Just like I told you yesterday, it doesn’t look like John Ennis will make it back here before the end of the season…, unless he ends up pitching the second game of last night’s double-header.  D-oh!

In other news, John Russell will be managing the Peoria Saguaros of the Arizona Fall League.  FLPs joining him include Joe Bisenius and J.A. Happ:

Five of the players headed for the desert are pitchers.

Joe Bisenius pitched in two games with the Phillies early in the season, throwing two shutout innings. After being sent back to Triple-A Ottawa, Bisenius struggled and has put up very disappointing numbers for the Lynx (2-4, 5.86). He’s still definitely on the Phillies prospect radar, although there are some concerns after the season that he’s had. Keep in mind though that many players at Ottawa had sub-par seasons, possibly because of the disinterest surrounding the team in their final season in the city. J.A. Happ made an early season start for the Phillies and it didn’t go well at all. He was shelled for five earned runs in four innings and was sent back to Ottawa. Like Bisenius, Happ hasn’t especially enjoyed his time with the Lynx (4-5, 4.97), but is still well regarded within the organization and could be fighting for a Major League job next spring.   (scout.com)

Blogger:  And many didn’t (have subpar seasons….) Which is a nice segue to our current debate: 

2007 Lynx MVP.  Joe Thurston vs. Gary Burnham.  Who ya got?

Outstanding veteran: Pedro Swann vs. Dusty Wathan

Best pickoff move: Jason Anderson?

Fan favorite:  ? (blogger: this one’s a gimme)

Best promotion: Expos Day  (Kids Opening Day a close second).

Most memorable moment:  How much time ya got?

Worst fan reaction: Joe Thurston’s “misplayed” triple play ball.  The collective groan after he deliberately let the infield fly fall in front of him.

Worst intro. music:  Brennan King.  (we hate country)

Best intro. music:  Easy.  Joe Thurston.

Best warmup swings: (we’re really stretching for categories now) Pedro Swann.

Hardest working staff member:  Oooh.  Tough one.  We’ll have to break this one into brackets. 

Round 1:

Jodi vs. Riley

Kyle vs. Lorraine

Skratch vs. Trash Monster

Josh vs. Matt

Derek vs. Michaela

Brian vs. Ryan

Phil vs. Gary

D.J. vs. Tara

More to come, with photos from last night to follow.

*** UPDATE ***

Just in case anybody in the bracket didn’t know: The Unofficial Lynx Blog has very low morals.  We can be bought, fairly cheaply.  Hey, it’s just the way we roll.  For those interested in peddling influence, we’ll be in the Rogers box tonight and we prefer our hotdogs with mustard and relish ONLY.  We’re also sweet on the popcorn.  And the pizza.  The pretzels are pretty strong too…

Probably a good thing the game was called last night - we would have come home to a completely flooded basement had we piled into the van and headed to the park to wait out a rain delay.

I’m still not certain what transpired yesterday down at City Hall, beyond the non-discussion of the Ottawa Stadium Group bid.  As commenter and blogger, taoofstieb has astutely pointed out, the website for one of the proponents of the bid is entirely underwhelming.  And you think someone from the group would have been front and centre yesterday as opposed to “couldn’t be reached for comment”.  A wild card $40M bid that sails in from left field?  Something just seems wrong there - and not just because we’re opposed to the idea.  (You’ve also gotta wonder how long it would take before the $40 became $50 or $60M.)

Speaking of left field, congratulations to Neate Sager for winning OttawaStart.com’s “rant of the day” a couple days back (and please ignore my comment on his posting).

In baseball news, unfortunately John Ennis was DFA’d (designated for assignment, for those of you just joining us) - even if he clears waivers, I’m not sure there’s enough time left in the season for him to rejoin.  It’ll be close, but I think the earliest opportunity would be Friday or Saturday.

Finally, for now anyway - I’ve been asked where this blog goes after September 3, 2007.  I honestly don’t know is my best answer.  Frankly,  I’ve not permitted myself to look much beyond that date, even though it’s now staring me in the face.   What I can tell you is that this will never be The “unofficial” Allentown Ironpigs blog.   Never ever ever ever ever.  Not that I’m bitter or anything. 

I’m leaning towards permanently shutting things down on that date, so if you’ve got comments, complaints, rants… - post now or forever hold your peace.

This is absolutely brilliant.

Before I go completely off the deep end here, let’s review what we know:

1.  Miles Wolff was supposed to meet with the City today.

2. Yesterday, the City - through councillor Legendre, drops the news that there’s a proposal to put a roof on the stadium.

3.  Yesterday, the City called off their meeting with Wolff and said there would be no discussion today.

Does anybody else sense a little bit of payback here?  Is this actually what’s going on, or am I completely misreading the situation?  Because it seems to me that what’s happening is a direct result of the Lynx having the temerity - the absolute nerve, of taking the City to court for ABROGATING THE TERMS OF THEIR OWN DAMNED LEASE.

So now, instead of having a tenant lined up for the next 5 (FIVE) years - assuming the Lynx’s last year + 4 (FOUR) more, are we now faced with a proposal for a $40 MILLION DOLLAR retrofit and soccer?  And who’s footing the $40 MILLION.  Please, please, please tell me it’s not going to be the taxpayer.  And please tell me that you’ve got an airtight defense for the slam dunk case the Lynx have on the lease issue, ‘kay?  Because I know we’re footing the bill for that one when you lose.  Please tell me that THIS IS NOT WHAT IS GOING ON.

Because if it is, it’s an absolute, unadulterated, cruelly pathetic, needlessly expensive, time consuming joke.

And while I’m at it, here’s a few more questions:

1.) Why is Jacques Legendre doing the heavy lifting for the Ottawa Stadium Group?  Because in light of what we’re hearing today from Mr. Wolff (and despite my comment on Neate’s blog), yesterday’s interview with Mr. Legendre now looks like a barefaced sales pitch.

2.) Why (and when) was the Can-Am league asked “to keep quiet about its earlier proposals to the City”?

3.) Why must this City continuously do things the hard way and embarrass it’s electorate?

Word to the wise, Mr. Wolff.  I understand that you’ve been waiting to hear from the City since June.  Might I suggest you talk to Mr. Pecor? I’m sure he’s got lots to tell you about being jerked around by Ottawa.

Good Lord.  This is brutal.

*** UPDATE ***

The comments left by reader Dave warrant top billing:

Dave Says:
August 29th, 2007 at 3:03 pm

Classic GUTLESS move by municipal politicians. A busy man makes time to travel here for a SCHEDULED meeting to discuss a long-term lease for use of a city-built asset in the manner
that the city built it for, and they kiss him off?

Why? Well, they have an agenda. The shuttle-bus business must be good. “How much? 40 million? Soccer? 6 mini-fields? Well, we best get rid of this Wolff fellow then, he has a proven track record of success both sides of the border, and we could be forced to continue collecting rent and taxes like we promised the taxpayers we would back in ‘93…….”

They don’t even have the guts to meet the guy and say “No thank you, and here’s why we don’t
want your fan-friendly brand of baseball in our BASEBALL park, even though we know you have a history of making improvements like full-colour video boards at other leased facilities across North America…….” Childish really, just ignore him and he’ll go away.

Never mind that you CAN’T fit 2 soccer fields on a baseball field or the complete incompatibility of the seating arrangement. I know this, I have designed, built and maintained a baseball field in the past.

This is not the time for a knee-jerk mega-project for the current “flavour-of-the-month” soccer. Here we have a man willing to put his money where his mouth is. He’ll put a team in here for 5 years, pay the rent, pay the taxes, AT NO COST TO ANYONE.

Build your $40 million soccer bubble anywhere, under the power lines, abandoned quarry, hell make it a submarine lexan bubble at the bottom of the river!

Wake up Mr. Legendre, no reason to be bitter or irresponsible with taxpayers money here. Yes, a baseball team is suing the city, and they damn well should, you as much as admit there’s no parking for more than a couple thousand people. That’s YOUR fault (city), YOU invested in baseball by building the stadium and then YOU killed it by submarining the viability of it. But it’s not the potential Can-Am team that’s suing you. It’s not “baseball” that’s suing you. You oughta be tickled pink some guy wants to bail you out of being stuck with an empty ballpark by leasing it long-term AS IS. We as baseball fans oughta get behind this Miles Wolff.

I had hoped to write something worthy of the editorial page, but it’s hot and well, I’m just really pissed to hear about this latest needless “crisis” the city is creating so they can waste more money. I’d just like to take the kids to the ballpark………

Dave? It’s worthy.

*** UPDATE II ***

Someone help a brother out.  CTV basically doesn’t update their website with local news.  I was watching the 6 p.m. news telecast when a power interruption knocked everything out.  All I heard Rick Chiarelli (Chiarelli, grrr….) say was that the soccer/retrofit bid wasn’t even addressed because of the lawsuit and the existence of the current lease - then it went dark… . Anyone got an update?  Anyone….

P.S. Biggest blog day yet with over 200 hits - but precious little commentary.

*** UPDATE III ***

Yeah.  Soccer.  That’s the winning ticket….

Money quotes for everyone who’ll throw the U20 tournament in our face:

“A month after millions of Canadians got swept up in the thrill of the most successful Under-20 Soccer World Cup ever staged, the association that organized it is in tatters.Canadian Soccer Association president Colin Linford quit yesterday, saying any improvement in soccer in this country is doomed unless we can get our act together. “And that won’t happen.”

Here’s the killer:

Mr. Linford said he could not blame Jonathan de Guzman, born and brought up in Toronto, for refusing to play for Canada, picking Portugal instead.

“I hope if a youngster has the opportunity to play for another country, I suggest they take it,” he said.

Emphasis added.

Certainly not the first out of the gate this year, but hopefully, one of the last.  This little bit was ambiguous:

“Ottawa Lynx officials have informed the city of their intent to pull out of the nation’s capital at the end of the 2007 International League season and move to Allentown, Pennsylvania, but the team has not publicly confirmed the move.”

So - are “Ottawa Lynx officials” something different from “the team“?  I suspect not - meaning that the reporter is saying the team has told the City what it won’t tell everyone else.  Somehow, I doubt that anyone in the organization - Lynx “officials” or otherwise, would be willing to go “off the record” with anyone down at City Hall.  Call me cynical.

But on to the broader story - let’s turn Lynx Stadium into a domed soccer facility!  And I suspect I’m going to surprise people here; I’m not entirely opposed to the idea.  Given our druthers, here is the OFFICIAL unofficial Ottawa Lynx blog preferred pecking order of options when it comes to Lynx Stadium:

1. AAA baseball remains in Ottawa

2. Another form of affiliated ball remains in Ottawa

3. An independent baseball league sets up shop

4. Domed indoor soccer

5. Walmart.

I know, I know - you thought I’d put Walmart ahead of soccer.  The fact of the matter is, I’ll choose just about any option ahead of tearing the facility down.  What I dislike about this proposal is the pricetag - $40M is more than twice what it cost to build the blessed thing 15 years ago.  I’m not a stats guy, but I’m pretty sure that outstrips the rate of inflation considerably.  If it’s private enterprise, with minimal public funds committed, and no other willing tenant, have at it.  Otherwise, I think the benefit of the doubt has to go back to baseball, if for no other reason than for 15 consecutive years, baseball has always paid the bills. 

It was supposed to be a weekend for baseball, sightseeing and cycling - and not necessarily in that order.  Vermont, however, was going to deliver much more than I’d bargained for.  It started early, at 5 a.m. on Saturday.  I was riding in near pitch black and within the first five minutes I realized I’d made a mistake;  I didn’t have the right equipment.  My gears were completely mismatched for the terrain - I wasn’t even on a hard climb yet and I was already suffering.  Daylight began penetrating the thick mist some time around 6 a.m., and I could occasionally see mountains looming in the distance.

I passed over numerous bridges which spanned picture postcard streams, their bottoms lined with solid rock, polished smooth as marble by years of water flowing over their surface.  Despite the relatively warm late August morning, the air was heavy with the smell of creosote -homes along the valley roads were still burning wood.  It reminded me of the place where my father had grown up, his boyhood home tucked safely on the side of a ridge in the Appalachian Mountains.  The recollection was so vivid, I expected the house to appear out of the mist at any time.  My thoughts drifted to my Dad and his father - growing up at the tail end of the Depression, my grandfather had sacrificed a great deal to provide for his family.  The cost for my Dad and his father was the most precious commodity of all:  Time.   The bittersweet memory lingered long after the ridge had disappeared behind me.

White picket fences appeared in the tiny towns that nestled right up to the side of the road.  More homes than not were adorned with American flags that dwarfed the front porches.  People waved at me over their cups of coffee, one of them asking if I’d like to take one for the road.  Considering the warmth of the smile, I was certain the offer was genuine.  I would later be impressed by the sincerity and genuine warmth of the people in the area and I wondered if the unique geography wasn’t responsible.  The mountains which surround Burlington are beautiful yet imposing, giving the inhabitants a forced perspective about their place in the order of things.  Few homes ventured more than thirty yards from the roadside, any further away simply became impractical.  The route I’d chosen passed many roads, their paved surfaces giving way to gravel, then dirt before being swallowed up by the vegetation and the sheer steepness of the terrain.  I was struck by the futility of these challenges to the mountain;  even the roads which did make it all the way across some of the “gaps” were only hollow victories - most were impassable in winter, and the few that were kept clear weren’t recommended for anything but the lightest of vehicles.  Anything but gossamer, I passed over the first obstacle - a ridge which peaked near 2,500 feet.  The descent, where I’d hoped to recover, was filled instead with moments of exhilaration and sheer terror; misjudging corners more than once, I almost sailed into steel guardrails lining the switch-back roads. 

The valley floor below provided a brief respite, but the mountains were ever present - in every direction, mammoth formations of rock bided their time.   The knowledge that I would have to ride across them again to get home was a sobering thought.  The road side here was dotted with cemeteries, some with monuments dating back to the early 18th century, others with thousands of tiny American flags offering up tribute to recent fallen United States servicemen and women.   Hopelessly inadequate page wire held back sheep, cattle and other livestock I passed along my route.   These animals weren’t stupid; they knew they were in God’s country and didn’t present a flight risk to their owners.

That first ride, nearly five hours long, ended all too quickly.  My only regret?  Not tucking a camera into my pocket - but that’s why they invented “next time”.

I’m extremely pleased to report that baseball is alive and well outside our corner of the world.   As suspected, Ottawa is somewhat of an aberration in this sense.  Centennial Field is an absolute marvel, a gem tucked away in Burlington but accessible to all.  The stadium is a throwback to a simpler time, and it conjured up memories that my son had never had (if that makes any sense), memories he’s acquired through movies and books of a time nearer to the turn of the century.  The tantalizing smell of oil frying everything from dough to potatoes was everywhere.  Children (and the occasional parent), ran excitedly along the concourse.  Our exceptionally knowledgeable guide, proudly detailed the finer points of the stadium - the dimensions of the field, the unique history, the fact that one of the field’s neighbors could sit closer to homeplate than the centrefielder.  They have much to be proud of (and the neighbor story turned out to be true - not that we were checking), and like Ottawa, the front office staff is exceptional - five minutes with GM C.J. Knudsen were enough to know that he’s a “true believer”.  Clearly, minor league baseball is in good hands in Burlington.  It was an evening of pure small town Americana located on a few acres of land, and I’d wished it had never ended.  Like the geography it’s nestled in, Centennial Field is a wonder which is positively vibrant.

The French have an expression for the effect the mountains can have on people - “Cela vide la tete”.  Literally meaning you have an “empty head”, and despite how it sounds, it’s not a bad thing.  It explains the occasional little pink house or row of tie-dyed mailboxes dotting the landscape.  Indeed, my short time in Vermont has left me with a clarity imposed by the landscape, the people and my experiences.  Certainly, there’s always the danger of romanticizing vacation spots - after all what’s not to like when you’re on vacation?  Admittedly, we’ve fallen hard for a few places like Savannah, Georgia and (without shame) Orlando.  And I realize that this may sound like an ad, paid for by the Vermont Board of Tourism - but I assure you, we’re critical enough to acknowledge visits to locations we hope never to see again.  Such is not the case here.  Indeed, I hope to return soon - to resume battle with the mountains, and partake of the ice cream and baseball.  Most importantly, I will empty my head again.

Blogmaster CK is out of town watching baseball in the good old USA and relaxing with his family. The Lynx are out of town also, playing baseball not too far away somewhere in the USA and, you know what they say, giving it the old College Try, right? This is the last road trip before our boys return on the 29th for the final home stand of the season. Did you notice the last bit of that sentence? “Of the season.” Ever the optimist I am not mentioning the subject that everyone has been asking me about all season. It’s kind of like not mentioning a no-hitter while it’s happening. I’m not going to be the one to jinx anything.

The final home stand of a baseball season is always bittersweet. I always ask myself, “So what the heck am I supposed to do now?” Come Labour day ones schedule opens wide leaving free time galore. Yes, there is the World Series that plays into October but that’s on the TV, not the same experience is it? Maybe a trip to Toronto in September beckons but that is a luxury, really. Trains and hotels and restaurants, oh my.

I’ll quote Rogers Hornsby here: “People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball. I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.”

I’m going to make the most out of this final series at Ottawa Stadium. I’ll be bringing plenty of friends, many of whom have been promising to catch a game all season and now are finally tagging along due my threat of, “Hey, it’s the last series of the year. Let’s go, buddy.”

I’ve been leaving my camera at home for the past few games, keeping score instead and cheering and singing with my baseball pals. I’d scan in some of my score pages but you’d find them fairly inaccurate. Due to our boisterousness, a very common score marking is WL (wasn’t looking.) But here are a few snapshots of August at the yard in no particular order. See you at the game.

Relatively “new guy” Gookie Dawkins is a favourite in our section. He’s got good wheels and, well, his name is Gookie. What more do you need?

Gary Burnham’s game tying three run shot against the Chiefs back on Holiday Monday.

Matt Childers drops to make a close play at first.

And the obligatory cute baby picture. Darby is born to be a Lynx fan, of course.

Update by Patrick.

My friends, it just isn’t going to happen today.  There’s just too much “real life” stuff going on, and too many things I’m not going to get today - not the least of which is the blog.

(This will all get clearer later….)

*** UPDATE ***

edited: “too many things I’m not going to get to today”.  Didn’t want anyone thinking I was that materialistic . For those of you that enjoy watching people play the “Monday-morning-quarterback-hindsight-is-20-20″ blame game, go nuts.

Congratulations to last year’s Lynx manager, Dave Trembley on being named Baltimore manager for 2008!  Unfortunately the news of the contract extension (blogger: I suppose it’s an extension) was overshadowed by last night’s 30-3 loss.

In other news, and this comes as a surprise, Chris Roberson is back with the Lynx (blogger: sent down on his birthday no less).  Chris picked up a pinch hit in last night’s 15-3 loss to the Dodgers, raising his average with the Phillies to .280 (minimal AB though).  Geoff Geary is heading the other way and will re-join the parent club.  FLPs Clay Condrey and to a lesser extent, J.D. Durbin got hit hard last night - giving up 9 earned runs between the two of them.   Just one of those nights, I’m afraid.

Fabio Castro was called up a few days ago, and according to the Phillies website (blogger: which needs to do something about all the phreakin’ pop-up ads!), will be pitching in this afternoon’s game against the Dodgers.  Philadelphia’s been bit yet again by the injury bug with staff ace, Cole Hamels the latest to go down.  Apparently it’s not as bad as initially believed - an MRI revealed there’s no ligament damage to the left elbow.

The Lynx have also added pitcher Gary Knotts from AA Reading.  Who is Gary Knotts?

“He spent the 2004 season in the starting rotation of the Detroit Tigers, along with Jeremy Bonderman, Mike Maroth and Nate Robertson, the trio that helped pitch the Tigers to the World Series last season.The following year he hurt his shoulder in spring training and didn’t pitch again over the next two seasons. He needed surgery in July 2005 to repair his rotator cuff and a torn labrum.When he recovered no one in baseball would take his calls.

Finally, for now, our second favorite team in MiLB, the Vermont Lake Monsters have fallen off the pace a bit recently.  After going 3-7 over their last 10, they sit 2.5 games back of Oneonta with 16 games to play.

Let’s call this a preemptive strike.  The rumblings about the end of the season have begun – as I noted about a week or so ago, the local media contingent is winding up with their usual “end of the year”, “end of the Lynx” scripted story.  I’ve decided that I’m going to get it out of the way, blog my thoughts on the subject now and then never again.

We all know the story because it’s trotted out every year at this time – I can no longer even be bothered to make the effort to link all the stories that have been written.  But if the Lynx leave, and let me reiterate – it’s still an “if”, Ottawa will have no one to blame but its collective self.  Certainly I’ve been less than impressed with the indifference of the local media (blogger: The Ottawa Citizen being the sole exception), which makes the upcoming series of eulogies from the local scribes who will simultaneously rationalize and lament the prospective loss of the team, all the more nauseating.  Please spare us your post-mortems.  Few of us will take the hand wringing seriously, and fewer still will believe it.   Where was the media’s interest from April 18 through August?  (blogger: Answer revealed later.)

For far too long, the “story” about the Lynx has been about attendance and how people don’t care – there’s been far too much invested in this “angle” to print anything to the contrary now.  Nothing more than dismissive criticism of the owner, and certainly no ink spilled on the quiet dignity and resilience of an organization that continued to put in the hard work this year, even if the media gave it up for dead.  A “feel good” story about the Lynx at this point is anathema to the press; the best Mr. Pecor can expect now is the occasional drive by smear.  I suppose anything else would be considered biased.

 “The story” now in Ottawa is hockey.  We’re told we’re a “hockey town” – as if a City of nearly a million people wasn’t big enough for more than one sheriff.  But this is what the press appears to believe: Their readers and viewers want hockey, 24/7/365.  I’ll say this much for them: They’ve done a marvelous job painting themselves into a corner.  If and when interest in the NHL team wanes, they’ll always have the local CFL and professional baseball teams to cover.   Good job there, because heaven knows the fans in Ottawa aren’t fickle.  They’ll always support hockey, right Mr. Bryden?

But it’s not all the fault of the media. The bottom line is that for whatever reason, people have just not come out in sufficient numbers to make the franchise economically viable.  Some things can’t be explained, and perhaps, some things just can’t be changed.  To their great credit, people in the organization like Kyle have never believed nor acknowledged the latter.  And just in case this is all coming off as a little too holier-than-thou, I freely admit my share of culpability in all of this: Unlike co-blogger Patrick, people in the booster club and other lifetime supporters, I wasn’t around for this team when it mattered most. 

Here’s my last word on the subject (blogger: Promise.), and something I have held back for a while now: Ottawa doesn’t deserve this team.  Whether people realize it or not - whether the press cares to admit or acknowledge it or not, this remains true:  Ottawa without the Lynx is a poorer place.  My only consolation is that if this is the end, at least the financial bleeding has stopped for Mr. Pecor.  At a personal level, I take great comfort in the knowledge that his people here in Ottawa will be able to leave with their heads held high.  

Few of us can say the same.

Guess who won the Rogers “Suite Deal” for August 31?!!!  Maybe I should start buying 50-50 tickets….  Sorry about the blogging delays of late, there’s just been a lot of running around along with the baseball itself.  The stint over at Out of Left Field is done; it was a different style of blogging, but I adapted and had a good time with it.  It does take a lot of time though - I have no idea how Neate does it, no idea at all.

Quick thoughts from the most recent homestand - nice wins yesterday and today, both saves picked up by proud new Dad Brian Sanches.  Way to go, Brian!  We had a good time on Sunday, before, during and after the game.  I dropped “the boy” off at 10 for his bat-boy duties, went home, picked up everyone else, came back, watched a closely pitched, tight ballgame and then settled in for the booster club’s barbecue while we waited for Zak to finish up.  Had another interesting conversation with blog favorite, Gary Burnham, who, according to Doris, looks much younger when he’s in civvies.  It’s nice to have the chance to get some feedback from the players, as well as the opportunity to let them know how much they’re appreciated.

The world record attempt fell short this year, due entirely to the inability of the locals to maintain something resembling an attention span.  I’m reticent to call people out, especially since more than 3,000 of them showed up, but for heaven’s sake people, would another 10 minutes kill ya’?

More to come, with some photos….