Travelerocity

Jeff Francis to make rehab start at D.S. on Monday

Colorado Starting pitcher Jeff Francis will pitch the first three innings in a rehab start for the Tulsa Drillers on Monday against the Travelers at Dickey-Stephens..

 

 

Francis was placed on the fifteen day DL after experiencing inflammation shoulder pain in his last two starts for the Rockies. The 6'5" left hander won a career-high 17 games in '07 and became the Rockies' ace, but has struggled to a 3-7 record in '08 with a 5.67 ERA.

Francis has pitched full time as a starter for the Rockies since '05.

He was both Baseball America and USA Today's Minor League Player of the Year in '04.  He was Tulsa's opening day starter that year and went 10-0 with a 1.87 ERA in his first 13 starts.

Post by Lonesome Traveler

Tulowitzki in NLR for Drillers series, maybe Kip Wells

Colorado Rockie shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, who missed being National League Rookie of the Year by an eyelash last year, will be with Tulsa in its series at Dickey-Stephens starting Friday night, 7/18.

If any player has ever had the dreaded sophomore jinx, it's Tulowitzki.  His year has gone so bad at the plate that recently in frustration after another bad at bat, he slammed his maple bat in the rack and it splintered causing a huge gash in his hand more that a foot long.

In Sunday's D-Gazette sports section Traveler reporter Todd Traub  did an excellent job on a piece regarding the dangers of maple. Tulowitzki took it a step further than anyone could have imagined with his self-inflicted slice. Troy was hitting a dismal .166 with three HR's, and only 16 RBI when he cut his hand.

Tuowitzki will return from the 15 day DL and is expected to play in Tulsa tonight.

Also expected to be in Tulsa tonight is Colorado starting rhp pitcher Kip Wells, who is returning from the 60 day DL because of a blod clot in his hand.  It's possible, according to sources, he may come to Dickey-Stephens also.

  

Wells, who was with St Louis in '07, had a record of 1-1 with a 2.29 ERA when he went on the DL.

Post by Lonesome Traveler

Skunked! 12-0

Arkansas' second half skid continued Friday night against the Tulsa Drillers. The Drillers'  6' 5" right hander Chaz Roe held the Travs to just 3 hits in pitching a masterful complete game shutout and is now 3-0 in the Texas League.

How dominating was Roe? Here's an example. Traveler infielder Corey Smith struck out three times on 9 pitches!

The Rockies' #10 prospect mixed his pitches beautifully and after his team got ahead 6-0 in the second, he never looked back. 

The Traveler's starting pitcher Fernando Rodriguez's(#27) performance was the complete opposite, and he wasn't helped with the defense either.

 

In the first inning while the Tulsa order batted around, Rodriguez threw 38 pitches giving up four runs on a triple; two doubles; two walks; a single and the Drillers had a stolen base as well.

He left after five innings with seven runs scored (six earned); seven hits including five of the extra base variety (home run, triple, 3 doubles); four left-on; four walks; and only one strikeout on 97 pitches.

With its win, Tulsa continues to lead the 2nd-half North by three games.

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Congratulations to outfielder, sometimes infielder Brian Stavisky for being named the Traveler Player of the Month for June!

Stavisky has been one of the team's most consistent players since he joined the team as free agent earlier in the season and is the Traveler's best hitter. He's also the nicest guy you'd ever want to meet.

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Australian native and Traveler infielder Adam Morrissey came out with a new look last night. He was wearing #7 (Ben Johnson's old number) instead of his normal #8. His official explanation?

"#8 didn't have no hits."

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ORGAN TRANSPLANT!

Back when he came on board for the Travelers playing organ in mid-April organist Trey "Emo" Trimble noticed a slight problem. The old organ transplanted from Ray Winder field almost immediately began sounding like someone stepping on a cat's tail as its life began to slowly fade out. He solved the problem by bringing his own keyboard until a local Yamaha dealer came to the rescue recently.

Now Emo has a brand spanking new Yamaha to wow the crowd with his stylings.

And ok, I'll say it. Emo is the best organ player I've heard at either park. Oh Lordy, sorry Alfreda.

Some of us were wondering what happened to the old organ and whether the old girl could be squeezed in to the Traveler Museum with maybe a life sized cut-out of Alfreda jiving away.

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When the major league clubs broke for the All-Star game in '07, the only team that was in first place then that currently still remains in first nearing the '08 break?............ The Los Angeles Angels.

Post by Lonesome Traveler

'08 Season ticket holder's party a "Home Run!"

The smell of Cozymel's delicious mexican food was in the air as I rounded the corner and headed to the picnic area Wednesday night for the '08 installment of the season ticket patron's party. And there was lots of food, lots of people and..... players! Yes I said players, all who were introduced by Travs radio man Phil Elson.

As you veterans know, things didn't go so well last year for Dickey-Stephens' inaugural season ticket party. The players (those who came) all left early and many attendees never even saw them. You know the fans want to mingle with these guys they've watched all year and look forward to it. There were several different theories, I won't go there (go back to last year's Travelerocity archives if you want to read about it) but the official club explanation was the team had to leave in a hurry to get on the road. For many, the party was over before it started.

NOT this year!

It was so nice to have each player introduced because, you know, out of uniform and with no cap or number it's hard some times to tell who is who in street clothes.

Here's relief pitcher Francisco Rodriguez taking a bow for the crowd.

 

And look who crashed the party! Just in from Cedar Rapids, the newest Traveler, catcher and #10 prospect Anel De Los Santos, who joined the team to replace Ben Johnson.

Outfileder Adam Greenberg was all smiles for the overflow crowd.

The players were spending their last day off until August 5th with the fans, and were gracious and cordial, signing autographs and posing for pictures for any one who asked.

Would you have recognized these players out of uniform?

From L to R here are: Relief pitcher Stephen Marek; starter Brok Butcher; infielder Nate Sutton; and outfielder Chris Pettit. 

 

Oh, and there was a politician or two in the crowd as well.

 

So thanks again to the Traveler's front office for putting together such a great night!

For those of you who wondered where Traveler manager Bobby Magallanes was? He was off celebrating his daughter's birthday.

Here are some more sights from the party.

And finally some of us wondered why the players weren't eating. Shouldn't have. Not to worry about these guys. Here they are with their dates after the party was over, headed to Bill Valentine's Ballpark Restaurant to be treated with a feast for winning the Texas League North First-Half Crown.

 

Post by Travelerocity Corespondent, Lonesome Traveler

Mars highlights former Travs appearing in 2008 All-Star Game

Mars, a long-time regular contributer to the comments on this blog, reviews the four former Travelers who are in next week MLB All-Star game plus "Benton's Cliff Lee," as he is known on local TV news.

As a longtime (to me anyway) Travs fan, I can say that almost any night at the ballpark is a good night.  There have been exceptions but by and large a night with Travs is a night well spent.  Now, some may lament the quality of players that currently dot the Angels farm system, or more specifically, lament the quality of the Travs roster.  It’s true, at the moment this version of the Travs is currently doing its best impression of being the runt in the Texas League (AKA sucking hind tit).  However, that hasn’t been the case all year.   Even if we lose the rest of the second half we still have the playoffs to look forward to.   While we celebrate our 1^st half championship, and mourn our current level of play, let’s also celebrate the high quality of talent that we have been fortunate enough to see wear a Travs uniform.  Specifically, I ‘m talking about the former Travs that make are playing in MLB’s 2008 All-Star Game.

First there are the former Travs that fall under the Angels organization, then the representative of the Travs as a Cards affiliate.

Francisco Rodriguez (Traveler 2002)

As a Traveler he: rang people up like a Kroger cashier.  When K-Rod came to the Travs he, well he wasn’t K-Rod.  We got him as the Angels were converting him from starter to reliever.  As a Traveler in the pen he mostly dominated.  He pitched in 23 games, garnering 9 saves and whiffing 61 in only 41 IP.  He did this while walking only 15 and he did it at the tender age of 20.  It became apparent rather quickly that he had found his calling.

Why baseball fans know him:  He has already notched 181 career saves.  Thirty five of those have come this season alone.  No that’s not a typo, he’s already got a season’s worth of saves.  He’s on track to break Bobby Thigpen’s single season record of 57 saves.  Rodriguez is making his 3^rd All-Star game appearance (2004, 2007).

His shining moment:  After effectively splitting the season between the Travs and Salt Lake, Rodriguez was called up in mid-September and added to the playoff roster.  “In the ALDS he silenced the Yankees bats, and got two victories with eight strikeouts in five and two-thirds innings. Against the Twins in the ALCS, he went 2-0 with seven batters fanned in four and one-third innings. Finally, in the 2002 World Series against the Giants, he had a 1-1 record with 13 strikeouts in eight and two-thirds innings. At 20 years old, he became the youngest pitcher in 32 years to pitch in the World Series and the youngest ever to pick up a victory”. (thanks wiki)  Not bad for a 20 year old only 3 months removed from AA ball.

I know I didn’t know: that K-Rod practices Santeria

Ervin Santana (Traveler 2003-05)

As a Traveler he:  changed his name from Johan to Ervin. It seems there was another Johan Santana that was doing pretty well and Ervin didn’t want the confusion.   He also went 8-3 with 103 K’s in 115 IP (Travs career).  Good enough for a 3.11 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP.  The bulk of those numbers came as a 20 year old, pitching in a hitters park/league.  Ervin made 6 starts as a Trav at the end of 2003 and 8 starts in 2004.  He started off 2005 as a Traveler going 5-1 over the course of his 7 starts.

Why baseball fans know him:  He got the win in game 5 of the 2005 ALDS vs the Yankees.  As a reliever he came in and pitched 5.1 innings.  During his first two seasons he went 28-16 and posted a mediocre 4.42 ERA. He also struck out 240 batters in 337 IP.   Then after 2 years of growth Santana developed an aversion to pitching on the road.  In 2007, Santana went 6-4 at home and logged a home ERA of 3.27.   It was his pitching in away games that laid down one of the more severe split statistics I’ve ever seen.   While pitching quite well at home, on the road Santana went 1-10 and boasted a stratospheric road ERA of 8.38 while allowing the opposition to hit .325 off of him.  Naturally he got to visit Salt Lake again.  Santana’s road pitching woes left many of us wondering what to expect from him this year. 

In this All-Star garnering edition, he’s amassed a record of 10-3 and has a K/9 of 8.3.  He’s also cut his walk rate by more than 1 per game.  He looks like the Ervin we all knew and loved.  Currently Santana is 4^th in the AL in wins and 12^th in ERA (3.53).

I know I didn’t know: Santana's nickname is "El Meneo", which, when translated to English, is "the shaker". He has been given this nickname due to the way his tall slender body sways when he walks. (thanks wiki)

Joe Saunders (Traveler 2004, ’05)

As a Traveler he: Pitched pretty well but never gave any indication of being a future MLB All-Star.  He was also part of a rotation that included Santana and Jered Weaver.  Before being called up to Salt Lake in 2005, the 24 year old Saunders was 7-4 (18 starts) with 80 strikeouts in 105 IP and a 3.49 ERA.  To be fair, Saunders was a solid starter in his time with the Travelers.   Let’s just say that unlike Santana and Rodriguez who were both highly impressive in their time in Little Rock, Saunders was more of the steady type.  I don’t recall ever being wowed by him, but he always pitched pretty well.  

Why baseball fans know him:  ummm…he’s a 2008 AL All-Star.  Or it could be that Saunders leads the AL in wins with 12 and is 7^th in the league in ERA (3.04). 

I know I didn’t know:  that Bartolo Colon’s injury problems have played in a major role in allowing both Saunders and Santana to establish themselves in the bigs.  Joe was the pitcher recalled to take Santana’s spot when he was sent down in 2007. 

JD Drew (Traveler 1998)

As a Traveler he: played a lackadaisical centerfield.  Okay, so that’s my opinion.  He only played for the Travs in 19 games and I did my best to boo him every time.  Most of the crowd loved the kid.  The other thing he did here was rake.  In those 19 games he hit .328 and 5 HR.  He slugged a whopping .627 and had an OPS of 1.065.  If that number doesn’t mean much to you, suffice it to say that currently Pujols’ OPS is 1.091.  Its beyond good, it’s a phenomenal number and explains Drew’s short stay in Little Rock.  Evidently 19 games of raking gets you a one way ticket out of town and your own Travelers bobblehead.

Why baseball fans know him:  The list is long to be sure…it could be because in 1997 he won pretty much every accolade possible, including the Golden Spikes Award,  Collegiate Baseball Player of the Year, the list pretty much goes on ad infinitum.  The other thing he was originally known for (and the reason for my disdain) was that after being drafted by the Phillies in 1997, Drew refused to sign for less than 10 million.  To be fair, the Phillies were warned.  The Phillies drafted him anyway, Drew refused to sign and played independent ball that year.  Drew has been in the bigs for a decade now and yet has somehow never managed to live up to the hype following his arrival.  When Drew has been healthy, he’s hit the ball.  However he’s only topped 140 games played 3 times.  Drew has played for the Cards, Braves, Dodgers and is currently playing for the Red Sox.  (And carrying the team I might add).  Currently he is hitting .291 with 16 HR and 51 RBI’s.

His shining moment: Came in Game 6 of the 2007 ALCS (vs the Indians) with the Red Sox facing elimination, Drew hit a grand slam. The Red Sox went on to win the game, series and the World Series. 

Cliff Lee  (Never a Traveler but he’s from Benton)

Why baseball fans know him:  He is probably gonna’ start the 2008 All-Star game.  He’s currently 11-2 and is second in the AL with an ERA of 2.43.  Excluding his injury plagued season last year, Cliff has won at least 14 games every year since 2004.  He topped out at 18 wins in 2005.

Other goodies about the All-Star from Benton:  Was drafted 3 times.  First, he was drafted out of high school by the Marlins.   Then in 1998 he was drafted in the 20^th round by the Orioles. (Cliff chose to pitch for the Hogs).  Then in 2000, the Expos took him in the 4^th round.

I know I didn’t know:  Cliff was involved in a hugely lopsided trade; in 2002 the Expos traded him with Brandon Phillips, Lee Stevens, and Grady Sizemore to Cleveland in exchange for Bartolo Colón and Tim Drew.  Man the Expos got screwed in that deal.

There is a good article on Cliff here: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/Sports/228045/ 

Just in case you missed it, we really do get to watch some top notch players come through here.  In addition to this years Traveler related All-Stars, there are several All-Stars that you might have seen either at RWF or DSP.    This is probably not inclusive, but here goes, for the NL:  Lance Berkman, Aaron Cook, Brad Lidge, Billy Wagner, Edinson Volquez, Adrian Gonzalez, Matt Holliday, and Ryan Ludwick.  For the AL:  Justin Duscherer, Ian Kinsler, Michael Young, Carlos Guillen, and Joe Nathan.  So come on out the ballpark, there is bound to be a future All-Star playing. 

The "Sweetest Swing"

Now that 0 for July is over after a sparkling come from behind victory Monday night against a Frisco team that's scored more runs than any other team in the minor leagues, it's time to look forward to the next home stand.

With Tulsa coming in on Thursday for four games(seven back-to-back in the next two home stands) you'll see the "sweetest swing" in the League from Driller's center fielder Dexter Fowler.

  

Keep your eye on the #3 Colorado Rockie's prospect during the next two home stands. After Springfield's Shane Robinson's departure to AAA Memphis, Fowler is easily the best outfielder in the League, and very possibly the best player.

He's currently third in the League in hitting and first in runs scored. His swing is as beautiful to watch as his outfield play. He reminds me of Mantle the way he glides effortlessly to balls in the gaps.

Here's a very interesting Texas League Newsletter that ranks Fowler as potentially the best among some great prospects who have played center for the Drillers.

http://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/?id=3676305

 

Look for Fowler to be the Rockies' #1 prospect next year.

 

Also keep your eye on Tulsa's second base tandem as two of the fastest players in minor league baseball will be back at Dickey-Stephens.

 

  

 

Prospects Eric Young, Jr. (#2) and Corey Wimberly (#1) have almost 60 steals between them with Wimberly swiping 32 by himself, which is one off league leader Ovandy Suero.

 

It will be interesting to see how new Arkansas catcher and #10 Angel prospect Anel De Los Santos(seen below high-fiving his Cedar Rapids Kernels teamates after a win last month) will handle Tulsa's speedy runners.

 

Anel has tremendous arm strength and accuracy and showed off those skills at Frisco Monday night when he threw out lightning fast Elvis Andrus, who has thirty steals.

 

 

   

Throw in Driller outfielder Matt Miller, who is now leading the League in hitting after the promotion of the three players who were ahead of him, and the fact Tulsa started off the day in first place in the second-half North and a very intriguing series is shaping up.

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Traveler catcher Ben Johnson hit his 20th home run, which tied him for the league lead, before being called up to Salt Lake last weekend. Fan favorite Greg Porter hit 20 in '06 and Brandon Wood (#7 below/#1 prospect) hit 25. Wood got his llicks in despite leaving the last month of the season to join Team USA.

 

Since the club became affiliated with the Angels, the Traveler with the most round trippers is Mike Napoli, who had 31 in '05.

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The Travelers will be off Wed. 7/9 and it's hoped many will attend the season ticker holder's party at Dickey-Stephens. It will be the team's last day off until Aug. 5. A stretch of 26 days.

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With the Major League All-Star game a week away and set to be played for the final time in Yankee Stadium, I thought it would be fun to take a look at a ticket from another historic All-Star game played in New York, a long time ago.

 

 

Post by Travelerocity Corespondent Lonesome Traveler   

 

 

 

 

 

 

Worst record in TL only getting worse

Dr Pepper Ballpark, Frisco, Texas - All-Star catcher Ben Johnson was promoted to Salt Lake this morning and will be replaced on the Travs roster by Anel De Los Santos who joins the club today from Cedar Rapids. Johnson's promotion was made necessary after Salt Lake lost Ryan Budde to a major league promotion and Bobby Wilson to a fractured thumb.  Johnson leaves the Travs as the league leader in two categories; home runs (tied with 20) and RBI (71). 

Johnson set a new career high with his 20th home run Sunday night at Frisco.  He played 84 games for the Travs batting .267/.312/.503 and played some outfield and first base along with his catching duties. 

A string of roster moves involving catchers were made after the Angels placed Mike Napoli on the disabled list with inflammation in his right shoulder.  Budde was called to Los Angeles to back up Jeff Mathis leaving Salt Lake with no catchers on their roster.  Tim Duff left the Travs to join Salt Lake on Sunday morning but was still the only catcher available for Salt Lake until Johnson's promotion.

With two disabled catchers at Rancho Cucamonga, the Angels decided to promote the 20-year old De Los Santos to Arkansas.  Named the top defensive catcher in the Angels organzation by Baseball America, De Los Santos was batting just .178 with 3 home runs and 28 RBI in 62 games at Cedar Rapids.  He ranked second in the Midwest League with 41.1 percent of opposing basestealers thrown out. 

De Los Santos is a native of San Cristobal, Dominican Republic and is in his fourth professional season.

Tossed by Frisco and the umpires

For almost six innings Frisco's 6' 7" right hander Michael Schlact held the Travelers hitless in the regular season finale with the RoughRiders Tuesday night before Adam Morrissey broke up the no-hit bid with a sharp single to right.

Only one other runner on a first inning error had reached base on the Ranger's former #24 prospect out of Marietta, Georgia high school before Morissey's single. After that he retired the next 15. 

He threw only 74 pitches through seven innings and ended his night after the eighth, giving up four hits on 85 pitches. All of those hits came in his last three innings, including a league leading 19th home run by the Trav's Ben Johnson.

The 10-1 shellacking for the Traveler's could have worse consequences than ending up in the loss column. Midway through the game it appeared Arkansas' shortstop Hainley Statia may have re-injured his hamstring while trying to beat out a grounder on a beautiful acrobatic play by Frisco second baseman Jose Vallejo. Statia hit the ball deep in the hole at second but Vallejo (#5) went far to his right and threw across his body to nip Statia. (More on Vallejo later.)

Statia had just came off the D.L. on Monday after missing several weeks and the Angels' #11 switch hitting prospect made his presence felt in a hurry during the second game of the Frisco series. He finished the night with a double, a single, 2 RBI, and a run scored in the only Traveler victory of the series between the League's two first-half champs.

Tuesday night after being removed from the game in the seventh, Statia (#16) was limping noticeably as he left the field headed towrad the Traveler's clubhouse.

He was followed closely by Traveler manager Bobby Magallanes, who had just been ejected for arguing a play at the plate involving catcher Brian Walker and the ever-present Vallejo. Vallejo from seemingly everyone's perspective except the home plate umpire's, appeared to be clearly out as he slid past a swipe from Walker.

To say the umpires had a rough series during the just completed home stand is putting it mildly. Both the Midland manager and one of his player's were ejected Saturday night during some especially nasty exchanges, then there was the home run controversy Monday night (see next item), then of course Bobby's exit Tuesday.

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HOME RUN? NO HOME RUN?

OK here's a sampling of opinion on whether Traveler infielder Corey Smith's shot to deep center on Monday night was a home run or a double that hit off the front of the batting cage gutter facing as ruled by the umpires.

Those who thought it was:

*Corey, of course

*Broadcaster Phil Elson, and others in the booth who got a bird's-eye view

*Many people in the stands

Those who thought it wasn't:

*Manager Bobby Magallanes

*Traveler outfielder Brian Stavisky

*Those pesky umpires

So why such a difference of opinion? Because it's too hard to tell on a ball hit to that area.

The solution? Paint a yellow line, like most parks have, on top of the green fence designating anything over the line a home run. The ball then hitting the netting above the line; the gutter; or the roof would clearly be a home run.

As it stands now a ball hit on the roof is considered a home run, but as in Monday night's case that can be very, very difficult to discern if the ball lands on or near the gutter facing.

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Frisco second baseman Jose Vallejo can play!

Called up from Single A Bakersfield last week before the Traveler series, the Dominican native sparkled in the field with several outstanding plays and wore out Arkansas pitching. On Monday night Vallejo hit a two run homer off new Traveler closer Ryan Aldridge, who has given up very few, and also had a double and scored two runs.

On Monday night he went two for four with an RBI, and scored a run.

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Hey....how 'bout some fun?

That's Reggie, the Mid-South Disco Roller Runner-up!

It's good to see the tops of those enormous dugouts being used for something besides a landing spot for foul balls.

Happy 4th everyone!!

 

Post by Lonsesome Traveler