NOTES FROM THE NAT: Vancouver Canadians news

Sorry for the drop-off in updatery, folks, but I’m working on a really
big freelance project that has taken me across country three times (so
far) and eaten up every minute that I don’t forcibly give to my wife
and 8-month-old boy. And on top of that, I’ve got a fever that, should
anyone suggest it to you as a form of relaxation, you need to have that
person committed immediately.

I had been quietly recovering for some time, thinking I should take the
time to update Notes, when 2005 Vancouver third baseman Jeff Baisley
(left) came out last night with a three-home run game for Kane
County that puts him firmly at the top of the Midwest League homerun
totals with 11 this season. The 34 runs he’s driven in are worth noting
too - go Buttah!

Also worth noting on the ex-Canadians front is some kid they call Nick
Swisher, who used to show up at The Nat in 2002. The Swish was playing
in Vancouver before I got to this fine city, but man, has he kicked on
since, lighting it up for Oakland in the majors. After 164 at bats in
the 2006 MLB season, he’s hitting .299, has smooshed 14 dingers, has 37
RBIs on the board, and his OBP is approaching .500 - not too shabby for
a kid that barely managed to hit .250 in his 13 games wearing red,
white and blue. CBS Sportsline rates him, as of now, the #1 left
fielder in the game based on stats so far this season.

A guy who had great fun at the expense of batters in Van City last season was reliever Jason ‘Death’ Ray (no, not this Jason Ray).
Though Ray (pictured right) showed Nuke LaLoosh velocity, he also showed
Nuke Laloosh control, while racking up ungodly K’s mixed in with
horrific walks, on his way to a . Well, the Death Ray has skipped a
level this season, moving straight up to High-A Stockton - and he’s
being turned into a starter, and the results have been worth watching.
As of the time of writing, Death Ray has a 3-1, 3.46
line, with 48K’s thrown into the mix over 41.2 innings pitched over 9
starts. And if that’s not enough, he has only given up 25 walks - far
better than the 1:1 K:BB ratio of times past. If Ray continues to show
promise (and maybe gets a few longer starts), he’ll move up the ladder
fast.

Just like Jason Windsor, 2004 Vancouver Canadians
starter who found himself rested late last season in AA ball after
suffering arm tiredness, but has bounced back this year (4-1, 2.97 in
AA) and earned himself an early AAA promotion. Injuries in the Oakland
major league lineup have basically depleted the AAA bullpen, which
necessitated Windsor’s early upward shift, which at the time was
considered a little risky. But Windsor has been en fuego since the
promotion, racking up a 3-0 record with a 2.08 ERA. His 16 K’s look
even more impressive when you realize he has only walked 3 hitters in
17.1 innings pitched. Sudennly, all those people who claimed Windsor
was, at best, a middle relief guy, are starting to wonder if they sold
the kid short.

Hey, I’ll come out and say it - he’s a #5 starter RIGHT NOW, and he’ll
blossom into a good #3 guy within the next 12 months. If anyone has the
bulldog attitude necessary to make it in the bigs, it’s J. Windsor.

Who
else has been awesome this season? Anthony "Pecs" Recker, that’s who
(seen left). The Recking Ball has pounded a .340 BA in Kane County to
this point, including 3 long bombs, and an OPS of .903 - that’s some
pretty sweet progress for the big man. Thanks to Saint from Athletics Nation for the heads up on that one.

Let’s see, who else from last year’s Canadians team is rocking out…
oh yeah. Travis Buck is hitting .302 in AA after hitting nearly .350 in
High-A earlier in the year, causing several to pontificate that he’ll
be movig up shortly. If T-Buck ends up in AAA ball in the next few
weeks and he continues his doublee-hitting ways (he’s hit 6 in 53 at
bats, and had notched 17 in Stockton), a September call-up to the bigs
is a distinct possibility… and just think, you could have seen him
play in our town for $7 last season.

The bottom line on all this is, you guys in Vancouver (yes, I’m talking
to you) need to go support your damn ball team in 2006. Not just
because it’s the least expensive family entertainment anywhere in the
lower mainland, and not just because Oakland always gives us great
talent to watch when they draft, and not even because of local pride.

Go see your Vancouver Canadians because the guys you see at The Nat in
2006, will be the Nick Swisher’s, Rich Harden’s, and yes, even Sammy
Sosa’s of tomorrow. And in some cases, like Travis Buck, it could
literally be tomorrow…

We’ll be updating more frequently over the weeks ahead as the college
draft looms. Got plenty of irons in the fire, and a very special
surprise that will add to the look of the site in the days ahead.

Stay tuned!

Who is Carlos Gutierrez?

I’m damned if I could have answered that question a few minutes ago,
but I can answer it now. Carlos Gutierrez is the latest signing of the
Oakland A’s, a free agent pick-up who isn’t waiting for the draft and
will be joining the Vancouver Canadians when the NWL season starts in June.

Gutierrez is an outfielder - a two-time CIAA player of the year, at that - and according to College Sports TV, he’s got quite the pedigree:

A native of the Bronx, NY and two-time CIAA Player of the Year
(2005, 2006), he recently concluded his career as the all-time [school]
leader in runs scored, batting average, career doubles, career triples
and career home runs. This past season was a remarkable one for him as
he led NCAA Division II in batting average and slugging percentage. His
2006 home run total of 15 ranked second in the nation in addition to
setting a new school record for long balls in a season. He earn
back-to-back Player of the Year honors after dominating the CIAA ranks
finishing first in runs scored, hits, RBI, home runs and total bases.
He also finished 2006 with a .548 batting average, a single season
record for the Viking baseball record books.

Not too foul. Added to that, he was signed by Oakland scout Neil Avent after seeing him play just once.

"He has the ability and a good track record which is why we wanted
to sign him. With the kind of numbers he has put up, he is definitely
the type of player that is deserving of an opportunity. We are happy
that he will not be around for another team to draft in June."

So there you have it. The draft hasn’t yet commenced, but Oakland got first pick.

In other news, Scout.com
has a good piece up about Dangerous Bradley Davis, wherehe says the
Oakland pitching coaches have helped him turn his change-up into an
out-pitch. That makes four out-pitches the guy had right now…

Finally, Canadians Club President Dan Kilgras was interviewed in the Vancouver Sun
today, explaining that the Canadians won’t be seeing Oakland’s high
round draft picks this year. Which sucks, but not as much as you might
think. Truth be told, when the bonus babies appear halfway through the
season, the team has generally found its groove, and the new players
tend to mean a period of readjustment as the lineup gets juggled and
personalities mesh. So okay, we won’t see this year’s Travis Buck, but
maybe that’ll give more chances to this year’s Jeff Bieker.

Oh, and I’d tell you more about the article, but Canwest Global, in one
of their more moronic business decisions, doesn’t let you read more
than the first few sentences online unless you subscribe to the
physical newspaper.
Another
Gutierrez article, this one about his naming to the 2006 Carolina
All-State College division baseball team, can be found here.
What’s most notable about it is the picture featured, with Gutierrez
and his new A’s cap… It’s always nice to see another kid with one of
those.

Note: Thanks to HawkerRob, you can read the full Sun article here. Interesting note at the bottom of the piece announces that the Vancouver Canadians open training camp is set for June 11 or 12. Can’t wait.

SUBSEQUENT UPDATE: Gutierrez never made it to Vancouver, instead spending his first pro season in Arizona and never getting traction enough to earn a promotion. At his age, that’s not good news…

When you speak of Alaskan baseball, you generally correct yourself
quickly and say, "What did I just say? ALASKAN baseball? Why on earth
would I say something as random as that? Alaskan baseball, that’s so
weird. Bartender; another shot, sir!"

But they do have baseball in ‘Laska. In fact, they have a lot of it.
And they get crowds. Well, compared to the Eugene Emeralds, anyway.

Why does this matter? Because I just touched base with ex-Canadians
sidearm bullpen man, Zak "The Snake" Basch, who has taken a spot as
Assistant GM with the Anchorage Bucs in the Alaskan League.

Basch had been MVP of the league previously, bamboozling all comers
with his 81mph scorchers coming at hitters from an angle somewhere
around the where the second baseman stands, setting the all-time single-season relief record
(0.62ERA in 43.2IP), and joining some elite Hall of Fame company in the
process. He then got drafted by the Red Sox, traded to the A’s, who
didn’t seem to know what to do with him, and subsequently let go with a
small-sample, nasty stat line.

Not one to rest on his laurels, Zak ventured back to Alaska to catch up
on old buddies, do a little radio, and then found himself in a front
office job with the Anchorage Bucs, which is kind of like putting
Kirstie Alley in charge of a Jack in the Box - fun times!

Zak got into the news recently, when none other than the LA Times
wrote about the team approaching PokerShare.com, after the company had
offered $100k for the naming rights to a small American town, and
suggesting they put their money somewhere a little more constructive -
like the Bucs bank account. This wasn’t the first time The Snake had
found himself in the news, so I decided to contact the Snakester and see how life in the Great White Northwest is treating him.

1. Every season, thousands of
ball fans go on baseball pilgrimages - rookie ball, spring training,
minor league bus trips, fantasy camp - what’s Alaskan ball got that
those people really need to know about?

The Midnight Sun Game in Fairbanks, without a doubt. It is a must
see. Every year on Summer Solstice (which is like a state holiday up
here), the Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks play a game at 10:30 pm
without the aid of artificial light. That’s’ right. No lights, and the
game starts at 10:30 pm. I would go into detail, but you really have to
see it to believe it. The atmosphere is like nothing else any baseball
fan has seen. I have played in two and witnessed another, and each
experience was unlike the others in so many ways. And, 2006 is the
100th Anniversary of the first ever MSG, which was played as a bar bet
between two local pubs in 1906.

2. People on the mainland view Alaska as this snow-covered Northern
Exposure land of misfits, eskimos, moose and drunks. Tell me how wrong
I am.

You’re not wrong. And it’s "Lower 48," not "mainland." Hawaiians
call it the mainland. Alaskans call it the Lower 48. But seriously, it
is a land of misfits. I mean, who in their right mind moves to Alaska?
People who are either running from something or chasing something. But
these misfits share a sort of comraderie or patriotism that most
Americans have only read about. It’s sort of like everyone’s in it
together. Seriously, there used to be a law here that it was illegal
NOT to pick up hitchhikers.

3. When you’re watching the Bucs roll over some weak ass team from god knows where, do you ever get the urge to warm up?

No. The only time I get the urge to warm up is when it’s 2-1 in the
ninth against a bitter rival. Then I get the itch. But it passes quick.
I was only throwing 81 in my "prime," so I don’t even want to think
about what I’d be throwing now.

4. Is life as a sidearmer easier or tougher than life as a fireballer.
It strikes me that it’d be pretty hard to get good coaching when you’re
throwing unorthodox stuff in the minors, and similarly, that it would
be easier to get ‘typecast’ as a mop-up or one-out lefty guy, while the
big
guns get all the chances.

It was just different. I definitely had advantages that other
players didn’t have, but I had disadvantages as well. People might
argue that the only reason I got a chance was because I threw sidearm,
which is a farce, but it is a common perception. I definitely got
typecast, but the bottom line is that if you get guys out they’ll keep
you around, and I didn’t. So they didn’t.

5. PokerShare.com - what’s the deal you’re trying to grab with them?

I made the mistake of calling their PR firm to try to get a sponsor
for a new scoreboard at our field. As PR people, they blew it up into a
big news story. We just want a new scoreboard. We don’t care if
pokershare.com buys it, or the State of Alaska buys it, or if NAPA Auto
Parts buys it. We know we can’t afford it, and we’re looking for help.
We just happened to approach a very aggressive PR firm, and they ran
with it.

6. Is that the kind of thing you have to clear with the league first,
or are you open to basically find funding for the team however you can?

The league has no control over how individual teams fund
themselves. Every team in the league is non-profit, 501c3, so we try to
play that up to get funding. The only roadblocks we run into are from
the Municipality of Anchorage, since our Stadium sits on their
property. That can be a bit of a nightmare at times. But we love them
anyway (make sure to put that last line in there, in case they read
this, haha)

7. The Cape Cod league is always considered the gold standard in summer
ball - is the Alaska League closing the gap, or are the powers that be
pretty content with it being known as an irreverent second option?

You’ve got it backwards. In the 70s, the Alaska League was the gold
standard, and it has taken these last 30 years for the Cape Cod League
to close the gap. It’s kind of like when the media hops on the AL East
bandwagon, and the Chicago White Sox roll through the playoffs. It
makes you rethink the power of the AL Central. Maybe those games with
the Tigers were meaningful after all.

Really, how does one decide which league is the best? You play each
other, which is something the Bucs have been trying for years. We have
even offered to pay for a Cape team, or even a Cape All-Star Team, to
play us. They want no part of it. So, to answer your question, I think
I can speak on behalf of the entire Alaska Baseball League when I say
that we resent the perception that the Cape Cod League is the gold
standard in summer ball. Let’s decide it on the field.

8. You’ve played ball in the Boston system, and you played in the
Oakland system. If you could get another season in the minors (assuming
you wanted to), who would you want to be playing for?

The Tigers. I have been a Tigers fan my whole life, and it has
always been my dream to play for them. But alas, it is not going to
happen.

9. Obviously people who want a career in baseball have to spend a lot
of years climbing the ladder, whereas you basically walked right into
it - was this something you wanted to do, or something that just found
you?

First of all, I would argue that most people would consider my
position as a very low rung on this baseball ladder. To answer the
question, though, this is something that found me. I guess I could get
philosophical and say something like I just followed my path and this
is where it took me, but that would be a little too New-Agey for my
taste. However, if you knew the road that I took to get here, you would
know that it’s nothing I could have dreamed of creating for myself. So
I guess you could say it found me, but I was an easy mark.

10. Is it true that chicks dig the long ball? And if so, what does a
sidearmer do to combat such things when, say, on a road trip through
Spokane?

Please. Chicks dig out of shape, pus-throwing, hairy, bald
20-something closers that throw 80 mph. Lucky for me, I happen to be
one, so I never had any problems with the ladies. Especially in
Spokane. All of the classy ladies live in Spokane, didn’t you know? And
Yakima.

Oh, I know…

Note: Photo credit: Alaska Goldpanners.

In 2005, no pitching combo was as unassuming, yet totally important, for the Vancouver Canadians
as Joe Newby (left) and Joe Piekarz. The combo known as the ‘Steaming
Cup of Joe’, as we like to call it at Notes From The Nat, was not
expected to do much of anything in its debut season, based purely on
the fact that neither pitcher was drafted in the first 50 rounds.

But Oakland has a knack for spotting peanuts in the poop left over once
the other teams have moved on, and Piekarz and Newby turned out to be a
couple of cashews of the highest order.

Sure, there were games that Newby got smoked. Yeah, there were times
that Piekarz looked shaky. But when the bonus babies got kicked
upstairs, or blew shoulders, or just plain old blew chunks, it was
Newby and the Pike that were entrusted to steer the ship to a playoff
birth. And that they did.

Despite the fact that the Steaming Cup of Joe did a great job for
Vancouver last year, the fact remains that when the big team has
nothing invested in you, there’s always going to be talk that you’ll be
among the first cuts made the following season - especially if your
blow a lead or two - so the pressure is right on Piekarz and Newby, and
will pretty much remain on them for the duration of their minor league
careers. Throw hard and true, and there’ll be a spot. But get roughed
up one too many times, and the door will swing closed faster than you
can say "Shawn Martinez."

So today, in the second rubber of the Kane County Cougars double-header
against the Clinton Lumberkings, all eyes were on Joe Piekarz as he was
sent out to start, and the Piker did not disappoint, throwing four
innings of 3-hit, 1-run ball to help the Cougs to a handy 5-1 lead.
That allowed Newby to tag in for the 5th and 6th, which he cruised
through, not surrendering a hit and K’ing one batter.

Piekarz is 2-1 with a 3.12 ERA so far this season, while Newby opens his account with a 1-0, 0.00 line.

Newby has been lighting it up in spring training, having added a few
mph to his fastball, and is confident he’ll have a huge season, but he
had to negotiate a minor injury first. With that now out of the way, he
could be one of those guys, like Dallas Braden a season earlier, who
could come out of nowhere to make a career for himself this season.
Watch this space.

News out of the Oakland system this week that Marcus McBeth would be
shifting up a few levels from High-A Stockton to AAA ball in Sacramento
was worth noting for 2005 Vancouver Canadians
fans. Not that McBeth has ever played for Vancouver - he went straight
from Arizona rookie ball to Kane County in his earlier years - but
because a vacancy in Stockton meant someone would either drop down from
AA Midland, or move up from Low-A Kane County.

As it turned out, one of our ex-Vancouver alums in Kane County has been
having a scorcher of a season so far, and thus he was given the holy
hand-up to the ‘Halfway to the Majors’ level.

Congratulations ‘Dangerous’ Bradley Davis.

Davis was a 14th round draftee, which means he was not expected to
suck, but also not expected to fly through the system, and perhaps
that’s why, despite a season plus of extraordinary relief pitching, he
had barely moved upwards until now.

Last year, Davis was the go-to guy in the results-heavy Vancouver
bullpen, notching a 0.52 ERA over 34.2IP and racking up 44 K’s. In Kane
County so far this season he’d continued that form, allowing just 6
hits over 18 innings.

So how did he go in his first California League outing? He got the win.

3.2IP, 0R, 0ER, 2H, 0BB, 2K.

I’ve been saying for a year now that this kid has the stuff to go all
the way. He has a rubber arm, a great demeanor on the mound, he’s all
business and he throws some serious shit. It’s time folks put Dangerous
Davis on their radars - he’s going to make some ripples, and his
Stockton debut is ripple #1.