A few weeks ago Sports Illustrated devoted a full page photo to Jered Weaver, a Travelers pitcher from last season who is now 9-0 in Major League Baseball. This week, Howie Kendrick, who played second base for the Travs last season, gets the full-page treatment. I guess what amazes me about this is how much it contrasts with how these players were appreciated while playing in Little Rock last season, which was very little. Among the highlights in the story on the next page is that Kendrick has been nicknamed "Howiewood" by his Angels teammates for his foul-ball run-in with Ben Affleck at Fenway Park in Boston.
Ray Winder Field notes: I really thought the crowds would have grown bigger by now with games left at Ray Winder Field in the single digits. But the attendance has pretty much been business as usual. I haven't noticed a "saying goodbye" crowd so far. Maybe that comes in the last two home series... Anyone notice that the infield grass is suddenly a lot shorter. This just goes to confirm my theory that the grass was grown high to help reduce Brandon Wood's error rate. And speaking of Wood, this team just doesn't seem the same without him... I don't know about you, but I was rubbed the wrong way by a comment in the story Sunday about Nathan Haynes' promotion. So the Angels thought there was a need to give Salt Lake some more help? Hey, what about down here. Have you checked the Texas League standings lately?... Spotted at Ray Winder Field on Saturday night: U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor. I think his son was a volunteer working in the concession stand, and if that was him, I was very impressed at how courteous he was when I ordered my Sprite... Line of the week from the batboy who caught the black cat that ran on the field Friday night: "I put him by the dumpster." Will the cats be making the move to Dickey-Stephens? Maybe it will change North Little Rock's image to "Cat town."