Baseball in Fort Wayne

Archive for September, 2008

Eric Wedge will be back with Cleveland for 2009 after a disapponting 2008 that ended strongly. While he may have the whole off-season to plan, he’s wasting little time.

During a news conference today, he had plenty of reasons to point the finger, but refused to place blame.

“In essence, we lost our Nos. 2-, 3- and 4-hole hitters from ’07, our closer, our bullpen — which really went south on us — and two of our starters,” Wedge said. “It’s tough to overcome that. “But nobody cares about that in the end, you know. What they want you to do is play out with the expectations that were in front of you.”

He was also quick to respond to the bullpen woes by firing longtime Cleveland bullpen coach, Luis Isaac, who had been in that position since 1993 and a member of the club for much longer. One of the key things that will be pursued over the course of time leading up to Spring Training is to locate a closer. Jensen Lewis showed some promise near the end of hte season, but he’s no sure thing. Beyond the closer’s role, there will be a search for additional arms and some power bats.

Should be a busy offseason for Wedge and the Tribe.

Lamond Pope is reporting:

Fort Wayne’s minor league franchise will have a new name by the end of this week. The team is working on a news conference, tentatively scheduled for Thursday at the Grand Wayne Center, to announce the name. A press release with full details is expected Wednesday.

I will be traveling again this week, but will do my best to update from the road. Personally, I hope they keep the Wizards name and do some rebranding.

Following a 99 loss season, you can be certain that there will be speculation that the manager might not return on the next season. However, that’s not the case in San Diego. The Padres have announced that Bud Black will return for next season (despite the endorsement for the opposite from Friar Forum).

That being the case, I suspect he’ll be on a short leash and former Wizards Skipper, Randy Ready might be waiting in the wings. Another former Wizards manager, Bench coach Craig Colbert did not have his contract renewed by the Padres.

“I am grateful to Kevin Towers and the Padres for the opportunities I have had in this organization,” Colbert said. “I am very proud of my accomplishments as a player, coach and manager in my 14 years with the Padres’ organization.”

Colbert led the Wizards to a 72-65 record during the 2000 season. The only position player from that squad who had made his way to the big leagus is Ben Johnson. However, several pitchers have stood out from the 2000 team. Cy Young winner Jake Peavy, Cliff Bartosh, J.J. Trujillo, Dennis Tankersley, Jack Cassel (brother of the New England Patriots quarterback, Matt Cassel), Eric Cyr and Mike Thompson have all made it to the MLB level.

In related news, former Wizards manager, Tracy Woodson looks forward to another challenging season at the helm of the Valparaison baseball team this year.

“I’m excited about the challenge this year’s schedule provides us,” head coach Tracy Woodson said.  “This is something we want to do every year, playing a couple of top-25 opponents.”

With that, it appears the Padres will need, at the least, a new Bench Coach and a New Hitting Coach for 2008. My money is on Max Venable for Hitting Coach.

Any thoughts on those two spots?

I was in Indy today and took a walk down to Victory Field (home of the Indianapolis Indians). The gates were open, as was the team shop. Got to take a real quick around as they prepared for a Cancer Walk that will take place tomorrow. Guess you really can promote healthy events at the ballpark.

BTW: I would have taken more pictures had I actually brought my camera. This one was taken with my camera phone.

There will be not posts for the next couple days as I spend some time away on my “other-life” business. Will catch up this weekend.

Chase Headly Has Bright Future

First off, Duh! With that said, Cory Brock put together a really nice piece on the Padres’ rookie outfielder who played third base for the Wizards. Its really good at pointing out how Chase Headley has doen everything right within the organization and consistently strived to improve himself while taking his game to higher levels. Take his recent four-hit performance (in a game former Wizard Dirk Hayhurst spot started for another former Wizard in Jake Peavy and former Wizard Luke Carlin was the only bench player not used) and combine that with the fact that the Padres MASH unit is filled with outfielders, and one might rightfully speculate that we’ll see him with the big league squad out of Spring Training.

MadFriars Interview Sawyer Carroll

Sawyer Carroll appeared in a handful of games with Fort Wayne at the end of the season, capping what can be considered a successful pro debut. Denis Savage of MadFriars caught up with the prospect. (subscription required).

Ekstrom & Geer Come Through

Savage also put together a solid article that details the rise of the two former Wizards pitchers, who were teammates on the 2007 Champtionship San Antonio squzad. (Subscription Required).

LeBlanc Gets Win, Leg Up on 2009 Competition

SanDiego Spotlight details Wade LeBlanc’s first MLB win a week ago Monday:

The victory for Wade comes in his third major league start and gives a glimpse of what may come next season.  The Padres are actively auditioning young talent for next years roster and Wade LeBlanc would love to break camp with the big league club next year.

LaTroy Hawkins May Return to Houston

There’s speculation that the LaTroy Hawkins, who put together one of the most dominant pitching performances in Wizards’ history, may be resigned by the Houston Astros for 2009.

Hawkins has pitched so well the Astros would like to bring the right-hander back for another season if the price is right. Hawkins, 2-0 with a save and a 0.00 ERA in 20 games, has struck out 22 and walked just four in 17.0 innings.

Not too long ago, I bloged (in jest) that it would seem logical for the Padres to get former Wizards hitting coach, Max Venable, with the parent club now that his son, Will Venable, has reached the Padres. Max has been wiht Will pretty much every step of Will’s professional career; having followed him from A-ball in Fort Wayne all the way to Portland this season.

So you can see the logic in that suggestion. However, even I didn’t take it seriously as a possibility . . . until I read that Wally Joyner has resigned as the Padres hitting coach.

“It bothers me a lot that I have come to the point where it is clear that I need to move on,” Joyner said. “I came to the job hoping to put my experience and ideas to good use in teaching and coaching the Padres’ hitters, but it has become obvious to me in the past few months that the organization’s approach is different from mine.”

The Padres have not yet named a successor to Joyner. However, Venable might indeed be one of the best in-house choices the Padres have. I’ll keep you updated.

This weekend I (finally) started digging into my research on Auburn, Indiana native and former big leaguer, Rollie Zeider (November 16, 1883 – September 12, 1967). While I am hardly to the point that I want to be before I begin drafting his bio, I have to say that I am finding him to have been a fascinating individual. Here’s a few nuggets of information I can share now to give you an idea of who he was…

• He played with three “big league” Chicago teams – Cubs, White Sox and Federals/Whales (of the Federal League)
• Nicknames included Polly, Bunions, Sandy and often was referred to as Rollie as well as Rolla
• Entered the NEIBA Hall of Fame in 1965 - some time after his playing days had ended
• His Auburn Reds team often played agains the Fort Wayne Shamrocks
• Managed the Toledo Mudhens in 1919
• He was once escorted from the field by police officers after arguing with an umpire
• Once played in a  24-inning game that ended with a 1-0 score. He was involved in the last play of the game that led to the run.
• He hit the first grand slam at Wrigley Field (which was at the time called Weeghman Field as it was named after the Chicago Whales owner, having been built for the Federal League and not the Cubs).

Lots of other great stuff that I plan to share in the future, but I wanted to give you a taste. Never in my life did I think it would be such fund to sift through papers from the (really) early 1900′s, but I am loving it putting together a timeline of events and information. It’s been fascinating to develop patterns to truly get a feel for who the man was and what sort of player he represented.

I’m looking forward to sharing more of my research as I continue this quest. I am pretty sure there are some area residents who still live in the area and are related to Rollie in some fashion. If anyone has information about him or such relatives, please drop me a line or comment on this post. I’d love to get it all incorporated into the bio that will be the final result of this project.

Thanks.

YorkRegion Profiles George Kottaras

Following his MLB debut, George Kottaras gets some coverage from his native area press. A very good profile that covers the Red Sox’s fourth string catcher from being drafted, to his career in the minors, to the Olympics and to the eventual call-up. Unfortunately, they can’t spell his last name correctly.

“There was a lot of stuff going on with our AAA team (playoffs) and I wasn’t aware that I would be called up.” About a half hour after the team got knocked out of the playoffs, he got a call to go into Pawtucket manager Ron Johnson’s office. “He told me I was going up right away,” Kottaras recalled.

Will Venable is Impressing

The San Francisco Chronicle recently took a brief look at “Max’s son” – Max being former Wizards’ hitting coach, Max Venable and Max’s son being former Wizard, Will Venable. At the time, the 25-year-old rookie was hitting .340 in 47 big-league at-bats. But the irony of the situation is that it was not Will’s Dad, but his mother, Molly, who encouraged Will to pick up baseball again after having not played his freshman college year while playing baseball at Princeton.

“She told me to think about maybe trying baseball again because she saw the opportunities that it gave my dad,” he said. “I went to Princeton with the intentions of trying both. I didn’t play my freshman year because I couldn’t handle it. She just continually reminded me to keep it in mind, and it ended up working out.”

Mott Reflects Fondly on Fort Wayne Memories

TOM MOTT was recently named as one of the All-Time Wizards based upon his performance as a Wizards player. He wrote in to the Journal Gazette to reflect.

Although my dream of getting to the big leagues was never realized, when I think about my five-year baseball career, Fort Wayne is always the first thing that comes into my head. Great people, great stadium, great teammates and an absolutely wonderful community.

Mott is now the founder and director of a non-profit organization that helps disadvantaged kids from around the world come to the United States to receive a fully sponsored education. Check out his site at  1dreamfoundation.com. The link has also been added to the right panel links.

I have been meaning to mention this, but just haven’t gotten around to it yet. Former Wizard, Michael Cuddyer recently returned to the lineup for the Minnesota Twins. He looks to be slotted at DH, but still has lingering pain and likely will not be relied upon too heavily the remainder of the season (and if the Twins hit the post-season).

But regardless of his on-the-field endeavors the rest of the season, Cuddyer is also nominated for the Roberto Clemente Award this year.

The award recognizes the player who best exemplifies the game of baseball, sportsmanship, community involvement and the individual’s contribution to his team. It is named in honor of the former Pirates outfielder whose spirit and goodwill will always be remembered. Clemente died in a plane crash while attempting to transport relief supplies to earthquake-stricken Nicaragua on Dec. 31, 1972.

Cuddyer has done extensive work and fundraising efforts for the Boys & Girls club of the Twin Cities and serves on the board of directors of the Twins Community Fund to help direct grant funds to other charities among several other philanthropic activities.

• More information about Roberto Clemente and the Award
• Vote for Cuddyer by clicking here and following the instructions