Ten Biscuits Games in 11 Days! What to Look For

The Biscuits open up a homestand of the ten-game variety over eleven days (weather permitting) by hosting the Birmingham Barons in five and then taking on the Mobile Baybears for five contests.  More on the Mobile series later, first the Biscuits take on the Barons!

MJ

As longtime Rebels rivals, The Slagtown Barons are one of my favorite teams to watch, both in Montgomery and in Birmingham.

Their long history and legacy of great players adds to the fun of watching a game that extends one of the longest rivalries in the south.

Later in the season the Biscuits will face the Barons in the throwback game at historic Rickwood Field, one of my fave games of the year even before you add Montgomery and a Sweet Lou appearance!

WHAT TO LOOK FOR

Omar Vizquel

Look for a former great. The Barons are led by skipper Omar Vizquel. The defensive star appeared in two World Series, six postseasons over twenty-four MLB seasons and is knocking at the door to Cooperstown. However Omar is fairly new to the managers chair, spending last year guiding Winston-Salem successfully before taking the helm for Birmingham this season. 

On the field, its tough to look anywhere without seeing a top Chicago prospect. According to MLB Pipeline, seven of the White Sox top thirty prospect reside at double-A Birmingham.

Look at that outfield. In all three outfield positions there are excellent prospects, Blake Rutherford, Luis Gonzalez all listed among the top ten. Micker Adolfo is listed as an outfielder, but in 18 games he has yet to appear in the field, filling the DH role instead.

Leftfielder Joel Booker leads the league in batting average (.377) and has a share of the lead in stolen bases (7). Perhaps he is upset he is the only unranked prospect in the Bham outfield. He looks to be a serious threat at the top of the Barons lineup and in the field. 

Look for Gonzalez, Rutherford and Joel Booker to show off their throwing arms, already they have collected four outfield assists.

Look for a good infield. Shortstop Laz Rivera and first baseman Gavin Sheets are #17 & #18 respectively on the prospect charts. Utilityman Ramon Torres has major league experience with the KC Royals and handles every position except busdriver.

Two Bham pitchers, Jimmy Lambert and Zach Thompson are among the organizations top thirty as well.

Fans can look for former Atlanta Braves hurler Mauricio Cabrera, now among the Barons relief pitchers. Another former big leaguer, Sean Nolin, has made starts for the Barons.

Look for the Barons pitchers to give up the long ball, no team in the North Division allows more circuit clouts than the Slagtown staff.

Barons manager Omar Vizquel will be looking to lefty Bernardo Flores for a big game, Flores has quietly been one of the best pitchers in the league. 

 Lets look at this Biscuits team, coming home in second place and bearing down hard on the leader.

Montgomery welcomed back pitchers Sam McWilliams and Curtis Taylor on the final game of the last homestand, fans will be happy to look down to the bullpen and see their reliable arms warming up.

Look for Montgomery to keep running, the Biscuits again lead the league in basepath thefts by a solid margin. First baseman Dalton Kelly has five steals, just two behind the league leaders, as does speedy shortstop Lucius Fox.

Well matched in hits and batting average, look for a tight series between these two longtime rival clubs.

You can look for me to be wearing a different former Biscuits players jersey each day of the homestand. Hope to see you there!

Montgomery Abroard, What We Learned, Busy History Zone

With the team *abroard* for ten games on the Biscuit Bus, its a good time to catch up on what we know about the new squad.

New skipper Morgan Ensberg will go out to contest a call, but hasn't been tossed from Riverwalk... yet.

Jermaine Palacios has been getting into games at third base. His strong arm is a plus when working the hot corner, where he has over sixty career appearances.

Brendan McKay

McKay can flat out pitch, striking out a pile of hitters in game one of the series against Biloxi, which featured excellent pitching throughout. "What we are seeing is pure dominance" one Biscuits player told me and its hard to argue that fact!


Ivan Pelaez pitched for Faulkner University, has a classic mustache and is an instant fan favorite.

Thanks go out to Dalton Kelly, who hit a homer in game two against Biloxi and made me look like the Amazing Kreskin for predicting that the Shuckers would give up a home run to the Biscuits!


Outfielder Jesus Sanchez sometimes yells at baseballs to stay out of the strike zone.

INJURY REPORT
Pitchers Curtis Taylor and Sam McWilliams, who were both on last years club, have returned from injury to add depth to the pitching department.

Outfielder Ryan Boldt wont be back soon, look for a second half return.

Pitcher Benton Moss is expected to return midseason.

Pitcher Greg Harris has no timetable.

WHAT IS THE THING

No, not that one in the desert. There is a thing in right centerfield just beyond the fence. During the winter it served as a finish line for the half marathon and a standard bearing the year 2019 for the New Years festivities. Now that baseball season is upon us, fans have been wondering "whats up with that thing?"

I was told that soon to be added to "The Thing" will be a giant Monty Biscuit that will light up when the home team hits a homerun!

The lovable giant anthropomorphic bread product has been a standard mascot for Montgomery as well as a fan favorite since his debut back in late 2003. Appearing across the stadium and on many varieties of merch Monty's butter tongue has smiled its way into being among the most desired MiLB apparel to be had. Now fans will enjoy the Biscuits version of the exploding scoreboard, a lighted Monty Biscuit!

And for those who may have forgotten how Monty came to be....

Isn't that a blast from the past?
Its true that fans love Monty. When the scoreboard was replaced circa 2009 many fans were concerned that Monty would be removed, but he returned to his spot atop the jumbotron in left center field, much to the relief of the general public. Its great to see Monty still holding firm around the ballpark!

HISTORY ZONE
Some of my research has been slowed recently when my scanner decided to be more argumentative than usual! I hope to share a look at new items soon, including a view into a big game at Cramton Bowl and an All-Star team of WW2 military teams from our area.

APRIL 22 1839 

A.T. Pearsall

Doctor A.T. "Aleck" Pearsall is born, later to play for 1850's Brooklyn Excelsiors, near Florence Alabama. He would be expelled from the Excelsiors for joining the Confederate army as a surgeon. In 1868 he would come to Montgomery and help organize the cities first baseball teams. A fascinating character!


APRIL 22 1893 

Joe McGinnity

Joe McGinnity wins his second Montgomery start, beating Nashville again. This time the score is 7-4.

The future Hall of Famer is credited with a 15w-20L season in Montgomery, starting 33 games and completing 28 of them, including one shutout. The Iron Man picked up 478 victories in major and minor leagues combined.


APRIL 24 1976 
Pitcher Steve Trella of the Montgomery Rebels no hits Jacksonville to win 1-0

April 25, 1966 
Pitcher Michael D. Kilkenny of the Montgomery Rebels had 5 wild pitches versus the Macon Peaches to set the Southern League record.

APRIL 26 1906 

Ike Durrett

Montgomery manager Ike Durett, in a game at Birmingham, assaults umpire Buckley. This would be a factor two days later, when Durett is refused permission to sit in the dugout during the game and results in a forfeit when Durett refuses to leave.

APRIL 27 1956 
The Montgomery Rebels host the Augusta Tigers in Sally League play, losing 6-4 in a game that takes 4:24 to play, finishing at 12:09 am, at the time the longest game in the leagues history.

APRIL 27 1942
The Montgomery Rebels face the Maxwell Field Bombers in a wartime exhibition, likely at Cramton Bowl.

APRIL 28 1906 
Montgomery forfeits to Birmingham after Manager Ike Durett is refused permission to sit in the dugout by an umpire he attacked two days before. Durett will be fined $300 by President Kavanaugh and eventually released by Montgomery.

Montgomery Biscuits Opening Day Preview, What to Look For

Your Montgomery Biscuits finally open the season at home today, facing the Biloxi Shuckers in a five game homestand. The excitement of a new year is full of new hopes and plenty of new faces on the roster for Montgomery. Here is a quick look at the team!

NEW SKIPPER
New manager Morgan Ensberg brings big league experience to the team. The fourth manager in Biscuits history, Ensberg is the first with a major league resume'. In just his third year in the managers chair, Mo has a fabulous 118w-96L success rate. His eight MLB seasons, mostly with the Astros, includes two postseason seasons, a World Series homer, an All Star appearance, a Silver Slugger award and one lone appearance at shortstop.


BISCUITS!

1B Dalton Kelly - returns to handle the first sack

2B Tristan Gray - had a great winter in Australian baseball, could be ready to break out

SS Lucius Fox -  Luscious Lucius has great range, back as a Biscuit but for how long?

3B Kevin Padlo - moving up the Rays ladder at the hot corner, Padlo will need to hit

RF Jesus Sanchez -  Soos is fun to watch and will a big part of the Biscuits offense

CF Josh Lowe - had nine outfield assists last year, if off to a fast start at the plate already this year

LF Tommy Milone - returns to Biscuits outfield, likely to get starts in centerfield as well

C Brett Sullivan/Rene Pinto Sully was a big part of last years squad, Pinto looks to have good skills

BENCH
1B/2B Robbie Tenerowicz - right side of the infield man can hit
2B/SS Jermaine Palacios - smooth defender returns to Biscuits middle infield
Utility Miles Mastrobuoni - has appeared at every position except catcher and first base in his career
DH Brendan McKay - the two way player is listed at 1B but says he will only DH, no fielding.

PITCHERS

We will take a deeper look at the Biscuits hurlers in the next installment! I would like to see these guys before going just on their numbers, as well as get a better handle on how the Opener will be chosen.

Regular starting pitchers Kenny Rosenberg and Josh Fleming both made good starts on the road.

Phoenix Sanders and Ivan Palaez both got starts in the Opener role in the first series.

Two way prospect Brendan McKay will make the Opening Night start to round out the first time thru the Montgomery rotation.

Blake Bivens and Tyler Zombro both came out of the bullpen to pitch multiple innings and could be headed for the rotation once they get their stamina up to speed.

Bullpen is all guessing and question marks in April, roles will start to become apparent over the next couple weeks. Lots for Biscuit fans to look for in this series!

WHAT TO LOOK FOR

BILOXI SHUCKERS
The Shuckers aren't exactly loaded in the prospect department, but they have plenty of life in them without getting big ticket players. The top three hitters in the league are Shuckers, Thomas, Hinojosa and Allemand all batting over .400 to begin the year.


Look for former Biscuit Patrick Leonard to make a return to Riverwalk as a Shucker.

Biloxi pitchers have yet to allow a home run. Look for them to give one up to a Biscuit.

Look for the Shuckers to throw strikes after allowing 24 bases on balls in five games to start the year. Alternatively, look for Shuckers coaches with their veins bulging while they curse and at their notebooks.

A look at the Biloxi rotation, probably.
Marcos Diplan
Trey Supak
Braden Webb
Thomas Jankins
Alec Bettinger

 MONTGOMERY BISCUITS

For the Biscuits, fans will get a look at some new uniforms. Several variants of the Biscuits jerseys are in use this season, including a military Wednesday with camo letters (as seen on right) that will be in use Opening Night, the first time the Biscuits haven't worn white at their home opener.

Morgan Ensberg will get his first look at Riverwalk Stadium during game time.

Look for plenty of life in Brendan McKay's pitching arm, the youngster is a prospect.

Outfielder Jesus Sanchez will look to improve on his Homer total at Riverwalk from last year (1).

The Biscuits have been putting up a lot of runs but could find Biloxi much tougher to score against. Look for tough Shuckers pitching and some close games.

Biscuits pitchers have to look for a way to allow fewer baserunners, only the MBraves have more opponent traffic on their basepaths.

Game number one!

HISTORY THIS WEEK!

 APRIL 11 1948 
The Philadelphia Phils beat the Washington Senators in Montgomery, 9-1 at Cramton Bowl.

APRIL11 1949 

Bud Lively

The Cinci Reds beat Montgomery 11-0 in exhibition game.

The game was pitched by Buddy Lively, who we met at the Biscuits game about ten years ago. Bud was one of oldest living major leaguers until his passing in 2015, a colorful and dare I say *lively* character. Both Buddy and his dad Jack Lively pitched for Montgomery, perhaps the greatest father/son duo in Montgomery history.

APRIL 12 1920 
NEGRO SOUTHERN LEAGUE FORMED
"Southern League Formed - Montgomery, Alabama, April 12. - Final plans for the completion of the proposed Negro Southern Baseball League resulted in the formation of an eight club circuit, with a bright prospect of 10 cities composing the final arrangement of the organization.

A bird's eye view of the league reveals excellent grounds for the success of the venture; the cities selected appeal to be about evenly balanced in population, have good transportation facilities and are not too long a distance removed from each other for a heavy mileage to cut serious inroads and thus weigh heavily against the proper financial progress of the promoters.

C.I. Taylor who was cited for Conspicuous service through putting into being a like organization in the northwest, was a deeply interested participant in the final arrangements, and his words of wisdom went a long ways towards encouraging options on franchises.

The following cities qualified for franchises in the new league: Birmingham, Nashville, Knoxville, Atlanta, Pensacola, Montgomery, New Orleans, Jacksonville. A committee on the arrangement of a schedule hopes by the end of the week to have their dates alloted, as the opening day is set for April 29."

APRIL 12 1946 

Montgomery scores four runs in 10th to edge U of A in Tuscaloosa by a score of 12-8.

Dixie Walker manger, saw Montgomery win 12-8 with the Rebels tying the game with four runs in the seventh inning. The same teams play again the next day in a rematch at Cramton Bowl


APRIL 13 1946 
Montgomery faces U of Alabama at Cramton Bowl, score unreported.

Biscuits Return

The 2019 Biscuits stormed into the season, earning new manager Morgan Ensberg his first double-A win in his first double-A game. On the road in Chattanooga. Spoiling the Lookouts Opening Day festivities, the Skitz start the year on the Biscuit bus with a lot of new faces.

The team held a preseason workout and meet-and-greet ahead of the road trip, combining two of my favorite events into one. As such, I scarfed down a bacon wrapped hotdog and hurried to watch batting practice and bullpen throwing sessions.

The practice was much as I have seen from first practices in seasons past, beginning with the manager addressing the club. What Morgan Ensberg said is unknown but he took several minutes to speak to his players as a group and before beginning the on-field practice.

LONG TOSS
Pitchers long tossed and threw among themselves to get loosened up while the batting guys worked on some baserunning with the coaches. All players wore workout tops and shorts and the team bp caps. A few of the guys had Rays spring training jerseys on.


 BASERUNNING
Each player worked on getting around second base, picking up how the outfielder was handling the ball and listening for his coaches instructions.

It was a basic mobility and awareness drill that shows off players speed and looks really good for the fans who had come to watch.

BATTING PRACTICE
A round of batting practice came next, a group of about five guys with bats hit a coaches pitches while others shag fly balls. Coaches and pitchers use fungo bats to hit ground balls to infielders while the batters drive balls to the outfield. Bats are cracking, mitts are popping, coaches are shouting and balls are whizzing around the infield.

Pitchers line the warning track and return balls to the center of the field in one of baseballs time honored traditions, enjoying the warm afternoon and taking in the ballpark sights.

Baseball has returned.


ANNOUNCING WHO?
At this point I became aware that the players were being announced, though it was hard to hear much above the music and passing trains.

Some great plays are made in batting practice

WELCOME BACK!

1B Dalton Kelly acknowledges the crowd

Occasionally we would hear a players name we recognized, resulting a nice cheer for the local faves like first baseman Dalton Kelly and pitchers Matt Krook and Dalton Moats.

Other returnees include shortstop Jermaine Palacios, infielder Tristan Gray, catcher Brett Sullivan, pitcher Blake Bivens, shortstop Lucius Fox, outfielder Jesus "Soos" Sanchez, infielder Kevin Padlo and infielder Miles Mastrobuonni.

 

THROWING BULLPENS

Catcher Brett Sullivan

Catchers put on their gear and appeared in the bullpen as pitchers started working under the watchful eye of returning pitching coach RC Lichtenstein.

A group of guys I presumed as the primary starting pitchers left off their standing and stretching and began taking turns heating up on the bullpen mounds in double-barrel action.

I would love to break down the rotation and bullpen staff, but I frankly haven't learned them all yet.

Early in the season roles are yet to be fully determined and pitchers are on limited pitches. And that "opener" thing, so we will revisit that next week.

For now, we saw some guys throwing pretty well. Some were lefties, some were right handed. They all looked pretty good in the bullpen. Thats what I got.

LICTENSTEIN

RC is the longest tenured coach in Biscuits history, now entering his eighth season. He is excited about the new Montgomery uniforms this season, previewing several of them on his Instagram page. "This new ownership group is great! We used to have two uniforms in our locker, now we have like five AND matching hats!"

If you have a chance to talk to RC Lichtenstein, be sure to ask him about giving up a home run to Babe Ruth.


NEW MANAGER MORGAN ENSBERG
I introduced myself to the new skipper, who immediately refused to be addressed as "Mr. Ensberg" and requested we go with "Mo" or "Berger" instead. No probs, Mo, though I usually call the manager Skipper simply out of habit, its just what I learned to do. Mo seemed like a great guy, a couple players described him as fun and fiesty and felt he had a chance to get tossed out pretty often. Always a winner with the fans!

FALL BISCUITS RETURN

Dalton Moats

Two of the returning Biscuits, Matt Krook and Dalton Moats, pitched in the Arizona Fall League. A few previous Skitz have played there but I rarely get to see them afterwards.

I asked Moats and Krook what the AFL did for them, if there was a tangible that they took from it. Neither had something they could point out as that one thing, other than enjoying a championship there, but Moats brought up the instruction at the AFL "There's coaches from other systems, you get a look of different looks at what you are doing."

Matt Krook mentioned the level of competition. "You're playing with guys that are really good, from all organizations, on your team. You look around and see who is doing what, it helps develop good habits and reinforces that what you are doing is working."


#BULLPENLIFE

THIS WEEK IN MONTGOMERY BASEBALL

Wow, are you ready for some baseball history? There is a ton of it this week!
Some of my fave exhibitions take place this week, including the 1898 Montgomery-Auburn game and a contest that totaled 27 runs between two big league teams!


APRIL 5 1941 
The St. Louis Cardinals defeat Montgomery 4-0 in exhibition game

APRIL 5 1928 
The Cleveland Indians defeat Montgomery 6-1 in exhibition, George Grant pitching, Alabama native Luke Sewell catching for Cleveland.

APRIL 5th 1936
Chicago Cubs defeat Phillies at Montgomery, 11-1.

APRIL 5th 1949 
The Montgomery Rebels host the Philadelphia Phillies, get beat 2-1 in rain shortened six inning match

APRIL 5 1969 
Cincinnati vs Detroit in exhibition game in Mgm is rained out

APRIL 6 1898 
Montgomery hosts Auburn (alabama polytech) in an exhibition game. A super-rarity, this early exhibition pits a collegiate Auburn club against a much more experienced Montgomery team.

This Montgomery club featured three young future Major Leaguers, Jim Delahanty, Topsy Hartsel and Jack Harper along with a short list of relative unknowns. 

The game gets more print than any other single game in Montgomery until Babe Ruth barnstorms through in the 1920s. If you are interested, let me know and I will post the whole article, which is of considerable length - another rarity in local baseball research.

APRIL 6 1934
Cleveland Indians defeat NY Giants in a Cramton Bowl exhibition game.

APRIL 6 1936 
Chicago Cubs - Philadelphia Phillies game at MGM rained out


APRIL 6 1946 
The Cinci Reds face the Boston RedSox in an exhibition Double Header, the RedSox win game one 10-0, and the Reds win game two 7-5. The two teams started their regulars in game one and the second game featured the rookies and bench players.

APRIL 6 1953 
The Montgomery Rebels host Philadelphia Athletics, losing to pitcher Bobby Shantz in a game featuring a Gus Zernial home run.

APRIL 7 1954

A's beat Pirates 17-10 in a exhibition game hitting festival at Montgomery, featuring NINE homers!

April 7th 1954 
The Montgomery Rebels take the field with black players on the roster for the first time.

Breaking the color barrier in Montgomery: John Davis OF, John Mackley Catcher and George Handy 3b. Shortstop Price West, a Montgomery native also is among the first black Rebels.

By the end of 1956, Montgomery would give up its SALLY league team and move to the smaller, segregated Southern Association until that leagues deserved death.

A notable moment in history that is often unrecognized. So complete is the whitewashing of Montgomery's baseball history, I have been unable to recover a single image of the team or any of its players from this season.




APRIL9 1942 

St.Louis Browns face Montgomery in exhibition game, with no score reported.

APRIL 9 1947 
Ny Yankees face Montgomery in exhibition game, win in 11 innings on a Yogi Berra RBI.

APRIL 8 1948 
NY Yankees face Montgomery in a second exhibition game that got way less coverage. Like almost zero.

APRIL 9 1956 
Boston Red Sox vs Philllies in exhibition game at Montgomery, Phils 2 Sox 1, Robin Roberts the Phillies starting pitcher goes all nine innings. Ted Williams plays, goes 0-4.

Did you get enough history? I have started adding the newspaper clippings where I can, let me know if you like it better!