Former Spinners win a Host of California League Awards

Bubba Bell Named California League MVP &

Chad Epperson Named Manager of the Year

Bell, Zach Daeges, and Aaron Bates named league post-season All-Stars

                                                                              

(LANCASTER, CA) –  The California League announced its 2007 post-season All-Stars and Awards today and the JetHawks captured three of the four biggest honors.  OF Bubba Bell was named the league Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Year, while skipper Chad Epperson earned the honor of Manager of the Year.  Bell joined fellow outfielder Zach Daeges and first baseman Aaron Bates on the post-season All Star team.  The voting is done by league managers, general managers, and broadcasters, as well as selected members of local media.

 

Bell’s spectacular rise helped spark the JetHawks to the first half championship.  The 24-year old Texan is well on his way towards winning the league batting title, having posted a .370 average before moving up to AA Portland.  Bell was a candidate for the Triple Crown at the time of his promotion as he also was among the league leaders with 22 home runs and 83 RBI.  Bell won every award he qualified for this season as a post-season All-Star, MVP, and Rookie of the Year, to go along with his mid-season All-Star nomination and All-Star game MVP award.  A fan favorite, Bell is the second player in the history of the JetHawks organization to win each of the post-season honors.  In the 2000 campaign, Juan Silvestre was named the league MVP while Willie Bloomquist won the award for Rookie of the Year.

 

In his first season at the helm of the JetHawks, Chad Epperson has led the club to the best overall record in the league.  The JetHawks won the first half championship after finishing eight games above .500, and now have a magic number of just six to add the second half title as well.  Epperson joins 2000 manager Mark Parent and 2002 skipper Bill Plummer as JetHawks Manager of the Year award winners.

 

Bates and Daeges were also instrumental in the JetHawks success in 2007.  Bates remains second in the league with a .332 batting average, despite an August promotion to Portland.  At the time he went up, Bates led the league in home runs with 24 and had 88 RBI.  Bates was also the leading defensive first baseman in the league with just seven errors.  Daeges broke the JetHawks franchise records for doubles in a season when he notched his 46^th of the year.  He leads all of Minor League Baseball in that category and is within striking distance of the league record of 55.  The Nebraska native is fourth in the league in hitting at .326 and has added 18 home runs with a team-high 94 RBI.

Check Out the Flyover!

If you missed the pre-game festivities for Johnny Pesky night on Thursday, August 23, check out the following link.

Not only was the Red Sox Legend in the house, but the Air National Guard was here and gave us a fantastic flyover after their Air Guard band performed the National Anthem.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncQztuW5qB0

Spinners Lead AL-affiliated All-Stars to victory

A trio of Lowell Spinners made their mark on the New York-Penn League All-Star game on Tuesday night at Hudson Valley’s infamous Dutchess Stadium.  Catcher Ty Weeden was the first Spinner into the game, taking over the catching duties in the 4th.  Weeden, one of the league’s strongest defensive catchers, caught 3 innings, during which the AL Affiliates gave up just one run. 

Felix Ventura, the Spinners’ excellent closer, came in for the eighth inning and pitched a scoreless frame.  Ventura struck out Brooklyn OF Brandon Kawal, a .306 hitter, then retired Carlos Piste before Colin DeLome singled and stole second.  Ventura ended the inning by retiring State College’s Austin McClune.

Yamaico Navarro, who came in as a defensive replacement in the sixth, lead off the bottom of the eighth with a lined single to left against Brooklyn ace reliever William Morgan, who sports a 1.04 ERA.  After Ron Bourquin flew out, Jason Dominguez replaced Morgan and Navarrro promptly got himself into scoring position with a stolen base, then Aberdeen LF Joseph Nowicki singled Navarro over the third.  Oneonta star Casper Wells finished the job with a sac fly to drive in Navarro and tie the game.  With the game tied the AL affiliates cracked 3 more base hits to take the lead.  Oneonta closer Noah Krol wrapped things up for the save and Ventura earned the win.

 The Spinners All-Star contingent was without two members, Mike Jones and Ryan Kalish.  Jones sported the best average among NYPL 1B at .340 when he was promoted to Greenville on August 9.  Kalish was the hottest player in the NYPL when he went down on July 16 with a wrist injury.  He was hitting .368 with 18 steals and had reached base in 16 of his last 19 plate appearances.

Spinners Batboy Enjoys Fenway, Job

Check out this Boston NOW story about Spinners batboy Dan Hinckley.

Spinners’ Southern Connection

The Spinners are not the first professional baseball team to be called the Spinners.  From 1939 to 1941, Greenville’s South Atlantic League team were known as the Spinners.   As many of you know Greenville (now the Greenville Drive) is the Red Sox SAL affiliate, and the team many of today’s Spinners play for when they are promoted from Lowell. 

However, that is not the only Spinners team from the south.  From 1946 to 1950 the Sanford Spinners played in the Tobacco State League, a class D league with teams from across North Carolina. Class D teams were equivalent to today’s class A teams, such as the New York-Penn League teams you see every night at LeLacheur Park. 

Futures at Fenway Game Recap

Check out this game summary of yesterday’s game at Fenway Park by MLB.com’s Evan Mohl: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070811&content_id=287717&vkey=news_milb&fext=.jsp

Moss Debuts with Red Sox

2003 Spinners’ Outfielder Brandon Moss became the 29th Spinner to reach the major leagues when Boston called him up on August 6th when reserve utilityman Eric Hinske was placed on the bereavement list.

Moss was an eighth round pick out of high school in Loganville, Georgia in 2002. He started his career in the Gulf Coast League that year before joining the Spinners in 2003 as a 19-year-old. Moss actually struggled with Lowell, hitting just .237, although he cracked 26 extra base hits, including 7 homers. However, he must have learned something because in 2004 he hit .353 in Low and High A with 49 extra base hits and 111 RBI.

Moss played for 2 years at AA with Portland and lead the Eastern League in doubles in 2006 with 36. Moss advanced to AAA Pawtucket 2007, he has posted a .290-13-67 line as the Paw Sox rightfielder, accentuated by 34 doubles, second most in the International League.

Moss appeared in all three games the Red Sox played against Los Angeles in Anaheim and picked up his first big league hit off Scot Shields in the eighth inning on Wednesday night (Thursday morning in Boston) and scored later in the inning on a wild pitch. Moss is expected to return to Pawtucket when Hinske returns.

In other Spinners alumni news, LHP Phil Dumatrait, recently made his major league debut with Cincinnati and got shelled by the Nationals. However, it was a different story for the ‘01 Spinner today as he pitched 6 innings and allowed only 2 runs against the LA Dodgers. Unfortunately the Reds bullpen blew the lead so he did not record a victory.

Welcome to the Pros

Check out this interview by David Laurila with Spinners OF David Marks about his first professional game.

A 20-year-old outfielder from Kirkland, Washington, David Marks was the Red Sox selection in the 19^th round of this year’s draft. Taken out of Edmonds Community College, the left-handed hitting Marks made his professional debut with the Spinners on June 19. He talked about that experience the next day.

 

David Laurila: You played your first professional game last night. Describe the experience in 10 words or less.

 

David Marks: The most enjoyable baseball experience I’ve ever had.

DL: At what point did the nerves and adrenaline kick in?

DM: Probably when we got done with batting practice and I saw people starting to settle into their seats. You can hear the noise of the crowd from the clubhouse, too, and coming from a junior college it was a completely different atmosphere than I was used to. I was thinking that I was part of a real event, where in college it was just a baseball game.

DL: When did you find out you were in the line-up, and that you were hitting fourth in the order?

DM: I was sitting there, getting ready for the game, when Mike Jones came over and told me that I was in the big 4-hole. I looked at him and said, “Where did you see that?” He told me where the line-up was posted, so I went and looked it over, and there I was. I was kind of surprised to be in the 4-hole, to be honest. There are some pretty big guys here, and I don’t look like a 4-hole guy.

DL: Quality plate appearances are strongly emphasized in the Red Sox organization. Did you have one in your first at-bat?

DM: My first at-bat was unlike any I’ve ever had. For one thing, the velocity was way up from what I was used to — I wasn’t used to seeing 95 [MPH]. But I learned a lot from it, so I think I’d call it a quality at-bat. I did strike out, though, which isn’t exactly what I was hoping for.

DL: You doubled in your second at-bat. What were you thinking standing on second base?

DM: I guess I was just thinking that it was great, that I had the monkey off my back with my first hit. I knew it would be a lot easier from that point on, and the game definitely slowed way down for me after that.

DL: Who was the first person you called after the game?

DM: I called my dad. He had been watching on the computer, and was really stoked. He said I looked really good, and to make sure to keep having fun. I definitely did last night. It was an incredible experience.

DL: How will tonight be different?

DM: It will be my second game, so I know what to expect now. I wouldn’t call it a night and day difference, but knowing what it feels like, I can definitely relax more. There’s nothing like your first game.

Word of Spinners Fun Spreading

Last night was Political Correctness night at LeLacheur Park, everyone had a great time and both teams tried very hard.  WBZ was there to check out the eccentricities of PC baseball, Click here to watch their report and find out what we were up to last night.

Tonight is Everything ’50s night, a classic theme, and we have a rockin’ giveaway for you! It’s the Dice-K Fuzzy Dice giveaway! According to milb.com it’s the second best promotion out there this week, and we’re being beaten out by a team doing a bobblehead giveaway of its mascot? Come on! It’s the best thing going in minor league baseball this week so make your way down to LeLacheur Park tonight, standing room tickets are available!