It took the first half of the season, but Aeros center fielder Trevor Crowe has finally found his stroke.

After piecing together a 13-game hitting streak while on the road with the Aeros, Crowe came home to Canal Park Saturday night and increased his streak to 14 games, showing off his new form with a pair of home runs in the Aeros Losing effort against Erie.

Getting the real Crowe back after such a slow start is crucial to the Aeros success in the second half, not to mention a potential playoff run. After spending the last month batting in the bottom half of the order, the Indians No. 1 pick in the 2005 draft is back in the leadoff spot where he belongs.

Aeros hitting coach Lee May Jr. spent 10 minutes talking about Crowe in depth before Saturday’s game, explaining that when a young player goes through a prolonged slump like Crowe’s, climbing out of the hole it causes is a lot longer process than most people realize.

“There’s no magic pill to take,” May Jr. said.

Instead, a player’s entire swing is dissected and torn down, then slowly built back up.

It’s a process that begins with the batter focusing on “going the other way” - a tool May Jr. called the “universal aspirin for hitting slumps.”

You know when May Jr. knew for sure Crowe was out of the slump? He pointed to Friday night’s game in Bowie when Crowe turned on a high-90’s fastball from the Baysox closer to tie the game in the ninth inning.

“That was Major League right there,” May Jr. said. “That’s when I knew for sure he was out (of the slump).”

Just about the time Crowe officially declared himself slump free, Aeros third baseman Pat Osborn was traded to the Houston Astros for the infamous Player to be Named Later or cash considerations, which in most minor league instances means a small amount of money.

On one hand, it’s sad to see Osborn go, just like it was when popular catcher Javi Herrera was traded last month to the Washington Nationals. Both player were two of the best players people-wise you’ll ever meet in the game, and really personified the character of the Aeros over the last three years.

However, both players were in prolonged slumps with their careers headed the wrong way and probably needed a fresh start somewhere else. Fortunately for Aeros fans, Herrera is playing with the nationals Double-A team in Harrisburg, which happens to visit Canal Park next home stand. However, if Osborn stays at the Double-A level with the Astros, he’s headed to Round Rock in the Texas League.

Perhaps most important, Osborn’s departure leaves room for Kinston third baseman Wes Hodges (batting .317 in 58 games) to make his much-anticipated move up to Akron after the All-Star break.

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.