"Being on the road in empty ball parks instead of in front of loving home crowds can throw your game. The Miracle are playing very good baseball this season. As a team, they are taking form. The road games are getting the better of the Miracle however."
I had to go over late in the game and point out the home cooking' wasn't. The Miracle played a game that can only be described as sloppy, including the performance by pitcher Kyle Waldrop, who has, up until this point, been the stud in the starting rotation.
I attribute some of the this to Kevin Boles "fielding by committee" approach, in which players are moved around from position to position, almost it seems, by chance. In an article in the Fort Myers News-Press, Boles is quoted as saying "We're going to increase their versatility."
Enough with the versatility already. It only seems to be increasing their confusion. Even EriK Lis, who is primarily a first baseman looked sloppy at first base. The other problem there is that Lis probably has a better chance to move through the organiztion in the outfield, and in fact, the move to the outfield was talked about in an Naples Daily News article, so one would believe this is move sanctioned by the Twins.
And there's more to outfielding than just chasing down fly balls. "You’re talking about angles from a left or righthanded hitter, first-step quickness, initial reads," Boles is quoted as saying the article. "All that, plus backing up bases when the ball’s not hit to you. Those ins-and-outs, if you haven't played there, it takes a while to feel that out."
Well, if he's playing at first base, how is he "feeling out" this position change? And is he taking outfielding drills during practice?
This was a position change that just suddenly happened. You have the man through Fall Instructional League and the entire time, he plays first base. All through spring training, with the exception of the last two games, he plays first base. And now suddenly, out of no where, he's an outfielder?
I know, as a FAN of developmental baseball, I have no right to complain about the wins or losses. It shouldn't matter to me if the team wins or loses, as long as they play the game and get the players ready for the next level. I hear this all the time. "We're not here to win games, we're here to develop the players."
So why am I putting down money to watch a team lose all the time? Do I not, as a consumer, have a right to watching a good game, irregardless of the level of play? And doesn't it benefit the organization to develop their players in a winning atmosphere?
However, Bolesy's experiment into versatility should not be effecting the batting, and the lack of hits has been a big problem. You can't tell me we've run into really HOT pitching five times in our last 11 games, which is the number of shut outs we've seen recently. And this is also a period, where the Miracle have only won twice.
So what seems to be the problem here? In the past, when Jose Marzan was the coach, he talked about working the players harder on drills in the first half while the weather is cooler. This is understandable and yes, could account for 31-36 records, such as the Miracle posted in 2004. However, the team posted winning records in the first half in 2005 and 2006, just missing a first half championship last year.
Perhaps the extra work during this cooler time of the year is the case, that Boles is blowing off the first half of the year, and is looking to have a more productive second half, but it's still painful for the consumers in the seats who paid to get in to watch a bunch of slopiness on the field.
Then again...one might argue at at least 900 of the announced 973 people at the game were there for the "Bing on the Berm" promotion, free T-shirts, the Spiderman appearance and other assorted "fun" that Goldklang feels is necessary to turning a profit on minor league baseball. (You really didn't think they were doing this because they wanted us to have FUN did you?) So the execution of the game really shouldn't matter...the vast majority of the fans "got their moneys worth".
Ah well. Call me disgruntled. I was really hoping to see a good game. (I saw one last Thursday out of the rookie team, that will have to last me a while, I suppose.)
I'd gone down the Miracle dugout prior the game, and Eli Tintor had come out to warm up and was wearing the navy blue batting gloves he'd been wearing during the game he struck out four times. I had not actually gone down to the dugout to see him, but one must take the opportunities available.
"Take those off your hands," I tell him. "Go back in there and put the white ones on."
"You know," he says, "I was thinking about that..."
"You struck out four times in one game wearing those things, they've got bad karma. You need to take them out and burn them."
"But they're $50 a pair!" (Ed quickly divides this down into $12.50 a strike out.)
"I'll buy you a new pair, just get rid of those things." Geez. Maybe a nice white pair with red inserts. Those would look nice on him.
In any case...I like to believe making him go back in and change his gloves got us at least one hit. We only had three, we really can't sacrafice any opportunity here.
Beyond that, I did not accomplish what I was hoping to down there, however, I can pursue the matter at the Mini-golf tournament on Friday. Justin has given me a set of Charleston Riverdog cards to collect Yankees autographs on, so that's what I'll be doing tonight.
I also need to re-shoot Ryan Mullins tonight, because the last shots I took I was not happy with. He however, had a different opinion of them, and seemed just touched as heck to get them. "You mean these are for me?" Oh, that's right. He skipped GCL. Maybe they don't have a photog in E-Town. Maybe the boys are not crazy for wanting to take me with.
I did a re-shoot of Waldrop last night, even though well...the preformance wasn't all that.
Maybe it's just me, but I think the new roof has messed with the lighting in the stadium. However I think the stills from yesterday will look much better than the previous set, and well, I really need to redo the sets for Ryan and Ozzie. Neither were up to my standards.
I was also trying to get the batters some yesterday and as Ryan is a lefty, that will give me a chance to get the righty batters tonight as I'll be camping out on the first base side of the stadium.
Giving Ryan his shots though was an invitaion for Alex Smit to crain his neck around to see them. "I have Loek (Van Mil)'s pictures," I tell him. "Would you like to see Loek's pictures." He does, so I fetch them. He's flipping through and suddenly starts laughing...
Well, it IS a fun-nee picture. (He'd gone down to get out of the way of catcher on a stealing attempt, and just sort of stayed there for a second or two....)
Let's see...odds and ends...Henry Sanchez is still on the DL with a hammate bone injury in his hand. Tyler Robertson said he was not taking batting practice, but really didn't know anything more than that.
"I heard he can hit."
I've heard that too, but he didn't exactly wail for the GCL Twins in 2005 (16H, 70AB, .229 Avg) nor with Elizabethton (9H, 41AB, .220 Avg) in 2006. Plus Jim Rantz's quip "There's this thing called a curveball that he's never seen before," in the Strib is a little bit disturbing.
A first round supplemental pick in 2005, Sanchez underwent surgery in July of 2006 to remove scar tissue associated with hammate bone surgery that he had prior to joining the Twins organization. It will be interested to see if he ever does get healthy, and if so, if he really can hit.
Catcher Javi Sanchez had Tommy John surgery last year. He missed the 2006 season because of it, and while he is playing this year for the Fort Myers Miracle, reports that he is still not 100%. While Tommy John sugergy can improve the throwing ability of the player who recieved it, it is still a hard operation to come back from.
The Twins released outfielder Mark Robinson and pitcher Adam Revelette and placed pitcher Sean Land on the 7-day Disabled List with a left elbow injury. All three were playing with the Beloit squad. In turn, the Twins activated shortstop Steve Singleton, RHP Aaron Craig, and LHP Jesus Carnevales from extended spring training. The moves regarding Robo and Rev are not really a surprise. Craig has still been struggling with his fastball and Carnevales was a free agent signee in November with the team, so as replacments, they are kind of unexpected.
RHP Michael Allen is expected to join the Beloit squad, but that may not happen until the All-star game break.
I think that's about it for now. I do have some other tidbits, but the Miralce are on the road on Saturday, the rookies are off and well...I will needs something to rattle on about.
Here's hoping for a better effort tonight out of the Fort Myers squad, otherwise I might have to end up cheering for the Yankees.
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