Baseball playoff fever spiking in Chicago
Chicago Cub fans started gathering at the corner of Addison and Clark streets, the main entrance to Wrigley Field, hours before Wednesday's game against the Cincinnati Reds, as if a big family reunion were going on. In a lot of ways it was. Strangers, decked out in their Cubs hats and jerseys, sporting the numbers of their favorite Cubbies, shared a quick smile or a nod of the neck acknowledging Cub loyalty, instantly becoming BFFs, followed by the partisan verbal exchange of "Go Cubs."
It seems like forever since the Cubs claimed their last World Series crown. And while the excitement around Wrigley was at a feverish level in 2003 and last season, Cub fans are experiencing a higher playoff fever this season. And why shouldn't they? Their Cubs have the best record in the National League at 78-49, and are in first place, 5 1/2 games ahead of Milwaukee in the NL baseball Central League. In fact, playoff fever can be felt all around Chicago because the White Sox are in first place too, making an all Windy City World Series a distinct possibility for the first time in 102 seasons, the last time the two clubs were in the playoffs in the same season. Adam VanderArk, 35 of Grand Rapids, who happens to be a huge Cubs fan, isn't holding out for the all-Chicago series.
"Honestly, I hope it doesn't happen because I don't think the Cubs can beat the White Sox," VanderArk said, who was among the many waiting two hours before the gates opened Wednesday to watch his beloved Cubbies take on the struggling Cincinnati Reds. "It is an exciting prospect, though," VanderArk said. "I do believe this is the year the Cubs make it to the World Series because everything seems to all be going really, really well. Things were going well in 2003 and 2007, but I believe this will be the year."
Born with spina bifida, a wheelchair is the only way VanderArk can get around. But the Cubs fan since the age of 10 hasn't let that stop him from showing his support in person, traveling to Chicago once or twice a season.
"It's harder for me sometimes, but you make do with what you're given," VanderArk said.
Born and raised in Grand Rapids, VanderArk has never attended a Detroit Tigers game.
Kathy Madura, who has been a Cubs fan for 30 years, called the possibility of the Cubs and the White Sox meeting in the World Series exciting.
"I have close friends who are Sox fans and they let me know that in 2006 when they won the World Series," Madura said.
"These are the best odds (of reaching the World Series) I've seen since I've been a Cub fan."
The odds look good for both clubs to make the playoffs, and if they do, playoff fever in Chicago will reach a level we've never seen before.
2008 Michigan Live LLC.
Ernie Harwell:Travis Fryman manages to stay in baseball
One of my all-time favorite Tigers, Travis Fryman, is managing the Class A Mahoning Valley Scrappers of the New York-Penn League. The Scrappers are a farm club in the Cleveland Indians system and concentrate on developing prospects.
Fryman, 39, played 13 seasons in the majors, eight with the Tigers and five with the Indians. Cubs' signal packs a punch
Baseball broadcasting's most prestigious job is the TV gig with the Chicago Cubs. Being on powerful WGN is like being on a national network. Your team is always a warm, cuddly and lovable object of affection, and Cubs fans are all over the world. Key figure of this is Len Kasper, a native of Mt. Pleasant. His partner is former catcher Bob Brenly, who managed the Diamondbacks when they beat the Yankees in the 2001 World Series. Kasper, 27, is enjoying his fourth season with the National Baseball League Central-leading Cubs and should have this job for many years.
Tigers always a good read
Renewed interest in the Tigers the past three seasons has spawned several good books about the club's history. A unique one is "The Perfect Season" by Matthew Wentworth. Its intriguing subtitle is: "How the Detroit Tigers Go 162-0 and Sweep Their Way to a World Series Championship!"
Wentworth's concept will appeal to fans. He creates a perfect season of Tigers victories by picking their best game for each date from l08 years of baseball. He selects his favorite of all games among Games 1 through 162. Matt also provides an introduction from Tigers radio voice Dan Dickerson and gives his readers the box score of every game selected. Wentworth self-published the book, which is available in Detroit-area bookstores.
Lewis really puts on show
Hats off to Jerry Lewis, director of Tigers Fantasy Camps. For the fourth consecutive year, Major League Baseball honored Lewis by appointing him to direct this year's All-Star Fantasy Game. Staged at Yankee Stadium in the final season for the historic ballpark in the Bronx, the 2008 production was the grandest of all. Fifty former Yankees stars competed against 53 campers Wednesday, the day after the All-Star Game. All had attended the game, which ended at 1:37 a.m. Then, they reported to Yankee Stadium at 8:30 a.m., played until 3 p.m., and that evening enjoyed a banquet at the stadium.
freep.com
White Sox lose their grip on AL Central
The Chicago White Sox have had a stronghold on first place in the American Baseball League Central since May 17. But thanks to their recent struggles, particularly within their own division, they now share that lead with the Minnesota Twins.
Chicago lost three out of four last week to the Twins, who just received a shot in the arm with the return of Francisco Liriano. The White Sox followed that up by dropping two of three to the Kansas City Royals over the weekend, and in ugly fashion. Not only did the Sox surrender 38 hits in those latest two losses, they also appeared to suffer the worst of a bench-clearing brawl.
In the fifth inning of Sunday's eventual 14-3 loss to Kansas City, White Sox starter D.J. Carrasco threw up and in two straight times to Miguel Olivo, with the second pitch prompting Olivo to charge the mound. Catcher A.J. Pierzynski tried to subdue Olivo, but wound up getting clocked in the head. White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen was ejected, along with Carrasco. Two innings later, Royals starter Zack Greinke got ejected for an apparent retaliation, when he beaned Nick Swisher. A clearly perturbed Guillen, as to be expected these days, didn't mince words when asked how he felt about Carrasco being tossed without a warning.
"I wonder why (the umpire) thought we're going to hit the guy with the bases loaded, with a pitch in on the hands," he said. "I'm not going to bring in a guy who throws 85 mph to hit somebody. I will bring (Octavio) Dotel, I'll bring (Matt) Thornton. Then I will tell them to hit 'em. That's the way I do business. You have to have a little bit of common sense."
The Royals and White Sox have six more meetings this season. It will be interesting to see which is more important to Guillen and his players: revenge, or a pennant race.
WHAT TO EXPECT FROM JUNIOR
Now that Ken Griffey Jr. is on board, what exactly is Chicago getting other than 600-plus career home runs? For one, the opportunity to join a team with a shot at the World Series was particularly appealing to the sure-fire Hall of Famer, who waived his no-trade clause. That, and a return to center field have enticed the sweet-swinging lefty.
"We believe we're definitely going to have to hit more in the second half than we hit in the first half," general manager Ken Williams said. "(Instinctively), we feel he's going to give us at least what we were getting (in center field). Remember, we didn't have the prototypical guy out there in the first place. (Nick Swisher) did a heck of a job, and he'll continue to get some time out there. But he isn't the most prototypical guy that you can put out there, and you don't have to be if you have good baseball instincts."
Essentially, Griffey will replace Paul Konerko's lack of production in the lineup, while Swisher moves to first base. In his White Sox debut against the Royals on Friday, Griffey supplied immediate dividends with two hits, two RBI and a run scored, leading his new team to a 4-2 victory. He also made a nice diving catch in center field. But on Sunday, with the heat index at 113 degrees, Griffey was pulled in the sixth inning as he was experiencing cramping in his right leg. Griffey, who turns 39 in November, is in the final year of his nine-year, USD 116 million contract with Cincinnati, with a USD 16.5 million club option for next year. He is hitting .245 with 15 home runs and 53 RBI.
WHO'S HOT
Jim Thome (hitting .355 in 22 games) and Alexei Ramirez (batting .330 in 23 games) have carried the offense over the past month.
WHO'S NOT
All of a sudden the starting rotation has gone from team strength to weak link. Javier Vazquez was solid in Friday's win, but before that he hadn't given up fewer than three runs in a start since May 31. Staff ace Mark Buehrle got tagged for 14 hits on Saturday and lasted just 4 1/3 innings. Clayton Richard has given up 14 runs in his last two starts.
"If we're not pitching, I don't care how many Juniors we bring here. We have to pitch better," Guillen said.
A LOOK AHEAD
The White Sox are home for the first time since July 23 for a three-game set against the Detroit Tigers, with rock-solid Gavin Floyd (11-6, 3.43) hoping to anchor Chicago's starting rotation tonight against Nate Robertson (6-8, 6.06). John Danks (8-4, 3.31) will toe the rubber against Justin Verlander (8-11, 4.49) on Wednesday, while Vazquez (8-9, 4.66) and Zach Miner (5-4, 3.77) will square off on Thursday.
The White Sox then host the Boston Red Sox for a weekend series.
2008 The Sports Network. All Rights Reserved.
Local roundup: Central League baseball
Stoverstown 4, Mount Wolf 3: Kyle Wildasin did it all for Stoverstown, earning the win on the mound by fanning 11 Wolves and driving in the decisive run in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Wildasin smacked a bases-loaded single in the home team's final at-bat to beat Mount Wolf. Dusty Haigler helped Stoverstown get back into the contest by hitting a RBI double in the sixth.
Dan Weigle went 3-for-4 with two RBIs for the Wolves.
Pleasureville 8, Shiloh 5: Shiloh scored three runs in the top of the seventh on Korey Luciow's bases-loaded double, but the rally fell short and Pleasureville earned the win.
Matt Wagner was 3-for-3 with two RBIs for Pleasureville. Shiloh hurt its chances by committing six errors, leading to six unearned runs.
Dover 9, Southern 7: Dover's Seth Weber knocked in three runs, and teammate Dustin Kuhn went 3-for-5 at the plate, powering Dover past Southern.
Joe Trail belted a homer and cracked a double in a losing effort for Southern.
ydr.inyork.com
Twins go for ninth straight win, sweep at San Diego
The Minnesota Twins have emerged as baseball's hottest team as of late, and the scorching club is quickly closing the gap in the American League Central race. The Twins go in search of a ninth consecutive victory and a sweep of the host San Diego Padres in today's finale of a three-game interleague series from Petco Park. Minnesota's torrid play and a recent rough stretch by the Chicago White Sox have enabled the Twins to move within one half-game of the Pale Hose for first place in the AL Baseball Central League Division. Chicago held a 6 1/2-game advantage over Minnesota as recently as June 10.
The streak, the Twins' longest since an 11-game surge between June 22-July 3, 2006, was extended with Wednesday's 9-3 victory over the hapless Padres. Brendan Harris and Craig Monroe each clubbed two-run homers to lead the way, while Carlos Gomez had a two-RBI single among his three hits. Harris, who finished 1-for-4, has now hit safely in seven straight contests and is batting .417 (10-for-24) during his tear. Glen Perkins (4-2) allowed three early runs to the Padres but was sharp over the remainder of his five-inning stint to win his second consecutive start.
San Diego starter Greg Maddux (3-6) wasn't as effective, as the future Hall of Famer was lit up for seven runs (6 earned) and seven hits through 5 2//3 innings. Maddux has not recorded a win in any of his last nine starts, the second- longest drought of his brilliant 23-year career. The Padres have dropped four in a row and eight of their last nine, while falling to a major league-worst 3-11 in interleague games. In contrast, the Twins are a superb 11-3 against the National League so far this season. Minnesota will get its first look at Josh Banks, who's been a pleasant surprise for San Diego since being brought up from the minors, in this afternoon's finale. Banks has yielded only seven runs (6 earned) in a combined 33 1/3 innings over four starts and a pair of relief appearances following a late-May callup. The young right-hander has been especially tough at Petco Park, where Banks has given up just one run in 14 innings.
The 25-year-old, who was claimed off waivers from the Toronto organization in April, suffered his first loss of the year in a June 19 matchup at Yankee Stadium but pitched well in that game. Banks held New York to two runs and four hits over 5 1/3 innings. Scott Baker takes the mound for Minnesota this afternoon and has also been pitching well as of late. In four starts since returning from a month-long stint on the disabled list, the Oklahoma State product has posted a strong 2.63 earned run average despite having only a 1-2 record during that time. Baker ended a long winless stretch by limiting Arizona to one run and striking out seven over six innings in the Twins' 7-2 triumph over the Diamondbacks on Friday. He had lost his two previous starts but allowed just four runs in those games.
The 26-year-old has never faced San Diego during his career. Baker is 1-2 with a 4.60 ERA in five road starts in 2008. Minnesota has recorded victories in four of its five lifetime games at San Diego and is 5-3 lifetime against the Padres.
2008 The Sports Network. All Rights Reserved.
Triton, Central, Western Win In Summer League
Because the season is so short, starting fast is a key to making the playoffs in Central Carolina Summer Scholastic League baseball. Triton and Harnett Central, both playoff qualifiers last season, continued their torrid pace to start the 2008 season last night, posting a pair of convincing road wins. Triton downed Gray's Creek 11-0 in five innings, while Central handed Overhills a 10-2 loss. Playing at home in its season opener, Western Harnett also won last night, downing Carrboro 13-0 in five innings.
Fresh off pitching in the underclassmen version of the State Games over the weekend, Triton's Brandon Chance and Central's Stephen Hales both got wins on the mound. Western Harnett and Overhills play each other tonight at Western, while Triton and Central are back in action on Thursday, with Triton at Cape Fear and Central at Jack Britt.
Triton 11, Gray's Creek 0
The Hawks (2-0) saw Chance strike out nine while giving up two hits and two walks over four innings of shutout ball, and Kevin McLeod came on in the fifth and retired the side in order.
"Brandon did a great job on the mound, and I feel like anytime we get a good outing on the mound, we're going to have a chance to win," said Triton coach Joey Miriello. "I'm pleased with the way we've started, and I hope we can keep this momentum going."
Chance helped himself at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a double and three RBIs. Triton scored six runs in the first inning and extended its lead with two more in the second. Ethan Strickland had a double and two RBIs, Brian West had a double and an RBI and Nick Glover had an RBI hit.
Harnett Central 10, Overhills 2
Hales went five innings for Central (2-0), before Michael Griffin came on in relief and pitched the final two innings. Hales also helped himself at the plate with a pair of hits. Also with two hits for Central were Troy Weaver and Curtis Batten. For Overhills (0-1), Xian Santiago went 2-for-4 and Evan Plumley went 1-for-2 with a double and two walks.
Western Harnett 13, Carrboro 0
Robert Farrar was the winning pitcher for Western (1-0), throwing a complete game one-hitter in the five-inning win. Drew Street led a potent Western attack at the plate, going 2-for-3 with an RBI. Thomas Cruz added a two-RBI hit, and Aaron Byrd had a double and two RBIs.
Juniors
Kory Wood drove in the game-winning run to break a 9-all tie and Overhills defeated Harnett Central 10-9 in its first action of the season. Tyler Matthews went 2-for-3 for Overhills with two bunt singles, and Plumley, pulling double duty for the Jaguars as a member of both the junior and senior teams, went 1-for-2. For Baseball Central League, Johnathan Bayles and Hunter Baker each had two hits and Dalton Smith added a double.
2008 Record Publishing Co.
WILSON: Life in Galesburg's minor league baseball
There is evidence that Galesburg played in a professional baseball league during the late 1800s when baseball rules were only a skeleton of what they are today. In 1908, a team called the Galesburg Hornets joined the Hannibal Cannibals, Macomb Potters, Havana Perfectors, Canton Chinks and the Monmouth Browns in the newly formed Illinois-Missouri Professional Baseball League. The Galesburg team held their own financially, however finished 50-67 and in the league basement.
The Illinois-Missouri League added the Beardstown Infants and Pekin Celestials in 1909. Galesburg conducted a contest and changed its nickname to the Boosters. Attendance soared at the local stadium on Monmouth Boulevard with the addition of a pitcher by the name of Grover Cleveland Alexander. Neither the new nickname nor the future Hall of Fame pitcher helped much on the field as the Boosters finished 47-83 and were again situated in a position often occupied by the Chicago Cubs. The Monmouth Browns dominated the league with a 77-50 record. Both Monmouth and Galesburg bolted the Illinois-Missouri League during the 1910 season and joined Quincy, Ottumwa, Hannibal, Keokuk, Burlington and Kewanee in the Baseball Central Professional League. The Galesburg entry again changed its name and became the Pavers. The local team improved on the field, however gate receipts left a lot to be desired.
The 1912 baseball season seemingly went from bad to worse for the Galesburg Pavers. Not only did the team pile up injuries to key players, attendance dropped by the day. Following a series of games in Keokuk, several players started the trek back home via the K-Line Train No. 10. During a short stopover in Quincy, Paver players Mitchell, Dowling and McGee suffered a harrowing experience after departing for a lunch break. The trio was a bit late returning and when they strolled back to the platform the train was speeding away without them. The wayward players found it was one thing to be stranded in a strange town and even worse to collectively have only 95 cents in their possession. After borrowing money they arrived back in Galesburg a day late. Despite a multitude of attendance gimmicks the season attendance dropped below 20,000, less than half what was expected and needed.
Galesburg's manager, Ducky Eberts, was highly criticized for failing to pick up a cocky young pitcher who sent communications to each league team selling his wares. The young aspirant named Harvey Smoot hailed from Greenfield, Mo., and struck out 160 batters in just 12 games for his hometown team. He claimed to have struck out 20 more but the catcher couldn't hold him. Smoot reportedly could run like a deer and batted .663 and had never struck out. He guaranteed to hit one homer every third at bat. The bonus was that he didn't wear prongs on his shoes and would bring his own suit and personal catcher. He ended the letter by saying he heard that Galesburg lost a lot of players to the draft. He stated that would never happen to him because he never had a cold in his life.
Unfortunately when the Central League officers met at the conclusion of the 1912 season it was decided to give the boot to both Galesburg and Hannibal. Galesburg was awarded USD 500 for its players. Galesburg made a futile attempt to catch on with the Three-I League and for all intents and purposes local minor-league baseball was a thing of the past.
Copyright 2008 GateHouse Media, Inc.
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