Opening Day, Podcast Premiere & Your Tweets
THE DAY HAS ARRIVED
Thursday marks Opening Day at Parkview Field as the TinCaps will host the Lake County Captains, the Midwest League affiliate of the Cleveland Indians. Fort Wayne will send Dominican southpaw Frank Garces to the hill to throw the team’s first pitch of the year. This will be the first true game action on U.S. soil for Garces, who has only pitched in the Dominican Summer League in 2009 and 2011. He was originally signed by the Rangers in 2009, and then the Padres snatched up Garces as a minor league free agent in May of last year.
Frank Garces
His strikeout numbers in DSL play were pretty impressive. In 71 2/3 innings last year, he struck out 115 batters and walked only 20. That’s a ratio of better than 4:1. Put it this way: In 71 2/3 innings, there are 215 outs to be recorded. So that means he struck out nearly 54% of the batters he faced. That said, it’s a big jump from the DSL to the Midwest League, so we’ve got to keep all of those numbers in perspective. Garces will throw a fastball, changeup, and as I’ve heard from a few people, an impressive curveball. I’m excited to see it in person.
THE TINCAPS REPORT PODCAST
As promised, here is the revival of the TinCaps Report Podcast. Since 2012 is All About You, I figured there was no better way to start off than with a podcast from the seats. Wednesday was Meet The Team day, which featured an open practice and an autograph signing afterward. So as the team took infield and batting practice, I went out to talk to some of the great fans that were out on Opening Day Eve:
If you’ve got any suggestions or guests you’d like to hear on the podcast, please let me know!
Here are a few of my (definitely not professional) photographs from the autograph session:
Just a segment of the fans lined up to get an autograph from TinCaps pitching coach Willie Blair.
From right to left are Donavan Tate (1), Manager Jose Valentin, Cody Hebner (2) and Adys Portillo.
TWEETS OF THE DAY
Can't wait for @TinCaps opening day!!! :D
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Kristin Mazur (@KMazurWFFT) April 04, 2012@TinCaps Met the team tonight! Can't wait for Opening Day tomorrow!!
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Brandi Brooks (@soreilia) April 05, 2012Got my tickets for the @TinCaps home opener tomorrow! Who's going?
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Chelsea Pulfer (@chelsea_pulfer) April 04, 2012Tincaps starts tomorrow which means summer is right around the corner #motivation
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Heather Thelen (@HMT_Heather) April 04, 2012It’s going to be a great crowd for Opening Day, and if you’re not in the ballpark for the game I hope you can tune into one of our broadcasts. The game is on ESPN Radio 1380 in Fort Wayne, streamed online at ESPNFortWayne.com and on Channel 81 on Xfinity.
MUSICAL GUEST
Despite their odd rendition of the National Anthem at the NCAA basketball championship game on Monday, I still have love for The Fray. With a track off of their latest album, Scars and Stories, from Denver, Colorado, please welcome…The Fray!
If you’d like to get in touch, you can reach me at Couzens@TinCaps.com or on Twitter @MikeCouzens.
