Getting ready to start my notes column for Sunday. I won’t spoil anything, but I got some interesting quotes from Byron Embry, whose inflammatory comments after the bench-clearing brawl with St. Paul brought on his recent four-game suspension. The fallout of the brawl extended into yesterday (Friday) when Embry was docked $200. Not sure what took the American Association so long to levy that fine, though.
I was on the radio with the El Paso broadcaster last night for an inning and he said the brawl was the talk of his team. He also said the Wingnuts, because of the brawl, are perceived as “the villians of the league.” Just to be clear, this wasn’t his opinion, just the perception he got by being around his own team and others.
I told Wichita manager Kash Beauchamp about that and he didn’t seem to mind. If anything, it gives this team an immediate identity, as long as it’s understood why the Wingnuts are supposed villains. For the record, I’ve never seen them do anything “dirty” on the field. The team plays hard and plays to win — not at any cost, but almost.
I think there’s some jealousy among other managers because they can’t get their teams to play like the Wingnuts. They really do have a different style than the other teams in the league, and that starts with Beauchamp. He told me last night that this team perfectly fits that style because he got to start from scratch in building a roster and was able to pick players that shared his hard-nosed qualities.
As of last night, the Wingnuts were undecided on a starter for today’s game against El Paso. Wichita played a doubleheader in Sioux Falls on Tuesday, so the rotation is a little out of whack and nobody is on normal four days’ rest. One candidate to start is Doug Hurn, a middle reliever. If he goes four or five innings, next in line would be Adam White, Amad Stephens and Embry.
One roster move yesterday — the Wingnuts signed Paul Bartolucci, previously with Grand Prairie, and released Scott Dunham and Carter McQuigg. Poor Dunham — his family drove to Wichita from North Carolina to see him play last night only to find out shortly before the game that he had been released.
The Wingnuts were forced to released two players because Dunham and McQuigg are rookies and Bartolucci is an LS-4 (four years of professional experience) and his salary requirements essentially equal that of two rookies. So Wichita has 21 players on the roster and is playing with two bench players and five relief pitchers.