9/20/11 Omaha Storm Chasers 3, Columbus Clippers 9

Isotopes Park, Albuquerque, NM
Triple-A National Championship Game

Who has the power to silence the Storm Chasers? …you’re looking at him!


One of the strongest teams in Minor League Baseball that features some of the finest prospect talent in any organization, the Omaha Storm Chasers making it to the AAA Playoffs certainly didn’t surprise me. That being said, this year’s Columbus Clippers team is a lot like last year’s team…also strong, also from a decent farm system, and last year’s returning champions.



In a one-game playoff, the principles of “Tournament Baseball” are key to success. I won’t sugar-coat my ham-handed analysis one single bit: Mike Jirschele didn’t demonstrate a respect for the Clippers’ ability to rally exponentially, and left his hand-picked SP (the well-baked Sean O’Sullivan) in for one inning too many.

The Storm Chasers got on the board in clever fashion in the first inning, fueled by a 2-RBI triple off the bat of Lorenzo Cain. They scored 3 in that frame against Martinez, but ended their pre-emptive rally right there; Martinez demonstrated an amazing command performance, handcuffing the Storm Chasers for his remaining 6 innings of work and turning Omaha’s finest into chicken feed for the formidable Clippers.

O’Sullivan’s career has been a decidedly rocky one…he hasn’t been able to perform that well in the Majors, as many Royals fans are well aware of. Is O’Sullivan nothing more than a AAAA pitcher? Let’s consult Baseball-Reference and see if there’s an answer hiding somewhere…

Here are some key pitching stats (flush the W-L and ERA down the toilet for now):

SOS Career (MLB and MiLB)
This certainly isn’t überstatistical breaking news, but yes, O’Sullivan seems to pitch better in the Minors than in the Majors. Most of us would agree that 6.6 SO/9 and 1.271 WHIP isn’t really horrible, even if it is in the Minors. In fact, these numbers are really close to Joe Martinez’ 7.4 SO/9 and 1.244 WHIP in his 7 seasons in MiLB. So, what’s happening to Sean O’Sullivan?

Let’s look at O’Sullivan’s MiLB career, year-by-year:
Here, we can see some regression in the Minors…improved WHIP and SO/BB in 2011 from 2010, but overall SO/9 is somewhat stagnant, WHIP overall is increasing. Martinez’ WHIP by comparison is holding steady overall, as is his SO/9. Comparison to Martinez is only valid in that this is who O’Sullivan is facing; the bigger question is: how can we expect O’Sullivan to be a Major League ready pitcher anytime soon? He’s choking at the MLB level and MiLB hitters are figuring him out, and it shows.

Here’s my point: Mike Jirschele is a very good manager; we’re talking about Tournament Baseball here, O’Sullivan had a great 3 groundout 1st inning…after the Clippers’ 3-run 2nd inning, he should have given O’Sullivan the hook when he had the chance and brought in some of the Storm Chasers stellar relief. The bullpen allowed 2 runs after O’Sullivan’s 3IP, 6ER exit; would the Clippers have still won? Probably, yes. Would the Storm Chasers have been working so hard to make up for a 3-run deficit to start the 4th inning? Not at all. The formula is simple: 1 game playoff = don’t let questionable pitchers stay in the game…it just isn’t necessary. Particularly with Sean O’Sullivan on the mound and failing so early.

It’s more than stingingly ironic that in this single playoff game, starting pitching helped bury the Storm Chasers…just as it did for the Royals all season long!

As for Joe Martinez…let’s hope this isn’t the game of his career (which isn’t over yet, by any means), but this certainly was a definitive highlight of his MiLB career so far. I was fortunate enough to meet Joe after a Clippers/Bats game here in Louisville this past summer, and the Storm Chasers loss aside, it was great to see him pull through in this game and not only lead the Clippers to a Triple-A Championship victory, but also end up as the recipient of the esteemed Bobby Murcer Memorial MVP Award after the game…something I’d much rather remember him for than a Mike Cameron line drive in 2009 that nearly took his head off.

I watched this game on MLB Network, courtesy of a feed from Versus (the game was called by Robert Portnoy and former Omaha Royals manager Bucky Dent, who is also known for a few other baseball moments). The folks at Versus were apparently mesmerized by Lance Zawadzki; not so much by his performance as a player, but moreso by his interesting last name.

For starters, Versus spelled his name accurately upon his appearance in the Storm Chasers’ starting lineup:

Zawadzki’s first plate appearance, in the 1st inning…his name is still spelled correctly:

5 innings later, Lance is suddenly “Zwadski” without realizing it:

Someone sends a text message to the Versus folks operating the character generator (Cheech and Chong, perhaps?) and they do their best to correct the error…but don’t quite make it right; Lance is now “Zawadski” in the 8th inning:

The Clippers win the championship; Lance Zawadzki and Kila Ka’aihue were released by the Royals soon after this game. Sean O’Sullivan remains with the Royals and as of December 2011 is still on their 40-man roster.





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Waiting For Todd

We waited for you, bro...what's up?!?

A few weeks ago, my friend Jimmy (who sits near us in 211 at Louisville Slugger Field) asked me if I’d ever waited outside the ballpark after the game to meet players and get stuff signed. Funny thing is, after years of stalking tour busses and milling about meet n greet circles after rock concerts and live shows, this thought had never occurred to me. Ever.

I thought it might be worth a shot someday, but my youngest daughter Chihiro heard this and prioritized this possibility. And once her older sister Kei caught wind of this possibility, let’s just say this activity was not only re-prioritized, but has now ended up as a race between my two daughters for the acclaim of being the first to snag an autographed Todd Frazier baseball and a photo or two.

Consider this real-time post a pre-addendum to a couple of pending posts for recent Louisville Bats games, particularly the first and third games of the Bats’ homestand against the visiting Columbus Clippers 7/4-7/6.

Following last night’s 3-2 Bats victory over the Clippers to sweep the series, Kei and I headed down to the East Gate entrance and joined a small crowd of about 30 others brandishing baseball card binders, batting helmets, lineup cards, broken bats, and baseballs.

Fearing the possibility of Kei getting lost in the crowd when Todd emerged, I wisely schooled her in the process of placing yourself in the best possible position to engage a ‘celebrity’ in these situations…

1. Make eye contact
2. Speak the name of the ‘celebrity’ clearly
3. Treat them with respect
4. Don’t forget they are humans
5. Regardless of their attitude, assume that they are absolutely thrilled to meet you
6. Compliment them profusely, yet politely, on their craft
7. Do your business quickly and efficiently
8. Be considerate of others, even if they act like total jerks
9. Most important of all, shake their hand FIRMLY, no exceptions

This was not our first experience meeting a baseball player…almost two years ago to the day, my whole family shared a portion of our day with Ryan Theriot in a much more controlled environment. This would no doubt be a lot different, and perhaps a lot more familiar to me.

In many ways, this experience was just like my experiences of stalking the tour bus from many years past, only in this environment the fans are much more dorkier (myself included) and the stars are MUCH TALLER.

If you’ve ever met a professional musician and are at or about 6 feet in height, you will know exactly what I mean by MUCH TALLER.

I had an unused non-regulation baseball for Kei to get signed, but was only prepared with my scoresheets from the 7/4 extra-innings game and last night’s game for autographs. Todd won both games, the former with a Fielder’s Choice walk-off (RARE) and last night with a SAC Fly RBI walk-off.

For the record, I’m not that much of an autograph geek, but in the past I have never turned down an opportunity to get something scrawled on…especially when I have my scoresheets handy.

It seemed to be only about 15-20 minutes until, one-by-one, players started to file out. I will spare the details of every player that emerged and only share the most pertinent encounters of the evening.


The first player to emerge was Clippers RHP Joe Martinez. This was a profound moment for me, as Joe was the unfortunate recipient of a Mike Cameron line drive to the head in a memorable contest between the Giants and the Brewers in 2009. This was one of the most shocking injuries I’ve seen, as Joe crumpled bluntly to the mound and Cameron was definitively spooked by the incident. I introduced myself and told him I was glad he was well and still working. Joe thanked me and blew off the event politely, but I’m sure I speak for many of us…something like that may make one never want to see a baseball again. Joe didn’t pitch last night, but did pitch well on Monday night…however, out of respect, I didn’t ask him to sign my scoresheet from that game as he earned the loss for the Clippers in extra innings. No Todd yet.


I tweeted with glee when Jason Kipnis was in the lineup (he was not on Monday). I started admiring Kipnis last year, a great player and owner of the Best Batting Stance in Baseball, hands down. As a few Bats were filing out (no Todd yet), I heard an autograph seeker whisper “Kipnis” and I sulked over, introducing myself (“Hey, I follow you on Twitter!”) and professing my admiration for his stance and his work so far. Jason gladly signed last night’s scoresheet, on the side with the Clippers’ lineup. Still no Todd.


This is Mike Costanzo, who was just called up from AA Carolina to join the Bats’ roster for the first time this season. Mike was a 2nd round draft pick by the Phillies in 2005, and has worked in the Phillies and Orioles organizations until playing 16 games for the Independent League Camden Riversharks in 2010, and in the same year signing with the Reds organization. Mike played in 6 games at Louisville last year and compiled a .274/.360/.481 in AA Carolina before the recent callup. Mike was 1-for-3 with two strikeouts, and the victim of an outrageous ball-called-strike that many of the others around us shared his grief in revisiting. Mike signed my scoresheet on the boxes next to his name in the lineup. No sign of Todd yet.


You already know how much I like Scott Carroll this year…he didn’t pitch during the series, but I went out of my way to shake his hand and commend him on his work so far, for which he was genuinely appreciative. I will definitely try to get a ball signed by him as soon as I can! Of course, that’s Scott on the right. No sign of Todd.


No sooner had Scott departed than David Johnson emerged, he pitched 3 perfect innings in extra-innings relief during Monday’s game (the first of which he pitched effectively where 4th of July fireworks were exploding all around him) to earn the W for the Bats. David was very tall, very genuine and was elated to sign my scoresheet from that game, right next to his line on the second page. Still waiting for Todd.

The seekers began to disperse as the players thinned out. Most let us know that Todd was “very cool” and would be happy to sign stuff and talk with us. The clock read 10:51 as the Clippers’ bus departed and the last of the fans to leave shouted to us “Todd still hasn’t come out yet, he’s cool!” We waited patiently as Smoky Garret (Bats hitting coach) emerged at ten after 11. Todd? Not yet.

At 11:30, Kei decided to give up our vigil for the night. We have a game coming up on 7/23 and in an admirably positive tone she gave me the sign that we should disperse for now, but will be back to try again (and ultimately, get a signed ball before her sister has a chance to).

Having waited so long, it was hard not to look back to the doors from time to time as if to catch a glimpse of Todd eventually emerging. Even as our distance from the ballpark became greater, I considered the kind of luck I was born with and knew in my heart that Todd would enter the players’ lot only a few moments after we had left. In fact, several blocks away and much too far to make it back, I could have sworn I did see a man with a towel over his shoulder and a small bag walking up to an SUV in the far corner of the lot.

Kei squinted in that direction, shook her head gently, put her hand on my arm and said with her million-dollar smile “Dad, that’s probably not him. I’m sure of it.”

I love that kid to death, I really do.

Todd, we will be seeing you on the 23rd.

UPDATE (January 30, 2012): We were there on the 23rd, but Todd wasn't...he had been called up to Cincinnati by then. We would have to wait just over 6 months to close the loop.

Kei, Chihiro and I went to the Reds Caravan yesterday (1/29/12) and finally, our quest for Todd is now complete. The girls both got autographed Todd Frazier baseballs, a very nice photo of the three of them together, and I was also fortunate enough to get the 7/4/11 scoresheet signed as well as the ball I had intended to mail to Dirk Hayhurst.See the updated 7/4/11 post for the signed scoresheet.

7/4/11 Columbus Clippers 4, Louisville Bats 5

Louisville Slugger Field, Louisville, KY
Game 1 of 3


Mesage to Todd: “Put the Ball in Play. Thanks for your help.”



On a lark, we thought we’d redeem some vouchers won in a contest to see the first game of this 3-game series as a family. Not just my wife and I plus the kids, but also my in-laws.

This would have normally been a GREAT idea but there were a few minor issues (no pun intended):
• I thought it would be great to sit in “foul ball alley” in Section 126 (3rd base side). I made this call due to the greater probability of foul balls and also as the sun would be behind us, the sun in front being something that drives my wife and my in-laws crazy. ISSUE: there were NO FOUL BALLS here tonight, and even if there were I couldn’t catch them as I had a sore neck from looking 90 degrees to my right for the entire game, and furthermore, most of the other folks in this section spent most of the game getting up and walking around during innings; further obstructing my view and enjoyment of the game. I will NEVER sit in 126 again.
• Tonight’s promotion was “post-game fireworks”…well, this is the 4th of July and that’s just as good of a time as any for Fireworks…when they do them at LSF, they do a great job. ISSUE: to further add to my frustration from sitting in 126, the fireworks were NOT the LSF fireworks, but the City of Louisville fireworks downtown, directly behind us, which not only meant we had to turn all the way around to see them, but also that they had a “set in stone” start time of 10:15pm, which happened to be DURING THE GAME, with only a 3 minute delay…therefore, after the delay, play continued with the fireworks continuing, which means instead of people in our section getting up and walking around, they were getting up and standing up DURING THE GAME, again completely obstructing my view and enjoyment of the game. I had to track pitch-by-pitch on my Android Phone. The worst part came when David Johnson faced Clippers DH Tim Fedroff with the count full, right smack in the middle of the infamous 4th of July Fireworks “Finale,” with several players, Johnson, Fedroff, and HP Umpire Gerard Ascani utilizing several ‘time outs’ to hold off the 3-2 pitch for as long as they technically could whilst the sky erupted. But why, do you ask, did the fireworks occur during the game…?
• I love extra innings. Bonus baseball, you pay for 9 innings and are pretty much guaranteed that…extras are just that, extras. There were spots of scoring early, but the game was tied at 4-4 with no scoring at all since the top of the 5th. With both teams literally handcuffed by their respective bullpens, I was more than ready to watch the pressure build. ISSUE: nobody else in my family enjoys extra innings the way I do, especially my wife and my in-laws, so this was kind of comfortable. As a result of the extended play, yes…there was a conflict with the scheduled 4th of July fireworks (see previous issue).

I would have taken pictures, but half of the population of Southwestern Jefferson County was getting up and walking around most of the time, so…what’s the point?

As for the game, Bats LHP Tom Cochran and Clippers LHP David Huff were pretty much evenly matched. It was great to see Joe Martinez back in action for the Clippers; I remember him getting plunked brutally by a Mike Cameron line drive a few years ago when he was a starter for the San Francisco Giants. First big surprise of the night was Bats RHP David Johnson, who pitched 3 perfect innings (and was thankfully unfazed by the fireworks show) to prevent an early and more tragic end of the evening for the Bats.

The second big surprise of the night: Todd Frazier, who’s line until the 10th was less than particularly chump-worthy with 3Ks and a flyout to CF. In the 10th he grounded into DP to end one of those ‘so-tight-you-can-make-diamonds’ mini-rallies in the 11th with 1 on and 1 out. In the bottom of the 13th, Martinez was hanging onto it for the Clippers; Yonder Alonso strikes out, Devin Mesoraco nails a scorching 3B to RF, and Jeremy Hermida is intentionally walked for the 0-for-5 DH Todd Frazier. Matt Andrews, calling the game on 680 WKRD, spoke the (for me) immortal words “Todd needs to put the ball into play” and I prepared to tab the results of this inning and move on to the 14th.

I’ll be darned…Todd puts the ball into play after all! A seeing-eye 4-2 Fielder’s Choice grounder allows Mesoraco (with some serious wheels, mind you) to score and end the game. On a walk-off Fielder’s Choice. Outstanding, Todd!

SCOREKEEPER’S NOTE: Jared Head’s PIDP in the 10th inning was the second of such in 3 weeks of my baseball activity, after never having seen one until 3 weeks ago. How bizarre is that?

UPDATE: See this post for the story of how I got this scoresheet signed by David Johnson. Still waiting for Todd Frazier to sign this one.

UPDATE #2 (1/30/12) Kei, Chihiro and I braved the peculiar throes of Reds fans at the Reds Caravan yesterday morning; we stood in line for nearly 40 minutes for a meet and greet at Louisville Slugger Field with Jim Kelch, Jeff Brantley, Billy Hamilton, Nick Masset...and none other than Todd Frazier. Todd signed baseballs for both of the girls (and me as well) and he signed this scoresheet. I asked "Todd, do you remember this one?" He reviewed it for a moment, mumbling the events of play to himself, and when he got to his game-winning plate appearance, nodded his head and said "Oh yeah, I remember this one now..."

And YES, I shook hands with Billy Hamilton, the Fastest Man Alive.






Todd signed the baseball I had intended to mail to Dirk Hayhurst:

Official Scorecard and Bat Chat: