Yesterday was a sad day for Royals fans. I shared some memories of Fred White over at Ladies….
It feels a little bit like a loss within the family, doesn’t it?
May 11
LINKS: Photos of every 2013 Omaha Storm Chasers player
Here are links to my photos of every player who comes through Omaha this year. Bookmark this page for reference; I will be updating it throughout the season as the roster changes.
Want to use this shot of Louis Coleman somewhere? Sure, go for it. Just throw me a credit or I'll get sad.
PITCHERS
Buddy Baumann
Justin Marks
Dan Wheeler (released May 11)
CATCHERS
INFIELDERS
Freddy Sandoval
Xavier Nady
Brandon Wood (traded May 9)
OUTFIELDERS
May 05
Omaha wins 2-1 in 10; David Lough es en fuego
I don't know who's giving that big hug to Falu - I think it's David Lough. Which, awwww.
Will Smith and Chad Tracy greeting Lough near 2nd base
aaand.... UP!
This was a fantastic game. Chris Dwyer was excellent again, using his curveball to keep the Redbirds off the board completely for 6.1 innings. Like his last home start, he did not get a double-yoo. That went to Louis Coleman, who got the BS/W combo. Coleman was actually good in his 2.2 innings, though he had to work around a double and a walk in the 10th.
Irving Falu led off the bottom of the 10th with his 2nd triple of the day, and David Lough drove him in on a single to right field. Lough drove in both of Omaha’s runs on the day, and his 2-5 performance raised his average to .364, and his OBP to .423.
Apr 27
Scenes from Omaha’s 10th-inning walkoff win
The Storm Chasers held a 4-2 lead in the top of the 9th and one out. Donnie Joseph seemed to be cruising, but a tough ground ball put an Iowa runner on base, and Jirsch elected to go to righty Michael Mariot to get the last two outs. Instead, Mariot surrendered a home run to PH Brad Nelson, and the game eventually went into extras.
It’s a shame, really, because Chris Dwyer had a really nice start – 7 innings, 5 K, 1 BB and just two runs. It actually looked like Iowa had Dwyer figured out in the 4th, when they scored both of their runs against him. Every Cubs batter that inning went aggressively after the first or second pitch, and it paid off. But Dwyer got things back on track and didn’t allow any additional runs.
Mariot ended up with a vulture win, further proving that the W is the best stat and should never be questioned.
ANYWAY. Here’s Willy Taveras scoring the winning run:
I was in the Cubs’ dugout, so I had to shoot past sad Iowa players to get a view of the celebrating Storm Chasers.
More celebration. I love Nathan Adcock hugging on Christian Colon over there on the right. So fun.
Apr 13
Paulo Orlando takes bundling up VERY SERIOUSLY.
I’m sure he’d have covered his eyes, too, if he could.
Apr 13
Donnie Joseph struck out the side in the 8th inning
to help secure a 6-5 win for Omaha in the Storm Chasers’ home opener.
More beautiful photos and notes to come, after I thaw out my hands and feet.
Mar 20
One Concussion Too Many: My post-concussion story
Sometimes on Twitter I make reference to my brain injury, but it occurs to me that I’ve never told the whole story. And until everyone – EVERYONE – takes concussions more seriously, people like me need to be more vocal. So here’s the story of how concussions broke me, but also how I got to the point where I could triumphantly tweet this:
Part I: “What the hell is happening to me?
The start of the whole mess didn’t feel like the start of anything of any significance. Before a family dinner at my brother’s house, I felt kind of woozy and went to the guest room to lie down for a bit. It didn’t help, and in fact that woozy feeling stayed with me for well over a year. If you’ve ever fainted before, you might know that twilighty feeling, where you’re aware that you’re about to black out, but you’re somehow too detached from consciousness to do anything about it. Starting that day in February 2011, I felt like that all the time.
That night my dad took me to an urgent care clinic. I did a bunch of balance tests and was somewhat reassured by the doctor’s pronouncement that I had not suffered a stroke. I repeated those balance tests obsessively at home, standing on one foot on a pillow for as long as I could to make sure I could still do it.
The woozy feeling was worse when I moved too suddenly, or sang too much, or walked too fast. Much worse, though, was the fact that my memory started getting slippery. If I tried to read a textbook or a blog post or the minutes from a meeting, I could recognize the individual words but failed to retain any meaning or message from them. The names of people I knew and saw every day were suddenly a mystery to me. I found myself doing that really sad “Hey….you! What’s up….pal?” thing that I imagine people in the early stages of Alzheimer’s do. Except, this was happening to me at age 22, not 82, and I had no idea why.
Mar 20
How to dress for an April game in Omaha: a PSA in the style of a blatantly obvious Lifehacker post
Sometimes, Lifehacker is useful. Other times, its staff members provide us with painfully obvious advice couched as a genius new tip. In my offseason boredom, I’ve decided to bring you some advice in the style of the latter.
When you watch a Spring Training game, or attend one, you notice that a typical fan outfit is shorts, a tank, and sandals. Don’t let reality slap you in the face when the regular season begins in Omaha on April 12.
The forecast for Omaha on Opening Day calls for a high of 64. That’s pretty nice, but if you show up to the ballpark dressed for 64 degrees, you’re going to find your teeth chattering during the later innings. To avoid freezing after the sun sets, consider checking the hourly forecast before heading to the ballpark, and dress for the temperature that’s forecast for 10 or 11 p.m., not what it is when you hop in the car.
This may seem obvious to people who go to a lot of baseball games, but this can really help you avoid being distracted by cold temps in late innings.
Mar 07
Opening Day Countdown: 27
Let’s see if I can come up with a post every day of the rest of the offseason. Today, there are 27 days left until Opening Day on April 1.
No numerical factoids today. Instead, let’s hear from new Royal Elliot Johnson’s wife Nicole. She shared her experiences as the WOTPTBNL. (Wife of the Player to be Named Later, obviously.)
Mar 04
Opening Day Countdown: 29
Falu running out of the box in Omaha...toward the Majors?
Let’s see if I can come up with a post every day of the rest of the offseason. Today, there are 29 days left until Opening Day on April 1.
29
is the number of home runs Billy Butler hit last season. It’s also the number of hits Irving Falu had in his 91 Major League plate appearances; the number of putouts Falu had on defense, and the number of runs Tim Collins and Vin Mazzaro gave up.
It was also Mike Sweeney’s jersey number. May we never forget that a healthy Sweeney was legitimately one of the best hitters in the league.