Archive for August, 2009

The Mahoning Valley Scrappers played an uncharacteristic game against the Lowell Spinners on Friday night.  The Scrappers gave up four unearned runs and an error contributed to another run later in the game.  Lowell took a 6-3 lead to the ninth and barely held off the obviously frustrated Scrapper team to win the game 6-5 in front of 4, 244 fans on fireworks night.

In the first, Jordan Henry singled and moved to second base when Kyle Smith walked.  After Henry stole his franchise record-tying 15th base of the season, Kyle Bellows drilled a single through the right side which was misplayed by the Spinners RF Alex Hassan, allowing Smith to also score putting the Scrappers up 2-0.

Chris McGuiness cut the lead in half when he homered to RF in the second.  In the third, McGuiness struck again with a two-run double.  During the nightmarish third inning, the Spinners scored four unearned runs to take a 5-2 lead.

Greg Folgia smacked a solo homer in the sixth to cut the lead to 5-3.

In the ninth inning, trailing 6-3,  Jesus Brito and Rafael Vera doubled to cut the lead to 6-5 with one out and runners on second and third.  Unfortunately, the home team was unable to take advantage of a good situation, a problem Manager Travis Fryman has continually addressed as an achiles heel of this years team. 

Preston Guilmet (pictured above, photo courtesy of Nick Mays) dropped to 5-3 on the season.  Guilmet lasted just three innings giving up five runs on four hits.  Only one of the runs, however was earned.  New acquisition Matt Packer pitched three perfect innings of relief and Tyler Sturdevant closed out the game for the Scrappers.  Fryman talked about Guilmet and the start, “He [Guilmet] has been pitching really well for us, he obviously wasn’t that sharp tonight, but you are allowed a bad outing every now and then.”

Fryman also said he was pleased that the team was able to rally in the ninth and put themselves in a position to win despite falling a bit short.

* Kyle Smith left the game in the third inning when he injured himself fielding a ground ball, his status for Saturday is unknown.

* Jason Smit told me after the game that an MRI shows a torn labrum which will end his season.  Smit has still been working on drills that he can participate in, but his live AB’s for the Scrappers are likely finished this season.

* I was happy to see Rafael Vera come through in the ninth inning.  Vera has played so many positions all season and is settling in as the Scrappers go-to utility guy.  “I prepare myself everyday before the game at each position.  If I know I am playing one, I will practice there all day.  If not, I’ll take some time working in the outfield.  I’m getting pretty comfortable playing just about anywhere.  I’m more comfortable in the infield, the outfield is still kind of new to me”, said Vera after the game.

The Mahoning Valley Scrappers have announced that ticket packages for the 2009 New York-Penn League playoffs are now on sale as the Scrappers try to clinch a playoff spot.

With a maximum of 4 potential playoff games, each box seat playoff package is priced at $28 and offers an $8 savings off the regular ticket price by purchasing in advance. Tickets can be purchased at the Eastwood Field Box Office during regular business hours or by calling the ticket office at 330-505-0000. Seating priority will be given based upon the receipt of your order. Fans will receive a refund for any playoff games that are not played or a credit for the 2010 season.

For more information on purchasing tickets, contact the Scrappers Office.

The playoff format is interesting.  The regular season ends on Sept. 6.  If the Scrappers make the playoffs, they would begin a three-game series on Sept 8 at the lowest of the two seeds home field.  The next day is a travel day and the remainder of the series is played at the higher seeds park.  The championship series follows the same format but can only begin when both first round series would end.

The Mahoning Valley Scrappers will be well represented at this year’s NYPL All-Star Game.  The game is going to be played on Tuesday, August 18 at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park, home of the State College Spikes. 

Travis Fryman and the staff of The Mahoning Valley Scrappers will serve as the coaching staff of the AL All-Star team.  By having the best record in their division, the Scrapper Coaching Staff is automatically named to coach the contest.

Five Scrapper players were named to the team. 

Pitchers Marty Popham, Clayton Cook, and Cory Burns, were all named to the piching staff.  Popham(4-1, 2.33 ERA) and Cook(4-2, 2.06 ERA) have turned in great start after great start all season.  Burns has been stellar in relief with 7 saves and an ERA of 2.00.

CF Jordan Henry is among the league leaders in stolen bases (15), runs (35), and hits (47).  Fryman has referred to Henry as “one of the best contact hitters with two strikes on him”, and maybe the best baserunner he has ever coached.

SS Kyle Smith is as tough of a defensive shortstop you will see at this level.  He is also among the league leaders in hits (47), and has provided spark in the clutch all season.

Tickets to the NYPL All-Star Game can be purchased by calling the State College Spikes Box Office toll-free at (877) 99-SPIKES.  Visit MILB.com for complete rosters for the contest.

The 2008 season was a disappointing one for the Youngstown State University Penguins and Head Coach Jon Heacock.  Heacock has assumed the duties of defensive coordinator, the position he held under Jim Tressel in the 90’s,  for the 2009 season.  I recently caught up with Coach Heacock and talked about what we can expect to see from YSU this Fall.  He also discussed the importance of playing a big team like Pitt every year and what it does to a program.

In the sweltering August heat, I watched an enthusiastic bunch of players practice.  Many of those players were around last year and tasted some success late in the season.  To my surprise, practice was upbeat.  Crowd noise was piped over the PA system, and array of songs ranging from “We Built This City” to “Back In Black” played during the practice.  YSU is getting ready to face a new challenge, a new day.  September 5th, the Penguins travel to Pittsburgh to face the tough Panthers.

I asked Coach Heacock if he had high expectations for the season.  “The expectations are high, they are always high.  The standards here are high and in turn, that makes the expectations high.  Aim for the moon and if you hit a star that’s good, we are aiming for the moon.”

I asked Coach Heacock about the enthusiasm level to which he replied, “I think this group has worked hard, they had a long season a year ago and they are working hard.  We are not a very veteran team, so there is alot of competition going on, that obviously contributes to some of the enthusiasm.”

This YSU team has only 12 seniors.  Heacock commented on the importance of thir leadership, “There are only twelve of them so there is nowhere to hide, it is critical that they play well.  It’s like I tell them all the time, there are no mulligans when you are a senior, you get one shot at it and they have done a good job so far.”

We then started talking about whether or not it makes sense to play teams like Pitt or Ohio State, sometimes referred to as ‘money beatings’.  I asked Coach Heacock if he was in favor of these type of games, and whether or not the big check is worth risking a demoralizing loss or injury.  Heacock replied with, “There’s alot of different thoughts in that process.  One, we do get a substantial check, and obviously that’s part of the reason we are doing it.  It [the money] supports all of our athletic programs, it helps track, helps soccer, helps volleyball, and so we are contributing to that.  On the selfish side, it forces our players to get ready to play a strong football team early in the season.  I think it has motivated our practices, so I look at it is getting us ready to play the rest of the season.  I don’t think that I, or any of the players, ever go into one of those games expecting to lose.  There is alot of different philosophies there, I understand some of it and some of that is true.  I think it’s a great challenge for us because I think it helps us judge where we are as a football team.”

Coach Heacock says he wants this to be a team that takes care of the football and minimizes turnovers this season.  He also said there are accountability drills for those who do cough up the ball, but ther are also rewards for those who protect it.  Heacock made refrnce to the 1991 season saying that in YSU’s first seven games, the turnover margin was +0.43 and the record was 4-3.  Winning their last eight games, the turnover margin was +1.75.

Heacock knows Northern Iowa and Southern Illinois will be tough opponents but says every game is important and that is how 2009 will be handled, one game at a time.

The Mahoning Valley Scrappers release all of their promotions before the season starts, they are on the schedule.  Ex-US Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. release night has been on the schedule since June.  The event was scheduled to be held at the Scrappers September 2 home game, the same night Traficant is released from federal prison.  There was no opposition to the promo until this week.

The Youngstown Vindicator has started the media circus which will definitely surround Traficant’s freedom.  In an article from Sunday’s August 9th edition, an article highlighting different Traficant events was printed.  In the article, a party to honor Traficant’s release at Mr. Anthony’s, a local banquet facility, boasted of a festive celebration welcoming Jim home.  In the same article, the Scrapper promotional plan was listed, causing a swarm of phone calls to the Scrapper offices.

Scrappers General Manager, Dave Smith, decided to pull the plug on the promotion after receiving over 100 e-mails and phone calls speaking out against the planned night.  “Unfortunately, I feel that most people misunderstood the intention of the promotion,” said Smith.  “The night was never planned as a celebration of his release, yet it’s obvious that is how it is being perceived.  It will surely be a topic of great debate in the coming months and we were planning to provide a public forum for both supporters and detractors to have their voices heard.  In hindsight, there are likely better venues than a baseball game for the community to share their thoughts and feelings on Jim.”

Smith said that 95% of the calls received were negative.  Once the promotion was cancelled he noted that a woman called and said she wanted reimbursed for the tickets she had purchased for Traficant Night.  The support calls coming in are much less in quantity than the negatives received prior to the cancellation.

Traficant, who is completing his seven year sentence for racketeering, bribery, obstruction of justice and tax evasion, was never expected to show up at the game, and the concept was to show slides of the idiotic and brilliant moments of his time spent in Washington.

Sigh.  Beam Me Up.

The Mahoning Valley Scrappers and Brooklyn Cyclones hooked it up for a series-clinching matchup at Eastwood Field Thursday.  The Cyclones came away winning the series with a 2-1 victory over the Scrappers.  The series had playoff implications as these two teams have the best records, and for the most part, this game was highlighted by great pitching and solid defense.

The Scrappers got on the scorebord in the sixth inning.  Chun Chen hit a ground-rule double to the deepest part of Eastwood Field, dead center.  Rafael Vera knocked in Chen with a sac fly to put Mahoning Valley up 1-0. 

Brooklyn was the benefactor of a gift in the eighth inning.  With a runner on second, Cyclones LF Alex Gregory hit a double to deep left-center.  The relay throw went home but was a bit late.  Gregory took too wide of a turn rounding second base and Chun Chen fired the ball toward second from home.  The ball bounced short of the base and skipped into the outfield, where nobody was backing up the throw.  CF Jordan Henry and LF Rafael Vera converged at the ball on the warning track in the left-center gap.  Gregory scored from second uncontested, giving the cyclones a 2-1 lead.

Brett Brach had a good start going 5 1/3 innings and giving up no runs.  Brach was relieved by Jimmy Johnson who pitched out of trouble in the fifth and went 1 1/3.  Nick Kirk was called upon for 2/3 of an inning.  Cory Burns then finished out the contest, and unfortunately had to get pinned with a loss that wasn’t entirely his fault.

Manager Travis Fryman was not pleased with the defense that allowed the winning run to score.  ” Our situational hitting is very poor, and our defense was very poor.  I’m not sure why we were not backing up second base like we’re supposed to, somebody was probably thinking about their at-bats more than playing defense.”

Friday, the Scrappers welcome the Lowell Spinners.  The Scrappers will send Preston Guilmet, last weeks NYPL pitcher of the week to the hill.  Before the game, there will be an actual wedding on the field.  Scott Capron and Holly Hinzman will officially tie the knot.  The couple have been a host family for the Scrappers the last two seasons.  Marc Means will return to the air on AM-1390 with the first pitch and some wedding commentary at 6:45 PM.  First pitch is scheduled for 7:05, and it is fireworks night to boot!

Kelly Pavlik is going back to his second home, Atlantic City, to defend the Middleweight Championship against Paul Williams.  After weeks of tireless negotiations, the two sides finally agreed on dollars to make the fight a reality on October 3.  Joe Scalzo, the Youngstown Vindicator Boxing Reporter broke the story late yesterday.

The dynamics of this fight are fascinating.  These guys are both tall and narrow and have one thing in common ~ big punch potential.  The belief that Williams cannot take Pavlik’s best punch is countered by the fact that Williams is a southpaw, something Pavlik has not faced in awhile.  Williams is a very active fighter and throws punches from bell to bell.

Williams recently fought Antonio Margarito and came out ahead.  The early predictions I have read all seem to go with Williams.  Call me a homer, but these are the same experts who picked Edison Miranda and Jermaine Taylor.  My money is always on Pavlik, and I’m ahead.  Jack Loew, Pavlik’s trainer,  will create ways, as he has before, to offset Williams’ strengths.  I expect more counter-punches and more body shots to keep Williams off balance. 

The fight is scheduled for October 3 and will be televised on regular HBO.  Pavlik was hinting to many that he wanted to be on HBO and not on a PPV, which I think is greater exposure setting up bigger paydays later.  HBO will be calling this their fight of the year if these two guys bring their A-games.

Tickets for the fight go on sale August 18.  I will be posting much more leading up to the fight.

The Mahoning Valley Scrappers improved to 34-19 on the season as they strengthened their hold on first place with a 12-1 clubbing of the Brooklyn Cyclones.  After dropping last nights contest, Mahoning Valley evened the series at one win apiece setting the stage for a Thursday finale.

The Scrappers got busy early as their first three hitters,  Jordan Henry, Kyle Smith, and Jason Kipnis, all singled.  Henry would score on Kipnis’ single putting the Scrappers up 1-0.

With two outs in the third, Kyle Bellows (pictured)  tripled on the thirteenth pitch of a great at-bat.  Bellows ended up tripling again in the fourth and ended the game with a season-high 5 RBI night.  “I hit it [the first triple] in the right spot at the right time and helped our team win and thats all that matters.  Everybody contributed today.  The pitching was great, the defense was great, and the hitting was great”, commented Bellows on the dominating team performance.

Clayton Cook, named earlier in the day to the New York- Penn League All-Star team, looked like exactly that – an All-Star.  Cook hurled five scoreless, yielding just four hits and lowering his ERA to 2.06 in picking up his fourth win for Mahoning Valley.  Austin Adams and Jose Urena threw two innings each in relief of Cook.

Manager Travis Fryman was pleased with the hitting party in the victory, “It was good.  Bellows, obviously had a big night.  Kipnis in our lineup is coming around which gives us a different look, which is encouraging. [Greg] Folgia had a good night too which was encouraging.  It was a good night for our guys, they bounced back after a pretty tough loss last night.”

The Scrappers and Cyclones hook up one more time on Thursday, Buck Night.  Eastwood Field will see a huge crowd as two top teams will battle to untie a defining series.  Marc Means will call the action on AM-1390 for those who get shut out or are unable to attend beginning at 7:05.

Growing up I always hated Lucy for pulling the ball away.  Granted, Charlie Brown is dumber than a homing pigeon for believing she would let him kick the football, but Lucy has deep issues.  We should let her hold on Dallas Cowboy extra points, at least she could catch the snap.

Here are stories from other great sites:

• Inside The Iggles exposes what a poor group of wide receivers the Eagles fans have had to endure for so many years.
• Josh Q. Public comments on Pedro Martinez jumping right into the starting rotation and Jamie Moyer heading to the bullpen.
• Steady Burn reports that Baron Davis is threatening legal action if the pictures from his stolen laptop become visible to the public.  Perez Hilton is egging on the thief to release the pictures.
• PSAMP points an article out from Philly.com showing Steelers holding guns in a pose.  The photo is older, but that site is choosing to suddenly make an issue of it.
• Babes Love Baseball revies the six hit game recorded by Padres 1B Adrian Gonzalez.
• Intentional Foul reports that the Kentucky Wildcat basketball faithful still love Rick Pitino, even after his confessions of a soap opera situation.
• Sharapova’s Thigh speaks of the Cincinnati Bengals being featured as the team on this year’s HBO ‘Hard Knocks’ show which documents a team’s training camp each year.  No drama here I’m sure.
• Fansided broke down the entire UFC to present a guide to who the champions are right now.
• NESW Sports has dugg up some new footage of the Madden 2010 football classic, where a bunch of old NFL players get together and play for real.  Check out the video of Joe Montana to Jerry Rice clicking once again.
• Bootlegger Sports provides a list of things that NFL will fine players for, including not trimming sideburns.
• Detroit4Lyfe has some screenshots of Rick Porcello and Kevin Youkilis fighting during the Tigers vs Red Sox game from Tuesday night.
• Style Points claims that Yao Ming wants to learn how to forget the English language.
• Outside the Boxscore says enough already with the Red Sox – Yankees rivalry stories.
• SEC Football Blogger found a South Park style picture of the coaches of the SEC.

Last year, Buckeye fans got to know a kid named Dan “Boom” Herron.  Usually, Herron would get into a game to give Beanie Wells a breather.  This year, the starting tailback job is his to lose as Beanie went pro on us.  Herron should be the primary back although Brandon Saine should see some carries and true freshman Jaamal Berry can light it up, no pun intended.  Being a hard working kid from the Youngstown area, Coach Tressel will be sure to give Boom his fair share of carries.  Herron is excited about his opportunity as I recently got to interview him.

Paneech:  No pressure on you this year huh?  How is it feeling to be a Buckeye?

Herron:  It’s been amazing, it’s an honor and I’m having alot of fun.  It’s been a dream come true for me.

Paneech:  How much pressure is there on you to step up and make a big play against Michigan?

Herron:  Definitely there is pressure, everyone knows what a big game that is and everyone on the team knows they have to step it up during Michigan week.

Paneech:  Are you and Terrelle Pryor getting some timing together at workouts?

Herron:  Yeah, we had alot of reps, especially in the Spring practices.  Now we can do more with the ball (because of NCAA limitations), we are working hard with the 7-on-7 drills.  We took time to sit in the film room and see where we can make improvements.  We are doing all of the little things right now.

Paneech:  How have you liked working with Coach Tressel?

Herron:  He’s one of the best in the game right now.  It’s part of that dream coming true by being around the best.

Paneech:  Have you learned anything from the older guys on the team?

Herron:  I definitely learned alot last year playing behind Beanie.  He was a great back as well as a great person on and off the field.  I learned so much from him, and even from some of the other guys.  Pryor, Robiskie, all of the older guys, I learned alot from them.

Paneech:  How important is this years game with USC to you and the team?

Herron:  Everyone knows that game [USC] is a big goal for us to succeed.  USC is a great team and they are going to come in ready.  Coach Tressel is preparing us to play one game at a time, so USC is further down the road, but when it gets here, that game is going to be a fight.