Until this evening.

For now, I will say that A-Rod’s a moron. That, of course, is not a reference to the news that A-Rod was caught in a Toronto strip club with a woman who was not his wife. (aside: Man. Visiting a strip club with a woman?)

Replays showed Rodriguez shouting something, and Clark backed off at the last second. McDonald was only a few steps behind Clark, but couldn’t make the catch and ball dropped for an RBI single. “I don’t know what my intention was,” Rodriguez said. “I didn’t say, ‘I got it’ or anything like that.”Clark claimed Rodriguez called for the ball. “I heard a ‘Mine’ call and so I let it go,” Clark said. “It wasn’t Johnny Mac. What do you do? It makes you mad.”

After the play, McDonald started jawing with Rodriguez, and third base umpire Chad Fairchild got between them.

And,

“The thing about the Yankees, one of the reasons they’re so respected, is they do things right. Always have,” manager John Gibbons said. “They’ve got a lot of pride and a lot of class. They play the game hard. “That’s not Yankee pride right there,” he said. “That’s not the way they play. I thought it was bush league.”

Obviously, Rodriguez isn’t familiar with the expression “winning isn’t everything”. 

Anyway.

Of greater concern today to Lynx fans was the news that J.A. Happ was pulled from Tuesday’s game for precautionary reasons - for now he’s still listed as “Active” on the roster. It’s been a tough road trip and the fellas are 4-6 over their last 10 games - they finish out the road trip tonight in Durham with J.D. Durbin going up against Andy Sonnanstine.

The brighter news was that Lynx manager, John Russell was named the IL Manager for the AAA All Star Game in July in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  Congratulations skipper!

Blog favorite, Howie Clark is back playing for the Blue Jays!

(Zak preferred to watch the Jays over the Other Ottawa Franchise tonight).

OK.  I finally got this to work. 

Thanks to Cat’s Pride for the poster which I’ve linked to below.  It should open as a Word document.

Philly trip

Which is nothing new.  Brennan King is placed on the DL.  Joey Hammond is recalled (told ya’ he’d be back soon).  A catcher, Tim Gradoville is also brought up.  Right hander, Jason Anderson is sent down.

Meanwhile, rumors swirl about Rod Barajas (Philly catcher) being traded. Chris Coste remains in Reading.

First off,  in a situation like this I have little doubt that management rarely telegraphs enough information about a future trade for pundits to reliably “connect the dots” in advance of the actual trade taking place.  Having said that, it’s still interesting to go through the exercise.

Why is Ottawa carrying three catchers (Gradoville, Jaramillo, Wathan)?  If Barajas is dealt, you would think that J.J. would be a prime candidate to replace him.  However, the reason that Philadelphia went out and acquired Barajas in the first place (reportedly) was that they wanted someone with experience (read: more experience than Coste) to back up Carlos Ruiz.  So it would seem a move involving J.J. up to Philly is doubtful - unless they’ve become comfortable enough with Ruiz.  In any event, it’s unlikely Ottawa’s meant to continue with three guys behind the plate.

Which brings us to Chris Coste.  Why was he left in Reading when he would have (should have?) been the natural call up to take Brennan King’s position?  My guess is that given the feathers he appears to have ruffled in Philadelphia’s front office that a trade is more likely than a move to back up Ruiz.

Bottom line (I think):  Someone’s leaving and I’m guessing it’s Coste.  It’s unlikely that they’d want to give up a guy like J.J. given his upside, and his age; it’d be awfully hard to get fair value for him.

Which still doesn’t explain the three catchers here.  Maybe a package deal trading Coste and Barajas, with J.J. getting elevated to the Phillies?

*** UPDATE ***

It appears that Neate and I are on a similar page vis a vis Chris Coste.

Hey!

The official Ottawa Lynx Booster Club, Cat’s Pride is planning a road trip to Philadelphia on July 28 and July 29.  The plan is to take in both the Saturday and Sunday games against the Pittsburgh Pirates.  Deadline for signing up is June 21 and the cost for club members is $180 and $190 for non-members - it includes bus and tickets to both games.  A non-refundable deposit of $100 is due when signing up for the trip (it’s refundable only if the trip is cancelled).  You’ll have to find your own accomodation, but I’m told that the Holiday Inn Philadelphia Stadium is closest to the park.   For the adventurous budget-minded traveller, I highly recommend Priceline (www.priceline.com) - but go here first to avoid overbidding for your stay. For more details, you can contact the President of the club at tricia_erickson@canada.com.  I’ll also have a copy of their flyer up when it’s ready.

Thanks to Tricia Erickson of Cat’s Pride for the information!

Yesterday the Lynx posted the news that “ Eude Brito has been transferred to the Lynx roster by the Lynx Major League affiliate”.  Eude had been in Clearwater for the last two weeks, rehabbing a groin injury.  I take this news to mean that he has been removed from the Phillies 40 man roster.  In order to make room in Ottawa, Joey Hammond has been sent back down to Reading - I expect we’ll see him back before too long.

All this news about Eude had me searching my own blog - I discovered he was someone that I’d not profiled.

From scout.com:

Eude Brito hasn’t found himself settled into any sort of permanent role with the Phillies. Instead, he’s shifted back and forth between Triple-A and Philadelphia, filling in wherever he was needed. It’s a role that Brito has done well in, but he would like to have a job to call his own. In 2005, most of Brito’s work came as a starter, but last season, he was most helpful to the Phillies in a relief role.

This season isn’t starting well for Brito. He was involved in a car accident in his native Dominican Republic in December and is still feeling the effects of the injuries that he suffered. Pain in his back and neck have kept him from throwing off the mound this spring and there is no definite timetable for when he’ll take the mound. That setback could make it almost impossible for Brito to make the staff out of camp and again have him shuttling back and forth between Triple-A and Philadelphia.

Eude Brito’s career stats

Acquired: Signed by the Phillies as an amateur free agent in July, 1998.

Repertoire: Brito has been able to get through life without having any dominant pitches. The key to his success is that he throws a fastball, slider, curve and change-up and they’re all at least average to above average pitches. He mixes his pitches well and throws a lot of strikes, which has been a key to his success.

Pitching: When he keeps the ball down in the zone, Brito is highly effective. In 2005, Brito allowed 1.12 home runs per nine innings and lowered that to 0.7 home runs per nine innings of work last season. Generally, he’s a poised pitcher who has been effective as both a starter and reliever, but started his career in the bullpen. His future in the majors would seem to be pitching out of the bullpen, especially if he stays with the Phillies. There is some doubt about how he would hold up over a long season as a starter.

Projection: Brito will likely start the year in cold Ottawa, Canada as a member of the Triple-A Ottawa Lynx. His pre-camp injury has put him well behind the other pitchers in camp and he was going to have to fight for a job no matter what. It will be another season of shuttling back and forth for Brito unless he becomes part of a trade package for another club. Long-term, he should have a decent career as a major league reliever and possibly as a starter if he were to wind up with a different organization and have the opportunity to make the starting rotation.

Fresh from a bath.

One of the many perks of running the blog is ”creative control”.  Today is my little girl’s 4th birthday, so I’ve gotta give her a little blog love.  Bekah came into the world quickly on this date in 2003, much faster than her older brother.  My wife woke up early on the 29th (Bekah’s due date) with the beginning of what she thought were labor pains.  Ever the doting husband, I went for my regular training ride at 3.30 a.m. - but I did take my cell phone.  Cut me a little slack; from the time her water broke with Zak (at the Lone Star Restaurant, no less), there was a span of about 10 hours before he was born.  When I returned at 6.15, Doris was doubled over in the kitchen, leaning heavily on the counter.  It was time to go.

“Are you sure?”  I asked.  Icy stare.

“Do I have time to grab a quick shower?”

Hey, sometimes I’m amazed that I’m still alive too.  In any event, things went well - if not quickly.  The admitting nurse got her into a room as soon as we got there.  When I went to move the van to a parking spot, they told me just to leave it where it was.  Bek arrived less than 4o minutes later - she didn’t leave enough time for them to administer an epidural.  So labor was brief, but intensely painful.  Like tearing off a BandAid.

Yeah.  That’s what it was like…. Like tearing off a BandAid.

Again, looking back, I’m amazed I’m still around to recount the tale too.

Happy Birthday Becky!!!!

I read this post over at the Universal Cynic with great disappointment.  Readers here know how we feel about Erin Nicks - she’s a true “Friend of the Lynx”.  To be snubbed by a league that she has covered so faithfully is, quite understandably, difficult to accept.  I’m not in the same league as a writer like Erin or Neate Sager over at “Out of Left Field” - and that’s not false modesty on my part; I don’t hold a candle to these two.  But, as I mentioned at the end of the Josh Teuscher interview, as a fledgling blogger, I’m extremely appreciative of the access that I have been granted to the Lynx.  Stuff like this just underscores how good we have things here in Ottawa and with MiLB in general.

I’m hopeful that someone in the NHL or Senators organization will right this wrong.  As Neate correctly notes in his post on the subject,  “(t)he NHL can’t even get Rule No. 1 of media relations — Don’t Big-Time The Local Press — correct. At the end of the day, the local media have a lot more influence with the public, and how the league treats them makes a much stronger impression than how much it bends over backwards for NBC.  Who knows how much influence the Senators have with the almighty NHL on this matter, but the long and short of it is a perfectly legitimate media person is getting snubbed.”

Just had a little bit more to transcribe after yesterday’s post…

Carl Kiiffner:  Is there ever a request from a manager to get the infield or field a certain way - e.g. we want the basepaths really wet?  Do you get that?

Josh Teuscher:  You don’t get that so much.  I try to communicate a lot with the players, just to see how… because they’re the ones that play on it.  If they want more water or less water put down before a game - little things like that.  As far as the basepaths, we just, we keep them pretty much the same - we don’t change it depending on a fast team or a slow team.  You might have that a little more in the major leagues, but down here you got guys changing… your team changes so much during the year you just basically try to keep it consistent throughout the year so that it’s playing the same in April as it is the beginning of August.

CK:  Do you get much feedback from the players?

JT:  They just let me know if they want a little bit more water.  It’s always the water, the water is always the big issue; the players like it really wet.  It makes the infield a little bit slower for the ground balls.  It’s more the fielders that I’ll talk to - first baseman, second baseman, shortstop.  They’re the guys that I try to talk to, and then obviously the pitchers too to see how the mound is playing.

CK:  So you measure the mound.  How do you know it’s at the right height?

JT:  I did a measurement at the start of the year with a laser, and then I measured the slope.

CK:  Any difference between a day game and a night game in terms of preparation?

JT:  Day games are a lot harder on a field than night games are.  With the sun being out, the field dries up a lot quicker.  (Motioning to the field) You can see he’s watered and it’s already dry, whereas with night games you put that water down and the sun goes down and it stays pretty moist the entire time.  That’s the hardest thing - it’s just the water factor between day and night games.  You try and get here early on a day game and just keep watering and watering to build up that base, and hopefully it stays pretty wet throughout a game - it’s just going to dry out. The worst combination is a hot day with a wind, that really dries out a field fast.

And that as they say, is that.  Sorry it took so long to publish, but transcribing a fifteen minute interview took the better part of two hours (and my typing skills aren’t that bad).  In my quick discussion with Josh before I started firing questions, I mentioned to him that we  had something in common: both our Dads are Lutheran ministers, and knew each other from the time that his Dad was working in the Ottawa valley.  It’s always fun comparing notes with other PKs (preacher’s kids); and quite obviously, not everything you hear about PKs is true!

It may sound trite, but I really want to thank Josh for taking time out of his day to speak with me - he was awfully busy.  I also want to thank Riley Denver of the Lynx for setting the time up, and for letting me interview him while he was working.

At long last - part I of my interview with Josh Teuscher.  I sat down with the Lynx head groundskeeper on May 14 to talk about the work he does.   

Carl Kiiffner:  When was it that you gave up on baseball and thought that this was something you’d enjoy doing?

Josh Teuscher:  Well it was probably actually while I was still actually playing, down in Stratford in the County league.  I was still playing ball, but I also kept care of the field while I was playing, you know, during the summers and stuff I’d come out and take care of it.  I always enjoyed doing that, I always figured there was something (there) - I knew my skills would never get me to the big leagues, and I always enjoyed going out and taking care of the field.  It kept me in it (baseball).  And I even when I played college ball in Augusta, I mean that was part of our duties of playing was taking care of the field.  Some of the guys hated it, but I enjoyed doing it.

CK:  You were a groundskeeper at Wrigley - this can’t be tougher.  Are there unique challenges here?

JT:  I would say it is harder here.  Just because you don’t have - we had such a big crew at Wrigley.  So you had one guy that took care of the main mound and one guy that did the visitor’s team mound, and one guy that did the home team mound, and another guy did the infield, and another guy did home plate.  Here there’s myself, and as you see, two other guys out here and another one that comes in for the games - so it’s like four guys trying to do everything.  Whereas up there, you do have the numbers.

CK:  What happens during a typical day when the team’s away?

JT:  It depends.  I just look for different areas that need work.  Like this past week for example, it gets real low at first base just from them “leading off”, so we’ve spent some time over there adding more material and clay and stuff, building it back up and making it more level.  You just look at different areas; it’s a lot of watering right now, especially with no rain the last couple of weeks.  You’re just basically fixing it up different areas, stuff you can’t do when the team’s here because you just don’t have the time, the days you need for everything to settle down again and the clay and stuff to bond and settle.  Wear and tear from an eight game home stand… I just finished doing the main mound today. I’d go out and measure and make sure the slope’s right so it’s all ready to go for the opening of the home stand.

CK:  You obviously had a big hand in the Opening Day here.  Who makes the final call about whether the field is ready?

JT:  Before the game it’s usually the GM and the manager - they’ll make that call.  I mean, obviously they’ll ask me, I stay out of it. I just tell them that I’ll do everything there is to do to get a field ready, you know, and they’ll come talk to me, but it’s ultimately their call to make.

CK:  I’m a bit of a weather fanatic, and I’m constantly looking for information on the web.  Are you keeping track of these weather sites, are you livin’ and dyin’ with the forecast?

JT: (Smiling) Yeah, I spend a lot of time looking over that, watching TV all the time trying to get my best assessment too of what’ going to happen for the week.

CK:  April 13.  The weekend before OD, and I’m looking at the web and I see there’s this weather “bomb” coming, this northeaster that’s starting off in Colorado.  What are you thinking April 13, that Friday?

JT:  Then and there I didn’t think we’d open up on Opening Day.  I mean, there’s nothing you can do with the weather, you can’t worry about it, you just kind of go along with it. Whatever it throws at you, you just keep working at it and stuff out there.  We were lucky that day that it did warm up that night (April 16), we got a lot of rain and that took care of most of the snow.  That Monday night… we had snow all that day and everyone pretty much thought “no game”, but then at 9 o’clock I looked at the weather and it was warming up and starting to turn to rain and the snow pretty much started to melt right away.

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