"Lien Put on Dodd Stadium By Banks"

Nicely done.

As promised, here is part 2 of our road trip. The missus and I completed our mini baseball vacation by paying a visit to Manchester, New Hampshire to see the Fisher Cats in action against the Binghamton Mets. We saw the F-Cats in Binghamton on a sunny Saturday afternoon back in April. The good guys were victorious that day by a score of 6-1 behind 7.1 strong innings from Shaun Marcum. However, this game was much closer and went right down to the wire.

The pitching match-up saw Fisher Cats lefty David Purcey (1-2, 3.95, 11K, 18IP) go up against Binghamton righty Orlando Roman (3-4, 4.98, 117K, 103IP).

Top 1st - Before the first pitch was thrown, the PA announcer asked the fans to take out their car keys and shake them until the first strike of the game was recorded. David Purcey obliged by delivering a first pitch strike to the B-Mets leadoff hitter, Lastings Milledge. The Jays first round pick from 2004 would retire Milledge on a pop-up to second to start the game. Purcey then fell behind 3-1 on Wayne Lydon before retiring him on a 90 MPH fastball. After falling behind Lydon and rallying to get him out, Purcey was a strike away from getting out of the inning before trouble started brewing. He got ahead of Aarom Baldiris 0-2, who swung and missed on fastballs of 90 and 93, Purcey took a little something off the next three pitches at 86, 88, and 84 and then missed on a 90 MPH fastball for ball 4. With Baldiris on first, B-Mets clean-up hitter Mike Jacobs lined a double to the gap in right-center. With Baldiris trying to score all the way from 1st, F-Cats center field Miguel Negron fired the ball back to 2nd baseman Ryan Roberts who completed the relay to catcher Curtis Thigpen to get Baldiris at the plate. Baldiris tried his best to knock Thigpen into next week by trying to run him over but Thigpen stood his ground and held on to the ball for an 8-4-2 put-out to end the inning.

Bottom 1st - Miguel Negron led off the game and worked the count full before lining one to left but the left-fielder Wayne Lydon made a fine running catch towards the line to retire Negron. Orlando Roman would retire Ryan Roberts on a grounder to short with a 73 MPH offering and struck out Ron Davenport swinging with an 81 MPH pitch to retire the F-Cats in order.

Top 2nd - David Purcey recorded his first punch-out of the game, freezing Brett Harper, Son of Brian and a darn good Monty Python flick, with a 91 MPH heater. Purcey took care of business by getting Jay Caligiuri to fly out to right on an 84 MPH pitch and induced a tapper to the mound off the bat of Corey Ragsdale on an 89 MPH fastball to end the frame.

Bottom 2nd - The home side got their first runner on base as Rob Cosby drew a lead-off walk on a 3-2 pitch from Orlando Roman. Cosby proceeded to steal 2nd but by the slimmest of margins as Aarom Baldiris couldn’t hang on to the ball on the tag as Cosby slid in feet first. It looked like Cosby was going to be stranded at 2nd . Clint Johnston worked the count full but struck out swinging and Curtis Thigpen’s fly ball to right on another 3-2 pitch was not deep enough to cash him in. However, Chip Cannon obliged with a big 2 out hit as he blasted a 2 run homer directly over the 400 foot sign in center field to give the home side a 2-0 lead. Brad Hassey ended the frame with a grounder to short.

Top 3rd - David Purcey started the frame off well with his 2nd strikeout of the game, getting David Bacani on a grounder to short on an 89 MPH fastball and then he recorded his second K of the game, striking out Jonathan Slack looking on a big yakker, (sorry, I heard Dave Niehaus use this expression many a time), a 78 MPH curveball. On the verge of a 1-2-3 inning, Purcey encountered some difficulty with the top of the B-Mets order. Lastings Milledge doubled to center and the non-Sex Pistol, Wayne Lydon, followed with a base rap to center. From the outset, it appeared that Milledge, the Mets top prospect, was going to score from 2nd rather easily. Expecting Miguel Negron to simply hit the cut-off man and concede the run, Negron aired it out with an excellent throw to the plate that actually beat Milledge to the plate. Curtis Thigpen he lost the handle on the ball when he tried to apply the tag and Milledge wound up scoring to make it a 2-1 ballgame. While all this was happening, Wayne Lydon advanced to 2nd and he would proceed to steal 3rd. Purcey would walk his 2nd batter of the game as Aarom Baldiris received the free pass but Purcey stranded the runners at the corners as he froze clean-up hitter Mike Jacobs with a 74 MPH curve for the final out of the inning.

Bottom 3rd - Miguel Negron was off to a strong start defensively by helping to nail a runner at the plate in the 1st and he almost did it again in the previous half-inning. Now the Jays 1st rounder from 2000 was looking to contribute offensively. He was robbed of a hit his first time up but he made sure no one was going to get to the next ball he hit. He drilled a bomb off the scoreboard in right-center field for a solo homer to restore New Hampshire’s 2 run lead at 3-1. Then the F-Cats went down in order as Ryan Roberts and Ron Davenport each grounded to short and Rob Cosby popped up to 2nd.

Top 4th - David Purcey picked up where he left off, striking out Brett Harper swinging with yet another 74 MPH curveball. He got ahead of Harper 0-2 as Harper fouled off an 89 MPH heater and missed a 78 MPH curve. Purcey missed with the next curveball at 78 before whiffing the Son of Brian. Purcey missed with an 89 MPH heater before getting Aaron Baldiris on a check swing tapper to 3rd with an 88 MPH fastball. Then Purcey went to a full count on the next hitter, Corey Ragsdale. Purcey’s first pitch was 82 before Ragsdale swung and missed on 88 and 90 MPH fastballs. Ragsdale got ahead 3-2 by taking two more heaters at 91 and 89 but he made the mistake of keeping his bat on the shoulder one too many times as he watched an 89 MPH fastball go by for strike 3. Three up, three down for Purcey with 2 K’s, both looking.

Bottom 4th - Clint Johnston led off by reaching 2nd base courtesy of an error by B-Mets first baseman Brett Harper, who could not corral Johnston’s ground ball, as it wound up in foul territory in right field. Curtis Thigpen moved Johnston over with a nice sac bunt, 1-3, as Thigpen sent the ball up the 3rd base side. However, Johnston would not get the extra 90 feet as Chip Cannon’s fly ball to center was way too shallow and Ron Acuna grounded out to short for out number 3.

Top 5th - David Purcey used his fastball to get the first two B-Met hitters, getting David Bacani on a fly ball to left on an 89 MPH offering and striking out Jonathan Slack, who whiffed on a 91 MPH heater. Lastings Milledge would be a thorn in Purcey’s side, as he recorded his second two-base hit of the game, doubling to left on an 80 MPH pitch. However, Purcey retired Wayne Lydon on a foul pop-up to 2nd baseman Ryan Roberts with a 91 MPH fastball.

Bottom 5th - Much like Clint Johnston in the 4th, Brad Hassey got aboard in an unconventional manner, swinging and missing on strike 3 but a wild pitch by Orlando Roman allowed the son of Ron to reach first. Hassey then tried to get into scoring position but he was thrown out trying to steal in a run down that went 2-6-3-4 on the scorecard. However, Miguel Negron would put the smiles back on the faces of the hometown crowd as he lined his 2nd home run of the game on an 82 MPH offering from Orlando Roman over the wall in right field to make it 4-1 F-Cats. It could’ve been 5-1 if Hassey stayed put, but then again, maybe Roman throws a different pitch to Negron and the homer doesn’t happen. Ryan Roberts followed up Negron’s dinger by striking out on an 89 MPH fastball but Ron Davenport kept the inning going with a hard smash up the middle on an 86 MPH pitch. Rob Cosby hit into a fielder’s choice, 5-4, to end the inning.

Top 6th - With a 3 run lead, David Purcey looked like he was on cruise control in the early going. He reaching the Pizza Pizza strikeout level with his 7th K of the evening, catching Aarom Baldiris looking at an 89 MPH fastball. However, clean-up man Mike Jacobs lined a 1 out single to left on an 90 MPH fastball. Then, in what turned out to be a key at-bat for Purcey, Brett Harper grinded out a 9 pitch at-bat. Except for a second pitch curve of 79 MPH, Purcey went with fastballs ranging from 88-91 and also lit up the radar gun at 94. However, Harper fouled off three 3-2 pitches and wound up singling to left on a 90 MPH offering to move Jacobs up to 2nd. Jay Caligiuri followed with another single to left to score Jacobs to make it a 4-2 ballgame. That was the end of the line for Purcey, who may have run of gas after that grueling at-bat against Harper. Considering it was also 90 degrees on the evening, the heat and humidity may have taken a toll as well. With runners at the corners, Purcey gave way to the righty Tracy Thorpe, who faced B-Mets shortstop Corey Ragsdale. I poked fun of Ragsdale during his previous at-bat by calling him William Ragsdale, the star of “Mannequin 2” and more importantly, the star of the “cult classic” TV series “Herman’s Head”. For a bit of useless trivia, Jennifer Aniston had a recurring role on the show before she found fame and fortune on “Friends”. This is according to Mrs. Brumfield, so I’ll take her word for it. Anyways, Ragsdale managed to undo all of Purcey’s good work with one swing of the bat. I saw Tracy Thorpe in Dunedin last season and I said back then, he liked to throw hard, harder, and even harder than that. He got behind Ragsdale 2-1 on pitches of 88, 89, and 89. Ragsdale seemed to get the timing down as he belted a 3 run homer to center field to give Binghamton their first lead of the game, 5-4. There went the “W” for Purcey and now Thorpe was wearing the goat horns. Thorpe retired the next hitter, David Bacani, thanks in large part to a great defensive play on both ends as 3rd baseman Robert Cosby ranged towards the line and Chip Cannon stretched his 6-foot-5 frame at first to get a huge 2nd out. Jonathan Slack would force Thorpe to leave the game with a single to right field on a 91 MPH fastball. That led to Steve Andrade to come in out of the bullpen and he wound walking Lastings Milledge to push Slack up to 2nd. However, Andrade stopped the bleeding in the inning from hell as he retired Wayne Lydon on a 79 MPH pitch. That half-inning took about 30 minutes and it brought back nightmares of the last time we saw the F-Cats when Erie rallied from a 6-2 deficit with 6 runs in an inning back in June.

Bottom 6th - It was two up, two down for the home side as Clint Johnston and Curtis Thigpen flied to center and right respectively against B-Mets reliever, right-hander Timothy McNabb. However, Chip Cannon made sure it wasn’t up three up, three down as he recorded his second hit of the night, a single to center on a 90 MPH fastball. Then Ron Acuna hit one into the gap in left-center field but B-Mets center fielder Lastings Milledge used a pop-up slide to cut the ball off before it got to the wall, preventing Fisher Cats manager Mike Basso from waving Cannon home. So, with runners on 2nd and 3rd, it was up to Brad Hassey to come up with a 2 out hit to draw the F-Cats even or pull them ahead. Looking to atone for a base running gaffe that preceded a Miguel Negron homer back in the 5th, Hassey came up empty as he grounded to 2nd to strand a couple of ducks on the pond.

Top 7th - Steve Andrade was back on the mound as he got into the groove, slicing and dicing his way through the heart of the B-Mets order. If my count is correct, he threw all of 10 pitches, going with his curveball on a majority of them. His pitches ranged in the upper 70’s and only one pitch was over 80 at 82. He retired Aarom Baldiris on a check swing tapper to the mound on a 74 MPH offering and struck out Mike Jacobs and Brett Harper in 3 pitch at-bats, swinging on 79 MPH pitches. Talk about good morning, good afternoon, and good night.

Bottom 7th - Miguel Negron may have had thoughts of going deep for a 3rd time and getting the hat trick, but Timothy McNabb struck out Miguel Negron with a pitch that checked in at 74 MPH. Ryan Roberts would collect his first hit of the night with a single to left and he would scamper to 3rd as Ron Davenport doubled to left. Rob Cosby managed to cash in Roberts with a grounder to 3rd and the ball game was tied up at 5-5. Then with Clint Johnston at the plate, McNabb’s pitch got away from catcher Mike Jacobs, allowing Ron Davenport to hustle in 3rd to score to go ahead run to make it 6-5 Fisher Cats. Johnston would ground out to first, unassisted, to end the frame.

Top 8th - Steve Andrade was back on the hill for the F-Cats, and he continued to be efficient by throwing 7 or 8 pitches by my count. He induced a ground ball to 3rd from Jay Caligiuri on a 78 MPH pitch before striking out Corey Ragsdale on an 86 MPH fastball. Then Andrade hit 88 on the radar gun as he retired David Bacani on a grounder to short. Another 3 up, 3 down inning for Andrade as the F-Cats looked to build on their one run lead.

Bottom 8th - The B-Mets brought in their 3rd pitcher of the evening, Matt Lindstrom, who has been known to hit triple digits on the radar gun according to Baseball America. Well, he “only” threw 94 MPH but it was more than enough to strike out Curtis Thigpen, who went down swinging, and Chip Cannon, who grounded out to 1st. It sure looked like the F-Cats would be clinging to a one run lead in the top of the 9th. However, there was a strange turn of events. Lindstrom fell behind Ron Acuna 3-0 and it was on the 3-0 pitch that B-Mets catcher Mike Jacobs blew a gasket, arguing the call with the home plate umpire, and he got the heave-ho. That meant back-up catcher Zac Clements would have to don the tools of ignorance behind the dish. Acuna eventually drew the 2 out walk and that set the stage for Brad Hassey. After a baserunning gaffe and failing to come up with a 2 out hit the last time up, Hassey redeemed himself with a triple to right to score Acuna and give New Hampshire a 7-5 lead. And Hassey would come into count as Miguel Negron beat out an infield single to 1st to make it 8-5 F-Cats. Lindstrom got out of the inning by striking out Ryan Roberts swinging on another 94 MPH fastball. Two 2-out runs for the F-Cats gave them a 3 run cushion heading into what would be a very nervous ninth.

Top 9th - Jesse Carlson came out of the pen to try to lock one down for New Hampshire. Sporting a scoreless innings streak of 31.2 and a 0.00 ERA since coming over from Syracuse, Carlson got some help on extending the streak to 32 innings even as Chip Cannon leaped in the air to snare a liner by Jonathan Slack. It’s good to be 6-foot-5! Put a star beside that one. Then Carlson got Lastings Milledge on an 89 MPH fastball for the 2nd out. It looked like the home side was in the clear but the Mets would not go away, just yet. Wayne Lydon kept the B-Mets rally alive with a single up the middle on an 87 MPH fastball. Carlson then faced Aarom Baldiris and was one strike away from ending the ball game as the count went full. He tried changing speeds on Baldiris with offerings ranging from 75-87 MPH. However, on the 8th pitch of the at-bat, Baldiris doubled to left to score Lydon to make it 8-6 and it was good-bye scoreless innings streak at 32.1 for Carlson. Then the B-Mets clean up hitter was due to come up to the plate, but Mike Jacobs was tossed from the game for arguing balls and strikes behind the plate a half-inning earlier. So the B-Mets most dangerous hitter was out of the game and Zac Clements had to bat instead. Jacobs had a .318 average and 25 homers heading into the game while Clements was a .225 hitter with 0 homers. Yes, it was a ham’n’egger at the plate and it sure seemed like the odds were in the Fisher Cats favour to end the contest. However, baseball is a funny game and Clements came through with a single to right to score Baldiris to make it a one run game at 8-7. The fans really got into the game while all this was going on, stamping their feet, hoping Carlson could get the final out so they could go home happy. It reminded me of being at the Big O last year. However, the fans were silenced once again as Carlson surrendered another 2 out hit, this time to Brett Harper, who singled to right to push Clements to 2nd. That was the end of line for Carlson, who gave way to right-hander Ryan Houston. And Houston, we have a problem….almost! Houston was greeted by a single to right off the bat of Jay Caligiuri. You may remember that I said I love opposing catchers on the basepaths during my Syracuse recap. Well, Zac Clements got the wave home as he tried to score from 2nd. However, Ron Acuna got to the ball quickly and fired the ball back to the infield, where it was cut-off by Chip Cannon. Cannon turned around and noticed Clements was hung up between 3rd and home. Clements tried to scramble back but Cannon fired a seed to 3rd baseman Rob Cosby, who slapped the tag on Clements before he could get back to the bag. GAME OVER!! FISHER CATS WIN! FISHER CATS WIN! 8-7! Whew! Unbelievable. File this one under “Stranger Than Fiction”.

Three Stars Of the Game…………

1. Miguel Negron - doing his best Vernon Wells impersonation with 2 solo homers and an infield single for a 3 RBI night. That infield single drove in what turned out to be the winning run. He easily could’ve been 4-for-5 instead of 3-for-5 after being robbed of a hit in his 1st at bat. Defensively, he had one outfield assist to help nail a runner at the plate and was a dropped ball away from a second helper.

2. Chip Cannon - Ryan Houston officially gets the save but as far as I’m concerned, it should go to Cannon. The big man climbed the latter to snare a liner to start the 9th and made the key relay throw to nail the potential tying run at 3rd to end the ball game. And if that wasn’t enough, he goes 2-for-4 at the plate with a 2 run jack to put the F-Cats in flight.

3. Steve Andrade - he walked the first hitter he faced but he retired 7 in a row, including 3 punchouts, in his 2.1 innings of scoreless relief to pick up a well deserved victory. His effort allowed the F-Cats to rally from a one run deficit.

Honourable Mentions -

David Purcey. The tools are in the tool box for the Jays first rounder. Sure, he allowed 9 baserunners on 7 hits and 2 walks in 5.1 innings but 7 punchouts are nothing to sneeze at either, 5 of them looking. He showed flashes of dominance and could be a force with more consistency. I see future free slices of pizza when he gets north of the border.

Ron Acuna - the ex-B-Met haunted his former mates by getting on base 3 times with 2 singles and a walk. His plate discipline helped lead to the ejection of Mets catcher and clean-up hitter Mike Jacobs. Way to go, Ron!

Ron Davenport - The “other Ron” had a 2 for 4 night with a single and double and scored a key run in the 7th on a passed ball to put the F-Cats ahead to stay.

Brad Hassey - a clutch 2 out triple to bring in Ron Acuna with a key insurance run in the 8th.

Wow, what a ball game. I have to say it was the best one I’ve seen in person all year. Hopefully, this game will help the F-Cats in their drive for the play-offs in the EL North as they try to catch Trenton.

As for Fisher Cats Ballpark, it’s not a bad place to watch the game. The seats are comfortable enough but the scenery isn’t the best. A hotel is going up just beyond left center field, similar to a SkyDome Hotel set-up, where fans can watch the game from their room. It’s expected to completed in time for next season but right now, it’s an eyesore. The Merrimack River is right next to the park but the stadium is faced away from it. It’s too bad the park couldn’t incorporate it in its design. It’s sort of like U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago, which faces away from the Chicago skyline. The one ace in the hole is the gift shop. They have a wide selection of souvenirs and I love the logo. Thank God they didn’t call themselves the Primaries. The park could use an out-of-town scoreboard, such as a hand operated one like Wrigley Field, Fenway Park, or even Alliance Bank Stadium in Syracuse. Though they do have a video board, the graphics could use some improvement. It seems like the font they use for letters and numbers is from the 70’s. Another negative is a Red Sox advertisement on the ad boards set up in left field. It’s Red Sox country, so what can you do? Despite its shortcomings, I’d like to come back one day, despite the nearly 10 hour drive from Port Hope. All in all, a pretty darn good mini-vacation as we saw three one-run ball games and the good guys won them all. This concludes the 2nd and final part of this novel, thanks for reading.

Adam Lind sits at #15 in the latest Baseball America Prospect Hot Sheet.

In the best-of-the-rest category, perhaps surprisingly, is Gabe Gross, who's quietly put together a very solid .303/.387/.458 line at Syracuse with 25 doubles and 45 walks in 330 AB. He probably doesn't have the power the Blue Jays need for left field next year, but he's certainly ready for a starting gig in the majors somewhere, and the power will come in another year or so. I'd say he's now an attractive trade chit again.

Thanks again #2, its the next best thing to being there!

Thanks, Gerry. By the way, congratulations on your article of Zach Jackson, Clint Johnston, and Ryan Roberts being published in the Fisher Cats game program. It's good to see Batter's Box getting some publicity south of the border!

About Chip Cannon... does he look slim? fat? intense? at ease? smiles? stares? how does he move? smooth? any speed or quickness? remind you of anyone?

I gotta know I gotta know!!!!!

Chip is tall and skinny. He is kind of a lumbering guy. He makes all the plays he should make at first base, but he has limited mobility. He does not have very good speed, but has incredible power. Is he intense? He is during the game, but he is a really nice and polite guy off the field. He will call you sir or your wife Ma'am, which is his military background coming out.

Lugnut Fan many thanks.

Auburn Doubledays teammates Ryan Patterson and Michael Holliman will be on hand to provide AL run support, having collected a league-leading 48 RBIs and 12 homers, respectively. Patterson was a 14th-round choice, two rounds ahead of Holliman.

A couple of Auburn Doubledays made the NYP League All Star Team

link here

Michael Hollimon plays for Oneonta. Here are the NYPL home run leaders.

Patterson and Cory Patton are headed to the all star game and will also be joined by teammates Jermy Acey and Brian Bormaster, according to the Auburn Citizen.