My apologies for the lateness. I'll make up for this transgression by being as brief as possible.
It's All-Star Season, and as such, the Eastern League will soon be holding their all-star game and home run derby. The only Fisher Cat who will participate in the derby is, as you can probably guess, Brian Dopirak. But there's another participant with Blue Jay ties. Try to guess. I dare you.
Frank Menechino! Seriously. Here's what the article has to say on the topic:
Frank Menechino is the Trenton Thunder hitting coach. He played in the Majors from 1999-2005 for the Oakland Athletics and Toronto Blue Jays. He played second base, shortstop, third base and designated hitter. In his seven-year Major League career, he hit a total of 36 home runs and drove in 149 runs. Menechino played in the 1996 Double-A All-Star game at Waterfront Park.
Hilarious!
Is it common for minor league home run derbies to do things like this? There are also a couple of local high school stars competing. Maybe someone more familiar with the minor leagues can enlighten us? Also competing will be Canadian Nick Weglarz and potential future Jay Michael Taylor.
Las Vegas - all-star break
New Hampshire 2 at Portland 9
This game was over before the New Hampshire pitching staff completed an inning. Portland scored 4 in the bottom of the first, and shut the Cats' offense down to seal the deal. Kenny Rodriguez was awful, going 2 2/3 while allowing 5 runs and 8 baserunners. Darin Mastroianni had a great game, going 2-3 with a walk and a homer, while David Cooper had 2 singles and Brad Emaus had 2 walks.
Tampa 2 at Dunedin 5
Bobby Bell got the start for some reason and was even awesomer than we're used to. He went 4 innings, didn't allow a hit, walked 1 batter, and struck out 6. Not much to complain about. The bullpen was pretty good too, and Dunedin scored single runs in 5 different innings to win this one. Adam Loewent went 2-3 with a walk and Brad McElroy was 3-3 with a walk and 3 RBIs.
Lansing 4 at Burlington 7
Lansing grabbed the early lead, scoring the first 3 runs of the game, and held a 4-3 lead midway through the 7th on the strength of starting pitcher Chris Holguin (5 innings, 5 hits, 3 of everything else). But then Dustin Antolin walked the bases loaded around a sac bunt, and Jared Potts allowed all 3 runners to score. Antolin, having pitched the 6th inning, ended with the weird line of 4 runs on no hits. Johermyn Chavez was 3-4 with a double and Mike McDade went 2-2 with 2 walks.
Auburn - scheduled day off
GCL Pirates 1 at GCL Blue Jays 4
For some reason, the Rays decided to send their starting first baseman all the way down to the gulf coast league to pitch for the Blue Jays against the Pirates. Carlos Pina pitched 5 2/3 excellent innings, allowing 1 hit and 3 walks while striking out 6. The bullpen made that stand up, and the offense was potent enough. Kevin Denis-Fortier and Michael Crouse each went 2-4 with a triple to lead the way.
Three Stars!
3. Darin Mastroianni - 2-3, BB, HR
2. Brad McElroy - 3-3, BB, 3RBI
1. Bobby Bell - 4IP, 0H, 6K
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20090714011659826