muckdogs

There was a standing ovation in Dwyer Stadium on Saturday night, but it wasn't for a great diving catch, or a rare triple play or a bomb hit over the dead center field fence -- it was for the stadium announcer, Wayne Fuller.

Fuller, the voice of Batavia baseball for 25 years, announced his retirement from the PA mic, and the crowd paid Fuller the ultimate sporting honor -- a Standing-O.

Fuller, who also served as the official scorer, has been positioned in the Dwyer press box -- dubbed "Wayne's World" -- calling out starting line-ups and determining hits and errors through the baseball eras of the Trojans, Clippers and Muckdogs.

"There is a trick to determine when you leave on your own or are asked to leave," Fuller told the crowd. "I have decided this is my time to retire and leave the two jobs. As I have gotten older it has become harder, as they say today, to multi-task, and that's the principle reason for my decision."

Fuller continues on in his afternoon shift with WBTA and will also remain in the booth for high school and college games.

Fuller told me this morning he's looking forward to a trip to Alaska next summer -- a dream he couldn't fulfill while obligated to the Muckdogs for home-game announcing.

The Batavia Muckdogs take on the Jamestown Jammers tonight at 7:05pm. This will be the last home game for the Muckdogs 2009 season.  Its Fan Appreciation Night and also Rock the Park Night at Dwyer! Come on out for a beautiful Saturday night of great baseball action at the best baseball venue in WNY! There isn't a bad seat at all in Dwyer stadium.  The fun starts at 6:05pm with the pregame concert by Papa and Mama Root presented by Tim Horton's of Batavia and New Buffalo Impact. Enjoy great end of summer fun at Dwyer with your Batavia Muckdogs!

Let's meet up at Dwyer Stadium Thursday and take in the greatest show in town -- a Batavia Muckdogs baseball game.

The game against the Auburn Doubledays is the next to last home game of the season, and I have free tickets available.

Between what the Muckdogs gave me for advertisers' appreciation night (because The Batavian was a sponsor this year) and the unused season tickets I have -- I have 28 tickets available.

E-mail me your request for tickets and we can either arrange for you to stop by the office to pick them up or meet me before the game and I'll give them to you.

Game time is 7:05 p.m. and my e-mail address is howard (at) the batavian dot com.

Request as many tickets as you like, just make sure you can use them. First come, first served.

I usually set in the third-base bleachers and you're welcome to join me for the game. Heck, I might even let you buy me a beer.

Batavia (36-34) was down 7-4 going into the bottom of the 6th but was able to score four runs across the last four innings to get the 8-7 win over State College (34-26).

Both teams started scoring early; the Spikes scored three in the first and the Muckdogs followed with four.  Bases became loaded right away for Batavia after Devin Goodwin and Ryan Jackson had back-to-back singles and Alan Ahmady walked.  Matthew Adams then hit a double to center to clear the bases.  Adams was able to come home later in the inning on a sacrifice fly by Niko Vasquez.

The 4-3 lead lasted until the Spikes had a three-run inning in the 5th and scored once again in the 6th.  But, the Muckdogs answered right back.  Kyle Conley homered in the first at-bat of the 6th inning to decrease to deficit to 7-5.

The comeback continued with another run scored in the 8th as bases became loaded once again.  Ahmady walked, Conley reached on a fielder’s choice that also allowed Ahmady to move to third on an error and then Jon Edwards also reached on a walk.  Walks proved problematic for the Spikes as Luis De La Cruz was also walked after a pitching change to score Ahmady.

The Muckdogs tied the game in the 9th after Goodwin doubled and came home on a sacrifice bunt by Jackson.  Conley got the game-winning RBI on a single later in the inning to score Jackson.

Michael Blazek got the start, going three and two-thirds innings with three runs, two his, five walks and four strikeouts.  Kevin Siegrist went three innings with four runs on six hits and two walks.  LaCurtis pitched the 8th with two hits and two strikeouts and Josh Squatrito (4-1, 1.38) got the win in the 9th, allowing one hit while striking out one.

Conley finished 3-for-5 on the night with a homerun and two RBI.  Goodwin went 2-for-4 with a double and two runs scored.

Both teams had ten hits in the ten inning game, but Batavia (35-34) was able to beat Auburn (24-44) in the end.

The Doubledays scored one run right away in the 1st inning and one more in the 3rd but the Muckdogs took a 3-2 lead after the bottom of the 3rd.  Devin Goodwin and Ryan Jackson were issued back-to-back walks and came home when Matthew Adams hit a two-out double.  Adams himself came in to score when Kyle Conley followed with another two-base hit.

Auburn took the lead right back, though, scoring once in the 4th and once again in the 7th.  However, Batavia decided to make things interested by scoring tying the game up in the bottom of the 7th.  Alan Ahmady reached on a walk, was advanced to third on a Conley single and then came in to score the tying run on a single by Jon Edwards.

The game stayed notched at four a piece until the bottom of the 10th.  Niko Vasquez led off the inning with a single that allowed Ivan Castro to reach on a force out during the next at-bat.  Goodwin then came up with a game-winning triple to score Castro and end the game.

Dan Calhoun got the start on the mound, going five innings with three runs (two earned), five hits, one walk and three strikeouts.  Tyler Lavigne followed him in an inning’s work with one hit, one walk and two strikeouts.  Tyler Leach came next, throwing three innings with one run on three hits while striking out two.  Santo Maertz (3-1, 1.52) picked up the win, hurling the last two innings with just one hit, two walks and four strikeouts.

Offensively, Conley, Edwards and Vasquez all went 2-for-5, Conley and Edwards each with a RBI.

14 innings - two games - loads of laughs.

First game was a bust, but the second game was all Muckdogs.  Great game

Homer hamming it up!

Russ and Kelly (playing for the honor of the beer tent)  tossing fake food into the grills for a gift certificate.  Homer cheering them on.

Batavia (32-31) was able to even things back up with State College (32-31) by taking game two of the doubleheader by a score of 4-1.

Scoring started in the 3rd as the Muckdogs plated three.  Travis Mitchell reached on an error and Michael Swinson walked to start things off.  They both came home on a double down the left field line by Devin Goodwin.  Goodwin came in later to score on a single by Kyle Conley.

The Spikes answered with one of their own in the 4th but Batavia scored once more in the 5th to make it a 4-1 final.  Their final run came in as Alan Ahmady walked and came home on Matthew Adams double.

Jesse Simpson went four innings in the start with one run, two hits, two walks and eight strikeouts.  Justin Edwards (3-2, 3.15) followed him, throwing two innings with one hit, one walk and two strikeouts.  Santo Maertz came in the 7th and struck out three to end the game and pick up his 3rd save of the season.

Adams finished 2-for-3 with two doubles and a RBI.  Goodwin went 1-for-3 with a double, two RBI and one run scored.

Fresh off a sweep of the Ironbirds in Aberdeen, the Muckdogs return home to take on State College tonight at 7:05. UFC Fighter Matt "The Hammer" Hamill will sign autographs from  6pm-8pm. The first 500 fans through the gate will receive a Championship Souvenir Travel Mug. Should be a great night! See everyone at Dwyer!

We are very lucky in the Batavia area to have the Batavia Muckdogs!  We almost lost them a couple years ago, but the Rochester Redwing organization was kind enough to step in with financial and managerial assistance to keep the team in Batavia.

I try to attend most games, and I'm a season ticket holder.   What I notice is that the stands are virtually empty for the majority of games.   What alot of people don't realize is that if we don't get better attendance at these games, we're in danger of losing the team again!  

I've been attending the games for 12 seasons now - and I've made many many friends around the park, and had alot of fun volunteering with the Muckdogs Booster Club on many occasion.  

Everyone that's currently attending the games - invite a friend!  spread the word!

Businesses - we need to keep this valuable asset in our community!   Encourage your employees to attend! put out schedules for your customers!

For those that have never been - it's truly a fun evening of baseball, on-field antics, and a wonderful community event!   give it a try!

We have the lowest ticket prices around to see baseball on a professional level!

Let's keep our Muckdogs where they belong!   In Batavia!!

Matt "The Hammer" Hamill, a UFC fighter with Western New York ties, will appear at Dwyer Stadium on Saturday when the Batavia Muckdogs take on the State College Spikes.

Game time is 7:05 p.m.

Hamill will be on hand to sign autographs for an hour before game time, and for an hour after he throws out the first pitch.

The popular UFC fighter attended RIT and while a student there, he was was a three-time NCAA Division III National Champion in wrestling.

Matt, who is deaf, also has a silver medal in Greco-Roman wrestling and a gold medal in freestyle wrestling from the 2001 Summer Deaflympics.

He was a contestant on the third season of The Ultimate Fighter reality television show, training under Tito Ortiz in the 205 lb weight class. He is currently 7-2 in his 9 professional Mixed Martial Arts fights.

The Democrat and Chronicle engages in some idle speculation, raising the possibility that this could be the last year of baseball in Batavia.

The article leaves the impression that the writer has spoken with officials of the Red Wings and that the operator of the Muckdogs is undecided about the Muckdogs' future.

The average attendance this year has been 988. The article says that's down from 1,199 last year, but doesn't note that the Red Wings have instituted something new in counting attendance at NY-Penn League stadiums: Telling the truth. There's no inflation in the count this year.

The Red Wings would get only 10 percent of the sale price if the team were sold prior to next season.

Batavia (28-29) held Staten Island (33-23) to just three hits to avoid the sweep and to inch back closer to .500 in the 5-0 win.

Scoring started early as the Muckdogs plated one in the 1st.  Alan Ahmady reached on a walk and came in to score on the next at-bat on a double by Matthew Adams.

They broke the game open by scoring four in the 6th.  Devin Goodwin started off the inning with a double and scored on a RBI single by Adams.  After Jon Edwards walked, Luis De La Cruz hit a double down the left field line to score both Adams and Edwards.  De La Cruz came home later in the inning on a wild pitch.

Chris Corrigan (2-2, 2.89) got the win in the start going five innings with three hits, three walks and one strikeout.  Justin Smith followed him to get his first hold of the season.  Smith went three innings with one walk and five strikeouts.  Tyler Lavigne closed out the 9th with a strikeout.

Adams finished 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI.  Goodwin and De La Cruz both had doubles.

The majority of the New York-Penn League now has two days off for the All-Star break taking place in State College.  Good luck to Muckdogs Alan Ahmady, Luis De La Cruz and pitcher Santo Maertz in the game.