Stand Back, Look Out! It the fickle fan express departing from Dustin McGowan station.

Sorry guys just had to get that off my chest for all the fair weather fans who panic and bale at the drop of a hat.

In all seriousness though what is wrong with McGowan, and I am sure there is going to be no shortage of opions on this question in todays post.

So I will bravely step forward and offer one of my own. Dustin McGowan is pressing. He knows a promotion to AAA is around the corner and pressing to make it happen, and as a direct consequence his command which has been so good for the last year and a haft as abandoned him, this is particularly ture in his last 2 starts where he has put himself in a hole by getting into a inordinate number of 3 2 counts on batters

McGowan needs to step back realize he can't force a promotion and above all else trust his stuff

Tyrell Godwin would make a great Blue Jay ... stone-cold in April, red-hot in May. Slowly but surely, the Fisher Cats are hitting their stride offensively, though JF Griffin seems to be stuck in reverse.

McGowan is interesting. I think goatboy's theory that he's pressing too hard has merit -- all Dustin's been hearing, pretty much from the end of last season, is that he's Syracuse- and then Toronto-bound; it was a mild surprise that he started the year in New Hampshire (though unquestionably it was the right move), and it might be that he's gotten ahead of himself. Even more simply, this is probably just a bad stretch; everyone goes through one of these, when your command isn't there and your best pitches aren't working the way they're supposed to. Probably all Dustin needs is to step back and take a deep breath; once he fires off a good start or two, not worrying about where he's heading and when, he'll be back on track. There's nothing to worry about here.

It's important to keep in mind two things about McGowan. One is that he's 22 and not at all ready for the big leagues. Many Blue Jays fans are still lamenting the fact that Kelvim Escobar, Chris Carpenter and Roy Halladay were rushed to the majors too soon. The second thing is that we've all heard minor-league mavens declare that Dustin's stuff is better than Doc's, and I'm sure it is. But you know, no Jays pitcher in the last ten years had better raw stuff than Escobar, and he remains an expensive enigma out in Anaheim. Success in major-league pitching springs almost entirely from commanding your pitches within the strike zone and changing speeds effectively. That takes experience, and McGowan is still in school. He'll be in Syracuse well before the end of the year, and will probably get a very long look next spring, but patience should be the watchword here. Remember Doc's 10.71 ERA in 2000? He was 23.

Hey Great Job guys ! I will be around later to help call some games.

The F-Cats radio guys have taken notice of our typing of their Play by Play it seems.

" #174241 Posted 05/08/2004 08:49 PM by Board Op:

Rob, We apollogize for the "jazz" music on the air during th double A games, but when the phoneline at the ballpark fades out we are told to play a music fill-in and wait for the line to reconnect.

Thanks "
" #174244 Posted 05/08/2004 08:53 PM by Rob:

Haha, no problem. I kind of liked the music last night.

#174245 Posted 05/08/2004 08:54 PM by Board Op:

well that is not what is posted here. just reading the message boards and it sounded like the was an annoyance and we apologize."

"#174246 Posted 05/08/2004 08:57 PM by Rob:

If that was someone from the radio team, thanks for stopping by and don't worry about any problems with the radio feed. We enjoy listening to the games no matter what.

#174247 Posted 05/08/2004 08:59 PM by Board Op:

ok good...and please keep listening...if there are any problems be sure to let us know..we are just trying to make the feed as good as possible for you to enjoy. Thank You though."

"174254 Posted 05/08/2004 09:50 PM by Rob:

Just out of curiosity: Is anyone actually out there following along?

#174255 Posted 05/08/2004 09:55 PM by Board Op:

of course"

I agree completely with you Jordan, McGowan's going to be fine. I see no reason to premote him to soon, he'll be in Syarcuse soon enough, and I expect we'll in Toronto in september if just for a cup of coffee.

Sorry, we'll see him see him in Toronto in September if just for a cup of coffee. duh :- )

Snavely narrowly beat out Tingler for today's third star...

Tingler's line: 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI, 0 BB, 1 K, HP

Tingler's season totals: 109 AB, 7 2B, 0 3B, 12 RBI, 7 HP, 19 BB, 9 K, 1 SB, 2 CS, .303/.431/.367.

Jayce might even be surpassing Vito in the first-Dunedin-hitter-promoted-to-Manchester sweepstakes...

http://www.theminorsfirst.com/liveb/livebroadcasts.htm
All right, BB minor league network hounds, so you wanna be a stringer. Here's your chance. Chris Baker hurls for Syracuse at 2; Gustavo Chacin for New Hampshire at 1, and TBA for Charleston at 6. These games can be heard via theminorsfirst.com (the Charleston game can be heard through their opponent Lakewood's broadcast). COMN. Dunedin sends Rosario to the hill against Vero Beach, but the game's not on internet radio.

I'll do the first half of the Syracuse game, and I'll be available for second-half of the Charleston game, unless someone else would like to do it. Jeff, it'd be great if you could do some or all of the New Hampshire game to give Rob a break.

I am having problems conntecting to F-Cats broadcast , I will keep trying.

At the end of 1.5 the score is 0 - 0 .

Chacin is Pitching today's game.

Jim Deschaine formerly of the Blue Jays organization is up to bat.

1-0,2-0,2-1,2-2, broken bat grounder to Hill and he trows out Jim.

Chacin has put away 4 hitters in a row.

Castelanno up to bat , 0-1,0-2,1-2, strike 3 for Chacin 2nd strikeout of the game.

2 out. back to back strikeouts ! 3 outs

To the Top of the 2nd with F-Cats coming up to bat.

Chacin seems to doing well today 3 SO with good control.

Singleton up to bat , 0-1 Pop up foul , F-Cats playing the reading Phillies. 0-2 , Singleton rips a triple and is on 3rd.

Godwin up to bat - 1-0 , wild pitch and Singleton scores 2-0 , 3-0 , Outside ball 4 and a good eye for Godwin , 1-0 for the F-Cats.

I like this broadcast crew they are very good !!!!!!

Godwin is giving the Reading Pitcher a headache with his speed at 1st.

Solano is at bat and the count is 0-2 , 5th throw over to 1st trying to get Godwin. 1-2 , Godwin goes and he steals 2nd (yes) and the play is not even close. 2-2 , 3-2 , Strike 3 on Solano.

Rich up to bat with 1 out , RICH CLUBS A NICE DOUBLE and Godwin has to hold at 3rd.

Floyd who is one of Phillies great young pitchers is having trouble today.

Griffin is up to bat and gets a ground out rbi to drive in Godwin.

Third out which I missed. 2-0 for F-cats

To the bottom of the 3rd.

Both Richmond's and Syracuse's servers are down. I'll keep trying.

Thanks for the comments on the FisherCats Broadcasts.

-Board Operator for the FisherCats games

Chacin hits a batsman.

Chacin has a runner on 2nd ( I missed the play ," WALK AND A STEAL" )and he srikes out the next batter with a wicked curve.

1-0 to Gonzalez , 2-0 , 3-0 on inside ball that should have been a strike. Called srike 1 , 3-1 , swing and a miss AND Strike 2 , 3-2 , FOUL , BALL 4 and HE WAS ROBBED ON THE CALL BY THE UMPIRE.

0-1 , 0-2, 2 WALKS ARE aboard, The radio announcer did not win the Lottery last night , he would not be here if he had.

1-0,1-1, ground out to Rich and their is 2 out ON THE FIELDERS CHOICE.

1-0 , 2-0 , 3-0 ON EX BLUE JAY FARM HAND Kurt Keene. 3-1,

fly out to Godwin and their are 3 outs.

2-0 for the F-Cats up to bat in the 4th.

Hill up to bat , 0-1 foul , groundball basehit ,

Clapp is up to bat and he hits into a doubleplay.

We thank the WKXL 1450 Broadcast crew and their crew for the great converage.

Umbria flys out and their is 3 out.

To the bottom of the 4th.

Make that great coverage !!!!!!!!

Make that great coverage !!!!!!!!

Double Post go away !!!!!!!!!!!

fLY OUT.

Fly Ball to the top of the Wall and bounces over for a HR.

2-1 for F-Cats

1st hit gave up by Chacin is a HR !

1-0 , 2-0 , 3-0 , 3-1 , SWING AND A MISS 3-2 , foul , Bloop basehit to Right field .

1 on base , 0-1 , 1-1 inside low , 2-1 outside , Long fly ball and Singleton caught the ball and doubles up Costalano.

They say Singleton can play great D and can really run also.

3 outs.

Singleton is up to bat , he tripled last time up and walked previously.

0-1 , ground out .

Godwin up and grounds out and Flyoyd is back.

Solano is 0 for 2 and gets a basehit.

Rich is up to Bat and here is the pitch , high and tight 1-0 , groundball to 1st and 3 0ut.

To the bottom of the 5th.

Still no connection. There's no score after 1 in Triple A Richmond. Dunedin leads 3-2 after 4 in Vero Beach.

Bottom of the 5th

Hey Board Op what are your 2 announcers names ?

A shout from Batters Box Minor league Fans to your Crew !!

Chacin throws 0-1 ,0-2,1-2 low and outside ,foul, Fly ball to Singleton . 1 out .

1st pitch ground out to Hill who throwas out the runner. 2 out

1-0 , 1-1 , 2-1 , 2-2 , foul, foul , foul tip that Umbria drops.

No action in either bullpen. 3-2 , foul , geez this kid Gonzo thinks he is RICO CARTY .

Low inside and he walks. 2 out and 1 on .

Bunt single and their is runners on 1st and 2nd.

Chacin to Keene , 1-0 , League is warming up !!!!!!!!!

Pop up to the Catcher Umbria, we have played 5. 3 outs !!

2-1 for the F-Cats in the top of the 6th!!

J.F Griffin up to bat 0-1,0-2,1-2, fly ball out.

Logan grounds out on the 1st pitch.

Hill gets to 1st by Catcher error.

Stubby Clapp up to bat.

0-1 , 0-2 , STRIKE 3 AND gAVIN FLOYD is getting stronger.

3 outs and to the bottom of the 6th.

Mike can you take over for a while? I will hang in till you take over.

Connection is finally working for Syracuse game.

Baker still pitching, 1-0 Braves (who scored their run in the second). Langerhans doubles. Adams throws out the next hitter. Dave Nilsson (another blast from the past)walks on 4 pitches. Charles Thomas (who grounded out to second baseman Glenn Williams first time up)gets to a 1-0 count and the connection fades out.

OK, I've got it, Jeff. It's 2-1 F-Cats after 6. I missed the first 2 outs.

League is warming up and Chacin hits the 1st batter.

1-0 , 1-1 , base hit for Deschaine , 1 on .

Castalano up to bat 0-1 on a wicked curve , foul 0-2 , foul, double play and 2 outs.

Ground ball foul off hitters foot, ouch , 0-1 , groundball to Solano and we have coimpleted 6.

Chacin has battled back.

MAKE THAT WE HAVE COMPLETED 6.

As Mike takes over we have a real Pitchers battle between Chasin and Gavin Floyd.

2-1 for F- Cats as I leave. I will be back later.

Top 7: F-Cats at the plate. Umbria strikes out on 3 pitches. Reading top prospect Gavin Floyd is on the mound. Justin Singleton, working the count just like his daddy, goes to 3-2 and grounds out to second. Tyrell Godwin, following Singleton's good example, goes to 3-2, fouls off a pitch and then reaches on an error by the second baseman (ground ball up the middle, second baseman tries to backhand under pressure due to Godwin's speed). Godwin steals second, his 11th steal of the season. There is no throw. Danny Solano pops out to third.

2-1 F-Cats going to the bottom of 7.

Bottom of 7 in double A Reading. Brandon League in to pitch.

Aaron Hill makes a great play. Speedy Miguel Quintana hits a shot. Hill dives and makes the stop and then throws Quintana out. League strikes out Jacobsen on a 97 mph fastball. Danny Gonzalez grounds a ball under first baseman Logan's glove for a single. Scott Youngbauer pops up to Hill.

2-1 F-Cats after 7.

On the out-of-town scoreboard, Dunedin trails 5-3 after 6, and Syracuse trails 2-0 after 4.

Top of 8:

Lefthander Ude Brito in to pitch for Reading. Dominic Rich works the count to 3-2 (smile Mike Barnett) and walks. JFG doubles over left-fielder Deschaine's head; Rich stops at third. Matt Logan singles to right and drives in 1, and advances to second on right fielder. Aaron Hill singles; Logan to third. Stubby Clapp grounds a single to right; Aaron Hill moves to third.

Still nobody out and 3 runs in. Ude Brito out, Joel Hernandez in to pitch.

Jeff, I've got to go soon. Let me know when you can take it back.

I AM BACK AND TAKING OVER.

...Umbria flies out to right. Hill holds, but Clapp moves up to second. Justin Singleton hits a sac fly to left. Tyrell Godwin also works the count, but grounds out to second.

NH scores 4, 6-1 middle of 8.

Clapp at bat and ground out . 3 outs

Thanks, Jeff. I have some thoughts about this game. Aaron Hill seems to have adapted to double A; his power will return, and once that happens, he'll be close to major league ready. I'd estimate his ETA as June 05.

Gustavo Chacin was very impressive, and has been so far this season after a good winter ball season. Jabonoso, who was high on Chacin, was right. He's an unheralded prospect.

6-1 for NH and League is back to pitch in the bottom of the 8th.

1-0,2-0, to Keene , 3-0 , Ryan Houston is warming UP IN THE NH bullpen. 4-0 and a walk.

1-0 , 2-0 ,Pitching Coach Adair goes to the mound to talk to League.

John Ogiltree the Canadian submariner from Mississauga is now warming up also.

2-1 , 2-2 , foul , foul , high and tight ball 3 , 3-2 , 94 mile fastball strike 3.

1 out

0-1 , 0-2 on former minor league Jay Deschaine. 1-2 , Pop out.

2 out

0-1 , grounded foul and 0-2 , 1-2 , stolen base on League with no throw from Umbria.

Hit and Keene scores when Umbria drops the ball on the throw to the plate.

3 out and 6-2 for NH. TO THE 9TH.

j.f GRIFFIN MADE A GREAT DEFENSIVE CATCH TO END THE 8TH AND MADE THE 3RD OUT.

Dunedin trailing 5-3 going into the top of the 9th.

Syracuse is losing 6-0 after 5, and are being out-hit 12 to 3. I have to say, that Syracuse is blowing massive chunks in every concievable direction.

Top of the 9th.

Solano gets hits by a pitch.

Rich out to bat , 1-0 , 1-1,2-1, 3-1, a hit for Rich.

NH 9th hit of the game. J.F Griffin up to bat , he had a double in his last at bat , 1-0 ,1-1 , LONGGGGGGGGGG FLY ball and it is caught at the wall .

The announcer had me excited for a second.

Rich passed Solano on the base path . woops . The umpires missed it.

Logan flys out and their are 2 out and runners on 2nd and 3rd.

Intentional walk to Hill who has reached 5 times I believe ( twice on errors ) .

Bases Loaded

Clapp up to bat 1-0 , 1-1 , 2-1 , 3-1, inside ball 4 and a run scores and Clapp gets his 2nd rbi of the game.

Good eye for Clapp

Umbria up to bat , 2 rbi single and lead 9-2 now.

Singleton up to bat and I missed the play .My bad play.

3 out

JOHN Ogiltree the submariner from Mississauga is now Pitching.

League Line 2 ip , 1 run , 1 walk , 2 so.

0-1, ground out.

Jacobson up to bat , 1-0 , 2-0 , ground out to Solano and he bobbles it on a tough hop. error for him and man on 1st.

1-0 , 1-1 , 2-1 , 2-2 , FOUL BALL CHECK SWING , Throwing in the 70's.

Ground out and 2 outs now.

0-1 , Nasty pitch ( a lot of movement ) and 63 on the gun 0-2 , pop up and the game is over.

F-Cats win 9-2.

This is the Batters Box Minor League Internet Play by Play Baseball Network.

Say that 5 times. ^^^^^

Chacin is now 4-0 and Gavin Floyd is the loser.

NH take 3 out 4 for the series.

If anybody has any feedback so that I can improve my play play call.

Too much info ? More info ?

The one thing that bothers me abour McGowan is that despite his dominating stuff he's never dominated any level of the minors.

F-Cats played their 27th game today and Ogiltree nickname is TREE.

It was 2-1 till the 8th when the F-Cats exploded.

Board Op is your name Franky ? your crew mentioned your name ! If not , what is it ?

I have to run and play with my rugrats !!!!!

Good Day from Reading , Penn via our internet transcribing of the game off of the WKXL 1450 feed.

From WKXL 1450
Co- hoots Bar and Grill across from the NH arena is great for ribs !

Had McGowan gone to college, last year would have been his junior draft year. So instead of facing short-season batters like the '03 class were he was facing Hi A & AA batters. League is in the same situation this year.

Beyond the compelling story about Gil Patterson's Mom, Bob Elliott's column today included an interesting note about the Jays' upcoming draft strategy:

The Blue Jays scouting department sent out a memo in February telling scouts to concentrate on collegians and not to worry about high-schoolers in preparation for the June draft. No surprise.

This week, a memo went out asking for scouts to make sure that they turned in high school players.

This left the Jays' amateur scouts scrambling. Instead of heading north, they were asked to head south.

Believe it or not, current Jays scouts have contacted at least three ex-Toronto scouts asking for help on the best high school prospects for this June's draft.

http://www.theminorsfirst.com/liveb/livebroadcasts.htm
Hey Batters Box minor league fans !

A team with one of the top records in all of baseball is playing today. The game starts at 6pm. I am unavailable but I am sure we have some great fans who can jump in and do the Play by Play for us.

Charleston ,WV is playing Lakewood and you can hear them while you transscribe the game for us.

You can hear the game through the Lakewood broadcast. COMN for link.

MatO: I don't think you should get too worried about McGowan yet. Why? (1) most scouts rate him very highly; (2) until the last week, he's been effective this year; (3) he's only 22 (I think). It can take time for talented players to blossom--eg Rios; (4) his pre-2004 minor league numbers are very solid. 391 IP, 366 H, 177 BB, 400 K, only 15 HR allowed.

Sorry Folks , I got the game time wrong. Charleston won today 9-7.

Game long over ! :-)

Rodney Medina is playing every day in Dunedin and hitting well. Meanwhile, Miguel Negron seems to have disappeared. Anybody know what's up with him?

I agree that McGowan has been solid but not spectacular. I thinks it's time for him to elevate himself above the competition.

If anybody has any feedback so that I can improve my play play call.

You are doing great! Thanks for the hard work

Believe it or not, current Jays scouts have contacted at least three ex-Toronto scouts asking for help on the best high school prospects for this June's draft.

At least he gave us a choice... given the source, I'm leaning towards "not" on the whole story.

current Jays scouts have contacted at least three ex-Toronto scouts asking for help on the best high school prospects for this June's draft

If this were the case, why would they trust the information they received at all?

I'm telling you, the very worst thing about the traditional scouting approach is that everybody cribs from everybody else, and everybody is sharing information all the time. Enough to drive you insane.

Actually, Jeff didn't get the time wrong for the Charleston game. I did. Mea culpa (I took it from a well-known web-site), and apologies.