My bad. I didn’t see that McLemore started the game at 3B tonight. Please, save your emails.
Carlos Guillen just left tonight’s game with a bruised right elbow. Mark McLemore replaced him. I’m no Luis Ugueto fan, but if you’re not going to use him here, what’s the point of even having him on the roster? McLemore really shouldn’t play the infield these days, and particularly not shortstop. Sure, Ugueto can’t hit a lick, but at least he can field the position. And it’s not as if McLemore’s an offensive threat, either.
I just posted something about the AquaSox, but apparently Blogger ate it. Oh well. The basic message is that the Everett AquaSox open their Northwest League season tonight at home against Vancouver. Lefty Victor Ramirez will take the mound for the Frogs and first pitch is scheduled for 7pm. The Everett Herald has a couple of good articles about the team, most notably this 2003 season preview and this piece about catcher Brian Lentz, an undrafted free agent signed out of Harvard.
Provided you’re far enough north of Seattle to pick up their signal, you can catch all the action on KSER 90.7 FM. To get the broadcast on the ‘net, you’ll need this link. Tell Pat Dillon the boys at the USS Mariner sent you.
U.S.S. Mariner-endorsed Seattle Times writer Larry Stone has another couple of fine articles in his “Art of Baseball” series up. This time it’s about clubhouses and while it contains some of the more worn cliches (“One of the supreme compliments in baseball, thus, is to be “a great guy in the clubhouse,” because more teams have been brought down by internal bickering than by poor fielding or untimely hitting.”) it’s still a good read. There’s a companion piece “10 Great Moments in Clubhouse History“. Stone continues to provide the best Seattle-area baseball coverage that rubs off on your hand.
Super Tuesday usually means jerky, but last night it meant Dave Niehaus Story Time CDs, which I swear I thought was some kind of elaborate hoax when I first heard it announced. In the spirit of last night’s Super Tuesday giveaway, we now present Dave Niehaus and Ron Fairly in Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
Hamlet:
To bunt, or not to bunt: that is the question:
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The bunts and steals of run manufacture,
Or to swing away for dingers,
And by hitting win games?
Horatio:
Hamlet, what you need to remember here is that you’re not the one in trouble. Claudius is the one in trouble. He’s got to stop the bleeding.
(yes, I know the pentameter’s busted)
Overheard at the ballpark, Tuesday 6-17-2003
“What do you do with an elephant with three balls?”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Walk him and pitch to the giraffe! WAHAHAHAHAHA!!”
Minor League Highlights for Super Tuesday, June 17
Tacoma 3, Memphis 2 (10 innings). 1B J.R. Phillips hit a solo homer in the bottom of the 10th to win it for the Rainiers, capping a 3-4 day and making a winner of RHP Aaron Taylor (2 2/3 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K). RHP Brian Falkenborg, fresh off the DL, pitched well in his return to action (5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K). RF Kenny Kelly and DH John Mabry, the latter getting some rehab at-bats, each had three hits in Tacoma’s 15-hit attack.
Their All-Star break finished, San Antonio returns to action tonight at Midland. Amid rumors that RHP Rett Johnson has been promoted to Tacoma and LHP Matt Thornton will remain there following his spot start this week, the Missions have yet to announce their starting pitcher for today’s game.
Lake Elsinore 5, Inland Empire 4. 1B John Castellano hit a pair of solo homers, but it wasn’t enough for the 66ers as Lake Elsinore got to RHP Emiliano Fruto (3 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K) in relief of LHP Glenn Bott (5 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 10 K). Leading 3-1 after four innings, Fruto gave up three in the 6th and one more in the 8th, taking the loss to fall to 4-7 on the season. C Luis Oliveros went 2-4, raising his average to .342 on the year.
Wisconsin was idle, as the Midwest League played their All-Star game in Comstock Park, Michigan. In front of 10,037 people, the East beat the West 5-4. The Timber Rattlers will resume play on Thursday.