There’s always room for Jello!

80s pop culture influences run deep in this household (blogger:  It explains some of the embarrassing CDs in the collection).

Ahem.

Picked up the Raps latest signing off the Can AM League website - Angelo “Jello” Burrows.  Burrows, an RHP, spent last season in Nashua and went 4-2 as a reliever in 32 appearances, picking up two saves along the way.  Jello held the opposition to a 2.51 ERA, striking out 47 in 52 1/3 innings, while walking 22. 

Complete stats:

Pitching Statistics

Year	Team	Lg	Age	Org	Level		W	L	ERA	G	GS	CG	SH	GF	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	WP	BK	H9	HR9	BB9	K9	WHIP	GB%
2004	GCL Braves	GCL	23	Atl	Rk		1	3	3.75	14	0	0	0	12	3	24.0	22	11	10	4	7	23	2		8.25	1.50	2.63	8.63	1.21	–
	Rome	SAL	23	Atl	A		1	2	4.73	8	0	0	0	4	0	13.1	7	7	7	1	11	7	0		4.73	0.68	7.43	4.73	1.35	–
2005	Rome	SAL	24	Atl	A		3	1	3.48	16	0	0	0		3	20.2	23	8	8	0	9	18	3	0	10.02	0.00	3.92	7.84	1.55	–
	Myrtle Bch	Caro	24	Atl	A+		1	2	3.15	14	0	0	0		0	20.0	14	11	7	1	10	22	2	1	6.30	0.45	4.50	9.90	1.20	–
	Daytona	FSL	24	Chc	A+		0	0	0.00	3	0	0	0		0	4.0	2	0	0	0	1	6	0	0	4.50	0.00	2.25	13.50	0.75	–
2006	Pennsylvna	Atl	25		Ind		3	2	4.09	23	4	0	0	7	0	44.0	41	23	20	4	19	45	5	0	8.39	0.82	3.89	9.20	1.36	–
	Daytona	FSL	25	Chc	A+		2	1	10.66	8	0	0	0	3	0	12.2	20	15	15	5	2	9	5	0	14.21	3.55	1.42	6.39	1.74	–
2007	Nashua	CanAm	26		Ind		4	2	5.16	32	0	0	0	10	2	52.1	48	31	30	3	22	47	2	1	8.25	0.52	3.78	8.08	1.34	–
Minor League Totals - 4 Season(s)							15	13	4.57	118	4	0	0		8	191.0	177	106	97	18	81	177	19		8.34	0.85	3.82	8.34	1.35	–

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%
2000	Danville	App	19	Atl	Rk		of		44	171	28	47	6	2	0	20	8	3	11	20	2	1	2	1	3	.275	.324	.333	657	–
2001	Macon	SAL	20	Atl	A		of		117	426	52	109	15	2	4	36	31	15	28	61	2	0	4	2	2	.256	.303	.329	632	–
2002	Macon	SAL	21	Atl	A		of		96	314	31	75	15	4	4	24	1	4	10	35	1	0	4	0	8	.239	.265	.350	615	–
	Greenville	Sou	21	Atl	AA		of		14	47	3	10	3	1	0	1	5	2	2	6	0	0	3	0	0	.213	.245	.319	564	–
2003	Rome	SAL	22	Atl	A		of		22	49	6	10	3	1	1	5	3	2	4	8	0	0	2	2	0	.204	.255	.367	622	–
	Myrtle Bch	Caro	22	Atl	A+		of		41	127	14	32	7	1	0	10	3	4	5	18	1	0	5	0	3	.252	.286	.323	609	–
Minor League Totals - 4 Season(s)									334	1134	134	283	49	11	9	96	51	30	60	148	6	1	20	5	16	.250	.290	.336	626	–

Fielding Statistics

Year	Team	Lg	Age	Org	Level	Pos	G	GS	Inn	PO	A	E	TC	DP	PB	SB	CS	FPCT	RF
2000	Danville	App	19	Atl	Rk	OF	44			97	2	2	101	0	-	-	-	.980	–
2001	Macon	SAL	20	Atl	A	OF	107			258	5	4	267	1	-	-	-	.985	–
2002	Macon	SAL	21	Atl	A	OF	89			177	13	3	193	4	-	-	-	.984	–
2002	Greenville	Sou	21	Atl	AA	OF	14			23	1	1	25	0	-	-	-	.960	–
2003	Rome	SAL	22	Atl	A	OF	20			33	5	0	38	2	-	-	-	1.000	–
2003	Myrtle Bch	Caro	22	Atl	A+	OF	34			72	2	3	77	0	-	-	-	.961	–
2004	GCL Braves	GCL	23	Atl	Rk	P	14			1	1	1	3	0	-	-	-	.667	–
2004	Rome	SAL	23	Atl	A	P	7			1	1	0	2	0	-	-	-	1.000	–
2005	Rome	SAL	24	Atl	A	P	16			1	2	0	3	0	-	-	-	1.000	–
2005	Daytona	FSL	24	Chc	A+	P	3			0	1	0	1	0	-	-	-	1.000	–
2005	Myrtle Bch	Caro	24	Atl	A+	P	14			1	2	0	3	0	-	-	-	1.000	–
2006	Daytona	FSL	25	Chc	A+	P	8								-	-	-	—	–

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Angelo is one of those baseball oddities - he started his career with the Atlanta Braves organization as an outfielder, before being moved to pitcher in 2004.   Traded to the Cubs in 2005 as part of the deal that sent Todd Hollandsworth to the Braves, Burrows made it as high as AA with the Braves and A+ ball with the Cubs, before signing with Nashua in 2007.

Quick interview from 2005:

Inside The Ivy: What are some of the things the Cubs have you working on in “Instructs?”

Angelo Burrows: They’re stressing me working on pickoff moves, being quick to the plate and just being a better overall pitcher really. I’m working on the basics right now.

Inside The Ivy: How did the process of changing organizations late into the season go for you? 

Angelo Burrows: Well it was unexpected, you know? I didn’t expect it because of the fact that it didn’t happen until the end of the year. I didn’t even know I could be traded after the July 31 deadline. It was shocking, but it was in my best interest as a pitcher to be a part of the Cubs’ organization. Once it registered with me, I was happy about it afterward.

Inside The Ivy: You seem to have answered the next question, which was—was it a surprise?

Angelo Burrows: It was, man. I was with Myrtle Beach (Advanced-A affiliate) and we were on the road. It was a late game, about 10:30 p.m., maybe 11 o’clock. As soon as he came into the clubhouse, my manager (Randy Ingle) said he had some news for me. He’d been ejected in the game, so he was already in the clubhouse. He told me that I’d been traded. It was just unexpected, man. Words couldn’t express how I really felt. Inside The Ivy: You also have a nickname, correct?

Angelo Burrows: Yeah, “Jell-o.” It’s short for my first name.

Inside The Ivy: Tell us about your repertoire for those who are unfamiliar with you.

Angelo Burrows: I feature a fastball and a changeup. My fastball is typically low-90’s. I had been working on a slider when I was with the Braves, but the Cubs took me aside and told me they wanted me to work on a curveball. They didn’t say why really. Since I come over the top, they tell me I have a chance at having a good curveball with my arm angle the way it is.

Inside The Ivy: What do you consider your out-pitch?

Angelo Burrows: I usually try to use my changeup a lot, but if I have good command of my fastball, I’ll go with either one. I’d still probably say my changeup.

Inside The Ivy: There are a lot of pitching instructors in Mesa at the moment. Which ones have you been working with the closest?

Angelo Burrows: David Rosario and Tom Pratt.

Inside The Ivy: You began your career with the Braves as an outfielder before making the switch to pitching in 2004. How did the transition go?

Angelo Burrows: It wasn’t easy, man. It was something I’d never done before. The Braves just felt that they could see me making it in the big leagues more as a pitcher than as a position player. They told me they had some guys ahead of me, and that they just felt pitching would be my best and quickest way to the big leagues.

Inside The Ivy: What was the hardest thing about it all?

Angelo Burrows: The hardest thing was just learning how to pitch. It was something that I wasn’t sure about and didn’t have much confidence in at first. I had to learn about mechanics and about dealing with the aches and pains of a pitcher. I learned control and balance. It was mind boggling to have to start over from scratch and start at the bottom. It took a lot out of me, but my goal was to be a big leaguer. I guess pitching was just my calling.

**********************************************************************************************************

And finally, Youtube provides the source for this post’s title:

“We’re here to win.”

That according to Mike Kusiewicz, the Raps first signing.  Follow the link to the article in today’s Centretown News Online - it’s a good piece, complete with opinion from Howard Darwin.

The arrival of a new baseball team is bittersweet for Howard Darwin, former co-owner of the Ottawa 67’s, and the man who brought professional baseball to Ottawa in 1993.
Darwin led the effort to bring the Lynx to Ottawa and convinced city council to approve the construction of Ottawa Stadium.  
“I was very, very disappointed when the Lynx left,” Darwin said. “We worked hard to bring the team here and build that stadium.”
Darwin said despite the Lynx’s attendance problems, there is still a market for baseball in Ottawa.He also points to the Rapids later start date as something that will help the team.
“I hope they succeed, and they might, because they’re starting around the end of May,” said Darwin. “At one point they had to shovel the stands before a game.  People won’t watch baseball in the snow.
Darwin also said he will head over to Ottawa Stadium to see a few home games.
While he says the quality of baseball won’t be the same as the Lynx, he’s just glad to see the stadium in use.
He hopes the Rapids do what it takes to ensure Ottawa residents can enjoy professional baseball.
“Whatever the hell they can do to keep baseball here,” said Darwin, “I wish them the best.”

In other news, the Raps signed infielder Jose De Los Santos a couple of days back.  Jose De Los Santos, 23, hails from the Dominican Republic and in his three professional seasons has played every infield position, save pitcher.  It was difficult to pin down his whereabouts in 2007,

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%
2004	Bristol	App	19	Chw	Rk		3b-2b		53	200	28	63	10	1	0	35	1	2	5	21	3	0	4	3	5	.315	.336	.375	711	–
2005	Kannapolis	SAL	20	Chw	A		3b		103	391	45	115	18	3	0	34	1	2	18	42	4	0	10	3	15	.294	.329	.355	684	–
2006	Winst-Salm	Caro	21	Chw	A+		2b-3b		99	339	34	100	17	0	1	32	9	4	19	43	4	0	6	2	7	.295	.338	.354	692	–
Minor League Totals - 3 Season(s)									255	930	107	278	45	4	1	101	11	8	42	106	11	0	20	8	27	.299	.334	.359	693	–

Spring Training Batting Statistics

Year	Team	Lg	Age	Org.	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	HBP	IBB	SH	SF	DP	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	GB%
2006	Chi Wh-Sox	AL	21		1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	000	–
Major League Totals - 1 Season(s)					1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	000	–

Fielding Statistics

Year	Team	Lg	Age	Org	Level	Pos	G	GS	Inn	PO	A	E	TC	DP	PB	SB	CS	FPCT	RF
2004	Bristol	App	19	Chw	Rk	2B	11			25	23	3	51	9	-	-	-	.941	–
2004	Bristol	App	19	Chw	Rk	3B	18			12	27	5	44	5	-	-	-	.886	–
2004	Bristol	App	19	Chw	Rk	SS	6			9	13	1	23	2	-	-	-	.957	–
2005	Kannapolis	SAL	20	Chw	A	1B	2			19	1	2	22	3	-	-	-	.909	–
2005	Kannapolis	SAL	20	Chw	A	2B	8			10	18	0	28	5	-	-	-	1.000	–
2005	Kannapolis	SAL	20	Chw	A	3B	83			39	127	20	186	7	-	-	-	.892	–
2005	Kannapolis	SAL	20	Chw	A	SS	1			3	5	1	9	1	-	-	-	.889	–
2006	Winst-Salm	Caro	21	Chw	A+	2B	67								-	-	-	—	–
2006	Winst-Salm	Caro	21	Chw	A+	3B	32								-

.

According to Baseball America’s 2007 stats, it looks like Jose played for the Hickory Crawdads of the South Atlantic League.  The Crawdads are the Single A affiliate for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Proper Name: Jose Luis De Los Santos (De Leon) Born: Feb. 17, 1985 in Santo Domingo, D.R.

Ht.: 5-11 Wt.: 160 Bats: R Throws: R

Individual Batting Stats
Club (League)	Class	AVG	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	SH	SF	IBB	HBP	GIDP	OBP	SLG	OPS
Hickory Crawdads (SAL)	Low A	.224	36	125	10	28	2	0	0	7	4	20	3	5	6	0	0	1	2	.254	.240	.494
MINOR LEAGUE TOTALS		.224	36	125	10	28	2	0	0	7	4	20	3	5	6	0	0	1	2	.254	.240	.494
Stats Legend

Update: I was able to confirm that he was indeed on the Crawdads 2007 roster here.

Civics 201

The Commissioner, Miles Wolff, was back on familiar and decidedly friendlier turf today speaking to City Council ahead of the regular Council meeting.  For those of you that didn’t catch the webcast, things went off without a hitch.  Friends of the Rapids, Jean Pierre Allard (freelance), Terry Marcotte (CTV Ottawa) and Don Campbell (The Citizen) took time to speak with Miles pre and post ceremonies.

Miles Wolff and Mayor Larry O’Brien

Miles Wolff, letting Council know he’ll be back soon, looking for a lease beyond 2009.

Terry Marcotte gathers the Commissioner’s thoughts.

What no one would have seen was the amount of work that went into the relatively brief presentation.  Bruce Murdock (Deep Fly, if you prefer), the Raps point man at City Hall, made sure that all of the material was delivered to Laurier Avenue yesterday and helped out with the letter that went to each Councillor. 

Look for MSM reports on CTV and The Ottawa Citizen this evening and tomorrow.

Civics 101

It appears that the presentation tomorrow will be part of Rogers coverage - both television and webcast.  There should be a link to the webcast here.  Mr.  Wolff is scheduled to speak second, but don’t blink - it’s meant to be fairly brief.  Despite how things appear,

things are rolling along down at the Stadium.

Battin’ things around

This will have to be quick today.  Couple of things - first, a reliable source tells me that there was a reason the Lynx didn’t place the Fun Zone in the picnic area: liability.  Anyone who’s been to a game at Lynx Stadium can tell you that on average, I would bet that no fewer than ten foul balls wind up in the picnic area each game (more or less, depending on how many left handed hitters are in the line up).  True, these aren’t typically “screaming” line drive fouls, but any type of ball striking a kid represents an un-acceptable risk.

Spring Training will be open to the public so we’ll all have an opportunity for a baseball “fix” in advance of Opening Day - more on this later.  Finally for today, Mr. Wolff will be returning to familiar turf this Wednesday when he steps in front of City Council to make a brief presentation before the regular Council meeting.  I believe that Rogers still webcasts Council meetings, but I’m less certain whether they cover the pre-meeting ceremonies.  I’ll post up on this before Wednesday’s meeting.

Uphill battle

Neate posts up on the recent acquisition/trade and the news that was released a couple of days ago:  CJRC will be broadcasting Raps games this season.

Not to throw any fuel on the fire here, but see if you can spot what’s missing on The Team 1200’s revamped website…

Old:

New:

I guess for the new Team 1200, the only sports teams and leagues which exist are those that they have broadcast rights for (i.e. the Senators and the 67’s).  The images aren’t the greatest, but on the old webpage, the upper banner included Sens, 67s, Lynx, CFL, etc. logos.  The updated version only carries the Sens and the 67’s.

Nice.

Getting to it eventually

M’excuse.  Which of course is French for, m’excuse.  It’s been brought to my attention that I have yet to profile the last member of the competition, the Quebec Capitales.  I’ll try to get to it this long weekend.

One more thing I forgot to mention in the “gearing up” post.  A number of people have wondered about the possibility of changing the dimensions of the park - i.e. moving the outfield fences.  Miles believes it could be done, but he wasn’t sure why it was necessary and added that it would not be accomplished without significant expense.  Personally, I think this is a detail they can deal with in the future - they’ve got bigger fish to fry in ‘08.

Gearing up for ‘08.

More in the housekeeping department - ”real life” stuff has made things pretty busy and I’ve not had the time to blog as frequently as I’d like.  Last week, I had the opportunity to discuss the status of the club with Miles Wolff  and to get his thoughts on some issues.  Overall, he’s generally pleased with the Rapids’ progress - ticket sales have been good and virtually all of the Lynx season ticket holders re-upped with the Rapids.   Corporate sales lag general ticket sales, but this area is improving. 

It’s looking very promising that there will be French radio* and internet broadcasts of home games.  Ed Nottle will be heading down to look at the minor league Spring Training camps with the goal of signing some of their final roster cuts.  Final uniform designs are being decided on and will head for production shortly.

I asked about his feelings about the Olympic qualifier in Taiwan.  Not surprisingly, he’s happy with Canadian success - even if the Raps lose Jeremy Ware and Mike Kusiewicz for a couple of weeks in August.  Having Ottawa players on the Olympic team was, in his view, a net positive for the club.  There was some question as to whether or not Jeremy and Mike would still make the team if, as Miles expects, MLB allows its players to take part in Beijing.

Miles’ personal agenda this week includes something Pete Toms might be interested in - the Rapids’ owner will be speaking at the 2008 Sports Business Symposium on March 20 (Thursday).   The theme of this year’s symposium is The Future of Sport Today and according to the agenda, attendees can expect to “find out why (Miles Wolff) feels the Ottawa Rapids will succeed when the Ottawa Lynx failed”.

Miles seems very upbeat about the upcoming season and was counting down the days to tryouts here in Ottawa (blogger: “giddy” is both too strong and a little too fancy an expression, but he did know the exact number of days until spring training began).

* At the risk of being peremptory here, let’s not get too excited if there isn’t a corresponding English radio broadcast.  Would it be desirable to have one?  Absolutely - but not at any cost.  If a viable arrangement can be worked out with a local English broadcaster, they’ll jump at it.  Quite frankly, I’m still too much in the  “I can’t believe we have baseball in Ottawa for 2008″ frame of mind to get bent out of shape if there isn’t English radio.

Olympiad!

Tip of the hat to Tricia and Pete for the heads up on Canada’s result yesterday in Taiwan:

With Canada’s 4-3 victory over South Korea and Taiwan’s 4-0 win over South Africa, the final three teams for the 2008 Olympics are set.

Canada and Taiwan will join South Korea, which qualified earlier in the tournament for the Olympics, along with the United States, Cuba, China, Japan and the Netherlands at the 2008 Beijing Games in August. This year will mark the first time since baseball was introduced as a medal sport in 1992 that four Asian countries will be competing… South Korea entered the top of the ninth inning trailing 4-1 and was able to score two runs in the bottom of the ninth before Canadian reliever Michael Kusievicz recorded the final out.

The debate as to whether or not this is good for the Raps may be largely settled by MLB - the feeling is that they will allow their players to take part in baseball’s final appearance at an Olympics (well, at least for the foreseeable future).  The issue for Ottawa then becomes whether Mike Kusiewicz and Jeremy Ware make the final roster cut.

More from Coventry Road

Word continues to get out about the Raps - a quick interview with Don Charrette, General Manager of the Ottawa Rapides from yesterday’s Carleton Midweek program.