Mailbag
Posted May 28th, 2007 by Stephanie Storm
A common theme among reader emails recently has been - beleive it or not - about the bright pink backpack the relievers tote out to the bullpen before every game. And yes, it does indeed have wings.
Why do they it? Honestly, because they’re boys. Boys, with a lot of time on their hands.
You see, every bullpen needs to be stocked with enough gum and sunflower seeds to make it through a long game - espeically when it goes into extra innings. Thus, the backback is stocked with the goodies and lugged out to the bullpen by a different player before each game. That’s a lot easier than having to run back and forth to the dugout to get fresh supplies. Saves the legs, you know?
Why didn’t they pick out say a nice, green camouflage G.I. Joe backpack? I don’t know. Maybe they figured it would blend in too much. The pink one with fairy wings not only stands out, it gets them lots of attention, to boot.
Another email came from a concerned fan regarding the status of Erie catcher Steve Torrealba. In Friday night’s game he was hit in the face by a splintered bat. It looked pretty bad, with a piece of the bat coming straight down into his face as he looked up towards the night sky for the ball. Believe it or not, Torealba only suffered a spilt lip and was back in action by Monday.
Candace emailed Monday concerned about third baseman Pat Osborn. Number One - was he alright after getting hit in the left elbow by a pitch Sunday?
Yes, Pat is O.K. He’s wearing a wrap on it and will be out for a few days, but has yet to be placed on the DL, which makes me think it can’t be too bad.
Number Two - What’s been wrong with him lately? He just hasn’t seemed like himself in letting too many balls go by him without much of an effort.
I agee with Candace. I can’t quite put my finger on it. But Pat has seemed rather lackluster out there. I don’t think there’s anything physically wrong with him. He just doesn’t seem to have the range anymore you want out of a third baseman.
Got more question? Send more for future mailbags.
May 29th, 2007 at 5:24 pm
Two months into the season, what is your opinion on how things have gone so far in Akron? Do you think everything has gone according to plan? Or have the constant roster changes between Buffalo and Cleveland deprived the double-A team of stability?
Any chance we will see another championship in Akron this year? What is your opinion of the fact that the triple-A, double-A and high single-A teams in the Cleveland farm system are all in first place?
May 30th, 2007 at 2:47 pm
What’s up with the attendance this season — or lack of it? Other than fireworks and free tickets nights, Canal Park is practically empty for Aeros games.
May 30th, 2007 at 9:15 pm
Glenn - No doubt the Aeros attendance has been down this season. I don’t usually take a real notice until school’s out and more families bring the kids out (and stay late without having to worry about school the next morning). Yet, it has been very noticable early this year.
A lot has to do with the ballpark’s suites 10-year leases being up at the end of last season. Not many of them have been renewed this year. I don’t know the details - whether fans have to rent for multiple years or what not, but it’s been very empty up there on most nights.
Lastly, and I’m going to be honest, I think people have come and seen everything. As long as the team’s owners and the city aren’t putting anything new in ballpark, the non-baseball fans have no reason to come out again. I strongly feel that to make money on a minor league team, you have to spend it.
And you don’t have to spend a lot at Canal Park. Just a fresh coat of paint, pull out the old championship banners and actually display them, and give fans more with special giveaway promotions. The Aeros do very little in this area anymore.
June 2nd, 2007 at 8:30 pm
Jacob - Let’s get one thing straight - in the game of baseball, nothing ever goes as planned. The guy that’s suposed to hit, doesn’t (OF Trevor Crowe), the guy that’s supposed to have power, suddenly doesn’t (OF Ryan Goleski) and the guy who’s supposed to finally be healthy, isn’t (RHP J.D. Martin). Third baseman Pat Osborn all of a sudden looks like he’s 50 years old in the field.
Yet, the reverse can happen as well. No one expected a whole lot of IB Jordan Brown, and he’s been very solid. SS Asdrubal Cabrera was suuposed to be a work-in-progress at the plate, but has been the team’s most consistent hitter.
All that being said, despite the usual things going better than expected here and worse than expected there, I’d say the Aeros are doing well. The starting pitching hasn’t been as strong as a lot of folks thought it would, but it’s not quite mid-season yet, so it can improve. The bullpen has managed despite being a continual work-in-progress. The hitters have carried the team so far as a group, and that’s without everyone really hitting individually yet (Goleski, Barton, Crowe, etc).
Will all this culminate in another championship run? I don’t see why they won’t at least make it into the playoffs again.
See Saturday’s night’s post on why I believe the team is headed for another post season run.
June 3rd, 2007 at 8:28 am
Stephanie, with this season being Pat Osborn’s third at Akron don’t you think he sees how he fits into the parent teams plans? Unless he really lights it up at the plate and plays the field with intensity and hustle, there is no playing future for him. Pat seems like one of the friendliest, mot likable players. You really want to root for a guy like him, but Akron is where he is stuck at. Hmm, reminds me of the Corey Smith story.
He may get a chance for advancement is if he gets “bumped up/out” by someone in Kinston and they move Pat to Buffalo (or some other organization), not as a reward, but to get a younger prospect time at the AA level.
On another subject - what happened to Asdrubal Cabrera last weekend when he was placed on the inactive list? I went to the Erie game on Memorial Day and noticed he wasn’t playing or in the dugout. I didn’t hear or read anything about it so I assume it was for personal or disciplinary reasons.
June 3rd, 2007 at 8:57 pm
Ron - The Double-A level is well-know as the seperator for minor league prospects. Not that aguy who’s been in Double-A three seasons can’t eventually make it, but the odds are really beginning to stack up against Osborn. He’d also been struggling before the injury with his range, so perhaps his age is beginning to cacth up with him as well. And that’s too bad, because like you mentioned, he is one of the nicest and most unassuming players you could ever meet.
Personally, I would never link the names Pat Osborn and Corey Smith in the same sentance. Smith was a mental disaster at third, but had a lot more athletic ability than Osborn. They are two totally differnet players, all the way down to their attitudes - and you know how much I like Osborn.
As for Cabrera, he went home to attend to family matters for a few days. His absence was expected and excused. Don’t worry, no one in the organization is mad at him and he did nothing wrong. In fact, the Tribe brass couldn’t be happier with his season so far - so he probably deserved a quick break.
June 5th, 2007 at 9:31 am
I’m wondering how high you think Cabrera’s ceiling is? The Tribe brass must be getting a little worried about Marte, so I’m wondering if Peralta’s played much third in the minors and how far Cabrera needs to go before he’s MLB ready. It seems like he’s surpassed expectations every step of the way, so far.
June 16th, 2007 at 9:19 pm
Stephanie,
I agree with you about not linking Osborn and Smith in the same sentence. Pat has played well at 3rd and Corey was a total disaster. You could always count on Corey to blow the easiest play. However, Corey seemed to also always make the difficult plays. It was strange, blow the routine, but get the difficult. On the other hand, you already know how I feel about Pat. He does seem to be a really nice guy, though a bit aloof with the fans, but this may just be pre-game mindset.
Take care.