Baseball in Fort Wayne

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Until this season, Randy Ready was the winningest manager in the Fort Wayne franchise’s history. Since that time, he’s managed at all levels in the Sand Diego Padres system except for the Major Leagues. During the offseason last year, he interviewed with the Seattle Mariners after being named by Baseball America as the minor league manager who is most ready to take on a big league gig.

During the 2009 season, the Padres promoted Ready to hitting coach, but I am sure they knew it is only a matter of time before Ready is managing a Major League club – either in San Deigo or elsewhere. So it comes as no surpise that Randy Ready is one of 10 candidates on the Houston Astros’ list.

It has been confirmed that they have asked for and were granted permission to talk to Ready. He’ll interview with the Astros on Thursday.

“It’s nice to be wanted,” Ready said. “The last two months with the Padres were great. I think the veteran hitters —- Adrian (Gonzalez) and Kouz (Kevin Kouzmanoff) established themselves. And the young kids stepped up. I think the Padres are in a great position heading into 2010.

“But I have to pursue this opportunity. I’ve been grooming myself for a major-league job, and this is a great chance.

The Astros are replacing Cecil Cooper, who was fired on September 21. good luck Randy

Former Fort Wayne Wizard, Ernesto Frieri becamse the 87th former Fort Wayne Wizare/TinCap to make his Major League Baseball debut last night when he entered the eight in place of San Diego Padres starter, Luke Gregerson.

He faced the minimum for the inning by striking out the Diamondbacks’ Gerardo Parra and then getting Chris Young to line out to third baseman and fellow former Wizard, Chase Headley. He then struck out Stephen Drew to end the inning and his outing.

Frieri appeared in one game with the Wizarads in 2006. He returned in 2007, where he appeared in 40 games, compiling a 1-2 record with a 2.64 ERA and striking out 65 while walking 23 over 64.2 innings piched.

Photograph (Daryl Jones #28 and Ernesto Frieri #19) by Chad Gramling taken at Memorial Stadium during the 2007 season. Autographs are authentic and obtained in person.

Former Wizards pitcher, Cesar Ramos made his Major League Debut today, pitching in relief for the San Diego Padres. He entered the game in the ninth inning with the Padres down 5-3. He gave up a single to the Diamondback’s Justin Uptin off a hit that he tipped to second baseman Edgar Gonzalez.

He then got Miguel Montero to fly out to Padres left fielder, Luis Durango, who made his Major League debut the night before. Mark Reynolds then struck out swinging before Gerardo Parra singled Uptin to third. Brandon Allen then flied out to Durango to end the inning.

In the bottom half of the ninth, the Padres scored two to send the game into extra innings. In the bottom of the tenth, Durango singled and stole second before being driven home on an Evereth Cabrera single to right.

With Fort Wayne in 2005, Ramos went 3-2 with a 4.19 earned run average. He struck out 32 and walked seven over 38.2 innings pitched.

Not only did Durango score the winning run and swiped his first of what will surely be many stolen bases during his first career start, he also went 3-4 with two runs.

An interesting note, the game featured a atotal of six former Wizards (Chase Headley, Drew Macias, Durango, Nick Hundley, Will Venable and Ramos). Wonder if that is a record?

Former Fort Wayne Wizard Luis Durango debuted with the Sand Diego Padres last night, making him the 85th former Fort Wayne Wizard/TinCap to ascend to the Major Leagues.

The speedy Durango enter the game in the ninth inning as a pinch hitter for pitcher, Luke Gregerson. Durango attempted to bunt for a hit (as we saw him do many times on Fort Wayne), but was out at first.

The Fort Wayne TinCaps leveled the best-of-three Eastern Division Championship Series with a 9-4 victory over the Great Lakes Loons, Sunday at Parkview Field. Justin Baum went 3-for-4, drove in four runs and finished a triple shy of the cycle. RHP Stiven Osuna and LHP Rob Musgrave combined on a strong pitching performance.

Decisive Game 3 is set for Monday at 7:05pm at Parkview Field.

The TinCaps jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the 2nd when Baum ripped a one-out single to left to plate Cole Figueroa, who doubled to lead off the inning. Blake Tekotte singled Baum home with two outs.

In the 3rd, Vince Belnome pounded a one-out double and scored later on an error. Baum plated Dykstra with a double into the right-field corner to make it 4-0.

The Loons chipped into the lead when Nick Buss hit a two-out solo homer in the 4th inning. RHP Stiven Osuna ran into potential trouble in the 5th and was lifted for LHP Rob Musgrave. The lefty walked Jaime Pedroza to load the bases with two outs, but struck out Anthony Hatch to short-circuit the rally and keep the TinCaps ahead by three runs.

In the bottom of the 5th, the TinCaps took advantage of a key error. Belnome singled and on what appeared to be a tailor-made double-play ball to second, the Loons made an error to put two on with one out. Allan Dykstra stroked a two-run, opposite-field double into the left-field corner to make it 6-1.

The Loons climbed back into the game with a pair of runs in the top of the 6th, but Fort Wayne bounced back with a run of its own in the bottom of the 6th to push the lead to 7-3.

In the 7th, Dykstra hooked another double, this one down the right-field line, off LHP Roberto Feliciano. Baum followed with a titanic home run over the left-field wall to make it 9-3.

Great Lakes scored an unearned run in the 9th on a double by Esteban Lopez, but Musgrave retired Dee Gordon to end the game and force a third game of the series. Musgrave (3-4) was the winning pitcher; he went 4.1 innings, allowed three runs (one earned) on two hits, walked one and struck out five. RHP Bobby Blevins (11-11) took the loss.

The TinCaps improved to 97-48 for the season and tied the best-of-three series at a game apiece. Great Lakes dropped to 84-61 overall.

Fort Wayne and the Loons (Class-A Los Angeles Dodgers) play Game 3 of the Eastern Division Championship Series, Monday at 7:05pm at Parkview Field in downtown Fort Wayne. It is a Family Feast Night, with selected concessions items on sale for one dollar each. The winner of Monday’s game advances to the Midwest League Championship Series; Fort Wayne has never advanced to the championship round in 17 years as a franchise.

Though I have not seen any official transaction details yet, it appears that former Wizards, pitcher Ernesto Frieri and outfielder Luis Durango may soon be joining the MLB roster in San Diego. Reportedly, they were informed of their new assignments following the (Double-A) San Antonio Missions exit from the playoffs.

An overwhelmed Frieri bounced from handshake to handshake, on the brink of tears, all but speechless at the announcement of the news. Durango stood bewildered in front of his locker, quietly accepting congratulations from teammates and staff.

The duo join Cesar Ramos, who recently joined the team, as they await their first opportunities at the big league level.

Frieri appeared in one game with the Wizarads in 2006. He returned in 2007, where he appeared in 40 games, compiling a 1-2 record with a 2.64 ERA and striking out 65 while walking 23 over 64.2 innings piched.

Durango played most of the 2008 season in Fort Wayne with the Wizards, where he appeared in 93 games. He hit .305 with 56 runs and 14 stolen bases. This season wiht San Antonia, the speedy Durango swiped 44 bags.

The Fort Wayne TinCaps finished the regular season on Monday with a record of 94-46, the best record in all of Minor League baseball and the best season in the Midwest League in 22 years. The last time a team won 94 games in the MWL was in 1987 when the Springfield (Illinois) Cardinals went 94-46.

A key player on the Springfield team was Bien Figueroa, father of TinCaps INF Cole Figueroa.

In another odd twist, Springfield did not win the playoff championship in 1987; that went to the Kenosha Twins, who went on to become the Fort Wayne Wizards, now known as the TinCaps.

The TinCaps’ 94-46 season is the best in all of Minor League Baseball since the 2003 Lake County Captains (Class-A Cleveland Indians). The Captains featured future Major Leaguers including RHP Fausto Carmona, OFs Ben Francisco and Michael Aubrey. Also on the Lake County roster was Clayton McCullough, now manager of the Midwest League’s Lansing Lugnuts (Class-A Toronto Blue Jays).

Fort Wayne won both the first-half and second-half Eastern Division championships and open a best-of-three series against the South Bend Silver Hawks (Class-A Arizona Diamondbacks) Wednesday at 6:30pm at South Bend’s Coveleski Stadium.

The next game at Parkview Field is scheduled for Thursday at 7:05pm. If necessary, a winner-take-all Game three would be played on Friday at Parkview Field at 7:05pm.

The winner of the Fort Wayne-South Bend series will take on the winner of the Great Lakes-West Michigan series beginning Saturday, September 12th.

Fort Wayne clinched its first playoff berth since 2006 by winning the first-half Eastern Division championship, going 45-25 before the All-Star break. The 45 wins in a half were a franchise record until the TinCaps won 49 games on their way to a second-half championship.

The New York Yankees have obtain former Fort Wayne Wizard, Freddy Guzman, from the Baltimore Orioles for a player to be named later or cash.

Guzman started the year in the Mariners’ organization, but lost his chance with the team after breaking a bone in his hand. He signed a Minor League contract with Baltimore after being released from Seattle and has played 95 games for Triple-A Tacoma, Pawtucket and Norfolk this season. He batted .218 with two homers, 16 RBIs and 38 stolen bases.

He was a highly regarded prospect when he first began his professional career. Baseball America lauded his game-changing speed as he came up in the Padres system. While playing in Fort Wayne during 2002, he hit .279 with 53 hits and 39 stolen bases over 190 at-bats. He was San Diego’s #3 ranked prospect in 2004 and #2 in 2005. But he missed that season with an elbow injury and his prospect status dimmed.

The Padres brought him back on a one-year contract in 2006, but traded him to the Texas Rangers along with Cesar Rojas that May for Vince Sinisi and John Hudgins. A year later, the Tigers traded Chris Shelton to the Texas Rangers for Freddy. Last year with Detroit, he stole 71 bases while splitting time between Double-A and Triple-A.

Wilton Lopez became the 84th former Fort Wayne Wizard/TinCap to ascend to the Big Leagues on August 29th when he entered the game slated for long relief of starter Yorman Bazardo in the third inning for the Houston Astros. 

Probably a day he’ll always remember, but one that he may want to forget. He entered his first Major League appearance with an inherited runner on second and no outs. The Diamondback’s Brandon Allen singled, moving the runner to third before Alex Romero hit a three-run homer. Lopez also yielded a solo shot to Miguel Montero and rookie John Hester, which was his first Major League hit.

Overall, Lopez was tagged for six runs on eight hits, giving up three homers in four innings of work.

“I thought the kid did pretty well, considering the circumstances,” [Astro's manager Cecil] Cooper said. “It was a tough situation to put him in, but I didn’t have much of a choice in the matter. He has a chance to be pretty good in the Major Leagues.”

Lopez is the eighth former Wizard/TinCap to debut in the MLB this year. He is the first from the 2007 squad.

Former Fort Wayne Wizards pitcher, Wilton Lopez was claimed off waivers from the San Diego Padres on April 10th this season. Today, he got called up from Double-A Corpus Christi and appears set to make his Major League debut. The 26-year-old righty is 4-5 with a 4.73 ERA in 29 games, including 15 starts on the season. Five of those starts came during August, where he boasts a 1.23 ERA and a 2-2 record.

Lopez is headed to the majors after a Class AA season which he started getting shelled in the bullpen after being claimed from San Diego. But since late June, he has been arguably the Hooks’ best starter, with 10 quality starts since June 23.

The move comes as the result of Astros reliever Alberto Arias being placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right hamstring. He’s set to join the team in Arizona as they begin a series with the Diamondbacks. 

With the Wizards in 2007, Lopez was 1-0 with a 3.30 earned run average. He appeared in 22 games, striking out 17 and walking two.  He was signed by the New York Yankees as a non-drafted free agent in 2002.

He is set to become the 84th alumnus of the Fort Wayne Wizards/TinCaps to make their way into a Major League Baseball game; the eighth of this season.