Results tagged ‘ donavan tate ’
On the Road, From the Top, Where Does Email Go?
HITTING THE ROAD
Today the TinCaps travel approximately two hours north on Interstate 69 to take on the Lansing Lugnuts at Cooley Law School Stadium.
The Lugnuts are red hot and have the league’s best record through 39 games. Not surprisingly, they’ve got the best team ERA in the league, showing that pitching will win you games in this league. That is a promising item for the TinCaps, though, as they have the fourth best ERA in the Midwest League and the second in the Eastern Division behind Lansing.
In Tuesday’s win, Donavan Tate returned to the lineup for the first time since April 28. Tate batted leadoff and was the designated hitter for the TinCaps, going 2-4, scoring two runs and picking up an RBI. Fort Wayne has relied on that leadoff spot to be one of its most productive positions this year, and it was almost exclusively occupied by Jace Peterson until his recent injury. Kyung-Min Na had filled in at the top of the card the last four games, but was 0-14 in four games as the leadoff man. Peterson led the league in runs scored and stolen bases before his injury, and so if Tate can match some of Peterson’s production, that will be a big boost for the TinCaps.
Fort Wayne has now won three out of its last four, and four of the last seven. The TinCaps offense has showed great signs of life, especially with the two eighth-inning home runs on Monday afternoon. Clark Murphy and Casey McElroy each hit solo homers as the TinCaps turned a 4-3 deficit into an eventual 6-5 victory.
First pitch tonight is at 7:05 and I hope you can join me from Michigan’s capital city beginning at 6:45 for pregame coverage on 1380 ESPN and ESPNFortWayne.com.
In today’s TinCaps Report Podcast, hear from Manager Jose Valentin as he gives his thoughts on how his team coalesced on the homestand and the return of Donavan Tate to the lineup:
Lip Sweaters, Life Begins at 40, WinCaps
The first two games between the Bees and the TinCaps have been extremely enjoyable to watch. The games have featured strong pitching, timely offense and well-played defense. In Thursday night’s game, it was the offense that broke out early with both teams scoring two runs in their respective halves of the first inning. For Fort Wayne, it was Travis Whitmore hitting a two-run shot over the wall in right, which as he said after the game, carried up into the “jetstream”. The wind was blowing out to right, but he got enough on it that it would’ve been gone either way.
Fort Wayne’s Frank Garces pitched five innings and struck out seven, vaulting himself into the lead for strikeouts within the Padres player development system. The bullpen was as good as it’s been all year as Johnny Barbato, newcomer Daniel Cropper and Matt Stites worked four innings without giving up a hit or a walk. Cropper pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning for his first win.
In today’s TinCaps Report Podcast, hear the highlights from last night’s game, including post-game reaction from Whitmore, Donavan Tate and Manager Jose Valentin:
Bizzaro world 2011
I’m not saying this to pile on, but the TinCaps were a disaster coming into yesterday. They’d been swept in three games at home by Lake County. The bullpen was in shambles with the starting pitchers not getting through four innings in back-to-back games, then having a 13-inning game where they blew a 6-1 lead (with five errors in the late innings) and had to bring a position player (Tyler Stubblefield) in to pitch near the end. The bullpen had been working two men short in the first place (thanks to a six-man starting rotation and the promotion of Andrew Werner). One of their best hitters (Jake Blackwood) was promoted yesterday. Their projected starting pitcher (Noah Mull) came down sick and couldn’t pitch (Matt Jackson filled in – he was on five days’ rest and even HE was sick). To top it off, two guys forgot their jerseys in Fort Wayne (no shirts-and-skins action for you sickos out there; they just wore different numbers). There was no realistic reason to expect anything to improve on Monday, especially after an error allowed Lake County to take an early lead and Jackson got smoked in the ankle by a smash back to the mound.
But then, something crazy happened: Jackson stayed in, fought through the sore ankle and gave the team six strong innings. The Captains walked nine and made four errors and the TinCaps got a few big hits to blow it open, 10-1.
Uh, what?
Lesson: Don’t ever, under any circumstances, try to predict baseball. Ever. For any reason. Whatsoever.
Random thoughts:
- Former TinCaps LHP Josh Spence is getting the pub from back home in Australia after making his MLB debut.
- Hey, remember the 2009 TinCaps? They’re still annihilating the Double-A Texas League. It’s been three months worth of The Ultimate Warrior freaking out and beating up everyone. NINE league all-stars. Also in that article: INF Cory Spangenberg (10th overall pick in this year’s draft) and Donavan Tate could soon be headed here.
- The Dodgers filed for bankruptcy and, in doing so, revealed Vin Scully’s salary. I don’t really see what the big deal is; Scully could name his price but clearly hasn’t abused that fact. Unlike his team’s owner, who has abused just about every privilege of owning a team. Sell to Mark Cuban and get it over with.
- Tigers pitcher Al Albuquerque: He’s good. When he was in the Cubs organization and I was in Daytona, we couldn’t wait to get him promoted to our team just because we wanted to say “Al Albuquerque” on a semi-nightly basis. Never happened. One of the great disappointments of my career so far.
- Since we’re at Lake County, I got to come home to my parents’ house last night. Our black lab had paw surgery and he’s the most pathetic thing I’ve ever seen. They made him wear a plastic cone on his head so he won’t chew the bandage off the paw. Well, he doesn’t quite have the maneuverability thing down with the cone. He runs into EVERYTHING when he tries to move around. Last night he went into the bathroom and accidentally shut the door on himself when he was trying to get out, then didn’t understand that he had to back up to give me room to open the door and let him out. He is completely miserable, San Diego.
- I also got to sit outside on the porch last night and just relax. Beautiful weather, it was quiet… it was delightful.
Good news, bad news
So I’ll get the bad news out of the way first… Remember when we thought Everett Williams and Donavan Tate had no major structural damage to their knees after their collision? Well, maybe not. According to the Union-Tribune, Williams tore his ACL and is done for the year, Tate has a deep knee bruise and they’re hoping for a June 1 return. And former TinCaps SS Drew Cumberland has been diagnosed with vertigo, which is pretty serious.
But step down from the ledge long enough to read this… Former TinCaps OF Daniel Robertson hit for the cycle. The day before, he’d been ejected for arguing with an umpire. The day of the cycle, he was a late addition to the lineup. Crazy game. And another tale from the 2009 TinCaps No-Mercy Reunion Tour 2011.
Random thoughts:
- Also in San Antonio, James Darnell is killing it. The Padres have a lot of good third basemen in their system. And Blake Tekotte had a single off Rangers RHP Neftali Feliz, who was rehabbing with Frisco.
- Also in the “good news” category, hey… we got bin Laden, right? And millions of Hulkamaniacs around the world celebrated.
- Former Braves LHP John Rocker is going to write a book? And check out the picture in that article… is that not the scene from “Eastbound and Down” where Kenny Powers has his showdown with Daryl from “The Office” at Ashley Shaffer BMW?
- “Succeeding is tough.” – Matt Stairs, Washington Nationals pinch hitter/philosopher.
- “Power hitters are born.” – Mark McGwire. Ironic, eh?
- A’s OF Josh Willingham is doing a good thing for the Southeast.
- I mentioned a couple of weeks back that “Limitless” was a pretty good movie. Well, “The Lincoln Lawyer” was EXCELLENT. Good story, good acting. And country music star Trace Adkins plays the leader of a motorcycle gang, so bonus points for that. Not that I’ve seen a lot of movies this year, but Lincoln Lawyer is the best I’ve seen.
Musical guest… Jack Johnson!
Take care!
DW
Collision course
So Tuesday during the doubleheader against Bowling Green, we had the train wreck of the millennium (six games into the season, no less) when the following occurred (or you can just watch the video yourself):
Fly ball to left-center. CF Donavan Tate and LF Everett Williams converge. It looks like nobody makes the call. Tate makes the catch, Williams tries to duck out of the way at the last moment, they collide, limbs go flying. After a few seconds, the ball comes trickling out of Tate’s glove. Umpire says it’s a dropped catch, the batter is not out, the hitter races all the way around to score. Manager Shawn Wooten comes out, argues the call, gets ejected. Walks the rest of the way out to left-center where he finds Williams and Tate crumpled on the ground being attended to by both teams’ trainers. I’m sticking with my original description as “the worst-case scenario in all aspects.”
Well, not quite. From what is listed here and from what I can share, tests showed no structural damage for either guy. Tate went on the DL Wednesday with a hyperextended left knee. Williams is day-to-day with some tightness/soreness in his right knee. All things considered, as bad as it looked, neither guy was horribly injured. My cell phone, however, is irreparably damaged by all the text messages I received that afternoon.
Random thoughts (all based on the small sample size of 7 games):
- RHP Keyvius Sampson has now thrown 11 scoreless innings (19 strikeouts, 1 walk) this season. He retired 20 straight hitters to open the season. Fastball in the low-to-mid 90s, arm speed consistent on fastball-curveball-changeup. I talked to a scout before the game tonight who said “the secret’s out” that Sampson is really good.
- I’m pretty fired up to see Zach Cates throw again on Thursday. Liked him the first time I saw him. Good fastball, better secondary stuff than I expected.
- RHP Yefri Carvajal has looked fine so far in his transition to the mound. Fastball looks legit, command is good enough. And he still likes swinging the bat, hitting fungoes to infielders during batting practice.
- The TinCaps’ pitchers’ batting practice should be something to watch. Zach Cates was recruited as a catcher, Mark Hardy has a 1.000 career batting average (2-for-2 with San Antonio although he says he just got lucky), Carvajal is a converted outfielder, Chase Marona is a converted shortstop… These guys should drop some bombs.
- Before he was injured, Tate impressed me with a couple of things: First, just about all of his hits were either to the middle or back side of the field. Solid approach. Second, on Tuesday there was a ball smoked to the gap in right-center. He moved over, picked it off the wall and threw a one-hop strike to second to nail the runner. He got there quickly but I still thought there was no shot at getting the runner. Good arm, although I guess I shouldn’t be surprised about it, him being a D-I quarterback recruit and all.
- On the infield defensively (especially on the left side), this team is so far ahead of last year’s club it’s not even close. B.J. Guinn can cover ground and pick it at short (haven’t seen many throws from deep in the hole yet) and Jake Blackwood has made every play at third. The catchers have blocked well and have thrown out all three runners who have tried to steal against them (Bowling Green isn’t even TRYING to steal against them, and Bowling Green steals against everyone). You get the feeling this is what the Padres have in mind when they talk about building a team for Petco Park: Pitching and defense, aggressive baserunning.
- I think this team will hit a little more when they’re not facing left-handed pitching every night. For whatever reason they’re on track for a string of facing lefty starters in 5 of their first 8 games.Which is a lot, especially for a team with so many left-handed hitters.
- Bowling Green is Reds country, so we’ve been able to watch the Padres-Reds the last couple of nights. Former TinCaps RHP Mat Latos looked really good through four innings on Monday and Fort Wayne alum 3B Chase Headley looks lost at the plate. The Padres won in comeback, walk-off fashion today while the TinCaps were in progress.
- What the heck is going on when a guy gets beaten to within an inch of his life because he’s wearing the wrong team’s jersey? Unbelievable.
- Bill Simmons wrote a pretty good story about watching The Masters on TV with his young son.
- Cavaliers radio guy Joe Tait called his last game on Wednesday. Between his curmudgeony self and his Bill Cosby sweater collection, it won’t be the same without him.
Musical guest… Howie Day!
Take care!
DW
The TinCaps Report: 4/13
Team president Mike Nutter answers a pro wrestling question for the ages and the TinCaps split a doubleheader in Bowling Green on this edition of The TinCaps Report.
The TinCaps Report: 4/11
Team president Mike Nutter recaps a successful opening homestand and shares his favorite Parkview Field memories, plus highlights from the series finale against South Bend and a look forward to the TinCaps’ first road trip of the year.
The TinCaps Report: 4/9
It was good pitching and opportunistic hitting that sent the TinCaps to their second straight win against South Bend, Friday at Parkview Field. We have game highlights and Part 2 of an interview with manager Shawn Wooten.
Larry Larson: Professional human being
I don’t get very serious on here very often, mostly because sports are supposed to be an escape from all the serious stuff we run up against every day. But, fresh off a delicious breakfast with my parents, I feel like I’m in the proper mindset and felt compelled to write because this is important.
We value people who are great athletes or musicians or accountants or whatever. But way more important than any of those things (and sometimes the toughest thing to be) is being a great human being. Larry Larson is that, times about a million. He’s maybe the best person I’ve ever met.
Here’s a story for you: It was November 2005. I worked part-time at WTVN radio in Columbus, Ohio. I worked the midnight-5 a.m. shift anchoring newscasts on weekends.
So here I was at 5 a.m. on a Saturday morning, running on fumes because, well, I was a 21-year-old college student, it was 5 a.m. and I hadn’t napped properly the night before. It happened to be the day of the Ohio State-Michigan game. Ohio State was good, Michigan was (believe it or not) still good, relatively speaking. It was “The Game.” But, hey… I was still tired. And ready to go home. As I was sleepwalking around the station getting ready for my last newscast of the shift, this goofy old guy named Larry Larson came rolling into the newsroom like a tornado wearing Chuck Taylors, no socks, cargo shorts and a T-shirt from 1975. He was wired and ready to go for his morning sportscasts. We were already homeboys by that point, but I still got a kick out of him like everyone else did. The girl who was coming in to relieve me saw Larry and asked him, “Hey, Larry! Are you excited for today or what?” Then something happened that I’ll never forget:
Larry Larson raised his arms as if he was an Olympic champion, did some sort of leg shimmy (which drives the women in Columbus crazy) and said, “Shannon, when you’re 61 years old like I am, you’re excited about every damn day there is.”
That’s Larry: He’s enthusiastic, he loves sports, but more important than that, he loves people. He’s a retired a high-school teacher and football coach, a former marathoner and now he’s a retired radio broadcaster. He’s leaving Columbus and moving to California where a lot of his family now lives. He misses his wife/best friend, who passed away a few years back, and from the conversations we had within the last year, he just wanted to go somewhere new. He’s earned every bit of it. In addition to his teaching, coaching and radio careers, he toured Central Ohio with some of the best athletes in the area, speaking to kids about the value of character and hard work. If you were ever lucky enough to come into contact with him, you probably came away energized by how positive he is.
The moral of this story is this: We all love sports (sometimes to a fault) and we all get too caught up in career/politics/whatever else bogs us down, but the most important thing is the people around us, our family and friends. Larry gets that and makes everybody feel valuable. If everyone (myself included) could become half the human being Larry Larson is, we’ll be doing pretty well.
Columbus will be a poorer place for losing him. California, you’ve been warned: Get ready for bow ties, Chuck Taylors and the most energetic senior citizen you’ve ever seen.
And that’s my ode to Larry Larson, one of the best people I’ve ever met.
Random thoughts:
- Aside from the cold, wind and rain, it was a pretty good night on the field for the TinCaps. RHP Keyvius Sampson looked good. Rarely needed anything other than his fastball as he struck out ten over six perfect innings. I had him down for 87 pitches, which is over his limit, but they were not high-stress pitches. OF Donavan Tate’s base hit was a liner over the second baseman’s head, which is a good sign.
- Troy Tulowitzki has Beiber fever. He’s on fire since switching his walk-up music from Katy Perry to “Baby.”
- Tony LaRussa heard enough from St. Louis reporters with the Cardinals struggling out of the gate. So he walked out on a news conference.
- An Orioles prospect may not be in the minors for long.
- Giants closer Brian Wilson now has a Noah-esque staff to go with his flowing beard. You know, just in case he needs to part the Red Sea.
- One notable non-Buzzcut on the Wisconsin basketball team is now a buzzcut. And there’s video to prove it.
I’m a little short today because, well… It’s the season.
Musical guest… A Larry Larson favorite, Warren Zevon!
Take care!
DW
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