This week, Monday through Wednesday, I attended three consecutive games featuring the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons (Phillies' AAA affiliates) against the Richmond Braves (Atlanta's AAA affiliate). The stadium itself is actually in Moosic, about five miles south of Scranton. It is an artificial turf facility that seats about 11,000 fans. The field is the same dimensions as Philly's old Veterans' Stadium. The tickets are quite affordable, with box seats running $9 and upper level seats running $7.50. Parking is free. Concessions are overpriced, just like anyplace else. I am sorry, but it will be a cold day in hell before I spend $2.75 on a 20 oz. bottle of soda.

 

I caught the games for free thanks to my work with Baseball Info Solutions. My seat was two rows back behind the netting, although given the attendance I could have sat anywhere. That brings me to the first big point of all this. Attendance was absolutely abysmal. Opening Day saw a crowd of 4,100, on Friday night. Attendance on Monday through Wednesday was 3505, 3610 and 3548. Most of that consisted of season ticket holders who did not attend the game. The 3610 crowd game from a combination of .50 hot dogs and an appearance from Vicente Padilla.

 

Of course, the fact that temperatures fell from low 50s at game time to perhaps low 40s or even high 30s by the end of the game did not help. By the end of Tuesday night's blowout, the only people left were scorekeepers, scouts, diehards, and people who froze to death in their seats.

 

As for the games, one and two were relative blowouts, although the first game featured the Barons coming back from a 4-1 deficit to post an 8-4 win. Game two saw the Barons cruise to a 11-2 lead, and then taking FOREVER to close it out. Seriously, its 35 degrees out. THROW STRIKES! That game ended 11-5.

 

The good contest came Wednesday. Andy Marte hit the billboards with a solo home run to tie the game in the 7th. Pinch hitter Anthony Medrano hit a bases loaded, two run single in the eighth with two outs to put the Barons ahead. The Braves threatened in the 9th, loading the bases with one out in the ninth for Andy Marte. Marte K'd however and the Barons squeaked out a 5-4 win.

 

As for players. First off, Andy Marte is a monster. I am not looking forward to seeing him in Atlanta, and he will be there before too long. Tony Pena Jr. is fun to watch, and could make a good utility infielder. He turned and flashed a smile when I suggested his dad play Aaron Guiel more. Esix Snead will never be a good major leaguer. Lots of speed, but bad at all other facets of the game. Speed never slumps? It does when you trip stealing second.

 

Ryan Howard is hitting well. He has yet to hit a home run, but he hit the ball hard in most of his at bats. Geoff Geary belongs in the majors as well. Dan Giese looked bad on Friday, but has settled down, and he shows promise. Carlos Ruiz flashed a great arm.

 

Bill McCarthy and Kevin Barry suffered injuries on Friday, but no word yet on their severity.

Good report, Al. As you well know, I'm attending the double-header opener here in Ottawa against Rochester tomorrow afternoon. I'll try to provide a report if you and anyone else would like. I can't promise the same level of detail though.

 

I will say that I once attended an Ottawa Lynx game in 1995 versus Columbus, the top farm team of the New York Yankees. I had the privilege of seeing Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams, and I think Mariano Rivera as well before they all made it big. The Lynx lost, and I don't even remember the score, but I do remember watching Jeter right in front of me, as I sat in the fourth row, down the first base line. Fun evening.

Another perspective...

 

http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/app/new..._milb&fext=.jsp

 

MOOSIC, Pa. -- There were flashes Wednesday night of what Kyle Davies may become.

 

Davies, the top-rated pitcher in Atlanta's farm system, touched the mid-90s on the gun at Lackawanna County Stadium, blistering both sides of the plate with what is often a dominating fastball. The big right-hander used that explosive pitch to set up some devastating off-speed stuff (a straight change and an overhand curve), switching speeds as easily as a sports car switches gears.

 

But as much as Richmond's ace showed all the tools against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre that earned him a reputation as one of the game's top prospects, he also showed why he probably won't be cracking Atlanta's rotation this summer as some people thought he might. Davies labored through 4 1/3 innings against the red-hot Red Barons, scattering six hits and striking out four.

 

He struggled with his command for much of the evening, looking for a measure of consistency that he has yet to find through two starts this season. Davies has a 4.83 ERA in 9 1/3 innings thus far and, at least on Wednesday, didn't look much like the pitcher who went a combined 13-3 with a 2.73 ERA last season at Myrtle Beach, Greenville and Richmond.

 

If not for an Andy Marte solo homer in the seventh, Davies would have been on the hook for his first loss of the year. Marte's homer knotted the score at 3-3 in a game that Scranton/Wilkes-Barre eventually won, 5-4. It was the sixth consecutive win for the Red Barons, but Davies was long gone by the time things were decided.

 

"I pitched all right but I still have a lot of learning to do," Davies said. "This is my first full year in Triple-A. From being in big league camp to here, there's a lot of stuff I have to learn, experience-wise. Stuff like when you come inside you have to pound it hard into the mitt. I have to learn the pitching aspect of it, not just throwing the ball. At the lower levels you can just throw the ball and get people out.

 

"Here, you have guys with experience and you have to concentrate on every pitch. At the lower levels, it's just throw it as hard as you can. But here, every pitch has to be quality or they are going to hit it and hit it hard. But it will come. It's got to."

 

Wednesday night, Davies found himself in trouble in four of the five innings he worked. Buzz Hannahan's one-out double could have been trouble in the first, but slugger Ryan Howard was impatient at the plate, swinging at the first pitch, lofting a lazy fly ball to left to end the threat. Two walks and a single sandwiched around a double play in the second inning kept Davies on a tightrope from which he ultimately fell in the third inning.

 

Mark Budzinski led off with a triple and eventually scored on a sacrifice fly to center. Hannahan also reached base with a walk and Howard followed by showing a bit more patience, ripping a 2-0 offering to right to give Scranton a 2-0 lead.

 

"I felt good tonight," Davies said. "Maybe I felt a little too good. I felt like my fastball was coming out of my hand good in the pen. Maybe I was pumping up on it way too much. I think I was just real excited to get in there and get going."

 

Richmond knotted things up at 2-2 with single runs in the fourth and fifth, but the Red Barons reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the fifth on Hannahan's RBI single. One batter later, Davies was headed for the clubhouse.

 

"He's got solid average stuff across the board," said one Major League executive who was scouting Davies Wednesday night. "I think he's the type of pitcher who is going to have to have his command if he's going to stay in the starting rotation in the big leagues. But it's early and he still has to get in the groove coming out of Florida [from Spring Training].

 

"He has three quality pitches, though, and I like the way he goes about his business. He challenges you."

 

So far, though, for as much as Davies has challenged hitters, he hasn't had the kind of performances that so many, including himself, expected two starts into the season.

 

"The first two starts are always the toughest," Davies said. "It's tough to gauge things on the first two starts. You always want to start well in those first two. I wanted to make sure my arm strength was up and all three of my pitches were there. I didn't pitch terrible in both games.

 

"But I went in thinking that I'd get six innings in the first game and seven innings in the second game with no runs, but it doesn't work out that way at this level. I've gained a lot of perspective on what I have to do to improve myself."

 

Davies is certainly smart, and both of these outings will surely be of benefit in the long run. He says he's not worried about what will happen down the road, though he knows what's being predicted for him. He is also well-versed in the organization's recent pitching history and the pressure that can accompany a young Atlanta arm.

 

So, he's mindful of blocking out such thoughts while working hard to focus on the here and now. While the now hasn't exactly been what he wants it to be, the club remains confident in his ability.

 

"His first outing [against Buffalo] was a strong predictor of what he's going to be and the consistency with which we expect him to perform," said Dayton Moore, Atlanta's director of player personnel. "He's a very good competitor and he stays on the attack. He's got a very good makeup, without question. And probably the best compliment you can give someone is that his teammates believe in him and want him to have the ball in meaningful games. And we believe in him because he's given us every reason to believe in him."

Since the first week, I've attended several more minor league baseball games...

 

April 25th vs. Syracuse

May 7th vs. Rochester

May 9th vs. Pawtucket

May 11th vs. Pawtucket

May 18th vs. Durham

May 20th vs. Durham

 

I've already attended more baseball games this season than any year in my life, and I have to say it has been a fun experience. Last night's game saw an overflow parking lot and an announced attendance of 10,200. Certainly a far cry from the April 25th game against Syracuse, which featured less than 300 fans in attendance, and a game-time temperature of 45 degrees (there was also a minor league playoff hockey game the same night).

 

I can not recommend highly enough the experience of attending a minor league baseball game. Each Red Barons game costs as little as $7 a ticket (upper reserved), and parking is free. Certainly a far cry from the $20 tickets and $10 parking you see at a major league game.

 

The promotions, however, have grown tiresome. There are only so many times I can see two kids in sumo costumes bounce off each other while the announcer makes vaugely offensive remarks towards the Japanese. Ditto the Shur-Save slot machine contest.

 

Has anyone else had a favorable experience attending a minor league game this season?

Just for the heck of it. I've attended 11 games so far. Here's some of the players I've seen live so far this season...

 

Alvarez, Abe

Bascik, Mike

Bell, Heath

Brazell, Craig

Calloway, Ron

Crozier, Eric

Daubach, Brian

Davies, Kyle

DiFelice, Mike

Encarnacion, Edwin

Floyd, Gavin

Foster, John

Gathright, Joey

Geary, Geoff

Gil, Benji

Gomes, Jonny

Griffin, John-Ford

Gross, Gabe

Hinch, A.J.

Howard, Ryan

Johnson, Kelly

Keppinger, Jeff

Lombard, George

Marte, Andy

McCarthy, Bill

Miller, Corky

Munson, Eric

Padilla, Vicente

Pena, Brayan

Pena Jr., Tony

Ring, Royce

Rosario, Francisco

Ruiz, Carlos

Seo, Jae

Shoppach, Kelly

Snead, Esix

Telemaco, Amaury

Tyner, Jason

Upton, B.J.

Victorino, Shane

Williams, Gerald

Wooten, Shawn