Minor League Spring Training Day One

So today was the first day of Minor League Spring Training(not sure why I capitalized that but it just seems really important) Got there in time to get a roster and see the first pitch. I sat and faced the Tampa team this time and hope to be able to see the Charleston team at least once before the end of spring training. The starter for Tampa was Nik Turley who I was happy to see since the last time I saw him, his pitching hand was in a cast after being hit by a comebacker. Around the diamond was Kyle Roller, Kelvin Castro, Carmen Angelini(ss) and Zach Wilson. Playing the outfield from right to left was Rob Segedin, Mason Williams and Ramon Flores. Catching was Gary Sanchez and Yeicok Calderon was the DH. Halfway through the games, the second string came out and I did not have the energy to write them all down. They looked pretty solid but since there isn't a working scoreboard and because I got up to see what was going on with the Charleston field behind me, I can't really tell you what the score was or how each individual player did.
Tomorrow I am hoping to go see Scranton and Trenton, if I don't make it out there tomorrow, I am planning on going next Saturday which I will be able to see Scranton and Trenton so I'm not worried.
Here is a picture from the game today and the roster from the day.

This is of course all very preliminary but its exciting that the minor league season is starting to come together.

2011 Season in Review

Since the new season is starting in just over a month, I have decided to do a by the numbers review of the 2011 season. Hopefully I will remember to start compiling my lists before the end of the season because it takes a ton of time to organize everything. I won't waste time getting into it so here is my 2011 season in review.

Total Baseball Games seen in 2011 - 86

Spring Training - 4
(Pirates, Orioles, Twins, Nationals)


MLB - 5
(Yankees @ Rays(2), Rays vs. Orioles, Rays vs. Reds, Rays vs. Marlins)


Non-Florida State League  - 5
(Jacksonville vs. Chattanooga, Charleston vs. Savannah(2) Savannah vs. Greenville(2)


Non-Tampa Yankees - 3
(Lakeland vs. Dunedin, Charlotte vs. Ft. Myers, Clearwater vs. Jupiter)


Tampa Yankee Games - 69
Tampa Yankees Home Games - 58
Tampa Yankees Away Games - 11
TY Wins - 32
TY Losses - 36
TY Ties - 1(vs. Clearwater)
Double Headers - 2
TY Walk-offs - 3
TY Starter win/lose - 38
TY Reliever win/lose - 30

TY Pitcher total starts(at games I attended)
Brett Marshall - 17
Sean Black - 9
Josh Romanski - 8
Jairo Heredia - 7
Jose Ramirez - 4
Jose Quintana - 4
Michael Solbach - 3
Mikey O'Brien - 3
Francisco Gil - 3
Scottie Allen - 3
Graham Stoneburner - 2
Kramer Sneed - 2
Jeff Marquez - 2
Nik Turley - 1
Rafael Soriano - 1

Prospects(according to the 2011 Baseball America Prospect Handbook)

Yankees - 8
 Brett Marshall
 Jose Ramirez
 Chase Whitley
 Slade Heathcott
 JR Murphy
 Graham Stoneburner
Melky Mesa
David Adams

Phillies - 9
Trevor May
Jiwan James
Jonathan Singleton
Tyson Gillies
Sebastian Valle
Brody Colvin
Jared Cosart
Jon Pettibone
Julio Rodruguez

Cubs - 4
Logan Watkins
Junior Lake
Jae-Hoon Ha
Dae Eun Rhee

Tigers - 5
Daniel Fields
Avisail Garcia
Gustavo Nunez
Wade Gaynor
Drew Smyly

Marlins - 2
Edgar Olmos
Kyle Skipworth

Brewers -4
Scooter Gennett
Kentrail Davis
Kyle Heckathorn
Hunter Morris

Twins - 4
Aaron Hicks
Alex Wimmers
Brian Dozier
Bruce Pugh

Mets - 6
Wilmer Flores
Matt Den Dekker
Jefry Marte
Aderlin Rodriquez
Darrell Cecillani
Blake Forsythe

Pittsburgh Pirates - 2
Robbie Grossman
Diego Moreno

St. Louis Cardinals - 1
Jordan Swegarty

TB Rays - 
Hak - Ju Lee
Ty Morrison
Alex Colome
Jake Thompson

Toronto - 4
Asher Wojciechowski
Drew Hutchison
Deck Mcguire
Henderson Alvarez


Well that's a pretty good by-the-numbers review of my 2011 season. It was a pretty exciting season and I am really hoping to see a few more wins in 2012. Not sure if I will make it to as many non-TY games as last year but only time will tell.

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.