Meanderings around the baseball universe while thinking about the future for Independent comebackers Eric Gagne and Hideki Irabu and what else will go into Thursday's Independent Baseball Insider column.
It will be interesting to see how many additional fannies they put into the seats in their next outings. Gagne's will come Friday night in Worcester, MA.
ANDY MC CAULEY'S THREE MAJOR LEAGUE HURLERS
I shortchanged Kansas City (KS) T-Bones Manager Andy McCauley recently. I was giving him credit for helping relievers Brad Ziegler (Schaumburg, IL to Oakland) and Travis Schlichting (T-Bones to Los Angeles Dodgers) reach the majors. It turns out R. J. Swindle, who pitched briefly for Philadelphia last season and has had a couple of stretches with Milwaukee in '09, also pitched for McCauley at Schaumburg. He and Ziegler were separated by a season on the Northern League team.
A NICE MILESTONE WHETHER 99 OR 100
Justin Knoff, a very capable pitcher and equally good guy on the starting staff of the Sussex (NJ) Skyhawks' defending Can-Am League champions, mentioned in a recent email that his teammate, DH/outfielder Jorge Moreno, was nearing his 100th career home run (not counting winter baseball). Knoff said Moreno had hit No. 99 the night before he went to the keyboard.
The only thing is, depending on the reliable work at Howesportsdata, that actually was No. 100 in a career that has been exclusively in Independent ranks since 2003. He has been at London (Canadian League), Lincoln, NE (Northern League at the time), Winnipeg (Northern) and Sioux City, IA (American Association). The most important thing, in Knoff's words, are "Jorge is a heck of a ballplayer and even better guy."
LOVING INGENUITY
As someone who has worked in the public relations world, I admire creativity. Therefore, I throw a bouquet in the direction of the York (PA) Revolution for devoting an entire media release to an opponent: The weatherman. It had rained on 13 of the first 18 home dates. The release went so far as to say "the likes of Reignman will not be granted entry to Sovereign Bank Stadium."
I do not believe the Atlantic League team has lost a home date to weather since.
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