Bad Field a Bad Sign

ALLSTAR BREAKING

Little time left to vote for the Biloxi team name contest. Im hoping they become the Biloxi Shuckers. Other possible winners are Beacon, Shrimpers, Black Jacks, Schooners and Mullets. I know, they are all soo perfect, its tough to choose.

SKITZ-NEWS
BLANCO SUAVE INJURED
Joey Rickerd will hit the DL with a broken ankle, no word yet on who we get in his place.



HELLBOY BISCUIT AGAIN
Jeremy Hellickson will rehab with the Biscuits in Pensacola. This is exactly why MLB and MiLB don't have their AllStar Breaks at the same time, dudes gotta throw somewhere!

BAD FIELD A BAD SIGN

Mgrs refuse to play, call field unplayable

We likely wont get to see Hellickson, in part due to his rehab being finished and also thanks to the terrible playing conditions at Riverwalk Stadium.

In spite of the work that has taken place in the last two offseasons, the field looks worse than ever. It doesn't drain properly, causing at least one game to be canceled and the grounds crew is fighting a losing battle to maintain the grass there is.

Surely the holes in the turf surface mean the big club worries about an injury to their big-league investments.

REPLACE YOUR DIVOTS?
Its frustrating to see an organization like the Biscuits struggle with basic things like playing surface. This is a team that was one of the top brands in minor league baseball just a few short years ago, yet now we dont even rank among the top 50 draws.

But the Lugnuts do.

Check it out, I think you can click to enlarge, thanks to Billsportmaps.com for the info....

IF YOU DIDNT READ THE MAP
Its ok, I will sum it up...

The Michigan based sister club of the Montgomery Biscuits does pretty well at the turnstiles, but we struggle mightily outside of the chalk in the standard gauge of success - butts in seats.


DANGER- NUMBERS AHEAD
The magic number seems to be four thousand to make it onto Bobs map. The Lugnuts come in at #45, bringing in over 52oo fans a game.

Thats considerably more than the Biscuits, who are listed as getting 3900 per game last year and just miss the cut at #85. This year the SL website says we are averaging 4080 a game, but we are only a little more than halfway so I have guarded hopes the front office will try to restore some fan loyalty as they rebuild the brand.

Did I mention the Lugnuts are a Single-A team?

SAME MENU 
Someone at the park mentioned this so I looked and sure enough, the Lugnuts promotional schedule is pretty much a cut-and-paste version of our own.

In some ways I expect that, being that both clubs are essentially two sides of the same machine. There is Thirsty Thursday with postgame concert, Fireworks nights on the same schedule, Jimmy Buffet night, Dollar hotdog tuesday, Eat-A-Palooza. A Biscuit fan might be able to take their own magnet schedule to Michigan and plan for the same promotions!

Hopefully we can expect the Biscuits to step up for the 2015 season. Having the Biloxi Beermen (or whatever they turn out to be) will only be making a tough market more complex.

No, we don't need this!

JULY 11 1968 Mgm SP Bob Reed defeats Asheville 3-2, dropping the first place Ashville Tourists into a tie with Birmingham, who win on a Rollie Fingers two hitter against Savannah in the first of a doubleheader sweep for the Bham A's.


JULY 14 1893

Joe McGinnity ca 1894

Joe McGinnity is signed/sold to the New York Giants, is placed on reserve, and continues to pitch for Montgomery.

Montgomery fans aren't happy about it. He continues to pitch for the Montgomery team, but fans wonder about a system that would be designed to rob them of their best players at the whim of a manager in New York.



JULY 14 1920
Montgomery, AL

"Pensacola Gets the Last From the Greys - Visitors Triumph One Time, 5 to 4, Staple Umpires to Settle Any Disputes -
The Pensacola team, of the Southern League, for Colored, won the last game of the series from the Grey Sox yesterday afternoon 5 to 4. The game was a slow featureless affair except the good fielding of Mo(s)es for the locals.

The visitors scored two runs in the second inning and two in the seventh and then again in the ninth. The locals scored four runs in the first frame, but after that the pitching of Arnold was more than they could solve.

 In view of the fact that the Pensacola team has charged bad umpiring against them in the two previous games John Staples, president of the Grey Sox, officiated as umpire and in the third inning he ordered Preston from the field for "beefing." This has been a great obstacle in the attendance at the park and the many fans who were present yesterday were strong in their belief that if all umpires would use their authority and get rid of the "beefers" the teams would draw much bigger crowds.

The Grey Sox will have an off day today and will take a good rest in to prepare for the fast New Orleans team that will play a double header Friday, at 2:45."