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

-DL

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.

-DL

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

---

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.

-DL

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):

Clinton                                                                                                                                                      

Year               Name                   Pos          MLB Team

1937      George Cisar               OF          Brooklyn Dodgers

1937      John Gaddy                 P             Brooklyn Dodgers

1937      Bert Haas                      1B           Brooklyn Dodgers

1937      Stanley Klopp            P             Boston Braves

1937      Sam Nahem                   P             Brooklyn Dogers

1937      Frank Skaff                   INF         Brooklyn Dodgers

1937      Clyde Sukeforth         C             Cincinnati Reds

1938      Ollie Marquardt         INF         Boston Red Sox

1939      Vic Bradford                OF          New York Giants

1939      Reuben Fischer           P             New York Giants

1939      Oscar Georgy              P             New York Giants

1939      Tom Gorman                P             New York Giants

1939      John Ryan                    INF         Chicago White Sox

1940      Stephen Tramback      OF          New York Giants

1941      Jack Brewer                  P             New York Giants

1941      Sid Gordon                  INF         New York Giants

1941      Tommy Neill                OF          Boston Braves

1947      Fred Richards              OF          Chicago Cubs

1948      Nelson Burbrink        C             St. Louis Cardinals

1948      Cal Howe                     P             Chicago Cubs

1948      Billy Klaus                  OF          Boston Braves

1949      Dean Stone                  P             Washington Senators

1954      Earl Francis                 P             Pittsburgh Pirates

1955      Lou Johnson               OF          Chicago Cubs

1956      Edwardo Bauta           P             St. Louis Cardinals

1957      Dick Lines                   P             Washington Senators

1957      Elmo Plaskett             OF          Pittsburgh Pirates

1958      Ronald Brand              INF         Pittsburgh Pirates

1958      Tom Butters                 P             Pittsburgh Pirates

1958      Larry Elliot                 OF          Pittsburgh Pirates

1958      Al McBean                   P             Pittsburgh Pirates

1960      Jerry Arrigo                 P             Minnesota Twins

1960      Jim Hicks                      INF         Chicago White Sox

1960      Tommy McCraw          OF          Boston Red Sox

1960      Marv Staehle               OF          Chicago White Sox

1961      Ken Berry                     OF          Chicago White Sox

1961      Dick Kenworthy        2B           Chicago White Sox

1962      Buddy Bradford          OF          Chicago White Sox

1962      Francisco Carlos        P             Chicago White Sox

1962      Bruce Howard             P             Chicago White Sox

1962      Denny McLain           P             Detroit Tigers

1963      Angel Bravo                OF          Chicago White Sox

1963      Fred Klages                 P             Chicago White Sox

1963      Rich Morales               INF         Chicago White Sox

1963      Richard Severson       INF         Kansas City Royals

1963      Ed Stroud                     OF          Chicago White Sox

1964      Greg Bollo                   P             Chicago White Sox

1964      Duane Josephson       OF          Chicago White Sox

1965      Paul Edmondson       P             Chicago White Sox

1965      Al Fitzmorris               OF          Kansas City Royals

1965      Ed Herrmann               OF          Chicago White Sox

1965      J. Daniel Lazar            P             Chicago White Sox

1966      Angel Mangual          OF          Pittsburgh Pirates

1966      Don Money                 INF         Philadelphia Phillies

1967      John Lamb                    P             Pittsburgh Pirates

1967      Bill Laxton                  P             Philadelphia Phillies

1967      Lou Marone                 P             Pittsburgh Pirates

1968      Lorenzo Lanier           OF          Pittsburgh Pirates

1968      Jim Minshall                P             Pittsburgh Pirates

1968      Frank Taveras              OF          Pittsburgh Pirates

1969      Rick Auerbach            INF         Milwaukee Brewers

1969      Miguel Fuentes          P             Seattle Pilots

1969      Pedro Garcia               SS           Milwaukee Brewers

1969      Fernando Gonzalez   OF          Pittsburgh Pirates

1969      Tom Kelly                    OF          Minnesota Twins

1969      Bill Parsons                P             Milwaukee Brewers

1969      Raymond Peters         P             Seattle Pilots

1969      James Slaton                P             Milwaukee Brewers

1969      Gary Timberlake         P             Seattle Pilots

1969      Carlos Velasquez       P             Milwaukee Brewers

1970      Jerry Bell                      P             Milwaukee Brewers

1970      Bob Coluccio              2B           Milwaukee Brewers

1970      Robert Hansen            1B           Milwaukee Brewers

1970      Wilbur Howard          OF          Milwaukee Brewers

1970      Gary Martz                   1B           Kansas City Royals

1970      Darrell Porter              C             Milwaukee Brewers

1970      Gorman Thomas          C             Milwaukee Brewers

1970      William Travers          P             Milwaukee Brewers

1972      Gary Christenson      P             Kansas City Royals

1972      Gary Ignasiak             P             Detroit Tigers

1973      Robert Baldwin          OF          Detroit Tigers

1973      Ed Glynn                     P             New York Mets

1973      Arthur James Jr.           OF          Detroit Tigers

1973      Ron LeFlore                OF          Detroit Tigers

1973      Phil Mankowski        INF         New York Mets

1973      Mark Wagner              INF         Detroit Tigers

1975      Dave Rozema               P             Detroit Tigers

1976      Willard Mueller         P             Milwaukee Brewers

1977      Mickey Hatcher          OF          Minnesota Twins

1977      Ron Kittle                    OF          Chicago White Sox

1977      Bobby Mitchell          OF          Toronto Blue Jays

1977      Ron Roenicke             OF          Los Angeles Dodgers

1977      Mike Scioscia             C             Los Angeles Dodgers

1977      Dave Stewart               P             Los Angeles Dodgers

1977      Max Venable                OF          San Francisco Giants

1977      Michael Wilson         P             Minnesota Twins

1978      Leo Hernandez           INF         Baltimore Orioles

1978      Brian Holton               P             Los Angeles Dodgers

1978      Mike Howard              OF          New York Mets

1978      German Rivera            INF         Los Angeles Dodgers

1978      Mitch Webster            OF          Toronto Blue Jays

1978      Gary Weiss                  INF         Los Angeles Dodgers

1979      Dann Bilardello         OF          Cincinnati Reds

1979      Orel Hershiser            P             Los Angeles Dodgers

1979      Candy Maldonado     INF         Los Angeles Dodgers

1979      Alejandro Pena          P             Los Angeles Dodgers

1979      Dave Sax                       C             Los Angeles Dodgers

1979      Steve Sax                      INF         Los Angeles Dodgers

1979      Alan Wiggins             INF         San Diego Padres

1980      Chris Brown                INF         San Francisco Giants

1980      Rob Deer                      OF          San Francisco Giants

1980      Scott Garrelts              P             San Francisco Giants

1980      Randy Kutcher           OF          San Francisco Giants

1981      Kelvin Torve               1B           Minnesota Twins

1982      Mark Grant                  P             San Francisco Giants

1982      Matt Nokes                  C             San Francisco Giants

1982      Phil Ouellette             C             San Francisco Giants

1983      Alonzo Powell           OF          Montreal Expos

1984      John Burkett                P             San Francisco Giants

1984      Angel Escobar            SS           San Francisco Giants

1984      Charlie Hayes             3B           San Francisco Giants

1984      Eric King                     P             Detroit Tigers

1984      Mackey Sasser            C             San Francisco Giants

1984      Stu Tate                         P             San Francisco Giants

1985      Dennis Cook               P             San Francisco Giants

1985      Tony Perezchica         INF         San Francisco Giants

1986      Kirt Manwaring         C             San Francisco Giants

1986      Russ Swan                   P             San Francisco Giants

1986      Matt Williams             INF         San Francisco Giants

1986      Trevor Wilson            P             San Francisco Giants

1987      Bryan Hickerson        P             San Francisco Giants

1987      Mark Leonard             OF          San Francisco Giants

1987      Paul McClellan          P             San Francisco Giants

1987      Jim McNamara             C             San Francisco Giants

1987      Jim Pena                        P             San Diego Padres

1987      Mike Remlinger          P             San Francisco Giants

1988      Rod Beck                      P             San Francisco Giants

1988      Larry Carter                 P             San Francisco Giants

1988      Craig Colbert              INF         San Francisco Giants

1988      Mark Dewey                P             San Francisco Giants

1988      Juan Guerrero              2B           Houston Astros

1988      Erik Johnson               2B           San Francisco Giants

1988      Andres Santana          SS           San Francisco Giants

1989      Royce Clayton            SS           San Francisco Giants

1989      Jimmy Myers                P             Baltimore Orioles

1989      Steve Reed                   P             San Francisco Giants

1989      Kevin Rogers              P             San Francisco Giants

1989      Scooter Tucker            C             Houston Astros

1989      Reggie Williams        OF          California Angels

1990      Clay Bellinger            INF         New York Yankees

1990      Rick Huisman             P             Kansas City Royals

1990      Rafael Novoa               P             San Francisco Giants

1990      Pat Rapp                       P             San Francisco Giants

1991      Greg Brummett            P             San Francisco Giants

1991      Dan Carlson                P             San Francisco Giants

1991      Rikkert Faneyte          OF          San Francisco Giants

1991      Adam Hyzdu               OF          Pittsburgh Pirates

1991      Mike Myers                 P             Detroit Tigers

1991      Joseph Rosselli          P             San Francisco Giants

1991      Salomon Torres           P             San Francisco Giants

1992      Frank Charles              C             Houston Astros

1992      Brent Cookson           OF          Kansas City Royals

1992      Ken Grundt                 P             Boston Red Sox

1992      Marcus Jensen             C             San Francisco Giants

1992      Dax Jones                     OF          San Francisco Giants

1993      Marvin Benard            OF          San Francisco Giants

1993      Jamie Brewington      P             San Francisco Giants

1993      Chad Fonville             SS           Montreal Expos

1993      Aaron Fultz                 P             San Francisco Giants

1993      Carlos Valdez              P             San Francisco Giants

1994      Steve Bourgeois         P             San Francisco Giants

1994      Bobby Howry             P             Chicago White Sox

1994      Armando Rios             OF          San Francisco Giants

1995      Dusty Allen                1B           San Diego Padres

1995      Todd Erdos                  P             San Diego Padres

1995      Gary Matthews Jr.      OF          San Diego Padres

1995      Juan Melo                     SS           San Francisco Giants

1996      Matt Clement               P             San Diego Padres

1996      Domingo Guzman      P             San Diego Padres

1996      Brandon Kolb             P             San Diego Padres

1996      Rodney Lindsey        OF          Detroit Tigers

1996      Kevin Walker             P             San Diego Padres

1997      Rodrigo Lopez           P             San Diego Padres

1997      Dave Maurer                P             San Diego Padres

1997      Jason Middlebrook   P             San Diego Padres

1997      Wilbert Nieves           C             San Diego Padres

1997      Wascar Serrano           P             San Diego Padres

1998      Junior Herndon          P             San Diego Padres

1998      Brian Lawrence          P             San Diego Padres

1998      Shawn Camp                P             Kansas City Royals

1999      Jose Acevedo              P             Cincinnati Reds

1999      Ben Broussard            1B           Cleveland Indians

1999      Brandon Puffer            P             Houston Astros

2000      Mike Neu                     P             Oakland Athletics

2000      Scott Dunn                  P             Anaheim Angels

2000      John Koronka             P             Chicago Cubs

2000      Brad Salmon                P             Cincinnati Reds

2001      Jason Bay                     OF          San Diego Padres

2001      Rich Rundles              P             Cleveland Indians

2001      Grady Sizemore          OF          Cleveland Indians

2001      Wilson Valdez            P             Chicago White Sox

2001      Brandon Watson        OF          Washington

2002      Roy Corcoran              P             Montreal Expos

2002      Shawn Hill                  P             Montreal Expos

2002      Josh Labandeira         SS           Montreal Expos

2003      Kameron Loe               P             Texas Rangers

2003      Nick Masset                P             Texas Rangers

2003      Kevin Richardson     C             Texas Rangers

2003      Joshua Rupe                P             Texas Rangers

2004      Jesse Chavez                P             Pittsburgh Pirates

2004      Ian Kinsler                   INF         Texas Rangers

2004      Edinson Volquez       P             Texas Rangers
2004      John Danks                  P             Chicago White Sox

2005      Brandon Boggs          OF          Texas Rangers

2005      Eric Hurley                  P             Texas Rangers

2005      Tug Hulett                   INF         Seattle Mariners

2006      John Mayberry Jr.       OF          Philadelphia Phillies

2007      Craig Gentry               OF          Texas Rangers

2008      Derek Holland            P             Texas Rangers

2008      Neftali Feliz                 P             Texas Rangers

 

-DL

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.

-DL

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.

-DL

As of yesterday, the new concession stand in the Coors Light Picnic Pavilion now has a floor:

More updates to come.

-DL

The folks over at MLBlogosphere have released their monthly "Latest Leaders" list with a twist.  The rankings this month are in order of pageviews for the entire 2009 season (April 4 through October 4).

Thanks to you, the LumberBlog finished 49th in the "ProBlogs" list for the year.  As far as I can see, this blog finished third amongst Minor League team blogs on the network, trailing only Dan Hoard's blog for the triple-A Pawtucket Red Sox and Scott McCauley's blog for the triple-A Indianapolis Indians.  It's not so bad to be third amongst that trio.

See the full rankings here:  http://mlblogs.mlblogs.com/archives/2009/10/latest_leaders_-_2009_regular.html

Again, thanks to LumberKings fans across the country and certainly the very internet-savvy Seattle Mariners fanbase for reading all season long.

-DL

Work continues on the new Coors Light Picnic Pavilion concession stand.  Today, the first bricks were laid by the construction crew.

Other than just photographing construction work, I've been also assisting in the expansion of the LumberKings Online Store.  We've got brand new cold-weather apparel now on there, with more to come the following week.  Also, look out for discounts on 2009 Midwest League All-Star Game jerseys and other items.

-DL

If you're driving by Alliant Energy Field this month and wondering what the big hole in the ground is behind the Coors Light Picnic Pavilion, it's a new concession stand being constructed with help from Ed's Concrete & Masonry and Modern Plumbing.

The stand will make the pavilion a little more friendly for groups, but will also be open to the general fans when a group has not booked the pavilion.  Construction pictures are below:

More photos to come as it progresses.

-DL