Tighten your seatbelts
Posted by Carl on November 10, 2007
Next week’s going to get bumpy.
Meanwhile, it’s a pretty quiet weekend on the homefront - I still haven’t caught up with the goings on in the Arizona Fall League, nor some of the roster moves which have taken place in the last week. 
First up, there’s this story from the Pittsburgh Post Register about incoming manager John Russell - seems the brass in Pittsburgh were impressed with John’s ability to motivate a “weak” Ottawa Lynx team. According to Phillies assistant GM, Mike Arbuckle,
“We knew going into last season that our strength in the minor leagues was going to be from [high Class A] down,” Arbuckle said, “and that our weakest team was going to be at [Class AAA] — and it certainly was.
But when I was there in August, John still had his team getting after it and competing with nothing to play for. You’ve got to be a pretty good manager to get a team to do that. John did a great job with a team that was extremely thin talent-wise.”
I guess I’ll have to both agree and disagree. Certainly, many of us noted (and blogged) that the guys continued to compete, long after any thoughts of making it to the post-season had vanished. Much of the credit for that has to go to Mr. Russell. But I’m not sure how Mike Arbuckle could have thought that the Ottawa line-up was their weakest. J.A. Happ, Joe Thurston, Gary Burnham, Chris Coste, Chris Roberson, Pedro Swann, Joe Bisenius, Brian Mazone - on paper, Ottawa had a decent team. What they didn’t have was any respite from injuries. Stats are for losers, but this was a better team than their final record indicated.
In other “local” news, Gatineau boy Phillippe Aumont had a solid outing in Canada’s 6-3 loss to powerhouse Cuba in the Baseball World Cup yesterday. Said Aumont,
“I felt great out there,” Aumont said. “I was able to make adjustments and everything was working in the bullpen (before the game).
“It was a big thing for me to get the start against Cuba; knowing how good these guys are, it gives a big boost in confidence.”
The loss drops Canada to 1-2.
November 12, 2007 at 12:21 am
I have to disagree with all the comments - the team (with a couple of exceptions) seemed to give up about the middle of May - about the time Ron Calloway and Lou Collier “retired” and Brian Mazzone went to Korea. Before that, I thought the Lynx were going to be THE team to beat.
I also disagree that John Russell motivated this team in any way. He didn’t look like he cared at all. I’m still wondering how a guy who was manager of the year in 2006 with a lot of the same guys, could only “coax” 55 wins out of this team. I hope it works out for him in Pittsburgh.
November 12, 2007 at 5:10 pm
T, I thought the Phillies gave up on the Lynx last year ( with the exception of picking up Gookie Dawkins very late in the season ). When they lost - for whatever reasons - the 4A type vets that you mention the Phils didn’t step up and replace them.
I attribute it to the fact that the Phils knew the franchise was changing hands and as a result they had no motive to field a superior team here. In other words they could afford to piss off the owner. That’s why Syracuse is dumping the Jays, they won’t pay to consistently field a quality AAA team.
Oh well, I still loved it and will miss it.
On the bright side I still believe that Independent ball will be played in this city if not in 08 then in 09.
P.S.
Carl, happy that you and your family have returned safely back to our “home and native land”. My Canada includes the Kiffners.
November 16, 2007 at 7:16 am
[...] Posted by Carl on November 16, 2007 It’s officially “bumpy”. [...]
November 16, 2007 at 11:03 am
Like Tricia, I too thought at the begining of the year that the Lynx would do well in 2007. They started well and it unravelled about mid-May.
I agree with Pete that the Phils made no effort whatsoever to put a quality product on the field. Last in ERA, last in OPS, what do you expect? There just wasn’t much talent here. Not John Russell’s fault.
Do you guys think if the Jays moved their AAA team to Ottawa that more fans would show up? Maybe at first but if the Jays don’t put a quality team, the fans would start staying away once again.
I don’t think we will have an Indie team in 2008. Maybe 2009 but somehow I doubt it. What do you guys think about the viability of such a team?