Random thoughts

Congratulations to Travs third baseman Freddy Sandoval for being named TOPPS Texas League Player of the Month for July! Two hits on Saturday night kept his average climbing, which was .306 with 10 home runs and 59 RBI entering the game.

Sandoval has amassed some amazing statistics to get the award with his bat, but his speed on the base paths would open any scout's eyes. His promotion to Salt Lake can't be too far off.

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What left side tandem in the Texas League is any better than the Traveler's Sandoval (#7) and short stop Sean Rodriguez( #6)? .... (seen hitting a laser shot below.)

Rodriguez has made consistently the best plays at short I've seen this year, and his arm strength from deep in the hole is unsurpassed. OK so he can play center, and I'm sure he could play my sister, but keep his ass at short.

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NEW SPEED RECORD on the scoreboard gun Fri. night, 8/3 when the Wichita Wrangler's (soon to be N.W. Ark Waterfalls, oh geez how stupid) Carlos Rosa the # 19 Royals prospect, hit 97 mph.

PREVIOUS RECORD....96 mph by Tulsa's Juan Morillo.

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Does anyone think Travs General Manager Pete Lavin could not possibly be named Texas League Top Executive again in 2007? He won it in '06 after masterfully closing the old ball park and some how figuring out the exact moment jets should fly over right after the National Anthem at the All Star game.

But this year... oh man.. taking over the reins while Valentine serves mussels and suffering through the worst incident in minor league history and dealing with the media accordingly with grace in his normal kind way... I submit Pete Lavin as consecutive winner of "Executive of the Year."

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Add...re: Pete. He was hired as an intern at LR in '92, then went to Kane Co., IL; Albany, GA; and Kannapolis, NC before coming back to the Travs in 2000 as Asst. Gen. Mgr. In '04 he took on more responsibilities.

He also holds more honors in "Class."

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The dumbest name in the history of organized baseball. 

"Northwest Arkansas Naturals"

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Hey, Shelly must have listened to Lonesome Traveler about needing top of dug out fun, cause Sat. night he did the chicken dance while on the home dugout for the first time this season.

Sorry pic is out of focus... Lonesome Traveler was stunned to see Barry Bonds lying, cheating  HR record tying announcement come up on the scoreboard and took a shaky pic.

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Great line during tonight's game by Traveler radio broadcaster Phil Elson, who referred to the vast expanse out in left center as a "national park," where he estimated a shot over that wall would take a poke of a minimum 415 feet. Dickey-Stephens is a lot of things, but a home run haven it's not.

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At Friday nights game there was quite a delay when both managers hand lengthy discussions with the home plate umpire, and Wichita skipper Tony Tijerina really got his money's worth. No one knew what was going on and in most cases, unless a reporter asks for clarification after a game, never will.

Why keep fans in the dark like that in professional baseball? Football and basketball don't.

For consideration....why not have the umpire crew chief wear a mike so after the jawing is over he could simply explain the ruling to the crowd. That's why the game is being played. For the crowd. Why make the fans wonder what the hell is going on. It isn't a secret Shriner's meeting.

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Finally........... Are you hot? Well get hosed!!

Post by Lonesome Traveler

Comments

[B.]

In response to a previous subject-- The dictionary defines ATTENDANCE as:
1. The act of attending
2. The persons or number of persons that are attending.
There needs to be two listings, tickets sold (the figure we have been getting) and attendance (the turnstiles count) aka fannies in the seats. I, as a fan, would give more credence to the later. The former is for the benefit of management.

[Arky]

You must have either not attended (ha!) recent games or not have been paying attention. Shelly has been doing the chicken dance on top of the Travs dugout for the few games.

During the "freestyle" it looks like Shelly is about to take one step too far and land in the Travs' dugout.

Arky

[NationalOriole]

Not sure why Bobby was having a discussing with the home plate umpire on Friday night, but Wichita Manager Tijerna was arguing the perceived hit batter. Adenhart had already hit two batters and was warned. Tijerna thought his batter was hit on the ankle, and thought his player should have taken 1st and Nick ejected. Problem is, when the pitch stirs up A LOT of dirt, it's hard to argue the bally didn't land in the dirt first.

One more thing - BOBBY QUIT TRYING TO STEAL WITH CATCHERS!!!

[Caught Stealing]

Here's an interesting stat from Texas League website regarding caught stealing (CS/Attempts).

Springfield 19/78 (25%)
Tulsa 45/118 (38%)
Arkansas 72/195 (36%)

We've been thrown out 72 freakin' times, which is almost as many as the total times Springfield has attempted a steal...!!!

I knew we had to lead the league in C/S. And it's by a BUNCH.

[Spell Checker]

Laven - not "Lavin"

[Captain Chaos]

Add...re: Pete. He was hired as an intern at LR in '92, then went to Kane Co., IL; Albany, GA; and Kannapolis, NC before coming back to the Travs in 2000 as Asst. Gen. Mgr. In '04 he took on more responsibilities.

He also holds more honors in "Class."
WTF does that mean?
Pete is a moron!
Mangold is the key to that operation!

[bill valentine]

If the ball hits the dirt and then hits the batter...he is still a hit batter and would get first base......fans have gotten this one wrong for years....same as...
if a player is standing in fair territory and reaches and touches a ball in the air that is in foul territory it is still a foul ball.....also if a batter hits a ball and it hits between the catchers legs etc but does not hit catcher... and then spins into fair territory..it is a fair ball...rule books says a fair ball is a ball that settles in fair territory....outfielder catches a ball in his gloves...runs five steps and drops ball out of his glove...it is not a catch...the release of the ball has to be voluntary or in the act of taking it from his glove...in running the last half of the distance between home plate and first base the batter must run on or to the foul side of the foul line..if he does not and he is hit with a thrown ball he will be ruled out....just thought I would fill you in or a few rules that most fans always get wrong...

[bill valentine]

Regardless of how you define "attendance" we don't make the rules.
Professional baseball, as does all other professional sports and college sports define "attendance" as the number of tickets sold.
We have no problem with only reporting attendance but we are bond by professional baseball to report it as we do.(If we use any other means it screws up the attendance for the entire league) I protested for a few years; that in my opinion the figures were some what phony since until the 70's only in park attendance was reported and when they howl about breaking more attendance records they are yelling in the wind.....but of course new young owners want to break attendance records year-after-year and many add attendance that they make up out of the sky without anyone receiving or using a ticket....there are more phony add on attendances than you can believe....one local owner of a team no longer in the area use to go i to box office and pick up all tickets in "will call" and run them through the scanner to show more in house attendance....a lot of teams give out a thousand to 1,500 "sponsor" tickets every game and count them whether they are used are not....and other teams add a set number...like 1,000 or 1,500 hundred to their attendance every game....when you read a story and the writer says the "announced" attendance was...it means the writer knows they are hot air and is saying so by saying it was "announced" but they didn't believe it.....
We have no reason at Dickey-Stephens Park to add numbers to our attendance....what you read is the inhouse.. plus tickets sold but not used attendance...you never see our attendance as "announced" because the writers know we don't fool around with our numbers...both Pete and myself never know the attendance figures until they are announced by our ticket manager David Kay and he has no reason to pad the count......

Professional baseball says we are to announce all tickets sold and that is what we will continue to do.

[Mars]

more rule triva please

Back to the Travs of old.

[sally]

CONGRATULATIONS, FREDDY!!! What a terrific achievement. Was it announced at any of the games? I think any recognition/awards that the Travs players receive should be announced over the loud speaker at the games. They deserve it & worked hard for it.

As for coach/ump conversations, I agree with whoever previously posted that some sort of announcement should be given as to the call/final decision. At times it's so quiet between batters that you can hear a pin drop. I guess I should go to the restrooms more so I can hear Phil over the radio.

Oh, Bill, thank you for the lesson on baseball rules. Do those "....for Dummies" books come in AA Minor League Baseball? I could seriously use one.

[The Travelerocity reporter]

Interesting map on Major League fan bases. Check out what team covers Arkansas.

http://strangemaps.wordpress.com/2007/08/03/160-the-united-countries-of-baseball/

[DainBramage]

Did anyone else notice the Wichita bullpen had a fire going during the game Sunday night. I could clearly see it under the Subway sign from my seat. And I could smell burning plastic also.

[The Travelerocity reporter]

I feel sorry for some of those Wichita guys because some of them are going to have to live in Springdale next season.

[cozmosis]

What was the deal with the homerun taken off the board Sunday night? Instead of being in our normal seats along first base, the wife & I were hanging out with the Boll Weevil in right field and missed the controversy.

[Biddle]

Bill Valentine makes a great "color" announcer, complimenting Phil Elson on these last few Sunday games. If that is going to become anything like regular, advertise it, because it will bring in more. Was it my imagination, poor reception or was there a little more "color" than usual at one point Sunday night when everyone was getting more than a little frustrated in the last third of the game?

Another point, Valentine was talking on the air about at moving some of next year's Sunday games to a 2pm rather than a 6pm start. These last few games have been plenty warm at 7pm or 6pm -- I would have a really hard time convincing myself to attend a 2pm game in July or August. Nothing happening on the field is worth sitting in the summer sun at 2pm -- leave well enough alone, the 6pm start on Sunday is just fine.

PS to Phil... you might have some competition with "Take me out to the Ballgame" during the 7th inning stretch.

[The Travelerocity reporter]

The other way Barry Bonds cheats...

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003621797

[Trav Fan]

The map of "United Countries of Baseball" seems a little loose with reality. It assigns Arkansas to the Cards, as it should, but only half of Mississippi and a third of Tennessee to the Cards. I've found, as a traveling salesman over many years, that "Cardinal country" extends all the way down the Mississippi River and east to Nashville. Also the map shows Pirate country encompassing western Virginia (not West Virginia) and that was Oriole country until the Nationals arrived.Interesting trivia.

[B.]

I understand Mr. Valentine's explanation of the attendance figures, and that he is doing what he is told. The fact remains that it is all bogus but not surprising. Baseball's attendance records are as phony as its home run record!!

The "United Countries of Baseball" is as delusional as are most Cardinal fans. Every year that passes, the Cardinals lose more and more fans in Arkansas. They still might have the majority of fans but they are not as dominant as they used to be. Next time you go to DSP pay attention to what baseball caps/apparel the fans are wearing. I'm seeing more for other teams than the Cards.

And the map is not out of whack for just the Cardinals, it is out of whack for a lot of teams. Sadly, most of the country should have a shade for the damn Yankees.

[Cracker]

" Next time you go to DSP pay attention to what baseball caps/apparel the fans are wearing. I'm seeing more for other teams than the Cards."

Huh? Not the games I've attended for sure. Maybe you should be paying attention.

Maybe this has been discussed and I missed it, but what's up with the grass? My yard looks better than the infield and I don't even water it. I haven't been to a game in a month or so and I was a bit shocked to see it look so bad.

Helluva good game last night though. The only thing better would have been a walk-off homer, but a rally from 3 runs down capped with a walk-off double is a pretty exciting finish. Great catch by Wichita's RF robbing a HR as well. We had a great view from the beer garden.

[cobra22nd]

If you go by what they sell at Walmart, and what the people do, them south Mississippi is Braves country. The walmarts sell braves stuff, not cardinals, and the people are more likely to have gone to Atlanta for a game that St Louis.

When I lived in Shreveport, I went to games in Dallas. I was a Giants fan, but St Louis never crossed my mind. I'd rather drive to New Orleans to see Fresno. Of course, very few guys from shreveport actually made it to SF before they were 30, and they were very likely to be traded before they got close.

I still can't believe Pedro Feliz is the first baseman (or even still in the big leagues). I thought that guy sucked! Shows what I know, I guess.

[LR Fan]

Hey Bill - nice article in the paper this morning! As always, I'm impressed with the way you sell your product.

How long will it be before the Angels do like the Cardinals and pull out of here because of the incessant criticism from management?

buncha ignorant cardinal fans. you people will never realize the grip the cardinals had on this state is slipping. look at the teenagers and people in their early twenties. a lot of these are not cardinal fans. it might still be cardinal country but not much longer. i see plenty of braves, cubs, yankees, red sox, white sox, a's, padres, etc. we live in the internet age not the transistor radio age. people have choices now.

i sit beside mariners, red sox, yankees, padres, braves, and cardinal fans but i have yet to meet an angels fan. my whole point is i have yet to talk to a majority of cardinals fans at the ballpark. that only happens when the cardinals are in town. maybe they do not show up at the game but the cardinals do not dominate my family, friends, or work. cardinal country is becoming a fantasy land the fans live in. maybe if you ask most people in the state the majority might claim the cardinals but ask hardcore baseball fans and i bet you do not come up with a 50% majority.

[Mars]

First, yes this is cardinals country and that grip is starting to appear tenuous. (The Cubs fans are multiplying at a alarming rate.) The ubiquitous Cars fans and the 100% humidity are the two worst things about the state (yes ahead of teen pregnancy, gang violence, illiteracy, and meth problems). You wanna blame someone for the Cards switching affiliations, blame the Cards. This has been hashed and rehashed to death. Nobody showed up a RWF the last few years of Cards affiliation. You cannot dispute that. I really don't know why this keeps being brought up. It's at least a 5 year old topic.

I heard Bill's comments on the radio and Bill was spot on. He offered praise to those individuals that warranted it and sounded off on the problems of the pen.

Here's a quote from this morning's article "I don't know what we did to make him so mad. It's kind of funny." --Bill Edwards

that kinda' speaks for itself...

This team has shown some spark in the second half. Followed by nights where I wasn't sure that any of them wanted to be out there. Maybe something will light a fire under these guys and we can squeak into the playoffs. Then proceed to run ourselves out of it. Go Travs

[Greg]

The dumbest name? Really? Let's see, Northwest Arkansas...yep, that's where we're located. Probably we didn't wanna call ourselves the Ft. Lauderdale Naturals, right? And as for Naturals.... I mean, sure Arkansas IS the Natural State, and whenever someone displays terrific raw talent, people tend to say things like, "Gee, that kid's a natural." So yeah, what were we thinking in choosing that as a name?

Hat choices by the younger set (anyone under 30)are often fashion statements, not statements of what team they follow. Got a cool hat? It's worn. Who cares what team it comes from.

Agree that we are in the Internet age, but I find that has little to do with what team someone follows. It' all about TV coverage there - thus, the Cardinals, Cubs, and Braves are the teams of choice for most though there are a few Astros and Rangers fans, or so I hear. White Sox sightings are due to the cool hat and the fact they won a WS recently. Before that, a good many people couldn't have told you Chicago had two teams.

Baseball fans also tend to be older people, many of whom do not dress in baseball items. Football and basketball are the sports followed by younger people though I will give baseball some credit for trying to correct that.

That's all from the Style section for today.

Rackensacker

[NationalOriole]

To answer a question that got lost aways up,
"CONGRATULATIONS, FREDDY!!! What a terrific achievement. Was it announced at any of the games? I think any recognition/awards that the Travs players receive should be announced over the loud speaker at the games. They deserve it & worked hard for it."
Yes Sally, the Travs have a plaque presentation for the Credit Union Player of the Month before a game. Also, the Travs put an article on the website and send out a newsletter when a player wins player of the week/month awards.

I'm a Padres fan and thanks to the internet I can watch or listen to every game and I can read ad nauseum about my team on the internet plus I can raise my kids on the glorious Padres instead of those stinkin' Cardinals. Internet plays a role. But you are correct about the fashion aspect. I still believe that most people showing up at a baseball game with a teams hat probably has a greater devotion to that team. Those in their thirties or older are probably Cardinal fans due in part to them being their only exposure to baseball while growing up.

Anyway, heckling Cardinal fans is just fun.

Greg, Your teams name and logo sucks. Live with it and go away!

The reporter does ask questions, but sometimes the answer gets cut for space.
Tony Tijerina's argument was that the ball hit his hitter, Kila Kiaahue, after both benches had been warned. The umpires huddled and, the home plate ump admitted he had been blocked from seeing if the ball hit Kiaahue or not, which upset Tijerina, though he praised the crew for huddling and at least trying to get it right.