December 21: Eggleston Starting To Get Hot In Colombian Heat

One of the newest members of the Goldeyes, centre fielder Aharon Eggleston is just starting to heat up, on the field and off.

“It is hot here,” Eggleston said via Skype from Sincelejo, Colombia, where his the Monteria Lions were playing Kevin West’s Sincelejo Toros in a huge series with first place on the line. “It’s just so hot, you hardly want to go out during the day, but I guess it’s better than minus 40.”

Indeed.

However, Eggleston, who was acquired by the Goldeyes from Kansas City on November 25 in exchange for pitcher Andrew Cruse, doesn’t seem to mind the Colombian heat quite as much as the condition of the playing fields.

“The fields here are brutal,” he said. “It’s like playing in the middle of an unpaved road. If you’re an infielder, you have to go down and block the ball like a catcher. I’ve been trying to get some extra DH assignments so I don’t have to run on some of these fields.”

The playing conditions in Colombia are just one of many reasons why Eggleston is excited to be on his way to Winnipeg for the 2010 Northern League season. The NL’s post-season all-star centre fielder, who hit .318 with the T-Bones in 2009 and became the first player in league history to lead the league in hits for two consecutive years, is all fired up about coming to Winnipeg to hit out of the No. 2 hole.

Now that lead-off man and starting shortstop Wes Long has re-signed, Goldeyes manager Rick Forney was hoping Eggleston would be comfortable hitting out of the second spot in the order. After all, the 28-year-old from Las Vegas was a solid lead-off man in KC last year.
Eggleston wanted Forney to know there was no cause for concern.

“I’m hitting out of the No. 2 hole here in Colombia,” Eggleston said. “I’m a very patient hitter and I have no problem taking pitches. I’ll give Wes plenty of opportunity to steal a base. And besides, on those days when I don’t feel that good at the plate, I’ll always be able to bunt Wes over.

“I’m kind of excited about our potential line-up and I think Rick will have lots of options. I mean, right now Rick can go Wes, me, Juan (Diaz) and then Vince (Harrison). Then we’ve got Cory Patton, Dee Brown and Josh Asanovich.

“But the best thing about Winnipeg are the fans. We had great fans in Kansas City. The T-Bones draw real well, too. But Winnipeg has a team that should get people excited. I thought the Goldeyes had the best team in the league last year, but I think this team could be really great.”

December 15: Brown Kicking Back And Enjoying The Florida Weather

Dee Brown is thrilled to be back with the Goldeyes. He’s also thrilled that he’s spending the winter, not in Winnipeg, but home in Florida not far from downtown Orlando.

“My off-season is going great,” Brown said. “I’m just relaxing, enjoying the Florida weather. It’s just great down here. I can’t think of a better place to be.”

Brown, 27, hit .322 with 12 home runs and 53 runs batted in last season. He was also one of nine Goldeyes to represent the club at the 2009 Northern League All-Star Game. On top of that, he’s a solid fielder and one of the best all-around players in the league.

But while he’s signed a contract to play here in Winnipeg next season, he decided against playing winter ball this year.

“I thought about playing Winter ball someplace, but I just didn’t want to play last summer and next summer in Winnipeg and then all winter in the Caribbean or Latin America,” said the criminal justice graduate from the University of Central Florida. “I didn’t want to be away from my son. Javier is just two and I didn’t want to miss this off-season with him down here.

“So I’m just working out, hanging with my son and fiancée and enjoying the weather. I’ll get up to Winnipeg in late April but right now, I’m just having a great off-season.”

December 2: Between Golf Games, Baldwin Signs On With Fish

Goldeyes southpaw Zach Baldwin says that if it wasn’t for our winters, he’d consider mov to Winnipeg full time.

“I just love it up there,” said Baldwin, who signed with the Goldeyes today for another season. “The golf is great and it’s a terrific place to play. Honest, it’s one of my favourite places in the world. If it wasn’t for the winters, I’d move there.”

Of course, the winters are a problem. Especially when your first love is baseball and your second love is golf. This winter, while he teaches pitching at the Tri-State Baseball Academy in Huntington, West Virginia), Baldwin has spent much of his time playing golf with his close friend, mini-tour professional Drew Whitten. For those who don’t know, Baldwin plays regularly at the 27-hole Quarry Oaks Golf Course outside Winnipeg and shoots from 68-74 depending on the course combination, the weather and the accuracy of his driver.

“We’ve been having fun playing at Sleepy Hollow Country Club,” said Baldwin, who lives in the bedroom community of Barboursville. “It’s about a 7,000-yard golf course and we go at it pretty hard every day. Drew, a guy I’d played with and against in the big golf tournaments throughout high school, had moved to Atlanta to play and prepare for a couple of mini-tours and he made 30 cuts in the last year. But he ran into some financial and sponsorship problems, so he came back home to work with his dad and just plays around here. We’ve been playing a lot.”

Along with his off-season golf, Baldwin offers pitching lessons. He says when he gets a good, young high school star that wants to take it to the next level, that’s when he has the most fun.

“When you get a teenager who already has some idea how to pitch well and you help him get to the next level, it’s pretty satisfying and a lot of fun,” said Baldwin, who has about a dozen kids in his stable now, but usually gets 25-30 by February. “I teach them how to throw everything and the kitchen sink. You know me. They’ll learn a lot of pitches.”

Baldwin went 4-0 in 29 relief appearances with a 2.65 ERA last season. After going 5-7 with a 4.70 ERA in 2008, he went 4-4 with a 3.71 ERA last year. He has a career record of 7-2 with two saves and a 3.08 ERA in 49 games out of the bullpen.

He’s so excited about coming back, he expects to be in Winnipeg by mid-April.

“I’d go back right now if the weather was good enough to play golf,” he said with a laugh. “It’s nice to be back home with family and friends, but I love Winnipeg.”

November 26: Forney’s First Move Gives Him Options At The Top Of The Order

Goldeyes manager Rick Forney isn’t quite sure what he’ll do with Aharon Eggleston. He’s just happy Eggleston will be somewhere in his line-up in 2010.

Earlier this week, Forney sent pitcher Andrew Cruse to the Kansas City T-Bones in exchange for Eggleston, a gifted outfielder who can play centre, left or right field.

He can also lead off, steal bases and drive in runs and with so many ways to go, Forney still isn’t sure how Eggleston’s talents will fit into what should be a powerful Goldeyes line-up.

“He’s a good player in our league,” Forney said of Eggleston, who hit .318 in 2009, led the league in hits for the second-straight year and was named to the Northern League All-Star Team. “He brings a lot to a team. He hits for average and has a high on-base percentage and he drove in a lot of runs hitting out of the lead-off spot in Kansas City last year. It’s his ability to hit with men on base that I like, but he can also run the bases really well and steal when he has to.

“But I’m not sure if he’ll be a lead-off man with us. Assuming Wes (shortstop Long) comes back, I would think he’ll lead off, and then I’d likely use Aharon in the No. 2 spot. I like having a left-handed hitter bat No. 2 because it makes it more difficult for the catcher to get a good look at Wes when he’s on first.”

Forney says he doesn’t want to get “too far ahead of himself,” but will admit that if all goes well in the off-season, he would be excited to see a batting order that goes Long, Eggleston, Diaz, Harrison, Patton, Brown, Asanovich...

“It’s a tough spot to be in but I’d like a lot of these tough spots,” Forney said. “Remember, Cory (Patton) did a great job leading off after Wes was hurt last year, so we have three guys who would be comfortable in that spot. Now, at this stage, I wouldn’t think Cory would be a lead-off man next year, but that’s why I don’t like to get too far ahead of myself. You never know what’s going to happen between now and the day the season starts.”

Eggleston, who is splaying in Colombia this winter, has put up outstanding numbers in five seasons of independent baseball. He’s a .317 career hitter who had a 1.000 fielding percentage in 2009. He’s a tremendous hitter at the top of the order because he strikes out only once in every 12.9 plate appearances.

“He’s a good player and he’ll really help us, but I have to admit he isn’t a guy I’ve been chasing after for a long time,” Forney said. “As part of my off-season phone calls, I talked to Tim Doherty (the new manager in K.C.), and he said he would talk about moving Aharon. I had to give up a lot to get him. When he throws strikes, like he did in that playoff game with Fargo in September, Andrew Cruse has a lot of talent and he really has a chance to get back to organized baseball.

“But Aharon’s a good player. He’s a guy who hits with men on base and I like that.”

November 18: Forney Excited To Be Back

It’s November. That means, for Goldeyes manager Rick Forney at least, it’s officially Telephone Season.

“I’m excited to be back to work,” said Forney, who signed a new deal with the Goldeyes earlier this week. “I’m ready to get back to working the phones.”

Goldeyes president and CEO Sam Katz announced on Wednesday that Forney will be back at the helm of the Fish for the 2010 season. Forney said his deal was “two-years-plus-an-option” and it means he’ll start talking to his players as well as the managers of other independent pro teams this week.

“Yeah, I’ll be calling guys and wishing them Happy Holidays and asking ‘Hey, what you gonna do with that guy?’” Forney said with a laugh. “This is the time of year when you call all your players and really get a good gauge of their interest in coming back and you also call the other managers to see what they might be doing with the guys on their lists.

“It’s just the usual November stuff. This is phone call season.”

The 38-year-old Forney, who was once one of the Goldeyes finest starting pitchers, will return to the team with a career record of 210-173 in four years as manager. He has led his team to the playoffs in each of his four years on the job. In total, 15 of his players have been signed by big league organizations.

The former pitching coach said this week that he’s extremely happy about returning to an organization he’s been with since 1997.

“I love it in Winnipeg and I’m excited about coming back,” he said. “I really thought we had the team last year that should have won the championship, but for whatever reason, it just didn’t work out. This year, I think we’ll have another really competitive team that will take another run at a championship. There is still a lot of work to be done but we’re starting with a good nucleus and we’ll just spend the rest of the off-season building on it.”

Season tickets for the 2010 Goldeyes campaign are available now. Just call the box office at 982-2273. Rick Forney would love to see you at the ballpark next summer.

November 18: The Top 10 Greatest Goldeyes Of All-Time

In a recent issue of Sports Illustrated, Yankees lover Bob Costas picked his list of the Greatest Yankees of All-Time.

It wasn’t a tough list to compile.

1. Babe Ruth
2. Lou Gehrig
3. Joe DiMaggio
4. Mickey Mantle
5. Mariano Rivera
6. Derek Jeter or Yogi Berra

I’d flip-flop Jeter and Rivera, but Bob’s the greatest Yankee lover ever and who’s to argue.

Which brings us to this week’s List – the first of a series of lists we’ll run during the off-season.
Here’s my list of the greatest Goldeyes of the modern era. That’s 1994-2009.

1) Terry Lee
2) Brian Duva
3) Carmine Cappuccio (tie)
3) Juan Diaz (tie)
4) Bobby Madritsch
5) George Sherrill
6) Brent Metheny
7) Donnie Smith
8) Rick Forney
9) Hank Manning
10) Chris Kokinda

Whether you like this list, or even if you don’t, let us know. If you have a list, we’ll print it next time.

November 4: I’m a Yankee Hater. But I Just Can’t Hate These Guys

I have no trouble admitting it. I’ve always been a Yankee hater. Grew up with it. Was raised to be a Yankee hater. Married a girl from Cleveland who loves baseball, but can’t even watch the World Series this year because the Yankees are in it. I do a radio show every morning with a guy who’s a Red Sox fan and almost can’t say the word Yankees.

Granted, I work all day with Goldeyes general manager Andrew Collier, who happens to be a Yankees fan. And while that’s had some influence on me, I have to admit, I can’t hate these Yankees. That’s right, I’m an alleged Yankee hater, who just can’t hate this team.

Try as I might, I just can’t find a way to hate Derek Jeter or Andy Pettitte or Jorge Posada or Melky Cabrera or Joba Chamberlain or Robinson Cano. They were all scouted and signed by the Yankees organization and they have been Yankees for their entire careers (Pettitte excluded).

In the meantime, I’m a huge fan of Alex Rodriguez, and I became an even bigger fan after his brush with the media’s anti-steroid witch-hunt. In fact, as soon as Selena Roberts’ salacious and apparently fictional book of Rodriguez’s life was published, I bought an A-Rod jersey. Rodriguez is just a great player, period, and quite frankly deserves to wear a World Series championship ring.

So what if the Steinbrenner family bought Mark Teixeira, C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Hideki Matsui? Big deal. Nobody broke any rules. That’s baseball’s fault, not the Yankees.

When I was young, eight or nine, growing up in Sarnia, Ontario, about 50 minutes from the main ticket window at Tiger Stadium, I was brain-washed. Both my mom and dad adored baseball and my dad took me to Detroit often. We’d buy cheap seats, sit down the third base line or in the upper deck behind the plate and my dad would regale me with stories about Mickey Cochrane, Hank Greenberg, Charlie Gehringer and Hal Newhouser, Tiger greats all.

My mom’s favourite player was a right-handed pitcher named Frank Lary, a guy Tiger fans called “The Yankee Killer” for his penchant for pitching his best against the Bronx Bombers. Lary, who led the American League in wins in 1956 and won three Gold Gloves in his career, was 28-13 lifetime (7-0 in 1958) against the Yanks.

My parents absolutely despised the Yankees and that was long before George Steinbrenner showed up. However, we almost never missed going to at least one game of a Tigers-Yankees series. In fact, at least once a year, my folks would take me to Detroit, we’d stay at the downtown Statler-Hilton Hotel for the weekend, and I’d ride the elevators with the likes of Bill Skowron, Yogi Berra, Roger Maris, Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford. Still have all the autographs in a leather-bound book that I’ve saved since 1960.

My personal experiences with the Yankees have never been short of terrific. Childhood memories aside, one of the best interviews I’ve ever had was with Hideki Matsui and his translator. All Matsui ever wanted as a kid growing up in Japan was to wear the pinstripes. The interview was conducted down in Dunedin, Florida before Matsui’s rookie season began and he nearly broke down, he was so proud to wear the uniform.

At the 1997 all-star game in Cleveland, I got on an elevator with Derek Jeter. It was an amazing moment. My 13-year-old daughter was “in love” with Jeter and this was her big chance. This was her opportunity to say something to her hero – virtually alone in an elevator.

Naturally, as Jeter smiled at her, almost daring her to say something, she completely froze. She just stood there with her mouth open gazing up at the best shortstop in the game. When Jeter got off, he smiled and said “Have fun” and Betsy nearly died. It was a wonderful moment and Jeter was a great sport.

I always enjoyed Joe Torre when he managed the Yanks, Bernie Williams was nothing short of a gentleman – under any circumstance – and this summer in Minnesota, I had a terrific time around the batting cage with Nick Swisher, joking and carrying on.

So tonight, when the Yanks face the Phillies in Game 6 of the Series, do I want to see the Phillies win? Sure I do. Does that make me a Yankee hater. Nope, just a baseball fan who wants to see a Game 7.

I will make this confession, publicly, even to my downtrodden wife and her downtrodden Cleveland Indians and she will be very upset. No, I’m not a Yankee hater.

Now, the Boston Red Sox? That’s a whole ’nother discussion.

November 2: Forney Likes The Goldeyes New Schedule; Even With Four Fewer Days Off

Rick Forney will be the first to admit he hasn’t spent hours pouring over the 2010 Goldeyes schedule to see when and where his team plays each day.
However, he will say that the schedule he was sent by GM Andrew Collier last week is one of the best Northern League schedules he’s seen in the five years he’s been the team’s manager.

“The best part about it is we’ll make fewer trips and travel about 5,000 fewer miles,” Forney said, via telephone from his off-season home in Maryland. “You figure 5,000 fewer miles, wow, that’s a lot of extra time we won’t be spending on the bus.”

Next season the eight-team Northern League will play a 100-game schedule in 114 days. That means four fewer off-days than NL teams had last year. However, the schedule is set up to avoid the one-series trips from Winnipeg to the Chicagoland area and vice-versa.
In fact, the shortest trip the Goldeyes have all season is a three-day trip to Fargo right after the all-star break in July. The rest of the season, the Goldeyes travel for at least six days and sometimes nine days.

“I like the nine-day trip to Schaumburg, Lake County and Joliet in June,” Forney said. “That cuts down on the travel and the players won’t be as tired. I think with this schedule, the quality of play throughout the league will improve because players won’t be worn out from all the time they spend in the bus.”

Last year, no team spent more time on the road than the Goldeyes. In fact, in a survey conducted by the Nibble, we estimate that Winnipeg traveled 16,367 miles. Gary was next at 13,210 miles, Kansas City was third at 12,109 miles, followed by Fargo at 12,001, Joliet at 10,676 and then Schaumburg at 10,213.

“The only thing the league needs to try and do now is find a travel partner for Kansas City,” Forney said. “If we could have a second team to play down there, it would make things even easier. As it is, we only go to Kansas City twice this year.”

Last season, the Goldeyes played in Kansas City three times, once as part of a single, three-game series. This year the Goldeyes go to K.C. twice -- once as the final series in a June/July trip through Lake County and Joliet and the second time as the start of a K.C.-Fargo six-game excursion.

“I like this year’s schedule,” Forney said. “From what I’ve seen, this is a good schedule for every team in the league.”

October 26: Forney Ready To Get Back To Recruiting After Losing Six Players In Various Off-Season Moves

If Rick Forney believes a player is going to contribute to the upcoming season, the manager of the Winnipeg Goldeyes hates to see that player leave the fold.

However, Forney will be the first to tell you that this is, after all, independent minor pro baseball, and the roster of every team is a lot more mercurial than one might expect.

“We lose players every year for all kinds of reasons,” Forney said from his off-season home in Maryland. “This year, we’ve lost Brent Metheny, Bear Bay and Matt Davis (completing the trade with Joliet for Vince Harrison), Adam Frost (to the Kansas City Royals organization) and (Cody) Ehlers and (Chris) Homer to the expansion draft.

“But we still have a pretty solid core of players who have indicated to me they’re coming back. Kevin West is playing winter ball in Colombia so that suggests to me he’ll be coming back next year. Vince Harrison, Cory Patton, Josh Asanovich and Wes Long have all told me they’d like to come back and Dee Brown said that if he didn’t get on with the County Sheriff’s Department in Orlando (he graduated with a degree in Criminal Justice from Rollins College in August), then he’d be back next season.

“We’ve lost Bear, Davis and now Homer, and I’m not sure what Ace (Walker) has going on right now, but the other pitchers have told me they want to come back, so we have a nice core of players ready to return next year.”

That’s true, but Forney will still admit that players can (a) change their minds, (b) get “real jobs” or (c) be offered a contract from a big league organization during the off season. In other words, plenty can change between now and the first of May.

“You know, I talk to a hundred different potential players in the off-season,” Forney said. “There is never any guarantee that guys will come back. Things happen during the off-season and you have to be prepared for anything that comes along. But that’s the fun part of this job. Putting your team together every year is really the best part of

The Goldeyes will begin the 2010 season on Thursday, May 20. With eight teams this year – the addition of Lake County and Rockford – the Northern League will feature a 100-game schedule that runs until September 6.

September 16: All Things Considered, It Was a Great Year

OK, let’s not pull any punches here, a failure to win it all hurt. The 2009 Winnipeg Goldeyes had a team that was good enough to win the Northern League championship and had every opportunity to win, but it failed in its quest. You can’t lie about that, nor can you sugar coat it.

But all things considered, for the Winnipeg Goldeyes Baseball Club of the Northern League of Professional Baseball, 2009 was a very, very good year.

Let’s review:

1) Juan Diaz hit 29 home runs, tying him with Sean Hearn for the most hit by a Goldeyes player in a single season and he also drove in 90 runs, exceeding Terry Lee’s 1996 franchise mark. Juan liked Winnipeg so much, he’s already declared he’d like to be back next season.

2) Ace Walker (12-6 with a 3.32 earned run average) was named Northern League pitcher of the year.

3) Shortstop Adam Frost, who did a remarkable job filling in for the injured Wes Long, hit .280 with two game-winning, walk-off home runs and was named the Northern League Rookie of the Year.

4) Walker, Diaz and second baseman Josh Asanovich were all named to the post-season Northern League all-star team.

5) For the fifth time in eight years, Andrew Collier was named executive of the year in the Northern League.

6) For the fourth time in the seven years since the award has been bestowed, the Winnipeg Goldeyes were named the Northern League’s Organization of the Year.

Interestingly, Collier himself was less impressed with his own success as he was about his organization’s success.

“Even with some terrible weather this summer, we still managed to lead all of independent baseball in average attendance (6,180 per game),” Collier pointed out. “And we had 55 wins, the most in Rick’s (manager Forney) tenure as manager and finished second overall in the standings. We have the best organization around and there are many positive things to take out of this season.”

None of this will soothe the pain felt by everyone in the organization when the team fell in five gut-wrenching games in the opening round of the playoffs to the eventual Northern League-champion Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks.

But it certainly gave everyone the incentive to come back next year, better than ever before.

While we will have plenty of news right here at The Nibble in the off-season, we don’t know what that news will bring. However, one thing is certain: See you all back at the ballpark in May 2010!

September 7: RedHawks Eliminate Goldeyes From Northern League Playoffs

In the end, the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks had one big inning in them and the Winnipeg Goldeyes just didn’t have enough.

In front of a nice Game 5 crowd at Canwest Park on Sunday night, the RedHawks put up six runs in the top of the sixth inning – on five hits and two Goldeyes errors – to come back from a 3-2 deficit and beat the Goldeyes 8-3.

With the win, Fargo moves on to face the Gary SouthShore RailCats in the Northern League final while the Goldeyes head home.

“We just got some big hits from every part of our line-up tonight,” said RedHawks catcher Alan Rick, who drove in the winning run with a double off reliever Bill Pulsipher in the sixth.

“We have some great bats in the bottom of the line-up as well as the top and we got some important hits tonight. It was a great win, but we still have to get past Gary and that won’t be easy.”

For the Goldeyes, it was a bitter loss. The team probably should have won the series in three games, but a throwing error in the bottom of the 10th inning of Game 2 allowed the tying and winning runs to score. And while the Fish eventually took a 2-1 series lead, there was this sense that the series should have been over and the Goldeyes had let a very good opponent up off the canvas.

When Fargo won 3-2 on Saturday night to force a fifth-and-deciding game, it was obvious Fargo wasn’t going to roll over and play dead.

“We got a good start from Jeff (Icenogle) and the bullpen was outstanding throughout the series,” said Fargo manager Doug Simunic. “Then in the sixth inning we got some big hits and Winnipeg made two boo-boos that cost them. We have a team that plays hard and hangs in there and we kept it close long enough to allow ourselves to get something going there in the sixth.”

Goldeyes manager Rick Forney looked at the Game 5 loss philosophically.

“It was a good season for us,” Forney said. “We worked hard but we came up short. I liked this team and I was proud of the guys.

“We’re very fortunate in Winnipeg. The front office staff works hard to fill seats and that makes it easy for me to sign players and entice them to come here. Andrew (Collier) is more than just my general manager, and the best general manager in the league, he’s a great friend. Jonathan (Green) always works hard to help me get players in here. It’s just a great place for me to be able do this. I appreciate being here.

“I look forward to coming back next year and trying again.”

September 6: Goldeyes Bang Out 10 Hits But Fall 3-2 To Fargo

It’s on to the fifth-and-deciding game. Winner take all.

Goldeyes starter Ace Walker and relievers Zach Baldwin and Chris Homer pitched well, but the Winnipeg hurlers couldn’t get any run support and lost Game 4 of the Northern League semi-final 3-2 to the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks on Saturday.

That sets up Game 5 tonight. The winner will meet either Gary or Kansas City in the final because the other semi-final is also tied 2-2 after Kansas City shaded Gary 2-1 in Game 4.

Fargo scored two in the first and one in the fourth while Winnipeg managed one in the first and one more in the sixth and that was it. Even though both teams pounded out 10 hits, seven pitchers combined to keep the runs to a minimum. There were only four extra-base hits in total and Kevin West’s solo homer in the sixth was the only long ball of the game.

“All we wanted to do was get on top early and see if our pitching staff could hold on,” said Fargo hero Zach Penprase, who went three-for-four with a run scored and the game’s first run batted in.

“The top of our order was good tonight and when we get the top of the order on base, we can usually score enough runs to win. Because we got some great pitching, we were able to get a lead and hold it.”

In fairness, every pitcher in the ball game had to thank at least one player behind him. There were some tremendous defensive plays in Game 4, especially from Goldeyes third baseman Vince Harrison, second baseman Josh Asanovich and Fargo second baseman Carlo Cota.

So now it comes down to one game. Game 5 on Sunday night, the first time in the team’s 16-year history that the Goldeyes will play a Sunday night game at home.

“I’m excited about Sunday night’s game,” said Goldeyes manager Rick Forney. “I believe in my club. I like my club and I think they’ll come out on Sunday night and play hard.”

Bear Bay will pitch for Winnipeg while Jeff Icenogle replies for Fargo. Game time at Canwest Park is 7:00.

THE BLOOM OFF THE ROSE

Friday night, Goldeyes third baseman Vince Harrison started the first triple play in Goldeyes history. With Nic Jackson on second and Mike Coles on first, Fargo’s Ruben Salazar hit a ground ball to Harrison who tagged Jackson between second and third, fired to Josh Asanovich at second to get Coles and then Asanovich made a sensational turn at second and fired a strike to first baseman Cody Ehlers to get Salazar.

The fans went wild, many of the Goldeyes players admitted it was the first triple play they’d seen, while it was “the first one I’ve seen live in 19 years in baseball” for Forney.

But Harrison, the man who started the whole thing, just shrugged.

“It was my third triple play this season,” he said. “I was involved in two of them in Schaumburg this year. And I was part of two triple plays in the Devil Rays system. This was the fifth triple play I’ve been a part of.”

Guess it wasn’t that big a deal.

September 5: Cruse Brilliant As Goldeyes Take 2-1 Series Lead

Andrew Cruse gave all the credit to his teammates. Even though the Goldeyes starter in Game 3 of the Northern League semi-final pitched a sensational four-hit shutout, he was more interested in praising the defence behind him than taking credit for the best start of this year’s playoffs.

Of course, it’s not every day you get out of a jam with a triple play.

“I’m just ecstatic about that game,” said Cruse, shortly after the Goldeyes had beaten Fargo-Moorhead 5-0 to take a 2-1 series lead. “I could not have done it without that great defence behind me.

“I mean, I’ve never seen a triple play before, let alone be on the mound when one took place. Those guys had my back tonight. I was really happy with the way I pitched, but that defence was just great. What more can you say about the way those guys played.”

In the box score, this game looks like a tidy complete game, four-hit shutout. But the game-within-the-game suggests something completely different.

In the first inning, the RedHawks got runners on first and second with one out, but a double play put an end to the threat. Then, in the second inning, with Mike Coles at first and Nic Jackson at second, Ruben Salazar hit a ground ball to Vince Harrison at third. Harrison tagged Jackson between second and third, fired to Josh Asanovich at second to get Coles and then Asanovich made a terrific turn at second and fired a strike to first baseman Cody Ehlers to get Salazar.

It was the first triple play in Goldeyes history to back up only the third complete game shutout in franchise playoff history.

In the third inning, Cruse got into a bit of trouble once again, but after a visit from manager Rick Forney, he settled down and allowed only two hits and two walks the rest of the way.

“He came out and talked to me and got me re-centred,” Cruse said. “He wanted me to make an adjustment and I went ahead and did it and then just settled down and threw strikes. And with the guys playing so well behind me, it all just fell into place.”

There were tremendous plays made in the field by Cory Patton (diving catch in centre), Harrison (a barehanded play on a slow roller at third), Ehlers (diving for a grounder in the hole between first and second) and Dee Brown (covering up for Patton who lost a fly ball in the lights).

Meanwhile, the Goldeyes got a solo homer from Juan Diaz (his second of this series) and a two-run bomb from Ehlers (his second homer of the series), built a 5-0 lead by the fourth inning and took a 2-1 series lead with Game 4 at Canwest Park tonight at 6:00.

“Andrew was just sensational out there,” Forney said. “He challenged the hitters, threw strikes and did more than we could have asked. It was just an outstanding effort. I only had a couple of available pitchers down in the bullpen and with Andrew pitching as well as he did, I was able to keep those guys out of the ball game. Now, thanks to Andrew, I have a lot of options in the bullpen for Game 4.”

September 2: It May Be Just A Fish, But It’s An Ace

It’s just a big, angry, painted fish. But it’s glaring out from its big, gold eyes, right behind home plate at Canwest Park and it’s fantastic!

If you were one of the 8,212 fans at the downtown ballpark on Monday for Fan Appreciation Night, you saw the “Angry Goldeye” behind home plate, and you probably wondered how it got there.

Well, you can thank Ace Walker, the guy that tossed a complete game gem in Winnipeg’s 7-2 win that night over Schaumburg.

“It’s just outstanding,” said Goldeyes general manager Andrew Collier. “He came out with four cans of spray paint (red, blue, gold and white) and was done in an hour-and-a-half. It just looks great and he did it without much set up at all. He just did it by sight. The guy has a lot of talent.”

Walker, who finished the regular season with a record of 12-6, led the league in wins and complete games (6). He was second in earned run average with an ERA of 3.32 and innings pitched with 149. He’s got a very legitimate shot at being named Northern League Pitcher of the Year.

But he’s also an accomplished artist.

“This is just something I’ve wanted to do for a long time,” Walker said. “I’ve talked to Andrew (Collier) about it for a while and we just decided to go ahead and see how it looked.

“I got some great help from Dennis on the grounds crew and, together, we were able to get it done pretty quickly. It was fun. I like how it looks.”

September 1: Walker Sharp As Goldeyes Win En Route To The Playoffs

For Goldeyes starter Ace Walker, the final game of the 2009 regular season began early in the day. That’s when he wandered out onto the field, with the blessing of general manager Andrew Collier and head groundskeeper Don Ferguson, and began drawing a spectacular angry Goldeye on the field behind home plate.

Walker’s first work of art was tremendous. His second was a masterpiece.

In the final regular season start, Walker pitched his club-record sixth complete game as the Goldeyes whipped Schaumburg 7-2. Walker allowed two runs on only six hits to improve to 12-6 on the season. He led the league in wins and complete games, is second in earned run average and in the Top 5 in innings pitched.

“I have to give the credit to my defence,” Walker said. “When a guy gets five double plays (also a franchise record) behind him, it should give him a good chance to win. Cory (centre fielder Patton) made a great catch to end the game so that defence was my best friend tonight.

“I just care so much about being a Goldeye that getting that club record was something I really wanted to accomplish this year and being part of a club record for double plays is pretty nice, too. Having that record makes this a really great season.”

It was a big night all-around for the Fish, who pounded out 10 hits to give Walker plenty of run support. Second baseman Josh Asanovich led the way with a three-run homer, his ninth of the season, while catcher Brent Metheny hit his 20th double of the year and drove in two runs.

With the win, the Goldeyes finished the season with a record of 55-41 – the most wins in a season in manager Rick Forney’s four years at the helm – good enough for second place in the Northern League. They open the playoffs on Wednesday at Newman Outdoor Field against the third-place Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks.

“We’re all focused on the playoffs now,” said Walker, who is penciled in to start Game 4 back here in Winnipeg on Saturday night. “This team will be ready to go on Wednesday.”

Check back tomorrow for Ace Walker’s take on the “Painted Fish” behind the plate at Canwest Park.

August 31: Forney: “Don’t worry about the bullpen, we need to start hitting.”

The Winnipeg Goldeyes took a 2-1 lead into the ninth inning Sunday afternoon at Canwest Park and, once again, the bullpen couldn’t seal the deal.

Chris Homer and Mark Michael combined to allow two runs on four hits in the ninth inning as the Goldeyes fell 3-2 to the Schaumburg Flyers in front of 6,895 at Canwest Park.

Still, Goldeyes manager Rick Forney is more concerned about his team’s slumping bats than its gasoline-loaded arms.

The loss, combined with Fargo’s 6-3 loss in Gary on Sunday, means that the Goldeyes and RedHawks will meet in the first round of the playoffs. Games 1 and 2 will be played Wednesday and Thursday in Fargo while Game 3 plus Games 4 and 5 (if necessary) will be contested back in Winnipeg at Canwest Park this coming Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

It wasn’t a particularly good weekend for the Goldeyes. The team lost 4-1 on Saturday and 3-2 on Sunday – to the league’s fifth-place team – and picked up a grand total of only 12 hits.

On Sunday, the hosts had six hits. Dee Brown had three of them. Meanwhile, Cory Patton, Kevin West, Brent Metheny, Cody Ehlers and Mark Minicozzi combined to go 0-for-16.

Despite the bullpen’s problems on Sunday, Forney had only one big concern heading into the playoffs.

“The bullpen is fine,” he said. “Don’t worry about the bullpen. You don’t win many games with two runs on six hits. We have to start getting some hits. We have to get the bats going.”

Of course, the slumping bats might have had something to do with a pair of great pitching performances by Schaumburg starters Alain Quijano (Saturday) and Dustin Glant (Sunday).

Glant threw eight complete innings and allowed only two runs on five hits to earn the victory.

“I just wanted to finish the season on a bit of a high,” Glant told Shaw TV. “An 8-8 record looks a lot better than 7-9 and that’s all I was after today. Even when you’re out of the playoffs, you play hard and try to be the best you can be.”

Schaumburg, with no playoffs on the horizon, has played some pretty tidy baseball in the last two days while the Goldeyes, with the post-season starting Wednesday, have not been quite up to snuff.

Forney hopes that will change tonight when the Goldeyes and Flyers play the final game of the regular season at 7:00. Tom Lyons will get the start for Schaumburg while Ace Walker goes after his league-leading 12th win for Winnipeg.

August 30: Quijano Shuts Down Winnipeg

Goldeyes manager Rick Forney looked at Saturday night’s 4-1 loss to starter Alain Quijano and the Schaumburg Flyers philosophically.

“Hopefully, we can come out tomorrow and put up a little better offence,” Forney said with a shrug. “We just never seemed to get our timing against Quijano. We have had some trouble against left-handers with a good change and we just couldn’t seem to get comfortable against him.”

It was just one of those nights. The Goldeyes managed only six hits – including two singles each by Kevin West and Brent Metheny – and put up only a single run as the Goldeyes fell to 54-40 on the season and remained in second place in the Northern League, two games behind first-place Gary and a game-and-a-half ahead of third-place Fargo.

Quijano set the tone for the Flyers, shutting the Goldeyes out on only two hits through five-plus innings of work.

“This was the third time I’ve pitched against them and the two times, I wasn’t that successful, so I wanted to have a good outing to finish the season,” Quijano told the Shaw TV audience. “They have a really tough line-up and I just wanted to get off to a good start against them and give us a chance to win.”

Game 3 of this four-game set goes this afternoon at 1:30. Andrew Cruse gets the start for the Goldeyes while Dustin Glant replies for Schaumburg in a battle of righties.

August 29: Frost Slam Ends Another Goldeyes Thriller

All Adam Frost could see was a baseball hit high and deep, hooking toward the foul pole. As he stood a few steps outside the batter’s box, he gave it a little body English and looked toward home plate umpire Reggie Jackson.

Jackson had left his spot behind the dish and moved into position down the third base line and when the ball cleared the foul pole, he made a quick, demonstrative signal: “Fair ball!” Jackson yelled and pointed toward the infield side of the foul line. He immediately added the sign for a home run.

For the second time this season – this time with the bases loaded – Adam Frost, the team’s remarkable rookie shortstop, had delivered a game-winning home run. With a dramatic grand slam in the bottom of the ninth, Frost led the Goldeyes to a 6-2 win over the visiting Schaumburg Flyers 6-2 and sent 6,479 of the faithful home happy.

“Right off the bat, I knew I’d hit it well and it was really fair,” Frost told Shaw TV. “But it was hooking and hooking and I didn’t know if I’d hit it high enough to get it over the foul pole. When the umpire signaled a fair ball, I just started my trot around the bases.”

Frost, who had entered the game as a pinch runner for Josh Asanovich in the eighth inning, came to the plate in the bottom of the ninth in the midst of a nail-biting 2-2 tie. The bases were loaded, two were out and the 22-year-old infielder, who was supposed to be getting a well-deserved night off, was suddenly thrust into what would become the most exciting – and controversial – moment in a terrific ball game.

With Dee Brown on third, Dustin Richardson on second and Cory Patton on first, Frost came to the plate for the first time in the contest and admitted he was just sitting on a fastball.

“He (relief pitcher Tom Lyons) got behind 2-0 and I knew he’d come in with something over the plate,” Frost said. “He threw me a fastball to make the count 2-1 and I decided to just look for another fastball that I could drive. He threw a fastball on the inside half of the plate and I was able to get my hands in and around on it. It’s something Tom (hitting coach Vaeth) and I had been working on in the cage, trying to get my hands through quicker on the inside pitch. Anyway, I figured I would get a fastball, and if it was anywhere near my belt, I was going to turn on it.”

The Frost home run gave the Goldeyes their fourth consecutive victory and, with Gary beating Fargo 4-2, it left the 54-39 Fish in second place, a game behind first-place Gary and a-game-and-a-half ahead of third-place Fargo.

It also caused Flyers manager Mike Busch to come storming out of the dugout to vehemently argue Jackson’s “fair-ball” call. Busch was not only convinced it was foul but also angered by the fact a Schaumburg loss meant the end of his team’s playoff hopes.

Fortunately, third-base umpire Harry Fredenburgh got between Busch and Jackson and Jackson was able to leave the field without incident. After the game, Jackson was escorted to his car by Canwest Park security.

Frost’s home run also put an exclamation point on a great start by Goldeyes right-hander Bear Bay. Although Bay got a no-decision for his effort, he did pitch seven strong innings, allowing just two runs on five hits. The game was tied going into the ninth, thanks to a two-run sixth-inning home run by Goldeyes third baseman Vince Harrison.

Game 2 of this four-game series will be played Saturday night at 6:00 at Canwest Park. A pair of left-handers, Alain Quijano for Schaumburg and Bill Pulsipher for Winnipeg, will take the mound.

August 28: Metheny Likes Catching “A Couple of Times A Week”

In two games this past week, Brent Metheny crouched behind the plate at Canwest Park and did one thing that has happened only rarely for the Winnipeg Goldeyes this season.

He threw out runners trying to steal second.

In an effort to get Metheny’s bat into the line-up and also improve his ball club’s defence, Goldeyes manager Rick Forney decided to put the veteran from West Virginia behind the plate.

He was an immediate success.

On Tuesday night against the Joliet JackHammers, the 28-year-old Metheny went four-for-four at the plate, scored four runs and threw out two runners trying to steal in a 12-7 win. On Wednesday, he called Ace Walker’s four-hit masterpiece and didn’t have to throw out a runner – nobody tried to steal – in a 2-1 victory.

Metheny has been tremendous this week and while he likes the job, he really doesn’t want to do it every day.

“I do like it, I like catching,” Metheny said. “I’d like to do it a couple of times a week. I’m not sure I could do it for an entire season. It takes a toll on your body. But it is fun. I like it when people try to steal. Although, in Tuesday night’s game, it helped when Ian (Thomas) came into the game. It’s always easier for a catcher to throw to second base when it’s a lefty. Guys don’t get as big a lead against left-handers.

“I was hurting a little (after the first game behind the plate), but I’ll be good. In a perfect world, catching two or three times a week would be the way to go.”

Besides throwing out runners on Tuesday, Metheny also did a good job calling Walker’s brilliant performance on Wednesday, but he wouldn’t take any credit for it.

“I called the game, but it doesn’t hurt me one bit to have a pitcher shake me off,” Metheny said. “I’d rather have the pitcher happy with what he’s throwing than worry about throwing something I asked for. I go out and tell my pitcher that I’ll put down the signs, but if you don’t like it, just shake me off.”

Catching might not be what Metheny wants to do for the rest of his career, but with this year’s playoffs looming, it’s probably the best place for the veteran right now.

August 26: Patton Leads Fish to Second-Straight Win

It has, at times this season, been a struggle for Goldeyes centre fielder Cory Patton. He’s hit the ball hard. Trouble is, he’s spent four months hitting it hard right at people.

Heading into Tuesday night’s game at Canwest Park, Patton was hitting an un-Pattonlike .233. However, there was something strangely sensational about this quiet Texan’s contribution to the Goldeyes.

After all, his fielding has been solid and sometimes outright spectacular. And heading into Tuesday action, his on-base percentage was .355, more than 120 points higher than his batting average (he leads the team with 61 walks).

According to manager Rick Forney, he was patient at the plate, a good baserunner and, as a result, an almost perfect lead-off man.

So on Tuesday, with the bottom of the order – Brent Metheny, Cody Ehlers and Mark Minicozzi – hitting rockets, Patton had one of his best games of the season. He went three-for-four and drove in six runs as the Goldeyes whipped Joliet 12-7.

“Leading off is something I’d never done, but Rick came to me with the idea and I was ready to give it a try,” said Patton, Shaw TV’s player of the game. “I’m really enjoying the lead-off spot. It lets me get right into the action, get dialed in early and really contribute to the team in a number of ways.”

Patton was able to drive in those six runs because the bottom of the order was sensational. Metheny went four-for-four and scored four times, Ehlers went three-for-four with a walk and also scored four runs and Minicozzi went three-for-four with two runs scored. In the end, the bottom three hitters in the order had 10 of the Goldeyes 18 hits and scored 10 of the team’s 12 runs.

“It’s great to come up with men on base,” said Patton. “I’ve been feeling that I’ve been hitting the ball hard, they just haven’t been falling.”

With the win, the Goldeyes recorded their 52nd victory of the season, one more than last year, and pulled to within a game-and-a-half of first-place Gary.

“This is the week we’ve been waiting for all year,” Patton said. “This is the week to get everything together and be on a roll heading in to the playoffs.”

With a few more wins – and a few more great games from the lead-off man – this Goldeyes team could get back into first place before all is said and done.

They’ll take the next step toward the top with the final game of this three-game series with Joliet tonight at 7:00 at Canwest Park.

August 25: Harrison Gets His Pitch As Goldeyes Beat JackHammers

Vince Harrison was sitting dead red. And he now owes Joliet starter Luke O’Loughlin a note of thanks.

With the bases loaded in the bottom of the fourth on Monday night, O’Loughlin threw Harrison a belt-high fastball with his first pitch and the Winnipeg third baseman hit a monster grand slam home run over the left field fence. With that, the Goldeyes had enough runs to beat the Jackhammers 5-3 at Canwest Park and pick up their 51st win of the season, matching their total for all of 2008.

“I was sitting on a fastball,” Harrison said. “He (O’Loughlin) fell behind Diaz and he walked West. I just figured he’d try to throw a strike on his first pitch.”

Well, in fairness, he did.

With Harrison’s grand slam, the Goldeyes had enough runs for Bill Pulsipher, who threw eight solid innings, allowing only three runs on seven hits to improve to 4-1 since joining the Goldeyes in early August. He also had eight strikeouts and one walk and earned a standing ovation from the 5,422 in attendance at the downtown ballpark.

For Harrison, it was his fourth home run since joining the Goldeyes just eight games ago. He now has 10 runs batted in since coming to Winnipeg from Joliet and, with a three-for-four night on Monday, he’s batting .296 since arriving.

Of course, following his first seven games, he was hitting just .217. This is Harrison’s third team this season and he’s hitting .322 overall, but in every other situation this season, he’s started slowly with his new club.

“I wish there was an answer to that one,” Harrison said with a grin. “The main thing for me right now is to finish strong and help this team win a championship. I’m very fortunate now, coming to a team that has some pretty great hitters right through the line-up. For the first time in a while, I have some protection. From now until the end of the season, I need to take advantage of that and just try to help this team win.”

He’ll get another chance tonight at 7:00 when the Fish and Hammers play Game 2 of this three-game series at Canwest Park.

August 24: All Things Being Equal, West Expects To Play Four Or Five More Years

Before the 2009 Northern League season began, Kevin West lost 30 pounds and got into, what he called, the best shape of his career.

For West, it was going to be Year 2 in Winnipeg and he not only wanted to give himself a chance to get back into organized ball, but he wanted to give the Goldeyes the best baseball player he could give them.

“I owed it to this franchise,” West said at the time. “They’ve treated me as well or better than any place I’ve ever played and I owed it to them to have the best season I could this year.”

Heading into this week’s final homestand of 2009, West has played pretty well. He’s hitting .290 with 101 hits, 22 doubles, 19 home runs (third in the Northern League), 66 runs driven in (fourth), 54 runs scored, 41 extra base hits (fourth) and a .517 slugging percentage.

In all, it’s been a solid season for West and one that he thought just might get him a call from a big league organization. But so far, that call hasn’t come and now that he’s nearly 30, he has to wonder if that call will ever come.

“Should my age hurt me?” West responded when the question was put to him Monday afternoon. “Sure. I’m nearly 30, I guess it could hurt me. But there are so many plus-30 guys in Triple A ball. I mean, have you seen how many 30-plus-year-old guys in organized baseball are free agents every year and they get signed at the Triple A level?

“It’s like a big fraternity in Triple A. I’m just not part of that fraternity. It’s not that I played my way out of the fraternity. My numbers were OK. For reasons I don’t know, I’m not in the brotherhood anymore. That’s why I’m playing in Winnipeg, trying to get back.”

West hit .272 with 12 homers and 47 RBIs in 334 at-bats at Triple A Oklahoma City in 2007 when released by the Texas Rangers (he had been released by the Minnesota Twins in 2006). He wound up in Winnipeg in 2008, where he hit .317 with 18 homers and 74 RBIs. His Triple A numbers were always decent (.278 in Rochester in 2004, .271 in 2005 and .246 in 2006), but not decent enough to stay employed at that level.

So now, he’s almost 30, and two years removed from organized baseball and it becomes more and more unlikely – not impossible, but unlikely – that he’ll ever get the big call again.

So does he plan on continuing to play independent ball?

“Sure,” he said. “All things being equal – no injuries, no illness, anything like that – I think I can play four or five more years.

“There is no doubt that I said the first month I was here last year, that if I was going to play independent baseball, it would be in Winnipeg. This is the place I want to play. I get treated so well here. My son loves it. He gets to be in the clubhouse every day and not many kids get to do that.

“My wife understands that I love to play baseball and it’s not out of my system yet. This is what I want to do and she’d rather have me happy doing what I want to do than miserable doing something that I have to do.”

When the season ends, West will head back to Florida, where his family spends the off-season and either find a job in winter ball or else work in the service industry, just as he did last year. The Wests aren’t wealthy, but they own a nice home in Florida and have paid off both their vehicles.

“You know what a player is paid in the Northern League and you know we’re not wealthy, but we do OK,” he said. “There is good money to be made in the restaurant and bar industry in Florida. If my wife (Melissa) needs to work, she can always get a job as a server or a bartender. When I met her, she was a bartender at a place on the beach in Fort Myers and I just happened to be having a drink at her bar.

“We have a great quality of life when we’re in Winnipeg and a great quality of life when we’re in Florida. I’m not too concerned about how much money we make, because I’m also free to play baseball.

“One of the great things about the service industry in Florida is that it’s pretty seasonal. You can take a job and walk away after a few months and nobody gets hurt. I haven’t had any calls from organized baseball yet, but I intend to play next year. If not in a big league organization, then I hope it’s here. Right now I’m just thinking about winning a championship and then going home and getting into even better shape than I was this past year.”

August 20: Goldeyes Happy To Hit The Road

When their bus pulled up outside Canwest Park yesterday afternoon to load up and drive to Schaumburg, the Fish were quite happy to get out of town.

With an 8-4 loss to Fargo-Moorhead, the Goldeyes were swept right out of their own Fish Bowl by a RedHawks team that won its ninth straight to move into a tie with Gary atop the league standings.

It was a disappointing loss for the hosts, who held a 4-0 lead through four innings with ace Bill Pulsipher on the mound. But the monster bats of the RedHawks came to life in the fifth and Fargo put up eight runs in the final five innings.

The big blow came with the Goldeyes leading 4-3 in the sixth. With two on and one out, Alan Rick hit the first pitch he saw from Pulsipher high and deep to right.

“I came up looking for something elevated,” Rick told Shaw TV after the game. “I wasn’t sure what he threw me, a splitter or a change, but it was up and I was able to drive it. He’s a really tough pitcher with nasty stuff, but I guessed right this time.

“These are all very important games down the stretch and that Winnipeg club is a good club. But we’re really hitting the ball right now, every guy in the line-up, and nobody in our clubhouse worries much if we fall behind.”

For the Goldeyes, it was nice to see Fargo’s bus pull out of the parking lot.

“We have to handle this like we would any slump,” said right fielder Kevin West. “We have a good team and sometimes baseball is like a roller coaster. It’s a long season, it has its ups and downs.”

Right now, after losing four straight to Fargo, the Goldeyes are on the down side. Perhaps this four-game trip to Schaumburg will help to turn that around. Game one be heard tonight at 7:00 on 1290 CFRW.

August 19: Goldeyes Fall From First to Third

The Winnipeg Goldeyes looked to have Game 1 of a Tuesday night double-header in the bag. Leading 5-0 through the first six innings of a seven-inning ball game and with Andrew Cruse pitching wonderfully, it appeared as if Winnipeg would record its 50th win of the season.

But you just knew something would have to go wrong.

In the seventh, Cruse walked the first two men he faced, was removed from the game by manager Rick Forney and the two of them could only watch as the bullpen imploded and gave up seven runs in the top of the seventh in a 7-5 loss.

“It’s not even something you think about,” said RedHawks third baseman Jeremiah Piepkorn, the Shaw TV player of the game and the guy who hit the deciding blow, a three-run bomb off closer Chris Homer.

“We didn’t say anything in the dugout, we really didn’t talk about anything at all. When you’re down five runs, you just go out there and try to string some hits together and see what happens.”

What happened was a Game 1 victory and all the momentum heading into Game 2.

“We’ve fought back into the race and now, heading down the stretch, every game is important,” Piepkorn said. “Nobody on the team gives up. The score at the time really doesn’t matter.”

In Game 2, Fargo simply did a number on the Goldeyes, scoring five unearned runs against starter Zach Baldwin, as the RedHawks cruised to an 11-0 shellacking of the home side.

It just wasn’t the type of night the Fish wanted to have in front of 8,144 at Canwest Park. With the two losses, the Goldeyes fell from first to third, a game-and-a-half back of first-place Gary and a half-game back of second-place Fargo.

“We’re just trying to do the best we can and win as many as we can down the stretch,” said Fargo reliever and game winner T.J. Stanton, Shaw TV’s player of the game in Game 2.

“From the time I arrived here, we’ve gone on a pretty good streak. This team is playing good baseball and as a pitcher, it’s always good to know that the guys behind you are going to go out and get you some runs. At this stage, you just want to build some momentum heading into the playoffs.”

The final game of this four-game series goes Wednesday at noon at Canwest Park.

August 19: Harrison Happy To Be In Winnipeg

Excuse Vince Harrison if he feels as though he’s been through the ringer of a washing machine.

It’s been a long season in a short time.

“Yeah, it’s only a four-month season and I’ve already had three teams and four managers,” Harrison said as he arrived at the airport in Winnipeg today. “I hope Rick (Forney) doesn’t get fired.”

Late Monday night, both Harrison, a third baseman, along with infielder Mark Minicozzi, were acquired from Joliet and Kansas City respectively, as the Goldeyes tried to shore up their line-up amid a number of injuries late in this topsy-turvy season.

Wes Long is still out, nursing his broken ankle. Josh Asanovich injured his knee on Monday night and is out for at least a week. And Kevin West was hit in the head by a Garry Bakker slider on Monday and still has the seam-marks on his face to prove it.

Meanwhile, for Harrison, a two-time Northern League all-star who has overcome his own injuries and adversity throughout an oft-interrupted six-year playing career, this season has been particularly trying.

He started out with Schaumburg, playing for Mike Busch, and was hitting .338 with five homers and 27 runs batted in on July 27 when he was dealt to Joliet. He started out playing for Wally Backman, but Backman was fired a week later by the last-place JackHammers and replaced by Ira Smith. Harrison hit .282 in 18 games with Joliet before Monday night’s trade to Winnipeg.

“I played in that 12-inning 1-0 game with Gary on Monday (he had two hits in five trips), and then was told after the game to pack up my stuff, I was being traded again,” Harrison said. “I had a few hours to get packed and get to the airport and here I am.

“I’m happy to be in Winnipeg, it’s just that everything this year has been unsettling.”

Of course, it’s not like that hasn’t been a feature of Harrison’s career.

“I’ve been in the Triple A phase of the Rule 5 draft twice,” Harrison said, looking back on a career that was interrupted by two seasons of inactivity. “I injured my wrist in 2005 and went to camp with the Rangers. They told me I needed another operation and shut me down. Then, just as I was getting ready to go back, I was caught in the Rule 5 again and went to camp with Boston. I was going to play with Pawtucket (Boston’s Triple A farm club) in 2006, but tore my quad in the first pre-season game.

“So then I was acquired by St. Louis. I went two years without playing a game. It’s nice just to play.”

Originally drafted by the Florida Marlins in 1998, Harrison chose to pass on baseball and instead accepted a football scholarship to the University of Kentucky. He spent two years with the Wildcats football team before turning his attention back to baseball.

Now, 29, he’s in Winnipeg to help the Goldeyes win a championship and, for perhaps more importantly, just see where baseball takes him. For now.

“I’ve been through a lot, but I’ve never been released by a team because I wasn’t getting the job done,” he said. “It’s always nice to go to a place that wants you. Right now, that’s Winnipeg. I’m happy to be here.”

With his .322 batting average (seventh in the Northern League) and a solid glove at first or third, you can bet Winnipeg is glad to have him.

August 18: No Peace Or Love As RedHawks Whip Goldeyes 13-4 On Woodstock Night

It was billed as an evening of peace and love, but became a frustrating night for a lot of people as the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks came in to Winnipeg and beat the Goldeyes 13-4 at Canwest Park.

The promotion was the “40th Anniversary of Woodstock Night” presented by local radio station 92-CITI FM and what started out as an evening of peace, love and baseball, turned into a scuffle between Fargo manager Doug Simunic and Goldeyes third base coach Tom Vaeth.

After Fargo starter Garry Bakker threw one pitch over the head of Goldeyes third baseman Kevin West and then, later, hit West with a pitch, an argument began between Simunic and Vaeth. Simunic then whacked Vaeth with an open hand, a couple of punches were exchanged and the dugouts cleared. Eventually, the umpires gained control of the situation, Vaeth and Simunic were tossed and play resumed without incident.

Through it all, Goldeyes manager Rick Forney was nowhere to be found. With the playoff roster deadline approaching, he was in his office working the phones.

On the field, Goldeyes starter Ace Walker gave up eight runs on 10 hits over four-plus innings and left the game with his team down 8-3.

“We played poorly tonight,” said Forney. “We just didn’t get a good performance from our starter. Ace just didn’t have good command of his pitches. Most of what he threw was out over the plate and against a team that’s as hot as these guys (the RedHawks), you’re going to get hit pretty hard.

“You have to pitch very well to beat this team and we didn’t pitch very well.”

The RedHawks scored two in the first, three in the second, two in the third and five in the fifth and that was plenty. The Goldeyes could manage only four runs on eight hits.

The Goldeyes also got some bad news during the game. Second baseman Josh Asanovich twisted his knee on the wet grass in the outfield and will be out at least week and maybe 10 days.

“He really tweaked something,” said Forney. “I’m not certain what the problem is but it looks like he’ll be out for awhile.”

The two rivals are back at tonight for a double-header beginning at 6 p.m.

August 17: Happy With Expansion, Griffith Anticipates Further Growth

Northern League commissioner Clark Griffith is pleased with the addition of two expansion clubs, but says there are more to come.

“I’m hoping for two more next year and then two more the year after,” Griffith said, as he watched the Minnesota Twins play host to the Cleveland Indians on Friday night. “I believe that very soon, this will be a 10-or-12-team league.”

Earlier this month, the NL added the Rockford RiverHawks, who had been playing in the Frontier League but elected to move to the Northern League. Rockford was added as the eighth team after league governors announced that an expansion team in Lake County, Illinois (owned by actor Kevin Costner) would begin play in 2010.

Earlier this summer, Goldeyes owner Sam Katz said he hoped Burnsville, Minnesota was still being considered for expansion. On Friday, Griffith acknowledged that he was still talking to the business community in Burnsville, a city located just south of Minneapolis.

“The politicians in Burnsville are still enthusiastic. But I have to find some owners,” said the commissioner. “The original owners just couldn’t get their financing together, but we’re still working hard to get Burnsville into the league.

Griffith was asked if he was also trying to find a site near Kansas City in which to add a team. In 2010, the Northern League will have two teams in the north (Winnipeg and Fargo), one team in the west (Kansas City) and five teams in the Chicagoland area (Gary, Joliet, Lake County, Rockford and Schaumburg).

“I’m looking at St. Louis,” Griffth said. “It’s near Kansas City and not far from Joliet. I’m looking at communities on the interstate highway system. I-29 from K.C. to Fargo and Winnipeg, I-55 from St. Louis to Joliet, I-70 from St. Louis to Kansas City.

“I’m confident we’ll get to 10 or 12 teams. Real soon.”

August 14: DeSmidt Another Example Of Baseball’s Winnipeg Brainiacs

Jeff DeSmidt has a problem. However, for most of us, it’s problem we’d all like to have.

DeSmidt is trying to figure out a way to get his Masters degree and play professional baseball at the same time.

The 23-year-old from Mahtomedi, Minnesota, just northeast of St. Paul, has a degree in Biochemistry from the University of Minnesota. A catcher with the Goldeyes, DeSmidt was a Big 10 Conference second-team all-star in 2007, leading the Golden Gophers in both home runs and runs batted in.

But while he’s finished his undergraduate degree and still loves to play baseball, he’d also like to get to work on that Masters so that he can one day make the move into medicine.

“I’m looking for a way to do both until I’m finished with baseball,” DeSmidt said earlier this month, just before reading to the kids at the Henderson Library.

“I looked into it at the University of Minnesota, but they frowned on it. It doesn’t look like that’s going to work out there. But perhaps there is another university that would allow me to do both.”

Naturally, we suggested he look into the Masters programs being offered at the University of Manitoba, but in the meantime, DeSmidt is a member of a pretty smart ball club.

Reliever Chris Homer was the first member of his family to graduate from university when he completed a Bachelor of Science in criminal justice at Marist College in New York.

This month, Goldeyes left fielder Dee Brown will complete a criminal justice degree from Rollins College in Florida.

Rookie reliever Ian Thomas, who was on the Dean’s List at Louisburg Junior College, is a recent graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University.

Reliever Matt Davis, a teacher in the off-season, is a graduate of Ohio State University, Josh Asanovich was a star at Arizona State, Cory Patton is a graduate of Texas A&M while Wes Long is a grad of the University of Alabama-Huntsville.

Of course, being around smart guys doesn’t necessarily fix DeSmidt’s problem.

“There has to be some way to do this,” DeSmidt lamented. “The problem with so many Masters programs is that they want you to work right through and get it done with no distractions. But I don’t want to stop playing ball while I can still play. Maybe that will be my goal in the off-season, figuring out a way to complete a Masters degree while playing professional baseball.”

August 10: Pulsipher The Stopper As Goldeyes Whip Schaumburg

Bill Pulsipher is proving he just might be Goldeyes manager Rick Forney’s finest mid-season signing.

On Sunday afternoon, Pulsipher gave the Goldeyes a second-straight near-flawless start as he allowed only one run on five hits over seven innings and led the Fish to a 7-2 victory over the Schaumburg Flyers at Canwest Park.

In just two starts with Winnipeg, both of which he has won, the former New York Mets bonus baby has pitched 13 innings, allowing just one run on seven hits.

“I’ve had to learn how to pitch again,” he said. “Ever since Tommy John surgery (back in 1996), I haven’t been able to throw with the same velocity. But in order to overcome that, I had to learn to change speeds, throw strikes, move the ball around the strike zone, work quickly and become a smarter pitcher.”

Pulsipher was certainly smart on Sunday. By adding a new/old pitch to his arsenal, he kept the Flyers off-balance all afternoon. With Kevin West going three-for-five with a solo homer, two runs scored and two runs batted in and Cory Patton going one-for-two with a solo homer, four runs scored and one RBI, Pulsipher was able to give the Fish their 46th victory of the season (as an aside, Kansas City finished the season 46-50 last year and won the Northern League championship).

“When I came back from Mexico, I hadn’t pitched very well and I wasn’t very happy with how things had gone,” Pulsipher said. “So when I came back, I started working on the curve ball again. I hadn’t thrown it in quite awhile, and after I struggled in Mexico, I thought I needed it. Here, I’ve used the curve ball a lot and I’ve just been leaning back and letting it do what it needs to do. By having that pitch, it’s really helped me.”

Pulsipher’s performance was exactly what Forney was looking for. After four-straight shaky starts, the Goldeyes needed the veteran to shut down an opponent and give the hitters a chance to do their thing. For the second time since arriving last week, Pulsipher did just that.

With the win, the Fish improved to 46-28, took a two-and-a-half game lead over Gary in the race for first in the Northern League and lowered their magic number to clinch a playoff berth to eight.

The Goldeyes play Monday night in Joliet, the first game of a seven-game road trip that will also take them to Gary.

August 9: Lack Of Timely Hits Costs Goldeyes In 7-3 Loss

It was just one of those nights. Try as they might, the Winnipeg Goldeyes could barely muster any offence at all.

Combine that with a shaky start for the fourth consecutive game and the Goldeyes lost their second straight to the Schaumburg Flyers, falling 7-3 at Canwest Park on Saturday night.

Big Juan Diaz went 0-for-3, clean-up hitter Kevin West went 0-for-3 and not one Winnipeg hitter had a multi-hit game. Meanwhile, starter Andrew Cruse allowed six runs on six hits and four walks in less than six innings.

“For the fourth straight game, we got a lousy start from our starter,” said a disappointed Rick Forney. “We played sloppy defensively and we didn’t get any timely hits and that cost us.”

With the loss, Winnipeg fell to 45-28 on the season. But because Gary lost 10-7 to Kansas City, the Goldeyes remained a-game-and-a-half ahead of the RailCats in the race for first in the Northern League. The Goldeyes magic number to clinch a playoff berth remains at 10.

“I guess what’s worrying me is that we haven’t made any pitches for four straight days from our starters,” said Forney. “The more consistent you can be in the strike zone, the better you’ll be.

“We’re hoping Bill (Pulsipher) will pound the strike zone (on Sunday) for six innings or so – six is probably all he can give us at this stage (it’s his second start since being off for almost two months) – and we can score some runs for him,” Forney added. “We also made some mistakes today and we didn’t get any timely hits, even though we had plenty of chances, and all that has to improve. We have to find a way to get him a big hit.”

It will be Pulsipher, the former big leaguer, getting the start for the Goldeyes on Sunday afternoon while Alain Quijano takes the ball for Schaumburg. It’s a 1:30 start at Canwest Park.

August 8: Bad Start, No Finish, As Fish Fall To Schaumburg

Following a 16-hour trip from Gary, the Schaumburg Flyers got off the bus just two hours before game time in Winnipeg on Friday night.

You never would have known it.

Schaumburg put up five runs in the first inning and then held on late in the ball game to beat the Goldeyes 8-5 at Canwest Park.

It was not a virtuoso performance for Winnipeg. Starter Ace Walker, who has been the top pitcher in the Northern League for most of the 2009 season, gave up five runs on four hits (a three-run homer by Victor Ferrante was the big blow) in the first inning.

Defensively, the Goldeyes have been almost flawless in recent weeks, but two big errors led directly to Flyers runs. And on offence, the Fish pounded out 10 hits, but couldn’t get timely hits with runners in scoring position. Winnipeg left six runners on base, five in scoring position.

“The first inning was way too much for us to overcome,” said manager Rick Forney. “Then we made two big errors to give them two more runs and we just couldn’t get enough timely hits to overcome that.

“It was a tough start for Ace. He was wild in the strike zone. Then he had that problem with the mound. But I don’t think that was the reason we lost today. They put up five in the first inning and we just weren’t able to overcome it.”

With the loss, the Fish fell to 45-27 and are now just one-and-a-half games ahead of Gary in the race for first in the Northern League.

However, if there was a bright spot in Friday night’s loss, it was the hitting of Juan Diaz. The Goldeyes big DH hit his league-leading 24th home run, singled, doubled, scored a run and drove in three. Diaz is now legitimately in the hunt for the Northern League Triple Crown. He is now fourth in batting at .326, first in homers with 24 and second in runs batted in with 73.

Still, Forney is concerned about one disturbing offensive quirk.

“We’re sluggish offensively against left-handed pitching and that worries me,” Forney said. “If you spend some time looking at the clubs that are starting to get into the playoff hunt, they all have solid lefthanded pitching. In a short series, you know you’ll see a couple of left-handers, maybe even twice. We have to address that problem.

“Early in the year, we were pretty good against left-handers because Wes Long hit them so well. But since Wes’s injury, we’ve been sluggish. We’re going to see a lot of lefties so we have to get better.”

Saturday night, the Goldeyes will see a right-hander. Dustin Glant gets the start for Schaumburg while Andrew Cruse replies for Winnipeg. It’s a 6:00 start.

August 7: Goldeyes Hit Five More Bombs To Hammer Joliet 17-5

Talk about fireworks at Canwest Park. When the Goldeyes bats boom, they’re loud. And on Thursday night, you could hear those bats booming all over town.

Big Juan Diaz hit a pair of home runs and drove in four, Brent Metheny hit two and drove in three and Josh Asanovich hit one and drove in three more as the Goldeyes demolished the Joliet JackHammers 17-5 to win their fifth-straight series and set up a weekend showdown with the Schaumburg Flyers.

“Everybody chipped in tonight and that’s nice to see,” said Goldeyes manager Rick Forney. “We’re really hitting the ball well right now and Juan Diaz is a man among boys. He’s locked in.”

Diaz finished the three-game series with Joliet with four homers and eight runs batted in. He now leads the Northern League in home runs with 23 (five already in August) and his 70 RBIs leave him one back of Fargo’s Nic Jackson.

But while Diaz brought the crowd to its feet early with a two-run long fly in the first inning, a handful of Goldeyes had multi-hit games.

Leadoff man Cory Patton went two-for-four with three RBI and three runs scored, Asanovich went two-for-five with three RBI and two runs scored, Diaz went for-four-six with two runs scored and four RBI, Metheny went three-for-four with three RBI and two runs scored and Dee Brown went two-for-three with three runs scored. In the end, the Goldeyes pounded out 17 hits.

The Fish scored two in the first, two in the second, four in the third and six in the fifth to lock up their 45th win of the season. Their magic number to clinch a playoff berth is now 10.

“We have a team that’s capable of having nights like this,” said Forney. “We’re living on that long ball and tonight I was pleased that we also got a few more timely hits.

“But what really makes me happy is that for the third-straight night, our bullpen was rock solid. In the last three games, the bullpen has allowed only one earned run in nine innings of work. You win games with timely hits and a solid bullpen and we’ve had that in recent weeks.”

With the win, the Goldeyes improved to 45-26 and remained two-and-a-half games ahead of red-hot Gary (the RailCats have won 11-straight at home) in the race for first in the Northern League.

“Everything is going well right now,” added Forney. “I just hope we can keep hitting the way we are now to keep the pressure off the pitching. Maybe this is the start of a sweet August and a memorable September for this team.”

August 6: Good Pitching, Solid Defence, No Bats In 2-0 Loss To Joliet

Goldeyes manager Rick Forney was philosophical following Wednesday’s disappointing 2-0 loss to the last-place Joliet JackHammers.

“Some nights you have it, some nights you don’t.”

“That game was well-pitched and well-defended,” Forney added. “(Joliet starter Devin) Anderson did a fine job from them tonight. He had the change-up working and you know that in this league a good change-up from the left-side is like Kryptonite.

“It was just one of those games. We played good defence and we pitched well enough to win, but we didn’t get the hits we needed when we needed them although I thought the strike zone was a little pitcher-friendly tonight. When you see 10, 12, 14 strikeouts in a 2-0 game, then the zone is a little pitcher-friendly.”

It was a tough loss to take for Goldeyes starter, Mark Michael (2-3). Michael went five innings and allowed two runs on only four hits while striking out seven. Zach Baldwin, Andrew Cruse and Matt Davis pitched the final four innings and allowed no runs on only three hits.

“Mark battled out there tonight,” Forney said. “He deserved a better fate.”

For the Goldeyes, it was the fourth time this season the team had been shutout and with the loss, Winnipeg’s seven-game home winning streak came to an end.

As well, with Gary’s 4-1 win over Schaumburg on Wednesday night, Winnipeg’s first-place lead in the Northern League fell to two-and-a-half games over the RailCats.

It was a pretty dull ball game, but in fairness, the Fish made it exciting in the ninth. With two out, Cody Ehlers doubled and went to third on a single by Adam Frost. Frost stole second to put two runners in scoring position, but Joliet closer Drew Shetrone struck out pinch-hitter Kurt Crowell for the final out.

“We did make it exciting in the ninth,” Forney said with a smile. “We gave ourselves a chance to win. Kurt really battled, but Shetrone got him. Drew’s a really good pitcher.”

The final game of this three-game series between the Goldeyes and Joliet goes tonight at Canwest Park at 7:00.

August 5: Pulsipher Nearly Perfect As Goldeyes Rip JackHammers

There were two things that surprised Goldeyes starter Bill Pulsipher on Tuesday night. For one thing, he didn’t expect fireworks when Shaw TV named him player of the game. And he did not think his teammates would give him the run support they did in his Canwest Park debut.

Pulsipher was almost perfect, going five full innings, allowing no runs on just two hits. The former Mets phenom was the winner as the Goldeyes blasted Joliet 13-1 in front of 7,124 at Winnipeg’s downtown ballpark.

“This is the first time I’ve ever done an interview with fireworks going off behind me,” Pulsipher told Shaw TV’s Jim Toth. “I haven’t been in Winnipeg very long, but this seems like a pretty good place to play.

“I haven’t pitched for nearly two months, so I just wanted to go out and make sure I had my command and stretch it out, pitch as well as I could and give us a chance to win. I didn’t expect the run support as early as I got it.”

And, boy, did he get it.

While Pulsipher shut down the JackHammers, the Goldeyes bats boomed. Winnipeg hit four home runs in the first two innings – Josh Asanovich, Kevin West and Dee Brown hit solo shots while Juan Diaz hit a three-run bomb – as Winnipeg jumped off to a quick 7-0 lead.

Diaz hit his second home run of the game, a solo shot in the eighth, and Brent Metheny added another solo homer in the eighth as the Goldeyes hit six in total to improve to a league-best 44-25 on the season.

With 27 games left, the Fish are three-and-a-half games ahead of Gary in the race for first in the Northern League. Winnipeg has won eight of its last 10 and its magic number to reach the 2009 playoffs is now 12.

Meanwhile, with two homers and four runs driven in, Diaz took over the Northern League lead in dingers from Kansas City’s Ryan Fox. Diaz also has 66 runs batted in, second in the NL to Fargo’s Nic Jackson. However, West tried to keep pace. With one home run and two RBIs, West now as 18 homers and 62 RBIs, both good for third.

“I know I’ve come into a really good situation here in Winnipeg,” the 35-year-old Pulsipher said. “I just hope I can pitch well and provide some veteran leadership for the young guys here.”

The Goldeyes and JackHammers play Game 2 of this three-game series Wednesday night at 7:00 at Canwest Park. Mark Michael takes the hill for the hosts while Devin Anderson replies for the visitors.

August 4: Once a Mets Phenom, Pulsipher Now Excited To Be In Winnipeg

Goldeyes manager Rick Forney started courting Bill Pulsipher in the middle of July. Even former slugger Pete Rose Jr. made a call, asking Forney to give Pulsipher a ring.

It’s been a few weeks, but big Bill Pulsipher, the 6-foot-4, 255-pound fireballer is now wearing a Winnipeg uniform.

On Tuesday, the big southpaw from Florida took the mound for his first Northern League start. It’s been a long, winding road for Pulsipher and yet he seemed as comfortable as could be in the Goldeyes clubhouse.

In the early 90s, he and fellow teenaged pitchers Paul Wilson and Jason Isringhausen were the next big things for the New York Mets. Now, nearly two decades later, the 35-year-old Pulsipher is still pitching, albeit in independent ball, but judging by the smile on his face, he remains happy just to be in the game.

“Baseball is in my blood,” he said, sitting in the Goldeyes training room before Tuesday’s start. “Baseball is who I am. It’s what I do. When I’m done playing, I want to stay in the game as a coach or a manager. It’s a gift and a curse, I guess. I just don’t see me doing anything else right now.”

Pulsipher has seen it all. He was 5-7 with a 3.98 ERA with the Mets in 1995, but at spring training in 1996, after feeling pain in his elbow, it was discovered that he had torn ligaments and almost immediately underwent Tommy John surgery.

In 1997, he had a horrendous year and wound up back in Rookie ball in the Gulf Coast League. When he signed with the Mets out of high school in 1992, he didn’t see action in the Rookie Leagues, but five years later, he was starting over.

From that point on, baseball was a struggle. But he never quit.

In the big leagues he went on to pitch with the Mets, Milwaukee, Arizona, Boston, the White Sox and St. Louis. In the minors, between 1997 and 2009, he has pitched in 13 different outposts in nine leagues at seven different levels in three countries. He has been a baseball gypsy who last pitched with Puebla of the Mexican League.

And now he’s in Winnipeg, hoping to help the Goldeyes win a Northern League championship.

“I called Bill in mid-July and he said he’d only been back from Mexico for a few days and wanted a couple of weeks to get into game shape,” Forney said. “He worked hard while we went on the road. He’s 100 per cent ready to play, he’s been following us on the internet the last two weeks and we’re glad to have him.

“I mean, he’s been around. I played against him. Back in the day, he was the man, one of the top prospects in all of baseball with the Mets back in the early-to-mid-90s. He knows what he’s stepping into and he’ll give us good, veteran leadership.”

Since Daniel Haigwood was signed by Oakland, the Goldeyes haven’t had a regular left-hander (Zach Baldwin has made a couple of spot starts) in the rotation. Pulsipher will be handed that role as the Fish head into the final 28 games of the Northern League schedule.

“I’m here because I still believe I can pitch and I really enjoy playing,” Pulsipher said. “I was also upset with the way things ended in Mexico. I hadn’t pitched that well and I wanted to do better. Rick has given me the opportunity and I’m excited to have it. Even my friend Pete Rose Jr. made a call to Rick and I appreciate that. I haven’t been here very long, but already I can see that this organization treats its players very well.

“I’m lucky, my kids tell me I shouldn’t be retired and my wife understands that I still need to be around the game. You don’t make a lot of money in independent ball, but it’s still professional baseball and I have to tell you, it’s great to be here.

“Rick put the ball in my locker this afternoon and I can’t wait to get out onto the mound and get started.”

July 31: Former Goldeyes Reliever Sherrill Traded from Baltimore to the Dodgers

MINNEAPOLIS – Former Winnipeg Goldeyes reliever George Sherrill has been traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

In one of the biggest moves at this year’s waiver-wire deadline, the Baltimore Orioles closer was traded to the Dodgers in exchange for slugging third base prospect Josh Bell and pitcher Steve Johnson. Both players are outstanding prospects.

Bell, who is 22, is ranked by Baseball America as the Dodgers' No. 8 prospect. A switch-hitter, he hit .296 with 11 home runs and 17 errors in 94 games at Double-A Chattanooga.

Johnson, 21, is ranked as the Dodgers' No. 15 prospect. He is the son of former Orioles pitcher Dave Johnson. He is 8-4 with a 3.82 earned-run average at Class A Inland Empire, with 42 walks and 102 strikeouts in 96 2/3 innings.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the Dodgers will use Sherrill as “an eighth and ninth inning guy,” the set-up man for closer Jonathan Broxton. However, while he was disappointed to leave Baltimore, he will be going to a team with a legitimate chance to win the World Series.

"It's tough," Sherrill said. "It was fun getting to play in Baltimore. This is where I got to be a closer. It was one of those things where it was flattering to be involved in trade talks, but I liked Baltimore. I enjoyed coming here and getting to pitch in this division and getting to know the team and seeing the direction it is going in. I wanted to be part of this team’s development into a championship team.”

This will be Sherrll’s second move in 17 months. He was acquired by the Orioles from Seattle two seasons ago in the Erik Bedard trade. In Orioles spring training in 2008, Chris Ray was injured and Sherrill won the closer’s job. His 31 saves in 2008 tied him for second most by a first-year Oriole behind Lee Smith. He was a fan-favourite in Baltimore for two reasons: (1) the often wild and dramatic way in which he closed out games and (2) the odd way in which he wore his cap, cocked to one side without bending the brim. All of that earned him the nickname “The Brim Reaper.”

Goldeyes manager Rick Forney said last week that he couldn’t understand why Baltimore would want to rid itself of an experienced 32-year-old closer who could also serve as a set-up man or a situational lefthander.

“He’s a good lefthander and I don’t know why a team would want to trade away a good lefthander,” said Forney, who as the team’s pitching coach, played a major role in Sherrill’s move from the Goldeyes to the Majors in 2002 and 2003. “I think George can do so many things. I just don’t understand why they’d want to trade him away.”

This season in Baltimore, Sherrill had a 2.40 earned run average with 20 saves in 42 appearances.

"I enjoyed my time in Baltimore and I’m sad to go,” Sherrill said. “But I’m happy to have a shot to go to the playoffs."

July 30: Diaz Becoming a Huge Fan Favourite

Marvin Perrault hails from Kenora, Ont. His family comes from Eagle Lake First Nation in Northwestern Ontario. He’s been a baseball fan most of his life, but only this year, as he starts a small business in Winnipeg, has he become a fan of the Winnipeg Goldeyes.

Last Sunday, as he watched Juan Diaz, hit two homers – one a grand slam and one a two-run shot – to lead the Fish past the Gary SouthShore RailCats 7-4, Perrault admitted he had joined a growing number of Goldeyes supporters and become a stand-on-your-feet-and-cheer fanatic for the team’s giant DH.

“I love that big guy,” Perrault said, with a wide smile on his face. “I love the way he swings the bat. It’s a short little swing and he kind of just jerks it over the fence. He’s really fun to watch. Every time he comes up, people just get excited. I love these games.”

Perrault has jumped on a bandwagon that is getting more crowded every day. As August arrives and Juan Diaz’s bat heats up, Goldeyes fans are pumped every time he comes to the plate.

“It’s because they know something exciting can happen,” said Goldeyes manager Rick Forney.

And that’s very true. On Wednesday night, Diaz banged out his 17th home run of the year, a three-run shot that helped the Goldeyes win the suspended game from June 24 by a 6-5 score. With the homer and three RBI, Diaz moved toward the top of the Northern League in both categories.

Diaz is now second to Kansas City’s Ryan Fox in homers (Fox has 18) and with 58 RBI, he’s second to Fargo’s Nic Jackson (Jackson has 60). He’s also second to Jackson in slugging percentage (.585 to Diaz’s .568) and with a .312 batting average, he’s moved near the Top 10 in the NL for the first time this season.

“For a guy to hit for average and power the way Juan does, well that’s really impressive,” said Goldeyes third baseman Brent Metheny last weekend. “He’s a professional hitter.”

And that professionalism has been noticed by Goldeyes’ fans. Whenever Diaz steps to the plate, the fans rise and give him an ovation, hoping that something truly exciting will take place before their eyes.

“It’s funny. The crowd cheers his announcement to the plate and then, once he steps into the batter’s box, the crowd goes really quiet,” said Goldeyes fan Kris Row, who sits in the front row, right behind the Goldeyes dugout. “Then when he’s at the plate, his own teammates all run up to the top of the dugout steps just to watch him hit. The crowd, at least the crowd around me, will be talking among themselves and they’ll all stop talking to watch him. I’ve been around a long time and I’ve never seen anything like it.”

(Note: Watch for a feature on Juan Diaz – where did he come from and how did he get here -- in the next issue of Fish Lines Series Magazine, available only at Goldeyes games next week.)

July 29: Metheny Starting To Heat Up With A Month To Go

It has been a struggle for Brent Metheny.

Winnipeg’s best hitter in 2008 with a sparkling .357 average scuffled out of the gate this year, injured a calf muscle and seemed to lose his patience at the plate.

For weeks, the third-year Goldeyes third baseman and seven-year pro couldn’t crack the .240 mark (he was hitting .235 on July 5). He just didn’t feel right at the plate or comfortable on the bases. However, he knew two things: (1) in baseball, all situations – good and bad – eventually even out and (2) he hadn’t lost his skills.

“I was just banged up,” he said. “I missed more than two weeks with that muscle tear. I mean I was hurt for much of the first half of the season. It sure didn’t help that I was trying to swing on a torn muscle in my back leg, my power leg.

“But I’m better now and that’s the difference. I’m still not swinging the bat as well as I have, but I can run the bases now. I can steal bases and score from first and that makes a big difference. I can stretch a single into a double. Now that I’m healthy again, things that I’ve done naturally are starting to get a little easier.”

That’s certainly the way it was during Winnipeg’s most recent home stand. Although Metheny was 0-for-6 in Saturday’s 4-3 win over Gary in 13 innings, he was 7-for-15 in the other five games, with four runs scored and three driven in. Now hitting .259, he’s starting to climb back – by his lofty standards, at least – to respectability.

Not surprisingly, the Goldeyes won all six games during that stretch, moved back into first place – three games ahead of second-place Gary – and, like Metheny, appeared to leave their troubles behind.

“I’m starting the hit the ball to all fields again and when I’m doing that, I know I’m getting my stroke back,” Metheny said. “I said a couple of years ago after I hit all those home runs (21 In 2007), that I was really just a doubles hitter, who hit a lot of line drives and sprayed the ball gap-to-gap. I can still hit home runs (he has seven this season), but when I’m at my best, I’m hitting line drives all over the park.”

And when Metheny’s at his best, Northern League pitchers should beware.