Tonight's Lineup - July 9th at Dayton

Ender Inciarte - CF
Gerson Montilla - 2B
Zach Walters - SS
Yazy Arbelo - 1B
Raywilly Gomez - C
Matt Helm - 3B
Roberto Rodriguez - LF
Roberto Ortiz - RF
Niko Gallego - DH

Jeff Shields - SP

Tonight, the Dayton Dragons will set the American record for consecutive sellouts with their 815th in a row.  I will talk about that more during the pregame show instead of doing a pregame interview.  I feel like I can add a bit more to that since I worked here with the Dayton Dragons for three seasons.  There will also be a long pause before the sixth inning starts for an on-field celebration.  I plan on turning up the crowd microphone and letting you listen in.

Pregame show at 6:40 PM.  First pitch at 7:00 PM.

Notes from the Parent Club

It's kind of a slow day around the blog the last few days, but I can always count on the parent club Diamondbacks to be in the news. Here's a rundown on some good reads about what Arizona has been doing the last few days:

-First of all, I know some people are planning on attending Spring Training at the new facility. Here's a schedule of when the Diamondbacks will play in the Cactus League.

-Yesterday, the Diamondbacks inked former Dayton Dragons star Wily Mo Pena to a Minor League deal. He's an option in left field, according to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic.

-Arizona also has to make some decisions on whether to tender contracts to eight players. See the list here.

Catching Up

Using this post to catch up on some stories that I missed over the past few days:

-Former Silver Hawk Bryan Augenstein was claimed off waivers by the St. Louis Cardinals. Augenstein pitched with South Bend in 2008, made his MLB Debut in 2009, but spent 2010 struggling in double- and triple-A.

-The West Michigan Whitecaps will be looking for a new skipper next year. Joe DePastino will become a roving catching coordinator for the Tigers organization.

-Likewise, the Dayton Dragons will need a new skipper. Todd Benzinger has been told by the Reds that he is not returning. He used his firing to express how much he really didn't want to be a Minor League manager anyhow. Well then Todd, I guess that worked out for you.

-Finally, Nick Piecoro did a nice piece on the Diamondbacks prospects, citing a bunch of former Silver Hawks as examples.

Long Games

The first two games of the 2010 season have lasted 3:14 and 3:11 for the Silver Hawks and Loons. That's way above the average game time for 2009 in the Midwest League.

However, it could be a lot worse.

The Dayton Dragons and Lansing Lugnuts have gone to extra innings in each of the first two games of the season, totaling seven hours and 12 minutes of baseball (47 minutes longer than the Silver Hawks).

In case you are curious, the average time for 9 inning games in the Midwest League so far this season is 2 hours and 42 minutes. The Silver Hawks have averaged 3 hours and 12 minutes so far.

File that under useless information that no one cares about.

Blue Jays Top 10

Baseball America is back with the Blue Jays top 10 prospects, a handful of whom you've seen playing for the Lansing Lugnuts. (NOTE: This list will change considerably once the Halladay/Lee/prospects trade becomes 100% official. I would imagine Kyle Drabek would take over the #1 spot, along with a few other changes).

Oddly enough, the #1 prospect on this list played in the Midwest League, but not with Lansing. Zach Stewart played with the Dayton Dragons in 2008, before being traded along with Edwin Encarnacion and Josh Roenicke for Scott Rolen.

As a Reds fan, I like Rolen, but Cincinnati gave up way too much to get him.

Reds Top 10 Prospects

I'm a couple days late on this, but Baseball America has ranked the Reds Top 10 Prospects. The Cincinnati Reds are the parent club to the Dayton Dragons, so there are some names you should recognize on this list.

Having worked for Dayton, I've seen a lot of the guys listed, but since this is a Silver Hawks blog, I won't bore you with my thoughts.

Dragons Name Field Staff

Tony Benzinger is back as manager. Tony Fossas returns as pitching coach. But the real story is the new hitting coach: Ken Griffey Sr.

I've had the chance to meet Ken Griffey, Sr. on a handful of occasions when I was working for the Dragons as he would often come up to Fifth Third Field as a special advisor while working for the Cincinnati Reds. He was always very outgoing and polite, and I hope he does well as a hitting coach.

No news yet on the Silver Hawks Field Staff. Hopefully that'll be announced in the next few weeks.

Chase for the Playoffs - 31 To Go

Again, this is the playoff race, taking Fort Wayne and West Michigan out of the mix. The top two will go to the playoffs.

................W...L...PCT..GB
Great Lakes..20..19...513..--
South Bend...18..20...474..1.5
Dayton........18..20...474..1.5
Lansing.......16..22...421..3.5

Games Left for South Bend (In order):
1 @ West Michigan
4 vs. Fort Wayne
4 vs. Lansing
4 @ West Michigan
4 vs. Great Lakes
4 vs. Dayton
4 @ Great Lakes
1 vs. Lansing
3 @ Dayton
2 vs. Lansing

(A scheduling conflict with a Notre Dame football game results in the split series against the Lugnuts at the Cove to end the season. More on that later in the year)

Court Decision from 2008 Brawl

Do you all remember the big brawl last season between the Dayton Dragons and Peoria Chiefs at Fifth Third Field? It made national headlines because a pitcher for Peoria threw a ball towards the Dragons dugout, missed badly, and struck a fan in the head. He was arrested and charged with two different assault charges.

Today, he was found guilty on one of the charges. Click the link for the story.

Why am I posting this on a Silver Hawks blog?

1) I was broadcasting the game as a color commentator, and it turned out to be the wildest night/week of my professional career. The next day I had calls from more national media outlets than you could ever imagine wanting me to comment (ESPN, Fox News, Inside Edition, Etc.), and more friends than I knew I had wanting to know if I was broadcasting. We were not going to comment as members of the Dragons staff, and I still won't comment now because it's not my place. My opinion on the court case and the brawl is irrelevant in the grand scheme of things.

2) It involved the Midwest League, so I find it to be an important story in that regards.

3) It's a painful reminder of how a game can get too serious. You wouldn't think we'd need to remind ourselves that this is a game that we play/watch because it's fun and it takes our minds off of the problems in everyday life. LIke anyone, I get caught up and wins and losses, and certainly want my favorite sports teams to win. But ultimately, it's still just a game, and we need to remember that from time to time.

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.

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:

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.

A Tale of Two Games

Interesting start to the Dayton series:

9 runs, 12 hits, and great pitching on Saturday.

1 run, 5 hits, and the pitching struggled on Sunday.

This, my friends, is the beauty of Minor League Baseball. Since we're playing the Dragons, a team I used to work for, let me borrow a phrase from their broadcaster Tom Nichols: You're only as hot as the next day's starter.

What that means is that you might be the best team in the league for 10 days in a row, but if your starter the next day isn't any good, then that winning streak is going to come crashing down. It also means that you could be red hot again, but if the other team's starter is on his game, he can shut you down in a hurry.

Today, it was Dayton's pitcher Matt Fairel who was red-hot, shutting down the Hawks offensively. Bounce back day tomorrow with Trevor Harden on the mound for the Silver Hawks. Harden has been great this season, and it would be nice to take Monday's game to guarantee a split at the very least.