Monthly Archives: June 2009

2 and 2, be right back atcha.

June 30, 20095:25 p.m.

I’m discouraged and encouraged by a couple things today. First, my discouragements:

1. Will Savage was not named American Association Pitcher of the Week.

Um, excuse me? The award went to Jarrett Gardner, who threw a no-hitter for Lincoln on Thursday. Makes sense. Except when you consider the fact that Will Savage ALSO threw a no-hitter, two days earlier. And when you consider that unlike Gardner, Savage had two starts last week. His second, coming in Wichita’s division-clinching win on Sunday, involved Savage pitching seven innings and allowing one run. Actually, I don’t know if the league considers a Sunday start “last week”, but you’re telling me these guys couldn’t at least share the award? Ridiculous. Wingnut Dustan Mohr, however, was named Batter of the Week.

2. Amad Stephens was relased today in favor of new signee Julio Torres, a left-handed reliever

I guess I don’t have a problem with this move on a personnel level — Stephens’ ERA was over 9.00 and he recently had three very rough outings. That said, he was coming off two strong appearances and he did have an ERA under 2.00 last season. He might have deserved a little bit longer rope. Maybe you’d want to see what this guy has, since you’ve clinched a playoff spot and he could regain what he had last year. But it wasn’t all performance-based. I don’t think the Wingnuts’ brass was happy with Stephens conditioning, or his attitude toward it. Still, I’ll miss Amad, who from my experiences was a nice guy. Quite nice, actually. I hope he finds somewhere to play the rest of the season.

To balance out those problems, here are a couple things I’m encouraged by:

1. Brad Davis has changed his intro song back to “Country Man”

You might remember the debate on the blog last season — which was the better intro song, Mohr’s “Lean Like a Cholo” or Davis’ “Country Man”. I’m not sure if we ever established a clear consensus on that debate. The good news is, the debate can begin again for 2009, because Davis is going from whatever the heck his song was back to the original. If you come to Lawrence-Dumont Stadium tomorrow for Davis’ start against Sioux City, you’ll get to hear both songs and decide for yourself.

2. It’s pitching coach Luke Robertson’s birthday today!

How did I know? How does anybody know anybody else’s birthday these days? Facebook, of course. Luke, the king of knocking out headlights on beat-up trucks with thrown baseballs, turns 30 today. Really? He’s only 30? That’s a little bit shocking. But happy birthday anyway, Luke.

By Jeff Lutz | Filed under Uncategorized | Comments

The Clincher

June 28, 200912:07 p.m.

Man, these Wingnuts. They’re just a really, really good team. What more can you really say? Every time you think they’re going to go on a little skid and let a team back in the race, they reel off another winning streak and put it out of reach. After today, it could be out of reach for good. The Wingnuts are going for their eighth win in a row, which would clinch the American Association North Division first-half title. You know, the AANDFHT. Rolls right off the tongue.

How many All-Stars will this team have? Conceivably — though it won’t happen because there aren’t enough spots — it could have 10 — would you pick against Joe Muich, Steve Pearson, Josh Horn, Greg Porter, Dustan Mohr, Kelly Hunt, Derek Blacksher, Will Savage, Gabe Medina or Adam Cowart? Even Brad Davis has a legitimate chance. Richard Salazar. Justin Young. I think I get my ballot soon, so I’ll look over the numbers for the other North Division teams before I make my picks, obviously. But if Wichita is eight or nine games better than the second-best team in the division, they deserve to clean up on All-Star selections.

And truthfully, the Wingnuts are way, way ahead of every other team in the league. Kevin Hooper displayed sheer genius in putting together this team. Not that it’s perfect by any stretch, but he found guys who have reached the upper levels of the minor leagues and have plenty of incentive to get back to affiliated ball. The team is stocked with smart veterans who have good approaches. It’s really fun to watch. I’m not one to tell people what to do with their time, but any baseball fan in Wichita should come to Lawrence-Dumont Stadium, because as a fan I think this team would be easy to fall in love with.

Today, Will Savage will be going for his second consecutive no-hitter. That’s fun just to type, because the chances of it happening are very slim. That Savage even threw one no-hitter is pretty unlikely in itself because he doesn’t strike many guys out and most often pitches to contact. But there is more than one way to dominate, and if you can get 27 guys to hit easy groundballs, then you’re more than doing your job.

Before I go, I want to get a couple of plugs in. First one is for the recently concluded-for-the-summer Miracle Baseball League. I did the P.A. for two weeks of this league, which is for mentally and physically handicapped children, and I loved it. I’m not going to talk about how inspiring the kids are or anything like that, because to me that would downplay the fact that it just feels good to see kids — any kids — with smiles on their faces and having fun. I loved them all but I think my favorite was Tucker. He played for the Cardinals and looked a little bit like my nephew, Evan, and Tucker ALWAYS was smiling. I’m actually pretty sad that I won’t get to see him anymore. He brightened my day.

But also big props to Wingnuts pitchers Davis and Blacksher, who took time out to go hang with the kids yesterday and present medals to the Cardinals and Yankees teams. Davis and Blacksher also signed autographs for the kids and anyone else who wanted them.

The second plug is for The Kevin Hooper Show, a program hosted by Emily Maier on Channel 49. This is a shameless plug, because I’ve been trying to talk Emily into letting me on the show, but so far she’s been lukewarm about the idea. Emily is a former stud bowler and national champion at Wichita State, but clearly she has yet to grasp my multimedia superstardom. By the way, pretty much nobody in the world gets channel 49, but Emily does a serviceable job, at best.

That’s all for today. Talk to you soon. Here’s a clip of the world’s greatest singer, Don Henley, sounding the best I’ve ever heard him:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeYEGxUnt1U

By Jeff Lutz | Filed under Uncategorized | Comments

Good Will Savage

June 24, 20094:44 p.m.

I reached Will Savage by phone last night after his no-hitter against Sioux City and his first words were, “Jeff…Will Savage…no-hitter.” Pretty flippin’ funny. That dude cracks me up. When our brief conversation was over he said, “I want there to be a color photo on the front page tomorrow.”

Savage’s wasn’t the cleanest of no-hitters, with four walks and a hit batter, but that obviously doesn’t diminish his accomplishment. Savage wasn’t even a starter in the Phillies organization before being released in April and he only made six starts in college at Oklahoma. So to pitch a no-hitter in about the 14th start of his adult life is pretty amazing, regardless of the level at which he’s pitching.

And how about Greg Porter? This guy has been on a tear lately, already being named the American Association Batter of the Week twice this month. He has hit in 13 straight games, tying the Wingnuts record, and hit a solo home run last night for the game’s only run. Porter is now batting .385 with 7 homers and 27 RBIs with a .485 on-base percentage and .622 slugging percentage, both team bests. Porter has 27 walks and just 18 strikeouts.

But back to Savage — the kid hasn’t been getting much run support this season, starting two shutout losses already. His win last night was only his second of the season despite a 2.24 ERA. But he only needed that one run of support. Will Savage become the American Association’s Johnny Vander Meer? His next start will be on Sunday against St. Paul. We’re all expecting a repeat, Will.

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They Can Manage

June 22, 20095:09 p.m.

I was thinking the other day about all the managers I’ve covered on a day-to-day basis during my seven (I think) years covering major-, minor- and independent-league baseball. Now, my memory isn’t always the strongest, but I’m going to take a trip down Memory Lane and discuss all five of them. Each of them brought different things to the table personality-wise and were different levels of media friendly. This doesn’t have 100 percent to do with the Wingnuts, but I figure many of you will be interested since four of the managers I’ve covered have been in Wichita. Here we go:

Keith Bodie, Wranglers (2003) — The absolute worst manager to cover for a 20-year-old kid who was getting his first taste of covering professional baseball. I’ll give Bodie credit for being a smart baseball man, and he definitely would have some value as a roving instructor in a major league organization. But he just wasn’t a very good human being. There was no such thing as a good question with this guy, because no matter what you asked him, he made you feel like it was the dumbest thing ever said. I dreaded interviewing him after every game because I knew, win or lose, that he would have absolutely nothing positive to say about anyone or anything. It’s no surprise to me that he never climbed the managerial ranks because he wouldn’t have lasted as manager at a level higher than Double-A.

Frank White, Wranglers (2004-06) — The polar opposite of Bodie and a sigh of relief for me after covering the Wranglers under Bodie in 2003. The best indication I got that White was a nice man came during our one and only disagreement. I don’t even remember what it was about, but he dropped an expletive or two, never raised his voice and allowed me to voice my side. And that was it — it was over. I figured that if that was the worst he could be, then I had it pretty easy. Every other time I talked to White, he was quite even keel. Never got too excited about a win or dejected about a loss. A perfect leader in that sense, because during a 140-game season emotional roller coasters are healthy for no one. I hope White gets a shot to manage in the majors one day because I believe he has earned it. I enjoy listening to him in the Royals’ TV broadcast booth.

Bobby Cox, Atlanta Braves (2007) — I spent a summer internship in Atlanta working for MLB.com during the 2007 season and got a chance to cover and interact with one of the managerial legends of the game. Bobby is definitely the King of that franchise. Interviewing him before a game took skill — it was practically an art form. He’d have a baseball game on in his downstairs office (the smaller one) and a group of usually four or five reporters would cram in and talk about the events of the day. Once there was a lull in the conversation and it got silent, you could ask your question and usually no more than one follow up. Then the process would start again, and during the next lull it was somebody else’s turn to ask a question or two. If you didn’t get the answer you were looking for, you had to wait until the next rotation to try it again. I did my best to make an impression with Bobby by always being the first to answer every time he asked, “Who’s this?” about a player on TV he was unfamiliar with. “It’s Dallas Braden!” He wasn’t intimidating, but you definitely had to pick your spots. One of my career highlights is covering the game in which he set the MLB record for ejections.

Kash Beauchamp, Wingnuts (2008) — Most famous in Wichita (and probably elsewhere) for an infamous disagreement with an umpire, Beauchamp was adversely affected by the rigors of competition. He wanted to win too badly, and he brought down a lot of Wingnuts players with his overbearing clubhouse nature. But that was only one side of Beauchamp, who off the field was an enjoyable guy to be around. When I had time after games, I would sit in his office and just talk baseball with him before I began the official postgame interview. I was intrigued by his old-school approach to the game and he definitely brought a different viewpoint about in-game managing. I was also fascinated by the connection he had with his late father, Jim, who passed down that old-school approach to Kash. I think there was some regret on Kash’s part for never reaching the majors after being a No. 1 overall draft pick, but I don’t think it made him bitter. Kash could be done with baseball soon — he was recently let go as hitting coach of the Joliet (Ill.) Jackhammers of the Northern League and is doing instructional work in Taiwan. After that, according to his Facebook page, Kash will attempt to become a police officer or firefighter.

Kevin Hooper, Wingnuts (2009) — The jury is still out on Hooper’s managerial skills — he has obviously had good results thus far but 35 games don’t make a career. What is not arguable, however, is that Hooper has a positive effect on everybody he comes across and not just the players he manages. He is always upbeat, always energetic — most of his text messages end with an exclamation point. He’s no Kash Beauchamp in regard to juicy quotes, but being the antithesis of Beauchamp is more of a good thing for the Wingnuts franchise than bad. In fact, there are no drawbacks to it. All of the Wingnuts players love to play for Hooper and I definitely wouldn’t bet against him reaching his goal of becoming a major league manager. Hooper usually accomplishes his goals.

Thanks for reading. I’ll be back with some more Wingnuts tidbits soon.

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A Sixth Sense

June 14, 20094:11 p.m.

I was on my way to the Lawrence-Dumont Stadium press box last night when I had a premonition: The Wingnuts were going to beat the St. Paul Saints.

The Wingnuts were already losing 4-1 in the sixth inning, but I started thinking about how it seems like they win every Saturday night in front of big or sort-of-big crowds. And it also seemed like St. Paul should have been ahead by more than three runs at the time. The deficit seemed plenty surmountable.

I’m not right very often, but this time I was. The Wingnuts scored four late runs and plated the go-ahead run on a Michael Thompson single in the eighth. And don’t think I’m just saying that I called the win now to sound smart. I told Joel Lomurno and Josh Robertson about my premonition when I got back to the press box. So it’s documented.

I wasn’t crazy about the headline on the Wingnuts notes column in today’s newspaper — “Thompson’s production dropping off.” It seemed too simple. Yeah, his numbers aren’t as strong as they were at this time last year, but I thought I did a pretty good job of explaining why that is while pointing out that his numbers have a good chance of improving soon.

Thompson has dropped his strikeouts and is hitting a lot of balls hard. He has also improved his approach against an outside slider, the pitch that has given him the most trouble during his time with the Wingnuts. So really, his subpar batting average has a lot to do with bad luck — if he’s putting the ball in play often, more balls should be falling. They’re not right now, but that should change.

I would have gone with something like, “Thompson looking to regain form” or “Bad luck has Thompson’s numbers dipping.” Something like that. But I’m not a headline writer, so I have to trust the copy editors. I just don’t think Thompson’s numbers are dropping off. I think they have dropped off but are about to be on the upswing again.

The Wingnuts have another big game with St. Paul tonight, but it’s not as big as it would have been if they’d lost last night and were looking at a two-game division lead instead of a four-game lead. That’s quite a big difference when there are only 20 games left in the half.

Hope the rain stays away and we can play nine innings without interruption. Still no lineup sheets in the press box — I blame Schuster.

By Jeff Lutz | Filed under Uncategorized | Comments

Savage On Speed Dial

June 13, 20095:24 p.m.

Will Savage is probably regretting calling me from an unrestricted phone number.

I interviewed the Wingnuts pitcher on Thursday for a story that ran on Friday, then subsequently added him to the contacts list on my cell phone. I recently got a new phone and haven’t gotten around putting many numbers into it, so Savage’s is one of 10 numbers I have and the only contact whose name starts with ‘W’.

Following me so far? Good. So twice yesterday — not once but TWICE — I bumped the ‘W’ key while my phone was in my pocket. That resulted in two inadvertent calls to Savage in which he was the only one who realized he’d received a phone call.

Eventually, after Savage’s start last night, he called to inform me that he had two missed calls from me and that background noise had shown up on his voicemail. I guess it could be worse — I could have been bad-mouthing him while accidentally calling him or something. But he jokingly yelled at me, “STOP CALLING ME!!” And I texted him later that I was so self-conscious that I was checking my phone every 30 seconds to make sure I hadn’t called him and that adding him to my contacts list was making my life a living h___.

Moral of the story? Well, my phone is resting comfortably on the table next to me, never to see the inside of a pants pocket again.

Everything else that happened to the Wingnuts last night wasn’t as entertaining. They lost a 7-1 game to the St. Paul Saints and had probably their worst performance of the year, making three errors, committing baserunning mistakes and failing to come through in several scoring chances. But those games happen sometimes.

Now the key is bouncing back. Manager Kevin Hooper said last night that he doesn’t, and won’t, put more emphasis on any one game than he does on any other. We’ll see if that approach works. Wichita still has a three-game lead with 21 to play, but obviously anything can happen in those 21 games. Maybe the Wingnuts will need to develop a sense of urgency.

On the other hand, maybe they won’t. Pretty much everything Hooper has done this season has worked, so it’s difficult to think that his idea of staying on an even keel won’t, too. The Wingnuts have gotten where they are — first place — by playing relaxed, so there is no reason to believe they won’t stay in first using the same approach.

We’ll learn more tonight, when Wichita meets the Saints in the second game of the three-game series and six-game homestand. Check out what I think is a strong notes column tomorrow, with some well-researched information on Michael Thompson. Research is my favorite. But before I go, here’s a clip of my all-time favorite comedian, Cedric the Entertainer, speaking at the funeral of Bernie Mac last year. Try not to laugh out loud.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKW_2ECCQ4Y&feature=related

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More Fun To Cover

June 12, 20095:07 p.m.

Before I get to today’s blog topic, there is huge, breaking news coming out of Lawrence-Dumont Stadium today: The esteemed Jerry Taylor, whose official scorekeeping led to me being called a homer by an out-of-town-radio hack last season, has shaved his Grizzly Adams-like beard. Or has he — I’ve only seen this mystery man from afar so far today, so for all I know the Wingnuts have replaced Taylor with a clean-shaven man of similar height and build. I’ll confirm this story when I get a chance, with reaction from the principal characters.

OK, the topic today is: Which Wingnuts team is more fun to cover — last year’s or this year’s?

Ouch — that’s a tough question.

All right, where to start? Last season had Kash Beauchamp as manager, this year has Kevin Hooper. And I’m sure Hooper wouldn’t mind me saying that Beauchamp made for better postgame copy. You’ll never hear Hooper say, “I’d rather watch an egg boil” when describing his team’s offensive performace.

Looking at go-to player quotes, last year there was Byron Embry. He didn’t really have a filter when I went to him for a quote after the game, so there were plenty of interesting Embry quotes last season. But Embry also verbally (and almost physically) attacked me in the clubhouse.

After taking the near-attack into account, I’m giving the edge to this season, when I’ve mostly been using Greg Porter as my go-to quote. I think Greg gets ahead of himself a little bit when he’s talking, but he’s usually entertaining, and he provides some good insight.

But there are also players I go to when I just want a basic, honest assessment of what’s going on. Last year that player was Chris Colton, who was one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. Not necessarily the best quote, but I went to him anyway because he would shoot straight. That guy this year is Brenan Herrera, another player I get along well with.

Any discussion about which team is more fun to cover, however, has to include on-field performance. This year’s team is just better than last year’s — there’s no way around it. The 2008 Wingnuts weren’t terrible, but they weren’t all that good, either. As a beat reporter, you’re looking for a team that’s either really good or really bad — it just makes your job easier. This year’s team is really good.

My pick, then, for the team that is more fun to cover is this year’s Wingnuts. I like having a good team to write about and I am also happy for my friends in the front office, who are in much better moods this year. And I’m happy for Kevin Hooper and Josh Robertson, who put their heads together to formulate a roster that is stocked with talent and chemistry.

And that’s all I have to say about that.

       UPDATE: Taylor kept his mustache, causing him to now resemble a young Wilford Brimley instead of Grizzly Adams. His comment: “I haven’t seen my upper lip since I was 18.”

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Schuster Speaks (Or Types), Part II

June 11, 20091:21 a.m.

Here is my latest e-mail exchange with the voice of the Wingnuts, Steve Schuster:

1. Should Wingnuts fans already be ordering playoff tickets?  
It’s hard not to think about big things given how great a start the team is off to.  In fact, I don’t even think you can call it a “start” anymore since we are at the exact halfway point of the first half and the team still has the second best record in the entire league.  With that being said though, the Wingnuts currently have a 3.5 game lead over the Saints whom they will play nine times over the course of the next three consecutive weekends.  It will obviously be a make-or-break stretch where the Wingnuts could polish off the division very soon, or the Saints could gain some ground and really turn this into a race.  There are still many games to be played.
 
 
2. Is it fair that a team can earn a playoff spot based only on a performance over 48 games? Is that enough to determine a team’s skill level? 
Well, I think the team that wins the most games over the course of a season or half season is entitled to a playoff spot, regardless of how long the actual race was.  I think where the possible “unfairness” comes into play is if there is a team that finishes in second place in both halves, but does not make the playoffs because there was a different team that was better in each half.  Half seasons are common even in the affiliated minor leagues, and it’s not as if they are something new.  Managers go into a season knowing that they are essentially playing two seasons each summer and make decisions accordingly.  Would it be any more fair if it were just one long season and a team that was in first place the whole season ended up falling short because some of their players were picked up in August and they just weren’t as good in those final two weeks?
 
 
3. Will Adam Cowart be a fixture in the rotation or will Richard Salazar push his way back in from the bullpen? 
Cowart should only get better as he continues to re-stretch himself out in that role after having been a reliever for nearly an entire year.  His numbers speak for themselves as a starting pitcher, so I would imagine that he would stay in the rotation.  Kevin Hooper had said that putting Cowart in the rotation and moving Salazar to the bullpen is a move that made both aspects of the pitching staff better and that is something I agree with.  Now the Wingnuts have two reliable lefties in the bullpen whereas some teams around the league don’t have a lefty in their bullpen period.
 
 
4. Will the Wingnuts get to five roster moves this season?
If they do it will be due to either injuries or because someone is picked up by an organization.  The team has gelled very nicely over the first 24 games and all 22 players have shown that they can contribute.  It’s definitely not a bad problem to have.  Sioux Falls only made two or three moves all of last season and they won the whole thing.
 
 
5. If you had to guess, which player will or should be the first picked up by a major league organization?
I would love to see Steve Pearson get an opportunity to play in affiliated baseball.  His first three years in professional baseball have all been in the independent ranks, so you root for a guy like that to get a chance with an organization.  He works as hard as anyone on the team and does not have any flaws in his game.  He and Patrick Brooks stay at the park after every home game and take late-night batting practice to try and get better.  You have to appreciate that type of work ethic.
 
 
6. Does the alignment of the infield, with Herrera moving to second and Horn moving to shortstop, make the Wingnuts better defensively? 
Well, I think that was more of a temporary thing to try and give Herrera more of an opportunity to rest his hamstring.  I’ve said it before, I think Herrera is as smooth a player as there is in this league.  I know some on your website have pointed to his error totals, but as someone who watches him everyday, I can tell you that he has great hands with speed, range, and an arm.  There is just an adjustment period right now moving to short from second base and I think the transition will be fine once the hamstring heals.  He’s the kind of guy you want the ball hit to in a big spot.
 
 
7. Will the Wingnuts find an adequate defensive left fielder? Does it even matter?  
Greg Porter just won Batter of the Week and had an 8-game hitting streak end yesterday in which he was hitting .514.  He is hitting .330 for the season right now and I don’t even think we have seen what he is fully capable of yet.  He’ll be the first person to tell you that he’s not Willie Mays in the outfield, but for anyone who doesn’t think he can catch a ball, they should probably take a look at this video at around 30 seconds in: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QeBLuhMHT0
 
 
8. Will Michael Thompson, who had little to show for several hard-hit balls in the Lincoln series, be as valuable offensively this year as he was last year?  
Josh Horn went through a similar stretch at the beginning of the season where he was making good contact but just wasn’t experiencing the paydirt he deserved.  Horn is now batting .293 and I think Thompson will see a similar improvement if he keeps hitting the ball the way he has over the last 10 days.
 
 
9. Do you consider Steve Pearson, who has a high average complemented with a good walk rate, the unsung offensive star of the team? What are reasonable end-of-season projections for him? 
I don’t really consider him unsung.  His work ethic combined with his focus on hitting the ball to all parts of the field this year have produced the results we are seeing right now.  Don’t forget that this guy tied for the team lead in RBI last year and pretty much carried the offense in June and July.  I think the adjustments he has made for this season have made him a much more consistent player and I think he could be a legitimate .320-.330 hitter by the end of the season with a lot of doubles.
 
 
10. The Wingnuts are leading the American Association in runs scored and ERA. With which facet of the team have you been more impressed? 
It’s fun to watch the offense, especially its ability to hit in the clutch, but the pitching is really the reason why the Wingnuts are in the position they are right now.  The starters are not only keeping the team in the game, but they are also giving at least six innings almost every night.  That in turn has kept the bullpen fresh and allowed the relievers to thrive too.  It will be the pitching that carries this team to a division title and beyond.
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Feeling Salty

June 5, 20095:29 p.m.

I’m coming to you live from Lawrence-Dumont Stadium, where tonight your Wichita Wingnuts will be taking on the Saltdogs out of Lincoln, Neb.

I’m not saying I’ll be getting tired of seeing the same teams come into the L-D, but here are the first seven home opponents for the Wingnuts this season:
Lincoln
Sioux Falls
St. Paul
Lincoln
St. Paul
Sioux Falls
St. Paul

Exciting, isn’t it? Those are all opponents from the American Association North Division, and it makes sense that most of the Wingnuts’ games are against North Division rivals. I’m just saying it wouldn’t kill me to see some new faces once in a while.

Actually, Lincoln does have one new face — Pichi Balet, who played for the St. Paul Saints last season and has some pretty good independent league seasons under his belt. Unfortunately, I can’t really stand Balet. Something about him. He was one of two players last season that I just did not like — the other was Josh Patton of Sioux Falls. The guy dogged it ALL the time. Good player, but if you’re going to act like you’re entitled, you probably should be playing in the majors.

The repeated opponents will also prevent me from interacting much with the other team’s radio guys. Longtime readers of this blog know about my fallout with the St. Paul guy, who last season called me a homer for a first-year independent league team and apparently has yet to recognize the idiocy in that statement. And the Lincoln guy dislikes me because I poked some harmless fun at him for taking grounders last season. But I enjoyed that on a completely non-mean level.

The Wingnuts have had some lineup changes recently after going with pretty much the same batting order during the first 13 games. Joe Muich has moved up to fifth from seventh, Mike Thompson to eighth from sixth, and Dustan Mohr and Kelly Hunt have each moved up a spot, now hitting Nos. 3-4, respectively. And Brenan Herrera, formerly of the No. 2 spot, is hitting near the bottom of the order now.

Not sure why manager Kevin Hooper has opted for a lineup change. Part of it is that Herrera is battling a sore hamstring and his at-bats should be minimized so he doesn’t worsen it. Josh Horn has taken over the No. 2 slot, at least for now. I’ll talk to Hooper about the lineup changes after the game and have a note on it Sunday.

One commentor asked if the Wingnuts might be interested in Ken Harvey, who was recently released by the Kansas City T-Bones. It’s hard to believe Harvey is only 31 — it seems like he’s been around forever. And he kind of has — he made his major league debut in 2001 but injuries have prevented him from repeating his early success.

My first guess would be that the Wingnuts probably don’t have an interest in Harvey. But I suppose he could be an option — American Association roster rules mandate that four “veterans” (players with at least five years of pro experience) can play on a team, and Wichita currently has three. So he would fit, but I think Wichita is  happy enough with its first base/designated hitter combo of Steve Pearson and Kelly Hunt and won’t give Harvey a look.

Finally, tonight is a little bit sad because I’ll be without my press box cohort Joel T. Lomurno. The Thunder general manager is in Phoenix to attend Central Hockey League meetings and won’t be back until Sunday. That will make the press box a less entertaining place for yours truly tonight. Joel’s a funny guy, as evidenced by the “favorite quotes” section of my facebook page. See you Sunday, Joel.

And see you soon, Wingnuts fans.

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