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Told ya Gary and I would be OK.

Posted by Carl on December 26, 2007

Over Christmas I had been meaning to update the whereabouts of a few FLP (that’s “Former Lynx Players”) - Chris Roberson, Danny Sandoval and a few others are playing in Winter Leagues in much warmer climes.  I was extremely surprised to find three comments “awaiting moderation” when I checked in today - two were from none other than blog favorite, Gary Burnham!

Anybody who follows the blog knows how impressed I was with Gary in 2007.  Anyone who went to the park this year could not have helped but notice how hard he played, and how great he was with the fans who showed up.  Back on December 5, I wrote that I felt a little stung by the comments he made about Ottawa and classy guy that he is, he’s taken the time and clarified them. 

Gary Burnham Says:
December 26, 2007 at 1:47 am e

Ottawa fans, Merry Christmas. Just wanted to say hello and a friend of mine emailed me this blog sight. Just to clear things up a bit, The main core of fans that were there for the whole season were awesome and I feel terrible if you guys thought that I was directing negative energy toward anyone. I actually loved the small group of fans that followed us around and I had a great time in the city. The challenging part of the season was the lack of attendance and the tough weather conditions at the beginning of the season. It was tough for us to put up power numbers. Carl made up for the lack of noise though..lol…..Happy new year! Gary

He also added this,

Gary Burnham Says:
December 26, 2007 at 1:53 am e

Guys I am down here in Mexico in the winter leagues. I havent signed yet for next season. My agent has informed me to sit tight. I will let you all know my where abouts as soon as I find out. Happy Holidays, GB.

Gary, you do know that we’re looking for a manager and an above average power hitter here in Ottawa, don’t you?

Posted in Can-AM, Coaches, FLP | 2 Comments »

Congratulations Dusty!

Posted by Carl on December 12, 2007

From scout.com:

Williamsport Crosscutters
Here’s where the names get interesting. Dusty Wathan, 34, has decided to end his playing career and change his focus to managing. Wathan, who played for the Phillies organization at the Triple-A level last season decided to call it a career after 14 seasons. “I’m looking forward to turning the page in my career. I’ve always wanted the opportunity to manage and after 14 years of playing professionally I thought the time was right. I’m really looking forward to being a part of the Williamsport Crosscutters,” said Wathan about his new opportunity.

Wathan will be joined by another rookie Minor League coach as Eric Valent takes over as the Crosscutters hitting coach. The 30 year old Valent played parts of five seasons for the Phillies, Reds and Mets after being a supplemental first round pick in the 2005 Draft. Bill Bliss returns for a second season as Williamsport’s pitching coach.

Gulf Coast League Phillies
The GCL staff returns with Roly deArmas, Luis Melendez and Carlos Arroyo handling the coaching duties.

System Notes:
Many of the Minor League coordinators are returning to the Phillies for the 2008 system, including: Bill Dancy (field coordinator), Mike Compton (catching coordinator), Jerry Martin (outfield coordinator) and Gorman Heimueller (pitching coordinator). The new members of the Minor League staff are Sal Rende (hitting coordinator) and Doug Mansolino (infield coordinator). Rende takes over for Don Long, who followed former Ottawa manager John Russell to the Pittsburgh Pirates and will serve as their hitting coach at the Major League level.

Great news for “good guy” (and first blog interview, evah!) Dusty Wathan.

Posted in Coaches, FLP, News | 1 Comment »

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.

Posted in Coaches, FLP, News | 4 Comments »

Beyond September - UPDATED

Posted by Carl on August 31, 2007

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…

Posted in Coaches, FLP, News | 1 Comment »

Quick updates

Posted by Carl on August 23, 2007

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.

He hooked up with Newark and went 7-5 with an Atlantic League-leading 2.65 ERA. The Phillies, always looking for good arms, bought his contract late last month and sent him to Reading.” 

Another solid article from Mike Drago of the Reading Eagle. 

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.

Posted in Coaches, FLP | No Comments »

Important updates - UPDATED

Posted by Carl on July 20, 2007

Unfortunately, time constraints today mean this will have to be quick.  Good to see that Vermont kept pace with a 3-1 win over Auburn last night - Oneonta and Lowell both won their games as well which keeps the Lake Monsters one game back in the Stedler division.

Ottawa’s 9-7 win was certainly large - and not just for the win; J.A. pitched too good of a game to let that one slip away.  Now, if we could just get this rain to stop in Ottawa, maybe the guys can use the wins in Pawtucket to get on a roll.  Probables for tonight: Dave Gassner for Rochester and Bubba Nelson for the Lynx.

Final note.  One of the things I’ve noticed, or at least think that I’ve detected is that there seems to be a real fraternity among International League teams and their fans.  Last year on several occasions I noticed Lynx coaches talking things over with “opposing” teams’ players after games, talking things over and possibly giving some advice.  On any given night, you’ll find visiting teams players and coaches talking to Lynx fans as if they were their own.  I have a vague recollection of former Red Wings manager Phil Roof, who retired from the game in 2005.  I found this article about Mr. Roof which explains the unfortunate circumstances surrounding his retirement and his new found happiness.  Like most of the people in the IL, he sounds like a true gentleman. 

*** UPDATE ***

Joe Bisenius returns to the ‘pen!!!!

And a few final Lynx related All Star game photos:

 

Posted in Coaches, News, Recap | No Comments »

It’s all good

Posted by Carl on July 18, 2007

The sun is shining, the family’s well, the Lynx and Lake Monsters both pick up important wins, God is in His heaven.

A good night for Matt Childers as he gave the team six innings, striking out four and only walking one.  The bullpen cruised from there, pitching three scoreless frames in a tight one run game, preserving the win for Matt.  Great work by Kane Davis, Geoff Geary and Yoel Hernandez.  Added bonus: Buffalo lost last night.

Down in Single A, the Lake Monsters win, coupled with the Lowell Spinners’ and Oneonta Tigers’ losses moved Vermont to within a half game of the Spinners for the division lead.

No links today, just some photos from the recent AAA All Star Game in Albuquerque.

The home of the Albuquerque Isotopes.

Lynx manager, John Russell on the far right. 

Erin Nicks over at theuniversalcynic has a riddle for anyone with a little spare time and more than a passing interest in the other Ottawa franchise. We’ve got the answer for the last question she poses though. (Okay, I couldn’t help myself - I threw in one link today).

Posted in Coaches, Friends of the Lynx, News, Recap | 1 Comment »

Missed predictions

Posted by Carl on July 17, 2007

Preoccupied with digging myself out of a hole yesterday, I didn’t blog a move that I was anticipating.  With Phillies closer Tom Gordon looking to be on the mend, I thought that Brian Sanches might be sent back down to make room.  Woulda, coulda, shoulda.…  Let me get on the record quickly and state that if Randy Myers’ rehab continues as scheduled, I’m guessing that Clay Condrey will be collecting more Air Miles.

How timely was the John Russell vid though? Eh? Eh?  Come on, you can admit you’re impressed.  It looks as though some of the frustration I caught spilled over to last night, and the Lynx manager got tossed after arguing balls and strikes.

With a win Sunday and, unfortunately a tough 6-5 loss last night, the Vermont Lake Monsters now trail the Lowell Spinners by 1.5 games in the Stedler division.  Lowell split their double header with the Auburn Doubledays.

Finally, Neate Sager’s had enough beating around the bush.  His theory seems plausible to me - in fact, I’ve echoed this sentiment before; there are very few things that people in Ottawa will engage in as a community any more. And I know I’ve said this before: God help the Sens if they ever stop winning. PVR and video games will seem a whole lot more appealing than a “trek” to Kanata and a walk across a bitterly cold “$13 a spot” parking lot in January.

And after all of yesterday’s hand wringing, you really didn’t think I was going to fall for this one, did you? 

No freaking comment. 

Okay, I can’t do it.  I will say this much:  Not that they care, but I’m done with the Ottawa Sun.  I realize that the local Sun reporting staff have been downsized, but before you move on to coverage of the “next” baseball team, could you at least report on the team that’s still here? (blogger: Hint - Since you seem to have all but forgotten them, that would be the Ottawa Lynx. Online coverage of yesterday’s game in the Sun? Nada. Paper edition? A whopping stamp sized report in the “Sunflashes”.)

All together now, you know what comes next - brutal.

Posted in ABM, Coaches, News, Recap, Relievers | No Comments »

Fighting back.

Posted by Carl on July 8, 2007

Blogging yesterday, I openly wondered whether John Russell would ever start calling players out concerning the recent level of play.  He may not have to:

“We’re just fed up with losing. We’re ready to win. I mean, everybody just said, ‘All right, we’re not losing the second one. If they catch it, so what.’ But we were going to come out swinging.”  [Chris Roberson]

I find that extremely encouraging - so long as the guys care about winning and losing, the result doesn’t matter quite as much to me. Quite honestly, I’d rather see a guy throw his helmet or his bat, drop the occasional f-bomb on the way back to the dugout, get tossed arguing balls and strikes or a play at the plate.  Do something.

The Lynx won the second game of yesterday’s double header in SWB by a score of 11-6. Blog favorite, Joe Thurston came within a double of hitting for the cycle, but only knocked in five runs instead. I think he’ll take it. New guy, Jesus Merchan went 2 for four with a triple and an RBI. Geoff Geary picked up the win and Fabio Castro the save. Blog favorite, Gary Burnham continues to quietly go about his business, picking up two more hits and raising his average to .309 in the process. Gary sits 12th in the IL for average and 4th in on base percentage. Conversely, his 34 strikeouts are near the very bottom; retired Lou Collier (blogger: God love him) who hasn’t played in a month has 35. Hello, Mr. Gillick? When the rosters expand to 40 in the fall, when you’re finished stuffing the bullpen, there should be room left for a guy like Gary. Doesn’t a .405 OBP mitigate against his lack of speed? Add to that his 40 walks (when you count the ties, 40 walks is good for 9th position in the IL) and I think you can make the case that he’s a pretty disciplined hitter. I’m just sayin’.

Way back, I blogged my loosely thought out conspiracy theory when it came to the Lynx coming up on the wrong end of the sched.  Turns out, I may have less in common with Oliver Stone than you think:

 And, occasionally, someone agrees with me:

You can read the entire article here. And just as a clarification, the math isn’t quite as bad as I originally blogged (i.e. 24-4 against Ottawa) - some (but not all) of those potential rain-outs could be made up during the particular homestand as double-headers.

Posted in Coaches, News, Recap | No Comments »

Things are getting nasty

Posted by Carl on July 7, 2007

And not just down in SWB.

In fairness, they’ve been nasty for a while down in Philadelphia - hanging around the division lead had been taking some of the vitriol out of the “fans”, at least until yesterday’s meltdown.

“Coste is the perfect catcher for handling this bullpen. He has quite a bit of experience handling minor league quality pitching.

Posted by: Jacobin | Saturday, July 07, 2007 at 12:54 AM

I’d have more confidence if Coste were doing the pitching.

Posted by: curt | Saturday, July 07, 2007 at 12:56 AM

Dear Jose Mesa,

Please die in a fire.

Thanks,

Everyone.

Posted by: Chris | Saturday, July 07, 2007 at 12:01 AM  ”

They’re a friendly, if not a little bitter, bunch over at beerleaguer.com.  Back to the matter at hand - last night was difficult to understand.  It’s probably easiest to just dismiss it as one of those things that happens over the course of a 140 game season, but for J.A. Happ to last only 2/3 of an inning is difficult to explain.  Interesting to see that Jim Rushford figured into the game as well - that would have been something to see.  20-11.  There’s very little positive spin you can put on that one.

I’m not certain how a manager of a AAA ball club would deal with a performance like this one - John Russell strikes me as an intense, Brian Kilrea type of guy who might blister the paint on the club house walls.  But baseball’s such an individual (albeit a “team”) game, does it make sense to lash out at everyone? 

On a much brighter note, Matt Childers has rejoined the team and is cleared to play and curiously, shortstop Danny Sandoval has been placed on the temporarily inactive list with Jesus Merchan called up to replace him.

What’s a “temporarily inactive list”?  “Players not able to render active service due to: (1) necessary temporary absence due to family member’s illness; (2) absence excused for personal obligations; or (3) awaiting release for the purpose of allowing the player to sign with a foreign league. Minimum placement is 3 days. Players on the TIA count towards the Reserve List limit but not the Active List limit.”

Hopefully it’s nothing serious.  Danny’s been an extremely solid piece in a good Lynx defense this year.

Posted in Coaches, News, Recap | No Comments »

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