Pitching Update

Sean Morgan has been bumped in favor of LHP Taylor Sinclair tonight. Morgan was apparently a little tight in a side session the other day, and so the decision was made to go with the lefty instead.

High-A All-Stars

At the high-A level, the California League puts together a league of all-stars to play a game against the Carolina League (another high-A league). So there are fewer all-stars per team, but still a unique concept.

I'd love to see the Midwest League All-Stars battle the South Atlantic League All-Stars every summer, but I think that is probably years away from ever happening.

Anyhow, the purpose of this post is to tell you of two former Silver Hawks that are on the California League roster: Josh Collmenter and Pat McAnaney.

For the complete rosters for this game, click here.

Speaking of All-Stars, if you want to vote for the triple-A all-stars, go here (you have to put in a name and email address, but it's free).

Tonight's Lineup

Duffy - LF
Estevez - 2B
Marte - DH
Diaz - CF
Ramirez - 1B
Perez - C
Gomez - 3B
Asencio - RF
Navarro - SS

Cook - SP

We'll give a draft update during the pregame show. We'll also give updatead on some of the top picks and the D'Backs picks during the broadcast.

Archived Page

The archived broadcast page is up and working again. I apologize for the problems we've had with it, but it should be good to go now. If you missed any games and want to catch up on them, head here.

From the Notes - June 9th

South Bend Silver Hawks (25-30)
vs. Fort Wayne TinCaps (35-22)

Coveleski Stadium, South Bend, Indiana – 7:00 PM Eastern Time

Season Series: 7-0 TinCaps
@ Coveleski Stadium: 3-0 TinCaps
@ Parkview Field: 4-0 TinCaps
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Silver Hawks Team Hitting: .243 – 13th
Silver Hawks Team Pitching: 3.89 ERA – 7th
TinCaps Team Hitting: .259 – 5th
TinCaps Team Pitching: 3.68 ERA – 5th
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
LAST GAME: The South Bend Silver Hawks have tied a season high six game losing streak with a 4-1 loss to Fort Wayne on Monday night. Ryan Clark hit two home runs for Fort Wayne, driving in three runs, with Sawyer Carroll adding a solo shot to center over the batter’s eye at Coveleski Stadium. Brett Moorhouse (LP, 2-6) was again the tough luck loser for South Bend, allowing two runs in 5.1 innings. Moorhouse allowed the first of Clark’s two homers, then Justin Mace (ND) gave up Carroll’s shot, with Yonata Ortega (ND) giving up Clark’s second homer. Alfredo Marte was 2-for-3 to lead the offense.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
THE PLAYOFF CHASE (Top two teams from each division qualify in each half):
· The Silver Hawks are currently in 4th place in the Eastern Division with 13 games to play in the first half.
· South Bend is -9.5 out of first (West Michigan), -9.0 out of the wild card (Fort Wayne), and -3.5 out of third place (Great Lakes)
· The remaining 13 games are all against Eastern Division opponents (1 vs. FW, 4 @ WM, 4 vs. GL, 4 vs. FW).
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
TEAM NOTES:
· South Bend has a losing record against every Eastern Division team but Lansing (0-3 WM, 1-3 GL, 0-7 FW, 3-5 DTN, 7-3 LAN)
· The Silver Hawks have lost six in a row for the second time this season (also lost six in a row May 16-21).
· The Silver Hawks have been held to four runs or less in seven straight games.
· South Bend is batting just .159 against Fort Wayne this season.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
INDIVIDUAL NOTES:
· Brendan Duffy (.307 average) has dropped out of the top ten in batting for the first time in over a month.
· South Bend will send four players (Duffy, Navarro, Cook, Hose) to the All-Star Game along with the entire field staff.

Tonight's Lineup

Duffy - CF
Elmore - 2B (pregame interview guest)
Marte - LF
Ramirez - 3B
Perez - DH
Asencio - RF
Gomez- 1B
Davis - C
Navarro - SS

Moorhouse - SP

From the Notes - June 8, 2009

Rather than copy the first page of notes today, I thought I'd browse through some of the deeper sections for some interesting stats.

South Bend @ Home: 15-9
South Bend on the Road: 10-20

Tonight's pitching matchup is a rematch of the May 17th game (Bass vs. Moorhouse). Fort Wayne won that game 5-1.

The Hawks are 1-7 on Sundays, and 0-2 on Mondays, but 6-2 on Tuesdays. What this means, I have no idea.

The Silver Hawks are averaging under four runs per game this season (3.93). They are allowing 4.43 runs per game this year.

Your Help Please

With the first half winding down, I've taken a look at the names for the Burger King Steakhouse XT Home Run Inning, and I don't know that we have enough for the rest of the season. If you haven't registered yet, please do so at the following link:

http://southbend.silverhawks.milb.com/schedule/page.jsp?ymd=20090406&content_id=550977&vkey=schedule_t550&fext=.jsp&sid=t550

Go down to where it says "Click here to enter", and fill out an email with your name, phone number, and address.

Thanks!

Today's Lineup

Duffy - CF
Elmore - 2B
Marte - LF
Diaz - DH
Asencio - RF
Gomez - 1B
Davis - C
Estevez - 3B
Navarro - SS

Rodriguez - SP

(Justin Parker is out with a slight shoulder strain. Day-to-day from what I understand)

The D'Backs System - June 7, 2009

From time to time, I'll try to give a quick update on the D'Backs system. I'll include some former South Bend players at each level (this will not be a complete list of all the former Hawks, just a few per team).

MLB -- Arizona Diamondbacks (24-32, 4th place, -14.0 Dodgers)
-Justin Upton is batting .317 with 11 homers and 34 RBI
-Mark Reynolds with 13 home runs and 33 RBI
-Gerardo Parra is batting .293, 1 HR, 17 RBI in 21 games at the major league level
-Tony Pena is 5-2 with a 3.12 ERA
-Daniel Schlereth has pitched in five games, but is 0-2 with a 13.50 ERA
-Clay Zavada is 1-0, with 6.2 scoreless inning in the bigs

AAA -- Reno Aces (26-31, 3rd place, -8.5 Sacramento)
-Billy Spottiswood is 0-0 with a 4.05 ERA in five games
-Bryan Augenstein is 1-1 with a 6.00 ERA in three games at AAA

AA -- Mobile BayBears (32-25, 2nd place, -6.0 Birmingham)
-Pedro Ciriaco at .255
-Orlando Mercado hitting .311
-Yunesky Sanchez is batting .247
-Reid Mahon is 2-1 with a 2.76 ERA
-Kyler Newby is 1-0 with a 2.63 ERA
-Jarrod Parker is 3-3 with a 3.00 ERA in 7 games

Hi-A -- Visalia Rawhide (34-22, 1st place, +1.0 Modesto)
-Collin Cowgill hitting .280 with 6 HR and 33 RBI
-Manny Ferrer batting just .129
-Taylor Harbin batting .271 with 4 HR and 22 RBI
-Ollie Linton batting .297 with 20 RBI
-Eli Rumler at .217
-Ryne White at .271 with 25 RBI
-Christian Beltre is 1-3
-Josh Collmenter is 6-3 with a 3.29 ERA
-Trevor Harden is 1-3 with a 2.59 ERA in 5 games
-Patrick McAnaney is 6-1 with a 2.83ERA
-Jordan Norberto is 3-1 with a 2.01 ERA in 15 games
-Leyson Septimo with a 2.33 ERA in 18 games
-Bryan Shaw is 1-4 with an ERA of 4.43

From the Notes - June 7, 2009

South Bend Silver Hawks (25-28)
vs. Fort Wayne TinCaps (33-22)

Parkview Field, Fort Wayne, Indiana – 3:05 PM Eastern Time

Season Series: 5-0 TinCaps
@ Coveleski Stadium: 2-0 TinCaps
@ Parkview Field: 3-0 TinCaps
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Silver Hawks Team Hitting: .245 – T-12th
Silver Hawks Team Pitching: 3.79 ERA – 6th
TinCaps Team Hitting: .257 – 5th
TinCaps Team Pitching: 3.76 ERA – 5th
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
LAST GAME: The South Bend Silver Hawks were held to a season low two hits as Fort Wayne took game one of the series 5-1. The Silver Hawks scored their only run without a hit in the inning, on two hit batters and two walks in the third inning from Fort Wayne starter Erik Davis (WP, 5-1). Davis allowed just two hits in 6.0 innings, followed by two scoreless innings from Stiven Osuna (ND) and a 1-2-3 ninth from Brad Brach (ND). Wade Miley (LP, 2-5) allowed three of the five runs to Fort Wayne, giving up 10 hits in 7.0 innings. Bayron Zepeda (ND) gave up two big insurance runs to the TinCaps in the 8th, blowing the game open late.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
THE PLAYOFF CHASE (Top two teams from each division qualify in each half):
· The Silver Hawks are currently in 4th place in the Eastern Division with 15 games to play in the first half.
· South Bend is -8.5 out of first (West Michigan), -7.0 out of the wild card (Fort Wayne), and -3.0 out of third place (Great Lakes)
· The remaining 15 games are all against Eastern Division opponents (1 @ FW, 6 vs. FW, 4 @ WM, 4 vs. GL).
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
TEAM NOTES:
· South Bend has a losing record against every Eastern Division team but Lansing (0-3 WM, 1-3 GL, 0-5 FW, 3-5 DTN, 7-3 LAN)
· The Silver Hawks have lost four in a row for the first time since losing six straight from 5/16 – 5/21.
· South Bend will send four players (Duffy, Navarro, Cook, Hose) to the All-Star Game along with the entire field staff.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
INDIVIDUAL NOTES:
· Brendan Duffy ranks 10th in the league with a .314 batting average
· Current Offensive Leaders: AVG – Duffy (.314); HR – Diaz (8); RBI –Diaz (29).
· Alberto Diaz had a 12 game hitting streak snapped yesterday; career high for Diaz, and second to Justin Parker (15 games) in ‘09

Tonight's Broadcast

We are back in Fort Wayne where we had some connection problems last time.

We might have them again, so stay patient with the broadcast tonight. We'll do our best to limit them. Again, the issue is with the phone line combined with our equipment, but more with the phone line.

Tonight's Lineup

Duffy - LF
Estevez - SS
Marte - DH
Parker - 3B
Diaz - CF
Elmore - 2B
Perez - C
Ramirez - 1B
Asencio - RF

Miley - SP

Pregame interview guest: T.J. Hose

Sorry for the lack of posts today, busy with some other work.

All-Stars and Tonight's Lineup

All-Star Rosters have been announced. I'll go through the starters for both divisions on the pregame show tonight, and I'll also cover all the Silver Hawks named to the team.

If you can't wait that long, go to http://www.silverhawks.com/ for the story of the Hawks that made the team.

Also, I posted photos from Dayton below, so make you scroll down to see those.

Tonight's Lineup:

Duffy - LF
Elmore - 2B
Marte - DH
Parker -3B
Diaz - CF
Asencio - RF
Ramirez - 1B
Perez - C
Navarro - SS

Morgan - SP

It's off to Fort Wayne after the game, so this is most likely my last post until tomorrow afternoon when we get to the stadium

Photos from Dayton - Part Four

The scoreboard. The eyes of the Dragons light up, and smoke/mist comes out of the nostrils of the Dragons when Dayton is trying to rally.


My view from the visitor's radio booth.



The team suite behind home plate. This is the largest suite in the stadium, but they are all decorated nicely with Dragons memorablia.

The view from the upper deck on the third base side.

Finally, people always ask me what the best stadium in the league is. I can't answer that question without some explanation. I think the Dow Diamond in Midland, Michigan is probably the nicest stadium we visit. But when you put 8,000+ fans in Fifth Third Field in Dayton, it's hard to compete with that environment. Maybe after we visit every park I'll rank the opponent stadiums from 1 to 13.

Photos from Dayton - Part Three

A shot from left field towards the playing field and the seats. Again, notice the upper deck that has both normal seats and suites. This is the only park in the league that has an upper deck.


The giant scoreboard from just underneath it.


A picnic table area in left-center. The roof protects you from the elements while you still have a nice view of the action.


The stadium from straightaway center.


The picnic area mentioned above and the batter's eye.

Photos from Dayton - Part Two

The view from the right field lawn section towards the playing field. Notice there is water spraying up above the roof on the third base side -- that's a huge fountain along the riverfront in Dayton and it attracts a lot of kids on hot days.


This is the outdoor part of a cafe down the right field line.



The main part of the right field line cafe. Sort of hard to see because of the reflection on the glass. Again, I'm not a professional photographer.


The view from the visitor's dugout .


Decently wide concourses, although not the widest in the league. When you fit 8,000 fans in this park, the concourses can get crowded if the weather is bad. On the upper left, notice the TV screens. They will rotate ads, trivia, photos, etc. during the game.

Photos from Dayton - Part One

The view from the concourse behind the plate. It's unique in that Fifth Third Field actually has an upper deck with seats (not just suites like most of the stadiums in the league), so you can see the overhang of the second deck from this picture. More on that later.


In the lobby of the suite entrance, they have photos of all the former Dragons who have gone on to play in the majors. There are more photos on the other side of the elevator, so not everyone may be shown in this pictures. Notable former Dragons include Joey Votto, Jay Bruce, Adam Dunn, and Austin Kearns.


In 2007, Sports Illustrated named the Dayton Dragons as a Top 10 Hottest Ticket in Sports. Dayton has sold out every game in franchise history, which is over 800 now.


In the upper deck hallways, the Dragons hang the jerseys of any former player that was rated as a top 10 prospect according to Baseball America. Here is Austin Kearns' jersey from his time in Dayton in 2000.


The back wall of the press box is covered with specially designed Dragons wallpaper. A nice touch. That's Adam Dunn on the left.

Poll Results

Looks like Fireworks Fridays are the favorite weekday promotion, with Dollar Mondays and Thirsty Thursdays tied for second.

New poll up on the right.

Tonight's Lineup

Duffy - CF
Elmore - 2B
Marte - LF
Parker - DH
Diaz - RF
Perez - C
Gomez - 1B
Estevez - 3B
Navarro - SS

Cook - SP

I am still working on who will be tonight's pregame show guest. So I guess you'll have to be surprised.

May Players of the Month

South Bend, IN – The Arizona Diamondbacks have selected the organizational Players of the Month for May, with LHP Taylor Sinclair chosen as South Bend's Pitcher of the Month and OF Brendan Duffy selected as the Hitter of the Month for the Silver Hawks.

Double-A Mobile's Daniel Stange won the overall organizational award for Pitcher of the Month, with Mobile's Cyle Hankerd taking the overall Player of the Month award.

Sinclair spent the month of May splitting time between the bullpen and the rotation, yet excelled in both roles. In six total games (three as a starter), Sinclair was 2-0 in May with a 2.05 ERA. The left-hander threw 26.1 innings, allowing just 20 hits with 26 strikeouts and only eight walks. He is now in the bullpen, and is expected to pitch in tonight’s game against the Dayton Dragons.

Duffy has been at the top of the lineup all season and continues to get on base at a blistering pace. The outfielder hit .323 for the month, including 31 hits, while also walking 17 times and being hit by a pitch twice. That adds up to a .435 on-base percentage for the month of May.

Duffy currently ranks seventh in the Midwest League with a .327 batting average and is fifth with a .425 on-base percentage.

The Silver Hawks are currently on the road in Dayton, Ohio, where they will play game three of the four game series tonight with a 7:00 PM Eastern Time first pitch. RHP Ryan Cook (5-1, 2.85 ERA) will be starting for the Silver Hawks in his first game since coming off the disabled list.

The Silver Hawks next home game is Monday, June 8th against the Fort Wayne TinCaps. Game time is at 7:00 PM Eastern Time with pregame coverage beginning at 6:40 on 1620 ESPN Radio. Monday is also a Dollar Monday sponsored by U93 and Pepsi, with reserved seat tickets, hot dogs, and Pepsi products on sale for $1 each. For more information about the Silver Hawks or to get your tickets, please log on to www.silverhawks.com.

From the Notes - June 4, 2009

South Bend Silver Hawks (25-25)
vs. Dayton Dragons (20-32)

Fifth Third Field, Dayton, Ohio – 7:00 PM Eastern Time

Season Series: 3-3 Tie
@ Coveleski Stadium: 2-2 Tie
@ Fifth Third Field: 1-1 Tie
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Silver Hawks Team Hitting: .250 – 8th
Silver Hawks Team Pitching: 3.61 ERA – 5th
Dragons Team Hitting: .247 – 11th
Dragons Team Pitching: 4.58 ERA – 11th
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
LAST GAME: The Silver Hawks scored a run in the top of the 10th inning but then allowed two in the bottom of the 10th to lose a heartbreaker to the Dayton Dragons 3-2 on Wednesday night. Justin Parker drove in the run in the top of the tenth, but then committed a throwing error in the bottom of the tenth allowing the tying run to score and the winning run to get to second. Miguel Rojas followed with an RBI single to left for the walk off win. Nelson Gomez had the other RBI for South Bend. Brett Moorhouse (ND) allowed just one run over 7.0 innings in the starting role. T.J. Hose (LP, 1-1) blew his first save of the season. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
THE PLAYOFF CHASE (Top two teams from each division qualify in each half):
· The Silver Hawks are currently in 4th place in the Eastern Division with 18 games to play in the first half.
· South Bend is -6.5 out of first (West Michigan), -6.0 out of the wild card (Fort Wayne), and -1.0 out of third place (Great Lakes)
· The remaining 18 games are all against Eastern Division opponents (2 @ DTN, 2 @ FW, 5 vs. FW, 4 @ WM, 4 vs. GL).
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
TEAM NOTES:
· With last night’s loss, the Silver Hawks are now 1-2 in extra inning games (losing twice in the tenth, winning in the 15th).
· The Silver Hawks have committed 63 errors (tied for 6th most in the league) in 50 games.
· South Bend will play only 68 games in the first half with two cancelled due to rainouts.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
INDIVIDUAL NOTES:
· Brendan Duffy ranks 7th in the league with a .327 batting average and 5th with a .425 On-Base Percentage.
· Current Offensive Leaders: AVG – Duffy (.327); HR – Diaz (7); RBI – Marte and Diaz (27)

• Alberto Diaz has hit in 10 straight games, a personal high for him, and 4th longest on the team this season

Tonight's Lineup

Duffy - DH
Elmore - 2B
Marte - LF
Parker - 3B
Diaz - CF
Gomez - 1B
Asencio - RF
Davis - C
Navarro - SS

Moorhouse - SP

I'm Famous in Dayton

I did an interview with the Dragons clubhouse manager who is also a blogger for www.daytondragons.com. Granted the article is focused mainly on my time with Dayton, but if you ever wanted to know more about me, here's your chance:

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/multimedia/page.jsp?ymd=20090603&content_id=5124290&vkey=multimedia_t459&fext=.jsp&sid=t459

BA love for an Opponent

J.C. Sulbaran pitched for Dayton last night and received no decision (allowing 1 run in 6.0 innings). Baseball America wrote about him today on their prospects blog.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/prospects/?p=4617

Those Crazy Dayton Front Office People

I mentioned on the air last night how they filled my radio booth with tennis balls. This is what it looked like when I arrived at the stadium yesterday (again, I used to work in Dayton for three years so they have decided it would be funny to play some tricks on me):


However, despite all the tricks, they also were nice enough to welcome me back to town with a sign on the visiting radio booth door:

Tonight's Lineup

Duffy - CF
Navarro - SS
Marte - LF
Parker - 3B
Diaz - RF
Elmore - 2B
Perez - C
Ramirez - 1B
Asencio - DH

Rodriguez - SP

During tonight's pregame show, I'll give a Silver Hawks alumni report as to who is doing what at the higher levels in the Diamondbacks system.

Greetings from Dayton...

...where my former co-workers are already playing tricks on me. I show up to the hotel today only to be told that they have given away my room. I immediately told our trainer that someone was playing a joke on me, but after calling my old friend JW who works for the Dragons, he was very convincing in explaining that they thought I was staying at home. They finally came clean and handed me my room key.

If any Dragons front office staff members read this blog, this is just a friendly reminder that paybacks are hell. Or maybe the Silver Hawks will just take care of business on the field and I'll still get the last laugh.

Today's Roster Move

Activated from DL: Ryan Cook, Bryan Woodall

Reassigned to Extended Spring Training: Houston Summers, Victor Capellan

Full story at www.silverhawks.com under the latest news column on the right side of the page.

Now it's decision time. Which of the following players moves out of the rotation so that Cook goes in?

Miley
Moorhouse
Sinclair
Morgan
Rodriguez

I would think Miley and Moorhouse are safe in the rotation. Sinclair's pitched so well it would be hard to take him out (although he is the guy that moved in when Cook got hurt, so perhaps he's moved back to the pen). Morgan's pitched better as of late in the starting role after struggling in his first few outings. Rodriguez just joined the team a few weeks ago, and has only made three starts, so it's tough to get a read on him.

I think this will be an interesting decision, but a good one to have. It's always nice to have six qualified candidates for five spots in the rotation.

Off Day Thoughts

Well it's after midnight on Sunday (technically now Monday morning), so it's offiically the off day. For those of you that visit the blog every day, you may have noticed Sunday seemed to be an off day for me as well with no posts. In reality, the Principal Financial Group Family Fun Fest and some pregame interviews took up most of my time before the game, during the game I was too busy broadcasting, and after the game I spent over four hours in my car so I could spend the off day with family and friends.

Sometime during the day Monday, I'll post an update on the D'Backs system. Then Tuesday I'll have some stuff from the notes and the lineups. Wednesday or Thursday I'll have photos from Dayton as well.

This is going to be a fun trip for me because I spent seven years of my life in Dayton, Ohio (four at the University of Dayton, and another three as the color commentator for the Dayton Dragons). I have a lot of people to see and a lot of great memories from my time here.

It's also a very important trip for the team. Dayton is a team that has struggled most of the season, yet managed to split with South Bend in late April. Combine that with the fact that the Silver Hawks are six games out of a playoff spot with 20 to play, and you can understand why taking 3 out of 4 in this series becomes very important for playoff positioning before heading into four games with the Fort Wayne TinCaps beginning on Saturday.

Every game is at 7 PM in Dayton, with pregame coverage beginning at 6:40 PM on 1620 ESPN Radio or streaming online at www.silverhawks.com.