Opening Day - The Rest Of The Story
Published on April 19, 2005 under Eastern League (EL1) News Release
After opening the season in six cities on April 7, fans in Altoona, Binghamton, Bowie, New Britain, Norwich and Trenton got their chance to celebrate the start of another Eastern League season last week.
The Trenton Thunder opened the 2005 season with a four game series in Erie, before coming home to a packed house, as 6,187 fans came out to Waterfront Park to support the Thunder for their home opener against the Altoona Curve last Monday.
The Thunder led the game 1-0 going into the seventh inning, thanks in part to six shutout innings from their starter Sean Henn. Once Henn left the game Trenton lost the lead, giving up three runs in the seventh inning and eventually falling by a score of 4-1.
The remaining home openers in the league were held on Thursday, April 14th, starting with the New Britain Rock Cats, who for the second straight season played their home opener at 10:35 a.m. The Rock Cats lost to the Harrisburg Senators 4-0 in the game, which was played in front of a crowd of 7,322 fans, the largest crowd in the history of New Britain Stadium. The previous record was set on opening day last year.
The Altoona Curve had never lost a home opener at Blair County Ballpark coming into this season, a streak dating back to the 1999, and that trend continued on Thursday when the Curve defeated the SeaWolves 7-3 in front of a crowd of 6,182 fans. Altoona's offense was led by Victor Buttler, Ronny Paulino and Jose Bautista, while Paul Maholm and Ben Shaffar shut down Erie's bats.
During the four-game series between Erie and Altoona a total of 20,482 fans passed through the gates at Blair County Ballpark, a new franchise attendance record for a season-opening four game series.
In Binghamton a total of 2,843 fans were on hand for the home opener at NYSEG Stadium, where New Hampshire defeated the B-Mets 6-2. Top prospect Yusmeiro Petit pitched four scoreless innings for the B-Mets before giving way to a bullpen that surrendered six runs on 10 hits the rest of the way.
At Prince George's Stadium in Bowie the Baysox lost their home opener for the first time since 2002, falling to the Akron Aeros by a score of 5-2 in front of 2,825 fans. The game was tied at 2-2 until the sixth inning when the Aeros scored a pair of runs to take the lead. Akron put the game out of reach in the eighth inning when they added an insurance run.
The Norwich Navigators scored four runs in the first inning and went on to defeat the Reading Phillies by a score of 7-2 in their home opener. A total of 2,743 fans turned out for the game at Dodd Stadium, an increase of nearly 1,000 fans over the crowd at the home opener in Norwich last season.
Now that all of the Eastern League teams have had a chance to play in front of their home crowd, it's time for fans to start looking ahead to some of the other exciting events on tap for this season, including the Eastern League All-Star Game at Hadlock Field in Portland on Wednesday, July 13th.
Trenton Hosts "Reset The Curse Day"
On April 17th the Trenton Thunder, the Double-A affiliate of the New York Yankees, attempted to reinstate the famous "Curse of the Bambino" when they took on the Portland Sea Dogs, the Double-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. The "Curse" which haunted the Boston Red Sox and their fans for 86 years before the club swept the St. Louis Cardinals to win the World Series last October, was said to have started when Babe Ruth was sold by the Boston Red Sox to the New York Yankees.
Festivities at "Reset the Curse Day" at Waterfront Park included a re-enactment of the famed sale of Babe Ruth from Boston to New York. A semblance of the great Babe Ruth, dressed in his 1920's era Boston uniform emerged from the Portland dugout in the 7th inning and shed his jersey to reveal a NY Yankee uniform as the "sale" was announced over the PA. The semblance of the Babe Ruth also posed for photographs with fans and appeared live on the Thunder in stadium pregame show where he vowed to return the Boston franchise to it's championship futility.
Prior to the game, the team also hosted a ground ball fielding contest. Unbeknownst to the competitors, the one who committed the most errors was declared the winner. This was done in honor of one of the most memorable moments of the curse, Game #6 of the 1986 World Series, in which Bill Buckner made his historic error at first base.
"This day was all about having fun with one of the most famous legends in all of sports," said Thunder General Manager Rick Brenner. "As an affiliate of the New York Yankees, we saw this as an opportunity to use the rivalry with the Red Sox and the mystic of the curse to create a unique afternoon of baseball for our fans."
Transactions
Akron Aeros
Placed OF Ben Francisco on the DL
Received OF J.J. Sherrill from Kinston (A)
Altoona Curve
Sent INF Yurendell DeCaster to Indianapolis (AAA)
Placed INF Tom Evans on the Restricted List
Placed C Carlos Maldonado on the Temporary Inactive List
Received C Chris Snusz from Williamsport (A)
Received INF Matt Meath from Williamsport (A)
Activated C Carlos Maldonado from the Temporary Inactive List
Sent OF Matt Meath to Williamsport (A)
Binghamton Mets
Placed RHP Kole Strayhorn on the DL
Deactivated RHP Kevin Deaton
Deactivated RHP David Byard
Deactivated RHP Giancarlo Alvarado
Activated RHP Kevin Deaton
Activated RHP David Byard
Deactivated RHP Yusmeiro Petit
Deactivated RHP Eric Junge
Activated RHP Eric Junge
Activated RHP Yusmeiro Petit
Deactivated RHP Ken Chenard
Released RHP David Byard
Released RHP Giancarlo Alvarado
Bowie Baysox
None
Erie SeaWolves
None
Harrisburg Senators
None
New Britain Rock Cats
Activated C Jose Morales from the DL
New Hampshire Fisher Cats
Placed RHP John Ogiltree on the DL
Activated SS Raul Tablado from the Restricted List
Norwich Navigators
Received RHP David Aardsma from Fresno (AAA)
Placed LHP Brian Burres on the DL
Received RHP Oscar Montero from Augusta (A)
Received C Steve Holm from Augusta (A)
Sent C Steve Holm to Augusta (A)
Portland Sea Dogs
Placed 1B Stefan Bailie on the DL
Placed RHP Steve Langone on the DL
Placed RHP Brett Rudrude on the DL
Placed RHP Chris Smith on the DL
Sent RHP Charlie Zink o Lowell (A)
Sent LHP Kason Gabbard to Lowell (A)
Received RHP Charlie Zink from Lowell (A)
Received LHP Kason Gabbard from Lowell (A)
Sent RHP David Pauley to Lowell (A)
Reading Phillies
Sent RHP Carlos Chantres to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (AAA)
Received RHP Carlos Chantres from Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (AAA)
Trenton Thunder
None
Line of the Week
April 17, 2004
IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
6 0 0 0 2 9 0 0.00
Hayden Penn, Bowie Baysox
Bowie right-hander Hayden Penn struck out nine batters and walked two while pitching six innings of no-hit baseball against Akron on Sunday. The Bowie bullpen eventually lost the no-hitter as the Baysox lost the game 3-2 in 12 innings. On the season Penn is 1-0 with a 1.13 ERA and a league-high 26 strikeouts.
Quote of the Week
Derek Jeter, New York Yankees
"You gotta have fun. Regardless of how you look at it, we're playing a game. It's a business, it's our job, but I don't think you can do well unless you're having fun."
News and Notes From Around The League
Akron Aeros
3B Pat Osborn has hit safely in seven of his first eight games for the Aeros and is currently batting .406 (13-for-32) with two stolen bases and four runs scored. E.L. Pitcher of the Week J.D. Martin does not have a win yet this season despite not giving up an earned run in his first 14 innings of work. Martin has 17 strikeouts and opposing hitters are batting just .091 against him so far this year. RHP Dan Denham is 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA in his first two starts this season.
Altoona Curve
After winning their home opener against Erie by a score of 7-3 on Thursday night, the Curve were outscored by the SeaWolves 26-3 while losing the final three games of the series. 1B Brad Eldred is picking up this season right where he left off last year. The slugger is hitting .293 (12-for-41) and has blasted five homers and driven in nine runs through the first 10 games of the season.
Binghamton Mets
RHP Brian Bannister has won all three of his starts this season and started the season by firing 14 consecutive scoreless innings, a streak that ended when he was charged with an unearned run in the sixth inning of his last start on Sunday against New Hampshire. The B-Mets starting rotation has an ERA of 1.61 this season, and none of the Binghamton starters have given up more than three earned runs in an outing so far this season.
Bowie Baysox
3B Tripper Johnson currently has a nine-game hitting streak going into Monday's game with the Erie SeaWolves. Johnson is currently hitting .289 with one homer, four RBI and six runs scored. The Baysox pitching staff has a league-high 105 strikeouts, led by RHP Hayden Penn, who has 26 strikeouts in 16 innings of work.
Erie SeaWolves
3B Don Kelly is batting a team-best .333 with three doubles, three home runs, nine RBI and 11 runs scored. The rest of the SeaWolves lineup has combined to hit just four home runs this season. LHP Corey Hamman is 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA in five games this season.
Harrisburg Senators
During the first road trip of the year, Harrisburg went 4-3 thanks in part to their starting pitching. The starting pitching went 43.2 innings on the road trip through Reading and New Britain. In those 43.2 innings, they allowed just ten earned runs for an earned run average of just 2.08.
New Britain Rock Cats
After winning their first two games of the new 2005 season on the road, the Rock Cats broke a five-game losing streak on Friday night when they beat Harrisburg, 1-0 in 11 innings. The victory had added meaning as it was also the 300th win for manager Stan Cliburn in a New Britain uniform. The largest crowd in the history of New Britain Stadium, 7,322 fans, was on hand for the Rock Cats home opener on Thursday morning.
New Hampshire Fisher Cats
After leading the league in team ERA last season, the Fisher Cats are again being led by their pitching staff this season. The New Hampshire hurlers have a league-best ERA of 2.24. The Fisher Cats offense has not been quite as productive as the pitching staff, going 229 at-bats between home runs before Maikel Jova blasted his first of the year on Saturday. New Hampshire has only four home runs on the season.
Norwich Navigators
The Norwich pitching staff has a 2.81 ERA this season and has not allowed a home run since April 10, a span of 58 innings. In a pair of starts RHP Merkin Valdez is 1-0 with 10 strikeouts and a 1.00 ERA this season. 1B Tyler Von Schell is just 5-for-38 this season, but three of those five hits have been home runs.
Portland Sea Dogs
The Sea Dogs are off to their best start in franchise history with a 10-0 record, surpassing their previous best start of 3-0, which was accomplished in 1994 and 2001. The longest winning streak in franchise history is 12 games, which was set in 1997. Portland is currently the only undefeated team in professional baseball. E.L. Player of the Week Jared Sandberg currently leads the league in both RBI and runs scored.
Reading Phillies
OF Ryan Fleming went 6-for-15 over the weekend at Norwich to raise his season average to .333, tops on the club. Jeff Phelps, the R-Phils regular third baseman in 2004, who was sidelined by back surgery last August and began this season on the DL, has retired. Michael Bourn is tied for the league lead with four stolen bases.
Trenton Thunder
The Trenton Thunder have won just one of their seven home games so far this season and are currently in last place in the Northern Division standings with a record of 3-8. Seven of OF Kevin Thompson's 15 hits this year have gone for extra-bases.
Eastern League Player of the Week
JARED SANDBERG, a third baseman for the Portland Sea Dogs, is the Eastern League's Player of the Week for the week ending April 17th. The 6'3" 225 lb. native of Tampa, Florida is batting .359 (14-for-29) with four doubles, four home runs, five walks, 11 RBI and 11 runs scored and has helped lead the Sea Dogs to a 10-0 record, the best start in franchise history. The 27-year old currently leads the league in total bases and slugging percentage, is tied for the league lead in doubles, RBI and runs scored and is second in the league in home runs. Sandberg, the Devil Rays' all-time minor league leader in home runs and RBI and the nephew of former Major Leaguer Ryne Sandberg, was signed by the Boston Red Sox as a minor league free agent on March 25, 2005.
Jared Sandberg's Batting Line for the week ending April 18, 2005:
G Avg. AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R SB BB SLG% 10 .359 39 14 4 0 4 11 11 1 5 .769
Year to Date:
G Avg. AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R SB BB SLG% 10 .359 39 14 4 0 4 11 11 1 5 .769
Eastern League Pitcher of the Week
J.D. MARTIN, a right-handed pitcher for the Akron Aeros, is the Eastern League's Pitcher of the Week for the week ending April 18th. The 22-year old has made two starts this season and is 0-0 with 17 strikeouts and a 0.00 ERA. In his first start of the season, his Double-A debut, the 6'4", 170 lb. hurler struck out 10 batters and surrendered just one hit without walking a better in eight shutout innings of work in a no-decision against the Bowie Baysox at Canal Park. In his second start of the season Martin, a native of Ridgecrest, California, pitched six shutout innings and gave up three hits and three walks while striking out seven Baysox batters in a no-decision at Prince George's Stadium in Bowie. J.D. was selected by the Cleveland Indians in the first round of the June 2001 draft out of Burroughs High School (CA).
J.D. Martin's Statistics for the week ending April 18, 2005:
G W L S IP H R ER K BB ERA 2 0 0 0 14 4 0 0 17 3 0.00
Year to Date:
G W L S IP H R ER K BB ERA 2 0 0 0 14 4 0 0 17 3 0.00
Eastern League Stories from April 19, 2005
- Harrisburg rallies for 5-4 win over Fisher Cats Tuesday - New Hampshire Fisher Cats
- Canned Food Drive - Akron RubberDucks
- Third annual Dean Patterson Curve Classic set to begin - Altoona Curve
- Opening Day - The Rest Of The Story - EL1
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
