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The Rumors and Rants Stanley Cup Playoff RoundupApril 16, 2010 – 9:15 am by admin
Here we are, back again for the Stanley Cup roundup. The best is yet to come for those of us that live around the Chicago area and are ready to see what the Blackhawks are going to do.
But seriously, there have been some great…GREAT…opening games in the conference quarterfinals.
Odds are you haven't watched much of it so let's catch you up before Friday's slate of games. Read on, wannabe hockey fan.
Eastern Conference
Game 1: No. 8 Montreal 3, No. 1 Washington 2 (OT): This was Thursday's only carry over from the upset-themed first day of games. The story was pretty simple: Alex Ovechkin didn't find his way onto the score sheet and Montreal goaltender Jaroslav Halak came strong with a 45-save effort.
Tomas Piekanec scored the game-winning goal at 13:19 of overtime to stake Montreal to an early lead in the series.
It's not one of those deal where we expect Washington to struggle. Then again, Montreal is really pretty good and if Halak gets hot, it could be an interesting series.
Ovie better come correct in Game 2.
Game 1: No. 3 Buffalo 2, No. 6 Boston 1: Does anyone remember that guy we all rallied around during the Olympics when Team USA fell just short of a gold medal? His name was Ryan…Miller? Yeah, that was him. The goaltender.
Well in case you forgot he's really, really good and he plays for the Buffalo Sabres. In fact, against Boston on Thursday he made 38 saves and made Craig Rivet's game-winning goal stand up.
Gotta like Buffalo's chances with Miller running hot, right?
Western Conference
Game 1: No. 3 Vancouver 3, No. 6 Los Angeles 2 (OT): Ah, the Canucks. A very good if sometimes overlooked team this year. Henrik and Daniel Sedin. Roberto Luongo in goal. Certainly a Stanley Cup contender.
The Sedin boys played well Thursday but Mikael Samuelsson scored two goals and Luongo made 27 saves in the win. For what it's worth, LA goaltender Jonathan Quick (the heir apparent to Ryan Miller in Team USA's goal) made 44 saves in a fantastic effort but didn't get enough from his teammates.
Kind of expect Vancouver to roll easily in this series.
The one game you'll care about tonight: Well, the one game we care about is Nashville at Chicago. It's their first game. But hey, we're not going to shove our Midwest bias down your throat.
Versus has a double header that includes Ottawa at Pittsburgh (7 p.m. Eastern) and Detroit at Phoenix (10 p.m.) as both Pittsburgh and Detroit to to even up their series.
Meanwhile Colorado plays at San Jose (Avs up 1-0) and Philadelphia is at New Jersey (Philly up 1-0).


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Sunday, April 27, 2014
Link Dump: Hugo Reactions
The Hugo Award nominations were announced last week, and as you might imagine, there's been a lot of blathering about it on the internets. There always is, but this year is especially heated due to some controversial happenings. I covered some of this in last week's initial thoughts, and while I don't want to dwell on the negative, there have been plenty of discussion this week that's probably worth checking out (after which, I plan to move on to the meat of actually reading and writing about the nominees).
In short, there are three major issues that folks are incensed about. One is that, due to a quirk in the nominations rules, the entire While of Time series of books has been nominated as a whole (that's an 11,000+ page, 4+ million word series). Two is that Larry Correia explicitly sought nominations for himself and some others, with the express notion of making a political point. To my mind, these first boil down to the same problem: The Hugos are a populist award, and thus vulnerable to voting blocs. Both The Wheel of Time and Larry Correia are very popular, and both were the subject of an explicit push for nominations. Many are skeptical of the quality of these popular works, and thus upset that they ended up on the final ballot. For his part, Correia seems to have engaged in this for the express purpose of pissing people off, which is obviously against the spirit of the thing. That being said, the issue here is largely a matter of semantics. There's no evidence of fraud or stuffed ballots or anything like that, just populism, and Correia's posts on the subject mirror a lot of other folks who want to see their favorite things nominated. To my mind, these first two issues are not new at all. Indeed, you could very well argue that the inclusion of Charlie Stross and Mira Grant on the Best Novel shortlist are also populist choices that are more reflective of fandom's love of the authors than the works themselves. Last year's winner was John Scalzi's Redshirts, and many complained that it won more because Scalzi is a popular guy with a high traffic blog than because that was truly the best work of science fiction last year. And so it goes.
If that was all that happened this year, there'd be lots of grumbling and shouting at the sky, but that's always the case (and it probably also applies to other awards too - just look at all the griping the Oscars get every year). But there is a third issue that seems to be severely mucking up the works, and that is the nomination of Vox Day in the Best Novelette category. Once his name shows up, cries of racism/sexism/homophobia become rampant, and to a fair extent, warranted. There will be more detail below, but for now, I'll just say that he seems like an ass and I think it's valid for people to not want to have anything to do with the guy. Personally, I'll be reading his story and judging it accordingly, but I get that some won't be able to separate the story from the man.
With that scene set, let's see what some other folks are talking about:
Posted by Mark at 04:40 PM
Categories: Science Fiction
Where am I?This post is part of the Kaedrin Weblog. It's been categorized under Science Fiction and was originally published in April 2014.
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subset: commoncrawl


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This deal has ended.
Normally $100, Staples has the Brother MFC-290C All-in-One Inkjet Printer for just $59.98. This prints up to 30 ppm black and 25 ppm color, copies up to 20 ppm black and 18 ppm color, scans at 1200 x 2400-dpi resolution, and faxes at 14.4Kbps. Shipping is free with sales tax charged in most states.No longer available


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On the hip scale (whatever that is), Magic Hat is up there. The easy-to-find South Burlington, Vt. brewery - turn right at the Jiffy Lube - has been turning out whimsically-named brews (Thumbsucker, Nailbiter, Jewish-Irish Stout) since 1994, when Alan Newman and Bob Johnson served their first beer (Humble Patience) at the Burlington Blues Festival.
Magic Hat has fueled Burlington's rep as a regional beer capital; pedestrian-only Church Street boasts several brew pubs. Magic Hat #9 - a "not quite pale ale'' - is the brewery's standard-bearer, and Circus Boy, a Hefeweizen, is a personal favorite.
At the opposite season is Black as Night, otherwise known as Howl, a schwarzbier that pours a few shades shy of noir.
The aroma is a beguiling blend of chestnuts, toffee and chocolate, the taste a nutty roasty caramel/chocolate, with a nice smoky finish. That smoke may be the best thing about Howl, or Black as Night, or whatever they call it next time around.
It's supremely sessionable at 4.6%, but not exactly groundbreaking; call it a winter warmer, training-wheels version. Not that there's anything wrong with going slow.


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Consuming All but the 'Oink'
Or, using most of what you have.
When I was a graduate student in Madison in the early 70's I had a part time job working with a small company that delivered rock salt for domestic water softeners, sales in markets and stores and, on some occasions, to some major food processors in the area. One of those we'd deliver to was the Oscar Mayer Company.
There used to be a saying that Oscar Mayer used every part of the pig but the "oink" in making products — at least the pork based ones. (We also delivered to Frito-Lay but, other than getting some bags of chips that happened to "fall into our truck," we learned little about making potato chips.)
I cannot confirm the exact details of material utilization at Oscar Mayer from my contact with them when a student, but it always struck with me as an ideal "buy to fly" ratio for food processing. I did observe truckloads of animal carcasses at the loading dock heading off to make gelatin and other products. Can't use much more of your raw materials than that.
On this subject, I was contacted a while back by some folks working in the furniture business on the East Coast about maximizing yield in lumber processing for furniture. That sounded interesting to me.
One company, Manchester Wood, sent me some info about how they maximize yield on raw lumber in their production process. They also sent a link to a video that depicts their use and processing of raw materials.
According to my contacts there, they use the latest technology for ripping and cutting raw lumber in their rough mill. Six cameras view the boards to determine where the boards should be cut to insure they get the most yield from each log being sawn. Ripped boards get marked with a crayon to note defects. A computerized cut off saw reads markings and calculates the best cut for the highest yield. The edging pieces go through the hog to grind up material for shavings which goes to local farms for livestock bedding. A hog is sort of a hammer mill with a rotor with fixed hammers and tips for shredding wood waste, bark, scraps, etc. It makes bigger things small.
They also edge glue wood parts into panels to get a better yield by utilizing parts otherwise too small for commercial use. They try to use as much of our raw materials as they can while minimizing any waste.
Materials that they can't use, they try to recycle locally.
Another company making wood furniture products that I've had some communication with is Harden Furniture. You can see a video presentation of their factory operations (actually the video starts in the forest and follows the processing/building of furniture through shipping). They use very little natural gas and almost no other fossil fuels as most of their facility is heated with wood waste.
They have a strong commitment to sustainable production and describe their activities on the web. This website gives a lot of background on the energy used and impacts in furniture manufacturing as well as a comparison of the net carbon emissions in producing a ton of wood versus other materials (from brick to aluminum). Wood looks pretty good!
There is another example I just was referred to – check out this youtube video of very clever utilization/recycling of materials. My dad (recall the "it'll come in handy if I never use it" comment from a past article?) would have loved this one!
Finally (and on a different subject) the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has just launched the OECD Sustainable Manufacturing Toolkit. You can find some background on this organization on their website.
The toolkit is, according to the OECD website, "designed to help businesses around the world, particularly supply chain firms and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), develop a more viable, socially responsible business approach and make the most of green growth opportunities. It provides a set of 18 internationally applicable, common and comparable key performance indicators to measure and improve the environmental performance of manufacturing facilities. This indicator framework owes to much to the existing variety of environmental and CSR initiatives and offers a potential for future standardization in this area."
The toolkit is specially designed for businesses looking to address sustainability in terms of what it means, how it relates to their business, and how they might benefit from greener production.
The Toolkit includes a Start-up Guide, which provides a step-by-step approach to measuring and benchmarking environmental performance, and a Web Portal which provides additional technical guidance, data tools and useful links.
We'll discuss some of the features, applicability and other related elements/issues with the toolkit next time.
David Dornfeld is the Will C. Hall Family Chair in Engineering in Mechanical Engineering at University of California Berkeley. He leads the Laboratory for Manufacturing and Sustainability (LMAS), and he writes the Green Manufacturing blog."
Reader Comments
Having worked at various Oscar Mayer facilities in the 80's and 90's I can support your comment about the Oink. At that time the effective use of a hog was driven by efficiency targets and profitability goals.
Hog parts aside, have you come across companies who put time towards "designing in" effective use of their components so as to maximize their value at the end of life? Like the hog, it is nice to eliminate waste inside an operation, but for many companies there is now value associated with recovering $$'s at the point of recycling…that is if the product was designed for dis assembly.
Mike- thanks for your comment; there are two classifications (maybe more) of companies doing what you ask about. Those, like Xerox and Caterpillar or Cummins who design the product to be re-manufactured so that the bulk of the embedded materials/energy is reused by upgrading the worn parts or parts out of date. Others, like some electronic reprocessors, try to extract valuable materials at the end of life. We are working with one company now on trying to do this for rare earth materials in motors, generators, etc. But, the examples are not too close to your ideal. Designing for dis-assembly is just starting to be practiced effectively.
Energy Manager News
- Switching to LEDs Without Leaving the Past Behind
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- USDA Investing More than $300M in Efficiency, Renewables
- ERC Price Benchmark Trends Week Ending: October 21, 2016
- Could Cleaner Energy Save Ohio Ratepayers $50M in 2030, Alone?
- Yakima City Council Mulls Utility Rate Hike on Large Businesses to Bolster Reserve Fund
- Making Solar Inverters Smarter
- Unlocking the Power of Building Data


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[Previous] | [Session 51P] | [Next]
D.W. McCarthy, H. Campins, S. Kern, R. H. Brown, S. Stolovy, M. Rieke (UAZ)
We present 1-2 micron spectra of ten Centaurs and Trans-Neptunian Objects obtained from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) using the NICMOS grism G141. Spectral resolutions range from ~10-200, depending on the amount of binning necessary to achieve high signal-to-noise. The surfaces of these objects contain potentially unique records of early evolutionary processing (accretional and dynamical) in the outer solar system. The 1-2 micron spectral region is especially sensitive to absorption features of likely surface frosts and primitive organic materials. These grism spectra will provide a well-calibrated database which can be used for comparison with present and future ground-based results which are necessarily compromised to some degree by telluric absorptions. This work is the product of both Guaranteed and Guest Observer time on NICMOS/HST.
The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: email@example.com
[Previous] | [Session 51P] | [Next]


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Doctor: How long have you been having this pain?
Patient: It started in March and it's four months now. My stomach hurts after some meals, but not always.
Doctor: You should have come in earlier. Let's get to the bottom of this. Have you changed your eating habits during this period?
Patient: No, not really. Well, that's not true. I'm eating the same foods, but less. You know, the pain seems to come and go.
Doctor: How strong is the pain exactly? On a scale of one to ten, how would you describe the intensity of the pain?
Patient: Well, I'd say the pain is about a two on a scale of one to ten. Like I say, it's not really bad. It just keeps coming back...
Doctor: How long does the pain last when you get it?
Patient: It comes and goes. Sometimes, I hardly feel anything. Other times, it can last up to half an hour or more.
Doctor: Is there a type of food that seems to cause stronger pain than other types?
Patient: Hmmm ... heavy foods like steak or lasagne usually brings it on. I've been trying to avoid those.
Doctor: Does the pain travel to any other parts of your body - chest, shoulder, or back? Or does it remain around the stomach area?
Patient: No, it just hurts here in the stomach.
Today's Key Vocabulary:
to hurt
to get to the bottom of something
eating habits
to come and go
on a scale of one to ten
to keep coming back
to last (an amount of time)
heavy foods
to avoid


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34 photos
$1,100,000 800 acres 3750 sqft Mile 1403 Alaska Highway, Delta Junction, AK 99737 - Southeast Fairbanks Borough
800 acres Delta Junction, AK
"Oh come buy a home where the buffalo roam and the moose and the coyotes all play . . ." This prosperous hay ranch consists of two adjoining parcels of land; one 1200 +/- acres and the other 800 +/- acres. Situated on the 800 acre parcel is the 30' by 50' full scribe fit custom log home (unfinished) on a full basement, the 40'x80'x16' shop, the 100'x108' hay barn, and the 16'x18' log power house. This powerhouse shelters the electrical system for the sit and consists of a 15KW genset, Trace Engineering inverter and battery bank complete with solar panels on the outside. The house was built by a true loh craftsman and is a thing of beauty. Well and septic are in. Heat is supplied by an outdoor boiler to the house and shop through in-
Randy Speckels Triple Cross Ranch


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Release Date: 1972 |
Good review. His Dollars Trilogy soundtracks are incredible.
Album Rating: 5.0Words cannot express the greatness of this soundtrack or movie. To thyink there is only one comment is embarrassing.
Digging: Belial - Never Again
Album Rating: 4.5This is guaranteed to open doors.
A stunning soundtrack.
Digging: Matryoshka - Zatracenie
Bands: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z


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Arson charges pending against 5 teens for fire
Smoldering timbers and a stone chimney are all that remain of a historic house that was destroyed by fire Sunday night at Back Mountain Road and South Hayfield Road in Frederick County. (Photo by Jeff Taylor/The Winchester Star)
SHAWNEELAND — Arson charges are pending against five Frederick County teens who allegedly set fire to an abandoned house Sunday night.
According to a Frederick County Fire and Rescue media release,…
To See This and Every Local Story from The Winchester Star, Click Here to Become a Subscriber!
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Play4Free evangelist Ben Cousins to leave EA
The boss of EA's Easy Studio, the lead studio in their plans for free-to-plan games has announced he is to leave the company after four years.
Ben Cousins, who leaves his post as the general manager of Easy Studio just as EA launches Battlefield Play4Free, made the announcement on his Twitter account.
He said: "[Battlefield Play4Free] launches this week and it's time for me to leave EA. Very proud of what I've achieved in the last 4 years."
Cousins recently explained how natural the free-to-play model feels in comparison to the traditional retail model.
On that he said: "I've been doing this for four years now, so it feels kind of normal to me - but I can't think of anything more exploitative than gating all of your content behind having to pay someone $60. That's a really harsh business model if you think about it objectively."
Thanks GamesIndustry.biz.
Latest News
- Call of Duty: Black Ops III is coming to the PS3 and Xbox 360 after all
- Tomonobu Itagaki's Devil's Third gets a release date
- Adr1ft is coming to PC and consoles at the end of the summer
- EA gives the new Mirror's Edge a name – Mirror's Edge Catalyst
- ZombiU PS4 and Xbox One port reportedly in the works
- Mike Bithell's Volume to be released this August
- Gearbox's new shooter Battleborn gets a pre-E3 trailer
- Steam Controller launches in October, Steam Machines arrive in November
- Gears Of War devs Black Tusk change their name to The Coalition ahead of E3


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Courtesy Photo
The Alpena Huron Shore Babe Ruth 9U baseball team will open state tournament play on Friday in Milford. Alpena is part of the Division A pool along with Brandywine and Huron Valley Black. Alpena will open tournament play on Friday at 6:30 p.m. against Huron Valley Black. Alpena will also play Saturday against Brandywine at 10 a.m. before teams are seeded. Pictured left to right are: front: Hunter Hitzelberger, Anden Marceau, Brady Niedzwiecki, Reed Seabase, Jake Zann and Ashton Perrin; middle: Hunter Cohoon, Blake Grant, Oz Johnson, Logan Momrik, Brady Pagels, Brady Kollen and Adam Brilinski; back: coach Lee Grant, coach Steve Zann and coach Neil Seabase.


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Results tagged ' Midwest League News '
A bit of news
A "Thank You" to @Mass_Haas for this tidbit on Boog Powell's favorite minor league logo….
He loves snakes. For some horrible reason. Because of that, his favorite Minor League logo is of the Timber Rattlers.
That information comes at about :19 seconds of the video.
No relation to this Boog Powell, who was a member of the Fox Cities Foxes in 1960:
I have known Ben Chiswick since he was at Quad Cities…not that long ago. Ben has worked as the play-by-play announcer the last several seasons with the West Michigan Whitecaps. Now, he's leaving the profession.
When Ben Chiswick was hired five years ago to become the play-by-play announcer for the West Michigan Whitecaps, he didn't have a daughter and the location was closer to his Illinois home than his previous job.
But times change, and Chiswick has informed the Whitecaps he will not return for a sixth season for family reasons.
"It was a difficult decision, a family decision and it wasn't anything that I necessarily planned or saw coming," said Chiswick, who lives in Gurnee, Ill.
"As you know, there is a lot of travel in this business, and for myself being out of state, it was a lot of time being out of state, and my daughter is getting older. I just didn't want to be away from home as much anymore."
Good Luck, Ben.
Alumni Birthday for January 15:
Trey Witte ('93) – 45
Back to work with a New League President!
Sorry for the delay in getting something new on the blog. I've been celebrating!
I will get to the Alumni Report later this week. Plus, this post marks the beginning of daily posting from now through the first off day of the 2015 season (Editor: Now through….April 27? Really? You're going to do that?) There should be some really cool announcements coming up over the next few weeks and the blog lets me go a bit more in depth (ED: More sarcastic, you mean).
The biggest news involving the Midwest League was the naming of the new president. I will link to the incomprable Ben Hill's story at MiLB.com:
The dawn of 2015 resulted in a changing of the guard for the Midwest League as longtime president George Spelius stepped down after 28 seasons. Richard "Dick" Nussbaum II, a South Bend-based attorney, who has served as the league's general counsel since 1993, replaced him.
"I never imagined this would happen. I thought George would be president for life, like Fidel Castro," said Nussbaum, speaking from his office in South Bend as part of a conference call that also included Spelius. "But over the past couple of years, George mentioned that he'd like to slow down, and the league directors quite wisely provided for a smooth succession plan. So the past two years, I've been in training for this job. It's been on my mind a lot."
"I told [the Midwest League succession] committee, 'I think you've already got your next president, Dick Nussbaum,'" added Spelius. "And off we were. There was no war of any sort — it was like having a nice banana split."
Which Banana Split?
While there are no Midwest League relocation efforts on the immediate horizon, this will likely be an issue that Nussbaum deals with at some point during his presidential tenure. A distinct "tale of two cities" dynamic exists within the circuit. Community-owned small market teams playing in old no-frills ballparks, such as the Burlington Bees and Spelius' hometown Beloit Snappers, must co-exist with attendance powerhouses possessing amenity-laden multi-use facilities such as the Fort Wayne TinCaps and the aforementioned Dayton Dragons. It is an interesting and often difficult-to-reconcile dynamic, and Nussbaum gave a carefully considered answer regarding how the league will proceed with such matters.
"I think community-owned teams are one of the strengths of our league," he said. "But as time goes by, it gets harder and harder for them to compete. The standards are higher in terms of the stadiums and the quality of the field. But those small communities are how we started out. It's still in our DNA. It's part of our responsibility as a league to support clubs that might have more challenges than others. … We do our best to represent the clubs we have in place but are realistic enough to know that the realities of the marketplace need to be addressed. As long as they're addressed, we'll do everything we can to help them succeed."
"Good answer, Dick," added Spelius.
Read the whole thing.
Alumni Birthdays for January 12:
Casey Craig ('06) – 31
Juan Sandoval ('03) – 35
Blake Bone ('03) – 37
Richie Leblanc ('87) – 49
Larry Allen ('86) – 51
Mike Trujillo ('83) – 55
Tim Hulett ('80) – 55
Paul Gilliford ('65) – 70
Ivan Siegfried ('46) – Would have been 91
Changes – September 19, 2014
Interesting day in the Midwest League on Thursday:
Kane County Chronicle: Cubs cutting ties with Cougars
Chicago Sun-Times: Why the Cubs moved from Kane County to South Bend
Thursday morning, the Cubs and South Bend announced a new PDC that runs through 2018. Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein realizes the decision might not be popular with area fans.
"I don't think in this industry you can avoid looking like bad guys," Epstein said. "So you just have to roll with it and make sure you're making decisions for the right reasons. In this case, we have to come back to what's best for our prospects and move forward and try to handle the matters with as much professionalism as possible."
South Bend already has started major renovations to their facility, including a new playing surface, and also has worked out a deal with the Cubs to change their name from the Silver Hawks and change their logos and colors. A news conference in South Bend is scheduled for next Thursday to announce the changes.
South Bend Tribune Column: Cubs fans in South Bend can cheer. Finally.
It's not often that a Cubs fan gets good news in September.
Let's face it, even when things seem promising — postseason success, one victory away from the World Series and a chance at the club's first title since dinosaurs roamed the Earth — well …
But that fails to discourage me, a South Bend native and supporter since the late 1970s of the team that plays on Chicago's North Side. Those weren't exactly the team's glory years — you'd have to go back a century or so for that — but through the magic of WGN-TV, I was pretty much hooked after the first game. What was not to like about a lineup featuring Jerry Martin and Dave Kingman? (Yes, I thought they were impressive, but I was young).
South Bend Tribune News Story: South Bend: Cubs town
Andrew Berlin, owner of the South Bend franchise for the past three seasons, made good on a promise he made when he took over the club. He has given downtown a shot of energy and enthusiasm.
That mission was put into play when the Chicago Cubs signed a four-year deal with the South Bend franchise as their Class A affiliate in the Midwest League, ending the 17-year partnership with the Arizona Diamondbacks. The new affiliation also ends the Cubs' partnership with its now former Class A affiliate, the Kane County Cougars in Geneva, Ill.
In the Brewers system, there's a new Triple-A affiliate:
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: Brewers settle for Colorado Springs as AAA Host
The game of minor-league musical chairs finally came to an end Thursday, with the Milwaukee Brewers agreeing to a two-year player development contract with Class AAA Colorado Springs.
It was the culmination of a crazy 24 hours that saw the Brewers' former Class AAA team in Nashville dump them for the Oakland A's, leaving Milwaukee with Colorado Springs and Fresno as alternatives. The Colorado Rockies, meanwhile, left Colorado Springs for a new deal with Albuquerque.
When Fresno and the Houston Astros announced earlier Thursday they had agreed to a two-year deal, that left Colorado Springs as the only Class AAA team without a parent club and Milwaukee as the only major-league team without a top affiliate.
Colorado Springs Gazette News Story: Sky Sox sign two-year affiliation deal with Milwaukee Brewers
"That's how it works sometimes in this process," Brewers general manager Doug Melvin said. "Nashville decided to go in a different direction after we were there for a lot of years, like the Rockies did. We are confident we can make this a good fit."
Any Brewers concerns were eased because they are familiar with the Sky Sox's Elmore ownership group, which also owns the Helena (Mont.) Brewers, the organization's rookie-level club. The Elmores will do what a MLB club needs for its players, Melvin said.
Colorado Springs Gazette Column: Sky Sox rescued from Rockies clueless tyranny
Over the past few days, I've heard Colorado Springs voices bemoan the dissolving of the Sky Sox's 21-season association with the Rockies. These voices wonder what Colorado Springs could have done to keep the Rockies happy.
I have a different response to the departure.
Hallelujah. It's time to celebrate.
The Sky Sox just concluded a catastrophe of a season. They collected a mere 53 wins to go with a staggering 91 losses. They were atrocious on the road (26-46) and befuddled at home (27-45.) That's consistency. They lost nine of their last 10 games.
Colorado Springs Gazette Editorial: Conspiracy theorists thought Colorado Springs mayor was wrong about Rockies
Bach hoped a serious stadium plan would encourage the Rockies to stay while helping revitalize downtown. The stadium could also help with plans by the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs to add NCAA Division II baseball in several years.
The mere idea of a stadium became instant fodder for pseudo conservatives and conspiracy theorists of all stripes. The Rockies would never leave, they said. Bach merely wanted to line pockets of "crony capitalist" developer friends. Most notable among the instant opponents were a handful of freshman politicians who had just been sworn to the Colorado Springs City Council.
Alumni Report (International League Pitchers):
Phillippe Aumont ('08) Lehigh Valley/Phillies:
3-3, 3.93ERA, 35 games, 55.0IP, 39BB, 65K
Austin Bibens-Dirkx ('06) Buffalo/Blue Jays:
2-2, 3.89ERA, 17 games, 4 starts, 39.1IP, 11BB, 35K
Cesar Jimenez ('03) Lehigh Valley/Phillies:
3-2, 3 Saves, 1.45ERA, 38 games, 2 starts, 49.2IP, 15BB, 46K
Mark Lowe ('05) Columbus/Indians:
4-3, 17 saves, 5.62ERA, 41 games, 41.2IP, 17BB, 47K
Shaun Marcum ('12) Columbus/Indians:
1-0, 2.35ERA, 8 games, 1 start, 15.1IP, 6BB, 10K
JC Ramirez ('08) Columbus/Indians:
1-3, 2 saves, 3.45 ERA, 25 games, 31.1IP, 11BB, 15K
Ryan Rowland-Smith ('03) Buffalo/Blue Jays:
1-0, 5.14ERA, 12 games, 14.0IP, 3BB, 11K
Ryan Rowland-Smith ('03) Louisville/Reds:
0-0, 4.20ERA, 12 games, 1 start, 15.0IP, 4BB, 9K
Juan Sandoval ('03) Durham/Rays:
0-1, 1 Save, 3.12ERA, 14 games, 1 start, 26.0IP, 14BB, 15K
Fabian Williamson ('07) Louisville/Reds:
0-0, 4.50ERA, 1 game, 2.0IP, 2BB, 2K
Baseball America's Top 20 Midwest League Prospects
This post is to provide reasons why the MWL list turned out the way that it did. Not to howl at the moon and go, "WE WUZ ROBBED!" I plan to provide a little context and make at least one argument in favor of the inclusion of at least ONE Rattler.
What list? Oh, read on!
The last paragraph of the article by Jim Callis that accompanies Baseball America's Top 20 list of Midwest League Prospects that had no Timber Rattlers:
Wisconsin captured the championship with the oldest roster in the league and nary a prospect who received strong consideration for this list. The Timber Rattlers won the finals in four games over Fort Wayne, which led all clubs with five prospects among the Top 20.
I'm going to do some math….back in a second…an hour…head over to this page at Baseball Reference and let's do math together! Add a the average age of the hitters for a team to the average age of the pitchers for a team and divide by two. Right?
Okay. Back.
The average age of the 2012 Timber Rattlers was 22.4. Take out the Major League rehabs to appear with the Rattlers this past season – Shaun Marcum (30), Jonathan Lucroy (26), and Carlos Gomez (26) – and the average drops to 22.3. They are still the oldest team in the league…BUT by just over a month.
Five oldest teams in the Midwest League (2012):
- Wisconsin – 22.4 (adjusted at 22.3)
- Burlington – 22.2
- Beloit – 22.1
- Quad Cities – 22.0
- South Bend 21.9
Average age of a player in the Midwest League in 2012: 21.8 years.
Five Youngest teams in the Midwest League (2012):
- Lake County – 20.8
- Bowling Green – 21.3
- Peoria – 21.3
- Dayton – 21.5
- Fort Wayne – 21.6
It should be noted that I am not getting Dayton's average age to figure correctly. Their hitters have an average age of 21.3 even with rehab appearances by Drew Stubbs (27), Joey Votto (28), and Miguel Cairo (38). Take those players out of the equation and … I get an average age for the hitters of 21.6. That can't be right. So….number with a grain of salt please.
I am not going to argue that a Timber Rattlers player should have been included in the Top 5 prospects on the list.
- Javier Baez – ss, Peoria
- Miguel Sano – 3b, Beloit
- Francisco Lindor – ss, Lake County
- Archie Bradley – rhp, South Bend
- Noah Syndergaard – rhp, Lansing
The only thing to quibble with the Top 5 ton hat list is the order. Instead, let's take a look at the 16-20:
16. Kyle Smith – rhp, Kane County
17. Travis Jankowski – of, Fort Wayne
18. Adys Portillo – rhp, Fort Wayne
19. Jace Peterson – ss, Fort Wayne
20. Stephen Piscotty – 3b, Quad Cities
Here are five 2012 Timber Rattlers who were placed on Baseball America's Top 30 list of Brewers Prospects in the 2012 Prospect Handbook: RHP Santo Manzanillo, RHP David Goforth, RHP Drew Gagnon, SS Yadiel Rivera, and 1B Nick Ramirez.
Manzanillo wasn't going to make the MWL List. He's been in the league before, was still working his way back from his car accident, and didn't have enough games with the Rattlers in 2012 to be eligible.
Rankings are not entirely based on stats in a particular year. How a particular observer projects that player will do in the future is a big part of it
The point that Yadiel Rivera hit .247 with 12 homers, seven stolen bases and 22 errors while Peterson hit .286 and stole 51 bases with 28 errors may mean less than the data points that Rivera is 20 and was a 9th round pick in 2010 while Peterson is 22 and a 1st round pick in 2011.
Also, where a player was drafted – if he was drafted at all may have a lot to do with it. Brandon Macias had an incredible 2012. He was at or near the top of the list in a lot of offensive categories – OBP, runs, average, doubles, hits, hit by pitch. By any standard an outstanding season. Except with the list makers. Macias an non-drafted free agent in 2011 is not going to get consideration for a list like this while Stephen Piscotty, a supplemental first round pick in 2012, makes the list. Piscotty played well in 55 games for Quad Cities in 2012. Project his numbers out over a full season and the numbers may be a bit similar with maybe a slight edge to Macias.
But the list makers will give the edge to Piscotty every time. It's just the way the lists work. After watching and getting to know Macias all of the 2012 season, he doesn't care about lists and whether he makes them or not. He's just going to go out there are play hard and to the best of his ability every day.
Player vs. player comparisons may not be as big of a factor as some of the other criteria used to slot players on the list. BUT, here is a player-to-player comparison:
Drew Gagnon was 6-1 in 14 starts with a 2.83ERA and 65 strikeouts in 82-2/3 innings with the Rattlers before being promoted to Brevard County in the Florida State League. Gagnon is 22 and was a 3rd round pick in 2011.
Adys Portillo was 6-6 in 18 starts with a 1.87ERA and 81 strikeouts in 91-2/3 innings with Fort Wayne before being promoted to San Antonio in the Texas League. Portillo is 20 and was signed out of Venezuela on July 2, 2008 when he was 16.
I'm not saying that Portillo should be taken off the list and Gagnon belongs in his spot. But, to say that Gagnon – or any of the Rattlers who were eligible for the list that Baseball America considers prospects – didn't receive strong consideration for the list is a little ridiculous.
Just for fun, Baseball America's Top 20 list of Midwest League Prospects after the 2009 season.
1. Aaron Hicks, of, Beloit (Twins)
2. Dee Gordon, ss, Great Lakes (Dodgers)
3. Josh Vitters, 3b, Peoria (Cubs)
4. Brett Lawrie, 2b, Wisconsin (Brewers)
5. Mike Montgomery, lhp, Burlington (Royals)
6. Casey Crosby, lhp, West Michigan (Tigers)
7. Simon Castro, rhp, Fort Wayne (Padres)
8. Jaff Decker, of, Fort Wayne (Padres)
9. Cody Scarpetta, rhp, Wisconsin (Brewers)
10. Ethan Martin, rhp, Great Lakes (Dodgers)
11. Tim Melville, rhp, Burlington (Royals)
12. Eric Hosmer, 1b, Burlington (Royals)
13. A.J. Pollock, of, South Bend (Diamondbacks)
14. Wily Peralta, rhp, Wisconsin (Brewers)
15. James Darnell, 3b, Fort Wayne (Padres)
16. Chris Archer, rhp, Peoria (Cubs)
17. Kyle Russell, of, Great Lakes (Dodgers)
18. Grant Desme, of, Kane County (Athletics)
19. Pedro Figueroa, lhp, Kane County (Athletics)
20. Chris Carpenter, rhp, Peoria (Cubs)
Also for fun, here is what Jim wrote about the MWL Champions that year:
Decker and third baseman James Darnell, a 2008 second-rounder, were part of a TinCaps team that won a minor league-high 94 games and both half-season titles in the MWL East, then swept Burlington in the playoff finals.
Great Lakes led all minor league teams with 90 regular-season victories, but the Loons came up short of a championship. They dropped the last two games of their semifinal series to Lake County, which didn't place a single player on this Top 20 Prospects list.
Another righthander, Carlos Martinez, drew comparisons to Pedro Martinez (no relation) and would have given Walker a run for the top spot had he not been promoted after just eight starts for eventual champion Quad Cities.
At the end of the day, the 2012 list has done its job. It gave us a starting point for the 2013 season and got us talking about Baseball America – and baseball – two weeks after our season ended.
Affiliation Shuffle comes to an end
The dance of the affiliation stopped about three hours after I posted yesterday.
The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are the new parent club of the Burlington Bees.
"The Angels have long viewed scouting and player development as the backbone of our organization," Angels general manager Jerry Dipoto said in a statement. "We maintain an organizational commitment to building excellence at both the Major and minor league levels, while placing a high value on strong communities and affiliations in the process. With this in mind we are excited to welcome the good people of Burlington to the Angels family, while looking forward to a long and successful partnership."
The Oakland Athletics are the new parent club are the new parent club of the Beloit Snappers.
"We are delighted to welcome Beloit to our minor league system with today's announcement," said A's Vice President and General Manager Billy Beane. "It is an established Single-A market with a strong baseball community and management team. We look forward to a very successful partnership."
The papers in the respective markets will – most likely – have updates later today. That's The Hawkeye for Burlington and The Beloit Daily News for, um, Beloit.
This is how the Midwest League/Parent Club alignment sets up for 2013:
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers – Milwaukee Brewers
Beloit Snappers – Oakland Athletics
Burlington Bees – Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
Cedar Rapids Kernels – Minnesota Twins
Clinton LumberKings – Seattle Mariners
Kane County Cougars – Chicago Cubs
Peoria Chiefs – St. Louis Cardinals
Quad Cities River Bandits – Houston Astros
Bowling Green Hot Rods – Tampa Bay Rays
Dayton Dragons – Cincinnati Reds
Fort Wayne TinCaps – San Diego Padres
Great Lakes Loons – Los Angeles Dodgers
Lake County Captains – Cleveland Indians
Lansing Lugnuts – Toronto Blue Jays
South Bend Silver Hawks – Arizona Diamondbacks
West Michigan Whitecaps – Detroit Tigers
The only teams the Rattlers do not face in at home next season are: Bowling Green, Dayton, Lansing, & Great Lakes.
To see the entire schedule for the 2013 season, head over to the PDF of the schedule on the Rattlers website.
Notes and Links on a Tuesday (9/25/12)
One more step in the affiliation shuffle was taken Monday afternoon.
The Quad Cities River Bandits are now partners with the Houston Astros.
The deal not only renews a previous relationship — the River Bandits were a Houston affiliate from 1993-98 — but it also marks a return to the Midwest League for the Astros, whose low Class A affiliate for the past 10 seasons has been Lexington, Ky., in the South Atlantic League.
The Astros were last in the Midwest League as the parent club of the Michigan Battle Cats in 2002.
The Bandits may be tough next season.
In the past year, the Astros' minor-league staff and players engineered a turnaround of 205 wins among its minor-league affiliates. The organization went from ranking last in win percentage among baseball's 30 organizations in 2011 to ranking first this season with a .546 winning percentage.
Three Houston clubs reached postseason play, including the short-season Tri-City team which will feed the 2013 Quad-Cities roster with talent after finishing 51-25 and winning its division in the New York-Penn League.
"We've had not only an influx of talent, but a change of mindset,'' Nelson said. "Jeff Luhnow has a proven track record of successful drafts, successful teams and there is an idea that winning and development go hand in hand.''
Other moves that have been made:
The Cubs left Peoria for Kane County. (Game Changer apparently)
The Royals have left the Midwest League for Lexington in the South Atlantic League through at least 2016.
The Cardinals left Quad Cities for Peoria
The Twins left Beloit for Cedar Rapids
The Padres and TinCaps renewed for another two seasons
As of this morning the Oakland Athletics and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are still without affiliates. Beloit and Burlington as still without parent clubs.
Will the A's wind up back in Burlington after letting the Bees know that they wanted to take a look around and see what else was out there?
Will the Angels head to Beloit?
TUNE IN TOMORROW! <organ music plays>
Beloit has had Midwest League baseball since 1982. This article from last Thursday after they lost the Twins to Cedar Rapids is filled with hope and realism.
The ever-optimistic [team chairman Dennis] Conerton sees the affiliation change as an opportunity for development, and something that could potentially spur activity down the road.
"One thing where this could be beneficial is that maybe now some people will see that what the Snappers have been trying to do for the last eight years or so is something that we need to pay a little more attention to," he said. "But when you see an affiliate leave for facilities that are better, you do start to wonder when the Player Development Agreement is up in 2020 will the standards change at all, and if we were to continue with Minor League Baseball in the Beloit community."
Jumping back to the Royals for a moment, former Rattler Jake Odorizzi made his MLB debut on Sunday in Kansas City's 15-4 loss to the Indians. Jake allowed three of those runs in 5-1/3 innings.
Consider Jake Odorizzi's Major League debut a success.
He didn't win the game — the Cleveland Indians wound up with a 15-4 victory over Kansas City on a lovely Sunday afternoon — but the 22-year-old Royals right-hander pitched superbly for five innings before giving up three runs in the sixth.
"I think he did an outstanding job for his first start," Royals manager Ned Yost said.
As the Royals' top-ranked pitching prospect according to MLB.com, Odorizzi gave the 22,960 fans at Kauffman Stadium reason to anticipate the good that he might do for the club in the future. When he left the mound during the sixth inning, they gave him a standing ovation.
"It was pretty moving, just to hear the cheers," Odorizzi said. "They were very accepting of me and it was great to get that on the way out. Especially on the first day, it made it just that much more special."
Former Rattler Adam Moore ('06) hit a homer in that game. He caught Odorizzi in AAA at Omaha.
Odorizzi's start on Sunday ran the total of former Rattlers to make their MLB debuts in 2012 to eight.
Phillippe Aumont – August 23
Juan Diaz – May 25
Jim Henderson – July 26
Erik Komatsu – April 6
Jake Odorizzi – September 23
Wily Peralta – April 22
Tyler Thornburg – June 19
Carlos Triunfel – September 7
In the Timber Rattlers Era – aka. Since 1995 – that would make 83 former Timber Rattlers who have made it to the major leagues.
A possible future Rattler is Clint Coulter. The Brewers took the high school catcher with the 27th pick of the 2012 draft. Baseball America has begun publishing their list of Top 20 prospects in each minor league. BA placed Coulter at #10 on their list of prospects in the Arizona League.
His scouting report is behind the subscriber wall. Long story short: Offense good. Defense needs work.
Want to work with me?
Well, that's not completely true. Want to work where I do and not deal with me in any possible way?
Here are a few opportunities.
The Rattlers are taking applications for interns for the 2013 season. I am told that the ability to start in January would be much appreciated.
Also, construction is underway on the renovations to Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium. One of the pieces of that renovation is the club level with the banquet facility. The team is looking for a Banquet Facility Sales Manager and an Executive Chef. Follow this link for details on those positions.
Speaking of construction, I will leave you with a few photos from last Wednesday when I took a brief tour stadium.
We shot a video tour on the day I took those pictures. The video hould be up tomorrow – with a cool PROG ROCK SUPERGROUP soundtrack!! YES! The plan is to post a construction video every week.
Beloit won't be the same
A new chapter in The Neverending Story.
Vohs leaves Snappers after 11 years
Jeff Vohs worked his way up from intern to general manager of the Beloit Snappers in just four years, then hung onto the job for seven more seasons.
Wednesday, however, came the news Vohs will step down and leave baseball for the world of banking.
"It's been fun," Vohs said. "It's always been a challenge and that's what I liked about the job. In terms of my family, however, it was time to move on. I'm glad I'm staying in the area. Beloit has definitely grown on me."
The Snappers also announced Wednesday that Assistant GM Matthew Bosen has been named the organization's 10th GM in its 30-year history.
"Over the last four years, I've learned a great deal about the proper way to run the Snappers from Jeff (Vohs), I appreciate all the knowledge that he's passed on to me that he's picked up throughout his 11 years," said Bosen. "I'd like to thank the Board of Directors for giving me this chance to run the organization."
I've know Jeff for a long time and I wish him the best of luck.
New Stadium? Stadium news?
"The Board keeps working on that project," Vohs said. "I've always focused on what needs to be done here. Since we have a small front office, we can't commit time to that project and make sure we stay viable in our current ballpark situation. I hope things get better in the economy and something gets done with a new stadium. But Matt will have to do the same thing I did — focus on Pohlman Field."
In other news, I see that winter baseball has begun in Venezuela.
Ex-Rattlers in action so far are:
Alex Liddi ('08)
Oswaldo Navarro ('05)
Michael Saunders ('06)
Luis Valbuena ('06)
Carlos Maldonado ('99)
Austin Bibens-Dirkx ('06)
Lorenzo Cain ('09)
Bryan LaHair ('04)
Mike Wilson ('05)
Busy day in the IBAF World Cup on Thursday with doubleheaders all around.
Brock Kjeldgaard ('09): 1-for-3, RUN, 2 RBI, HR
Kjeldgaard: 0-for-3
Kalian Sams ('07): 0-for-3
Sams: 1-for-3, RUN, 2 RBI, HR
According to this, the Dutch are through to the Gold Medal game. Either Canada or Cuba will face them for the Championship. How big of a deal is that? According to this…The Netherlands is the first team from Europe in 73 YEARS to compete for the Gold Medal at the IBAF World Cup…73 YEARS!
Nathan Adcock ('08): 3IP, H, 0R, BB, 7K
Scooter Gennett ('10): 0-for-4, RUN
Daniel Meadows ('09): IP, 2H, R, 2BB
The Cedar Rapids Marathon
Jeff Johnson is in the clubhouse with the early lead in the LEDE OF THE YEAR contest.
Here is his open after the Kernels beat Burlington 4-3 in 17 innings last night at Perfect Game Field in a snappy 4 hours and 57 minutes.
OK, so maybe Ryan Jones was out at first base. Hey, umpires want to go home after a few hours, too.
There was more to the story.
The Cedar Rapids Kernels pinch runner sure appeared to be picked off in the 17th inning Wednesday night at Veterans Memorial Stadium. But base umpire Rich Gonzales gave him a reprieve, calling him safe and allowing him to score on Travis Witherspoon's two-out line-drive single down the left-field line as the Kernels beat Burlington, 4-3.
"No comment," Witherspoon said with a smile, when asked if Jones had been picked off.
And here is this little nugget:
The teams' bullpens combined for 21 2/3 scoreless innings before Witherspoon's hit. They allowed only 10 hits.
The starters for both teams had better not get in trouble tonight.
If you grew up in Wisconsin during the 70s and 80s and followed the Milwaukee Brewers, Benji means something to you that it does not mean to others.
Benji = Ben Oglivie, who is now the hitting coach for the West Michigan Whitecaps. This Grand Rapids Press article catches up with the Brewers star.
Despite turning 62 in February, the former major league player and first-year West Michigan Whitecaps hitting coach shows no signs of winding down.
"The one thing I have found out is you stay with something you are passionate about," Oglivie said. "When the passion goes, I will go home. When it becomes work, I'm going home. What has sustained me is the passion, and I don't think I've lost that.
"I know, realistically, that I can't play, so that's gone, but there is a light that still allows me to come out here and not feel that this is labor."
A-freaking-MEN!! Click through and read it all.
Only one
There was just one game played in the Midwest League last night.
But, the interesting story from the Dayton Daily News this morning is this one.
That he's still surfing is perhaps what earns pitcher Chad Rogers the most respect from his Dayton Dragons teammates.
Then there are the scars on his right foot, including bite marks, which he shows upon request.
"Just hearing the story — he's awesome," infielder Frank Pfister decided. "He's going to be successful because he's got the right mentality. If you survived getting bit by a shark, you can handle the Midwest League, right?"
Rogers indeed joined the Dragons on Tuesday from extended spring training in Goodyear, Ariz., with quite a story to tell. A 28th-round draft pick of the Cincinnati Reds last June, the right-handed reliever missed what would have been his first pro season in 2010 because a 5-foot bull shark took a chunk out of his foot while he was surfing in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Galveston, Texas, his hometown.
"Wrong place, wrong time, man," Rogers said before the Dragons beat Bowling Green 7-2 for their third straight win. "I got drafted and bit by a shark in the same month. What are the odds?
"I'm just fortunate to actually be here right now."
Seated at his locker, Rogers pulled off his sock to reveal a wound on the side of his right foot that required 60 stitches and marks from the shark's teeth on his toes that serve as gruesome reminders of a horrifying experience.
Read it all.


text:
Sen. Hansen Clarke, D-Detroit, met with Federal Emergency Management Agency officials in Washington and asked them to award the city a grant to hire 72 more firefighters. He also requested funding for equipment to make the city prepared in case of another emergency, such as the fire storm that raged city streets on Sept. 7.
"Many firefighters are older and set to retire, and we've got this large land mass and burned out buildings ... and FEMA understands that," Clarke said. "They understand that we have acres of burned out, blighted buildings that pose a greater fire hazard."
Clarke's Republican opponent, businessman John Hauler, said Clarke's request amounts to a "Band-Aid aid on a bullet wound" and ignores Detroit's need for a strong economic stimulus.
More than 230 Detroit firefighters responded to the Sept. 7 blazes, but they had difficulty stopping the spread of the wind-fed fires. The fires destroyed 29 occupied homes and damaged 71 vacant homes and garages.
As fire crews responded to one blaze, others popped up blocks or miles away.
Some of the fires were started when 50 mph winds caused trees and branches to fall onto power lines. Sparking wires are believed to have set dry rooftops and foliage ablaze. Two of the fires were being blamed on arson.
No injuries were reported.
The city already has applied for FEMA grants. Clarke said he wants to make sure those requests get the agency's full attention.
The grant for the extra firefighters is for about $11 million, Clarke said.
Detroit has little cash of its own to improve fire services or hire more manpower. The city's is facing a budget deficit of at least $85 million.
The city is using federal stimulus dollars to tear down 3,000 of its 33,000 empty houses this year and another 3,000 next year.
Hauler, a Grosse Pointe Woods businessman running against Clarke in the heavily Democratic 13th Congressional District, said Detroit residents "want real, actionable solutions that are homegrown and self-sustaining."
He said his proposal to turn Detroit into a 10-year federal income tax free zone would stimulate economic recovery and help the city pay for its own municipal services.
"The taxpayer base will allow us to address the blighted homes, fix the hazardous utility environment, and provide our first responders with the tools and personnel they need to protect our city," Hauler said.