Before I go further, please accept my apologies for not presenting this blog sooner. Whew, with a few rainouts that turned a few games into doubleheaders and some early morning day games, I had to take care of some priorities and not to mention to get adjusted to a new format when it comes to writing this blog.
Now that I am caught up, here are my first experiences with the 2011 season. Opening Night between the Sounds and the New Orleans Zephyrs started off with a bang on the field as well as in the stands. It was so nice to see more than 7,100 fans come into the venerable Greer Stadium and get to see some great baseball. It was nice to see Mayor Karl Dean throw out the ceremonial first pitch during opening night. Mr. Dean is up for re-election this coming fall and one of the projects that Nashvillians as well as the Sounds organization is hoping for is spearheading a campaign for a new ballpark. There has been a case study of either having the ballpark at the old Sulphur Dell site or downtown near the Cumberland River. If it was up to me, I would prefer having the new ballpark at the downtown site since it is so convenient to many fine restaurants, night spots, office buildings and the highways are not too far away. Whenever I've been on the road, it has always been nice to walk to and from the ballpark in Oklahoma City, Memphis and Sacramento. Through my walks, I explored so many places where you can find things to do before and after a game and in my opinion, having a new downtown stadium is a no-brainer. However, I'm going to let the powers-to-be to decide on this. I hope the concept does turn into fruition and a new stadium becomes a reality down the road.
Anyway, going back to opening night against the New Orleans Zephyrs, two of the newest Sounds came through. Sounds' righthand pitcher, Amaury Rivas, made the start and was outstanding. Despite giving up a run in the first, Rivas settled down to retire 14 in a row at one stretch and induced many Zephyrs players to hit the ball on the ground. Even though it was only the first start, Rivas showed what a great future that he has in the Brewers' organization. Former Texas Ranger Brandon Boggs supplied the fireworks as he belted a three-run homer over the right field wall to give the Sounds a 4-1 lead. Boggs was designated for assignment by the Brewers after being with them during Spring Training and Brandon accepted it. I certainly hope he will eventually earn a spot with the Brewers down the road. Another newcomer, former Astro Farmhand, Edwin Maysonet, added a home run of his own, so it is nice to see guys get off to a great start with their new organization. The Sounds wound up winning, 5-1 and wound up taking 3 out of 4 from the Zephyrs.
The Oklahoma City RedHawks came in with a new look as well as a new broadcaster. The RedHawks are now the Triple-A affiliate of the Houston Astros after being affiliated with the Texas Rangers for so many years. This is not the first time, however, that the Oklahoma City Franchise has been affiliated with Houston. From 1962 to 1972 during the Colt .45s/Astros existence, the top farm club was the Oklahoma City 89ers and produced eventually major leaguers such as Jimmy Wynn, Joe Morgan, Rusty Staub and Jerry Grote. Former Nashville Sound Tony DeFrancesco is the new manager for the ballclub and joined the Astros organization after managing in the Oakland Athletics farm system for so many years. I certainly wish Tony the best. J.P. Shadrick is the new announcer for the RedHawks after spending five seasons with the Class AA Jacksonville Suns, which was one of the clubs that I used to work for. Shadrick is also in charge of handling Media Relations for the ballclub and we certainly welcome him to the Pacific Coast League. He is a class individual who also won the 2008 Southern League Broadcaster of the Year, so I know he will do a great job with the team. He is replacing the very talented and versatile Jim Byers, whom I've had the pleasure of knowing for more than a decade since our days broadcasting professional hockey in the Central Hockey League. Jim joined the new American Hockey League's Oklahoma City Barons and he will be missed. Hope to see Byers during my subsequent visits to Oklahoma City. In fact, many former RedHawks front office staff members and execs are working for the hockey team, so at least Jim will still be working with old and familiar faces. Keep up the great work, Jim!
After the Sounds had a 5-3 start on their first homestand, they travelled to the Omaha area and became part of history when they were the first opponents in brand new Werner Park, which is located southwest of Omaha in Sarpy County. The ballpark is located in the town of Papillion, Nebraska, which is one of the largest bedroom communities of the Omaha Metropolitan Area. Contrast to playing in the antiquated Rosenblatt Stadium, which seated 24,000 fans, Werner Park is more compact and seats 6,400., but can draw as many as 10,000 fans to a game with grass berm areas in left center and right center fields. There are amusement and fun zone areas with basketball courts, a merry-go-round and wider concourse spaces.
It kind of reminded me of a mini Dell Diamond in Round Rock and I mentioned this to the Chasers' Vice President and General Manager, Martie Cordaro. He was very humbled and flattered by the compliment. Cordaro has always made me feel at home whenever I come to Omaha and I wish him nothing but continued success with the Storm Chasers!
I had the liberty of taking some pictures of the new facility and I hope you enjoy them! It was such an honor to be the first opponents against the brand new Omaha Storm Chasers! Yes, you read that correctly! The Omaha Storm Chasers! After being the Omaha Royals for so many years, the franchise decided to brand their new ballpark with a new nickname, especially with the unpredictable nature of storms in Mid-America. Hall of Famers George Brett and Omaha Native Bob Gibson were part of the ceremonial first pitch with Brett ironically pitching to Gibson, who's fiery fastball befuddled many major league hitters in Gibson's 16 year career as the ace of the St. Louis Cardinals. Brett came close to hitting .400 one year back in the pennant-winning season of 1980 for the Kansas City Royals as he wound up batting .390 and would punch his ticket to the Hall of Fame with his great play at third base. The Sounds lost the game, 2-1 and eventually lost the series to the Chasers, 3 games to 1. We were originally supposed to open up in Nebraska on Friday, April 15th, but due to heavy rain and winds, the ballclub elected to postpone the festivities the following night. A wise decision because the next night the weather was great and there was not a cloud in the sky. It was nice to see a couple of old familiar faces as well. Mike Feigen is the new media relations director for the Storm Chasers. I got to meet Mike when he interned for Texas League President Tom Kayser back in 2009. Part of his internship was to assist former Missions Media Relations Director and current Fresno Grizzlies Media Relations Director Noah Frank and Feigen did a nice job. Glad to re-connect with him as well as a longtime friend, Brett Pollock. Pollock is no stranger to the Brewers' organization as he was the Radio Voice of Huntsville Stars for five seasons. He knows a lot of the current Sounds and manager Don Money as well as coach Sandy Guerrero and Trainer Dave Yaeger since Brett worked with them in Huntsville. He is now the Number 2 Radio Broadcaster to Mark Nassar, another great broadcaster and class individual. It was nice that a triumvirate of former Syracuse University Alumni in Nassar, Pollock and myself call the action on opening night. Pollock left the Stars after 2009 and was out of baseball last year. When former Omaha Royals announcer Kevin McNabb decided to leave the ballclub, the spot opened up for Pollock and I'm happy for him. I was sorry to see McNabb go and I wish him the very best. In fact, he succeeded me after I left the Jacksonville Suns many years ago.
Well, after playing a morning game yesterday, we flew to New Orleans and go in very late. Still, it was nice to get some shuteye before starting a new series against the New Orleans Zephyrs tonight. As of this writing, the Sounds are 6-6 and they need to have better clutch hitting in order to compete in the PCL's American North Division. It was nice to walk down Canal Street in downtown New Orleans as I headed for lunch and didn't have to wear a jacket. It was about 75 degrees and I realize that being back down South that the weather would be a contrast to the chilly midwest winter and people in that region are accustomed to this time of the year. Anyway, I better get ready for tonight's first game of the series with the Zephyrs at Zephyrs Field at 7:05PM. Don't forget to tune me in on nashvillesounds.com. I'm glad to be back for my 2nd year with the Sounds. It has been a great experience. Thank you for your support during my time in Nashville so far and I wish you the best as always. Until next time, so long! Enjoy tonight's game and broadcast!
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