On the DL

Best and warm wishes (on this cold Friday evening) going out to our friends Bruce (Deep Fly) and his son Ryan (Shallow Fly?) who are both, most decidedly, under the weather right now.  Speedy recoveries for you both.

Speaking of absenteeism

How is this going to work?  This caught my eye earlier today:

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Canadians Fall Short in First Exhibition Outing

BRISBANE, Australia – It started off well, but one inning would turn out to be Canada’s downfall in their first exhibition game as they would fall at the hands off Australia by a final score of 5-3.

The Canadians would be the ones to break it open in the third inning when Emmanuel Garcia hit a double to cash in Jeremy Ware (Guelph, ON) would had reached base on a walk.

“I was just trying to see the ball well. I got a 3-1 fastball and I was able to put the bat on the ball,” says Garcia.

(italics mine)

Who else is on the Olympic qualifying roster?

2008 BASEBALL CANADA SENIOR NATIONAL TEAM OLYMPIC QUALIFIER ROSTER

Jersey First Last City Prov Birthdate Age Bat Th Ht Wt Pos MLB Organization

Number Name Name d/m/y (Level)

25 James Avery Moose Jaw SK 10-Jun-84 23 R R 6′1″ 210 RHP Cincinnati Reds (AA)

22 Tim Burton Ottawa ON 30-Jul-83 24 L R 6′3″ 195 RHP Cleveland Indians (AA)

11 Stubby Clapp Windsor ON 24-Feb-73 35 L R 5′8″ 175 2B Former Cardinals (MLB)

28 David Corrente Chatham ON 13-Oct-83 24 R R 6′2″ 210 C Toronto Blue Jays (AAA)

17 Emerson Frostad Calgary AB 13-Jan-83 25 L R 6′1″ 220 1B / C Texas Rangers (AA)

15 Emmanuel Garcia Montreal QC 4-Mar-86 21 L R 6′2″ 190 SS New York Mets (A)

24 Brett Gray Petrolia ON 19-Aug-76 31 R R 6′0″ 190 RHP Former Reds (AA)

35 Steve Green Greenfield Park QC 26-Jan-78 30 R R 6′2″ 195 RHP Former Angels (MLB)

2 Taylor Green Courtenay BC 02-Nov-86 21 L R 5′10″ 180 INF Milwaukee Brewers (A)

32 Mike Kusiewicz Ottawa ON 1-Nov-76 31 R L 6′2″ 205 LHP Former Athletics (AAA)

27 Jonathan Lockwood Toronto ON 12-Dec-81 26 R R 6′2″ 195 RHP Former Mariners (A)

31 Brooks McNiven Vancouver BC 19-Jun-81 26 R R 6′5″ 190 RHP San Francisco Giants (AA)

16 Alexandre Periard St - Eustache QC 15-Jun-87 20 R R 6′1″ 215 RHP Milwaukee Brewers (A)

19 Ryan Radmanovich Calgary AB 9-Aug-71 36 L R 6′2″ 200 OF Former Mariners (MLB)

23 Jamie Richmond Mississauga ON 23-Mar-86 21 R R 6′3″ 195 RHP Oakland Athletics (A)

34 Scott Richmond Langley BC 30-Aug-79 28 R R 6′5″ 220 RHP Toronto Blue Jays (AA)

30 Chris Robinson Dorchester ON 12-May-84 23 R R 6′0″ 215 C Chicago Cubs (AA)

4 Matt Rogelstad New Westminster BC 13-Sep-82 25 L R 6′3″ 190 INF Washington Nationals (A)

20 Mike Saunders Victoria BC 19-Nov-86 21 L R 6′4″ 215 OF Seattle Mariners (AA)

7 Adam Stern London ON 12-Feb-80 28 L R 5′11″ 185 OF Baltimore Orioles (AAA)

29 Jimmy VanOstrand Richmond BC 7-Aug-84 23 R R 6′4″ 225 1B / OF Houston Astros (A)

26 Jeremy Ware Guelph ON 23-Oct-75 32 R R 6′1″ 210 OF Former Expos (AAA)

33 Nick Weglarz Stevensville ON 16-Dec-87 20 L L 6′3″ 225 OF Cleveland Indians (A)

18 Aaron Wideman Mississauga ON 8-Jun-85 22 R L 5′11″ 190 LHP Toronto Blue Jays (A)

Which lead me to check the time frame for the Beijing Games. August 8-24.  Couple of things - first, don’t get me wrong, I want the Canadians to qualify in ‘08.  Second - would the presence of two members of the Rapids on the Olympics squad be an overall benefit to the team?  Certainly losing a starting pitcher and outfielder generally isn’t good for the “win-loss” column, but will it be outweighed by the status of having two Rapids players competing for medals?  I think so.

Calling in sick

I rarely get a fever, but with the one I’m running right now, anything posted would likely be gibberish.

Sorry - more gibberish than usual.

Cross-posted from the UOLB.

Surf’s up for Sess

Rapids fans will get to see another former major-leaguer come to town as a manager. Cecil Fielder, the former home run champion and one-time Blue Jay, has signed on to manage the Atlantic City Surf.

The Rapids’ first road trip will be against the Surf in their home opener on May 26.

A Jody Kingsbury sighting… UPDATED

Got a nice note updating all of us on the activities of Jody Kingsbury, who was a media relations intern with the Lynx last summer.

Jody has been using his winter well, putting together video highlight packages for the varsity teams at McMaster University down in Hamilton.

Speaking as someone whose CIS fetish has been spun off into a second blog, Jody’s highlight packages  perfectly capture the atmosphere of a university game in Canada. It’s  professional work but it doesn’t look so slick that you forget you’re watching true student-athletes. 

No doubt a lot of collegiate and professional sports organizations could stand to have Mr. Kingsbury’s expertise and enthusiasm.

(Cross-posted to the UOLB.)

*** UPDATE ***

Thanks to uber-blogger, Neate Sager, who beat me to the ball quite handily on this.  Hat tip to RD for alerting us to Mr. Kingsbury’s work.  I’m hopeful that the Rapids will be able to harness the power of the ‘net and a Windows/Apple computer and produce something similar for their website.  Which isn’t to say this stuff is easy, and Neate nailed it: Jody’s work looks pro.

Jody, stylin’ during a June 19 rain delay.

More from the press conference

I’ve scanned the hand-out from last Thursday’s press conference for anyone that’s interested.  Just click on the links for the images. 

Logos
Miles Wolff’s bio.
History of the Can-AM League
Ed Nottle’s bio.
Ed Nottle’s managerial record
Schedule
Schedule continued

Quick hit

The “official” website is now up and running.  Looks good!

Making the rounds

For a man who’s only been in town for a little more than a week, Ed Nottle’s been pretty busy.   One can’t help but get the feeling that the more Ottawa gets to know him, the more impressed they’re going to be.  Have a listen….

Who is Jeremy Ware?

Right around this time last year, I’d moved past the player profiles over on the UOLB and speculation was beginning as to whom would make the 25 man minor league roster.  With the late start that the Rapids have been forced to deal with, the roster signings are just now rolling out.

First up, Jeremy Ware.  Ware played last year in southern Ontario for the Guelph Royals of the Intercounty Baseball League (IBL for my purposes).  The IBL’s an amateur, independent league made up of nine teams - some going as far back as 1911 (the Brantford Red Sox). 

“It was a fun experience. We had a great bunch of guys and that made it fun,” Ware said of the Royals, who were ousted last week from the semifinals in seven games by the Toronto Maple Leafs. “Baseball’s in my blood. I enjoy playing, but the break from professional ball is good.”

Ware hit .277 and led the Royals in homers (nine) and RBIs (31) in the regular season. In 13 post-season games, he hit .292 with two homers and eight RBIs.

                                                              [Guelphmercury.com, August 21, 2007]

Over his 12 year professional career, the left-fielder is a .264 hitter with 86 HR and 526 RBI.

Batting Statistics

Year	Team	Lg	Age	Org.	Level		Pos	Ln	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	HBP	IBB	SH	SF	DP	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	GB%
1995	GCL Expos	GCL	19	Mtl	Rk		of		38	116	18	28	4	2	2	15	5	4	18	28	3	0	0	1	2	.241	.355	.362	717	–
1996	GCL Expos	GCL	20	Mtl	Rk		of		15	44	10	16	3	3	0	17	6	1	9	4	0	0	2	0	0	.364	.472	.568	1040	–
	Vermont	NYPL	20	Mtl	A-		of		32	94	12	18	2	0	0	6	5	3	15	25	0	0	1	0	1	.191	.303	.213	516	–
1997	Cape Fear	SAL	21	Mtl	A		of		138	529	84	139	32	5	16	77	32	7	43	114	6	2	0	6	8	.263	.322	.433	755	–
1998	Jupiter	FSL	22	Mtl	A+		of		127	492	51	121	35	3	10	64	21	5	23	102	7	1	4	7	16	.246	.285	.390	675	–
1999	Jupiter	FSL	23	Mtl	A+		of		7	25	5	8	2	0	2	11	3	0	2	5	0	0	0	0	0	.320	.370	.640	1010	–
	Harrisburg	East	23	Mtl	AA		of		111	381	57	100	23	2	9	56	12	5	41	79	2	2	2	5	19	.262	.333	.404	737	–
2000	Harrisburg	East	24	Mtl	AA		of		123	442	62	123	23	2	10	63	12	11	39	87	2	2	0	5	10	.278	.336	.407	743	–
2001	Harrisburg	East	25	Mtl	AA		of		27	87	12	25	6	0	3	16	1	1	7	14	0	1	0	0	0	.287	.340	.460	800	–
	Ottawa	IL	25	Mtl	AAA		of		53	147	13	39	13	0	2	13	2	0	6	24	0	0	3	0	4	.265	.294	.395	689	–
2002	Harrisburg	East	26	Mtl	AA		of		24	95	13	25	6	1	6	18	0	0	7	17	1	0	0	0	6	.263	.320	.537	857	–
	Buffalo	IL	26	Cle	AAA		of		42	135	18	40	10	0	1	17	2	1	6	23	0	0	0	0	4	.296	.326	.393	719	–
2003	Harrisburg	East	27	Mtl	AA		of		68	254	33	71	10	1	12	52	1	0	16	41	2	1	0	6	6	.280	.320	.469	789	–
	Edmonton	PCL	27	Mtl	AAA		of		12	20	3	6	0	0	1	1	0	0	1	4	0	0	0	0	1	.300	.333	.450	783	–
2004	Harrisburg	East	28	Mtl	AA		of		54	192	24	43	10	0	2	14	2	3	15	38	2	1	1	2	7	.224	.284	.307	591	–
	Edmonton	PCL	28	Mtl	AAA		of		26	64	5	16	2	0	0	5	0	0	5	6	1	2	0	1	2	.250	.310	.281	591	–
2005	Edmonton	Northern	29		Ind		of		79	322	36	84	21	5	4	41	5	3	22	36	1	1	1	10	10	.261	.301	.394	695	–
2006	Edmonton	Northern	30		Ind				79	314	50	89	23	2	7	40	9	2	28	45	1	0	2	2	5	.283	.342	.436	778	–
Minor League Totals - 12 Season(s)									1055	3753	506	991	225	26	87	526	118	46	303	692	28	13	16	45	101	.264	.320	.407	727	–

.

As was noted a couple of posts back, Jeremy was part of the 2004 Olympic team (both in the qualifying rounds and games in Athens) which eventually finished fourth.  He indicated to Guelphmercury.com that if he didn’t land a job with a pro-team, he’d gladly don the National team uni for the games in Beijing this summer.

“I’ve been told to stay prepared… (h)onestly, that’s my greatest pride, playing for the country,” Ware said.

Ware spoke to young ballplayers at Dino Roumel’s baseball camp earlier this summer and referenced his time with Team Canada.

“I almost teared up telling the kids what I’ve done,” Ware said. “I’m a little bitter I didn’t get the opportunity to play in the big leagues, but I’m grateful for what I’ve had.

“Who’d have thought I’d get drafted right out of high school and then play every level of baseball other than the majors?”

                                                 [Guelphymercury.com, August 21, 2007] 

We’re happy to have him here in Ottawa - although we’re now concerned about the proximity of our Canadian players to Baseball Canada and Jim Baba’s watchful eye.

Pitching in.

Thanks to Bob down in Rochester (who we had the pleasure of having lunch with a couple of weeks ago) for the link with the photo of new Rapids acquisition and local boy, Fraser Robinson.   Things are made a lot easier around the blog when everyone helps out with the “Googling”.   More blog material from Wayne Sollows of the “Keeping the baseball stadium” petition fame, with the following letter published in yesterday’s Ottawa Citizen.

Ushering in new era

The Ottawa Citizen

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

 

Re: And now the hard work begins, Feb. 15.The introduction of the Ottawa Rapids was a welcome breath of fresh spring air in an already too long winter.

As my wife and I had collected the almost 3,000 names on a petition asking the City of Ottawa to keep the park for baseball, I was pleased to attend the Can-Am Baseball League’s news conference to capture the sense of excitement and enthusiasm for our new team.

The front office is well organized; our field coach is independent baseball’s “winningest” manager. I have no doubt the team will fill out the roster in short order with players of top calibre.

But this is only going to succeed if we have the fans — the reason all this hard work is being done. So people of Ottawa-Gatineau, let’s step up and break out of the myopia that doesn’t allow us to see beyond hockey. Let’s usher in a new era for Ottawa sports in general and baseball in particular. See you opening day on May 22.

Wayne K. Sollows,

Ottawa