With all the talk of the snow headed our way, a photo from happier times – Opening Day, 2007.

In the never-ending search for content, it’s nice when the local paper of record can come through.  This was served up this morning by the editorial staff of the Ottawa Citizen:

“The treatment of the Ottawa Lynx Triple-A franchise would not have been so bad had the city (Ottawa Stadium’s landlord) just ignored the team. But instead, the municipality took actions that doomed the club. And there was no direction to staff for any of this. The only public discussion was that Ottawans wanted a baseball facility that would hold an International League club. That’s all.

In a somewhat limited capacity this evening.  The old domain (ottawalynxblog.com) is gone, although if I want to spend over $300US, register.com will sell it back to me.  Let me think about that for a… no.  For now, the blog’s back to its old address, ottawalynxblog.wordpress.com.  The Can-Am blog has also been resurrected.

More soon, but for now, it’s good to be back!

Even as the UOLB sinks deeper into irrelevance, many of the team’s alumni begin their 2009 campaign.  Some, in new uniforms seem right on the cusp of making the big club -

kanganzhu: Both [Jason] Jaramillo and [Robinzon] Diaz will battle for the backup catcher position. Since both are relatively new to the organization, could you give us your early impressions of both players as they fight for the roster spot?

Russell: Jaramillo comes from us in a trade for Ronny Paulino. We’re excited to have him. I was fortunate enough to work with him when I managed the Phillies in Triple-A. He was my catcher. He’s a student of the game with solid catch and throw skills. He’s a switch-hitter, which is valuable and gives us options.

while others continue to struggle -

The Phillies were humbled by the Pittsburgh Pirates to open pre-season baseball. The Pirates picked up an 8-2 win behind nine pitchers… The loss went to Joe Bisenius (0-1), who was hammered for four earned runs in one inning of work, with the big blast coming in the form of a three-run home run by Shelby Ford.

And from the “has it really been that long since I updated the blog?” department, a long overdue congratulations to Former Lynx catcher and good guy, Dusty Wathan on his promotion to the Lakewood BlueClaws, the Phillies Class A affiliate in the South Atlantic League.

Q: What surprised you the most in your first year as manager?

Dusty Wathan: The only thing that surprised me was what you forget about, what you assume guys know. But you had to teach them. That’s not the way we’re going to do this. This is the way we’re going to do this. Nothing serious, but just the way we do things in the pros.  

And finally on this late February morning (some 40 days removed from Opening Day), I’ve been asked by a few people about the status of the legal issues as between the City and the Ottawa Lynx.  The short answer is that it is ongoing, some two and a half years after it began.  Among other things, this should serve as a cautionary tale for local sports franchises that believe the City will respond quickly and/or reasonably when they’re confronted with a lawsuit. 

But it probably won’t.

Elsewhere, the Chiba Lotte Marines said they have acquired the services of infielders Chase Lambin and Gary Burnham.

Neither player has major league experience but both had tryouts in Lotte’s fall camp last year. Lambin, 29, will make ¥20 million while Burnham, 34, will earn ¥13 million after both tied up one-year deals.

Bobby Valentine’s team also said it has released infielder Jose Ortiz, right-hander Winston Abreu and left-hander Wu Si-yo.

For someone who’s likely never made more than $50,000 in his 11 years in the minor leagues, $13M Yen (roughly $135,000 US) is the gold at the end of the rainbow:

“Guys who have been in the majors for two or three years can earn as much as $60,000 for a five-month season,” the 32-year-old Burnham said. “That’s why it’s not easy to get a free-agent job.”

Of course, there are exceptions to the rule, Burnham said.

The Rochester Red Wings, another Triple-A organization, set a cap of $8,000 per month — no matter who you are or how long you’ve been playing.

That would hardly stop a guy looking for work from signing, though. “Unfortunately, beggars can’t be choosers,” Burnham joked. “My definition of rich is being ahead of my bills for two years.”

He even started building his retirement fund two years ago:

“My goal is to make $250,000 by the time I’m 35,” Burnham said.

Certainly this contract, albeit only for one year, should put him well on his way to the $1/4M (for those of you paying attention, he’ll be 35 in October).  Last year in Taiwan, in 7o games Gary put up numbers which were beyond “respectable”:  .323 AVG, .401 OBP, .523 Slugging, .924 OPS – certainly deserving of a shot in Japan’s premier league, if not MiLB.

Congratulations Gary!

Much, much further east than the Coventry Road exit.  It is not surprising given the level of blog inactivity, that our man in the east, Hansioux, hasn’t checked in in a while.  For those of you just joining us, Hansioux is a fellow member of the Gary Burnham fan club – probably the founding member in Taiwan.  Hansioux provided the UOLB with regular updates about Gary’s progress as a member of the La New Bears. 

When we last updated the former Lynx 1B, he wasn’t seeing much in the way of regular playing time.  The good news is that things improved and he began to get in more and more games.  The “East Windup Chronicle” picks up the story as the La New Bears were heading in to the Olympic break:

Gary:  Well, the team let go of Andrew Lorraine go in mid July. I was activated and heard through some people that the team was trying to replace me for a utility guy that can hit. I was like…oh no! I asked my interpreter if they were bringing in someone else and he couldn’t tell me. It was terrible.

 So the team brought in a new player to check him out and see if he could help the club out. Brent Metheny. According to the interviews given by the manager and in the paper the reason to bring in Brent was to strengthen the roster and not to replace me. That made me feel good, but I really didn’t know who to believe.

In the meantime we had 6 games leading up to Olympic break and I have been hitting well. Not that I have been hitting poorly. I’ve been over .300 the entire time and driving in runs, but for the past six games I’ve been mashing the ball and I think my performance helped me stay. So that is where we are now. We’re on a three week break now. This is a huge time frame for me because as of Aug. 13th my tax bracket drops down to 10% and not 20% because I have been working in Taiwan for longer than 6 months. So this is a big victory for me so far.

Reading further in the article, the strain of facing the constant prospect of being cut was beginning to show.  It was nice to see that he hasn’t let his artistic ability go to waste -

Gary: … I’ve been working hard and I have a pretty big following and even bought a scooter and painted it. I call it the FIRE CAT………..the fiercest cat on the streets of Taiwan!!!!!

On Monday, the East Windup reported that Gary has signed with the Chiba Lotte Marines of the Japanese Pacific League.  Incidentally, the Marines are managed by Bobby Valentine who took the Mets to the World Series in 2000.  Knowing very little about baseball in Asia, I’ll still go out on a limb and say the calibre of play is higher in the Japanese Pacific League than in Taiwan; the 12 teams in the Pacific and Central Leagues represent the highest level of baseball in Japan.

Interesting also to note that the article claims that Gary is engaged “to a woman in the States”.  Here’s hoping for another break-out season for Gary in 2009!

The blog enters its fourth year and second full season after the Lynx left town with an apology for those looking for regular updates:  Clearly, frequent blogging has slipped lower on my list of priorities and I can’t honestly say that I expect that to change in the near future, notwithstanding the addition of time this year.

There’s much to catch up on and I hope to get into some of the overdue news items in the coming days.  First up, as most remaining Lynx fans/followers know, FLP Jason Jaramillo was traded to Pittsburgh for catcher Ronny Paulino.  Now that the books are closed on the 2008 season, it’s noteworthy that from a statistical standpoint,  J.J. (arguably) took a bit of a step backward:

Fewer hits, runs scored, RBIs and walks, coupled with a lower average, and higher strike out totals.  Not dramatic declines, but the numbers in the areas where he did improve were also not that impressive – slugging percentage (up 10 pts) was offset by a 10 pt. decline in OBP.  Home runs were up 2 – from 6 in 2007 to 8 in LHV.  All of this of course, following what should have been a franchise move to a more baseball “friendly” environment – a “better stadium”, more fans and “better” weather.  Funny how that worked, huh?

With Lou Marson getting the September call up to the Phillies in the fall of 2008, the writing may have been on the wall for the former Lynx catcher; Marson seems to have supplanted J.J as the Philadelphia catcher of the future.  The trade may also have repercussions for another blog “favorite”, Chris Coste (whom we affectionately dubbed “complainer” and “the suck”).

The deal for Paulino also gives the Phightins’ ample flexibility when it comes to the futures of fellow backstops Chris Coste and Louis Marson. Coste, a local hero of the first kind, is likely to be dealt in spring training for either a relief pitcher or another bat off the bench. It has been rumored that both the Baltimore Orioles and Florida Marlins have some interest in the right-handed hitting Coste.

More tomorrow, including another FLP update.

(Courtesy FOTL, Ken Throop updates us on the last update)

Rich Gale was the Lynx pitching coach in 1994, his only season with us. He
took over from Mike Parrott, our first pitching coach in 1993, & was
replaced by Chuck Kniffin for the 1995 season.

Further to the coaching transactions you mentioned, i received an e-mail
today from the Syracuse Chiefs announcing that former Montreal Expos
infielder Tim Foli has been named manager of the Chiefs for the 2009 season.
Tim was the manager for the Columbus Clippers, Washington’s AAA affiliate
last season. Also named to the staff was former Toronto Blue Jay Darnell
Coles as the hitting coach, & named as pitching coach is former Oakland
Athletics pitcher & former Lynx pitching coach Steve MacCatty (2003-2005).
Also, hired by the Nationals to be the head trainer this year is former Lynx
trainer Mike Quinn (2002). Foli was with the World Series champion
Pittsburgh Pirates in 1979, & Coles played for the Blue Jays when they won
the World Series in 1993.

Thanks for the help Ken!  In more news of the Friend of the Lynx variety, Neate Sager’s Out of Left Field made it to the second round of voting in the Canadian Blog Awards.  No word yet on the results of the round two voting.

There’s a mountain of post-season IL stuff and player transactions to get to – more later.

FOTL and the blog in general, Tricia catches me up on some of the goings on of the alumni of your Ottawa Lynx.  Honestly, if I had a shred of decency, I’d hand the reins of the blog over to Trish; most of what has appeared in the FLP department is courtesy of her work.

FLP updates

National League
PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES-Named **Pete Mackanin** bench coach and Sam Perlozzo
third base coach.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS-Named Matt LeCroy manager, **Rich Gale** pitching
coach, and Ramon Aviles coach for Hagerstown (SAL).

Atlantic League
NEWARK BEARS-Named **Tim Raines** manager and signed him to a two-year
contract.

Thanks Trish!

Some time ago, friend of the blog Neate Sager fired over a quick report on the whereabouts of the Ottawa Lynx’s unofficial photographer, Patrick Shanks.  Some of you may know that Patrick is also in a soon to be famous local “garage” band.

Neate reports:

“Thought you might like seeing this… I am in awe a redheaded guy can wear a red shirt in public and pull it off.”

(courtesy of Andrew Carver’s Natcaprock blog)

Waffle house

Merchandising action!

That garage in full!

And to add insult to injury, tonight viewers will have to endure a 1/2 hour bit of propaganda infomercial featuring “The One”.  Fortunately, it gives me time to kick out a post before the thing comes to a merciful end.  Could MLB have envisioned a worse set-up than what they wound up with?  Rain delay after rain delay, a near miss with a less than regulation Series winning game, a 10 p.m. EST start, …?

Friend of the blog Tricia was kind enough to pass along a series of links – MLB’s website put up a nice piece on FLP Clay Condrey here.  And in the “better late than never” department, the Phillies World Series roster included some interesting names – Happ, Condrey, Chris “the Complainer” Coste, and -

The Phillies have brought four other players to St. Petersburg in case of injury: pitcher Kyle Kendrick, catcher Lou Marson, first baseman Andy Tracy and outfielder Greg Golson.

Interesting to note that Lou Marson has jumped ahead of FLP Jason Jaramillo.  Funny, JJ’s numbers slipped a bit this year (more Ks, fewer walks, lower average, fewer runs, hits and RBI) - even though he was playing in baseball’s climatological paradise also known as Allentown.  Go figure.

Not that were bitter about any of that stuff.  Adding insult to injury today comes the news that I’ve run afoul of the copyright police:

Dear carlk23,

Video Disabled

A copyright owner has claimed it owns some or all of the audio content in your video Junior Lynx Day. The audio content identified in your video is Centerfield by John Fogerty. We regret to inform you that your video has been blocked from playback due to a music rights issue.

Nice.  And I was making so much money on the back of Fogerty too.  Swamp music.  Who needs it?

Hat tip to good friend, and friend of the blog, Tricia for the pictures of Jamey Carroll, taken on a recent road trip.  We’re still concerned that Jared may be upset, but what are you gonna do?

Play of the game – nicely timed visit, Trish!

A-ha!  The unshaven “J.L” look!

Now that the Zip.ca era has ended at Lynx Stadium, I look forward to the day that Jamey’s jersey along with FP Santangelo and Jackie Robinson will be returned to the centerfield wall.

(Originally posted at the Unofficial Can-Am Ottawa Blog)

Talking about million dollar losses and a threatened baseball franchise on a day when the Dow Jones lost over 700 points may seem a little trivial, but we’re going to discuss it – at least over here.   First, a word on nomenclature, because there is a distinction to be made between the Ottawa Rapids and the Ottawa Rapidz.  The Rapids were the team envisioned by most of us, people like Miles Wolff, Don and Lorraine Charrette and my son.  A team that was snatched from the jaws of defeat more than once, and that had its zenith at the February 14th press conference with the introduction of its first manager, its front office staff, and its distinctive logo.  The people involved all held one unifying trait: They loved the game of baseball.

The contrast with the Rapidz was as stark as it was disquieting.  First the name and logo change – a pointless decision that needlessly upset many of the fledgling franchises fans.  Next, the firing of GM Don Charrette and the very clumsily handled dismissal of Ed Nottle, the latter a complete PR disaster.  Good things that had been done around the park were completely undermined and then forgotten.  In the two years that I’ve written the Unofficial Ottawa Lynx Blog I have yet to receive one email from a former or then current staff member criticizing the organization.  Not a single one.  The Rapidz?  Don’t even ask (scroll to the bottom of the link for “full disclosure”).

So where do things stand? 

It’s a great day,” Rapidz owner Rob Hall said. “I think we would have liked a little higher (attendance overall), but we got hit with some pretty bad rain in June.

”People are returning and realizing that we have a great product on the field, great food and concessions that are a little different, and it’s a great family experience. If you look at our trend, it’s up, and people are coming back and word is spreading how great it is to take the family to a Rapidz game.”

Hall is also looking forward to next year.

“We took over this team three weeks before the season, so we were rushed to get everything done in 21 days,” Hall said. ”Now we’ve got eight months to plan next year, so we’re really looking forward to the opportunity to show Ottawa what we can do,” he said.

That was a mere 28 days ago.  And now:

The Ottawa Rapidz baseball club have struck out after only one season.
Team owner Rob Hall notified the Can-Am Baseball League his club will cease operations effective immediately after failing to secure a long-term lease with the city of Ottawa for use of Ottawa Stadium.

The Rapidz said they were told by the city in a meeting early this month that rent at the stadium would jump from its present $108,000 per season to in the area of $1 million once the current lease with the city expires following the 2009 season.

Now that’s a pretty big jump – a several hundred percent increase, pretty staggering.  But let’s back up for just a second.  Recently, according to Mr. Hall, “despite a 31-63 record and financial losses of “well over a million dollars,” co-owner Rob Hall said he had a lot of fun at the ballpark and is already looking forward to next year.”  And then there was this from former co-owner Rick Anderson:

So no regrets?

“None,” said Anderson. “We love it. We’re delighted, actually.

“Next year will be even better than this year. And the next year will even be better.

So how do you get from “looking forward to next year” and “delighted” to shutting down the team?  I’d suggest that the $892,000 increase is probably where Hall intends to lay the blame.  And I’d be prepared to join in the bashing of the City, particularly after what we went through in the days before Zip.  But there’s a little problem, several actually, and they’re called facts.  Blog sources at City Hall are saying that the City was prepared to offer a lease at far, far less than the purported “million dollars a year”.  The other story, which now has hit the MSM:

The Sun has learned that after only its first season, it could be the end of the road for the Ottawa Rapidz.

Either later today or tomorrow, city council will be informed by city staff that the Can-Am Baseball League team will file for bankruptcy after its inaugural season.

More details to follow.

If true, this is staggering.  Having operated the club for only five months, the team by its own admission lost well over a million dollars.  Now Ray Pecor reportedly lost at least a million per season every year he owned the club, but there are several differences between your Ottawa Lynx and the Zip Rapidz.  The biggest difference?  Expenses.  The Lynx operated Lynx Stadium year round and had to cover expenses for 72 home dates (as opposed to 40 something for the Rapz) plus higher travel costs (i.e. the occasional flight).  But getting back to the point, if the Rapidz are already bankrupt, this million dollar a year lease argument is entirely irrelevant – a red herring.  It’s pretty tough to blame the City for this – no more than I would blame an undertaker for not saving his unfortunate client.  For his part, the commissioner of the Can-Am League, Miles Wolff concurs – the City has bent over backwards for Independent baseball in Ottawa, they’re not the problem.

Watch closely as the facts continue to spill out over the next few days.

But for now, the old adage is true: All politics is local.  Which is why I face the unenviable task of once again having to explain to my son why baseball in Ottawa is very much in question. 

Unfortunately, unlike Mr. Hall, I can’t hide behind a spokesperson.

The blogging silence will make sense soon.  We’re busy on another [ahem] project right now.

Stay tuned.

Don’t hold your breath waiting for Andy Tracy’s next AB as a member of the Phillies:  Andy broke his left hand during BP and will miss the remainder of 2008.

In brighter news, New York Mets pitcher and FLP John Maine is willing to do whatever is asked of him by Jerry Manuel – even if it means a stint in the bullpen.  John’s been on the DL since August 24 due to bone spurs, but may be back as early as next week.

And on an unrelated note, best wishes to FLE, Francois Marchand with his recent career move.  Francois recent heroics include bailing out yours truly after an unfortunate, well, let’s call it a “misunderstanding” (for which we still owe him the cost of a hamburger and Coke).

You wuz robbed, Josh!

Hard to believe, but the UOLB begins its third year of existence – the archives now extend all the way back to September 6, 2006.  A lot of water has passed under the bridge in the last two years – some good, some bad.  The blog’s learned a lot about baseball and the business surrounding it in that time; the “civics” type lessons have been, well, eye opening, but worthwhile all the same.

We’ve also made some great friends – at the ballpark and in cyberspace, from Vermont to Florida, and all the way to Taiwan.  Erin, Bruce, Kyle, Tricia, Neate, Ray, Bob, Hansioux, Riley, Francois, Todd, Patrick, John, Grant, Mark, Marie-Eve, Miles, Josh, Ed, Tara, D.J., Lorraine, Don, Michaela, Derek, Bryan, Ryan, Pete and everyone else – thanks for sticking around for the ride!

Clearly, the blog’s taken a back seat this summer.  As things settle down a bit and get back on a regular schedule the UOLB will be updated more frequently.  HT to friend of the blog Tricia for digging through her photo archives for the picture of current Canadian Olympian Adam Stern.  At the time of the photo, Stern was in the Boston organization playing for Pawtucket.  Tricia also pointed out another Olympic Lynx connection:  Mike Johnson (current Taiwanese team mate of Gary Burnham) is also a member of the National squad competing in Beijing.  Unfortunately, the Canadians were eliminated from medal contention earlier today (yesterday?).

Our baseball home away from home.

Long, long overdue.  We spent a week south of the border last month, indulging “the boy’s” fascination (bordering upon obsession) with all things baseball.  Cooperstown was certainly all that it was billed as: a charming, baseball lover’s paradise, nestled in upstate New York.  My recommendation?  If you have anything more than a passing interest in baseball, you’ll need more than a day to take in the Hall of Fame.  For a kid who’s a stats freak par excellence, Zak was in heaven.  He successfully stumped more than one adult in the “So you think you know baseball?” interactive game, the HOF version of “Who wants to be a millionaire”.  (Question:  Who holds the highest lifetime average?  Answer: Ty Cobb.  But to the amazement of the moderator, the freak, errr, my son also knew that Cobb’s average was .366.  Now if we could just get him to remember to pick his clothes up off the floor…)  The boy was visibly moved in the Hall of Fame plaque gallery, reflexively removing his hat out of respect for baseball’s greatest men.

Two of Zak’s heroes, Branch Rickey and Jackie Robinson.

The second leg of our trip brought us to Burlington, Vermont to take in a Lake Monsters game.  We timed the trip to coincide with the arrival of Dusty Wathan’s Williamsport Crosscutters.   Unfortunately - depending on who you were cheering for of course, Dusty’s team beat up on Vermont pretty badly that night. 

We caught up with Dusty briefly following the game and congratulated him on being named manager of the Crosscutters.  Earlier in the evening, Dusty had spotted Zak in the crowd and tossed him a baseball (Dusty later took the time to kid Zak about dropping the toss.  The boy elected to hang on to my camera and drop the ball instead.  Wise choice).

Dusty, putting down the signals.

I had the great pleasure and genuine honor of meeting Lynx owner Ray Pecor.  Blog regulars will know that I have always maintained a great deal of respect for Mr. Pecor (who insisted on being addressed as “Ray”), though I’d never met the man.  I’m exceedingly pleased to report that the man lives up to his reputation as a true gentlemen.   In a day when things such as loyalty and decency are increasingly rare, it is noteworthy that Kyle Bostwick is still standing by his side - a testament to the true character of both men.  It was a complete privilege to spend an evening with them, and to have the opportunity to express my very real regret for how things had turned out in Ottawa.  As Miles Wolff, Commissioner of the Can-Am League pointed out months ago, we here in Ottawa were lucky to have them.  That baseball is still being played on Coventry Road is largely due to them; no one person brought baseball back to Ottawa, but more than anyone, they made it possible.

(left to right) Kyle Bostwick, Ray Pecor, unofficial Lynx blogger.

Thanks to FOTL, Hansioux for the frequent Gary Burnham updates.  In case you’ve missed it, Hansioux recently added this comment:

… anyway, off topic but i am here to share Gary Burnham news as usual. Gary after the second stay in the Taiwan minors is doing great in the La New Bears lineup. He hit his 6th homerun, and had 5RBI in 2 games.

La New Bears actually got a new position player from the US, Brent Matheny, who is a single A player. I hope the managers come to their right minds and keep Gary.

Finally, Gary was at the Taiwan All Star game. He was there for the homerun derby, but he picked Mike Johnson to feed him the pitches, who happened to be the league’s leader in wins. So Gary didn’t make it to the final round.

Though here is a funny clip about Gary pre-All star game. He showed off his Mandarin skills. And he speaks it very well.

Hansioux, Gary Burnham news is never “off topic” around here.  Roll tape.

(I should have a mandarin translation later tomorrow.)

Don’t they?

Oh, the irony.

Councillors Maria McRae and Bob Monette had earlier stated their support for a revitalization of Frank Clair Stadium, but Ms. Leadman isn’t sure. While she watched the stands fall with a “touch of sadness,” she’s not in any rush to build them again.

Ms. Leadman said, “the many attempts have been unsuccessful. There has to be interest from the community.”

The original Ottawa Rough Riders franchise folded in 1996. The team returned in 2002 as the Renegades and the ownership changed hands in 2005, and in 2006. Then CFL commissioner Tom Wright announced the club had ceased operations.

“I would step cautiously,” Ms. Leadman said. “That’s a big investment and once you build a stadium, it’s there.”

Aside from the multiple CFL franchises, she noted that the city also had trouble supporting its AAA baseball team, the Ottawa Lynx, which has since relocated to Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Emphasis added (not that I expect you needed it).  So the City (with a capital C) wipes out the southside stands shortly after discovering that they’re no longer structurally sound – readers will note that “shortly” is a relative term, particularly when the City is involved.  Ms. Leadman’s comments though are pretty much gospel from the City’s perspective: the city had trouble supporting it’s AAA baseball team.  In fact it was the City of Ottawa that had the most difficulty supporting it’s AAA team.  As a politician, it’s prudent to look at the facts – and the fact of the matter is the CFL franchise has failed in this city twice, and has had several owners, some of whom were unmitigated disasters.  It may be unwise to invest a significant amount of taxpayers money into a new stadium (although I have no doubt that they will study the matter to death through the investment of a significant amount of taxpayers money into consultants).  But bringing Lynx Stadium into the discussion does nothing to strengthen Ms. Leadman’s argument.  First, the stadium is paid for and has been for several years.  Second, unlike Lansdowne Park, it hasn’t suffered from the City’s neglect: Lynx Stadium isn’t falling down and shouldn’t for the foreseeable future.  And finally, due to the hard work of Miles Wolff, Bruce Murdock, councillors Bob Monnette and Rob Jellett, and the unselfish nature of Lynx owner Ray Pecor, even though the Lynx left there’s still baseball being played at the stadium. 

It’s an interesting study in contrasts, Lansdowne Park and Lynx Stadium.  For one, they used dynamite to begin to destroy it.  For the other…, well, you already know.

Tough news out of Syracuse: FLP Kane Davis was released.  Kane was having an up-down kind of season, with a record of 6-7 and an ERA over four.  The final start came on June 24 against the Mudhens and it wasn’t pretty: two innings pitched, allowing nine hits and nine earned runs.

Hopefully Kane can find his stuff again, soon, and hook up with another team.  Which is a nice segue to FLP Zack Segovia.  As you may recall, the blog recently noted that Zack was picked up by the Washington Nationals and he appears to have regained some of the promise that the Phillies drafted him for.

Around this time a year ago, Zack Segovia was pitching in the Philadelphia Phillies organization, specifi-cally Tripe-A Ottawa. Just three months earlier Segovia was on the Phillies’ Opening Day roster and would make his major league debut not long after.
A second-round pick in 2002, Segovia now finds himself with the Potomac Nationals, trying to work his way back into the graces of the baseball gods after a precipitous spiral down through Philadelphia’s system.
However, in the Nationals’ organization Segovia seems to have reversed his movement, pitching first in the Gulf Coast League before heading to Low-A Hagerstown.
Now with his fourth team of the season, Segovia led the P-Nats to a 1-0 win in his Carolina League debut, the first of two seven-inning affairs against Salem Monday.
An hour, five-minute rain delay held up the start of the second game, a 5-1 Potomac loss in Jhonny Nunez’s 17th start of the year. Nunez fell to 2-8 on the year with the defeat.
But the story yesterday was Segovia seemingly finding the corner and turning it with Potomac.

Here’s hoping that the elbow and his control are all the way back, and back for good.

Potomac splits doubleheader

The Philadelphia Inquirer is reporting that FLP, J.A. Happ will make his first start for Philly in ‘08 tonight against the New York Mets and (gulp) one Johan Santana. There’d been a great deal of speculation about who would fill the open roster spot in Philadelphia after Brett Myers was optioned to the Triple-A city that shall remain nameless.

The Phillies won’t really need a fifth starter until Saturday when they face the Mets. The problem with that though is that Cole Hamels and Jamie Moyer were set to pitch the first two games against New York and the Phillies might want to keep it that way. The option would be to find someone to make a start against the Braves Thursday night in Atlanta.

J.A. Happ ( 5-6, 3.54 ) has been pitching well at Lehigh Valley (ed: Triple A city that shall remain nameless) and it’s long been whispered that he might be the next one to get the call. One issue with bringing Happ into the rotation is that he would add another left-hander, giving them three left-handers in the rotation. Happ was 3-1, 2.51 in five starts in June and last pitched on Saturday, putting him on a schedule that would have him pitch next on Thursday.

It’s not likely that Happ’s new teammate, Kris Benson, who made a rehab start with the IronPigs on Monday is ready to pitch in the big leagues just yet. Benson needs to keep picking up some velocity, which will come as he adds arm strength, but for now, he’s not likely to be a candidate. The only other Triple-A pitcher who would really warrant any consideration would be lefty Brian Mazone ( 8-6, 3.28 ) who has been steady all season, even through the early season struggles that the IronPigs (ed: team formerly known as the Ottawa Lynx) faced when they lost 23 of their first 25 games.

The pitching staff is pretty well loaded at Double-A Reading if the Phillies want to dig deeper into the minor league system. With Antonio Bastardo on the DL, Carlos Carrasco ( 5-7, 4.18 ) would seemingly be the best pick out of the Double-A ranks. The bad news is that Carrasco is coming off his worst month of the season and has seen his ERA jump over a full run in the past month. Carrasco last pitched on Friday night, putting him on schedule to pitch again Wednesday night, but pushing him to Thursday would be no problem at all.

The Phillies could put together a “bullpen game” and just run a bunch of relievers out to the mound for a game either against Atlanta or New York, but that’s not exactly a great situation. If they do, Steve Green ( 4-0, 3.08 ) could be a nice addition to the bullpen and he did make one spot start for Lehigh Valley and gave them four very strong innings.

Finally, the Phillies could go outside the organization. A phone call to Shawn Chacon? Not likely, although it’s not out of the question. Maybe the Phillies will finally pull the trigger to get one of the starters out there – Randy Wolf, Dan Haren, Ian Snell, Ben Sheets or a list of others – who have been floated on the trade market early on.

You will recall of course, that initially the thinking was that guys like J.A., Zack Segovia and Joe Bisenius (among others) had poor seasons in Ottawa because of the weather.  Turns out all three were playing with fairly significant injuries.

Nice to see J.A. get his shot on the 4th of July.

“This could be your golden opportunity…”

Oh ye of little faith:

The Lynx diaspora: It’s quite likely the 2007 Lynx’s contribution to the IL squad for the Triple-A All-Star Game will go completely unnoticed — Ottawa’s erstwhile boys of summer will have four representatives (really; OK, not really) in the July 16 game in Louisville.

Joe Thurston, the second baseman and 2-hole hitter through most of last season’s Long Goodbye, has been spanking the ball for Pawtucket (.324 average, tops in the circuit) and will make an IL record-tying fourth all-star appearance. Catcher Jason Jaramillo, the Lynx rep in last season’s game, is headed back along with his Lehigh Valley IronPigs batterymate, left-hander Brian Mazone . Closer Brian Sanches is the Columbus Clippers representative. Crazy. Maybe they just needed to stay one more season?

That’s a “quick hit” for tonight (blogger: The house is being torn up err… reno’d starting tomorrow).  Coming soon: FLP update on Val Majewski.

You’d think I’d have a little more time for blogging, but as is often the case during a three (or four) day weekend, there’s actually a little less.

Quick FLP update – Danny Sandoval began his season with the Buffalo Bisons, but has played the last 28 games with the Syracuse Chiefs.  His fortunes in Syracuse have taken a most decided turn for the better – in 43 games with the Bisons, he hit .247.  In a Chiefs jersey?  He’s raised his average by 74 points to .321 and his OBP 63 points to .372.  His slugging percentage is a whopping 200 points better in Syracuse.

One of the last remaining FLPs still doing duty with the big club in Philadelphia is Clay “Air Miles” Condrey.  Funny, for all the time he spent here in Ottawa, I’m still going through my “less extensive than John Bradley’s” photo archive for a single photo of Clay.   I’ll keep looking, but meanwhile, it seems that Clay is about to log more time on a plane:

PHILADELPHIA — Entering a game with the bases loaded can be a nervous time for any reliever, and the Phillies’ Clay Condrey is no exception.

Making the right pitch in such a spot is nothing compared to what he’ll experience during Monday’s day off. Condrey headed home to Navasota, Texas — about 3 1/2 hours from Arlington, where the team finished a three-game series — to witness the birth of his first child.

It doesn’t matter that his wife will be doing all the work.

“Right now, I’m nervous more than anything,” he said. “She’s having a C-section. I’m sure they do those things all the time, just not with my wife.”

Condrey has received permission to spend two days with his wife, Elizabeth, and his son, and is expected to rejoin the team Thursday in Atlanta.

Best wishes to Clay and family and congratulations on the new arrival.

Finally, a quick Q+A from the Philadelphia Inquirer with Clay Condrey – figured we’d go with the “breaking news” story first.

Q: It’s Game 7 of the World Series and you recover So Taguchi’s walkoff home run in the bullpen. Are you giving the ball to Taguchi or Cooperstown, or are you Mientkiewicz-ing it?

- Kevin K., Mt. Laurel, N.J.
A: I give it to So. It’s not mine. It would mean something more for him to tell stories.

Q: How did you avoid suspension during triple-A Portland’s brawl with a Las Vegas 51’s fan in 2003 [every member of the Portland Beavers except Condrey was suspended after they chased a fan into the stands after he threw a soft squeezeball at Tagg Bozied]?

- John T., Montclair, N.J.
A: It was after the game and I was inside icing my shoulder. I was starting that year, so I was inside. They didn’t come into the clubhouse for about five or 10 minutes. I had the ice and I was sitting on the couch. I went to take it off and started going outside, but they were coming in whooping and hollering and I realized I was in my underwear so I wasn’t going outside. I didn’t really know what was going on until they came in.

Q: Being an avid outdoorsman, do you, like “Sack Master” in the movie Wedding Crashers, hunt quail? - Greg P., Hoboken, N.J.
A: I don’t hunt quail. I hunt deer, dove, duck. That’s it. Rabbits. Whatever I can eat.

Q: Squirrels?

A: Squirrels, too. It’s good stuff.

Q: Have you had a raccoon?

A: Yeah, I was forced to eat one once. It’s very greasy and very tough. I’ve had armadillo one time. It’s the same type of deal. The armadillo is probably the worst thing I’ve eaten. We ate it because we shot it, and anything we shoot we’re supposed to eat.

Okay, now finally.  FOTL, the Vermont Lake Monsters sit in first place in the very tight Stedler division with a record of 7-6.

Just a “quick hit” post for today.  Over the weekend, Zak’s team won their division in the East Nepean Little League.  Somewhat convoluted pitching rules meant “the boy” couldn’t pitch on consecutive days – he threw the maximum two innings in their Saturday semi-final game, striking out six and allowing one unearned run.  Good, creative coaching allowed the Athletics to spread out their remaining pitchers for the rest of Saturday and Sunday’s final.

Slapping an opposite field double to right field in Sunday’s final.

The 2008 East Nepean Major Nationals Champs!

Number 1!