The Philadelphia Inquirer is reporting that FLP, J.A. Happ will make his first start for Philly in ‘08 tonight against the New York Mets and (gulp) one Johan Santana. There’d been a great deal of speculation about who would fill the open roster spot in Philadelphia after Brett Myers was optioned to the Triple-A city that shall remain nameless.

The Phillies won’t really need a fifth starter until Saturday when they face the Mets. The problem with that though is that Cole Hamels and Jamie Moyer were set to pitch the first two games against New York and the Phillies might want to keep it that way. The option would be to find someone to make a start against the Braves Thursday night in Atlanta.

J.A. Happ ( 5-6, 3.54 ) has been pitching well at Lehigh Valley (ed: Triple A city that shall remain nameless) and it’s long been whispered that he might be the next one to get the call. One issue with bringing Happ into the rotation is that he would add another left-hander, giving them three left-handers in the rotation. Happ was 3-1, 2.51 in five starts in June and last pitched on Saturday, putting him on a schedule that would have him pitch next on Thursday.

It’s not likely that Happ’s new teammate, Kris Benson, who made a rehab start with the IronPigs on Monday is ready to pitch in the big leagues just yet. Benson needs to keep picking up some velocity, which will come as he adds arm strength, but for now, he’s not likely to be a candidate. The only other Triple-A pitcher who would really warrant any consideration would be lefty Brian Mazone ( 8-6, 3.28 ) who has been steady all season, even through the early season struggles that the IronPigs (ed: team formerly known as the Ottawa Lynx) faced when they lost 23 of their first 25 games.

The pitching staff is pretty well loaded at Double-A Reading if the Phillies want to dig deeper into the minor league system. With Antonio Bastardo on the DL, Carlos Carrasco ( 5-7, 4.18 ) would seemingly be the best pick out of the Double-A ranks. The bad news is that Carrasco is coming off his worst month of the season and has seen his ERA jump over a full run in the past month. Carrasco last pitched on Friday night, putting him on schedule to pitch again Wednesday night, but pushing him to Thursday would be no problem at all.

The Phillies could put together a “bullpen game” and just run a bunch of relievers out to the mound for a game either against Atlanta or New York, but that’s not exactly a great situation. If they do, Steve Green ( 4-0, 3.08 ) could be a nice addition to the bullpen and he did make one spot start for Lehigh Valley and gave them four very strong innings.

Finally, the Phillies could go outside the organization. A phone call to Shawn Chacon? Not likely, although it’s not out of the question. Maybe the Phillies will finally pull the trigger to get one of the starters out there - Randy Wolf, Dan Haren, Ian Snell, Ben Sheets or a list of others - who have been floated on the trade market early on.

You will recall of course, that initially the thinking was that guys like J.A., Zack Segovia and Joe Bisenius (among others) had poor seasons in Ottawa because of the weather.  Turns out all three were playing with fairly significant injuries.

Nice to see J.A. get his shot on the 4th of July.

“This could be your golden opportunity…”

Oh ye of little faith:

The Lynx diaspora: It’s quite likely the 2007 Lynx’s contribution to the IL squad for the Triple-A All-Star Game will go completely unnoticed — Ottawa’s erstwhile boys of summer will have four representatives (really; OK, not really) in the July 16 game in Louisville.

Joe Thurston, the second baseman and 2-hole hitter through most of last season’s Long Goodbye, has been spanking the ball for Pawtucket (.324 average, tops in the circuit) and will make an IL record-tying fourth all-star appearance. Catcher Jason Jaramillo, the Lynx rep in last season’s game, is headed back along with his Lehigh Valley IronPigs batterymate, left-hander Brian Mazone . Closer Brian Sanches is the Columbus Clippers representative. Crazy. Maybe they just needed to stay one more season?

That’s a “quick hit” for tonight (blogger: The house is being torn up err… reno’d starting tomorrow).  Coming soon: FLP update on Val Majewski.

Nice to see FOTL, the Vermont Lake Monsters, open up the season with a win on a cool breezy night in Burlington.  Perusing their website, I was surprised at some of the Lake Monsters/Expos alumni who’ve made it all the way to the Majors - Orlando Cabrera (1995), Jamey Carroll (1996), Andy Tracy (1996),  Jason Bay (2000) and Kory Casto (2003), among others.

Interesting to note that Darnell Coles is not returning as manager in Vermont - that honor now goes to Ramon Aviles.  Trivia type Montreal connection?  Aviles went 0-1in his only NLDS at bat (Game 4) against the Expos in 1981 as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies.  Montreal won that series 3-2.  Darnell has moved up to the Washington Nationals Single A full season affiliate in the South Atlantic League, the Hagerstown Suns.

In related, FLP news, congrats to Howie Clark.  Like Brian Sanches earlier last week in Washington, Howie’s been added to Minnesota’s 40 man roster.  Howie, as you may recall has been playing in Rochester, the Twins AAA affiliate.   One of Zak’s favorites, Fernando Tatis has also been added to a 40 man - this time for the Mets.  The last bit of FLP news for today involves shortstop Gookie Dawkins - he’s been traded by the Phillies to White Sox for Mike Rouse.  This season saw Gookie in AA Reading.

As always, more later.

Several FLPs caught our eye this weekend as they continued to place the seemingly endless hurt on the Former Lynx Team (you remember, AAA Philadelphia?).  Howie Clark went 1-3 with a walk and run scored, Randy Ruiz 1-4 with a walk and a run, Heath Totten 3 IP scatttering 3 hits, 0 ER and 2Ks.  Most surprisingly, Eli Whiteside (Eli Whiteside?!) went 1-4 with a home run and threw out a base-runner for good measure.  Eli now calls Rochester, New York “home” and is backing up starting catcher Jose Morales for the Red Wings.

Eli was one of those players that we decided was a “good guy”.  Good guys, by definition, were players who played the game hard and who did that little extra for the fans/kids.  In August of 2006, Eli came out for the Junior Lynx clinic and spent the afternoon teaching kids the finer points of baserunning.  Howie Clark, Brian Burres and Brooks Badeaux all took time that memorable afternoon.  It’s noteworthy that Howie, Brooks and Eli were also playing that evening, so the Junior Lynx Clinic cut into their personal time.

FLC, John Russell is another one of the good guys.  The manager encouraged his players to come out to the post-game functions, and last year most of them took the advice.  Here’s a quick bit of audio from pre-season.

I’ve had a number of email questions looking for a response to the article that appeared over the weekend in the Morning Call.  I’m in agreement with Neate on this one: Let ‘em have their moment.  As far as J.J.’ s seemingly flippant response (” ‘Try seven or eight,’ quipped catcher Jason Jaramillo when talking about the size of last year’s crowds in Ottawa.”), well that’s just something we’ll have to live with.  The fact of the matter is, people in this city didn’t come out for these guys in numbers that they deserved, nor large enough to sustain the franchise.  And you could forgive Jaramillo for thinking he was insulated from any backlash; his experience here would lead him to believe that no one in Ottawa, and certainly not the local media were paying attention.

Unfortunately, people like you and I are still paying attention and it stings a little when guys we’d thought were classy take a gratuitous shot at Ottawa - deserved or not.  But of course, he’s just responding to the question:  Tell us J.J.  Just how awful was it to play in AAA last year?  (blogger: Of course, we just refer to it as “AAA”.  MiLB will no longer permit the use of the word “Ottawa”.)  No discussion of the fact that his season here in AAA got him to the All-Star game, or that he hit .271 here in AAA.  And certainly, no MSM report would be complete without a complete investigation oversight of the actual facts - nope, that’s left for the blogs.  Post June 2007 attendance of 2,172 wouldn’t support Jaramillo’s <cough> point, and it’s certainly not as catchy as that zinger, “try seven or eight”, is it?

Too bad.  At the end of the day, the Lynx had to leave.  They had to.  Expecting Ray Pecor to continually absorb seven figure losses wasn’t realistic, no matter how decent a person he was.  And they had to go somewhere, and that somewhere is the Lehigh Valley. 

Hopefully going forward they won’t need to rely on tearing the Ottawa experience down to build up their franchise.

Oh. Dear. God.

From Phillybaseballnews.com:

(Emphasis mine)

I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that when Hixson refers to the “bad playing conditions” here in Ottawa, he means the weather and not the field or the facilities. And no, this will not be strictly a(nother) weather rant. First off, Joe Bisenius was injured for a good part of last season - that tends to affect your stats. Second, “many of the Phillies pitchers who were stationed in Ottawa had bad seasons” - but once again, many of them were injured (Zack Segovia, J.A. Happ, Matt Smith) or sidelined (Matt Childers) or moved on (Brian Mazone). So you had some guys being brought in who might have been better served playing in Reading. Third - was the weather really all that bad? Sitting in Philadelphia, you’d probably assume that it must have been bad in Ottawa, because, well, it’s in Canada so it must be cold. And in 2007, you’d be wrong.

April 17 - 6.6 C                     May 1 - 13C
April 18 - 12.5                      May 2 - 14.2
April 19 - 16.3                      May 3 - 14.8
April 20 - 21.1                   May 4 - 16.3
April 21 - 20.2                   May 15 - 12.2
April 22 - 23.7                   May 16 - 7.7
April 27 - 10.7                      May 17 - 10
April 28 - 10.6                      May 18 - 15
April 29 - 13                         May 19 - 22
April 30 - 11.1                      May 20 - 10.4
                                           May 21 - 16
                                           May 22 - 17.4

Grand total: 22 games. 10 games at >15C. 4 games at >20C.

Average game time temperature for April and May: 14.3C.

Only two games below 10C, and one of those was Opening Day.  And note: these were game time temperatures, not the highs for the day.

There are some that argue that cooler temperatures are actually a pitcher’s friend, since it reduces some of the muscular fatigue produced by the heat, typically found in the summer months.  Additionally,

Pitchers generally have worse control but higher strikeout rates and better luck with balls in play in cold weather. I’m not sure if this favors a certain type of pitcher in the postseason. It might be the case that a pitcher’s “stuff” is an important factor in how the weather interacts with their performance. For example, a pitcher who relies on breaking balls or changeups and are susceptible to control problems might be at a particular disadvantage in cold weather conditions.

From an offensive perspective, this evidence suggests patient lineups will fare well in cold weather when compared to free swinging lineups. Pitchers appear to throw fewer strikes in cold weather and a patient lineup may be more likely to take advantage of this result. Additionally, a batted ball is less valuable in cold weather than warm weather because a batted ball is less likely to fall for a hit or clear the outfield fences in below-55 degrees conditions.

There is still a lot of work to do in understanding how weather conditions affect baseball performances. I think this summary provides some insights into how the game can change in October.

And finally, it seems that our friend Chuck (whose work I generally like) wants to have it both ways.  Previously, he attributed the hitters’ poor stats to the weather.  Now how can everyone suck in the cold?  By definition, if a pitcher is struggling (in this case because of the cold) the implication is that the hitters are doing well - and vice versa.  A hitter who can’t hit in the cold, isn’t beating up on opposing pitching - because he can’t hit in the cold.

It was a good day to be a FLP - Joe Bisenius, Gary Knotts, Jason Jaramillo, J.D. Durbin and Brennan King all saw action today in the Phillies 5-4 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates.  Let’s start with JJ - 0-2 with a K, but defensively he caught Doug Mientkiewicz stealing.  Joe Bisenius pitched a pair in relief, retiring 6 of the 7 batters he faced, giving up only a walk.  Third baseman Brennan King went 1-2 and scored a run.  Gary Knotts, being used in relief, picked up the win after giving up a solitary hit and no runs in his two innings of work.  J.D. didn’t have the greatest outing - 2 runs on 5 hits (including a HR) and a walk over two innings in a starting role.

There’s numerous other FLPs who had invites to Spring Training - I’ll look for their results later this evening or tomorrow.

Joe Bisenius - August 2007.

*** UPDATE ***

Our man in Florida, Bob Williams has a much more detailed review of the 11-6 loss than yours truly’s analysis of the boxscore.  Nice work! (and on a personal level, very gratifying to see the term “FLP” finding it’s way into the baseball vernacular)

I blogged my schedule maker conspiracy theories earlier this year, here and here.  Well, it just so happens that this year at least, the scheduling of games may have made a difference in determining the playoff picture in the IL.

From MLN Sports Zone:

.0001
Will there be a civil war between the International League North and South over a thousandth of a point? The International League (IL) North race for the lone wildcard berth.

We wait.  Like our forebears, pacing in the maternity ward, waiting for the news (blogger: it seems that Mr. Sager and I were on a similar wavelength this afternoon).  And since we’ve got some time to kill, who was the genius who decided men should be allowed, hell, permitted to be in the delivery room?  Whoever it was, you sold out generations of your brethren, because now it’s an expectation.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy that I semi-witnessed the birth of my kids (I stayed north of the Mason-Dixon line, if you follow me), but would I have been that much worse off if I was left in the waiting room? 

Don’t answer that.

Anyway, chances are you’re not here to read any filler, but I’ve gotta warn you - today, that’s all I’ve got.  We’re still not there yet on the sub-lease proposal.  Read on if you wish.

Friend of the Lynx and former Lynx intern, Todd Devlin, has a new look blog up over at The 500 level.  The link on the right has been updated, but if you haven’t visited his site in a while, the new digs are worth checking out.  Mr. Devlin’s sipped the KoolAid and gone with the WordPress format too.

Speaking of blogs, yours truly’s has been added to MiLB’s Benjamin Hill’s site.  Unfortunately, the link includes my sub-title (Never say die), complete with an exclamation point.  Not a huge deal, but I hope that no one gets the wrong impression about the m.o. for ottawalynxblog.  Not to worry I suppose, the sub-title changes fairly often.

In international news, the Canadian team was bounced out of the World Baseball Cup yesterday, following their 7-6 loss to the Australians - tough one.  From the official website:

Tien-Mou Stadium - Taipei, Taiwan

Canada was facing elimination tonight at Tien-Mou stadium and was unable to knock-off Australia in an exciting 7-6 loss sending the Canucks home early here at the 37th Baseball World Cup.

The game went back and forth all night and went right down to the wire as Canada had the bases loaded with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning but grounded into a controversial double play to end the ballgame.

Australia improves to a 6-1 record entering the second round with a number two seed behind Cuba.

Justin Huber who had four RBI’s on the night ended getting the game winning single as he drove home two Aussie players in the top half of the ninth with the score even 4-4. Brad Thomas was on to pick up the save relieving Adam Bright who gets the win. Scott Richmond gets the loss for Canada pitching in relief after stater Jonathan Lockwood had a quality outing going 5 2/3 innings against a tough Australian lineup.

Australia will play the #3 seed from Pool A after a day off tomorrow.

And that will pretty much do it for today.  I’ll post any late-breaking news as soon as I get word.

Despite my low expectations, tomorrow is still a big day.  As you may recall, Mr. Wolffe has asked the City to respond to his sublease proposal by November 14.  I’m not holding my breath, but hey - you never know.

First off, there was this seemingly troubling bit of news about the Grays dispersal draft.  I dug a little deeper and found out that this was done as a courtesy to the current Grays roster - it’s asking a lot of a baseball player to sign up for more than two years of constant “visitor” status.  If things don’t work out here in Ottawa for 2008, rest assurred there will be another “all road” team.  (blogger: good thing someone’s keeping their eye on things!)

Catching up with the Canadian team at the 2007 World Baseball Cup, Canada sits tied for third in their Group B division with a record of 4-2.  Not much detail yet from the official website, but today they beat Venezuela 6-3.  The US team (which includes Lynx catcher, Jason Jaramillo), sits atop the A pool with a 5-1 record.  It looks like playoffs begin on the 16th of November.

Games continue over in the Arizona Fall League, with the Peoria Saguaros sitting last in the West division with a record of 10-19.  Unfortunately, Joe Bisenius who last pitched on October 29, was shut down due to a groin injury.  Here’s Joe’s take on 2007:

Phillies reliever Joe Bisenius may just want to have 2007 erased from his memory. What began as such a promising year — he was on the Major League roster when the season began — quickly deteriorated, with the final blow coming last week when his AFL season came to an abrupt halt due to a strained groin muscle. He’s not sure when or if he’ll pitch again during the fall but says the injury isn’t so serious that it will impede his offseason work.

Bisenius got sent down to Triple-A Ottawa after pitching in a pair of games for the Phillies in April. He began to experience tightness in his shoulder while pitching in the International League and was on the shelf from the beginning of June to the middle of July. Though he pitched to a 0.84 ERA in his final seven regular-season outings, that simply lowered his ERA to 5.48, a far cry from the 2.25 ERA he posted while splitting the 2006 season between Class A Advanced Clearwater and Double-A Reading.

“It was a pretty disappointing year, to make the team out of Spring Training, then get sent down, then have the shoulder problems,” Bisenius said. “But you can take it two ways. You can mope or work harder. I’m working harder.

“It was frustrating to be on the DL in Triple-A and watch all the guys get called up to Philadelphia because of injuries. I feel like I’m throwing the ball well again here. I had one bad outing and then last outing I strained my groin. It’s definitely been frustrating.”

Because John Russell was named skipper of the Pirates on Monday, he will not manage the final two weeks of the AFL season. The Phillies will have Dave Huppert take over the Saguaros’ managerial duties starting on Tuesday. Huppert managed the Class A Advanced Clearwater Threshers to a Florida State League championship in 2007 and the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws to a league title in 2006. … OF Xavier Paul (Dodgers) took an eight-game hitting streak into Monday’s action, having hit .400 (14-for-35) over that stretch to raise his AFL average to .268.

                                                                                            (MiLB news, November 5, 2007)

Then finally, for today, there’s this piece from Charles Gordon, wayyyy back on August 19.  Mr. Gordon clearly agrees with many who discovered that attending a Lynx game was about far more than just tallying up the boxscore - it was about the experience itself.  Money quote:

A game is not only a game. It’s also an environment. When you have your head in your electronics you become absent from that environment.

Take baseball, arguably the slowest of all sports, and therefore an ideal environment for electronic gizmos. All that time between pitches, the time between innings, the time when the manager takes out the right-handed pitcher so a left-handed pitcher can pitch to a left-handed batter and the left-handed pitcher has to warm up and then when the next batter is right-handed, the manager takes out the left-handed pitcher and puts in another right-hander and the right-hander has to warm up — during all that time you could be watching your monitor and getting replays of previous warmups… 

But if you had rented a hand-held video monitor at the Lynx Stadium on Wednesday night, you would have missed fine aspects of an excellent game, the kind of game that makes you realize what a loss it will be when the team leaves for Pennsylvania and becomes, as reported, the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs… You would also have missed the fans walking around, in a wild variety of garb and carrying a wild variety of things to eat. You would have missed the between-innings musical chairs game and the cynical speculation that it might be fixed because the cute little girl always wins. Other things would have escaped you, such as the mascots, large animal-like things in stuffed costumes with which you desperately avoided eye contact. On the other hand, you would have seen how kids flock to these things, if you didn’t have your head in a monitor, looking at replays.

How would you feel if you came home and someone told you that while you were looking at a monitor you had missed seeing a boy showing off a goatee made of pink cotton candy?

Read it all.  The rest, as they say, is here.