Hemstitching: The DAP, Sonnanstine, and Rosters

Durham Athletic Park, 1940s

• The Herald-Sun is reporting (thanks, Fritz) that the Bulls are going to take over management of the old Durham Athletic Park. What will that mean to Bulls fans? Other than tweaking our nostalgia bones, not much. What could it mean to Durham? Possibly quite a bit. As a non-Durham guy, I think that the DAP really adds a lot to that part of town. I know that there’s not too much going on in the neighborhood, but with the DAP in good shape that part of town just looks great. As I’ve mentioned before, the renovated DAP is a not all that great a place to watch a game, but sure looks to be a great place to play a game. So if the current arrangement with NCCU can be sustained (and Duke?) seems like a good idea for all. Note: it looks like the idea of a museum for minor league baseball is not going to happen. Tricky business model for that project, I’d guess.
• Andy Sonnanstine, who’s spent a good bit of time with the Bulls over the years (56 innings in 2011) has signed with the Cubs. Seemed to me that for all of last year the Rays couldn’t decide just what it was that they wanted Sonnanstine to be able to do. Was he a starter? A long reliever? Did the Rays need a sixth starter? Or even a long reliever? He had decent stats as a Bull, but he also added to the starting pitcher roster confusion that plagued the Bulls all year. Not his fault, though. Here’s hoping he gets a chance to bloom up there in Chicago. The Cubs AAA franchise (Iowa) is in the Pacific Coast League so we’re not likely to see Andy here again.
• Over at Rays Prospects they are starting to build their guesses at 2012 rosters with a look at starting pitching and catching. No arguments from me so far.

DAP Restored

What Stars Are These?

Hubble Advent Calendar, Day 25

Check out the link for Alan Taylor's astute descriptions of this and all the other images he assembled.

Happy Christmas!

Just Because It's Beautiful

Hubble Advent Calendar, Day 24

Hemstitching: GIBBYS, Prospects, and Market Inefficiencies

Hubble Advent Calendar, Day 23

• Greatness in Baseball Yearly awards were announced a while back. Of interest to Bulls fans was the award for the “Must C Moment”, our Dan Johnson’s homer against the Yankees that set the stage for Even Longoria’s walkoff that put the Rays into the playoffs.
• To fill up the time before Spring Training lots of folks are evaluating prospects within the Rays system. The best place to keep an eye on that is, of course, Rays Prospects. But, Baseball America has just come out with their list. We have seen several at the DBAP and are likely to see more next year.
• And there’s always some geek stuff to look at. Over at Grantland, Ray Jazyerli thinks he has found the latest market inefficiency — overvaluing prospects. No direct effect on the Bulls unless the Rays pull off another big trade like they did last year for ... prospects. However, given the success of the players involved in the Garza trade, the Rays appear to be going against the trends identified by Jazyerli.

Ode to Brasstown, North Carolina

This blog is, in general, monomaniacal regarding its subject — The Durham Bulls Baseball Club. However, on occasion there are matters of such deep and abiding concern that they cannot be ignored.

This morning’s News & Observer gave us one such instance. It would seem that the good people with PETA have taken umbrage at the annual Clay’s Corner New Year’s Eve Opossum Drop.

Well, just next door to Clay’s Corner out there in Brasstown, NC (just east of Murphy) is my favorite place in all of North Carolina, the John C. Campbell Folk School. Brasstown itself is a community of something like 200 souls and Clay’s Corner is just about the only business left. I like visiting Clay’s Corner and Brasstown whenever I’m at the Folk School.

As noted in the story, on New Year’s Eve an opossum is placed in a plexiglass box and hauled up into the air. At the stroke of midnight the 'possum is lowered to the ground and released.

Opossums of my acquaintance would consider it an honor to participate. Probably a good idea if them fellers up there in Washington, DC just leave the good folk (and 'possums) of Brasstown alone. Complaining about an opossum drop is sillier than the 'possum drop itself.

Update: Brasstown's 2012 Possum after the drop:

Happy New Year!

Photo by Eliza Kern of Reese News

Neil Solondz Departing

Talk about good news/bad news!

Neil Solondz is moving down to St. Petersburg to do pre- and post-game radio for the Rays. (Thanks for the heads up, DRR!)

Congratulations, Neil!

We Durham Bulls fans have been exceptionally fortunate to have Neil in the broadcast booth for the last several years. From time to time when the Bulls were on the road I checked in with the host team’s broadcast just to hear what they are saying about the Bulls. The contrast was startling. You’d think that you were hearing a different game. I think that it’s safe to say that Neil is the best play-by-play man in AAA baseball, certainly the best in the International League.

Neil never forgot the fundamental task of the play-by-play guy, keeping the listeners informed on just what is happening on the field and painting a picture of what that looks like. Through him we always had a very good idea of what was happening minute by minute in the game. I’m not sure if every slider he called was actually a slider, but it was in my imagination, and that’s what counted.

He also did a terrific job of keeping us informed, as best he could, on both on-field tactics and off-field strategy, the significance of roster changes and potential for further moves.

On a more personal note, whenever I managed to get way to far out on a limb here at WDBB, I could expect a kind note from Neil suggesting how I might be able to crawl back without making a complete fool of myself. Thanks, N!

So, we are going to miss Neil. We know that the Bulls aren’t going to be able to find as good a guy to replace him, but maybe they’ll find someone who can grow into the job.

In the meantime, good luck Neil. You already know almost every one of those guys you’ll be interviewing and they’ll know you. Should be fun.

Update: Stacy Long had a great comment over on his blog:

(One wonders if they had Durham manager Charlie Montoyo give him the news or at least called him into the manager's office for it.)

Hemstitching: Torra Signs, MiLB.com Picks All-Stars

Hubble Advent Calendar, Day 14

• MLB Trade Rumors is reporting that RHP Matt Torra has signed with the Rays. With no further information, we’ll just go ahead and speculate that it is a minor league contract with an invitation to Spring Training. We like Torra. He showed up in Durham last year in July and put in quite a few innings (61⅓), 11 games started, 5-1, ERA of 3.67. Pretty good. At 27 you have to think that he’s a long shot with the Rays, but as we noted at the end of the season, we’d be happy to see him back in a Bulls uniform.
• MiLB.com is reporting a “Rays Organization All-Star” list. Quite a few 2011 Bulls on the list including Steven Vogt, Russ Canzler, and Brandon Guyer whom we might see next year, along with a couple we’re very unlikely to see, Dan Johnson and Desmond Jennings, and several that we might see. Worth looking at for the comments of Rays minor league exec Mitch Lukevics.