The Nibble

Goldeyes bats explode, wallop RIverHawks

2010-06-28T18:45:00.000-05:00

They say there is nothing better than a rest. For Juan Diaz, one night off almost made him a brand new man.

Diaz, the Goldeyes’ 36-year-old designated hitter, went four-for-four with a walk, a three-run homer, four RBI and three runs scored as he led the Goldeyes to an impressive 13-5 victory over the visiting Rockford RiverHawks at Canwest Park on Sunday afternoon.

Diaz had three singles and his league-leading 11th homer of the year as he led the Fish on a 16-hit assault of the RiverHawks. He also drove in his 28th, 29th, 30th and 31st runs and raised his batting average to .278.

“It was a good game for me after a day off,” said Diaz, the Shaw TV player of the game. “At 36-years-old I need a day off every now and then. We did the same thing last year. Sometimes I need to get things straightened out in my head and that night off did clear my head.”

With the win, the Goldeyes improved to 21-15 and won their third straight game. The Fish moved past Kansas City into second place in the Northern League, a-game-and-a-half back of first-place Fargo. The Goldeyes also won the four-game series from Rockford 3-1.

“It’s good to play at home,” Diaz said. “It’s nice to play in front of our big home crowds and in our ballpark. We all feel good in here.”

The Goldeyes are now 13-9 at Canwest Park this season and on Sunday afternoon, every hitter in the lineup was comfortable enough to pound out at least one hit. Rookie Price Kendall went three-for-five with two runs scored and two RBI and raised his batting average to .357; Vince Harrison continued his hot hitting by going two-for-four with a run scored and two driven in; Justin Justice went just one-for-four, but that “one” was a three-run homer; and Luis Alen went two-for-five with two runs scored and a RBI on a solo homer in the seventh.

Starter Chris Salamida went six complete innings and got the win. Zach Baldwin pitched three strong innings in relief and earned his third save of the year.

“We played a very good game,” Diaz said. “It was good for us to win three in a row before going out onto the road.”

The Fish will open a 10-day road trip with a game Monday night against Lake County in Kenosha, Wis. Ace Walker (2-2, 3.77 ERA) will get the start.

Holliman's start and West's homer send Fish past RiverHawks

2010-06-27T09:37:00.003-05:00

Even after a three hour and 20 minute rain delay, the Winnipeg Goldeyes went out and played an almost perfect baseball game.

A great start by Mark Holliman and a three-run bomb by Kevin West turned out to be the big difference as the Goldeyes went out and whipped the visiting Rockford RiverHawks 7-3 at Canwest Park on Saturday night. With the win, the Goldeyes improved to 20-15 on the season and won their second straight game.

Mark Holliman worked six complete innings, allowed two runs on only four hits to earn the win and improve to 4-1 (although his ERA actually rose from 1.88 to 2.02) on the season. Holliman has been terrific in most of his starts this year and after waiting three hours and 20 minutes to take the mound on Saturday night, he was outstanding once again. However, because he walked four and struck out 10, threw 101 pitches after six innings so manager Rick Forney decided to go to the bullpen.

“That’s how it goes sometimes,” said Holliman afterward. “It’s (strikeouts) really not something you’re trying to do. You want to get in and out and let your hitters get out there and do their jobs. When I strike out a lot of hitters I don’t stay in the game that long because it means I’ve probably thrown a lot of pitches.

“What I’m trying to do is pitch to contact and let the defence get the job done. That’s a good hitting team over there. I’m surprised so many of them struck out. Just one of those nights.”
In total, Holliman and relievers Casey Hodges, Chad Benefield and Bobby Korecky struck out 13 RiverHawks. With 10 Ks on the night, Holliman now leads the Northern League with 47.

“The strike out pitch tonight was the slider,” Holliman said. “They were all over my fastball early tonight. Those guys are fastball hitters. I started out using the slider just to get them off the fastball, but by the end I was throwing almost exclusively fastballs and sliders.”

Offensively, the Goldeyes started slowly and fell behind 2-0 after three innings, but in the bottom of the fourth, red-hot Dee Brown delivered a two-out, two-run double to tie it up and then, in the fifth, Kevin West hit a monster three-run homer over the leftfield wall to all but seal the deal.

“He (former Goldeyes reliever Justin Knoff) threw me a fastball, belt high,” said West with a laugh. “If he wants to do that, well...”

In a very rare occurrence, the Goldeyes put up more runs than hits – seven runs on only six hits – but also in a very rare occurrence the Goldeyes also scored five of their runs when two were out. Dee Brown had the only multi-hit game with a double and a single.

Game 4 of this four-game series goes this afternoon at Canwest Park. Former Goldeyes starter, lefty Roger Lincoln (2-2, 5.06 ERA) will get the start for Rockford while Chris Salamida (4-2, 3.24 ERA) will toe the rubber for the Fish. Game time is 1:30 p.m.

Big comeback thrills crowd of nearly 7,000

2010-06-26T10:54:00.003-05:00

The Winnipeg Goldeyes got exactly what they needed on Friday night: A big win in front of an even bigger crowd.

In the bottom of the eighth, and the Rockford RiverHawks leading 3-2, the Goldeyes got a little two-out lightning as Vince Harrison singled home the tying run and Dee Brown singled home the eventual winner as the Fish beat the visiting RiverHawks 5-3 in a rare late-inning comeback.

With the win, the Goldeyes improved to 19-15 on the season and put a stop to a mini-two-game losing streak.

“It’s always nice to watch our guys put some two-out hits together,” said starter Stephen Flake, who scattered six hits and allowed only one run over six-and-a-third innings of work.

“They were fun to watch tonight.

It was a terrific ball game. The Goldeyes took a 1-0 lead on a solo homer by Wes Long to open the first, Rockford tied it in the second and the Goldeyes went ahead 2-1 in the fourth when Justin Justice was hit, stole second and scored on a Harrison single.

Rockford put up a pair of runs against relievers Zach Baldwin and Philip Roy in the top of the eighth and then the Goldeyes put their comeback rally together. Aharon Eggleston singled to lead off and then after Juan Diaz struck out and Kevin West flied out to left, Justice singled to send Eggleston to third. Harrison tied the game with a hard single to right, then Brown knocked in the game winner with a flair to right, Luis Alen was walked intentionally and then Harrison scored when rookie Price Kendall was hit with the bases loaded.

It was a great night for Kendall who got his first hit as a professional plus his first RBI. However, it was a fabulous night for Harrison who had three hits in four trips, scored run, drove in two and raised his batting average to .279. He was hitting just .226 two weeks ago.

“Maybe I’m heating up with the weather. I hope so,” Harrison said with a smile. “It’s really just a matter of trying not to do too much. I was working in the cage with Tom (hitting coach Vaeth) yesterday and he just said keep it simple: Just get a pitch to hit and put a solid swing on the ball.

“Tonight I just stopped thinking too much. When I think too much, that’s when I think myself out of it. I just went up there looking for a pitch to hit and then tried to put a good swing on it. We were better tonight. Flake pitched a good game and we put together some two-out hits. That’s what we needed.”

Game 3 of this four-game series will be played tonight at Canwest Park. Mike (0-2, 3.18 ERA) will get the start for Rockford while Mark Holliman (3-1, 1.88 ERA) will take the ball for Winnipeg. Game time is 6 p.m.

Bello and bats struggle against Rockford

2010-06-25T08:57:00.000-05:00

Some days, nothing goes right.

Starter Antony Bello lasted only an inning and a third while the Goldeyes offence just couldn’t get a big hit when needed as Winnipeg fell 7-1 to the Rockford RiverHawks in front of 5,611 at Canwest Park on Thursday night.

“Antony just couldn’t come up with a pitch when he needed it,” said Goldeyes manager Rick Forney. “He’d thrown 61 pitches and only got four outs. He just couldn’t find a way and to avoid a chance at an injury, it was in his best interest and ours to get him out of there, let him think about it and we’ll talk tomorrow... make sure he’s ready to pitch another day.”

When Bello left the game, the Goldeyes were trailing 2-0. Reliever Ulysses Roque gave up three runs in two-and-two-third innings of work, Ian Thomas gave up two runs in four-and-a-third innings and Chad Benefield came in and got the final two outs in the ninth.

Rockford Catcher Travis Scott had a big night for the RiverHawks going two-for-five with a triple and a two run homer. The two-run bomb made it 4-0 and pretty much sealed the deal for Rockford.

“We finally got the lefty (Bello) out of there and I’m a lot more comfortable against right-handers,” Scott said. “He hung a change-up to me and I was able to get the barrel of the bat on it.

“This was a huge win for us. After a long bus trip, almost 17 hours, we were able to come up with a good effort. And Kyle (starter Wright) was great. He got ahead of almost every hitter he faced and didn’t walk anybody. It was a really great effort.”

The Goldeyes scored their only run in the sixth. With two out, Justin Justice doubled and then Vince Harrison singled to drive him home. It was Winnipeg’s second straight loss and dropped the Goldeyes to 18-15 on the season and 10-9 at home.

Game 2 of this four-game series will be played tonight at Canwest Park. Kyle Ruwe (1-4, 5.86 ERA) will get the start for Rockford while Stephen Flake (2-1, 2.96 ERA) will toe the slab for Winnipeg. Game time is 7 p.m.

Bullpen can't save it for Walker, Goldeyes fall 7-5 to Gary

2010-06-24T10:28:00.002-05:00

Starter Ace Walker ground it out for six full innings and left the Winnipeg Goldeyes with a 3-2 lead heading into the seventh, but this time the bullpen just couldn’t hold on.

Although Zach Baldwin got the Fish through the top of the seventh inning and the Goldeyes scored a run in the bottom of seventh, the Gary SouthShore RailCats came back with two in the eighth off Baldwin and three more in the ninth off Philip Roy and beat the Fish 7-5 in from of 5,189 at Canwest Park on Wednesday night.

With the win, Gary took the three-game series in Winnipeg, 2-1, and pulled to within a half a game of third-place Winnipeg. The Goldeyes are now 18-14, while the Railcats are 18-15.

“It was a tough game tonight,” said Goldeyes manager Rick Forney, as the Fish fell to 10-8 at home this season. “Gary was knocking on the door all game and they finally knocked it down with some crooked numbers in the eighth and the ninth.

“We had no answer for their left-handed hitting in this series and we sure didn’t have an answer tonight. They probably hit .500 from the left side of the plate. They really grind out at-bats and they get hits when they needed them.”

The Goldeyes pounded out 14 hits, but just couldn’t get the big knocks when they needed them. Wes Long had a pair of hits and scored a run; Juan Diaz went three-for-four, drove in three and hit his 10th home run of the season (the second in as many nights); Kevin West was two-for-five with an RBI and a run scored, Aharon Eggleston went two-for- five with two runs scored and an RBI; and Vince Harrison went three-for-four.

“We had a couple of opportunities in the first and second innings but two double plays wiped them out,” Forney said. “We had five hits in the first two innings and didn’t score. That really hurt us.

“In the end we just couldn’t hold on. The bullpen has been bending, not breaking. Tonight, it broke down.”

Thursday night, the Rockford RiverHawks come to Winnipeg to face the Goldeyes. Antony Bello (1-2, 3.55) will get the start for Winnipeg, Game time tonight is 7 p.m. and if you can’t make it to the park, the game will be shown live on Shaw TV Channel 9.

Goldeyes get it all in win over Gary

2010-06-23T09:30:00.001-05:00

Aharon Eggleston had a tough road trip through Chicagoland last week. Tuesday night, he snapped out of his mini-slump.

Eggleston has had three hits in four trips, scored two runs and drove in two more and made a spectacular catch in centerfield as he led the Goldeyes to a 9-3 victory over the Gary SouthShore RailCats at Canwest Park in downtown Winnipeg.

“We’ve been battling,” said Eggleston, as he was named Shaw TV’s Player of the Game. “Today we got to the park early, we got lots of swings in the cage, took extra batting practice, we were ready to go tonight. I think it showed in the results.”

It sure did. The Goldeyes pounded out 12 hits and put up four crooked numbers – three in the first, two in the third, two in the fifth and two in the sixth.

Besides Eggleston, red-hot Kevin West, newcomer Justin Justice and veteran Vince Harrison each had two-hits while Juan Diaz got everything going for the Goldeyes with a three-run home run in the first inning. Harrison and Justice each drove in two runs.

“We got off to a great start,” said Eggleston. “And Sal gave us a great effort. We had everything going tonight. We just have to keep it going.”

Starter Chris Salamida had a tremendous outing. He allowed just one run on seven hits through the first seven innings before getting tagged for three hits and a pair of runs in the ninth. Ulysses Roque came on with a man on and nobody out in the ninth and retired the three men he faced to give the Goldeyes their 18th win of the season.

At 18-13, the Goldeyes are in third place in the Northern League, but both first-place Fargo and second-place Kansas City lost on Tuesday night, so the Fish are just two games back of Fargo and a half-a-game behind the T-Bones.

Wednesday night, the Goldeyes play Gary in the final game of this three-game set. Ace Walker will toe the slab for the Fish. Game time tonight is 7 p.m.

Great Pitching Performance Wasted in 2-1 Loss to Gary

2010-06-22T09:12:00.001-05:00

Winnipeg Goldeyes manager Rick Forney made no excuses. The Goldeyes squandered “a fantastic” pitching performance by starter Mark Holliman and two rookie relievers in a 2-1 loss to the visiting Gary SouthShore RailCats at CanWest Park on Monday night.

“Our pitching was fantastic tonight,” said Forney after the game. “Chad (reliever Benefield) made one mistake. He hung a slider to a good hitter (Tanner Townsend) and he hit it out. But we didn’t lose this game because a rookie reliever made one mistake.

“It’s the same thing every game. We’re struggling to have good at bats. I feel that too many of us are giving up our at bats way too early. But we’ll keep grinding away and we’ll get back at it tomorrow night.”

With the loss, the Goldeyes fell to 17-13 on the season, third in the Northern League, just 2 ½-games back of first-place Fargo.

It was a frustrating loss for the Fish, a team with traditionally good hitters, who have been in some dreadful funks. Wes Long, who went into the game leading the NL in hitting at .356, had a rare zero-for-five night and watched his average drop to .341; Dee Brown went zero-for-four; and Josh Asanovich, who went into the game hitting just .180, went zero-for-three and dropped to .175.

In total, the Goldeyes had only five hits and scored their only run without an RBI. Aharon Eggleston singled, went to second on a passed ball, went to third on a fly ball to right off the bat of Juan Diaz, and scored on a wild pitch.

Meanwhile, the Goldeyes pitchers were very good. Starter Holliman pitched six full innings, allowed only one run on seven hits and dropped his earned run average to 1.88. Benefield pitched 1.2 innings and gave up the home run to Townsend – and nothing else. Rookie Casey Hodges pitched an inning and a third of hitless baseball to finish the game.

“We got two good pitching performances from two rookie right-handers tonight,” Forney said. “We’ll take that with us into Tuesday night’s game.”

Tuesday night, the Goldeyes play Gary in Game 2 of this three-game set. Chris Salamida (3-2, 3.26 ERA) will get the start for the Fish.

June 21: West Rakes on Road Trip. Still Happy to be Home

2010-06-21T12:48:00.000-05:00

Kevin West stood around the batting cage just before the Goldeyes nine-game road trip through Chicagoland, blasting balls over the leftfield fence.

When asked to describe his hot start to the 2010 season, West snickered, then laughed and said, "I can flat-out hit."

He was joking, of course, but not all that much. It’s true that in his third year with the Goldeyes he’s off to his best start and during the Goldeyes eight-game trip to the Chicago area (one game was rained out), West hit a gaudy .375 and raised his batting average to .333 on the season. He’s tied (with Juan Diaz) for the team lead in runs batted in with 21, leads the team in doubles with 11, is second in on-base percentage at .402 and leads in slugging percentage at .520.

He’s fifth in the Northern League in hitting, fifth in RBI and second in doubles.

So was it the outstanding spring training he had with the Cincinnati Reds that set him up for this red-hot start?

"No, I think it was probably my 11 years of professional baseball experience," he said with a grin.

"Listen, this has always been my philosophy about baseball. Players will always do what players do. In other words, because we play 100 games or 125 games or 162 games, there are no flukes. Guys get off to slow starts and almost always finish where they’ve always finished in the past.

"Remember (Brent) Metheny or (Dustin) Richardson last year. They started off hitting like .400 for the first month, but by the end of the year, their betting averages were where they always are. That’s the thing about baseball. We play so many games that by the end of it all, you are what you are."

West is convinced that the criticism that has come with the Goldeyes 17-12 start has been directly related to hitters getting out of the gate slowly.

"Everything is so magnified in the first month or so," West said. "People say, ’Oh, so and so is in a slump, or so and so is red-hot.’ It’s true, but in the end, it doesn’t really matter. The guys will do what they’re capable of doing. Our .300 hitters will be .300 hitters. That’s just the way it goes.

"We haven’t been very good yet, but we’re still 17-12 and that’s pretty good. The guys will get it together and do what they’ve always done. This is a good team that will do well before the season is over."

True, but it still doesn’t explain why guys such as Vince Harrison and Dee Brown have been scuffling and West has been lighting it up.

"I made a conscious decision this year to concentrate on my defence," West said. "I feel that if you really try to play well when you’re out in the field, it will translate to your hitting. I’ve just tried to concentrate hard on every aspect of the game and so far, it’s been paying off."

West will have a chance to get back at it tonight at 7 p.m. when the Goldeyes play host to the Gary SouthShore RailCats at Canwest Park.

June 18: Asanovich Hits Another Bomb, Goldeyes Win 8-4

2010-06-18T12:27:00.002-05:00

It’s been a struggle at the plate for second baseman Josh Asanovich this season, but here’s a sure sign he’s snapping out of it: he’s hit three home runs in three straight games.

Last night in Kenosha, Wis., Asanovich hit his third home run in as many outings as he led the Goldeyes to an 8-4 win over the Lake County Fielders. With the victory, the Fish moved to 16-10 on the season and remained in second place, two games back of first-place Fargo.

Asanovich had an outstanding night, going two-for-four with a double, a home run, two runs scored and three driven in. With that, he got his batting average back to an even .200. Asanovich now has three homers and 12 RBI on the season and while he’s hitting only .200, his slugging percentage has risen to .333 over the past week.

Meanwhile, Kevin West drilled his 10th double of the campaign and scored a run; Vince Harrison had two hits, drove in three and scored two; Dee Brown hit his ninth double, drove in a run and scored a run; and Jeremy Hamilton had a single, scored a run and drove in one as the bottom of the order combined for seven hits, six runs and seven driven in. It was the kind of team effort that manager Rick Forney had been expecting since he signed this veteran crew during the winter.

Meanwhile, starter Chris Salamida allowed only two runs on six hits over six complete innings, got his third win of the year and lowered his ERA to 3.26. Stephen Flake and Ulysses Roque each delivered a perfect inning of relief.

The Goldeyes have now won four straight on the road, are 4-1 on this road trip and will head into Joliet to begin a three-game set tonight before returning home to face Gary at Canwest Park on Monday.

June 17: Diaz, Asanovich Homer. Goldeyes Move Into Second Place

2010-06-17T13:19:00.001-05:00

Another solid outing from starter Mark Holliman and home runs from Juan Diaz and Josh Asanovich gave the Winnipeg Goldeyes a 5-2 victory over the Lake County Fielders on Tuesday night.

The win was significant for a number of reasons:

(1) It gave the Goldeyes a 15-10 record, the first time this season the Fish have been more than four games above .500 and it moved them past the Kansas City T-Bones into second place in the Northern League.

(2) It gave the Goldeyes their third straight win, their longest road winning streak of the season and a win on Wednesday night in lake County will give the Fish their longest winning streak of the season – home or away.

(3) It gave the Goldeyes a 3-1 record on this Chicagoland road trip (Monday night’s game at Lake County), and with one more win, they’ll be guaranteed a .500 record on the road.

Perhaps the most interesting part of the Goldeyes victory on Tuesday night – besides Juan Diaz’s eighth homer of the year and Asanovich’s second in as many games – was Holliman’s performance.

The Goldeyes’ outstanding righthander struck out seven to take over the league lead in strikeouts (34), lowered his ERA to 2.19 (fifth in the NL) and won his third game of the season (second in the NL).

Without question, this Goldeyes team hits well enough to win 60-70 games if it gets enough pitching. Holliman has shown that he’ll provide this team with six-seven solid innings every time out. Stephen Flake, Ace Walker, Chris Salamida and Antony Bello have all shown they can be lights out. The bullpen is improving every time out and Ian Thomas, Zach Baldwin, Philip Roy, Ulysses Roque and Bobby Korecky have all had outstanding appearances.

Hitting is fun and entertaining. People buy tickets to watch hitting. But all baseball fans know that pitching wins championships. After a 7-2 loss at Schaumburg in the first game of this road trip, the Goldeyes allowed only seven runs in their next three games.

It’s a simple assumption: Shut down the opposition and suddenly there is no pressure on the hitters.

June 11: Long’s Big Hit, Quality Pitching, Give Goldeyes Series Split

2010-06-11T09:28:00.001-05:00

Mark Holliman did not deserve to take the loss and Wes Long knew it.

So in the bottom of the seventh, with one out and runners on second and third, the Winnipeg Goldeyes leading hitter delivered. Long drilled a solid single to leftfield to score Vince Harrison and Josh Asanovich with the tying and eventual winning runs as Winnipeg came from behind to beat the Kansas City T-Bones 2-1 in a cold, damp thriller at Canwest Park.

On just a miserable day for baseball, the Goldeyes got a tremendous start from Holliman who left the game after six complete innings having allowed only one run on two hits. In fact, Holliman paid dearly for the only mistake he made, leaving a high fastball out over the plate that Kansas City’s hottest hitter, Ray Sadler, smacked over the left-centerfield fence.

It looked like Holliman might take the loss, but Long came up with the game’s big hit in the seventh and then Ian Thomas, who got the win and improved to 4-0 on the season, and Philip Roy, who picked up his fourth save, shut own the T-Bones for the final three innings as Winnipeg split a four-game series with first-place Kansas City.

"It was my first at bat off the relief pitcher (Drew Graham), a guy ‘d never seen before," said Long after the game. "He threw me a fastball in the middle of the zone on the first pitch and I took it, so that’s what I looked for on his second pitch. He threw exactly the same pitch and I was able to get the barrel of the bat on it and hit it into leftfield.

"That was a huge win for us," Long added. "Especially after the whooping they laid on us on Monday (Kansas City won Game 1 of the series 12-3 on Monday and then won Game 2, 7-2). We were able to pull off a win in the second game last night and this was really just a huge win. When you’re going out on the road to play nine games in 10 days, it’s really nice to get on the bus coming off a win."

The Goldeyes will play three games in Schaumburg this weekend and then move on to play three in Lake County and three in Joliet before returning home to play Gary on Student Night -- Monday night, June 21.

June 11: Ugly Win Just Fine for Forney

2010-06-11T09:27:00.001-05:00

Winnipeg Goldeyes manager Rick Forney had no trouble winning ugly on Wednesday.

"You have to win a few games like that," Forney said, "because you sure lose enough of them."

After losing 7-2 to the visiting Kansas City T-Bones in the continuation of Tuesday night’s rain-suspended game, the Goldeyes bounced back and won Wednesday night’s regularly scheduled affair 7-6.

But it took a long time and convoluted route for the Goldeyes to get to their 11th win of the season.

Winnipeg came out behind starter Antony Bello and built a 5-1 lead through the first three innings of the seven-inning game. By the time Bello sat down after five complete, the Goldeyes led 6-2.

But then the bullpen blew up once again. Philip Roy was tagged for four runs in the sixth (although Ian Thomas gave up the double to light-hitting Jimmy Mojica that allowed the final two runs to score) and despite a great start from Bello, the game was tied 6-6 heading into the seventh.

And that’s when the Goldeyes finally got a break. Vince Harrison was hit by a pitch, moved to second on an error, went to third on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a wild pitch by T-Bones reliever Kyle Dahman. It wasn’t pretty but in a seven-inning game that took two hours and 47 minutes to play, the Goldeyes finally got a victory and improved to 11-9 on the season.

"It was not a good day for us," said Forney. "We have a lot of work to do. The bullpen is scuffling along and we have to get better defensively. Despite all of that, it’s nice that we have a chance to get a split in this series on Thursday."

After losing the series opener 12-3 on Monday and then the suspended game 7-2, the Goldeyes did get a win in Game 3 of the four-game set with first-place Kansas City. Thursday’s game, which starts at 11 a.m., features Goldeyes starter Mark Holliman who is 2-1 with a 2.25 earned run average.

"I’m not really paying attention to our record these days," said Forney. "I’m concerned about the way our ball cub is playing. The effort is good. They’re trying. They’re just struggling.

"Our starting pitching has been getting the job done, but all these short starts because of the rain has really beaten up our entire pitching staff. Bello is coming along and (Stephen) Flake pitched real well in the suspended game, but the rain hasn’t helped us much.

"I just hope we start to play better. We’re scuffling along right now."

June 8: Kansas City Scores 12 Runs on 16 Hits. Filets Fish 12-3.

2010-06-08T10:51:00.003-05:00

The Kansas City Lumber Company came to Canwest Park Monday night and lit up the Winnipeg Goldeyes.

Behind a solid start from lefty Ryan Knippschild and a grand slam home run off the bat of Brian Joynt, the first-place T-Bones drilled the Fish 12-3 in the first game of a four-game series at Winnipeg’s downtown ballpark. With the win, the T-Bones improved to 11-5 on the season while the Goldeyes fell to 10-8.

"They’re way better than we are," said Goldeyes manager Rick Forney bluntly. "They had good pitching, great defense, great hitting with a bunch of home runs and they put up some crooked numbers. They had a real good game tonight."

Kansas City put up 12 runs on 16 hits as Joynt had a double and a grand slam, drove in five and scored three. Second baseman Jake Blackwood also homered for K.C. as the T-Bones had eight extra-base hits off starter Ace Walker and relievers Ulysses Roque and Austin Donmoyer.

"We’ve got a lot of holes right now," Forney said. "We aren’t very good right now. I don’t feel we’ve been very good for two weeks. It’s making me think of making some adjustments here way before I wanted to."

The game was put out of reach when Joynt hit his grand slam in the eighth – that made it 8-2 for Kansas City -- but Forney believed the turning came in the top of the second inning. The Fish were leading 1-0 after Kevin West tripled home Aharon Eggleston, when Winnipeg gave up three in the top of the second and even though Juan Diaz hit a solo shot in the fifth, Winnipeg never had a sniff of the lead again.

"What happened in the second inning changed the game," Forney said. "We got a leadoff ground ball to third base and we didn’t make the play and then there was double play to second and we didn’t turn it. Because of that, they scored three runs. We aren’t getting the job done defensively and we haven’t been getting the job done all year. We have to improve on defense. And we need to do it in a hurry here."

The Goldeyes will get a chance to even the series on Tuesday night. Righty Stephen Flake will get his first start for the Goldeyes while former Goldeye Andrew Cruse will take to the bump for K.C. Game time is 7 p.m. The game is on Shaw TV Channel 9.

Photo: Shawn Coates

June 7: Long’s Three-Run Bomb, 10-game hitting streak, give Goldeyes 5-4 win over Schaumburg

2010-06-07T15:02:00.002-05:00

Wes Long doesn’t think about hitting streaks. In fact, the Goldeyes shortstop looks at hitting much more simply – one at-bat at a time.

Yesterday afternoon, however, it was his second trip to the plate that made the difference. With Vince Harrison and Josh Asanovich on base, Long belted a three-run homer to give Winnipeg a 5-0 advantage in the second inning. It not only kept a 10-game hitting streak alive, it also gave the Goldeyes enough runs to win their 10th game of the year.

With starter Chris Salamida pitching well (one run on five hits over seven full innings) and with Bobby Korecky shutting the door in the ninth (it was Korecky’s first save since joining the Goldeyes last week), the Fish overcame a shaky bullpen to hold on and beat the Schaumburg Flyers 5-4. With the victory, the Goldeyes improved to 10-7 and won a three game set with the Flyers at Canwest Park.

"I’m not thinking about any streak – unless it’s 40 games, that would be different," Long said with a laugh. "Right now I’m just trying to go up there every time and get a hit. I’m been doing pretty good just trying to swing at good pitches.

"I’m trying to separate every at bat and to concentrate on every pitch, each time I go up to the plate."

Whatever the plan, it’s working. Long went one-for-three with a walk, two runs scored and three driven in during yesterday’s win and even so, he watched his batting average dip a little to a still-awesome .388. He remains the Northern League leader in hitting and is among the league leaders in RBI (13), runs scored (11), doubles (7) and slugging percentage (.582). Pretty good for a middle infielder who bats in the leadoff spot.

And yet, Long isn’t satisfied. After missing the second half of last season with a broken ankle, the 27-year-old (he turns 28 this Saturday) from Seattle will admit he’s not yet at 100 per cent.

"My defence hasn’t been as good as it should be," Long said. "My footwork isn’t where it should be and I‘ve thrown the ball away a few times. I have to improve on that. I’m not close to the top level yet. I still have stuff to work on."

At 10-7, the Goldeyes are third in the Northern League, a game and a half back of first-place Kansas City. And it’s the T-Bones who come to town Monday night to start a four-game series at Canwest Park.

Photo: Shawn Coates

June 6: Forney Manages His 400th Game With the Goldeyes

2010-06-06T18:15:00.001-05:00

On his first day as a manager, Rick Forney was nervous. These days, Forney takes every game in stride. Still, when you’ve reached a milestone as a manager at any level of baseball, it’s an emotional day.

And it will be an emotional day Sunday afternoon at Canwest Park, as Winnipeg Goldeyes field boss Rick Forney manages his 400th game.

“It’s gone by quick,” Forney told Paul Edmonds yesterday. “I guess there is something to be said for longevity.”

Forney was being modest. With a record of 219-179 and a .550 percentage he’s one of the most successful managers in the Northern League. He’s never failed to put up a winning record and he’s made the playoffs in all four years he’s been the Goldeyes manager.

And yet, back in 2006 when he took over the job from his mentor Hal Lanier, Forney was “nervous and emotional” when he finally took the Goldeyes onto the field at Canwest Park.

“It was really an emotional day,” Forney recalled. “The first one was against Hal (Lanier) and I’m still convinced that when Hal got that job in Joliet, the league did it (scheduled the Goldeyes and JackHammers to open the season) on purpose.

“But it was very emotional. It was my first day handing in a lineup card with my signature on it and it was against Hal, a guy I’d spent years sitting beside in the dugout learning how to do this job. Couldn’t have had a better teacher.”

Darwin Soto was the Goldeyes pitcher that day and even though he got hit hard, it seemed as if every line drive the JackHammers hit, the ball fell into a Goldeyes’ defender’s glove. The Goldeyes won the opener and went on to sweep the series.

“It was fun,” Forney said of that first weekend series. “We swept Joliet, but all weekend, I remember I was nervous.”

Now, almost 220 wins later, Forney has become very comfortable in his role. It’s his job now and while he still gets fired up for every game, the nervousness is gone.

“I’ve grown to feel that I’m pretty good at this,” Forney conceded. “I have an understanding of this league and the players who play in it. I love the job and I’m very lucky to get to do this every day.”

June 5: Bello Gets First Win, Brown Goes Deep. West Keeps Hitting, Goldeyes Beat Flyers 6-4

2010-06-05T13:56:00.000-05:00

Winnipeg Goldeyes manager Rick Forney has made no bones about the fact he loves Antony Bello’s arm. As it gets more work, it appears as if Bello’s arm is starting to love Forney back.

Friday night at Canwest Park, Bello went five complete innings, throwing 63 pitches while allowing only two runs on four hits as he gained his first Northern League victory, a 6-4 Goldeyes win over the visiting Schaumburg Flyers.

"I’m starting to get it (his arm) stretched out," Bello said afterward. "It was a long bus trip back from Gary. I threw 63 pitches tonight. Hopefully I’ll throw 80 on Wednesday in my next start. Depends how the game goes, but I’m starting to feel really good."

Bello, the 6-foot-2, 210-pounder from Miami, last started a game back in November of 2009 in the Florida Winter League. His last previous start was in September of 2008. From September of ’08 until his first start of the year with the Goldeyes back on May 22, Bello had a grand total of three starts.

But when coach Rudy Arias scouted Bello in Miami last winter, he saw a guy who could come in and be a quality starter in the Northern League. Every time out he seems to get better. Friday night he lowered his ERA to 4.97 and improved his record to 1-2.

"I’ve been impressed with the hitters in this league, they’re competitive hitters," he said. "They all swing the bat pretty well but they’re patient as well. They’re really competitive."

The hitting heroes for the Goldeyes last night were Wes Long, Dee Brown, Kevin West and Luis Alen. Long had three hits in four trips and scored two runs; Brown hit a 410-foot solo homer over the centerfield wall in the fifth; West went two-for-four with an RBI and raised his batting average to .353; and Alen had a two-run single in the fourth.

In all, the Goldeyes pounded out 11 hits as they improved to 9-6 on the season.

Game 2 of this three-game series goes Saturday night at 6 at Canwest Park. Dustin Glant will get the start for Schaumburg while Mark Holliman will take to the bump for the Fish. Tickets are available at the box office or by calling 982-2273.

May 31: This Is What Makes the Game so Exciting

2010-05-31T09:36:00.001-05:00

It was one of those games that reminds us all why we listen to baseball on the radio. It certainly was a game that assures the die-hard fan why he listens until the final out. It was a game that you’ll never forget, even though you didn’t see one pitch, one base hit or one throw from short.

Sunday evening in Rockford, Ill., the Winnipeg Goldeyes proved that Yogi Berra was right, “It isn’t over ’till it’s over.” And even though I didn’t see it, I had my radio friend Paul Edmonds to paint the picture of a comeback for the ages.

Early on Sunday evening, the Goldeyes were done. Through six innings, the Rockford RiverHawks had this one in the bag. Starter Mike Wood had allowed only two runs on five hits through the first six and when Rockford manager Bob Koopmann went to his bullpen, the RiverHawks had an 8-2 lead and I figured I’d turn on 60 Minutes. After all, it was 8-2, the Fish had barely put up a fight and what the heck, 6-5 isn’t a bad record early in the season, is it?

But hey, we’d come this far, one more inning couldn’t hurt.

And in the seventh, the Goldeyes appeared to have some life. Kevin West came up with two-on and belted a three-run homer off reliever Alex Thieroff and suddenly it was 8-5. If the Goldeyes bullpen could shut down the home side for three innings then maybe there was a chance.

In the bottom of the seventh, reliever Andrew Barb came in for the Fish and after walking a man, suffered an apparent injury (the second Goldeyes pitcher to hurt himself on Sunday as starter Matt Kniginyzky was felled by a shoulder problem earlier in the game) and he had to be replaced. Manager Rick Forney went to lefty Ian Thomas and Thomas went to work.

He got out of the seventh unscathed and that allowed the Fish to come back up in the eighth trailing by only three.

Now, if this were anything but a fairy tale, I’d tell you that the Rockford bullpen took care of Winnipeg in the eighth and ninth and everybody in Illinois went home to watch Sunday Night Baseball, but then it wouldn’t be a comeback would it? And my pal Edmonds would not have had a minor vocal coronary.

In the top of the eighth, with Edmonds along for every swing of the bat, the Goldeyes exploded. Wes Long drove in a run with a single to cut the Rockford lead to 8-6 and then big Juan Diaz drove in two more with a double. West, who had three hits in four trips, drove home pinch-runner Luis Alen (West’s fourth RBI of the game) with a single as the Goldeyes took a 9-8 lead.

Wow! The Comeback was complete. Or was it? This is baseball, after all and against professional hitters nothing is easy.

In the bottom of the eighth, RiverHawks outfielder Kevin House tied the game at 9-9 with a solo homer off Thomas, but heck, it’s still tied and that will just make the Goldeyes comeback all the more rewarding. Won’t it?

Indeed. In the top of the ninth, first baseman Jeremy Hamilton, who already had two hits in the game and four in the series, came up with a runner on third and one out and hit a sacrifice fly to give Winnipeg a 10-9 advantage. It was hard to imagine that the Fish were headed to the bottom of the ninth with the lead, but it did remind an old baseball fan why we listen until the final out.

In the bottom of the ninth, young Philip Roy, a reliever who simply beats up the strike zone, came in and allowed one hit before retiring the side and notched his third save of the season. It was mind-boggling, thrilling and even gut-wrenching at times, but it was exactly why Pete Rose once said, “Man invented all the other games, but God invented baseball.”

If today’s series opener in Gary is half as good, it will be another three hours well spent. I just hope Paul has recovered enough to get back on that mic by 3 o’clock.

May 28: Goldeyes Bullpen Can’t Hold the lead, Fish lose 7-3 to JackHammers

2010-05-28T09:19:00.000-05:00

Despite a 7-3 loss to Joliet in the final game of an eight-game homestand, Winnipeg Goldeyes manager Rick Forney had no problem finding a silver lining.

“We’re off to a good start,” Forney said bluntly. “5-3 is a good start. If we went 5-3 over every eight-game stretch until the end of the season, it would be a very successful year for the Goldeyes.

“Right now, we just need some consistency. I thought we’ve pitched pretty well, especially the starters, and the big thing right now is staying healthy. Our defence is a little inconsistent and I suppose if we have one area we need to improve, it’s our defence. But overall, I’m happy to start the season 5-3.”

On Thursday afternoon, the Goldeyes lost the final game of an eight-game homestand, 7-3, to the visiting Joliet JackHammers to split a four-game series. The Fish had already won their first series of the year against Lake County (3-1) and were now 5-3 heading out onto the road to open a series in Rockford on Friday night.

The Goldeyes fell behind 3-0 to Joliet on Thursday, then battled back to tie the game 3-3 in the fifth before the Jacks blew it open with four runs against the Goldeyes bullpen.

Goldeyes catcher Brett Wallace had a big day at the plate for the Fish going three-for-four with an RBI triple. Shortstop Wes Long and centerfielder Aharon Eggleston also had three hits each for the Fish. Eggleston improved his batting average to .433.

“I hit the ball OK, but I’m not happy with my defence,” Wallace said after the game. “I have a reputation as a catcher who doesn’t make many mistakes and I had two passed balls today. I don’t remember if I’ve ever had two passed balls in a game before.”

Ultimately, Wallace was charged with only one passed ball. The second was ruled a wild pitch, charged to reliever Austin Donmoyer.
The Fish will now head out onto the road and play three games against Rockford and three against Gary before returning home to open a weekend series against the Schaumburg Flyers on Friday, June 4.

May 27: Holliman Almost Unhittable while West Finds Hitting Easy as Goldeyes Hammer Jacks

2010-05-27T08:28:00.001-05:00

Mark Holliman’s four-pitch repertoire combined with Kevin West’s sweet swing was the recipe for a sweet victory on Wednesday night.

Holliman, who once threw a no-hitter at the Double A level, improved to 2-0 on the season as the Goldeyes’ right hander threw seven complete innings of four-hit baseball as the Fish drilled the visiting Joliet JackHammers 6-1 at Canwest Park.

Holliman was so sharp on Wednesday night that after giving up his only run of the game in the third, he cruised through the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh innings without allowing a base runner. He retired 13 batters in a row before giving way to relievers Ian Thomas and Philip Roy who shut down the JackHammers in the eighth and ninth.

Meanwhile, the Goldeyes got more timely hitting, this time off the bat of veteran right fielder Kevin West. West went three-for-four with three doubles and three runs batted in as the Fish tagged former teammate Bear Bay with five runs on seven hits over six innings.

“It’s always interesting when you face a former teammate,” West said, on Shaw TV’s post-game show. “You really never know what you’re going to get. We know from Bear that he can be really good and you have to get to him early. We were able to score five runs in the first two innings before he settled down and pitch pretty well.

“At this stage of the season, the pitchers are ahead of the hitters, and it’s the pitchers who have held us together. Mark was great tonight and the other pitchers on the staff have been very good this year. We’ve been fortunate to have had so many great starts in our first seven games.”

West started the game hitting .238 and finished with a .333 average. Meanwhile, centerfielder Aharon Eggleston was back in the lineup after missing a game and a half with lower back pain and he picked up right where he left off. Eggleston went two-for-four with two runs scored.

“We didn’t bring these guys to Winnipeg to hit home runs all the time, although we certainly don’t mind it when they do,” manager Rick Forney told Paul Edmonds on the radio post-game show. “But we did sign them to drive in runs and that’s what they’ve been doing. We’ve had a number of two-out hits that have created runs this year and it seems that on most nights, someone in the lineup steps up and gets the job done for us.”

On Wednesday night, Kevin West was the man who stepped up.

Thursday morning at 11 a.m., the Goldeyes and JackHammers will play the final game of this four-game series. It’s getaway day and that means an early start as Winnipeg has to play in Rockford, Ill., on Friday night while the JackHammers go home to play host to Lake County.

Lefty Devin Anderson will get the start for Joliet (0-0) while another lefty, Chris Salamida (1-0), will take to the bump for the Goldeyes. Come out and enjoy brunch at the ballpark. The game will be replayed on Shaw 9 in Winnipeg at 7 p.m.

May 26: Bats Boom, Goldeyes Light Up JackHammers 8-4

2010-05-26T09:30:00.001-05:00

Vince Harrison figured Joliet JackHammers lefty reliever Sean Teague was going to try to bust him inside.

“Dee (Brown) just hit the double and drove in two runs and I figure he’d try to throw something inside to make me hit it on the ground,” Harrison said. “I was looking fastball inside and he got the ball elevated. It was a good pitch to hit.”

Indeed. Harrison took Teague’s pitch into the trees over the left \field wall for a two-run homer that put an exclamation point on a six-run fifth inning that carried the Goldeyes to an 8-4 victory over the visiting JackHammers in the second game of a four-game series at Canwest Park.

One night after the Goldeyes were drilled 7-0 in a rain-shortened game the night before, the Fish came out and pounded five JackHammers pitchers for eight runs on 12 hits. All nine Goldeyes batters had at least one hit while Wes Long, Jeremy Hamilton and Harrison all had multi-hit games.

“That’s the great thing about baseball,” said Harrison. “We weren’t very good on Monday, but we get to come back every day and play again. We mess up one day, we get to come back and make up for it the next day. It’s tougher for football players. They play badly and lose, they have to wait around a week before they play again. That’s one of the great things about being a baseball player.”

Harrison is now hitting .350 with two runs, two doubles, a homer and three RBI early in this 2010 season, but interestingly, his scouting abilities might have as much to do with the Goldeyes early success as his bat.

It was Harrison who brought 23-year-old first baseman Jeremy Hamilton to town and on Tuesday night Hamilton went two-for-two with two runs scored and took over the batting lead in the Northern League. Hamilton is now hitting .500 (seven-for-14) in his first week with the Fish.

Meanwhile, Canadian starter Matt Kniginyzky (1-0, 5.00 ERA) got his first Northern League win. Kniginyzky went five complete innings and allowed three runs on seven scattered hits to earn the victory.

Wednesday night, the Goldeyes and JackHammers play Game three of this four game series. Come and enjoy a TV game at the ballpark and then go home and watch yourself on Shaw’s replay at midnight. Game time is 7 p.m. and yes, the midnight TV replay is at 12 midnight.

May 25: Soggy Goldeyes Drilled 7-0 in the Rain

2010-05-25T09:35:00.000-05:00

Winnipeg Goldeyes manager Rick Forney summed up Monday night’s rain-shortened 7-0 loss to the Joliet JackHammers succinctly:

“It was a wasted day,” he said bluntly.

“(Antony) Bello was pretty good. He gave us some good innings. Other than that, it was just a wasted day.”

At a rain-soaked Canwest Park, the Jackhammers held a 1-0 lead after four innings when home plate umpire Reggie Jackson halted play for the first time.

Joliet had one run on only one hit off Bello who pitched brilliantly, but got no help.

When the rain subsided, one hour and 52 minutes later, young Austin Donmoyer came in to pitch for the Goldeyes and the lefty got ripped for six runs on seven hits in just two and a third innings. With one out in the seventh, lightning lit up the sky, rain pelted the field and the game was called.

Bello suffered the loss while reliever Michael Rocco was credited with the win for Joliet as Winnipeg fell to 3-2 on the season. Joliet finished with seven runs on eight hits while Winnipeg had no runs on four hits.

“I haven’t got much to say,” Forney added. “We didn’t play long enough to formulate anything more to talk about.”

Tuesday night, the Goldeyes and JackHammers play Game 2 of this four game series. RHP Matt Kniginyzky will get the start for Winnipeg while right hander Rory Shortell will take to the bump for Joliet. Game time is 7 p.m.

May 24: Walker Brilliant, Diaz Hits Third Home Run in an as Many Days, as Fish drill Fielders 7-1

2010-05-24T13:17:00.001-05:00

After Lake County lead-off man Amos Ramon opened the game with a double, Winnipeg Goldeyes starting pitcher Ace Walker stepped off the mound and took a breath.

“My first thought was ‘Oh, no, not this again,’ so I stepped off the mound and said to myself, ‘Not this time’,” Walker said shortly after leading the Winnipeg Goldeyes to a 7-1 victory over the visiting Lake County Fielders.

“Last year, if anyone was going to get to me, they’d get to me in the first or the fifth innings. After that guy hit the double, I just thought, ‘No way, not this time. It’s going to be different. I have to be better.’

“I have such a good defence behind me and I know I’ll get help at the plate from my guys. I wasn’t going to put us in a hole early.”

He didn’t. In fact, after Ramon’s double, Walker was almost perfect.

In the end he pitched seven complete innings, allowed no runs on only two hits, walked one and struck out five as the 2009 Northern League Pitcher of the Year mowed down the Fielders to claim his first victory of the season the Goldeyes third win in a row.

“I probably could have gone longer but I know I was on a pitch count,” Walker said. “I think the pitch count was 90. I know I got to 88 after seven innings. I didn’t mind coming out of the game with a 7-0 lead.”

At the plate yesterday, the Goldeyes were absolutely stellar. The Fish pounded out 14 hits, the big blow, a two-run shot off the bat of DH Juan Diaz in the bottom of the third that gave Winnipeg what was to be an insurmountable 4-0 lead.

Five Goldeyes had multi-hit games: Diaz was three-for-four with a walk, a run scored and three driven in; Aharon Eggleston went three-for-five with three runs scored and an RBI; Kevin West went two-for-four with a run scored and two RBI; and Vince Harrison and Jeremy Hamilton each had a pair of hits. Hamilton is now hitting .455 after his first four games in the Northern League.

“Just watching Juan hit the ball is really exciting, isn’t it?” said Walker with a wide smile. “It was just a great day of baseball out there.”

The Goldeyes will have another shot at a great day of baseball on Monday night when the Joliet JackHammers come to town. Left hander Antony Bello will get the start for the 3-1 Goldeyes.

May 23: Diaz Bomb, Great Start by Salamida, Fish Beat Lake County 2-1 in a Thriller

2010-05-23T09:11:00.002-05:00

It’s a simple formula: Get a great effort from your starter, have a closer ready to shut it down and get a bomb from your slugger and you can probably eke out a win.
That’s what the Winnipeg Goldeyes did on a damp Saturday night as the Fish edged the Lake County Fielders 2-1 in front of 5,012 at Canwest Park.

Starter Chris Salamida pitched six and two-thirds innings of scoreless baseball, reliever Andrew Barb put a halt to a Fielders rally in the ninth and “Big Juan” Diaz hit a two-run homer in the fourth as Winnipeg improved to 2-1 on the season.

“I had good command tonight,” said Salamida afterward. “I felt good right from the first inning. I trusted my stuff, threw strikes and got them to hit a lot of ground balls, My defence was outstanding behind me and that’s all I can ask for.

“I’m a pitch-to-contact hitter and I’m not trying to strike guys out, I’m just trying to get a ground ball. When I have the defence I had behind me tonight, I can be pretty successful.”

In a game that lasted just two hours and 22 minutes, Salamida was in control from his opening pitch. To be fair, however, Lake County starter Corey Bass was solid himself. Bass allowed only two runs on four hits over six complete innings. In fact, he probably made only one bad pitch...

“He threw me a fastball inside and I was able to turn on it,” said Diaz who hit a line shot over the leftfield wall with Aharon Eggleston standing on first. “I’ve been seeing the ball real good, but I’m not off to as fast a start as I’d like to be having. But I’ll just keep working in the cage and taking extra batting practice and I’ll get my timing back.”

Diaz’s homer was his second of the season and his second in as many games. However, he’s hitting just .273 early in the campaign and he’s not completely happy with his numbers.

“But we’re OK,” he said. “We’ve had two good games and two wins. We just have to keep going. Our pitching has been outstanding and our defence has been good. We just need to start hitting.”

The Goldeyes will have another chance to start hitting on Sunday afternoon when they face the Fielders in Game 4 of this four-game season-opening series. Right hander Jeff Long will get the start for Lake County while the 2009 Northern League pitcher of the year, Ace Walker, will get the call for Winnipeg. Game time is 1:30 p.m.

May 22: West, Long and Harrison Teach Kids How the Pros Play

2010-05-22T20:49:00.002-05:00

The look of wonder in the eyes of 40 youngsters at Maples Community Centre on Saturday told most of the story. The looks in the eyes of about a dozen parents and community club coaches told the rest.

When Winnipeg Goldeyes’ stars Wes Long, Kevin West and Vince Harrison showed up at Maples on Saturday morning to put the kids – and their coaches – through their paces, it was baseball time in Northwest Winnipeg.

And did the kids ever respond. Starting at 10:30 on Saturday morning, three of the Goldeyes’ most high-profile players put on a clinic that introduced the youngsters to everything from base running to swinging the bat to turning a double play.

“You look at these Goldeyes players and you realize all that talent didn’t just happen,” said Dan Ricard, the president of Maples Community Centre. “Someone had to nurture that talent. Somebody had to inspire them to want to play the game and become the best they could be. That doesn’t happen without people coming into their lives and encouraging them to work hard and develop their skills.

“That’s what today was all about: Introducing the kids to the professional way to play and inspiring them to pursue their dreams, whatever those dreams might be.”

For Tom Barak, the organizer of the event, it was first in a series of programs designed to expose the kids in the Maples to pro sport and pro athletes.

“We’re now planning a trip with our basketball teams to take part in a camp with the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves,” Barak explained. “And we’ve had discussions with a number of local NHL players to put on a special hockey camp here at the rink.

“It was great having Kevin, Wes and Vince out today and it was just first clinic of this kind designed to expose our kids to professional athletes and professional sport. I just hope the Goldeyes had as much as fun as the kids did.”

“It was great,” said Long. “But I’m worn out. We just did a three-hour clinic. That’s like playing an entire game.”

May 22: Holliman Nearly Perfect, Bullpen Terrific as Goldeyes Win Their First of the Year

2010-05-22T12:08:00.000-05:00

Mark Holliman smiled and said, rather matter-of-factly, “I felt pretty good out there.”
“Pretty good?” Pretty good would be a masterpiece of understatement.

After the Winnipeg Goldeyes lost their 2010 season opener 7-5 on Thursday night, Holliman took the ball from manager Rick Forney on Friday and went out and threw six and a third innings of two-hit baseball and earned the victory as the Fish shut out the visiting Lake County Fielders 3-0.

It was exactly the type of performance Forney expected from the 26-year-old Tennessean. Holliman, who has 65 starts at the Double A level and five at Triple A, beat up the strike zone on Friday night, struck out four and allowed only one runner to reach third base as Winnipeg evened its 2010 record at 1-1.

“It wasn’t too bad,” Holliman said modestly. “I felt pretty good out there. I did have good command of all my pitches. I threw the ball where I wanted to and I went in and out. Rick had me on a pitch count, I think it was about 85.

“I used every pitch I had tonight,” said Holliman whose four-pitch repertoire includes a fastball, curve ball, slider and change. “When you have four pitches, it will keep the hitters off balance and that’s all I tried to do tonight.”

Holliman threw 78 pitches, 47 for strikes, and after leaving the ball game got some assistance from his bullpen.

Zach Baldwin, on the same day he shot a five-under 67 at the challenging Quarry Oaks Golf Club, pitched an inning and two thirds of hitless baseball while the team’s new closer, Philip Roy, allowed only one hit as he shut it down in the ninth to record his first save.

Offensively, the Goldeyes pounded out 11 hits and got runners to third base on five separate occasions, but just couldn’t get enough clutch hits to blow the game wide open. As it was, the Fish got their first run in the bottom of the first on an opposite field home run by DH Juan Diaz, got another run in the fourth on a home run to left off the bat of shortstop Wes Long and then added an insurance run in the eighth when Jeremy Hamilton’s two-out single brought home Dee Brown from second.

“I got some very, very good defence behind me tonight, too,” Holliman said. “And the guys came out swinging the bats. We had, what, 11hits?

“Still, it was a close game and that’s when it’s really fun. Spring training is over and the games mean something now. It’s great when the games are close like that. It really gets your on your game. It’s great to to be competitive like that. It was fun out there.”

The Goldeyes and Fielders play Game 3 of this four game series tonight at Canwest Park. Corey Bass will start for the visitors while Chris Salamida goes for the Fish. Game time is 6 p.m.

May 21: Dunbar Hits Two Bombs, Goldeyes Give Up Five in the Ninth, Lose Home Opener to Lake County

2010-05-21T09:46:00.000-05:00

Lesson 1: Don’t throw fat pitches to a 6-foot-4, 220-pound power hitter.

Lake County Fielders right fielder Jeff Dunbar hit a pair of long home runs to lead manager Fran Riordan’s expansion Fielders to a 7-5 win over the Winnipeg Goldeyes in the Northern League season opener for both teams.

As 6,311 looked on at Canwest Park, the Goldeyes took a 3-2 lead into the ninth inning, but Winnipeg reliever Andrew Barb gave up five runs on four hits and while Winnipeg came back with a pair of runs in the bottom of the ninth, it wasn’t enough.

The big blow in the ninth was Dunbar’s second homer of the game, a three-run bomb with Lake County leading 4-3. Dunbar also hit a two-run homer in the second as the big right fielder drove in five runs.

“The first pitch was a fastball right down the middle,” Dunbar told Shaw TV’s Jim Toth. “The second was a curveball that hung right up there. I got two pitches I could hit and handled them both.”

It was a shaky start for the Goldeyes who came back from an early 2-0 deficit to take a 3-2 lead in the seventh on an RBI single by Luis Alen. But after Philip Roy got the Fish out of a tight squeeze in the eighth, Barb couldn’t get the job done in the ninth.

“We didn’t play very well,” said Goldeyes manager Rick Forney on the post-game show. “We didn’t play well defensively and we didn’t get the hits we needed. We can be better than that.”
Forney hopes his team will be better tonight when Mark Holliman goes to the mound to face Lake County’s Garry Bakker in the second game of this season-opening four-game series.

May 19: West, Asanovich Ready to Play for Real

2010-05-19T08:58:00.001-05:00

Spring training baseball games are fun. But in the big picture – heck, even in the small picture – they don’t mean anything at all.

So after going 2-2-2 in six pre-season, no one is more fired up to start playing games that matter than your 2010 Winnipeg Goldeyes.

“I know we have to play these games,” said veteran right fielder Kevin West. “But if you’re asking me, I’d rather practice, take a lot of batting practice and do extra work in the cage than play games that don’t matter. It’s May. It’s time to start playing games that matter.”

Thursday night, West and the rest of his teammates will get their wish. The expansion Lake County Fielders come to town to open the season at Canwest Park and this first four-game series will be quite a test for the Fish.

After all, for the veterans on this veteran Goldeyes team, the Fielders come to town with some pretty familiar names. Pitcher Garry Bakker helped Fargo win the Northern League championship last season while reliever Chris Homer pitched out of the Goldeyes bullpen last year. Catcher Anthony Esquer was one of two catchers in Gary last season. The other was Brett Wallace. And Joliet veteran Joey Gomes will DH and play the outfield for the Fielders as Lake County tries to make an impression in its inaugural series on the road.

“I’m just glad we’ll be playing real games,” said Goldeyes second baseman Josh Asanovich. “I know the importance of these spring games we play. We have to work on a lot of things and these games help us get ready. There are always a lot of little issues you have to work through.

“For instance, last season Wes (shortstop Long) and I were really coming together as a unit when he was injured. He missed almost the entire last half of the season and there is no doubt, when spring training started, he and I had to start over, in terms of timing on the double play and always knowing where each other is going to be. We used the spring games to get that timing back and now I think we’re ready to go.

“I’m excited that we’re getting the regular season underway and I’m really excited about our team.”

Game time Thursday is 7 p.m. Fireworks will follow the game. As for Asanovich and West, they just hope there will be plenty of fireworks during the game.

May 17: Outcome Meaningless: Forney Still Happy With What He Sees

2010-05-17T09:07:00.002-05:00

FARGO, N.D. – Winnipeg Goldeyes manager Rick Forney was prepared to ignore the first inning of Sunday night’s pre-season game at Fargo’s Newman Outdoor Field.

His starter, Mark Holliman, had just been lit up for six runs on five hits as the Goldeyes were eventually crushed 10-0 by the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks and yet, Forney was more interested in the big picture. Spring training games are designed for evaluation and Forney still has a bit of evaluating to do before his final cuts are made.

“Overall, I’ve been really happy with the pitching,” the manager said, matter-of-factly. “I like our catchers and I know we have some very good hitters, we just haven’t hit the ball very well in the pre-season. But I’m not worried about it. I think, once we get going, we’ll be very good offensively.

“I think Mark was unlucky in the first inning. We threw away a double play we should have converted behind him and a couple of those hits weren’t hit all that well, they just found holes. It’s pre-season so the score doesn’t matter. The important thing was, I saw some good things from the pitchers tonight.”

The Goldeyes are now 2-2-1 in five pre-season games this spring and they’ll wrap up the exhibition schedule on Monday night in Fargo. In the meantime, Forney still has to make three personnel decisions before Thursday’s 2010 opener against the Lake County Fielders at Canwest Park.

“I’ll make three cuts,” Forney said. “I’ll probably move one pitcher, one catcher and one outfielder. We’ll be down to 21 or 22 by Tuesday morning. We’ll see what happens on Monday night.”

May 17: Alen Excited About New Season in Winnipeg

2010-05-17T08:57:00.000-05:00

It didn’t hurt that Luis Alen was the hero on Saturday night. Regardless, even if he wasn’t able to deliver the winning hit in the bottom of the ninth on Saturday, he’d still be excited about the coming Northern League season.

“I just can’t wait for the season to begin,” said the 25 year-old Winnipeg Goldeyes catcher. “I’m in great shape, I’m seeing the ball well, I feel good behind the plate. I’m so excited for Opening Night. There will be a big crowd and I already know this is a great town to play in.

“I just appreciate everything everybody has done to bring me back to Winnipeg.”

It might only be pre-season, but a nice crowd (announced at 3,413) on another beautiful spring night at Canwest Park was brought to its feet in the bottom of the ninth when Alen hit a blast to straight away centrefield that went over the head of Nic Jackson and all the way to the wall. That scored Price Kendall and Corey Patton with the tying and winning runs as the Goldeyes edged the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks 3-2 in a thriller.

“He (Fargo pitcher Adam Tollefson) threw me a slider,” said Alen. “He threw me a slider on the first pitch and I missed it. I saw that he threw a slider to Patton and I thought that was his pitch. So I went up there looking for a slider.

While Alen’s triple was the big hit of the night, Winnipeg’s pitchers had another solid evening on the bump. In fact, five different pitchers allowed only two runs on six hits as left-handed reliever Zach Baldwin, who pitched a scoreless ninth, earned the victory. Canadian right-hander Matt Kniginyzky started the game and allowed only one run on one hit over four full innings.

With the win, the Goldeyes improved to 2-1-1 in this year’s pre-season as they head to Fargo for a pair of games on Sunday and Monday.

“I know it’s only pre-season, but the way I play, I’m always trying to win even the game doesn’t mean anything in the standings,” Alen said. “It’s always good to win, no matter what the situation is.

“I really like our team.”

May 15: West Ready: His Bomb, Great Pitching, Four in the Fifth, Give Goldeyes Win Over Fargo

2010-05-15T13:19:00.001-05:00

For Kevin West, pre-season baseball is simply another thing that has to be done in order to prepare for a long baseball season.

West doesn’t necessarily like it. He’d definitely prefer to be playing meaningful games, but he understands the role exhibition baseball plays in his manager’s preparation for a 100-game campaign and as a result, West and all of the Goldeyes’ veterans, will use these “unimportant” games to make sure they’re ready for the home and season opener on May 20.

“I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about whether it’s an exhibition game or a regular season game,” West said late Friday night. “I just come to the field ready to play, do my preparation and then go out and try to put some good at bats together. There is no doubt that when the regular season starts, the concentration level will go up, but right now, you just try to use these games in order to be at your best when the regular season rolls around.”

West appeared ready on Friday night. The tall, lean right fielder hit a three-run homer to cap off a four-run fifth inning as the Goldeyes beat the visiting Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks 4-2.
“On the home run pitch, he (Nick Fellman) threw me a change-up, a little inside on a two-strike count,” West said. “I just reacted to it. Sometimes it can be so simple and other times it can be so difficult. That’s the kind of game this is.”

The Goldeyes got solid performances from six pitchers while Juan Diaz added an RBI single as the Fish won in front of a small but enthusiastic crowd of 3,134. It didn’t hurt that it was a wonderful evening for a ball game.

For West, who got a couple of hits in three official at bats, drew a walk, scored one and drove in three, it was a good night to start getting the kinks out. While the first five hitters in the Goldeyes lineup – Wes Long, Aharon Eggleston, Diaz, West and Vince Harrison – combined for seven of the Goldeyes nine hits, it was also a good night for the top of the order to start doing the things they’ll need to do if they want to win the championship they all say they covet so dearly.

“I find that every year it gets easier for me to prepare for a new season,” West said. “And it helps that I’m playing here in Winnipeg for Rick (manager Forney). I know I’m going to be here, this is where I play, it’s comfortable and it’s really easy for me to get ready for the season.”

May 14: Kniginyzky Ready To Post Great Numbers

2010-05-14T21:54:00.000-05:00

Matt Kniginyzky wasn’t even a pitcher until he was drafted out of high school by the Toronto Blue Jays.

In fact, he was a third baseman from Mississauga who played his minor baseball in downtown Toronto (High Park) and pitched only on occasion. However, on one of those occasions, the Jays scouts saw him and drafted him in the 43rd round of the Major League amateur draft.

“Never did sign with the Blue Jays,” said Kniginyzky with a smile. “I went to junior college and then to High Point University (a Division 1 liberal arts school in North Carolina) and was ultimately drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the 22nd round.”

Kniginyzky signed with the Royals and thus began his long, arduous journey through organized baseball. From 2005-2009, he went from Idaho to Burlington, Vt., to Arizona Rookie League, to Idaho Falls, back to Burlington, to Wilmington, Del., and finally to Northwest Arkansas. After spending the spring training season with the Royals, Kniginyzky was released and got a call from Goldeyes manager Rick Forney.

“It was a great opportunity and I’ve wanted to play in Canada for awhile,” said the 27-year-old Kniginyzky. “Like everyone else here, I want to get back to organized ball and eventually play in the majors, but having the opportunity to play independent ball in Canada is a pretty good option.”

In order to get back into organized ball, Kniginyzky knows he has to do two things: put up good numbers and play for a winning team. Historically, players who play for Northern League champions tend to get a good look from big league organizations.

In order to accomplish his goals, Kniginyzky will bring a four-pitch arsenal – four-seam fastball, curveball, slider and change.

“I love playing the game and I know that to get back into organized ball, I have to have a good season,” said Kniginyzky. “Right now, I’m not even thinking about getting back. I’m just concentrating on putting up good numbers and helping this team to win. If I do that, the other stuff will take care of itself.”

May 5: Hamilton Playing Alongside His Boyhood Hero

2010-05-05T13:38:00.001-05:00

Veteran third baseman Vince Harrison just smiled when it was suggested he would have a little more pressure on him this season.

“Yeah,” said Harrison. “I’ll have to be good this year.”

The source of the added pressure was sitting across the clubhouse yesterday wearing a No. 11 Goldeyes batting practice jersey. Ever since he was a kid, Jeremy Hamilton looked up to Vince Harrison. Now they’re teammates.

“I have literally known Vince for my entire life,” said Hamilton proudly. “I used to spend entire summers at his house. I was best friends with Vince’s little brother Josh. I’d be at Vince’s house all the time.

“Vince was my idol. He was a three-sport star in Cincinnati and everyone knew him. He was a great athlete and I wanted to be just like him.

“He even taught me in school. He was a substitute teacher at my high school and I was often in his class. It was hard, too, because we all called him ‘V-Hay’ and I’d put my hand up in class and start by saying ‘Hey, V-H... I mean Mr. Harrison.’ It was hard.”

It shouldn’t be hard this year. At least, not as long as the 23-year-old Hamilton has a good pre-season and earns a spot on the team.

While Harrison, 30, will start at third and probably bat clean-up, Hamilton, a young man with plenty of pop in his bat, will have to impress manager Rick Forney and coaches Tom Vaeth and Rudy Arias with both his skills and his work ethic.

Winnipeg has a great veteran team this year and Hamilton’s spot is not guaranteed. Training camp and the pre-season schedule will either be his best friend or his worst enemy.

In the meantime, he’s approaching the 2010 Northern League season with the right attitude.

“I just want to come in here and play good baseball,” Hamilton said. “I know I’m on a team with a lot of experience and I expect to learn a lot. I guess my goal is play good baseball and really learn how to play the game right.”

It’s a nice goal, but if Jeremy Hamilton has been around Vince Harrison all of his life, he probably already knows how to play the game right.

May 4: For Forney, Camp Will Be Fun, Eye-Opening & Ultimately Difficult

2010-05-04T12:02:00.003-05:00

Goldeyes manager Rick Forney isn’t asking for much: Just good weather and a roster full of players in game shape.

If he gets it, Forney says training camp will be a real treat. After all, he needs at least three rookies on his Opening Day roster and that means "some very good players will have to be released."

It’s going to be competitive, to say the least.

"Right now, on Day 1, I’m just keeping my fingers crossed, hoping that we get to about 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius), so we can have a good day on the field," he said.

"I’m just excited to see our guys on the field doing some baseball exercises. We don’t have much time, just two days before our first exhibition game. It’s important that everybody comes to camp in game shape ready to go. If I keep 21 players, I must have three rookies on my roster. If I keep 22 or 23 players I need four. So before camp is over, some good players are going home.

"I’m looking to see who’s prepared to play right away. Baseball is a game of preparation. I want to see the guys who did all that extra work in the off-season and are prepared to play hard right now. In baseball, you just can’t snap your fingers and turn it on. You have to be prepared. I know I have good players here. I’m looking for the good players who are prepared to play hard right now."

Forney said that’s one of the major reasons he likes to get into the pre-season early and play a lot games.

"Because baseball is such a game of preparation, I want these guys to get into their routines right now and be prepared for a long season," Forney said. "With 100 games this year, we’ve done away with four off days. That’s another big reason why I’m looking for guys who are in shape."

Camp opened with 23 players at Canwest Park, but more will be added soon. One pitcher is expected meet the team in St. Paul on Thursday with another expected to meet the team in Sioux Falls on Saturday. As well, reigning NL Pitcher of the Year Ace Walker and rookie returnee Ian Thomas should arrive next week, with yet another pitcher expected the week after next.

That will bring the camp total to 28 players and it will be competitive at almost every position.

"I really have some tough decisions to make," Forney said. "I’m serous when I say there will be some good players who aren’t going to be here."

* * *

For those keeping track, the Goldeyes opened training camp with four rookies: lefty Thomas, two other pitchers named Austin Donmoyer and Casey Hodges and infielder Kendall Price.

"But there is no guarantee that all the rookies will make it either," Forney said. "I could go with 21 players (and he’ll only need three). And we know there will be some releases made all over independent baseball next week. You never know who might come available.

"I’m serious. This will be a competitive camp."

May 4: Training Camp Opens Today

2010-05-04T09:14:00.000-05:00

It is one of the finest rosters ever assembled by a Goldeyes manager.

From top to bottom, these Goldeyes give the impression they can hit, field their positions and, hopefully, pitch with the likes of pre-season favorites such as the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks and Gary SouthShore RailCats.

Spring training opens today and the excitement surrounding this year’s team is palpable.

“This just might be one of the best teams I’ve ever played on,” new centre fielder Aharon Eggleston said last week. “There are some very good players on this team. If we all just do what we’re capable of doing, we’ll be competitive right to the end.”

When training camp opens, there will be three important things to watch before the regular season begins on May 20:

1. The pitching. After Ace Walker, Zach Baldwin and Ian Thomas, we don’t really know this year’s pitching staff. However, as Forney points out “There are four of them with Double A experience so they should be pretty good.” It will be fun to watch.

2. The battle for the catching position. Luis Alen, 25, is back after spending two years in the Mets organization. He hit .333 with the Goldeyes in 2007. Brett Wallace, 27, was acquired from Gary in the off season. “I’ve always liked Brett,” said first base coach Rudy Arias. “He really plays hard. He leaves it all out on the field.” And the third catcher is the exciting young Travis Howell, a 6-foot-2, 225-pound, 25-year-old with a gun for an arm. This will be the best individual competition at camp.

3. The decision on the first baseman: Kevin West will probably play right field, but he could play first. Cory Patton was a solid centre fielder who could play right and could also play first. And then there is young Jeremy Hamilton, 23, who comes highly recommended by veteran third baseman Vince Harrison, has shown real pop at the Single A level and is a natural first baseman. All three of these guys will play, but where they’ll play is a question that still needs an answer.

“It should be a pretty good camp,” said Arias with a sly grin. “I’m excited about it.

“The line-up is great and all of these guys can field their positions. The pitching could be very good, too. This could be a really competitive team. I think I like it.”

Training camp goes Tuesday and Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and then the Fish start the pre-season with games Thursday and Friday in St. Paul and Sunday and Monday in Sioux Falls. Sandwiched in-between is the team’s annual open house, which goes Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Canwest Park.

April 29: Alen Back And He’s Ready To Go

2010-04-29T16:10:00.001-05:00

Luis Alen’s return to Winnipeg is one of those good news/bad news situations. It’s certainly good news for the Goldeyes and their fans. The bad news, well, that’s for opposing pitchers.

In 2007, there wasn’t a better catcher in the NL. Luis Alen did it all for the Goldeyes. He handled the pitching staff with authority and hit like a monster. In 82 games (285 at-bats), he batted a team-leading .333 with 23 doubles and 44 runs batted in and had the best season of his career.

Because he played so well, he was given a contract by the New York Mets. Following two years in their system, he’s happy to be back in Winnipeg.

“They were two tough years for me, I have nothing much more to say,” admitted Alen, who played in four cities at three different levels in two seasons of organized ball. “But I learned a lot. I worked closely with the Mets catching co-ordinator and I really learned how to call a game, how to handle a pitching staff and how to work with both pitchers and catchers.

“This winter, I played winter ball in Venezuela and I did pretty well. I hit .370 and I really got a lot of confidence at the plate.”

And that’s why, a bigger, stronger Alen is happy to be back in Winnipeg. He always felt comfortable here. He liked manager Rick Forney and when he arrived on Thursday, said it felt like he was home.

“I’m so happy to be back here, I’m ready to come back and hit,” he said with a smile. “I feel really good and feel so good being back here. It’s an honour to be back with this franchise.

“And wow, what a team! I have played against Juan Diaz and against Kevin West. I know how good they are. I’ve looked at the stats of the guys coming back and this team is really impressive. I’m so happy to be back with a good team and in a place where people really appreciate what you do.”

The Goldeyes will open spring training with three catchers: Alen, Travis Howell and Brett Wallace. It should be a tremendous pre-season battle for the No. 1 job.

April 20: West On A Mission: Win a Championship

2010-04-20T14:53:00.001-05:00

If Kevin West is anything, he’s a guy that tells the truth. No, he’s not happy that things didn’t work out in spring training with the Cincinnati Reds. Yes, he is happy that his second choice is a spot roaming right field for the Goldeyes.

“I wanted things to go better with the Reds but they didn’t and I just feel fortunate that I have an opportunity to return to a team I really care about,” West said Tuesday. “I had a shot and it didn’t work out, but I’m always a happy guy. I always try to think positively no matter what the situation. Wherever I go, I do the best I can and try to be the best I can be and that’s what I intend to do in Winnipeg again this year.

West is one of the final pieces to manager Rick Forney’s puzzle. Last season, his second with the Goldeyes, he hit .285 with 19 home runs and 66 runs batted in. He also had 22 doubles and scored 58 runs and, over two seasons, has hit 37 home runs – the most over two seasons for Winnipeg since Sean Hearn hit 39 in 1998-99.

Forney, though, feels West’s greatest contribution could come not on the field but in the clubhouse, where his presence has been profound.

“He’s one of the best veterans we’ve had in a long, long time,” said Forney. “With Kevin back in the mix, we feel we have a very good group of people this year – good guys with great personalities. They work hard, they like each other and they want to win. I can’t ask for anything more than that.”

That part impresses West.

“For the past two weeks, I’ve been getting phone calls and texts from the guys all asking if I’m going to sign with Winnipeg,” West said. It’s important that a team have camaraderie because we spend an insane amount of time around each other. I care about the people in this organization and I think we’ll be even better than we were last year.

“Hopefully we can win a championship. That’s what I really care about this year. For everybody, for all the guys. We have a great opportunity.”

April 20: Forney Excited About Influx Of New Pitchers

2010-04-20T07:49:00.001-05:00

After a winter in which Goldeyes manager Rick Forney acquired all-star centre fielder Aharon Eggleston, signed catcher Luis Alen following two years in the Mets organization and brought back the likes of Dee Brown, Vince Harrison, Wes Long, Juan Diaz, Josh Asanovich and Cory Patton, plenty of people have wondered about the pitching.

This is understandable, for just Ace Walker and southpaws Zach Baldwin and Ian Thomas are back from the 2009 squad that led the Northern League in earned run average.

But the lack of returnees is something Forney isn’t the least bit concerned about. In fact, he figures his Goldeyes might just have one of the best pitching staffs that have come to Winnipeg in years.

“We have five guys with Double A experience,” Forney said. “We have Ace, Mark Holliman, Joey Norrito, Matt (Kniginyzky) and (Chris) Salamida. This team has plenty of pitching. We have three guys back – Ace, Zach and Thomas and four other guys from Double A. Man, that looks pretty good to me.”

There is also talk that a reliever with Major League experience could sign during training camp, so indeed, these Goldeyes would appear to have plenty of pitching.

In fact, when you add in Stephen Flake, one of the top pitchers in the Frontier League the past two seasons, and you already have the reigning NL Pitcher of the Year in Walker, pitching might be the deepest part of an already deep team.

“I’m not at all worried about pitching,” Forney said. “Our pitching will be very good.”

April 14: Samson’s Back In The Clubhouse. It’s Starting To Feel Like Baseball At Canwest Park

2010-04-14T08:23:00.001-05:00

When the clubhouse manager returns to get everything in order for the upcoming season, one gets the sense that spring has sprung and baseball is returning to the downtown ballpark.

Jamie Samson, who will begin his fourth season as clubhouse manager – and tenth with the Goldeyes (“...counting all my bat boy years”) – is back at the park, getting the lockers ready and helping groundskeeper Don Ferguson with some facility maintenance.

With Samson back, it won’t be long before the season is upon us.

“I spent the winter at the University of Winnipeg,” he said while painting a runway that leads out to the field. “I was in first-year business and took three courses. I didn’t hate it, but I just might switch to kinesiology. We’ll see what happens after this season.”

Samson also worked at Hu’s on First, which simply suggests it’s tough to leave Canwest Park, even in the off-season.

Of course, like most people involved with the Goldeyes these days, he is excited about the prospect of at least 10 returnees this year.

“Last year, Rick built our team a little differently than he had in other years,” Samson said. “He went after more experienced players and we had a lot of older guys who really appreciated the opportunity they were given to play here.

“There were a lot of guys who had been in organizations who didn’t take for granted everything they got here. These guys all understood how good they had it and I didn’t deal with a lot of complaints. This is a great organization that treats the players really well and with a clubhouse full of veteran guys, it was a lot of fun. I’m looking forward to seeing what this season brings.”

March 22: Juan’s Prep: Taking His Kids To The Batting Cages

2010-03-22T13:44:00.002-05:00

It was one of those magnificent seasons that only comes along once in a while.

Big Juan Diaz, the Goldeyes gifted designated hitter, finished the 2009 season hitting .317 with a league leading – and franchise record – 29 homers, a franchise-record 90 runs batted in and a league-leading .598 slugging percentage. In the playoffs, he was even more magnificent, hitting .500 in 12 official at-bats. He was also walked 10 times and had a .727 on-base percentage. His playoff slugging percentage was 1.000 while his OPS was an almost insane 1.727.

So what does he do for an encore?

Well, for one thing, he prepares like a professional and is ready to roll when he arrives for spring training in early May.

“I had a good winter in Colombia,” Diaz said, via telphone from his home in Miami. “I had 11 home runs and 45 RBI and hit .280 in 200 at-bats. It was fun in Colombia. It’s good to be home to spend time with my family, but I had fun in winter ball.

“Now that I’m back home, I spend a lot of my time taking my kids to the batting cages. I pick them up after school at 3 o’clock, and we go and swing for a few hours each night. My eight-year-old can really swing the bat.”

Diaz has three kids: Johanzell is 8, Juan Carlos is 6 and Ronnald is 4. All three are quickly picking up dad’s profession: Hitting a baseball.

“It’s fun for me to be around my boys every day,” Diaz said. “But it will also be fun to get back to Winnipeg, too. Last year we had a good team and it was special for me to be around so many teammates who were such good players. This year, we have added Aharon (centre fielder Eggleston) and we should be even better. It’s going to be fun this year.”

February 16: Wallace Ready To Challenge For No. 1 Catching Job

2010-02-16T08:28:00.002-06:00

Brett Wallace knew he’d be in tough when Goldeyes manager Rick Forney signed Luis Alen.

But the 27-year-old catcher from West Grove, Pennsylvania is looking forward to the challenge.

Wallace, who hit .285 in 58 games with the Gary SouthShore RailCats last season, has developed into a pretty solid Northern League catcher. He hit .210 in 28 games with Gary in 2007, .274 in 65 games in 2008 and then had a very good year last year. Until Forney signed Alen, Wallace was a lock to be the Goldeyes No. 1 backstop, but now there will be a battle for that job in training camp.

“I remember Luis Alen in Winnipeg three years ago and I know he hit .330,” said Wallace. “But I feel that if I play up to par, I can win the No. 1 job.

“I talked to Rick when I signed and told him I wanted to play 80 games out of 100 this year. Rick said that with the travel and the schedule we have, it was unlikely any of us would catch more than 60 or 65 games, but I’m going up there expecting to battle it hard and play a lot of baseball.

“I’ve been working hard in the off-season and I’m excited about playing in Winnipeg.”

Wallace has spent the off-season instructing at Maplezone Sports and Fitness Center in Boothwyn, outside Philadelphia.

“It’s been great working at Maplezone,” said Wallace. “I’ve even had an opportunity to catch for Cole Hamels of the Phillies. We get there at noon everyday, do our work, get some hitting in and work out and then work with the kids when they’re finished school. It’s been a really good off-season and I’ll be ready to go for spring training.”

Like most of his Goldeyes teammates, Wallace looks at the line-up this season and figures it’s going to be very difficult to get this team out.

“This is a great line-up, there isn’t a hole in it,” Wallace said. “You look at the people coming back and the people who have been added to the team and one-through-nine, that’s a solid order. Every guy is a tough out. I think we have reason to be excited about this team.”

February 12: Taylor’s 2010 Ticket Tour

2010-02-12T15:44:00.000-06:00

It’s an idea that isn’t particularly new. In fact, it’s exactly what my great-uncle did when he sold encyclopedias door-to-door.

It’s referred to as “burning shoe-leather” and really is a defining principle of “old school.”

Granted, in this age of texting, Facebook, Twitter, iPad, e-mail and yes, even the occasional telephone call, the thought of actually knocking on doors to sell a product seems rather archaic. But when you stop and really think about it, it’s the only real way to meet people you’ve never met. And for me, here in the dead of winter, there is an urgent need to meet more people.

So starting, officially, on Tuesday, February 16, on behalf of the Winnipeg Goldeyes Baseball Club, we will commence with “Taylor’s 2010 Ticket Tour.”

The goal is to meet the people who work every day to make Manitoba’s businesses successful. We’ll start on the 16th and keep at it until the end of March. The goal is to talk to 300 businesses in and around Winnipeg and invite them, personally, to purchase Goldeyes tickets for the 2010 season. In fact, we’ve already set the 17th as the date we visit Carman, home of the old senior and junior Carman Goldeyes.

Now, I’ve been around our Goldeyes in some manner (or in some incarnation) since a time when the club was a mere twinkle in Sam Katz’s eye and I can tell you, I’ve never been more excited about a team’s chances to win than I am this year.

With shortstop Wes Long, third baseman Vince Harrison, designated hitter Juan Diaz, left fielder Dee Brown, right fielder Cory Patton and second baseman Josh Asanovich back in the fold and with the addition of centre fielder Aharon Eggleston and catchers Luis Alen and Brett Wallace, this is a team that will score plenty of runs. If manager Rick Forney adds the power-hitting first baseman he’s after, the Goldeyes could be an offensive powerhouse like no other.

This is a team that, barring injury, should take a legitimate run at a Northern League championship.

Meanwhile, the Northern League itself is better and more competitive than it’s been in a couple of years thanks to the addition of two new teams, including Kevin Costner’s Lake County Fielders. The 2010 NL season promises to be one of the best ever.

And that’s why I want everyone in Winnipeg to join me at the ballpark this summer. I’m so excited about this season, I’m going to go door-to-door to personally invite as many people as possible to buy Goldeyes tickets.

And then, every day during this year’s Ticket Tour, we’re going to blog about our travels right here at goldeyes.com. We want to get to know as many business people in Winnipeg as we can and we’re even going to have a prize or two at the end of the Tour. And in the process, we’re going to tell everyone about our travels.

So whether it’s a nine-game mini-pack in the Grand Slam Section ($45) or a 21-seat SkySuite for the entire 50-game home schedule ($25,000), we want you to be part of the Goldeyes family.

In fact, we started a preliminary mini-tour on Thursday evening and visited with Brent Sayles, the general sales manager at Winnipeg Hyundai, Darrell Boughton, the regional manager of First Canadian Insurance Corp., and Al Franklin, one of the three partners in Superstars Sports at 1885 Portage. I told Al that when I deliver his tickets, I’ll bring Goldie along for the celebration.

The same goes for everyone else we visit in the days ahead. All you have to do is give me a call at 982-2273 and I’ll do all the work. And on the day we deliver your tickets, we’ll bring Goldie with us just for laughs (he doesn’t know it yet, but I’m sure we can convince him).

So it’s here: Taylor’s 2010 Ticket Tour is now underway. I hope we see you before the end of March.

January 28: Wes Long Is "At 95 Per Cent, Ready To Go Today"

2010-01-28T09:21:00.006-06:00

The 2009 Northern League season started out so promisingly for Goldeyes shortstop Wes Long.

The 27-year-old was hitting .343 over the first 41 games with three homers, 15 doubles and 15 stolen bases in his first 166 at-bats, and had just been named to represent Winnipeg at the Northern League All-Star Game.

But on June 30, Schaumburg catcher Richard Mercado went well inside the baseline to break up a double play and took out Long in the process. It was a crushing collision that left Long with a broken ankle and on the shelf for the rest of the season.

And while the Goldeyes played well down the stretch, it was obvious come playoff time that they missed Long's glove and bat.

Back in Seattle, where he’s spent the off-season working two jobs, working out daily and running a small business on the side, Long is just itching to get back to Winnipeg.

He gets up every morning and goes to work at a neighbourhood Starbucks, then spends the afternoon and early evening selling home furnishings at a Restortation Hardware. In the evenings, he works out, does his physio and operates the Wes Long Baseball Academy.

Not surprisingly, Long is anxious to put the off-season behind him in favour of the regular season.

"It’s only January and I’ve already had a long off-season since the end of June and I just want to bet back up there and start playing,” he said. “I’m ready to roll. I just can’t wait. My ankle is about 95 per cent. I’m going through regular physical therapy just to get the strength back, but I’m ready. I’m excited to play again. It’s been a long time for me.”

January 25: Winnipeg Fastball/Baseball Landmark About To Be Torn Down

2010-01-25T14:58:00.005-06:00

To be fair, it hasn’t really been a “stadium” in about a decade. It sat on the east side of McPhillips Street and been maintained by members of the Winnipeg Men’s Fastball League for the past dozen years. Still, there was a time when Charlie Krupp Stadium was a haven for adult softball players and kids learning baseball.

It was home to everything from international softball competitions and children’s baseball tournaments to the great Eddie Feigner (The King and His Court) and, of course, for many years, the highly-regarded Winnipeg Colonels fastball team.

Charlie Krupp was just nine when he and his family arrived in Canada from Russia in 1915. He had a solid career as a softball player in Winnipeg, but for the most part, he was an organizer. He put together baseball and softball leagues for adults and kids and his lifetime of hard work eventually got him inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame.

This week, however, word came that the stadium named in his honour will soon cease to be.

Wayne Perfumo from Manitoba Lotteries, the guy who led the construction of the Upper Deck Sports Bar, had worked diligently to have the bar (read: the MLC) take over operation of the stadium for the benefit of the Winnipeg Men's Fastball League.

The WMFL would handle the maintenance, the Upper Deck Sports Bar would use some of its profits to rebuild the stands and the backstop and together the two groups would form a mutually beneficial partnership.

But league president Nathan Wiens, a tremendous Goldeyes fan who can always be found at the ballpark, recently learned that Perfumo had met with the City of Winnipeg and the city has decided to accept a proposal from the Winnipeg Nomads Football Club to take over the entire area. It will be a football complex now and, while that's not a bad thing under any circumstances, it does mean another piece of Winnipeg's sports history will soon be gone.

"I don't think the city wanted it there anymore and they haven't wanted it there for a long time," Wiens said. "It's very disappointing for us and for fastball and for history, I guess, but it's pretty obvious the city didn't want the ball field anymore."

Times change, people change, the city changes and we lose a bit of history every day. The fact that a bunch of kids will play football on that field certainly takes the sting out of losing it, but for those of us who were around to enjoy it, there was a time when Charlie Krupp Stadium was a vibrant and wonderful place.

It will be sad to see it go.

January 21: If Forney Is Comfortable, Thomas Would Be Thrilled To Start

2010-01-21T10:45:00.000-06:00

Goldeyes manager Rick Forney and Ian Thomas’s dad agree about almost everything. Except maybe the timing of the baseball season.

“Yeah, my dad’s a real baseball guy,” said Thomas, via telephone from Richmond, Virginia where he attends Virginia Commonwealth University. “He’s been telling me, ‘You have to report to camp on time and make a good impression,’ and I’ve been telling him, ‘but I have exams that week.’

“Rick’s been completely understanding for me. He told me, ‘Get your degree. You education comes first.’ But I’ve had trouble convincing my dad. He’s old school. He wants me to report to work on time, but even Rick says, ‘Get that education.’ So my exams are from May 6-13. I’m trying to get the profs to let me write them early and some have already said OK. But I’ll probably be a couple of days late reporting.”

Forney has no problem with that. In fact, he encourages his young players to finish their degrees. Last year, left fielder Dee Brown took one of his final courses at the University of Central Florida by computer and could often be found doing his schoolwork in the Goldeyes clubhouse.

Interestingly, Brown just graduated with a degree in Criminal Justice, while Thomas expects to graduate early next year with the same degree.

In the meantime, Thomas is using every opportunity afforded him at VCU to get ready for the coming season. A 6-foot-4, 200-pound specimen, Thomas is only 22 (he’ll be 23 on April 20) and should attract some attention from big league organizations if he has a good year in 2010. The lanky left-hander arrived midway through last season (he first pitched on July 26) and appeared in only 11 games, but his 2.81 ERA and 1:1 strikeouts-to-innings-pitched ratio gave Forney plenty of reason to think Thomas could be a big-time contributor this season.

But first, he needs to keep working out and get in a few pre-season innings.

“We’re really lucky at VCU to have just an incredible gym facility,” Thomas said. “It’s the Cary Street Gym and it’s just an outstanding place to work out.

“There is also a club baseball team here and I asked Rick if I should pitch for them and he thought it was a good idea, just to get some innings in. It’s not an NCAA team, just an amateur club team, but it will give me a chance to pitch some innings without a lot of pressure before camp opens.

“I have no problem pitching out of the bullpen like I did last year, but if Rick ever needed me to start, I’d love to do it. I started in high school and college and I enjoyed that role. Whatever happens, happens. I’ll do whatever Rick needs. I’m just excited to get back there.

January 19: Patton Living The Off-Season Dream

2010-01-19T09:35:00.003-06:00

Goldeyes outfielder Cory Patton has two passions.

“The one thing I’ve had a passion for almost as much as playing baseball is playing golf,” said Patton from his off-season home in Texas. “So I thought this year, since I like playing golf so much, why don’t I just work at a golf course in the off-season and play for free.

“So I got a job working at the Austin Country Club. It’s a great golf course, right on the Austin River and it’s been a lot of fun. I’m working at the clubhouse, but I’m working outdoors and it gives me plenty of time to play. Although, for the last week, I’ve picked up a volunteer job coaching baseball at a Division III college so that’s kind of cut into the golf a bit..”

While he hass spent most of the off-season just working and playing, Patton admitted it was hard to turn down an opportunity to coach baseball. Seems he ran into an old friend, former Major League pitcher Tommy Boggs, who is the head baseball coach at Concordia College, a NCAA Div. III school in Austin. Boggs asked Patton to coach the outfielders and hitters and he couldn’t say no. So for the past two weeks, he leaves work at five and heads over to the college field to coach.

“I just started to get into coaching and I love it,” said Patton, the 27-year-old outfielder that will probably play in right this season. “But it’s been a great off-season. I’ve just loved the golf – my handicap is about 10 right now – and next week, I’ll start going over to the Triple A Astros facility at Round Rock and start hitting again. It’s been a great off-season for me.”

Like most of the returning Goldeyes, Patton is excited about this year’s team. He’s kept in touch with a number of the players, and says everyone is anxious to get back to Winnipeg and get the 2010 season underway.

“At first, nobody knew who was coming back and we all kind of wondered what Rick was going to do,” said Patton, who signed just before Christmas. “Now that the nucleus of the ball club is under contract and committed to coming back, it’s getting exciting. Adding Aharon (Eggleston) in centre is a great addition. I know I played centre last year, but I’m most comfortable in right, although I’ve played every outfield position and it really doesn’t matter that much to me.

“But with Aharon in centre and Dee Brown in left, there aren’t many balls that are going to fall safely in that outfield.”

Patton is also ready to do a little more hitting than he did last year.

“It was an odd year for me,” he admitted. “I hit .239 last year, but I felt I hit the ball a lot better than that. And never have I had more walks than strikeouts, but I did last year (by a wide margin, too, 57-43). It’s hard to figure out (he had an on-base percentage of .362, second highest of his career despite hitting only .239). I also learned how to be a lead-off hitter. I loved coming up right at the start of the game. Just to know I was going to hit in the first inning of every game really helped me prepare.”

January 14: Walker Says Goldeyes Defence The Secret To His Success

2010-01-14T12:53:00.002-06:00

If there is one thing about Goldeyes starting pitcher Ace Walker, it’s that everyone who knows him, likes him.

The 26-year-old right-hander is a talented yet unassuming guy that gives no one the impression he was the best pitcher last year in the Northern League.

Walker, who will graduate from the University of Alabama in May with a degree in graphic design (minor in computer science), earned NL Pitcher of the Year honours for 2009 and was also named by Baseball America to its All-Independent Second Team.

After going 9-4 with a 4.45 earned run average in 2008, Walker was lights out in 2009. He led the NL with 12 wins (12-6) and his ERA dropped to 3.32. Although he had essentially the same number of appearances as he had in 2008, Walker’s earned run total dropped from 60 to 55 in 2009 and his innings pitched rose from 121.1 to 149.0. He also led the league in complete games with six and was second in innings pitched.

But why? Why was Walker good in 2008, but spectacular in 2009?

“I think it’s about the people Rick (manager Forney) put around us – all of us, the entire pitching staff,” Walker said. “Our defence definitely made the difference for me. I pitch to contact. I give up a lot of ground balls and if you constructed a spray chart for all balls hit off me in 2008 and all the balls hit off me in 2009, you’d see that about 20 fewer balls got through the infield last year than they did the year before. That’s 20 more outs and that’s really important over the length of a season.

“And if you looked at the balls that got through the holes in 2008 and then looked at the same positions in 2009, you’d see a big improvement. Our defence was much better in 2009 than it was 2008.”

As most Goldeyes fans know, Walker is a gifted artist that painted the large “Fightin’ Goldeye” behind the plate last year with a few cans of spray paint and a remarkable eye for detail.

This year, he’ll probably report to training camp a day or two late because graduation takes place on May 6. He’ll have a degree to go with his awesome artistic talent.

“It’s also a great place to be because we have an amazing rec centre (at Alabama) with an indoor track, a great weight room and plenty of space to throw,” he said. “I’m going to start throwing here any day and I’ll be ready for camp.”

One reason Walker will be ready is how excited he is about the look of the 2010 Goldeyes.

“It’s scary to me how good we’re going to be,” Walker said. “Adding Aharon (Eggleston) in centre field? Wow! We’ll have Aharon in centre, Cory Patton in right and Dee (Brown) in left: That’s three guys who can go and get it. Aharon will make the other two guys even better than they are now.

“We probably should have won it last year, but it wasn’t to be. I know I’m excited about our chances this year. The entire core of the team is coming back. I think we’re going to be really good.”

January 13: Has Asanovich Got A (Real Estate) Deal For You

2010-01-13T15:01:00.000-06:00

At the other end of the line, Goldeyes second baseman Josh Asanovich had a question.

“I know there are a lot of Winnipeggers who spend the winter in Phoenix and I know fans in Winnipeg have told me they’re thinking of moving to Phoenix at some point in their lives, but why is it that almost all of my Canadian clients are from Alberta?” he wondered. “If there is anyone in Manitoba looking at buying property in the Phoenix area, give me a call. There are a lot of great buys right now. Homes are cheap.”

Asanovich spends his off-season in the desert running a small real estate business with his wife and sister. The business is located in Gold Canyon, a community on the eastern end of the Phoenix metropolitan area, and they have never been busier.

“We’re moving a lot of properties right now,” he said. “Real estate in this market is really cheap and we’re getting busier every day. My sister just got her real estate licence and she’s joined the business. We run a little in-house office and it’s going well.

“Still, I’m pretty excited about getting back up to Winnipeg. I love the business, but I’d rather be playing baseball. I just started getting back on the field, doing my baseball workouts and I’m excited about the team Rick’s putting together.”

By his own admission, Asanovich had a good year last year, not a “great one.” He hit a solid .285 with nine homers, 32 runs batted in and 56 runs scored while batting primarily out of the No. 2 hole. However, a number of chronic bumps and bruises resulted in 16 missed games. He’s convinced that if he’s completely healthy when he heads north in April, he’ll remain healthy all season.

“The toughest thing about our travel schedule, and the number of games we play in just four months, are the nagging little injuries you pick up,” he said. “This year, making sure my body is healthy is my only concern. Physically, you need to feel good before the start of the season and maintain your health all season long. My goal is to be at my best when training camp starts.

“I think I had an adequate year last year, but I have a lot more in the tank. Defensively I was fine, but offensively, I have more to offer. Between the nagging injuries and the adjustments that have to be made just to play in our league – the travel schedule and the number of games we jam into a four-month period (100 this year) – I just don’t know if people really understand what we have to do to play well for an entire season. Fortunately, I’m now accustomed to the adjustments that need to be made and I expect to be a lot better offensively this year.”

January 4: Harrison Getting Set For First Full Year In Winnipeg

2010-01-04T15:09:00.001-06:00

The holiday season is over. New Year’s Day has come and gone. For Goldeyes third baseman Vince Harrison, it’s time to get down to baseball.

Acquired in that blockbuster deal on August 17, Harrison became an instant hit with Winnipeg fans and while he coaches football, basketball and baseball at his high school alma mater, Harrison says he’s now changing his off-season workout routine in order to “get ready for baseball.”

“I’ve been working out here in Cincinnati with my younger brother Josh and a kid I call my younger brother, Josh’s best friend, Jeremy Hamilton,” Harrison, 30, said last weekend. “Jeremy is with the Phillies organization and Josh is with Pittsburgh. They went in the fifth and sixth rounds of the Major League draft a few years ago and they’ve been to one spring training, so this is a big year for them.

“Jeremy has a shot at High A with the Phillies while Josh could get to Double A with Pittsburgh if they’re both ready for what spring training has to offer them. So we’ve been working hard to get ready. We’ve been doing all the heavy lifting, working to get big and strong. Now, we’ll start doing more baseball stuff – hitting and running – to concentrate more on the game than just strength training.”

While Harrison works out, he’s also coaching. A building superintendent at his old high school, Princeton High School in suburban Cincinnati, he coaches, football, basketball and baseball. He hopes to report to Winnipeg right after the state high school baseball tournament in early May.

“I’m excited about coming back to Winnipeg,” Harrison said. “I think Rick (manager Forney) is really building a good one up there and right now, we have a very good team.

“Just this week, I was showing my girl a poster from the 2008 All-Star Game in Winnipeg, just to give her and idea of what it’s like in Winnipeg. Based on what Rick’s done in the off-season, it looks like it’s going to be a good year.”

December 21: Eggleston Starting To Get Hot In Colombian Heat

2009-12-21T13:40:00.003-06:00

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

2009-12-15T09:06:00.002-06:00

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

2009-12-02T16:24:00.003-06:00

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

2009-11-26T09:30:00.002-06:00

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

2009-11-18T12:56:00.004-06:00

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

2009-11-18T09:15:00.003-06:00

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

2009-11-04T10:23:00.002-06:00

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

2009-11-02T12:56:00.001-06:00

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

2009-10-26T15:45:00.003-05:00

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

2009-09-16T10:15:00.004-05:00

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

2009-09-07T00:40:00.002-05:00

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

2009-09-06T13:27:00.001-05:00

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

2009-09-05T13:15:00.002-05:00

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

2009-09-02T11:27:00.004-05:00

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

2009-09-01T09:44:00.001-05:00

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.”

2009-08-31T08:58:00.002-05:00

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

2009-08-30T09:42:00.001-05:00

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

2009-08-29T13:18:00.002-05:00

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”

2009-08-28T10:48:00.001-05:00

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

2009-08-26T09:31:00.002-05:00

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

2009-08-25T10:22:00.002-05:00

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

2009-08-24T21:56:00.001-05:00

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

2009-08-20T09:25:00.002-05:00

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

2009-08-19T11:10:00.002-05:00

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

2009-08-19T10:56:00.003-05:00

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

2009-08-18T09:17:00.002-05:00

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

2009-08-17T14:35:00.001-05:00

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

2009-08-14T10:05:00.002-05:00

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

2009-08-10T09:34:00.001-05:00

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

2009-08-09T12:49:00.001-05:00

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

2009-08-08T12:07:00.003-05:00

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

2009-08-07T09:07:00.002-05:00

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

2009-08-06T09:41:00.002-05:00

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

2009-08-05T10:10:00.002-05:00

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

2009-08-04T17:56:00.001-05:00

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

2009-07-31T14:26:00.000-05:00

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

2009-07-30T10:02:00.002-05:00

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

2009-07-29T13:44:00.002-05:00

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.

July 28: Forney Assesses His Ball Club After 60 Games

2009-07-28T13:41:00.003-05:00

The Winnipeg Goldeyes have already done just about everything manager Rick Forney could ask of them. In fact, if you base the season so far on how things turned out the last couple of years in the Northern League, the Goldeyes only need to win eight or nine more games to guarantee themselves a spot in the post-season.

Let’s be honest, though, the last thing Forney wants is to have his team go 9-27 down the stretch, but the fact remains, the Goldeyes have been so good so far, they don’t have a lot of pressure on them heading into the final month of the season.

“I can’t wait until the playoffs start,” said third baseman Brent Metheny. “Then we can play some games that really matter.”

After the first 60 games of this year’s 96-game schedule, the Fish are a rock-solid 37-23 and have moved back into first place in the Northern League. They went 19-5 over the first quarter of the season, have played .500 ball since (despite injuries and a major post-all-star-game slump) and have not only won six-straight games, but have pulled three games ahead of the Gary SouthShore RailCats in the race for first.

For Forney, there is still a lot of baseball left, but he’ll be the first to tell you that the first 60 games have been a pleasure.

“We have a lot of talented baseball players, that’s obvious,” Forney said. “More importantly, it’s a really good group of guys. It’s a special group. Every day, I keep my fingers crossed and hope that we don’t have any more serious injuries.”

Yes. One serious injury is enough, thank you. Just before the all-star game, the team’s most valuable player, shortstop Wes Long, went to tag Schaumburg catcher Richard Mercado at second base when Mercado suddenly changed direction, ran out of the baseline with his spikes high and broke Long’s left ankle.

With Long out of the line-up, the Goldeyes scuffled for almost two weeks. After building up as much as an eight-game lead, the Fish fell a half-game back of red-hot Gary in the standings. But by winning a series against the RailCats last week, Winnipeg moved back into top spot and appeared to put their troubles behind them.

“It was a great week (last week) and I’m proud of all the guys,” Forney said following last week’s six-game sweep of Kansas City and Gary. “All I do is write out the line-up card and let them do what they do. Sure, I’ll change a pitcher or two or send out a pinch-runner, but I don’t have to do too much. I just put them out there and let them play the game.”

And they do play the game pretty well.

“Our starting pitching has been pretty solid,” Forney said. “Of course, it never hurts to play good defence behind your pitchers and that’s another thing I like about this team. All teams make mistakes, but outside of that slump after the all-star game, when we make mistakes, we’ve been able to overcome them.

“What can I say? They’re not perfect, nobody’s perfect, but overall, they have been a joy to watch.”

July 27: Diaz Brings Fans To Their Feet As Goldeyes Sweep RailCats

2009-07-27T08:36:00.001-05:00

Even by Juan Diaz’s lofty standards, it was a big day.

A pair of Diaz home runs – a grand slam in the third and a two run blast in the seventh – gave the Goldeyes all they needed in a 7-4 victory over the visiting Gary SouthShore RailCats on Sunday afternoon.

With the win, the Fish swept Gary out of Canwest Park this weekend, won their sixth-straight game, improved to 37-23 after 60 games and moved three games in front of Gary in the race for first in the Northern League.

Diaz, who went three-for-five with two homers, two runs scored and six runs batted in, has been a monster at the plate for the past week. With Sunday’s performance, he is now batting .312 with nine doubles, 14 homers, 42 runs scored and 53 RBI. His slugging percentage is now .546. He has moved into a tie with teammate Kevin West for second place among the Northern League’s home run leaders. He’s also moved past West into second place (53) on the league’s RBI leaders list.

What was even more impressive on Sunday, however, was the way the fans at Canwest Park got excited whenever Big Juan strolled into the batter’s box. In fact, there is now a buzz in the crowd when Diaz steps into the on-deck circle.

“These fans are getting excited because they know whenever Juan is at the plate, there is a real chance something big will happen,” Forney said. “It’s no different than fans who went to NFL games and watched for Walter Payton to get the ball or Tony Dorsett or why baseball fans want to see Alex Rodriguez. They want to know what all the excitement is about. They want to see something special. And right now Juan is swinging the bat so well, when he steps in there, something exciting could happen.”

It was sure exciting on Sunday. When Diaz came up in the third with the bases loaded, Gary pitching coach Jamie Bennett went out to talk to starter Garret Holleran. At the time, Gary was leading 1-0 and obviously the RailCats wanted to be careful with Diaz, a guy they walked intentionally on two occasions on Saturday night.

That’s why it was so shocking that Diaz got a belt-high fastball right over the middle of the plate on Holleran’s first pitch and he immediately deposited the ball over the left field fence onto Waterfront Drive.

“I was standing in the dugout and I looked at West,” said Goldeyes third baseman Brent Metheny. “I think I saw two fastballs in the strike zone in the entire series with Gary. West just looked at me and shrugged. What can you say? Nobody believed Juan would see that pitch, a fastball right down the heart of the plate, especially with the bases loaded.”

As spectacular as Diaz was on Sunday, the game-winning RBI did not come off his bat. Metheny singled, stole second and came home on a base hit by Dee Brown.

“I’m just really proud of all the guys,” Forney said. “You just can’t draw it up any better. It was a great finish to a great homestand. We had great starting pitching in all six games, we got some timely hits – three walk-off home runs this week was pretty impressive. And it was nice to have that instant offence (15 homers in the last six games at home – seven against Gary and eight against Kansas City). It’s pretty hard to beat a team that’s getting great pitching and hitting a lot of home runs at the same time.

“We went through a tough patch after the all-star game, but the guys have really responded. It was a great week.”

July 26: Crowell The Hero As Goldeyes Win On 13th Inning Bomb

2009-07-26T10:04:00.002-05:00

Kurt Crowell pulled no punches. And why should he? He swung, the ball flew high and deep and when it landed, there was absolutely no doubt about it.

“I went up there looking for a fastball,” Crowell said. “He threw me a fastball right down the middle. I crushed it.”

Indeed he did. And after he crushed it and the ball flew over the screen in left field, he got a hero’s welcome at home plate by his teammates as Crowell’s dramatic 13th inning bomb gave Winnipeg a thrilling 4-3 victory over the Gary SouthShore RailCats.

“It was great,” Crowell told Shaw TV’s Jim Toth in the post-game interview. “I’ll do anything I can for this team. That was just great.”

At that point, he was pied, on live television, by clubhouse manager Jamie Samson.

For the third time this week, the Goldeyes won on a game-winning home run. On Tuesday against Kansas City, Cody Ehlers was the hero with a two-run bomb in the bottom of the ninth to give the Fish a 10-8 win. On Thursday against Kansas City, it was Adam Frost, who hit a solo shot in the bottom of the ninth in a 1-0 thriller. Saturday night, it was Crowell’s turn, as the Goldeyes won their fifth-straight and moved two games ahead of Gary in the race for first in the Northern League.

But while Crowell turned out to be the extra-inning hero, starting pitcher Bear Bay did a sensational job through seven-plus innings. In fact, Bay didn’t allow a hit until the fifth – and that was a bad-hop grounder that went off third baseman Brent Metheny’s shoulder.

“It was a good week for me,” said Bay, who pitched two great games but didn’t get the decision in either (that 10-8 win over KC and last night). “I had really good stuff all week. In both games, they couldn’t catch up to my fastball.

“But I’m not worried that much about getting the wins. The important thing was we had two walk-off homers to win. I pitched well enough to give the team a chance to win and right now, it’s the wins that matter.”

The final game of this three-game series with Gary goes this afternoon at 1:30 at Canwest Park. It will be righthander Mark Michael’s turn to give his team a chance to win.

July 25: Forney Says Sliding the Difference. Huh? Sliding?

2009-07-25T12:23:00.001-05:00

Winnipeg manager Rick Forney considers himself a student of the game. He’s always watching, Always observing the intricacies that separate winning from losing.

After his Goldeyes played an almost-perfect game in a 9-3 win over the Gary SouthShore RailCats on Friday that vaulted the Fish back into first place in the Northern League, Forney considered the elements that gave his team the victory.

1.) He got a great, complete-game pitching performance from Ace Walker.

2.) He got home runs from Brent Metheny and Dee Brown.

3.) He even got a steal of home by Metheny...

Ahh, yes, that thrilling steal of home.

“Isn’t it funny, this game?” asked Forney rhetorically. “Tonight, sliding made the difference.

“We had a number of great slides into second base, especially (Brent) Metheny’s slide that led to a run. Then there was Metheny’s steal of home. That was a super slide. We had all sorts of super slides in that game.

“For us, it was risk-reward baserunning out there and tonight we were rewarded. Amazing isn’t it? Sliding. It really was the difference in that game.”

Even if a fan missed all the other intricate slides during the Goldeyes comeback victory over the RailCats, nobody missed Metheny when he came tearing down the third base line, failed to beat the ball to the plate and then slid around – and actually over – Gary catcher Brett Wallace.

“That was not called from the dugout. That was Brent’s decision on his own,” Forney said. “But it was a good decision. Their pitcher had a pretty high leg kick and even Kevin (West) said that he thought about trying to steal home. Brent saw the leg kick, figured it was probably an off-speed pitch and took off. It was sure exciting.”

For the most part, the entire game was exciting.

Gary picked up two quick runs off Walker – both unearned – in the top of the second inning and it was starting to look like the last time the RailCats were in town, when Gary swept a three-game set.

But Dee Brown homered in the bottom of the second to cut the lead to 2-1 and the Goldeyes started to get their act together.

After Gary’s Mike Massaro homered in the top of the third, the Goldeyes came back with three in the bottom of the third including Metheny’s steal of home plate – the steal that turned out to be the winning run – that gave the Fish a 4-3 lead.

Winnipeg added five more in the seventh, sparked by Metheny’s two-run bomb, as the Fish cruised to their fourth-straight victory, took over sole possession of first place and improved to 35-23 on the season.

“This was just a really good ball game,” said Forney. “We got out of the gates kind of slow and they built that 2-0 lead, but we got it back after Dee’s home run – that was a huge home run – and the guys played really well.

“Brent (Metheny who went two-for-four with two runs scored and three RBI) really looked good tonight and if wasn’t for a few inches here and there – the long fly ball that would have been a home run if it hadn’t gone a few inches foul down the right field line and then the flare he hit later that just missed falling in fair territory – he might have had six or seven RBI.

“I was really pleased with the effort. We’ll just have to go back out on Saturday and do it again.”

The middle game of this important three-game series goes tonight at 6:00 at the downtown ballpark.

July 24: Frost The Hero As Goldeyes Move Back Into First With 1-0 Win

2009-07-24T08:58:00.003-05:00

When Adam Frost came to the plate to open the bottom of the ninth on Thursday night, he had a plan.

And, man-oh-man, did that plan pay off.

Frost, the 22-year-old Goldeyes shortstop, was moved from the No. 8 hole up to the lead-off spot for the final game of a three-game series with the Kansas City T-Bones, but when he came to the plate in the bottom of the ninth, he was 0-for-3 and trying to keep a nine-game hitting streak alive.

Well, he not only kept the streak alive, he hit the third pitch he saw from T-Bones starter Dustin Bolton over the left field wall to give the Fish a thrilling 1-0 victory.

“I was 0-for-3 and I’d been struggling up there the whole game,” said Frost, who has come off the bench to do a tremendous job in place of the injured Wes Long.

“I looked pretty awkward on that breaking ball he threw me, so I decided to sit back and wait for another one. Well, he came right back with another breaking ball and I hung back on it and got all of it. I felt like it might have been out as soon as I hit it.”

Frost was talking with a face full of shaving cream after being pied by his teammates right before his post-game interview with Shaw TV’s Jim Toth. His teammates were so thrilled with his ninth-inning bomb they all poured out of the dugout to meet him at home plate.

“It’s always great to do something like this, but for us, it’s just important to win,” Frost said. “Kansas City is a really tough team and their pitcher (Bolton) threw really well. It was a tough ball game. But after sweeping Kansas City we’re going in the right direction now.”

Thursday night’s game was an outstanding pitcher’s duel between Bolton and Goldeyes starter Andrew Cruse. Cruse allowed only four hits through seven innings and was picked up by Zach Baldwin and Chris Homer (who got the win thanks to Frost’s ninth inning heroics). Bolton gave up just three hits – only two until Frost’s bomb in the ninth.

With the win, the Fish swept Kansas City right out of Canwest Park. It was Winnipeg’s third-straight win and, with a record of 34-23, have moved back into a first-place tie with the Gary SouthShore RailCats.

And what do you know? The Goldeyes and RailCats will open a three-game series at the ballpark beginning Friday at 7 p.m.

July 23: Goldeyes Bullpen Terrific As Fish Shade T-Bones 5-4

2009-07-23T10:37:00.002-05:00

It would be pretty hard to find a guy more modest than Goldeyes reliever Jordan Stewart.

After the Fish beat Kansas City 5-4 on Wednesday night at Canwest Park, Stewart didn’t want to take the credit, he wanted to praise the hitters. After all, a three-run homer by Cody Ehlers and a two-run bomb off the bat of Kevin West – his fourth homer in two games – was the difference on the scoreboard.

“It was great to get the save, but even better to get the win,” said Stewart. “We’ve been getting lots of hitting. It was nice to pick those guys up.”

After the Goldeyes bullpen blew up on Tuesday night and allowed eight runs in the eighth and ninth, the relievers were perfect on Wednesday night as Derek Feldkamp pitched two scoreless innings and Stewart, in his first official save situation as the team’s new closer, allowed only an infield hit in a scoreless ninth.

The pen not only “picked up” the hitters, but also got starter Mark Michael his first win of the season. Michael went six innings, giving up four runs (only three earned) and eight hits and left the game with the Fish ahead 5-4. That lead held up as Feldkamp and Stewart were almost perfect.

For manager Rick Forney, it was as much a relief as it was a thrill to watch his pitchers perform well under pressure. More than a dozen times this season, Forney’s bullpen has collapsed with the Goldeyes ahead.

“On Tuesday night, it was a pretty helpless feeling sitting in the dugout watching things unfold the way they did,” Forney told Goldeyes radio guy Paul Edmonds following the game. “It was great to see the guys come on and get the job done.”

With the win, the Goldeyes have won two straight, locked up the three-game series with Kansas City and improved to 33-23 on the season. However, with a double-header sweep of Schaumburg yesterday, the Gary SouthShore RailCats have taken over first place in the Northern League and now lead the Goldeyes by a half game.

“It’s going to be a tough race heading down the stretch,” said Stewart. “We have some great hitters on this team. It’s good to get the job done and get an important win for the team.”

The final game of this series goes tonight at 6:00 (notice the time change) at Canwest Park. First-place Gary comes to town Friday.

July 22: Hitters Come Back to Beat Kansas City 10-8 After Bullpen Blows 7-0 Lead

2009-07-22T13:53:00.002-05:00

Tuesday night was Donnie Smith Night at Canwest Park and the Goldeyes helped the celebration by beating Kansas City 10-8.

However, by the end of the evening, it was difficult to keep all the action straight.

Let’s review...

1) Smith, the former Goldeyes reliever who holds the Northern League record for most appearances, was honoured in a tremendous pre-game ceremony.

2) Bear Bay started for the Fish and pitched a dandy seven innings, allowing two runs on six hits.

3) Through the first seven innings, Kevin West hit two homers and walked twice, drove in two runs and scored four while Juan Diaz hit a two-run bomb as the Goldeyes cruised to a 7-0 lead.

4) In the final two innings, the Goldeyes bullpen blew up and allowed five runs in the eighth and three more in the ninth as Kansas City came all the way back to take an 8-7 lead.

5) But in the bottom of the ninth....

With one out, West hit his third solo homer of the game to tie the game 8-8. Then, with two out, Dee Brown hustled down the line to beat out a slow ground ball. For his effort, Brown is awarded an infield single, proving that hitters should always “run it out.”

That’s when Cody Ehlers came to the plate against T-Bones closer Nate Cotton and hit the first pitch he saw just inside the right field foul pole.

“I went up there looking for one pitch,” said the Goldeyes first baseman, right after being pied by his teammates on the post-game TV show. “I was looking for something off-speed and he threw it to me on the first pitch. It was a change-up right over the plate. It was exactly the pitch I was waiting for.”

West saw a lot of pitches he liked as well. His first two home runs went deep to left wall and the first almost hit the new Donnie Smith 21 sign. West’s third dinger traveled to right as he went to get an off-speed pitch from Cotton and took it the opposite way.

“It’s the first time I’ve ever hit three home runs in one game,” West said. “As long as it helped us win, that’s all that matters. We’ve been struggling and tonight the hitters were able to pick up the bullpen. We’re in a race with Gary now, and that was a big win for us.”

With the victory, the Goldeyes put a halt to a two-game losing skid, improved to 32-23 on the season and remained in a first-place tie with the Gary SouthShore RailCats.

The Goldeyes and T-Bones play Game 2 of this three-game series on Wednesday at Canwest Park. Game time is 7 p.m.

July 14: Guehne Recalls His Toughest Out

2009-07-14T12:18:00.002-05:00

When asked about his toughest out, Dan Guehne didn’t hesitate.

“Darryl Strawberry,” Guehne said with a shudder. “Wow! I got him out, but I was really nervous. It was just tough being on the mound facing him.”

Last Friday at Canwest Park, the honoured guest for the fifth installment of the Goldeyes “Flashback Fridays” program was former pitcher Dan Guehne.

Guehne was with the Goldeyes from 1996 to 2000 and put up some pretty fair numbers. In five seasons, he made 153 appearances, more than 30 per season on average. He finished 11-9 with 21 saves and struck out 131 batters in 156 innings.

However, despite his overall success, he was wary of facing Strawberry, the former New York Mets superstar who ended up with the Northern League’s St. Paul Saints in 1996.

“He was trying to make a comeback and signed with St. Paul,” Guehne said. “So the first time we went into St. Paul that year, I remember thinking, ‘Wow! I’m going to face Darryl Strawberry.’ I mean, for a St. Louis guy like myself, we just hated the Mets and Strawberry, so this was an amazing thing, getting to face the guy.

“But it turned out OK. I think I got him out pretty routinely that day, as I recall. Still, it was quite an experience for me. He was the toughest guy I faced, just because of who he was.”

July 13: Goldeyes Bombed Again. Ready To Hit the Road.

2009-07-13T07:47:00.001-05:00

The Winnipeg Goldeyes need a good road trip.

On a beautiful Sunday afternoon at Canwest Park, the Goldeyes were mauled 16-4 by the Gary SouthShore RailCats to complete a three-game sweep.

“Man, those guys were locked in,” said catcher Dustin Richardson. “It didn’t matter who the pitcher was, what the count was or what kind of pitch it was, they just teed off on it. They also hit some to holes I never thought they’d find while we hit some rockets right at people. But that will turn around. It’s baseball.”

Despite three hits and two runs batted in from Kevin West and two-hit games from Richardson and Dee Brown, the Goldeyes were never in this one. They fell behind 6-0 after four innings and seemed resigned to the fact the RailCats had their number.

It was 8-1 heading into the ninth as Gary scored eight runs off of two relievers in its final at-bat.

With the loss, Winnipeg dropped its fifth-straight game to fall to 28-18, leading second-place Gary by only three games in the race for first in the Northern League.

Right after the game, the Fish boarded the bus and headed off to Schaumburg.

“We need a road trip,” Richardson conceded. “We had four days off and that didn’t help us. We need to get together on a long road trip and start playing a lot of games. I’m looking forward to going to Schaumburg.”

The Fish will play four games in Schaumburg and then four more in Fargo – it’s eight games in seven days – before returning to celebrate Donnie Smith Night at Canwest Park on July 21.

July 12: Goldeyes Get Spanked. Now It’s a Slump.

2009-07-12T10:00:00.002-05:00

It was an ugly game and Goldeyes manager Rick Forney knew it.

“We didn’t get any timely hits, we didn’t play defence very well and we didn’t pitch very well, either,” Forney said, shortly after the Goldeyes were blasted 14-4 by the Gary SouthShore RailCats Saturday night. “Put those three things together and that’s how you get blown out.”

With the loss, Winnipeg’s fourth-straight, the Goldeyes fell to 28-17 on the season, but still remained four games ahead of second place Gary in the race for first in the Northern League. But after going 19-5 through the first quarter of the season, the Goldeyes are now 9-12 in the second quarter with just three games left until the halfway point.

“The four-day break for the all-star game wasn’t a good thing for us,” Forney said. “We lost two games going into the all-star break and we’ve lost two coming out. The last thing you need when you’re not playing well is four days off. Now we’re just trying to pick up the pieces.”

The Goldeyes actually took an early 2-0 lead, but a three-run homer by Steve Haake and a solo blast by Brett Wallace put the RailCats in command.

Amazingly, the game was actually close until the ninth when Gary scored seven ugly runs against relievers Zach Baldwin and Cory Patton. In fairness to Patton, usually the Goldeyes centre fielder, he allowed only one earned run.

“Ace (starter Ace Walker) elevated two fastballs and I think that was the difference in the game,” Forney said. “When Haake hit the three-run homer, we were ahead 2-0 and playing pretty well. We couldn’t recover from that.

“We just have to go out on Sunday, play better and give Bear (starter Bay) some run support.”

July 11: Goldeyes Fall 5-3 to Gary in 15 Innings

2009-07-11T16:47:00.001-05:00

Brent Metheny called it long. Of course, when you play 15 innings over five hours and 13 minutes, it truly is baseball at its longest.

“That’s the only way to describe it,” said Metheny, after the Goldeyes were beaten 5-3 in 15 by the visiting Gary SouthShore RailCats on Friday night. “That’s the only word for it: Long.”

With 6,587 outstanding Goldeyes fans looking on – and many stayed right until the bitter end – the Fish came back from a 3-1 deficit with two runs in the eighth, but just couldn’t get the important hits at the right time in extra innings to turn the game in the their favour.

“I thought it was a really well-played game,” said Metheny. “We went 15 innings and there wasn’t one error. That says a lot about the abilities of these two teams.

“The hitting struggled and that happens after a four-day layoff for the all-star break. We just couldn’t get the big hit when we needed it – including my strikeout with the bases load. But overall, both teams played well, I thought.”

Metheny had a rough night with runners in scoring position, but in the end, delivered one of the better efforts at the plate for the Goldeyes. He was two-for-six with a run scored, but was also stranded at third after a lead-off triple in the sixth.

Meanwhile, Kevin West went three-for seven, but struck out with Metheny at third. Juan Diaz went two-for-three with a homer, a run scored and two driven in, but was taken out of the game for a pinch runner in the eighth. No other Goldeyes had multi-hit games and two of the team’s better hitters, Josh Asanovich and Dee Brown, went 0-for-6 and 0-for-7 respectively.

“That was a really big win for us,” said Gary’s player of the game, leftfielder Jordan Czarniecki, who had two doubles and drove in the winning run in the 15th. “To come into Winnipeg and hang in there long enough to beat a team as good as the Goldeyes is a big deal for us.

“Now we’re only a few games out of first and our guys all believe that maybe we can catch Winnipeg.”

That certainly worries Metheny.

“It’s going to be a very tough second half,” he said. “When you’re in first place, people will be coming after you.”

The Fish and RailCats will play Game 2 of this three-game set tonight at 6:00 at Canwest Park.

“NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE IT”

It was one of the strangest plays most fans have ever seen. In fact, the same thing can be said for most of the players who were involved.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Metheny. “In fact, after it happened, I was waiting for the umpires to make some weird call, but they didn’t. I guess it’s just part of the game.”

“It” was a strange infield single by Brett Wallace in the top of the 14th of Friday night’s marathon match-up between the Goldeyes and RailCats.

Wallace, the RailCats catcher, had his bat sawed in two by a fastball from Goldeyes reliever Chris Homer. However, Wallace made contact and as the main piece of the barrel of the bat flew past the mound, the ball followed at a much slower pace. Just as Metheny went to bare-hand the grounder, the ball hit the chunk of bat and stopped dead. Metheny had no play and Wallace ended up with an infield single.

“If the ball hadn’t hit the bat, he would have been out,” said Metheny confidently. “I would have thrown him out. I could see the play unfold in front of me and I was about to make the play – a pick-up and a throw, all in one motion – but that’s when the ball hit the bat. There was nothing I could do.

“That guy must have had a very good four days off during the all-star break because the baseball gods were sure looking out for him.”

July 10: Zimmerman Continues the Long Road to Recovery

2009-07-10T13:20:00.002-05:00

The unlikely comeback of former Goldeyes starter Jeff Zimmerman is progressing slowly, but ever so surely, and it’s now reached the point where he has sights set on a return to the big leagues.

Speaking from his home in Arizona, Zimmerman said that while his comeback with the Seattle Mariners is “progressing a lot more slowly than I’d hoped,” it is progressing nonetheless and he hopes to be ready for a return to the Majors sometime next month.

“I finally got into a game, pitching against a team that was wearing a different-coloured uniform,” Zimmerman said. “I went two innings in an Arizona rookie league game the other night and while it wasn’t as good an outing as I’d hoped, it was another step forward.”

In Zimmerman’s first appearance with the Seattle’s Arizona League rookie affiliate, he started and went two complete innings, allowing one run on two hits. He also gave up a walk and struck out two.

It wasn’t a masterpiece, but for a guy who has been out of the game for almost eight years, it was a start.

“I still need a little more velocity on my fastball and a little more bite on the slider, but it was a good first step, finally getting back on the mound to pitch in a real game,” Zimmerman said. “I have no idea what Seattle’s plan is for me and right now I’m not worried about it. I’m still on a roster, the Mariners are still paying me and they haven’t cleaned out my locker yet, so I’ll just go to work every day and keep moving forward.”

Zimmerman, who will turn 37 in August, has spent his entire career battling the odds. But this time, the odds were so long, there were few people in baseball, outside his good friend John Wetteland on the Mariners, who believed he had anything left in the tank.

But the Canadian right-hander that drove from his home in Alberta to Winnipeg in the spring of 1997 just to attend a Goldeyes open tryout, has battled back from crippling arm injuries to get one last shot at the bigs.

Back in 1997, Goldeyes manager Hal Lanier fell in love with Zimmerman’s darting slider and signed him. While he didn’t tear up the Northern League immediately, he did pitch consistently enough to finish 9-2 with a 2.82 earned run average and a club-record 140 strikeouts. With that, he led all pitchers in ERA and won the Northern League Rookie Pitcher of the Year award.

More importantly, he signed a contract with Texas and, by April of 1999, had pitched himself into the big leagues.

With the Rangers, Zimmerman was an instant success. By mid-season, he was 7-1 with a 1.22 ERA and was selected to pitch in the all-star game in Boston. He was so good in his rookie season that he signed a three-year $10 million deal with the Rangers.

But just when it appeared that he was going to be one of the best young closers in the game, his arm gave out. It got so bad in 2001 that he couldn’t throw at all. He had not one, but two Tommy John surgeries. He had two other procedures and three scopes. In total, he had five invasive operations and seven procedures, but by 2005, it was apparent he’d never pitch again.

“I kind of gave up and admitted to myself that it was probably over,” he said this past winter. “So I just kind of went about the business of helping Andrea raise the kids and didn’t think much about it.”

But over the winter, Zimmerman grew tired of “getting in my wife’s way,” so in January he picked up a baseball again, just to see if he could throw it without any pain. What happened next was a shock.

“Right away, I was able to throw a baseball without any discomfort,” he said. “I sometimes find it hard to believe that after all that time, I was completely healthy again. I threw the ball in January and I had no trouble getting it into the high eighties.

“So I called my agent and asked if he could get me a shot with a big league organization. He called back and said he’d set up a tryout with Seattle. Long story short, they offered me a one-year contract.”

For the past four months, Zimmerman has been getting up every day, going to the Mariners compound in Peoria and working out. He lifts weights, does his arm exercises, runs and depending on the day, will throw long toss or off the mound. He’s not back yet but says he’s getting closer.

“The Mariners haven’t put any timeline on what I’m doing,” he said. “The kids have finished school, so my family is moving down here to Arizona. I know I’ll still be here for a while. I hope to be back in the majors in a month. But I know, I’ll be pitching somewhere on a regular basis in August.”

July 2: Goldeyes Bullpen Implodes As Fish Fall 9-5 To Schaumburg

2009-07-02T09:45:00.001-05:00

It looked like the Goldeyes had one in the bag after Dee Brown and Cory Patton hit back-to-back home runs in the bottom of the seventh on Canada Day.

But that 4-2 lead didn’t last long as the Schaumburg Flyers put up seven runs in the top of the eighth and hung on to whip the hosts Goldeyes 9-5 in the final game of a three-game series at Canwest Park.

As close to 7,000 fans looked on, Goldeyes starter Zach Baldwin was solid through six innings, but relievers Jordan Stewart and Aaron Odom couldn’t hold the lead as Winnipeg fell to 27-13 on the season, but still led second-place Fargo-Moorhead and Kansas City by six-and-a-half games. After a day off Thursday, Winnipeg opens a three-game series before the all-star break.

“I thought we looked pretty good in this one,” said Winnipeg manager Rick Forney, “but we just couldn’t lock it down. We had an opportunity to sweep at home and that’s what you like to do in this league, but we just couldn’t finalize the deal today.”

The Goldeyes hit four solo homers as Kevin West, Brown, Patton and Cody Ehlers all hit bombs, but that eighth-inning collapse spelled doom for a team that was on a three-game winning streak.

“That was a win we really needed,” said Schaumburg right fielder Victor Ferrante, who hit a three-run homer to fuel that seven-run eighth. “We’d lost six in a row and you just can’t afford to do that in this, or any other league. Maybe a big comeback like that will get us on a roll again.”

Meanwhile, injured Goldeyes shortstop Wes Long returned to the ballpark with his broken ankle in a cast, and said he would accompany the team to Gary and make an appearance at the All-Star Game in Joliet on Tuesday.

“My wife and I had made plans that she would come and meet me in Gary and stay for the All-Star Game in Joliet, then I would head back to Winnipeg and she’d go home,” Long said.

“Now, we’ll do it all for a different reason. We’ll meet up in Gary, go to Joliet, then she’ll go home and I’ll come back to Winnipeg for an MRI on my ankle. Hopefully, I’ll be fitted for a walking boot by then. After that, the team is on a long road trip, so I’ll go back to Seattle for a couple of weeks and then come back to Winnipeg in late July or early August. I’m still hoping I’ll be able to return for the playoffs.”

July 1: Goldeyes Win Big But Lose All-Star Wes Long

2009-07-01T10:57:00.002-05:00

Tuesday night at Canwest Park had all the ingredients for a perfect summer night in downtown Winnipeg.

There was an overflow crowd of 7,536 in attendance, the fireworks were primed and ready to be blown to the sky and the Goldeyes bats were booming. In fact, the Fish pounded out 18 hits and got a great start from Andrew Cruse en route to a 16-4 shellacking of the Schaumburg Flyers.

This was a night that could not be spoiled.

At least, not until the third inning.

That’s when Flyers catcher Richard Mercado took out Goldeyes shortstop Wes Long with a hard slide – Shaw TV replays showed Mercado was well inside the baseline and a long way off the bag – that broke Long’s ankle and sent the all-star shortstop to the sidelines for at least six weeks and perhaps for the rest of the season.

“I guess the guy (Mercado) was just playing the game hard,” said Goldeyes manager Rick Forney. “We just have to hope and pray for Wes, he’s a great player, maybe we can get him back by the end of the season.”

The injury occurred on a terrific double play started by first baseman Cody Ehlers. Ehlers backhanded a ground ball off the bat of Flyers centre fielder Travis Ezi. Ehlers stepped on first and threw a strike to Long covering second. With the force-out off, Long had to tag Mercado, but the throw arrived so early, Long had plenty of time to apply the tag and get out of the way.

But that’s when Mercado inexplicably slid away from the base and right through Long. Long went high into the air and landed in obvious pain. He was helped from the field and taken to Concordia Hospital where x-rays showed that his left ankle was fractured.

“Mercado couldn’t see what was behind him and he was just sliding in hard to break up the double play,” said Schaumburg manager Mike Busch. “He just plays the game hard. It was one of those things.”

Despite the devastating loss of Long, the first-place Goldeyes still played an outstanding ball game and with the win, improved to 27-12 on the season. Winnipeg remained six-and-a-half games ahead of second-place Fargo.

Winnipeg put up three runs in the first inning, eight more in the second and one in the third to take a quick 12-0 lead.

Designated hitter Juan Diaz had a big night, going two-for-four with three runs scored and three driven in; Kevin West had a solid game, going for three-for-four with three runs scored and two RBI and Dee Brown had another outstanding game, going two-for-four with three RBI. Brown, the current player of the week in the Northern League is also the league’s leading hitter with a .382 average.

Meanwhile, second baseman Josh Asanovich went four-for-six with four runs scored and Cory Patton went two-for-four with one run scored and two driven in. Every Goldeyes starter had at least one hit and everyone but Brown scored a run.

But perhaps the best story was written by young starter Andrew Cruse, who pitched seven strong innings, allowed only two runs on seven scattered hits and struck out seven while improving to 3-3 on the season. He did it, despite having to sit in the dugout for more than 30 minutes in the bottom of the second as the Goldeyes put up eight runs.

“It was great to get the win,” said Cruse, Shaw TV’s player of the game. “I had good command all night and felt great. Whenever it’s my turn, I just want to make sure I go out there and give my team a chance to win.”

The Goldeyes and Flyers will wrap up this three-game series this afternoon at Canwest Park with a 4:00 Canada Day start.