Archive for July, 2009

Being this close to an official minor-league franchise, I have met some people who are just passionate about what they do.  Marc Means is probably one of the best examples of someone who really gets into his work.  He wears many hats for the Scrappers.  As the official radio broadcast person, he  works by himself, which is not easy when broadcasting sports.  He is also a sales representative, chips in with publicity, preps the press room every game, and even helps pull the tarp on and off of the field when it rains.  Check him out while you are riding in the car on AM-1390.   I had a chance to interview Means before the Scrappers headed out to Jamestown.

Paneech:  How did you get your start with The Scrappers?

Means:  I was in the booth with WBBW back in the 1999 season, I did some fill-in work for them that year.  Three seasons ago, I came by and auditioned for the public announcer job and did that for the ’06 and ’07 seasons.  When the play-by-play position became available, I took that last year.  I enjoy spending the three hours in the booth and describing the game.

Paneech:  Lay out a normal day in the life of Marc Means.

Means:  The day will start at about 8:30.  The whole front office staff gets here at 8:30.  Usually, I will print out all the stats for both coaches from MLB and take that down to the clubhouse.  Then I check with the trainers for players injury-wise, see if there are any roster moves to see if there are players to come or go.  Then I come back up, update the roster, send that to the media, and send it to minor-league baseball so they can make the official changes.  Then I have to type up the starting lineups, press releases, game notes, and anything else for the press room.  Then I have to find time to handle my sales responsibilities.  I’ll spend two to thre hours talking to groups, trying to get more people to come out to the game.

Paneech:  How does being married and going out on the road work for you?

Means:  It’s the hard part of it because I don’t get to spend a lot of time with my wife.  When I am at home I try to spend as much time with her as I can.  It’s the worst part about being on the road, being away from my wife.  As much as I enjoy seeing different ballparks and teams, it’s the roughest part, being away from her.

Paneech:  How strong of a farm system do the Indians have right now?

Means:  According to Baseball America we’re in the Top 5.  I think this organization is stronger at some positions than others.  If you look at the catcher position, they [Indians] are extremely strong right now.  Victor Martinez and Kelly Shoppach are up and doing well, Carlos Santana , a guy down at Double-A is going to play in the futures game,  you’ve got Chris Gimenez.  Catching is definitely a position that they are loaded up on.  Outfield is another strength, there seems to be good outfielders at all levels of the system.  Pitching, has obviously been a team weakness.  If you look at this years draft, you could tell what the Indians were focusing on.  50 picks, overwhelmimgly, they took pitchers, overwhelmingly, they took college kids, so you could tell what they were focusing on when they were stockpiling new players.

Paneech:  How active are you Before June 1, and after September 15?

Means:  After September we all kind of take some time to wind down.   You just got done with four months that were crazy and hectic throughout the entire season.  After a couple of weeks, you get back to it, you start talking to people about season tickets, you start talking to people about groups.  Opportunities are always there, and that’s really something there is no offseason for.

One Word Answers:

Paneech:  Favorite Meal of The Day   Means:  Lunch

Paneech:  Favorite Music   Means:  Collective Soul

Paneech:  Favorite TV Show   Means:  Baseball Tonight

Paneech:  Favorite Restaurant    Means:  I don’t really have one (answered like a true salesman)

Paneech:  Favorit Sport To Watch    Means:  College Football

Paneech:  Favorite Current MLB Player   Means:  Victor Martinez

Paneech:  Longest Bus Ride   Means: 11.5 hours to Vermont

Paneech:  Favorite Athlete In Any Sport     Means:  Mark Price

Paneech:  Scrapper On This Years Team Most Likely To Succeed   Means: Bo Greenwell or Jason Smit

Paneech:  Myron Cope or Tom Hamilton     Means:  Neither – Joe Tait

Means has been helpful in accomodating the press.  He is a very busy man and is at the park from sunrise to midnight for about four months a year.  His passion for the game, and this organization are commendable and sincere.  I am glad he is someone I am getting to know and look forward to seeing him at the park for years to come.

Unfortunately in the world of sports, some athletes pass away before it is really time.  I was stunned to learn about the death of Steve McNair earlier today.  As I watched the ESPN coverage, I could not help to think back to a time when I got to see McNair play in person.

The year was 1994, and Alcorn State was visiting Youngstown State in the I-AA Playoffs.  The game was played on a frigid Friday at Stambaugh Stadium.  As a college student at YSU, I was assured admittance to a game that was sold out.  This was the time in YSU football history that a change for the better was taking place under new coach Jim Tressel.

YSU had a regular season record of 10-0-1 that year and Alcorn State, with McNair at QB was 8-2-1.  (I feel like I’m showing my age with each team having a tie in their record).  McNair was on the cover of Sports Illustrated about a month before the game and was a Heisman Trophy finalist.  The buzz around Youngstown was unbelievable going into that Friday playoff game.

As expected, the place was jammed at gametime.  Never one to really drink, I remember several tailgate parties and a new atmosphere for YSU football being taken to an extreme level on this day.  It marked the start of a YSU football game being a celebration of Youngstown.

Once the game started, it was over.  YSU completely pressured McNair throughout the game and never really let the Alcorn State offense get going.  YSU ended up winning by something like 40 points and that was Steve McNair’s last college game, a landmark date in YSU football.

Thank you Steve McNair, not for coming to Youngstown and losing a playoff game, but for being a fine NFL quarterback, and an ambassador of goodwill in your time spent here.

The Mahoning Valley Scrappers celebrated The Fourth of July with smiles on their faces in Jamestown.  After fighting for offense for pretty much a week, the Scrappers bats pounded out 15 hits and scored 10 runs to start a short road trip in Jamestown.

The Scrappers put up three in the top half of the first inning on a fielder’s choice, a groundout and an RBI single from Chun Chen.  Jamestown responded with two in the bottom of the first off of Scrapper starting pitcher Vidal Nuno.

In the top of the fourth the Scrappers would tack on five runs.  Jason Smit had an RBI double, John Allman (pictured) had a two-RBI single, and Kyle Smith added another RBI single.  Allman added a single in the seventh inning to end the game with 4 RBI.

Scrapper relief pitcher Jose Urena worked four scoreless innings to pick up his first victory this season.

The Scrappers and Jammers will hook it up again on Sunday night at 6 in Jamestown.

Kelly Pavlik will be at Cafaro Field in Niles signing copies of his book on Thursday, July 9.  Greg Gulas and David Lee Morgan, the authors of the biographical piece will also be on hand.  Pavlik will also throw out the first pitch at the game.

The Mahoning Valley Scrappers were finally able to get one over on Williamsport taking the finale of the three game set, 3-0. In front of 3,945 fans on fireworks night.   Marty Popham had his best career start with help from two relievers to keep the Crosscutters off of the scoreboard. 

Popham was the story in this game as he reached career highs in innings pitched throwing six scoreless frames.  He also struck out six batters, another career best.  He walked no one and was never really in trouble.  Popham’s shutout effort was preserved by Guido Fonseca and Cory Burns.  Burns recorded his second save.

Mahoning Valley got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fifth inning.  John Allman walked and scored on a Kyle Bellows RBI double.  Bellows later scored on a Tim Palincsar RBI single making it 2-0 in favor of the Scrappers.

The Scrappers added an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh when Bellows reached on a throwing error.  With one out, Kyle Smith and Tim Palincsar walked to load the bases.  Catcher Dwight Childs groundout to second base was enough to score Bellows to make it 3-0 in favor of the home team.

Interestingly enough, the Scrappers only had two hits and still managed to score three runs.  Manager Travis Fryman said, ” Timely hits are certainly better than a plethora of hits.  Timely hits are the best kind.”

Jason Smit had a weird game for the Scrappers on offense.  Smit was hit by pitches in his third and fourth at-bats.  His second at-bat resulted in a poor call by the two-man umpire crew as Smit hit a laser to center that everyone but the umpire saw the center fielder trap.  The umpires called Smit out.  After the game, Smit commented, ” Definitely a strange game, not too many things went my way tonight.  I took one in the back and also got hit pretty hard in my achiles.  The thing is that they’re here (the umpires in the Penn League), just like we are, to learn.  They’re trying their hardest, so what can you do.”

Fourth-round draft pick Kyle Bellows commented on how it felt to finally come through fot the Scrappers offense.  ” It feels great to help the team win.  We’ll take ’em how we can get ’em right now.  We aren’t scoring a lot of runs, we’re working hard and it’s been paying off.”

The Scrappers head out to Jamestown for a special 1:05 start time for the 4th of July.

I got to meet Dave Smith, the GM of the Mahoning Valley Scrappers.  I learned that a GM in minor league baseball worries more about what happpens outside the lines than a major league GM.  Mr. Smith was gracious enough to grant me some interview time and I met a very special person who many know nothing about.  His role with the Scrappers is paramount to the success of the organization.

Paneech: What do your day-to-day operations and duties consist of?

Dave Smith: Our responsibilities here are to handle everything outside the lines.  The Indians are responsible for drafting the players and they have a whole player development department that works with the players and coaches.  That leaves our responsibilities to sales, marketing, promotions, the media relations, accounting, and operating the facility.

Paneech: You are involved with Youngstown Goodwill and the Regional Chamber of Commerce as a member on the Board of Directors.  How did you get so involved with the community?

Dave Smith: It was something that was pushed on us when I got here.  The organization was always stressing the importance of getting involved with the community.  When I first became involved with the Warren Rotary Club at the age of 27, I didn’t even know what a rotary club was.  To actually be involved in the community became rewarding.  I was meeting new people, getting involved in lots of projects and really started to enjoy giving something back to the community. 

Paneech:  Are you happy here or are you waiting to perhaps be promoted to another level?

Dave Smith: I think that is another misconception, where from a players standpoint you go from Single A to Double A which is the goal.  From a front office standpoint, promotion isn’t the same for me as it is for a player.  I have 15 years in the industry, and if I were to realistically look for a job in a major league city I would go from having the entire operations of a team to, say, just doing promotions.  Some people may want the glitz and glamour that come with a major league promotion, for me it would be a regression to move up.  I met my wife here and now have roots in this area, I have grown used to it and don’t think I would want to leave here right now.

Paneech: Do you have contact with the Indians despite not being involved with the players and coaches much?

Dave Smith:  Indians Director of Player Development, Ross Atkins, basically oversees the talent portion of their minor league system.  We have real good relationships with that staff and communicate with them through the Winter.  Everything starts to pick up on June 1.  Our situation here is that more than half of our players come directly out of the draft each year.  This year there were ten days between the draft and the start of our season.  That’s a very short window to draft these guys, sign them, get them under contract, get them where they need to be, get them physicals, get them uniforms,  which turns into a constant line of communication with their administration.  We then work with the players who get sent here to set them up with host families where they will reside during the season.

Paneech:  Who was the most talented Scrapper you have seen in your time here?

Dave Smith:  In terms of when they were here, not when they moved on, Ben Francisco was the most talented guy I saw here.  The year he was here he led the Penn League in batting average, hit about .349.  He didn’t have a lot of power at the time, but he just attacked the ball, in terms of a pure hitter, it was Francisco.  Ryan Church was another guy that was here that had a monster year with HR and RBI, but I just didn’t get the feeling watching Church as I did Francisco.

Paneech:  Out of the current group of Scrappers, who can you see wearing an Indians uniform in a few years?

Dave Smith:  If you would have asked me a week or so ago, I would have said Bo Greenwell, son of former Red Sox great Mike Greenwell.  Bo was promoted to Lake County, so he’s not with the team anymore.  John Allman, one of the best average hitters in the league and in RBI’s, was not drafted, so there wasn’t all of the hype with him and he is doing a great job.  The Indians are close to signing their second round draft pick, Jason Kipnis, an outfielder out of Arizona State.  His season was extended due to the fact that he went deep into the College World Series.  Reports are that he will report to Mahoning Valley once he signs.

One Word Answers:

Paneech: Favorite meal of the day?     Smith: Dinner

Paneech: Favorite Music?        Smith: Country

Paneech: Favorite TV Show?         Smith:  All Three CSI Shows

Paneech: Favorite Current MLB player?       Smith: Chase Utley

Paneech: Best GM in baseball?     Smith: Theo Epstein

Paneech: Browns or Steelers?     Smith: Eagles

Paneech:  On a day off, I …            Smith: Relax and do work around the house

Paneech:  All-time favorite athlete?     Smith:  Mike Schmidt

Paneech:  Favorite Restaurant?         Smith: Springfield Grille in Boardman

Paneech:  Will Eric Wedge finish 2009 in an Indians uniform?     Smith: Yes, he will.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are scrambling desperately to plug the holes that prevented them from winning it all last year.  Anthony Parker, currently with the Toronto Raptors, is the next guy down on Danny Ferry‘s wish list.

Shaquille O’Neal, in my opinion, was a good signing.  Leadership and experience go a long way in the NBA and Shaq has plenty of both to offer.

I am glad that Ron Artest signed with Los Angeles.  Artest is a head case and will have problems with Phil Jackson and/or Kobe Bryant while he is in a Lakers uniform.  Thanks Mitch Kupchak, we owe you one.  Then they turn around and give Trevor Ariza to Houston.  Who will be worse next year?  Houston or Oklahoma City?

Charlie Villanueva and Ben Gordon probably wanted to play together like they did at UConn a few years ago.  I want to play kickball at recess again too, but it probably can’t happen.  Joe Dumars isn’t seeing the big picture in Motown.  Rasheed Wallace is going to be gone, Allen Iverson has been used entirely wrong since they got him, and Rip Hamilton is unhappy.  Bringing in Avery Johnson to handle this dog and pony show wont be enough.

I wish the Cavs would just go after Chris Bosh and get it over with.  Bosh will be in a Cavs uniform next season, mark my words.

Fourth of July weekend has a new tradition – the big hot dog eating contest.  I love watching these 180 pound people scarfing down 30 hot dogs in three minutes.  I never really understood why they dip the dogs (bun and all) in water, as water would just add weight to what they are consuming.

• NESW Sports digs up some footage of Shaq holding Gary Coleman in a total opposite scene to see.
• The Fifth Corner reports that Rasheed Wallace has met with most of the Celtics already, and may be close to signing with Boston.
• Josh Q. Public talks about The Little League team known as the Chosen Team in New Jersey.
• PacMan Jonesin’ has the latest from the police blotter as WNBA superstar Diana Taurasi blew a little too much into the breathalizer and got herself a DUI.
• Fansided polled some bloggers (including me) about The Dinosaur Age: Which Athletes Need To Retire?  Check it out, pretty interesting choices on the list.
• The World Of Isaac is having problems with the decisions that Joe Dumars is making for Detroit these days.

The Mahoning Valley Scrappers continued to struggle offensively for most of the game and ultimately lost to Williamsport 4-3.  The Scrappers paid tribute to the Negro Leagues and had three former players on hand who were honored before the game.  Mahoning Valley also wore uniforms paying respects to the Negro Leagues.   The Scrappers showed some heart with a ninth-inning rally that fell a bit short.  The loss moves the Scrappers to 8-6 and Williamsport goes to 9-5 with sole possession of first place.

Williamsport wasted little time scoring in the first inning.  Jiwan James singled and moved up to second base on a wild pitch.  James scored on Sebastian Valle’s RBI triple to put the Crosscutters up 1-0.

In the top of the second, Alan Shoenberger hit a solo home run to right field to double Williamsport’s lead to 2-0.

Jeremy Barnes walked and would score on another Valle hit, this time an RBI double in the top of the third making the score 3-0 in favor of the visiting team.

The Scrappers finally got on the scoreboard in the sixth inning.  Greg Folgia walked and would later score on a Jason Smit RBI triple, cutting the Williamsport lead to 3-1.

Sebastian Valle again hurt Mahoning Valley in the top of the seventh with his third hit, an RBI single, which scored Jeremy Barnes from second who doubled earlier in the inning.  Valle finished the game with three hits and three RBI.

In the bottom of the ninth trailing 4-1, DH John Allman walked and stole second base.  Smit singled to right putting runners on first and second with nobody out.  The next Scrapper batter, Chun Chen, reached base on a throwing error by Barnes, allowing Allman to score and cut the lead to 4-2.  Tim Palincsar hit a sac fly to right scoring Smit to make it 4-3.  Jordan Henry struck out to end the game with Scrappers ultimately falling 4-3.

Jason Smit, a native Australian, had a good game for the Scrappers, but was freezing in the 60 degree range after playing in the Gulf Coast League for a couple of years, “I can’t stand the cold weather, it’s a hundred and something every day in Arizona.”  Smit  has been moved around and used different ways since injuring his shoulder.  ” I was in rehab about four or five months.  I made a move to the outfield and I’m playing some first base, I’m doing whatever to get at-bats right now.”  Smit smiled throughout being questioned and said he doesn’t mind taking verbal abuse about Outback Steakhouses and Crocodile Dundee jokes from his teammates.

Coach Travis Fryman knows his team has to be more consistent at the plate to win more games.  ” We have struggled over the past week to score runs.  Some of it is losing (Bo) Greenwell and a good left-handed bat in the lineup.  If you don’t hit the ball out of the ballpark you’ve got to string together three or four hits in an inning, and if you are striking out, it’s a bad combination.  We didn’t handle their lefthanders well tonight.”

A decent crowd of 2,967 saw a pretty good game on “Buck Night” at Cafaro Field.  The loss drops the Scrappers to 1-4 against Williamsport with one game remaining in the series on Friday.  It’s fireworks night and no rain is in the forecast, so get there early!

While Santa is away on a golf trip, the lists are starting to pour in.  Thanks to an elf who reads my blog, I was able to get my hands on a few lists.  Christmas can be a rough holiday when your brother or your sister is your competition in the world of sports.  The nephews and nieces always seem to run to the winner first and the less successful sibling is an afterthought.

Without further ado, here is what sibling athletes are asking Santa to bring their brother or sister for Christmas this year:

Wladimir Klitschko currently holds the IBF, IBO, WBO, and Ring Magazine world heavyweight championships.  His older brother Vitaly currently holds the WBC title.  These two siblings have said numerous times that they will not fight each other.  My elf found greedy Wladimir’s Christmas letter to Santa.  In Wlad’s letter, he asks Santa to bring Vitaly a trainer to teach him MMA hoping to convince Vitaly to be in next years Ultimate Fighter, Russia vs The UK on Spike.  If successful, Wladimir will hold all the belts and have sole commercial rights to do Absolute vodka commercials without having to cut in brother Vitaly.

Now that the 2009 Wimbledon Women’s Final will be Serena vs Venus, I asked the elf to dig for a letter from either Williams sister.  Low and behold, the elf came through with a letter from Venus.  In her letter Venus asks for free consultation with Michael Jackson’s skin doctors.  Venus figures if she can turn colors like that chameleon Jackson did, that she can change her name to Williamsky and represent Germany. 

Since Jordan Staal was on the 2009 Pittsburgh Penguins championship team and had to beat brother Eric and his Carolina Hurricanes to get there, the elf thought it weird that Eric has asked Santa to bring the cup to the Staal home.  He gets pretty graphic in the letter but says his plan is to destroy the cup and blame it on brother Jordan. 

The elf dug up a no brainer for these two brothers.  Seems Mark McGwire wants brother Dan to get bigger and stronger.  So he asked Santa to deliver a case of Shredded Wheat and milk.  He also told Santa to ignore Dan’s list and bring nothing stronger than One-A-Day vitamins.

Well, I hope Santa can accomodate these requests, I hate it when family becomes the enemy and these all seem like ways to eliminate the problems caused in sibling sports rivalries.

Boxing lost one of its biggest names yesterday when Alexis Arguello passed away.  I liked Arguello because he didn’t talk with his mouth, but rather used his gloves.  Arguello beat Ray Mancini in a classic battle, but he will unfortunately go down in history as the guy who lost to Aaron Pryor twice.

• Josh Q. Public presents Ken Griffey Jr., A Bronx Tale.  Good piece about Jr’s visit to New Yankee Stadium to face Arod and the Yanks.
• Sports Rubbish has pictures to prove you should never try to rob an old boxer.
• If you are in a fantasy football keeper league, Sharapova’s Thigh has rated the quarterbacks, see where your guy ranks!
• Sportspoop reports in the NFL’s fuzzy new math that the season may be extended to 18 games.
• Hoop Doctors caught up with Danny Granger of the Pacers for an exclusive interview.
• Detroit4lyfe writes about Marion Hossa(ma Bin Laden) and refers to him as a hockey terrorist.
• No Guts, No Glory tells us about 5 athletes who should give up on acting.
• Sir Charles In Charge had a sportswriter think that Barkley was actually doing the writing on the website.
• King James Gospel reports that Charlie Villanueva has signed with Detroit, eliminating Cleveland from the picture.  Focus has now shifted to Ron Artest.
• PSAMP reports that Charlie Batch, aka Nostre Damas, has predicted that there will be no football played in 2011.
• NESW Sports found supermodel Joanna Krupa doing an ESPN interview about T.O. and “The Superstars”.
• PacMan Jonesin’  says Tiger Woods kind of responded to Jim Brown’s harsh words.