NOTES courtesy of team historian Bob Lipman as the Fisher Cats play their next dozen games against Harrisburg and Altoona: NH will finish below .500 in July, the first losing month since July 2006 when going 11-19 … Monday’s loss was only the second all season when the team led after eight innings. The Fisher Cats are 202-6 all-time when leading after eight innings …The team has not won a series since June 30-July 3 (at Portland), but still trails the Sea Dogs by just 1.5 games in the Northern Division … Fisher Cats are just 2-8 all-time at Harrisburg. The Senators swept the Fisher Cats last April 24-26 at Commerce Bank.
BASEBALL SUPERFAN Tim Riley is visiting 180 professional baseball parks in 180 days to raise money for the Jimmy Fund. Just thinking of all those hot dogs French fries makes me want a salad. Talk about a road trip.
The mapquesting maniac will attend Monday’s Fisher Cats game on Day 114 of the journey. Check out his blog and read some interesting posts at www.tourforthecure.org.
A sampling from Day 109: “We headed up to Toronto and of course got searched crossing the border. Apparently our ‘going to see a Blue Jays game’ story was a bit too suspicious, and I guess the border guard thought it was odd for three Americans to do such a crazy thing.”
NEW HAMPSHIRE moved back into second-place with a payback 9-2 win over Portland on Wednesday night. It’s been a while since I’ve offered some compelling behind-the-scenes information on the team, so here you go:
– How long can New Hampshire stay in playoff position with this pitching staff? The Fisher Cats entered Thursday with one of the worst team ERAs (4.57) and most hits allowed (921) in the Eastern League.
– Sergio Santos is looking to sell the tractor he won as champion of the the Eastern League All-Star Game Home Run Derby. A check for $1,200 will get you an autographed John Deere tractor.
– Hitting coach Ken Joyce is preparing to spend at least $200 on steaks to feed the hitters. A while back, he told the Fisher Cats he’d buy them a steak dinner if they collected 20 hits in a game. It happened at Portland, and the Fishers are going to collect on next week’s trip to Maine.
– If you haven’t read the story on Matt Roney: Biggest Head in Baseball, check out Thursday’s On Baseball column.
– Lack of quality starting pitching has been killing the Fishers, who’ve remarkably stayed in playoff position with potent hitters. New Hampshire starters through the first 47 games owned a 17-15 record with a 3.55 ERA. In the next 47 games, NH starters were 10-19, 6.41 ERA. That’s a Bob Lipman statman special.
– Good luck to Fisher Cats office manager Kelly Spain, who’s taking another job to work at Wedu communications.
CATCHING UP with the members of the Blue Jays who played for the Fisher Cats:
Aaron Hill, 2B — The Fishers’ 2004 shortstop will be getting married in November. Actually spent part of All-Star break in Florida to pick out wedding bands.
Dustin McGowan, RHP — Won the first-ever Fisher Cats game at Gill Stadium in 2004. Has refused to shave those hideous sideburns since throwing a one-hitter against the Rockies.
It was A.J. Burnett’s idea to grow the muttonchops, according to McGowan. “My wife is the only one who likes them, and she’s the only one that counts,” McGowan said.
Shaun Marcum, RHP — Has jumped at the opportunity to start and picked up his fifth win on Friday night at Boston. “I was hoping to be in the starting rotation from the get-go,” Marcum said.
Casey Janssen, RHP — His 2.30 ERA currently leads Toronto. In 2005, he beat Portland in his Double-A debut, the same day Chip Cannon fired his first homer for New Hampshire.
Jesse Litsch, RHP — Makes his sixth big-league start on Sunday afternoon at Fenway Park.
Howie Clark, INF — Forever linked with A-Rod from the play in which Rodriguez was accused of yelling “Mine!” while Clark was preparing to catch a pop up at third base.
Jordan De Jong, RHP — Remains absolutely thrilled each day his hotel key works in the big leagues.
Brian Wolfe, RHP — A better reliever with the Toronto than he was with NH.
JOHN SCHNEIDER cracked up in the batter’s box upon hearing the debut of his walk-up song for the Fisher Cats. Naturally, I had to look up Jimmy Dean’s old lyrics if see if there was a match. (And, by the way, Schneider is listed at 6-foot-3, 220 pounds). Here you go …
Big John
Big John
Every morning at the mine you could see him arrive
He stood 6-foot-6 and weighed 245
Kinda broad at the shoulder and narrow at the hip
Everybody knew you didn’t give no lip to Big John
Big John
Big John
Big Bad John
Big John
Nobody seemed to know where John called home
He just drifted into town and stayed all alone
He didn’t say much, kinda quiet and shy
If ya spoke at all, ya just said hi to Big John
Somebody said he came from New Orleans
Where he got in a fight o’er a cajun queen
And a crashin’ blow from a huge right hand
Sent a Lousianna fella to the promised land, Big John
chorus
Then came the day at the bottom of the mine
When a timber cracked and men started cryin’
Miners were prayin’ and hearts beat fast
And everybody thought they’d breathed their last, ‘cept John
Through the dust and the smoke of this man-made hell
Walked a giant of a man that the miners knew well
Grabbed the saggin’ timber and gave out with a groan
And like a giant oak tree, just stood there alone, Big John
chorus
And with all of his strength he gave a mighty shove
Then a miner yelled out, there’s a light up above
And twenty men scrambled from a would-be grave
now there’s only one left down there to save, Big John
With jacks and timbers they started back down
Then came that rumble way down in the ground
As smoke and gas belched outta the mine
Everybody knew it was the end of the line for Big John
chorus
Now, they never re-opened that worthless pit
They just placed a marble stand in front of it
These few words are written on that stand,
At the bottom of this mine lies one Hell of a man, Big John
REHABBING major leaguer Lyle Overbay put on quite a show with five RBI in the Fisher Cats’ 6-4 triumph over the Sea Dogs on Saturday night. Batting with the bases loaded in the fifth inning, Overbay jolted a first-pitch fastball over the right-field wall to give New Hampshire the lead for good. It was a majestic shot that proved a point for hitting coach Ken Joyce.
“We’ve been telling these guys all year to be more aggressive with the first pitch in that situation. We have some guys that have watched that pitch right down the middle,” Joyce said. “It was nice to see a major leaguer show them what we’re talking about.”
Other notes and highlights:
– Fisher Cats manager Bill Masse was surprised when his 3-year-old, Rowan, took the public address microphone and wished his father a happy birthday between innings. Masse turned 41 on Friday.
We hope Masse stays in town for a while, but his next job should be managing third base in the big leagues. The guy’s instincts are money. Dale Sveum made the jump from Double-A, going from Altoona to Boston. However, Masse would have to coach somewhere other than Toronto. Jays third base coach Brian Butterfield is the best.
Masse has a sixth sense when it comes to outfielders, whether it’s positioning his own team or sending home base runners from the third-base box. I have yet to see him make a mistake coaching third base this season. Defensively, he has an uncanny knack of moving outfielders to where the hitter is about to send a liner. CF Aaron Mathews was re-positioned to a shallow depth before making the game-winning catch and double play recently.
– The 1,000,000th fan in New Hampshire history walked through the gates. Drew Farris, a youth baseball player from Andover, Mass., was the lucky fan and showered with prizes, including season tickets for 2008.
– NH reliever Tree Thorpe, who recently said, “I’ll do anything to beat (Portland)” after all the Sea Dogs hype last weekend, earned his third straight save against the Northern Division rival. Thorpe has given up one run in his past 10 appearances and could be getting a promotion soon. The Eastern League All-Star has been popping 95-98 mph on the radar gun.
– Toronto farm director Dick Scott, the man in charge of promotions, was in the house Saturday night.
– Line of the night regarding Overbay: “We were kidding him because before he hit that (grand slam), he was 0-for-6 and hit into a double play,” Masse said. “(Shortstop) Sergio (Santos) was kidding when he came in saying, ‘Geez, can’t we get somebody new at first base?’”
I HOPE someone reserved a suite at the Hilton Garden Inn. Rehabbing major leaguer Lyle Overbay, not to be confused with Fisher Cats reliever Seth Overbey, will be making his debut at Merchantsauto.com Stadium Saturday night.
Forget that $24 million contract Overbay signed with the Blue Jays. He’s just one of the guys. After going 0-for-5 in his first game at Binghamton, the first baseman accompanied the Fisher Cats for five hours on the team bus ride home.
The bus rolled into Manchester at 4:30 a.m. Saturday. Just for kicks, I looked up flights from the Greater Binghamton Airport to Manchester and quickly found a one-way fare for $350 from US Airways.
Now Overbay has an extra $350 to pay for a five-star food spread in the New Hampshire clubhouse. In the past, Gregg Zaun, Edgardo Alfonzo and A.J. Burnett all paid for elaborate clubhouse meals.
How can you not like Overbay after watching this promo video from Toronto?
HOW MUCH do the Fisher Cats enjoy beating the Sea Dogs? A lot. After getting thumped last weekend in their home park, New Hampshire has won two straight at Portland’s Hadlock Field in games started by Boston prospects Clay Buchholz and Michael Bowden.
Right-hander Ismael “Izzy” Ramirez picked up his 16th career Fisher Cats’ win by pitching seven shutout innings in Sunday’s 5-2 win. Ramirez moved into a tied with Gustavo Chacin and Mike MacDonald as NH’s all-time win leader. Ramirez looking to get his season back on track after going 1-4, 5.88 ERA with Triple-A Syracuse this season.
