Posts Tagged ‘Mahoning Valley Scrappers’

The field always looks great, the announcements that rip through the PA system are crisp, and why does the umpire always look toward the press box between innings and start waiving his arms?  They are, for the most part, the people you do not see when you attend a Mahoning Valley Scrappers game.  People notice the scoreboard and look to it when they want the information of the game, yet seldom realize the effort put into the finished product.

There are so many people, many multi-tasking, working behind the scenes at a Scrappers game, so I thought I would write a piece saluting them and telling you about their functions.   What I am about to present is a visual scrapbook I have compiled over the past few weeks.

Dave Smith, the GM, is kind of the ringleader.  He moves throughout the park during a game and usually comes into the press box to brag about the Phillies at some point.  He is a busy man and oversees what goes on at every home game.  You can check out a profile I did for him by clicking here.

Marc Means is the voice you hear on the radio or through the speakers at the game.  He is also on the sales and promotions teams and even helps pull the tarp on and off of the field during inclement weather.  You can read his profile by clicking here.

Everyone knows who Travis Fryman is.  Few people know how accomodating and accessible he has been all season.  After every game, he openly answers any questions the media throws his way.  I respected Fryman as a player.  As a manager, Fryman has been well received by the players who know that he ‘gets’ it.  My respect for Fryman has tripled because of who he really is – a family guy with strong ethics who really wants these players to improve in every way.  You can read Fryman’s profile piece by clicking here.

Meet John Brown.  John is a polite guy with a big voice.  He is the PA announcer at Mahoning Valley Scrapper home games.  Brown has the routine down to a science and does a nice job projecting his voice to get a rise out of the crowd.  John also double checks the roster sheets before every game before they are distributed to media personnel.

Meet Craig Antush.  Craig is an interesting guy because he has a couple of pretty unique tasks he performs at the home games.  His primary assignment is to keep the official book.  Sounds easy, huh?  Every questionable play is run back in his mind before he calls out whether it is scored as an error or a hit.  The media, the scoreboard operator, and the PA box all look toward Craig at the same time for the verdict.  In between every half inning, Craig has to call the Minor League Baseball people and give them the results for every at-bat and report substitutions.  In between innings, the umpires wait for Antush to signal that the information has been sent and that it is okay to start playing again.

Antush also throws batting practice for the Scrappers.  One of the most polite  guys you will ever meet, he also is a YSU Baseball Assistant Coach.  You have to respect a guy who doesn’t get worked up when there is pressure, and Craig is that guy.

Meet Scott Hansen.  Scott is in his 8th year as scoreboard operator for the Scrappers.  He also keeps close tabs on what is going on as he has to post balls and strikes on the scoreboard.  Scott is usually the person in the press box who spots a pitcher warming up in the bullpen through his binoculars.  He tells everyone who is entering the game as a new pitcher before everyone else knows.  He also keeps the media room in check by knocking on the glass that seperates the two rooms to inform them how Craig Antush scores a questionable play.  Hansen is a pretzel afficianado and a guy who you can spend hours talking to about anything.

Meet Dan Stricko.  Dan is the head groundskeeper.  I have been to probably 100 or so Scrapper games since the team started playing in Niles in 1999.  I have never seen the field look as immaculate and manicured as it does this year.  Kudos to Mr. Stricko and his staff for working so hard to keep the Kentucky Bluegrass at Eastwood Field looking fresh every single game.  The grounds crew also scrambles after batting practice to get the batting cage put away, line the field, and hose the infield.

Meet the promotions staff.  These are the people who do something every half inning to keep people entertained.  I get a kick out of all the screaming when soap and pizza boxes go flying everywhere.  The things people wouldn’t do for a free T-shirt shot from an airgun.  In the above right picture, Karen Dobbs of Hubbard, Ohio recently played the  ‘Are You Smarter Than An Umpire’ game in which she was a winner.  Dancing, push-ups, bat races, the tickets or the box, and the dispersion of soap and pizza are a treat for the crowd to enjoy.

Meet the vendors.  These guys and girls have my sympathy.  Carrying a metal crate filled with liquid in 80+ degree weather has got to be brutal.  They do it with a pleasant disposition though, I have yet to see a problem between a vendor and a fan at a game in all of my trips to Eastwood Field.  I also pity the vendor who has to sell foam fingers and mini-bats.  They get less action and usually seem somewhat demoralized by the fourth inning.

So there you have it, a salute to those who work hard so you can enjoy the games!  There are many others who also play roles and I apologize for not including every member of this fine organization for their continuous contributions.  People like the parking lot attendees, the ticket takers, the in-house video team, the sound effects team, the cooks, the merchandise associates, and the ushers. 

Congratulations to everyone for playing a key role in the success of baseball in the Mahoning Valley!

 

 

Kyle Smith is enjoying his rookie season.  Drafted 14th by the Cleveland Indians in the 2009 MLB Draft, Smith has already been selected to the NYPL All-Star team.  As of this writing, he is sidelined with a shoulder injury but said he will be re-evaluated early next week and may be able to return to the field by seasons end.  The very best and worst a player could ask for in his first season, being named an all-star and being hurt for a few weeks.

 I caught up with Kyle to discuss the past, future, and present.  He provided some great answers to my questions.

Paneech: What is it like having a birthday on December 25?

Smith: It’s pretty cool.  Everyone always asks as a kid if you get screwed on presents, “Did you get one, did you get two?”, I was fortunate because I didn’t get the short end of the stick, I usually got two presents from everyone.  So it’s kind of a cool feeling to share my birthday with that holiday.

Paneech: Living and growing up in California, tell me the differences you have noticed between home and Youngstown, Ohio.

Smith: It’s really green here [Youngstown] is the first thing I noticed, like all of the trees you see when you are driving.  In California, where I live,  there are more buildings and skyscrapers, and alot more people.  There’s a little bit of a homey feeling here.  Everything is a little bit slower and relaxed.  When I was younger, I went to the beach alot.  My uncle played volleyball on the APV tour so we used to go watch him alot.  My school was actually five minutes from the beach, so I would go there quite a bit growing up.

Paneech: Explain your injury and how it happened.

Smith: It’s a seperated shoulder, I seperated my AC joint.  I got a ground ball, it took a funny hop, I went down to pick it up and I should have just ate it and not thrown it, but I threw and tripped and jammed it [shoulder], all my body weight landed on it.

Paneech: Do you watch alot of baseball and who do you root for?

Smith: Yeah, I do, in fact, I watch a ton of baseball.  I’m a huge Dodgers fan.  My favorite player is Andre Ethier.

Paneech: What do you do with the limited spare time that you have?

Smith: Basically, just try to relax and get off of my feet.  I like to go and hang out by the pool a couple of times a week.  I like to watch movies, I watch a ton of movies.  I’ll go see a movie or watch a movie at home.  My favorite movie of all-times is Fight Club.

Paneech: Have you gotten used to staying with a host family yet?

Smith: Yeah, when I was 12, I played in the Cal Ripken World Series and that was my first host family experience.  This is actually my third experience with a host family.  It’s an uneasy feeling everytime because you are unsure of what you will get, but I have been really fortunate with all of the host families I have had, they have all been outstanding.

Paneech: Who have you gotten to be good friends with on the team?

Smith: Pretty much everybody.  We’re all pretty close.  Lately I have been pretty close with Jason Smit because we are both hurt, but also with Kyle Bellows and Jason Kipnis.

Paneech: Explain the experience of learning under Travis Fryman.

Smith: You can’t ask for a better first-year coach, I have really been spoiled.  He’s a former middle infielder who moved over to third base and I have benefited from him.  He has been in our situation before, so he knows what we are going through as first year players.

Paneech: Why have you selected the number 2?

Smith: My other number was retired.  Number 3 was retired and Timmy [Palincsar] took number 7 and I wanted to keep a single digit, so I selected number 2 because my mom wore that number.

Paneech: How long until we see Kyle Smith back on the field?

Smith: I’m going to take some kind of a treatment that is supposed to help close off my AC joint and test it Saturday.  If that goes well, I should be on the field in the next couple of weeks.

Paneech: Have you taken a liking to any particular restaurants in the area?

Smith:  I like Applebee’s alot.  Although the other day I had my first trip ever to a Steak And Shake and really liked it, we don’t have Steak And Shake back home in California, and it was really good.

One Word Answers

Favorite College Football Team:  USC Trojans 

Favorite Band:  Journey

After A Loss I Feel…  Angry

After A Big Win I Feel… Glorified

Favorite Boxer:  Roy Jones

Best Uniforms In Any Sport: Home Dodgers uniforms 

WWE or TNA?  Ultimate Warrior

Favorite Pitch To Hit: Fastball

Favorite Animal:  Dog

Smith came off as comfortable with his situation.  I sensed a minor bit of sadness due to his injury, but with the year he was having, who wouldn’t be sad.  It was ironic that Kyle declared USC to be his favorite college football team on the Scrappers college football night promotion.  90% of the people wearing a college football shirt were advertising Ohio State.

The Mahoning Valley Scrappers offense showed its potency against Batavia.  The Scrappers scored a season-high eight runs in the third inning and never looked back in defeating the Muckdogs.

Batavia struck first on a three-run blast from Kyle Conley.  They added another run in the second inning to push the lead to 4-0.  At this point in the game things may have seemed dismal with Jason Smit, Kyle Smith, and Kyle Bellows holding clipboards and nursing injuries.

The Scrappers batted around in the third inning.  Jordan Henry (pictured above) singled and stole second base.  Casey Frawley then walked and Jason Kipnis reached on an error to load the bases.  Greg Folgia was hit by a pitch scoring Henry.  Jesus Brito then walked to score Frawley.  Chun Chen struck out but the ball got to the backstop and Kipnis alertly scored from third.  Juan Aponte doubled to score Folgia and Brito and give the Scrappers a 5-4 lead.  Tim Palincsar doubled home two more and scored when Henry had his second hit of the inning, an RBI-double pushing the Scrapper lead to 8-4. 

In the fourth, Rafael Vera got in on the action as he doubled home Folgia and Brito, who both reached base via the free pass, extending the lead to 10-4.

The Muckdogs tried to fight back putting a couple of runs up in the fifth inning and cutting the Scrapper lead to 10-6.

Henry collected his fourth hit of the night, an RBI-single plating Vera who doubled, to pretty much seal the victory for Mahoning Valley.

Henry has been superb, as a leadoff man and as a center fielder, all season long for the Scrappers.  Henry said it felt good to put the eight runs up in the third inning, “It was great, just about everyone scored that inning.  It was good to be that consistent through the lineup.  It’s all part of the game, sometimes it goes your way and sometimes it doesn’t”.

Manager Travis Fryman was pleased with the situational hitting his team provided, especially in the third inning.  “Our situational hitting has been better.  It’s still not on the level where I think it needs to be, but it has been better.  We did this the other day in Auburn where we had five hits with two outs, it is getting better”.

With the win, Mahoning Valley trimmed their magic number to clinch the division to six.  The magic number decreases by one with each Scrapper victory or second-place Williamsport Crosscutter loss.

The Scrappers finish the series with Batavia on Thursday, Buck Night.  On Friday, Mahoning Valley embarks on their final roadtrip of the season with stops in Jamestown and Williamsport.  It should be noted that Thursday, Friday, and Saturday games will not be broadcast on AM-1390, but can still be picked up on the internet transmission.  Marc Means, as always, will still be calling the games online.

The Mahoning Valley Scrappers played an uncharacteristic game against the Lowell Spinners on Friday night.  The Scrappers gave up four unearned runs and an error contributed to another run later in the game.  Lowell took a 6-3 lead to the ninth and barely held off the obviously frustrated Scrapper team to win the game 6-5 in front of 4, 244 fans on fireworks night.

In the first, Jordan Henry singled and moved to second base when Kyle Smith walked.  After Henry stole his franchise record-tying 15th base of the season, Kyle Bellows drilled a single through the right side which was misplayed by the Spinners RF Alex Hassan, allowing Smith to also score putting the Scrappers up 2-0.

Chris McGuiness cut the lead in half when he homered to RF in the second.  In the third, McGuiness struck again with a two-run double.  During the nightmarish third inning, the Spinners scored four unearned runs to take a 5-2 lead.

Greg Folgia smacked a solo homer in the sixth to cut the lead to 5-3.

In the ninth inning, trailing 6-3,  Jesus Brito and Rafael Vera doubled to cut the lead to 6-5 with one out and runners on second and third.  Unfortunately, the home team was unable to take advantage of a good situation, a problem Manager Travis Fryman has continually addressed as an achiles heel of this years team. 

Preston Guilmet (pictured above, photo courtesy of Nick Mays) dropped to 5-3 on the season.  Guilmet lasted just three innings giving up five runs on four hits.  Only one of the runs, however was earned.  New acquisition Matt Packer pitched three perfect innings of relief and Tyler Sturdevant closed out the game for the Scrappers.  Fryman talked about Guilmet and the start, “He [Guilmet] has been pitching really well for us, he obviously wasn’t that sharp tonight, but you are allowed a bad outing every now and then.”

Fryman also said he was pleased that the team was able to rally in the ninth and put themselves in a position to win despite falling a bit short.

* Kyle Smith left the game in the third inning when he injured himself fielding a ground ball, his status for Saturday is unknown.

* Jason Smit told me after the game that an MRI shows a torn labrum which will end his season.  Smit has still been working on drills that he can participate in, but his live AB’s for the Scrappers are likely finished this season.

* I was happy to see Rafael Vera come through in the ninth inning.  Vera has played so many positions all season and is settling in as the Scrappers go-to utility guy.  “I prepare myself everyday before the game at each position.  If I know I am playing one, I will practice there all day.  If not, I’ll take some time working in the outfield.  I’m getting pretty comfortable playing just about anywhere.  I’m more comfortable in the infield, the outfield is still kind of new to me”, said Vera after the game.

The Mahoning Valley Scrappers have announced that ticket packages for the 2009 New York-Penn League playoffs are now on sale as the Scrappers try to clinch a playoff spot.

With a maximum of 4 potential playoff games, each box seat playoff package is priced at $28 and offers an $8 savings off the regular ticket price by purchasing in advance. Tickets can be purchased at the Eastwood Field Box Office during regular business hours or by calling the ticket office at 330-505-0000. Seating priority will be given based upon the receipt of your order. Fans will receive a refund for any playoff games that are not played or a credit for the 2010 season.

For more information on purchasing tickets, contact the Scrappers Office.

The playoff format is interesting.  The regular season ends on Sept. 6.  If the Scrappers make the playoffs, they would begin a three-game series on Sept 8 at the lowest of the two seeds home field.  The next day is a travel day and the remainder of the series is played at the higher seeds park.  The championship series follows the same format but can only begin when both first round series would end.

The Mahoning Valley Scrappers will be well represented at this year’s NYPL All-Star Game.  The game is going to be played on Tuesday, August 18 at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park, home of the State College Spikes. 

Travis Fryman and the staff of The Mahoning Valley Scrappers will serve as the coaching staff of the AL All-Star team.  By having the best record in their division, the Scrapper Coaching Staff is automatically named to coach the contest.

Five Scrapper players were named to the team. 

Pitchers Marty Popham, Clayton Cook, and Cory Burns, were all named to the piching staff.  Popham(4-1, 2.33 ERA) and Cook(4-2, 2.06 ERA) have turned in great start after great start all season.  Burns has been stellar in relief with 7 saves and an ERA of 2.00.

CF Jordan Henry is among the league leaders in stolen bases (15), runs (35), and hits (47).  Fryman has referred to Henry as “one of the best contact hitters with two strikes on him”, and maybe the best baserunner he has ever coached.

SS Kyle Smith is as tough of a defensive shortstop you will see at this level.  He is also among the league leaders in hits (47), and has provided spark in the clutch all season.

Tickets to the NYPL All-Star Game can be purchased by calling the State College Spikes Box Office toll-free at (877) 99-SPIKES.  Visit MILB.com for complete rosters for the contest.

The Mahoning Valley Scrappers release all of their promotions before the season starts, they are on the schedule.  Ex-US Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. release night has been on the schedule since June.  The event was scheduled to be held at the Scrappers September 2 home game, the same night Traficant is released from federal prison.  There was no opposition to the promo until this week.

The Youngstown Vindicator has started the media circus which will definitely surround Traficant’s freedom.  In an article from Sunday’s August 9th edition, an article highlighting different Traficant events was printed.  In the article, a party to honor Traficant’s release at Mr. Anthony’s, a local banquet facility, boasted of a festive celebration welcoming Jim home.  In the same article, the Scrapper promotional plan was listed, causing a swarm of phone calls to the Scrapper offices.

Scrappers General Manager, Dave Smith, decided to pull the plug on the promotion after receiving over 100 e-mails and phone calls speaking out against the planned night.  “Unfortunately, I feel that most people misunderstood the intention of the promotion,” said Smith.  “The night was never planned as a celebration of his release, yet it’s obvious that is how it is being perceived.  It will surely be a topic of great debate in the coming months and we were planning to provide a public forum for both supporters and detractors to have their voices heard.  In hindsight, there are likely better venues than a baseball game for the community to share their thoughts and feelings on Jim.”

Smith said that 95% of the calls received were negative.  Once the promotion was cancelled he noted that a woman called and said she wanted reimbursed for the tickets she had purchased for Traficant Night.  The support calls coming in are much less in quantity than the negatives received prior to the cancellation.

Traficant, who is completing his seven year sentence for racketeering, bribery, obstruction of justice and tax evasion, was never expected to show up at the game, and the concept was to show slides of the idiotic and brilliant moments of his time spent in Washington.

Sigh.  Beam Me Up.

The Mahoning Valley Scrappers and Brooklyn Cyclones hooked it up for a series-clinching matchup at Eastwood Field Thursday.  The Cyclones came away winning the series with a 2-1 victory over the Scrappers.  The series had playoff implications as these two teams have the best records, and for the most part, this game was highlighted by great pitching and solid defense.

The Scrappers got on the scorebord in the sixth inning.  Chun Chen hit a ground-rule double to the deepest part of Eastwood Field, dead center.  Rafael Vera knocked in Chen with a sac fly to put Mahoning Valley up 1-0. 

Brooklyn was the benefactor of a gift in the eighth inning.  With a runner on second, Cyclones LF Alex Gregory hit a double to deep left-center.  The relay throw went home but was a bit late.  Gregory took too wide of a turn rounding second base and Chun Chen fired the ball toward second from home.  The ball bounced short of the base and skipped into the outfield, where nobody was backing up the throw.  CF Jordan Henry and LF Rafael Vera converged at the ball on the warning track in the left-center gap.  Gregory scored from second uncontested, giving the cyclones a 2-1 lead.

Brett Brach had a good start going 5 1/3 innings and giving up no runs.  Brach was relieved by Jimmy Johnson who pitched out of trouble in the fifth and went 1 1/3.  Nick Kirk was called upon for 2/3 of an inning.  Cory Burns then finished out the contest, and unfortunately had to get pinned with a loss that wasn’t entirely his fault.

Manager Travis Fryman was not pleased with the defense that allowed the winning run to score.  ” Our situational hitting is very poor, and our defense was very poor.  I’m not sure why we were not backing up second base like we’re supposed to, somebody was probably thinking about their at-bats more than playing defense.”

Friday, the Scrappers welcome the Lowell Spinners.  The Scrappers will send Preston Guilmet, last weeks NYPL pitcher of the week to the hill.  Before the game, there will be an actual wedding on the field.  Scott Capron and Holly Hinzman will officially tie the knot.  The couple have been a host family for the Scrappers the last two seasons.  Marc Means will return to the air on AM-1390 with the first pitch and some wedding commentary at 6:45 PM.  First pitch is scheduled for 7:05, and it is fireworks night to boot!

The Mahoning Valley Scrappers improved to 34-19 on the season as they strengthened their hold on first place with a 12-1 clubbing of the Brooklyn Cyclones.  After dropping last nights contest, Mahoning Valley evened the series at one win apiece setting the stage for a Thursday finale.

The Scrappers got busy early as their first three hitters,  Jordan Henry, Kyle Smith, and Jason Kipnis, all singled.  Henry would score on Kipnis’ single putting the Scrappers up 1-0.

With two outs in the third, Kyle Bellows (pictured)  tripled on the thirteenth pitch of a great at-bat.  Bellows ended up tripling again in the fourth and ended the game with a season-high 5 RBI night.  “I hit it [the first triple] in the right spot at the right time and helped our team win and thats all that matters.  Everybody contributed today.  The pitching was great, the defense was great, and the hitting was great”, commented Bellows on the dominating team performance.

Clayton Cook, named earlier in the day to the New York- Penn League All-Star team, looked like exactly that – an All-Star.  Cook hurled five scoreless, yielding just four hits and lowering his ERA to 2.06 in picking up his fourth win for Mahoning Valley.  Austin Adams and Jose Urena threw two innings each in relief of Cook.

Manager Travis Fryman was pleased with the hitting party in the victory, “It was good.  Bellows, obviously had a big night.  Kipnis in our lineup is coming around which gives us a different look, which is encouraging. [Greg] Folgia had a good night too which was encouraging.  It was a good night for our guys, they bounced back after a pretty tough loss last night.”

The Scrappers and Cyclones hook up one more time on Thursday, Buck Night.  Eastwood Field will see a huge crowd as two top teams will battle to untie a defining series.  Marc Means will call the action on AM-1390 for those who get shut out or are unable to attend beginning at 7:05.

The Mahoning Valley Scrappers stayed hot with a 2-1 victory over the Tri-City ValleyCats giving then a sweep and running their win streak to eight in a row.  The pitching during the win streak has been unbelievable, despite an offense that has scored two runs for a few of those wins.  The Scrappers have yet to lose a day game this season.

In the top of the second, Kyle Bellows put the Scrappers on the board with a home run, his second in as many days.  Bellows’ sixth bomb this season gave the Scrappers a 1-0 lead.  This is the third game that the Scrappers have gone yard, best streak in that department this season.

The ValleyCats responded with a run in the bottom of the second.  In the top of the third, Kyle Smith hit a one out triple and later scored on a Greg Folgia RBI-single, increasing the lead to 2-1. 

The Mahoning Valley pitching staff took the one run lead and preserved it over the next seven innings to complete the sweep on the road.

Clayton Cook started and went 5 1/3 for the Scrappers.  Cook struck out 4, walked two and surrendered the lone ValleyCat run in the second.  Cook improved to 3-2 for the season with the victory.  Nick Kirk pitched the next three innings and turned in a stellar performance.  Guido Fonseca bailed Kirk out in the ninth.  Fonseca came in with runners on the corners and one out and got the final two outs to earn his second save of 2009. 

The Scrappers bus next heads to Vermont to battle the Lake Monsters.  Brett Brach will try to keep the Scrappers win streak going.  Game time is at 7:05 on Friday and you can hear the action on AM-1390 with Marc Means.