Brian Barton missed by pitch - you don’t hear that very often.

Usually it’s Barton hit by pitch. And another pitch. And yet one more time…

In fact, it’s happened a Minor-League leading 22 times this year as the Aeros right-fielder is way ahead of last year’s pace when he was plunked 25 times.

Barton has a propensity for getting nailed despite not owning a stance that particularly crowds the plate. This knack, if you will, came into strong focus duing the Aeros just concluded four-game series with Bowie at Canal Park.

Bear with me here, as I’ll get back to the missed by pitch part soon. But first, some background:

It began at the beginning of Saturday’s game when Barton was hit by a pitch in the first inning by former Aeros pitcher Oscar Alvarez. Barton says it usually doesn’t hurt when he gets hit, but this one obviously did. In a rarity, Barton took plenty of time trying to walk it off before finally taking his base.

Two at-bats later, a grouchy and probably achy Barton was called out on strikes. Soon, he’d been tossed by the home plate umpire after an act that included flipping his bat and leaving it at home plate, tossing his arm guard on the field as he walked away, and finally punctuated by throwing his batting gloves - one by one - over the dugout railing onto the field before exiting down the tunnel and into the lockerroom.

It was a rare show of emotion for the laid back Barton, so out of character, Aeros manager Tim Bogar called it Barton’s “out-of-body experience.”

Still, after the game, Bogar had a closed door meeting with Barton, in essence explaining that while he has a right to disagree with the call, he should have handled it more professionally by showing respect for the game.

“I told him, ‘I’m not telling you not to be Brian Barton. Be Brian Barton. But understand that the world might not understand Brian Barton.’ Sometimes, you have to be sensitive to what other people think.”

Espeically in a game where one scout, coach or front office person’s perception can mean all the difference between a career in the big leagues and one spent scuffling in the minors.

So, on we move to Monday’s game. With two outs in the first inning, Barton slams a two-run home run to give the Aeros an early lead. During his next at-bat, the first pitch from Bowie ace Radhames Liz whizzes behind Barton. Liz, obviously throwing a purpose pitch, is immediatley tossed by the home plate umpire for throwing at Barton.

For the next 10 minutes, Bowie’s manager comes out to argue, another pitcher in the Bowie dugout (Rosman Garcia) gets ejected as well for throwing a folding chair onto the field from the dugout and finally another pitcher is summoned to begin warming up.

While all this is going on, Barton is quietly standing in front of the Aeros dugout, waiting for order to be restored and the new pitcher to get ready.

If it were me, I’d probably (O.K., I would) have a few choice words for Liz and any other idiot in the dugout acting like a jerk. But Barton just stood there, waiting. Lesson learned.

In the meantime, Bogar got steamed while talking to the umpires, wondering why the Bowie manager (Bien Figueroa) wasn’t tossed as well, as the orders to go after Barton most likely came from him.

“My question to the home plate umpire was - we do nothing wrong, and we get in trouble? (the rule states that the benches must be warned and if it a guy gets hit again, not only the pitcher but the manger would be automatically ejected). So I asked him, can’t you just throw him (Figueroa) out, too?”

Barton handled it well, and so did Bogar, despite having a very valid point.

Yet, by the end of the night’s action, I found it rather ironic that all the fuss of the evening was made over the one time Barton was actually missed by a pitch - and not hit by one.

* Can you believe Randy Newsom is 7-for-7 in save opportunities? Truthfully, I can. He is one special kid, and I don’t mean baseball-wise. Heck, he probably has the least real “baseball” talent of any of the Aeros, but is such a superior human being. His sharp mental state and fun-loving way of looking at the game more than makes up for anything he lacks in skills. I am glad to see a non-drafted kid getting a legimate shot.

* Before talking to reporters after earning his first win as a astarting pitcher at Akron this season on Thursday, Jake Dittler took a minute to retrieve his new baby from his wife to show around the lockerroom. The look on his face as showed off little Andrew was precious. What do you want to bet becoming a father goes a long way in helping Dittler “grow up” on the mound? He’s always had decent stuff, it’s just been a matter of maturely handling himself on the mound and not letting his emotions get the best of him.

* I’ve always liked catcher Armando Camacaro. But that’s always been because he always has a smile on his face - win or loss, having played - or as he does most of the time, whether just sitting the bench. With all the moves at the catching position since Javier Herrera was traded, Camacaro has had a chance to play and show off what he can do. In his first game of the year (two months into the season), he hit a home run and had a career-night in RBI. Yesterday, he tagged out a pair of runners at the plate on throws to the plate. Odds are he’ll become the odd man out again now that starter Wyatt Toregas is healthy, but here’s hoping we still get to see a little of Camcaro here and there.

* Lastly, it doesn’t take a baseball purist to see that injury-magnet first baseman Michael Aubrey is probably hurt again. Aubrey’s only been with the Aeros two weeks, and already he’s hobbling around so much, it’s a liability to put him on the bases in a close game. Recently, he’s had Sunday, Monday and now Thursday off to help his sore legs/back - whatever it is this time. Aubrey has always been a professional guy to deal with, but he has got to find a way to stay healthy and play. There’s no doubt in my mind the Indians patience is wearing thin.

True story:

I was at the bank this afternoon and ran into Aeros hitting coach Lee May Jr. He was obviously tired, having just gotten off the team bus a few hours earlier after a long bus ride back to Akron from Portland, Maine. Thank goodness they had Monday off.

He asked if I’d heard about the Aeros near-brawl at Hadlock Field on Saturday. I had, but I let him give me some more detail anyway. His version was worth a few laughs.

Here’s the account of the story from the Portland PR guy who writes the game recaps. It’s pretty accurate, but remember he’s working for Portland, so it’s likely to be a bit slanted as one would expect:

SEA DOGS RALLY FALLS JUST SHORT, LOSE 9-6 TO AKRON
Benches empty in the seventh inning causing a 10-minute delay

(Portland, ME) – Akron rallied from a 4-1 deficit, scoring eight unanswered runs and held on to beat the Portland Sea Dogs, 9-6 in front of a sellout crowd of 7,368 fans on Saturday night at Hadlock Field.

Akron tied the game at four in the fifth inning on Ryan Goleski’s 3-run triple off Portland starter Tommy Hottovy. In the seventh inning off Lincoln Holdzkom (3-1), Trevor Crowe singled home the go ahead run and David Wallace followed with a grand slam. Holdzkom, who suffered his first loss in the Red Sox Organization, threw the next pitch behind Rodney Choy Foo - leading to his ejection.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, Portland scored the game’s final two runs on Bryan Pritz’s RBI triple and Jeff Natale’s sacrifice fly. Jay Johnson followed Natale and watches a Stevens’s fastball sail over his left shoulder, leading to the ejection of Stevens and Akron Manager Tim Bogar.

As Bogar was leaving the field, he shouted into Portland’s dugout, causing both benches to clear and delaying the game 10 minutes. There were was no brawl on the field but Portland Hitting Coach Russ Morman was ejected for leaving the dugout and yelling at Bogar.

The Sea Dogs had one final chance in the ninth inning, loading the bases against Randy Newsom but Johnson and Andrew Pinckney were retired to end the game. Newsom, a former Red Sox farmhand, picked up his fifth save of the year.

Some thoughts:

* I like to see Bogar get fired up every once in a while. But of course it happened on the road again, and home fans didn’t get to enjoy it.

* Perhaps a new budding rivalry with someone other than Altoona is a good thing. Remember, these two teams played each other in the playoffs the last two years with Akron winning its second championship in 2005 and Portland grabbing its first title last year.

* Good to see Crowe, Goleski and Wallace hitting. For Crowe and Goleski - it’s about time. A slam by Wallace is a nice surprise.

* With Jensen Lewis promoted to Triple-A Buffalo last week, it’d good to see Newsom doing well in the closer’s role.

The Aeros made SEVEN roster moves the last wo days - a few just paper moves, but moves none the less.

Ready? Here goes:

Right-hander NICK PESCO was sent to high Class-A Kinston, catcher WYATT TOREGAS was placed on the Disabled List with a lower back strain, catcher DAVID WALLACE joined the team from Triple A Buffalo, right-hander CLIFF POLITTE was added to the roster from his rehab assignment, left-hander CHUCK LOFGREN returned to the Aeros from short-season Mahoning Valley, pitcher LUIS VALDEZ was transferred back to low Class-A Lake County and infielder CRISTO ARNAL was sent to Extended Spring Training.

Got all that? Hopefully, this helps:

Pesco was once again overmatched at Double-A (he was last year as well). H’s got some things to work on so doing it at Kinston makes more sense than getting his brains beat in by more experienced hitters.

I had a feeling something was wrong with Toregas since he hadn’t played in two days - I wonder if the back injury isn’t from the akward slide into second over the weekend. Originally, it looked like he really hurt his ankle, but the next day when I talked to him, he told me he felt fine. Backs are tricky (I know personally), so hopefully, it’s nothing too serious.

Doesn’t it figure, though, that as soon as backup catcher Javi Herrera is traded, Toregas goes down? That’s O.K. with Armando Camacaro activated, but it’ll be interesting to see if (former Aero) David Wallace becomes the main catcher until Toregas returns or is just with the team as a back up plan. Unfortunately, since neither Camacaro or Wallace can hit, neither are in the Tribe future plans. However, the Indians brass is increasingly getting higher on Toregas, as evidenced by the willingness to let Herrera go for essentially nothing.

Politte’s move is merely a paper move. The only difference is that now he counts against the team’s active roster, which is why Pesco had to be moved.

Lofgren’s transfer was also a paper move as he’s been with the team since returning from his spot start Friday in Buffalo, but he didn’t need to be activated (and thus count against the roster) until it was his turn to pitch again.

With Lofgren back on the active roster, Valdez returned to Lake County. He was only up to help the tired bullpen for a few days until Lofgren needed to be put back on the roster.

Lastly, Arnal simply sounds like a guy without a team and was bumped to extended S.T. with no where else to go until Mahoning Valley’s season gets underway June 19th.

I just found out that little lefty Reid Santos won the Eastern League’s Pitcher of the Week award for the week ending June 10th.

That’s great news for the Aeros do-it-all pitcher of the season. In two starts for the Aeros last week, he was 1-0 with five strikeouts and a 0.90 ERA.

He made his first start of the week against the New Hampshire Fisher Cats at Canal Park, giving up one run on four hits while striking out two batters in five innings of work. The 24-year old was equally impressive in his second appearance of the week, surrendering only two hits while striking out three and walking two in five shutout innings at home against Portland on Sunday.

After serving as the late-inning set up man early in the season, Santos was switched to closer when the team lost closer Bubbie Buzachero. Then when J.D. Martin went down with right arm problems, Santos switched over to the starting rotation May 30th, and is now 1-1 with a 1.84 ERA in three games.

Santos, a native of Kaneohe, Hawaii (infielder Rodney Choy Foo is also from Hawaii), was selected by the Cleveland Indians in the 13th round of the 2002 draft out of California’s Saddleback Junior College.

A lot of guys would moan and groan about having to do so much for the team in such short notice, but santos has made the best of every situation the Aeros have put him in. He is one of the reasons the team has remained steady despite all the recent player movement.

Santos’ Pitching Line for the week ending June 10, 2007:
G W L S IP H R ER K BB ERA 2 1 0 0 10 6 1 1 5 2 0.90
Santos’ Pitching Line for the season:
G W L S IP H R ER K BB ERA 19 4 2 0 60 48 26 23 60 33 3.45

Jake Westbrook made a rehab start at Akron Friday night and looked like he needed more rehab time. He said he felt fine, which is good news regarding his left abdominal strain. But in his two rehab starts with Triple-A Buffalo and Akron, he’s gotten hit hard. Friday he allowed four runs on five hits and three walks in just 2 1/3 innings. I wrote for Saturday’s story that results don’t usually matter as much as how a guy feels, but in this case, maybe it should mean something.

Before Westbrook’s start, there was a flurry of activity in the Aeros lockeroom.

Michael Aubrey was lounging around the clubhouse during the game, which means he will be activated as early as Saturday. While many Aeros fans welcome his bat (he hit .400 with five home runs in 13 games with Class-A Kinston) it’s tough to see first baseman Jordan Brown have move to accomodate Aubrey. Plus, it’ll be interesting to see what roster move the team makes for Aubrey. If Brown has to move, he’ll move to an already crowded outfield. The Tribe’s deep thinkers will have to decide - do they put another guy on the phantom DL? Do they dare send struggling Trevor Crowe down to Kinston to find his stroke and create room? Do they really want to bench veteran Jon Van Every, who has as hot of a bat as Brown right now?

It’ll definitely be a tough call. I’d send Crowe down if were up to me, but I don’t think the Indians would do that.

An hour or so before Aubrey arrived, Infielder Rodney Choy Foo was activated from the DL and Shuan Larkin returned to his coaching duties at first base.

Then about 45 minutes before game time, back up catcher Javier Herrera found out he had been traded to tha Washington Nationals. He was as stunned as his teammates. At the time he didn’t know for sure where he was headed, but a good guess is Double-A Harrisburg. The Senators just happen to play in Akron again on July 16-18 - giving anyone who wishes they had a chance to say good bye and good luck to one of the truly classisest guys to have worn an Akron uniform an opportunity.

Larry wrote wondering about how high the ceiling is for shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera. He figures the Tribe must be getting a little worried about third-base prospect Andy Marte (now at Buffalo). 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.

It’s a very relevant question right now as many of us baseball folks have been talking about the same thing a lot lately.

A lot of us really like Cabrera - his defense and his offense. He clearly doesn’t belong at the Double-A level. As for his ceiling - yes, I think he could be an every day major leaguer. In the near future I could see him at short for the Tribe and Peralta at third (where I think he profiles better, anyway).

Of course, that means the Tribe deep thinkers will have to get over Marte, and reality says they won’t make that move quickly - they never do.

Charlie wants to know whether Franklin Gutierrez stick with the Indians and what that means for another outfield prospect in Ben Francisco. Lastly, he wondered if pitcher Fausto Carmona will be the Tribe’s #2 starter by the end of the year.

The Tribe is so loaded in the outfield, I’ve thought the last two years that they’d try to trade Gutierrez. Maybe it’ll happen this season with them needing more bullpen help. Gutierrez came to the Indians from LA in the Milton Bradley deal with plenty of tools, but has always struggled hitting off speed stuff. He was hitting much better this season at Buffalo, making me think he’s rectified that enough to be able to bring him to Cleveland to showcase for trade possibilities.

I like Francisco. He’s as good of a guy as you’ll ever meet. I think he could be the fourth outfielder on some big league teams - it just isn’t going to happen with the Tribe.

As for Carmona, it sure looks like he’s finally figured it out. His “stuff” was never questioned, so it’s good to see the mental side has cacught up with his physical abilities. If not this year, I can see him as a No. 2 next.

People ask me all the time why the Aeros continue to do well year after year. This is my fifth season covering the team for the Beacon Journal and I always say the same thing:

1) The parent-club Indians continually stock the team with a bulk of its minor-league prospects. It used to be all organizations did this at the Double-A level. But one look at the veteran Curve roster, and you can see they have as many, if not more, free-agent veterans than there are at the Tribe’s Triple-A Buffalo level.

2) Like other Double-A teams each season, the Aeros tend to lose their best first-half players to promotion - like they did with Kevin Kouzmanoff last season (once he was healthy). However, the players at high Class-A Kinston come up to Akron and take over without losing much (last year it was outfielder Trevor Crowe).

That doesn’t usually happen in a lot of other organizations, as the Double-A level is such a separator for eventual major league talent. But year after year the Kinston Kids (I’m old enought to call them that) come to town ready to play, and like Crowe did last year, often bring an infusion of energy with them that boasts the team.