Dates:
Primary Destinations: Day trips to
Twitter Address: http://twitter.com/Wtriebel
Games Attended:
Game 2: Norfolk Tides vs. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, July 29th, 7:05PM, PNC Field, Moosic, PA
Game 3: Buffalo Bisons vs. Pawtucket Red Sox, August 15th, 1:00PM , McCoy Stadium, Pawtucket, RI
Summary:
The International League is one of Major League Baseballs (MLB) affiliated Minor Leagues. Players on the teams of the International League are at the highest level of the minor league system, which is known as triple A (AAA). They are just one step away from the major leagues. In fact, many of them have been up and down from the majors a number of times. Some of the players on International League team rosters are on the associated major league team’s 40-man roster.
This league has fourteen teams, which are organized into three divisions: the North Division, South Division, and West Division. Unlike the Eastern League, who’s teams are more concentrated primarily in the Northeast and
"The International League of MLB Roadtrip" is planned as a series of day trips to attend games of three International League teams at their home stadiums. Since the day trips originate from either the metropolitan
Three other International League teams were seen as visiting teams during the roadtrip. The Toledo Mud Hens, which is the AAA affiliate of the Cleveland Indians, was the opposing team of the IronPigs in
I attended the first game,
Summary of International League Roadtrip Games:
Game 1:
Toledo 4 R 6 H 0 E
WP: Ryan Ketchner (3W:2L)
SV: Jay Sborz (13)
HR: Scott Sizemore, Ryan Stiebly
LP: Joe Savery (1W:6L)
HR: Cody Ransom
Game 2:
Norfolk 1 R 6 H 0 E
LP: Chris Tillman (8W:6L)
HR: None
Scranton/WB 7 R 12 H 0 E
WP: Jason Hirsh (6W:7L)
SV: None
HR: Jesus Montero (11)
Game 3:
Buffalo 1 R 4 H 0 E
WP: Rich Hill (2W:0L)
SV: Fernando Cabrera (15)
LP: Raul Valdes (1W:1L)
HR:
Attending these International League games enabled us to see some of the top prospects of the affiliated major league teams, a number of major leaguers on the comeback path, and even current major leaguers making rehab starts. For instance, in the Toledo/Lehigh Valley game, I saw Cody Ransom (a former New York Yankee) play third base for the IronPigs and hit a home run in his first at bat of the game. Soon after that game Cody was called up to the majors by the Phillies. While in game 2,
The “Baseball
http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/rankings/organization-top-10-prospects/2010/269121.html includes pitchers Jonathon Niese, catcher Josh Thole, 1st baseman Ike Davis, 2nd baseman Ruben Tejeda, and outfielder Fernando Martinez, who all currently on the New York Mets Major League Roster. To be considered for the top 10 prospect listing, a played must still be considered a “Rookie” by MLB. The criteria for remaining a rookie is that the player must not have more than 150 at bats or pitched more than 50 innings at the major league level.
A number of other players we saw in International League games had spent time with their major league clubs during the 2010 season. They include::
Though in most cases, their stay with the parent major league team was short. All of them have made a big step in fulfilling their life long dream of playing on the biggest stage of Major League Baseball. For some of them, this is just the beginning and they will return to stay. But for all of them, this is an achievement that has only been attained by a few.
Also, during these games we saw a number of other players that are on their major league team’s 40-man roster, but had not yet been call up to the majors this season. For example, Nick Evans (3B), Justin Turner (SS), Jesus Feliciano (LF), and starting pitcher Raul Valdes, who are all on the Mets 2010 40-man roster, played for the Bisons against the PawSox.
Recently Eduardo Nunez, who batted 3rd in the order and played shortstop the night we attended the
This is Nunez’s first stint in the majors. He has subbed at third base for injured Alex Rodriguez and at shortstop for Derek Jeter. Eduardo played in his first game as a New York Yankee on
We made two stops en-route to
If one would drink three Awful Awfuls in one sitting at Bonds Ice Cream Parlor, they were recognized by having their name posted on a plaque on the wall. Well many of us tried, but not many of us succeeded. Though, my brother Bob (accompanying me on this trip) did succeed and was so recognized in the Awful Awful Club. So it was in honor of his feat, we made a small diversion from our route between NJ and
Our other stop had a more somber meanng. When reaching
1. The Monument, which is formed from the upper part (conning tower, fairwater, and periscopes) of the WWII submarine USS Flasher. The USS Flasher and its crew hold the record for the most tonnage of enemy ships sunk by any submarine in Naval warfare history.
2. A series of Engraved Granite Stones each with a tribute to one of the 52 Submarines lost during WWII. Engraved on each stone is a silhouette of the ship, its name and number, information about where and how it was sunk, and the number of sailors lost.
3. Wall of Honor that lists the names to honor all those sailors that gave their lives in service of their country on these submarines during WWII.
My brother and I were motivated to make this stop because our uncle Walter F. Seidman is one of the submariners that lost his life when his ship the USS Argonaut was sunk during WWII. The Argonaut was on patrol near Rabaul in the
Twitter Roadtrip Information:
The tweets posted on Twitter for each of the games includes pre-game tweets with information about the league, each team participating in the games, and probable starting pitchers. In addition, travel information is provided such as the address of the stadium, a link to photos of the stadium, distance, and travel time. After the game, post-game tweets summarized the result, such as winning team, final score and overall team stats, winning and losing pitchers, and scoring highlights of the game.
Total number of Tweets: 128
Game 1:
Number of tweets: 47
Game 2:
Number of tweets: 39
Time/Date of 1st Tweet:
Game 3:
Number of tweets: 42
Roadtrip Planning Resources
| The following are the web resources used for planning the "International League of MLB Roadtrip.”
Official Website of the International League: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/index.jsp?sid=l117
Current Standings of the Teams in the International League:
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?t=l_sta&lid=117&sid=l117
Official Websites of the Teams:
|
Dates:
Primary Destinations: Day trips to
Game 1:
Game 2: Reading Phillies vs.
Game 3:
Summary:
The Eastern League is an affiliated Minor League of Major League Baseball and its teams are at the double-A (AA) level of the MLB minor league organization. This league has 12 teams, which are located in 9 of the Eastern states. North most (and also the most eastern) of the Eastern League teams is the Portland Sea Dogs located in
These three teams are all members of the Eastern Division of the Eastern League.
Summary of Eastern League Roadtrip Games:
Game 1: 6/17/2010
LP: Bryan Morris (3W:2L)
HR:
WP: Lance Pendleton (5W:3L)
SV: none
HR: Luis Nunez
Game 2: 7/6/2010
Reading 3 R 9 H 1 E
WP: Michael Cisco (2W:4L)
SV: Michael Schwimer (11)
HR: None
LP: Loek Van Mil (1W:1L)
HR: None
Game 3:
WP: Joe Bisenius (3W:0L)
SV: Chuck James (2)
HR: None
Reading 3 R 11 H 0 E
LP: Sergio Escalona (1W:6L)
HR: Matt Rizzotti
Game 1:
Number of tweets: 35
Time/Date of 1st Tweet:
Game 2: Reading Phillies vs.
Number of tweets: 33
Time/Date of 1st Tweet:
Game 3:
Number of tweets: 49
Time/Date of 1st Tweet:
Roadtrip Planning Resources:
| The following are the web resources used for planning the "Eastern
League of MLB Roadtrip.”
http://eastern.league.milb.com/index.jsp?sid=l113
Current Standings of the Teams in the Eastern League: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?t=l_sta&lid=113&sid=l113
Official Websites of the Teams
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