baseball

The Cardinals Nation blog has posted a tentative roster for the 2009 Batavia Muckdogs, and fans will recognize a few names from last year, including one of my favorites - Beau Riportella.

Other returning Muckdogs include: pitchers LaCurtis Mayes and Dan Richardson, catcher Luis De La Cruz, infielders Jairo Martinez and Xavier Scruggs with outfielder Edwin Gomez.

The roster also includes some top draft picks: fifth-rounder Ryan Jackson, eighth-round pick Jason Stidham and ninth-round selection Nick McCully.

Ryde Rodriquez, signed as a free-agent out of Havana, Cuba, is also on the roster. In 2008 in rookie ball, Rodriquez hit .324 but otherwise failed to impress at either Johnson City last season or Quad Cities so far this year.

Besides the returning Muckdogs, 11 of the other players have previous professional experience.

And, I'm telling you, if Riportella develops plate discipline (not just "some discipline" but any discipline), he'll be a hell of a hitter.  Last year he struck out 32 times against only 3 walks.

You can come out to Dwyer Stadium tomorrow night from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. and meet members of the team.  The season opens Friday at 7 p.m. at Dwyer Stadium.

UPDATE: Here's a post about a Muckdog from last year who won't be back in 2009 with the Muckdogs or any other Cardinals team.

Local baseball fans will be disappointed to learn that newly-minted professional ballplayer, and Batavia High grad, Ryan Gugel likely won't be playing any of his games in Batavia this summer.

The slugging catcher who signed a free-agent contract with the Philadelphia Phillies last week has reported to Clearwater, Fla., in the rookie-level Gulf Coast League, according to the D&C..

The Phillies also have an affiliate in the New York-Penn League, the Williamsport Crosscutters, and it's possible Gugal could make his way to that Batavia Muckdog rival at some point this season or next. Though his next step could just as easily be the Lakewood BlueClaws or the Clearwater Thrashers.

Meanwhile, fellow Batavia High grad Chris Page, taken in the 50th round of the June Draft by the Cincinnati Reds, has yet to sign a contract.  The Reds have rookie-level and Class A affiliates in Sarasota, Fla., Billings, Mont. and Dayton, Ohio.

Ryan Gugel may have gone undrafted, but he is now a professional baseball player, becoming the second former Batavia baseball player to sign a deal this week after Chris Page was drafted in the 50th round of the Major League Baseball draft.

Gugel signed a free agent contract with the Philadelphia Phillies - former parent club of the Batavia Muckdogs - this weekend.

The catcher had a .425 career batting average at Batavia with 22 doubles, seven triples, three home runs and 50 RBIs.

He then went to Genesee Community College where he hit .440 with 26 doubles, six triples, eight homers, 19 stolen bases and 82 RBIs for the Cougars in two years. He then continued his baseball career and education and the University of Albany.

At Albany, he started all 55 games as a junior and hit .297 with 12 doubles, a triple and four home runs. He also had an incredible .972 fielding percentage behind the plate.

He batted .303 with nine home runs and 49 RBIs as a senior. Gugel had a .953 fielding percentage as well as hitting 11 doubles and two triples.

Former Batavia baseball standout Chris Page is going to get his shot at pro ball.

The Genesee Community College pitcher/first baseman was drafted in the 50th round of the Major League Baseball Draft by the Cincinnati Reds. He was the 1499th overall player selected.

"I was supposed to be working but I was watching the draft," said Page, who was picked at about 3 p.m. today. "It was the 49th round and I decided to watch one more. When they called my name, I was speechless."

The Reds have been scouting Page since high school, where the big 6-foot-4 lefty set two Batavia records in his senior season with a .534 batting average and 11 doubles. He also had 31 hits, three triples, two home runs, 19 RBIs and 15 walks in his senior season.

He was also 5-2 on the mound, earning him a chance to play at GCC, where Cincinnati continued to monitor his progress.

The Cougars went 25-13-1 this spring with Page leading the squad at the plate. He had a .456 batting average with 18 doubles, five home runs, 34 RBIs, 52 hits and 33 walks.  He did not pitch due to elbow problems.

He is expected to start his professional career in the Florida Gulf Coast League.

"I am honored to have been followed and drafted by a great organization like the Reds," Page said.

The Astros lost 19 to 15 on saturday in minor league baseball.It was a close game.Thanks to TF Browns for being a sponsor.Thanks to Paul Sputore for all he does for the minor leagues.

Eight players who spent time with the Batavia Muckdogs during their 2008 championship season are continuing their minor league careers this season with the Palm Beach Cardinals.

Palm Beach, also a St. Louis Cardinals affiliate, is in the Florida State League, which is considered High Class A.

Among the players making the roster are hitting stars Jermaine Curtis, Cold Sedbrook and Shane Peterson.

Reliever Adam Reifer is also starting the season with Palm Beach, as is Lance Lynn, who put up great numbers with both Batavia and Quad Cities.

Rounding out the list of promotions: Francisco Rivera, Ryan Kuilk and Thomas Eager,

There probably aren't too many people around who remember the players from the 1948 Batavia Clippers, but one of those men popped up in the news this week.

Joe Macko, a 6' 2", 200 lbs first baseman spent his first year of professional ball in Batavia. He smacked 11 home runs, hit .315 and also served as the team's bus driver.

Those 11 home runs would be the first of 306 he would hit in his 18-season minor league career. 

Alas, Macko never mastered hitting a curve ball, and thus never saw a single pitch in a major league ball game.

Macko was a coach with the Chicago Cubs in 1964. His son, Steve Macko, played 24 games with the Cubs before dying of cancer at age 27.

Macko, 81, who recently served as an ambassador for the Texas Rangers, was inducted this week into the Texas League Hall of Fame.

Even though the New York Yankees couldn't get a victory to open up their new stadium Thursday, it was still a pretty big day for 1995 Notre Dame graduate Dave Pero.

Many of the former greats made an appearance, the weather was great for baseball and the local man made history.

 Pero - a high school teacher in Syracuse - was the first guy to ask his girlfriend to become his fiance at the new Yankee Stadium when he proposed to Heather DeCarolos.

"There's nothing better than to kick off this opening day and this stadium by making a commitment to my future wife," Pero told the New York Daily News.

Pero, 31, got down on one knee and popped the question while The Skycoasters - a band out of Rochester - was playing the Earth, Wind and Fire song "September" nearby. DeCarolos said yes.

"I'm stunned," DeCarolos, 23, told the Daily News. "I'm on top of the world. I can't think of a better place for this to happen."

I wanted to set up a system that would allow me to record some of my interviews and then post those MP3 files to The Batavian.

Today, to test out my new system, Brian Hillabush (whom I meant to refer to as the "once and future sports editor of The Batavian" in the recording) talk a little baseball.

You can download the MP3 audio file here. The file is about 10 minutes long.  We cover the majors, Muckdogs and our recent fantasy league draft.

 This passage from the New York State Public High School Athletic Association bylaws has opened up a chance for each Section to determine if they continue playing a full schedule and avoid the recent cuts made.

 "The maximum number of contests which may be established for interscholastic sports during a regular schedule shall be determined in the sections ... The maximum number of contests established for each sport during the regular schedule is subject to review by the state athletic associations and may be altered where it is found that disparities in the number of games contribute to unequal competition between teams in different sections."

Section 2 might fight the decision made by the NYSPHSAA because of this passage.

Jackie Friedman of Poststar.com writes that in the most recent meeting by the Section 2 athletic council, a mothing was passed to give member schools a chance to vote to overturn the state's ruling. 

If the majority of schools vote to overturn the state's decision, Section 2 will try to get an endorsement from the NYSPHSAA to stop the rule in that area. The votes will be collected by March 16 and a decision will be announced on April 1 at the athletic council meeting.

Section 2 executive director Doug Kenyon is quotes as saying that athletic directors and schools "should have control over their destiny."

Kenyon believe that even if the vote passes, the state may still not approve the decision because it would give Section 2 an advantage over the other Sections in state competition because the teams will have played more games.

There has been harsh criticism of the state's ruling to cut the number of games from people in every Section, so this could be a way to reverse the cuts. It would be interesting if other Sections - including Section 5 - were to try this as well.

Maybe a full schedule could return, with Section 2 leading the way.