Results tagged ‘ Yankees ’
Whitecaps Alumni Update
Tigers release Boesch: After years in the Detroit Tigers system, the organization decided to release Boesch from his contract yesterday morning. Apparantly Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski tried to offer him in a trade, but there were no takers. Not there aren’t any teams interested in him, but not at the $2.3 million offered to him by Detroit to avoid an arbitration hearing this winter. Yesterday was the last day they could have cut Boesch, and only be responsible for 1/6 of his salary, less than $400,000 (only..haha). Spring training has been a tough one for Boesch, who’s injury early in spring training put him behind in the running for the final outfield, or even bench position. He’s a career .259 hitter, but only batted .240 last season with 12 home runs and 54 RBI’s. He hit only .230 against right-handers, and Detroit left him off of the post-season roster. Ironic, because after he was injured in the 2011 play-offs, it was seen as a major loss, and a reason the Tigers bowed out to the Rangers. He did have a banner year in 2011, though, hitting .286 with a .799 OPS. Other teams have interest in him, though, including the Yankees, Mets, Astros, and now the Red Sox. Of the teams listed, I like to see him go to the Red Sox. He might do very well hitting at Fenway, and even if he was designated to Pawtucket, I’d be able to see him play in May in Charlotte! As a member of the West Michigan Whitecaps in 2007, Boesch hit.267 with 19 doubles, 10 home runs, and 86 RBI’s.
Brennan Boesch with the Whitecaps back in 2007
Welcome back, Moya: Steven Moya played his first spring training game yesterday, after returning from an elbow injury, which took Tommy John surgery to fix. He went 3-3 against Florida Southern College, with a triple, a double,two RBI’s, and three runs scored. He had a bases-loaded double that scored two runs, and helped the Tigers to an 11-0 victory. During a press conference dicussing the Boesch release, Dombrowski named off some outfield prospects, and his comment about Moya was: “Moya might be better than all of them”. He was having a great season for the Whitecaps last year before being injured. He was hitting .288, with 14 doubles, 13 home runs, and 39 RBI’s at only 20 years old. In 2011, he hit .204, with 10 doubles, 13 homers, and 39 RBI’s as a 19-year-old. Good improvement for him, and he really cut down on his strike-outs, too. Tigers manager Jim Leyland seems to like him, too.
“He’s a prospect, and a good one,” stated Leyland to MLive.com. “That’s where he stands right now. He’s an impressive young man.”
I’m not sure where Moya will start this season, but a good bet he’ll at least be in Double-a Erie by mid-season. I can see him at Single-A Advanced Lakeland due to him getting a late start this spring, and I’ll be tracking his progress this season for sure.
Steven Moya with the Whitecaps last season
Photos courtesy of the West Michigan Whitecaps, Flickr, MLive.com
2012 Baseball Trip-Game 5: Belated in Binghamton
Binghamton Mets vs. Trenton Thunder
NYSEG Stadium-Binghamton, NY: Our second game here in Binghamton, but we still couldn’t make it to the game early. We were busy with museums and other things that up-state New York had to offer, but we were still in our seats by the first pitch. We had great seats for this one, front row on the third base side that gave us a different perspective of the game. The game itself was a real ’barn-burner’, with the score 0-0 going into the ninth inning, but got exciting when the B-Mets won with a walk-off single. The high-light of the game for me was getting a game ball from Trenton center fielder Melky Mesa. He was running in from the outfield and launched one to me just past second base, and I simply made an amazing catch. It was a fun game for us, but still not much of a crowd, which surprised my again when the Mets and Yankees affiliates are playing. They had really good burgers off the grill here, though, which gave me something to go with my beer for the night. We stayed in town, but had a long trip back up to Rochester for a game the next day. Final: B-Mets 1, Thunder 0.
Would you want to eat a hot dog thrown to you by this goof-ball?
The B-Mets celebrate the walk-off victory!
Photos property of Minoring In Baseball
2012 Baseball Trip-Game 4: No rain, but plenty of Thunder
Binghamton Mets vs. Trenton Thunder
NYSEG Stadium-Binghamton, NY: Since it took us about half the time at the Hall of Fame than we expected, we decided to pick up an extra game in Binghamton. It rained all day in Cooperstown, and a little on our drive down, but turned into a beautiful night for baseball. Because heading down there was a last-minute decision, we didn’t get there real early and have as much time to poke around the park before game time. Someone was handing out vouchers outside of the stadium, too, for discounts, so we picked up our tickets for only $6.00 a piece, which is a great deal for baseball. NYSEG Stadium is a decent venue for Double-A (Eastern League), but we’ve been in better for Single-A. The crowd wasn’t as ‘baseball savvy’ as some of the other ones we’ve talked to on our trip, and they didn’t seem real into the game. Lots of people their drinking tons, which I have no problem with, but obvious they could care less about the game. You’d think they’re would be a better showing for the a matchup of the Mets and Yankees affiliates. Not real surprising to hear that this is the franchise rumored to be heading to Ottawa, Ontario in the future. I did like the fact here that there were plenty of vendors walking the stands, so you really could sit and not miss much of the game, and the concessions were reasonably priced. The mascots did a good job, too, of walking the stands and entertaining the kids. It was a chance for us to see more baseball, though, which is always a good thing. The Thunder really brought their bats this night and beat up the home team a bit. We’ll see if the Mets can bounce back the next night, as we’ll be back in Binghamton for the rematch. Final: Thunder 10, B-Mets 1.
Photos property of Minoring In Baseball
2012 Baseball Trip: The Road to Cooperstown
The National Baseball Hall of Fame
Cooperstown, NY: The road to Cooperstown, New York may not be what you’d expect. In fact, it is almost a like travelling back in time, to a place without super highways and sky scrapers. The road is carved into the landscape of up-state New York, passing farms and classic homes. It’s a journey to a simpler time when baseball was king of all sports…as it should be. The town itself is quaint, with the feel of the turn of the century, but I didn’t see too much of it on the way there, as I was so excited to reach my destination…the National Baseball Hall of Fame…
Inside your welcomed by Gehrig, Robinson, and Clemente. Pretty good trio of legends…
The actual Hall itself, which is pretty simple and elegant:
One of my favorite classic Tigers and fellow second baseman…Charlie Gehringer
I was surprised to see a display of movies that featured baseball:
The rest of the museum was sort of all over the place. It had no real flow to it, and you never really knew what you were going to see next. I’ve been to the Hockey HOF in Toronto, and I guess I was comparing that to the baseball one here in Cooperstown. I was disappointed to find that no other baseball was represented here other than MLB. Nothing on the Minor League, college baseball, international baseball (Olympics or WBC), Little League, Negro Leagues, or anything else. Even the display for the girls baseball was much smaller than I thought it would be. I did enjoy seeing some of the old memorabilia from the 1800′s and to see how the game evolved. There was plenty of room for more displays, though, and maybe recognizing some very good players and teams that will not make the Hall, but still meant a lot to the game of baseball. We had a fun time, and this was something that we just had to do to cross off our baseball bucket list, but I guess I was a little disappointed that there wasn’t more to it. And then seeing the prices in the gift shop simply just ticked me off a bit…
At least my home town got a little recognition in the girls display
No individual players from the Detroit Tigers 1984 World Champions are in the Hall, but the team was too good not ro be represented in the museum.
Home plate from Emmet’s Field
Doubleday Field
Cooperstown, NY: While in the Coop, checking out Doubleday Field is a must. It’s and old-time throwback stadium, but I really like it’s simplicity. They have a summer college team play there now, so it’s good to see it in use. It’s too bad I couldn’t have seen a game played here, though. We used the parking lot here, too, and just walked to the HOF.
Photos property of Minoring In Baseball
2012 Baseball Trip-Game 3: Bull Durham, Damn Yankees
Empire State Yankees vs. Durham Bulls
Frontier Field-Rochester, NY: While the Red Wings are away, the Yankees will play…in Frontier Field, that is. Due to a new stadium being built, the Scratnon/Wilkes Barre Yankees will be taking on the moniker of ‘Empire State’ for the season, and playing ‘home games’ in places such as Rochester and Syracuse while the home teams are out-of-town. This gave us a great opportunity to catch a game, and see two more teams, that we probably would not have seen otherwise. I found Frontier Field a very nice venue, and our seats could not have been better, front row on the third base side. The kids had a lot of fun watching this game on MiLB.TV, as they could see their daddy and papa quite a bit. The game itself flew by, as the Durham Bulls shut out the Yankees 1-0. Alex Cobb got the win on the mound for Durham, and I was surprised to see him pitching for the Rays when I turned the game on last night versus the Red Sox. We had a lot of fun here, and were excited about the fact we would be coming back in a few days to watch the Red Wings. I went right to bed after the game, though, as the next morning we would get up bright and early to get on the road to Cooperstown…Final: Bulls 1, Yankees 0.
The old ballpark in Rochester was named ‘Silver Stadium‘ after the man who saved baseball in Rochester.
Photos property of Minoring In Baseball
2011 BBT Day 1: Pouting in Pawtucket
Pawtucket Red Sox vs. Scranton/WB Yankees: McCoy Stadium-Pawtucket, RI
Our 2011 adventure started out in Pawtucket, home of the International League’s Red Sox, or PawSox. I really liked McCoy Stadium, as it’s a throwback to the more classic ballparks. Walking through the gates at McCoy is like taking a step back into time. The fans and staff are extremely friendly, and are more than happy to talk about the history of the stadium and the team. Some of the older staff members had some great stories. With the rain delay, we had plenty of time to explore the ballpark and get our shopping in also. My favorite park was the mural of my favorite player as a kid, Mark ‘The Bird’ Fidrych. The ballpark has pictures from all sorts of historic events that have taken place there, especially the longest game in pro baseball history that lasted 33 innings. Despite the fact that it had not been raining for some time, the game was called and we missed our first game to rain in the seven-year history of our trip. Some of the fans thought that the teams just wanted to hit the road early, as they played in worse weather the two previous nights. Definitely disappointing, but you don’t have to see a game here to realize how special the ballpark is, but I’m sure since the PawSox were playing the Yankees, the atmosphere would have been great.
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Photos property of M.I.B.
Minoring In Baseball
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