The Burlington Bees are here in Clinton to start the second half tonight and all is well. A 45-25 1^st half record is the best half-season record in franchise history. With that being said, if you follow Minor League Baseball you know the one constant is change. Today RHP Drew Tyson was added from SS-A Vermont and RHP Matthew Thomson was placed on the Disabled List retroactive to June 21.

Please find some random tidbits from the MWL All-Star Game and the start of the second half.

ALL-STAR HIGHLIGHTS: IF Nino Leyja went 2-4 with a two-run home run to help the West Division All-Stars to an 8-3 win over the East Division All-Stars in the 2011 MWL All-Star game held Tuesday night at Modern Woodman Park in Davenport, Iowa. His performance won him the “Top Star Award” at the game. SS Yordy Cabrera got the start for the West and went 0-3. RF Douglas Landaeta went 2-2 with an RBI. RHP Blake Hassebrock pitched one scoreless inning, striking out two in the fourth inning to earn the win. RHP Zach Thornton and RHP Daniel Tenholder each logged one-third of an inning of work.

NEW ROTATION: The pitching rotation, as of today, is as follows:

Friday: RHP Sean Murphy

Saturday: RHP Long/LHP Peterson

Sunday: RHP Bowman

Monday: RHP Hassebrock

Tuesday: RHP Vail

by Matthew Wheaton
Media Relations Assistant

The Burlington Bees (45-24) and the Beloit Snappers (37-32) play the final game of their three-game series this afternoon at 2 p.m. at Community Field in the final home stand before the Midwest League All-Star Game in Davenport, Iowa on Tuesday, June 21 at 7:05 p.m. The Snappers scored seven runs in the second inning to earn a 7-4 win over the Bees in front of 585 fans at Community Field Saturday afternoon. RHP Tyler Vail (1-2, 5.23) gets the start for Burlington today. He last took the mound against the Kane County Cougars on June 14, allowing three runs on seven hits in 4.2 innings. Vail is 1-0 with a 5.32 ERA in games played at Community Field.

BEES BY THE NUMBERS

Burlington’s 45 wins is the most victories in any half in franchise history. The Bees pitching staff has issued only three walks in the past four games. Burlington has an overall record of 33-6 when scoring four or more runs. When a Bee hits a home run, Burlington has a record of 14-3. The Bees are 6-5 overall in the current home stand. Burlington is 11-6 overall in day games. DH Josh Whitaker’s home run Saturday afternoon was his first two-run homer this season. Burlington OF Jose Crisotomo, who made his debut with the Bees on Thursday night, is batting .273 with three hits and an RBI.

MEMORIAL
Bees RHP Mike Hart writes in the dirt while on the pitcher’s mound before the first pitch of every game he plays in. Hart, a native of Staten Island, New York, attended Monsignor Farrell High School and has been writing in the dirt since his junior year of high school. Hart draws a cross and puts the initials of one of his close friends and three others who passed away in the four spaces within the cross. Last December, Hart’s grandmother passed away and he has added “Nana” under the cross.

by Matthew Wheaton
Media Relations Assistant

The Burlington Bees (45-23) and the Beloit Snappers (36-32) play the second game of their three-game series this afternoon at 2 p.m. at Community Field in the final home stand before the Midwest League All-Star Game in Davenport, Iowa on Tuesday, June 21 at 7:05 p.m. RHP Sean Murphy makes his first start of the season for the Burlington Bees today. Murphy, who had one “spot start” in Stockton on June 12, spent the majority of this season in the Oakland A’s Extended Spring Training program. Burlington 3B Tony Thompson scored the tying run on a passed ball and hit a walk-off home run to left field to lead the Bees over the Snappers by a score of 5-4 in 11 innings at Community Field Friday night.

PREP BASEBALL
The Ridgewood Spartans and Galesburg Silver Streaks prep baseball teams squared off in a game at Community Field this morning at 9 a.m. The Spartans were able to hold off a late Galesburg comeback and won by a score of 4-3. Both teams will be in attendance at today’s game. Many of the Bees players sat in the bleachers during the game and took in the action of the Illinois high school squads.

BEES BY THE NUMBERS

The Bees pitching staff has issued only one walk in the past three games. Burlington has an overall record of 24-9 in home games this season. Friday night, the Snappers had 10 hits and the Bees had nine. Burlington is 7-14 overall when outhit by its opponent. When a Bee hits a home run, Burlington has a record of 14-2. Friday night’s walk-off victory was the sixth time this season that the Bees have won via a walk-off.

FOUL LINE
While most baseball players are superstitious and avoid the foul line, Burlington OF Jose Crisotomo, who made his debut with the Bees on Thursday night, is the exact opposite. Before Crisotomo runs onto any baseball diamond, he touches the foul line, grabs a little bit of dirt, throws it in the air and does the Sign of the Cross across his chest, which is a tribute to his parents who are back in the Dominican Republic.

HOT BAT
Burlington 1B/DH A.J. Kirby-Jones is still showing discipline at the plate and swinging a hot bat. Kirby-Jones went 2-for-4 with a single and had a home run in Friday night’s 5-4 win over Beloit. He is batting .588 with 10 hits, two home runs and three RBIs in his last five games. Kirby-Jones missed the first 28 games of the season due to an injury.

STRAY

About a week ago, a stray cat decided to invade Community Field. Director of Group Outings Whitney Henderson fed the feline after Friday night’s win over the Beloit Snappers and the cat may end up becoming Buzz’s new best friend.

by Matthew Wheaton
Media Relations Assistant

The Burlington Bees (44-23) and the Beloit Snappers (36-31) begin their three-game series this evening at Community Field in the final home stand before the Midwest League All-Star Game in Davenport, Iowa, which takes place on Tuesday, June 21 at 7:05 p.m. Six Bees were picked for the Western Division All-Stars. SS Yordy Cabrera was selected to start at shortstop for the Western squad. 2B Nino Leyja and LF Douglas Landaeta were selected as reserve players. RHP Blake Hassebrock, RHP Daniel Tenholder and RHP Zach Thornton were also selected to the roster. The Bees travel to Clinton, Iowa for a three game series against the Clinton LumberKings after the All-Star break. The series begins on Friday, June 24 at 7 p.m.

PLAYOFF BOUND
The Bees rallied on a pair of two-run home runs to defeat the Kane County Cougars by a score of 4-3 to secure the First-Half West Division Championship and the first playoff spot in the Midwest League in 2011 before 444 fans at Community Field on Tuesday night. The win gives the Bees their first playoff berth since 2009. It is the seventh time in the last nine years an Oakland Midwest League affiliate has made the playoffs.

HOT BAT
Burlington 1B/DH A.J. Kirby-Jones went 8-for-11 at the dish in the recent three-game series against the Kane County Cougars. Kirby-Jones had a single, two doubles and a two-run home run against Kane County on Wednesday, which are the most hits he has had in a game this season. On Thursday, he had two singles and a double. Kirby-Jones has played in 36 games and is batting .250 with 31 hits, four home runs and 12 RBIs.

BEES BUZZINGS
The Bees pitching staff has not issued a walk in the past two games. Burlington has an overall record of 33-3 when leading after six innings. The Bees notched a season high 13 hits and turned a season high four double plays on Wednesday night against the Kane County Cougars. RF Royce Consigli finished a double short of the cycle in the 8-4 win over Kane County on Wednesday. Consigli had four hits on Wednesday night, which are the most hits he has had in a game this season. RHP Jonathan Joseph will now throw out of the Bees bullpen.

ROSTER MOVES
The Bees have made a plethora of roster moves over the last few days. On Wednesday, the Bees placed OF Jose Rivero on the Disabled List and added OF Jose Crisotomo from extended spring training. Crisotomo played for three affiliates in 2010: Stockton (A), Vancouver (A) and Kane County. In 49 games with the Cougars a year ago, Crisotomo hit .260 with no home runs and 25 RBIs. The Bees sent LHP Jeff Urlaub and RHP Jeiler Castillo to SS-A Vermont, which begins its season tonight. The Bees also received LHP Max Peterson from extended spring training. Peterson started the year at High A Stockton and went 1-1 with a 9.00 ERA. Peterson pitched one inning in his Burlington debut Thursday night, striking out one and earning the hold. On Thursday, the Bees sent RHP Jose Macias to SS-A Vermont and added RHP Sean Murphy from extended spring training. Save for a spot start in Stockton on June 12, Murphy spent the majority of the season in extended spring training. Murphy will toe the rubber for the Bees on Saturday.

SHATTERED GLASS
Kane County CF Brett Eibner fouled a ball off in his first at-bat in Thursday night’s game and the ball broke a window in the Bees press box. The window was replaced Friday morning.

 

Burlington Bees Public Address Announcer Nathan McCoy has simple explanation for why he got a Bees tattoo back in 2008.

“I said if we make it to the championship I will get a Bees logo tattoo,” explained McCoy. “By the time we made it to the playoffs I was fairly confident we would make it to the championship so I went ahead and got the tattoo.”

Nate lives and dies with the Bees. When you walk into Community Field to take in a game, his enthusiastic voice welcomes you. He brings a joy and passion to the ballpark that is certainly infectious.

He has done his job for six seasons and has plenty of favorite memories, most of which have nothing to do with the baseball on the field. His favorite moment had to do with an error he made back in 2007 involving the pronunciation of a famous baseball last name.

“That day when we were playing I didn’t go down to the (visiting) radio booth and go over (the pronunciations of the Great Lakes players). When the player came up to bat, I said ‘Ma-ting-ly.’ Chuck (Brockett, Bees General Manager) immediately got on the radio and said ‘do you know who Don Mattingly is? THAT’S HIS SON!”

“Two years later a scout came up to me and asked are you the guy who said Preston Ma-ting-ly?”

“Yes, unfortunately that’s me,” said Nate.

“That’s really awesome!” the scout said.

Nate also provides his talents in other ways that go beyond public address announcing.

“Chuck has called upon me to help with our raccoon problem here at the ballpark,” said Nate, who estimates he owns at least a dozen guns, (all licensed of course).

“If you look closely there are visible bullet holes all around the ballpark,” he said with a sly grin.

RANDOM THOUGHTS: How quickly things can change? With the recent promotion of RHP A.J. Griffin and LHP Jacob Brown, the Bees quickly lost two of the top five pitchers in the Midwest League. If last night’s performance of RHP Jose Macias in Beloit is any indication of what they got in return, the Bees will be just fine the rest of the way. Macias, who was promoted from extended spring training to replace Brown, retired the first nine batters he faced and did not allow a hit through the first five innings as the Bees won 9-0.

I make a point of calling my grandparents every day if I can. They’re in their 90’s and live back in my hometown in Connecticut. While grandma worries about the fact that no one cooks for me, (she doesn’t understand how the George Foreman grill works!) and thinks I’m losing consistently losing weight, grandpa and I always talk baseball. Grandpa, or “Pops” as I call him, always asks about the team. They don’t have the Internet and get their scores from the local paper so they have no way of following the Bees.

One thing grandpa likes to do is read so I try to send him articles and programs and the occasional media guide. A couple of weeks before the start of our season, the Royals mistakenly sent us a whole box of media guides. I grabbed a Royals media guide and sent it in the mail to “Pops.” When I speak to him, he always asks about the results of the previous Bees game. When I talked to him today in Beloit, I mentioned the Bees won last night.

He says “Oh, they’re 31-and-14. They only  46 games all of last year. They almost have as many wins this season as they did last season.”

Not bad for 92.

Dear Bees Fans,

What a start it has been for your Burlington Bees. As I sit in the office a few hours before catching the bus to Cedar Rapids to continue the series with the Kernels tonight, the Burlington Bees lead the Midwest League with an 18-7 record. It’s been fun to watch. The pitching has been extremely solid, with a starting staff led by Blake Hassebrock who just gave up his first earned run in 27.1 innings in the sixth inning last night. Unfortunately that was the last run that scored for quite a while!

The Bees and Kernels played and played last night FOR 17 INNINGS!!! It’s strange when you get a game that goes that long.  You end up talking for so long it’s almost as if you simply root for the game to be over!!!! (DISCLAIMER: AS LONG AS THE BEES WIN).

Unfortunately that was not the case. After the game ended a few minutes short of the five hour mark in the 17^th inning, the players and coaches went to the locker room at Perfect Game Field and quietly ate the Jimmy John’s sandwiches that had been ordered for them 3 hours before. They lazily sleep walked onto the bus with their uniforms on and made the hour and a half trek back to Burlington where they rolled off the bus shortly after 2:00 a.m. Because the trip to Cedar Rapids is so short, the players and coaches do not shower and dress in Cedar Rapids.

With such a long night at the office and (rather conveniently) a forecast of rain, the bus has been pushed back to late afternoon. There will be no early work for the Bees, just a chance to put their uniforms on and show up and play.

It’s been an immense pleasure watching this team work. Six of the top 10 draft picks from the Oakland A’s 2010 draft are here in Burlington and there are a lot of interesting stories behind all of the players on this year’s team. It’s my goal with this blog to take you inside the team, to give you a bird’s eye view on what it’s like being around the ballpark and the players.

I look forward to telling you about many great things going on with this team and our organization. It’s been a great ride so far and promises to be a great summer.

All the Best,

Jon Versteeg