Hot Times at the DBAP

Season: 47-41; Home Stand: 1-0
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

Game time temp 96°! Welcome to summertime North Carolina! And a hurricane is on the way, even if only aimed at the coast.

I filled out my scorecard with Vince Belnome at 1B batting seventh and did not notice that he wasn’t on the field, but leaning against the railing of the dugout. Turns out Jayson Nix was a last minute sub at first base but I didn't figure that out until the 2nd inning. We gossiped and guessed most of the evening and learned this morning that he is apparently on his way to join the Rays. Here’s hoping that his stay is better and longer than the one-game visit he had at the first of the year.

Bulls fans are happy to see Alex Colome back from Tampa Bay and seeing him in good form against the team the Bulls need to beat to win in the South. He did give up a rare home run (only his second this year), but otherwise had a very solid 100 pitch, very efficient (4.76 pitches per out), 7 inning win.

Things seem right in the world when Justin Christian put a home run over the Bull in the 1st and then went on to collect a double and a single for his best night in quite a while. Not to mention several very solid plays in right field. Equally fun to watch was the sequence that began with two outs in the second inning. Robby Price (3 for 3 on the night) bunted himself on and then teased Gwinnett’s pitcher to the point that he ended up with a 3-2 count on Jayson Nix. Price was off on the 3-2 count and easily scored on Nix’s double. If Price had not been running on 3-2, if, if, if. Could have been the winning run, but Mikie Mahtook crushed one in the 5th with two on to put the Bulls ahead for good.

Bulls win and a food truck rodeo, what more can you ask for? Maybe just a little bit cooler?

Outside the game —

• The Rays are a famously data-driven team. But from time to time Manager Maddon’s approach borders on rank superstition, as pointed out by Rays Index recently. Were a voodoo priestess' readings of chicken bones behind the Rays spending $3,300,000 on a 15 year-old in the international draft? 
• Jeremy Hellickson to make his fifth rehab start for the Bulls today. Hope springs eternal. He is at the end of his rehab assignment limit. Not sure what that could mean for him or the Bulls if he cannot reach his 90 pitch limit.

Tough Trip; Now Gwinnett

Game 84; 28 June; Bulls 4 - Pawsox 6
Wrap, Box

Game 85; 29 June; Bulls 4 - Pawsox 7
Wrap, Box

Game 86; 30 June; Bulls 0 - Pawsox 10
Wrap, Box

Game 87; 1 July, Durham Bulls 5 - Pawtucket Red Sox 3
Season: 46-41; Trip: 1-3
Wrap, Box, Providence Journal

The worrisome Durham Bulls come back to Durham for a short two-game visit in the midst of a tough stretch that began back on the 16th of June up in Louisville when the Bulls were 14 games above .500 and 7½ games ahead of Gwinnett in the South Division. Since that time the Bulls have lost 12 games and won just 3 (including last night). Fortunately for the Bulls' standings in the South, the Gwinnett Braves have not been doing much better and the Bulls are still 5 games ahead of them.

What’s gone wrong? Mostly starting pitching, as the chart of the running totals of ERA over the last 15 games shows.

Matt Andriese's work last night was the exception. And maybe, just maybe, Hak-Ju Lee’s bat has come to life. Lee went 3 for 4 including a home run, for what was, I think, his best one-game performance this year.

Andriese gave up two home runs (to the same guy, Pawtucket’s Corey Brown), but otherwise seemed in control.

Outside the game —

• Alex Colome has been optioned back to the Bulls after a fine performance for the Rays against Baltimore.
• Jeff Beliveau has been called up. Speculation is that he won’t stay long, but that the Rays may come looking for a position player. At the moment, only Hak-Ju Lee, Ali Solis, and Vince Belnome are on the Rays 40-man. But the Rays are past masters at manipulating that, so hard to tell if someone will be moving up soon.

Matchup

Gwinnett has been having a tough year, but nothing wrong with their hitting. If the Bulls pitching does not get in order, this could be a difficult series for the home team.

Split; Off to the Sox

Season: 45-38; Home Stand: 2-6
Wrap, Box, Indianapolis

Rehabbing Jeremy Hellickson extended his losing streak to four (although I’m not sure exactly why since he only allowed one run ...yet another scoring rule I don’t understand). But neither Jake Thompson nor Doug Mathis were exactly stellar since they gave up 5 earned runs between themselves. Doug Mathis does deserved some points for just getting through 4 innings leaving some flex in the bullpen for today’s game in Pawtucket. Mikie Mahtook’s home run came late, but it came. He remains the most reliable Bulls hitter.

Jeremy Moore delivered two perfect throws to the plate to prevent runs and two double plays show that it could have been worse.

Some (much) credit must go to Indianapolis' Casey Sadler, who pitched a fine game for the Indians.

Matchup

The Bulls split a 4-game home series with the PawSox early in June. The Sox are doing pretty well in what is turning out to be the most competitive division in the IL. It looks like the Bulls have a slight edge in pitching and Merrill Kelly gets a start tonight ... a good thing. Should be a good series if the Bulls can get past knuckleballer Wright tonight.

Outside the game —

• Leslie Anderson continues doing well for the league-leading Yomiuri Giants (Japan Central League. A slash line of .311/.367/.467 with 31 RBI looks very good. 
• J.D. Martin is doing OK as a starter for the Samsung Lions in Korea.

Paywalls and Durham Bulls Fans

How much baseball information should we get for free?

That’s the question that comes to mind as the Herald-Sun went behind a paywall and Durham Bulls fans who don’t subscribe to the Herald-Sun lost what was essentially our only source of independent reportage.

Over the years that I’ve been doing this blog I have routinely linked to newspaper accounts of the games and other interesting (if not always relevant) baseball news. In practice that has meant primarily the Herald-Sun and, for a couple of years, Durham’s Independent Weekly. On rare occasions Raleigh’s News & Observer will have a reporter on the scene, but reportage on the Bulls outside of the Herald-Sun is cut and pasted from the Bulls’ press release. And that’s what the Herald-Sun does when the Bulls are on the road. To be fair, that’s also what the home town papers of all the Triple A teams seem to do. Some home town papers do considerably less than the Herald-Sun even when the teams are home.

This year, as far as I can tell, the only regular home game reportage has been the Herald-Sun. So the question is, for me, what is it worth? And what should I then provide to readers of this blog?

As blogs go, WDBB is a pretty modest enterprise. I don’t allow advertising primarily because it is usually ugly (and doesn’t really pay anything to speak of — but I could probably be bought). Nevertheless, in the last month WDBB has had readers from 42 states and 12 foreign countries. Mostly, mind you, visitsors come from North Carolina (59%), but more from Raleigh (21%) than Durham (18%). So, if I link to the Herald-Sun site, and assuming all the Durham folks reading WDBB already subscribe to the Herald-Sun, 82% of WDBB readers would have to pay to see it. That isn’t going to happen. They aren’t likely to pay and, unless something changes, I am not likely to link.

So, why don’t I just pay the $10 a month, and then tell everyone what the Herald-Sun said? That’s legal (maybe) and that’s what I’m thinking about doing. My preference, however, is to provide a link for every comment of fact that I put in the blog.

On the other hand, why doesn’t the Herald-Sun get its ad sales crew’s act together and figure out what to sell on specific pages of the website? For the Bulls stories you'd think Mellow Mushroom, Tyler’s Taproom and Tobacco Road would be interested. Or, for that matter, what about Durham Bulls ads?

Maybe $10 from a Durham Bulls nutcase like me will get them more than a Moe’s ad that targets Bulls fans on their way to-from the game.

As for the Bulls fans from around the country and the world that appear to be interested in the team, isn’t there something to sell them? How about prestige? Or pride in Durham?

I mentioned yesterday that I’d written the Herald-Sun, but today I see that even the “contact us” links are now on the other side of the paywall. I don’t expect an answer. More than that, putting their contact info on the other side of the paywall strikes me as near-suicidal for a news gathering organization. It’s the 21st century. Are they expecting their reporters to get their tips by telephone? A telephone number is on the home page. I dialed it. Got a robot.

I wonder if I could even buy a Herald-Sun at the ball park? Does anyone know? Is the print edition of the Herald-Sun available at a news stand anywhere around the DBAP?

This is a lengthy way of explaining why WDBB has stopped providing links to the Herald-Sun. They have a well-above average reporting crew and if you are a Herald-Sun subscriber I commend their work to you. Their coverage is surely better that the amateurish stuff we do here at WDBB. But it’s beginning to look like we are the only independent voice you’ve got — and that should really scare you.

Note: The Tampa Bay Times (née St. Petersburg Times) also has a paywall up, but they at least let you visit a few times a month for free. We don't link to them either.

More from Moore

Season: 45-37; Home Stand: 2-5
Wrap, Box

As we mentioned yesterday, the stats on the new Durham Bull Jeremy Moore weren’t all that promising, but it seems that he was injured at the end of spring training. Looking back, some of the bloggers were putting him in contention to stick with the Rays at the end of spring. He’s certainly making his mark. An RBI double in the 2nd inning and a beautiful grand slam in the 5th accounted for five of the Bulls’ runs in the game. So let’s welcome him to the team. And let’s not forget catcher Curt Casali, who had two RBIs, or Ray Olmedo, who had the other one. A good night for Bulls hitters.

As regular readers will know, we like Matt Andriese a lot and we were very pleased to see him come back from his absolutely awful start of a few days ago. Six strong innings, followed by some of Brandon Gomes’ best work since he re-joined the Bulls

And then there was Steve Geltz. We like him. We liked his work as a pitcher last year. After 50 games away from the team on a drug suspension we didn’t expect much, but he simply blew three batters away. His return creates a roster problem once Alex Colome is on his way back from the Rays after tonight’s game in Baltimore. Geltz sure made his statement that he belongs with the Bulls.

Cannot pass up the chance to point out the game's quirk. Bottom of the 7th, two outs, Ali Solis batting as DH. Solis hits a "towering" pop up over shortstop Robert Andino's head. Solis does what he's supposed to do, he runs it out. In fact, he keeps on going until he's halfway to second base. That tells you a bit about how "towering" the pop up was. And, you know where's this is going, Andino dropped the ball, picked it up, and began a run down of Solis, who was eventually tagged out. What coach has ever said, "Run it out, but wait on first base just in case he drops the ball?"

Belnome Breaks Out; Bulls Break Streak

Season: 44-37; Home Stand: 1-5
Wrap, Box

At last! Boy that was some long 8-game losing streak and what better than for the Bulls most erratic pitcher, Nate Karns, to get the win and a Bulls struggling hitter, Vince Belnome, to get a home run, two doubles and an intentional walk (how’s that for regained respect)?

Was there a downside? Well, yes there was. I was unable to attend the game and only was able to listen to the last two innings. But that was my problem, not the Bulls.

After that awful slide, sure was nice to hear them celebrate a win. Fortunately for the Bulls, they are in the IL South and in spite of the long slide, they remain 4.5 games ahead in the division.

New guy Jeremy Moore was in the lineup. The last (and only) time we saw his name was during spring training when he hit a non-roster invitee list. His stats from Montgomery are nothing special and  yet he has both Triple A and major league experience. I did not hear the profile from Patrick Kinas, but I’m guessing that there are injury issues there. At any rate, in his first game he went 2 for 4 with a double and 2 RBI. That gives him great Durham Bulls stats. We Bulls fans have an outfielder who can hit. What more could we ask for?

Outside the game —

• Alex Colome will put on a Rays uniform for a start against Baltimore Friday. Good luck. Except for his last game, he has done a stunning job with the Bulls since his return from suspension. That means Jeremy Hellickson will likely have another start with the Bulls as part of his rehab.
• The Durham Herald-Sun newspaper has put itself behind a paywall ($10/month for digital subscribers), so we will no longer be providing links to their coverage. Too bad, because, unless I've been missing something all year, they were the only regular reporters with press box and media access to the team. At least they were only ones I’ve ever found since Adam Sobsey stopped writing for Indy Week. Doesn’t seem fair to our vast readership to quote or link to something they would have to pay to see. (Note: We’ve done the same for the Tampa Bay Times, which has also gone behind a paywall.) We’ve emailed the Herald-Sun. Will let you know if anything comes of it.

Nice Day Goes Bad

Season: 43-36; Home Stand: 4-0; Streak: 0-7
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun

The Bulls were ahead 3 to 1. Mike Montgomery was doing a stellar job on the mound. The offense was looking good. And it was a pleasant afternoon at the DBAP, the sort of day we love.

We were a bit puzzled when Montgomery left. And are now very concerned to learn that it was because of elbow discomfort (see the Herald-Sun link). Nevertheless, even after the Chiefs tied it up in the 6th we were still expecting the Bulls to pull it off.

Then came an ugly 8th. On our scoresheet we second-guessed Charlie Montoyo after the first batter doubled off of Brandon Gomes and the next batter, the best hitter in the International League, Steven Souza, was not given an intentional pass. But that’s not what Montoyo does. He’s only ordered one so far this year. Souza singled the runner to 3B and the Chiefs were off, eventually scoring four runs off of two Durham Bulls pitchers.

On the other hand, as much as it pains me to say so, the Syracuse Chiefs are clearly the best team in the IL today. They mopped the floor with the Bulls and the Bulls are a pretty decent team themselves. This will change, of course, depending on the whims of the baseball gods and the fortunes and management decisions of the parent teams. They’ve got talent and seem to be well-managed by former Montgomery Biscuits manager Billy Gardner. They have taken eight games from the Bulls this year. That has not been done in Bulls Triple A history, according to broadcaster Kinas. So, credit where credit is due. The Bulls will not see them again this year unless they both make it through the first round of the playoffs. Now that would be a rematch worth watching.

Matchup

On their last road trip the Bulls split a four-game series with the Pittsburgh affiliate, the Indianapolis Indians. Plus, it happens that the Pirates are playing the Rays today as well. The Indians lead their division of the IL and also lead the Bulls in every category in this table (but not by much). The Bulls have their work cut out for them today, and for the rest of the week.