9/5/2015 Columbus Clippers 7, Louisville Bats 4

Louisville Slugger Field, Louisville, KY

Game 2 of 2

He wasn't the only one, but Minor League journeyman Zach Walters owned the Bats today, with 2 HR (back-to-back), 4 RBI, and good grief...

My scoresheets, using my pitch-counting method! Read about it HERE, download the scoresheets for free HERE!

COL RHP Jarrett Grube on the mound, LOU 2B Irving Falu at the plate

LOU RHP Dylan Axelrod faces Anthony Gallas...

...wait, WHAT??

...is Gallas wearing a balaclava...or is that a...beard???

Yes, it's a beard. That's the most shag carpet-like beard I've seen on a ball player in years, enough depth for 3 Dallas Keuchel beards, I think

Gallas also homered today...

RHP Donovan Hand in relief after Axelrod was knocked out following 3 innings and 5 earned runs (3 of them from Walters' taters), COL RF Michael Choice

LHP Tony Cingrani, a reliever now, is about to strike out Gallas

In the Mystery Rookie Card game, I happened to select perennial International League stalwart Alexi Casilla.

Surprisingly, he's played nearly as many games in MLB (578) as he's played in the Minor Leagues (619)...throughout his 13 season career, Casilla has made appearances at Louisville Slugger Field as a Rochester Red Wing (2007-2009), a Norfolk Tide (2014), and this season, he's played with both the Durham Bulls and the Buffalo Bisons. Of course, I remember Casilla most for his time with the Twins, and this game in particular.

Official Program (featuring Robert Stephenson) and Scorecard

Ticket (Jon Moscot)

Bat Chat and Gameday Stats

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8/12/2015 Columbus Clippers 2, Louisville Bats 0

Louisville Slugger Field, Louisville, KY

Game 2 of 3

I missed Donn Roach again, but fortune favors me anyhow; RHP Robert Stephenson and RHP Toru Murata both had their starts moved up. I'm all about Japanese players, especially pitchers, so seeing Murata here was probably the best bonus this boy could have hoped for. Stephenson's early exit and Murata's stellar performance meant the Bats were shut out, but I'm not complaining very much.

My scoresheets, using my pitch-counting method! Read about it HERE, download the scoresheets for free HERE!

Some video of Murata warming up; notice the glorious inside spin, so much #sparkle

Murata is an NPB import oddity in that while he was a first-round pick by the Yomiuri Giants in 2007, he never pitched in NPB and after two years of minor league service time, was released. The Indians subsequently signed him, and in a path that is atypical for his fellow imports, he's been riding the organizational circuit from A league all the way up to AAA now.

Stephenson pitching to switch-hitting COL OF Michael Martinez. Stephenson was a bit off tonight, and left in the 3rd with a wrist strain after walking the first two batters (one of them would score)

Murata vs. LOU 2B Juan Perez

Murata vs. LOU SS Kristopher Negron

Murata faces LOU OF Adam Duvall...where Brennan Boesch was the story last month, Duvall has majestically stepped in to usurp his spotlight, and rightfully so. 

Duvall was born and raised in Louisville, attended Butler HS and the University of Louisville, when the San Francisco Giants drafted him in the 11th round of the 2010 draft. Duvall arrived in Louisville just a couple of weeks ago, as one of the 2 pieces in the Mike Leake trade. While Reds fans are mourning the systematic extrication of their 25-man roster, local fans are exuberant that Duvall has returned home...not only that, but his shot at permanence on a big league roster is real, now that he's here and not really blocked by other Giants anymore.  

Murata gets OF Juan Silva to ground out, 3B Hernan Iribarren to 1B Chris Dominguez

Martinez singles off reliever RHP Donovan Hand

Another new addition in Louisville, albeit not so highly touted locally as Duvall, is LHP Brandon Finnegan. Finnegan was a Kansas City Postseason hero, yet found himself traded to the Reds (along with Cody Reed and John Lamb) for Johnny Cueto. Henceforth my reference earlier to "systematic extrication." I haven't seen Finnegan pitch yet, but today I see him coaching first base.

RHP Miguel Celestino faces COL DH Jesus Aguilar

COL LHP Giovanni Soto (not Geovany Soto, the pot-smoking former Cub and former ROY) versus Perez

Another solo run in the Mystery Rookie Card game, WHOA...it's former five-tool Reds prospect Chris Heisey.

Not really sure where his tools fell off to, but he was a fan favorite here in Louisville, and had a fairly decent run with the Reds several years ago...sure, he had loads of crackling value for a 17th round pick, but took the short straw in an end of the year deal to the Dodgers for Matt Magill in 2014. Magill made a few starts here to start the season, but was plagued with injuries and released in June.

Official Program (featuring Robert Stephenson) and Scorecard

Ticket

Bat Chat and Gameday Stats

If you enjoy my work, I encourage you to spread the word via Twitter 

(I am @yoshiki89), and also please leave a comment!

4/13/2015 Columbus Clippers, Louisville Bats PPD

Louisville Slugger Field, Louisville, KY

Game 1 of 2

The game that wasn't a game...my first visit of the season, and the first game I've ever attended that was rained out before the first pitch was even thrown.

Chihiro and I were all fired up and ready for based ball, and the weather really wasn't looking that bad...we've seen it a lot worse. The look on our faces above is primarily the result of what we are seeing happen on the field only 20 minutes before first pitch.

YUP...they're rolling out the tarp!

...5 minutes later came the rain, an hour later the game was postponed officially.

Of course, we had time to eat something and participate in the Mystery Rookie Card game for the first time of the 2015 season.

Chihiro picked a card that looks much nicer than mine, this 2008 Bowman Draft Prospects BDP36 Rich Thompson refractor. Rich (known by most of us as "Chopper") hails from New South Wales, Australia and was signed as an amateur free agent by the Anaheim Angels in 2002. 

He was a hero on the Australian Baseball squad of 2004 that defeated Japan to earn a Silver Medal, and seemed to be a consistent performer in the Angels' minor league system leading up to his MLB debut in 2007. Even though the High A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes worked him out as a starter in 2004 and 2005, he was primarily a reliever. He made appearances during the offseason with the ABL Sydney Blue Sox in early 2011, and at the time was a potential success story for Australian players in MLB.  His only considerable major league season would be 2011, the following spring the Angels placed him on waivers, when he was claimed by the Oakland A's and only appeared in 1 MLB game before being granted free agency. He signed with Toronto at the end of 2012, but never pitched for any MLB team or its affiliates since. Rich currently lives in Arkansas and is a personal trainer. He's also very active on twitter (@Chopper_54). You know how down I am with Australian Baseball, folks.

My pick brought a dry chuckle at first...this rustic 1988 Donruss 174 Ellis Burks card. I chuckled because I was sure I already had it; fact of the matter is, I don't.

Burks was the 20th pick in the first round of the 1983 Draft by Boston, and signed with them a few months later. He was with the Red Sox organization for 10 years, making his MLB debut in 1987 and only playing fewer than 130 games per season two times; despite shoulder surgery and, later, bad knees and back spasms plaguing him from time to time. Burks' OPS+ during his playing years in Boston was a rather impressive 116; he continued his success at the plate with the Chicago White Sox in 1993, and signed with the Colorado Rockies at the end of that year. His first season in Colorado was abbreviated somewhat, but from 1994 until the trade deadline in 1998 his OPS+ blossomed to an even more impressive 133 with a near 1.000 OPS; Burks was an MVP candidate and competed with the likes of Tony Gwynn for the batting title in 1996. At the 1998 trade deadline, Burks was sent to the San Francisco Giants for Darryl Hamilton, Jim Stoops and PTBNL Jason Brester. Burks continued to be bestial for the Giants, appearing in no less than 120 games again, despite his ever-increasing injuries. He was 35 at the end of the 2000 season, ripe and ready to finish his career as a DH in the American League, and signed with the Cleveland Indians, where he played in 317 games in 3 seasons (still bringing in the baconesque 133 OPS+), and ended his career where he started, with the Boston Red Sox, in 2004.

My scoresheets, stood up at the prom...you can still download the scoresheets for free HERE!

Official Program (featuring Donald Lutz) and Scorecard

Ticket (Dylan Axelrod)

Bat Chat and Gameday Stats

If you enjoy my work, I encourage you to spread the word via Twitter

(I am @yoshiki89), and also please leave a comment!