June 20: Goldeyes Play Sluggishly & Get Shut Out By JackHammers

Before Friday night’s game at Canwest Park, most Goldeyes players were just happy to be home.

“I can tell you I was never happier than when we got back to Winnipeg after this last road trip,” said catcher Dustin Richardson. “It’s good to be home.”

Outfielder Dee Brown concurred.

“It’s good to be back and now we have to go out and make the best of this four-game homestand,” Brown said on Shaw TV’s pre-game show.

Unfortunately for the Fish, the homestand didn’t start out quite the way they wanted.

Although starter Ace Walker pitched a solid eight innings, allowing only three runs (just one earned run) on eight hits, the Goldeyes offence had nothing in the tank as Winnipeg was whipped 5-0 by Joliet.

With the loss, the Fish fell to 21-9 on the season, still first in the Northern League, but now only four games ahead of second-place Schaumburg.

It was an odd outcome, considering Joliet played Thursday night, hopped on the bus, drove 15 hours to Winnipeg, got to the city at about 4 p.m., showered, showed up at the park and played an almost flawless game.

“Baseball is funny that way,” said Joliet third baseman Andrew Pinckney, who had a doubles, a home run, a run scored and two runs batted in and was Dufresne Furniture Player of the Game.

“You get a team like ours that has to take the long bus ride, about 15 or 16 hours, gets to Winnipeg late in the day, has enough time to get into the hotel, shower and then get to the park. We were all just bagged. In that case, you either come out and get whipped or you play great. Who knows? Tonight we were great. It’s just one of those things.”

While Pinckney had a terrific game, Tydus Meadows wasn’t bad either. Meadows went two-for-four with two doubles as last-place Joliet improved to 12-20 this season.

For Winnipeg, there was some offence... but not much. Brown had a pair of hits as did Josh Asanovich and Cody Ehlers, but that was it. The closest the Fish came to scoring was in the second inning when they loaded the bases with none out, but Joliet starter Brad Mumma wriggled off the hook.

Despite the loss, it was still a great night at the ballpark as the Goldeyes welcomed special guest Carmine Cappuccio, the third honored player in this year’s Flashback Fridays celebration.

Cappuccio and his two youngsters tossed out the first pitch(es) and then Carmine was feted later in the game at field level. As a guest on the Shaw TV broadcast, he recounted the time he was dumped by Double A Birmingham in favor of a weak-hitting basketball player named Michael Jordan.

“In 1994, I had been named the starting right fielder for the Birmingham Barons (Chicago White Sox),” Cappuccio recalled. “A few days later, we were told that Michael Jordan was going to play baseball and that he was being assigned to Birmingham. Next day, the papers said he would be the starting right fielder.

“The White Sox sent me to Single A where I had a good year (.292 with 30 doubles, 12 homers and 60 RBI in 401 at bats), but I really thought that with that Double A team in Birmingham – it wasn’t a particularly good team – I could make a name for myself within the organization. It just didn’t happen.”

Jordan hit .202 in 127 games with Birmingham and returned to basketball. Cappuccio’s career with the White Sox, meanwhile, never quite reached the heights he had hoped.

Still, the former Goldeyes all-star outfielder that hit .359 with 39 doubles, nine homers and 80 RBI in 2001 has no regrets.

“I believe everything happens for a reason,” said Cappuccio, who is now the executive vice-president of sales and marketing for Spectrum Laboratory in Greensboro, North Carolina. “Things might have been different had I played that year in Birmingham, or maybe not. Nobody knows.

“What I do know, is that I got to play my last year in Winnipeg and I loved every minute of it and then I went into the working world and have enjoyed some success and I have a great family. It’s pretty hard for me to complain.”