Contemplating the Crawdads

(pictured, Wilmer Font)

The Hickory Crawdads pitching staff currently leads the South Atlantic League in ERA (.206). It seems that every night a Crawdads pitcher takes the mound, Ranger fans begin drooling simultaneously. Almost every minor league recap I get my fingers on contains glowing reports of the previous night's SP in Hickory.

I'm as excited as anyone and the attention this staff is receiving is well deserved, but as a Rangers fan I have learned to temper my enthusiasm over the years. Let's consider the context in which these achievements have occurred.

Consider the opposition. Up to this point, Hickory pitchers have been beating up the worst hitting teams in the league with the exception of 4 games against Asheville (team BA .285, 2nd in the SAL). These poor hitting teams include:

Bowling Green (team BA .233, 12th of 16)
Greenville (team BA .245, 9th of 16)
Lexington (team BA .212, 16th of 16)
Kannapolis (team BA .218, 15th of 16)

So, the Crawdads pitching staff has been working against the worst hitters a poor hitting league has to offer.

Going forward, the Hickory pitching staff will not face a top 5 hitting team until mid July.

Enough being a downer...enjoy the early Rangers game.

...until the bats were found in the 9th inning.

Listened to some of the game on line this morning; unfortunately, work kept getting in the way, so there's not much here. However, a couple of notes that are of interest to me:

1) A big come from behind win for Hickory. This was one of those wins that has the potential to give the offense some momentum... big time.

Hickory entered the 9th inning of the game hitting 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position, on the heels of a 1-for-5 the previous night. After Murphy lines a shot for an easy double to open the ninth, but then trips over first base to turn the double into a single, you figured its just time to get out of Kannapolis. But once the wheels began to roll, it seems everyone began to gain confidence.

2) Hopefully the 5 run ninth will turn into a renaissance that revives the power stroke. The 'Dads have no home runs since Mike Bianucci's solo blast in Asheville on April 18th. Further, no one but Bianucci has a homer since Matt West and Doug Hogan went deep at Greenville on April 16.

Granted, the 'Dads have faced a stretch of pitching that is comperable to their own over the past 8 games (Lexington and Kannapolis), but its been the inability to do small things that have hurt most (missed signs on hit and run plays, pickoffs, the failure to move runners from second to third, or third to home with less than 2 outs)

So now, its 4 at home against Lakewood opening on Thursday. The Blue Claws make the long bus trip from Salisbury, MD and their pitching is not nearly as accomplished as Kannapolis, Lexington, etc. Time for the offense to fatten up.

3) Jared Bolden was injured and taken from the field after crashing into a gate in the outfield wall in Kannapolis --- in fact, so hard, the gate opened. No word on any injury or its severity.

4) Finally, I had meant to include this last night, but decided to save for another day. I don't know what Doug Hogan will eventually hit, but his value at maintaining the pitching staff behind the plate cannot be measured.

His trips to the mound have purpose to them; his pitchers aren't afraid to throw breaking balls in the dirt with runners at third, as he will block them. While Leonel De Los Santos has the better arm in combating the opposition's running game, when Hogan's in the game, there's no doubt who's in charge.


~Mark P~

... and sometimes you're the bug. And on Tuesday night, Hickory was the bug.

Took my annual visit to Kannapolis' Fieldcrest Cannon Stadium (named after the textile plant that no longer exists). A nice enough small town park with NO overhang for sun, rain, gloom of night. But on Tuesday night, no such thing was needed as it was as beautiful a night as you could ask. Unfortunately for Crawdads' fans, the evening would not fare well for the Hickory squad on the mound as the 'Dads lost 4-2.

The omen of what was to come started in the first inning. In the Hickory half of the first, David Paisano hits a hard ground ball up the middle; Drew Garcia ranges far to his right to make a diving stab and throw out Paisano. Edward Martinez reaches on a flare to left. After Jared Bolden strikes out, Mike Bianucci hits a laser to right, but at Intimidator rightfielder Sergio Morales. Two missles-- side retired.

For Kannapolis, Eduardo Escobar reaches on a 45-foot nubber up the third base line. Escobar then takes off for an attempted steal of second. With 2B Ogata covering, Garcia hits a bloop that barely makes the outfield lip of the grass, just past the reach of the retreating Ogata behind second base. After a strikeout, pitcher Jake Brigham hits Garcia with a pickoff throw that dribbles 10 feet away from 1B Clark Murphy; however, the ball was far enough away to allow Escobar to score.

Intimidator starting pitcher, lefthander Charlie Leesman, did a masterful of curtailing the Crawdads running attack all night. His quite deceptive move to first kept the Hickory runners close to the bag at the risk of being picked off. This led to a double play in the second, in which Matt West did not get a good jump from first to second, a pickoff of Martinez in the third, and another double play in the fourth.

Meanwhile, the Kannapolis offensive strategy of putting the ball in play and see what happens worked well. The Intimidators finished with 10 hits, none of them line drives. In fact, the most important piece of real estate at Fieldcrest Cannon Stadium was the area in front of home plate. The dirt there must be made of brick, superball material, or something to cause the high hops that occured.

In the third inning, .116 hitter Jordan Cheatham opened the inning with a seeing eye single. He would steal second, moved to third on a sac bunt, then scored on a high chopper to Brigham that he had no choice but to wait for gravity to take its course, then retire the batter at first.

The other two runs for Kannapolis came courtesy of two more high hops, and a poor pitching sequence. With one out, Jorge Castillo hit a high one hop chopper to second that Jason Ogata played on an in between hop for an error. Brigham still had a chance to get out of the inning unscathed after a fly ball out. I's catcher John Curtis found the magic dirt spot again, as he hit a one hopper that bounced over 1B Clark Murphy's head to place runners at 1st and 3rd. Kenny Williams (yes, the White Sox GM's namesake and kid) hit a seeing eye single to score a run.

Now down 3-0, Brigham threw a four-pitch walk to the above mentioned .116 hitter. Escobar then hits a flare to left for an RBI single and a 4-0 deficit for the good guys.

In the 5th, Ogata hits one-out a triple past the diving CF, but is stranded. After scoring a run in the 6th and 7th to draw within 4-2, Hickory gets the trying runs aboard. However, the dreaded pickoff move by Leesman cuts down Paisano at first.

After throwing 102 pitches, Leesman is replaced by sidewider Drew O'Neal. O'Neal enters to walk the first batter, Jared Bolden, on four straight balls, none close. The next batter, Mike Bianucci, swings at the first strike of the inning, only to hit into a 6-3 double play. For all intents and purposes, that was the ball game, as the Crawdads went meekly afterwards.

For the second straight game, the worst hitting team in the Sally League entering the game (Kannapolis hitting .218) collected double digit hits off the best the Sally League has to offer (ERA 1.96). However, the ten hits were as follows. infield hit, bloop to second base area, ground ball, high bouncer past Murphy, bloop to left, bloop to left, bloop just past third, ground ball single to right, ground ball to right.... a very frustrating night.

Edward Martinez shortened his swing as he was content to serve a base hit in front of the shallow OFs. He left 3-4 with a single to left, center, and right

And last, but certainly not least: Martin Perez looked as good as he has in April. Martin used his fastball well, hitting corners and spotting it well, which made his off speed pitches much more effective. Was as aggressive in attacking hitters as I've seen him this year. Still has a problem closing out hitters. In the 6th inning. Perez had Tyler Kuhn 0-2, before needing 10 pitches to secure a ground out. In the 7th, had Jon Gilmore 0-2, surrendered a 10 pitch walk; had the next hitter, John Curtis 0-2, before he hit a ground ball single on the 7th pitch.

Hickory has a 10am start on Tuesday, so hopefully they will find Kannapolis still looking for sleep at this time of morning....

-Mark

Well, for some reason, Mike thinks I might add something to this here blog. I don't know what additions I could make other than a rambling paragraph or two, but here goes:

I love the game. As difficult as working in minor league baseball can be, I do have a gig where I get to see 80-100% of the game. Not always to the point of being able to pay attention, but enough that I can follow a story line most nights. It's a good gig, I get to play noises for the fans to cheer with the hope of pumping the crowd up enough to pump up the players. I love the game and I think I can bring something on occasion that a fan in the stands might not see.... perhaps not today, but in the future.

So, from my perch "high above the crowd" here goes for Sunday...

Several changes were made from the original lineup we were given to the one that actually started the game. The big change, Eric Fry sat at DH and Timmy Rodriguez played in his stead. Not sure if something happened to Fry, but it sure sent the press box scrambling, as we had already announced the lineups and both radio teams were on air with now outdated lineups.

Regardless, Font started for Hickory, and for the first time, I paid attention to delivery, etc. Delivery was as smooth as butter and so effortless. Lively fastball and seemed to have more control of his pitches today. Our underreading stadium gun read up to 94 mph, and even that appeared too low.

Both teams (Hickory and Kannapolis) have their first true day off tomorrow; no travel, etc. Both teams looked like they may need it. Neither team appeared willing to take the game.

For the first game in the home season, the pitching wasn't as sharp as it has been. Kannapolis, hitting .204 entering the game, had 13 hits. Admittedly, several hits were flairs with a few infield hits thrown in, but still, 13 hits. To their credit, Font, and especially Tufts, did a great job of keeping damage to a minimum, as they stranded 11, alowing Kannapolis hitters a line of 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position.

Mike Bianucci, yet again, gunned down a man at home for a fly ball, double play. Bianucci has 4 outfield assists in his last three games. Not bad for a player whose glove has been considered his weakness.

The Crawdads did a good job of stunting the Intimidator running game with a pair of pickoffs at first. Both pickoffs were of Kenny Williams, the son of the Chicago White Sox GM. Leonel De Los Santos' throw was especially effective from behind the plate, easily nailing Williams at first. Tufts has a quick move to first from the mound and also easily picked off Williams.

Unafortunately, the 'Dads were guilty of poor baserunning too. Timmy Rodriguez was picked off at second with none out. On another play either Bianucci or West missed a sign on a potential hit-and-run, as West took a pitch with Bianucci running. Bianucci was thrown out by 7-10 feet. Hector Ortiz's reaction at third seemed telling.

In the 9th, the box score will show the errors by West and Jared Bolden were costly, leading to the two unearned runs. But Mark Hamburger has to shoulder a bit of the blame, as he hit Justin Green with a pitch after getting ahead 0-2 in the count. That and the wild pitch would prove crucial.

Well, after a 73 hour week in 6 days of a home stand, the brain has had enough. Hope this was enough interest and look forward to writing more in the future.

-Mark P.

According to Jason Cole at http://rangers.scout.com/ , "[Word is it's a] Shoulder blade thing. Seems like a precuationary move — just trying to be safe."

See the team's report here.

(pictured, David Paisano)

Yeah, so I thought this game would have awesome weather from start to finish....well, that prediction was a bit off. During the first 4 innings we were dry, and enjoying a mountain lightning storm in the distance, but after 5 innings that lighting storm was directly overhead and it was time to run for shelter. Time for some observations from those 5 interesting innings.

The game opened with a thud. Here's my transcript from the first inning:

-Groundball to SS. Martinez overthrows Murphy. Error on the throw, man safe at 1st.
-Baserunner steals 2nd
-Bleier hits the batter. Men on first and second.
-Sac bunt laid down on third base line. Murphy misses the catch on a perfect throw. Error on Murph. Run Scored.
-Fly ball to RF. Bianucci catches the ball to record the out then unleashes a missile to get the tagging baserunner at the plate.
-Groundball finds it's way between the thirdbaseman and the SS. Single.
-Groundball out to SS.

The 5' 9" Edward Martinez committed his team leading 5th error in this inning. He's supposed to be a little guy that's a defensive wiz but a liability at the plate, but again I leave a game thinking Martinez's glove is overrated. It's not just the errors; in the games I have attended the guy has "stone hands." I have seen him knock down too many balls (hit right at him) rather than catching them. The guy is 21 now and needs to show more.

Bianucci has a track record of being barely average defensively. His outfield assist on the second out of the 1st inning really surprised me--really, really surprised me. He was at 3/4 depth when he caught the ball and threw a no-hop missile to the plate. Catcher Doug Hogan caught the ball over his head and applied the tag.

Murphy continues to look clumsy at 1B and struck out looking like he was confused. Murph did get a single later in the game and scored on the Hogan triple. The rollercoaster ride continues for Clark.

I got my first look at David Paisano this year. He missed the opening series as he traveled to mourn the death of a family member. I was impressed. First off, the dude runs like the wind. 'Runs' isn't the right word, he glides. He has a long stride and looks like one of those racing motorcycles as he leans at a 45 degree angle when turning at 1b. David had a very competent approach at the plate, fouling away bad pitches and waiting for good ones (compared to the younger players that flail at bad pitches and watch good ones go right into the glove without swinging). David is 21 now and I think this could be his year to start moving up if he can stay healthy. A ball did hit Paisano on the hand during his second AB but he stayed in the game and knocked an RBI single right up the middle later in the game.

One of my main goals this night was to watch Richard Bleier. First off, I have read reports saying that Richard throws his sinker as high as 91mph....on this night Bleier never touched above 83 on the stadium gun. Because the stadium gun is 3-4 mph slow, it's probably safe to say he was actually at 86-87 consistantly. Give the man credit though, he was crafty as a fox producing a groundball to flyout ratio of 10-2. Bleier used his curveball and slider very well. His curve ball moved more and more as the game went along. What started as a Millwood baby curve turned into a Zito-esque (well, probably not Zito-esque, but you get the idea) 12-6 curve by the end of the game. I am concerned about the velocity if it doesn't pick up. By the second time through the order, batters were sitting on that low to mid 80's sinker and hitting it hard (luckily right at waiting defenders). It was only Bleier's craftiness with his offspeed pitches that kept batters on their heels just enough. Bleier just turned 22 in April.

As if they knew the game would be called after 5 innings, the Hickory offense came alive scoring all three of their runs in the bottom of the 5th. 24 year old, Doug Hogan plated 2 runs on a triple off the CF wall. Paisano brought Hogan home on an RBI single up the middle.

Until next time, enjoy the only video I was able to capture, a somewhat boring AB by Mike Bianucci (who will probably be the first position player promoted). Nothing special here, but it's something to fill 1min of your weekend downtime.

I am pumped. Tonight will be the first night game that will have great
weather start to finish. I'll be leaving the coat at home for this one. Watch for observations from tonight's game.

Jason Cole had a cool Q&A with Jake Brigham (pictured, left). Check it out here. Brigham is recovering from Tommy John surgery and is off to an eye-opening start.

The 6"3", 210 lb Brigham has pitched 13.1 innings so far this year, allowing 2ER, walking 4, and striking out 14.

A taste:

"Jason Cole: I want to go back to your Spring Training. I was in Arizona during your first start out there, but it was on the road and I wasn’t able to see it. As I understand, you struggled with control a bit in that outing. Is that correct?

Jake Brigham: Yes, I was just a little excited and leaning forward a little bit. I was missing armside and up the whole time. But I made the adjustments before the next start.

Cole: So after that start you were pretty much good to go?

Brigham: I think it was just a bunch of nerves. It was my first time on the mound in a game in over a year and a half. But that next start I sort of got settled down"

--Also check out some Brigham comments from Rangers guru turned scout, Jason Parks here.

--Mike Hindman, who now applies his craft at D Magazine's Inside Corner Blog had this to say about Brigham before the big injury that sidelined him last year...

Brigham's draft status slipped in the weeks leading up to the 2006 draft and he fell to the sixth round. The Rangers stepped up and gave him fourth round money to bring him into the fold out of a small Florida high school. As a first year player in the AZL, Brigham posted a 3.70 ERA, fanning 58 in as many innings, but also walking 19 and hitting five batters. This year, he was much the same pitcher in the NWL though slightly worse in most categories (3.16 ERA; 65 K's; 34 BBs; 11 plunks in 77 innings).

Moroever, the league seemed to catch up to him. After coming out of the chute strong with a 1.80 ERA in two June outings and a 2.03 in six July appearances (he held NWL hitters to a .176 average during the month), Brigham's ERA shot up to 4.40 in his final six starts during which the league hit .309 against him. In other words, I'm not seeing strong evidence that Brigham is improving. To the contrary. He seems to be stagnating.

But Brigham has talent and that was recognized by Baseball America which ranked him as the 20th best prospect in the NWL this year, stating that Brigham "has the components necessary to be a middle of the rotation starter." Brigham has a 90-94 mph fastball (his velocity increased this year) that he offers from clean but deceptive delivery, a developing slider and a cutter. His change lags. The 6'3" righty is no more hittable against lefties, but his control problems are more than twice as evident against southpaws.

At this point, Brigham still appears to be more of a raw athlete than a pitcher, but by all accounts he's got the natural ability to make a huge leap forward once he figures it all out. He gets high marks for his character and leadership qualities, so he's a good bet to do so. We'll be keeping a close eye on his control in 2008 to see where he's at and where he's going.

(Mike Bianucci, photo courtesy of John Setzler)

It's a sad day when you are too busy for baseball. The end of the semester is kicking my butt.

I aim to analyze all the weekend games in one post on Monday. Until then, here's some weekend homework for all you non-students:

Part of what makes the Crawdads an intriguing bunch is that they are a very young low-A team. Scott Lucas compares the ages of Ranger prospects to their respective leagues here.

Check out a ridiculous piece of work by Lonestarball'r, Spurdynasty, right here.

Here's a taste of what he had to say...

"Martin Perez (18) - Perez' standing as a prospect derives more from scouting reports and his ability to compete against much older competitors than from the stat line that he posted as the youngest starter in the NWL in 2008 (3.65 ERA, 7.7 K/9IP, 4.1 BB/9IP, .274 BAA). ST 2009 was filled with stories of Perez' exploits, so expect big things from the diminutive lefty as he pitches as one of the youngest starters in the SAL.

Key stat to track - K/BB ratio - Young pitchers tend to maintain or even improve their K-rates as they advance from one level to the next, so it would not be a surprise if Perez pushed his k-rate into the 9K/9IP range. Improved control would go a long way toward bringing Perez into the 3 K/BB that you like to see in a starting pitching prospect.

Wilmer Font (18) - Scouting reports from Spring Training indicate that the big RHP has improved his breaking ball and change-up. If he can control these along with his mid- to high-90's fastball, then look for Font to post crazy numbers in Hickory and ascend prospect rankings in a way that is reminiscent of Feliz in 2008.

Key stat to track - IP - Although he remains very young for his league, it is important for Font to begin piling up competitive innings so that he can learn what works and what he needs to improve. If Font can pitch 60-80 innings in 2009, then he will be set up for ~100 innings in Bakersfield/Frisco as a 20 yo in 2010 and in the picture for big league innings in 2011 or 2012."

(Jake Brigham, photo courtesy of John Setzler)

4/16/09, Hickory 3, Greenville 4 (box score)

Your Hickory Crawdads finished their series against the Greenville, SC Drive last night. Martin Perez was credited with the loss after entering the game for 4 innings of relief. Jake Brigham proved to be the better Crawdads pitcher last night going 4 innings, allowing 3h, 1BB, 1ER, 5k's. Despite his excellent outing, Brigham never pitched with a lead as the Crawdads could not score a run until the 7th inning. Brigham has now pitched 9.1 innings this season allowing only a single earned run with 9 strikeouts.

At 21 years old, the 6'3", 215 lb Brigham is attempting to return from Tommy John surgery that kept him off the field last year.

-Perez's outing looked something like this...

5th- single, groundout, double, groundout, groundout
6th- double, flyout, k, k
7th- walk, triple, sac fly, walk, k, k
8th- k, flyout, k

-Boy, it's a shame David Paisano can't hit his weight. Many agree that Paisano defends centerfield at a major league level but the 21 year old has never hit above .260 for a single season. To David's credit, He did slap a pair of singles in the final game of the series.

-Clark Murphy still hasn't walked this season.

-Lonestarball'r Dirkatron compiled more observations from the last two games of the series. I highly recommend you check them out here.

(pictured, Leonel De Los Santos, courtesy of John Setzler)


It's funny how the local paper doesn't cover away games and the Greenville paper only covers the game if their team wins.

4/16/09, Hickory 8, Greenville 0

(Box Score)

19 year old, Wilfredo Boscan pitched another gem. On opening night errors and an anemic offense spoiled a respectable outing from Boscan, but not on this night. Crawdads hitters combined for a season-high 13 hits including homeruns from Eric Fry and 19 year old Leonel De Los Santos.

Boscan is shaping up to be the horse of the Hickory staff. On his best night, Wilfredo's stuff isn't as electric as what Martin Perez and Wilmer Font can offer, but if you need a reliable, steady outing by your starting pitcher, you turn to Boscan. Boscan works very quickly on the mound and deals strikes. He gets his K's when he's keeping the ball down. From what I saw, Boscan doesn't have a nasty "out pitch"; he relies on locating his fastball. Last night he had a groundball-flyout ratio of 6-7 which was similar to his line opening night. In summary, the 6'2", 190lb Boscan is not a filthy K machine, he's not a groundball inducer, but boy, he's as steady a horse as they come.

Clark Murphy got his first extra base hit of the season, an RBI double. That's a three game hit-streak for Clark. Baby steps...

Leonel De Los Santos turns 20 in October. Without question, De Los Santos has the most upside of the three catchers in Hickory. Leonel's bat continues to be solid. In three games he's hitting .444 with 5 RBI. 2 of those RBI's came last night including 1 on the catcher's first HR of the season. De Los Santos is an excellent thrower and showed his arm off last night picking off a man at first.

The exciting thing about De Los Santos is he's a true "upside" guy. When you look at A-ball players there are some that you can tell have already filled out physically and there are others that still look like teenagers that still have a lot of growing to do. Leonel falls in the second category for me. He already has all the tools as a teenager; we can only wonder what those tools will produce as De Los Santos blossoms physically.

Check out Mike Hindman's take on the Crawdads pitching thus far here.

Jamey Newberg has 4 Crawdads pitchers in his current Top 20 Rangers Prospects (not including Wieland and Neil Ramirez who will be joining the team shortly). Take a look here.

Scott Lucas points out:

"You don’t want to win this contest -- most at-bats without a walk this season (on-base percentage in parentheses):

31 – Engel Beltre (.097)
29 – Clark Murphy (.172)
28 – Julio Borbon (.276)
25 – Edward Martinez (.160)
24 – Joaquin Arias (.154)
24 – Jose Vallejo (.208)"

Lonestarball'r, Dirkatron, compiled some excellent observations from last nights game in Greenville right here. Good stuff.

And here's the Box Score from last night's game.

The Hickory Crawdads continue to pitch.

The Hickory Crawdads continue to struggle at the plate.

For the second game in a row, unearned runs make the difference in a close game.

(pictured, Doug Hogan, courtesy of John Setzler)

OF, Timmy Rodriguez
(Photo courtesy of John Setzler)

4/11/09, Double header, Crawdads vs. Hotrods, L.P. Frans Stadium

I love Appalachian culture. Before the start of the game, Hickory's PA man informed fans that the new "Moonshine Latte" was being sold at the concession stand. Only 6 shots of expresso and a bit of vanilla. A piece of advice from a man with experience: moonshine isn't as great as you might think.

Anyways, onto the action...

It's hard to focus on the intracacies of the other players when pitchers like Boscan, Font, and Perez are on the mound. In the three games I have attended this season a Hotrods pitcher has not touched 90 on the stadium gun. Boscan, Font, Perez, Brigham, Hamburger, Castillo, and Ortiz all touched above 90 with Font hitting 98 on a couple pitches. I know the speed of your fastball isnt everything but it's impossible to ignore that our pitching staff is younger and more dominant than those from Bowling Green.

Perez looks like he knows he's better than everyone else on the field, and I don't mean that in a bad way. He's a bad ass. His face has a weathered, experienced expression that doesnt seem to fit with a birth certificate that says he just turned 18. Four innings, 6k's, 3 BB. Perez works a bit slower than Boscan. Perez will put his glove under his arm and massage the ball while looking out into the field. Boscan throws the ball as soon as he recieves it from the catcher. Perez used all his pitches and was dominant. Beatifully dominant. Take a look at the video below and look for the curveball that strikes out Tim Beckham. After that I quietly turned my camera off and said to those sitting around me, "Now that' what a curveball looks like folks."

The errors that ruined Boscan's outing were absent in game 1 of the double header. Clark Murphy looked so much more confident at 1b. Clark looked out of place in his first game but looked like he belonged on this day....well, deffensively at least. De Los Santos gunned down Estrada as he attempted to steal second.

Strangely, the offensive story behind this game was the bunting. In the bottom of the third inning with a man on first, SS Martinez laid down a beatiful bunt single. The next batter, Kaase (pronounced kawzee), laid down an identical bunt single down the third base line to load the bases. The bunting clininc set up De Los Santos' 2-run double. In the 6th, CF Bolden laid down another bunt single and 2 batters later, Murphy attempted a bunt that went just foul....Murphy then struck out later in the at bat. Murphy is doing his best Chris Davis impression; in 10 AB's Murph has 6 strikeouts. He looks a little lost.

So that's it. Game 1 thoughts: Perez is a grizzeled, teenage, old man. The catchers continue to carry the big stick. No errors. Whats with all the bunting? Man, I need a moonshine latte.


GAME 2

The Crawdads starter, Jake Brigham, went 5.1 innings allowing 3hits, 0 ER, 3 k's, 1BB. Honestly, I was hoping to see Pimental take the mound so I was not entirely locked in when Brigham was at work.

A couple quick thoughts from game 2:

-LF, Eric Fry, continues to shine in the field as he made a diving catch on a shot that was tailing away from him in the 4th inning.

-Kaase (again, pronounced Kawzzee) got his first start at 2b. If he and Ogata were in a lineup and I had to pick which one I thought was the better player, I would go with Kaase. He just looks the part more. He started the team's only double play of the series thus far and raked a triple. He took the pitch before that one a mile, but the ump decided it was a hair foul from being a tape-measure shot homerun.

-C, Doug Hogan hit's another HR. He looks like a player, but when you remember he's the oldest player on the team at 24.5 years old one can't help but think De Los Santos (20.5 years old) has the better upside.

Video captured 4/11/09. Martin Perez, the day's starter, led the way in a 7 inning, 3 pitcher no-hitter. In the first part of the video we see Perez dealing to leadoff man Anthony "cellphone" Scelfo. The second portion of the video is a duel against the #1 overall pick, Tim Beckham. Ranger fans will like the result...

One year ago the unemployment rate in Hickory was in the neighboorhood of 6%. Hickory recieved praise for it's evolving economy as it attempted to escape a dangerous dependence on furniture manufacturing. Today, unemployment in Hickory is almost 16%--one of the hardest hit cities in our country.

The winter was long, cold, and laden with bad news.But now the dogwoods are blooming in Appalachia which could only mean one thing: It's time for Carolina league ball. After a week of freezing low temps, the baseball gods smiled upon lil' Hickory and bestowed upon it a clear, 75 degree day. Folks filled the stadium, attracted as much by the $1 beer as they were by the opportunity to watch teenage athletes beginning their professional journeys.

My baseball buddy and I sat three rows back, just to the right of home plate. We were somehow placed in the center for the Ray's family seats. I had a good conversation with the parents of Matt Moore, the starting pitcher for the Hot Rods that night. They flew in from New Mexico to see their son embark on the third year of his professional career.

Needless to say, we didnt talk much after their son started issuing walks left and right. Tim Beckham's family was across the isle from us, they didnt talk to anyone though because their cell phones were glued to their ears. Eh, whatever.

Boscan if fun to watch. Really fun. Smooth as butta and works very quickly. At times it felt like he was ready to throw another pitch before the ump had finished calling the previous dealing. In the first inning Boscan kept the ball low and produced two strikeouts and a weak groundball. I suspect the gun in the stadium was a bit low. A Hot Rods pitcher never got above 86 on the stadium gun, Boscan was touching 90 on the stadium gun.

As the game went on Boscan started leaving the ball up and it was getting driven. Luckily multiple hard hit balls carried directly to waiting outfielders.

Beckham is a stud. A SS that runs like a deer, hits for power and average. People always say that star players produce a diferent sound when they make contact; this rule applies to Beckham. His HR off Boscan was effortless.

Ultimately, Boscan was the victim of HORRID defense. I jinxed Clark Murphy by telling my buddy, "Keep an eye on him. The organization seems pretty high on that guy." Ogata overthrew Murphy twice, but I think he should have had one of them. Murphy booted two hard hit, almost identical grounders, but somehow only got an error on one. To Murph's credit, he did save what should have been a third throwing error on Ogata with a snow-cone style grab of a ball sailing over his head.

I fear that this squad is not going to hit. We may see more tuff luck losses like Boscan's where the team doesnt hit and committs a lot of errors. Catcher Doug Hogan hit a 3run blast after Matt Moore walked two men on 8 pitches. I had never heard of Hogan but he's hard not to like; marine-style flat top, big kid, carriers himself like a leader, works the umps...good stuff.

The most pleasant suprise of the night was when I saw Wilmer Font, a man among boys, take the mound. Like I said earlier, i think the stadium gun was slow. According to that gun no Hot Rods pitcher got above 86....Font was consistantly at 95 and it looks like he's playing catch out there. The Hot Rods players were still able to drive some balls off Font. Even low-a guys can time a fast ball.

My guess is that the team is not converting Font to a reliever, they plan on brining in Perez the same way tonight. Font is coming off a year of injuries and they are likely to bring him along slowly.$4 baseball, $1 beer, stud pitching....love it.

Other notes:

Eric Fry covered a ton of ground in left field. On one play he was shifted well towards centerfield but was able to run down a pop fly that ended up 20ft into foul territory (on the third base line). There were a couple ropes that almost went over the LF's head that he was able to make last second adjustments on to complete the out. Fry was probably the only defensive standout from the opener.

Hamburger (who even the home fans couldnt resist teasing) was touching 92 on the stadium gun. Hamburger came to the Rangers organization in a trade that sent Eddie Guardado to the Twins in 08'. Not much else to say about his work last night. The box score says the rest.

Like any good Rangers fan would, I made my way to the Crawdads stadium to watch an open practice. The weather was less than ideal for baseball--it was 45 degrees and blustery. To my suprise, my daughter and I were the only people there and the field was empty. After about 20 minutes I wondered if the cold weather was going to scare the players off. There I was, in a cold, empty stadium with a 5 month-old bundled up in a stroller.

Thankfully, after about 30 minutes the team started to stream onto the field. The first player on the field was Clark Murphy. Of course I called him over immediately for a signature. What a nice kid. We small talked about the weather and his Arizona experience. Deffinately a guy to root for, and easy to spot since he's one of the tallest guys on the squad.

Shortly thereafter the rest of the team streamed onto the field. It's funny how jumping around in the cold, laughing all the while can be an excellent bonding experience. The players had great camaradarie. After about 10 minutes, the equipment manager emerged with a mountain of windbreakers. The team errupted in celebration and sprinted to the pile of jackets.

The team lined up for some running and stretching, still bitching endlessly about the cold. It was fun to try to pick out players that I had been reading about all spring. Man, Martin Parez is little. I thought he was about to blow away in the wind. I think i've seen bigger bat boys. I have a feeling Ranger fans will have to let this kid grow up and fill out. On the other end of the spectrum, WIlmer Font looks like a towering figure next to the smallish Perez.

So, after about 15 minutes of running and long toss, a gentleman in a Rangers windbreaker, carrying a bat approached me. There I stood, a strange looking fella with a stroller. The man shook my hand and said thanks for coming out. I asked him what his role was with the team....actually I think i asked him "so, are you an instructor or something." What can I say, I was cold and not really thinking straight. He responded, "I'm the manager, Hector Ortiz." What a nice guy. He proceeded to ask me about my daughter who sat next to me bundled up, speciffically he asked her age. He turned and walked towards his shivering team and shouted "We have a 5 month old that's excited to be here, surely you guys can deal with the cold too!" Immediately half the team turned in my direction with a stare of derision. I just shrugged my shoulders and sunk down into my seat hoping to return to my invisable state.

Eventually I got cold, packed up my little one, and went home to share the experience.

Not much hard info for you guys, but maybe you can appreciate the baseball experience. I know I did.