Baseball in Fort Wayne

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With the Boston Red Sox seemingly parting ways with Jason Varitek, David Ross joining the Braves and having the Yankees snagging the now former Red Sox catcher, Kevin Cash, today, former Wizards catcher Goerge Kottaras is seemingly the incumbant Red Sox catcher. For now anyway.

Kottaras sports a hefty .200 batting average in 3 games and 5 at-bats at the major league level after having made his MLB debut last season. He was once a highly regarded prospect. In 2004, Kottaras played in the Olympics as first baseman and backup catcher for the Greece team. He collected three hits to help the team come from behind and defeat Italy 11-7. It was the team’s first and only win.

The following year, he did well at High-A, batting .303 before his promotion to Double-A Mobile. He was traded to the Boston Red Sox in September of 2006 to complete an Aug 31 trade for David Wells. That year, Kottaras was a Futures Game selection. During the game, he slugged a two run homer off Phillip Hughes and also collected an RBI off of Homer Bailey.

Yet, since that time, his average has been pretty much on the decline. Having spent two seasons at Triple-A Pawtucket, he got his chance very late in the 2008 season as a September callup, but the bench was pretty much full of backup catchers at that point and there was no sure thing he’d see any MLB action. Fortunately he did, and perhaps he was able to make a good impression on Francona and others.

But one has to suspect that the Red Sox will sign a catcher before (or two) before Spring Training. I’ve speculated in the past that they might try to pry away one of Texas’s young catchers, and latest word I have heard says that they were recently scouting Jarrod Saltalamacchia. There are a few catchers on the free agent market still, including two former Wizards, Jarvier Valentin and Chad Moeller (whom I thought was on his way to Baltimore). Might they take a chance on Ivan Rodriguez?

See Also: Wizards Where R They? George Kottaras

Photo by Chad Gramling

[memedex: pollid#488374]

I know it is like crazy early to start talking about Spring Trianing, but I couldn’t think of a better poll to test out the new feature on this blog.

I’ll probably be doing polls more frequently if I get enough participation and the service works out well.

Bishop Dwenger senior, Scott Scheumann will sign a national letter of intent to continue his baseball career with the University of Evansville.  The signing will take place in the Bishop Dwenger library on Friday, November 14 at 9:10 a.m.  Scheumann had a 6 – 4 record for the Saints last season with a 4.12 ERA.  In 54.1 innings pitched, he struck out 47 and walked 20 [source: Bishop Dwenger 11/12/2008].

There are many other baseball players with local ties that I am unaware of, so please feel free to add them in the comments of this post and include a link if you can. I’ll add them to the local ties page once their listed on their school’s team roster.

As the San Diego Padres were adding former Wizards to their 40-Man Roster for Rule 5 Draft protection, other MLB teams were also scurrying to protect their minor league talent. Some of them include former Wizards who are now playing for other organizations:

Jon Link (Chicago White Sox) – Link collected 35 saves at Double A this season. The Sox thinks he is primed to have a big-league closer career, which is why you have heard Bobby Jenks’ name bandied about in trade talks (albeit, minimal at this point).

Dale Thayer (Tampa Bay Rays) – Thayer was a Triple-A All Star this year. The 27-year-old releiver went 3-1 with nine saves and a 2.77 ERA. In 2007, he was 9-0 while collecting 21 saves. During six MiLB seasons, Thayer has compiled a 26-15 record, a 2.33 ERA and 132 saves.

Be sure to visit tomorrow as post the first of what I am hoping will become a regular feature here at BBIFW. It’s an interview segment I am calling 3 Strikes. Each segment, I will pose three questions to an individual with local baseball ties and include their responses.

Here’s your clue for the first person to step up to the plate:

He’s a pitcher from the 1995 Wizards’ squad and was recently named to the All-Time Wizards team. Should be an easy one if you know where to look. Either way, visit here tomorrow for his thoughts on baseball in Fort Wayne, the TinCaps and what he’s doing today!

WANE-TV is reporting that:

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.

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.

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.