Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Jeff Bailey signs with Arizona

Former Cougar Jeff Bailey signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks as a free agent yesterday. He played in 26 games last year for the Boston Red Sox. Hitting .208 in 77 at bats with three home runs. In three years in Boston and his only years in the majors, he has hit .228 in 136 at bats with 6 homers and 16 runs batted in.

Bailey played in the Boston system for six years. The last four years at Pawtuckett. Last year he hit .262 with 10 homers in 63 games. His best year was 2008 in which he hit .301 in 109 games with 25 homers and 75 runs batted in. He matched his career high in hits with 126.

Jeff began his career in the Flordia system. Spending two years in the gulf coast league before becoming a Cougar in 1999. He hit .278 in 76 games with Kane County. In the playoffs he has a it in five of the seven games, along with a homer and a triple. Plus seven runs batted in.

After that he played a couple of more seasons in the Florida system before signing with Montreal as a free agent in2002. In 2004 he signed with Boston. Jeff made his major league debut on July 6th, 2007 with Boston.

Bailey was originally a second round pick by the Florida Marlins in 1997 out of Kelso High School in Washington. He turns 31 during the 2010 season.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Lots of Signings and News

Lots of signings and news of former Cougars tonight

Former Cougar manager Juan Bustabad (98) has been assigned to manage the Great Lakes Loons in the Midwest League for the third straight year.

Nic Ungs (02) has been re-signed by Florida
Larry Cobb has been released by Oakland
John Suomi was signed by Philadelphia
Brian Stavisky was re-signed by Philadelphia
Javier Herrera was signed by the Yankees

Ungs played for the Cougars in 2002 for the Jacksonville Suns last year going 10-3 in 18 starts with a 2.37 era.

Larry Cobb played for the Cougars in 2007 and 2008. He was suspended for most of last year due to testing positive for an amphetimine.

John Soumi played for the Cougars in 2003. He has bounced around since then between Philadelphia, Washington and Kansas City. Suomi has been picked in the rule 5 draft twice in his career. Last year he spent time in both Nortwest Arkansas and Omaha both in the Royals system

Brian Stavisky played for the Cougars in 2003. He left the A's system in 2007. Brian spent time in 2008 in independent ball in Lancaster. He hit .282 and earned a shot with Arkansas in the Angels system. Last year he spent in Reading in the Phillies system where he hit .279 in 118 games.

Javier Herrera played for the Cougars in 2005. He was suspended for the begining of the 2005 season due to steriods. Javier has spent the majority of his career on the disabled list, but was once a five tool prospect. Last year he played in one game for Midland in the A's system

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Wes Long (05-06) signs with Winnepeg

Wes Long signed with the Winnepeg Goldeyes of the Northern League Last year the 27 year old played for the Goldeyes also. He started out the year by getting play of the month honors in May. He hit .313. He was named to the Northern League all star team. His season ended early though, on June 30th in Schaumburg he would fracture his left ankle and be done for the season. He hit .343 with three homer and 15 stolen bases.

His previous two season he played for the Windy City Thunderbolts in the Chicago suburbs. He hit .331 in 2008 with 11 homers and 71 runs batted in. In 2007 he hit .334 with 7 homers and 67 runs batted in. He also hit 36 doubles in 2007.

In 2006 he would be a Cougar for 84 games, he hit .198. His other time with the Cougars was in 2005 when he hit .193. Wes started out his career hitting .345 for the Arizona Athletics in 2004 before ending that year in Vancouver hitting .286.

He attended the University of Alabama at Huntsville and was a 29th round selection of the A's in 2004.

Matt Treanor (99, 01) signs with Milwaukee

Matt Treanor signs with Milwaukee to be their backup catcher. Treanor who is going to be 34 this season and has been in the majors for six years is on his third team. He played five years with Florida begining in 2004-2008 as the backup catcher. He only played in 274 games hitting .237. Matt played last year for the Detroit Tigers, he only got into 4 games and did not have a hit.

Treanor has played 12 years in the minors, ten before his first taste of the big leagues. In 2008 he spent most of the year on the disabled list. His last time before that in the minors was 2004 in Albuquerque. Matt began his career in 1994 in the Kansas City Royals system. He would spend three years there before being traded to the Marlins. He was originally a 4th round pitch of the Royals in the 94 draft out of Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, California. He was traded straight up to the Marlins for Matt Whisenant just before the trade deadline in 1997.

Cougar fans would remember him for the 1999 season in which he hit .286 in 86 games with 10 homers and 53 runs batted in. He also made a stop to Geneva in 2001 on a rehab outing in which he gota hit and two walks in his three plate appearances. His big moment for the Cougars came in game three of the Midwest League semi finals in which he hit a homer in the 8th inning off of Burling pitcher Brandon Whatley. The Cougars would eventually lose that game.










Claudio Vargas (99) signs with Milwaukee

Claudio Vargas re-signed with Milwaukee. He spent most of the year in 2009 with the Brewers, going 1-0 with a 1.78 era in 28 relief appearances. He only pitched 30.1 innings, giving up 18 hits. He did walk 11 while striking out 20. He started out the year in Los Angeles with the Dodgers, there he had no record but a 1.64 era in eight relief appearances. He was traded to Milwaukee on July 31st for Vinny Rottino.

The reason he didn't pitch that much in the begining is he was placed on the 60 day disabled list on April 6ththe with elbow tendenitis by the Dodgers.

In 2008 he pitched for the New York Mets. He went 3 and 2 with a 4.62 era in 11 games. The Mets had him start four of those games. He only had 37 innings for the year. He spent a good portion of the year in AAA-New Orleans. Where he went 5-2 with a 4.36 era in eight starts.

He has bounced around the majors since his debut in 2003 with the Montreal Expos. He pitched two year with Montreal going a combined 11-13 in 68 games, 34 starts. In 2005 he started out the year with Washington going 0-3 with a 9.24 era. In June he would be claimed on waivers by Arizona. He ended up going 9-6 with a 4.81 era in 21 games, 19 starts with the Diamondbacks.

The next year he went 12-10 with a 4.83 era in 31 games, 30 of them starts. He gave up 185 hits in 167.2 innings and 27 home runs. In November he was traded by the Diamondbacks to Milwaukee.

Claudio came up with the Marlins, he made his pro debut in 1996 as a 17 year old in the Dominican. In 1999 he would come to Kane County. He went 5-5 with a 3.88 era in 19 starts with one complete game. He walked 41 and struck out 88 as a 20 year old.

His complete games came on June 4th in Cedar Rapids. He would get the win, giving up two hits and one run. He walked two and struck out five.

After Kane County he went to Brevard County, Portland and Calgary in the Marlins system. He was sent to Montreal in July 11th, 2002 in a traded forCarl Pavano, and four others for Cliff Floyd and Wilton Guerrrero. With Montreal he played in Harrisburg and Edmonton. He would be named Eastern League (AA) pitcher of the week in 2003. He has also pitched for New Orleans twice 2005, 2008 and a rehab start in St. Lucie in 2008.

Vargas is 31 years old comming into the 2010 season and has a major league record of 47-40 with a 4.76 era in 200 appearances with 114 starts and on save.












Monday, December 14, 2009

Marcus McBeth signs with Oakland (03, 05)

Marcus McBeth signed with the Oakland Athletics, a minor league deal with an invite to spring training. This will be his second time with Oakland, as he came up with them.

Marcus spent last year in AAA Pawtucket in the Boston system. He went 2-3 with a 2.69 era in 44 games with 3 saves. He pitched 67 innings, and gave up only 43 hits, and 30 walks while striking out 66. Before that in 2008 he pitched in both Louisville and in Pawtucket. He combined to go 2-1 in 28 games. In Louisville he went 1-1 with a 6.20 era in 24.2 innings.

McBeth made his major league debut with the Cincinnati Reds on June 6th, 2007. He would get into 23 games with the Reds that season, going 3-2 with a 5.95 era. He also pitched in Louisville that season for the Reds AAA affiliate, going 1-1 with a 2.56 era in 30 games with 12 saves.

He was traded On April 27th of 2007 from Oakland to Cincinnati for Chris Denorfia. Before the trade McBeth was in Sacramento, AAA for the A's. He was 1-0 with a 1.80 era in 8 games with 5 saves.

In 2006 Marcus pitched in three diffrent stops for the A's. He went from A-Stockton to AA-Midland to AAA-Sacramento. His start of the year was great he gave up no runs in eight games in Stockton with seven saves. After that he would spend the majority of the year in Midland. In 44 games he went 3-2 with a 2.53 era with 24 saves. He really struggled in a six game stretch in Sacramento with a 11.05 era.

The amazing thing about McBeth is that he started out as a right fielder with a cannon of an arm. He was drafted by the A's in the 4th round of the 2001 draft out of the University of South Carolina. He would play his first games in 2002 and would combine to hit .227 in the Arizona rookie league and A-Visalia. The next year he came to Kane County as our right fielder. He would hit .256 in 68 games with 4 homers, 9 doubles and 3 triples. His season would end prematurly on July 26th as he tore some ligaments in his hand going after a ball in the outfield.

After that he would move up to A-Modesto in 2004 and hit .234 in 99 games. His arm was always really strong, so the A's made a pitcher out of him.On May 30th, 2005 he came back to the Cougars this time to work out of the bullpen and learn how to pitch.

He would go 1-2 with a 5.03 era in 16 games for the Cougars. His season was over a early that year as on July 29th he was placed on the disabled list with a right pinky contusion.

Marcus is 29 years old going into the 2010 season, his arm is pretty fresh as he has only thrown less than 300 innings. He will either be in the A's bullpen or more than likely will be in AAA-Sacramento as insurance.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Josh Wilson (00-01) signs with Seattle

Josh Wilson was re-signed by the Seattle Mariners as a utility man. He is going to be 29 going into the season and this will be his 4th major league year, and his sixth team. Last year he played for Arizona, San Diego and Seattle, he hit .219 in 72 games, 192 at bats. He did hit 3 homers and have 11 doubles. As a big leaguer he has hit .227 in 188 games.

He played for the Cougars in 2000 and 2001. In 2000 he came up on June 3rd. He would play with the Cougars for two weeks then get assigned elsewhere. Josh came back for the final two games of the regular season and the playoffs. In the playoffs he would go 2-12 with a homer.

Wilson spent the entire 2001 season with the Cougars. That would be the only championship the Cougars have ever gotten. In the playoffs he had a hit in each game, including three doubles and a homer in the final four. During the 2000 season he hit .269 for the Cougars in 13 games. In the 2001 season he hit .285 in 123 games.

After his time in Kane County he went up through the Florida Marlins system, and would make his major league debut in 2005. After that he went to Colorado, Washington, Tampa and Seattle .

Wilson was a third round pick by the Marlins in the 1999 draft out of Mount Lebanon High School in Pittsburgh.

Santiago Casilla (03-04) released by Oakland

Santiago Casilla was released by the Oakland A's. He was in their bullpen for six years, the last three as a mainstay. He appeared in 152 games in relief, with a 6-4, 5.11 era and 4 saves.

Santiago or as Cougar fans remember him by Jairo Garcia, pitched as a starter for the Cougars in 2003. In 14 games he started nine of them and had one complete game. The next year he came back and was the closer and was lights out. In 25 games he had 16 saves and a .30 era. He shot through the rest of the minors in the A's system and made his major league debut. Over the next two years he would be going back and forth between the A's and AAA Sacramento.

Casilla is a free agent, after the A's released him, eventhough some reports suggest they were going to non tender him anyways. He is going to be 30 this coming season, he was born in the Dominican Republic.

Ben Jukich (06) Taken in Rule 5 draft by St. Louis

Ben Jukich was taken in the rule 5 draft by the St. Louis Cardinals from the Cincinnati Reds. He was taken in the major league portion of the draft which means that he must be on the Cardinals major league roster all season in 2010 or be offered back to the Reds.

Jukich pitched for the Cougars in 2006, while he was still in the Oakland system. He went 3-2 with a 2.38 era in 13 games. Only four of those were starts as this was his first year in pro ball. He pitched 41.2 innings and gave up 41 hits, but got 40 strikeouts. He did walk 25 that year. He pitched two games in the playoffs and one won of them. He would have a 1.15 era in the playoffs that year for the Cougars. In the first game he pitched in the playoffs he went into the eighth inning while only giving up four hits and no runs. He ended up striking out eight and walking two. He threw 119 pitches. In the second game, this would be the championship round against West Michigan, he went eight innings in a no decison. He gave up three hits and two runs.

Ben came to the Cougars on July 6th and started that game at home against Dayton. He would win his next three games. He did move permanatly into the rotation untill his last couple of starts of the season.

From Kane County he went to Stockton for the 2007 season. He would get traded in June to the Cincinnati Reds to complete the deal in which the A's sent Marcus McBeth to the Reds for Chris Denorfia.. He got assigned to Sarasota and made 14 starts, going 8-2 with a 3.55 era.

In 2008 he pitched in both AA Chattanooga, 10-4, 3.82 and AAA Louisville 1-1, 4.37. In Chattanooga he would throw 139 innings, which would be the most in his career.

Last year he went 9-6 with a 4.10 era for Louisville. He was originally drafted by Oakland in the 13th round of the 2006 draft. He will be 27 years old this season, and was botn in Duluth, Minnesota.

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Ross Gload (98) Signs with Philadelphia

Ross Gload who played for the Cougars in 1998 signed today with the Philadelphia Phillies. This is Gload's sixth major league team, he is regarded as a good pitch hitter and excellent first baseman. Last year with Florida he hit .261 in 125 games. He only had 230 at bats in those games. He had six homers and ten doubles. The previous two years he spent in Kansas City. He hit .288 in 2007 and .273 in 2008 for the Royals. Before that he spent three season on the south side of Chicago. He originally came up with the Cubs in the 2000 season after a trade brought him to the north side. He spent 2002 in the big leagues with the Colorado Rockies. In eight big league seasons he is a .283 hitter in 608 games with 28 homers and 192 runs batted in.

Kane County fans will remember him as being the co- MVP of the 1998 team as our first baseman. He shared the award with A.J. Burnett. In 98 he played in 132 games and hit .313 with 12 homers and 92 rbi's. He would move to Brevard County the next year and hit .298 with 10 homers. In 2000 he started the season with the AA Portland Seadogs and finished it with the AAA Iowa Cubs. In all he would hit .309 with 30 homer in 128 games. In nine seasons in the minors he has hit .309 with 120 homers in 892 at bats.

As a first baseman at least at Kane County he was good with the glove. In 129 games at first he had a fielding percentage of .989 with 14 errors for the year.

Gload signed a two year contract with the Phillies to come off of their bench. He is 34 years old and was drafted in the 13th round of the 1997 draft by the Florida Marlins out of the Unviersity of South Florida. He is originally from the Bronx, New York, and went to East Hampton, New York High School

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Greg Zaun Signs with Milwaukee

Greg Zaun signed with the Milwaukee Brewers to be their back up catcher. The 38 year old major league vetern will be entering his 16th major league season. He was an original Kane County Cougar back in their first year in existance in 1991.

Zaun would spend the entire year here as the starting catcher before moving up the ladder year by year in the Baltimore Orioles system. He left the O's in 1996 after spending parts of four seasons with AAA Rochester.

He would get to play for a World Series as the back up to Charles Johnson on the 1997 Florida Marlins, before moving on to Texas, Kansas City, Houston, and Colorado.

He would be able to spend five years with the Toronto Blue Jays as their backup catcher from 2004-2008. In 2009 he played for both Tampa and Baltimore.

Greg started out the season as the starter, basically filling in untill super prospect Matt Wieters was ready to make it to the majors. After that he moved on to Tampa.

Zaun is a career .251 hitter with 86 homers and 432 runs batted in. He has played in 1204 games in the majors.

White Sox

The White Sox have upgraded their bench this offseason, they have signed Mark Kotsay, Omar Vizquel and Andrew Jones. That is a start for them on the bench. Yes, I believe it is an upgrade over last years bench, only in the fact that it has a lot more expierence pitch hitting wise. Kotsay can play corner outfield or first base. Vizquel who was a fantastic shortstop, they now wanthim to play a more utility role. Meaning he will have to play second and third also. We will see how he handles that at his advanced age.

Andrew Jones was once a great hitter, he was once an all star. Everything went south for him all of a sudden in one year in Atlanta. He is an upgrade in the outfield off the bench. Can he return to his former glory?

What the Sox need is an outfield, they set Jeremaine Dye free. Alexis Rios is really a distaster. I dont think he will make it as a starting outfielder. He doesnt seem to be able to hit, hit for power, or seem that interested sometimes.

Only 125 More Days Till Opening Day

Well I rode to work today, it was 25 degrees and the wind chill was 14. The wind was blowing hard out of the west. I made it with no problems. Work sucked but oh well. Thats a story for another day. Thankfully when I got off a 4pm, I ate, and then got offered a ride home.

Coming home I would've been going straight into the teeth of the wind the entire way home. Plus there was frost on the ground and I dont really want to deal with ice.

The training for next season is going well. i went this evening after watching my Hawks lose, over to the gym. Rode 20 miles and did weights. I have the next three days off work, so I probly will spend a lot of time sitting on my ass here in front of the computer working on the website, and over on my ass at the gym on the dam stationary bike. It is supposed to get into the 30's tomorrow and on Sunday. Then we get snow and mid 20's. I hate winter.

The Hawks were probly trying to do too much with the puck tonight, and not getting shots on net, and getting in the way of the goalie. He had clear vision of the shots and was great. Huet also let in two goals in the last five minutes to make it a 4-1 loss. There goes eight in a row at home. Tomorrow they play the deffending champs in Pittsburgh. I have to miss most of the game since I have a dinner to attend.

Cougar news. Greg Zaun, who was an original Cougar in 91 was signed by Milwaukee. He is 38 yrs old.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Only 144 More Days Till Opening Day

Today wasnt that bad for a Monday. I mean I worked 5 hours, and got a break for the first time in a while. I wish we were busier because I would like at least six hour days five days a week, but right now I will take what I can get.

Came home and found a few packages of schedules on my desk. I got somewhere in the neighborhood of 200 new schedules. I think I only have five or six doubles. Mostly from 04-08, which fills in a lot of gaps in my collection.

Watch, Dinner Drive Ins and Dives on the food network. it was another good show. One whole show about turkey, yuk.

Former Cougars Andrew Bailey got the American League Rookie of the Year award, so that is a great thing that happend today.

I went and worked out, I did 20 miles on the hated stationary bike. plus I did my full weight workout. Those first 10 I thought were the slowest I had ever done on that bike, that was untill I did the second ten. Yikes, 35 minutes to do 10 miles on a stationary.

Right now my legs are hurting, im tired. and I have to get up at six in the morning to be at work at 8. I have a six hour day tomorrow. Then its off to get my fall haircut, im only two months late on it but oh well, I think I kind of need it.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Only 145 More Days Till Opening Day

Well, lets see, Jimmie Johnson won the race today, and moved his point lead further ahead of Mark Martin. I would love to see Martin win a title, but I just dont think it will happen this year.

The Blackhawks beat the San Jose Sharks in overtime. Tonight was Jeremy Roenick heritage night at the Madhouse. It was cool to see him on the ice and drop the puck. The Hawks won which makes things even better. They now go on a six game road trip because of the circus coming to town.

I got the boxscore from July 22nd, 2009 vs Fort Wayne up online. I am way behind on my website work for the offseason due to a few things. Riding my bike, lazyness, and facebook. All in no particular order.

I did get my workout done, I rode 20 miles on the stationary. I still hate the stationary, but I need the work. Plus I lifted weights.

I am thinking about doing the Grand Illinois Trail sometime next year. It is a 600 miles ride from Chicago to Morris-LaSalle/Peru to Moline, Galena, Rockford and back to Navy Pier.

People try to do this ride all at once. I think I would drop dead if I tried that, no matter how much I worked out this offseason. I will do it, but at my pace. Im thinking 12 days, which should put me near 50 miles or so per day. The thing is I will not be doing it in consective days, as im not going to take off work to do this. I will do this on the weekends, and just mark down where I finished the last weekend and restart there. I hope to start this is Mid May.

The one part im really worried about are the hills from Savanah to Galena to Rockford. I rode some of those hills in the Northwest Century and barely survived, I really need to train hard this offseason.

So far this year ive put in 3,350.8 miles. that equals out to 337 hours and 45 minutes on the bike

So far this month im at 226.1 miles and somewhere near 20 hours on the bike

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Only 154 More Days TIll Opening Day

Well today is Friday, thankfully. The last day of my work week. I had a fun four hour shift, and we were pretty busy towards the end of the day.

I would've ridden the bike today except for 20+ mph winds. I come home and watch the Blackhawks lose. What is this they all of a sudden cant put the puck in the net. I mean I understand the captain is out and the other top center in Dave Bolland is out but come on. Anti Neimi played well today. It went into a shootout went like six rounds, but we should've beaten the Avalanche.

I also got some more schedules in the mail today. 2009 Bowie Baysox, Mobile Bay Bears, Hudson Valley Renegades, Williamsport Crosscutters, and Victoria Seals. So I believe all I need is 31 more to finish off the proffesional protion of the 2009 season. I am a long way away from getting any where near a quarter fo the college or college summer league teams.

I went and did my workout, 10 miles on the bike, and then weights

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Only 163 More Days Till Opening Day

Well today was a fun 4 and a half hour work day, it rained most of the afternoon so I didnt ride to and from work

I got a couple of new pocket schedules in the mail today, I only need 37 more 2009 schedules to have all of pro baseball.

I got Texas Rangers which made it so that I had all the major league ones. I also got the Calgary Vipers of the Golden League.

Day 3 of the offseason workout. I survived. 10 mile son the bike and weights. Im less then 100 miles from last years mileage total.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Only 164 More Days Till Opening Day

Well, today, was a full four hour day at work, having my hours cut this bad really sucks, but oh well at least I have a job to go to every day, so I am thankfully about that.

Came home and got a shitload of 2009 schedules in the mail via trades. I only need 43 more to complete the set of all of pro baseball.

Went and worked out, day two of the offseason training program

5 miles on the bike, then start with the weight machines on the arms, there are five exercises that im not exactly sure the names of that I do. Plus a weight with the legs on the same machine. Then off to do 20 situps. After that its free weights for the arms, again im not sure of the names of the exercises but there is two of them. Follow that up with a legs weight machine exercise up to 40 times. Then right now im up to 0.16 miles on the treadmill. Only because im not supposed to run because of my sciotica. Then its another 5 miles on the bike to close it off.

I do the same rutine everdays. The only changes is if I ride to work, then I dont have to get my riding part in and only have to do the weights. I hope to loose 15 pounds by April.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Only 166 More Days Till Opening Day

I know Ive been really bad at posting recently, well, I have no excuse except lazyness.

I finally also got some work done on the webiste

Boxscore
7/18/09 at West Michigan

Also Day 1 of offseason training again
10 miles on the stationary, and weights, im tired but fell good

Friday, October 9, 2009

Only 181 More Days Till Opening Day

Well it been a little while since i posted on here. Ive been kind of busy as my father got sick again, he is doing a lot better but still only as he says 50%.

I also began to collect pocket schedules a lot more, im trying to collect every baseball one out there, all teams and all diffrent kinds from each team. Pro, College, and college summer.

It has been raining here the last couple of days, hopefully I can ride on Saturday. My hope is to ride up to Rolling Meadows to get some schedules to trade

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Only 189 More Days Till Opening Day

Well another day another commute, 18.6 miles. When I started out it was in the high 40's on the way home it was in the 60's.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Only 191 More Days Till Opening Day2

Well the wind was howling again today so no bike commute. Good day at work though

Boxscore
7/8/09 vs Burlington
7/9/09 vs Burlington

Only 191 More Days Till Opening Day2

Well the wind was howling again today so no bike commute. Good day at work though

Boxscore
7/8/09 vs Burlington

Only 191 More Days Till Opening Day

No riding outside yesterday or today for me, not with 20+ mph winds. I hope to go and ride the stationary at the club tonight, for about 10 miles. Hopefully I should be able to ride tomorrow to work, as long as the forcast holds out.

Boxscore
7/7/09 at Clinton

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Only 193 More Days Till Opening Day

Well, i'm not going on the bike today, my knees feel like they need to be oiled, and my entire body extremely hurts. Im taking the day off, then starting tomorrow on my commute to work I will start training for my last event of the year, the Pumpkin Pie ride in Ottawa, IL next Sunday.

Boxscores
7/5/09 at Clinton
7/6/09 at Clinton

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Only 194 More Days Till Opening Day/Ride Like An Egyptian

I woke up at 6 am, to be on the bike in DeKalb by 8. I made it. It was the second time ive ridden in the benefit for the egyptian thearte in dekalb. I really enjoy this event. It is one of the only ones ive ridden that has just one rest stop. it is in Maple Park, at a park., nice central location.

Well the first 11 miles untill the rest stop was hard, i felt really sore, especially my right knee and the back of my left knee, i dont know why on the left one. the right one has been bothering me latley. I made it and was told that my back tire was going flat. i dont have a pump but found someone that thankfully did, and knew how to inflate a tire, since im mechanically challenged. well it worked the tire is still got air in it

the longest part of the ride was the second option on the list of three that we could ride from there, i took it because it had roads that i ride when i got on my century attempts to malta and back. i rode down to kaneville and then back to maple park. it was 27 miles, since somehow i took a wrong turn. since i take perry road and they wanted me to take keslinger. oh well i made it. i was huffing and puffing but i survived. by that time i had done 39.5 miles

i need to do the finishing part because my goal coming into today was 50 miles. the finishing part was very hard. we went down to keslinger and took that for almost 8 miles. the bridge over 88 on keslinger was not much fun it is a steep bridge. then there are two nice sized hills on keslinger. finally i turned onto illinois 23 and was on the shoulder and then it was pretty easy the rest of the way back to the thearte.

we stoped at portillos in batavia on the way home as my reward. i love the dogs there, and the fries arent that bad either.

i had three milestones hit today. i hit 300 hours on the bike for the year. 500 miles for the month and 3200 miles for the year

Friday, September 25, 2009

Only 195 More Days Till Opening Day

went to work, rode the 9.3 miles to work. had a couple of raindrops on me as i got there

day at work was ok, i guess, nothing special, my back was hurting a lot but thats always

didnt get a chance to ride home because of the rain, so i caught a ride

have the Ride like a egyptian event tomorrow in DeKalb

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Only 196 More Days Till Opening Day

Well i missed a few days, but oh well, nothing much changes in my life, work still sucks, and im still broke

Today i went to work, and ended up commuting 18.6 miles, im less than a mile away from 450 miles for the month.

New boxscore
7/3/09 vs Peoria, Aramis Ramirez and Reed Johnson rehab vs Cougars

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Only 198 More Days Till Opening Day

Well I had to go into work early today, 10 am instead of 11:30 which i needed because of how little ive worked the past couple of weeks. I was slow at work

I commuted via the bike to and from. I thought it was going to rain so i brought along some rain gear and i didnt even get a sprinkle. i guess that is a good thing. 18.6 miles, so im over 400 miles for the month

now its time to work on the website, and play mafia wars at the same time again

Monday, September 21, 2009

Only 199 More Days Till Opening Day

Well, I wake up and its too fogy and wet out still to be outside and ride, so I guess I get to work on the website most of the day, this should be fun.

First boxscore of the day is finished

7/1 vs Peoria

also finished
7/2 vs Peoria

went for a training ride around noon, went 29.7 miles, which means ive done over 3,100 miles for the year, and i need eight more hours for 300 for the year on the bike.

Today I went down Warrenville-Ferry-Bilter rds to Church rd, south to Konem then onto Mitchell rd. Mitchell, i have never gone north on before from this point so it was something new. Its busier than i thought it would be but no problem. Made it to the corner of Butterfield (56) and Mitchell/Hart rds. I had to stop at the 7-11 for a slurpee break, i havent had one of those in ages and i just needed something. I also had to have a couple of chocolate bars to hold me over

after all that and some water i made my way north on hart to Pine st.that is one long hill. after that went through Fermi lab, which wasnt much of a problem, the legs were feeling great.

Out the other end of Fermi onto Batavia road and southeast towards home. Went down Batavia till i hit River road in Warrenville. took that to Ferry-Warrenville then home.

went and did my weight work tonight, i hate doing weight work, but i understand itll help me when riding. 20 sit ups and a lot of wieghts

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Only 200 More Days Till Opening Day

Dam, my legs are killing me this morning from yesterdays ride. I didnt get to do anything when i got home from the ride around 5, I just checked email and went to bed and woke up this morning. That ride to a hell of a lot out of me. Somehow im going to do around 10 miles today just to keep the legs going.

well i did a 12.7 mile recovery ride, the first part of going west wasnt too bad, my legs actually felt pretty good. I went down Warrenville to Batavia rd then to River rd to Ferry and to the Prairie path brige just past rt 59. turn around and realize that the way back is into the wind. I made it back going Ferry to Warrenville and home. my legs feel like they are about to fall off right now, but i still got to go workout at the gym tonight. I really need to get stronger and in better shape to do the bike riding that i want to do.

the boxscore from 6/30 vs Peoria is finished, the Cubs had Angel Guzman make a rehab start for the Chiefs that day

Also fixed the Cougars homerun page, I was missing a homer, found it 5/3 Matt Ray off of Trevor Harden of South Bend. Also fixed the boxscore for that days game as i had left it off of there somehow

Alumni Pages are being updated and fixed
Miguel Abreu, Jesse Acosta, Mike Affronti, Earl Agnoly, Chris Aguila, Phil Akens, Aaron Akin, Jason Alaimo, Antonio Alfonseca, Hector Almonte, Chip Ambres

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Only 201 More Days Till Opening Day

Wow, what a day. It started at 3:30 this morning on four hours of sleep. I had to leave home by 4:30 to get to the Northwest Century bike ride in Freeport, IL by 6:45. I made it without any problem. The thing that i did not expect is the hills, granted i have never riden out that way before, and have know known that i have never truely seen hills. I had to walk up at least a dozen of them, I hurt badly. I had previously said i was going to ride the 32 miles from Freeport to Warren, and guess what i did it. It took almost five hours to do it but i accomplished it. I also set a new speed record for myself with 31.3 mph.

now its time to recoup, and the Blackhawks first preseason game starts in an hour so i got to watch my Hawks

Friday, September 18, 2009

Only 202 More Days Till Opening Day

Well today i didnt have to work so i decided to do some work anyway. I rode from Lisle to Rosemont. I took the Prairie Path east to Manheim. Then took Manheim north to Rosemont. Dam do I hate taking this route, Manheim isnt much fun on the sidewalks, having to grip the brakes so much my hands are hurting bad right now. I made it up there, going straight past O'Hare, it was fun having huge planes fly directly overhead. Then made it to the Allstate Area (Rosemont Horizon) and picked up a box of 2009-2010 Chicago Wolves pocket schedule. Headed back towards home, had to stop at the McDonalds near the Horizon, I was starving.

The trip was 53.8 miles and almost 6 hours of riding, 7 and a half hours total

now its time to relax and work on the website for a few hours, not going to get much work done

I get to eat spagetti and ravioli mixed tonight as i have the Northwest century ride tomorrow morning up in Freeport, IL, it starts at 7am, which means we have to leave the house at 4:30 to get there in time, this should be a fun start to the day

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Only 203 More Days Till Opening Day!

Well I had a fun day, I was supposed to have the day off, but yesterday got told to go in 11-3. Well the store manager didnt know this so I got yelled at. Then it was so slow that i went home at 2 instead. This is so much fun having so much time off, but the money sucks. I dont know how im going to make ends meet at this rate.

Well i commuted on bike to and from work 18.5 miles.

Home and relaxing playing mafia wars on facebook. Listening to the mp3 player

now its time to actually try to get some website work done since i have the next four days off, two of them are my regular weekends off, then Friday and Monday im also off.

The boxscore for 6/28/09 G1 and G2 at Quad City is now online

All 2009 Cougar player pages have their 2009 stats on them

next up is the alumni

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Only 204 More Days Till Opening Day

Well I got up late, and rode 12.7 miles. Im off work today. I rode west on Warrenville to Naperville rd north. Then into Wheaton and too the Prairie Path. Rode the Aurora branch south till i hit the bridge over Warrenville rode. My brakes basiclaly gave out on me, so i had to call and get a ride home. Ill clean them up real good tonight and see how it is in the morning on my commute to work

home and resting then time to work on boxscores and stats

Finally got the boxscore for 6/26 at Quad City done

had to do maintaince on the bike tonight

2009 pitcher pages updates
Anvioris Ramirez, Jason Ray, Jamie Richmond, Josue Selenis, Kenny Smalley

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Only 205 More Days Till Opening Day

Well finally i went to work today, it was only a four hour day but at least i got to work. I rode the bike and went a total of 18.9 miles today. I had only one problem Warrenville/Yackley roads on the way home i almost get killed trying to cross ever night but oh well

home and rest and work on boxscores

new boxscore on is 6/25/09 at Quad City

pitchers stats online now for
Matheiu Leblanc-Poirier, Chad Lee, Mitch LeVier, Justin Murray, Dusty Napoleon

Monday, September 14, 2009

206 More Days Till Opening Day

I started the boxscore for the game on June 25th in Quad City and got about half way through when i looked outside and it was an awesome day, so i had to jump on the bike and go. So i rode 30 miles. I rode over to work and checked my hours for next week. They are really cutting hours, i have one day next week for all of 4 and a half hours. this is going to hurt big time, but oh well at least i have a job, unlike so many other people.

I rode down 59th street to Clarendon Hill rd, and around Hinsbrook. Then west on 75th street towards Woodridge drive and north on there. Under the 355 bridge and then just like my normal way home from work. I will be doing that tomorrow, as I work tomorrow thankfully then I have six days before i work again, oh well i hope to get a lot of riding and a lot of writing done

time to work on the boxscore and figuere out what to eat for dinner. and recover fromt he ride. i think i need my knees oiled or something they hurt

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Only 207 More Days Till Opening Day

Well today I got up early and went for a bike ride, just like I wanted to do yesterday but didn't get up early enough.

I rode Warrenville-Ferry-Bilter to Church rd. Schmoner to Sullivan and then across the Fox River. Took Sullivan all the way to Deerpath road. Then all the way to Nelson Lake road to Main St. Took that into Batavia and visited Barb, plus got some more water. After that I took a wrong turn, I did not want to go the Fox River Trail but for some reason ended up on there, and took that to the Praire Path, Batavia spur over Kirk rd and all the way.

Took it untill it was near Eola rd, where the construction of the ramps to I 88 are being built. It goes north from there to Bilter rd then across Eola and south on the path on Eola. Goes right back to the path and then merges back to the Aurora branch. Took that branch to Ferry rd. Then it was Ferry-Warrenville rd and home. man im tired this is the longest ride I have had in a long time. 40.1 miles in 4 hours and 2 minutes. That give me 2895 for the year and 6302 since last May.

Ok time to work on the website,

2009 Midwest League All Star game is online 6/23/09

now time to eat pizza and watch the Bears beat the Packers

Pitchers stats are done for the following 2009 Cougars
Ben Hornbeck, Brett Hunter, A.J. Huttenlocker

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Only 208 More Days Till Opening Day!!!

Another day, more work on the website. Its Saturday so I dont have to go to one job, thankfully. Unfortunatly I don't feel that well, so I can't go out and ride the bike today, I should be able to go and do an hour or so in the gym late tonight hopefully, and ride tomorrow

New boxscore 6/20 vs Wisconsin G2
6/21 vs Wisconsin
that closes out the first half of the season boxscore wise, 70 games in the book

All of the 2009 stats are done for the hitters for the Cougars players,

Carlos Arrieche, Jeremy Barfield, Chris Berroa, Jason Christian, Dusty Coleman, Connor Crumbliss, Grant Desme, Leonardo Gil, Franklin Hernandez, Steve Kleen, Tyler Ladendorf, Mitch Levier, Nino Leyja, Dusty Napoleon, Juan Nunez, Petey Paramore, Steve Parker, Matt Ray, Michael Spina, and David Thomas

starting pitchers stats for 2009 Cougar players

Trey Barham, Anthony Capra, Scott Deal, Leonardo Espinal, Pedro Figueroa, Jose Guzman, Matt Fitts, Mike Hart, Shawn Haviland, Ben Hornbeck

Only 209 More Days

Till opening day 2010. I can't wait, it has been one day and i offically already hate the offseason. I posted one new boxscore on the website 6/20 vs Wisconsin g1, plus the hitters pages are up dated through Nunez, for hitting and fielding stats.

I rode 18.5 miles to and from work today, the ride took longer then it usually does i guess my legs were just tired today.

Friday, September 11, 2009

9/10, R1G2 Burlington 4, Cougars 0

Well the season is over, the Cougars just didn't have what it takes to win a game in the playoffs. So now we have 210 more days till baseball returns to Kane County.

The Cougars would lose 4-0 to the Burlington Bees in the second game of the first round. The Cougars have not won a game in the playoffs since September 12th of 2006 at home against the West Michigan Whitecaps in the first game of the championship series. The Cougars are 0-7 since that game in the playoffs.

The pitching wasn't that bad today it is what kept the Cougars in the game tonight. Murphy Smith pitched well, he went six and two thirds innings, giving up six hits and two unearned runs. His main problem was hit deffense, which had four errors in the game. Compare that with the Cougars only having three hits, and you don't win many games.

The first two runs in the game came in the second inning for Burlington. Jason Taylor walked. Shawn Griffin then singled to third. Smith was then able to get Jose Bonilla to ground into a double play, Taylor went to third. Ryan Wood then reached on a throwing error by shortstop Tyler Ladendorf threw the ball low to first. Steve Parker should've been able to snare the ball but wasn't able to. On the play Taylor scored and Wood went to second. Fernando Garcia then blooped a single to left to score Wood.

The thrid run was in the eighth. Adrian Ortiz singled to left to lead things off. David Wood then singeld to left. Taylor singled up the middle to load the bases with nobody out. Cougar reliever Trey Barham then struck out Griffin. Steve Scarsone then made a pitching change to bring in Jose Guzman. Bonilla grounded one to third. Mike Spina bobbled it for an error. Oritz would score on the play. Ryan Wood grounded one more to third, and Spina threw home to get David Wood out.

In the ninth with one out, Patrick Norris singled off the glove of Parker, then stole second. Ortiz singled to right center to score Norris. Ortiz would be caught stealing. David Wood and Taylor both singled to short, the second one went off of Ladendorf's glove. Griffin then flew to right to end the inning.

The Cougars did have to get out of some innings. In the third inning two one out hits, would be erased by a double play. In the sixth inning with one out, and error and a single to no mans land between the left and center fielder's. Smith would then be able to get a pop out and a fielder's choice.

The Cougars had some chances, but just really were out played by the Bees. In the third inning they would load the bases with two outs. Dusty Napoleon walked. Connor Crumbless singled and Leonardo Gil walked. Steve Parker then flew out to center to strand the runners. In each of the next three innings they would get a runner on and strand him.


Paul Smyth pitched the ninth and gave up the first run in his career.



Next Year, 4/8/10 at Wisconsin is only 210 more days away.



Thank you all for reading my stories throughout the year, and I wish you all a good offseason. I will have articles with Cougar history on scout.com sometimes throughout the offseason. The website will have all stats updated hopefully before the first snowfall. Plus all of the boxscores for this year hopefully will be online by Thankgiving. After that I will be putting together a complete record book.

I would especially like to thank the following people in no particular order.
Pam Rasmussen, Bob Yahr, Dale and LuAnn Klein, Jeff Hem, Kathy and Terry Baumann, Tom Stuart, Dan McQuade, Melissa Lockard, If I have forgotten anyone Im sorry, thank you

Thursday, September 10, 2009

9/9, R1G1 Cougars 7, Burlington 12

The Cougars did not have the start to the playoffs that the envisioned when they left town yesterday morning. No instead it turned into an early nightmare, the were down 6-0 after two innings against the deffending champions the Burlington Bees.

Well the Cougars would come back and make it a respectible game out of it they only lost 12-7. A big five run seventh for them really helped inch them closer. Kenny Smalley had his worst outing of the year at the worst time of the year.

Kenny Smalley lasted only an inning and one third. He would give up seven hits and six runs. Not much went right for him, he would give up two homers and two doubles.

The first inning started with Patrick Norris getting a single to third. I thought that it should've been an error on Mike Spina. The throw was late, because he didn't put that much on it. Two outs later, Jason Taylor homer to left. The nightmare really got bad in the second inning when the Bees would score four runs. Jose Bonilla led it off with a homer to left. Jason Morales then singled to left. Ryan Wood doubled to left center to bring home Morales. Norris then singled to right to bring home Morales. Adrian Ortiz then doubled down the left field line to bring home Wood. The Cougars then mercifully made a pitching change, Josue Selenis would come in. He gave up a ground out to first which would score Norris from third.

The Cougars would score two runs in the fourth, all due to an error on the right fielder. Connor Crumbliss led off with a single to right. One out later, Steve Parker singled to right. One more out later, Jeremy Barfield flew one to right, the right fielder just plain old droped the ball. Crumbliss and Parker would score on the error.

Burlington answered those two runs by the Cougars in the top of the inning with three more of their own in the bottom half. With two outs and Selenis still on the mound, Oritz singled to center, then stole second. David Wood, struck out, but a wild pitch would allow him to get to first, and also allow Ortiz to get to third. Jason Taylor then made the Cougars pay for not getting out of the inning with a double to center to score both Ortiz and Wood. Shawn Griffin then singled off the right field wall to drive in Taylor.

More insurance runs for the Bees in the fifth and sixth when they would score one run each. In the fifth, Morales led off with a single to third. A bad throw by Spina would allow him to get all the way to third on the error. One out later, Yeldrys Molina walked. Norris would then hit a sacrifice fly to right to score Morales.

In the sixth inning a leadoff walk to Taylor helped them get another run. Two outs later, Morales singled to center to score Taylor. The final run came in the eighth inning for the Bees. Taylor led it off with a single to right. One out later, Bonilla reached on a fielder's choice, the ball was hit back to A.J. Huttenlocker who threw to second, and the Cougars tried for the doubleplay, but Bonilla beat the throw. Morales was then hit by a pitch and Ryan Wood walked to load the bases with two outs. Molina would single to right to score Bonilla, Barfield made a great throw to get Morales at the plate to end the inning.

The Cougars did score five runs in the seventh inning. Petey Paramore led it off with a single to right. Tyler Ladendorf then doubled down the left field line. Franklin Hernandez then doubled down the right field line to score both Paramore and Ladendorf. He would get to third on a passes ball. Dusty Napoleon would pitch hit for Nino Leyja and walk. One out later, Leonardo Gil tripled to center to score Ladendorf, Hernandez and Leyja. The Bees then made a pitching change, one out later, Spina singled down the left field line to score Hernandez.

The Cougars did have some more chances throughout the game to score some runs. In the second inning, Spina ledoff with a walk, a strikeout and a double play later the inning was over. In the sixth inning withone out, Gil singled down the right field line and Parker would be hit by a pitch. The Cougars would not advance then anymore than that for the inning. In the eighth inning Paramore walked. Ladendorf then singled up the middle. Hernandez hit into a double play.

In the ninth inning the Cougars would have the bases loaded and one out and score nobody. With one out, Gil walked. Parker then singled to center and Spina walked. Barfield hit into a game ending double play.

Tomorrow vs Burlington @6:30
Tim Melville (6-7, 4.00), vs Murphy Smith (1-2, 4.94)

Tomorrow's game is a win or go home game, if they don't win it will be a long 210 days till next April

Monday, September 7, 2009

9/7, Quad City 2, Cougars 4

The Cougars won their final game of the regular season 4-2 against the Quad City River Bandits. This ment the Cougars were 35-35 in the second half.

The Cougars would score first in the second inning with two runs. Mike Spina led off with a single to right. Jeremy Barfield then singled to right. Petey Paramore would walk to load the bases. Tyler Ladendorf would single to right to single Spina. Franklin Hernandez singled to right to score Barfield. Bandits pitcher Shelby Miller then got Nino Leyja to strike out. He then got Connor Crumbliss to hit into an inning ending double play. Miller was the Cardinals first round pick this past June.

The Bandits answered right back in the third inning with a run of their own with two outs. D'Marcus Ingram walked. Jason Stidham then singled to left center. Jermaine Curtis would double down the left field line to score Ingram. The Cougars then made a pitching change. Spot starter Scott Deal came out and Jose Guzman came in, he would strike out Xavier Scruggs to end the inning.

Deal lasted two and two thirds plus two hitters, giving up two hits and one run. Jose Guzman pitched very well, he went three and one thirds, giving up one hit and one walk. A.J. Huttenlocker and Justin Murray would pitch the last two innings.

Murray pitched the eighth inning in which the Bandits would be able to tie the game at two. With two outs, Scruggs launched one to left for a solo homer. Rich Racobaldo and Jack Cawley then both walked. Murray would be able to get Ryde Rodriguez to ground one right back to him to end the inning.

In the bottom of the eighth the Cougars would score two runs, basically because of one error. Spina led off with a walk. Barfield would then single to left. Paramore bunted then over. The Bandits would then intentionally walk Ladendorf to load the bases. Hernandez hit one to second. The second baseman tried to get the force out at second and the ball went into left field. Spina and Barfield would come around to score. Ladendorf would be out at the plate.


Wednesday at Burlington @ 6:30
Kenny Smalley (9-8, 2.73) vs Ivor Hodgson (3-1, 4.08)


Paul Smyth interview

Paul Smyth interview http://athletics.scout.com/a.z?s=304&p=2&c=896184&ssf=1&RequestedURL=http%3a%2f%2fathletics.scout.com%2f2%2f896184.html

Sunday, September 6, 2009

9/6, Quad City 1, Cougars 4

The Cougars would bring home a win in game two of the series against the Quad City Rivers Bandits 4-1 in the next to the last game of the regular season.

Matheiu Leblanc-Poirier pitched well in six innings of work, he gave up five hits and one run. He walked three and struck out four. He also threw to wild pitches. Trey Barham would come in an pitch the last three innings for the save, giving up only two hits.

The Cougars got on the board first in the second inning with two runs. Tyler Ladendorf led off with a single to left. Franklin Hernandez then tripled down the right field line to bring home Ladendorf. Dusty Napoleon would walk, and get to second on a wild pitch. One out later, Connor Crumbliss walked to load the bases. Leonardo Gil would then hit into a fielder's choice. On the play Crumbliss would be out at second, the reason it was a fielder's choice and not a double play is that Gil beat the relay throw. Also on the play Hernandez would score.

The Bandits answered in the next half inning with a run of their own. With one out, D'Marcus Ingram walked then stole second. Jason Stidham then doubled to right center. Crumbliss had trouble picking up the ball, allowing Ingram to score.

Kane County would score on more run of their own int he fourth inning. Hernadnez led off with a single to left, he then stole second and went to third on a wild pitch. One out later, Juan Nunez grounded one to third. The third baseman and the shortstop could'nt decide who should take it so the third baseman got the error and Hernandez came in to score.

The last run of the game for the Cougars came in the seventh inning. Nunez led off with a single to right. He would then steal second and get to third on a throwing error by the catcher. One out later, Gil would reach on a droped third strike, wild pitch. On the wild pitch Nunez would score.

The Cougars had one more good chance to score in the game, in the first inning. With one out, Gil nubbed one in front of the plate for a single. Steve Parker then reached on an error by the first baseman. On the play the ball went under his glove, Gil would make it to thrid. First and third with one out, Bandit start Jorge Rondon would then strike out Mike Spina looking, and get Jeremy Barfield swingin to get out of trouble.

Leblanc-Poirier also had some trouble in the game to get out of. In the second inning with one out, Rich Racobaldo walked, he would get to second on a wild pitch. Robert Stack then singled to right. On the play Racobaldo tried to score and would be gunned out by Barfield in right. In the sixth inning, Jermaine Curtis hit one that bounced against the wall in left center. It was originally ruled a homerun, but would be later changed to a double. Xavier Scruggs then singled to left. Racobaldo would ground one to third, the Cougars would get Curtis in a run down and tag him out for the first out. Stack then popped out and Ryde Rodriguez ground into a force out.


Tomorrow vs Quad City @1pm
Shelby Miller (0-0, 0.00) vs Scott Deal (1-3, 3.57)

Miller is the St. Louis Cardinals first round pick from this year.

Saturday, September 5, 2009

9/5, Quad City 7, Cougars 3

The Cougars would give up seven runs and eleven hits to the Quad City River Bandits in their loss tonight 7-3. Shawn Haviland had one of his worst outings of the year, he went into the fifth inning, giving up ten hits and seven runs. The bright spot was the bullpen. Joseu Selenis and A.J. Huttenlocker pitched scoreless ball the rest of the way.

Kane County would score the first run of the game, in the first inning. With two outs, Steve Parker singled to center. Mike Spina followed with a single to center. Jeremy Barfield then singled to center to score Parker. That would be the last run for the Cougars untill the sixth.

Meanwhile the Bandits would score all seven of their runs in that time period. In the second inning the Bandits got ahead for good with two runs. Jack Cawley led off with a single to right. Ryde Rodriguez then singled to left. Domnit Bolivar would but the runners over. Jarrod Bogany then singled to center to score Cawley. D'Marcus Ingram singled to left center to score Rodriguez. Bogany and Ingram would steal second and third. One out later, Jermaine Curtis walked to load the bases. Haviland would be able to get Xavier Scruggs to ground out to get out of the inning.

In the third Rich Racobalo hit a leadoff bomb off the screen in fron t of the non working scoreboard. I was hoping by hitting the scoreboard it would magically come to life, but oh well.

The really ugly inning came in the fifth when the Bandits scored four runs and batted around. Curtis lead it off with a double down the right field line. He would get to third on a wild pitch one out later. Racobaldo then walked. One out later, Rodriguez singled to short to score Curtis. Bolivar followed with a double to left to score both Racobaldo and Rodriguez, he would get to third on the throw home. The Cougars then brought in Josue Selenis and he would give up a bloop single to center to Bogany to score Bolivar. Ingram would then walk. First and second with two outs, Selenis then got Jason Stidham to pop up to center to get out of the inning.

The rest of the way Selenis and Huttenlocker would be perfect. Selenis with two more innings, with one strike out. Huttenlocker with two innings with two strike outs.

The offense wasn't that bad tonight, as they had some chances early. Franklin Hernandez walked with one out in the second, then would be caught trying to steal second. In the fourth inning, Mike Spina walked to lead things off. Barfield and Petey Paramore both flew out. Tyler Ladendorf would hit into a fielder's choice. In the fifth inning, Connor Crumbliss singled with two outs but would be stranded.

In the sixth inning the Cougars would score another run. With one out, Spina and Barfield walked. One out later, Ladendorf singled to left. It should've just loaded the bases, but the leftfielder Bogany basically threw the ball into the ground trying to get the ball in, so Spina would be able to come around and score.

The other run the Cougars scored came in the eighth inning, and it basically was a gift. With one out, Spina reached with an error by the shortstop. Three wild pitches later he would score. After the wildness with not two outs, Paramore singled to left. Ladendorf then blooped one to center for a single. Hernandez would line out to center to end the inning.

The Cougars had a chance to win the game in the bottom of the ninth. With one out, Crumbliss walked. Gil and Parker would both be hit by pitches to load the bases with only the one out. After the second hit by pitch the Bandits brought in their closer Dave Carpenter. He would strike out Spina on eight pitches,after he had foulded off three straight pitches. One the first pitch thrown Chris Berroa would then ground into a force out at second to end the game.


Tomorrow vs Quad City @6pm
Jorge Rondon (1-4, 4.44) vs Mathieu Leblanc-Poirier (4-7, 4.38)


Tonight was the last of the traveling entertainment for the year. We had Birdzerk, hit act has actually changed a little this year. The best part was he stole the glove of the first baseman Scruggs. Usually its the third baseman. Scruggs seemed to be having a great time dancing and played the fact that his glove was takin pretty well. Then Birdzerk as always throws the glove over the outfield fense.

Friday, September 4, 2009

9/4, Cougars 6, Peoria 3

The Cougars would win their final road game of the regular season, meaning that they were 35-35 on the road this season. Tonight they beat the Peoria Chiefs 6-3.

The offense came through tonigh with six runs and twelve hits. Two runs in the first and three in the sixth really helped. Jeremy Barfield and Tyler Ladendorf had three hits apiece. Connor Crumbliss, Nino Leyja all had two hits.

In the first inning with one out, Nino Leyja hit a double off of the left field wall, then stole second. Steve Parker would walk. Franklin Hernandez then reached on a fielder's choice, Parker would be out at second and Leyja scored. Jeremy Barfield then doubled down the right field line, Hernandez would make it to third. Petey Paramore walked to load the bases. Tyler Ladendorf would single to third to score Hernandez.

Cougar starter Anvioris Ramirez would give back the two runs in the second inning. Michael Brenly led off with a double to left. One out later, Jose Valdez doubled to center to score Brenly. Valdez would steal third and come home on a David Macias sacrifice fly.

Ramirez pitched five innings, giving up six hits and three runs. He would pick up his fifth win of the season. The other run he would give up came in the fifth inning. Macias led off with a double to left. Ryan Flaherty then singled to center to score Macias.

That would be the end of the offense for Peoria, as Scott Deal and Paul Smyth both pitched two scoreless innings each. Smyth still has not givin up a run as a professional.

The Cougars would not be done scoring in the game. In the sixth inning they got three more runs. Steve Parker, Franklin Hernandez and Jeremy Barfield all singled to right to load the bases. Petey Paramore would hit into a double play, Parker would score and Barfield would be out at second. The Chiefs then brought in a new pitcher, and Tyler Ladendorf greated him with a two run homer.

The final run for the Cougars came in the ninth inning, with one out Crumbliss doubled to right. Leyja then singled to left. Parker would hit a sacrifice fly to score Crumbliss.


Tomorrow vs Quad City @6pm
Kevin Thomas (6-7, 4.21) vs Shawn Haviland (6-10, 4.43)

9/3, Cougars 8, Peoria 4

The Cougars played a good game tonight against the Peoria Chiefs, they would win 8-4. It was actually a lot closer than the score looks, because of a hectic ninth inning.

Kane County was up 8-3 going into the ninth, Jose Guzman was on the mound starting his second inning of relief. Michael Brenly led off with a single down the left field line, then would get to second on a wild pitch. One out later, David Macias walked. Brett Jackson then grounded one to second, the Chiefs would get the force out on Macias at second. First and third with two outs. Ryan Flaherty then singles to right center to drive home Brenly. With that run and runners on frist and third with two outs. The tying run would be on the on deck circle, so it was a save situation. The Cougars brought in Justi Murray to close out the game. Flaherty would take second on deffensive indiffrence. Murray then walked Rebel Ridling loading the bases. Kyler Burke came up as the tying run. Burke hit one to the warning track in left, that Franklin Hernandez was able to track down to end the game.

The game started out well enough for the Cougars as they would pick up the first run of the game in the first inning. Connor Crumbliss led off with a single to left. One out later, Steve Parker doubled to right center to bring home Crumbliss. Peoria would tie the game in the second with a run of their own off of Cougar starter Murphy Smith.

Burke would lead off with a walk. D.J. LeMahieu then singled up the middle. One out later, Michael Brenly just beat out a grounder to short, to score Burke.

The next half inning the Cougars would score two more runs. Carlos Arrieche hit his first homerun on American soil, as he lead off the third. Crumbliss then singled to left, then would steal second. Leonardo Gil followed with a single to left. The leftfielder misplayed the ball, and on the error Crumbliss would score and Gil would get to second. Gil then tried to steal third and would be out. The next hitter, Parker then doubled down the left field line. It would've scored Gil easily.

One more run for the Cougars in the fifth inning, with one out, Gil would be hit by a pitch. Parker then singled to right. Hernandez then grounded one to second. The second baseman bobbled the ball, and somehow Parker would be called safe at second. On the play Gil would score and Hernandez would get a fielder's choice. The Chiefs would bring in a new hurler. Jeremy Barfield walked to load the bases. Petey Paramore would hit into the inning ending double play.

Peoria did score one more run in the sixth inning. Ridling lead it off with a single to right. Burke would walk, and LeMahieu then singled to right to load the bases. The Cougars would then bring in Trey Barham to replace Smith. Barham got Nelson Perez to ground one to Parker at first who threw home to get Ridling at the plate for the first out. Brenly then hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Burke. Junior Lake then hit into a force out at second to end the inning. Barham did a nice job to get out of the inning with only one run scoring, after he came in with the bases loaded and nobody out.

Four runs in the seventh for the Cougars, you would think that would put the icing on the cake for this game. Crumbliss lead off with a walk. One out later, Parker would be hit by a pitch. One more out later, Barfield singled to center to score Crumbliss. Paramore then singled to left to score Parker. The Chiefs would then bring in a new pitcher to face Tyler Ladendorf. Ladendorf then doubled down then right field line to score both Barfield and Paramore.

Rebel Ridling launched a shot to lead off the eighth for the Chiefs. The one other inning when the Chiefs had a chance to score some runs came in the fifth inning off of Smith. Perez led off with a bunt single to third. Brenly would then be hit by a pitch. Lake then hit into a fielder's choice, with Brenly out at second. Macias walked, this loaded the bases with only one out. Smith would then get Brett Jackson and Ryan Flaherty both looking on strikes to strand the runners.

Smith went into the sixth, giving up four hits and two runs. He walked three and struck out four. Trey Barham pitched two perfect innings. Connor Crumbliss got on base four out of the five times he came to the plate Steve Parker reached base all five plate appearances, on his birthday. He had two doubles and a single, driving in a run and scoring a run.

The Cougars did have a couple of other chances to score some runs. In the eighth inning with one out, Crumbliss doubled down the right field line. One out later, Parker walked. Hernadnez would ground out to end the inning. In the ninth Paramore walked with one out, but would be stranded at third.

Tomorrow at Peoria @ 6:30
Anvioris Ramirez (4-2, 3.06) vs Austin Bibens-Dirkx (7-1, 1.66)


Mike Spina did not play because of flu like symptoms.Daniel Thomas was sent home, after going on the disabled list yesterday.


The 2010 schedule is posted up on the website, http://malamut.net/schedule10.html We open April 8th in all placed, Appleton, Wisconsin. Do I hear three straight snow outs?

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

9/2, Cougars 2, Peoria 3

The Cougars had their chances to win tonights game, but just couldn't get that one hit when needed. They would lose to the Peoria Chiefs 3-2.

Kenny Smalley started and pitched ok, He went five innings giving up four hits and only one run. That one run was lucky, because he walked three and hit two. He had runners on base throughout his outing, the Chiefs would strand nine in the game.

The Chiefs scored first in the third inning. With one out, Smalley hit Brett Jackson. Ryan Flaherty then walked, and Smalley then loaded the bases by hitting Rebel Ridling. Kyler Burke would hit a sacrifice fly to center to bring home Jackson. D.J. LeMahieu would fly to center to end the inning.

That would be the only run against Smalley, but chances did come against him. In the second inning Burke led off with a single to right center. LeMahieu then grounded one to first. Steve Parker stepped on the bag and threw to second for the double play. Nelson Perez followed with a single to left. Mario Mercedes then doubled down the right field line to get Perez to third. Junior Lake would ground out to end the inning.

In the fourth inning, Perez led off with a double down the left field line. Two outs later, and with Perez at third, Jose Valdez walked. Valdez would be picked off of first, by Smalley on the fake to third throw to first trick.

The Cougars first run came in the fourth inning. Connor Crumbliss led off with a single to right, he would get to second on a balk. One out later, Parker singled to right center to score Crumbliss.

Peoria added two more runs in the later part of the game. In the sixth off of A.J. Huttenlocker, LeMahieu led off with a double down the right field line. Two outs later, Lake grounded one to third. The ump says that Lake beat the throw, I don't know. It was scored a hit, LeMahieu would score on the play.

The other run the Chiefs got came in the seventh inning when Jackson led off by launching one into the night towards right field.

In the ninth inning, down two runs the Cougars would have a chance. Parker led off with a single to left. Mike Spina then walked. Franklin Hernandez took a tough pitch and put down a good sacrifice bunt to move the runners along. Jeremy Barfield then hit a sacrifice fly to right to score Parker. Spina also tagged and just made it into third before the throw. Petey Paramore would come up with the tying run on third and two outs. He would fly to center to end the game.


Tomorrow at Peoria @6:30
Murphy Smith (1-2, 4.94) vs Justin Bristow (5-7, 4.31)

The Cougars made a roster move today as Daniel Thomas was placed on the disabled list with shoulder soreness. Carlos Arrieche was taken off of the disabled list.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Day Off for the Cougars

Well the Cougars had the day off, I was home sick with the stomach flu for the second straight day. At least today I was feeling good enough to get out of bed finally. I did get some work accomplished today and im pretty proud of myself for that.

I got five boxscores done on the website, this years boxscores are up through 6/12, along with the daily player stats, and homerun logs, and history pages are updated through there. I also mapped out my offseason work for the website. I hope to finally finish off the 98 season this offseason. It has only taken one year to get through. Then I might be able to start on a few of the 97 boxscores and stats. That all depends on how many boxscores I need to go dig up on microfilm from the library on the 98 season. I also will get all major league and minor league stats finished off. And my plan is for a complete record book, career and single season

Sunday, August 30, 2009

8/30, Wisconsin 5, Cougars 6 (10)

The Cougars would have another one of those games, they would find a way to win but man, this isnt the way you want to win games. They are currently 6-1 on their eight game homestand. The Cougars would beat Wisconsin 6-5 in ten innings.

The ninth and tenth innings would be where the Cougars scored five of their six runs. The real interesting stuff happend in the tenth. Jeremy Barfield led off with a double down the left field line. Juan Nunez then bunted him over to third with nobody out. The Rattlers would then intentionally walk both Tyler Ladendorf and Dusty Napoleon to load the bases. Next they would bring in a new pitcher Rigoberto Almonte to pitch to Connor Crumbliss. Crumbliss would be hit by a pitch to force in Barfield and let the celebration begin.

The inning that made everything go into extra innings would be the ninth inning when the Cougars scored four runs. Franklin Hernandez led it off with a single to left. Barfield would then walk aong wiht Petey Paramore to load the bases. Ladendorf would walk to force in Hernandez. Paramore would be pitch run for by Chris Berroa. The Rattlers then made a pitching change. Napoleon greated the new pitcher with a sacrifice fly to left to score Barfield. Crumbliss then singled to left. Leonardo Gil would reach on an fielding error by the third baseman. On the play Berroa would score. Steve Parker then hit a sacrifice fly to left to score Ladendorf.

The Cougars would get on the board first in the first inning. Crumbliss led off with a walk. Gil would then bloop one down the right field line for a single to get Crumbliss to third. Gil then stole second. Parker hit a sacrifice fly to right to score Crumbliss.

The Cougars had Shawn Haviland start and he went six innings, giving up eight hits and four runs. Only three of those runs were earned, he also walked two and struck out five. He would have to get out of trouble right from the start. To lead off the game Josh Prince singled to left. One out later, he would be caught trying to steal second. That would be big, as Brock Kjeldgaard then blooped a single to right. John Delaney followed with a bloop single to left center. Haviland would get Jose Duran to pop to second to end the inning.

He would give up a run in the fourth, which at that time would tie the game. Kjeldgaard led off with a walk. He would then steal second, Delaney then walked. Duran bunted back to the mound and Haviland would have no play, to load the bases. Kyle Dhanani then with the infield in, grounded into a double play, on the play Kjeldgaard scored.

The other two runs he gave up came in the sixth inning. Kjeldgaard led off with a double down the right field line. One out later, Duran singled to right center to bring home Kjeldgaard. Dhanani tripled to right center to bring home Duran. Haviland then got Sean McCraw on strikes, and Erik Miller to ground out to strand the runner at third.

Wisconsin would score once more in the game, in the ninth inning. With two outs, Miller walked, then stole second. Derrick McPhearson followed with a single to right center to bring home Miller.

Josue Selenis would get into some trouble in the tenth but would pitch out of it. With one out, Kjeldgaard walked, then stole second and went to third on a droped third stike, wild pitch. Selenis would be able to get Duran on strikes to end the inning.

The Cougars with the win have won nine games in a row against the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers this year.


Tomorrow vs Wisconsin @6:30
Trey Watten (5-13, 4.58) vs Murphy Smith (1-2, 4.94)

8/29, Wisconsin 1, Cougars 5

Despite commiting four errors, three in the first inning the Cougars would come back and win 5-1 against Wisconsin. Mathieu Leblanc-Poirier pitched very well in getting the win.

Leblanc-Poirier pitched six innings, giving up one hit and one unearned run. He walked two and struck out five. Errors, hit batters and walks lead to the game being much harder on the fans than it should've been.

The wacky first inning, was just hard to watch. With two outs in the inning, Brock Kjeldgaard reached on an error by second baseman Nino Leyja. Leyja tried to back hand the ball and it went around the glove. A wild pitch let Kjeldgaard move to second. The throw from catcher Juan Nunez went into centerfield, allowing him to go into third. John Delaney then reached on another error by Leyja. This time the ball bounced off of his chest as he got in front of it, but couldn't control it. Kjeldgaard would score on the error.

After that it was good pitching and good deffense that helped the Cougars recover. In the second inning, a one out walk would be erased by a double play. Scott Deal then came in for the seventh inning, he would need help from a double play to erase a leadoff single. Jose Guzman pitched the ninth, and walked a Rattler with two outs. Centerfielder Connor Crumbliss then made a nice diving catch to end the game on a little bloop.

The Offense did score some runs in the game. Crumbliss and Leonardo Gil both led the way with two hits. In the first inning the Cougars would get that run right back. Crumbliss led off with a triple down the right field line. A wild pitch would bring him home. One out later, Steve Parker walked, he would be caught trying to steal second. Parker could've scored if not havin been caught steal second. Mike Spina doubled off the right centerfield wall.

The next run for the Cougars came in the fourth inning. Jeremy Barfield led off with a double down the right field line. Petey Paramore then doubled off the right field wall to drive in Barfield. In the seventh inning the Cougars got another run. Crumbliss led off with a double down the left field line. One out later, Parker singled to right. Spina would then walk to load the bases. One more out later, Barfield would walk to force in Crumbliss.

The final two runs for the Cougars came in the eighth inning, with one out Leyja walked, then stole second. Crumbliss would follow with a walk. Gil then singled to left center to drive home Leyja. Parker hit a sacrifice fly to left to score Crumbliss.

There were a couple of other chances for the Cougars to score some runs in the game. In the third inning, Leyja led off with a single to center. Crumbliss would reach on a fielder's choice, with Leyja out at second. Gil then reached on an error by the pitcher.Parker would walk to load the bases with only the one out. Spina struck out, and Franklin Hernandez popped out to short. In the fifth inning the Cougars had another chance to score runs. Gil led off with a double off the right field wall. A ground out later, that would move Gil to third, Spina would reach on a fielder's choice. On the play the infield was in trying to cut down Gil at the plate, the game was still only a 2-1 game. The ball would be hit to the second baseman who threw home and got Gil.


Tomorrow vs Wisconsin @2pm
R.J. Seidel (1-3, 7.16) vs Shawn Haviland (6-10, 4.43)

Saturday, August 29, 2009

8/28, Wisconsin 3, Cougars 4 (10)

A wild night at the Elf in the game between with the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, the Cougars would win 4-3 in ten innings. The Cougars are now 4-1 on their eight game homestand.

The big inning or at least one of the entertaining innings of the night came in the tenth for the Cougars. Nino Leyja led it off with a single to left. Leonardo Gil then singled to right. Steve Parker put down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners along. The Rattlers then intentionally walked Mike Spina to load the bases with only one out. Franklin Hernandez then popped one up to right. The right fielder and the second baseman went after the ball. They ball was dropped by the rightfielder, the umpire had already called the infield fly rule. So Hernandez was automaticly out, and the runners could advance at their own risk. Leyja went in to score and win the game for the Cougars.

Anvioris Ramirez started for the Cougars and lasted into the fifth inning, he would give up six hits and three runs. Only two of those runs would be earned. He walked three and struck out three. In the first inning he got into a lot of trouble, but the damage was lightend due to good plays.

Josh Prince led off the game by drawing a walk. He would be picked off of first by Ramirez. Mike Brownstein then walked. Brock Kjeldgaard singled to center. Kyle Dhanani would reach on an error by third baseman Mike Spina. Brownstein would score and Kjeldgaard went to third. Pete Fatse then flew to center. Kjeldgaard tagged up and ran over catcher Juan Nunez. Nunez would hang on to the ball after the crash and the inning would be over.

The first runs of the game came in the third inning, when the teams would combine for four runs. Thankfully the Rattlers would only score one of them. With one out, Mike Brownstein doubled down the left field line. Kjeldgaard then would strike out, a wild pitch on the third strike ment there would be a throw to first. Kjeldgaard would be called out for runners interference. Brownstein got credit for a stolen base. Dhanani then singled to left to score Brownstein.

With one out, Chris Berroa walked, then went to second on a wild pitch, and third on a stolen base. Nino Leyja and Leonardo Gil walked. One out later, Mike Spina would be hit on the hand by a pitch, that would force in Berroa for the Cougars first run. Hernandez then singled to short to score Leyja. The shortstop made a bad throw that would allow Gil to score and Hernandez to get to second.

After that the game would remain at three's untill the tenth, that is not to say that both teams did not have a few chances. The Cougars had a chance in the seventh. With one out, Berroa walked, and stole second. Leyja walked, a wild pitch moved the runners into scoring position. That ment two runners in scoring position and only one out. Gil would be caught looking. Parker then grounded out to first.

In the fifth inning for the Rattlers, Brownstein led off with a single to short. Two outs later, Fatse would be hit by a pitch. Trey Barham then came in to relieve Ramirez. He would be able to get John Delaney to ground into a force out at second to end the inning.

Trey Barham pitch one and one thirds innings, with one walk. He would pick off the runner who walked. Justin Murray pitched two solid innings with one walk. His walk would be erased on a double play. Paul Smyth who would get his first Cougar win, pitched two perfect innings with three strike outs.


Tomorrow vs Wisconsin @6pm
Cody Scarpetta (4-10, 3.39) vs Mathieu Leblanc-Poirier (3-6, 4.84)

Friday, August 28, 2009

8/27, Beloit 9, Cougars 1

On a dark and dreary night near the end of August. The ghosts and other creatures came out to play a game of baseball. Well I think it was baseball. At least one team showed up for the game, so it was semi-like baseball. Ok, the Cougars lost 9-1. They would give up 19 hits and make three errors in their loss to the Beloit Snappers.

The Cougars would win the series at home, so that is a positive to take out of the series, plus they had won four in a row. Tonight just seemed like a bad horror movie. The carnage just seemed to never end. At least not untill the seventh inning, after that A.J. Huttenlocker and Dusty Napoleon pitched well.

By this time the game was out of hand already. Huttenlocker came in for the final out of the sixth, then retired the next six he faced. Napoleon made his second pitching appearance of the year. He stil has not given up a run. He gave up a single to the leadoff man. The last hitter he faced he threw a lollipop up there, something like the old ephus pitch of the deadball era. He would end up with a called strike three to end the inning.

Kenny Smalley started and was off all game, he went four innings. Smalley gave up eleven hits, six runs, five earned runs. He would walk three and strike out four. Josue Selenis then came in and did not fare much better, as he went one and two third innings, plus four batters. He would give up seven hits, three runs, two earned.

Things were bad from the start, as the Snappers wouldn't score any runs in the first, but the would get two singles. They left men on first and third. In the second inning Beloit scored once. Jon Waltenbury led things off with a single to left center. One out later, Drew Thompson singled to right. Angel Morales would single to left to bring home Waltenbury.

More runs for the Snappers in the third inning, this time two, it could've been much worse though. Ramon Santana led off with a triple to right center. Ozzie Lewis then doubled down the left field line to bring home Santana. Nate Hanson then blooped a single to right. Two outs later, Drew Thompson walked to load the bases. Smalley then walked Morales to force in Lewis.

With one out in the fourth, Santana walked. Lewis singled to center. Hanson would fly out foul to left, which would allow Santana to score on the sacrifice fly. Then trouble started, Waltenbury singled to right. The throw in from Jeremy Barfield would get away for an error. Catcher Petey Paramore tracked down the ball near the mound and threw home, the throw went to the backstop for an error. On the play Lewis scored and Waltenbury made third. Jeff Lanning then blooped one down the right field line to score Waltenbury.

Another run for the Snappers in the fifth. Morales reached on an error by Mike Spina. James Beresford then reached on a fielder's choice, with Morales out at second. One out later, Santana then singled to left. Lewis would single to left center to score Morales.

Two more runs for the Snappers in the sixth, but it could've been a lot worse. Waltenbury doubled to left center, Connor Crumbliss tried to dive for the ball and the ball got by him. Two outs later, Morales singled to third, Waltenbury scored after getting to third on a wild pitch. The thing about this at bat was that, he hit a long foul ball to left down the line. I could not tell fair or foul from the pressbox. The thing is that Morales argued. The ump ejected the manager and the pitching coach. Beresford would follow with a single up the middle. Aaron Hicks then singled to left to score Morales. Santana would single to right to load the bases with two outs. A.J. Huttenlocker then came in and got a force out at second.

That would thankfully be all for the Snappers due to the great work of Huttenlocker and Napoleon. The offense, well they did not get their first hit untill the sixth inning. Chris Berroa led off with a single off the pitchers glove. The only run came in the eighth with one out, Crumbliss walked. Leonardo Gil then singled up the middle. Steve Parker would then reach on a fielder's choice, with Gil being out at second. The Snappers tried to turn the double play, and the throw from the second baseman was wide, allowing Crumbliss to score.


Tomorrow vs Wisconsin @6:30
Evan Frederickson (3-7, 5.15) vs Anvioris Ramirez (4-2, 3.74)


This weekend I will interview Shawn Haviland and Steve Parker. If anyone has any questions for the players please email them to me, before 10 am that day.
Web Statistics and Counters

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Sickday

I hate being sick. All of a sudden at work, I felt lightheaded, and dizzy as hell. I was in the grill and it hit me just all of a sudden. I don't know what hit me but dam that hurts. I fell down once before I just told them im going home, from what I was told the manager could tell something was wrong, I was quiet. Plus I was pail in the face. I come home and just fall asleep for five hours. I missed going to the Cougars game, oh well. Nothing I can do about it.

I still feel like shit right now. My stomach and my head are arguing, and Im not winning. This should be fun, with all the sleep I got I probly will be up till 3 in the morning or something. I hate being sick

The rest of the trip

Well, we went from Fort Wayne to Caro on Saturday. It was a long five hours of driving. We get there and get to the hotel in Caro that we have always stayed at. Then I get to take the bike out and ride the five miles to my grandma's house. It was boring there but I will say this my grandpa finally got around to telling some stories which would end up being the highlight of the whole trip.

Saturday night I find out I have no internet in the rooms. My pa finds out no ice bin, and the tv breaks. All we get from hotel management is "If you don't like it, leave". So we were about to leave but somehow ma, talked him out of it.

Sunday was the reunion and it rained most of the morning. I had to go early and move about a dozen tables around and other things. That is the part of the reunion I hate. The reunion itself was good. We played something athletic for the first time in ten years. Not enough young people there ever to do anything. We played volleyball. We used to have a ballgame every year.

The rest of the stay wasn't that bad, we will not stay at the same hotel ever, we will stay in Saginaw instead. On the way home we went to Midland, Michigan to pick up some Great Lakes Loons programs and schedules. The we found this great restraunt in Birch Run. TOny's, oh man, a half pound burger and a full pound of bacon, it was great. We still have some of the bacon there was just too much. Then we drove down to St. Joseph, Michigan and went to the Texas Coral there, it was all you can eat rib night. That can be dangerous around me. I only managed a full slab, but wanted more, if it wasn't for Tony's earlier. We got home around 10 pm

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

8/25, Beloit 4, Cougars 6

The Cougars won their third game in a row, all against the Beloit Snappers. This time they would win 6-4, after coming from behind in the sixth inning with three runs. The three errors the Snappers had helped win the game for the Cougars.

Shawn Haviland started and lasted into the sixth inning. He really pitch ok, he would give up six hits and four runs. One of those runs would be on the second hitter of the game. Aaron Hicks took Haviland deep to right field. The next three innings went well, he would give up two hits. Haviland would give up two runs in the fifth.

Haviland led off by hitting Nate Hanson with a pitch. Dominic De La Osa then doubled to right center. Jeremy Barfield kicked the ball around a little, De La Osa ended up with a double. Angel Morales would then single to left to score Hanson. James Beresford doubled down the left field line. De La Osa scored. Morales overran the base at third and would be out. That would still leave Beresford at second with one out. Haviland then walked Hicks. Ramon Santana lined out hard to center. Danny Rams grounded out to end the inning.

The next inning would be Haviland's last as he wouldn't get through the inning. With two outs, Hanson singled to center. After that Haviland was pulled at exactly 100 pitches. Trey Barham came in and gave up a single to left to De La Osa. Morales singled up the middle to score Hanson. That would be all that the Cougars would give up in the game. Paul Smyth and Daniel Thomas combined to shutout the Snappers for the next two innings following a shutout inning by Barham.

Offensivley the Cougars only had six hits and six runs, the main thing was the free chances that the Snappers gave to the Cougars. Four walks, three errors, and one hit by pitch. Connor Crumbliss had a great night. He walked his first three times up. Doubled home a run in the sixth, then was hit by a pitch in the eigth. In all he reached base all five plate appearances, and saw at least five pitches four of those times. He scored a run and drove home a run.

The first Cougars run came in the third inning when they would put two runs across. Tyler Ladendorf led it off with a triple to right. One out later, Crumbliss walked. One more out later, Steve Parker doubled down the right field line off the wall to score both runners. The amazing thing about that hit was it was one handed.

The next Cougar run came in the fifth inning. Dusty Napoleon led it off by lining one to the centerfield wall. Hicks made a great catch. Crumbliss then walked. Leonardo Gil would hit into a fielder's choice. The only reason it wasn't a double play is because the shortstop bobbled the ball before he transfered it to the second baseman for the out at second. Snappers starter Bruce Pugh then made a bad pick off throw attempt, it went into right field. Gil would make it all the way around to third. Parker singled to right center to bring home Gil.

It was a messy sixth inning for the Snappers as they would give up three runs, and make two errors. Franklin Hernandez led it off by reaching on an error by the third baseman. On the play the ball jumped over his glove down the third base line, Hernandez would make it to second. Amazing things happen, Jeremy Barfield beat out a bunt, for a single. He tried to sacrifice but the bunt was placed perfectly down the first base line. Petey Paramore then hit one up the middle. The second baseman kicked the ball for an error. On the play Hernandez would score and Barfield made third. A wild pitch would bring Barfield home. Two outs later, Crumbliss doubled off the left field wall to bring home Paramore.

Kane County did have two more chances in the game. In the fourth inning, Hernandez led off with a walk, then stole second. Barfield and Paramore both struck out. Ladendorf then lined to left. In the seventh inning with two outs, Hernandez singled to third. Barfield would reach on a dropped third stike. On the wild pitch Hernandez moved to second. Paramore popped up to center to end the inning.


The Cougars made a roster move today. Carlos Arrieche was placed on the disabled list. Paul Smyth was brought up from Vancouver.


Ozzie tried to get a softee baseball into the press box window before the game, and just missed. Oh well,he will hit me sometime with it.

It seemed like it was dead at the Elf tonight, there were maybe 1500 fans there, eventhough the attendence was 2515. There was just no energy.


Tomorrow vs Beloit @6:30
Dan Osterbrock (6-9, 5.42) vs Murphy Smith (0-2, 5.88)


Rotation the rest of the home stand
Th-Smalley
F-Ramirez
Sa-Leblanc-Poirier
Su-Haviland
M-Smith