Barton Missed by Pitch, Bogar Ticked
Posted June 25th, 2007 by Stephanie Storm
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.
June 27th, 2007 at 2:12 am
Nice blog Stephanie. But let’s get to the good stuff. Who is leaving and who is arriving? We have already disagreed on the Toregas/Ramirez situation so let’s look at other position players. I think Cabrera, Brown and Barton are likely candidates for Buffalo. Kinston will be sending a much needed Hodges to play 3B and, possibly, Gimenez for utility purposes. If Aubrey goes back on the DL, which seems to be par for the course, we might get Head as well. No replacement for Cabrera on the immediate horizon.
June 27th, 2007 at 7:39 am
Agree with the who’s leaving question. Buffalo cannot keep going with a starting outfield of Inglett - Van Every- and Snyder, IMO. It makes a lot of sense to send Barton and Cabrera up, along with possibly Brown or even Goleski (as not to slight him again, by having him fall even further behind in the system depth).
Also, whats the story with Tony Sipp? When he got injured in spring training, the Tribe made the comment that he’d be back around the All-Star break and I’ve yet to hear an update. The MiLB site now has him assigned to Buffalo, but I have difficulty believing that the Indians would start him out there, coming off of injury. I’d figure he’d get a month or so at Akron before getting sent to Buffalo. Any news on him?
June 27th, 2007 at 10:58 am
There were updates on all the disbled pitchers about 10 days ago on another blog. Miller has come to pass as advertised. Sipp was purportedly playing long toss with a goal of mid-July. I actually expected him to start lower, probably MV. There was no positive news to repot on JD Martin and the Huff news was not good, a minimum of six weeks. Choo is likely done as an Indian because of options and injury severity. BTW, there could be more OF movement as both Gutz and Benny are prominent in two separate trade rumors. Word in the blogosphere is Cooper is being released shortly.
June 27th, 2007 at 11:03 pm
I agree with Norman about some upcoming movement to Buffalo. It might be happening now if Buffalo weren’t so loaded, which is one of the main reasons no one has moved yet.
Brown is definitely deserving of a shot, but with Aubrey so-so they may leave him in Akron figuring they’d prefer him to stay at 1B. Besides, as much as we’d like to move these guys and get them going, with Double-A being such a crucial level, the front office often prefers to leave a guy (like Brown) here for a full year. Since Cabrera has Triple-A experience already, he’s a little bit of a different story.
As for Barton, there’s no room for him at Buffalo right now - even with Gutierrez and Francisco up with the Tribe. I agree that Cooper’s an easy release, but a lot of times the Indians prefer to just quietly let guys go in the off season - such as Jeremy Guthrie (I know, bad subject) - rather than just flat out release them. That being said, he’s simply dead weight at this point. So we’ll see.
On the flip side, I’d like to see Hodges & Gimenz come up to Akron, and I think it could happen soon. The All-Star break is usually the time, so we’ve got about another week or so.
With Sipp being out so long, he won’t start pitching first in Akron. Lake County sounds more probable with a quick move up the system if he shows he’s O.K. I’ve got a call into the Indians about Sipp, so I’ll share their side fo the story when I hear back.
The Indians like Choo, so I don’t think they’ll lose him easily. As for the outfield movement, I don’t know that Francisco is much for trade bait with so little big-league experience, but I’ve said all along that Gutierrez was definitely up for that reason from the beginning. I like Gutierrez, but figure the Tribe needs pitching more than an extra outfielder.
However, with Franklin hitting so well (he hit another HR tonight) coupled with Nixon struggling the way he is, perhaps he’s played his way into Wedge’s lineup for the rest of the season.
only time will tell.
June 28th, 2007 at 11:28 am
Hi Stephanie,
Looks like Wedge still isn’t ready to commit to Gutz if today’s game is any indication. I am not sure I agree with you about the room in the Buffalo OF even if Cooper stays. Barton has done a year at Akron and I see no one in the Buffalo OF now who should hold him back. You have a point about Brown who has less time and probably less upside than Barton but I think they want a LH bat ready and want another candidate other than Snyder who still has some holes in his swing. The blogs say Francisco is a focal point in the Texas dealings rather than Gutz because the Rangers want a good pitching prospect. I have heard that Choo’s injury is chronic and severe. He is highly unlikely to play again this year and may not be ready next spring. I do not see how they can get him thru the options issue but I am sure they will try. I have also heard that Mills was promoted yesterday which may be the trigger for the movement.
July 2nd, 2007 at 4:49 pm
Stephanie, can you please talk to the Aeros about their ridiculous concessions prices? I can no longer afford to take my family to the games. They are ridiculously overpriced!
July 2nd, 2007 at 4:50 pm
Stephanie, can you talk to the Aeros about their ridiculously overpriced concessions prices? They are out of touch with what the average fan can afford to spend.