Major League Rehab

Every year it is inevitable that someone in the major leagues will get injured and that means they have to rehab somewhere. For the minor league fan in the Florida State League, 2011 was a great year when it came to rehabbing major leaguers. Joe Mauer, Roy Oswalt, Chase Utley, Carlos Ruiz, Logan Morrison and Zack Greinke were just a few that had a rehab stint in the FSL.
The Tampa Yankees had quite a fair share of major leaguers spend time on their roster. The rest of this post is going to be a picture post of all the major league New York Yankees and various other major leaguers that I got to see over the 2011 season. Most of these pictures appeared on the blog throughout the season, I just figured I would put them all in one post.

One of the first major leaguers I saw was Brandon Morrow of the Toronto Blue Jays. He rehabbed in Dunedin and I traveled to see the D-Jays take on the Lakeland Flying Tigers in one of the 3 non Tampa Yankees games that I went to this season.

Along with Brandon Morrow, I also got to see Frank Francisco of Toronto in the same game.

Yankee fans may recognize Latroy Hawkins who did a rehab with the Brevard County Manatees(Milwaukee Brewers)

The first Yankee in my major league rehabber list is Francisco Cervelli who played a few games with the TY(they didnt win a single game while he was here)

Carlos Silva, while technically not on a major league deal, also did a rehab assignment with the Tampa Yankees

Angel Pagan of the New York Mets played a few games for St. Lucie.

Rafael Soriano pitched in a few games for the Tampa Yankees(when he wasn't being driven to the dugout in a golf cart)

Eric Chavez spent considerable time with the Tampa Yankees, going on a few road trips and playing a good 3rd base.

Ryan Doumit of the Pittsburgh Pirates also made an appearance on a trip I took down to Bradenton.

Last but not least, was Alex Rodriguez who rehabbed in front of a very empty Florida Auto Exchange Stadium in Dunedin.

I am hoping that I did not miss any major leaguers who I was able to see during their rehab stints last season. I obviously got to see quite a few of them so I'm sure that I left at least one person out. I saw Dewayne Wise and Scott Podsednik who were on Minor League contracts, I didn't get pictures of them but didn't want to leave them out.
Scranton will probably not be a popular place to send major leaguers this coming season so Tampa could quite possibly see a few more in 2012.

Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.

Every year a new batch of minor leaguers comes through the Florida State League. It always takes about 2 weeks worth of games to learn all the new Tampa Yankees players by their numbers, body types, positions etc. Learning pitchers also takes extra time because there are always so many of them and even after following the minor leaguers all spring and the season before, there are always a few that take some time to recognize.
What takes even longer is learning the players and pitchers on opposing teams. I buy the Baseball America Prospect handbook and study it before the season starts which gives me kind of a cheat sheet for who other teams might value. The handbook also gives a clue as to where some players might end up so I'll know who I might get a chance to see over the long season. I figure the longer I follow the teams in the FSL, the easier it will be to know who is who in other organizations.
First and foremost, I am a Yankee fan but I am also a big baseball fan, I love following the players on other teams and wish them all success whether they are in the Yankees organization or any other organization. Some of them just stick with you because of a unique name, how they do in a series or a dominant pitching performance. Some are prospects and immediately become someone that I pay attention to.
The point of this post is to focus on the players that had some sort of impact on me for some random reason. I'll break it down by team to keep myself organized. These are players that I would love if they could stay in the FSL but whom I like enough that I don't ever want to see them again unless it's on mlb.tv.

 I'll stick with the FSL North since these are the teams I saw the most.

Clearwater Threshers(Phillies)


Trevor May - I can't tell you how many times I saw May pitch against the Tampa Yankees but I will never forget the game he pitched at the end of the first half when he struck out 14 TY batters in 7+ innings. It was definitely a painful game to sit through because it seemed we could never get anything going because he was just so dominant.
Troy Hanzawa - The only thing about Hanzawa that I will remember is how little he is. 5'9  short stop. According to Baseball Reference, he only batted .223 in 2011.
Brian Gump - This last name, I mean...run Forest run...need I say more?
Jared Cosart and Jonathan Singleton - These two got traded to the Astros for Hunter Pence and though I didnt get to see Cosart pitch, Singleton is a 1st basemen that I saw many times in 2011 and was truly happy to see that he got traded away because he is good. He batted .284 before the trade and then .333 after the trade. In four minor league seasons, his OBP sits at .393. I can't see him not making the Astros unless he gets injured.
Jiwan James - He is a quick outfielder with skinny legs. Thats about all I can say about him.

Dunedin Blue Jays(Toronto Blue Jays)


Honestly, the only Blue Jay that I really cheered for was AJ Jimenez. I like catchers and he fits the bill. He also scored that really cool triple/1 base error in the FSL All-Star game and slid under the tag. He batted .303 for the Blue Jays in 2011.

Lakeland Flying Tigers(Detroit Tigers)

I went to more Lakeland away games than any other away games this season so I feel like I connected with more of these guys than on any other team besides the Yankees.

Tony Plagman - Plagman was the DH for the Tigers in 2011 and by the end of the season, we didn't even need to look at the scoreboard to know that Tony was up to bat. We called him Tony the Tiger which definitely fit him because he played for the Tigers. Plagman batted .257 with 18 home runs and a team high 97 RBI.
Brent Wyatt - I knew I liked Wyatt the second I heard his walk up music. The theme song for The Boondock Saints. Youtube it and you'll figure it out. I downloaded it to my phone and would play it for him when he came to bat at TY home games.
Jordan Lennerton - Lennerton played first base for the Tigers and the only thing that stood out to me was the way the announcer said his name at home games. It truly is the little things.

Brevard County Manatees(Milwaukee Brewers)

Scooter Gennett - You can't go wrong with a name like Scooter. I found myself, along with other boosters, cheering for scooter as if he were on our team. I heard that they came out with a Scooter vs. the snowman bobblehead for the team he played for in 2010 and I would love to get my hands on one of them. He batted .300 played 2nd base for the Manatees.

Daytona Cubs(Chicago Cubs)

The Daytona Cubs won the FSL Championships in 2011. I am hoping to make it to Daytona to see them something in 2012.
Matt Cerda - Cerda made a really great play in the FSL All-Star game, flying to his left to snag a ball and firing to first for the out that had the potential to cause some serious problems for the North had the ball made it past him.
Justin Bour- Bour won the Home Run Derby at the All-Star game and he was always a threat to do something dangerous in the regular season as well. He batted .277 with 23 home runs.
Michael Brenly obviously caught our attention as the son of big league manager Bob Brenly.

Happy New Year

I am going to start picking my blog back up starting in the next couple days. Or tonight if I get bored. Pitchers and Catchers report on Feb 15ish and ill be going to their first workout day as well as the first workout day for all the players on Feb 25. Expect a lot of pictures. Spring training starts a week or so later and knowing me(and knowing a certain minor leaguer got an invite to the big league spring training) I will probably go to a game or 3 in March so expect pictures from that too. Then Minor League Spring Training starts in Mid March and I have to go to as many of those as I can. I am going to start getting really busy and thank the good Lord that I have graduated college so I will not have to worry about papers and classes and projects(oh my!) so I should make it to whatever practice or game I want.

The minor league season starts up on April 5th in Lakeland and the quest for another FSL Championship begins. I wonder who our team will have making up it's 25 roster spots, who will represent our opposition and how many major leaguers will rehab in the FSL? It is all pretty exciting and I cannot wait for it to start.

My posts will consist of my favorite games, moments and pictures from this past season so I hope that you visit frequently and let me know what you think.

                                     Hopefully there aren't too many of these this coming season.

Picture Post 2

So since I have been doing the minor league report, my blog has sadly suffered. I have decided to do some picture posts to recap the events of the Tampa Yankees and my adventures following the team to away games and home games and everything in between. I hope you enjoy this post.

                                                   Steinbrenner Field after a night game.

Blue and his friends for Blue's Birthday Bash(Blue is at the bottom right corner) Also helping celebrate his birthday was Thunderbug from the TB Lightning, Finley from the Clearwater Threshers, DJ from the Dunedin BlueJays. Rocky from USF and a dog from celebration station and coney dog from Sonic.

 Rafael Soriano in his first rehab appearance with the TY

 Eric Chavez up to bat in his first rehab game with the TY

Driving to Bradenton in the pouring rain, there was a 45 minute delay.

 I made a pitstop at the Outlet Mall on my way to Bradenton as the game was delayed.

 The Marauders home field and the Pittsburgh Pirates Spring Training home. Pronounced mc-keck-knee

 The suites and press box, the overhangs to the left and right were taken down earlier in the season because they were deemed unsafe by the county. 

 Lineup on the first night I went to Bradenton

 Marauders in the Majors

 A table top by the team store

The Bucco Bar behind the stands in right field.

 View of the outfield

 Another view of the field

 Lineup on the second day that I went to Bradenton.

 Graham Stoneburner throwing a pitch for the TY in Bradenton

 View of the field from behind home plate

 Eric Chavez on deck.

 Eric Chavez practicing his swing before stepping in to hit.

Michael Solbach waiting in the on-deck circle to bat in the 14th inning. He borrowed the helmet from Neil Medchill and the bat and batting gloves from JR Murphy. He kept the ball, gloves and bat after getting the game winning hit.

 Jose Quintana delivering a pitch in Saturday. Quintana allowed 2 runs but got a no decision so his 8-0 record is still safe.

I call this one "how many guys does it take to fix a pitchers mound?" It rained through most of Sunday's game so they were constantly fixing the field. 

I hope you enjoyed my picture post. Expect many of these posts in a week when I go on my road trip.

Picture Post

I really have to apologize for not updating this. I am kind of a do things half way kind of person hence the lack of posting. I also have been doing the minor league report for the TY Booster Club which takes up a ton of time and energy. The TY have also been away for a week so I havent gotten to go to any games recently except Clearwater on Saturday. Since I dont have the energy to write up a lot of stuff, I have decided to just do a picture post and caption the pictures.

Here goes:

 Here is Melky Mesa in the on-deck circle at his only home TY rehab game. I love his batting stance, I could recognize him by this stance in an instance.

 Here is the view from my seats at the Rays game against the Reds. We had a pretty great view of Evan Longoria's walk off home run as it landed a few sections to our left.

 Here is a very blurry picture of Aroldis Chapman sitting in the Reds bullpen. Sadly I didnt get to see him pitch.

This is Slade Heathcott in one of only 4 at-bats he ever had with the TY before hitting the disabled list for good. See you next year Slade.

 This is a storm that was over the field one day when I was late for a TY game. Oddly enough it never rained.

 Brett signed his TY baseball card for me on Saturday July 3rd. They only gave out a few card sets because they made a printing error on a few cards.

 After the game on July 3rd, I got JR Murphy to sign a copy of the Pinstripes Plus magazine with him on the cover.

This is the view from my seat on Saturday July 9th for the GCL Yankees game 1 of a DH. The GCL Yankees got to play at the big boy field because theirs was probably still underwater and the TY have been away for a long time, the field needed some baseball.

 Here is a picture of me and my dog at Brighthouse Field in Clearwater for the Threshers Bark and the Ballpark. I love their field. The Threshers are the class A+ affiliate of the Phillies.

Me and my dogs. Bimmer(brown dog) was being a stubborn dog and would not open his eyes for the picture even with my dad calling his name.

This week has been kind of hectic for me but Im going to try to recap it as best as I can.

Sorry that I've been slacking again on updating this, lots of interesting moves around the Tampa Yankees team in the past week. The biggest news is that we received prospect catcher J.R. Murphy from Charleston. I've only seen him get one hit and a walk but in Friday nights game he sent 2 balls to the wall in left field that were caught, unfortunately for him, the wind was blowing in both times he came to the plate.

We also received Rob Segedin from Charleston as Rob Lyerly got promoted up to Trenton. Segedin has played 5 games for the Tampa Yankees and already has 4 errors. Tonight's game was his first without an error which is just really not great. Unfortunately all these moves up meant that someone had to move and Kevin Mahoney and Kyle Higashioka got sent down to Charleston. That is a total bummer for me because I normally sit with Kevin's wife at away games and some home games if the boosters don't show up. The good thing is that Kevin will get more playing time down there as he was blocked up here. We also received Kyle Roller and Slade Heathcott though I haven't seen Slade, I heard that he was still on the DL but working out at the minor league complex.

On Monday I went to the GCL game for a little bit after work. I got there around the 5th inning and stayed through the 8th but as soon as my water was gone I knew I had to leave. The bank down the street from the field said it was 100 degrees out and I believe it. I put some sunscreen on my face but not on my legs and arms and I got some color which I needed. I was there for about an hour which was enough. I am going again this coming Saturday as long as it doesn't rain. I got some videos, if you want you should check them out on my Youtube to the right of the page. I got to see Dante Bichette Jr. hit but there wasnt a ball hit to him while I was out there so I can't tell you how he fields.

Ravel Santana

On Monday night I went to Clearwater to see the first game in a 3 game series between the Tampa Yankees and the Clearwater Threshers. It was a great game, Josh Romanski pitched for the TY and was just dominant. He pitched 7 innings and struck out 11. He got 8 of his strikeouts on his offspeed pitches, he had the Clearwater batters practicing their golf swing as they swung at a ton of balls in the dirt. They touched him up for a 2 run home run in the 4th inning but that was it.
The TY were on fire this game(actually in this whole series) as Walter Ibarra and Kyle Higashioka both hit home runs. Kyle's home run was actually a broken bat home run over the left field wall which was amazing because the wind was blowing out to right. Walter Ibarra, Luke Murton and Emerson Landoni had 3 hits each, Kyle went 4-4 with a walk. The only TY batter with no hits was Taylor Grote who went  0-5 with 1 strikeout. The TY won that game 10-3. They had 17 hits which is just ridiculous.

On Wednesday the Tampa Yankees played at home against Clearwater again in the last game of the first half. The TY were being dominated by all-star Trevor May. He struck out 13 or 14 in 8 innings. Sean Black was all over the place but he limited the Threshers to just 2 runs over 7 innings. In the bottom of the 9th inning, the TY tied the game up but in the top of the 10th the game got suspended due to really bad weather. They are not going to finish that game because it was the last game of the first half so it doesn't matter anymore. In the stand on Wednesday was 2010 FSL Player of the Year, Melky Mesa. I ended up talking with him with one of the other boosters and he told us he would be down here for about a week. It was cool to see him at a game, we told him he needs to give some tips to our outfielders so they can be as good as he was. During part of the game, he was sitting around some of the players families and one of the boosters kids were surrounding him, everywhere he went they would follow him, it was really cute.

Melky entertaining the kids

On Thursday I got to the Tampa Yankees game late because I went to visit my friend who had just had her baby. I got there in time to see the TY score 3 runs in the bottom of the 8th. It was the first game that J.R. Murphy played in and he had 2 hits, the last hit was a double to left field and I got a video of that which you can see right here or on my Youtube. The TY had that game in the bag the whole night as Jairo Heredia continued pitching well and earned his 8th win which is best in the Yankees minor league organization. It seems to me that when Jairo pitches, the TY always hit and field well which is good for him.



On Friday I had a busy night. I read in the program over in Clearwater that they were having a blue jersey giveaway to promote prostate cancer awareness. I LOVE giveaways so I knew I just had to get over there and get myself one. I headed over to Clearwater and got there just after 6pm. I got my jersey for just the price of parking($2) and a ticket ($6.50) The jersey is made of a nice mesh and it is great quality. I am probably the only person who would drive to Clearwater to get a free giveaway but I don't care. I walked around a bit and looked in their amazing team store and left around 6:20. I got to the Tampa Yankees game by 6:50, perfect timing. Brett Marshall had the start for the Tampa Yankees and he did well. I actually sat with his brother while he was pitching because I was the only booster there(as I sit with the boosters during the games) and didnt want to sit by myself. Brett pitched 7 innings, he gave up 8 hits, 1 run with 3 walks and 3 strikeouts. He left with a 1-1 tie and Chase Whitley relieved him. Chase got shafted as his infield combined for 2 errors, he ended up getting the loss on 3 hits and 3 unearned runs. The TY lost 4-1

While sitting with Brett's brother, we found out that J.R. Murphy's parents were sitting in front of us. His mom actually mentioned something about Brett and his brother chimed in about him. I got to talking to her about how I have heard that the  crowd in Charleston is so much better and bigger than the crowd in Tampa. She explained that they live in Bradenton so they were very excited not only that he got promoted but that he got promoted so close to where they live so they can see him play more often. I invited her to the booster club players dinner at the end of July which she seemed excited about. His parents seemed really nice and down to earth.

Bimmer enjoying the game

On Saturday it was Bark and the Ballpark and I brought my dog with me. They had a pregame dog fair where they had booths set up that gave out free stuff for your dog. My dog came home with some pretty awesome swag. July 9th the Clearwater Threshers are having a Bark at the Park and since the TY are away that day I am going to bring my dog to that one too. The weather was hot and humid and it sprinkled throughout the game but never really rained. Starting for the TY was Josh Romanski. He only pitched 3 innings which was weird, he gave up a run and a 2 run home run but that was it. His command was there and I didnt think he threw so many pitches. They may have pulled him because I just saw on his Twitter that he is being promoted to Trenton. Good for him. We also got a great treat as Melky Mesa started in Center Field as part of his rehab. He will probably spend the next few days with the TY and then head back up to Trenton. He went 1-3 with a double, walk, groundout and strikeout. He only caught 2 balls in center but on a ball hit to right center he covered double the ground than Zoilo Almonte and had he not been called off he could have caught it. That is just how good of a defender he is out there. I am hoping he makes it to the majors and is able to show off his range. The TY won this game 7-4 as Luke Murton homered and Abe Almonte tripled and doubled. Overall it was a good week of baseball. The TY are away until Wednesday when they will come back to play Brevard County and Daytona through the weekend.

Melky!

On Tuesday night I am going to see the Rays and Reds. I am looking forward to it.

FSL All-Star Game

To the right of your page is my flickr account. There are about 130 pictures that I took from the AllStar game if you want to check them out, they're pretty good. Ill add some on here where they make sense.

The gates at Clearwater opened at 5pm which is just when I got there, I ended up pulling in right before the rest of the boosters got there, we parked right next to eachother which is funny because there are probably 5 parking lots you can park in at Clearwater. When we got inside they handed us programs and we hit the gift shop for AllStar game shirt. The Phillies team store is amazing, not only do they have every piece of Phillies paraphernalia that you would ever want, they also have a ton of Clearwater Threshers merchandise.  I bought a shirt and a pin. I figure once I wear out the shirt, I will have the pin as proof that I went.

We walked around and explored the park a bit, I have already been there a few times but there are still places I haven't been like the Berm in the outfield. Right in front of the berm in Left field are the teams bullpens, pretty neat. We also found the starting lineups and Rob Lyerly got the start at 3rd and was also batting 3rd in the lineup.

At 5:45 was a home run derby competition, all the contestants hit home runs and Bradley Glenn of the Dunedin Blue Jays and Justin Bour of the Daytona Cubs advanced to the final round. Bradley Glenn is a righty batter and he was just hitting bombs out of the park, some of the longest home runs I have ever seen. He was being pitched to by one of the Phillies staff. Justin Bour was the only contestant that was pitched to by the TY manager Luis Sojo and he was a lefty batter, the wind was on his side as it was blowing out to left field so he was able to hit line drive after line drive home run and a few long home runs. Bradley Glenn hit first and hit 8 home runs(they got 10 outs) Justin Bour tied up Bradley with 2 outs and with just 1 out left, he pulled one and won the home run derby competition with 9 home runs. These two were the ones on the roster with the most home runs leading into the contest so it was fitting that they were to final contestants. Bour was awarded with a bat from the Yuengling company.

After the home run derby and about 15 minutes before the game started they had the paratroopers from SOCOM do a fly in, it was pretty cool, they had 3 paratroopers do the fly in, one had the SOCOM flag, one had the US flag and the last had the Florida Flag.

The game started at 7pm. The North division was the home team(the TY are in the North) and the South division was the visiting team. The South went down 1-2-3 in the first and in the bottom of the first with 2 outs, Rob Lyerly singled up the middle. He was driven home when AJ Jimenez of the Dunedin Blue Jays tripled and then made it home on an error by the center fielder. Jimenez just booked it and slid into home to beat the tag.

AJ Jimenez sliding into home on his triple and error

The North had a 2-0 lead going into the 5th inning, one of the South batters hit a ground ball to left and Lyerly didnt even get a glove on it so the batter was safe on first. Aaron Baker of the Bradenton Marauders then hit a home run over the rightfield fence to tie up the game. Aaron Baker won player of the game because he hit the game tying home run and walked twice even though the South lost.

Rob Lyerly only played until the 5th inning and was replaced by Matt Cerda of the Daytona Cubs, Rob went 2-2 with a single, double and run scored. He made a bad throw on a bunted ball but no damage was done thankfully. The North would go on to win 5-3 over the South. Trevor May of the Threshers got the win and Wes Etheridge of the Dunedin Blue Jays got the Save. Scott Moviel of the St. Lucie Mets got the loss after allowing the go ahead runs to score.

There were some exceptional plays in the game too. The Bradenton 2nd baseman snared a ball to his right  that was just hit extremely hard. Tony Plagman of Lakeland, not to be outdone, did the same thing at 1st base. Matt Cerda of Daytona dove to his right to stop a line drive ground ball, got up and fired to 1st for the out and Matt Den Dekker of the St. Lucie Mets made two great catches at the wall in center field. It was a pretty solidly fielded game but the pitching, especially for the North was exceptional. The Clearwater Threshers had 4 of their 5 starters in the game and all four pitched scoreless, hitless innings.

It was a beautiful night

The scariest/funniest part of the game was when Justin Bour was batting, he hit a foul ball of the end of his bat which hit Bradley Glenn who was in the on deck circle, poor guy added injury to insult as earlier in the day, Bour had beaten Glenn in the home run derby.

The in game entertainment was hands down amazing. The Phillies boast the Phillie Phanatic who was also at the game. During a pitching change it came on the dugout and did a dance competition with some members of the audience, during the 7th inning stretch when they were fixing the field, it came out on an ATV dressed as Lady Gaga and did a dance with the umps. The Threshers mascot and the Dunedin Blue Jays mascot were also there and provided a lot of funny moments.

I am most likely headed to Clearwater again on Monday as the TY and the Threshers are starting a 3 game series there, the final game will be played Wednesday at Tampa. Not sure if I will go on Tuesday as well but who knows. I am looking forward to Saturday night which is bark at the park, I am going to bring my dog because he did fine last time.