Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Numbers Fib & Stay Classy, Pensacola




The Biscuits continued their tailspin during the ten game homestand, tossing three to the Ms.Braves and four of five to the P-Cola Blue Wahoos.

Braves P Cornelly

The Skitz have been terrible the past six weeks, capped off by the seven losses on the homestand.

Brady's Boys have struggled to hit the ball, kicked it around afield and been ineffective as pitchers and baserunners. Every aspect of the game has fallen apart for this team, and is in a sad state heading into the second half of the season.


HIGHLIGHTS
The ten game homestand featured some notable events - rainouts, an unplayable field, a pair of doubleheaders, Big Mo passing out from the heat, Guest of Honor Mountain Man almost passing out from the heat, coaches away from the team.

Also there is Jeremy Moore getting hit in the head while caught in a rundown, Reds top prospect Stephenson getting drilled on a comeback line drive, several late inning losses, an Emcee falling down on the field, the GM barefoot in the rain, the owner with her pig and a whole pile of Biscuits striking out.
  


MO-SKITZ MOVES
Taylor Motter was activated from the Disabled List. On the seven day DL since May 3Oth with a shoulder injury, Motter was quickly inserted back into the lineup on his return.

To make room for Motter Reliever Mortensen was sent to the DL with a sore arm. After his last appearance, I may hit the DL with a sore ass - it chafed me to have to watch it. He wont be out long, meaning we can hope to see some roster changes soon.


 WHERE ARE THESE GUYS?

Only the Lookouts score fewer runs than the Biscuits and on the pitching side Chattanooga is also the only team with a worse ERA than ours.

Can't wait to play them, should be lots of people running the bases!






NUMBERS DO FIB
We are in the middle of the pack in most other stats, which sounds better than it actually is - we were among the league leaders in the first thirty days. That means that we have been at the bottom of the stats lists since, averaging us out to simply mediocre instead of registering the "barely living" level that we have been playing at the past six weeks.

Ryan Brett and Cam Seitzer during warmups


INSULT TO INJURY

Exacerbating the frustration of the doubleheader loss, bloodthirsty Blue Wahoos supporters were relentless in their fandom. Vocal during the whole series vs Pensacola, the Monday afternoon pair of contests became a blowout but the Wahoos fans were merciless as a cheering section.

Even worse, it was a family of fans doing the incessant encouragement - installing in the children a concept that there is never enough, that your team should pad the score and you should shout about it while visiting another's ballpark.



HEY MEAT!

Heads up Wahoos fans, get out your pencils, I'm gonna teach you something here....

The old "Lets Go Wahoos" Clap-Clap-Clap is a fine way to show your support.
However when your team is up 9-0 in the last inning its not acceptable.

There is no need to cheer every pitch or out-shout the home fans in a blowout game between two teams out of the race.




HERES THE CLUE

When the first baseman stops holding the runner on, its time to lay off telling EVERY Wahoos player that they had a good cut on every swing and miss.

Its great to applaud hits by your batters, strikeouts by your pitchers or nice catches by your defenders. You should cheer that.

Don't yell at the ump for not giving you the corners when you have more runs than outs left in the game.

Winning by nine runs not enough? Is your team so bad that nine isn't a big enough lead?

It got to the point that even the Pensacola players would cringe on hearing their own fans. At that point the fans are doing their own team a disservice and disrespecting the host team and its fans.


NOT A SORE LOSER
The Wahoo cheering guy said to me, Thanks for being good losers about it, but I didn't even offer a reply to him.
People in Montgomery are simply nice enough not to lower themselves to that level. Its not that we are "good losers" about it, its that we know how to respect the game.

In other ballparks you will be yelled at, abused and insulted, for less than what the Pensacola fans brought out at Riverwalk. Its the equivalent of standing in the batters box too long to admire your homer off of us, of stealing bases with an eight run lead or spiking us on a late slide into second on a double play in a meaningless game.


Sometime in the future, maybe this season maybe next, maybe later - we will be there to return the favor.
Everyone loses games, has a tough stretch and gets blown out.
Biscuit fans will be cheering loudly when Montgomery gets to give it back. If your goal was to create a rivalry, Pensacola fans, you have succeeded.


And don't expect a second chance in Montgomery, the fans here are already arming themselves with cowbells and Air-Horns to drown out opposing fans. There may be times we lose 9-0, but we won't let anyone else's fans be louder in our own park again. 
Ever.

TODAY IN MGM BASEBALL HISTORY

JUNE 10 1906 

Bert Maxwell
Montgomery pitcher Bert Maxwell shuts out the New Orleans nine on 3 hits.


Bert wins 17 games for the oh-six Sens which would propel him to the majors later that year - in September Maxwell makes his big league debut for the Pirates. He takes the loss in his cup of coffee and returns to Montgomery in 1907 to have another good season, winning 18 of his 27 decisions.

Maxwell. an Arkansas native, will spend parts of four seasons in the majors with Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, the New York Giants and the Brooklyn TipTops of the outlaw Federal League.



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