Bulls Below the Border

For some guys baseball is a year-round profession. After a few weeks off at the end of the season they are off to the Winter Leagues. I’ve scrolled through the rosters and found some current and former Bulls who are playing ball as we speak, including a couple we haven’t seen in a long, long time. If I've missed someone important to you, let me know.

Robbie Knopf over at Rays Colored Glasses is tracking and writing about the Winter Leagues in more detail. Worth keeping an eye on that blog.

• Pitcher Winston Abreu, a WDBB favorite from several years ago (2009 and 2010), has had a couple of innings with the Toros de Este of the Dominican Winter League. 
• Catcher Mayo Acosta is also playing for the Toros del Este in the Dominican Winter League. Not doing all that well in 10 games so far. 2014 Bulls season profiled here.
• Infielder Wilson Betemit is playing for the Giganantes de Cibao, also in the Dominican Winter League. Doing OK over 16 games. 2014 Bulls profile here. Think, but don't know for sure, that he's now a free agent.
• Pitcher Merrill Kelly has been in a starting role for the Leones del Escogidos in the Dominican Winter League. Not doing all that well, yet. A key player in the 2014 Bulls crew.
• Pitcher Josh Lueke is pitching in relief for the Toros de Este of the Dominican Winter League. 2014 Bulls stats here. Lueke also a free agent now.
• Infielder Ray Olmedo is playing for the Aguilas del Zulia in the Venezuela Winter League.
• Reliever Jim Patterson, who had just 10 innings with the Bulls in 2014, is pitching for the Gigantes de Carolina in Puerto Rico’s Roberto Clemente League.
• Pitcher Enny Romero, not a favorite of WDBB last year, is pitching in relief for the Leones de Escogido of the Dominican Winter League.
• Catcher Roman Ali Solis is with the Tomoteros de Culiacan in Mexico’s Pacific League and playing a lot of baseball. 
• Pitcher Jake Thompson has started three games for the Tiburones de la Guaira in the Venezuelan Winter League. A help last year.
• Outfielder Jon Weber, another WDBB favorite from history (2007-2009), has 6 doubles, a triple, and 6 home runs for the Mayos de Naojoa of the Mexican Pacific League. Nice to see Jon still in baseball. 

Dark Days

Box 121, Box 122, Wrap, Toledo Blade

Season: 57-66; Trip: 0-3; Bulls v. Mud Hens: 2-5; Standings

Box, Wrap, Toledo Blade

Toledo was Will Rhymes’ home stadium for most of the last three years, but his home run in the second game Saturday night seemed to have been particularly offensive. The end result was the manager and two pitchers getting tossed. The first pitcher hit Nevin Ashley, Manager Phil Nevin got tossed for arguing about it, and the next time Rhymes came to bat the Mud Hens pitcher pitched behind him and he got tossed. The one pitchers got a five-game suspension, the other sits out three. 

Otherwise Saturday had to have been simply frustrating. Setting the stage for the suspended game with the bases loaded must have been odd for a reliever like Brandon Gomes, and he ended up allowing 5 runs in 1⅓ innings and really, really messed up his stats for the year.

In the next game, the one with all the excitement, only Rhymes managed to touch the ball with authority.

Sunday’s game drove me to my spreadsheet where something very odd jumped out. Since Chris Archer returned from his stint with Tampa Bay in early July he has allowed just 8 earned runs in 7 appearances. Here’s the oddity — seven of those eight runs came in the 1st inning. I’m guessing that I’m late to the party, but the opposing teams are not. I’m guessing that their scouts have seen this oddity and are telling their hitters to come out swinging when Archer is on the mound. Seems like there ought to be a way to take advantage of that.

Otherwise, a pretty quiet game. The Bulls simply could not put anything together after their big first inning.

Outside the game —

• The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees are getting a new stadium next season (they’ve been essentially homeless this year). In celebration they are going to give themselves a new name. In keeping with 21st Century marketing wisdom, they are crowd-sourcing the name and letting fans vote. I’m voting for Trolley Frogs. I’ve no idea what that means, but I didn’t know what an Iron Pig was until a baseball team got it as a name.
• Reporter Randy Turner of the Winnipeg Free Press hit the road with the Goldeyes of American Association (an independent baseball league). He has written a terrific bit of reportage focusing on the players in this fairly obscure corner of baseball — why are they playing, what are their dreams. Fascinating stories including a few from a former Durham Bull. And a video/photo essay. Nicely done.

Ruggiano to Marlins ... and Others

Justin Ruggiano at the Durham Athletic Park, May, 2011

Thanks to Orin Day we learn that former Bull Justin Ruggiano was traded to the Marlins and immediately called up to the big league club. Ruggiano had played at the Astros AAA club in Oklahoma City all year and was doing pretty well.

That led me to notice that another former Bull is in the Marlins system. Rob Delaney is pitching in relief for the New Orleans Zephyrs, the Marlin’s AAA team and having a pretty good year.

So then I checked on Russ Canzler, who is with the Columbus Clippers, Cleveland’s AAA team. Decent year so far and he’s on Cleveland’s 40-man, but hasn’t been called up yet.

Then off to Canada to see how Jon Weber’s doing. As was noted in the comments recently, he’s on a two-game suspension. Not hard to figure out why. He was the fourth man to be hit by pitch in a recent game and an “altercation” occured. He’ll miss the Winnipeg Goldeyes opener, but he’s hitting .415 (OPS - .967) over his first nine games.

Winter Ball

How do you measure real baseball fanaticism? Well, maybe take a look at Jim Donten’s work over at Rays Prospects He is diligently tracking down once and future Rays who are playing elsewhere this Fall and Winter. As each league opens up, he posts a list of players he's found on the rosters. Then he’s been doing daily updates. That's real dedication and we thank him for it.

Players of immediate interest to WDBB:

Arizona Fall League (Surprise Saguaros)

• SS Tim Beckham
• RHP Marquis Fleming

Venezuelan Winter League

• C Robinson Chirinos (Navegantes del Magallanes) (Note: Robinson has reportedly broken a wrist)
• C Jose Lobaton (Leones de Caracas)
• IF Daniel Mayora (Leones de Caracas)
• LHP Alex Torres (Aguilas de Zulia)
• C Stephen Vogt (Leones de Caracas)
• IF Ray Olmedo (Tiburones de la Guaira)
• RHP Rob Delaney (Bravos de Margarita)

Dominican Winter League

• RHP Richard De Los Santos (Estrellas de Oriente) (Happy to see him pitching after last year’s troubles)
• IF Omar Luna (Aguilas Cibaenas)
• C Nevin Ashley (Gigantes del Cibao)
• IF Elliot Johnson (Gigantes de Cibao) (Note: Why would he he playing winter ball? Caribbean vacation?

Keep an eye on Rays Prospects (maybe add the RSS feed) to keep up).

Another ex-Bull to keep an eye on this winter:

Jon Weber is playing for Venados dos Mazatlan, as he has for several winters. Turns out that the 33-year old Weber returned to professional baseball with the Indy League Winnepeg Goldeyes last summer and had a decent year.

Update, 18 Oct: Rob Delaney in Venezuela (Thanks, Anon!)

Bulls In Wintertime

Several 2010 Durham Bulls and likely Bulls-to-be are playing winter ball out in Arizona and down in Mexico and Venezuela. For a daily fix, check out Jim Donten's updates over on Rays Prospects.

For readers who want to chase things down on their own, here are a couple of leads:

For players who are in the Rays system, check out the links put up by MLB.

Players of interest to WDBB include:

Playing in the Arizona Fall League for the Peoria Seguaros:

• Leslie Anderson (on the 40-man);
• Jose Ruiz, a first baseman we did not see last year, but he is on the Rays 40-man and has a good rep;
• Henry Wrigley, an infielder who was with the Biscuits last year (and may still be with them next year), but considered one of the Rays top prospects;
• Alex Cobb, the pitcher we saw at the end of the year and who we are all hoping we get to see a lot of next year.

Playing in the Mexican Pacific League

• For the Venados de Mazatlan: Elliot Johnson.
• For the Yaquis de Obregon: Justin Ruggiano (on Rays 40-man).
  
• For the Tomateros de Culiacan: Angel Chavez.

Playing in the Venezuelan Winter League

• For the Caribes de Anzoategui: Dale Thayer.

For some insights into the life, check out the Life of a Baseball Wife blog, which is telling stories about life in Mexico.

We are a bit skeptical that any of the players outside of the Arizona Fall League guys will be coming back to Durham next year, and that would include Jon Weber, who is apparently trying to get his career back on track.

Nevertheless, worth keeping an eye on them. I mean, what else have we got to do? As Rogers Hornsby famously said:

“People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball. I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.”

Johnson & Weber

Elliot Johnson Working Out With Mazatlan Deer

Here’s a tidbit to distract you from today’s game in Arlington — Elliott Johnson and Jon Weber are playing ball together again. They are both on the Mazatlan Mexican Pacific League team this year.

There’s this piece from a Venados de Mazatlan press release (Google translation)

After four wins in as many preseason games, Mazatlán Deer trained on Monday at the Teodoro Mariscal Stadium attended by Jon Weber, Elliot Johnson, Matt Clark, Freddy Sandoval and Rogelio Noris.

Weber and Clark took his first practice with the team, while Elliot Johnson coached for the second time as Freddy Sandoval, who is indeed fully recovered from surgery on his right wrist which was submitted by the organization of the Angels Los Angeles.

Weber's arrival was noted in a Mexican baseball blog called Baseball Mexico.

Just exactly how this works out with Weber's suspension we can only speculate.

In the meantime, Elliot's wife, Nicole. and son, Blake are traveling with him.

Good luck and have fun down there!

Pitiful, Just Pitiful

Game 95: Durham Bulls (Tampa Bay) 3; Columbus Clippers (Cleveland) 8
Season: 56-30; Home Stand: 0-1
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun, Indy Week

Ugly, ugly, ugly. It was a pitiful performance by Durham pitchers. The 4th inning quite possibly the worst single inning of the year — 11 batters, 5 walks, 1 run scoring error, 2 hits, 5 runs, two Bulls pitchers.

Bulls broadcasters started making excuses for Jeremy Hellickson even before the game began, mentioning his fourteen days since his last Bulls start, his two innings at the Futures game (he should have gone just one?), the possibility that there might be some “rust”. As the game progressed there was a spate of blaming the ump, Derek Crabill, but since Columbus’ pitcher was getting the same calls, that didn’t fly. In the end, Hellickson was out of the game after 6 K’s, 5 BB’s, and 3 runs on 4 hits, leaving the bases loaded for Dale Thayer in the aforementioned 4th inning. Easily Hellickson’s worst start of the year. Possibly his worst start as a professional ballplayer.

Dale cleared out the debris by giving up a base-clearing double (adding three more runs to Hellickson's total), then loaded the bases himself with two walks. Still, he didn’t let any more runs in. That was left to Darin Downs, who coughed up two more runs on four more walks (that’s eleven if you’ve been counting) and a couple of hits.

I gave up at the end of the 5th and left the ballpark, but noticed that Brian Baker and Mike Ekstrom did decent jobs in the 7th, 8th, and 9th. Ekstrom did give up a BB for a season high 12 walks for the Bulls.

Carlos Hernandez, by the way, was put on the disabled list last night. A muscle strain of some sort, possible aggravated by a play at first base Sunday afternoon.

Moving right along, let’s just go on out to the Web World

• The Raleigh News & Observer did a not-very-timely profile on Jeremy Hellickson.
• Rays Index is reporting the Rocco Baldelli has signed a minor league contract with the Rays. He was before my time as a Bulls fans, but apparently he has a lot of Durham friends. He has been assigned to the Charlotte (Florida) Stone Crabs. We may see him in due time.
• Winston Abreu gets some love from DRaysBay with a plea for him to be called up.

Lastly, and very regretfully, is the news that Jon Weber, although retired, has received a 100 day suspension from major league baseball for his third positive test for a “drug of abuse.” Really sorry to hear it. Probably explains his sudden retirement.

Jon Weber Retires

Jon Weber in the Durham Bulls dugout, July 3, 2009

A quote from the Bulls twitter account:

Hey Bulls fans Jon Weber texted us last night and told us he is retiring. One of the all-time fan favorites. We wish him the best.

Similar news is buried in the bottom of this item; and a Yankees blogger takes notice.

We only had one very brief conversation with Jon Weber during his tenure as a Bull, but we sure wrote about him a lot. Just a couple of examples are here, here, and here.

I don’t want this item to sound like an obituary. Let’s keep it simple and direct:

Jon, you are one heck of a ballplayer. You did the Durham Bulls proud while you were with us. You did your country proud by helping win the World Cup in 2009.

Keep on having fun in the rest of your life. Hope to sit down and have a beer with you some day. Maybe talk about the Bulls and baseball.

Update: Unfortunately, given all the attention we've given to Jon Weber over the years, we feel an obligation to add this link from Major League Baseball. Guess it explains the retirement. But it also is going to keep him out of baseball for a while.

Bat Bit

Game 68: Durham Bulls 4, Louisville Bats 5
Season: 40-28; Last 10: 6-4
Wrap, Box, Louisville Courier-Journal

Let’s get the ugly, like that bat, out of the way first:

Bottom of the 9th; game tied at 4-4; Mike Ekstrom hits the first batter who then gets to second base on a sacrifice bunt; Angel Chavez bobbles a grounder; runners now on first and third; sacrifice fly; game over.

That hurt.

On the other hand, Justin Ruggiano got a home run, his first in what seems like a very long time. So did Alvin Colina.

Joe Dillon played for the first time since his heroic crawl to the plate on May 27th. Joe was playing first base, perhaps because of Ryan Shealy’s departure. Joe played the position several times last year, but this is the first time this year. He got two RBI off of his one hit. Welcome back, Joe.

The Bulls normally show better plate discipline than they did last night. Their 14 strikeouts were one below a season high of 15 set back in early April.

My comments yesterday on the rotation were obviously wrong. My apologies. Gonna have to re-polish my crystal ball (or listen to Neil more carefully). But it had been a week since Rodriguez’s last start. So he did OK. Jeremy Hellickson starts tonight after five days off. The rainout and the day off has messed up things badly for Bulls pitchers. Who starts next? I ain't gonna say.

Then there is Dale Thayer’s return to form. He went two innings, faced only six batters, threw only 19 pitches. That’s the guy we knew.

In case anyone missed it, we have had a comment on Elliot Johnson’s condition. It is a strained quad. He’s resting it and says its feeling better every day. [Thanks, N]

Webstuff:

RaysProspects has put up a Bulls week in review item.

DRaysBay has put up a table of downticket Rays pitchers. Interesting to see who’s doing well down in Montgomery.

Jon Weber has arrived in Toledo, to some positive comments.

Durham Bulls — Road Warriors

Game 48: Durham Bulls 4, Rochester Redwings 2
Wrap, Box
Game 49: Durham Bulls 4, Rochester Redwings 6
Wrap, Box
Game 50: Durham Bulls 6, Rochester Redwings 0
Wrap, Box
Game 51: Durham Bulls 9, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees 1
Wrap, Box
Game 52: Durham Bulls 3, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees 4
Wrap, Box
Game 53: Durham Bulls 4, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees 0
Wrap, Box
Game 54: Durham Bulls 11, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees 3
Wrap, Box
Game 55: Durham Bulls 4, Syracuse Chiefs 0
Wrap, Box
Game 56: Durham Bulls 8, Syracuse Chiefs 1
Wrap, Box

Season: 33-23
Streak: W4

I guess we should leave town more often. Since last I updated the blog, the Bulls have won 9 games and lost only 2. They’ve got two more games to play up in Syracuse and then they are back in town this Tuesday playing Buffalo. So it’s a North Division couple of weeks with the Bulls playing five North Division teams in succession. Recently we’ve been doing a good job screwing up their won-lost records.

I see that Rays catcher Kelly Shoppach dropped by for a couple of games on his way back to St. Petersburg. He was 4 for 13 (all singles) in four games with 2 RBI.

Matt Joyce is back with us. He played in five games in the beginning of the year, all out of town, so we have not yet seen Matt. He’s 4 for 18 since his return. Matt (along with other Bulls) is being mentioned as a call up for the injured Rays shortstop Jason Bartlett (hamstring).

Rashad Eldridge was sent to Montgomery to make room for Joyce. That seems to be his role (moving back and forth from Durham to Montgomery).

In the May 31 game against the Yankees, R.J. Swindle gave up his first base on balls since joining the Bulls (8 appearances, 11 innings).

Jeremy Hellickson was named International League Pitcher of the Week...again.

Jon Weber was released from the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, apparently to clear the roster for someone coming down from the big city. Haven’t been able to find out anything regarding his possible signing elsewhere. If anyone does hear anything, please let me know and I’ll put it up. Got to think there’s another team that needs a guy like Jon around, even if he does seem to be having a bad year. [Thanks for the heads up Amy]

I’ll get around to updating my charts soon enough, but have to mention that the Bulls have scored 110 more runs than their opposition. That is simply an incredible number.

Other than All-Star balloting (which I'll get around to) and all the Cubans en route to the Bulls (which I'll also get around to), did I miss anything really interesting?

Nice To Be Back Home

Game 28: Durham Bulls 13, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees 8
Season: 18-10
This home stand: 1-0
Streak: W3
Wrap, Box

The Bulls had another extraordinary run-producing game. Simply amazing what they are able to do with a bat this year.

But first let me rant about the pitching, because if that isn’t sorted out you have to think things are going to drop off the edge some day soon.

After two terrific starts, Aneury Rodriguez has had two crummy starts. Not possible to guess why, but it sure would help if he were backed up by the bullpen. But until we got to Mike Ekstrom, the fourth pitcher of the day, none of the relievers were helping at all. Particularly egregious was how the number 8 and 9 batters in the Yankee’s order were treated. In their first 8 plate appearances they got seven walks and a single. Four, count ‘em, four of the walks later scored. That is simply terrible pitching. Here’s hoping that they get it out of their systems.

On the other hand, a ton of those guys that our pitchers let on base, stayed on base (13).

On our side, you have to admire the way we kept coming back. Up a few runs, down a few runs, up a few runs. Colina’s homer in the 6th was particularly timely and pretty. Hank Blalock’s three-run shot into the seats in the 8th was just beautiful. And congrats to Jose Lobaton for his first home run as a Bull (also in the 8th, and the winning run).

On the Bench: Jennings (13) (Note: he had a ½ inning in center field); Ruggiano (3) (Note: Ruggiano now officially on DL for bicep injury, backdated to 3 May); D. Johnson (1); Chavez (4); Luna (3). Why is WDBB doing this? Because we are getting really worried about the health of this team.

JonWeberWatch: Double, single, 1 RBI, 1 run scored.

Bulls Radio: Very pleased to pass on to you that Bulls Radio is broadcasting inside the park on low power FM 87.7 in addition to AM 620. The Bulls front office was very responsive to a fan request that involved mumbling about not having “old” technology like portable AM radios and bragging about their new iPod with its built in FM tuner. However, it is called low-power FM for a reason. The signal barely reaches the front gate. But there it is for all you folks unwilling to go back to the 20th century, 87.7. Now if they could just get an iPhone/iPad app …

[Correction: Frequency is 87.7, not the frequency in the original posting]

Virgil Vasquez: Yesterday and this morning there was a bit of a kerfuffle regarding Virgil Vasquez’s status in the Rays system. A report in Baseball America was picked up at Rays Prospects and passed on in a comment in WDBB. We were well into our high dudgeon/rant mode going into today's game.

But Virgil is still with the Rays. According to Bulls radio, Virgil Vasquez is in Extended Spring Training at the Rays facility in Florida (Port Charlotte?). From what I can learn, Virgil was “released” and then resigned immediately thereafter. Why would they do that? Who knows. But if I were a betting man, I’d bet on it having something to do with the Rays insurance policies.

He's Back

One of my great pleasures over the last couple of seasons was watching Jon Weber play baseball. Overlooked in the “National Championship” hoopla is the fact that for three years running the Durham Bulls won the Southern Division of the International League and went to the playoffs every year. Jon had a lot to do with that.

And besides it was just plain fun to watch him play the game. He was obviously having a good time (mostly, except when tossing bats into the first base side of the stands). He was a master of the Blue Monster. Only rarely would a runner make it to second if Jon was playing left field.

We here at WDBB failed in our attempt to get him called up to the Rays in September of 2009. However, Jon did play in the World Cup for Team USA. He had a lot to do with bringing home the trophy to the United States.

He played winter ball in Mexico and, apparently getting no love from the Rays, signed with the Yankees for 2010. He had an extraordinary spring with them, but was left off the 40-man and sent to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre at the end of spring training. He’s had a terrible start in the regular season, probably the worst of his professional career. Particularly odd is his lack of extra base hits, a category he excelled in last year. On the other hand, he hit his first double Tuesday night in Norfolk.

All of this is a long preface to noting that Jon will be back in the DBAP Thursday morning. He deserves a cheer from all of us for the pleasure he has given us for years. And he should take with him our hopes that sometime after next Sunday he gets his batting eye back and has a great season, (except for May 31 to June 3 when the Bulls play the Yankees in their home park). Maybe he will even get some time on the field in Yankee Stadium. We sure hope so.

Watching The Rays

Just wondering if I'm the only one who gets frustrated watching these MLB broadcasters yammer on about the Yankees...they don't even know who it is when Elliot Johnson comes to the plate.

And who but a Bulls fan could possibly appreciate the weirdness of seeing Jon Weber play first base, and then fly out to Justin Ruggiano in center field?

Update: The Rays are on TV again tonight, but it will be a split squad game for the Yankees (had to listen to commentators whine on about that last night, too. Two hour bus ride!! Whimper, whimper, whimper. And since when does it take two hours to go from Tampa to Port Charlotte?). Think I'll skip the game.

Jon Weber Goes Over To the Dark Side

Well, I wish I had better news for this Thanksgiving day, but the headline says it all. Jon Weber has signed a minor league contract with the Yankees. That means that we may see him at the DBAP next year — in a Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees uniform.

Adam Sobsey broke the story locally this morning and has several apt comments regarding what Jon has meant to the Bulls over the last three years.

We knew something like this was coming after Weber was unable to get a call-up to the Rays in September after a superb season with the Bulls. He soldiered on for Team USA and is, at the moment, doing one heck of a job in the Mexican Pacific League. I had understood that he was going to make a run at playing in Japan and I guess that didn’t work out.

He will be missed, not least by the fine fellows over at Farfaleaux, Foghart, & Bloviate, L.L.C., who have had occasion to speak in Weber’s defense.

And, most obviously, by Watching Durham Bulls Baseball. But next May 10th, at the DBAP, you can bet that we’ll be there ready to dodge any bats thrown our way.

Relatively recent posts on Jon are here, here, and here.

Good luck, Jon. Here’s hoping we see you play in Yankee Stadium some day!

Checking In On Jon Weber

Sometimes you just can’t make things up (although I’ve been known to do so).

Encouraged by commenter AmyT (now there’s a serious Jon Weber fan), I went out on a hunt for the website of Jon Weber’s winter league team, Venados de Mazatlan (The Mazatlan Deer) of the Mexican Pacific League. Website found here.

[Note for guys: Serious cheesecake highlights the click-thru for online store]

Jon is doing more than just fine since he showed up down there. He’s played in 7 games (his first was Nov 6) and is leading his team in batting average (.469) and OPS (1.096). He doesn’t yet lead the team in doubles, but he’s got 5 so far. And 10 RBI. Appears to be mostly playing left field.

As Amy noted, you can watch the Venados on streaming video, so I checked it out last night.

First thing I noticed is that the Mexican Pacific League has apparently taken a cue from NASCAR and done some serious decorating of their players’ uniforms. Logos are all over the jerseys, batting helmets, even on trousers.

As it happened, Venados was at bat when I checked in, the 5th inning I think. First batter hit a home run to put them up by a couple of runs. The next batter was Jon.

And here’s where it gets weird.

Please note that it was the first time, ever, that I’ve watched a Mexican League game;

that it is beyond possibility that Weber could possibly know that at 11:33 p.m. EST I’d be checking in on the game;

and yet ...

you guessed it ...

On the the second pitch he threw his bat in the direction of the first base dugout!

Camera followed him as he rubbed down the handle of his bat ...

Gotta get that guy some pine tar!

By the way, he grounded out, short to first on a 2-2 count.

Auf Wiedersehen Jon & Jason

Game 137: Bulls 6, Braves 8
Season: 78-59
Games Left in Season: 7; Home Games: 4
Box

I’ll leave last night’s game to the wrap, the Herald-Sun, and Adam Sobsey. What I want to write about today is the contributions of Jon Weber and Jason Childers to the 2009 Durham Bulls. Without them we wouldn’t be where we are today — on the verge of a division championship and heading towards the playoffs. Thank you.

Jon Weber

The numbers are simply superb. He played in 117 games this year. I don’t recall him missing a day with an injury. He’s the only .300 batter on the team (.302). His OBP was .382, his OPS was .879. He leads the International League with 46 doubles (and likely to hold that lead since the next in line has 36) and in extra base hits. Those are his numbers, and those numbers were clearly good enough, in my opinion, for him to get a shot with the Rays this year. I’ve written about that more than once this year.

More than that, even a fan can notice that he seems to be a man with a sense of humor and good spirit. He’s certainly put up with a good bit from this blog regarding his bat-throwing tendencies. (In that regard, I have it on good authority that all the partners and associates of Farfaleaux, Foghart, & Bloviate, L.L.C. join me in wishing Jon all possible success and genuinely regret missing the opportunity of filming Jon tossing a bat in Fenway Park.)

He has remarked that he’s looking to play in Japan next year and if that doesn’t happen he hopes he will be back in Durham. Here’s hoping that he gets his wish.

Jason Childers

Back on April 19th, the very first game of this season, Jason made the first of his team-leading 55 appearances for the Bulls this year. He has done a bit of everything from middle relief to closing, accumulating 9 wins, 6 losses, 9 holds, and 5 saves. I like his Opponent’s On Base Percentage, a nice low .310. His 61 strikeouts to 23 walks isn’t anything to sneeze at either. As a fan the great thing about Jason is that I don’t flinch when I see him come into the game. If we’ve got a lead, I don’t think he’s going to let it get away. If we don’t have the lead, he’ll give us a chance to get back in the game. He’s done that all year. We’re going to miss him these next two weeks.

Jon and Jason are off to the wilds of Cary, NC to tune up for the World Cup of Baseball. If there’s a major sporting event that’s gotten less coverage I don’t know what it could be (think about that…). Here at WDBB we’ll do our best to keep an eye on them as they travel off to Regensburg, Germany for the first round game on September 10th against Venezuela. Or maybe I’ll get over to Cary to watch them play Team Canada on 3rd, 4th, 5th, or 6th.

If there were ever two men who represent what American baseball is all about, Jon Weber and Jason Childers are those guys. They work hard, play hard, respect the game, and have fun. What more could you ask for in men who are representing our country and the game we all love?

Fourteen Innings, Five Hours, Seven Pitchers, First Place

Game 135: Bulls 10, Braves 9
Season: 77-58
Games Left in Season: 9; Home Games: 6
Wrap, Box, Indy Week

A baseball player’s (and fan’s) dream moment: Two runs down, two outs, bases-loaded, bottom of the last inning, three balls, two strikes. Young guy on the mound, experienced guy at the plate. About midnight last night that’s what happened in the bottom of the 14th. Jon Weber hit a double to deep right-center field, cleared the bases, and three runs scored. The Durham Bulls won their sixth straight game and took over first place in the South Division of the International League.

To be honest, except for two moments, it really was a very tedious game. So tedious that the first 6 innings took well over two hours to play. At the end of the 6th Gwinnett was up 6-2 and we were into our third pitcher of the night. I was writing a rant in my head about how Tampa Bay had really done a number on us by pulling Andy Sonnanstine out of his rotation here to have him ready for a game in their jukebox in St Pete next week. We’ve only got four starters as it is, and they just pulled one of those so we’re going to eat up the bullpen, again. Halama, the Braves starter, is not only old (37) he’s slow, and crafty to boot. The game was just creeping along.

So we left and listened to the game on the radio on the way home. Got home, turned on the TV just to watch the 9th and refine my rant against the Tampa Bay Rays. But then one of the two actual exciting moments of the game occurred (the first being the Weber double already recounted): Reid Brignac homered off of the Braves fifth pitcher and closer Luis Valdez to tie the game at 7-all. By this time we’ve gone through four pitchers: Joe Bateman, Julio DePaula, Joe Nelson, and Dale Thayer. Winston Abreu pitched the 10th and 11th. Jason Childers pitched the 12th. Shutout ball, but we’re out of pitchers.

Third baseman Ray Olmedo takes the mound for the 13th inning. What an odd sight to see a guy with a dirty uniform and a glove that looked like it had actually been used out there on the mound. Imagine that, a baseball player pitching! Not only that, he gets a ground out, walks a guy (X. comes out to talk, I think maybe to tell Ray how to pitch from a stretch.), and the next guy gets handled by a nifty double play initiated by Chris Richard at first. The 14th inning doesn’t go as well for Ray with a homer, double, and a combination sac fly and error, scoring two runs.

But Ray gets to be part of the drama in the 14th by following Reid Brignac’s single with a single of his own, followed by a walk to Michel Hernandez. An earlier out by Fernando Perez and a strikeout by Elliot Johnson set the stage for Jon Weber’s heroics.

Click on the video box on the Bulls website to see the key plays (and listen to Neil Solondz go nuts).

By the way, the big deal announced through the Bulls tweet was something of a big deal, but it had to do with 2010 and beyond. I was expecting something about players and roster changes, so it took me a while to adjust. The press release is here, and Adam Sobsey gives a good account here. To summarize, the 2010 schedule is out; the Bulls will play the Rays in an exhibition game in early April in the DBAP (that should be cool, and we’ll get a Bulls roster early); the Bulls will play the Mud Hens in the refurbished DAP for one game; and the Bulls extended their affiliation with the Rays for a bunch more years.

Regarding roster changes: other than gutting our starting rotation as mentioned above, no news on that front.

I’m hoping our guys can recover from last night and that Hellickson can go a lot of innings this evening. In the meantime, we’re in first place, all is right with the world.

Richard Drives Bulls Into Tie For First

Game 133: Bulls 3, Tides 1
Season: 75-58
Games Left in Season: 11; Home Games: 7
Wrap, Box

The game went on and on and on with a thirty-minute rain delay in the middle of it. Could have been worse. If the game had been called when the rains came, and it could have been, we would have lost 0-1.

One way to put it the rest of the game in perspective: They bet Joey Gathright, we saw that bet with Fernando Perez and raised them Justin Ruggiano and Chris Richard.

In the bottom of the 8th, Joe Nelson came on in relief of Jason Cromer. He promptly walked Joey Gathright. Not a good way to start the inning. A sacrifice bunt sent Gathright to second base. Intentional walk to Norfolk’s Jeff Fiorentino. Then a double steal, so men on second and third, one out. But Brandon Snyder hit the ball to Joe Dillon at third, and Dillon threw to Riggans at home who put the tag on Gathright (the second time Gathright had been put out heading for home in the game). The next batter popped out to Chris Richard.

In the ninth, with one out, Fernando Perez pinch ran for Jon Weber. Justin Ruggiano got a hit, but Perez didn’t get past second. With Chris Richard at the plate, Perez and Ruggiano pulled off a double steal. Richard had a masterful at-bat, working his way back from 0-2 to 2-2 fouling off 3 more pitches along the way. Then he cracked one over the right field wall, scoring Perez and Ruggiano. So the double steal didn’t really matter except that it may have rattled Norfolk pitcher Bob McCrory. At least he seemed rattled since he brushed back Shawn Riggans after the Richard homer.

Who you gonna call for the bottom of the 9th? Winston Abreu, of course. He started the 9th with three K’s. Unfortunately, the ball got away from Riggans on the third strike of the third K and the runner made it to first. No matter. The next batter flied out to right.

Four days ago we were 13 games above .500 and Gwinnett was 21 above .500. Since that time Gwinnett has lost 4 games (Thank You Charlotte!) and the Bulls have won 4 games. We’re 17 games above .500 for the first time this year and tied for first.

About Jon Weber and Jason Childers:

They will be with the Bulls until August 31st. That means we’ll get to see them Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Team USA trains over in Cary and they start training there the 2nd of September. Not much of a drive from the DBAP. As soon as I’m able to learn more about how that works, I’ll put something up here. Don’t know if practice is open to the public, but I think they've got a tune-up game early on. I’ve never seen the facility, but hope to take a look soon.

Not Quite Enough

Game 127: Bulls 3, Knights 4
Season: 70-57
Games Left in Season: 17; Home Games: 7
Wrap, Box, Indy Week

The Durham Bulls 29th pitcher of the year, Jeff Bennett, started the game last night. If that sounds like we’ve had a lot of pitchers, we have. To be fair (not that being fair is my forte), three of the 29 were position players thrown to the wolves when we’d run out of relievers. Three more were rehabbing Rays. Nevertheless, 29 is more than we had in 2008 (27) and we had a couple of rehabbers last year as well. The Rays have used 20 pitchers this year.

At any rate, Bennett had a shaky start, giving up two runs in the first two innings. But the next two innings were just fine. Is Bennett a starter or reliever? Darned if I know. Guess we’ll find out.

Two big disappointments in the game for me was the performance of two of my favorite Bulls, Jon Weber and Jason Childers. Weber had the bases full in the 1st and hit into an inning-ending double play. He struck out with a runner on second in the 3rd. He hit into another inning-ending double-play with runners on first and second in the 5th. On the other hand, his single with Mateo on first in the 7th, moved Mateo to third and set up the go-ahead run when Mateo scored on Dillon’s ground out. So, he redeemed himself. Unfortunately, Jason Childers gave up a walk and then a home run in the 8th. And this coming just after he was profiled on the Bulls website.

Scary moment:

• Akinori Iwamura, bad knee and all, being waved home in the 3rd. It was always going to be a close play and, as it turned out, the ball got there well before he did. By the way, Iwamura drew three more walks last night. He’s got a stunning OBP of .600 since he’s been here.

Fun moments:

• The phrase, “baserunner caught in a run-down” was demonstrated in the 6th. Charlotte’s Josh Fields got way too far off second base and our pitcher, Julio DePaula, came off the mound and literally ran him down and tagged him out.
• In the 8th Michel Hernandez was coming to bat and I was ranting about who was available to pinch hit (Michel hasn’t had a hit since he came back). Michel comes to the plate and gets a leadoff single. Didn’t pay off, unfortunately, since like so many others last night, pinch runner Fernando Perez got stranded on second.

Bulls hit the road. Plan to do a post about that later in the day.

Only seven more games at home!

Now That’s Better

(click on chart for larger image)

Game 126: Bulls 10, Knights 2
Season: 70-56
Games Left in Season: 18; Home Games: 8
Wrap, Box, Indy Week

After all my complaining yesterday, seems only fair to try to make a picture out of last night. The purpose of the chart is to show the sharp ups and downs during this series. Remembering that the shorter the blue line the better, pitching was great last night, even better than Tuesday, and so was the hitting (although the OPS includes all the walks given up by Charlotte, and there were a bunch of them, 9 to be precise).

I wasn’t able to get to the game, so watched it on cable. That perhaps made the exceptional length of the game more endurable, but I certainly don’t want to sound like I’m complaining about such a decisive win. Everybody got on base except for Fernando Perez, and he got a RBI and made a brilliant running catch in the 6th. Aki Iwamura got a startling three walks and a single as dh. John Jaso got four RBIs, one on a bases-loaded walk, and three when he hit a bases-loaded double. Like Adam Sobsey over at Indy Week and Neil Solandz on the radio/tv, when I watched Weber’s home run go over the monster, I was thinking another double would be nice. On the other hand, 2 RBIs is a good thing at any time. And a trot around the bases in front of your family is a really good thing. About that bat that went in the direction of the dugout though …

Between them Hellickson, Bateman, and Abreu only faced 33 batters, struck out 17 (!), and gave up only 3 hits and 3 walks. Now that’s some pitching.

Tonight the new guy from Tampa Bay, Jeff Bennett is starting. Not sure what role he’s going to assume with the Bulls, since this is Carlos Henandez’s spot in the rotation and the last two times Montoyo has gone with his “committee” approach. Guess that we’ll see.

Webworld:

• The Rays Party takes a look at the Bulls employing a bunch of those sabermetrics that I don’t quite have a handle on. And, as is usual with Rays blogs, focuses on “prospects” when it comes to individuals.
• The Bulls site has an interesting article on Jeremy Hellickson.