2011 Willie Mays Awards

The Victoria Seals Baseball Blog (VSBB) is a proud member of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance (BBA). Similar to the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA), the alliance is organized into different chapters. Gus, the founder of the VSBB, is President of the alliance's Other Baseball Chapter. This year, the VSBB has the honour of casting the Other Baseball Chapter ballot for a number of the awards given to players and managers in both the National and American Leagues. On Friday, we posted our ballot for the Connie Mack Award, presented to the top manager in each league. Today we present our ballot for the Willie Mays Award, given to the top rookie in each league.

The 2011 season was full of great performances by rookies, so coming up with a list of the top three newcomers in each league was a difficult job.

In the National League, we believe the most deserving rookie is Danny Espinosa of the Washington Nationals. Although Espinosa only hit for a .236 average, he drew 57 walks and produced a solid .323 on-base percentage. He also played in 158 games, hit 21 homers and 66 RBI and chipped in with 17 stolen bases. He was also excellent defensively, turning 101 double plays for the Nationals at second base.

The Braves’ closer Craig Kimbrel came a close second. Kimbrel notched 46 saves and struck out a staggering 127 hitters in only 77 innings. He also turned in a stellar 2.10 ERA.

Another Braves pitcher, Brandon Beachy, earned a third place finish on my ballot. Beachy started 25 games with Atlanta, registering a 3.68 ERA with 169 strikeouts and only 46 walks in 141 2/3 innings. Honourable mention went to Wilson Ramos of the Washington Nationals.

My National League ballot is:

1. Danny Espinosa, 2B, Washington Nationals
2. Craig Kimbrel, RP, Atlanta Braves
3. Brandon Beachy, SP, Atlanta Braves 

In the junior circuit, I gave the nod to the Michael Pineda of the Seattle Mariners. Pineda’s stuff is electric and he reminds me of a young Pedro Martinez. In 28 starts with Seattle, Pineda notched a 3.74 ERA with 55 walks and 173 strikeouts in 171 innings pitched. He’s likely to have a stellar career.

Another Mariner, Dustin Ackley, finished in the second spot on our ballot. Ackley hit .273 and had a .348 on-base percentage in 2011. He also hit 6 homers and knocked in 36 runs in only 333 at-bats.

The final vote on our ballot went to Ivan Nova of the New York Yankees. Nova had a 3.70 ERA in 165 1/3 innings pitched, while walking 57 and striking out 98. Nova is likely to gain a lot of consideration for the award based on his gaudy 16-4 record, but in my opinion that record says at least as much about the Yankees’ offensive support as it does Nova. Honourable mention goes to Desmond Jennings of the Tampa Bay Rays.

My American League ballot is:

1. Michael Pineda, SP, Seattle Mariners
2. Dustin Ackley, 2B, Seattle Mariners
3. Ivan Nova, SP, New York Yankees

2011 Connie Mack Awards

The Victoria Seals Baseball Blog is a proud member of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance. As a member of the alliance, we have the honour of casting a ballot for each of the five awards given to players and managers in both the National and American Leagues. The first award for 2011 is the Connie Mack Award, presented to the top manager in each league.

National League

This year, the Connie Mack Award in the National League is a no-brainer. Kirk Gibson took a team that won only 65 games in 2010 and ended up shocking most baseball experts by leading his squad to 94 victories and the NL West title. Gibson was able to get his team to adopt many of the same attributes that he displayed as a player and he succeeded in completely changing the clubhouse culture in Arizona this year. His intensity ensured that losing was no longer accepted without a fight and this was best demonstrated by the Diamondbacks' 48 come-from-behind victories in 2011.

Also warranting serious consideration was Ron Roenicke, who led the Milwaukee Brewers to their first division title in almost 30 years. He took a team that was nearly identical to the one that won only 77 games in 2010 managed to post an impressive 96 victories, in spite of distractions such as the ongoing Prince Fielder free agency issue.

Tony LaRussa proved once again why he is one of the most successful managers of all time. Although the Cardinals suffered some early season turmoil in the clubhouse, LaRussa rallied the troops down the stretch and the team erased an 8 1/2 game deficit in September to snag the wildcard birth.

Accordingly, my NL ballot is:

1. Kirk Gibson - Arizona Diamondbacks
2. Ron Roenicke - Milwaukee Brewers
3. Tony LaRussa - St. Louis Cardinals

American League

Speaking of comebacks, Joe Maddon continued to pull miracles out of his hat in 2011. The Tampa Bay Rays overcame a 9-game deficit to win the wildcard on the last day of the season. Somehow, a team with a $41.9M payroll managed to squeak past the Red Sox and their bloated $161M payroll (all figures as of opening day). Moneyball is alive and well and the proof is in Tampa Bay.

Ron Washington led the Texas Rangers to their second consecutive AL West division title in 2011. In spite of the loss of Cliff Lee, the team cruised to a 96-win season.

Jim Leyland proved that he can still do the job by managing the Tigers to their first division title since 1987. Their 95 wins was only two behind the New York Yankees, a team with twice the payroll than Detroit.

My ballot in the junior circuit is:

1. Joe Maddon - Tampa Bay Rays
2. Ron Washington - Texas Rangers
3. Jim Leyland - Detroit Tigers

UPDATE:

The Baseball Bloggers Alliance has announced that the NL Connie Mack Award winner was indeed Kirk Gibson. In the AL, the award went to Joe Maddon. You can read all of the details on the Baseball Bloggers Alliance web site.

Ex-Seal Bibens-Dirkx finishes season strong

When we last reported on the progress of former Victoria Seal pitcher Austin Bibens-Dirkx, he had been struggling mightily with the Iowa Cubs and had just been demoted to AA. Although he showed only marginal improvement with the Tennessee Smokies, Bibens-Dirkx got the call back up to AAA when the Cubs promoted Casey Coleman to the big club.

Photo courtesy Christian Stewart

After Austin's return to the Iowa Cubs, he reverted back to his dominant 2010 form and gave up a mere six earned runs in 23 2/3 innings pitched, while walking only 7 and striking out out 19 batters. The turnaround has him once again poised to possibly snag a spot as a reliever with the Chicago Cubs out of spring training. To get ready for the upcoming year, Bibens-Dirkx will once again play winter ball in Venezuela for Águilas del Zulia.

The Cubs appear to think highly of the former Seal.  "He's a grinder, a strike-thrower," AAA pitching coach Mike Mason said of the right-hander. "He's not going to overpower you. He fits in the Casey Coleman-Randy Wells mold." Let's hope that Bibens-Dirkx becomes the second ex-Seal to make the major leagues, following in the footsteps of Dane De La Rosa.

Director raising funds to get Bill Lee movie off the ground

Now here's a project that I can support... Director Brett Rapkin is raising funds via kickstarter.com to support the production of a feature film on the life of The Spaceman, Bill Lee. Lee of course is one of the most colourful players in MLB history and a wonderful human being. He also became the oldest player in history to win a professional baseball game last season when he won a game for the Brockton Rox of the Can-Am League (the same league that former Seals Jeff Duda and Anthony Pluta currently pitch in).

The Montreal Gazette had a very interesting article on Lee's recent trip to Montreal to search for shooting locations. If you can spare a couple of dollars, click on the link below to add to the film's seed money.

Eri Yoshida first woman to win pro game this century

On Tuesday night, Japanese knuckleball pitcher Eri Yoshida became the first woman to win a professional baseball game since Ila Borders accomplished the feat in the Northern League back in 1999. Yoshida, who was recently traded to the Strong Warriors of Maui in the North American League, pitched five strong innings at home to defeat the Edmonton Capitals 4-1.

Hardcore Victoria baseball fans will likely remember Yoshida's start for the Chico Outlaws last July at Royal Athletic Park. As was the case when she pitched in the Garden City, Yoshida's biggest problem is usually finding the strike zone. However, on Tuesday night Yoshida's line was pretty clean:

5.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB and 1 K

There are couple of other interesting observations from looking at the box score. First, it's worth noting that Yoshida's lone strikeout victim was none other than Matt Rogelstad, the man who ignited a brawl at Royal Athletic Park in June of last season. By an amazing coincidence, Rogelstad's combatant in that brawl was Wilver Perez -- Yoshida's only strikeout victim in her July 2010 start against the Victoria Seals!

The other notable fact is that Yoshida's catcher on Tuesday night was none other than ex-Seal Matt Kavanaugh. Apparently, Kavi was pretty pumped about Yoshida's win -- at least judging by his recent tweets:

Congratulations to both Eri Yoshida and Matt Kavanaugh.

Wilver Perez is on fire

Wow, talk about taking it to the next level. Wilver Perez had four hits and knocked in five runs on Thursday night to raise his batting average to an impressive .378 on the season, fifth-best in the North American League (NAL). Even more impressive is Wilver's RBI total: 66 in only 60 games. That ranks Wilver second in the league in RBI, and only four behind Daryl Jones of the San Angelo Colts. Not bad for a guy hitting in the number two slot of the Calgary Vipers' batting order.

Wilver got off to a lukewarm start this season and on June 8th his batting average was "only" .280. But in the 180 at bats since that date, he has hit at a torrid .406 clip and knocked in an eye-popping 60 runs.

Last season, Perez hit .317 for the Victoria Seals while setting a new GBL single-season stolen base record (64). Although he hasn't been running as often this season, he is still putting up very good stolen base numbers. Perez has swiped 22 bases in 26 attempts, tieing him with Stantrel Smith of the Edinburg Roadrunners for the league lead.

Nice job, Wilver!

West Coast League gets rave reviews in Portland paper

The West Coast League (WCL) was the subject of a very positive article in the Portland daily, The Oregonian. As was reported on this blog back in May, it is quite possible that Victoria will be granted an expansion franchise in the WCL for the 2012 season.

You can read The Oregonian article here.  Leave a comment to this blog post and tell us what you think.

Dane De La Rosa is first former Victoria Seal in majors!

Well folks, it happened. The first former member of the Victoria Seals has been called up to the big leagues! On Monday night, the Tamp Bay Rays called up Dane De la Rosa from the AAA Durham Bulls. He'll pitch out of the pen and could see action against the New York Yankees on Wednesday or Thursday night.

De La Rosa earned the promotion by going 4-3 with a 3.86 ERA in 35 games with the Bulls.  Back in July/August of 2009, he posted a 2.45 ERA in six relief appearances with the Victoria Seals. However, De La Rosa only pitched on the road for the Seals and he never appeared in a game at Royal Athletic Park.

Congratulations, Dane!

Update:
De La Rosa made his major-league debut on Wednesday night at Tropicana Field. He came into the game in the top of the 8th with the Yankees leading 2-0 and a runner on first with one out. He then struck out Mark Teixeira on a 93 MPH cutter to start a strike-em-out-throw-em-out double play to get out of the inning. Nerves appeared to get the better of De La Rosa in the top of the 9th, however. After getting Robinson Cano to ground out, De La Rosa walked Nick Swisher. He then walked Canadian Russ Martin on four pitches and was promptly yanked from the game. Unfortunately, De La Rosa's replacement (Cesar Ramos) allowed both inherited runners to score and the Yankees went on to win 4-0. De La Rosa's line for the night was 1 IP, 0 H, 2 ER, 2 BB and 1 K.

Ex-Seal Bibens-Dirkx has setback on way to big leagues

Photo courtesy Christian Stewart

At the start of 2011 it looked like Austin Bibens-Dirkx was on track to be the first (only?) former Victoria Seal to go on to make the major leagues. Given the troubles that the Chicago Cubs have had this year, all he had to do was duplicate his fine 2010 minor-league season to get a call-up. But things have not gone quite according to plan for Bibens-Dirkx.

Austin has posted a 3-5 record and a nasty 7.16 ERA with the AAA Iowa Cubs in 2011 after having a respectable 4.61 ERA at that level in the latter part of last season. Although his ERA has taken a big hit this year, many of Bibens-Dirkx's underlying AAA numbers have actually improved:

Year	IP	ERA	BB/9	K/9	K/BB
2010	52 2/3	4.61	3.6	5.8	2.1
2011	81 2/3	7.16	2.6	6.2	2.3

It's fair to chalk up his struggles to a run of bad luck and a few horrendous starts like the one on June 18th against the Albuquerque Isotopes in which he gave up 11 earned runs in only one inning of work. Thankfully the Cubs have done their homework and instead of releasing Bibens-Dirkx, they sent him back down to AA yesterday. Given that his confidence has probably taken a big hit, it's likely that he'll benefit from a stint back down with the Tennessee Smokies. In the first part of the 2010 season, Bibens-Dirkx put up stellar numbers with the Smokies: a 3.27 ERA and a 1.01 WHIP. Let's hope he can regroup in AA and eventually resume his trek to the big leagues.

Kavanaugh exacts revenge on Vipers

Photo courtesy Christian Stewart

Revenge is a dish best served cold -- just ask Matt Kavanaugh. After being hastily released by the Vipers, the ex-Seal was quickly snapped up by the Strong Warriors of Maui. On Thursday night, Maui just happened to be in Calgary to start a series against the Vipers.

Although Kavi didn't start the game, he still played a prominent role in the outcome. Trailing 4-3 in the 7th, Maui sent Matt to the plate as a pinch hitter. His two-run sacrifice fly in the 7th and two-run double in the top of the 9th lead the Strong Warriors to a 10-4 comeback victory.

Maui used Kavanaugh in left field on Thursday and Friday even though he spent little time in the outfield in his two seasons in Victoria. Not only has Matt made three putouts so far, but on Friday afternoon he threw out a runner at home plate. Nice job, Matt!!

Ex-Seal Duda off to great start with Québec City

Former Victoria Seals pitcher Jeff Duda is enjoying life in La Belle Province. As reported in an earlier blog post, Duda is playing for the Québec Capitales this season and he has had great success so far pitching out of the their bullpen. In eight relief appearances, Jeff has a 1-0 record with one save and a sparkling 2.20 ERA. He has also struck out an impressive 19 batters in only 16 1/3 innings on the mound, while only walking five. Duda has limited opponents to a .234 batting average, a significant improvement over the .306 mark that he posted last year with the Seals.

Duda's contributions have helped propel Quebec City into first place in the Can-Am League with a 19-6 record. Keep up the good work, Jeff!

Kavanaugh released by Vipers; Rios on inactive list

Photo courtesy of Jonathon Howe;
Graphics courtesy of Bubba

In a surprise move, the Calgary Vipers released ex-Seal Matt Kavanaugh on Monday. Kavi was only hitting .114 with one homer and four RBI in 35 at-bats, but the move seems to be a knee-jerk reaction given his solid performance and steady improvement with Victoria over the last two seasons. The Vipers were using Kavanaugh at first base, but he became expendable once they signed utility man Andy Jenkins this past weekend. Jenkins played at the AAA level as recently as last season. Hopefully, Matt can catch on with other independent team in the near future.

There are still three other ex-Seals still on the Calgary roster, however. Brian Rios was moved to the inactive list on June 5th, likely due to an injury.

Chris Bodishbaugh has improved of late and has now struck out 14 batters in 9 1/3 innings of relief, while he has only walked three. However, he has been giving up far too many base hits and he sports a 5.79 ERA and a 2.11 WHIP. On the plus side, Bodi has notched two saves in his last three appearances.

Wilver Perez is the fourth ex-Seal playing for Calgary and he has been red hot of late. Wilver has raised his average to an impressive .358 with 2 homers and 15 RBI in 67 at-bats. He has also swiped six bases in seven attempts, but he is five steals behind the league leader, Stantrel Smith of the Edinburg Roadrunners.

National League All Star Ballot

As a proud member of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance (BBA) and President of the alliance's Other Baseball chapter, it is my pleasure to cast a ballot for the BBA's National League All-Star team.

Every year, it's difficult to decide between the established stars who may be having a less than stellar season and the young upstarts who haven't been around long enough to be proven commodities. With that in mind, here is my National League ballot for 2011:

• Catcher - Yadier Molina STL - 21 R, 3 HR, 24 RBI, 1 SB, .314 BA, .813 OPS
• 1st Base - Joey Votto CIN - 43 R, 8 HR, 38 RBI, 6 SB, .335 BA, , .987 OPS
• 2nd Base - Rickie Weeks MIL - 44 R, 11 HR, 26 RBI, 7 SB, .278 BA, .837 OPS
• Third Base - Chipper Jones ATL - 22 R, 4 HR, 32 RBI, 0 SB, .251 BA, .763 OPS
• Shortstop - Jose Reyes NY, 42 R, 1 HR, 23 RBI, 20 SB, .341 BA, .906 OPS
• Outfielder - Lance Berkman STL, 37 R, 14 HR, 43 RBI, 0 SB, .329 BA, 1.071 OPS
• Outfielder - Matt Kemp LA, 40 R, 17 HR, 50 RBI, 14 SB, .323 BA, .997 OPS
• Outfielder - Ryan Braun MIL, 45 R, 13 HR, 45 RBI, 14 SB, .311 BA, .967 OPS
• Starting Pitcher - Cole Hamels PHI, 8-2, 2.58 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 9.03 K/9, 5.06 K/BB

Some of the selections, like Jose Reyes at short, were no-brainers. Others, not so much. Behind the plate, I decided to give Yadier Molina the edge over Brian McCann due to his outstanding defense. I went with Joey Votto over Prince Fielder at first for patriotic reasons: Votto is Canadian and I have to support my countrymen. Of course, as defending NL MVP he has a proven track record.

Third base was another tough call, but I went with the ancient Chipper Jones over Greg Dobbs of the Marlins and Ryan Roberts of the Diamondbacks. Us old geezers have to stick together.

Baseball likely to return to Victoria in 2012

According to two published media reports, Victoria is on the short list of cities to be granted an expansion franchise in the West Coast League (WCL) for the 2012 season. A few months ago, an article appeared in the New Westminster News Leader stating that a WCL team could be playing next year in Queen's Park Stadium in New Westminster. This article also stated:

"The nine-team league, which first called "play ball" in 2005, has an eventual vision of 12 franchises. It is also looking at placing teams in a location "east of Kelowna" and another in Victoria."

Recently, Ballpark Business included a short note about WCL expansion:

"Team owners from the summer collegiate West Coast League will meet in the Seattle suburb of Bellevue (WA) on April 22-23 to discuss league business, including adding one-to-three new franchises to the circuit in 2012.  The markets most recently mentioned were Medford (OR), the Olympia (WA) area, Victoria (BC), and New Westminster (BC)."

The West Coast League features high-level NCAA players and the 48-game schedule (June to mid-August) is a good fit for Victoria's summer weather. League alumni include Jeff Francis of the Kansas City Royals, Jacoby Ellsbury of the Boston Red Sox and Nyjer Morgan of the Milwaukee Brewers.

The West Coast League already includes a team in British Columbia -- the Kelowna Falcons -- so the Victoria team would have another rival in addition to New Westminster. Other teams in the league include the Bellingham (WA) Bells, Bend (OR) Elks, Corvallis (OR) Knights, Cowlitz (Kelso / Longview, WA) Black Bears, Kitsap (Bremerton, WA) BlueJackets, Klamath Falls (OR) Gems, Walla Walla (WA) Sweets and the Wenatchee (WA) AppleSox.

Hopefully, Victoria lands a WCL expansion team and an official announcement is made in the near future. The departure of the Seals has left a gaping hole in the summer sports scene in this city, and a WCL team would be a nice addition. I for one would be excited to watch future major leaguers showcase their skills at Royal Athletic Park.

Let's keep our fingers crossed...

Isaac Hess a Winnipeg Goldeye



Photo courtesy Christian Stewart

Issac Hess, the most dominant pitcher to ever wear a Victoria Seals uniform, is currently playing for the Winnipeg Goldeyes of the American Association. "Zack" has now played for three professional baseball teams in Canada and he continues to pursue his dream of pitching in the major leagues.

Anyone who has been out to Royal Athletic Park over the last two seasons can't help but fondly remember Hess, the crafty southpaw who befuddled Golden Baseball League hitters and swung a big stick at the plate for Victoria. Isaac compiled an impressive 14-6 record and a 3.88 ERA over two seasons with the Seals. He also struck out 170 batters in 171 2/3 innings, while only walking 64.

So far in 2011, Hess has pitched 10 scoreless innings, struck out 11 and only walked three batters. We know that he'll continue to excel in the American Association. Hopefully, his performance will lead to a contract in a higher professional league (Japan or Korea?) and then ultimately a chance to pitch for an MLB organization.

Go get 'em, Zack!

Pluta suits up for Newark Bears; Edgecombe and Swinford not so lucky

After being released by the Los Angeles Angels in spring training, former Victoria Seals pitcher Anthony Pluta has signed with the Newark Bears in the Can Am League. The Bears, whose season kicks off on May 26th, are managed by future Hall-of-Famer Tim Raines.

Pluta photo courtesy of Christian Stewart





Pluta made great strides with his control last season and posted a 6-4 record and a 4.56 ERA with the Seals. Hopefully he can continue to progress as a pitcher and get another shot with a major-league organization.

It's possible that Pluta could pitch against another ex-Seal this season, as Jeff Duda is pitching for the Québec Capitales. The Bears and Capitales are scheduled to play each other a dozen times in 2011.

In other news, the Southern Illinois Miners of the Frontier League just released former Seals first baseman Matt Edgecombe. Edgecombe hit .287 with 2 homers and 30 RBI in 251 at-bats last season. Hopefully he'll find another pro team to catch on with.

And finally, ex-Seal Dale "Swinny" Swinford has signed with the Windy City (Crestwood, Illinois) Thunderbolts of the Frontier League. However, Swinny is currently on the Thunderbolts' inactive list and will have to wait for an injury before he can suit up. Windy City's season got underway on the 19th of May. Swinford hit .283 with no homers and 16 RBI in 191 at-bats with the Seals in 2010, before his controversial release in August.

Bodishbaugh and Kavanaugh sign with Calgary Vipers

Two former Victoria Seals, Chris Bodishbaugh and Matt Kavanaugh, have recently signed with the Calgary Vipers in the North American League (NAL). The pair join two other ex-Seals in the Vipers infield, Wilver Perez and Brian Rios, who inked deals earlier this year with the Calgary squad.

Photo of Bodi courtesy Christian Stewart

Kavanaugh had a break-out season with the Seals in 2010, hitting .315 with 7 homers and 38 RBI in 235 at-bats. We wouldn't be surprised to see the 26-year-old continue his improvement and earn a spot on this year's NAL All-Star Team.

Bodishbaugh went 1-3 with a 3.30 ERA in 2010 and capped off his season by being signed by the Chicago White Sox in October. Unfortunately, Bodi was subsequently released by the White Sox early in spring training.

Mike Koons (4-1, 4.50 ERA), who pitched in relief for the Seals in 2010, will also play this season in the NAL. He signed to play for manager Garry Templeton in Maui.

The NAL regular season kicks off on Tuesday with a double-header between the Vipers and Scorpions in Yuma, Arizona. The 10-team league has had to adopt a very unbalanced schedule in order to minimize travel costs between the geographically dispersed cities. For instance, the Vipers will play the Edmonton Capitals a total of 29 times this season. That's plenty of time for Wilver Perez and Matt Rogelstad to get re-acquainted...

Italian pro team in 7th place despite Terrence McClain's hitting

As we reported three months ago, former Victoria Seal Terrence "T-Mac" McClain is playing baseball in Italy this summer. Although McClain is leading the North East Knights in just about every offensive category, his team has staggered out of the gate and posted a dismal 4-11 record.

In T-Mac's 48 at-bats, he has racked up a .313 batting average with one homer and five RBIs. Surprisingly, his early-season statistics are lagging the numbers that he posted with Victoria in the GBL last year. In 2010, McClain's OPS was a stellar .915 mark, but up to this point his OPS is a lukewarm .751. Clearly, the caliber of play in the Italian First Division is pretty darn good. It will be interesting to see how T-Mac fares over the rest of the season. It must be a difficult adjustment on a number of levels. For instance, I would expect it to be difficult to only play three games per week, since North American ballplayers are used to playing 6 or 7 per week.

It must also be a challenge to play in front of so few fans. According to the Italian Baseball League website, the North East Knights are only averaging 103 fans per game for their home games. Initially, I thought it might be related to the team's poor showing (7th place in an 8-team league), but the first place Bologna squad only averages 245 fans per game.

One cultural difference between Italian and North American baseball seems to be the prevalency of stolen bases. Based on the statistics that I have seen, Italian managers are hesitant to send runners. For instance, T-Mac has one stolen base (in only one attempt) in his 14 games with the Knights after racking up 19 steals in 85 games with Victoria last season. The entire North East Knights squad has only stolen 5 bases in 10 attempts in their 15 games. Their opponents have only swiped 11 bases in 22 attempts -- also for a dismal 50% success rate. By comparison, the Victoria Seals stole 145 bases in 88 games last year. Either the runners are slow in the Italian Baseball League or the catchers have rocket launchers for arms.

Seal Blubber Bits

• In a news story that will not make Victoria baseball fans happy, it was recently announced that Fort McMurray is in the Request for Proposals stage to build a new 3,500 seat ballpark. The city is hoping to land a North American Baseball League or Western Major Baseball League team for the 2013 season. It's sad that a Canadian city with less than 80,000 people is about to build a new ballpark, yet the citizens of Victoria are stuck with a decrepit Royal Athletic Park.

Arhart lands coaching job in affiliated ball

Photo courtesy Christian Stewart

Victoria Seals fan favourite Josh Arhart is now working as a coach for the Princeton (West Virginia) Rays. Princeton is in the Appalachian League (Advanced Rookie level).

You can read more here.

Congratulations, Josh. Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Pluta and Bodisbaugh released

Photo courtesy Christian Stewart

Both Victoria Seals pitchers signed at the end of the 2010 season have been abruptly released by their respective major league organizations. Approximately two weeks ago, the Chicago White Sox released Chris Bodisbaugh after only two appearances in their minor-league camp. Recently, the most loyal reader of the Victoria Seals Baseball Blog (Tyler) has informed us that Anthony Pluta has been let go by the Los Angeles Angels.

Given their performance last year, both players should have no trouble catching on with an independent league team. We at the Victoria Seals Baseball Blog wish Bodi and Pluta all the best in the future.

By the way, if you can provide us with additional information on these two situations (or the status of other former Victoria Seals) then please leave a comment to this blog post.

Seal Blubber Bits

• Terrence McClain leaves for Italy on April 5th to join the North East Knights of the Italian Baseball League. If you would like to follow T-Mac's new team, you can go to their website. Be sure to use the Google Chrome browser so that it will automatically translate the pages from Italian to English. The team also has a Facebook page (search for North East Knights). I'll also try and post regular updates on his season on this blog.
• There has been much discussion of possible names for Victoria's new WHL team in spite of the fact that there has been no formal announcement (expect that early this week since the Chilliwack Bruins were eliminated from the playoffs last night). My vote is to call them the Victoria Seals. The name already has a positive connotation in the city and with Darren Parker now an RG Properties employee, it shouldn't be difficult to acquire the naming rights. Plus, it would open the door for the return of Seamore Seal. We know one guy who would be all over that....

Darren Parker hired by RG Properties

The former president and owner of the Victoria Seals, Darren Parker, has been hired by RG Properties as their senior vice-president of sales and marketing. The hiring was announced on Wednesday. The move is a good one for RG Properties, as Parker has proven skills in producing entertaining sporting events that put a lot of bums in seats. His experience in minor-league and independent baseball can only improve the (recently morose) atmosphere at the SoFA.

It's probably not a coincidence that multiple media outlets are reporting that the transaction to move the Chilliwack Bruins of the WHL to Victoria is a done deal. Darren's father Russ is owner of the WHL's Regina Pats and both Parkers know a thing or two about running a major junior hockey franchise. 

I wouldn't be surprised if Darren Parker didn't do much work for the Victoria Salmon Kings of the East Coast Hockey League (Oops, ECHL -- sorry!). I'm betting that the move of the Bruins to Victoria will be made public as soon as Chilliwack is eliminated from the WHL playoffs. With Chilliwack being down three games to one in a best-of-seven series against the Spokane Chiefs, the Bruins could have officially played their last game in Chilliwack by as early as this Saturday night.

North American League down to 10 teams?

Originally announced as a 16-to-20 team league, the North American League may have shrunk down to only 10 teams. Ballpark Digest is reporting that a 10-team schedule is being drawn up after the recent eviction of the Schaumburg (Illinois) Flyers from their ballpark. That leaves the Eastern Division with only five squads. Rumours are circulating that one of the Western Division teams would be taken out of play in order to get back to an even number. It's likely that this organization would be the hastily-assembled Henderson (Nevada) Roadrunners, one of three league-owned teams.

The black clouds continue to gather on the North American League's horizon. Unconfirmed rumours that the Rockford Riverhawks are planning to jump ship to the Frontier League continue to circulate. That would leave only one team in Illinois, a scenario that would likely kill the Lake County Fielders (who lack a proper ballpark in which to play anyway). The result would be only three teams in the Eastern Division, all of them in Texas. There is also talk of adding a fourth team in the Lone Star State, but this would be a travelling team named after the city of McAllen.

Another unconfirmed rumour has the NAL considering putting a team in Kamloops for the 2011 season. Victoria fans may remember that the Seals played a pair of mildly successful exhibition games in Kamloops prior to the 2010 season.

It will be interesting to see how things play out for the still unstable North American League.

Tampa Bay sends ex-Seal De la Rosa to minors

The Tampa Bay Rays sent ex-Victoria Seals hurler Dane De la Rosa to their minor-league camp today after he struggled with the big club during spring training. De la Rosa posted a 12.60 ERA in five relief appearances this month.

De la Rosa will likely start the season in AAA with the Durham Bulls.

Jeff Duda signs with Québec Capitales

Former Victoria Seals pitcher Jeff Duda has signed with the Québec Capitales of the Can-Am League (roughly AA baseball). Duda had a pretty decent season for the Seals in 2010, posting a 4-3 record in 21 appearances with a 3.90 ERA and 1.47 WHIP in his first year of professional baseball.

Duda was signed by the Seals in June of 2010 after excelling for the Okotoks Dawgs of the Western Major Baseball League. Duda also pitched for Canada in the 1998 Little League World World Series, setting a LLWS record by striking out 17 batters.

Best of luck in 2011, Jeff!!

Photo courtesy of Christian Stewart.

Another North American League team bites the dust

Another blow was dealt to the North American (formerly Golden Baseball) League today, as the Schaumburg (Illinois) Flyers were evicted from their ballpark. This leaves the NAL Eastern Division with only five teams and one of those teams, the Lake County Fielders, is also without a ballpark in which to play the 2011 season.

It will be interesting to see how this shakes out, but don't be surprised if the entire Eastern Division of the NAL collapses and the league pushes forward with only six (sort of) former Golden Baseball League teams -- three of which will be league owned. The Parkers are looking smarter by the day.

Dane De la Rosa is fourth ex-Seal in the minors

This entire off-season, I have been under the mistaken impression that three former Victoria Seals are currently in the affiliated minor leagues. Well it turns out that there is a fourth ex-Seal and he just might be the closest one to the big leagues.

Dane De la Rosa briefly pitched for the Seals in 2009 before his contract was sold to the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs of the Atlantic League. During his July/August 2009 stay in Victoria, De la Rosa had an 0-1 record with one save and a 2.45 ERA in six relief appearances. We were impressed with his stuff when he arrived, touting him as a potential closer for the Seals. It turns out that his upside was a bit higher than we thought.

De la Rosa was signed by the Tampa Bay Rays prior to the 2010 season and he spent last year pitching for the Charlotte Stone Crabs (Advanced A, Florida State League) and Montgomery Biscuits (AA, Southern League). De la Rosa made 47 relief appearances for Montgomery and sported a nifty 9-3 record with a 1.97 ERA and 1.26 WHIP. Most impressively, he addressed what was previously one of his biggest flaws -- surrendering too many walks. De la Rosa only walked 3.2 batters per nine innings while averaging 9.3 strikeouts per nine. He was even promoted to the Durham Bulls for the AAA playoffs, but he did not appear in any games with Crash Davis' old team.

Just before Christmas, De la Rosa got the amazing news that he was added to the 40-man roster by Tampa Bay and was invited to spring training with the big club. For now anyway, De la Rosa is sharing the same clubhouse as Manny Ramirez. With an impressive spring, De la Rosa could break camp with the big club, but at the very least he'll start the 2011 season at AAA with the Bulls.

The Rays play their first spring training game on Friday afternoon against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Here is an updated list of the ex-Seals who are currently playing in the minor-league system of MLB teams:

Player	Year(s) played for Seals	MLB organization	Likely starting level for 2011
Dane De la Rosa	2009	Tampa Bay Rays	AAA
Austin Bibens-Dirkx	2009	Chicago Cubs	AAA
Chris Bodishbaugh	2009-10	Chicago White Sox	Advanced A
Anthony Pluta	2009-10	Los Angeles Angels	Advanced A or AA

Terrence McClain to play in Italy in 2011

The sound of "Detenuto Musica" (Convict Music) just might be resonating throughout a ballpark in Northern Italy this summer, as former Seal Terrence McClain has been signed to play for an Italian professional baseball team. T-Mac will be playing for the Godo-Verona ("North East") Knights in the Italian Baseball League (IBL). Their season is set to kickoff in April. For the Victoria Seals in 2010, McClain posted a .330 average with 14 homers and 63 RBI in 339 at-bats. For this blogger at least, T-Mac was one of the most enjoyable Seals to watch at Royal Athletic Park last season.

While some might snicker at the thought of Italian professional baseball, the league should not be discounted. There are a number of big name American players who have been lured to the league, including former Toronto Blue Jay Josh Phelps. If you are looking for a primer on Italian professional baseball, I highly recommend the book Baseballissimo by ace musician and writer Dave Bidini. Although Bidino followed a Serie B team, the Nettuno Peones, the book gives the reader a great insight into the passion that a significant number of Italians have for baseball.

We wish T-Mac all the best in Italy. Based on Bidini's writing and my own trip to Italy a few years ago, he's in for an experience that he will remember for the rest of his life.

The logo that will adorn T-Mac's 2011 uniform

Editor's note: In the last month, this blog has been read by Italians more times than from any country in the world other than Canada or the United States. We'd like to think that the Italian T-Mac fan club got its start right here...

Finding photos of Charlie Strandlund's big day

Talk about being a procrastinator. I was loading some photos onto my PC today when I realized that I totally forgot about the pictures that I took of the last Victoria Seals game, the game in which the Charlie Strandlund played all nine positions.

To document the event, I made a point of taking a photo of Charlie playing each of the nine positions. See below for the proof that ol' number 22 pulled the trick. Notice that in the picture of Strandlund in centre, outfielder Tim Rodriguez is playing second base. I also just realized that the last photo, the one with Charlie playing right field, was taken during the final inning that the Seals would ever play.

Colin Moro joins T-Rod on CornBelters

A pair of ex-Seals will be roaming the outfield for the Normal (Illinois) CornBelters this season. Colin Moro was recently acquired by the CornBelters, a team that plays in the Frontier League, in a trade with the Lake County Fielders of the new North American League. Moro will join another Seals alumnus, Tim Rodriguez, on the Normal squad.

Moro has been a hot commodity of late. The Fielders purchased Moro's contract from the Chico Outlaws just prior to shipping him to the CornBelters. The Outlaws bought his contract from the Victoria Seals (yes, they still exist as a corporate entity) less than one week ago. The Outlaws also picked up Victoria's old first baseman Matt Edgecombe in the same transaction.

Moro had a somewhat disappointing season at the plate for the Seals in 2010 after posting monster numbers for the Calgary Vipers in 2009. He hit .294 with 6 homers and 50 RBIs in 293 at-bats for the Seals. However, he did walk an impressive 50 times and was second on the team with a .423 on-base percentage.

There is no word yet on whether Colin will be sporting the same troll-like hairdo in Normal Illinois as he did in Victoria BC last summer. For the benefit of CornBelters baseball fans, let's hope so.

P.S. Colin, your presence at Royal Athletic Park will be missed in 2011.