Northern League Newsletter

Published on June 12, 2007 under Northern League (NL) News Release


RailCats Rolling as First Half of 2007 Reaches Halfway Point

Nearly reaching the halfway point of the first half (split schedule of 96-game regular season), a pennant race is heating up in the North Division between the Winnipeg Goldeyes, Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks, and the Calgary Vipers while the South Division is being dominated by the Gary Southshore RailCats.

After winning 14 of their first 17 games to start the season, the RailCats have maintained a five game lead or larger in the South Division first half standings. With 26 games remaining in the first half, if the RailCats just play .500-ball, the second place Flyers would have to go 19-7 (.731) to catch them. If the RailCats play .600-ball, the Flyers would have to go 22-4 (.846). Aiding Schaumburg, the two teams meet six more times in the half and Gary will also have to endure a 14-game road trip (June 19th - July 3rd).

After losing five of their first six games to start the season, the Goldeyes have won 11 of 16 to move out to a one game lead in the North. Fargo-Moorhead and Calgary sit only one off the pace and despite being four games under .500, Edmonton is still within striking distance at three games back.

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Northern League Alumni

Continuing the impressive run of Northern League players getting signed by a major league organization, Fargo-Moorhead outfielder John Weber's player contract was purchased by the Texas Rangers organization on June 3rd. He was immediately assigned to the their single-A team in Bakersfield (California League) and made his debut for his new organization on June 4th. He hit his first home run on June 8th. In its 15th season since being reformed in 1993, the Northern League has now moved 601 players to major league organizations.

Alumni Notes: On May 28th, former RailCats outfielder Nathan Haynes (Gary 2006) joined the ranks of former Northern Leaguers to play in the major leagues. He debuted with the Anaheim Angels and collected a base hit in his first at-bat.

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Former Northern League Lefties Getting the Job Done in the Big Leagues

Major League left-handed relievers Tim Byrdak (Joliet & Gary 2003) and George Sherrill (Winnipeg 2002 & 2003) are stringing together impressive beginnings to their 2007 season for respective ballclubs.

Sherrill, who has become a mainstay in the Seattle Mariners bullpen the last three seasons, is currently 2-0 with a 1.45 ERA. He has not allowed a run to score in 25 of his 26 appearances, including his last 15. The only runs he has allowed this season were on a three-run home run to Johnny Damon on May 4th, a game in which the Mariners had a 15-8 lead. In the span since, Sherrill has strung together 10.2 consecutive scoreless innings for the Mariners bullpen.

Byrdak, who was recalled by Detroit on May 13th, is 0-0 with a 1.84 ERA pitching out of the Tigers bullpen. He has not allowed a run since May 25th, a span of 8.1 innings pitched. The former JackHammers and RailCats pitcher has struck out 21 batters in only 14.2 innings and has held the opponents scoreless in 12 of his 14 appearances. Especially proving their worth as "situational lefties", left-handed batters are only hitting .114 versus Sherrill and .118 against Byrdak.

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Kansas City Welcomes One Millionth Fan & Breaks World Record

Prior to the June 2nd contest versus Joliet, the Kansas City welcomed T-Bones one millionth fan in team history, Wayne House, through the gates at Community America Ballpark. Also in Kansas City, prior to the T-Bones June 4th game, 1,683 fans simultaneously played Deep Purples' "Smoke on the Water" on guitar. It shattered the previous World Record by 360 people to play the same song at one time.

Attendance Note: Updating the Fargo-Moorhead chase for to their two millionth fan in team history, they sit only 3,588 away.

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Vipers Venom - After going hitless on Opening Night, veteran Darryl Brinkley has a hit in 21 consecutive games. The NL record is 28 games, set in 2003 by the St. Paul Saints Cory Harris....Good News/Bad News: The Vipers lead the league with an 8-2 (.800) record on the road, but are last in the league with a 3-9 (.250) home record....Brinkley (.418) and Carlos Duncan (.390) sit 1-2 atop the league leaders in batting...On May 31st, the Vipers released OF Maxim Ouellette (Rookie) Removed RHP Daivis Burguillos (LS-1) from the inactive list.

'Cats Scratch - Veteran outfielder Ryan Radmanovich made an immediate impact for Edmonton in his first two games, as the team won two-in-a-row for only the third time in ‘07. In his second game, the Alberta-born Radmanovich hit his 241st career home run in the bottom of the ninth inning helping complete an improbable come-from-behind victory for the Cats after trailing 7-1 in the seventh....To make room for Radmanovich on the roster, veteran pitcher Jordy Alexander was released. Alexander was 1-1 with a 7.00 ERA in four starts.

RedHawks Roost - Pitching & Defense, but....the RedHawks lead the league in pitching (3.95 team ERA) and fielding (.984 / 13 errors in 22 games), but are an abysmal 0-7 in one-run games....More defense: Fargo leads the league in throwing out would-be base stealers (9-for-18)...Brian Munhall has thrown out 7-of-16 would-be base stealers....Since May 27th, Munhall has hit safely in seven straight games on the road...Third baseman Ruben Salazar joined the RedHawks on May 30th after battling visa troubles and a stomach virus in Venezuela.

RailCats Rants - Off to their best start in franchise history (17-6), the RailCats are 10-2 at home in 2007 and 19-2 over their last 21 regular season home games dating back to last season...Who needs power? Gary leads the league with 35 stolen bases, but is last with only seven home runs...Bullpen is 10-2 with eight saves in 10 save opportunities...Jay Pecci's name has been pronounced wrong for the past two years. After seeing his name listed as ‘PESH-ee' in the pronunciation guide on the roster, he corrected it to ‘PETCH-ee'.

Jacks Jolts - In the chase for the Triple Crown, Derek Nicholson leads the league in home runs (8) and RBI (27) and sits fourth in batting (.370). The Northern League has not had a offensive triple crown since the 2000 season (Anthony Lewis - Duluth)...Two weeks after a fan won $10,000 for the JackHammers hitting back-to-back home runs in the designated fifth inning on a Tuesday, the trio of Chris Brown-Cory Harris-Juan Diaz hit back-to-back-to-back home runs (in the fourth inning).

T-Updates - The T-Bones flexed their muscles in bringing out the brooms versus the league's top team outscoring the RailCats 33-10 (June 5th-7th) in a three-game series...Left fielder Brad Correll leads the league with five outfield assists (in only 22 games)...Under .500? Even though they are three games under .500, the T-Bones have outscored their opponent 154-148 on the season... Neb Brown (23) and Correll (22) sit atop the leaders in runs scored...Rob Watson leads the league with 23 base on balls (only 18 strikeouts).

Fish Fry - Brett Lawson leads the league with a 2.01 ERA and Matt Davis leads the league with 20 Relief Pitcher Points (3 pts for Save, 2 pts for Win, and -2 for Losses)....Running with the Fish? Led by league leader Fehlandt Lentini (11- for-11 in stolen bases attempts), the Goldeyes are 32-for-38 (84% success rate) in stolen base attempts... Not scheduled to meet again this half, the rained out game between the Goldeyes and RedHawks on June 7th will not be made up unless a first-place tie at the end of the first half would require a one-game playoff.

Flyers Fliers - Get a Lead! The Flyers are 9-1 when they have lead after five innings...Chris Snavely had his 12-game hitting streak snapped on June 3rd, but his consecutive game on-base streak is still active at 23 games (has reached base in every game this season)...After losing their first three series, the Flyers have won their last four series played...Billy Keppinger is second in the league in ERA (2.48), strikeouts (30), and innings pitched (36.1)....Iron Man: closer James Morrison has appeared in 12 of the Flyers first 23 games of the season.

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Northern League Stories from June 12, 2007


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