Friday, September 30, 2011

DUCKS FINALLY TAKE A LOSS IN CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

When the York Revolution smacked Long Island 9-0 to square the Atlantic League Championship Series at one win apiece, it marked the first time the host Ducks had ever lost in the title round. They entered the Thursday night contest 4-0, including a three-game sweep of Camden when the Ducks won their only crown in 2004.

York is home now for the rest of the best-of-five series, and is in position to join Somerset (2008-09) as the only back-to-back winners since the league started in '98.

BLUE CRABS RADIO VOICE TAKES ON NEW ROLE

Josh Caray added a big name to the Independent ranks this season. Now the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs radio broadcaster has taken on a new assignment.

Caray, the grandson of legendary radio voice Harry Caray, has returned for a second year as a studio host for IMG College, which airs a great many collegiate football and basketball games. Caray will work out of the Winston-Salem, NC facilities of IMG College.

"It was really interesting," Caray said of his first Atlantic League season. "The play was good, the stadiums are good and guys are fighting to get out of here (when major league organizations come calling). It is pretty close to Triple-A."

Caray, who hopes to add his name to the three generations of his family who have made a name in major league baseball, is the son of the late Skip Caray and half-brother of current Braves broadcaster Chip Caray.

SUDDEN STARDOM

Atlantic League brass does not hesitate to point out that it is not common for a player to excel in the league unless he has made a mark at Class AA or higher.

Stephen Douglas became one of the exceptions during the first round of the playoffs. Douglas, 26, has not played above the low-Class A New York-Penn League in affiliated baseball, but he hit .529 and his nine safeties (9-for-17) for Lancaster were tops for any player in the Freedom Division Series in which York outlasted the Barnstormers in five games. The left-handed-hitting outfielder was a .378 hitter during the summer as he helped Grand Prairie, TX take the American Association title before moving on to Lancaster for the final four games of the regular seasson.


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Monday, September 12, 2011

COUNTING DOWN TO THE PLAYOFFS WHILE ALSO WATCHING FORMER ATLANTIC LEAGUERS IN MAJORS AND AFFILIATED PLAYOFFS

Freedom Division leader York and Bridgeport, which could either win the Liberty Division's second half or become the wild card, have the decided inside track for the final two berths in the Atlantic League playoffs as this final week begins, but it is premature to count wild-card runnerup Southern Maryland out. The Blue Crabs trail Bridgeport by three games with the oddity of the teams being even in the loss column. The Bluefish have won six more games to have an overall record of 67-53 compared to Southern's 61-53.

Camden is almost certainly not going to squeeze its way in since the RiverSharks trail Long Island by five games and Bridgeport by four and a half in the Liberty's second half standings and those two teams will meet three more times. Five-time champion Somerset and the Road Warriors were counted out some time ago.

Teams were to submit possible postseason rosters to the league office today (Monday) and could include players sold to major league organizations or to foreign leagues this year, should they become available. Each team has until the morning of the playoffs to designate their 25-man roster.

SEVEN FROM LEAGUE IN MAJORS NOW

With right-hander Dane DeLaRosa (Southern Maryland) back with Tampa Bay, the Atlantic League has seven of its former players active in the major leagues this month. (Stephen Drew, Camden, is on Arizona's disabled list.)

The others are pitchers Alberto Castillo of Arizona (Camden, Road Warriors, Newark) and Jerome Williams of the Los Angeles Angels (Lancaster), catcher Rene Rivera of Minnesota (Camden), first basemen Val Pascucci of the New York Mets (Camden) and Wily Mo Pena of Seattle (Bridgeport) and outfielder Justin Christian of San Francisco (Southern Maryland).

It is still possible others will be added when the affiliated minor league playoffs end.

DUCKS' DI NARDO BOOSTS OAKLAND FARMHANDS TO PCL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

Major league veteran Lenny DiNardo, who won two of three decisions in early-season starts for Long Island (2-1, 5.09), hurled Sacramento into the Pacific Coast League championship series Sunday with seven strong innings (two runs) as the River Cats won their third in a row after falling behind Reno (Arizona) two games to none in the semifinal round.

"He's got a lot of big league time (10-18 in 94 appearances), but if you looked in his eyes after the game, you'd think he just got done pitching in the World Series," third baseman Josh Donaldson (4-for-5, 3 RBI) told MLB.com. "It mattered to him." DiNardo, who last pitched in the majors for Kansas City in '09, was back and forth between Class AA Midland, TX and Sacramento after his contract was purchased from Long Island. He turns 32 in another week.

Former Bridgeport infielder Angel Berroa had gotten Reno off to an early lead in the series when the onetime American League Rookie of the Year blasted two home runs and drove in four runs in the Aces' 7-4 triumph in Game 1. Berroa played shortstop for the Bluefish for a big part of this season, but was at second base when the series against Sacramento ended.

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Thursday, September 8, 2011

THE NEWS KEEPS GETTING BETTER FOR JEROME WILLIAMS AND MIKE PARISI

The season-long story of Jerome Williams keeps getting better and better.

He pitched eight innings of one-hit, one-run baseball Wednesday night in a 3-1 victory for the Los Angeles Angels over Seattle, moving the team within 2 1/2 games of American League West-leading Texas. And he even used the pink glove that was familiar when he was with Lancaster earlier this season, a story we we will share later today with subscribers to our Independent Baseball Insider column. Williams is now 3-0 with the Angels.

LONG ISLAND'S MIKE PARISI STARRING IN DODGERS SYSTEM

Mike Parisi was one of the reasons Long Island was able to secure an Atlantic League playoff berth early this year because he won six of 10 decisions (3.50 ERA) in 13 starts for the first half Liberty Division champions before his contract was purchased by the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The right-handed pitcher, 28, just finished an outstanding August with Albuquerque which earned him the team's coveted Dodger Pride Award for a pitcher with the Triple-A team. Parisi tied for the Pacific Coast League lead with five wins in the month, going 5-0, 4.23 in six starts. Overall, he was 6-2 with a 5.20 earned run average for the Isotopes.

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Tuesday, September 6, 2011

BARNSTORMERS GET A SECOND PLAYER BACK FROM TRIPLE-A AND CAMDEN'S PASCUCCI GETS A MAJOR LEAGUE OPPORTUNITY

Perseverance has paid off for another former Atlantic League player who is going to finish the season in the major leagues.

Power-hitting Valentino (Val) Pascucci, a 32-year-old outfielder-designated hitter whose only other major league stint in a decade of professional play was for 32 games with the Montreal Expos seven years ago (2-6-.177), has been called up by the New York Mets after a 21-home run, 91-RBI season at Triple-A Buffalo.

Pascucci played in 14 games for Camden one year ago (3-9-.275) before the Mets purchased his contract from the Atlantic League team. The 6-foot-6 slugger has been at the Class AAA level since 2003 except for the Montreal and Camden stints and a year in Japan, and has hit well over 200 home runs in his career.

The right-handed hitter was the Most Valuable Player for Buffalo this season, leading the International League team in games (130), runs (58), hits (117), doubles (29), extra-base hits (51), walks (76) and on-base percentage (.375) in addition to home runs and runs batted in.

While not an official non-roster invitee to the Mets' spring training camp, Pascucci was called on for several appearances and showed his productive bat.

With several call-ups from various leagues since major league rosters expanded September 1, Independent leagues have had more players at baseball's top level than in any other season. The Atlantic League has been a major contributor. We will have the details all sorted out for this week's Independent Baseball Insider column, which subscribers receive on Thursday.

BENNETT RELEASED BY RENO, BACK AT LANCASTER

While I have not seen an announcement, right-handed reliever Jeff Bennett is once again listed on the Lancaster roster and presumably will be available for the Atlantic League playoffs just as third baseman Terry Tiffee is. Tiffee returned soon after the New York Yankees cut him from their farm system.

Arizona released Bennett, despite a 3-0 record and 4.29 earned run average in 24 appearances at Triple-A Reno. He had been 2-0 with two saves and a brilliant 0.42 ERA in 17 games with the Barnstormers, last pitching for them June 12.


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Thursday, September 1, 2011

MEXICAN LEAGUE, AMERICAN ASSOCIATION PLAYERS COMING TO ATLANTIC FOR POSTSEASON PUSH

It must be getting close to playoff time.

It does not take much genius to notice this because of the pace of player acquisitions by playoff-bound teams or those still trying to nail down postseason slots.

Both the Mexican League and the independent American Association are favorite targets. Bridgeport, which has moved to within one-half game of Long Island in the second half of the Liberty Division race and has a three-game lead for the top wild-card slot, added 41-year-old reliever Hector Carrasco, who had 10 saves in Mexico.

Playoff hopeful Southern Maryland and Freedom Division leader York both added right-handed pitching out of the American Association. Details at AtlanticLeague.com/transactions.

Lancaster, which won the Freedom's first half, gained an unexpected bonus when the New York Yankees released third baseman Terry Tiffee despite a .345 batting average. The former major leaguer immediately returned to the Barnstormers, for whom he was hitting .297 with 10 homers and 41 RBI when the Yankees purchased his contract June 22.

Tiffee returned for last night's 7-5 victory at Camden, the other remaining playoff hopeful, although his 11-game Atlantic League hitting streak was snapped with an 0-for-4 night (one run). Manager Butch Hobson slid Travis Metcalf, the hot-hitting veteran (.307), over to second base. Metcalf had come out of the American Association earlier this season, as we will discuss in this week's subscription-only Independent Baseball Insider column which comes out later today.

RIVERA BACK IN BIGS

Minnesota wasted no time getting former Camden catcher Rene Rivera in the lineup when the Twins recalled the 2010 Atlantic Leaguer from Triple-A this week. Rivera caught three games in a row against postseason hopefuls Detroit and the White Sox although the best he could contribute offensively was a sacrifice fly. He was 0-for-9 in official at-bats, dropping his season average to .160 (13-for-81) with a homer and five runs batted in.

Hopefully, other recent Atlantic Leaguers will get a major league call now that rosters have expanded beyond the normal 25-man limit.

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