Semi-Finals in full swing

Well I certainly expect both series openers to be one-sided blow outs.

Barrie behind Direct Buy Spokes Person Paul Spoljaric  shut down the Majors  while  Guelph's decision to start Brett Lawson blew up in their face against Mike Meyers and The Red Sox


Brantford's  PA Announcer was apparently told to tone it down by the umps last night.    If you watch Mike Byron's video there's no horn at the end of the game
http://www.facebook.com/#!/video/video.php?v=10150218814880154&ref=mf

Since when is an ump allowed to tell them to do this ?   Yet another thing the league needs to get resolved.

Almost as bad as when Terry Steves (Former Coach with the Leafs) and a former Leaf marched up into the Royals press box in the mid 1990's


Next thing you know the Royals won't be able to use that star wars song they were using last series or that other tune they blast when they homer.

Random Notes

Royals fans and players were left scratching their heads over the weekend with the absence of former MVP Jamie Pogue. Pogue was noticeably absent Wednesday and Sunday in Christie Pitts but did make an appearance Monday afternoon on the bench.


Outgoing Commish Joe O'Neill  took in about 3-4 innings of Saturday's Royals - Leafs match up  long enough to stuff his face with a hot dog and refusing to answer any of the fans sitting around him questions on the league.  REALLY CLASSY ACT there Joe.   People pay good money to watch the IBL Joe, next time take 5 minutes to answer a question about what the league plans to do about marketing the league better or these expansion rumors and the Ottawa situation rather than being a complete JACK ASS

Its time this league gets out of its old boys club mentality, opens up a forum, or dialog with the players, and fans to address a number of issues that plague the league.


Umpires were apparently in short supply over the weekend due to the 3 OBA elimination tournaments in Windsor and London.  Explains why the Guelph - Toronto series had practically the same crew at all three games over the weekend.   Funny to see the umps take a pay cut at least for one weekend.  Guess they can't gouge the OBA for milelage like they are famous for gouging the IBL centres.

Semi-Finals Are Set

# 1 Brantford vs. #7 Guelph 


Wednesday August 4th, 8:00pm in Brantford 
Friday August 6th, 7:30pm in Guelph 
Sunday August 8th, 8:00pm in Brantford 
Tuesday August 10th, 7:30pm in Guelph
 * Thursday August 12th, 8:00pm in Brantford 
*Saturday August 14th, 2:00pm in Guelph
 * Sunday August 15th, 8:00pm in Brantford


#3 Barrie vs. #5 London

Wednesday August 4th, in Barrie  7:30 pm

Thursday August 5th in London 7:30 pm

Saturday August 7th in Barrie 7:00 pm

Sunday August 8th  in London 1:00 pm

*Tuesday August 10th in Barrie 7:30 pm

* Friday August 13th in London 7:30 pm

*Saturday August 14th in Barrie 7:00 pm

First Round Playoff Updates

Brantford vs Hamilton   - Brantford leads series 3-0

The Red Sox have pretty much put it into 2nd gear and have been scoring runs in bunches all series long. The T-birds needed to find a way to prevent the big innings if they want to get back into this series


Barrie vs. Mississauga - Barrie Leads 3-0

The Twins have been playing without three of their better players in the lineup thanks to the World University Championships  Barrie has been playing solid all series long.


Guelph vs. Toronto - Guelph leads 2-1

The Royals managed to get out of Christie Pitts with a victory Wednesday night . If they beat Marek Deska Saturday at home (they haven't beaten him all season) that will be a 3-1 series lead and hopefully enough to motivate them to wrap it up Sunday at the Pitts.

I got a few emails asking were Meleti Melehes so far this series. The answer is Germany for the European Championships.  He pitched in Greece's game last Sunday apparently and may be home in time for Saturday's game.



Kitchener vs. London - London leads 3-2 

When London has won in this series they have scored in bunches.  if they put up another bigh number this evening expect the Panthers to pack up their tents and go home.  Another great performance from Andy St. Gelais last night gave the Majors the series lead again.

Wild Finish at the Pitts

The Royals somehow finally managed to end one of the sloppyiest games i've seen in recent playoff history 12-11 in 10 innings literally minutes ago.

The Royals had leads of 5-0 , 8-4, 10-6 and 11-7 at points in the ball game but the Leafs managed to claw their way back to tie it 11-11 with two outs in the bottom of the 9th. They scored four times with two outs.

A string of wild pitches and 5 errors by the Royals almost cost them the game.   Brett Lawson threw 3 consecutive wild pitches in a row in the 8th inning.  

Rogers TV commentators made serveral inappropriate and derogatory comments including one about Royals Slugger Kevin Hinton "he looks like he's never missed a meal"   I get that they are volunteers but still that's low.

Playoff Notes

So just reading the various media clippings online about the IBL playoffs and a few things come to mind.

1) London and Kitchener almost came to another bench clearing incident Sunday in Kitchener when Craig Bate shoved Luke Baker at the plate.

2) The Royals surprize surprize have once again raised their ticket prices for the playoffs  to $8 from six for adults and $6 for Students and Seniors.   They also class Students as any child attending school. So a 5 year old has to pay to come watch the game?  BRUTAL

Bad enough you charge for your program books and lineup cards which don't even have accurate rosters in them. FIGURE IT OUT guys and gals.

Royals will lose tonight by the way. Ryan Hart is no match for the Leafs bats

 

If I Picked the Winners

Curious to see who the league managers pick as their MVP, and All Star Teams in the coming weeks


So I picked my own. As  always I welcome your comments.  Had a hard time picking a 2nd baseman  so i left it blank. After watching 56 games I still couldn't decide.




First Team


1B  - Danny Gibbons - TOR
2B -
SS - Lee Delfino - BRNT
3B - Tyler Patzelak - BRNT
C -  Damon Topolie - TOR
OF - Cleveland Brownlee - LON
OF - Josh McCurdy - BRNT
OF -Sean Reilly - GUE
DH - Frankie Hare - GUE (* Hare played DH while hurt for 6 games)
LHP - Mel Melehes - GUE
RHP - Andy St. Gelais - LON
MGR - Adam Clarke - BRNT


Rookie of The Year - Andy St. Gelais - LON

MVP - Sean Reilly - GUE

Playoff Schedules

#7 Guelph vs. #2 Toronto (Toronto Leads 1-0)

Game 1 - Sunday July 25th - Toronto  Toronto Won 7-4
Game 2 - Tuesday July 27th - Guelph 7:30 pm
Game 3 - Wednesday July 28th - Toronto 7:30 pm
Game 4 - Saturday July 31st - Guelph   2:00 pm
Game 5 - Sunday August 1st - Toronto 2:00 pm (if necessary)
Game 6 - Monday August 2ns - Guelph  2:00 pm (if necessary)
Game 7 - Tuesday August 3rd - Toronto 7:30 pm (if necessary)

#4 Kitchener vs. #5 London (London leads 2-1)

Thursday July 22 – London @ Kitchener,  London won 10-3
Friday, July 23 – Kitchener @ London, London won 10-4
Sunday, July 25 – London @ Kitchener, Kitchener won 8-7 (10 Innings)
Tuesday, July 27 – Kitchener @ London, 7:30 pm
Thursday, July 29 – London @ Kitchener, 7:30 pm (if necessary)
Friday, July 30 – Kitchener @ London, 7:30pm (if necessary)
Sunday, August 1 – London @ Kitchener, 2:00 pm (if necessary)


#8 Hamilton vs. #1 Brantford (Brantford Leads 1-0)

Sunday July 25th  @ Hamilton   Brantford Won 13-2
Tuesday, July 27 – Hamilton @ Brantford 8:00 pm
Wednesday, July 28 – Brantford @ Hamilton 7:30 pm
Friday, July 30 – Hamilton @ Brantford 8 pm
Sunday, August 1 – Brantford @ Hamilton 2 pm
Tuesday, August 3 – Hamilton @ Brantford 7:30 pm


#6 Mississauga  vs. #3  Barrie (Barrie Leads 2-0)

Thursday, July 22 – Mississauga @ Barrie Barrie Won 6-0
Sunday July 25 - Mississauga @ Barrie  Barrie Won 11-3
Wednesday July 28 - Barrie @ Mississauga 7:00 p.m.
Thursday July 29 - Barrie @ Mississauga 7:00 p.m.
Friday July 30 - Mississauga @ Barrie 7:30 p.m (if necessary).
Saturday July 31 - Barrie @ Mississauga 2:00 p.m. (if necessary)
Monday August 2 - Mississauga @ Barrie 7:00 p.m. (if necessary)

Follow the League on your iPhone or Blackberry

http://m.pointstreak.com/bb/scoreboard.html?leagueid=111
Pointstreak has launched their mobile site so now with your blackberry or iPhone you can follow your favorite team from anywhere.

Note to BlackBerry users: To enjoy the full Pointstreak Mobile experience, ensure that you have the following enabled or allowed: JavaScript, Stylesheets, Background images, Tables.

Commish apparently steps down

Treat this info with a grain of salt as its not from a direct source and no one in the league will comment on this report either.

Apparently  IBL Commish Joe O'Neill and Toronto owner Jack Dominico  got into a rather heated discussion yesterday involving the Leafs & Royals Playoff schedules.

Mr. O'Neill  was concerned (the term pissed off is more accurate) that the Leafs didn't want to start the series against the Royals until Sunday afternoon as Mr. Dominico claimed the Leafs don't have access to the field on Friday nights.

The 2nd issue of contention is that the proposed schedule will extend past the 11 day time table the first round is supposed to be completed within.

Long story short words were exchanged and Jack refused to budge then hung up on the commish  and wouldn't pick up the phone.   Joe emailed the league directors and informed them of the impass and resigned


So basically the Royals and Leafs are going to play Sunday at the Pitts and that's all that has been confirmed.

Playoff Match Ups

With Brantford's  1-0 victory last night over Barrie the playoff matchups are now final


#1 Brantford vs. #8 Hamilton
#2 Toronto vs. #7 Guelph
#3 Barrie vs. #6 Mississauga
#4 Kitchener vs. #5 London

Predictions

Brantford should sweep Hamilton in 4
The Sox have too many good bats  the lineups but I'd love to see Hamilton win a game or two to build some interest heading into next year.  Meyers looked great last night and with Ribas  they'll probably pitch every 2nd game like year.

Guelph will take Toronto in 6

The Royals with their full starting nine are one of the best offensive teams in the IBL.  Don't expect this series to be pretty as both teams love slugfests.   Marek Deska has seven wins on the season and four are from the Royals.  The Royals biggest weakness is still their bullpen, if they have to go to it early in games it could be an uphill battle. Melehes and Hart both look like they have lost a step this season, balls that used to be un-hittable are now finding themselves up in the strike zone often.


Barrie will beat Mississauga in 5 

The Twins lost 3 players to the Canadian University Baseball team  which played a vital role in their success this season.  Barrie's offense has not impressed me all year, but their pitching staff is among the best in the league and a solid bullpen will keep it close.  Expect low scoring games.


Kitchener will defeat London in 7
Kitchener with home field advantage at the Couch wins this series. The Couch like Christie Pitts (Domenico Field) is a great equalizer and a visiting pitcher's worse nightmare.  Last time they met it turned into a bean ball war. 

Game 1: Thursday, 7:30 p.m. at Kitchener
Game 2: Friday, 7:30 p.m. at Labatt Park
Game 3: Sunday, 2 p.m. at Kitchener
Game 4: Tuesday, 7:30 p.m. at Labatt Park
Game 5: If nec., July 29, 7:30 p.m. at Kitchener
Game 6: If nec., July 30, 7:30 p.m. at Labatt Park
Game 7: If nec., Sunday, Aug. 1, 2 p.m. at Kitchener

And this is why Hamiton is having a hard time drawing fans

I was just forwarded this in my email and had to share it.  Apparently Craig Campbell who works at the Hamilton News  thinks the IBL is a 2nd rate league (Craig note the spelling, a shame that you get paid to write and don't use a spell check)

----- Original Message -----

From: Campbell, Craig (Brabant)

To: media@theibl.ca ; media@theibl.ca

Sent: Tuesday, July 20, 2010 7:15 PM

Subject: RE: IBL Release #8

No legitimate news organization cares about this second-rate leage or its useless press releases. I always deleted them when I got them, and asked to be removed, but I've continued to get them for years for no reason.

Let's get rid of the league and unused press releases.

Craig,   

My question to you is have you ever been to an IBL game before you passed this harsh judgment? 

People  still enjoy this league very much so, i've been going  for almost 24 years now and im 43.  

Isn't a reporters job to report on news?  Is the league not news worthy to you and the Hamilton News? There is a team right in your backyard with some decent coverage might be able to draw more fans and in turn put a better product on the field .  Close minded reporters like yourself make it impossible for teams to stay afloat.

 

Twins and Royals from Tuesday night

Let me start this off with a couple of things, I wasn't at the ball park last night so I don't have the first hand account of this.

From the couple of emails I got last night  apparently the umpires took the field late then didn't remove their hats and talked throughout the entire national anthem.    Talk about a lack of respect for the game, and their country. 

I don't know quite what to say about this other than im pretty sure they are only ones getting paid to be at the park and that's a total lack of respect on their part. (Not counting players that might get mileage etc)



The Royals won the game 5-0 with Mark Allen smashing two homers on the night.   I wonder if he's in Hinton's dog house now cause he denied him the chance to break the record in both at bats.

 I guess that means he'll be back next season to break it.


With the lost the Twins finish 6th and will play Barrie starting Thursday night while London will play Kitchener which might start Thursday as well

Game two of the Baycats / Twins might not be untill Sunday or Monday as the Baycats made a formal request to have Friday and Saturday off for pitcher Brad Bissell's wedding in April.

The Royals and Hamilton are playing the waiting game pending the outcome of this evening's game in Brantford .
If the Sox win they claim first and Toronto get 2nd place.  If the Baycats win there's a one game playoff between Toronto and Brantford most likely Friday night to determine first place.  The loser would get Guelph

Those series won't start till Sunday at earliest in that case as Toronto's normal home date is Sunday afternoon.

Good God its Goddy

Sorry for the pun , that Brantford fan's chant is still emblazoned into my brain.

Jason Gotwalt's  two out walk off homer Monday night gave the Red Sox Nation the all important victory over the Leafs 3-2.  Brantford with a victory over Barrie Wednesday night will clinch first place. The Leafs  need to now hope for a Barrie victory to force a one game playoff to determine 1st place.


In Guelph tonight the Royals downed the Hamilton Thunderbirds 7-4 .  Frankie Hare continued to tear the cover off the ball in July going deep once again for his 8th of the season and bumped his average up to a league leading .400 on the season.  

Royals longtime DH and Manager Kevin Hinton tied Panthers' great Randy Curran for the league's all time RBI lead narrowly missing a two run homer in the 6th inning and settled for a sac fly.


Playoff Picture  if things remain status quo (Guelph wins Tuesday and Brantford wins Wednesday)

#1 Brantford vs. #8 Hamilton
#2 Toronto vs. # 7 Guelph
#3 Barrie vs. #6 Mississauga
#4 Kitchener vs. #5 London


 If  Barrie Wins Wednesday a one game playoff between Toronto and Brantford  in Brantford

Some clarification

To clear the air.   I'm not looking to get rid of the Ottawa Franchise.  I happen to really care about them, and hope they are back next season but lets be realistic here

108,000  to Ottawa City for Stadium Rental
75,000  (Ballpark number)  Visiting Team Transportation and Accomodations

50,000-75,000 roughly for team costs (based on figures the Guelph Mercury published last year on the ownership of the Royals) 

Total Costs  (again a ballpark figure)  $258,000 roughly

Playoff Picture a little clearer

Well the weekend has come to an end.and so have the playoff dreams for the unofficially defunct Ottawa Fat Cats following Hamilton's victory in game one of their doubleheader against Brantford.  Owners in the IBL must be breathing a collective sigh of relief as a playoff schedule against a team 4-6 hours away from the majority of the centers is not good for building excitement or for scheduling.

London and Mississauga might trade places in the final standings while Guelph with back to back losses on Friday (London 7-3) and Brantford (8-5) can't finish any higher than 7th.

Toronto can't finish any lower than 2nd place and Brantford still could finish first if they won both their remaining games.

The Leafs are in Brantford tonight and then the Baycats are in Wednesday night against the Sox as well.

Kitchener locked up 4th place on the weekend and halted their four game tailspin.

Hamilton punched their 8th place finish yesterday and play in Guelph this evening in what is a completely meaningless game so don't expect to see either teams going all at it this evening.

I got to give the Tbirds their props, they played their most consistent baseball during the 2nd half of the season  and were rewarded for their play.

Playoff Tree

1st vs. 8th -Hamilton
2nd vs. 7th Guelph
3rd vs. 6th
4th - Kitchener vs. 5th


Time to Rip on the IBL for a bit

Ok for starters  whom ever is doing the reporting on the IBL site  a few points of reference

1)  It's Kyle Langille  not Kevin as you reported not once but twice in the past week
Kyle played in Guelph last season.  Get your house in order or hire some one compiedent to handle the reporting

2)  Absolutely no mention of the Milestones Sean Reilly of the Guelph Royals reached Saturday afternoon.  For those of you fans that don't know Reilly hit home run # 76 which tied him for fifth all time in the IBL record books.  That homer also put him into third all time in Runs batted In ahead of former Majors great Arden Eddie at 384 .

The League is terrible at drawing attention to these things and pretty much leaves it up to the teams to do anything about it which is TOTAL BUSH LEAGUE.  What message does this send to the players in the league?  Sorry Sean we don't really care that you are moving up the ranks 


Also on this note  Kevin Hinton is one Run Batted In behind Randy Curran for the all time league lead  and AGAIN NOT A MENTION ANY WHERE ON THE SITE!!!!!!

3)  The Website going down twice in the past month ??  The site was hosted in TEXAS?  hello last time we were in CANADA what's wrong with a Canadian Hosting Company

Seriously Joe , I know you know jack shit about baseball and this made the league look TERRIBLE. Resign as commish already  and fire the promotions and media person while at it. YOU ALL MAKE THE LEAGUE LOOK LIKE A JOKE

Fat Cats - Nine lives all used up

Although no IBL owner will officially comment to confirm this, but the writting is on the wall that the OSG (Ottawa Stadium Group) will pull the plug on the Fat Cats at the end of the season as it is not financially viable for the OSG to keep the Fat Cats in operation. 

OSG as most of you are aware really only wanted the Stadium for other events like the CAN AM league and concerts etc.   Ottawa City Council granted them the stadium usage rights on the condition that they get a baseball team to play there.  So when push came to shove OSG turned to the IBL and agreed to cover transportation and accommodations for the visiting teams and were awarded a conditional franchise.

Hotels and buses aren't cheap. so i'm guessing the tab was around 75K-100K  and that doesn't even cover other franchise expenses.

Plus  to top it off there are rumours of a law suit for breach of an agreement the OSG had entered into with the former Oshawa Dodgers franchise to purchase their franchise from them.

Full details http://www.newsdurhamregion.com/article/147615

Playoff Picture

Standings as of Noon Friday July 16th - Remaining Game in Brackets

	W	L	PCT
Brantford (6)	20	10	0.667
Toronto (3)	21	12	0.636
Barrie (3)	20	13	0.606
Kitchener (3)	18	15	0.545
Mississauga (3)	16	17	0.485
London (3)	16	17	0.485
Guelph (4)	14	18	0.438
Ottawa (2)	11	23	0.324
Hamilton (5)	10	21	0.323

Teams that have clinched

Brantford, Toronto, Barrie, Kitchener, Mississauga, London, and Guelph


Teams on the bubble
 Ottawa and Hamilton


The Fat Cats (aka Lame Ducks as its has already been rumored that they won't be back for a second season in the IBL) will need some help from the Hamilton Thunderbirds if they want to make the playoffs.  Ottawa has two games left  Sat in Barrie and Sunday in Toronto They win both they still have to wait and see if Hamilton wins four of their remaining five games the T-birds will clinch the last playoff spot.

The best thing for the IBL will be if the Birds win all five games as i can't see teams wanting to make a 6+ hour bus ride to play a playoff game on a week night. either that or the league's playoffs are going to run deep and maybe into September.

Guelph could finish at .500 should they win their remaining five games which could place them as high as a tie for 4th depending on what Kitchener does in their next three games.

London and Mississauga  both need wins to avoid finishing in 7th to avoid either Toronto or Barrie in the first round.

Brantford , Toronto and Barrie still are fighting for first place and I fully expect the Red Sox to be flying in Gabe Ribas for at some point this weekend to qualify him for the playoffs (6.2 IP and only 2 appearances so far according to the stats)

Remaining Games

Friday, July 16

Kitchener @ Hamilton: 6:45 pm - Double header   Kitchener will be home for second game.

Guelph @ London 7:30pm

Toronto @ Brantford 8pm


Saturday, July 17

Brantford @ Guelph 2 p.m.

London @ Mississauga 2 p.m.

Ottawa @ Barrie 7 p.m.


Sunday, July 18

Mississauga @ London 1 p.m.

Brantford @ Hamilton 1 p.m. (DH)*

Ottawa @ Toronto 2 p.m.

Barrie @ Kitchener 2 p.m.

* - Brantford will be home team for Game 2


Monday, July 19

Toronto @ Brantford 8 p.m.

Hamilton @ Guelph 7:30 p.m.


Tuesday, July 20

Mississauga @ Guelph 7:30 p.m.


Wednesday, July 21

Barrie @ Brantford 8 p.m.

Sincerest Appologies

I've been dealing with with my illness the past month which required a hospital visit and some bed rest.I'm doing better now and up and around on my own again.

Marcus Knecht - Global TV interview and Odds to Crack the Majors

Saw this last evening on the news. 

http://news.globaltv.com/video/index.html?releasePID=HF5NorXHkoFSL8QJSBSlWHIJC81Z9EAA

Curious to see how much money the Jays offer him.  Surfing the net yesterday i came across an interesting tid bit of info on the odds to make it to the Show depending on your draft selection.

Your Chances of Reaching the Major Leagues based on your Draft round:

• Round 1: 66%
• Round 2: 49%
• Round 3-5: 32%
• Round 6-10: 20%
• Round 11-20: 11%
• Round 21 +: 7%
• Non Drafted: 4%
• Foreign Players: 7%

Chances of Players Playing at a Particular Level Reaching the Major Leagues:

• Triple A: 73%
• Double A: 33%
• Class A: 15%
• Short-Season A: 9%

Wonder if Jake Eliopoulos and his advisers wish they'd have taken the 560 K  the Jays offered him last season now.   He went again in the draft  to the Dodgers but won't see any where close to that kind of money now.  It's been widely reported that his camp tried to randsom out his services to the Jays last year for 1 Million.

MLB Draft Selections

Marcus Knecht was the first player with IBL ties selected in day two of the MBL draft after the Jays took him 113th overall  Tuesday afternoon.   Marcus played last year for the Oshawa Dodgers and was attending Connors State this spring.
http://mlb.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?topic_id=10018074&content_id=8660639

The Houston Astros won the Evan Grills sweepstakes taking him 303rd overall. Grills was another Oshawa Dodger (Ontario Blue Jays)
http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?topic_id=10018074&content_id=8647211

Former Brantford Red Sox Jake Eliopoulos,  who turned down the Jays last year was taken by the
LA Dodgers  472th overall. 
http://www.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?topic_id=10018074&content_id=8645401

We're Back

Got a new laptop so I'm back in business. Got to love Apple .

Listening to the MLB draft and wondering if any locals will have their names called sooner than later.


Mississauga is pounding London  13-2 in a special afternoon contest for school kids.

Wednesday Night Action

12:49 am - The IBL site still has no details on either game. But the linescores are up

Brantford edged Guelph  8-5.   Royals Starter Brett Lawson struggled early.  Allowing Brantford to build up a 7-1 lead.  The Royals stormed back off Stefan Strecker but the comeback fell short.  Jeremy Ware just missed tying it with a potiential 3 run homer that managed to stay in the yard.

Toronto downed Kitchener 12-9  in another strange game at Dominico Field in Toronto
Kitchener built up a 8-1 lead chasing Leafs starter Jason Pilkington from the game in the process.   Jeff Pietraszko had a three run homer for the Panthers.
 Toronto scored 4 in both the seventh and eighth innings to come from behind.






Original Post below

After a scorching day nothing like a couple of night baseball games.

Kitchener is up 1-0 on Toronto at Dominico Fields in Toronto .  Jason Pilkington is on the mound for the leafs.  Its got to be 40 C on the field there.

Guelph @ Brantford should be starting shortly.  Depending on when the sunsets in CF at Arnold Anderson .

Sorry for the lack of updates since Saturday.  Someone broke into my car while i was parked at the LCBO getting some adult  beverages.   Lost my laptop and iphone.  An expensive lesson learned

Rain Strikes Again

Both Saturday games in the IBL are cancelled .


London @ Guelph and Ottawa @ Mississauga

  enjoy the rainy Saturday

Royals win 10-4 but might have lost their Hart in the process

Guelph 10  Hamilton 4

The Royals came out full of piss and vinegar tonight  (sorry for the language) and took it out on the Hamilton Thunderbirds . The Royals batters smashed out 10 runs on 17 hits on the night..

David Huscko was the first victim of the night allowing  four runs on ten hits and a walk.

Bill Langford was victim number two getting roughed up for six runs in the top of the seventh inning.  Kevin Hinton had a two run homer in that frame.

Ryan Hart was pretty much untouchable tonight. Tallying 11 strikeouts on the night until the bottom of the eighth inning when he allowed 3 runs to score.

A trip out to the mound to calm Hart down appeared to rattle his cage a bit.  But he quickly settled down and struckout pitch hitter David Jagdeo. Then  the fireworks happended.  Royals Manager Kevin Hinton rushed out to the mound with the plate umpire to check if Hart was hurt

Hart tossed the ball to Hinton before he got out to the mound and walked off the field. then proceeded to undress from his uniform outside the 1st base dugout.  This had shades of the infamous Cito Gaston / David Wells blow out in the mid 90's.

Hart and Hinton began jawing one another on the side of the dugout  one of the assistant coaches had to separate them.   It was ugly. At the end of the exchange Hart's jersey sat lying in the dirt in front of the Royals dugout.

I don't care what was said. As a manager of a ball club you CANNOT and SHOULD NOT engage in a arguement with a player in front of his teammates or a crowd of fans its classless and unprofessional.

I've heard  rumors that Hart was hurt in since the opener and wasn't ready to come back. But that question might never be answered now

Kitchener 1 London 0

Panthers starter Ross Davis pitched a complete game gem Friday night as the Panthers downed the London Majors 1-0.  The Panthers  re-grouped one night after being thumped 9-0 by the Leafs.

Davis finished the game allowing five hits, 4 walks and struckout nine on the evening.

Jeff Pietraszko belted a solo home run in the top of the 1st inning for the lone run of the ball game.

London starter Andy St. Gelais took the loss allowing the run on five hits, and struckout four on the night

Preview of Friday's Games

Three games on tap this evening as the IBL kicks of the unofficial start to summer aka the May 24th long  weekend


The Ottawa Fat Cats travel to Brantford to take on the Red Sox at 8 pm at Arnold Anderson Stadium.  

No Pointstreak or Twitter coverage.   Rogers TV in Brantford is showing the game on a tape delay basis at 9 pm in select areas.  Ottawa fans can watch it as well at 9 pm on the English Rogers channel in the Ottawa Area.


The Kitchener Panthers travel to Labatt Park in London to take on the Majors at 7:30 pm

Rogers TV in London is broadcasting live at 7:30 pm  Again check your local Rogers listings
London might have Point Streak tonight  or at least their twitter.


The Guelph Royals travel to Bernie Arbour Stadium in Hamilton to face the Thunderbirds at 7:30 pm

The battle of of the cellar dwellers isn't televised  but it is available on the internet on http://www.indifm.ca   Pointstreak might be available . No twitter at the park though officially.   However INDIFM's twitter might be working.   Check the Royals twitter as I'm sure Neil (the Royals scorer) will be posting updates through out the evening from where ever he is.

How Fat Cats Travel In Style - Sorry Bad Pun

Ottawa's team bus.   Found a lot of great action shots on the team's official photographer's site.


http://freedomphotography.zoomphoto.ca/

Leafs Bats Booming in 9-0 victory over Panthers

Toronto hitters knocked around Kitchener's pitching staff to the tune of 9 runs on 15 hits Thursday night.

Former Brantford Red Sox Raul Borjas  paced the Leafs with four hits on the night. Brian Corcoran and Kern Watts each tailed  three hits.

Jason Pilkington earned the victory after six shutout innings of work 

Tyler Wilson took the loss for the Panthers, pitching six innings.allowing three runs on eight hits with one strikeout and a  walk.

Pete Malloy had three hits for the Panthers while Luke Baker chipped in with a pair of hits.

Red Sox @ Twins Thursday night

Mississauga playing at home turned out a 3-1 victory over Brantford Thursday night in a tightly pitched affair

The Twins scored all three of their runs in the bottom of the 1st inning. off Red Sox starter Colin Buckborough.

Carlos Garcia drove home the Twins first run when he was hit by a pitch. An error at third by Bryon Bell allowed the 2nd run to score which was followed up with a fielders choice ground out by Brian Sewell.

Brantford scored their lone run in the 3rd inning off Adam Kudryk. on a bases loaded passed ball.

Buckborough pitched five innings in the loss allowing all three runs on two hits. walked three and struckout three

Kudryk went seven innings allowing a run on five hits, six walks, and struckout four for the win.   Adam Banski closed out the final two innings for the save and didn't allow a hit but fanned two.

Brantford out hit Mississauga 5-3 on the night.

Mississauga @ Brantford Wednesday Night

Walter Gretzky threw out the open pitch last night at Arnold Anderson Stadium.    For those of you that didn't know  Wayne's dad used to be the president of the Brantford Red Sox and the each year the IBL hands out the Walter Gretzky trophy for the executive of the year.

Okay on to the game, not that it was much of one if you are Twins fan as the Red Sox had their way with them 15-4

Brantford scored seven runs in the bottom of the 1st inning off Twins starter John Solazzo  He made it through just two innings, giving up eight runs of which  seven of them unearned on just three hits. He walked three and struck out two.

Lee Delfino clubbed his third homer of the season and Josh McCurdy added two doubles for the Red Sox.

Former Kitchener Panther Graeme Copeland had two hits for the Twins. 

Scott Robinson got his 2nd victory of the season for the Red Sox going five innings, allowing three runs on five hits with seven strikeouts and four walks.

Robert Ramsdale finished up, allowing one run on four hits with four strikeouts and one walk over four innings.




A bit of trivia :    The Mississauga Twins  weren't named the Twins after the MLB team  they are called the Twins in honor of Twins owner Elliott Kerr's  twin children.

Royals @ Baycats Final

The Baycats  built up a 3-0 lead off Brett Lawson. They scored twice in the 4th and once in the 7th.

Lawson went 7 innings allowing all 3 Baycat runs  on four hits, four walks and struckout four. 

The Royals finally solved Chris Kemlo in the 8th  scoring a single run on a lead off homer by Brian Brown . Kemlo walked one and fanned 7 on the night.   The Royals scored two in the 9th to knot it up 3-3.

Barrie Scored in the bottom of the 11th off Joey Ellison. Matt Richardson singled to centerfield  and then scored on an error to the pitcher I'm assuming on an attempted pickoff that wound up in the outfield.

Kyle Payne got the win in relief.

No Pointstreak Tonight

Don't expect to find live scoring for  this evening's  game in  Brantford if the weekend was any indication won't be using the scoring package.

PROVE ME WRONG :)

Guelph @ Barrie is just under way

IBL Ticket Prices

I've done some digging around on the team websites throughout the league to find the best deals
If you click on the images they do get larger sizes.


The highest prices are in red. Ottawa is the most expensive across the board

If you were a smart shopper planning to use the league pass function the ibl is trying out this season, you could buy season tickets from London and use them at any other team's park in the league all year long.











For Single game I was surprised to see Mississauga being the most expensive for an adult seat again with the Ottawa prices being the exception to the rule.

For the casual fan Toronto doesn't charge admission as its in a public park with no gate so difficult to charge there. And another note is i couldn't find Kitchener's pricing anywhere on the web.

Baycats @ Royals - Recap

If not for the errors committed last night this would have been a very entertaining 2-1 final.

Unfortunate that Guelph's shortstop Geoff McCallum is fighting the ball out there. He looks stiff and unrelaxed in his motions.

Both starters pitched extremely well. Adam Garner threw seven complete for Barrie and was pounding the strike zone all night, getting ahead of most of the Royals hitters.

Adam Reynolds threw a lot of pitches for this early in the season 115 is way too many for May baseball. Granted he is leaving the 28th for Lethbridge and needs 9 innings over 3 games to qualify for the IBL post-season. That's assuming he's not drafted or Royals Manager Kevin Hinton doesn't release him again like last season.

Some other puzzling moves last night included Hinton reaching base late in the game and not bringing in a pinch runner. Or even earlier in the game with runners at 2nd and 1st why didn't he square around to bunt? Granted he hit a laser to 2nd base which still advanced the runners but its poor strategy with a kid like Valeriote due up. Plus Valeriote already had a triple in the game.

I get it that Hinton wants Arden Eddie's record for most hits in the league but when do you cross the line between what is good for you and what is more beneficial for the team? I personally think its time Hinton focuses on managing.

The Royals hitters have no patience at the plate what so ever. More than a handful of at bats last night they jumped on the first pitch. Yes Adam Garner was throwing 90% strikes but still show some patience especially when your already down 5-1.

I must say i like the Baycats new road jerseys. Look a lot like the brewers.

Barrie is looking solid 1-9 and are going to compete with the best of them all season long.


Some other notes: I finally got a reply back on the concession stand issues. It turns out the city removed the grill and fryers this winter as they were in poor shape. So no hot dogs this summer unless the game staff fires up some BBQ's.

Last night's attendance was around 100 people tops. it was cold and a Tuesday night while school is still in so the number is probably about the norm. The Royals need to seriously consider skipping the Tuesday nights in May as its too cold and late for families

Royals Roster Additons

The Royals signed two pitchers today according to their website. Chris Romano from Markham and Joey Ellison from Mississauga.

They also announced the release of Ryan Fleming today.

Adam Reynolds is expected to get the start tonight and Kofi Osei-Anning is apparently suiting up tonight. Curious to see who is the odd man out in the outfield.

Logically that points to Brian Brown, but with Frankie Hare's apparent injury in batting practice Saturday who knows. Hare was getting work done by their trainer and later seen on the bench not in full uniform. Maybe that puts Brown at third base moving Mark Allen back to 1st and Kevin Hinton back in the DH spot.

Get involved if you can

Been following the IBL team websites , facebook and twitter pages fairly well this season and the one thing that strikes me is that official scorers appear to be at a premium .

If you live in one of these centers and know how to score a baseball game it might be a great way for you to get involved.

Mississauga is looking for help Thursday nights with scoring and their scoreboard. If you can help contact them via their website or twitter

They also have openings for students looking for volunteer hours which are required for them to graduate.

London is in need of an official scorer as well. Please contact scott@londonmajors.com


Speaking of Facebook, Twitter etc. Most Surprisingly there are two teams in league out of the loop with their fans.

Brantford and Barrie as neither of them have a real face book, or twitter pages.

I'm not surprised in Brantford as they seem to be the only team that isn't planning to use point streak either. They really thrive on being behind the times.

Like it or not, we live in the information age. Today's fan is connected 24 x7 either via a computer, cell phone or other hand held device. You can either embrace these changes or get left behind . The league as a whole needs to get better equipped as well or how else do you plan to tap into new fan bases?

Lone Game on Tap Tonight

The Barrie Baycats are in Guelph this evening to face the Royals in the lone scheduled game in the IBL. Game time is scheduled for 7:30 pm at Hastings Stadium. Both teams are back at it Wednesday night in Barrie for the 2nd half of their home and home series.

Tonight is also the first 20 buck Tuesday Night promotions the Royals are running this year. You and four of your friends can get into watch the game for 20 bucks. Not a bad deal considering what Ottawa is apparently charging per game. More on that later this week.

Sunday Recap

Ottawa 5 Mississauga 1 - Game One

Danny Desclouds pitched a three hit gem as the Fat Cats treated their fans to their first victory at home.

The Fat Cats spotted Desclouds a three run lead bottom half of the first inning. Chris Latimer led off with a single the Mark Charrette walked, Marshall MacDonald singled to drive home Latimer. Josh Wood the Twins starter balked that allowed Charrette to score. Mombuquette then singled home MacDonald for the 3-0 lead.

The Fat Cats scored single runs in the third and fourth inning.

Kyle Langille drove home the lone run for the Twins.

Mississauga 12 Ottawa 11 - Game Two

Game two was a wild affair. Ottawa opened up a big 6-2 lead then the wheels fell off.

Fat Cats starter Mike Lynch had a 4th inning walkathon in which he walked five, and gave up a grand slam to Jeff McLeod . The Twins scored 9 times to make it a 12-6 game

The Fats clawed their way back into the game but fell short losing 12-11 in front of 2400 fans

Brantford 4 Toronto 0

The Red Sox pitching staff held the Leafs to five hits on the afternoon. Brad Hogetorp allowed two hits over six and two thirds 6 K's and walked 3

Brantford managed nine hits, including three from former Leaf Joe Colameco. Lee Delfino had two hits and scored twice, including belting his 2nd homer of the season.


Hamilton 11 London 9

A four and a half hour affair. Both teams combined for 19 walks on the afternoon, 8 pitching changes and five errors. No more details available.


Kitchener 8 Barrie 7

Kevin Childs had an RBI single in the bottom of the eighth inning to give the Panthers the victory

Matt Cockburn pitched seven innings, while Derek Sinko picked up his 2nd save.

Kyle Payne took the loss for the Baycats in relief. Steve Lewis had a two-run homer and Dave Latour had a solo homer.

In the News - Ottawa Edition

Found a couple of articles on the Fat Cats home opener. By the sounds of it the paid attendance is a lot lower than the actual number of butts in the seats. Apparently they just opened the gates to keep the lines moving.

Also the reason fans can't drink in their seats is that seats aren't part of the liquor license. Go figure.

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/sports/Cats+draw+mixed+reviews/3033992/story.html

http://www.ottawasun.com/sports/baseball/2010/05/15/13963001.html

Would love to hear from any Ottawa fans on their thoughts on the league.

Saturday Round Up

Royals 12 Panthers 7

At Guelph the Royals built up a 9-0 lead through seven innings before the Panthers fought back to make it a 9-7 ball game in the 8th inning

The Royals staged a two out rally in the 8th to make it a 12-7 Final

Sean Reilly homered twice in the contest for the Royals. Meleti Melehes pitched six scoreless innings for the win. Dexter Souter notched the save after getting the last out in the 8th and working a 1,2,3 ninth inning.

Royals Manager Kevin Hinton was forced into duty today at 1B when Frankie Hare tweaked his back during batting practice. Hinton was showing definite signs of rust. I can't recall the exact date he last played first base or for that any position.


Baycats 8 Thunderbirds 2

Barrie jumped out to a 5-0 lead off Hamilton starter Mike Fortuna . Brad Bissell got the win.

Kyle Fillier had two doubles and drove in 3 runs.


Twins 8 Fat Cats 6

Twins Manager Scott Van de Valk picked up his first win his IBL debut spoiling the Fat Cats home opener. Judging by the facebook page the fans are outraged in Ottawa over not being able to drink in their seats. At least they can drink there and probably get a hot dog lol.

According to reports 3,724 fans took in the game this evening in our nation's capital. Congrats to the Fat Cats

What's baseball without a Hot Dog?

Sitting in the stands at the Royals game today and all I could hear is complaints about no hot dogs or fries being available.

I find it shocking that the concession stand at the park isn't selling them. I figure if enough of the regulars complain maybe something will get done.

Email the people in charge

Team President Jim Rooney jjrooney@rogers.com

Kelly Diamond royals-sales@live.com

Pitchers Duels the Norm Friday night

Both games on the schedule last night turned out to be great pitchers duels


In Brantford, the visiting London Majors downed the Red Sox 2-0.

Andy St. Gelais scattered two hits over seven innings, striking out nine and walking five. Josh Palmer got the save, allowing one hit and two walks.

Marc-Andre Major started for the Red Sox allowing just one hit over six innings. Steve Murray took the loss, allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits in 1 1/3 innings.


In Hamilton Kitchener defeated Hamilton 2-0

Tyler Wilson fanned 10 Thunderbirds over 8 innings out dueling David Huscko for the win.

Derek Sinko picked up the save in the ninth.

Kitchener @ Hamilton Live Blog

Bottom of the 9th Kit 2 Ham 0

Tyler Wilson exits the game after a stellar 8 innings pitched. Tyler Wilson: 8 IP, 25 Balls and 71 strikes on 96 pitches. 0 ER and 10 Ks

Derek Sinko nails down the save. Final score 2-0 Kitchener.

Top of the 9th Kit 2 Ham 0
Nino Fasulo into pitch the 9th for Hamilton. David Huscko pitched 8 solid innings Final line on David Huscko: 8 IP, 38 Balls and 70 Strikes on 108 pitches. 2 ER and 5 Ks.


Bottom of the 8th Kit 2 Ham 0
Tyler Wilson out dueling David Huscko 10-7 in terms of strikeouts
The T-bird lack patience at the plate according to the INDIFM announcers
1st out of the inning goes 3 unassisted
Wilson has been getting ahead in the count 94% of the time tonight
T-birds strand a single in the inning

Top of the 8th Kit 2 Ham 0
Pitchers duel continues. David Huscko fanned his 5th of the night.
A single by Mike Glinka dropped into right between the right fielder and second baseman. Commentators remarked it was wind aided
Mat Taube called out on strikes for the 2nd out
Huscko gets another K to end the Kitchener 8th.

Bottom of the 7th Kit 2 Ham 0
Cholewka doubles off the fence in CF to start the inning. Wilson beans Durfey in the ribs.
Fortuna takes a called third strike. next batter hit into an Infield Fly
Wilson notches his 10th K of the night to end the inning.



Top of the 7th Kit 2 Ham 0
We're back
Justin Gianfranseco af 2nd not sure how he got there. A two out single by Mike Winter drove him home Panthers up 2-0

Bottom of the 6th
Wilson strikes out Saporsantos to start the bottom of the 6th . Wilson 7 K's to this point. Lost the radio feed. Hope it comes back

Top of the 6th Kit 1 Ham 0
Mat Taube doubles off the fence in RF with two outs. Stranded .

Bottom of the 5th Kit 1 Ham 0
Fortuna reaches on error by Mat Taube . Advances to 2nd on a wild pitch. Took third on another wild pitch by Tyler Wilson but was stranded at 3rd.

Top of the 5th

Huscko gets a pair of ground ball 1-3 outs
Panthers go down quietly

Bottom of the 4th Kit 1 - Ham 0
Tyler Wilson still rolling . Retires Hamilton in order. To quote the hamilton commentators "like a hot knife through butter"

Top of the 4th

David Jagdeo miss judged the first pitch resulting in a lead of single.
Huscko uncorked a wild pitch runner moved up to 2nd base. Durfey charged with a passed ball on the next pitch
Taube grounds out 1-3 forcing the runner at 3rd to hold

Luke Baker hits a sac fly to LF Panthers up 1-0


Bottom of the 3rd

Leenders reaches on an error to start the Hamilton 3rd inning. Chris Piano singles, Leenders up to 2nd.

Saporsantos pops up to Mat Taube, for the 1st out

Wilson's curveball is apparently working well tonight.

McGraw reaches base and tried the lame duck play but Wilson was a step ahead of him. Leenders thrown out at the plate to end the inning


Top of the 3rd

Mike Winter singles but was stranded at 3rd

Huscko after 3 innings - 43 pitches, 18 balls and 25 strikes.

Bottom of the 2nd

Wilson still perfect after 2


Top of the 2nd

Panthers got a runner to 3rd base but were denied by David Huscko


Bottom of the 1st

Tyler Wilson strikes out 2 of the first three batters he faces. 0-0

Top of the 1st

Panthers go down in order. 3 batters 3 balls that didn't get out of the infield

Friday Night Under the Lights

Two games tonight on tap and under clear skies for a change

If you are looking to follow them from the comfort of your own home here's the links to the live scoring (Thanks Neil) although it doesn't appear to be working

http://iblguelph.bbstats.pointstreak.com/scoreboard.html?leagueid=111

If you want to listen in live to the Hamilton game click below

INDIFM apparently they will also be tweeting live from the park http://twitter.com/INDI101

Starting Pitchers from Hamilton

David Huscko (Hamilton) vs. Tyler Wilson (Kitchener)

Starting Pitchers from Brantford via Facebook

Andy St. Gelais (London) vs. Marc-Andre Major (Brantford)

Enough with the Rain Already

Toronto at Barrie scheduled for tonight has been washed out. Hope the weather decides to co-operate for the weekend .

For those of you scoring in the stands , that's now 5 games played in the season and 5 rainouts so the IBL is batting .500 on the season.

Rogers is covering the Red Sox home opener tomorrow night on a tape delay basis. So tune into your local Rogers station at 9 pm to catch the game. Unless you are too busy watching that other sport into another game seven. Might want to check the program guide before hand in case its only regional coverage.

Also the Hamilton home game is available on the radio http://www.indifm.ca live from Bernie Arbour.

I think Guelph is the only IBL team without either a radio or tv deal. I know the issue with Rogers involves the fence in centerfield being too high to safely film above from. Back when baseball in Guelph ran things, Maclean Hunter circa 1992-1993 (I think I just dated myself) used to have 2 cameras on top of the visitors dugout and a hand held camera right behind home plate.

I heard rumors earlier this season about the local radio getting on board too but it fell through.

Season Predictions - A few games under our belts

Going to throw this out there even though we're a few games into the schedule. Here are my predictions for the season.

Brantford Red Sox

Key departures - Justin Wendt (Moved) Adam Vella (retirement)

New faces - Colin Buckborough (Returns after a few years in the Mariners organization)
Brian Speck (Mississauga) Mike Bonanno (Missisauga)

The core of the two time defending champions remains intact. They will still be the team to beat unless something drastically changes. A lot of depth in the bullpen and on the bench. The talent rich got richer in the off-season.


Barrie Baycats

Key departures - Todd Betts (retirement)

New faces - Ryan Davis (returning after a few years absence)

I still think the rainouts/make up games at the end of the season took their toll on the Baycats the playoffs. Factor in suspensions and it was an uphill battle for the Baycats to beat Toronto then they didn't have much left in the tank for Brantford. Will definitely be contending for top spot.


Guelph Royals

Key departures - Andrew Karkoulas (retirement) Dan Zehr (Masters Degree-school) Mike Walker (Internship with the Blue Jays) Matt Fortuna (released to play with brother Mike in Hamilton)
New faces - Dino Roumel (Oshawa/Ontario Blue Jays), Kofi-Osei Aning (Oshawa) Chris Robinson , Chris Nagorski (Oshawa), Brian Brown (Former Silvercreek back after a few years) Bryan Condotta (Oshawa), Ryan Fleming (Oshawa)

Royals Manager Kevin Hinton re-stocked his cupboards with former Oshawa players but really didn't fix his lack of pitching depth in the bullpen. The reigning league MVP Jamie Pogue is out of action at least till early June after separating his shoulder a second time earlier this spring, so the Royals are also without their closer.

Hamilton Thunderbirds

Key Departures - None come to mind

New Faces - Cam Robulack (Former Brewers Draft pick) Matt Fortuna (Guelph) Thomas Robulak (Saskatoon -Western League) Chris Piano (Austria)

The T-birds weren't so fabulous last season. 7-29 but made a big push late in the season. Don't expect them to be a top 4 -5 team but a playoff spot isn't out of the question.


Kitchener Panthers

Key Departures - Graeme Copeland (Mississauga)

New Faces - None come to mind

Team commitment issues plagued the Panthers all of last year. If this doesn't improve they could be in serious trouble. Which would be sad for a franchise with a long history.


London Majors

Key Departures - Kyle Piwowarczyk (retirement) , Craig Bate (Turned Pro), Will Richards (Turned Pro), Mason Reilly

New Faces - Chauncey Ward (Import) , Cleveland Brownlee (Import), Ryan Lapensee, (Wayne State), Andy St. Gelais, (Quebec)

London lost both their catchers in the off season, plus Roop has been re-tooling his line up. They will finish middle of the pack behind Barrie, Brantford, Guelph.


Mississauga Twins

Key Departures - None

New Faces - Scott Van de Valk (Georgetown Eagles - Canadian Bantam Champs), Elliott Shrive (Trade with Guelph) Carlos Garcia (Venezuela) , Graeme Copleland (Kitchener) Kyle Langille (Guelph)

The Twins hired a very important asset in the off-season when they landed Scott Van de Valk. He's won two national championships in the past 4 seasons. (Jr. in Guelph in '06 and Bantam in Georgetown in '09) He's already leaving his mark on the Twins by bringing in players and coached that were vital to his success at those levels. He was rumored for years to be headed for the top job in Guelph but it never came to plan.

Last year the Twins didn't have a LHP stater which left them easy prey for a number of teams in the IBL. Already they have 3 listed on the roster. I can see them turning a few heads this year. 6th or higher isn't out of the question.


Ottawa Fat Cats

Key Departures - None as they are an expansion team
New Faces - Mike Lynch (Toronto) Danny Desclouds (Former Dodger draft pick) Rudy Vallejos (London)

Bill McKenzie could be in for a long season at the helm of the Fat Cats. I'm not saying I don't expect Ottawa to compete at the same level as Brantford or Barrie , the simple facts are that The Fat Cats are playing the majority of their games in double headers which is going to take a mental and physical toll on a number of players. They do however also have the unique luxury of playing only weekends.


Toronto Maple Leafs

Key departures: Mike Lynch (Ottawa)

New Faces : None , but knowing Old Jack he's got some tricks up his sleeves still

The Leafs were a game away from facing Brantford in the finals last year. The pitching staff is once again solid. Marek Deska looks in great form and Dominico Field is still the opposing pitcher's worst nightmare. Offensively the Leafs are a little older than most teams in the IBL but they still are capable of scoring quickly and often. Will finish in the top four.



Predicted Final Standings

1) Brantford
2) Barrie
3) Guelph
4) Toronto
5) London
6) Mississauga
7) Ottawa
8) Kitchener
9) Hamilton

Finally the weather co-operates... Well Sorta its still Freezing

Was able to listen to the Ottawa - Hamilton game today on http://www.indifm.ca/ from Hamilton. I got to give the play by play announcer props. He was freezing and at least he was full of energy.

Congratulations to the Ottawa Fat Cats on their first victory in their first ever game. Still can't find their roster anywhere though.

A interesting point i caught in the broadcast. Apparently one of Hamilton's import players got turned away at the border by Canadian Customs. (I'd love to blame former Thunderbird skipper Jeff Lounsbury for that as he works for customs)



Didn't catch the Royals - Toronto game live from Dominico Field on Rogers as I'm a Bell subscriber.


Apparently the Leafs reversed their fortunes in the bottom of the 9th after back to back walks and an infield single (that's still the same old Christie Pits for you) A fielders choice tied the game then Tony Lewis ended it with a 3 run blast. Game over 4-1 Final

Another pitchers duel and the Royals' offense is still anemic getting a total of 5 hits on the day.

Can't find the details of the London -Kitchener game. it looks like the live scoring conked out in the 3rd inning. Hamilton had issues as well by the looks of things.

Another IBL first

Just got home from watching Iron Man 2 and was checking the Royals Twitter page.

Saturday's game against Ottawa has already been cancelled a full 12 hours in advance. Weather man is calling for snow Saturday.

At least it saved the Fat Cats a 6 hour bus ride and a bit of cash on hotels.


Edit: 1:30 pm - Been raining all day off and on looks like all the games today got washed too. Brr its too cold for baseball today.

Royals bats were silent

The Red Sox - Royals game was over in record time this evening. I think i was home by 10:30 which is unheard of, at least in Guelph. Royals games traditionally take ages on Tuesday nights

Anyways the Royals looked awful. I think they were held to like 4-5 hits at the most and well Sean Reilly didn't exactly knock the cover off the ball for one of those hits.

Ryan Hart left a mistake up over the plate in the 1st inning to Lee Delfino and he sent it sailing over the left field fence to put Brantford up 2-0

Guelph didn't score until the 4th on a bases loaded sac fly by Kevin Hinton. The pitching was decent on both sides but you can tell its early in the season. The batter's timing were off.

I know Guelph only had one outdoor practice before this game because of some stupid city rules about keeping the sportfields closed to teams until May 1st. Maybe next year they should look at an exhibiton game or two else where or look at renting Bectel Park in Waterloo and have their pitchers throw live BP.

Stefan Strecker threw only five pitches in the 9th inning BTW. The Royals weren't exactly a patient bunch at the plate tonight. I won't even comment on the plate umpire's strikezone or shall i say lack of it.

Baycats strike late for victory

Well they managed to get one game in this weekend

The Barrie Baycats cameback after being down a lot to win 11-10 over Toronto this afternoon at the Pits (Do i start calling it Dominico Field yet?)

I don't have all the details but at least baseball is back, which is good cause I can't take much more hockey since the leafs have been golfing for a month already.

If its Opening Weekend ....

Well so much for that idea. Rain has forced the cancellation of the Season Opener in Guelph

Funny as i'm typing this its sunny here.


League rules require teams to give ample notice. Reading on the Royals site it looks like it was called around noon.



Edit: Game to be made up on Tuesday night at 7:30 pm

League doing live scoring

I saw this on the Royals website, so I hope its league wide;

The Guelph Royals and the Inter County Baseball League have reached an agreement with Pointstreak.com Inc. and are pleased to announce that Pointstreak will provide real-time baseball scoring for the 2010 season

Now Royals fans will be able to track their favorite team live from anywhere via the internet.

Royals President Jim Rooney remarked “The Royals wish to engage their fans, both those in the park and those who follow us from afar. Pointstreak provides the best professional network to connect with our fans.

Twins continue to build with help from former Guelph Silvercreeks

Twins skipper Scott Van de Valk used to coach in Guelph so i guess its just pure co-incidence that Mississauga traded for Elliott Shrive. Elliott used to play for Scott in Guelph. Apparently there are a few more Guelphites trying to jump ship to join him in Mississauga


Graeme Copeland and Kyle Langille

Copeland played for Kitchener last year to avoid Royal's manager Kevin Hinton's bench

Langille didn't see much action judging by his stats. Although i recall him getting a big hit in game seven against Brantford last year.

Mississauga will be better under Scott and if they find some pitching they could surprise a few teams.

I never liked Adeo , i didn't like him when he was in charge of Hamilton either.

I'm going to guess it was his call on those ugly uniforms. Funny Hamilton's look similar.

Welcome the Ottawa Fat Cats

Well its not the worse mascot idea ever and at least its marketable.

The cat looks like the Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland.

Typical Ottawa region colors ala Senators and 67's

Apparently the Mascot is named Grape

As well, I hope its a hit with the kids.

IBL officially announces Ottawa

The IBL finally made official it's worse kept secret Ottawa is joining the IBL.

Below is a cut and past of the league's release :

The League today announced that the application from Ottawa Stadium Group Ltd. (OSG) has been ratified and OSG has been awarded an expansion franchise.

OSG was successful in meeting the IBL's conditions including securing a stadium lease and becomes the League's ninth member for the 2010 season. The IBL has been in continuous operation since 1919 which one of the oldest League's in Canada.

OSG will play out of Ottawa Stadium, a 10,300 seat state-of-the-art facility formerly known as Lynx Stadium when it was playing host to Triple-A baseball and most recently, independent professional baseball.

Joe O'Neill, IBL Commissioner stated, "Canada's oldest baseball League applauds the efforts and tenacity of the Ottawa Stadium Group in their quest and perseverance in obtaining a stadium lease for one of North America's state-of-the-art facilities."

"The IBL wishes to thank Ottawa Mayor Larry O'Brien and city councillors who saw the need to utilize the stadium for the multiple uses that the community will receive," said O'Neill.

The fledgling franchise will announce its team name and head coach next week. Work has already begun in assembling an Ottawa roster which will compete for the IBL title against eight other teams in the League – Barrie Baycats, Brantford Red Sox, Guelph Royals, Hamilton Thunderbirds, Kitchener Panthers, London Majors, Mississauga Twins and Toronto Maple Leafs.

OSG will also be announcing details on some of the unique ticketing packages and "Double-Play" season ticket packages that deliver a double dose of value to purchasers.

The IBL has seen many quality players pass through the League either prior to their big league careers such as Pete Orr, Rob Ducey, Chris Speier and Jesse Orosco or after their playing careers ended with such names as Paul Spoljaric, Fergie Jenkins, Mike Kilkenny and Denny McLain to name a few.

Rosters are also stocked with top local area players and talented Canadian and U.S. players from National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) colleges and universities.

I'm all for the IBL expanding, but at what cost?

The Ottawa group is apparently spending upwards of 100K to the City of Ottawa and are also apparently on the hook for hotels and transportation for all the visiting teams. That's a large chunk of change out of anyone's wallet.

I just hope it doesn't turn into a situation like the CBL did. What happens if they fold mid way through the season? or get a number of rain outs? Teams can't go up there mid week for a rain out. Its a good six hour drive by bus for most teams. Not my idea of a fun trip.

Is this just a one year stunt to convince the CAN-AM league to return? I hope not.

If its going to be successful which I hope it is the IBL is going to need to expand to the north ie the Belleville's or Kingston's and form a 2nd division. Just my two cents.

Curious to see what they are going to be called as well.