At the start of this season I played around with ideas for honoring the best all around player for the Beavers in 2010. I came up with Beavo of the Seaso, The Beaver Best and they all sound very silly. So I came up with the “Too Big for this League Award”.
We had a lot of great players this year and although the wins and the losses won’t show it, we have a team full of talent. Most of which could easily slip into any Major League Club without anybody being any the wiser. Some of the players in fact went on to play for the Padres, either off an on or to be gone for good and never having to fly back into PDX.
From the Fan Seat is proud to announce Mike Baxter as the Beaver Too Big for this League Award.
Baxter finds out he wins the award
Drafted in 2005, as the 4th round draft pick by the Padres; Baxter has been a frequent companion to success; in 2008 he was picked to be on the AFL All-Prospect Team, was the player of the week twice in the Texas League and in the same year he was a mid-season All-Star and this year out of all the possible candidates in the PCL, he outshined them all and was the PCL player of the week while wearing a Beavers’ Jersey.
He is tied for 12th place in PCL homeruns and tied for 16th in batting averages, tied 11th for stolen bases and he leads anybody with more stolen bases in homeruns. And although 20th in RBIs, the fact that he plays on a team that has the 3rd lowest PCL batting average; he still was able to get the infrequent base runners home when opportunity presented itself and he did it being 15th in the league in slugging.
Yet being on a team that gave little bat support, Mike’s 28 Doubles and 10 Triples put him 38 times in instant scoring position which help him be 7th in runs in the league.
He is exciting and he is always there.
He has had 36 multiple hit games and has gone 5 for 5 this season, he has gotten at least 1 hit in 85 out of the 132 games he has played in which means he has always been there for us, only missing out playing in 7 games all season. He is a true Minor League Iron Man.
He was the first Beaver in the last 9 years to hit for the Cycle on June 8th 2010 and was later the PCL Player of the week the only other Beaver player this year to be PCL Player of the Week was Frieri and since July the day after the All-Star game, he’s been a Padre.
Mike Baxter was our 2nd pick for the All-Star game but not because of playing ability but because of the competition and opportunity to play.
Baxter hasn’t turned off the excitement, as we wind down into the last 4 games of the season; Mike sits just 2
Baxter hits 1 of his 18 homeruns this season
homeruns shy of the rarely heard minor league feat of 20/20 vision. Mike has accomplished 20 stolen bases and 18 homeruns.
It might seem like a daunting feet to accomplish 2 more homeruns in just 4 games but Mike has hit 2 homeruns in 3 games and 3 homeruns in 4 games and he just hit one September 1st.
It is more than his work at the plate, it is his impeccable defense. I’ve described his arm as a cannon and a gun, taking away extra bases from runners throwing perfectly lined throws directly at 2nd, 3rd and home. Even when Baxter has been deep in the right field, throws to third have kept eager runners in check at 2nd as the single hop throw doesn’t pull Stansberry even an inch off of the bag.
We’ve watched him steal homeruns over the wall and take away line drive singles as he ran full force into the infield.
Valuable, well out of those incredible 132 games he has played, only 4 errors and you can count only 3 of those as being “real errors” since 1 came as he played 3rd base, a position he only did for 3 games the whole season.
Either in Right Field, Left Field or at 1st and never getting injured, the hard working and .300 dependable Baxter deserves the Beaver Too Big for this League Award.
Mike Baxter is the kind of player that if you had 8 of them, you would win every game in every season.
Recently, Mayor Adams released a letter to the people of Portland and the fans of the Portland Beavers on his website. The letter or posting was titled, “The challenge of finding a new home for the Portland Beavers”. In it, Mayor Adams goes on to list a host of reasons why a new ballpark for the Portland Beavers did not come to fruition for our fair city.
He uses Pro-Forma Data provided to him from the Portland Beavers as a guide to financing the new ballpark. In it he says,
Additionally the attendance estimates he stated would be,
“Expected to draw an average of approximately 4,500 people per game to a new stadium in the Rose Quarter in 2011”
Using the data from the attendance estimates Mayor Adams gives the following revenue expectations for a new ballpark:
“Ticket sales for Triple-A baseball games in a new stadium would generate approximately $3.4 million in revenue in 2011. A 6 percent user fee like the one currently charged on spectator events in Portland—and used to pay back bonds—would generate approximately $204,000 a year in 2011”
Mayor Sam Adams did he even bring in a specialist for a $60 Million dollar project?
The attendance estimates are extremely important when funding a new ballpark; for one it will be used not only for ticket sales estimates but sales of parking, concessions and merchandise. It also helps in figuring out foot traffic, mass transit ticket sales and miscellaneous sales for surrounding area stores and restaurants. The payments back to the city’s bonds taken out to help finance the construction are based on a tax by the number of ticket solds, under estimating the ticket sales makes it appear almost impossible to pay back those bonds issued.
New ballparks receive something known as ballpark boost; a huge increase in ticket sales and attendance due to the opening of a new ballpark. New ballparks receive huge increases because it is much like IKEA’s grand opening when people waited outside all night to go in, it is new and people love to see something new. It also receives a lot more media attention; construction is seen by people for a year or more and it builds ups expectations. It comes down to free publicity.
Historically in the Triple-A, since the 1988 all the following new ballparks that have opened in cities with existing Triple-A teams have received the following attendance boosts:
Triple-A City
Year Open
Last Year
New Park
Change
Albuquerque
2003
351,559
594,298
69%
Toledo
2002
300,079
567,804
89%
Fresno
2002
292,886
563,079
92%
Louisville
2000
361,484
685,863
90%
Memphis
2000
397,339
902,110
127%
Indianapolis
1996
366,254
537,325
47%
Durham*
1995
259,758
390,486
50%
Buffalo
1988
497,760
1,186,651
138%
Average New Ballpark
88%
Buffalo had the highest in 1988 with a 138% increase in attendance from the last year in their old ballpark. The lowest was Indianapolis, who saw only a 47% increase in attendance. On average a new ballpark boosts attendance by 88% since the late 80’s for Triple-A teams and cities.
The Pro-Forma Data estimates that ticket sales for a new ballpark in Portland would average around 4,500 a game. With 72 home games that is a 324,000 yearly attendance average.
The Pro-Forma Data was created in 2009 and must use the 2008 attendance data figures for estimates. I compared the Pro-Forma Data against actual Portland Beaver’s attendance figures to see what Portland’s ballpark boost was expected to be by the Portland Beavers and the Mayor’s office.
Year
Attendance
72 Game Average
Pro-Forma Estimates
Ballpark Boost estimates
Portland
2008
392,512
5,451
4,500
-17%
Portland
2009
369,580
5,133
4,500
-12%
Negative Boost?
The Pro-Forma Data estimates that we’ll be the first new Triple-A Ballpark to have negative ballpark bump/boost.
Historically, the Beavers have averaged approximately 5,500 attendees. AAA franchises that move into new stadiums within the same market average an attendance increase of approximately 25-50 percent.
4,500 estimated average attendance is 324,000annually however again from the same research group’s Memo on page 28 they estimate the following:
Annual Paid Attendance (all events) - 425,000 to 475,000
Despite this research the Pro-Forma data puts the Portland Beavers as having a drop in attendance with a new ballpark by 100,000 people annually. It is almost as if the Pro-Forma data ignores the research created for Merritt Paulson.
Shaw’s Economic Research’s the low 25% attendance increase based it off of 2008 Portland Beavers attendance records. I use the low estimate of 425,000 annual attendees.
My own lowest new Triple-A Ballpark boost of 47% as experienced by Indianapolis.
Average Attendance Per Game
Pro-Forma Data
4,500
Shaw’s Economic Research
5,903
Lowest Triple-A ballpark boost at 47%
8,014
Season Total Attendance
Pro-Forma Data
324,000
Shaw’s Economic Research
425,000
Lowest Triple-A ballpark boost at 47%
576,992
General Ticket Sales
Pro-Forma Data
3,660
Shaw’s Economic Research
5,063
Lowest Triple-A ballpark boost at 47%
7,174
Total Ticket Revenue after Taxes and Fees (All Sections)
Pro-Forma Data
$4,477,747
Shaw’s Economic Research
$5,650,834
Lowest Triple-A ballpark boost at 47%
$7,395,152
Ticket Tax Revenue received for Bond Payments (5.6%)
Pro-Forma Data
$284,005
Shaw’s Economic Research
$357,814
Lowest Triple-A ballpark boost at 47%
$468,883
Parking Revenue Received (After Expenses)*
Pro-Forma Data
$283,081
Shaw’s Economic Research
$412,780
Lowest Triple-A ballpark boost at 47%
$560,403
* I am not sure what the maximum collectable is for parking as spaces might not be available to meet the estimated 90% of attendees visiting the ballpark. (90% estimated off of the Pro-Forma Data).
Mayor Adams states that the Pro-Forma Data shows a collection of only $204,000 dollars in 2011 yet I looked all over the Pro-Forma data and it shows a collection of ticket tax revenue of $32,656 for suite tickets sells and$251,349 for General and Club seats. Besides not getting the correct number off of the Pro-Form Data correctly (you just have to read it) if you use the low 25% increase in attendance figures the Admission Tax is $284,005 total and a Triple-A low of 47% increase has the Admission Tax revenue at $468,883. The park suddenly begins to look more feasible in paying for itself.
Mayor Adams is also misleading when he only references revenue received from the new ballpark in the form of the ticket admission tax yet the Pro-Form Data shows Rent as an expense to the Portland Beavers. The rent for the ballpark is put at $625,000 the first year and going up $25,000 a year and a total of $3,275,000 in the first 5 years of operation, just in rent. It is misleading on Mayor Adams part because he decides to show public expense and funding on the ballpark but then only shows revenue in the form of a ticket tax, a slowly decreasing revenue stream which he shows. That data by itself without rent, misleads readers into thinking the park can not pay back city funds.
Merritt Paulson, it is his Pro Forma Data, is he to blame?
Who is misleading the data, is Mayor Adams or is it Merritt Paulson? Why go so low on attendance that it puts a normally positive number of attendance in the 50% range in the negative, taking away all the bump and boost in attendance enjoyed by every ballpark throughout America? Was the new ballpark never expected to happen, was it deliberate on Merritt’s part to keep the Pro-Forma data below realistic expectations and prior data so he could have an excuse to not go through with having two teams at one time? Was he hoping to sell the Beavers to help fund the MLS expansion, setting them up to fall deliberately?
Speculate all you want, we will probably never know why the Pro-Forma Data is poisoned as much as it is but you can bet it is poisoned. I can’t think any rational and knowledgeable person could possibly come to a conclusion that a new ballpark would decrease attendance by 12 or 17%. Is everybody half-assing a possible $60 million dollar construction project and a boost to local economy and employment and not checking these numbers?
If you think that a 47% increase in attendance is unrealistic in Portland Beavers attendance you have to take in consideration the following facts:
The Portland Beavers are just one of two Triple-A teams that share a park with a rectangle sport. However, Fresno’s park is designed ballpark first soccer 2nd.
The Portland Beavers are the only Triple-A team that plays on artificial turf.
The Portland Beavers play in the oldest ballpark in Triple-A built in 1926. The second oldest is McCoy at 1946 then Rosenblatt at 1948 and set to be torn down after this season. After 2010, there will be only 3 pre-1980 ballparks in Triple-A; McCoy (1946), Cheney (1960) and Herschel Geer Stadium (1978) .
PGE Park was not originally designed for baseball and baseball wasn’t an option from 1926 up to 1957 because it would be shoehorned in.
In 2009, the top 9 attended Triple-A parks, only 2 of the 9 ballparks were built before 2000.
In 2009, the 9 lowest attended Triple-A parks, only 2 of the ballparks were built after 1990.
Rank
City
2009 Attendance
Capacity
Built
1
Columbus
666,797
10,100
2009
2
Sacramento
657,095
14,414
2000
3
Lehigh Valley
641,335
10,000
2008
4
Round Rock
626,899
11,000
2000
5
Pawtucket
625,561
10,031
1946
6
Louisville
612,525
13,131
2000
7
Albuquerque
602,129
12,379
2003
8
Toledo
559,037
10,300
2002
9
Indianapolis
549,552
12,496
1996
22
Omaha
371,046
24,200
1948
23
Portland
369,580
19,566
1926
24
New Orleans
362,771
10,000
1997
25
Scranton/WB
358,888
10,310
1989
26
Tacoma
352,450
9,600
1960
27
Las Vegas
337,388
9,334
1983
28
Charlotte
320,427
10,002
1990
29
Nashville
305,434
10,700
1978
30
Colorado Springs
300,185
8,500
1988
Albuquerque’s last year in attendance with their old ballpark was 351,000 and ranked 20th in Triple-A baseball. In 2003 they were #4 in Triple-A attendance with almost 600,000 attendees a 69% increase in attendance in both 2008 and 2009 the Portland Beavers had attendances higher than Albuquerque’s last year with an old ballpark with 369,000 and 392,000. Portland ranked 23rd in 2009 for Triple-A attendance and 20th in 2008.
A lot of people have emotional speculations and grossly underestimate the popularity of the Portland Beavers. Some say Portland is not a Triple-A town and that is why attendance is low; yet Portland since 2001 and out of 30 Triple-A teams has always hovered around 20th place in attendance and not until this year ever been in cellar.
Even with all the facts listed above working against attendance: largest capacity stadium, oldest ballpark, multi-sport stadium, a team that has left and come back on several occasions, a stadium that houses baseball as a second thought; Portland ranked in the middle of attendance consistantly in the Triple-A.
You can view the excel Pro Forma Data on the excel sheet for yourself and see all the differences when compared to the memo’s estimates and the 47% lowest ballpark boost experienced by Triple-A and see how much the financing and revenue changes.
Yes, this is a little late for a series wrap up, two days late or three; however, you wish to look at it. I do have an excuse, this isn’t my job and my real job has been horrific. A large system upgrade that required me to work 20 some hours over the weekend and working every weeknight until midnight and this web site gets put on hold.
Excel File for the Portland Beavers August Las Vegas Series So on my first day off in 12 days, lets get to a great series. If you are paying attention to our current series you will know that we are on a 6 game win streak and 2 and 0 against Tacoma; if you are doing your math you know that, that equals a sweep in Las Vegas. And what happens in Las Vegas is going up on my web site.
We just keep beating these poor folks up when going to Cashman field. Last series there we split the series; however, in one game we won 21 to 4 setting modern franchise records and closely approaching a PCL record for hits. So what did we do on our second visit?
Aaron Cunningham dinged before he was even with us.
We outscored them every game and that is how we swept Las Vegas. A lot of sports reporters won’t go all controversial with a series wrap up like that and tell you the secrets to a series win. The Beavers didn’t let Las Vegas win by keeping their scores lower than the runs the Beavers achieved in each game. They did it 2 to 1.
Okay, so now that the basic concepts behind winning are out of the way: Portland batted on Average in the series at .295 which right now would put them 2nd in AVG for the PCL. Incredible considering that Portland is currently in 3rd to last place in batting averages for the PCL.
Slugging was no worse for Portland; they slugged out a .438 average and that would currently put them tied for 4th place in the PCL for slugging. This is coming from the incredible last place PCL slugging team with a season average of .388.
Baxter, the newly rejoining Cunningham, “Kaz”, Pena and the ex-Portland Beaver Jody Gerut, all batted over .500 in slugging. I’d say that it was the expected as far as slugging is concerned although Gerut was a surprise for me. Newly acquired players can take some times adjusting to being on a new team.
Baxter put up another homerun to get himself just that much closer to a 20/20 season and even when going hitless in 2 games he stilled produced runs by walking and later scoring; striking out only once in the whole series and reaching 1st in every game. Baxter took up permanent residency at 1st; playing the whole series. This might be a very deliberate move with September call ups around the corner. Unfortunately for Baxter, he batted only .250 for the series and dropped him under the .300 mark.
This is suppose to be Aaron Cunningham, anybody else believe that?
Offensively, Aaron Cunningham is the player to thank for the series sweep. Playing in all 4 games, he batted .467 average and an incredible .933 slugging. Cunningham had 10 RBIs which accounted for almost a third of our total offensive series production. Dusty Ryan is making a very late season comeback with his season long struggles at the plate; he was 3 for 7 in the 2 games he played in. Craig Stansberry was out on a 7 day DL but this might be less injury related and more ego protection. Being a streaky hitter and on a cold on.
Defensively, Portland was hotter than a Storm trooper on Tattooine and without Team Lubke. Geer was in 1stgear going 8 and giving up only 2 and Ramos was right behind them. Ramos is definitely trying to get back to Petco by pitching to contact having only 2 strike outs in 7 innings but creating 11 Groundouts and 7 flyouts. Adam Russell picked up three saves but he still doesn’t look good on the mound and in fact it usually borders on awkward.
Two errors for the series is great for team that has changed in defensive persons a lot this year. A quick list of all the different people from memory: Added, Pena, Nick, Gerut, Hunter, Cabrera, Phillips, Gone, Canham, Contreras, Cooper, Zawadzki, Munson, Denorfia and Durango. On top of player changes, Barfield has been bounced around from 3rd to 2ndto Right Field, Baxter is at first now with that role changing from Cooper to Pena to Phillips and sometimes a catcher. Lance and Kaz have traded places around 2ndand Short and lastly Stansberry has seen almost everything in the infield.
Portions of small are gone as Hunter was the only person to successfully steal a base in the series while Barfield was caught and the super speedy Dusty Ryan who is always a stealing threat with his catcher knees was surprisingly also caught. Although, I didn’t get a chance to hear the game so I am not 100% sure how that really played out.
Rich Burk in Las Vegas eating a snowbaseball. Cool fan Christine Taylor snapped this!
Counting the two games they’ve won in Tacoma, Portland will have to be 10 and 1 throughout the rest of the season to be a .500 team from July to the last game and fulfill my prediction. Portland is currently 54-79; I had them pegged at 67 and 77 for the season. So they really need to win the rest of the games this season to make me look good.
You know there are some unsung heroes at the ballpark that will never hit the game winning homerun or make the diving catch deep in the heart of centerfield to win the game at the top of the 9th while hanging on to a one run lead with bases loaded. They serve you food, make sure your seat is working and help you find your seat; but they also no matter the weather conditions and no matter the score, entertain you and join you in on the sidelines’ of the game.
No one performs that act more than anybody else other than Lucky Beaver. He’s got a baseball card, he’s got a birthday and he is always there in the ballpark’s starting lineup. Everybody who has been to the ballpark knows instantly that Lucky Beaver is a huge draw for all the kids. He signs more items in a single game than all the ballplayers will sign in a month and he uses good judgment when doing it, turning down obviously expensive items that probably shouldn’t have signatures on them.
He took over for his cousin, Boomer Beaver in 2008 and it has been great ever since. He came in looking slim, a cute adorable face and less exaggerated appendages allowing for better dance moves and on field running. Despite being born covered in fur; I’ve seen him at day games entertain children, when the crowd was hanging out in the shade to escape triple digit heat waves. This year, a local vet confirmed that Lucky Beaver had unfortunately received a hair line fracture to his leg and yet he was still there for every game. Nothing stops him, not even an injury that would put one of our players out for 15 or 45 days on the disabled list.
Lucky is gange tackled by a swarm of happy children
He doesn’t just keep the entertainment to the games, all week on his face book page he talks to the friends that ‘like’ him. He will post on your profile’s wall if you are talking about going to PGE Park to catch a Beavers’ game. He held weekly contests to have fans send in pictures of him and the best one would be his profile picture for the week. He kept people engaged and would alert them to special deals, events or when he had something big planned. He gives fans a piece of the baseball team and fills that void of team to fan interaction.
His interaction with fans up in the grandstands is consistently entertaining, this year he faked his death when a fan played around with him and then the fan gave him CPR and he was all better. On the night of the Webkinz Lucky Beaver give-away, he used the promotional item as a minion and had it come out of his chest. At his birthdays, we get to see all the mascot of the Oregon, Blaze, The Oregon Duck, OSU Beaver, The Winterhawk’s mascot the PSU Viking and it is the only time and place that you are going to see them all together, over and over. I never attend those other sporting events, so I love seeing them though out the game.
Little facts about Lucky Beaver, last year upon hearing the news he was being traded by the Padres, Pitcher Scott Patterson for one inning took advantage of the night off and was Lucky Beaver for an inning. He has reminded me dozen of times that I need to cheer when I am zoned out and locked into the game. He does a fantastic job at dancing to
What is Lucky Beaver wearing?
Michael Jackson, has the hip thrust and foot waggle down. He loves to mess with the Supercuts Ground Crew and steal their bases. He will not speak ever, so if you want to relay messages (I found this out the hard way) better be ready for charades (he will help you out if you have a pen and paper on hand). He use to compete in the Miller Can Races but he won too many times and had to step down.
Lucky Beaver Biker, two wheeling it to an event.
He has been trying desperately to make ESPN’s Not Top 10 List by trying different acts. He even asked fans to help him come up with ideas. After fielding a lot of ideas he has come up with a plan to do a karate attack this Thursday August 18th against Round Rock, the opposing team. Will he make it? I have my fingers crossed that he will. It is the Beavers’ last televised game and his last chance to make to the list.
Many people know me to be “old school” when it comes to baseball, my favorite era starts with the turn of the century and stops with the first televised game, so I wouldn’t be surprised if people found my love for a mascot to be odd. In Minor League ball with crowds less than 10,000 he can stand in section 112 yet be a presence to everybody 4 sections in either direction. I get a kick out of the little babies that aren’t sure if he is a good thing or a scary thing and just stare at him not knowing what he is. I also like how much like the San Diego Chicken he is in the stands but instead of little chicks following him around, he is the pied piper of Hamilton and they just follow him all around the stands in a line. He is also very fun to receive a hug from, I mean a giant cute soft animal, how can one resist? The most impressive thing? School day games when children are lining up in the hundreds and the sun is beating down on all of us, he makes sure to ink his signature to every child’s item.
So come out to Thirsty Thursday at the PGE Park this Thursday August 19th, take in a great game and watch the visiting team’s dugout at the bottom of the 5th inning to see if Lucky “Judo” Beaver can take out the opposing team all on his own. It has been probably a week if not more in the making. And if you haven’t been able to, try to get a picture with him this year, just have the camera all ready to go, it won’t make him upset but you’ll feel the pressure is on when you get the chance.
So far he is on about 10 of my shirts, a couple of my Jersey’s, a pair of earings, he is a bobble head, he is a Piggy Beaver Bank, he is our team’s logo and he is even a plush lovable doll. He never has taken batting practice but being everywhere and on everything he is definitely a part of our home team.
Well I don’t get to type something this great in a while; the Portland Beavers take the series from the First Place Iowa Cubs. That is correct folk, you read it right, the First Place 66 and 48 Cubs lost the series to our boys in Blue and Darker Blue. The team played as the team I always envisioned them as, hitting consistently and slugging well beyond anything I could have envisioned. They also played defensively, just the way I thought them capable of them playing.
Wily Mo Pena makes the bat look like a toy
The mighty Iowa Cubs got a taste of our newly configured team, with the addition of Nick Green, Wily Mo “Let’s Go” Pena, Cunningham back from the Padres at last and the addition of hitting sensation Kyle “Forever Young” Phillips along with some of our toughest pitchers in Geer and Lubke. They would have to contest against the worst slugging and average team in the whole PCL. (Well not anymore, 2nd to worst Batting Average in the PCL).
Iowa would see us perform only 1 error in the whole series, it was the first game so think of it as Wily Mo Opening Night Jitters. 4 double plays would take place for the Beavers, making defense and winning just that much easier.
Essentially it really came down to our defense, almost everybody on the team hit above their season average, except for Barfield and Stansberry but Barfield did push past his season average of .399 in slugging hitting .429 for the series.
For the season the Beavers are .264 in Batting Average and .386 in slugging, as a team but in Iowa we were a Wade Boggs .325 and .522. We hit so well on the road the last two series that we literally climbed out of the PCL cellar and moved to 2nd to last in batting average.
Pena destroyed at the plate going 7 for 16 manufacturing 5 singles, a double and a home run; he also picked up 8 RBIs. Cedric Hunter is doing something correctly as well as he 9 hits but 4 of them were doubles. If you aren’t surprised by that be surprised by the team getting 51 hits and 15 of them were for two bags.
Baxter has got to at this point be seen as perhaps the best rounded player on the team, he has decent base stealing ability, is fast in the outfield and comes equipped with a mini-cannon that North Korea would like to take a look at, and hits with better than average power and he can fill in at first excellently. He is almost hitting .300 this season, just 7 points shy of reaching the mark and his slugging is just 8 points shy of .500. I can’t ever remember him ever taking a step onto the DL yet. He has the most plate appearances on the team with 450, yet he only has hit into a double play 8 times, tied for first with other Beavers who have far less playing time. He’s stolen 17 bases and yes he has gotten caught but that is expected on a team that every team in the PCL was on guard because we were a den of thieves. He is basically reaching base 2 out of every 5 times he comes to the plate.
Some differences, Kyle Phillips was at third, Wily Mo Pena was at first, he couldn’t DH because the Cubs were a National League Team and with the recent injury to the quads, probably a good thing to keep him out of the outfield. Also with Hunter, Baxter, Durango and now Cunningham, we’ve finally got an over abundance of Outfielders.
Last week's crowd, probably going to be the same for this week's too!
Kazmar, who not too long ago in Las Vega, went hitless in the series (he was not in the game were we racked up 31 hits), isn’t letting the past effect him. He did a decent .385 even getting 3 RBIs.
Essentially, against the Cubs, we had 3 hitters go over .400 and 9 hitters hit for over .300. This is has become the confident team that it should have been from the start; most of them are hitting at their exact abilities and with a little protection from Pena and Phillips and really even Cunningham who did well with the Padres, pitches are becoming much better for the rest of team. Don’t let all this slugging fool you, we are still playing some small ball; we still got away with 5 steals and only got caught once with our hand in the cookie jar.
Burke and Munter really need any cheers and shouts you might have stored up this season. Munter, who was recently on the DL and perhaps he is going back on it, came in, Walked Three and then left before making an out.
Somebody pinch me, Cesar Ramos must be eating spinach almost everyday because he went 7 innings giving up only 3 hits, this feels like a repeat from the double header we had a little while ago except that only had 2 hits in it and one of those was the homerun. So Iowa would technically be considered even better than that. For a guy that was going only 4 innings and giving up 5 runs in the process, Ramos is looking really good.
Lubke might be sliding up, this is pretty common in Triple A for pitchers, they come in hot and then try to over do it wanting more K’s and more innings but more K’s usually means less innings. He’s one under the Majors, so it is expected. I assume he is going to calm down for the rest of the season, this would be about the right time.
Koplov, our recent 33 year old addition to our bullpen has yet to impress. His last games with us and 1.2 innings of work has created 4 earned runs, a blown save and once he is behind in the count to a batter, good night lead, we hope to see you again.
Lucky is gange tackled by a swarm of happy children
For this series with our Beaver’s prior home in 2000, Albuquerque should be painless. They’ve managed 4 wins all month so far and 3 of those four are squeakers. The first game, tonight’s game will be the tough one. Granted we’ve only managed 5 wins this month, but 3 of them were against a first place team.
Remember this is the August Beavers and not the 2010 Beavers, our parent club is healthy, many on our team have been in the bigs, and for once we have players with slugging percentages to be proud of. Wily Mo and Kyle Phillips write home to their moms each week to tell them about it.
Tonight’s game is going to be close and it is going to be good. Liz can pitch his way through this team and had a hard time in Omaha but he is going to give up 4. Carrillo is on a steady downhill with his ERA, 5 outings ago 6 earned runs, next outing, 5 earned runs, then 3 then 4 and finally 2 in Iowa. He should either give up 3 on Saturday or 1 depending on his mood.
Then Sunday and Monday should go Lubke then Geer. I actually find myself wanting to take Liz out and put Ramos in, which is a first but this staff should give up 3 wins, I would like a series split but I think we can hope for better than that. Poreda being on the DL with a bad ankle, does hurt our bullpen.
The bullpen is going to be the real question in the series; Coach Kennedy needs to really be dialed into that part of the team because the players are either golden or Chernobyl, especially Burke and Adams. He needs to really be picking up some vibes and put people in somebody who is giving off the positive ones for that game. If Kennedy wants to win this series, don’t go with whoever is due up, drop somebody off if they seem off.
Don’t expect Munter to be seen until Monday’s day game, I have to wonder if he isn’t having issues with a previous injury coming back. It would be nice if Dusty only caught for 1 game.
And Hey Stansberry! Get us one more double and set the record already. Thanks.
Series (let’s do it for fun)
Fri – Portland W – 8 to 5 Liz
Sat – Portland L – 3 to 6 Carrillo
Sun – Portland W – 8 to 7 Lubke
Mon – Portland W 5 to 2 Geer
Tonight Isotopes will be sending out Ely, worry not last time he started, 1.2 innings pitched and gave up 8 earned runs. Call him McFly
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