Lake Monsters double up Tigers 6-3..

tonight at Dodd. PJ Polk's two run homer was the offensive highlight for the Tigers. The Tigers try to salvage one game of the three game set Friday as a big crowd is expected.

CT Tigers did lose last night 8-7 in a 3 hr 33 minute

game before 1200 of the faithful. I'll be at Dodd Friday and hopefully Sunday on this homestand.

Nunez!!

Old friend Alexander Nunez is back with the Tigers. Nunez was the everyday 2B last season.
Tigers are currently on the short end of a see-saw 8-7 ballgame headed into the 9th. Tigers starter Wilsen Palacios was out of the game before the first inning was over. VT dropped a two out popup with the bases loaded as the Tigers rallied to take a 6-3 lead but the Lake monsters have fought their way back.

Misc fan notes: I'll have more pics in the morning! Pics top to bottom are:

Palacios, Chad Wright, Matt Perry, PJ Polk and Nick Avila

ValleyCats hang on and beat Tigers 6-5

at Tri-City. Luis Sanz takes the loss to fall to 1-1 on the season. The Tigers offense banged out 14 hits with Chad Wright going 3 for 5 and Colin Kaline and Dean Green knocking in a pair of runs each.
See you at Dodd tomorrow!

Tigers blank ValleyCats 6-0 behind...

a 11 hit attack. Patrick Leyland, Detriot Tigers manager Jim Leyland son, went 2 for 5 with a pair of RBIs in his season debut.
Tigers starter Tyler Berrett went 5 IP to pick up his first win. The 6-5 Tigers return to Dodd Wednesday to face the Vermont Lake Monsters.

Tigers beat ValleyCats 3-1....

as all the scoring happened in the 9th inning. Jason King's solo homer gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead and later in the inning C Zach maggard blasted a two run homer to make it 3-0. Keven Hess (1-0) picks up the win in relief and Dan Bennett gets his first save as CT moves to 4-4 on the season.

Tigers and Lake Monsters game suspended...

in the fifth inning with the Tigers leading 2-0. Game will be picked up the next time the Tigers visit Vermont at the end of August.

Tigers lose 4-2 to Vermont...

as the CT trend of sloppy baseball continued as the Tigers committed six errors in all. Ryan Woolley (0-1) took the loss giving up an unearned run in the seventh inning to the Lake Monsters.
The Tigers managed just five hits for the second straight game. Les Smith doubled in both Tigers run in the fourth inning that tied the game at the time. The Tigers look to salvage one game of the three game set to against tomorrow against Vermont.

OMG!! A CT Tigers commercial

just aired on YES!! And it's very well done...does anyone know if it's the same one that aired last year? I never saw that one...

Win one, lose one and repeat three times....

at least that's the 2011 season in a nutshell for the Tigers as they lose 6-1 to the Vermont Lake Monster in South Burlington, VT tonight as CT evens it's record to 3 up and 3 down in the win/loss columns.
Luis Sanz (1-1) takes the loss for the Tigers. The offense scratched out just five singles with Chad Wright getting a pair of them. A Dean Green RBI groundout scoring Wright accounted for the lone CT run.

Phil Hughes To Make Rehab Start At New Britain Friday

Phil Hughes To Make Rehab Start At New Britain Friday

Rained out...first ppd on the season...

Tigers back at Dodd next week....

10 walks, 3 errors, 2 HBP and somehow the Tigers win 5-2..

scoring all five runs in the bottom of the 8th over Tri City to even the series at one game each. Tigers took advantage of sloopy defense to pull this one out Luis Sanz (1-0) takes the hill for CT (3-2) tomorrow in the rubber game.

My original game recap just got lost!!

To quickly recap: A very lively crowd of 2339 on hand to enjoy the first night of summer along with $1 hot dogs.
Props to Bryan Barkley and his grounds keeping crew; the field looks great!!

Pics top to bottom: Tigers starter Tyler Barrett who went just two innings, Simir Rijo-sac fly, Jason King-RBI single, Pedro Perez-4 IP of one hit shutout ball in relief.

ValleyCats rout Tigers 11-2 to spoil

CT's 2011 home opener before 3,569 fans at Dodd tonight. Matt Couse (0-1) takes the loss as the ValleyCats went thru most of the Tigers bullpen with success. The only spark for the hometown fans was Zach Maggard's 2 run homer as CT falls to 2-2 on the young season.

Misc fan notes: hated missing the home opener; I have not missed many over the years! Looking forward to being at Dodd Tuesday and Wednesday!

Looking at the box score I see 2010 OF PJ Polk is back with the team, coming down from West Michigan.

The crowd tonight beats last year's opener; LY drew 3120 vs TY's 3569!! Let's hope the trend grows!!

Tigers take the rubber game 3-1 today

against the Spinners in Lowell. CT (2-1) jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the first on a sac fly by Samir Rijo and a RBI single by Zach Maggard. They added a run in the fifth inning on a triple by Jason King (2 for 5 2 runs scored) and a Rijo RBI single.
Meanwhile Tigers starter Brennan Smith (1-0) pitched 5.1 IP of 3 hit shutout ball with 9 Ks to his credit. Jeff Barfield picked up a 2.1 IP save, the first Tigers save of the 2011 season.

Misc fan notes: Home Opener Monday, which I'm missing--long story. I should be at Dodd Tuesday and Wednesday.

RIP, Big Man

in addition to seeing him with Bruce several times, I saw him fronting the Red Bank Rockers back in the early 80's in a small club in Stonington, CT.

Tigers lose 3-2 to Lowell as..

CT pitchers only gave up two hits but one was a three run homer by Spinner 1b Boss Moanaroa off reliver Pedro Perez (0-1). CT scored a run on an error and added a solo shot by LF Edwin Gomez in the eight inning.
Wilsen Palacios started for the Tigers and gave up just a hit in 4IP. The Tigers and Spinners play the robber game Sunday with Brennan Smith taking the hill for the Tigers. Smith played for CT last year and returns to the Tigers from West Michigan. With the Whitecaps, Smith was 1-3, a 4.99 ERA in 39.2 IP over 9 games.

Tigers top Spinners 7-2....

in Lowell, MA in the 2011 season opener for both teams. Luis Sanz (1-0) started for the Tigers and went 5 innings giving up 5 hits and both Lowell runs. Clemente Mendoza (3 IP) and Kevan Hess (1 IP) threw no hit ball the rest of the way. Tigers pitchers struck out 9 Spinners in total.

Second year 3B Matt Perry hit CT's first homer of the season, a two run shot, and newcomer RF Samir Rijo went 2 for 5, with a pair of doubles with 3 RBIs. C Zach Maggard and DH Javier Azcona contributed RBI doubles to pace a nine Tiger attack.

Pic is Matt Perry from last year.

Rayni Guichardo...

with the Bulletin's Joe Perez yesterday at media day. Joe noted in his piece today that Rayni, a 2010 CT Tigers starting pitcher, will be working out of the bullpen this season.

2011 Tigers roster..

includes a bunch of players from last season's team: pitchers Drew Gagnier, Rayni Guichardo, Kevan Hess, Patrick Lawson, Clemente Mendoza, Tim Mowry, Wilsen Palacios and Luis Sanz and outfielder Les Smith
The roster is rounded out by pitchers: Nick Avila, Jeff Barfield, Tyler Barrett, Fernando Celis, Matt Crouse, Melvin Mercedes, Pedro Perez, and Ryan Woolley.

Catchers: Zach Maggard and Adolfo Reina

Infielders: Javier Azcona, Rodger Green, Jeff Holm, Colin Kaline and Jason King.

Outfielders: Edwin Gomez, Bo McClendon, Samir Rijo and Chad Wright

I'm sure this roster will have some twist and turns to it prior to Opening Day both on the road and at home Monday. A look at the Tigers roster posted online shows several different player. The info I listed above was from the roster the team provided for today's media day.

Some baseball bloodlines extended here are: Nick Avila is cousin to Detroit Tigers catcher Alex Aliva and his uncle is Tigers asst, GM Al Avila. Colin Kaline's grandfather is baseball great Al Kaline. Bo McClendon's father Lloyd is a former MLBB player and curent Detriot Tigers bitting coach. I'll have some pictures posted later.

Pics top to bottom: Kaline, McClendon,and Hess

Jason King...CT Tigers 3B...

from Detroit Fox Sports:

"Jason King lost his mother to cancer during his senior year of high school. Less than three years later, he tore the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow, underwent Tommy John surgery and missed the 2010 season.

All the heartache, pain and misfortune only made King, a switch-hitting third baseman at Kansas State, more determined than ever to live out his dream of playing professional baseball.

In difficult times, King often thought back to his mother's request in her dying days: "Don't mourn my death, put a smile on your face and move forward."

That message was posted on the refrigerator in the family's home in Dublin, Ohio. Carrying out his mom's motto is a big reason King will fulfill his dream later this week when he joins the Detroit Tigers' minor-league system.

King, through it all, kept moving forward. He was selected in the fourth round by Detroit in the recent major league draft. He is expected to begin his pro career Friday with the Connecticut Tigers, a Single-A short-season affiliate.

"I'm proud as hell of him for staring adversity in the face and saying, 'I'm going to win,' " said Jeff King, Jason's father and a former baseball player at Ohio State from 1982-84.

Jason King, who turned 22 on Tuesday, chuckled as he reflected on the start of his pro career.

"I've been pretty much groomed for this from birth," he said.

His dad put a batting cage in the basement of their home and taught his two sons to become switch-hitters from the first day they could swing a bat.

Meanwhile, King's grandfather on his mother's side was a former Ohio State football player. Frank Ellwood played quarterback for legendary coach Woody Hayes in the mid-1950s and later was an assistant on Hayes' staff before becoming the head coach at Marshall.

"I had it coming at me from both sides my whole life," Jason King said, laughing.

The family changed forever in July 2005, when Jason King's mother, Susan, was diagnosed with colon cancer. She died Nov. 7, 2006."

CT roster starting to take shape...

From the Detroit News:

"Detroit— There's a new Kaline in the Tigers organization.

Colin Kaline, selected in the 26th round of the draft last week, has signed a contract, taken a physical and will soon be doing what his Hall of Fame grandfather, Al, never had to do — play minor league baseball.

"He's absolutely thrilled," Al Kaline said Sunday. "He signed right away, went down to Lakeland for his physical and is headed to Connecticut.

"Now I have to figure out a way to go see him play."

An infielder who graduated from Florida Southern College, Colin Kaline will report to the Single A Connecticut Tigers of the New York-Penn League. "

The opener is Friday.

One of his teammates will be Patrick Leyland, son of Tigers manager Jim Leyland.

At Florida Southern, Kaline won an award for being the top male scholar-athlete with a 3.61 grade-point average. His major was human movement and performance.

Dom Amore: For UConn Draftees, Business Can Wait

Dom Amore: For UConn Draftees, Business Can Wait

GO Huskies!

From today's Hartford Courant:

"COLUMBIA, S.C. — The Huskies arrived at South Carolina's $35 million college baseball palace two wins away from the sport's ultimate destination.

Still, to some they are strangers in paradise.

"Our fans are the same way," George Springer said, when asked if he was "envious" of the lavish facility and the support it suggests for baseball at South Carolina, "but when it's 40 degrees and the wind is blowing and you have to get bundled up for two hours, it's not as much fun for them to watch."

The Huskies, accustomed to playing in front of shivering crowds of perhaps 100 fans at J.O. Christian Field, take their talents to Carolina Baseball Stadium, where there could be as many as 10,000 on hand Saturday night at 6 p.m. for Game 1 of the NCAA super regional against the defending champion South Carolina Gamecocks. The winner of this best-of-three series moves on to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb., where no New England school has competed since 1986.

In another battle of aces, Matt Barnes (11-4, 1.62 ERA) will pitch for the Huskies against South Carolina's Michael Roth (12-3. 1.10).

"There are a lot of great players from up where we are," said UConn's LJ Mazzilli, who grew up in Greenwich, "and I think we've shown that if we're all pulling in the same direction, it doesn't matter what stage you put in front of us, we can overcome it."

The Huskies bring the can-do attitude into this series after fighting their way out of the losers bracket to win the Clemson Regional last week, a task that included four wins in three days, the last two over the host school.

"That was a pretty strong statement, right there," said South Carolina coach Ray Tanner. "Arguably, Clemson was the best team in the country the last few weeks. Connecticut was expected to be where they are. They're not just a team that 'got hot at the right time.' They were prognosticated to be one of the teams playing at the end."

Wherever the Huskies go, they are still peppered with questions about the weather back home. To come from a cold-weather climate and advance this deep into the Division I tournament has always seemed impossible — especially to fans from long-dominant warm-weather programs like South Carolina.

"We've shown that we have a lot of mental toughness," UConn coach Jim Penders said.

The challenge, though, ratchets up still higher this week. The Gamecocks, as defending champions, know how to win and most of their players have been this far more than once — this is their coach's ninth super regional in 12 years. Roth, a lefthander who was chosen in the 31st round by the Indians, won April pitching duels against Sonny Gray of Vanderbilt and Alex Meyer of Kentucky, both first-round picks like Barnes.

"I just got to be who I am," said Roth, echoing one of his coach's mantras. Tanner said he does not involve his players too deeply in scouting reports, but just coaches them to do the things they do best. One of those things is holding runners, so UConn probably won't be stealing as many bases as it did last weekend.

Barnes, a first-round pick (19th overall) by the Red Sox, will try to rebound from his worst start of the year, a 13-1 loss to Coastal Carolina to open the Clemson Regional.

"I'm just going to go out and do what I've done all year, go out and try to give us a quality start," Barnes said. "We all understand they have a phenomenal team here."

The Gamecocks (48-14), who beat Stetson to win their regional, are hitting .296 as a team, with 44 home runs, outscoring opponents, 384-199. Their strength is pitching, with Roth and closer Matt Price (63 strikeouts in 48 innings). South Carolina's staff ERA is 2.65.

Springer, picked 11th overall by Houston, has been going easy since tweaking his hamstring rounding second base Monday night, but he practiced with the team on Friday and seemed to be moving fine. The Huskies (45-18-1) have a .311 batting average with 34 homers, outscoring opponents, 421-248, and a team ERA of 3.03.

"I know it sounds like coach-speak," Tanner said, "but Connecticut is really good, and we're going to have to play our best to win.""

MLB Draft: Tigers tab New Canaan's Curt Casali in the 10th round - Rivalry Central | Red Sox -- Yankees

MLB Draft: Tigers tab New Canaan's Curt Casali in the 10th round - Rivalry Central | Red Sox -- Yankees

Tiger standout Jim Northrup dies...

A Mid-Michigan native who became a baseball legend has died | abc12.com

UConn Baseball's Final Tally: 10 Huskies Drafted - Rivalry Central | Red Sox -- Yankees

UConn Baseball's Final Tally: 10 Huskies Drafted - Rivalry Central | Red Sox -- Yankees

Like high school kids showing their acceptance letters, UConn baseball players gathered to monitor theMLB draft on Tuesday and see who was going where.

"It's kind of good that we had an off day so we could enjoy it," shortstop Nick

The Huskies, who were enjoying at day off in Clemson, S.C., before heading across the state to Columbia to begin preparing for the NCAA Super Regional this weekend against South Carolina, were only part of the banner year for Connecticut baseball talent.

Amity's Jason Esposito, the slick-fielding, power hitting third baseman for Vanderbilt, was chosen early in the second round, by theOrioles at No. 64. Esposito's teammate, catcher Curt Casali of New Canaan, was selected by the Tigers in the 10th round, so he may get the chance to begin his pro career close to home, with the Norwich-based Connecticut Tigers of the NY-Penn League.

Ahmed was both a pitcher and an infielder at East Longmeadow, Mass., and chose UConn, in part, because coach Jim Penders was interested in him as a position player. Ahmed has worked occasionally in relief for the Huskies, and many scouts had expressed the opinion that pitching was his strong suit. But Ahmed's stellar play for UConn in the Big East/Big Ten Challenge in Florida in February turned heads.

On April 25, Ahmed was injured in a collision against Quinnipiac and spent two weeks in the hospital with a tube in his chest, waiting for a collapsed lung to heal and seal.

"I was concerned at first," Ahmed said. "But the people I talked to assured me that my injury wasn't a long-term thing and it wouldn't affect the draft at all."

Ahmed returned for the Big East tournament, and he was name to the All-Regional team at shortstop Monday. Braves scouting director Tony Macio was in Clemson to scout Ahmed.

"He's a tough kid," Macio told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "He played the last [two] weeks in a flak jacket."

The Braves will keep Ahmed, hitting .333 with 35 RBI, at shortstop.

Outfielder John Andreoli, who had a 21-game hitting streak this season, was taken by the Brewers in the 17th round, 519th overall. Greg Nappo, MVP of the Regional, was chosen in the 18th round by the Marlins (553rd); Closer Kevin Vance went to the White Sox in the 19th round, (591st); Nemeth, the slugging first baseman, went to the Brewers in the 21st round (641st) and reliever David Fischer went to the Giants in the 30th round (927th).

In addition to Esposito and Vanderbilt, other state players from out-of-state colleges who were picked include Montville's Taylor Lewis, centerfielder from Maine, who was taken by the Pirates in the 10th round (302nd), and Stratford's Dan Paolini, second baseman at Siena, went to the Mariners with the next pick. Wallingford's Tyler Mizenko, a righthander at Winthrop, went to the Giants in the 28th.

Among state high school players, Southington pitcher Sal Romano, who intends to go to Tennessee, was taken in the 23rd round by the Reds, who could try to entice him away from college.

Yale pitcher Brook Hart was taken by the Rockies in the 23rd round and UConn-Avery Point pitcher Sean Donatello went to the Marlins in the 25th.

Dunedin (Fla.) High shortstop Casey Turgeon, who has committed to Florida, was drafted in the 22nd round by the Mets. Turgeon's brother is former UConn player Erik Turgeon, now a reliever with the Binghamton Mets of the Eastern League. His uncle Dave was a UConn assistant in 2004-05 and now manages State College (Pa.) of the New York-Penn League. Erik's and Casey's father is Steve Turgeon, who played in the Cardinals system. Steve, Dave and their brother Mike are from Groton. Dave and Mike also played in the minors.

The final day of the draft is Wednesday with Rounds 31-50.
Copyright © 2011, The Hartford Courant
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From the HartfordCourant:

"George Springer, UConn's five-tool center fielder, was taken by the Houston Astros with the 11th pick in the Major League Baseball amateur draft on Monday night.

Matt Barnes, UConn's ace pitcher, was selected by the Red Sox with the 19th pick.

Springer, 21, from New Britain and Avon Old Farms, is UConn's all-time home run leader with 45. He is also a base-stealing artist and a rangy center fielder with an above average arm.


Expected to be picked high, Springer, 6 feet 3, 200 pounds, was invited to MLB Network headquarters for their coverage of the first round, but UConn had other plans, advancing to the NCAA Regional. Springer and UConn were playing Clemson in the regional final Monday night as the draft was going on.

Springer took a .350 average with 12 homers and 76 RBI into the game, with an on-base-plus-slugging mark of 1.086. He was drafted in the 48th round by the Twins three years ago, but chose to attend UConn.

Barnes, who turns 21 on June 17, was 11-3 with a 1.12 ERA for UConn going into the NCAA tournament, but his last start was not a good one, allowing seven earned runs in 4 1/3 innings in a loss to Coastal Carolina to raise his ERA to 1.62 with 111 strikeouts in 116 innings. However, scouts had been flocking to his starts all year and consistently listed him among the top pitchers in a draft pool considered unusually deep in college pitching talent.

Barnes, 6-4 and 215, reached 97 mph with his fastball, even after passing the 100-pitch mark in games. UConn coaches did not allow him to throw more than 113 pitches in a game this season, so he came through his junior year with apparently good arm health.

Barnes, who was not drafted out of Bethel High, is the third UConn pitcher to be drafted in the first round, following Colin McLaughlin (Blue Jays , 1980) and Charles Nagy (Indians, 1988). Scott Burrell, a basketball player at UConn, was drafted as a pitcher by the Jays in 1989."

UCONN advances and two of it's players are taken in the first round...nice day!!


.

UConn Does It! Huskies Beat Clemson, Advance In NCAAs With 14-1 Win; South Carolina Next

UConn Does It! Huskies Beat Clemson, Advance In NCAAs With 14-1 Win; South Carolina Next

UConn Wins 2; Plays Clemson Again Monday For NCAA Regional Title

UConn Wins 2; Plays Clemson Again Monday For NCAA Regional Title

Home Opener in 2 weeks!....

UConn Survives To Face Clemson

UConn Survives To Face Clemson

Brandon Crawford's grand slam in debut lifts San Francisco Giants - San Jose Mercury News

Brandon Crawford's grand slam in debut lifts San Francisco Giants - San Jose Mercury News

I kept meaning to post this....

Hard news about "The Kid"..

earlier this week...I forgotten he played for the Giants in 1990 for a season.

Former Navs Kevin Correia beats the Mets...

last night to become the first MLBB pitcher to win 8 games. Oddly, I don't have any pics of him with the Navs in 2003 (he was 6-6 in 14 games before going to Fresno) I guess I kept missing his starts...

I'm a Yankees fan and sometimes wonder if I had to root for another MLBB team which would it be? In the AL I'd go with the Royals (that would have been a good farm system to roll into Dodd) or the Twins because of the RockCats.

Maybe now in the NL I'd go with the Pirates because of the mix guys they have; young guys and castoffs, like Correia, Neil Walker, Bowker, Andew McCutchen etc...
Anyway Pirates play the Mets this afternoon on SNY if you're looking for a game on a light MLBB schedule today...

Last season's home Opening Day lineup...