Designated For Assignment

Carlos Maldonado where are you?  So I read that Carlos has been designated for assignment...

Designated for assignment is a contractual term used in Major League Baseball. When a player is designated for assignment, he is immediately removed from the club's 40-man roster. This gives the club 10 days to decide what to do with the player while freeing up a roster spot for another transaction, if needed. After designating a player for assignment, the club must either:
(a) return the player to the 40-man roster within 10 days from the date of designation, or (b) make one of the following contractual moves:

• Place the player on waivers (which can only be done within the first 7 days of the 10-day period)
• Trade the player
• Release the player

This makes me very sad.  He HAS been removed from the 40 man roster (he's not there, I looked) and in my opinion, this is a travesty!  CLEARLY when Carlos plays - the Chiefs win!!!  I will have a very difficult time cheering for another catcher.  Ten whole days???????????  What must Carlos be thinking?  I know what I'm thinking.  Pretty sure I know what Molly is thinking too.  WE WANT CARLOS BACK!!!!!

Last week a random fan said to me "you must really like Carlos" (I probably should mention that I was cheering for him and holding up my Carlos Maldonado autographed photo).  I said yes, I do!  He asked why I like him so much and I said because he's a very nice guy.  He said you like him that much just because he's a nice guy?  I replied with, well, he's a very good player too, but I happen to know that he is a very nice man. 

So Carlos, wherever you are right now, know that your Fan Club is still cheering for you and you will always be our favorite catcher - wherever you are.  As Co-President of the the CMFC, I'm sure Molly will agree!

Catcher-chism Revisited.

I know, I know. I've been missing in action. I never finished blogging about the 23rd, never blogged about the 24th. Team has been on the road since then, and I've been frantically trying to catch up with the rest of my life.

Reading Facebook, then reading the IL Transaction page spurred this blog.

The Nationals signed Kurt Suzuki, who is supposed to be some hotshot catcher.

This news took Jesus Flores by surprise. Davey Johnson essentially told Flores that performance equals playing time.

In the meantime, to make room for Suzuki, the Nats optioned Sandy Leon to Triple A . . . which means the Chiefs.

According to the International League Transaction Page, Catcher Jeremy Mayo has also been assigned to the Chiefs (from Hagarstown), Jeff Howell is off the 7-day DL, and Koyie Hill has been released.

Where does all of these leave Carlos Maldonado, asks moi, co-president of his fan club? Well, according to the article about Suzuki, Carlos has been designated for assignment. He's no longer on the Chiefs' roster. Which really stinks.

On a lighter note: the Washington Nationals bullpen read 50 Shades of Grey. Aloud. For giggles.
Check it out here.

Deleting FB, Twitter by the Team?

I follow many of the Washington Nationals players on Twitter and Facebook. Just found a message on one players fan club page:

Hey all, just letting you know that XYZ has had to delete his facebook and twitter accounts per instructions of the Nationals. It was a decision across the organization.


Wow. That's pretty extreme.

Rehab

Lots going on at the stadium tonight. I didn't get to see much of the game -- guessing by the score, I didn't miss much.

Here are tonight's two biggest baseball stories from ABS:

Chad Tracy's first at-bat in Syracuse.

Jayson Werth's first at-bat in Syracuse.

More to come -- later this week:

*The Carlos Maldonado Fan Club

*WCNY Night, featuring Clifford The Big Red Dog

*Denny McLain

*The Famous Eric Cohen

*Kevin Barry, Baron of the Scoreboard

*Foul Ball for Sugar Pie

One-Four-Six-Three

What a difference a day can make! Tonight's 11-4 win over the Norfolk Tides was a great game to watch.

Arrived at stadium during bottom of 1st, when Pinch Hitter Jim Negrych was announced. Pinch hitting for Corey Brown, who must have been called up to the Nats at the last minute.

We voted for Yunesky Maya as Player of the Game. Some people might think Jesus Valdez deserves that title for his 3 RBIs, but Yuneski pitched 6 innings, and the Tides scored only 2 runs in those 6, each one a single shot home run. Pitchers never seem to get their due, at least not at ABS in the Player of the Game voting.

Carlos Maldonado walked twice. The first time, Josh Johnson hit him home.

Carlos at third, waiting to come home

 Carlos coming home

Greeting Manny Mayorson as he follows him home.

Then Carlos hit a home run in the 6th. Single shot, but beautiful none the less.
Brett Carroll hit a home run right before Carlos did, for 3 RBIs.
A better shot of "Captain America".

The Chiefs ended with 11 hits and 11 runs. Looked kind of funky on the scoreboard.

Play of the game was 1-4-6-3 triple play in the 9th inning. Tides batter hit to pitcher Eric Arneson who threw to 2B Seth Bynum, who threw to SS Josh Johnson, who threw to 1B Carlos Rivero. Very cool moment.

Couple of awkward moments: in the 7th inning, there were several defensive moves on the part of the Chiefs, which weren't announced until a third of the way through the inning -- after we'd already figured it out. Seth Bynum replaced Jim Negrych. Seth batted. Then it was time for Mark Teahen to bat, but his graphic never came up on the scoreboard. It remained on Seth. Perhaps this was in honor of Seth's old game worn jersey being auctioned.

Annoyance of the game:
Several times, people came to sit in Maven's seats. Danny-the-Usher asked them to leave each time. The last time, the guy started arguing with Danny. Danny asked to see the ticket, and the man clearly didn't have a ticket for that seat . . . and argued about it. What's to argue about? It's not the seat you bought!

I did see Maven on my way out of the stadium. He's sitting out of the sun for the time being. We miss him. Intensely. I miss discussing the game and players with him.  Next time I see him behind the net, I may go over and sit with him for an inning or two.

Slow Night In Chiefsville

It was a slow night last night. The Tides scored, the Chiefs tried to catch up, but it just didn't happen for them.

I forgot to mention that Josh Johnson is back with the team, along with a "new guy," Eury Perez.  Jeff Howell is on the 7-day DL.

Items of note:

Seth Bynum in tall sox

Seth Bynum wore tall sox. I really like the look. Mark Teahen does it all the time. Seth only seems to do it in Weekend Red.

The song Centerfield seems to be getting more play now. I like that.

Sandee and I keep trying to catch the lyrics of Carlos Rivero's at-bat music, but we can't, and we really want to know what it is. I want a copy of it. (With lyrics, we can Google!).

There was a really great Brett Carroll graphic last night, naming him Captain America. (Brett had the Chiefs' only RBI.) Unfortunately, I had to scramble for my camera and didn't get a clear shot. Sandee got a better shot. Maybe she'll post it.

Brett Carroll as Captain America

I also like the red strip where the innings are numbered, and the white numbers on black background. Very easy to read.

And when the bases were loaded in the 6th, the following graphic was on the board, which was great, because I wasn't scoring last nights game and had forgotten who was where.

Who's On First?

We also noticed that instead of "Instant Replay," the graphic now reads "Second Look," which is a much more accurate label. 

Toward the end of the game, there was a great video that started out showing the backs of the players jerseys (Marrero hasn't played enough games this season to be included, but he was), then went to action shot. Nice little promo.

When I arrived at the stadium, there were a bunch of people sitting in the second row of 207. They were doing the vulture eat thing: eating while leaning over the backs of the seats in front of them. They were mostly okay, otherwise (even if they were Oriole/Tides fans) except for a couple of things. Eventually they allowed their small boys to sit in Maven's seats. Okay. Except they threw their garbage all over the place. (We always pick up ours and throw it away on our way out of the stadium each evening). And instead of using the stairs, adults and children alike stepped on the seats to get to the first row, then climbed over the railing. There were a couple of times I was really worried that the boys would fall backwards and crack their heads on the concrete. And that railing isn't all that sturdy.

Finally, after the fireworks, I said, "They put stairs in the stadium for a reason."

One of the adults replied, "We're Canadian. We don't use them."

To which I thought, "The Canadians I know have far better manners than you."

Next time I see this, I'm calling security (talking to the ushers is completely pointless and a waste of breath).

I am a taxpayer. The facility is owned by the county. I don't want a lawsuit because of someone else's stupid rudeness.

There were fireworks after the game, rescheduled from the night the power went out. During the fireworks, Sandee noticed a player with his family sitting in the dugout watching the show. Then they came out of the dugout for a closer look. Judging by the player's build we think it was Eric Arneson. After the fireworks were over, father and child went onto the field. Dad stood at home plate and beckoned for the child to run home. It was so cute! Sandee and I cheered, especially when the child finally made it!

As we were leaving the stadium, we noticed flames in the area from which the fireworks were launched. It's been a very hot, dry summer. We may even be in a drought situation. I tried to get a photo without the net, but when I moved further down the 1st base side, the flames were blocked by the advertising.

Grounds crew watching the fire

"Fire"works

One of the security guards hustled us out, saying, "We have to empty the stadium because there's a fire." He told us this as the firetrucks arrived. 

It was time to leave anyway.

Maybe today's game (Sunday, 7/21) will be better.

An Evening to Remember

The Chiefs were back in town tonight. I miss going to games when there's a long stretch off. TV Stevie and I were in Cooperstown during the final two games of the last home stand, so it's been over a week for me. We did go to Auburn last night to see the Doubledays, but that's a story for the off season.

The Chiefs haven't been doing so well lately, so tonight's win was exciting.

I saw Corey Brown actually signing autographs for a fan before the game.

Heard a rumor that Lannan was called up to pitch in a double-header for the Nats.

Liars and thieves, stealing someone else's paid-for seats

Two guys came in and plopped down in Maven's seats. I asked how they knew him and they said, "Sure, yeah, where is he?" They were full of crap. A while later, an usher asked where Maven was and I said I wished he'd hurry back so other people wouldn't sit in seats they didn't pay for. That went right over the usher's head. Figures.

Billy Baldwin was there, as was Carol Baldwin (Mother of All Baldwins) for Breast Cancer Awareness Night. Carol threw out the first pitch.

Carol M. Baldwin and Billy Baldwin with L-Train

Then Billy threw out another ceremonial first pitch from the mound.

It took 3 attempts, but he threw a strike

The team wore their breast cancer shirts from last season, a very nice black with pink.

The players also wore pink wrist bands.

We didn't see any pink bats in use, nor did anyone wear pink cleats (as Gregor Blanco did last year).

Sandee and I were talking, when all of a sudden there was a huge commotion. We saw two players tussling on home plate. On the ground. Both benches cleared. I scrambled for my camera.

It was ugly. It took a couple of minutes to sort out. Chiefs catcher Koyie Hill and the Tides catcher were the original combatants. Once Hill was pulled off the other catcher, Carlos Maldonado was very protective of him.

Hill and the other catcher were ejected. Carlos came in to pinch hit for Hill, then remained in the game as catcher, so we got to wave our fan club signs.

Of course, while all of this was happening, Suspect brought Billy Baldwin over so I could take their picture together, which is why I don't have good shots of the melee.

Billy Baldwin and Suspect

We heard many stories of why there was a brawl, but the one that made the most sense (and came from the most reliable source) was that there is history between the two catchers. There was some trash talk, a little more trash talk -- then fists. Sandee and I are both pretty sure we saw a headlock.

It was certainly an evening to remember.