The Goldeyes aren't going down without a fight. After blowing a 5-4 lead in the top of the 9th on Thursday night, the Fish bounced back to split the series with St. Paul.
The Fish fell down early as starter Matt Jackson struggled through the first three innings, the fish found themselves down 4-1 early. Their one run coming on a Ray Sadler solo homerun. It seemed as though the Goldeyes were laying an egg under the lights at Shaw Park. That all changed with one swing of the bat. Third Basemen Yurendell de Caster launched one into space with two outs for a three run shot to left field in the fifth inning to tie the game. It was all Goldeyes from there.
Mark Hardy worked two solid innings of relief out of the bullpen, and some heroics from Ryan Scoma and Ray Sadler put the fish in front for good. Scoma led it off with a single in the 8th and then the man newly nick-named "Ray Ray" drove one into the gap for the Goldeyes fifth and final run of the ball game.
Hardy picked up the win out of the bullpen the lefty is now 7-3 with a 3.48 ERA, while Canadian Chris Kissock picked up his second save of the year.
The Goldeyes (54-43) welcomes Fargo (61-36) to town for a three game set and currently trail Gary in the wildcard by 2.5 games. Winnipeg is 0-9 against Fargo this season, and will have to win out for there to even be a chance at the playoffs. Meanwhile, Gary (56-41) will host the lowly El Paso Diablos (38-59) who will need to help the Fish out by sweeping Gary in Indiana.
-------
Meanwhile, in football news, a football game was finally won in the newly broken in Investors Group Field. The Bombers have had their chances, the Rifles had one, but it was the University of Manitoba Bisons that finally delivered.
Although the defense may have been a bit of a worry, the offense exploded scoring a whopping 65 points en route to a 65-41 victory over the Alberta GoldenBears in front of 10,199 fans at IGF.
The Bisons were led offensively by a number of players but none more so than running back Anthony Coombs. Coombs finished the game with a whopping 223 yards rushing on 16 carries for an unbelievable 13.9 yards/carry average in three quarters of play.
Newly minted starting pivot Jordan Yantz of Regina had himself a good game going 14-19 for 215 yards through the air, while racking up four touchdowns, and throwing one interception. It was a good bounce back game for the Bisons who lost a close one the prior week to the Regina Rams 30-25.
Up next for the Bisons, the Saskatchewan Huskies come to town for a game next Saturday Sept. 7th. Kickoff is slated for 5:00pm.
------
Former Manitoba Moose and most recently, former St. John's IceCap forward Jason King has decided to retire from hockey. He will instead fill an assistant coaching role with St. John's, the Jets farm team.
The 31 year old was drafted in the 7th round of the 2001 NHL Draft by the Vancouver Canucks. In his rookie season he spent some time with the Sedin brothers and scored 12 goals in the process. He spent a total of 6 seasons in the Canucks organization appearing in 55 games with the Canucks racking up 12 goals and 11 assists. He spent most of his career in the AHL with the Moose, Portland Pirates, and most recently the St. John's IceCaps scoring 20 goals 6 times. In total he racked up 129 goals, 124 assists for a total of 253 points in 335 AHL games.
Saturday, August 31, 2013
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Fish win tonight, but still remain 1.5 back of Gary
After dropping Tuesday night's contest in a big way, the Goldeyes rebounded tonight in front of 7,000 plus fans at Shaw Park toingiht beating up on the St. Paul Saints 9-2.
They were led by another great pitching performance by lefty Chris Salamida, who won the game improving to 7-0 since returning to the Goldeyes. He now sits with that record in 8 starts with an unbelievable 2.01 ERA. Offensively for the Fish, Ray Sadler led the way going 2 for 4 with a walk, double, home run and 4 RBI's. He currently holds the team lead in homeruns with 19, and RBI's with 68. Unfortunately, the Goldeyes didn't get any help on the out of town scoreboard as Gary-Southshore beat the Kansas City T-Bones 10-4 tonight.
The Goldeyes will look to take the series lead tomorrow night during Turn Back the Clock Night, Matt Rusch will get the start. First pitch is 7:05pm and Paul Edmonds will have the call on TSN 1290.
(For expanded stats on the game see the link below.)
http://www.goldeyes.com/news/goldeyes-beat/547-goldeyes-pound-saints-to-keep-pace
@burnsy004
They were led by another great pitching performance by lefty Chris Salamida, who won the game improving to 7-0 since returning to the Goldeyes. He now sits with that record in 8 starts with an unbelievable 2.01 ERA. Offensively for the Fish, Ray Sadler led the way going 2 for 4 with a walk, double, home run and 4 RBI's. He currently holds the team lead in homeruns with 19, and RBI's with 68. Unfortunately, the Goldeyes didn't get any help on the out of town scoreboard as Gary-Southshore beat the Kansas City T-Bones 10-4 tonight.
The Goldeyes will look to take the series lead tomorrow night during Turn Back the Clock Night, Matt Rusch will get the start. First pitch is 7:05pm and Paul Edmonds will have the call on TSN 1290.
(For expanded stats on the game see the link below.)
http://www.goldeyes.com/news/goldeyes-beat/547-goldeyes-pound-saints-to-keep-pace
@burnsy004
Sunday, August 25, 2013
Bombers lose again, Fish win 5 in a row, remain 1.5 games back of the wildcard.
Well, let's just say it was another unpleasant day for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Saturday afternoon in Guelph.
The Bombers got hammered once again, losing to the Hamilton Tigercats 37-14 to go to 1-7 on the season, their sixth loss in a row. If there's one consolation that Bomber fans can take with them from the season so far, it's that we aren't the only team sitting at 1-7 having lost 6 games in a row...looking at you Edmonton!
At 1-7, the Bombers will most likely need to go 7-3 the rest of the way to even have a chance to sniff the playoffs, those chances are slim to none. They say nothing's impossible, but the Bombers will need a big turn around in a hurry to have any sort of chance to make the playoffs.
Anyway, let's move on to a more positive note brought to us from the baseball diamond.
The Goldeyes hit the road for their final road trip of the year, taking on the St. Paul Saints, and the Sioux Falls Canaries. We start in St. Paul.
After getting shellacked in game one of the series, the Goldeyes stormed back in a big way recording three complete game shutouts from hurlers Chris Salamida, Matt Rusch, and Jason Jarvis taking three of four from their North Division rivals. Afterwards, they hit the road south to play a three game set against the Sioux Falls Canaries, a team well out of the race at this point and a team that the Fish needed to beat. They came out storming hammering the basement dwelling Canaries three times in a row to finish off the road trip victorious. Needless to say, it'll make the bus ride back to Winnipeg a bit happier.
"They played solid pretty much the whole road trip," said Goldeyes pitching coach Jamie Vermilyea.
"We won some big ballgames that we needed to win and we tried to put ourselves in good position for the last week."
And they did just that. Unfortunately for the Fish, this hot streak may have come too late. They're not done by any means, in fact, compared to where they were at the 50 game mark, and considering all the changes that they had to make throughout the season, I'd say they've done well to fight back. Despite the fact that they went 6-1 on a seven game road trip, they still sit 1.5 games back of the Railcats for the lone wildcard spot. Gary is coming off some timely wins of their own against the now eliminated St. Paul Saints.
The Goldeyes will return home to play the Saints Tuesday-Friday in a four game set before welcoming Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks to town for a three game Labor Day weekend series to end the season. Despite putting together a decent season, the Fish are winless against the Redhawks this season, and the Saints would love nothing more than to spoil the party for their rivals to the north. It won't be an easy road.
As for the Railcats, they hit the road for four games against a rejuvenated (although eliminated) Kansas City T-Bones team to coming off series wins over the Goldeyes, and the Redhawks, followed by a three game set against the El Paso Diablos, in what will be the final game in Diablos franchise history, as the team will re-locate next season.
The current standing have Winnipeg sitting 6 games behind Fargo for the North Division lead, and 1.5 games behind Gary-Southshore for the wildcard spot. The Wichita Wingnuts are currently the only team that's booked their ticket to the playoffs with a league best 62-31 record. Posted below are the up to date wildcard standings.
http://www.goldeyes.com/2011-12-05-18-07-28/2012-06-20-16-37-35
First pitch between the Goldeyes and the Saints is slated for 7:05pm at Shaw Park on Tuesday night. Paul Edmonds, as always, will have the call on TSN1290 radio.
The Bombers got hammered once again, losing to the Hamilton Tigercats 37-14 to go to 1-7 on the season, their sixth loss in a row. If there's one consolation that Bomber fans can take with them from the season so far, it's that we aren't the only team sitting at 1-7 having lost 6 games in a row...looking at you Edmonton!
At 1-7, the Bombers will most likely need to go 7-3 the rest of the way to even have a chance to sniff the playoffs, those chances are slim to none. They say nothing's impossible, but the Bombers will need a big turn around in a hurry to have any sort of chance to make the playoffs.
Anyway, let's move on to a more positive note brought to us from the baseball diamond.
The Goldeyes hit the road for their final road trip of the year, taking on the St. Paul Saints, and the Sioux Falls Canaries. We start in St. Paul.
After getting shellacked in game one of the series, the Goldeyes stormed back in a big way recording three complete game shutouts from hurlers Chris Salamida, Matt Rusch, and Jason Jarvis taking three of four from their North Division rivals. Afterwards, they hit the road south to play a three game set against the Sioux Falls Canaries, a team well out of the race at this point and a team that the Fish needed to beat. They came out storming hammering the basement dwelling Canaries three times in a row to finish off the road trip victorious. Needless to say, it'll make the bus ride back to Winnipeg a bit happier.
"They played solid pretty much the whole road trip," said Goldeyes pitching coach Jamie Vermilyea.
"We won some big ballgames that we needed to win and we tried to put ourselves in good position for the last week."
And they did just that. Unfortunately for the Fish, this hot streak may have come too late. They're not done by any means, in fact, compared to where they were at the 50 game mark, and considering all the changes that they had to make throughout the season, I'd say they've done well to fight back. Despite the fact that they went 6-1 on a seven game road trip, they still sit 1.5 games back of the Railcats for the lone wildcard spot. Gary is coming off some timely wins of their own against the now eliminated St. Paul Saints.
The Goldeyes will return home to play the Saints Tuesday-Friday in a four game set before welcoming Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks to town for a three game Labor Day weekend series to end the season. Despite putting together a decent season, the Fish are winless against the Redhawks this season, and the Saints would love nothing more than to spoil the party for their rivals to the north. It won't be an easy road.
As for the Railcats, they hit the road for four games against a rejuvenated (although eliminated) Kansas City T-Bones team to coming off series wins over the Goldeyes, and the Redhawks, followed by a three game set against the El Paso Diablos, in what will be the final game in Diablos franchise history, as the team will re-locate next season.
The current standing have Winnipeg sitting 6 games behind Fargo for the North Division lead, and 1.5 games behind Gary-Southshore for the wildcard spot. The Wichita Wingnuts are currently the only team that's booked their ticket to the playoffs with a league best 62-31 record. Posted below are the up to date wildcard standings.
http://www.goldeyes.com/2011-12-05-18-07-28/2012-06-20-16-37-35
First pitch between the Goldeyes and the Saints is slated for 7:05pm at Shaw Park on Tuesday night. Paul Edmonds, as always, will have the call on TSN1290 radio.
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Fish post back to back shutouts for the first time since 2003, Bombers name Max Hall their starting Quarterback.
After getting shellacked in the opener 14-1 at the hands of their North Division rival, the Goldeyes battled back to earn two back to back shut outs against the St. Paul Saints.
The first game saw born again ace Chris Salamida pitch a compete game shutout of the Saints, giving up only two hits in the process. Salamida, who was on last year's championship team improved his record to a perfect 5-0 this season after signing with the Goldeyes in mid-August. Although he retired to pursue his post-baseball dream last off-season, the veteran lefty couldn't stay away when Goldeye's skipper Rick Forney gave him the call after southpaw Mark Hardy went to the DL.
Ray Sadler, Casey Haerther, and Tyler Graham led the way offensively going 2 for 4 at the plate respectively. It was Casey Haerther's two run home-run in the fourth that sealed the deal for the fish last night. http://www.goldeyes.com/news/goldeyes-beat/535-salamida-shuts-out-saints
Tonight's contest was no different for the Goldeyes, and that's all Winnipeg ball fans can ask for. The Saints struck out a combined 8 times, while staff ace Matt Rusch pitched all nine innings giving up only 3 hits and not allowing a St. Paul batter to reach scoring position. Rusch improved his record to 5-0 on the road this season, while his struggles continue at home. Casey Haerther had another good night with 3 hits, posting 2 RBI, while Tyler Graham, Fehlandt Lentini, Yurendell deCaster and Josh Mazzola each drove a run in each.
While the Goldeyes are well out of first place in the North Division, they still have a chance to take the wildcard spot from the Gary-Southshore Railcats, although it won't be easy, with Lincoln, Amarillo, and Grand Prairie all in the mix as well. With Gary-Southshore falling 18-5 in Wichita tonight, the Goldeyes moved to 2.5 games back, with 11 games remaining, and lead Lincoln by .5 a game, Grand Prairie and Amarillo remain 1 and 2 games back respectively. A full set of the standings can be seen on the American Association Website here:
http://www.americanassociationbaseball.com/standings/wild-card-standings/
The Goldeyes will try for the series win tomorrow night before heading south to play the Sioux Falls Canaries in a 3 game set. Jason Jarvis (5-10 4.12 ERA) who was acquired Sioux City will get the start for the fish who have decided to move to a 4 man rotation for the remainder of the season sending Pete Gehle to the bullpen. Anthonly Clagget will counter for the Saints. (8-4 3.28 ERA).
http://www.goldeyes.com/news/goldeyes-beat/537-rusch-dominate-goldeyes-shutout-saints-again
Meanwhile, the Bombers have made more changes. First, came the firing of offensive coordinator Gary Crowton (which was long overdue), then they announced that Max Hall will be their starting QB this week against Hamilton. Time will tell whether Hall will be the short (and god-willing) long term answer at the QB position for the Bombers, but for now, it is his time to take the reigns and try and lead this team to an elusive second victory.
Maybe Max Hall will go 25-30, throw for 400 yards, or maybe Chad Simpson will rush for 150 yards in this week's game. Are those things likely? Or even possible? Probably not. But if they do, the secondary will need to get their act together to secure a victory. You can't let an accurate and experienced QB like Henry Burris throw the ball to open receivers at will, that's just asking for trouble. If things don't change this week more changes will be coming, although this time they will be on the defensive side of the ball.
TWITTER! @burnsy004
The first game saw born again ace Chris Salamida pitch a compete game shutout of the Saints, giving up only two hits in the process. Salamida, who was on last year's championship team improved his record to a perfect 5-0 this season after signing with the Goldeyes in mid-August. Although he retired to pursue his post-baseball dream last off-season, the veteran lefty couldn't stay away when Goldeye's skipper Rick Forney gave him the call after southpaw Mark Hardy went to the DL.
Ray Sadler, Casey Haerther, and Tyler Graham led the way offensively going 2 for 4 at the plate respectively. It was Casey Haerther's two run home-run in the fourth that sealed the deal for the fish last night. http://www.goldeyes.com/news/goldeyes-beat/535-salamida-shuts-out-saints
Tonight's contest was no different for the Goldeyes, and that's all Winnipeg ball fans can ask for. The Saints struck out a combined 8 times, while staff ace Matt Rusch pitched all nine innings giving up only 3 hits and not allowing a St. Paul batter to reach scoring position. Rusch improved his record to 5-0 on the road this season, while his struggles continue at home. Casey Haerther had another good night with 3 hits, posting 2 RBI, while Tyler Graham, Fehlandt Lentini, Yurendell deCaster and Josh Mazzola each drove a run in each.
While the Goldeyes are well out of first place in the North Division, they still have a chance to take the wildcard spot from the Gary-Southshore Railcats, although it won't be easy, with Lincoln, Amarillo, and Grand Prairie all in the mix as well. With Gary-Southshore falling 18-5 in Wichita tonight, the Goldeyes moved to 2.5 games back, with 11 games remaining, and lead Lincoln by .5 a game, Grand Prairie and Amarillo remain 1 and 2 games back respectively. A full set of the standings can be seen on the American Association Website here:
http://www.americanassociationbaseball.com/standings/wild-card-standings/
The Goldeyes will try for the series win tomorrow night before heading south to play the Sioux Falls Canaries in a 3 game set. Jason Jarvis (5-10 4.12 ERA) who was acquired Sioux City will get the start for the fish who have decided to move to a 4 man rotation for the remainder of the season sending Pete Gehle to the bullpen. Anthonly Clagget will counter for the Saints. (8-4 3.28 ERA).
http://www.goldeyes.com/news/goldeyes-beat/537-rusch-dominate-goldeyes-shutout-saints-again
Meanwhile, the Bombers have made more changes. First, came the firing of offensive coordinator Gary Crowton (which was long overdue), then they announced that Max Hall will be their starting QB this week against Hamilton. Time will tell whether Hall will be the short (and god-willing) long term answer at the QB position for the Bombers, but for now, it is his time to take the reigns and try and lead this team to an elusive second victory.
Maybe Max Hall will go 25-30, throw for 400 yards, or maybe Chad Simpson will rush for 150 yards in this week's game. Are those things likely? Or even possible? Probably not. But if they do, the secondary will need to get their act together to secure a victory. You can't let an accurate and experienced QB like Henry Burris throw the ball to open receivers at will, that's just asking for trouble. If things don't change this week more changes will be coming, although this time they will be on the defensive side of the ball.
TWITTER! @burnsy004
Friday, August 16, 2013
Goldeyes roll through Sioux City taking 3 of 4.
The schedule creator was nice to the Goldeyes late in the year. As the team they're chasing, The Gary-Southshore Railcats finished up a series with the league leading Wichita Wingnuts, the Fish played the basement dwelling Sioux City Explorers in a 4 game set. And the Goldeyes made good, taking 3 of 4 from the X's.
Up next for the fish is a return to downtown Winnipeg to entertain the Kansas City T-Bones for a 3 game weekend series, where they'll try to close the gap in the wildcard race even further. They currently sit 2 games back of the Railcats. Article courtesy of Scott Taylor and www.goldeyes.com
http://www.goldeyes.com/news/goldeyes-beat/530-goldeyes-roll-through-sioux-city
Up next for the fish is a return to downtown Winnipeg to entertain the Kansas City T-Bones for a 3 game weekend series, where they'll try to close the gap in the wildcard race even further. They currently sit 2 games back of the Railcats. Article courtesy of Scott Taylor and www.goldeyes.com
http://www.goldeyes.com/news/goldeyes-beat/530-goldeyes-roll-through-sioux-city
Monday, August 12, 2013
It's been a while but I'm back!
Hey gang, I know I haven't posted in a while, I've been quite busy with work, sports, and social events, but since school is starting very soon, I'll be glued to my computer the majority of the time! Which means, more blogging! I can tell you are all shaking with excitement...anyway, here's a recap of what I've missed in local sports since I've been gone.
The Winnipeg Jets made some good moves during the offseason, and amid great frustration that they didn't do anything during the free agent period, but I'm happy to say that Kevin Chevaldayoff made some pretty good moves.
Along with re-signing the core of Wheeler, Little, and Bogosian, they also re-signed tough guy Anthony Peluso, and young d-men Paul Postma, and Zach Redmond. Kevin Chevaldayoff and the Winnipeg Jets have one thing in mind when developing this team, they want to build from within, and that begins with a strong core.
Aside from signing the core, strengthening the right side was the priority for Chevy. And he did just that. Trading draft picks was something that Chevy didn't want to do for so called "quick fixes". But in a change of heart he went out and traded draft picks for two quality right wingers that will be a certainly be a step up from the players they had last year. The first is Micheal Frolik. The Czech winger is coming off a good season, and a better playoff with the Chicago Blackhawks where he won a Stanley Cup. Although his role with the stacked Hawks was limited, he will play a much larger role with the Jets. Similar to his time in Florida, Frolik will take a more offensive role with the Jets, filling 2nd or 3rd line duties, killing penalties, and even working on the power-play. I'm excited about this transaction, adding a guy who can play at both ends of the ice, and play on the 2nd or 3rd line will certainly be a step up from Antropov and Wellwood (no disrespect intended towards those gentlemen).
The second player that the Jets picked up was Devin Setoguchi from the Minnesota Wild. While he's never found that 31 goal form that he had with the Sharks, he's a big, fast winger who can put the puck in the net. The expectation is that he will be "the guy" to play with Evander Kane, and he certainly has the ability. Whether him, Frolik, or another player steps up remains to be seen. But the Jets won't go far without a solid second line. I still believe Olli Jokinen has good hockey left in him, and with Evander Kane the sky's the limit. Hopefully the Jets can piece it all together and make it to the playoffs.
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are in shambles, they are 1-5, they "fired" their GM before they even fired him, and their CEO "frosted tip" cool guy Garth Buchko was also relieved of his duties.
This is a team that is in bad shape, scratch that, they're in terrible shape, scratch that again, it's hard to tell what kind of shape their in because they are so mangled, and disorganized. I don't know what to make of this Wade Miller situation but some in the media seem to be pretty high on him, but if the Bombers don't start winning games, they'll find themselves the laughing stock of the league once again, new CEO or not.
Before I continue I just want to say that I love the Bombers, as bad as they may be, I'm a fan of them, and they are my team. But this whole year has been bad from the start. We commit to Buck, Mack, and Buchko, yet here we are. Two of those three men are gone, while buck has gone from starter to third string in a matter of days. They told us it was Goltz's team for the remainder of the season, well, he didn't play so well against the BC Lions. Now it's Max Hall's turn to take the reigns, maybe he'll be the Jesus type figure that the Bombers have been searching for! He could lead us to the promise land! But my guess is that we haven't seen the last of Buck Pierce this year.
They have yet to win at the stunning Investors Group Field this season, and if things continue this way, I'd be surprised if they sell-out another game this season.
The Winnipeg Goldeyes started off hot but cooled off significantly for a time. At one point the Fish were 9 games back of the wildcard spot in the American Association playoff race after being swept by Gary-Southshore at home earlier in the season. But the fish found a way to fight back, and now sit only 3 games back of the Gary-Southshore Railcats for the wildcard spot. In Iowa tonight, the Goldeyes took a 4-1 lead in the 5th inning of tonight's contest against the Sioux City Explorers, only to fall down 5-4 going into the ninth. But this never say die group of ball players scored twice in the top of the ninth, then Patrick Keating shut it down picking up his 16th save of the season.
The Goldeyes picked themselves up after being knocked down, and are very much back in the playoff picture. Like I said in an earlier post, Rick Forney finds the players, and they find ways to win.
One thing that'll help them tremendously is the return of veteran IF Yurendell deCaster, who's team in the Mexican league failed to make the playoffs. In 71 games with Acereros de Maclova deCaster hit .342 with 10 homers and 52 RBI in the Mexican League in 2013, and will join his cousin, fellow Goldeye Kevin Mosequit in Winnipeg. deCaster was part of the Goldeye's club that took home the American Association championship last season.
Goldeye's OF Fehlandt Lentini set the record for all time stolen bases in independent baseball. The record is a nice touch for a guy who has spent a large part of his career with the Goldeyes in three different stints. He's been a fan favorite since his introduction to the Peg in 2006, and the fact that he was able to achieve this milestone with the Goldeyes, is icing on the cake.
The last, and perhaps most intriguing development with the Fish this year is the season that Ryan Scoma is putting together. Scoma is currently batting .363, and hunting down the batting title. He remains in the top five and has 9 hits in his last 4 games. If he gets there, he would be the first Goldeye to win the batting title since Kevin West did it in 2005.
Well there you have it, I think I've caught up for the most part, here's to hoping the Bombers fight back, the Fish make the playoffs, and the Jets put together a "game changing" season and prove their nay-sayers wrong.
Cheers!
FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER! @burnsy004
The Winnipeg Jets made some good moves during the offseason, and amid great frustration that they didn't do anything during the free agent period, but I'm happy to say that Kevin Chevaldayoff made some pretty good moves.
Along with re-signing the core of Wheeler, Little, and Bogosian, they also re-signed tough guy Anthony Peluso, and young d-men Paul Postma, and Zach Redmond. Kevin Chevaldayoff and the Winnipeg Jets have one thing in mind when developing this team, they want to build from within, and that begins with a strong core.
Aside from signing the core, strengthening the right side was the priority for Chevy. And he did just that. Trading draft picks was something that Chevy didn't want to do for so called "quick fixes". But in a change of heart he went out and traded draft picks for two quality right wingers that will be a certainly be a step up from the players they had last year. The first is Micheal Frolik. The Czech winger is coming off a good season, and a better playoff with the Chicago Blackhawks where he won a Stanley Cup. Although his role with the stacked Hawks was limited, he will play a much larger role with the Jets. Similar to his time in Florida, Frolik will take a more offensive role with the Jets, filling 2nd or 3rd line duties, killing penalties, and even working on the power-play. I'm excited about this transaction, adding a guy who can play at both ends of the ice, and play on the 2nd or 3rd line will certainly be a step up from Antropov and Wellwood (no disrespect intended towards those gentlemen).
The second player that the Jets picked up was Devin Setoguchi from the Minnesota Wild. While he's never found that 31 goal form that he had with the Sharks, he's a big, fast winger who can put the puck in the net. The expectation is that he will be "the guy" to play with Evander Kane, and he certainly has the ability. Whether him, Frolik, or another player steps up remains to be seen. But the Jets won't go far without a solid second line. I still believe Olli Jokinen has good hockey left in him, and with Evander Kane the sky's the limit. Hopefully the Jets can piece it all together and make it to the playoffs.
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are in shambles, they are 1-5, they "fired" their GM before they even fired him, and their CEO "frosted tip" cool guy Garth Buchko was also relieved of his duties.
This is a team that is in bad shape, scratch that, they're in terrible shape, scratch that again, it's hard to tell what kind of shape their in because they are so mangled, and disorganized. I don't know what to make of this Wade Miller situation but some in the media seem to be pretty high on him, but if the Bombers don't start winning games, they'll find themselves the laughing stock of the league once again, new CEO or not.
Before I continue I just want to say that I love the Bombers, as bad as they may be, I'm a fan of them, and they are my team. But this whole year has been bad from the start. We commit to Buck, Mack, and Buchko, yet here we are. Two of those three men are gone, while buck has gone from starter to third string in a matter of days. They told us it was Goltz's team for the remainder of the season, well, he didn't play so well against the BC Lions. Now it's Max Hall's turn to take the reigns, maybe he'll be the Jesus type figure that the Bombers have been searching for! He could lead us to the promise land! But my guess is that we haven't seen the last of Buck Pierce this year.
They have yet to win at the stunning Investors Group Field this season, and if things continue this way, I'd be surprised if they sell-out another game this season.
The Winnipeg Goldeyes started off hot but cooled off significantly for a time. At one point the Fish were 9 games back of the wildcard spot in the American Association playoff race after being swept by Gary-Southshore at home earlier in the season. But the fish found a way to fight back, and now sit only 3 games back of the Gary-Southshore Railcats for the wildcard spot. In Iowa tonight, the Goldeyes took a 4-1 lead in the 5th inning of tonight's contest against the Sioux City Explorers, only to fall down 5-4 going into the ninth. But this never say die group of ball players scored twice in the top of the ninth, then Patrick Keating shut it down picking up his 16th save of the season.
The Goldeyes picked themselves up after being knocked down, and are very much back in the playoff picture. Like I said in an earlier post, Rick Forney finds the players, and they find ways to win.
One thing that'll help them tremendously is the return of veteran IF Yurendell deCaster, who's team in the Mexican league failed to make the playoffs. In 71 games with Acereros de Maclova deCaster hit .342 with 10 homers and 52 RBI in the Mexican League in 2013, and will join his cousin, fellow Goldeye Kevin Mosequit in Winnipeg. deCaster was part of the Goldeye's club that took home the American Association championship last season.
Goldeye's OF Fehlandt Lentini set the record for all time stolen bases in independent baseball. The record is a nice touch for a guy who has spent a large part of his career with the Goldeyes in three different stints. He's been a fan favorite since his introduction to the Peg in 2006, and the fact that he was able to achieve this milestone with the Goldeyes, is icing on the cake.
The last, and perhaps most intriguing development with the Fish this year is the season that Ryan Scoma is putting together. Scoma is currently batting .363, and hunting down the batting title. He remains in the top five and has 9 hits in his last 4 games. If he gets there, he would be the first Goldeye to win the batting title since Kevin West did it in 2005.
Well there you have it, I think I've caught up for the most part, here's to hoping the Bombers fight back, the Fish make the playoffs, and the Jets put together a "game changing" season and prove their nay-sayers wrong.
Cheers!
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