North and south

This weekend, our baseball travels took us to Maine and Rhode Island. On Sunday, we were back at Hadlock Field to see the Portland Sea Dogs take on the New Britain Rock Cats. On Monday, we saw the Pawtucket Red Sox play International League rivals the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees.

Sunday's game was a rematch of the game we saw last weekend when we traveled to New Britain, Conn., and saw the Sea Dogs beat the Rock Cats Unfortunately, although it was -- as Ernie Banks would say, "a beautiful day for a ballgame'' -- the Sea Dogs didn't repeat their victory.

Kris Johnson was the starter for the Sea Dogs and ended up being the tough-luck loser. He pitched pretty well into the sixth inning, but thanks to a hit that dropped into no-man's land just behind second base but not quite into center field, the Rock Cats went up 2-0 and never looked back. The real damage was done by reliever Carlos Vazquez, who, despite being in for little more than an inning, gave up four runs. As Dennis Eckersley would say, "That's history, pal." The bright spots of the game were Iggy Suarez breaking up the shutout and Aaron Bates' home run. Read the recap here.

But no matter how the game goes, there are always wacky antics with Slugger to keep things fun. And the Sea Dogs avenged their loss on Monday, taking the Memorial Day matchup against the Rock Cats 15-11. A 10-run fifth inning did the job. Check out that game recap here.

The Boston Red Sox minor league affiliate to the south also came out on top of a slugfest on Monday. The Pawtucket Red Sox beat the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, the Triple-A affiliate of you-know-who, 11-5. Knuckleballer Charlie Zink (a former Sea Dog whom we met at last year's Double-A All-Star Game in Norwich, Conn.) got the win today after going eight innings and giving up three earned runs. Check out the game recap here.

It seemed like everyone in the Paw Sox lineup hit a home run during this game, but in actuality, five players went deep: Jonathan Van Every, George Kottaras, Keith Ginter, Gil Velasquez and Jeff Bailey, who hit two. We go way back with Bailey, who spent parts of three seasons with the Sea Dogs -- first in 2001 when the 'Dogs were still affiliated with the Florida Marlins, and again during portions of the 2004 and 2005 seasons before he was promoted to the Paw Sox. (In the interim, Bailey spent most of his time with the Harrisburg Senators, who were then the Double-A affiliate of the Montreal Expos.) Bailey did a brief stint with the Boston Red Sox last year (where he clubbed a home run for his first major-league hit), playing in three games in July around the time both Jacoby Ellsbury and David Murphy were also briefly called up.

Speaking of call-ups coming to an end, in addition to Van Every being back with the Paw Sox, Brandon Moss was also back in action today in Pawtucket after being on the DL with an appendectomy. The bout of appendicitis hit while Moss was with the Boston Red Sox, and ended up creating a spot for Van Every to move up.

It's always great to see any version of the Red Sox beat the Yankees (especially in Rhode Island where New York Yankees fans are far too plentiful), and the weather for today's game was as beautiful as Sunday's. We were fortunate to hear a beautiful a cappella version of "God Bless America" by a vocal ensemble from West Bridgewater (Mass.) High School. The teens were as good (if not better) than plenty of singers we've heard at ballgames anywhere.

On a sad note, we learned today that former Paw Sox and Red Sox pitcher Jeremi Gonzalez was killed this weekend when he was struck by lightning in Venezuela. Gonzalez, 33, spent time with both teams during the 2005 season. We saw Jeremi (news reports have his name spelled "Geremi" because his real name was "Geremis," but he went by "Jeremi" in the Red Sox system) pitch for the Paw Sox back then, and were happy when he had the opportunity to pitch in the majors. After becoming a free agent at the end of that season, Gonzalez went on to pitch in the New York Mets system and was eventually traded to the Milwaukee Brewers and wound up in the Toronto Blue Jays system where he pitched for the Syracuse Sky Chiefs in the International League. After being released by the Blue Jays, he pitched for the Yomiuri Giants last year. Gonzalez -- whose best season was 1997 when he won 11 games for the Chicago Cubs -- was back in his home country of Venezuela, presumably out of MLB-affiliated baseball, when he was killed.

We didn't meet Gonzalez, but he always handled himself well on the mound with Pawtucket and Boston. He must have been a nice guy because even Lou Piniella, his manager with the Cubs, had nice things to say about him upon learning of his death. Read the full article here.

Goodbye, Jeremi. We got tickets.

Pride roars back for another season

On Thursday night we headed to New Hampshire for opening night of the 2008 season of the defending Can-Am champion Nashua Pride. It was still unseasonably cool at historic Holman Stadium, but it was a fun evening, especially since rain showers in the area ended just in time for the pre-game ring ceremony.

This first game of the season also featured the first giveaway: a dust pan and broom in honor of the Pride's sweeping of the North Shore Spirit for the 2007 Can-Am title. A cute idea!

We were glad to see a decent crowd turn out for the game. We like to see independent teams do well and would not want to the Pride go the way of the afore-mentioned North Shore Spirit. That team folded after last season, despite making it to the league championship series.

The Can-Am league (which the Pride joined two years ago after having been in the Atlantic League for several seasons) exists in an interesting alt-baseball world. There are a lot of good players who have been overlooked by MLB teams and it's great to see them get a chance to play. Every year some players from the Can-Am league as well as other independent leagues wind up getting signed by major league organizations. In fact, two Pride players from last season, shortstop Olmo Rosario and pitcher Steve Palazzolo, were signed by the Giants and assigned to the Double-A Connecticut Defenders, a favorite DITR team.

As far as last night's Pride game goes, "we" won in the tenth inning over the Brockton Rox, 8-7. Catcher Luis Rodriguez delivered the two-out, game-winning hit.

Entertainment during the game was provided by Krazy George, a professional cheerleader who certainly lives up to his nickname. He is reportedly the originator of "the wave" and knows how to work a crowd.

The Pride and the city of Nashua are justly proud of the role they played in the integration of modern baseball. In 1946, while Jackie Robinson played in Montreal, Roy Campanella and Don Newcombe of the Nashua Dodgers were the first African-American players on an organized team in the United States, playing their home games at historic Holman Stadium.

In the photo above you can see the retired numbers of Newk (36) and Campy (39) alongside the number 42 of their future Brooklyn Dodgers teammate.

So, you get to take in a bit of history with your baseball. A great time!

Rockin' with the Rock Cats

With all the excitement this week -- former Portland Sea Dog and Paw Sox Jon Lester pitched a no-hitter for the Boston Red Sox, Sea Dog Justin Masterson got his second temporary call-up and delivered his second fabulous start for the Red Sox and former Sox minor-leaguer and DITR fave David Murphy won Rookie of the Month for April -- we haven't had a chance to recount this past weekend's minor league baseball journey.

We went to Connecticut to see the Portland Sea Dogs face the New Britain Rock Cats, the Double-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. And it was our annual chance to see mascot extraordinaire Birdzerk in action.

The Rock Cats play at New Britain Stadium, and have a rich history in both that community and in baseball in general. Before they were the Rock Cats, they were the New Britain Red Sox, which was the Double-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox during a stretch of the '80s and '90s.

We saw Michael Bowden, shown at right during the game, a top pitching prospect in the Red Sox system, start against the Rock Cats. Daniel Bard, another hot prospect, made his Double-A debut who hasn't allowed a run in 15 of the 16 innings he's pitched between Portland and the Greenville Drive, and we also had a chance to see Kyle Jackson (a New Hampshire native whom we also met at the Red Sox rookies event at Fenway in January 2007 that also included Jacoby Ellsbury, Clay Buchholz and David Murphy) pitch a scoreless inning. The pitching potpourri continued with Daniel Haigwood (who ultimately got the win) and Beau Vaughan (another DITR fave) got the save, his fourth of the season. It took three hours and 51 minutes (the longest nine-inning game in Sea Dogs history), but in the end, the Sea Dogs won, 7-6.

As much as we were rooting for the Sea Dogs, we really do enjoy the Rock Cats. Their ballpark is terrific from the layout and parking to the fan amenities. There's great food, an expanded souvenir shop (J scored a great Joe Mauer -- former Rock Cat and current Twin --bobblehead) Lucky leads the on-field promotions and the mascots are great -- there are five! Rocky is the main mascot, and he's almost as good at the job as the Slugger the Sea Dog. In this photo at left, he's giving J the business for showing up at a Rock Cats game wearing Sea Dogs fanwear.

Also wandering the stands and concourse to mingle with fans are Sandy the lion, Blooper the walrus, Toner (an earlier take on a rock cat) and Peanuts the elephant. How can you beat having five mascots?

Typically, we'd say you can't. But this Sunday, Birdzerk was in the house. He's professional mascot who travels to ballparks around the country, bringing his special brand of wacky antics to minor-league audiences. He does a lot of dates in the Midwest, but typically only makes it to New England once a season. We first saw him at Blair County Stadium in Pennsylvania, the home of the Altoona Curve (the Double-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates) in 2005, and he totally cracked us up. For the last few seasons, we've been fortunate to see him in New Britain. We don't want to say too much about what he does because we don't want to spoil it if you have the chance to see him (check out Birdzerk's schedule) for yourself. But trust us, you'll laugh really hard and be very surprised at some of his bits.

Tomorrow night, we head to Nashua, N.H., for the Nashua Pride's opening night of the 2008 season. This team has had a variety of incarnations, including as a minor-league affiliate of the Dodgers, Angels and Pirates, but it's best known as being one of the first teams anywhere in baseball to be integrated. While Jackie Robinson was in Montreal, Don Newcombe and Roy Campanella were playing in Nashua, a city (despite being almost exclusively caucasian at that time) that embraced them. These days, the Pride is an independent team. Two seasons ago, the team left the Atlantic League in favor of the Can-Am League. Being an unaffiliated team can be a tough road, and the Pride at times battle to draw a crowd. But Historic Holman Stadium is a great little park that has been upgraded in recent years in terms of both the physical condition and also the fan amenities. Seeing a Pride game really is a good time, and the tickets are very reasonably priced and usually easy to get. We highly recommend it.

No-hitter fun facts

In honor of Jon Lester's amazing no-hitter last night, DITR wants to share some fun facts about the Red Sox and no-hitters.

• A former Portland Sea Dog has thrown a no-hitter in the majors during each of the last three seasons: Anibal Sanchez for the Florida Marlins in 2006, Clay Buchholz for the Boston Red Sox in 2007 and Jon Lester, also for the Red Sox, in 2008.


• In each of those, a former Sea Dog made a key defensive play to save the no-hitter: Hanley Ramirez for Sanchez, Dustin Pedroia for Buchholz and Jacoby Ellsbury (shown above during the play in question) for Lester.


• Catcher Jason Varitek (who briefly played for the Pawtucket Red Sox right after the Boston Red Sox acquired him, with pitcher Derek Lowe, from the Seattle Mariners) has caught four no-hitters, the most of any major league catcher in history. One of them was Lowe's no-hitter in 2002.


• Charles Johnson caught three no-hitters during his career. Johnson played for the Sea Dogs back when they were affiliated with the Marlins, and was the first member of the team to ever make it to the majors.


• Lester's no-hitter was the first for a Red Sox lefty since Mel Parnell (who is also a lymphoma survivor) hurled one in 1956.


• Lester and Buchholz's no-hitters are the first for the same team without one in between by any other team since Nolan Ryan did it himself (one in the '74 season and the other in '75) for the California Angels. Ryan, BTW, is the only other pitcher to ever no-hit the Kansas City Royals.

Speaking of dreams: Lester throws a no-hitter

Jon Lester, former Sea Dog and Paw Sox pitcher, threw a no-hitter at Fenway Park tonight against the Kansas City Royals. It's the first no-hitter for the Boston Red Sox since Sept. 1, 2007 when Clay Buchholz -- another former member of the Sea Dogs and Paw Sox -- threw his own no-no.

And who made the catch of the night to save Lester's no-hitter? Jacoby Ellsbury. Check out Jimmy Golen's story for the Associated Press here. At right, check out the AP photo of Lester in action.

Yes, it was a night to remember as fans of these players going back to their days when they were just starting their professional baseball careers. Some players do their thing, you enjoy the show and that's it. Since we first saw him pitch in Double-A with the Sea Dogs, Lester has always come across as a quiet, classy guy whose earnest, innocent love of baseball was evident, even from the stands. When he got the call from the Red Sox in 2006, we were thrilled. When we got the word later that season that he had cancer, we were saddened.

That Lester beat cancer and made it back to pitch in the majors is something of a miracle. That he helped the Sox clinch the World Series last year in his first season back after cancer is a story that was like watching a TV movie with a happy ending too good to be true. That he could surpass that to become the first lefty to pitch a no-hitter at Fenway since 1956 seems almost unimaginable.

Lester started this season out a little shaky, with some high pitch counts and a lot of walks. But despite that, the difference in how he looked from the start of this season seemed to signal that something about Lester as a pitcher is different, too. He's looked bigger, stronger, a little more Lester than he was last year when he was still rebuilding his body and his pitching after finishing his cancer treatments. Watching him pitch this season, he's looked as strong and healthy as any young talented lefty and it's been a joy to see him perform so well that we can forget he ever battled a life-threatening disease.

Tonight, Lester seemed to take his final step away from that shadow. Last season, when he helped the Sox win the World Series, it was a miracle comeback from illness. Tonight, Lester was seemed to take his final step away from the shadow of cancer, a young talent throwing his way into the record books on great pitching and good fielding -- a miracle unto itself.

It's (Van) Every player's dream

Jonathan Van Every got the call today he may have thought would never come. Van Every, 28, and in his eighth season in the minors, was called up to the majors.

Van Every, centerfielder for the Paw Sox, was needed by the Boston Red Sox for today's game against the Baltimore Orioles because of J.D. Drew's sprained wrist and Coco Crisp's combination of a migraine and upset stomach. Van Every went 1 for 3 today with a single against the Orioles at Camden Yards. Spare yourself reading the box score because the Sox lost, and instead check out the Red Sox.com story on Van Every's call-up.

Van Every was drafted in 2000 by the Cleveland Indians, and until this year, had been in the Indians minor-league system the entire time. The Red Sox organization signed him as a minor-league free agent in December 2007 and assigned him to the Paw Sox over the winter.

Although he'd previously spent his entire career with the Indians organization, Van Every had already made a name for himself around here. Between stints with the Buffalo Bisons in Triple-A and the Akron Aeros in Double-A, Van Every played against every Red Sox minor-league position player now on the big club: Kevin Youkilis, Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury, Kevin Cash. He also likely faced pitchers Jonathan Papelbon, Jon Lester, Manny Delcarmen, Clay Buchholz and Craig Hansen in his eight years on teams that opposed the Lowell Spinners, Portland Sea Dogs and Pawtucket Red Sox.

It was during his seasons with the Akron Aeros that we first saw Van Every in action. While his high level of play made him a standout in regular games against the Sea Dogs, Van Every put himself on our map -- and likely many others -- in the Double-A All-Star Game in 2005.

The game was held in Portland, Maine on July 13 and pitted the cream of the crop from the Northern Division of the Eastern League against the top players from the Southern Division. As fans of the Sea Dogs and with seven 'Dogs selected for the All-Star team, we were firmly in the camp of the Northern Division. But that didn't stop us from being impressed when Van Every sent not one, but two home runs flying over the fences at Hadlock Field for the Southern Division.

Were it not for some shaky pitching by Van Every's teammate Chris Cooper, the Southern Division would probably have won the game and Van Every would have most likely been the MVP. Instead, MVP honors went to the New Britain Rock Cats' Danny Matienzo for a good, but less spectacular performance than Van Every's.

(BTW, check out some of the people who played in that game: Hanley Ramirez, now with the Florida Marlins; Tom Gorzelanny of the Pittsburgh Pirates; Dan Ortmeier of the San Francisco Giants; Shelley Duncan, who regularly goes back and forth between the New York and the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees; and Brandon Moss, more often on the Paw Sox but technically still with the Boston Red Sox, although sidelined after an appendectomy.)

In December, we heard that Van Every had been signed by the Sox (on the recommendation of Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell, who was also formerly in the Indians system). We were excited that this player was finally on our side.

Van Every signed his deal with the Red Sox in time to be one of the top prospects invited to greet fans at the Paw Sox annual Hot Stove Party on Jan. 19 at McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket, R.I. We never miss this event, and were particularly looking forward to meeting Van Every.

The experience didn't disappoint: When we got up to the table where Van Every was signing autographs (shown here alongside Justin Masterson and Paw Sox skipper Ron "R.J." Johnson), J had the chance to tell Van Every that we'd seen him hit those two home runs. "Oh, finally, somebody knows me," Van Every quipped with a smile, adding, "I could have been MVP if my teammate hadn't blown the lead."

He didn't need to tell us twice.

Masterson on the mound

We were back at Hadlock Field today to see the Portland Sea Dogs take on the Bowie BaySox, the Double-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. Justin Masterson was on the mound in his second start for the Sea Dogs since returning from a terrific major-league debut with the Boston Red Sox.

But as he did during his first start back in Double-A, Masterson (on the mound in the photo at right) struggled today, as did the rest of the Sea Dogs. By the middle of the third inning, the 'Dogs had notched three Es and the BaySox had rung up five runs without any answer from the Sea Dogs. Would you believe us if we told you the Sea Dogs won that game? Had we not been there to see it in person, we probably wouldn't have believed that with some doubles and a bunch of walks courtesy of bad Bowie pitching, the Sea Dogs would come back for a 7-5 victory. Check out the game recap for the full breakdown, but to cut to the chase, Masterson made it as far as two-thirds of the way through the fifth inning, reliever Chad Rhoades got the win and Hunter Jones got the save. When it was all over, we were relieved to see the lighthouse. (If you haven't been to Hadlock Field, when a Sea Dog hits a home run or the team wins a game, a lighthouse comes up from behind the center field wall and lights up and spins around. Sometimes, there are even pyrotechnics to go with.)

Before the game, we hit the concourse for an autograph session with outfielder Bubba Bell (check out his stats). We were excited to see that Bubba was the player doing autographs today because we've enjoyed seeing him play with the Sea Dogs and the Lowell Spinners, and because he's got a great reputation as being a fan favorite wherever he's played. Bell -- who isn't listed on the Sea Dogs' Web site as on the DL but was wearing a walking cast today -- was very friendly and willing to spend some time talking to fans, not to mention pose for a photo.

In other minor league news, we were excited to see Jed Lowrie hit his first major-league home run tonight in Minnesota against the Twins. Jed, who was called up to the PawSox during last season, has been making the most of his short-term call-up to the Red Sox this month with some clutch hitting and great fielding. Lowrie, who is usually a shortstop but has played all over the infield lately, has been so good that it's made the highly paid Julio Lugo's poor fielding and so-so offense even more embarrassing. With Lugo now out with a concussion (they say it was a knee to the head sliding into second that did the damage, but we can't help but wonder if it was the work of an angry teammate or two after Lugo cost them the game the other night), we hope that Jed's time in the majors is extended further. P.S. Jed said in a post-game interview that former Sea Dog Josh Beckett was the one who got his home run ball back from a fan by trading a ball he'd autographed for the Lowrie ball.

Speaking of call-ups, Craig Hansen also got the call from the Red Sox this week. (This brings the number of "shirts" posted at Hadlock Field in honor of Sea Dogs who are with the Red Sox up to 11; Beckett is the only player in the group we haven't seen play with the Sea Dogs together, although J saw him there in 2001.) Hansen has been with the Paw Sox since 2006, and we were starting to wonder if he was going to top-out at Triple-A. After a hot start with the Sea Dogs in 2005 led to an appearance with the Red Sox that season, Hansen seemed to have trouble recapturing what had made him a stand-out at age 21. He's always had a fastball in the 90s, but lacked other pitches and the control to fool batters with more experience than Double-A. Hanson had surgery for sleep apnea during the off-season this year, and apparently, the predictions that it was going to make a big difference for him this season are coming true.

And one of our favorites, Brandon Moss, is out for at least a few weeks after an emergency appendectomy this week. We're bummed out about that - Moss was also up with the Red Sox temporarily and was doing great. (DITR has often speculated that if Moss was in a different team's system that he'd be playing every day in the majors.) We hope he's back on his feet soon and he gets a little more time with the Sox before they send him back to Pawtucket.

Wash out

Bad weather and even worse scheduling threw us a curveball this weekend. Our usual local teams were on the road and our backup plan -- UMass Lowell baseball -- was foiled by Mother Nature delivering us rain and temperatures more like November than May.

We're fortunate to live within (what we consider)reasonable driving distance of several minor-league teams: the Portland Sea Dogs, Pawtucket Red Sox, New Hampshire Fisher Cats and Connecticut Defenders. However, in the rare instance when they're all out of town, we look to alternate sources for baseball. Right now, it's the end of the college baseball season and later this month, the Can-Am League gets started (and the Nashua Pride and Worcester Tornadoes are a long toss away).

This weekend, however, the weather had other plans for us, and the UMass Lowell River Hawks weren't able to play today as scheduled. We enjoy seeing the River Hawks not just because of the good quality of play, but also because they play in LeLacheur Park, home of the Lowell Spinners of the New York Penn League. The Spinners (who also haven't started their season yet) can be a tough ticket, so going to a River Hawks game is a great chance to enjoy the park -- and admission is free.

So we had to settle for baseball on TV. We revved up the HDTV and enjoyed some widescreen, high-definition Chicago Cubs vs. St. Louis Cardinals on the FOX Game of the Week and the Red Sox vs. the Tampa Bay Rays. Ironically, the Red Sox were the only team in town this weekend, and even tickets to see the Rays are virtually impossible to come by. But you know what? We just as happy to be warm and dry and watching at home than in the drizzle and 40s at Fenway!