EL1 Eastern League

Eastern League update

Published on June 20, 2006 under Eastern League (EL1) News Release


New Weekend Attendance Records Established Around The Eastern League

For a large number of baseball fans, their first memory of the National Pastime revolves around their father, so it should come as no surprise that the combination of the celebration of Father's Day and outstanding weather throughout the Northeast led to huge attendance numbers around the Eastern League last weekend. What may come as a surprise to some are the number of attendance records that fell around the league over the weekend.

At Merchantsauto.com Stadium the New Hampshire Fisher Cats set not one, but two new attendance records. The first record to fall in New Hampshire was on Saturday night, when 7,575 fans flocked to the ballpark to see Toronto's A.J. Burnett take on the Portland Sea Dogs in a rehab appearance in the first game of a doubleheader. It marked the highest single-game attendance total in the history of the New Hampshire franchise. Thanks in part to Saturday night's record crowd, the Fisher Cats also established a new mark for a three-day series, drawing a total of 21,096 fans over the weekend.

In New Britain, the Rock Cats hosted three sellout crowds for their series against Akron and established a new three-game, three-day weekend series attendance total, as 21,202 fans passed through the gates at New Britain Stadium. That total breaks the previous record of 20,691, which was set June 10-12 in 2005. With the three sellout crowds over the weekend the Rock Cats have now hosted four consecutive sellout crowds and have filled the ballpark to its capacity a total of 12 times this season.

In Binghamton, the B-Mets hosted the Trenton Thunder for the Double-A version of the Subway Series and welcomed more fans to NYSEG Stadium than in any other June weekend in franchise history. The 15,520 fans that passed through the turnstiles at NYSEG Stadium were not only the largest June weekend crowd in franchise history, but also marked the third highest crowd for a three-game series in the history of the franchise.

Another attendance first took place at Blair County Ballpark in Altoona, as the Curve posted four consecutive crowds of over 7,000 fans from June 15-18, including a season-high 7,804 on Saturday.

E.L. Father's Day Weekend Attendance Totals

Friday, June 16
Altoona - 7,046
Binghamton - 5,789
Connecticut - 4,740
Erie - 2,581
New Britain - 7,382
New Hampshire - 6,903

Saturday, June 17
Altoona - 7,804
Binghamton - 6,313
Connecticut - 2,725
Erie - 4,447
New Britain - 7,567
New Hampshire - 7,575

Sunday, June 18
Altoona - 7,617
Binghamton - 3,418
Connecticut - 3,387
Erie - 3,007
New Britain - 6,253
New Hampshire - 6,618


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Senators Raise Over $50,000 Through Charity Auction

The Harrisburg Senators held the 20th Annual UCP Sports Memorabilia Auction last Saturday at Commerce Bank Park on City Island. More than 170 items were auctioned off and a total of $45,515 was raised during the live portion of the event, with the silent auction phase of this year's event, raising an additional $5,000. Other donations pre-auction and during the event came to $1,300.

With the silent auction, in-kind donations and other associated events added in, the total for this year's event was $51,871.00. The overall total raised over the past 20 years now stands at $939,000.

Two items tied for the highest bid at the auction, with a print of the Kentucky Derby winner, Barbaro, signed by the winning jockey Edgar Pardo, and a collection of baseballs singed by Hall of Famers Ted Williams, Bill Mazeroski, Steve Carlton, Nolan Ryan, Willie Mays, Yogi Berra, Jim Palmer and Bob Feller each bringing in $1,000.

Other top bids were for a Commerce Bank Park oil painting, a Mario Lemieux signed Penguins jersey, a John Elway signed Broncos jersey and a collection of Philadelphia Flyers signed hockey pucks.


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Kip Wells Pitches For The Curve

Pittsburgh Pirates' starter Kip Wells worked 7.1 strong innings in his second of three minor league injury rehab starts to help the Curve win the rubber match of their three-game series against the Harrisburg Senators, 6-3, on Thursday night at Blair County Ballpark.

A large crowd of 7,020 gave the right-hander a standing ovation as he left the field after one out in the eighth inning, having allowed three runs and six hits on 89 pitches. Wells, who has not pitched for the Pirates this season after undergoing surgery in March to repair a blocked artery in his right arm, looked sharp most of the night and finished allowing just one walk, while striking out four.

Wells is expected to make his final minor league start with the Indianapolis Indians before returning to the Bucs' starting rotation next weekend.


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Toronto's A.J. Burnett Rehabs Against His Former Team

The largest crowd in New Hampshire Fisher Cats history was on hand at Merchantsauto.com Stadium on Saturday night to see Toronto Blue Jays starter A.J. Burnett make a rehab start against his former Eastern League team, the Portland Sea Dogs. The fans did not go home disappointed, as Burnett struck out nine batters and walked three while giving up two runs, one earned, on just two hits in six innings.

Burnett last pitched in the Eastern League as a member of the Portland Sea Dogs in 1999 and went 6-12 with a 5.52 ERA before moving on to make his Major League debut with the Florida Marlins.


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Eastern league Team News and Notes
For the week ending 6/18/06

Akron Aeros
The Aeros have won 12 of their last 13 games and 15 of their last 17 to build a four game in the Southern Division standings. After defeating New Britain on Friday, RHP Sean Smith is now 8-0 with a 1.61 ERA in 10 starts with the Aeros this season. He has recorded 43 strikeouts and given up just 44 hits in 67 innings over that span. Over his last four games, C David Wallace is batting .667 with one double, four homers, eight runs scored and five RBI.

Altoona Curve
OF Vic Buttler established a new single-season club record with his 13th triple of the season in Friday's win over Reading. Buttler, who set the record in just his 57th game of the season, broke the previous record of 12 set by Tike Redman in 1999. Altoona recorded back-to-back shutout victories over Reading June 16-17, marking just the fifth time in club history the Curve accomplished that feat.

Binghamton Mets
2B Wilson Batista continued to swing the bat well over the weekend, extending his hit streak to a B-Mets season-high 12 games. Batista's gotten a hit in every game during the month of June, raising his batting average 32 points. E.L. Pitcher of the Week Willie Collazo tossed the first complete-game shutout of the season for the B-Mets Tuesday, beating New Britain 2-0.

Bowie Baysox
The Baysox pitching staff has recorded a league-high 556 strikeouts this season. Over his last 10 games, OF Noah Hall is batting .406 with one homer, six RBI and three runs scored. The Baysox have a record of 16-11 when scoring first this season.

Erie SeaWolves
The SeaWolves have lost nine of their last 10 games and are now 16 games out of first place in the Southern Division standings. Most of the teams struggles have come at Jerry Uht Park, where the team has a league-worst record of 12-22. SS Tony Giarratano is hitting .531 (17-for-32) with three doubles, eight runs scored and four RBI during the month of June.

Harrisburg Senators
The Senators flexed their newfound muscles last week, hitting 15 home runs in the six games played, all on the road. The Senators finished the 4-2 road trip with eight home runs on Sunday at Erie. With their outburst on Sunday, the Senators now lead the Eastern League in home runs with, 59. Prentice Redman and Frank Diaz each currently have 14 game hitting streaks for the Senators, who have won eight of their last 10 games.

New Britain Rock Cats
RHP Matt Garza recorded New Britain's sole win last week with six scoreless innings in Binghamton last Thursday. Garza, the 2005 first round draft pick of the Minnesota Twins, has a 4-1 record, a 1.26 ERA and a 47/9 K/BB ratio over 35.2 innings of work for the Rock Cats this season.

New Hampshire Fisher Cats
OF Ron Davenport has been a different player since rejoining the Fisher Cats on June 6. Davenport went 0-for-27 to begin the season with New Hampshire and was sent to Class-A Dunedin. In his second stint with the Fisher Cats he has gone 12-for-37 (.324), including hitting two homers in one game on June 18 against Portland.

Connecticut Defenders
The Connecticut pitching staff has allowed just one run in their last 19 innings of work. After dropping 17 of 19 games, including six straight, the Defenders have won three straight games. The losing skid was snapped when Tyler Von Schell belted a walk-off home run against Akron on Thursday. It was second walk-off homer this season for the Defenders.

Portland Sea Dogs
On Sunday Portland collected a season-high 18 hits and scored a season-high 14 runs in a win over New Hampshire. Tyler Minges tied a franchise record with five hits in the game It was the second five hit game of the season for the Sea Dogs, as David Murphy accomplished the feat on May 21. Both five hit games this season for the Sea Dogs have come against the Fisher Cats. Portland has a record of 12-3 in June and has not lost a series since May 15-17.

Reading Phillies
Scott Mathieson became the sixth former Reading Phillie to make his Major League debut this season, joining RHP Taylor Buchholz (2003), C Carlos Ruiz (2003-2004), RHP Brian Sanches (2004), LHP Cole Hamels (2005) and OF Chris Roberson (2005). Scott, who is the first R-Phil to go directly from Reading to the Majors since David Coggin in 2000, gave up four runs and struck out five batters in six innings of work against Tampa Bay on Saturday.

Trenton Thunder
OF Justin Christian currently has a league-best 35 stolen bases for the Thunder this season. 1B Shelley Duncan is hitting .386 with three doubles, six homers, 17 RBI and nine runs scored in 14 games during the month of June.




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Transactions

Akron Aeros
Received LHP Mariano Gomez from Kinston (A)
Placed 3B Kevin Kouzmanoff on the DL
Received LHP Tom Cowley from Lake County (A)

Altoona Curve
Received RHP Kip Wells on a Major League Rehab Assignment
Sent RHP Chad Blackwell to Lynchburg (A)
Sent RHP Kip Wells to Pittsburgh
Received RHP Derrik Moeves from Hickory (A)

Binghamton Mets
Placed OF Bobby Malek on the DL
Activated RHP Tim McNab from the DL
Placed RHP Bryan Edwards on the DL
Activated OF Carlos Gomez from the DL

Bowie Baysox
Received RHP Cory Morris from Ottawa (AAA)
Placed RHP Cory Morris on the DL
Received LHP Eric DuBose from Ottawa (AAA)

Erie SeaWolves
Sent RHP Humberto Sanchez to Toledo (AAA)
Received RHP Jair Jurrjens from Lakeland (A)
INF Scott Tousa Retired
Received INF Max Leon from Oneonta (A)
Placed INF Tony Giarratano on the DL
Received SS Adam Haley

Harrisburg Senators
None

New Britain Rock Cats
Sent INF Tommy Watkins to Rochester (AAA)
Sent OF Alex Romero to Rochester (AAA)

New Hampshire Fisher Cats
Placed RHP Ismael Ramirez on the DL
Sent LHP Davis Romero to Syracuse (AAA)
Received LHP David Purcey from Syracuse (AAA)
Received OF Justin Singleton from Dunedin (A)
Received RHP A.J. Burnett on a Major League Rehab Assignment
Sent RHP A.J. Burnett to Toronto
Sent C Jeff Urgelles to Lansing (A)
Received OF Maikel Jova from Syracuse (AAA)

Connecticut Defenders
Sent 1B Travis Ishikawa to San Francisco
Placed RHP Mike Musgrave on the DL
Received OF/1B Brian Horwitz from San Jose (A)
Activated OF Alex Requena from the DL
Placed OF Nate Schierholtz on the DL
Activated OF Nate Schierholtz from the DL

Portland Sea Dogs
Placed RHP Jose Vaquedano on the DL
Received RHP Matt Goodson from Wilmington (A)
Received RHP Luis Mendoza from Wilmington (A)
Activated OF Matt Van Der Bosch from the DL
Placed LHP Phil Seibel on the DL
Activated RHP Jose Vaquedano from the DL

Reading Phillies
Sent RHP Scott Mathieson to Philadelphia
Placed OF John Castellano on the DL
Received RHP Talley Haines from Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (AAA)

Trenton Thunder
Signed RHP Scott Patterson and Assigned to Trenton (AA)
Released C Tommy Rojas

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Eastern League Stories from June 20, 2006


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