So far, so good?
March 12, 2008 by Jason Guarente
Also: Hayes in Lancaster Thursday; Patterson pitches again
With six weeks remaining until the start of spring training, which team has the early edge? My vote goes to … Somerset. Here’s the public roster (shamelessly stolen from ALB.com)
| Position players | Pitchers |
| Travis Anderson, C | Brandon Knight, RHP |
| Jason Belcher, C | Casey Cahill, RHP |
| Vito Chiaravalloti, 1B | David Humen, RHP |
| David Housel, INF | Bret Prinz, RHP |
| Michael Ryan, OF | Scott Wiggins, LHP |
Some highlights:
*Knight: 111 strikeouts in 91 innings.
*Anderson: .393 on-base for a catcher.
*Wiggins: 34-to-8 strikeout-to-walk ratio in eight games.
*Prinz: Appeared in big leagues with White Sox last season.
*Ryan: Appeared in big leagues with Twins in 2005.
That’s a pretty good start for a team that was arguably the best in the league last season and fell two wins short of winning the championship. The Patriots have a knack for getting that short-time big leaguer who is still close to his prime. How many of those types of players does Lancaster get? Somerset looms as a big obstacle in the newly-formed Freedom Division.
Also of note (from a Stormers press release):
Von Hayes will be the featured speaker at the second-annual Hostetler Awards on Thursday at Clipper Magazine Stadium.
The Hostetler Awards honor local athletes from the past and present. The dinner gives Lancaster’s local sports heroes a chance to shine as well as meet the newest generation of standout athletes in the county. Six scholarships will be presented to outstanding senior athletes who have demonstrated how participating in organized sports have helped them to overcome adversity in their own lives.
Proceeds from the event will benefit the athletic clubs within the Boys & Girls Club of Lancaster.
*FanFest is April 5. Tickets to opening night, which is April 25, will go on sale that day.
Patterson allows a hit: The way Scott Patterson has been going, this qualifies as news. He allowed his first hit of spring training in his 1 1/3 innings of relief against the Devil Rays today. The righthander still hasn’t allowed a run in 4 1/3 innings this spring. This was his longest outing to date, so maybe he’s getting a closer look.
Ah, the pre-season hype.
I learned my lesson about that and counting on stats in this league last year. It’s interesting reading, but I wouldn’t dare expect it to carry over onto the field.
Ugh…I forgot about the division names. This super-ultra-mega “I’m infinity plus one more patriotic than you with no backs” thing is starting to get pretty old.
I hear Lee Greenwood is ticked off they didn’t name a division after him.
LOL….yeah, the Lee Greenwood division and the John Wayne division. I’ll bet that, by the end of this year, it’s still North and South for me.
FYI, Florida was an absolute blast! Being able to sit in a stadium and watch baseball did wonders for morale. I did get to see the Dodgers and St Louis but the Mets game was rained out. Miserable tropical storms. Anyway, if you’re interested, go here: http://phlog.net/user/mgamber&style=default&albumid=&first=20&num=20 and scroll about halfway down to start seeing baseball pictures.
Oh…in the upper and lower right of that page (above) are available pages with “Next>” listed. Click “Next” and you’ll see more pix on the next page. It’s just those couple of pages.