Tagged: Midwest League
Whitecaps Update
Down to Third: After posting a 43-27 record for the first half of the season, the ‘Caps barely stayed above .500, going 38-32 in the second half. They finished 11 games behind the Fort Wayne TinC
aps. Clinching the Wild Card, they play the Great Lakes Loons in the first round of the MWL Playoffs.
Post Season All-Stars: LHP Casey Crosby and DH/OF Billy Nowlin were named to the MWL Post-Season All-Star team. Crosby was 10-4 in his first pro season, with a 2.41 ERA in 24 starts. He also fanned 117 batters and only waked 48. Nowlin (.311) and fellow Whitecap Gustavo Nunez (.315) finished second and third in the league for batting averages. Nowlin hit 29 doubles, 13 homers with 77 RBI’s.
Very Offensive: The Whitecaps 2009 team had one of the best offensive seasons in franchise history. They broke records for team batting average (.274), hits (1,316) and doubles (267).
Who Ya Gonna Call?: OF Wilkin Ramirez got his September call up to the Detroit Tigers. He got a small taste of the big leagues back in May, but expects to learn a lot this time around.
“Now that I’m going to be here longer, I can learn even more,” Ramirez stated. “You can learn a lot if you pay attention.”
So far he’s been contributing a a pinch runner and has seen some at bats. He’s got power adn speed, and I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of him with the Tigers in seasons to come.
Whitecaps Update
Still In Second: The Whitecaps are still standing in second place in the MWL Eastern Division with a record of 32-24 in the second half. They are just unable to catch the almost unbeatable 
Fort Wayne TinCaps. who they trail by 8.0 games as of this post.
Hot Bat: Short stop Gustavo Nunez has been hot at the plate since returning to West Michigan. Last week Nunez homered from both sides of the plate (including a grand slam), during a nine-run first inning against the Dayton Dragons, a game the ‘Caps would win 14-2. Over the last 10 games he’s batting .357 with three homers and eight RBI’s.
Ups and Downs: Ronnie Borquin has been reassigned to the Whitecaps from the AA Erie Seawolves. He was sent to Erie right after the MWL All-Star game and hit .228 with five homers and 19 RBI’s during his AA stint. Second basebman Brandon Douglas has been placed on the disabled list. Also a MWL All-Star, Douglas is batting .333 with 34 RBI’s in 74 games so far this season in West Michigan.
Alex Avila: Wow, it seems like just last season when I was watching Avila play in a ‘Caps uniform. Oh, wait, it WAS just last season. Spending most of the 2009 season with the AA Seawolves, he was recently promoted to the Detroit Tigers and is making the most of it, going 2-4 in his MLB debut. As of this post, he’s hitting .370 with three home runs, four doubles, and nine RBI’s in just 10 games with Detroit. The Tigers have had a tough time finding a reliable backup at catcher this season that can do anything productive at the plate.
“I guess that’s the reason they called me up”, Avila stated. “They want to see what you can do and how you can play at this level…Any time you’re in the lineup, you just try to do your job. Then, hopefully, you’ll stick up here.”
In his stint with the Whitecaps last season, he hit .305 with 22 RBI’s in 58 games. He was assigned to West Michigan after being drafted out of the Univ. of Alabama. Being his dad is the Tigers assistant GM, baseball must be in his blood.
“Ever since I was young,” Avila said, “all we did was baseball.”
Photo courtesy of The Detroit News
Hello, Wisconsin
Appleton, WI-August 4-5, 2009: It’s already August, and the kids will going back to school soon, and summer will be officially a thing of the past. Wanting to get one more trip in, we headed west through the U.P. to Wisconsin to take in a couple of Timber Rattler games. We watched the T-Rats play the Kane County Cougars on Tuesday night at 7:05, then for a Wednsday matinee at noon before heading home.
Playing in the Midwest League, the T-Rats are enjoying there first season as a Class A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. This is obviously helping attendance, as the stadium was packed with Brewers fans for both games. Also helping was the fact that Hall of Famer and former Brewer legend Paul Molitor was there signing autographs on Tuesday night. I didn’t even bother to get in line to see him the line was so long. I also enjoy visiting a ballpark for the first time and Fox Cities Stadium didn’t disappoint. Not as big as some of the other Class A ballparks, but really nice and not a bad seat in the house. The lower box seats make you feel like your right on the field. The food was pretty good and the beer was cold, so no complaints there.
The Rattlers lost both games to the Cougars, but both were very competitive. Tuesday night game went to the tenth with Kane County coming out on top 4-2. Wednsday’s game ended 3-1 in favor of the Cougars again. Wisconsin left a lot of base runners in scoring position both games. We saw some good pitching and defense from both teams, too. I have to give props to the Cougars Chris Berroa(pictued) for throwing me a game ball.
Photos property of MIB
Whitecaps Update
Stealing Second: The West Michigan Whitecaps still sit in second place in the MWL Eastern Divis
ion with a record of 18-12, nine game behind the red hot Fort Wayne TinCaps. They remain 3.5 games ahead of the third place South Bend Silver Hawks. The Whitecaps have already secured a playoff spot, though, but hope to gain some ground on the TinCaps. The first playoff game will be at Fifth Thrid Ballpark on Sept. 10.
Player of the Week: ‘Caps outfielder Ben Guez was named Player of the Week (July 20). He’s been hot at the plate since the All-Star break batting .373 with three home runs and 20 RBI’s. For the season he’s slugging .261 with seven homer and 42 RBI’s in 62 games. Guez is the sixth Whitecap to earn Player of the Week honors this seaon (Casey Crosby, Luke Putkonen, Bryan Pounds, Billy Nowlin, and Ronnie Bourquin). Pitcher of the Week: Casey Crosby was named MWL Pitcher of the Week (July 26). Crosby is a 2009 MWL All-Star and has a record of 8-3. His ERA is 2.92 and has struck out 101 batters so far this season. Last Monday he threw five hitless innings against the Kane County Cougars. Crosby is the first Whitecap since Mike Hernandez in 2006 to win the award twice in one season.
Hot Bat: Right fielder Avisail Garcia has had a hot bat his last seven games. He’s hitting .423 with four runs scored and four RBI’s.
Matt Nokes: Former Detroit Tiger Matt Nokes will be appearing at Fifth Third Ballpark on August 31 as part of ‘Tiger Fridays’. Matt was a rookie with the Tigers in 1987 when he was third in Rookie of the Year voting, was selected to the American League All-Star team, and won the Silver Slugger Award. He batted .289 and hit 32 home runs that season.
Whitecaps Pound Peoria
July 17, 2009-Comstock Park, MI: The West Michigan Whitecaps beat up on the visiting Peoria Chiefs 9-0. The onslaught starting in the first inning, when center fielder Ben Guez hit a two run homer to put the ‘Caps up 2-0. Guez ended up going 3-5 on the night, with three RBI’s. Also helping out was second baseman Mike Gosse who was a perfect 4-4 with a double, two runs scored, and 2 RBI’s. Third baseman Brent Wyatt went 2-5 with a double, triple, RBI, and run scored. All around good offensive game by the Whitecaps. The fact that Peoria had three errors helped out, too.
On the mound Brayan Villarreal pitched a solid five innings. He struck out six and didn’t give up a run. He gave up six hit’s, but he was able to pitch himself out of trouble with the help of his defense. His ERA is now a measly 1.06.
Rain threatened the game, but it turned out to be a beautifull night. After some first inning mist, the rain held off and it actually warmed up a bit. It was also Tiger Friday, so former Tiger John Wockenfuss was there to sign autograpsh. That’s another entry, though.
Photos property of MIB
Whitecaps Update
All Star Hero
:West Michigan Whitecap Ronnie Bourquin (recently promoted to the AA Erie Sea Wolves) blasted three run homer in the fourth inning of the Midwest League All-Star Game to put the East up 5-0. With runners at the corners, he lifted a 3-1 count pitch over the fence. The East went on to beat the West 6-3.
“I’m not a guy that usually hits a lot of home runs, I’m usually a gap to gap guy and I’ve come close on a lot of balls that I’ve hit”, he stated.
Bourquin was accompanied to the All-Star game by five other ‘Caps players. Pitchers Casey Crosby, Jared Gayhart, Maruicio Robles, and Tyler Sthor, along with second baseman Brandon Douglas made the trip to Clinton, Iowa.
Back To The Playoffs: This is the fourth straight season the Whitecaps have clinched a playoff berth in the first half, and the sixth straight in the playoffs. The Whitecaps have seen post-season action in 12 of the last 15 seasons.
MLB Debuts: Two former Whitecap pitchers have made their MLB debut with the Tigers. Alfredo Figaro (2008) made two starts with Detoit, while Luke French (2005-06) has made one start and is scheduled for at least one more.
Players of the Week: Whitecaps third baseban Ryan Pounds and right-handed pitch Luke Putkonen have been named the Midwest League’s Players of the Week respectively. This is the first time in the 15 yr. history of the ‘Caps that they swept the awards.
Pounds is batting .285 with two home-runs and a team leading 48 RBI’s. In a game last week versus Dayton, he went 3-5 and drove in six RBI.
Putkonen is 5-4 with a 3.98 ERA. He’s struck out 71 batters in 86.1 innings this season so far. Last week versus South Bend he through a complete game shut-out.
Photo property of MIB
2009 Baseball Trip
Tues. May 5-South Bend, Indiana: Our first trip to Coveleski Stadium in South Bend pitted the home Silver Hawks against the Cedar Rapids Kernels. We fought off the rain all week, and it started here with some drizzle, but the rain actually held off and we got the whole game in. Trevor made the trip with us this year, and he was uccessful in getting two game balls. The stadium is a little plain, but cut into the ground which I like and had good seating. We had good seats in the front row.
Thurs. May 7-Indianapolis, Indiana: We experienced out first rain out Wednesday, but if one of our games was to be missed, that would be it because we planned on returning to Victory Field on this day for a morning game anyway. The Indians played the Scranton/WB Yankees in a double header starting at ten in the morning. Again, rain threatened us, but it turned out to be a beautiful day. The home town Indians got beat both games, but this is a great ball park and we would love to back here again. Pictured is me and Trevor in the upper deck. Trevor got a fowl ball here, too.
Minoring In Baseball 