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!