Breaking News: Big Name Trade

Calderwood's Corner has learned of a big-name trade by the Beach Bums involving a veteran pitcher...As details emerge and the trade is officially announced I will post all the information here...In the next week I will attempt to do an offseason recap for each Frontier League squad as we look ahead to spring training and provide my analysis...

Former Beach Bum Back in the League; ThunderBolts Make Signing Splash

No its not a player...The man I replaced in the Traverse City broadcast booth, Chad Cooper, will take over in Windy City where former ThunderBolt Jesse Goldberg-Strassler moved up to Lansing in the Midwest League...

Cooper will work for his third team in the league and reunite with Windy City General Manager Steve Tahsler...The two worked together with Cooper's first Frontier League team, the Evansville Otters...

Windy City continues to make news as the ThunderBolts have agreed to a radio deal for the first time since I've been in the league...

Details on Radio Deal and Cooper's Hiring

The two-time defending champion ThunderBolts have made the signing of the offseason as well, obtaining former Major League pitcher Billy Petrick...Petrick, 25 years old, pitched in the majors in the 2007 campaign for the Chicago Cubs, making eight appearances...

A former third round pick, Petrick has a connection with former Windy City Manager and current bench coach Mike Kashirsky, who coached him in 2002...

Petrick had been in the Cubs' organization since 2002...

Petrick will become the fourth player with Major League Baseball playing experience to appear in the Frontier League and the second with Windy City...Scott Sobkowiak appeared in one game for the Braves in 2001 and spent the 2003 and 2004 seasons with Rockford, where he was a starter...Corey Thurman spent the entire 2002 season and part of 2003 with the Blue Jays, and pitched for Florence in 2005...Ben Diggins made five starts as a pitcher for the Brewers in 2003 and appeared in 17 games as a first baseman for the Windy City in 2006...

Petrick Signs With ThunderBolts

Rookie RHP Joins List of Spring Training Invites

B.J. Hagen, a right-handed pitcher, has signed with the Beach Bums for the 2009 campaign...

Hagen concluded his playing career at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte last spring...In his senior campaign Hagen pitched in 20 games, making nine starts...Hagen was 3-2 with a 5.80 ERA in 68.1 innings...He struck out 32...

A true rookie, Hagen will compete for a slot similar to the one held by Pete McEneaney last season as a long reliever/spot starter...

More Info on Hagen

Former Coaches Return to Frontier League

While nothing has been officially announced, I have learned that former Beach Bums Manager Jon Cahill and former pitching Coach John Sexton will both be back in the Frontier League in 2009...

After spending two years together in Traverse City the tandem will seperate in 2009 and work for two different teams, both divisional rivals of the Beach Bums...Cahill will return to Wuerfel Park in the visiting clubhouse as the hitting coach for one East Division squad while John Sexton will serve as the pitching coach for another...

Cahill (Right) was the hitting coach for one season with the Beach Bums in 2006 before being elevated to the managerial post where he finished 96-96 in his two seasons...He played in the Frontier League for two seasons and began his coaching career with the Ohio Valley Redcoats in 2005...

Sexton (Left) helped the Beach Bums boast the top pitching staff in the Frontier League for the entire 2008 campaign and did the same in 2007 for a majority of the season outside of the first two months...

When it becomes official further details will be posted here...

Home Exhibition Contests

The Beach Bums announced today an exhibition doubleheader with the Midwest Sliders of Ypsilanti on May 16 at Wuerfel Park...

Both contests will be seven innings in length and are open to the public...Admission to Wuerfel Park will be $5 for one or both games...First pitch is slated for noon...The games will be the first chance to see Gregg Langbehn's team on the field before the regular season begins on May 22 in Kalamazoo...

Last season under the guidance of former pitching coach John Sexton, with former manager Jon Cahill attending his Hall of Fame induction at UMASS-Lowell, the Beach Bums traveled to Gary, Indiana to play a pair of contests at US Steel Yard, the home of the Northern League's Gary SouthShore Railcats...The Beach Bums finished 1-1 in their 2008 exhibition slate, falling to Northern League Champion Gary, led by the Frontier League's all-time managerial wins leader Greg Tagert, by a 6-4 count, rallying after allowing the champs four first inning runs...

The Beach Bums won the nightcap, topping Frontier League champion Windy City 3-2 after falling behind early again with two first inning runs to the ThunderBolts...

More Info

Beach Bums Add Catcher

The Beach Bums have acquired catcher Andrew Barbaro to complete a 2008 deal with the Sioux Falls Canaries of the American Association...

Barbaro played in 30 games for Sioux Falls as the backup catcher and hit .258 with seven doubles, a homer, and eight RBI...He posted two three-hit games including his first professional contest against St. Paul on May 16...The Canaries won the first half title in the American Association North Division and captured the American Association crown by besting the expansion Grand Prairie Airhogs and former Beach Bums outfielder Aaron Garza in a best-of-five series 3-1...Barbaro holds Rookie-2 status in the Frontier League...

While Barbaro has never been in a Beach Bums uniform he has experience at Wuerfel Park...Barbaro attended the Beach Bums open tryout prior to the 2007 season but was not signed...The 2007 tryout is where the Beach Bums inked Brett Bostelman, who is entering his third season with the team in 2009...

Traverse City used Matt Imwalle and Damon Lessler on the 2008 roster from the Canaries, and also dealt a veteran shortstop who had signed with the team in the offseason but did not play in the Frontier League...

More Info