Pluta signed by LA Angels

Congratulations to Anthony Pluta for signing a minor-league contract with the Los Angeles Angels!

Pluta is the fifth Victoria Seals player to be signed by a major-league organization in the Seals' brief two-year history. The signing comes less than two weeks after Chris Bodishbaugh inked a contract with the Chicago White Sox.

The other three Seals to sign with a big-league organization were Austin Bibens-Dirkx (Cubs, 2009), Isaac Hess (Red Sox, 2009) and Sergio Pedroza (Dodgers, 2010).

For more info, see the press release from the Victoria Seals.

Stan Musial Award ballot

The Victoria Seals Baseball Blog (VSBB) is a proud member of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance (BBA). This year, the VSBB has the honour of casting the Other Baseball Chapter ballot for each of the five awards given to players and managers in both the National and American Leagues.

Last Thursday, we posted our ballot for the Walter Johnson Award, presented to the top pitcher in each league. Yesterday morning, the alliance announced the results: Philadelphia's Roy Halladay and Seattle's Felix Hernandez were runaway winners in their respective leagues. In fact, Halladay was a unanimous selection by the Baseball Bloggers Alliance. Today we present the VSBB ballot for the final award, named after Stan Musial. The Stan Musial Award goes to the MVP in each league. Casting the ballot on behalf of the VSBB is guest blogger Michael Poplawski.

National League

The National League charts were topped by a pair of slugging first basemen from the Central division: perennial MVP Albert Pujols, who led the NL in runs, home runs and RBI and rising star Joey Votto, who led the NL in OBP and SLG. There was little to choose between them, but I've gone with the division-winning Cincinnati Reds' Votto over the St. Louis Cardinals' Pujols.

My third-place vote goes to my Walter Johnson choice Roy Halladay.

1. Joey Votto 1B (150 GP, 174 OPS+ 6.2 WAR)
2. Albert Pujols 1B (159 GP, 173 OPS+ 7.2 WAR)
3. Roy Halladay SP (33 GS, 165 ERA+, 6.5 WAR)
4. Adrian Gonzalez 1B (160 GP, 152 OPS+, 6.3 WAR)
5. Ryan Zimmerman 3B (142 GP, 142 OPS+, 5.3 WAR)
6. Matt Holliday LF 158 GP, 149 OPS+, 5.5 WAR)
7. Troy Tulowitzki SS (122 GP, 138 OPS+, 5.6 WAR)
8. Ubaldo Jiminez SP (33 GS, 161 ERA+, 7.1 WAR)
9. Aubrey Huff 1B-OF (157 GP, 138 OPS+, 5.9 WAR)
10. Carlos Gonzalez OF (145 GP, 143 OPS+, 4.5 WAR)

American League

In the American League, my top three choices came from three playoff-bound teams. I gave top billing to Evan Longoria, who provided the Tampa Bay Rays the most solid third base play in the major leagues as well as his potent bat. Runner-up is the Texas Rangers' Josh Hamilton, who also was solid all-around but, unfortunately, missed 29 games. Third place goes to New York Yankees stalwart infielder Robinson Cano.

1. Evan Longoria 3B (151 GP, 142 OPS+, 7.7 WAR)
2. Josh Hamilton OF (133 GP, 175 OPS+, 6.0 WAR)
3. Robinson Cano 2B (160 GP, 142 OPS+, 6.1 WAR)
4. Shin-Soo Choo RF (144 GP, 148 OPS+, 7.3 WAR)
5. Adrian Beltre 3B (154 GP, 141 OPS+, 6.1 WAR)
6. Miguel Cabrera 1B (150 GP, 179 OPS+, 6.9 WAR)
7. Felix Hernandez SP (34 GS, 174 ERA+, 6.0 WAR)
8. Jose Bautista RF-3B (161 GP, 166 OPS+, 5.6 WAR)
9. Carl Crawford LF (154 GP, 134 OPS+, 4.8 WAR)
10. Joe Mauer C-DH (137 GP, 137 OPS+, 5.6 WAR)

- Michael Poplawski

Tucson Toros to sit out 2011

The GBL will be without the Tucson Toros in 2011, as the team announced that it will taking a one-year hiatus. The decision was prompted by the temporary re-location of the Portland Beavers to Tucson Electric Park. With a AAA team in town next year, it didn't make sense for the Toros to play their 2011 GBL season in Hi Corbett Field.

The Beavers were forced to leave Portland after their ballpark was converted for use by an MLS (soccer) team. The Beavers will obviously be renamed and they'll move into a new $45M ballpark in Escondido, California in 2012.

The (hopefully) temporary loss of the Toros is still a big blow to the Golden Baseball League, as the Tucson franchise has led the GBL in attendance for the past two seasons. The Toros joined the GBL back in 2009, the same year as the Victoria Seals. Right now the only rock-solid franchises in the league are Victoria, Calgary and Edmonton. It will be interesting to see how many teams are part of the GBL next season, but I wouldn't be surprised to see a number of league-owned teams participating to ensure that the league operates with a minimum of six teams.

For more info on the Tucson situation, including an interview with Toros' owner Jay Zucker, click here.

Fifteen questions with Seals GM Roxann Bury

As part of our off-season commitment to keeping your lives full of Seals news, we promised to bring you exclusive interviews with key members of the Seals staff. We are happy to present the first of those interviews - Seals General Manager Roxann Bury.

Early last season, Roxann was promoted to General Manager of the Victoria Seals baseball club. As a GM, she experienced the day-to-day operations of the club at a whole new level, put in countless hours at the ballpark, and even took over the on-field promotional duties midway through the season. Roxann took the time to answer our questions about life in the Seals front office...

What is the best part about working for a professional baseball team?

Every day is an exciting challenge. We have an opportunity to create events and entertain people. It's really rewarding to know that if people chose to attend a Seals game that I had a little bit to do with the great night they will have.


How did you get your start in professional sports management?

My first position was Community Relations and Promotions Coordinator for the Calgary Cannons (AAA). I was in my second year of a Broadcasting Diploma and met the GM at a Sports Forum hosted by the College. He told me about the position, I applied and that became my first summer in the sun!


What was your favourite sport growing up? Any favourite teams or players?

I grew up in Kamloops where your first love is Hockey. I was a big fan of the Blazers, a season ticket holder for 6 years. My NHL team was the LA Kings and I was a Gretzky fan.


There aren’t very many female General Managers or even Assistant GMs in professional baseball. Have you faced any additional challenges because of your gender?

I think in any profession you face challenges, but I haven’t really had any incidents that I would directly say were a situation because of my gender. I've worked with really great owners and on field staff. They respect me and I respect them.


What is the most difficult aspect of your job?

Not enough hours in the day! During the season there is more Team/Operations work, but I still have to be on top of the Marketing and Entertainment. It's a fine balance to allow enough time for both of the sides.


Do you see yourself as a bit of a role model for women in sports management?

I hope that if anyone is looking at my career and feeling inspired it’s because of the accomplishments of the organizations I’ve been a part of. If someone now believes they can peruse a sports career or decided on a career in sports because of the role that I am in then I am proud to be a woman working in sports.


What goes on in the Seals front-office in the off-season?

The off season is a time where we evaluate and look at where we can improve and build from the foundations set in the previous season. We develop our marketing, sales and media plans and then put them into motion. Once we have a schedule (usually early January) we start to look at travel and team operations. It's a busy, but really fun time. We get to be creative and innovative and excited about the upcoming season.


Talk about the 2010 Seals season. Everything you expected it to be?

I was happy with the 2010 season. We set goals to improve both on and off the field and accomplished both of those. Our winning percentage was up, but as we look to 2011 we still need to get that Win/Loss record more in our favour! We wanted to utilize the scoreboard in the 2010 season; the additions of headshot/stats graphics, pre produced video clips and on field replays enhanced our in game entertainment. We will continue to explore all that we can do with our video board to provide top quality entertainment for our fans.


What has been your favourite moment since joining the Seals organization?

On July 27th when Eri Yoshida started for Chico I took a second to watch her throw her first pitch. I love knowing that the Victoria Seals have a little piece of history in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Her start marked the first time a woman has played in professional games in 3 countries. I love watching the game from deep right field, down past our bull pen late in the game. Around the 8th inning in on a crisp June night there is the most beautiful sun set that drops between homeplate and 3rd base. It makes me so grateful that I work in baseball and get to have that scene as my office!

Any low-lights?

Not fully remembering the 2009 Home Opener! I remember having a conversation with Darren (Parker, President) on the concourse about ½ hour before gates open ~ we were going through a mental checklist of things ensuring we were ready. Then I remember covering the pitchers mound with a tarp post game. The rest of the night is a blur! I know we had our opening ceremonies, first pitch and our promotions ran smoothly. I really wish I remembered some of the details or had stopped and just enjoyed that special night for what it was; the first game in the Victoria Seals history!


Do you normally travel with the team when they are on the road? Where’s your favourite road trip in the GBL and why?

I don’t normally travel with the team, but I have been to parks in Calgary, Edmonton, St George, and Tucson. I enjoy Calgary as I lived there for 10 years so it is sort of like going home. I have some great memories of Foothills Stadium as a fan and from my years of working for the Cannons.


How many players are under contract with the Seals for the 2011 season? Are there any names you can share with us?

Most of the contracts signed in the GBL are 2 year deals. They are second year club option which means the organization has the opportunity to exercise their options with the players. There will be more details on this in the next few weeks as the deadline to exercise those options is November 15th.

Do you have any changes in store for 2010 to further enhance the fan experience at RAP?

We are focusing on some of the details of our game night entertainment. I expect that you will see more giveaways, more prizes, different on field promotions and more interaction with our fans. We really try to be what minor league baseball allows us to be; fan friendly, fun, affordable and really entertaining.

A few tough times at the park this year. Are you expecting the city to step up a bit more next year, given two solid years of success?

The Venue / tenant relationship is always that one of the Chicken and Egg. It’s hard to invest in improvements for an organization when you don’t know if they will survive, but it’s tough for an organization to survive if there are not necessary improvements. I think that the Seals have proved to be a solid business, and we are dedicated to being a successful entertainment choice for Greater Victoria. Royal Athletic Park upgraded its audio system in 2010 and I hope that more improvements like that to give the fans a better overall experience will continue to happen as we look to 2011.

How much fun is it doing the on-field promotions?

The on field promotions are a blast! I am lucky that I don’t have a fear of public speaking or being in front of crowds. I like being able to meet and talk to our fans. One of my favourite things was seeing a contestant we had for a promo out at another game a few weeks later. I knew that they had a great time and were coming back again. We are going to try and shake up the promos for next year to hopefully make them even more exciting to watch and participate in.

VSBB ballot for the Walter Johnson Award

The Victoria Seals Baseball Blog (VSBB) is a proud member of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance (BBA). This year, the VSBB has the honour of casting the Other Baseball Chapter ballot for each of the five awards given to players and managers in both the National and American Leagues.

On Monday, we posted our ballot for the Goose Gossage Award, presented to the top reliever in each league. This morning, the alliance announced the results: San Francisco's Brian Wilson and Rafael Soriano of the Tampa Bay Rays were named the winners in their respective leagues. Today we present the VSBB ballot for the Walter Johnson Award, presented to the top pitcher in each league. Casting the ballot on behalf of the VSBB is guest blogger Michael Poplawski.

I didn't see any relief pitchers really show the kind of dominance that would bring them on par with the best starters this season, so my ballot is loaded with starting pitchers for both leagues. Here we go...

National League

The Philadelphia Phillies' Roy Halladay switched leagues but his excellence remained in a season where he led the majors in ERA, wins, complete games and shutouts. To top it off, he tossed MLB's 20th perfect game of all time. Key stats: 33 Starts, 25 Quality Starts (QS), 250.2 IP, 30 BB, 219 SO, 165 ERA+, 6.5 Wins Above Replacement (WAR).

Ubaldo Jiminez had a remarkable start to the season, earning wins in 15 of his first 16 decisions for the Colorado Rockies. Key stats: 33 GS, 25 QS, 221.2 IP, 92 BB, 214 SO, 161 ERA+, 6.5 WAR.

Adam Wainwright was again the ace for the St. Louis Cardinals, reaching 20 wins for the first time in his career. Key stats: 33 GS, 25 QS, 56 BB, 213 SO, 161 ERA+, 6.1 WAR.

Tim Hudson is back! His return as the Atlanta Braves rotation anchor helped lead them back into postseason territory once again. Key stats: 34 GS, 25 QS, 74 BB, 139 SO, 138 ERA+, 5.7 WAR.

Josh Johnson was the NL's ERA+ leader for the Florida Marlins in a somewhat shortened season. Key stats: 28 GS, 23 QS, 48 BB, 186 SO, 182 ERA+, 5.9 WAR.

1. Roy Halladay, Philadelphia Phillies
2. Ubaldo Jiminez, Colorado Rockies
3. Adam Wainwright, St. Louis Cardinals
4. Tim Hudson, Atlanta Braves
5. Josh Johnson, Florida Marlins

American League

The choice for me in the American League was the Seattle Mariners’ Felix Hernandez, who led the majors in batters faced, ERA, and pitched consistently throughout the season. Unfortunately, the awful run support provided by the Mariners left him with a 13-12 record to go with his sparkling 2.27 ERA. We're not going to penalize him for his poor-hitting teammates. Key stats: 34 Starts, 30 Quality Starts, 6 CG, 1 ShO, 249.2 IP, 70 BB, 232 SO, 174 ERA+, 6.0 WAR.

The Los Angeles Angels' Jered Weaver was another pitcher who could sue for a lack of support. The majors' strikeout leader had two or fewer runs to work with 12 times (compare with Hernandez's 15 and Sabathia's 7). His lack of run support left him with a 13-12 record as well, but that mark masks a brilliant season. Key stats: 34 GS, 27 QS, 224.1 IP, 54 BB, 233 SO, 135 ERA+, 5.4 WAR.

CC Sabathia had another excellent year for the playoff-bound New York Yankees. Key stats: 34 GS, 26 QS, 237.2 IP, 74 BB, 197 SO, 134 ERA+, 5.4 WAR.

David Price was the Tampa Bay Rays' consistent ace in their division-winning effort. Key stats: 31 GS, 25 QS, 79 BB, 199 SO, 145 ERA+ 5.3 WAR.

The Boston Red Sox' Jon Lester led the majors in ERA+ in a season shortened by injury. By far the best value for money on my ballot, earning a mere $500,000. Key stats: 28 GS, 19 QS, 67 BB, 120 SO, 187 ERA+, 5.4 WAR.

1. Felix Hernandez, Seattle Mariners
2. Jered Weaver, Los Angeles Angels
3. CC Sabathia, New York Yankees
4. David Price, Tampa Bay Rays
5. Jon Lester, Boston Red Sox

- Michael Poplawski

Bodishbaugh signs with Chicago White Sox

Chris Bodishbaugh became the fourth Victoria Seals player to sign with a major-league organization on Monday by securing a minor-league contract with the Chicago White Sox. Bodishbaugh went 1-3 with a 3.30 ERA in a whopping 40 appearances with the Seals last year -- all but three of which were in relief. His late-season performance was a big help in getting Victoria into their first pennant race in franchise history. Setting his first four appearances aside, "Bodi" had a sparkling 2.35 ERA in his last 36 games.

Bodishbaugh struck out an impressive 8.2 batters per nine innings in 2010, but a big reason for his improved performance was that he gave up fewer homers (0.9 per nine) and walks (4.1 per nine) than he did in his first season with the Seals. In a difficult 2009, Bodishbaugh sported a ugly 5.91 ERA. As I wrote before spring training opened this year:

Looking forward, it’s quite possible that Bodishbaugh could have a break-out season in 2010. Given his age and relative inexperience at the professional level, he’ll benefit greatly from the tutelage of pitching coach Kip Gross and the three members of the pitching staff with big-league experience (Brandon Villafuerte, Jason Kershner and Phillip Barzilla). The key for Bodishbaugh will be to cut down on the walks (4.4 per nine innings in 2009) and the homers (1.4 per nine innings). If he can do that then he just might put together a nice little season.

The previous three Seals to sign with a big-league organization were Austin Bibens-Dirkx (Cubs, 2009), Isaac Hess (Red Sox, 2009) and Sergio Pedroza (Dodgers, 2010).

Congratulations, Bodi!

Goose Gossage Award ballot

The Victoria Seals Baseball Blog (VSBB) is a proud member of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance (BBA). This year, the VSBB has the honour of casting the Other Baseball Chapter ballot for each of the five awards given to players and managers in both the National and American Leagues.

On Friday, we posted our ballot for the Willie Mays Award, presented to the top rookie in each league. This morning, the alliance announced the results: San Francisco's Buster Posey and Neftali Perez of the Texas Rangers were named the winners in their respective leagues. Today we present the VSBB ballot for the Goose Gossage Award, presented to the top reliever in each league. Casting the ballot on behalf of the VSBB is guest blogger Michael Poplawski.

National League

Brian Wilson was the ace of the pennant-winning Giants' excellent bullpen, earning 48 saves in 53 opportunities to be the Giants' reliable ace. Key stats: 70 G, 74.2 IP, 62 H, 26 BB, 93 SO, 1.81 ERA, 1.18 WHIP.

Heath Bell also had an excellent season, leading the NL in Save Percentage with 47 saves in 50 opportunities for the surprising San Diego Padres. Key stats: 67 G, 70 IP, 56 H, 28 BB, 86 SO, 1.93 ERA, 1.20 WHIP.

The Chicago Cubs' Carlos Marmol had one of the more spectacular relief seasons in recent memory, striking out 16.0 per nine innings and saving 38 games in 43 opportunities. Key stats: 77 G, 77 IP, 40 H, 52 BB, 138 SO, 2.55 ERA, 1.18 WHIP.

Honourable mention to the Los Angeles Dodgers' Hong-Chih Kuo, who was nearly unhittable throughout the season and earning a save in his final twelve save opportunities taking over for Jonathan Broxton to go along with 21 holds. Key stats: 56 G, 60 IP, 29 H, 18 BB, 73 SO, 1.20 ERA, 0.78 WHIP.

I'll give the edge to Wilson for the slight advantages in appearances and innings for a pennant-winner over the NL West runner-up.

1. Brian Wilson, SF Giants
2. Heath Bell, SD Padres
3. Carlos Marmol, Chicago Cubs

American League

Rafael Soriano led the AL in Save Opportunities (48) and Saves (45) for the AL East-winning Tampa Bay Rays. Key stats: 64 G, 62.1 IP, 36 H, 14 BB, 57 SO, 1.73 ERA, 0.80 WHIP.

Joakim Soria had another outstanding season as the Kansas City Royals' ace. Key stats: 66 G, 65.2 IP, 53 H, 16 BB, 71 SO, 43 Saves in 46 Opportunities, 1.78 ERA, 1.05 WHIP.

Daniel Bard pitched brilliantly in a setup role for the Boston Red Sox, leading the AL with 32 holds. Key stats: 73 G, 74.2 IP, 45 H, 30 BB, 76 SO, 1.93 ERA, 1.00 WHIP.

Honourable mention to Texas Rangers rookie Neftali Feliz who had an excellent season as the closer for the AL West winners. Key stats: 70 G, 69.1 IP, 43 H, 18 BB, 71 SO, 40 Saves in 43 Opportunities, 2.73 ERA, 0.88 WHIP.

As in the National League, I've gone with the pennant-winner who also happened to do slightly more than the runner-up in a few more opportunities.

1. Rafael Soriano, Tampa Bay Rays
2. Joakim Soria, KC Royals
3. Daniel Bard, Boston Red Sox

- Michael Poplawski

Baseball America releases top indy prospects list

Maui's Donald Brandt

Baseball America recently released its list of the top prospects in the independent leagues and the Golden Baseball League fared extremely well. Of the top ten prospects, three hail from the GBL: Donald Brandt (Maui LHP), Blake Gailen (Chico OF) and Mark Samuelson (Chico 1B). The Frontier League, with four, was the only league with more players ranked in the top ten than the GBL. The American Association had two, the Northern League had one and (surprisingly) the Atlantic League was shut out.

No Victoria Seals were named to the top prospects list. You may remember that last year, Baseball America named Isaac Hess as their sixth-best prospect in the independent leagues.

Three others from the Golden League received honourable mentions from Baseball America: Josh Drew (Chico RHP), Wes Ethridge (Maui RHP) and David Harris (Orange County OF). Of the 22 total players listed, six were from the Golden League. No other independent league had more players on the list.

The full article can be found here.

VSBB ballot for the Willie Mays Award

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 each of the five awards given to players and managers in both the National and American Leagues. 

On Tuesday, we posted our ballot for the Connie Mack Award, presented to the top manager in each league. This morning, the alliance announced the results of the Connie Mack Award voting. San Diego manager Bud Black and Texas manager Ron Washington were named the winners in their respective leagues. Today we present the VSBB ballot for the Willie Mays Award, presented to the top rookie in each league. Casting the ballot on behalf of the VSBB is guest blogger Michael Poplawski.

National League

The National League had the cream of the Major League rookie crop, with any of several rookies having strong enough seasons to challenge their American League counterparts for honours.

Jason Heyward lived up to his advance billing with only an injury preventing him from having one of the best rookie seasons ever, an effort rewarded with an All-Star selection and a trip to the postseason with the Braves. A great first season from a very young player who appears on the way to having an outstanding career. Key stats: 142 GP, 131 On-Base Plus Slugging Plus (OPS+), 4.4 Wins Above Replacement (WAR), batted mostly second.

Buster Posey's late start kept him from challenging for the top spot among NL rookies. The Giants were able to get an excellent performance from their young backstop right from his callup at the end of May on their way to reaching the postseason. Key stats: 115 GP, 122 OPS+, 3.0 Wins Above Replacement, batted mostly cleanup.

Jaime Garcia was one of the more consistent pitchers for the St. Louis Cardinals before their late-season fade, showing a remarkable recovery from Tommy John surgery. Key stats: 28 starts, 163.1 IP, 145 ERA+, 132 SO, 64 BB, 2.9 WAR

Our NL ballot is therefore:

1. Jason Heyward
2. Buster Posey
3. Jaime Garcia

American League

Over in the American League, we have a tight race between several players essentially equal on adjusted stats, but I will give the nod to Detroit Tigers outfielder Austin Jackson. Jackson took over center field for the Tigers on opening day and gave the Tigers solid all-round play in the field and in their leadoff spot. Key stats: 151 GP, 102 OPS+, 2.5 Wins Above Replacement.

Neftali Feliz took over the closer's role and was excellent throughout the season, and nearly untouchable after his trip to the All-Star Game. Key stats: 70 Relief Appearances, 40/43 in Save Chances, ERA+ of 159, 2.4 WAR.

Danny Valencia took over third base for the Minnesota Twins mid-season and took away much of the sting of Jason Morneau's season-ending injury. Key stats: 85 GP, 115 OPS+, 2.5 WAR.

Our AL ballot is therefore:

1. Austin Jackson
2. Neftali Feliz
3. Danny Valencia

- Michael Poplawski

2010 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 2010 is the Connie Mack Award, presented to the top manager in each league. Casting the VSBB ballot for the Connie Mack Award is guest blogger Michael Poplawski.

National League

For me, it's a toss-up in a year where no team radically exceeded expectations to reach the postseason.

Bud Black was able to work similar wonders in San Diego with a team not expecting to contend and took them to the final weekend before finally bowing out of playoff contention.

Bobby Cox was able to bring together an excellent bullpen and integrate a number of rookies into a team that played consistently in reaching the post-season for the first time in five years.

Honourable mentions to Bruce Bochy and Dusty Baker for leading their teams to the postseasons after lengthy absences.

1. Bud Black - San Diego Padres
2. Bobby Cox - Atlanta Braves
3. Bruce Bochy - San Francisco Giants

American League

Baltimore's Buck Showalter might be the choice here if we are looking forward to 2011. I'll stick with making a choice from managers who held their posts for the entire 2010 regular season.

As in the National League, I don't see a clear choice, but a number of well-matched candidates, each dealing with different challenges.

Joe Maddon kept a young team in turmoil focused on the task at hand, got the most out of the Rays' pitchers, and led them to their second AL East title in three years.

Runner-up is Ron Gardenhire for keeping the Twins rolling even after the season-ending injury to Justin Morneau, and for another excellent year from their bullpen.

Honourable mention to Terry Francona for keeping the Red Sox within shouting distance despite nearly daily player trips to the disabled list.

1. Joe Maddon - Tampa Bay Rays
2. Ron Gardenhire - Minnesota Twins
3. Terry Francona - Boston Red Sox

Victoria's starting eight: Where to from here?

The Victoria Seals took a big step forward in 2010 and stayed in the second-half pennant race until the final week of the season. While their roster was much improved as compared to their inaugural season, the Seals will need to get better if they are to qualify for the postseason in 2011. With that in mind, I offer my personal thoughts on how the Victoria roster might be tweaked in the off-season.

Catchers - Josh Arhart and Matt Kavanaugh

Kavanaugh (.315, 7 HR, 38 RBI) made great strides in 2010 and had a breakout season, so if he returns he’ll likely be the starting catcher. He's improved so much in the last two years that it wouldn’t surprise me to see Kavanaugh on the GBL All-Star Team in the near future. If Arhart were to change his mind about retiring, I’d like to see Josh used almost exclusively at first base in 2011. The Seals sure could use his leadership and big bat in their lineup.

First Base - Matt Edgecombe and Josh Arhart

Although Edgecombe battled injuries for most of last season, I’m not sure he provides the kind of offense that is required of a first baseman on a playoff-bound team (see Brumbaugh, Cliff). If Arhart doesn’t return in 2011, I’d like to see the Seals sign a masher like Mark Samuelson of the Chico Outlaws.

Second Base - Henry Calderon

Calderon struggled at the plate (.211 in 71 at-bats) after he was acquired by the Seals in August in response to the Dale Swinford controversy. But Calderon has hit over .300 in his five previous GBL seasons, so we should cut him a bit of slack on his brief and less than stellar appearance with Victoria. Overall, he’s an adequate second baseman, so I wouldn’t be upset to see him return next season.

Shortstop - Wilver Perez

Perez is one of the flashiest players in the GBL and he proved that by smashing the GBL single-season stolen base record in 2010. His 64 steals beat the previous mark of 51 set by Jonny Kaplan, currently of the Calgary Vipers. Although Wilver is an offensive force, his defense left something to be desired last season. He seemed to lose focus in the field on a semi-regular basis and his 25 errors were a big jump from his 14 miscues in 2009. Many of those 25 errors could be chalked up to a lack of effort -- far too often Perez waived his glove at balls bounding past him rather than getting his body in front of them. On the base-paths, Wilver was occasionally guilty of running in situations he shouldn’t have been and at times he seemed a bit too interested in the stolen base record. If I were running the show, I’d “sell high” and trade Perez for a top-notch starting pitcher.

Third Base - Brian Rios

Like Arhart, Rios announced that he was planning on retiring after the 2010 season. We’ll have to wait and see about that. The team could use his clutch hitting and leadership qualities, so hopefully he will change his mind and be back for another year. If not, then we'll have a new man at the hot corner in 2011.

Outfield - Colin Moro, Tim Rodriguez and Terrence McClain

Colin Moro had an off year last season, hitting only .294 with 6 homers and 50 RBI. In 2009 with the Vipers, Moro had a superb.376 average with 8 homers and 65 RBI. However, Moro did walk an impressive 50 times in 293 at-bats in 2010 and his .423 on-base percentage was second-best on the team. He has a cannon of an arm, so hopefully he’ll be back in 2011. If not, I’d like the Seals to bring slugger Sergio Pedroza back to town.

Tim Rodriguez also struggled after joining the Seals in mid-July. He hit .349 with 6 homers and 51 RBI with the Yuma Scorpions in the first half of the year, but only .230 with 6 homers and 23 RBI in 148 at-bats with the Seals. This scribe thinks the latter set of numbers will be closer to his career GBL statistics. Rodriguez has shown that he has difficulty controlling the strike zone -- he struck out 82 times and only walked on 22 occasions in 297 total at-bats last year. His career batting average in Advanced A ball was only .213 and it was .217 in A ball. Time for an upgrade in centre field.

Terrence McClain proved his 2009 season in the United League was no fluke, as he posted a .330 average with 14 homers and 63 RBI in 339 at-bats. His home run and RBI numbers were both career highs, although he did benefit greatly from the short porch in left field (as did Jamar Hill in 2009). T-Mac has continued to improve throughout his career, so there is no reason to believe that he can’t match last year’s numbers next season. Let’s hope that McClain pays a return visit to Victoria in 2011 -- especially so we can groove to some Convict Music again next summmer. Heyyyyyy, dat’s what it is!

GBL announces 2010 player awards

The GBL recently announced its player awards for the 2010 season. The winners are:

• MVP - Cliff Brumbaugh (1B), Edmonton
• Pitcher of the Year - Donald Brandt, Maui
• Rookie of the Year - Tyler Keeble (SS), Orange County
• Rookie Pitcher of the Year - Cody Walden, Tucson

Cliff Brumbaugh playing in Korea in 2007

Cliff Brumbaugh was outstanding for the Capitals in 2010, hitting .383 with a league-leading 23 homers. His 90 RBIs were second-best in the league, trailing only Drew Miller of the Calgary Vipers who knocked in 94 runs. Brumbaugh's OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) was an astonishing 1.138. Teammate Larry Bigbie was the only player in the GBL with a higher OPS (1.246). By comparison, Barry Bonds had a career OPS of 1.051.

Lefty Donald Brandt snagged the Pitcher of the Year honour by going a perfect 15-0 on the season with a 2.58 ERA. While he obviously had an outstanding season, a more deserving candidate appears to have been overlooked. Brandt's teammate on the Strong Warriors of Maui, Wes Ethridge, would have been a better choice for the award. Ethridge went 10-0 with a 1.76 ERA and bested Brandt in just about every pitching statistic other than wins (which is highly over-rated). Ethridge limited opponents to a .203 batting average and posted a marvelous WHIP (walks plus hits per innings pitched) of 0.98. On the other hand, Brandt "only" held opponents to a .226 batting average and he notched a mildly impressive 1.22 WHIP. Ethridge also had a strikeout to walk ratio of 4.8, almost twice as high as Brandt's 2.5 strikeouts per walk.

Orange County's shortstop, Tyler Keeble, won Rookie of the Year by hitting .302 with 9 homers and 60 RBIs. Keeble was in his first year of professional baseball after being drafted out of the Arizona Winter League.

Tucson's Cody Walden took home the Rookie Pitcher of the Year award by going 4-1 with a 3.44 ERA in 17 games this season. The 24-year-old right-hander was traded to the Lincoln Saltdogs of the independent American Association on August 19th and finished the season with the Saltdogs.

Baseball: The Tenth Inning

If you're a serious baseball fan (and you must be if you're following this blog), you'll want to be watching PBS this Tuesday and Wednesday night. Ken Burns has updated his landmark Emmy Award-winning documentary Baseball by adding a four-hour, two-part episode that walks us through the compelling issues in the game since 1994. The new episode is titled, simply, Baseball: The Tenth Inning.

Of particular interest to this blogger is the significant segment that is dedicated to the 1994 Montreal Expos, a team that had a 74-40 record when a player strike resulted in the cancellation of the remainder of the season, including the playoffs. The Montreal Expos and their fans would never recover from that blow. Other issues that are dealt with include the steroid scandal, the epic home run race between McGwire and Sosa that helped save baseball, and the increasing impact of Latino and Japanese players.

For Shaw Cable viewers in Victoria, you can watch it on Seattle's PBS affiliate (channel 19 or 204 in HD) from 8 to 10 PM on both nights. It will be repeated from 10 PM to midnight. Detroit's PBS affiliate (channel 87) will also air The Tenth Inning from 5 to 7 PM PST both nights, with a repeat broadcast from 7 to 9 PM.

Enjoy!

Maui owner says team will return in 2011

Owner Michael Cummings was quoted in an article in the The Maui News as saying that the Strong Warriors of Maui will be back in the GBL next year. Although the team lost money this past season, he has brought in some business partners to supply additional capital. The Na Koa Ikaika Maui franchise only drew between 600 and 700 fans last season, but they pulled in 2,145 fans for the final game of the GBL Championship Series, a 7-1 loss to the Chico Outlaws.

Incidentally, Chico's sweep of Maui in the GBL Championship Series was their second league title in the last four  years.

Off-season plans for the VSBB

As the GBL season draws to a close, and Chico battles it out with Maui for the league championship, we have taken a bit of a break from the Blog to reconnect with family, work, friends, and my TV remote. But all is not forgotten, and we have been discussing an exciting off-season lineup of hard hitting journalism to keep our fair-weather sport close in your thoughts.

A few things you can expect to see over the coming months:

• A recap of news surrounding the upcoming league meetings, where the future of the league and many of its teams will be discussed and decided.
• Exclusive interviews with past and present Seals and members of the Seals front office staff.
• Updates on player moves, trades, and call-ups.
• Exciting trivia, perhaps even with prizes!
• And as the season draws near, reports on Winter league happenings, player signings, and spring training action.

In short, we'll make something out of nothing to keep you entertained through the off season while you wait patiently for the next time you can rest your rear end on what could be the most uncomfortable seats in professional ball. Perhaps we'll even discuss those (the seating issue, not your rear ends).

So check back often, keep us on your facebook updates, and keep in touch with the VSBB all winter!

Spot on

Predictions at the start of any year are usually based on a lot of player analysis, head to head comparisons and much more in-depth research. Typically, these predictions go astray somewhere along the line and fade into the category of preseason fun. Not so with the predictions made on this very blog way back in April of this year. In a simply amazing run of pure chance, I was able to nail all four playoff teams with a not-so-scientific approach.

My tongue in cheek post was meant to imply that all preseason predictions are usually rubbish (similar to Maggie the Monkey who predicts NHL series...also referenced in the previous post) and that the speculation of the "experts" is really just a way to fill up newspapers and TV slots (and blog postings!). If you read the article, you'll see that I used the team's mascots as a way to see who defeats who and when all was said and done, I had a North final of Vipers vs. Outlaws and a South final off Warriors vs. Flyers. Heart be still, that turned out to be 100% correct!

Now, to get to the final, I had Maui defeating the OC in the South and the Vipers beating the Outlaws in the North. The current (real!) Maui/Vipers series is knotted at a game apiece with the remaining 3 games to be played in OC so I look a bit shaky there. Thanks can be given to ex-Seal Sergio Pedroza who blasted a late inning 2-run homer to even the series 1-1. Maui could only muster one hit so we'll see if their bats wake up back on the mainland and save my prediction.

In the North, I had the Vipers getting past the Outlaws to face Maui in the final. Chico took Game 1 at home but game 2 was rained out and will be played in Calgary, along with the last 3 games in this best-of-five series. I find it strange that a team loses a home playoff game because of weather, but it is so in the GBL. Again in this series, I am down but have faith in the mountain men to come back and make me proud since they play the last set of games at home.

Should all go to plan, Maui will face Calgary in the final and the Warriors will raise the trophy, but win or lose, it is funny to look back at how we got here! As I say whenever Gus scores a goal in hockey, "even a blind squirrel finds acorns once in a while".

Josh Arhart named VSBB Player of the Year

The bloggers at the Victoria Seals Baseball Blog (VSBB) are proud to announced that Josh Arhart has been selected as the VSBB Player of the Year. Arhart surged past Wilver Perez in the overall standings by finishing second in September's VSBB Player of the Month award.

In the 2010 season, Josh led the Seals in batting average (.352), on-base percentage (.437), home runs (17) and slugging percentage (.626) and his 17 homers ranked fourth in the GBL. Arhart was also the 6th-most difficult hitter to strike out in the entire league, fanning only once per 9.2 at-bats (incidentally, Brian Rios was the 3rd-most difficult batter to strike out in the GBL, with a K every 11.5 at-bats). Arhart also showed fantastic plate discipline by walking more times than he struck out (30 BB's vs 25 K's), a feat that is quite difficult for a power hitter to accomplish.

In addition to Josh's offense, he was also solid defensively, posting a .987 fielding percentage on only 6 errors in 2010. Although the 30-year-old has stated that he will be retiring after this season, I wouldn't be surprised to see him return for another year of professional baseball. His .352 average is a career high, so Arhart obviously has some quality baseball left in him. The Seals could definitely use him at first base and catcher next season.

Matt Kavanaugh capped his breakout season by winning the VSBB Player of the Month award for September. Kavy hit .315 on the year with 7 homers and 38 RBIs. The 25-year-old made huge strides in only his third year of professional baseball. In his first two pro seasons, both in the GBL, Kavanaugh hit .258 and .239 in part-time roles. Last season with the Seals, Kavy only had one homer and 15 RBIs in 184 at-bats. This guy could very well be a future GBL All Star.

Colin Moro, Brian Rios and Jeff Duda finished in a three-way tie for third place in the voting. Duda pitched six innings of shutout ball on the first of September to pick up the win against the Capitals in a must-win game. Moro hit an even .500 in five September games and led the Seals with six RBIs in the month.

The final year-to-date standings for the VSBB Player of the Year are as follows:

• Josh Arhart - 7 points
• Wilver Perez - 5.5 points
• Terrence McClain - 4 points
• Brian Rios - 3.33 points
• Isaac Hess - 3 points
• Matt Kavanaugh - 3 points
• Jino Gonzalez - 2.5 points
• Brandon Villafuerte - 1 point
• Colin Moro - 0.33 point
• Jeff Duda - 0.33 point

Congratulations, Josh! Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!

Photo courtesy of Jonathon Howe,
graphics courtesy of Bubba

Thanks

Well this afternoon's rain-out on an unseasonably cool Labour Day officially brings the 2010 season to an end. The Seals finished their second season in the GBL with a very respectable 45-43 record and a .511 winning percentage. That's a huge improvement from their .390 winning percentage (32-50) in their inaugural season.

The season was chock full of fantastic memories, including the first pennant race in Seals history. We at the Victoria Seals Baseball Blog have had a ton of fun covering the team this year, and I'd like to take this time to thank you, our loyal readers, for making all of this possible. Without your keen interest in the game of baseball, we'd be writing blog posts in a vacuum (If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?). Thanks to all of you who left so many thoughtful comments on our blog, especially our super-fans Annie, Hack and Tyler.

I'd like to send out a hearty thank you to Darren Parker, Mike Walker and the entire staff of the Victoria Seals Baseball Club. We truly appreciate your support and encouragement and you can be proud of assembling the finest organization in the Golden Baseball League.

Thanks also to the Seals' ace photographer, Jonathon Howe, for making our trips to the ballpark even more enjoyable. We're sure you'll do a great job this year over at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre.

Thanks to all of the Victoria Seals players for playing so hard while getting paid peanuts for their efforts. I'd like to give a special shout-out to Aaron Easton for his unmatched intensity on the mound, but laid-back demeanor off of it. It's guys like Aaron that make it fun to come to the ballpark.

I'd also like to thank my partners in crime, Bubba and Darth, for their excellent contributions to the blog. It's great having a team of bloggers with such diverse opinions but a common love of the game. As always, your friendship is truly appreciated (sniff, sniff, I must have something in my eye).

And last but certainly not least, I'd like to thank my spouse, Shirley for all of her love and support. This past year I spent many a night (and Sunday afternoon) at Royal Athletic Park and countless hours in front of the computer screen writing blog posts, sometimes well past midnight. Thanks for supporting me in this irrational (but rewarding) endeavor.

While the season may officially be over, we at the VSBB won't be packing it in until next spring. Whenever there is a shred of interesting news about the Victoria Seals, we'll be sure to post it here. Stay tuned.

There are probably others that I should be thanking, so please accept my apologies if I have missed you. Thanks again to everyone!!

Strandlund makes us proud

Not only did Charlie Strandlund play all nine positions against the Edmonton Capitals on Sunday afternoon, but he played 'em all well. Strandlund played each position in numerical order (one through nine in score-keeping shorthand) which meant that he had the honour of being the starting pitcher. He didn't disappoint on the mound, hurling a 1-2-3 inning to start the game. He got the third out by making a nice play on a hard-hit come-backer from ex-big leaguer Alex Prieto.

Strandlund moved behind the plate to catch Jason Kershner in the second and the local boy called a 1-2-3 second inning. In the third inning, he would have made a put-out on a ground ball to Josh Arhart at third base (!), but Arhart's throw was ten feet over Strandlund's head. The ball bounded off of the concrete wall in shallow right field and Wilver Perez played the carom perfectly and threw out Mike Hrynio at second base for the third out.

Charlie made a nice play in the sixth inning at shortstop as he ranged to his right, planted and threw out the runner with a strong throw. The rest of the game was relatively quiet and Charlie's only chances were a pair of ground-ball base hits to him in the outfield.

His stats for the day: 1-for-4 at the plate, two assists, two put-outs, no errors on four total chances and one perfect inning on the pitching mound. Nice job, Charlie!

Strandlund to play all nine positions on Sunday

The Seals have announced that Victoria native Charlie Strandlund will play all nine positions on Sunday afternoon against the Edmonton Capitals. The versatile Strandlund will play a different position every inning, something that has been done at the major-league level only four times. Strandlund, who has played mainly at second base this year, has pitched in relief on four separate occasions for the Seals.

The feat was first accomplished at the major-league level by Bert Campaneris of the Kansas City A's on September 8th, 1965. The idea was the brainchild of the A's owner Charlie O. Finley. Campaneris started the game by playing at his natural position, shortstop, and then he played an inning at second base, third base, left field, centre field, right field, first base, pitcher and then catcher. He made five put-outs and had one assist on the night and did not commit an error. He also only gave up one earned run in his inning on the mound, but the most impressive aspect was that he pitched ambidextrously. Campaneris pitched as a southpaw to left-handed batters and as a righty to right-handed hitters.

Since Campaneris turned the trick, three more players have appeared in all nine positions in a game in the majors: César Tovar for the Twins in 1968, Scott Sheldon for the Rangers in 2000 and Shane Halter for the Tigers in 2000.

Standlund has been riding the pine for the last month of the season. In the month of August, he only had four plate appearances, but he got the start at second base on Saturday night to shake off the rust before his big day on Sunday. In Saturday's game, Strandlund went 2-for-4 to raise his batting average to .200 and on-base percentage to .280 (incidentally, the frequently-used Jerry Madueno has a .164 average and a .190 on-base percentage).

It's going to be a lot of fun to see Charlie turn the trick on Sunday afternoon. If you don't already have tickets, I suggest you come on out to Royal Athletic Park to witness a piece of local baseball history being made. From a personal  standpoint, I'm particularly interested to see this play out. I came up with the idea while watching Strandlund pitch against the Chico Outlaws on the 14th of August. I have confidence that Charlie will make us all proud.

Final series preview of 2010

Well, it's the season finale. Our boys of summer are putting it all on the line for the last time against the Edmonton Capitals. A few days ago, we were hoping for a meaningful series with playoff implications, but now, we realistically just want to go out with a bang. While the Seals are mathematically still alive, the Vipers have all but clinched the second half title with the magic number (combination of Seals losses and Vipers wins) down to 2, and a 4 game set with the hapless Tijuana team. All things considered though, it has been (and still is) a great season with a future so bright, we'll have to wear shades. So get out to RAP this weekend, applaud the boys and show the city why we deserve a professional baseball team.

Tale of the Tape

Victoria 22-17 (2nd place), 44-40 .524 (overall), .283 team BA (6th - tie), 4.57 team ERA (5th)
Edmonton 19-21 (4th place), 48-37 .565 (overall), .296 team BA (3rd), 4.75 team ERA (6th)

Edmonton - Who's Hot

Outfielder Larry Bigbie and Shortstop Matt Rogelstad are both hot as of late, hitting .476 and .353 respectively over the past 5 games. A number of players who have played sporadically in recent games, have chipped in with solid performances of late. On the hill, Mike Johnson has been spectacular only allowing 1 earned run over the entire month of August in about 17 innings of work. Chris Little has pitched well over his last 3 starts and is still one to watch after losing a close one to Victoria last night in his "worst" outing of the past few weeks.

Edmonton - Who's Not

The other Arreola - Darryl - has been pummeled in 2 of his past 4 starts so who knows which one will show up in Victoria; hopefully the one that seems to pitch underhand (!). Ex-MLB-er and usually heavy hitting Enrique Cruz (season average of .378) has only 4 hits in his last 26 at bats (.154) but don't count on that continuing. Other regulars, 1B Tom Collaro and SS (and often-moved...Edmonton is his 3rd team this year) Alex Prieto are regular .300 hitters but are managing .091 and .143 respectively over the past week.

Victoria - Who's Hot

Over the past 10 days, Colin Moro, Wilver Perez and Issac Hess (!) are all hitting above .400. Matt Kavanaugh has also been scorching in recent days hitting a sweet-riding .375. Wilver continues to wreak havoc on the pads and Josh Arhart was playing very well before he went down with an injury. As far as pitching goes, Brandon Villafuerte continues to be a reliable closer and starting pitchers Jeff Duda and Anthony Pluta have recently had a couple of great outings. Combined, the Seals pitching staff has an incredible 50-13 strikeout to walk ratio in the past 7 days, so Capitals hitters beware.

Victoria - Who's Not

Middle relief has been a struggle over the past few weeks with Aaron Easton and Andrew Arreola having a couple of rough outings. At the plate, the "newer" Seals acquisitions of Jerry Madueno, T-Rod and Henry Calderon have struggled of late with a combined .167 average (I know Hack, I know...where is Swinny???). Brian Rios is hitting an un-Inky like .250 lately but I expect him to bust out in his final series at home. In general, there has been a power outage from what we have been used to, with only 2 round trippers from the entire team over the past week.

Keys to the Series

If the bats of the Capitals remain cool and the Seals starting pitching remains hot, it will be a long weekend for the gang from Edmonton. With Josh Arhart back (he chipped in a single last night pinch hitting) and a hopefully appreciative home crowd, I would expect the Seals to pile up the runs. With Edmonton already out of the race and playing on the road, I'm thinking they will not put up too much resistance. While the Seals are still mathematically alive, it should give them an edge over the eliminated Caps. Conversely, if and when they are out of contention, they have to avoid a letdown and just bask in the fact that they had a very successful second half and, compared to last year, a huge improvement in all areas.

Prediction

Final series at home but disappointment over playoff elimination give conflicting signals. Edmonton was red hot but have cooled down a lot lately, losing 6 of their last 8 games. A tough call, but I'm predicting Seals to take 3 of 4 while enjoying the last weekend of the summer playing professional ball.

Hess named VSBB Player of the Month for August

The bloggers at the Victoria Seals Baseball Blog (VSBB) are pleased to announce that Isaac Hess has been named the VSBB Player of the Month for August. For this first time this season, the voting was unanimous.

Hess was both a pitching and offensive juggernaut is August. Although he was only 2-3 on the month -- proving once again that a pitcher's won-loss record is frequently misleading -- Hess posted a 3.44 ERA and 1.20 WHIP (walks plus hits per inning pitched) in six starts. Isaac also set a new Seals record for strikeouts in a game by fanning 13 in his August 16th start against the Chico Outlaws at Royal Athletic Park. In 39 2/3 innings pitched in the month, he struck out an amazing 50 batters and only walked 12.

But Hess' stellar month wasn't limited to the pitching mound -- he also hit a sizzling .353 in 17 at-bats, laid down three sacrifice bunts and tossed in three pinch hits for good measure:

• On August 13th against St. George at RAP, he started a come-from-behind rally in the bottom of ninth with a scorching double down the right field line.
• On August 27th versus Calgary, he doubled in a pair of runs in the 6th inning to give the Seals a 6-4 lead in a must-win game. Sadly, the Seals could not hold the lead and Victoria lost a heart-breaker 7-6.
• On August 28th he also had a pinch-hit single in a 12-4 loss.

Jino Gonzalez and Wilver Perez, mere mortals compared to Isaac Hess in August, finished tied for second in voting. Gonzalez posted a 3-2 record with a 3.53 ERA and 1.15 WHIP. Not only did he strike out 37 batters, but he exhibited pinpoint control in the month: only 7 walks in 35 2/3 innings. That's more than 5 strikeouts for every walk.

Perez broke the all-time GBL record for stolen bases in a season by swiping his 52nd and 53rd bases at home on August 12th and his bat hasn't cooled off since being named VSBB Player of the Month in July. Wilver hit .326 and scored 26 runs in August, while swatting a pair of home runs and 14 RBIs. He also stole 15 bases to raise his season total to 64.

With one abbreviated month to go in the 2010 season, Wilver Perez has now taken over the lead for VSSB Player of the Year honours. The complete year-to-date standings are as follows:

• Wilver Perez - 5.5 points
• Josh Arhart - 5 points
• Terrence McClain - 4 points
• Isaac Hess - 3 points
• Brian Rios - 3 points
• Jino Gonzalez - 2.5 points
• Brandon Villafuerte - 1 point

Turn out the lights, the party's over...

Well fans, it's time to face the hard facts. The Victoria Seals will not be making the playoffs in 2010. I know, I know -- they're only 2 1/2 games back of Calgary with seven games to go. But with Calgary playing the last four games of the year against Tijuana, holders of a 10-68 record this season, the Vipers are virtually guaranteed four more victories. That means that for Victoria to make the playoffs, the Chico Outlaws would have to sweep their three-game series against Calgary this week and Victoria would have to defeat the solid Edmonton Capitals seven games in a row. Ain't gonna happen.

Turn out the lights....

There's no reason for anyone to hang their head in defeat. A little perspective goes a long way and overall I'd say this season still has to qualify as a successful one. After last year's team stumbled to a .390 winning percentage, the Seals took a big step forward in fielding a team that will likely finish above the .500 mark. You may remember that last year's team started selling off its best players in August and the lineup that took to the field during the last week of the season would have barely beaten the hapless Tijuana Cimarrones. What a difference a year makes. The Seals haven't sold off any of their talent and -- barring any last-minute deals -- we'll probably get to see our regular squad in action on the last weekend of the season.

Some of us may argue that this team actually underachieved in 2010 and that it was capable of winning the second-half North Division title. That may be so, but this summer was still a ton of fun at Royal Athletic Park. There are a mere four home games remaining this year, so be sure to free up your schedule and come on out to the ballpark one last time next weekend (or four more times for you super-fans).

As an added bonus, we might get to see a unique promotion at the old ballyard if the Seals are mathematically eliminated by Friday or Saturday. This promotion was pitched to the team by yours truly, so I'm particularly interested in seeing the idea take flight. It might not happen, so I won't give away much more at this point, but let's just say that it may involve a certain under-utilized player on the Seals roster.

We'll see you on Friday night!

Seal Blubber Bits

• The Seals and Capitals kick off their three-game series in Edmonton on Tuesday night at 6 PM PST.
• Josh Arhart hopes to return to action before the end of the series in Edmonton. The worst-case scenario is that he'll return to the lineup on Friday night at RAP.
• Brrrr... the game-time temperature in Calgary on Sunday afternoon was seven degrees Celsius.
• Yuma beat Maui 12-11 on Saturday night to break an 18-game losing streak.

Strange start time for Saturday's game

Today's game starts at 4 PM PST and you can listen to (and possibly even watch) the game here.

The Seals will be sending Jino Gonzalez (7-5, 3.88) to the hill to face Dusty Gober (8-1, 4.88). Jino has reeled off five good starts in a row, so let's hope he can make it six.

Second-Guessing Mr. Gross

Darth just posted an excellent re-cap of tonight's heartbreaking loss, but there is just one thing that I need to get off my chest. Indulge me if you will.

In the ninth inning of tonight's game -- the biggest game of the year -- the pitcher's spot came up with one out and nobody on base and the Vipers in front 7-6. Obviously, the Seals were in desperate need of a base-runner with the top of the order due up next. Get someone on at this point and the inning changes dramatically with Wilver Perez coming to the plate.

If you were managing the Seals and you had to decide who to send to the plate, which player would you select? Keep in mind that the pitcher due up was Chris Bodishbaugh. Here are the best options on your bench as compared to Bodi (sorted by batting average, minimum 10 at-bats):

• Player A (Right-handed hitter) - .333 BA and .357 OBP in 27 AB
• Player B (Left-handed hitter) - .286 BA and .324 OBP in 35 AB
• Chris Bodisbaugh (Right-handed hitter) - .267 BA and .313 OBP in 15 AB
• Player C (Right-handed hitter) - .191 BA and .224 OBP in 47 AB
• Player D (Right-handed hitter) - .175 BA and .267 OBP in 40 AB

Keep in mind that a lefty was on the mound. The call is easy, right? You take Player A. Well, not if you are Kip Gross, because Kip selected Player C: the one with the lowest on-base percentage out of these five options. Even if he didn't select Player A, he would have been better off letting Bodi hit. Or Player D, who can at least draw a walk once in a while. Instead, he chose to send Player C (Jerry Madueno) to the plate and to nobody's surprise (except maybe Kip) he struck out. Looking.

In case you are wondering, Player A is Anthony Pluta, Player B is Jino Gonzalez and Player D is Charlie Strandlund.

To be fair, I credit Gross for using Isaac Hess as a pinch-hitter earlier in the game. Hess delivered one of the biggest hits of the entire year -- a clutch two-run double to put the Seals in front 6-4 in the sixth inning. But Mr. Gross' blind use of his pet player in the ninth inning was not exactly in the best interest of the Victoria Seals Baseball Club.

So close

This is the kind of drama that sports fans dream of at night even though, in an epic game, Calgary was just a sliver better than Victoria in eking out a very important 7-6 win and bumping their lead back up to two and a half games over the Seals.

Victoria jumped out to an early lead thanks to a couple of RBI’s in the second by the hot-hitting Brian Rios and the ever-clutch Colin Moro. But in what would become commonplace, the Vipers came right back with 2 of their own. Twice more Victoria took the lead, and twice more the Vipers came back to tie. Punch, counter-punch.

In what has become a quirky but reliable tactic, yet another Seals pitcher had a clutch pinch-hit. This time was Issac Hess driving in two runs in his only at bat in the sixth. Amazing. Hey Kip, I thought you told us these guys couldn’t hit?!

As the game wore on, both teams switched pitchers as often as Heather Locklear switches rocker boyfriends, but at the end of the day it was a fielding error by Brian Rios with 2 outs in the 8^th inning that allowed the speedy Caonabo Cosme to score the winning run from second.

Every game is like playoff baseball now and as the number of remaining games decrease, the tension and importance increases - especially for Victoria as they are in chase mode. The Seals now need to take the final two games against the snakes to at least keep it interesting in Edmonton. It’s a big ask, but they’re right there and if they can sweep the last two and then get at least two out of three in Edmonton we will be welcoming back a team that is very much in the hunt for the playoffs.

Let's hope this was just a bump in the playoff road.

Seals club Snakes to pull within 1.5 games

The Seals destroyed the Vipers 11-4 on Thursday night to take the opener of the Battle Near the Cattle and climb to within 1 1/2 games of first place. Both teams put their ace starters on the hill, but the clutch Isaac Hess out-dueled ex-Seattle Mariner Mac Suzuki by a wide margin. Hess scattered eight hits over his six innings to raise his record to 5-3 on the year.

Victoria's offense was led by Wilver Perez, who went 3-for-5 and knocked in three runs. Second baseman Henry Calderon continued his recent hot streak by registering a pair of hits and three RBIs. Matt Kavanaugh also chipped in with three hits. Mr. Plate Discipline himself, Colin Moro, had two hits and two walks and crossed the plate three times.

Apart from a rough outing from Mike Koons, the bullpen came through with a fine effort in the biggest ballgame of the season (until tomorrow night). The reliable Aaron Easton bailed out Koons in the seventh and threw two scoreless innings to lower his ERA to an un-GBL like 2.88. The Seals really had to win this game, so manager Kip Gross brought in closer Brandon Villafuerte with an 11-4 lead in the bottom of the ninth. Let's hope the Seals starters can continue to turn over a lead to the bullpen in the seventh inning, but the team will be relying heavily on Easton and Villafuerte down the stretch. Those guys can't come into each of the last ten games of the season, so the team will need Bodisbaugh, Arreola, Bevis and Kershner to step up and provide the team with some quality innings out of the bullpen the rest of the way.

We shouldn't get too carried away, but if the Seals can take two out of the next three in Cowtown then Victoria could be headed for its first ever playoff appearance. How much fun would that be?

Seal Blubber Bits

• Tomorrow night the Seals send Jeff Duda (3-3, 4.03) to the mound to face Reggie Rivard (4-1, 4.29). This all-Canadian match-up appropriately features a Surrey, BC boy pitching for Victoria against a Fort McMurray, AB guy throwing for Calgary.
• Thursday's game marked the return of Mike Walker to the Seals' broadcast booth after his recent health issues. On behalf of the VSBB and all of the fans in Victoria, welcome back Mike!!
• Walker will be doing the play-by-play for game two of the Battle Near the Cattle starting at 6 PM PST tomorrow night. However, video may also be available on this same site for games three and four of the series.
• The Tucson Toros did the Seals a big favour on Thursday night by knocking off the Edmonton Capitals 6-5. Victoria now leads Edmonton by 2.5 games and if the Vipers were to fall apart in the next week then the division race could turn into one between the Seals and the Capitals.
• Photographer Christian Stewart recently conducted an excellent interview with Josh Arhart and Brian Rios for the Island Sports News. This in-depth piece is well worth a read and it looks at their plans for the future once they retire at the end of this season. Ideally, Arhart and Rios would love to coach the Seals next year or split up and get a coaching job in affiliated baseball. The owners of the Seals will have to make a tough call in the off-season, because Kip Gross has his sights on returning to manage the team in 2011.
• Yikes! Seamore has been outed. The identity of Seamore Seal was recently revealed by the left coast's best baseball writer, Tom Hawthorn. In his piece in The Tyee, we learn that Seamore is actually a third-year law student named Alex Pomerant who earns a princely sum of $60 per game for his efforts. Hmmm... maybe the Seals superfans (Jack Gamble, Helen Bennett and Tyler Kopplin) should pass the hat whenever Seamore does a particularly entertaining routine in-between innings. On second thought, Seamore makes more than some of the Victoria players during a home stand...