BISCUITS ROLLERCOASTER FIRST HALF WINDING DOWN

The Montgomery roster is in its usual state of midseason flux, with occasional trouble in the bullpen and limited starting pitching. And of course theres plenty of catching and middle infield gloves to spare. A long streak of playing lousy has the Skitz on the ropes for the first half, no surprise to longtime Montgomery fans who have seen the team rally in the second half in about a half dozen recent campaigns.

Greg Jones was promoted and the general consensus is that the Biscuits are a better team without him. Hitting around .220 for most of the season, Greg has enough speed to steal 40 bags but can barely make enough contact to get on base enough to swipe half that. Jones views himself as a multi-talented infielder/outfielder with power and speed, but in fact his hits are to be found on the ground instead of the launch-angle routine flyouts and weak contact grounders we saw in his time in the Gump.

Hitting up and down the order, Jones was given every chance to thrive and then tossed to Triple-A to sink or swim. The talent is there but unless he learns to make contact Greg Jones will have trouble carving out a career.

Sean Hunley, the league leader in fewest baserunners per inning, was promoted to Durham, then sent back. Mason Montgomery and Cole Wilcox are fantastic hurlers but the Skitz are hurting the deeper into the rotation you look. Hunley is a welcome return.

Also on the silver lining end of things, Mason Auer and Evan Edwards have broken out of season-long slumps, injecting much needed baserunners onto the pillows. Newguys have arrived to reinforce the ranks and help sweep the infield clean of baserunners. Infielder Junior Caminero has potential and Gionti Turner also adds a versatile glove to the infield mix.

FRESH NEWS FROM AROUND THE PARK

Two items of interest in and around the ballpark - first up, a dead armadillo was spotted on the railroad tracks beyond the outfield fence. Not a big deal now, but by the next homestand everyone will know if it has been left to decay. *update* be on the lookout - the funk is already starting to creep in!

In other news we hear that Biscuits announcer Chris Adams-Wall will get the promotion to the bigleagues next month. Of course this means a new voice in the radio booth for Montgomery. No word yet on the replacement, and of course we wish Chris the best in his adventures!

This weekend the Biscuits got a visit from Ben Hill, author of the popular minor league blog Bens Biz. Ben was here in 2015 and I enjoyed catching up with him during rain delay that preceded the rain-shortened second game of the days doubleheader. 

 

The pre-tacked MLB baseballs the Southern League has been using in the first half will go away. For the second half of the season teams will use MLB baseballs prepared with the more traditional rubbing mud. Pitchers I talked to had less concern about using pretacked baseballs versus mud, but were unanimous in being unhappy as guinea pigs in a lab experiment that required a mid-season change in something so important as how the baseball is gripped.

INSTAGRAM

Dude I have no clue over there. But I post pictures. I am terrible with tagging or hashtags or witty captions. If you are down for Biscuits baseball and Montgomery history images, I invite you to check out the IG since I am obviously slacking here! Same name, DrMiraculous is easy to find.

The pics here today are all classics from the files because blogspot has made it a little more difficult to upload. I will try to get it back to normal as we move into the second half!

HISTORY CONFERENCE COMING

I met with the State Department of Archives last week and previously talked with the Biscuits front office and I am happy to report we seem to be progressing well towards the 2024 Southern Baseball Research Conference. 

The Archives Dept is awesome and I was allowed to view some of early baseball cards in their collection, which may be displayed during the conference. If you are a baseball card fan, their exhibit will be nothing short of breathtaking.  

We have a speaker - tentatively, a former MLB pitcher who was a Montgomery Rebel! With an assist from the Biscuits, though the scheduled date might be a factor so we probably can't throw his name out there.

 

My presentation is slowly progressing. Focusing on a whole team is not my usual M.O. but I think it will come together nicely the time its due. Already I have learned lots about my chosen subject that I previously didn't know, but that is not at all unusual. The more you learn the more you realize you don't know!

We are also working to include a tour of Montgomery's three standing structures that have hosted MLB exhibition games. I'm not sure how many other cities can make that claim, but with Riverwalk, Paterson Field and Cramton Bowl all closely situated near the Archives Dept it's hoped that a field trip can be included.

The Buttery Buzzsaw, Montgomery Baseball History, Numbers Game

 

A flaky, home baked, steaming hot buttery buzzsaw. That's what this Montgomery Biscuits club has been so far, chalking up victory after victory and able to dismantle Southern League opponents with five different weapons: hitting, pitching, defense, mojo and swagger.

Mojo and swagger, not technically a metric for analytics but certainly part of the eye test and this Biscuits squad is leading the league in both. The Gumpskitz look to keep the good times rolling at home with a ten game homestand against Pensacola and Biloxi. 

So far the Biscuits hurlers have combined for one no hitter and are chucking a combined ERA under 4.00, good for third in the circuit, which longtime Montgomery fans have rarely seen in early season stats. "Give the bullpen time to gel" has been the annual mantra through the end of May as long as most of us can remember. But these guys have turned the tables, pitching top shelf stuff and looking good doing it.

The Biscuits haven't even needed an opener in the first three series! 

 

THERE GOES JOE

Joe LaSorsa was promoted to Durham, continuing a tradition of not making it thru the series that the coverboys face adorns the program cover for. At least this guy went the right direction!

MANFREDS TREATED BALLS

The Southern League this year is using pre-tacked baseballs. Well, they are pre-tacked but they aren't exactly pre-tacked baseballs. What I mean is, the balls are normal MLB standard orbs. But in order to improve grip they have been sprayed with a chemical treatment developed by 3M and MLB in an experiment that would end the tradition of using mud to rub baseball before the game.

Upsides include better grip, more uniform application, makes baseball extra white

Downsides include short-lasting, sometimes spray obscures logo, makes baseball extra white

 

NUMBERS GAME

Graham Spraker

Biscuits pitchers are punching out opponents at a rate of over 12 per nine innings and are tied for fewest free passes in the league.

1.249 Biscuits pitchers lead the Southern League in WhIP.

32 203 .762 Biscuits hitters lead the league in stolen bases, total bases, OPS

6  Stolen bases thru fifteen games for Greg Jones and Ronny Simon, tied for third in the SL.

Heriberto Hernandez has more walks (11) than hits (10).

Starter Sean Hunley has been posting eye-popping numbers through three starts, allowing just one earned in 13 innings while punching out 17 against only six hits and has yet to allow a free pass. 

Want more eye popping strikeout numbers? Montgomery reliever Mike Mercado has whiffed 13 men thru just five and two-thirds innings!

Logan Driscoll

.361 Logan Driscoll's batting average, good for third in the circuit. Logans four homers also gives him a share of the league lead in round trippers.

Biscuits reliever Victor Munoz is a work in progress through three games. His strikeouts (12) are great for his number of innings (7 2/3 IP) but Victor has surrendered a whopping 16 hits and six walks resulting in a ballooning ERA over 14.00 in the early going.

NEXT TIME:

THE RETURN OF YUKON CORNELIUS 

Graeme Stinson returns to the Biscuits after a short absence. More later as it becomes available.

#BULLPENLIFE

HISTORY TIME

 

No we have not stopped having history! Here is this weeks history file, with the ever-dangerous Ike Durett involved in his infamous ump-beating that led to a ban from the Southern circuits. Also Steve Trella's No-Hitter vs the Suns and the Negro league great Cuban Stars visit!

APRIL 24 1976 Steve Trella no hits Jacksonville 1-0

April 25, 1966 Southern League/ Michael D. Kilkenny of the Montgomery Rebels had 5 wild pitches v the Macon Peaches.

APRIL 25 1926 Montgomery Grey Sox host Cuban Stars in two game series at North Side Park

APRIL 26 1906 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 26 1916 Grey Sox vs Cuban Stars of Havana in Montgomery.

APRIL 27 1893 Montgomery Colored Baseball Club organized in Montgomery Alabama

Ike Durett

APRIL 27 1956 The 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

APRIL 28 1906 Montgomery forfeits to Birmingham Barons 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.

Happy New Year! Opening Day 2023

 

 

Its Opening Day for the hometown Biscuits who welcome the Tennessee Smokies to town for the first home series of the year. The Biscuits are off to a fine start with a pair of wins in their first road series and look to extend their luck in front of the home fans.

Biscuits ballpark has gotten a fresh coat of paint and is ready for a new tilt around the southern loop.

BISCUITS WELCOME SMOKIES FOR GRAPE JELLY SERIES

Among the Smokies arriving its expected that top prospect Pete Crow-Armstrong will be with the visiting ursine franchise that is well-laden with potential. Outfielder Owen Cassie and infielder Chase Strumpf and catcher Miguel Amaya pepper the prospect list as well as the Smokies batting order. 

Also with the Smokies for the first installment of the 2023 Grape Jelly Series, lefthanders Jordan Wicks and DJ Hertz and righthanded Ben Brown along with fellow righty Daniel Palencia, are all possible future members of the Chicago rotation. Porter Hodge and Ryan Jensen also find themselves listed among top arms in the Cubs stable assigned to Tennessee. 

Smokies manager Mike Ryan is a five year major league veteran with the Twins and Angels. Smokies development coach Tyler Ladendorf, who was in the majors with Oakland and the Cubs, has a long minor league career as an infielder, and also has one MLB appearance as a pitcher!

PRE-TACKED BALLS

The word on the street is that the Southern League is the testing ground for Manfreds sticky balls. We will soon get a look at the orb in play and I wouldn't think it would take long to know if sticky balls are a good thing or not.

A similar experiment took place last summer with a ball coated with sticky stuff being forced up the games in the Southern League. The result of that foray was uniformly failure, as the spheres were yanked from use in less than a week and never even appeared at Riverwalk.

OVER ON IG

I do post my pics of game action on Instagram and have begun working together with a Biscuits fan page there, be sure to check them out @ BiscuitsRising on IG and hopefully they enjoy reading the blog!

Once we get a look at the team in action I will have lots more info to share. Happy New Year!

 

Cooking Something Good!

 

I'm cooking something. Of course we will all get to taste it when it's done, but first lets catch up.

 

I thought I had been traded to ASU but after a few attempts to get in touch with them I was met with noticeable apathy which abated my own ambition to pimp their team and ballpark. It's a shame as they have a long baseball history that I am not sure even they are aware of, with pedigree ties to the game that are unrecognized today. Perhaps they will yet decide to work together but I admit my desire to force myself on a scholastic athletic club is somewhat lacking. 

 

In other news the Biscuits look to break the bank with their jersey sales this year, including, but not limited to, Star Wars, Marvel superhero, camo jersey. In the past its been noted that the same group of fanatics go hard for the jersey auction and its thought the team often trys to give as many opportunities as possible to get fans shirts. Or they make money on the deal. Or both. Either way they are going all-in this year to fill fans closets and empty their wallets. Sadly, no throwback uni for Montgomery this year.

COOKING UP GOOD NEWS

The big news from my offseason wasn't just compiling the team roster for Montgomery to fill out a decade-wide gap in the history books. Okay, it was for me but everyone else will probably be more excited to learn that Montgomery will host the 2024 Southern Association Baseball Research Conference!

The conference, known as the SAC, brings together the top baseball historians, authors, researchers and enthusiasts as concerns the game in the southern USA. Usually held in Birmingham at historic Rickwood Field, the conference offers a chance to meet and compare notes, networking among the attendees and viewing displays of rare memorabilia. Speakers give presentations to share their research among their peers and baseball history is the focus. 

 

Other cities that have hosted the SAC include New Orleans, Atlanta and Memphis with this years meeting being held in Nashville, all cities in the former Southern Association. After nearly twenty years of exploring the history of the segregated Southern Association, its teams, players and ballparks, organizers agreed there is a need to branch out to cover all types of baseball in the area of the city hosting the conference. That includes Negro League, independent teams, industrial leagues, barnstorming games and a wide variety of places and individuals that have been too long overlooked by historians.

The organizing committee has asked me to be the point-of-contact for the SAC in Montgomery.

The planning is for the SAC Montgomery 2024 is moving along swiftly, with a huge assist from the State Dept of Archives, who recently added new items to their collection and agreed to display them during the SAC. Their curators have even been kind enough to invite me to personally help select items for display, and I have a few choice requests that I am sure will be fascinating, ones that even my good friends in the Archives may not even have noticed in their storage!

Also on board is the fantastic Biscuits front office and owner Lou DiBella, who kindly took the time to take my call concerning the SAC and made the experience even more fun than I could already imagine. Having the Biscuits as a part of the conference seemed a must, as the most important part of Montgomery baseball history has been its pro teams.

 

In fact, 2024 marks 70 years since Montgomery's first integrated team in 1954 and will be the focus of my presentation for the SAC, and after ten years of study on the Rebels clubs, I have some real surprises in store! 

Also it's the twentieth season of Biscuits, having lost one to that recent unpleasantness. It's my hope we can tie in the history of the Biscuits with the integration of the Rebels and Montgomery's other great teams, players and games in a way that fans can digest easily and appreciate fully.

BULLPEN LIFE

Can't Change Even If I Wanted To, Biscuits Find New Homes

 

NOBODY KNOWS..

People ask what I have been up to and its easier to answer "same old same old" than to explain how I am mapping each known location for organized baseball games in Montgomery pre-WW1. 

Hopefully soon I will have some exciting news on the history front, stay tuned!

 

CANT CHANGE IF I WANTED TO

I was hoping to revamp the blog but found that the blogspot tools have been adjusted so drastically since the page was first built that it requires a complete reset just to adjust the font color! So instead of choosing a lame template or going back to square one for design we will just have to stick with the current format. 

THEY GOT THE FEVER AND IT AINT GOOD

Going over the history files in preparations for writing the early chapters in the book on Montgomery baseball history we find a serious problem plagued early teams - yellow fever shuts down entire cities and prevents teams from travel. 

Repeated bouts of illness in cities across the south, including central Alabama, has people hiding in their homes for months on end. Sales of fresh fruit and leafy vegetables are part of the quarantine efforts as well as restrictions on travel and at some points Montgomery simply shutters its rail station and allow no trains to stop.

 

 

ASU CONTACTED

In my efforts to add new teams and history to our diet, I have contacted the Alabama State folks about their baseball club. I explained my blog and what I can bring and hopefully they appreciate the effort and we can work to include the Hornets on the blog. Since ASU stems from the 1800's era Normal School and hosted Negro League games as early as the 1890s, I have high hopes we can work together to expand the understanding ASU baseball holds in the Montgomery sports scene.

 

 WHEN DO WE KNOW BISCUITS SKIPPER?

The Biscuits are almost always among the last to announce their coaching staff and thats no different this year. While I predicted a new hand filling out the Montgomery lineup this year, there is really no telling if Ensberg will return or, if not, who will take his place at the helm.

 

 HARRY THE HAT WALKER

Walker managed Clemente

Recently had a good friend message me about Harry Walker, yes he was schooled on the sandlots of Montgomery. Developed through youth baseball leagues and scouted by major league clubs, Harry The Hat was son of the original Dixie Walker and younger brother of the other Dixie Walker. 

Harry was an All-Star player and later became a MLB manager for clubs like the Cardinals, Astros and Pirates. He was popular as well as controversial and his contributions to baseball are wide and varied. But he has roots on the local ballfields of Montgomery.

EX-BISCUITS GET NEW HOMES

I can't keep track of all the offseason moves involving former Montgomery players but I did notice a new, among them:

Nathan Witt signed with the Blue Jays

Brent Honeywell joined the Padres

Robbie Tenerowicz joined the Mariners

The A's picked up Austin Pruitt

The Nationals signed Joel Peguero "No Peggy! No Peggy!" Peggy once cost a guy a cycle by picking up a ball hit into the bullpen!

Garrett Whitlet hooked on with the Phillies

Joe McCarthy signed with the Rangers

The Brewers picked up Tobias Myers

Jim Haley was signed by the Phillies

New Year New Post - Back In Bizness!

 

Its been a long time since our last blog. New year means new post and while we aren't always happy to see the old year end its nice to have a fresh start. This year I hope to spend some time covering the Biscuits and maybe expand into a new area - we have been invited to check out Alabama State University's baseball club.

 

So it looks like the blog is back in bizness, tho with less info for plagiarists to rifle. HMU if you are interested in learning more about Montgomery baseball and its long history, I am available for speaking engagements and consultation. 

In an almost-related note, I am open to adding co-writers and creators who would be interested in helping maintain a steady flow of content on all levels of the game in our area. I am available on twitter at DrMiraculous, feel free to reach out!

WHATS UP BISCUITS?

Time for some honesty here. 

It's been difficult for local fans to support the Biscuits team for many, many reasons, among them the constantly shifting MLB affiliations among minor league teams. Now that affiliations are ten year deals, fans have a little longer to figure out what big league club opposing teams are tied to. However now its on the minor league owners to kowtow to Rob Manfred & Co. demands to update ballparks, often in impossible situations. Which is to be expected when you make covert pacts with corporate pirates who lurk behind the curtain of anti-trust exemptions and non-disclosure agreements.

Look for Montgomery to make various required changes that put MLB first and push fans farther from the game while hyping them as improvements. Updates around the park like new umpires rooms and expanded locker room areas for expanded staff are probably neeeded. But they also mean less room for patron amenities and increased separation from the game and players, added at the expense of city coffers and local owners who will be forced to increase fees and prices across the ballpark to compensate. 

When the net goes up, YOU pay for it!

That being said, the current ownership in Montgomery is uniquely suited to handle adversity, be it competing sporting events, challenging marketing environs or even MLB mandated construction. 

Maybe they don't knock it out of the park every time but the Biscuits usually get the job done at a level local fans appreciate and the front office has earned back some respect as the team tries to repair its local image after the previous owners burned many bridges before selling.

 
Biscuit fans will have to wait to see what the team chooses to work with, around, and against as we move forward.

 

LEFTOVERS

Biscuits hurler Josh Roberson: in four seasons has pitched for eleven different teams!

Andrew Gross is one of three blue gloves on the team. I asked how he came to choose his game leather and he told me a great story about umpire finding dirt on his glove and confiscating it on suspicion of using a foreign substance. That left Andrew, a 39th round pick, without a glove to use! 

Andrew reached to to his agent who in turn contacted a smaller company who offered a twice-a-year deal to keep the sidearm hurler supplied in game gear. That company, JL Gloves, makes pro gloves for players at many levels in a family-run business. I had a chance to ask their representative about Andrew Gross' standout blue glove and how visible it is. "Not everyone makes as bold a statement as Andrew, but we are happy to accommodate his choice and it looks great!" That it does, my friends, that it does!

The Biscuits have been using a new system for tracking game data. 

PREDICTING THE SKITZ 2023 EDITION

These just don't get any easier, do they? With Durham skipper and our "Biscuit of the Decade" for the teens Brady Williams getting promoted to Tampa's base coach box, will Morgan Ensberg take over filling out the Bulls lineup card? If not, will he keep his apartment in Montgomery this summer? So many questions, so until we have answers... let us have predictions!

 

MGR Wuarner Rincones

Pitching Coach Jim Paduch

 

1B Dillon Paulson

2B Ronny Simon

3B Tanner Murray

SS Alika Williams

C Logan Driscoll

RF Diego Infante

CF Mason Auer

LF Hariberto Hernandez

Tyler Frank UT

Eric Ostberg C

Kyle Manzardo 1B

Matt Dyer C/UT

Abiezel Ramirez UT

PITCHERS

John Doxakis

Mason Montgomery

Patrick Wickander

Anthony Molina

Nathan Wiles 

Logan Workman

Ben Brecht

Joe LaSorsa

Zack Trageton

Andrew Gross

Graeme "Yukon Cornelius" Stinson

Franklin Dacosta 

Kyle Whitten

Cameron Leonard