The Nuthouse

So the Wingnuts have won 11 straight games. Now what? Well, either they win tonight and go to 12 straight wins or suffer their first loss in two weeks. That’s the hard-hitting analysis you read this blog for, right? I’m actually kind of thinking about in a selfish way. Any pattern established over a significant period of time can get repetitive for a person covering such a pattern. It’s sort of a challenge to write about a team that keeps winning because I have to keep coming up with new angles to describe the wins and the bigger-picture aspects.

Oh, who am I kidding? I’m great at coming up with new angles and describing bigger-picture aspects.

The challenge will come when (and if) the Wingnuts actually lose a game. How would I approach that? After a long winning streak, one loss would be hardly a blip. But something would have to go wrong within that game for Wichita to lose, so I’d be writing about something inherently negative. Even on the heels of something inherently positive. Anyway, whatever. I’m sure I’ll figure it out. Just wanted you to be a part of my stream of consciousness today, apparently.

One of my new favorite activities is going down to Wingnuts batting practice and sitting on the bench next to Brian Rose, Wichita’s bench coach. Rose has stage 4 melanoma and can’t be out in the sun for extended periods, so he watches BP from the dugout. On Sunday, I went downstairs to find out some information about the team and I ended up talking to Brian for about half an hour about some personal stuff and about baseball, too.

It was so enjoyable that I did it again today. Some interesting things happen in the dugout during BP, including David Peralta and C.J. Ziegler trying to spin cups so they stand up on the turf. Today was fun because John Rodriguez was talking about the Cardinals’ 2006 NLCS Game 7 win over the Mets.

Rodriguez, an St. Louis outfielder in 2005 and ’06, earned a championship ring with the Cards in ’06, and discussion of Adam Wainwright’s wicked curveball that struck out Carlos Beltran for the final out in Game 7 launched a talk about how hitters approach pitchers who feature plus pitches of any kind. Rodriguez said split-finger fastballs, such as the filthy one thrown by Roger Clemens, can be the toughest to read. Compelling discussion.

Anyway, I’ll report anything interesting in future Dugout Chats in this blog. Is there a better name for it than Dugout Chats?

That’s all for now. Go see Men In Black III. Caught it today and loved it. It gets my highest recommendation, which is tough to earn.

No apparent aftermath to the ejections of Wingnuts manager Kevin Hooper and hitting coach Jose Amado last night. When I asked Wichita general manager Josh Robertson if Hooper had been suspended or fined he said, “I haven’t gotten an email yet.” I considered that good news for the Wingnuts until I pondered the fact that American Association discipline is handed down through email. Way to take a hard line on suspensions and fines, American Association.

The Wingnuts lost left fielder Mike Conroy to a concussion, leaving them with an empty bench since they were carrying 10 position players last night. I originally believed Conroy would be out again tonight, but he’s in the lineup batting in his usual No. 9 spot. David Peralta is in the lineup, too, after hurting his hand sliding into home with the winning run on Friday.

To fill the roster spot vacated by some roster moves earlier in the week, the Wingnuts signed Tommy Fitzgerald, a utility man who played just about every position in 2011. He’ll be the backup catcher until Wichita finds one somewhere from somebody sometime, which is an absolute lock to happen.

Derek Blacksher starts tonight for the Wingnuts, trying to become the winningest pitcher in franchise history. His 18 wins are tied with Nick Singleton for the lead, and Hinson is a bit behind them with 13 wins. Blacksher is 11-0 in his career at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium, including a postseason win in 2009.

If you know the name Mike Bacsik, you probably only know it because he allowed Barry Bonds’ record-breaking 756th home run in 2007.

I remember where I was when Bonds’ hit his record*

* = tainted

home run. I was sitting in my apartment in Atlanta, where I spent that summer as an intern with Braves.com.

Bacsik was pitching then for the Washington Nationals. Now, he’s with the Fort Worth Cats, who are in Wichita playing a four-game series with the Wingnuts. Bacsik, last I checked, is scheduled to pitch at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium on Thursday.

I’ve been telling people I wanted to talk to Bacsik so I can ask him about his claim to fame. I told him the same thing today, too, and he gave me a cursory, ‘OK.’ Then I told him, to me, he is not most remembered for serving up Bonds’s 756th, but for pitching in one of baseball’s most improbable comebacks ever. For my Cleveland Indians, of course.

Bacsik made his major league debut on Aug. 5, 2001, watching Indians right-hander Dave Burba stink up the joint against the powerhouse Seattle Mariners, who won 116 games that year. Bacsik, just called up from Buffalo, came on with the bases loaded in the third inning and eventually allowed Seattle to take a 14-2 lead in the bottom of the seventh.

The Indians scored three in the seventh, four in the eighth and five in the ninth to tie it 14-14. Jolbert Cabrera drove in the winning run with a single that scored my favorite all-time player, Kenny Lofton, in the bottom of the 11th. That night was Bascik’s first taste of big-league baseball and I talked to him today about what he remembered from that game. Which should come as a relief to you, my reader, because I could go on for days about what I remember about it:

“Being as nervous, one of my most nervous moments of my life. Coming in with the bases loaded — I was a starter my whole minor-league career, then you come in with the bases loaded and you’re facing the best team in baseball at the time.

“As the inning went along, I remember the first batter was Mike Cameron. I got up early in the count, I got ahead of him, then he worked it to a full count. I thought, ‘I can’t walk the first guy I ever face in the big leagues, I’ve got to throw a strike.’ I threw it down the middle — big mistake. Double off the wall.

“Then, I just remember the rest of that inning backing up bases. Backing up home and looking toward the bullpen and thinking, ‘Boy, they’ve got nobody warming up, I’m going back to (Triple-A) Buffalo pretty soon.’ I remember Dick Pole, the pitching coach, coming out and saying, ‘All right, all the excitement’s over.’ I’m thinking, ‘It ain’t over for me, I haven’t gotten anybody out yet.’

“Finally I get Ichiro to fly out. It was a sacrifice fly but I got somebody out. Once I got somebody out, it seemed to get better from there. It was just a really rough third inning and the place is packed and it’s your major league debut.

“As the game went along, they scored two in the fifth. I remember in that inning Edgar Martinez hit a routine double-play ball to Omar Vizquel, and he misses the ball. Out of all the time to have a double play ball that he’s going to boot one, and that extended that inning.’

“The game just went along from there. We took out as many players as we could, they took out as many players as they could to give guys rest. After that fifth inning, we just scored. I remembered it being 14-9 and I went out and pitched the eighth inning. And I was going to be pitching the ninth inning, too.”

I, naturally had to correct Bacsik on a few things because for whatever reason he hasn’t hung on every single pitch of every single Cleveland Indians game for the last 17 years like I have. The Indians trailed 14-11 with two outs in the 9th before Omar Vizquel tied it with a bases-loaded triple down the right-field line against Seattle closer Kaz Sasaki.

“Usually teams will play closer to the line. They decided not to, probably thinking Omar, out of all the things, he’s not going to roll one down the first-base line.

“I remember them telling me they were going to take me out. They got the thing somewhat close, and I think they were going to bring in Rocker to pitch the ninth. I pitched six innings, great, got to pitch in the big leagues, probably going back to Buffalo as soon as the game is over.

“Then I’m just sitting in the dugout. Usually pitchers will go in the locker room, do their exercises, ice and stay in the locker room. In fact, there were so many guys in the locker room. But I’m thinking to myself, ‘I may not be in the major leagues tomorrow.’ So I want to stay out and watch the rest of the game, be part of the game.

“When (Vizquel) hit that base hit down the line, I’m going nuts. Then when we win it I’m running out there and I can’t believe I’m part of this. I’m on the Cleveland Indians and I’m jumping up and down at home plate in my first game ever.

“It’s funny, when the game was over guys — Thome, Fryman, Ellis Burks, all the guys — ‘Congratulations, great job, way to go tonight.’ And I’m thinking, ‘This is the first time I’ve ever been congratulated for giving up seven earned runs in six innings. Usually you don’t get too much praise for that.

“It was great. My wife came to watch the game. She flew up from Dallas. There was probably only 15,000 people left when we did those, but those 15,000 people were louder than the 40,000 that started the game. It was nuts.

“Jolbert Cabrera got the (game-winning) hit and I remember, I think (Eddie) Taubensee picked (Lofton) up. The cool thing was we went to Minnesota and they had tied us in the (American League Central) division. I got sent down, but from that point on Cleveland never gave up the lead and a lot of the veterans point to that game as the turning point, as when they kind of came together and took the division. It’s really cool that I was part of that.

“It was really nerve-wracking, but once the game really got out of hand it kind of calmed me down, because I’m in no situation to help us win a game. I’m just trying to eat up innings so our bullpen will be fresh for the next day.

“At my home, I have framed the scorecard that they gave me from that game and the front page of the newspaper in Cleveland, the Plain Dealer, of Taubensee lifting Lofton over his shoulder and all the guys running out.

“For me now, it seems a long time ago baseball-wise in my head. It turned from something really being bad to being one of the great moments of my little career in the major leagues.”

Bacsik was traded, with Roberto Alomar, to the Mets before 2002 season. Off the top of my head, the Indians received Billy Traber, Jerrod Riggan, Alex Escobar and Matt Lawton in that trade. Bacsik later moved onto the Rangers, then the Nationals, putting him in position to be part of history. He only pitched in 51 games in the majors, but he fit a lot of memorable moments into his short career.

“Weird, weird history. But fun.”

It’s opening day at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium. How do I know? When I walked into the press box this afternoon, the game notes and statistics were placed neatly near my seating area, and my trusty fan was aimed right at my chair. Steve Schuster, who organized these luxuries, is the man. But we’ll see if that’s still happening in July.

I’m not gonna lie, I feel way behind. In past years I’ve been able to come to spring training on many days and talk with a lot of players, and at least be seen by the ones I don’t get to chat with. That hasn’t been the case this year. My employment schedule hasn’t allowed me to spend much time around the team, and with the Wingnuts starting on the road, I’ve lost more chances to be hanging around.

I know what you’re saying — your EMPLOYMENT schedule? Doesn’t that involve covering the Wingnuts? It does, but there are other things going on, too.

I guess that means I just don’t know what to expect, even though I’ve been to two Wingnuts exhibition games. If the first road trip is any indication, I’ll be seeing a lot of offense.

I don’t want to give away the findings of 10 minutes of exhaustive research, but the Wingnuts, outside of Nick Singleton, who has two wins (one in relief), haven’t pitched well. They’ve scored more than eight runs a game but allowed more than seven. It’s likely neither of those numbers will hold up, but the long-term success of the team hinges more on the pitching improving than the offense sustaining.

The Wingnuts have hit, though, scoring at least 12 runs in four of their first seven games. Ryan Patterson, Jorge Delgado and Wichita Eagle sports-cover subject Juan Richardson all have 12 hits and are each batting .400 or better. Jorge Cortes isn’t off to quite as hot of a start but is two hits shy of 1,000 in his professional career. Is that redundant? I think it is. Somewhat surprisingly, the Wingnuts have hit just two home runs, by Delgado and catcher Edwin Bellorin.

I kind of expect another slugfest tonight. El Paso has averaged nine runs in seven games but has allowed even more than that. We could be here a while. But no complaints, right? Baseball is back.

No, that isn’t me ripping off the old senior PGA slogan. I’m talking about the Wingnuts, and if you haven’t been paying attention, they’re in first place. It’s not a fluke.

I remember at the beginning of the season, all the games were the same. The Wingnuts would most often get a good pitching performance and lose because the failure of hitters to come through in important situations. I struggled with what to write because the same thing happened over and over and over and over and over again.

It’s the same way now. Every game seems the same, except the Wingnuts are now dominating. They score a lot of runs, put up big innings, and the pitching does enough to win. Even after just a few games of that it’s like, What do I write now? I just saw this last night.

Luckily for me, something different did happen last night. The Wingnuts pitched two shutouts, and they came from unlikely sources. Jae Jung, acquired from Sioux City earlier this month, hadn’t pitched since July 27. But he breezed through the lineup of his former team in the first game of a doubleheader, allowing four hits and one walk and not allowing a runner into scoring position.

Then it was Kevin Angelle’s turn. Rocked by Lincoln in his first start after being released by the Phillies organization early this month, Angelle went 5 1/3 innings in the second game Tuesday and didn’t allow a run. His scoreless outing didn’t come as easily as Jung’s — Angelle allowed many more baserunners and had to escape several jams — but the performance had to give Wingnuts brass confidence that he could handle the pressure of a postseason start.

There has been a lot of hyperbole spouted in the press box the last couple days. I just don’t know if it’s hyperbole. Stuff like, The Wingnuts might not lose another game this season. The Wingnuts have the best lineup in the league. The Wingnuts’ 2010 lineup is better than the one in 2009.

Maybe all true. The final two games against Sioux City are the last two games against North opponents this season. The Wingnuts finish their schedule with six games against El Paso, the worst team in the league, and Fort Worth, another team almost out of the race in the South. Six of those games come on the road, though, so nothing is guaranteed.

Circle Thursday on your calendar if you’re a Wingnuts fan. That’s pretty easy to do, since it’s tomorrow. It’s also the last day American Association teams can acquire players. The Wingnuts are looking for a starter and a closer, though those needs may not be as pressing as they were before last night.

Cephas Howard has the mentality of a closer and has done a good job in that role since Justin Dowdy was sold to the Tampa Bay Rays organization. And if Jung and Angelle can deliver quality innings like they did last night, the Wingnuts have a lot of options for their postseason rotation. Not that either of those things will stop the Wingnuts from acquiring the right player, of course.

The lineup needs no help. Is it better than last year’s? Maybe. Deeper, definitely, but this team doesn’t have the home-run power like the 2009 group did. Still, you won’t find many 1-through-9′s more dangerous than this one at this level. The guy I most enjoy watching hit is Carlos Rivera, a veteran of 85 major-league games with the Pirates. He’s in complete control when he’s at the plate, and I don’t think this level is much of a challenge for him. He has great power to the opposite field.

A couple of notes about the postseason: Sioux Falls, by winning the first half, got to choose the playoff format for the Divisional round and took the first two games at home, meaning the last three games (if all are necessary) will be played away from Sioux Falls. The thinking there is that if they can go up 2-0, the Pheasants will only have to win one of three games on the road. I get that, but if the final three games are in Wichita, where the Wingnuts just swept Sioux Falls in a three-game series, nothing is guaranteed.

Also, the Wingnuts can get into the postseason in either of two ways. If they finish with the best record in the North for the second half, they’re in. If Sioux Falls wins the half, the next playoff spot goes to the team with the second-best overall record. Now, that’s Lincoln, which leads the Wingnuts by a game and a half. Wichita holds a half-game lead over Sioux Falls for the half.

The attendance hasn’t been great, though. I’m no cheerleader, but I’d encourage people to come out and watch this club. They’re fun to watch hit. I’m only saying that in support of myself — I want my writing to reach more people, so I need more people to come to the yard. Plus, the weather is nice.

See you tonight!