the headline;

Garciaparra in a zone in 'Zona

Michael Garciaparra continues to rake in the Arizona Fall League for the Peoria Javelinas. The former first-round pick has hit safely in three of his last four games, going 5-for-16 with his first homer and three RBIs.

The 23-year-old connected for a two-run shot in a 6-5 loss to the Peoria Saguaros on Tuesday.

Garciaparra has four three-hit games this fall and is eighth in the AFL with a batting .338 average. Overall, he has 13 RBIs, 11 runs scored and two stolen bases in 18 games for the Javelinas.

Ex-Rattlers and how they are faring:

Hawaii Winter Baseball
Waikiki BeachBoys
LHP David Asher -- The 23-year-old allowed one hit and struck out two in a scoreless inning Nov. 6. The Orlando, Fla., native made his fourth start of the season, and first since Oct. 13, on Sunday. Asher allowed five hits and four walks in four scoreless innings as the BeachBoys beat the CaneFires, 3-1. The 6-foot-1 left-hander is 1-1 with a 4.57 ERA in eight outings, including four starts.

RHP Joe Woerman -- The 23-year-old reliever bounced back with back-to-back scoreless outings after allowing his first run in four appearances on Nov. 5. On Nov. 9, he struck out two and walked two in one inning. On Saturday, Woerman fanned three and walked three over three innings en route to his third win. The 6-3 righty is 3-0 with a 2.66 ERA in 14 games. He has allowed six runs while striking out 23 in 20 1/3 innings.

LF Sebastian Boucher -- The Canadian is hitless in his last 11 at-bats, dropping his average to .159. Dating to Oct. 31, the 24-year-old is 0-for-19. Boucher has 15 runs scored and three RBIs in 22 games.

C Jeff Clement -- The former first-round pick went 2-for-9 in three games last week, but is still batting .163 through 18 games. He has one RBI on the season.

Arizona Fall League
Peoria Javelinas
RHP Craig James -- The Miami native has made two appearances out of the 'pen over the last week. The 23-year-old fanned one in a perfect inning on Nov. 7 against the Saguaros and he allowed an unearned run and two walks while striking out two in one inning in a 13-10 victory over Mesa. The 6-1 righty has a 4.00 ERA in nine games for the Javelinas.

RHP Stephen Kahn -- Kahn, who has struggled for most of the season, allowed one run on two hits in one inning in the Javelinas' 8-0 loss to Grand Canyon on Nov. 9. The 23-year-old rebounded with a perfect inning in a 6-5 loss to the Saguaros on Tuesday. He has a 8.64 ERA in nine games, surrendering eight runs and 14 hits in 8 1/3 innings.

LHP Bobby Livingston -- The St. Louis native earned his first win of the season on Sunday. He allowed three runs on six hits over five innings. The 24-year-old fanned four and did not walk a batter in the Javelinas' 13-10 victory over Mesa. He is 1-3 with a 10.45 ERA in six starts. Opponents are batting .374 against him.

LHP Ryan Rowland-Smith -- The Australian has made three appearances over the last week. He allowed a run on one hit and two walks while fanning two in one inning on Nov. 7. He followed that up by tossing a perfect inning on Friday. The 23-year-old allowed one hit and struck out one in a scoreless inning against Grand Canyon on Monday. The 6-3 left-hander is 0-1 with a 5.79 ERA in 11 games.

3B Matt Tuiasosopo -- The Bellevue, Wash., native is mired in a terrible slump after going 2-for-13 over a recent four-game span. The former third-round pick has seen his average fall to .158 after 20 games. He has yet to hit a home run and has four RBIs and two extra-base hits on the season.

RF Michael Wilson -- The 23-year-old is 3-for-14 with one RBI over a recent four-game stretch. The Tulsa, Okla., native is batting .243 with three home runs, 19 RBIs and 10 runs scored in 20 games.

Venezuelan Winter League
Cardenales de Lara
RHP Emiliano Fruto -- After earning his fifth save of the season on Nov. 7, Fruto experienced his worst outing the next day. The 22-year-old surrendered three runs -- two earned -- on four hits and a walk with one strikeout while retiring two batters. The Colombian rebounded with a scoreless inning on Sunday. He allowed one hit and struck out one. Fruto is 1-1 with five saves and a 3.65 ERA in 11 games.

LHP Jose Escalona -- The 20-year-old has not appeared in a game since Nov. 2. He has a 6.75 ERA in four games.

RHP Rich Dorman -- The 28-year-old made his fourth start of the season on Nov. 8. He allowed a run on three hits over seven innings. The native of Venezuela struck out four and walked one, but did not receive a decision. He is 1-1 with a 2.63 ERA in six games. Opponents are batting .228 against him.

RHP Ivan Blanco -- Blanco allowed two unearned runs on one hit and a walk while fanning two over 2 2/3 innings on Sunday. The 23-year-old is 1-1 with a 2.13 ERA in eight games. He has struck out 11 in 12 2/3 innings.

RHP Cibney Bello -- The 24-year-old has not appeared in a game since Oct. 27. He has a 4.15 ERA in three games for the Cardenales.

2B Luis Valbuena -- The Venezuela native has not appeared in a game since Oct. 13.

SS Oswaldo Navarro -- After a 2-for-18 stretch, Navarro has come on strong. The 22-year-old is 5-for-11 with two RBIs over his last three games, raising his average to .280. He has five RBIs and four runs scored in 14 games.

Aguilas del Zulia
1B Jon Nelson -- The 26-year-old has not played since Oct. 22. He is batting .160 with two RBIs and two runs scored in seven games.

Tiburones de La Guaira
C Luis Oliveros -- Oliveros went 1-for-2 on Nov. 7 and struck out as a pinch hitter on Friday. The Venezuelan is batting .273 with two homers, eight RBIs and two runs scored in five games for the Tiburones.

Mexican Pacific League
Caneros de los Mochis
1B Bryan LaHair -- LaHair has not appeared in a game since Nov. 1. He is hitting .234 with two home runs, 11 runs scored and nine RBIs in 19 games.

Baseball History -- November 17

Complete entry for November 17 is at BaseballLibrary.com is HERE.

Highlighted entries are:

1992
Baseball holds the expansion draft to stock the rosters of the National League's two new teams, the Florida Marlins and Colorado Rockies. A total of 72 players are chosen. P David Nied is the 1st pick of the Rockies, while OF Nigel Wilson is selected 1st by the Marlins. The Fish take Jose Martinez with #2, while the Rocks pick vet Charlie Hayes. The best picks for Florida are #4 Trevor Hoffman, eventually packaged for Gary Sheffield; #11 Jeff Conine, who will hit 81 homers in four years; and #18 Cris Carpenter, later dealt to Texas for Robb Nen. For Colorado, they will find gold with #6 Eric Young, #10 Joe Girardi, #16 Vinny Castilla, and #18 Armando Reynoso. Picks #13 and 14 are good ones -- Andy Ashby, Brad Ausmus and Doug Bochtler -— but they'll all go to the Padres in 1993 in an ill-fated deal for pricey vet pitchers Bruce Hurst and Greg Harris.

Complete Marlins list is HERE. Brewer fans might get a kick out of the 14th pick, Chuck Carr. Why? Because Chucky Carr takes his hacks on 2-0!

Complete Rockies list is HERE. Rattler fans will get a kick out of the 34th pick, our own pitching coach Lance Painter.

1979
On a flight to Austin, TX, Daniel Okrent sketches out the first draft of rules for what would become Rotisserie League Baseball. Had the friends he was seeing not ignored these rules, the Rotisserie League would have been called Pit League, after the Austin barbecue joint where Okrent first unveiled them. Two weeks later in New York, he pitches the idea to a more receptive group with whom Okrent lunched monthly at La Rotisserie Francaise.

I think fantasy baseball would have caught on more quickly over Pit League Baseball.

1959
William Shea of the Continental League shows sketches of the proposed stadium in New York City with its transparent retractable roof.

If I know my 50's science fiction, that stadium would have looked like something out of Rocky Jones, Space Ranger. And it would have be so. freaking. cool. For about ten minutes.

Rattlers in Fall Ball

In the Arizona Fall League, the Peoria Javelinas beat Scottsdale 1-0 in seven innings. That was the final game of the AFL season. There is a championship game on Saturday between Grand Canyon and Phoenix.

Ex-Rattler for the Javelinas:
Matt Tuiasosopo (WI '05): 1-for-2

In Hawaii Winter Baseball, the Waikiki BeachBoys were off on Thursday.

Friday's Schedule:
West Oahu at Waikiki 7:30pm Hawaii Time

Tonight's Episode

The super-sized episode of The Office was a good one.

I laughed out loud watching the episode tonight. The "Night at the Roxbury" skit was hilarious as was most of the show. But, one thing I can't shake:

No matter how hard some try to be Jim, we wind up being Dwight, or Andy, or Michael.

Great episode though.

Back to baseball in the morning.

Dayton's "Greenwich Village"

Fifth Third Village doesn't have the ring to it.

DAYTON — Developers want to create Dayton's own version of New York's "Greenwich Village" on the banks of the Great Miami and Mad rivers downtown, said Matthew Daniels of the Cincinnati-based Bear Creek Capital, a partner in the proposed $230 million Dayton Waterfront Development.

At Wednesday's Dayton City Commission meeting, Daniels said the mix of housing, shops, restaurants and entertainment venues — a "24-hour village" — would build on the success of RiverScape MetroPark and Fifth Third Field, home of the Dayton Dragons.

This headline might make some Dayton taxpayers nervous;

City officials beaming over developement plan

DAYTON — Dayton city officials could barely contain their excitement Wednesday as developers publicly unveiled a proposed development they've been negotiating with city administrators since March.

"We just burst at the seams tonight," said Commissioner Nan Whaley.

They're BURSTING, Jerry! BURSTING!

Across the Mad River, near Fifth Third Field would be "Ballpark Village," complete with a gourmet grocery store, a bookstore and other shops, restaurants, a fitness facility and entertainment spots.

Developers and city officials will spend the next six months trying to determine if the deal can work: looking at financing, doing environmental studies, and analyzing the market.

The preliminary agreement approved Wednesday obligates the city to obtain options on or rights to private and public property — with time frames ranging from 90 days for two businesses on Monument Avenue and Parkside Homes, and no later than April 1, 2008, for Dayton Public Schools Career Academy.

Don't make plans to see it next year or even 2008. It will take years.

Another step for the SWING

From QCTimes.net this morning:

City council approves JOD lease

Despite misgivings by a couple of aldermen, the Davenport City Council approved a long-term lease Wednesday night with Florida-based Main Street Baseball, paving the way for new ownership at city-owned John O’Donnell Stadium.

Under the conditions of the lease, Main Street — which also operates a Class A baseball franchise in Columbus, Ga. — will lease the stadium for 25 years.

Under the terms of the contract, the city gets an annual payment of $273,000 for the first two years of the lease and $385,000 annually in years three through 25. Current owner, Seventh Inning Stretch, now pays a little less than $490,000 on its 15-year lease.

The lease agreement vote was not made without some spirited debate.

The highlight (to me) of the spirited debate:

“It’s always interesting to see how many attorneys show up after a contract is written,” he said. “This contract has been negotiated by the legal department. We fiddle and diddle with things in this city until they’re gridlocked.”

'fiddle and diddle'. I have GOT to use that during a game at John O'Donnell Stadium next season.

The one commenter (so far) on the story atQCTimes.net has a bad feeling about this:

Comment 3: And this is the same legal department who was found to be in error on Malin's contract. We're doomed.

Buck up there, Camper. Turn that frown upside-down.

Baseball History -- November 16

Complete entry for November 16 is at BaseballLibrary.com HERE.

Today's highlighted entries:

1999
Surprise! Boston Red Sox P Pedro Martinez is named the unanimous winner of the American League Cy Young Award. He led the AL in wins, strikeouts and ERA. Martinez also won the award in the National League, just the 3rd pitcher to do so.

Other winners of the Cy Young in both leagues: Gaylord Perry (Cleveland 1972, San Diego 1978) and Randy Johnson (Seattle 1995, Arizona 1999-2002)

1962
John McHale and six former stockholders of the White Sox purchase the Milwaukee Braves from the Perini Corporation for $6,218,480.

1891
The Louisville Colonels club is sold at auction to satisfy a $6,359.40 mortgage. The new ownership is headed by Dr. T. Hunt Stuckey

The above two entries are to show the increase in value of a franchise.

Intercontinental Cup XVI - Day 8

In games involving teams with former Rattlers:

Chinese Taipei beat Cuba 4-3.

The boxscore had a link, but it wasn't on the website yet. No idea how Yung Chi Chen (WI '05) did for Chinese Taipei. Will check back later.


Italy lost to Korea 5-1.

Alex Liddi (WI '06) played first and was 0-for-2 for the Italians.

Day 9 Schedule:
REST DAY (or rest night at Taichung Stadium looking at the picture)

Rattlers in Fall Ball

In the Arizona Fall League, the Peoria Javelinas beat Phoenix 11-0.

Ex-Rattlers for the Javelinas:
Michael Garciaparra (WI '03): 1-for-2 with a double and two runs scored
Ryan Rowland-Smith (WI '03): One scoreless inning with two hits and a strikeout

In Hawaii Winter Baseball, the Waikiki BeachBoys lost 2-1 to Honolulu.

Ex-Rattlers for the BeachBoys:
Sebastien Boucher (WI '05): 0-for-4
Jeff Clement (WI '05): 1-for-3 with an RBI

Mariner farmhand Reed Eastley was 0-for-3.

Thursday's Schedule:
Scottsdale at Peoria Javelinas 2:05pm CST
Waikiki -- Off Day

News from the around MWL

Lots of good stuff at BallparkDigest.com today.

There are three entries with a Midwest League flavor.

Dragons owner proposes $200 million development near ballpark

DAYTON — The owner of the Dayton Dragons wants to expand entertainment venues around Fifth-Third Field with a $200 million development that would include a mix of retail, restaurants and possibly condominiums.

The project will include three separate developments, confirmed Tom Biedenharn, the city's director of public affairs: a residential development at Deeds Point along the Great Miami River; an entertainment and retail complex just north of the ballpark and a large retail project on the site of Dayton Metropolitan Housing Authority's Parkside Homes.

There is a Dayton City Commission meeting going on RIGHT NOW!!!

Battle Creek approves Northwoods League lease

In the end, baseball never left Battle Creek.

It just took a two-month vacation.

Battle Creek's city commissioners approved by a unanimous 9 to 0 the lease of C.O. Brown Stadium to be used for the college-player Northwoods League on Tuesday night.

The agreement with the Northwoods League comes barely more than two months after the Southwest Michigan Devil Rays of the professionally-affiliated Midwest League left town.

The Midwest League had been in B.C. for 12 seasons but left due to dwindling attendance.

Northwoods League president Dick Radatz Jr. has already signed the stadium lease and the deal will become official when city manager Wayne Wiley inks the dotted line today.

"We're excited to get something back in the stadium," said Jeff Hovarter, Battle Creek's director of parks and recreation.

It remains to be seen if the community of Battle Creek is excited to get something back in the stadium.

Also, still no owner for the team. If one isn't found, the league will run the team.

Meanwhile, the new home of the old Battle Creek MWL franchise is shaping up nicely.

Work continues rapidly on Dow Diamond

MIDLAND (WJRT) - (11/14/06)--In five months, the first pitch will be thrown at the Dow Diamond. The ballpark is still under construction. It will be the home of Midland's new minor league baseball team.

If they had to, they probably could play baseball in the stadium today.

"You try to pull it up and it's like pulling hair out of your head," said Dow Diamond groundskeeper Matt McQuaid.

McQuaid is talking about the stadium playing field, which was installed last month, and has already taken root.

Good. The field is in. What about the rest?

The bullpens are being completed, and this is something many people might not know: Bricks make up the foundation of pitching mounds in major and minor league ballparks.

"And you actually never get into the brick itself, but you will get into the bag clay, and it's easy on maintenance," McQuaid said. "It's great for the players to dig into."

The stadium's two fire pits are in place, and there are bases for the solar panels which will help produce power for the ballpark.

And workers have started on the roof of the facility, which has to be done before the freezing weather settles in.

Two firepits? Something like this?
Probably not. But, you may want to click on the video link at the TV station's site to make sure.

Intercontinental Cup XVI - Day 7

Italy lost 6-3 to Japan.

Alex Liddi played first base and went 0-for-2 for Italy.

Chinese Taipei shutout the Phillippenes 14-0.

Yung Chi Chen (WI '05) played second for Taiwan. He was 3-for-4 with a double and three RBI.

Day 8 schedule for teams with ex-Rattlers:
Chinese Taipei vs. Cuba
Italy vs. Cuba

Today's picture from Intercontinental Stadium: