Trivia Tidbit

I researched the history for the Managers of the Year that were announced today.

I couldn't find any Midwest League connection for Bud Black, but did you know that Ron Gardenhire managed the 1988 Kenosha Twins? He was the skipper and led them to an impressive 81-59 record. They lost in the MWL Finals that year to the Cedar Rapids Reds.

1988 was also the year the South Bend franchise started. Of course, they were known as the South Bend White Sox at the time. However, it's always interesting to find out that Ron Gardenhire once managed from the visiting dugout at Coveleski Stadium.

Q and A with Jim Callis

ESPN.com did a live chat with Jim Callis of Baseball America yesterday. You can read the entire transcript here.

I scanned through it for former Silver Hawks names, and here's the ones I found:

Carlos Gonzalez
Brett Anderson

Some other names of interest in the piece:

Dee Gordon (Great Lakes Loons SS)
Travis Snider (former Lansing Lugnut)
Jaff Decker (Fort Wayne TinCap)
Todd Frazier (former Dayton Dragon)

It's not the best chat I've ever read, but it's something.

Former MWL Players in MLB Postseason

In my ridiculous on-going quest to do more research for this blog than any human should be allowed, I've checked the rosters of each MLB playoff team for former MWL players. This required searching each name on www.baseball-reference.com, and then checking the minor league stats for each player.

A couple of notes:

1) I have not included the Tigers/Twins yet, because we don't know which team will make it. I'll update this tomorrow with the players from whatever team wins today.

2) The players listed below are from what is listed on mlb.com for each team's active roster. This does not necessarily mean all these players will make the playoff rosters. Once I get ahold of the playoff rosters, I will edit this list for clarity.

3) Cedar Rapids, by far, has the most former players in the playoffs. That's largely because they are an Angels affiliate. You see what I mean by the list below.

So here we go....

Boston Red Sox
Josh Beckett - Kane County (2000)
Billy Wagner - Quad Cities (1994)
George Kottaras - Fort Wayne (2004)
Alex Gonzalez - Kane County (1996)
Casey Kotchman - Cedar Rapids (2002)
Jason Bay - Clinton (2001)
David Ortiz - Wisconsin (1996)

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
Trevor Bell - Cedar Rapids (2007-2008)
Jason Bulger - South Bend (2002)
Brian Fuentes - Wisconsin (1997)
Kevin Jepsen - Cedar Rapids (2003-2004)
John Lackey - Cedar Rapids (2000)
Sean O'Sullivan - Cedar Rapids (2007)
Rafael Rodriguez - Cedar Rapids (2003-2005)
Ervin Santana - Cedar Rapids (2002)
Joe Saunders - Cedar Rapids (2002)
Rich Thompson - Cedar Rapids (2003)
Jeff Mathis - Cedar Rapids (2002)
Mike Napoli - Cedar Rapids (2001-2002)
Bobby Wilson - Cedar Rapids (2004)
Erick Aybar - Cedar Rapids (2003)
Howie Kendrick - Cedar Rapids (2004)
Freddy Sandoval - Cedar Rapids (2005)
Brandon Wood - Cedar Rapids (2004)
Terry Evans - Peoria (2003-2004)
Torii Hunter - Fort Wayne (1994)
Gary Matthews Jr - Clinton (1995)
Chris Pettit - Cedar Rapids (2007)

New York Yankees
Brian Bruney - South Bend (2001-2002)
A.J. Burnett - Kane County (1998)
Damaso Marte - Wisconsin (1996)
Sergio Mitre - Lansing (2002)
Edwar Ramirez - Cedar Rapids (2003)
Jose Molina - Peoria (1994) and Rockford (1996)
Alex Rodriguez - Appleton (1994)
Melky Cabrera - Battle Creek (2004)
Johnny Damon - Rockford (1993)
Freddy Guzman - Fort Wayne (2002)
Eric Hinske - Rockford (1998)

St. Louis Cardinals
Ryan Franklin - Appleton (1994)
Blake Hawksworth - Peoria (2003)
Kyle Lohse - Rockford (1998)
Kyle McClellan - Peoria (2004) and Quad Cities (2005)
Jason Motte - Quad Cities (2006)
Joel Pineiro - Wisconsin (1998)
Brad Thompson - Peoria (2003)
Todd Wellemeyer - Lansing (2001)
Yadier Molina - Peoria (2002)
Matt Pagnozzi - Peoria (2004)
David Freese - Fort Wayne (2006)
Tyler Greene - Quad Cities (2006)
Julio Lugo - Quad Cities (1996)
Albert Pujols - Peoria (2000)
Brendan Ryan - Peoria (2004)
Rick Ankiel - Peoria (1998) and Quad Cities (2005)
Colby Rasmus - Quad Cities (2006)

Los Angeles Dodgers
Ronald Belisario - Kane County (2002)
Jon Garland - Rockford (1998)
Clayton Kershaw - Great Lakes (2007)
Jeff Weaver - West Michigan (1998)
Ronnie Belliard - Beloit (1995)
Andre Ethier - Kane County (2003)

Philadelphia Phillies
Joe Blanton - Kane County (2003)
Clay Condrey - Fort Wayne (1999)
Chad Durbin - Lansing (1997)
Scott Eyre - South Bend (1994)
Brad Lidge - Quad Cities (1998)
Greg Dobbs - Wisconsin (2002)
Pedro Feliz - Burlington (1996)
Raul Ibanez - Appleton (1993-1994)
John Mayberry - Clinton (2006)
Matt Stairs - Rockford (1989)

Colorado Rockies
Rafael Betancourt - Michigan (1997)
Joel Peralta - Cedar Rapids (2001-2002)
Juan Rincon - Fort Wayne (1998) and Quad Cities (1999)
Huston Street - Kane County (2004)
Yorvit Torrealba - Burlington (1996)
Mike McCoy - Peoria (2003-2004)
Carlos Gonzalez - South Bend (2004-2005)

Former MWL Star Pitches Triple-A No-Hitter

This goes back to the 2007 season, but former Cedar Rapids Kernels pitcher Sean O'Sullivan threw a no hitter last night in triple-A. He was one walk away from a perfect game.

Story is here.

O'Sullivan pitched twice against South Bend in 2007.

On April 17, 2007, O'Sullivan pitched 6.0 innings against the Hawks, allowing three runs (one earned) and recieved no decision at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

O'Sullivan pitched against the Hawks at the Cove on August 10th, 2007. In that game, he went 6.2 innings, allowing only three unearned runs in earning the win, which at the time lowered his ERA to 2.37.

He would finish the season at 10-7 with a 2.22 ERA in 25 starts. Very impressive young pitcher.

Remember Mat Latos?

...He's the Fort Wayne pitcher who had a great outing against the Silver Hawks earlier in the week, lowering his ERA to 0.36 in the process. Yeah, he's been promoted to double-A.

MWL Alumni on USA Roster

I guess last night's loss to Japan makes this post pretty much irrelevant, but I promised a list of former MWL players that were on the USA roster, so here you go:

Dunn, Adam - Dayton Dragons (2000)
Granderson, Curtis - West Michigan Whitecaps (rehab appearance in 2008)
Hawkins, LaTroy - Fort Wayne Wizards (1993)
Oswalt, Roy - Michigan Battle Cats (1999)
Peavy, Jake - Fort Wayne Wizards (2000)
Putz, J.J. - Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (2000)
Shields, Scot - Cedar Rapids Kernels (1998)
Thornton, Matt - Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (1999-2000)

So that leaves Korea vs. Japan for the title.

Thanks to Chris Mehring's blog at http://rattler-radio.blogspot.com/, we know that Shin Soo Choo was a 2001-2002 Timber Rattler who is currently playing for Korea.

As far as I can tell from my extensive research (ha!), that's the only remaining MWL alum left in the classic.