Fack Youk Field Trip: Trenton Thunder

Despite living about a half hour away, I hadn't been to a AA game in New Britain in nearly seventeen years. Just for reference purposes, the last time I went, New Britain was still a Red Sox affiliate, they still played at Beehive Field - named for then owner Joe Buzas (who incidentally was the Yankees Opening Day shortstop in 1945 while Phil Rizzuto was serving in World War II) - the Yankees' AA affiliate was still the Albany-Colonie Yankees, and pitching phenom Brien Taylor was the centerpiece of their roster.

New Britain is now in their sixteenth season as the Twins' AA club, and in their fifteenth season in their new ballpark. And with the Trenton Thunder in town and the Yankees' 2008 supplemental first round pick Jeremy Bleich slated to pitch, I decided to take a trip to the park and catch the game, a 2-1 Thunder victory.

Bleich had struggled a bit through his first six starts of 2010, walking 23 batters through 30 innings, while only striking out 19. For one night at least though, he put things back together. He faced the minimum through three. The only baserunner he allowed in the first third of the game came on a four pitch leadoff walk in the second, and he was subsequently erased on a caught stealing.

There was one out in the fourth when Bleich surrendered his first hit, a high chopper off the bat of Ben Revere, good for an infield single. A hit by pitch later in the frame left Bleich in a two out, two on jam, but he used his second strikeout of the inning the end the threat.

He issued another leadoff walk in the fifth, but erased the runner on a double play ball. In the sixth, he allowed a two out single, then promptly got the runner on a pick off/caught stealing. The only real jam he faced came in the seventh, Number three hitter Rene Tosoni led off with a well struck double. Bleich got cleanup hitter Chris Parmelee to bounce to second, moving Tosoni to third.

That pitch left Bleich with a pitch count of 89 on the night, and manager Tony Franklin went to the pen. Corey Arbiso retired all five batters he faced over an inning and two thirds, but the first of those outs was an RBI groundout that plated New Britain's only run of the night.

For the evening, Bleich went six and one-third, gave up three hits, one run, walked two, struck out five, and hit a batter. The two walks are a positive sign; Bleich issued fewer base on balls in just one start this year, and his other two-free-pass-start lasted only five innings. The five strikeouts tied a season high. I had him at 89 pitches, 55 strikes (61.8%), and needing fewer than 15 pitches in every inning but the fourth. It was easily his best start since his first of 2010.

The stadium gun wasn't working last night, but several of the Trenton starters (D.J. Mitchell, David Phelps, and Lance Pendleton, I think) were sitting across the aisle from me charting pitches. They had Bleich at 87-89, and from what I could tell and overhear, his velocity remained fairly consistent from the first through his exit in the seventh. In the fifth, I noticed several fellow lefties having a hard time getting around on his fastball, fouling several off the other way. He went with the fastball mostly, mixing in the occasional curve at about 79. He threw back-to-back change ups on the number eight hitter in the third, getting two ugly swings and misses, but I don't specifically recall any other change ups.

As for the bats, the two Thunder runs came early on. Austin Romine, DHing for the second straight day, led off the second inning and reached second base on an E6, one of three errors New Britain shortstop Estarlin De Los Santos made on the night. Romine came around to score on a subsequent E6.

The other run came in the third. Marcos Vechionacci jumped all over a first pitch fastball, and absolutely crushed it to dead center. It's 400 feet straightaway, plus what looks to be about a twenty foot fence, and his blast cleared it easily on a chilly night where the ball wasn't carrying well.

Some other thoughts and observations:

I was a little disappointed that Romine wasn't catching, especially considering he had DH'd on Monday as well. However, today's getaway game begins at 10:30 AM, so it could just be that the team plans to catch him tomorrow and didn't want to catch him a night game before a day (morning?) game.

Romine's father, Kevin, spent the 1983 season playing in New Britain.

Jose Gil caught in place of Romine and showed off a pretty nice arm in gunning down one of two would-be basestealers.

Austin Krum went 2 for 4, including a bunt single. His legs were good enough to get him on base, but not quite good enough to keep him there, as he was caught stealing after the bunt. The whole park knew he was going. New Britain pitcher Carlos Gutierrez threw over three times; twice Krum barely made it back safely. They also pitched out when the count was 1-2, but that was not the pitch on which Krum chose to run.

David Adams went 1 for 4 on the night, with two Ks and a GIDP. But his one hit was a rocket of a liner right back up the middle, that narrowly missed Gutierrez.

Trenton didn't draw a walk all night.

Arbiso was impressive in relief. He retired all five batters he faced, two by strikeout.

Grant Duff, who narrowly missed being added to the 40 man roster this past off-season, worked the ninth for the save. It was a bit of a high wire act. Though he had the best velocity of any pitcher to take the mound all night at about 93 MPH, he was wild. He fell behind each of the first three hitters he faced 2-0, and allowed the winning run to come to the plate with two outs before closing it out.

Not only was the bulk of Trenton's starting rotation sitting across the aisle from me, former Yankee Steve "Bye-Bye" Balboni was seated about three rows behind me. There was also a scout there with a Diamondbacks hat and credentials, and probably three or four other scouts who weren't so conspicuous.

David Phelps, who has been impressive thus far in 2010 starts this morning's game. I'd like to catch that one as well, but it's just not in the cards today. Trenton returns to hard-hittin' New Britain at the end of next month. Maybe I can make another visit then.

11 Days Until Spring Training: Buck Showalter

When Buck Showalter was growing up in the 1960's in small town called Century on the panhandle of Florida, Little League games drew a crowd. The town had a beautiful, well-lit baseball field, so on countless summer nights hundreds of townspeople would gather to watch the kids play. Considering Buck's childhood home bordered on the field, perhaps it isn't much of a surprise that he took a liking to the game at a very young age. It also helped that, in addition to being the principal of the local high school, his father was also coach of its baseball team.

Buck took his smooth and level left handed swing to college at Mississippi State and was named an All-American in 1977. He batted .459 that year, splitting his time on defense between first base and the outfield. Despite having little to no power, he was drafted by the Yankees in the 5th round that year and assigned to A-ball in Fort Lauderdale.

As his college pedigree predicted, Showalter had the ability to hit for average and that skill carried him steadily through the Yankees' minor league ranks. Buck slapped his way to a .324 average at AA Nashville and led the Southern League in hits during the 1980 season which earned him a call up to AAA in 1981.

Unfortunately, Buck hit the wall in Columbus. He spent all of '82 back in Nashville, led the Southern League in hits for the second time and earned himself one final shot at AAA in 1983 where he struggled against superior pitching once again. Even if he had figured out International League pitching, Showalter's path to the Bronx would have been blocked by Don Mattingly.

He was briefly converted to a pitcher himself in an effort to salvage his playing career but it seemed as though Buck's life in baseball wasn't meant to take place on the field.

Having always displayed a natural baseball acumen, Showalter moving right into coaching after his playing career was over. He started off with the Yankees' New York Penn League team in Oneonta in 1985 and led the squad to a 106-41 record in his two years at the helm. That earned him a promotion to Fort Lauderdale where he presided over two consecutive winning squads.

His continuted success earned him a promotion to the Albany Colonie Yankees (AA) in 1989. It was that season in Albany that really jump-started his managerial career. His team went 97-46, he won Baseball America's Minor League Manager of the Year and was given the position of third base coach for the Yanks in 1990. Showalter replaced Stump Merrill as manager of the Big League club in 1992.

After going 76-86 in '92, Showalter guided the Yankees to a second place finish in 1993 with 88 wins. When the strike stopped the 1994 season, their winning percentage was even better (.619) and they were on pace to win over 100 games. Showalter was named AL Manager of the Year but they would have to wait a bit longer to break the Yanks' long playoff drought.

In the strike-shorted 1995 season, Showalter led the Yankees to their first postseason in 13 years. Although they lost to the Mariners in 5 games, it was clear that the organization was healthier that it had ever been. They had plenty of young talent on the team with much more waiting in the wings in the minors. However, this wasn't enough for George Steinbrenner. The Boss demanded that he fire two of his coaches after losing to the Mariners, but Showalter refused. Instead, he got the axe himself.

It didn't take long for Buck to land on his feet. He was quickly snatched up by the expansion Arizona Diamondbacks two years before they were scheduled to play a game. He was active in the construction of their roster and eventually served as their first manager. He led them to a 100 win season in 1999 and left after an 85 win campaign in 2000, just before the D-Backs unseated the Yanks in the 2001 World Series.

His last managerial tenure came in Texas from 2003-2006. He was 10 games under .500 during that stretch and was eventually replaced by Ron Washington. Since then, he has served as a senior advisor for the Indians and an analyst for ESPN.

Much of Showalter's success was attributable to a strong work ethic which, along with he stern demeanor, he was said to have inherited from his father. He worked so much that according to legend, he found himself inside a grocery store for the first time in 5 years during the 1994 strike.

Due to some unfortunate timing, Showalter never really got the credit he deserved for the role he played in turning the Yankees around. Had Steinbrenner not demanded that he unload two coaches after leading the team to the playoffs for the first time in over a decade, Buck could very easily have been at the helm of the late 90's dynasty. He ducked out of Arizona just a bit too early as well.

Showalter has begun to make appearances at Old Timer's Day and was included in the video montage during the last game at the Old Yankee Stadium. Perhaps Buck will never receive the adulation that many contributors to the Yankees dynasty do, but fans who watched the team closely during the early 90's or understand the club's history know how much he meant to the franchise.

The Jackson Report: 4/13

The Weekly Austin "Action" Jackson Report

Not a bad first week in Scranton for the CF of the Future:

Games: 4
AB: 17
Hits: 8
Average: .471
OBP: .524
SLG: .588
OPS: 1.112
Runs: 3
HR: 0
RBI: 5
Triples: 1
SO: 5
BB: 3

Watch out Brett Gardner...

Asshats

In honor of the fact that Real Time with Bill Maher starts up again tomorrow night, I've got a New Rule:

New Rule: Team apparel can only be sold in team colors.

The above items are useful for exactly one day per year, which doesn't even fall during the baseball season. Have at it, Sox fans! Grab yourself a pair of those pajama pants, one of those hideous green shirts, and wave that "lucky" banner while you are jumping off the Prudential Center.

I'm not just picking on the Sox. Check out all of these acts against God:

If are wearing one of those right now, please ex-out of your browser and never read this blog again.

Are you a Mets fan but want to wear a Yankees hat for some odd fucking reason? Maybe you are a Yankees fan who just adores the combination of blue an orange. A lifelong David Cone/Doc Gooden/Darryl Strawberry fan?

No? Are you a straight gangsta from Oakland who ain't afraid to show some love for da Yanks? Or a colorblind nerd from New York attending Berkley?
Then you must like the Braves, Cubs or Pirates, and are dying to wear their colors on the hat of the most hated franchise in all of baseball, right?

Can someone please explain how buying a team's hat with another team's colors on it makes even one small bit of sense? Do you like both teams? Do you wear it only when the two teams play each other? What takes precedence, the logo or the colors?

Look, I understand the financial reasons a team has to bastardize their logo by sewing it onto a million different hats. More unique items translate into more sales. There are some very stupid people out there who probably want a Yankees hat to go with every outfit they own and are not ashamed to look like a complete and utter douchebag while doing it.

But here is a short message to those dummies and others who have bought branded merchandise in non-official team colors:

You are suckers.

At a certain point the following conversation happened somewhere in the MLB offices:

Executive: Our merchandise sales are stagnating, gentlemen. What can we do about it?

Sales guy #1: Well, we could make it cheaper, sir...

Executive: You're fired.

Sales guy #2: We could try to increase our global distrib-

Executive: Great idea! Just kidding, you're a moron. Next?

Sales guy #3: Well, we could make stuff in different colors...

Executive: Brilliant! We'll put out a never ending stream of new colors and some idiots are bound to buy them!

In closing: Don't be a sheep. If you don't like your team's official colors, don't buy the merchandise. If you are worried about the colors of your team's hat and whether or not they match with the rest of your clothing, rest assured that people will notice how ugly you are long before the fact that your hat clashes with your stupid jacket.

Number of Days Until Spring Training: Buck Showalter (#11)

Fittingly, Buck Showalter got overshadowed today.

If the Super Bowl wasn't yesterday, this piece would have been written last night, and Buck would have had the 6:00AM slot. His career as Yankee Manager was similarly overshadowed and under appreciated.

Buck was born to be a baseball man. He has a very baseballey-sounding name. When he was growing up in Century, Florida, Little League games were the most popular summertime activity. Every night there was a game, a couple hundred residents would gather under the lights to take in the action. Buck didn't have to travel very far to catch the games, because his backyard butted up against scoreboard of the field. His father was the Principal of the local high school and coach of the baseball team, in case you were wondering where Buck got his stern demeanor.

Unfortunately, Showalter wasn't born to be a baseball player. He spent seven years in the Yankee organization and had relatively good minor league numbers, but never played a game on the big stage because he was blocked by Don Mattingly. William Nathaniel "Buck" Showalter got his nickname for the state of undress he used to walk around the locker room in.

After his playing career, Buck went on to manage in the Yankees system, starting with Oneonta, moving to Fort Lauderdale, and ending up with the Albany Colonie Yankees in 1989, who went (97-46) and won him the Baseball America's Minor League Manager of the Year. He was promoted to the Yankees major league coaching staff in 1990 and replaced Stump Merrill as Manager in 1992.

After going (76-86) in '92, Showalter guided the Yankees to a second place finish in 1993 with 88 wins. When the strike stopped the 1994 season, their winning percentage was even better (.619) and they were on pace to win over 100 games. The Yanks made the playoffs in 1995 for the first time since 1981 by earning a Wild Card berth.

His personal clashes with George Steinbrenner ultimately led to him leaving the team before the 1996 season. After losing to the Mariners in the '95 ALDS Steinbrenner wanted Buck to fire two of his coaches, and when he refused, Buck got the axe himself. After having set the table for St. Joe and the late 90's dominance, he moved on to the expansion Arizona Diamondbacks. He led them to a 100 win season in 1999 and left after 2000, just before the D-Backs unseated the Yanks in the 2001 World Series.

I was at a game earlier this year and they had Buck pull the Metlife countdown lever. There was a smattering of applause, but not real love for him. I was pretty surprised. Yankee fans pride themselves on their appreciation for the team's history, and to some extent, the indifferent reception to Buck's appearance that night makes me question that.