The Chickwurstburgdog and other Fort Myers Musings…

June 30, 2010 Leave a comment

Some disturbing news at the food stands last night in Fort Myers.  Just before beginning the game, Miracle broadcaster Alex Margulies and myself make the trip down to the concourse to pick up some dinner.  I got chicken — he got a braut.  Other options were a burger or hot dog.  I was then informed that if all four were desired that was a viable option.  It makes sense that I could have any of the four choices laid out before me.  What didn’t make sense is that you don’t order them seperate of each other.  You order them together. 

It’s called the Chickwurstburgdog.

Burgdog.jpgYes, the Chickwurstburgdog.  I’m assuming alternate spellings include Chicwustbergdog, Chikworstburgdogg or Snoop Doggy Dog.  To the left is my artist’s rendering of the beast…

 
The yellow stuff is cheese.  Yes, there is cheese between each of the layers.  Braut… cheese.. .chicken.. .cheese… burger… you get the idea.

The idea was created by Miracle AGM Kris Koch.  Why is unkown.  Well, I’m sure there is a reason I just don’t know if I want to know it.  I do know this, however.  The sandwhich has ‘Man v. Food’ written all over it.  Are you out there Adam Richman?

The ‘meal’ got me thinking.  I remembered a couple years ago hearing about the Gateway Grizzlies.  They’re an independent team in the midwest with similar stomach-stuffers.  Here’s a few of the good ones…yes there are multiple.

 

 

It’s a SUPERPRETZEL coated in buffalo wing sauce and covered in cheese.  IT comes with a side of Pepto…I hope.

It’s a burger with cheese and bacon on a bun.  Sounds normal.  Until you realize the bun is a doughnut.  It’s a Krispy Kreme, btw.

But my favorite heart stopper is a Cape Cod favorite.  The Y-D Red Sox are a summer collegiate team in the nation’s best summer wood bat league.  They also serve the Sinker Burger and the Hurler Burger.  I’m assuming the second one is named for what happens after you eat. 

The Sinker is just a buger on a doughnut.  You have three choices – plain, powder or cinnamon.  The Hurler is on a jelly doughnut and it comes with cheese…EZ-Cheese.

I’ve had the pleasure of eating the Hurler….and I’ve lived to tell the tale.

—-

On a seperate note…the bus ride from Bradenton to Fort Myers took a little bit of extra time yesterday.  The drive should take about 90 minutes.  The bus left at 3:15 so one would guess the Marauders would have been at Hammond Stadium by 4:45.  Nope – 6:15 is a better guess.

There was a horrible accident on 75 that stopped up traffic for just a couple miles.  A flipped over dump truck kept the team bus stalled in Sarasota for a good hour and 45 mintues.  Quincy Latimore was sitting behind me and woke up from his hour nap to realize we hadn’t really even left yet.  I fell asleep for a good half hour and woke up in Siesta Key.  Pretty awesome.

When the bus arrived the parking attendants were already out.  Eric Fryer joked it was going to cost us $3 to park…then corrected himself and said they should charge us $3 per person…we got in free.

It’s not the worst travel snaffoo.  The Pirate’s Low-A affiliate in West Virginia had its bus break down on the first trip of the year.  It went something like this…

Break Spring Training in Bradenton

Bus to West Virginia

Stay Two Days

Bus to Georgia for the Season Opener

Bus Breaks Down 15 Minutes into the Drive

Mechanic Shows Up 90 Minutes Later

Mechanic Can’t Fix Bus

New Bus Called

Team Arrives in Georgia at 3:45 AM

….now that’s minor league baseball.  It tops my personal best.  Two years ago in the Carolina League the Salem Avalanche bus broke down at the team hotel.  We were at Potomac and had no way to get to the park.  Our opponent called some cabs….when that took too long the front office drove to the hotel to get the team, coaches and yes, radio guys.  That one goes in the book…

Till next time…

Joel

 

Filed under Dailies Tagged with , , , , , , ,

Summer Hit Mix

June 29, 2010 Leave a comment

Robbie-Grossman-action.jpgSo…..How about 33 hits?  Bradenton and Fort Myers combined for a combined 33 hits on Monday night.  The Marauders “pulled out” a 14-4 win in the sluggfest.  Stats of the day…

  • Robbie Grossman fell a homerun short of the cycle.  He was 4-6 with a season high four RBI
  • Erik Huber had his first four hit game of the season
  • Jose de los Santos had his first multi-RBI game of the year (at Altoona or Bradenton).  He knocked in three.
  • Austin McClune, Huber and Greg Picart all scored three runs
  • The 21 hits are five better than the previous franchise record
  • The 7 extra-base hits, five doubles and two triples are all tied for most in team history (which sounds really cool, but remember “team history” is this year).
  • Of the 33 hits in the game, it took until No. 31 for a homer.  Drew Thompson hit his second of the year off Marauders reliever Matt McSwain.
  • In a sick turn, had he finished the ninth McSwain would have earned a four-inning save.  A save…yes a save…in a 10-run game.  Tyler Cox came in to get the final two outs.

So let’s put this all in perspective.  If you’re sitting at home going, “WOW, 21 hits!  That’s so many!”  It’s actually not.  Fancy that.  In fact, it’s not even a blip on the radar.  Actually…it’s about damn time.

With 21 hits on Monday the Marauders became the first team in the Florida State League to drop a double-sawbuck in the hits column.  The FSL is the last full-season league to have a team rack up 20 hits.  The California League (known for having 758,967,324 Coors Field clones as ballparks – ask Nathan Adcock, he’ll tell you) has four teams with more than 21 hits in a game.  Actually, only three teams in the league haven’t gotten 20 hits in a game this year.  San Jose (Giants) leads all of baseball with 26 hits against Visalia back in May.

All the teams with 21 or more hits in a game (in 100% no actual order)…

Inland Empire (A+) 23

Lancaster (A+) 22

Modesto (A+) 22

San Jose (A+) 26

Winston-Salem (A+) 21

Trenton (AA) 21

NW Arkansas (AA) 22

Midland (AA) 21

Chattanooga (AA) 22

Mississippi (AA) 21

Buffalo (AAA) 22

Louisville (AAA) 24

Las Vegas (AAA) 23

Memphis (AAA) 23

Omaha (AAA) 23

Burlington (A) 22

Hagerstown (A) 23

Charleston (A) 22

Milwaukee (MAJ) 25

Notice that no American League team has eclipsed 21 hits in a game.  Boston, Kansas City, Minnesota and Texas all have recorded 20-spots.  The MLB lead is Milwaukee’s 25 hits on April 22.  In a dubious turn that was in a 20-0 route of the Pirates. 

On a good note, the MLB record for individual hits in a game is seven.  It’s been done twice.  Once was in 1975 by Rennie Stennett – a Pirate.

Till next time…

-Joel

(Photo Courtesy of the Post-Gazette)
 

Filed under Dailies Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Now Walk It Out…

June 28, 2010 1 Comment

Calvin.jpgCalvin Anderson’s walk-off single Sunday was his second winner in eight days.  He also beat Jupiter with an 11th inning single last Saturday.

Sunday’s win also happened to be the sixth last-at-bat win/loss for Bradenton over the last nine game.  That got me thinking about last second finishes and I did some work with my good friend Google.

Some random tidbits…

The Atlanta Braves won three straight games in walk-off fashion back at the end of May.  It was the first time the Bravos pulled that off since 1993…that almost dates back to when they were bad…and almost to before Walker Gourley was born (the youngest player for the Marauders this year — born in 1991).  So, yeah, it’s been a while on that front.

10 days ago San Diego pulled off a walk-off win.  It was it’s MLB leading 8th.  The Padres have won 10 games in their last AB.

Most walk-offs of one batter vs. one pitcher….back to Coca-Cola Country.  Andruw Jones won three games off Luis Ayala and the Washinontreal Expotionals in 2004 and 2005 with a double, four pitch walk and a HR.

The coolest thing I stumbled over (nerd-alert) was a study done in the offseason about walk-off wins dating back to the beginning of the Rotosheet era (about the ’50’s).  Some good stuff prior to this season…

  • 9,887 Walk-offs
  • 4,805 of those have come on singles
  • 2,729 have been HR’s
  • Most single season walk-offs: 5 – Rodney Scott ’79 and Wally Joyner ’89
  • Most often the winner comes with one out in the bottom of the 9th…51 more times than with two outs (that’s so close it’s like getting within $200 on your showcase guess for the Price is Right)

Alright…hopefully a win before the 9th inning tonight…first pitch at 7:00 with Jeff Locke on the mound…talk to you then.

– Joel

  • (Photo Courtesy MiLB.com)

 

Filed under Dailies Tagged with , , , , , , , ,

Off We Go…

June 26, 2010 Leave a comment

Entry No. 1 here, so we’ve got a couple of things to figure out…first off is the name…

I was thinking of what to call this blog and I figured I go with something “broadcastery” and along the baseball lines.  I went with an ESPN catchphrase — one Keith Olbermann made famous — “It’s Deep and I Don’t Think It’s Playable.”  The title, however, is always up for a little change.  If you’ve got an idea on what to go with — shoot it to Jgodett@Pirates.com.   We’ll take a look at what flows in and go from there.

Next thing up is what we’re going to do here.  Well, a couple of things.  First off — neat stories always tend to pop up while broadcasting for a baseball team.  Sometimes those stories make it on the radio and sometimes they don’t.  Sometimes those stories make it on the radio and you weren’t listening.  So we’ll talk about a lot here.  Anything ranging from Eric Fryer’s time at Ohio State to Quincy Latimore’s +200 bowling average and Brian Leach’s new slider.

So, where to start?  With the second half of the season now in full swing we can begin by taking a look back of the first half of the first season in Marauder’s history…

First Half Highlights

No. 1 – Opening Night

With the April 8th opener anticipated since the fall revealing of the Marauders, Bradenton wasted no time making its mark.  The Marauders drubbed division foe Fort Myers 18-3 to welcome the season in front of 2,396 fans.  The offense exploded for 16 hits and four home runs, both of which are still team records for a single game performance.  The 18 runs are also far and away the most scored this year, besting the 13 Bradenton plated at St. Lucie June 15th.  The debut win was the first of five to begin team history.

No. 2 – Hey Now, You’re an All-Star

The opening night display was no fluke for Bradenton.  The Marauders continued to be one of the best offensive teams in the minor leagues throughout the first half.  When that happens you’re bound to earn some all-star recognition, and Bradenton placed a Florida State League best eight men in the midsummer classic.  Tony Sanchez, Brock Holt, Quincy Latimore, Jeremy Farrell, Jeff Locke, Noah Krol, Nathan Adcock and Bryan Morris all earned midseason honors.  Only Latimore, Locke and Krol appeared in the game, but all made an impact.  Latimore batted leadoff and scored twice.  Locke and Krol each threw a shutout inning.

They said it:  “It’s a huge honor to get selected to play with the best players in this league.  Being in State College last year and getting to be a part of that all-star game my first professional season was huge, and being able to continue that with my success here after skipping West Virginia was huge.” – Brock Holt 

No. 3 – Bryan Morris

His time was short-lived in Bradenton but it was nothing short of fantastic.  In 44.2 innings Morris allowed three earned runs, struck out 40 and walked just seven.  Thusly, he’s number three on our list.

No. 4 – Break Out the Rye Bread and Mustard…

Quincy Latimore established a reputation early in his Marauders career – he drives in runs…sometimes four at a time.  Latimore hit three grand slams in just 37 games and tied an FSL record for most in a season.  The final of Latimore’s three slams was a game sealer at Dunedin May 18th.  It came in the 10th inning of a 2-1 game.  Bradenton knocked off what was then the league’s top dog 6-1 that day.  Latimore’s 55 RBI led the league in the first half and were 4th in all of Class A-Advanced.  Q is led by three batters in the California League – the most hitter friendly of the High-A groups.

They said it:  “I hit my first professional grand slam this year so it’s kind of funny I hit three already.  It’s quite a coincidence.  It really is.” – Quincy Latimore

No. 5 – Brock Holt is Perfect

Brock Holt made June 2nd an historic night against Lakeland when he went 5-5.  The Marauders shortstop was the sixth man to post a five-hit game this season across the FSL.  Most importantly Holt had two RBI and two runs scored in an 8-7 Bradenton win.

Notes Looking Forward

 

No. 1 – Returning to Full Strength

 

As the second half of the season begins the Marauders are without four of their top five offensive threats.  Tony Sanchez, Brock Holt, Jeremy Farrell and Starling Marte all find themselves sidelined with injuries.  Sanchez is out for an extended period after breaking his jaw Tuesday.  Holt is out for the year after suffering a knee injury against Brevard County June 6th.  Farrell is on the DL with a leg injury while Marte recovers from hand surgery.  Coming into the season Baseball America thought highly of all four men, ranking Sanchez 3rd, Marte 6th and Holt 27th among prospects in the Pittsburgh organization.  Farrell has had a breakout season and leads the Marauders with nine homeruns.  The foursome has driven in 111 of the team’s 314 RBI.  Also on the disabled list are Rodolfo Cardona and Hunter Strickland.

They said it:  “We’re struggling right now with the loss of Farrell and Brock – two of the best hitters in the league – and we’re having other guys step up and help the team win.  That’s the making of a great team.” – Tony Sanchez

No. 2 – Who Steps Up?

With all of Bradenton’s injuries, the question is now who will step up to fill the voids?  Quincy Latimore and Calvin Anderson are the easy answers, having been consistent producers throughout the first half.  Greg Picart is another name to keep tabs on.  The veteran has hit over .300 since taking over for Holt in the leadoff spot.

Robbie Grossman is one guy who may take on a heavier burden in the second half.  Grossman entered the year as the 18th ranked prospect in the Pirates system but has hovered around .200 the first three months of the year.  Grossman has a world of potential as a hitter for average and a bit of power and possesses great speed.  The outfielder was the first freshman to start at Texas’ Cy-Fair High School in 36 years under head coach Woody Champagne.

They said it:  “[I’m] just learning every year, learning something new, adjusting your game.  Watching the game you always learn something new.  [I’m] just doing the best I can every night.” – Robbie Grossman

Also keep an eye on outfielder Austin McClune and catcher Eric Fryer.  After struggling for much of June, McClune finished the first half with three critical hits, two RBI and two steals in his last four games.  The first of those hits was a walk-off single against St. Lucie Monday.

With Sanchez out, Fryer stands to gain the most at the catching position.  Bradenton’s primary backup, Fryer has DH’d for much of the season while slamming seven homeruns.

No. 3 – A Second Half Title?

Bradenton held a firm grasp on first place in the FSL South for much of May and early June before succumbing to a blazing hot Charlotte team.  The Stone Crabs finished the first half by winning 18 of their final 20 games.  Even so, the Marauders still had the second best besting average in the FSL and a pitching staff that excelled into the midseason break.  Nathan Adcock is listed among the league’s top 10 ERA’s, Jeff Locke has not walked a batter in three outings, Brian Leach has a 1.50 ERA in June and Noah Krol continues to be one of the best closers across the state.

They said it:  “I think right now I’m there.  If I can stay there for a little longer I can put together a pretty good season.” – Jeff Locke

They said it:  “[Leach]’s keeping the ball in the strike zone and he’s giving himself a chance.  We gave him a slider instead of a curveball and it gives him something else other than a fastball that he can throw for strikes.  He’s turned that around somewhat and we’ve just got to hope he continues to grow.” – Wally Whitehurst

They said it:  “We’re having fun and we’re starting to click more as a team…We could easily have 50 wins in this half and be a lock for the playoffs, but that’s just something we have to learn.  We’re a young group and we’re still learning how to play the game the right way.  We haven’t played nearly as good of baseball as we could have.” – Tony Sanchez

 

Till Next time…

Joel

 

Filed under Dailies Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Design a site like this with WordPress.com
Get started