Bulls Lose Close First Game

Game 1: Durham Bulls 1; Gwinnett Braves 2
Season: 0-1
Wrap, Box, Gwinnett Daily Post

Just as a warning to new readers, when the Bulls are on the road, this blog is not likely to have any more deep insights into the game than you may have heard on the radio broadcast. That’s certainly the case here where the Bulls started the season with a very well-played losing effort. The Braves put together a string of hits in the 5th inning that were enough to put two runs across. And that was the game.

We got our first look at a Bulls defensive lineup and what’s striking to my eye is how much the Bulls have changed — only three of the nine batters (Ruggiano, Jennings, and Furmaniak) were with the Bulls at the end of last year. Only one, Justin Ruggiano, was in last year’s opening lineup.

So, rather than trying to write about ballplayers I’ve never seen, why not just rant about something completely off-topic?

Bobby Cox, retired Atlanta Braves manager, threw out the first pitch of the game last night. He got a sustained standing ovation from the crowd. The cheers actually delayed the start of the game. Now, I know that Bobby Cox is a pretty famous guy and he would get a robust round of applause at the DBAP. But what the event brought to mind is what little effort the Rays have put into developing the Triangle as a market for their team. Let’s face it, if Joe Maddon (he's the manager of the Tampa Bay Rays) were in the crowd at the DBAP he wouldn’t even be noticed.

As far as I can recall, the only modest local marketing effort was in 2009 when almost all the giveaways were Rays hats and T-shirts (you can see what happened to mine here). The gods of television have decided that the Triangle is in the Baltimore (Baltimore!?!) market as another blogger has noted. So we can rarely watch the Rays on television around here (even if we were to pay a gazillion bucks for MLB.TV on our iPads). The Rays did play a spring training game here last year. That was nice and I enjoyed it even if the first stringers didn’t stay in the game past one at bat.

Otherwise, I can honestly say that in my years of going to the DBAP I have not met one Rays fan, not one. That includes the guy I stare at in the mirror every morning. I have met a couple of guys who have individual Rays on their fantasy team (inevitably Even Longoria and/or David Price).

So, Joe, if you ever throw out the first pitch at the DBAP, don’t expect a standing O, because most folks around here don’t even know who the guy with the funny sunglasses is (haven’t we seen him in a vitamin ad, dear?). At least, not until the Rays get into the local TV lineup, get some stories into the local papers and start promoting their team hereabouts.

Opening Day At Gwinnett

Photo courtesy Brian Merzbach, www.ballparkreviews.com

The Bulls open their season tonight against the Gwinnett Braves, the Triple-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. Coolray Field is just a taxi ride away from downtown Atlanta which may be a good thing for Atlanta, but I'd bet sort of works on the heads of the players.

The Braves get pretty good local coverage and the Gwinnett Daily Post had a very nice special issue in last Sunday's paper. An impossibly young-looking local reporter does a blog.

This is the Braves third year in Lawrenceville. They were in Richmond, Virginia for a couple of centuries before then. Coolray Field itself has had mixed reviews, such as this one and this one.

Most years the Braves are the Bulls toughest opponent in the South Division of the International League. They usually have a solid mix of veterans and hungry youngsters and it doesn't look like this year will be much different.

In the meantime, we're mostly going to have to wait until 7 o'clock to see what the starting lineup tonight's going to be. Other than the starting pitcher, Charlie pretty much dodged that question during the interviews, as he usually does.

Profile

Richard De Los Santos is slated to start tonight. He is one of my favorite Bulls pitchers. He had a terrific year in 2010, in particular a stretch in July and August when he won eight in a row with a 1.42 ERA (see his profile here). Although he does not show up on any of the hot prospect lists, his stats are getting better. He's been in the Rays system for six years, but until last year he was plagued with shoulder problems. Here's hoping he stays with us all year.

Webnotes

• Mike Ekstrom has cleared waivers and should be showing up soon, according to Rays Index.
• The News & Observer noticed the Bulls season is starting with a photo of "infielder" Justin Ruggiano. Photo gallery has a couple of good shots of players at work. Looks like some uniform changes for this year, at least the practice jerseys.
• The Herald-Sun did a start of the season story as well. Focusing on Desmond Jennings.
• I don't think I've provided this older link to a story in the Herald-Sun on Elliot Johnson. He is, after all, a hometown lad now.
• And I don't think I've put up this link from several days ago about the overall Rays minor league system. Today's a good day for that.

How to Listen To/Watch Tomorrow’s Game

My apologies if this seems simplistic, but it also is not obvious at the Bulls website. 

One big warning, this is what worked last year, but, since the Bulls are hostage to MiLB servers, procedures for internet-based stuff may not be up-to-date.

To listen to a game: 

Tune radio to AM 620. Reasonable coverage, but not perfect throughout the Triangle. Some games are on FM 99.9, so if you don’t find the game on 620, try 99.9.

Over the web you have two approaches, both reached through the Bulls website:

After the game starts there will probably be a link on the upper right-hand side of the page that says “Listen Now”. 

Alternatively click on Team > Scoreboard and look for the game (Durham Bulls - Gwinnett Braves). If game is posted, you should see icons for the radio streaming.

If something seems really wrong, try going directly to MiLB’s website and click around there. That works sometimes.

Then there is “Gameday”. This is a nifty feature that is essentially a cartoonish presentation of the game that will provide visuals to watch while listening to the broadcasts. Usually there are links on both the Bulls home page and on the MiLB scoreboard page. It also gives you a starting lineup for both teams and a live box score as the game progresses.

Television of away games: I have had really bad luck with video streaming in previous years, but may be trying again this year. Seems to me to be expensive, particularly when not all games are covered. If anyone one else tries it this year, let me know how it works. The downside of TV of away games is that you are hostage to the home team’s broadcasters. The upside is that you will quickly find out just how good at calling a game Neil Solondz is.

The long-rumored iPhone app has not shown up in the app store (the one that’s there isn’t much). I’ll keep checking. The Montgomery Biscuits have an app and it looks really cool. When and if the Bulls’ app does become available, the iPhone (and reportedly Android) app will be another way to get audio streaming of games.

First Pitch Luncheon

Season Begins Tomorrow

The Durham Bulls had their “First Pitch” luncheon yesterday and I was lucky enough to attend. It was fun to chat with a couple of the players and shake their hands.

Pitcher Brian Baker and catcher Craig Albernaz were in the room even though they don’t show up on the Bulls roster. Seems early in the season for doing the Hudson Valley roster paper shuffling routine, but that appears to be happening.*

Everybody looked very fit and tan and I had one of my blinding glimpses of the obvious — these guys have been playing baseball in Florida for the last couple of months...of course they look fit and tan.

When asked about the competition, Charlie Montoyo said that he thought that Gwinnett is going to be the team that will give the Bulls the most trouble.

Unusual for Montoyo, he stood still for a long interview. Worth a watch.

Ray Olmedo seems to be happy to be back with Durham. He said that the biggest difference between the Pacific Coast League and the International League was the distances teams have to travel. He mentioned routine 4 A.M. flights and then having the play the same day. He remembered starting off the 2009 season with a bunch of home runs. He didn't promise to do it again.

Dirk Hayhurst on being a starter instead of a reliever: “I hope I don’t suck.”

For more on the luncheon, check out Steve Wiseman’s story in the Herald-Sun.

* The Hudson Valley Renegades are a team in the Rays minor league system that plays a “short season”. Since their season hasn’t started yet, their roster provides a place to park players that the Bulls want to keep close, but don’t have room for on their own roster. 

The Durham Bulls Roster (So Far)

First Game of the Season — Thursday!

10 days to first game at the DBAP

Several sources (but lets go with the Bulls themselves) are reporting the following roster for the Bulls:

Starting Pitchers:

• Richard de los Santos
• Dirk Hayhurst
• Alex Torres
• Alex Cobb
• Edgar Gonzalez

Relievers:

• R.J. Swindle
• Chris Bootcheck
• Rob Delaney
• Dane De La Rosa
• Brandon Gomes
• Cory Wade

Catchers:

• Robinson Chirinos
• Jose Lobaton

Infielders:

• J.J. Furmaniak
• Omar Luna
• Ray Olmedo
• Russ Canzler
• Casey Kotchman

Outfielders:

• Desmond Jennings
• Justin Ruggiano
• Leslie Anderson
• Chris Carter
• Brandon Guyer

Three names are missing from this list and others that we’ve seen. The first is infielder Felipe Lopez who was called up when Evan Longoria went on the disabled list. Room had to be made on the 40-man roster, so relief pitcher Mike Ekstrom was designated for assignment. Ekstrom may or may not show up in Durham. If he doesn’t, my bet would have been on Brian Baker, but his name has disappeared from any of the rosters I’ve seen so far. Anybody out there know what happened to Brian? Omar Luna took Lopez’s place on the Bulls’ roster.

Odds and Ends

• Interesting list of hotels/motels to stay at/avoid over at Life of the Baseball Wife. What’s a bit odd about the list is, with a few minor exceptions, they are all in places the average person is unlikely to visit (unless you’re married to a baseball player, I guess).
• Good backgrounder on catcher Nevin Ashley in the Montgomery Advertiser. We saw Ashley for a while last year. Have never seen Vogt. Good chance that we might see both near the end of the season.
• Yesterday's Rays' starting infield of Dan Johnson, Ben Zobrist, Elliot Johnson, and Sean Rodriguez looked distinctly Bullish.

Update: The Bulls roster is on their website and matches this list, with the exception of Omar Luna who does not show up yet.

They Rode the Bus Together

Or, "The 2008 Bulls Make It to the Big Leagues!"

Until the Bulls finally start their season (4 more days!), I find myself writing much more about the Rays than I prefer. Nevertheless, a feature of this year’s Tampa Bay Rays team jumped out at me as I was writing the Johnson & Johnson piece — these guys played together a lot before they got to the majors.

Eighteen of the 26 players on the active roster (I’m counting J.P. Howell) played together in the top level(s) of the Rays minor league system. All of the eighteen played for the Bulls and fifteen of those played for the Biscuits. In other words, most of the current Rays team spent several years riding together on the same bus and sharing the same locker room before they got to St. Petersburg.

The list: John Jaso, Dan Johnson, Sean Rodriguez, Reid Brignac, Evan Longoria, Elliot Johnson, B.J. Upton, Matt Joyce, John Jaso, Ben Zobrist, David Price, Jeff Niemann, James Shields, Wade Davis, Jeremy Hellickson, Jake McGee, Andy Sonnanstine, and J.P. Howell. (Dan Johnson, Matt Joyce, and Sean Rodriguez never play in Montgomery.)

The 2008 Durham Bulls cohort is particularly striking. Half of the eighteen were 2008 Durham Bulls: Brignac, Jaso, the two Johnsons, Longoria, Zobrist, Niemann, Davis, and Price.

John Jaso caught every single one of the pitchers as he, and they, came up through the system (except for J.P. Howell and James Shields, and he made up for that last year). And he rode around on the bus with Reid Brignac for four years before sticking with the Rays.

As another example, in his time with the Biscuits and Bulls Elliot Johnson has been on the bus with every one of these guys except J.P. Howell.

Even superstar Evan Longoria played in the minors with Brignac, the Johnsons, Zobrist, Neimann, Sonnanstine, Davis, McGee, and Price.

These guys knocked around together for quite a few years before other folks started carrying their bags for them. For better or worse, they know a lot about each other; they have a sense of what the other guy can do. I’m thinking that in the long run, that’s a good thing.  My point is that if baseball really is a team sport (don’t really want to get into that issue here), this could be quite a year for the Rays.

Remembering Sidd Finch

Photo courtesy Sports Illustrated

After more than twenty-five years you'd think that we could get over the loss of this young man to baseball. But I, for one, cannot. Today is the day to remember this brilliant young ballplayer and something of a lost soul.

Photo courtesy Sports Illustrated

For those who never knew of, or who would like to revisit this young ballplayer's brief moment of fame, the original Sports Illustrated story by George Plimpton is here:

The Curious Case of Sidd Finch

For those who would prefer to examine Mr. Finch's full career, let me refer you to Plimpton's deeper exploration available on Amazon, and in the Wake and Durham County Libraries.

Enjoy April First!