Beach Bums vs. Windy City -- June 14, 2008

Lineups for tonight are below...Make sure to tune in for the secial Saturday weekly segment in the Labatt Blue On Deck Show which begins today...Bullpen Banter, a round table discussion led by the bullpen pitchers...today they discuss pitcher's batting practice which was held before the game today...

Beach Bums
Mike Goetz - LF
Steve Young - 2B
Jake Whitesides - DH
Kyle Maunus - 1B
Mike Epping - CF
Pat Perry - C
Brad Miller - SS
Matt Imwalle - 3B
Brad Roblin - RF

RHP David Nathanson -- 5th Start (4-0, 1.53)

Windy City ThunderBolts
Gilberto Mejia - 2B
Mike Coles - CF
Wes Long - SS
Phil Hawke - 1B
Josh Horn - 3B
Corey Stang - RF
Brett Amyx - DH
Danny Sawyer - C
Scott Billak - LF

RHP Dallas Sims -- 1st Professional Start (0-0, 0.00)

Ch-Ch-Changes

More roster moves coming down today...RHP Pete McEneaney (Pictured) was activated from injured reserve and RHP Zac Cole was let go...McEneaney has thrown once and it was on May 23...He worked a 1-2-3 inning. McEneaney was slated to throw on May 29 but pulled a muscle while warming up in the bullpen and was placed on Injured Reserve two days later...Cole pitched in six games and sported a 10.13 ERA with nine walks and eight strikeouts...

The Beach Bums also signed C Joe Blackburn, a Rookie-1 out of Penn State University and released C John Brummett...

Learn More

Record-Eagle Story

Sit Down With Sexton

Audio from the Labatt Blue On Deck Show Sit Down With Sexton on June 13, 2008...I may post his one from June 12 on here as well...

Ryan Gehring: Farm Bureau Insurance Beach Bums After Show

My chat with Ryan Gehring following his 9-0 complete game shutout win over Windy City...

Beach Bums 9, Windy City 0

OK...this is just a week to remember for the Beach Bums...Another strong performance...Here are some numbers to put this week in perspective...Five straight quality starts...Two earned runs in the last 38 innings of work...Two shutouts on the homestand, three on the season...2007 saw six total shutouts from the Beach Bums...The team sports an ERA of 3.52 collectively, the best in the league...Starters have thrown 15 quality starts with everyone having two or more...The ERA in June is at 2.78, best in the league by almost a point and a half...Ryan Gehring threw the first complete game shutout since August 24, 2006 when Robbie McClellan shutout Chillicothe 4-0...And oh by the way...David Nathanson, who is 4-0, goes tonight...

My Full Recap

Media
Record-Eagle

The SouthTown Star

Beach Bums vs. Windy City -- June 13, 2008

Its a FANtastic Fireworks Friday at Wuerfel Park! The 2007 Frontier League Champions are in town with a near completely different look...While the lineup remains the same the pitching staff has almost completely turned over...Windy City just helped the Beach Bums by winning consecutive games against Kalamazoo...Lineups are below...

Beach Bums
Mike Goetz - LF
Steve Young - 2B
Jake Whitesides - DH
Kyle Maunus - 1B
Mike Epping - CF
Pat Perry - C
Brad Roblin - RF
Matt Imwalle - 3B
Damon Lessler - SS

LHP Ryan Gehring -- 5th Start (1-2, 3.47)

Windy City ThunderBolts
Gilberto Mejia - 2B
Mike Coles - CF
Wes Long - SS
Phil Hawke - 1B
Josh Horn - 3B
Corey Stang - RF
Doug Coe - DH
Ben Barrone - C
Scott Billak - LF

RHP Amos Ramon -- 4th Start (0-0, 3.32)

Rockford Report

Here's my conversation with Rockford Manager Bob Koopmann which I recorded yesterday...The weather delay enabled me to play it during the bottom of the eighth...It was going to be an exclusive...Alas I'll find something to exclusify (A new word I just made up) this series with Windy City...As a side note the RiverHawks had bus problems last night and didn't get to leave Traverse City until a couple of hours after the game...Rockford hosts Kalamazoo tonight...

Labatt Blue On Deck Show Interview with Brett Bostelman

I'm giving the pregame and postgame interviews a new look to spice things up a bit...You'll still find the highlights and most of the coaches interviews in my game recaps, but from now on this will give you a chance to see the picture of which Beach Bums Player is being interviewed...Brett Bostelman joined me before the game yesterday to talk about his eight shutout innings on Wednesday night...

Beach Bums 4, Rockford 1

It was wet, but it was a win! What else can you say about Bryan Rembisz last night other than amazing! He retired the last 14 batters of the game and posted a career high eight strikeouts in moving to 3-0 this season...In all five of his starts he has contributed a quality outing and very well could be sitting at 5-0...He has not lost in the Frontier League in his two seasons, improving to 10-0 with last night's win...I'm going to use a big word to describe the series with Rockford...Sticktoitiveness...I have no idea if that is a real word or even if that is how its spelled :) What I do know is that the team seems to feed off of what is happening and regardless of the situation doesn't change the approach, recording two wins in the series with a total of just five runs scored...

My Full Recap

Boxscore

Highlights
Mike Epping swings at the first pitch in the bottom of the sixth and gives Traverse City the lead...



Pat Perry doubles to complete the scoring in the bottom of the sixth and make it a 3-1 lead...



Interviews
Farm Bureau Insurance Beach Bums After Show with Jake Whitesides



Media
Record-Eagle

Rockford Register-Star

Beach Bums Weekly #4 Yours Truly on The Morning Hustle With Craig Russell

Here's my segment from this morning on The Fox FM's Morning Hustle With Craig Russell...Every Friday, regardless of my loaction, I am on air in the vicinity of 8:40 AM EST...Windy City is in town tonight having just taken two of three from Kalamazoo (Thank you!)

Season Finale with Rockford

Lineups are below for tonight's finale with Rockford...Don't forget its Fill Up Wuerfel Park Night in protest of high gas prices...Tickets are just $4! I've got an exclusive for Calderwood's Corner later this week as I sat down with Rockford Manager Bob Koopmann today...

Beach Bums
Mike Goetz - LF
Steve Young - 2B
Jake Whitesides - DH
Kyle Maunus - 1B
Mike Epping - CF
Pat Perry - C
Brad Miller - SS
Matt Imwalle - 3B
Brad Roblin - RF

RHP Bryan Rembisz -- 5th Start (2-0, 2.88)

Rockford
Joe Anthonsen - 2B
Brad Dutton - 3B
Jason James - DH
Greg Burrows - RF
Brett Thomas - 1B
Matt Borman - LF
Jono Brooks - SS
Ryan Czyz - CF
Luca Hulsey - C

RHP Chris Schutt -- 5th Start (2-1, 5.18)

Beach Bums 1, RiverHawks 0 (11 Innings)

Wow!!!!! That's about the only thing I can say to describe last night...It took 19 innings to finally solve the puzzle that has been Rockford pitching, but perhaps overlooked was how well the Beach Bums were throwing the past two nights as well...While Rockford scored three runs on Tuesday only one of the runs was earned meaning in 20 innings over two nights there has been a total of two earned runs...I was extremely interested in how Bob Koopmann managed last night for the RiverHawks...He treated the game as if it were Game Five of the Frontier League Championship Series by bringing in an outfielder to play in the infield during the 11th...Brett Bostelman was amazing for the Beach Bums, throwing 108 pitches in his 8+ innings of work...Garrett Bauer was equally impressive for Rockford, allowing just three hits while striking out nine...I said this on air, but games like last night are my absolute favorite...so much drama...every pitch has the game hanging on the line...back and forth chess matches between managers...Wow!!!!

There is some great stuff below...Check it out!! Also check out the front page of the Frontier League site which has a picture of Bostelman and the scroll bar at the top talks about the game last evening...

My Full Recap

Highlights
Kyle Maunus drives in the only run of the game in the bottom of the 11th to give the Beach Bums the win...



Media
Record-Eagle

Rockford Register-Star

Interviews
Labatt Blue On Deck Show Chat with Rookie RHP and Buckley native James Ledford



Labatt Blue On Deck Show Sit Down With Sexton: Pitching Coach John Sexton



Farm Bureau Insurance Beach Bums After Show Interview with Kyle Maunus

Roster Moves

Two moves were made before the game today...Welcome back Third Baseman Matt Imwalle who was activated from injured reserve and will start at third tonight...Imwalle has played in just six games but the Beach Bums are 5-1 in those games...He is currently hitting .176 with a triple, four runs scored, 10 walks, and an RBI...The Beach Bums are looking forward to having Matt return to the form he has shown as a power hitter...In order to make room for Imwalle the Beach Bums released OF A.J. Joseph who played in six games with the Beach Bums last week on the road and hit .143 with a double and three RBI...

June 11, 2008: Beach Bums vs. Rockford RiverHawks

Its decal night at the Park! Show your Beach Bums pride on your vehicle (No not mine which is in the shop)! Beach Bums look to rebound from last night's defeat...Labatt Blue On Deck Show guests tonight include RHP James Ledford and Pitching Coach John Sexton...I'm on air at 6:45pm...Here are the starting lineups...

Beach Bums (13-6)
Mike Goetz - LF
Steve Young - 2B
Jake Whitesides - DH
Kyle Maunus - 1B
Mike Epping - CF
Brad Miller - SS
Pat Perry - C
Matt Imwalle - 3B (Matt was activated today)
Brad Roblin - RF

RHP Brett Bostelman (2-1, 5.82)

Rockford RiverHawks (9-10)
Joe Anthonsen - 2B
Brad Dutton - 3B
Jason James - LF
Chris Raber - 1B
Matt Mazurek - RF
Jono Brooks - SS
Rob Recuenco - DH
Ryan Czyz - CF
Lucas Hulsey - C

LHP - Garrett Bauer (1-2, 5.82)

Rcokford 3, Beach Bums 0

Some have said I should throw in a line from Major League here about last night's game...Held to only one hit by Rockford I think you just need to tip your cap to James Cramphin, who pitched out of his mind...He threw just 96 pitches in seven innings of work allowing just one hit while striking out nine...He was consistently throwing strike-1, strike-2...Good to see Brad Roblin return after not having played since May 30...J.T. King did his best, giving the Beach Bums a quality start and keeping his team in the game despite walking five...Only one of the three Rockford runs was earned...Back at it tonight!! All the fun stuff is below...Make sure to listen in to Steve Young's interview to find out the one thing people don't know about him...It's interesting...

My Full Recap

Media
Record-Eagle

Rockford Register-Star

Labatt Blue On Deck Show Interview with Beach Bums Manager Jon Cahill



Labatt Blue On Deck Show Interview with Second Baseman Steve Young



Farm Bureau Insurance Beach Bums After Show Discussion with Brad Roblin

Tales From the Road

A couple random stories from the recently concluded roatrip that I thought I'd share before I go to bed on a frustrating night...The first day back from a roadtrip is usually pretty busy catching up on all the stuff from the road...Not to mention when your car starts acting funny and the check engine light comes on as you drive back home from the ballpark following a 3-0 loss...Yargh!!

Rockford
The random story from Rockford involves the hotel...As you know my equipment was giving me issues in Rockford, so on Wednesday Rockford's broadcaster, who joined me for the middle three innings tonight, picked me up at the hotel early in the afternoon so I could go to the stadium to mess with stuff...I got to the park somewhere in the vicinity of 2:30 EST...Well we think I got everything resolved, but that's not the story...When I left the hotel it was a Howard Johnson...After the 6-5 win we returned to the hotel and it had changed ownership to a Days Inn...So we literally stayed in two different hotels for two seperate nights even though it was in the same building...

Windy City
Everytime we go to Windy City it rains...Saturday was no exception...The game delayed for 1:11 due to the weather and mad props needs to go to the Windy City grounds crew...Anyhow, tornado sirens were going off for most of the afternoon and batting practice was cancelled...So...the entire team took to watching the debacle that was the Belmont Stakes in the clubhouse...The newest edition to Windy City's clubhouse was a TV, convieniently placed for the race...Big Brown was pathetic, but the race was almost not seen as the TV station broke in to weather coverage talking about three half mile tornadoes that were on their way into the South suburbs of Chicago, specifically mentioning Crestwood, home of the T-Bolts...The groundskeeper had a watch to tell us when the storm was going to hit...6:15pm...Of course, everyone wants to see the tornado, yours truly included...Being from Chicago my wife and family usually make their way to the games there especially with this being the only stop...So the Mrs. was sitting in the dugout as I was out on the field with around half of the team watching the skies...The sirens kept getting closer and closer as the storm slowed...I deferred to the Oklahomians to talk about tornadoes as they had seen them up close and personal before...The closest I came was in Cozumel, Mexico this spring when I saw a water spout which is a tornado on the water...J.T. King was up in the upper deck trying to spot the storm...Around 6:30 there was still no storm, but there was a lot of the eerie calm moments...The siren immediately behind the park began to blare, but within five minutes it stopped and we got the all clear from the groundscrew...Tornado stayed south, severe thunderstorm on the way so 7:30 was going to be the earliest start...I went in the booth to set up and went on air at about 7:30, staying on for nearly an hour during the delay playing back interviews that were previously heard only on here (That's what you get with Calderwood's Corner, exclusive content!! There may be some more exclusive stuff on the way soon...)

Back Home!!!!

Wow what a roadtrip...It was good to have an off-day yesterday, I went mini-golfing with some of the guys in addition to spending some time on the beach and even braving the water for a little while, well for a dive anyway...Its good to be back, especially for an extended period of time! Yay!!! Here are the lineups for tonight...I spent some time getting caught up on stuff today so I'll post a bunch of stuff tomorrow...

Beach Bums
Mike Goetz - LF
Steve Young - 2B
Jake Whitesides - DH
Kyle Maunus - 1B
Mike Epping - CF
Brad Miller - SS
John Brummett - C
Damon Lessler - 3B
Brad Roblin - RF - Returning from injury

RHP J.T. King (2-1, 7.63)

Rockford RiverHawks
Joe Anthonsen - 2B
Brad Dutton - 3B
Jason James - DH
Greg Burrows - RF
Chris Raber -1B
Matt Mazurek - CF
Jono Brooks - SS
Matt Borman - LF
Lucas Hulsey - C

RHP James Cramphin (1-1, 8.44)

Finale at Windy City

Here's to a 5-1 roadtrip! Weather affected batting practice but the game is on as scheduled tonight...Yesterday was a wild one wasn't it? Oh my! Lineups below...

Beach Bums
Mike Goetz - CF
Steve Young - 2B
Jake Whitesides - DH
Kyle Maunus - 1B
Pat Perry - C
Brad Miller - SS
AJ Joseph - LF
Damon Lessler - 3B
Jeff Brown - RF

RHP David Nathanson (3-0, 1.64)

Windy City
Gilberto Mejia - 2B
Mike Coles - CF
Wes Long - SS
Phil Hawke - 1B
Josh Horn - 3B
Brett Amyx - LF
Doug Coe - DH
Ben Barrone - C
Scott Billak - RF

RHP Eric Fussell (0-2, 13.50)