Lemon in the Limelight
There's an excellent article on MiLB.com today from the Arizona Fall League about former LumberKing Marcus Lemon ('07). He belted a grand slam for the Surprise Rafters yesterday, his second home run in five days. Unfortunately for Mariners fans, that slam came off Anthony Varvaro.
Read the article here: http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20091112&content_id=7659114&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb
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Construction Update (11/11)
Yes, it's been a while since I've updated you on the construction progress of the new concession stand. After some concrete and plumbing work, the first wooden beams of the structure have been raised. You can see how it's taking shape:
Things are moving right along thanks to great weather this November. It almost has felt like we could play out there lately. Obviously that's not going to happen for a while yet.
A reminder, you CAN book the Coors Light Picnic Pavilion, the Leinenkugel's Lumber Lounge and the Pepsi Picnic Garden for 2010 parties right now. Season tickets for the 2010 season are also on sale. Call 563-242-0727 for details.
As for the baseball side of things, I'm working on a few posts leading up to the 2009 Baseball Winter Meetings and will probably have some things to share from Indianapolis as well. Stay tuned.
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Kasparek, Seager Jerseys on Auction Block
Official game-used jerseys of 2009 Clinton LumberKings right-hander Kenn Kasparek and infielder Kyle Seager are now available at Ebay.com.
Kasparek captured the Midwest League ERA title in 2009, going 10-6 with a 2.41 mark. He became the first Clinton pitcher to lead the league in ERA since Salomon Torres did it for the MWL Champion Clinton Giants in 1991. Seattle's 12th-round pick in 2008 out of the University of Texas, Kasparek was named Clinton's Pitcher of the Year following the season. His road and batting practice jerseys are available.
Seager arrived in Clinton after being drafted in the third round in 2009. A star alongside Mariners' first-round pick Dustin Ackley at the University of North Carolina, Seager hit .275 with a home run and 22 RBI over 41 games with the LumberKings. His batting practice jersey is available.
Visit this link to see all three auctions: http://shop.ebay.com/clinton563/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=25
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Congrats, Yanks
Well, no World Series ring for former LumberKing John Mayberry Jr. ('06) this time around, but still, congrats to the New York Yankees on behalf of The LumberBlog (aka me).
I was just in the Bronx in September of 2008, visiting old Yankee Stadium during its final homestand. I'm not a Yankees fan, in fact I've hated the Yankees in the past like many folks out there, but going to that ballpark puts things in a different, historical perspective.
My view from the left-field bleachers at Yankee Stadium on September 18, 2008.
Flat out, the Yankees winning the World Series every once in a while seems to help baseball achieve a historical balance. Especially their first year in a new place, it's only fitting that they win it. Say what you will about the guns for hire and the huge payroll, but it still comes down to Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera playing the game the right way.
With that being said, let's see someone else win it in 2010. Next year begins now.
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More Kings in the AFL / "Rising Stars" Game
My apologies for not digging in-depth in my first post, but the Surprise Rafters roster also includes infielder Marcus Lemon ('07) and pitchers Brennan Garr ('07) and Evan Reed ('07-'08) in addition to the red-hot Mitch Moreland ('08).
Stats so far:
Lemon: .222, 2 triples, 4 runs scored, 3 RBI
Moreland: .317, 2 HR, 10 runs scored, 7 RBI
Garr: 0-0, 4.70 ERA, 2 BB, 5 K in 7.2 innings
Reed: 1-0, 7.20 ERA, 4 BB, 5 K in 5.0 innings
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EDIT: Not long after writing this post, I was emailed the rosters for the AFL "Rising Stars Game" on Saturday, November 7. There are no former LumberKings on either the East or West roster, but a ton of familiar opponents. The East has old favorites like Hank Conger (former Kernel), Josh Vitters (former Chief), Grant Desme (former Cougar), and my least favorite player of all time, Rene Tosoni (former Snapper).
The West has Seattle Mariners prospects Phillippe Aumont, Josh Fields, and of course, Dustin Ackley.
My old buddy Daron Sutton of the Diamondbacks will be broadcasting the game on the MLB Network.
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"From Clinton to the Show"
One of the many tasks I've been taking on this offseason is updating the list of players who have passed through Clinton on their way to the Major Leagues. With four additions this year, the list is now up to 220 former Clinton Owls, Cubs, Steers, Pirates, C-Sox, Pilots, Dodgers, Giants and LumberKings that have made it to the bigs since 1937.
Here's the complete list (note that the year listed is when they were in Clinton, not the year of their Major League debut):
Year Name Pos MLB Team
1937 George Cisar OF
1937 John Gaddy P
1937 Bert Haas 1B
1937
1937 Sam Nahem P
1937 Frank Skaff INF
1937 Clyde Sukeforth C
1938 Ollie Marquardt INF
1939 Vic Bradford OF
1939 Reuben Fischer P
1939 Oscar Georgy P
1939 Tom Gorman P
1939 John Ryan INF
1940 Stephen Tramback OF
1941 Jack Brewer P
1941 Sid Gordon INF
1941 Tommy Neill OF
1947 Fred Richards OF
1948
1948 Cal Howe P
1948 Billy Klaus OF
1949 Dean Stone P
1954 Earl Francis P
1955 Lou Johnson OF
1956
1957 Dick Lines P
1957 Elmo Plaskett OF
1958 Ronald Brand INF
1958 Tom Butters P
1958 Larry Elliot OF
1958 Al McBean P
1960 Jerry Arrigo P
1960 Jim Hicks INF
1960 Tommy McCraw OF
1960 Marv Staehle OF
1961 Ken Berry OF
1961 Dick Kenworthy 2B
1962 Buddy Bradford OF
1962 Francisco Carlos P
1962 Bruce Howard P
1962 Denny McLain P
1963 Angel Bravo OF
1963 Fred Klages P
1963 Rich Morales INF
1963 Richard Severson INF
1963 Ed Stroud OF
1964 Greg Bollo P
1964 Duane Josephson OF
1965 Paul Edmondson P
1965 Al Fitzmorris OF
1965 Ed Herrmann OF
1965 J. Daniel Lazar P
1966 Angel Mangual OF
1966 Don Money INF
1967 John Lamb P
1967 Bill Laxton P
1967 Lou Marone P
1968 Lorenzo Lanier OF
1968 Jim Minshall P
1968 Frank Taveras OF
1969 Rick Auerbach INF
1969 Miguel Fuentes P
1969 Pedro Garcia SS
1969 Fernando Gonzalez OF
1969 Tom Kelly OF
1969 Bill Parsons P
1969 Raymond Peters P
1969 James Slaton P
1969 Gary Timberlake P
1969 Carlos Velasquez P
1970 Jerry Bell P
1970 Bob Coluccio 2B
1970 Robert Hansen 1B
1970 Wilbur Howard OF
1970 Gary Martz 1B
1970 Darrell Porter C
1970 Gorman Thomas C
1970 William Travers P
1972 Gary Christenson P
1972 Gary Ignasiak P
1973 Robert Baldwin OF
1973 Ed Glynn P
1973 Arthur James Jr. OF
1973 Ron LeFlore OF
1973 Phil Mankowski INF
1973 Mark Wagner INF
1975 Dave Rozema P
1976 Willard Mueller P
1977 Mickey Hatcher OF
1977 Ron Kittle OF
1977 Bobby Mitchell OF
1977 Ron Roenicke OF
1977 Mike Scioscia C
1977 Dave Stewart P
1977 Max Venable OF
1977 Michael
1978 Leo Hernandez INF
1978 Brian Holton P
1978 Mike Howard OF
1978 German Rivera INF
1978 Mitch Webster OF
1978 Gary Weiss INF
1979 Dann Bilardello OF
1979
1979 Candy Maldonado INF
1979 Alejandro Pena P
1979 Dave Sax C
1979 Steve Sax INF
1979 Alan Wiggins INF
1980 Chris Brown INF
1980 Rob Deer OF
1980 Scott Garrelts P
1980 Randy Kutcher OF
1981 Kelvin Torve 1B
1982 Mark Grant P
1982 Matt Nokes C
1982 Phil Ouellette C
1983 Alonzo Powell OF
1984 John Burkett P
1984 Angel Escobar SS
1984 Charlie Hayes 3B
1984 Eric King P
1984 Mackey Sasser C
1984 Stu Tate P
1985 Dennis Cook P
1985 Tony Perezchica INF
1986 Kirt Manwaring C
1986 Russ Swan P
1986 Matt Williams INF
1986 Trevor
1987 Bryan Hickerson P
1987 Mark Leonard OF
1987 Paul McClellan P
1987 Jim McNamara C
1987 Jim Pena P
1987 Mike Remlinger P
1988 Rod Beck P
1988 Larry Carter P
1988 Craig Colbert INF
1988 Mark Dewey P
1988 Juan Guerrero 2B
1988 Erik Johnson 2B
1988 Andres Santana SS
1989 Royce Clayton SS
1989 Jimmy Myers P
1989 Steve Reed P
1989 Kevin Rogers P
1989 Scooter Tucker C
1989 Reggie Williams OF
1990 Clay Bellinger INF
1990 Rick Huisman P
1990 Rafael Novoa P
1990 Pat Rapp P
1991 Greg Brummett P
1991 Dan Carlson P
1991 Rikkert Faneyte OF
1991 Adam Hyzdu OF
1991 Mike Myers P
1991 Joseph Rosselli P
1991 Salomon Torres P
1992 Frank Charles C
1992 Brent Cookson OF
1992 Ken Grundt P
1992 Marcus Jensen C
1992 Dax Jones OF
1993 Marvin Benard OF
1993 Jamie Brewington P
1993
1993 Aaron Fultz P
1993 Carlos Valdez P
1994 Steve Bourgeois P
1994 Bobby Howry P
1994 Armando Rios OF
1995 Dusty Allen 1B
1995 Todd Erdos P
1995 Gary Matthews Jr. OF
1995 Juan Melo SS
1996 Matt Clement P
1996 Domingo Guzman P
1996 Brandon Kolb P
1996 Rodney Lindsey OF
1996 Kevin
1997 Rodrigo Lopez P
1997 Dave Maurer P
1997 Jason Middlebrook P
1997 Wilbert Nieves C
1997 Wascar Serrano P
1998 Junior Herndon P
1998 Brian Lawrence P
1998 Shawn Camp P
1999 Jose Acevedo P
1999 Ben Broussard 1B
1999 Brandon Puffer P
2000 Mike Neu P
2000 Scott Dunn P
2000 John Koronka P
2000 Brad Salmon P
2001
2001 Rich Rundles P
2001 Grady Sizemore OF
2001 Wilson Valdez P
2001 Brandon Watson OF
2002 Roy Corcoran P
2002 Shawn Hill P
2002 Josh Labandeira SS
2003 Kameron Loe P
2003 Nick Masset P
2003 Kevin Richardson C
2003 Joshua Rupe P
2004 Jesse Chavez P
2004 Ian Kinsler INF
2004 Edinson Volquez P
2004 John Danks P
2005 Brandon Boggs OF
2005 Eric Hurley P
2005 Tug Hulett INF
2006 John Mayberry Jr. OF
2007 Craig Gentry OF
2008 Derek Holland P
2008 Neftali Feliz P Texas Rangers
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Moreland Thriving in the AFL
Former LumberKing Mitch Moreland ('08) is off to a solid start in the Arizona Fall League
following a broken foot suffered in August. Through seven games with the Surprise Rafters, Moreland is hitting .308 (9-for-26) with a pair of home runs and five RBI. The success comes on the heels of his 2009 season, in which Moreland hit .331 with 16 homers and 85 RBI between high-A Bakersfield and double-A Frisco.
Fans around Clinton won't soon forget his 2008 season in which the Midwest League All-Star hit .324 with 18 home runs and 99 RBI in 123 games with the Kings.
View Mitch Moreland's player page here: http://mlb.mlb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?pos=RF&sid=l119&t=p_pbp&pid=519048
As far as I can see, there's no other former LumberKings playing in the Arizona Fall League aside from Moreland. If I've overlooked anyone, feel free to comment.
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Former Kings in the MLB Playoffs (Update)
Mike Scioscia's ('77) Angels fell last night, pretty much eliminating the possibility of a former LumberKing playing in this year's World Series. Gary Matthews, Jr. ('95) went 0-for-4 with a run scored over three games of the ALCS with the Yankees.
It still seems unlikely that John Mayberry, Jr. ('06) will be added to the Phillies World Series roster, but he's still got a shot at the ring. There are no former LumberKings on the Yankees' 40-man roster.
The 2009 World Series starts on Wednesday in the Bronx.
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Construction Update (10/22)
As of yesterday, the new concession stand in the Coors Light Picnic Pavilion now has a floor:
More updates to come.
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