The Hickory Crawdads got swept in this week’s series with the Charleston RiverDogs with a 7-4 loss in game 4 of the series this afternoon. Zac Oliver made his first home start with the ‘Dads today, and he suffered the same fate as about every other starting pitcher in this series.

Evaluating this entire series, I really don’t believe our pitching has been that far off the mark, even though the numbers would say differently. I really do believe that the Charleston bats are just that good. Over the course of four games, the RiverDogs put up 28 runs on 39 hits against Crawdads pitching, while the ‘Dads put up 11 runs on 26 hits.

We start a four-game home series against Savannah on Wednesday. We split the last series with Savannah, so maybe after watching the results of this series, we’ll know if we’re slipping or not.

The Charleston series was rather devastating to our standings in the Northern Division of the South Atlantic League. Instead of being tied for second place, we’re 5 games behind and third from the bottom of the list now. We’ll see what kinds of adjustments Gary Green and Jeff Johnson might make in the next couple weeks.

Duke Welker still hasn’t showed back up in Hickory yet, but the rumor mill says he might be back by the end of the week. I know how rumors around here go, so don’t expect him until you see him on the mound :)

Anyone seen Brad Lincoln?

Jose Diaz is on the DL and I don’t know where he is or for how long.

I’m going out of town for a few days. I probably won’t catch the first three games of the Savannah series, but I should be home in time to see Saturday’s game…

John M. Setzler, Jr.
(the guy with the camera)

2008 Hickory Crawdads Photos HERE.

The Hickory Crawdads actually made a little progress tonight in their efforts against the Charleston RiverDogs, but still came up short. Bradley Clapp took the mound tonight and gave the best pitching performance from the starting position we have seen against the RiverDogs during this series. Bradley pitched 4 frames, gave up 7 hits and 2 runs (both earned.) In the past two games, our starters gave up enough runs early that we were unable to overcome the deficits.

Hickory took the early lead in the first inning of tonight’s game when Charleston’s Dellin Betances walked the bases loaded with no outs. Andrew Walker slapped a sacrifice fly to score one run, but the offense couldn’t produce any more during the bottom of the first. Charleston put up 2 runs in the top of the third and 3 more in the top of the sixth on a 3-run dinger from Austin Krum, making the score 5-1. Hickory loaded the bases twice in the bottom of the sixth, but were only able to produce 2 runs, bringing the score to 5-3. A short 2-out rally in the bottom of the ninth scored one more run for the Crawdads, but they weren’t able to muster a tie or a go-ahead run to win the game.

The Charleston RiverDogs aren’t invincible, but they are the top team in the southern division of the South Atlantic League with a 23-8 record. The final game of this series is a noon game tomorrow, so maybe we can squeeze out one win to keep from being swept in this series.

If you are in North Carolina, don’t forget to vote tomrrow :)

John M. Setzler, Jr.
(the guy with the camera)

Crawdads Photos available HERE.

Today’s game against the Charleston RiverDogs started out much like yesterday’s loss, but worse. Raphael De Los Santos got shelled worse than the beaches of Normandy on D-Day. What this means is that the combination of less-than-desirable pitching results and no notable offensive efforts led to a pitiful 8-1 loss at the hands of the RiverDogs. The Crawdads haven’t been shut out this season, but they came close to experiencing that for the first time today. The ‘Dads were down 8-0 going into the bottom of the 9th with two outs. Erik Huber managed to squeeze a single, and then Andrew Walker swatted a double to score Huber, which accounted for the only run of today’s game.

The batters in the South Atlantic League have caught up with our pitching. We started out very strong, but have been slowly slipping into a slump from the mound in the last several games. Raphael De Los Santos pitched 3 frames today, giving up 7 hits and 6 runs (3 earned) while only striking out one batter. Carlos Amaro followed for two scoreless frames. Ronald Uviedo followed Amaro for two frames, giving up 3 hits and two runs (both earned). Moises Robles closed the final two innings without giving up but one hit.

In tomorrow night’s game, we’ll get to see Bradley Clapp start against the RiverDogs. This will be Clapp’s first home appearance since his return to the Crawdads roster last week. His first appearance was against Savannah on April 30th, where he pitched 5 innings, giving up 6 hits and 3 runs (none earned).

How to tell you are having a bad game…

I have started carrying a portable radio to the games with me so I can listen to Mike Janela’s broadcast while I watch after I’m finished making photos. I was listening to today’s game broadcast when I heard an interesting tidbit of information from the booth…

Gary Green is getting ready to hit a milestone in his career as a manager. With two or three more losses (I can’t remember the exact number), Gary will rack up his 500th career loss! His record is something like 417-496. That’s a statistic that wouldn’t likely come up in a broadcast if we were winning ;)

This year’s readers of this blog haven’t had the chance to see me dive under the ‘developmental baseball’ rug yet, but I’m sure you will if you stick around long enough this season :) In a nutshell, winning and losing is only a small part of the experience at this level of the minor leagues. The primary objective at this level is to develop these professional athletes into major league material. In some cases, that means teaching a pitcher how to work his way out of a bad situation rather than pulling him off for a bullpen replacement. Sometimes it means benching a .360 batter for not hustling to first base. Sometimes it means letting a starting shortstop ride the pine for poor attitude reasons.I talked to Gary Green last season about ‘developmental baseball.’ Last year, the Crawdads had a dismal first half of the season and then won the Northern Division in the second half. At some point during the second half of the season, I asked Gary about this. In not so many words, Gary told me this:

“Part of devloping a player IS winning. At that point in the season, these guys should have their kinks worked out. If they aren’t performing at this point, the won’t be playing.”

HERE is that post from the previous season if you want to check it out…

It is still early in the season and there is developmental work to be done… not only on our team, but on all of them. Wins and losses will fall where they may…

John M. Setzler, Jr.
(the guy with the camera)

Hickory Crawdads Photos available HERE.

Dustin Molleken took a beating tonight at the hands of the Charleston Riverdogs at L.P. Frans Stadium in Hickory. The last time Dustin pitched in Hickory, he gave up 3 runs in the game, and each of them were home runs. Tonight, he gave up 6 earned runs, 3 of which where homers. Three of Molleken’s six runs tonight were over-the-wall shots from the Riverdogs.

My problem as a photographer in commenting on this situation is that I rarely see where the pitch crosses the plate, so I’m not sure if these home run balls were hanging fast balls or something else, but the Riverdogs had his number for sure. Dustin completed 5.2 innings before being relieved by Tom Boleska, who only gave up one hit in 1.1 innings. Mike Felix pitched the final two frames, giving up two more earned runs after walking the bases loaded in top half of the 8th.

Our offensive effort tonight was rather weak as well. We only managed to muster two runs tonight. One of those was a home run by Erik Huber and the other was a home run by Marcus Davis.

We’re gonna take another stab at the Riverdogs in a 3pm game tomorrow afternoon. Today’s 8-2 loss brings the Crawdads record back to 15-15 on the season.

John M. Setzler, Jr.
(the guy with the camera)

2008 Hickory Crawdads Photos

My last post dealt with the some hitting statistics for the Crawdads and the pending arrival of local favorite Madison Bumgarner on the mound with the Augusta GreenJackets in Hickory. Let me start my catch-up with some notes about that game…

Madison took the field with a standing ovation in Hickory to a crowd of 4,800+ fans. This is one of, if not THE, largest crowd I have seen in L.P. Frans Stadium during the time I have been photographing games here. I was curious to see how well Madison would pitch in front of his hometown crowd because his three starts prior to this game were not stellar by any means. He came to Hickory carrying a 7.7 ERA. As far as I’m concerned, this is not a bad number for a rookie pitcher. I have seen lots of first-round studs on the farm get shelled their first few times up, and Madison got a small taste of that during his first outing with Augusta as he gave up 5 earned runs in his first 3 frames with the GreenJackets. This, however, wasn’t to be the case in his first appearance in front of his hometown crowd. I guess all I can really say is that Madison pitched 6 1/3 innings of 2-hit baseball with 8 strikeouts against the Hickory Crawdads. He was still going strong at the 6 1/3 inning mark, but he had probably reached his pitch count limit. He tipped his hat to the crowd as he left the field to another standing ovation. Bumgarner picked up a win in Hickory, but it was the only win the GreenJackets would get against the Crawdads in this 3-game series.

During the Augusta series, Hickory had a visit from Pittsburgh Pirates Director of Player Development, Kyle Stark…

Following the Augusta series, the ‘Dads went on the road for three games in Greenville against the Drive. We won the first game 7-2, lost the second 10-6, and won the third 13-6 to claim that series. Hickory currently sits in second place in the South Atlantic League Northern Division with a 14-12 (.538) record, three games behind the Lake County Captains. Hickory leaves Greenville to head to Savannah for a 4-game series with the Sand Gnats before returning back home on Saturday, May 3 for an 8-game home stand.

My last update on Duke Welker said that he’s still rehabbing a sprained ankle down in Bradenton, but he’s looking strong and will make another start or possibly two down there before returning to Hickory.

Matt McSwain was promoted to Lynchburg this week. We picked up a couple more pitchers, and I’m not sure exactly who but one name was a familiar one…

Wanell Macia spent the better part of the last three seasons in Hickory as an outfielder before being promoted to Lynchburg late in the 2007 season. Apparently he has been converted to a pitcher during the off season, and he showed up on the mound as a reliever for the ‘Dads in Greenville last night. He pitched 3 innings and gave up 3 earned runs from the pen to get his stats rolling in Hickory again with a 9.00 ERA.

I’ll try to get the team roster on this blog updated with the new people and the transaction information over the weekend. There are several new faces that I haven’t photographed yet, but I’ll get those when the guys return to town next week…

John M. Setzler, Jr.
(the guy with the camera)

Let’s face it folks… We’ve had a rough week. The Hickory Crawdads have lost 6 out of their last 7 games as we were swept in Asheville by the Tourists over the weekend and on Monday. The good news is that today is an off day (Tuesday) so everyone should get some down time before we start a 3-game home series against the Augusta GreenJackets.

The photos above highlight our top offensive performers so far this season. Starting from the top left, we have Andrew Walker. He’s a catcher who is hitting .333 after 18 at bats, with 3 doubles, 4 RBIs, 2 homers and a 1.202 OPS. In the top center, we have Jose De Los Santos at short stop. Jose is hitting .323 after 62 at bats with 1 triple, 2 doubles, 3 RBIs and a .751 OPS. On the top right, we have Keanon Simon who has been in the DH role for most of the season so far. He’s hitting .319 with 3 RBIs and a .700 OPS. On the bottom right we have Miles Durham at first base. Miles is hitting .302 with 5 doubles, 3 homers and 13 RBIs and a .832 OPS. On the bottom center we have Erik Huber from the outfield. Erik is hitting .303 with 2 triples, 3 doubles, and 3 homers, along with a .888 OPS. On the bottom right we have Tom Hagan from the outfield. Tom is hitting .324 with 3 doubles, 9 RBIs, and one homer with a .861 OPS.

With 6 batters in our lineup all hitting over .300, I’m at a loss as to why our total offensive performance isn’t any better than it has been lately. I suppose our pitching has fallen off just a little lately, but in the greater scheme of things, it hasn’t been that bad. We’ll see what happens in this next home series that starts tomorrow night in Hickory.

The Madison Factor

As I’m wandering around the clubhouse and in the dugout at some of the early home games this season, one of the common rambles I hear from players is “When are we gonna get to see a big crowd in the stands?” Since most of these guys are new in Hickory, they haven’t learned when to expect a lot of people in the park just yet. The only advice I have to offer this week is to watch out for Thursday.

Caldwell County’s golden boy, Madison Bumgarner, will pitch in front of his home crowd on Thursday as a starting pitcher for the Augusta GreenJackets. I believe the first large crowd that the Crawdads will enjoy this year at L.P. Frans Stadium will be a hostile crowd.

Madison graduated from South Caldwell High School in 2007 and was drafted in the first round of the 2007 draft (10th overall pick) by the San Francisco Giants. Madison is still just 18 years old and won’t turn 19 until August.

If you are planning to come to the park on Thursday, be prepared for a large crowd. I think the combination of Madison Bumgarner’s homecoming and the Hickory Crawdads Thirsty Thursday will pack the seats…

John M. Setzler, Jr.
(the guy with the camera)

Former Hickory Crawdad, Tony Mansolino, popped up in an interesting article on MiLB.com last week, and I just thought I would share here. I would have never figured Tony as a children’s book author, but I think I’m going to buy a copy of the book anyway!

MiLB.com Article

Buy the Book

Maybe I can get one in time to take it to a Lynchburg game and get an autograph :)

John M. Setzler, Jr.
(the guy with the camera)

I believe I made a comment yesterday about how nothing good follows a lead-off home run by the opposing team… Would you believe it happened two days in a row? Mike Felix took the hit on Tuesday from Lexington’s Matthew Cusick. Today, it was the newest arm on the hill, Emilis Guerrero who took the same punishment. The good thing about today, if there was any good thing, was the we contained Lexington to a single run in the top of the first frame. They did, however, put up another one in the top of the second and another in the top of the sixth before our offense decided to step up. The Crawdads managed to put up a pair in the bottom of the sixth and another pair in the bottom of the eighth to take a 4-3 lead. All we needed to do was hold the Legends down during the top half of the 9th to put another mark in the win column.

In the bottom of the ninth, Hickory’s Adam Simon struck out Lexington’s Ronald Ramirez and then Lexington’s Matthew Cusick popped up to Hickory short stop Silvio Pena for out number two of the frame. Simon walked Craig Corrado and then gave up a home run to Collin DeLome to bring the score to 5-4 in favor of the Legends. Hickory went three-up three-down in the bottom of the 9th to close their second consecutive loss to Lexington.

The Crawdads only sacrificed two errors in today’s game compared to five yesterday. In the top of the first, Hickory’s Emilis Guerrero made a bad toss to Miles Durham at first base… a simple routine toss… botched… Immediately following that, Guerrero made a wild throw to first on a pick-off attempt that advanced the runner.

Hickory’s defense wasn’t nearly as sloppy as it was yesterday, but I think our offense was asleep at the wheel for the most part. Our best plate performance came from Miles Durham (pictured) with 2 hits (both doubles) and 2 runs scored on 4 trips to the plate. Tom Hagan was the only other Crawdad batter with more than one hit today.

I expected this series to go a little better for Hickory since Lexington started this set with a 2-10 record and a 6-game losing streak. Maybe they got tired of losing and cracked down for this road trip.

I think I forgot to mention a few things yesterday regarding transactions…

Chris Jones moved up to Lynchburgh and Victor Alvarez moved up to Altoona. Some new faces in Hickory:

Emilis Guerrero (RHP)
Tom Boleska (RHP)
Adam Simon (RHP)
Andrew Walker (C) - Replacing Jones
Silvio Pena (IF) - Replacing Alvarez

Duke Welker is on the 7-day DL with a sprained ankle…

Game 3 of this series is tomorrow evening. Maybe we can settle down and get back to some of the extremely great work we have seen before this series…

John M. Setzler, Jr.
(the guy with the camera)

There was a lot “upside down” about tonight’s game in Hickory beside Marcus Davis on his way out to right field to start the Crawdads’ 4-game home stand against the Lexington Legends. I think Marcus Davis is someone we should keep our eye on though… I think he has great potential…

Anyway… The ‘Dads dropped game one by a score of 6-4 to the Lexington Legends, who were 2 of 10 and on a 6-game losing streak coming into tonight’s game. I wanted to just say that we were off our game tonight, but looking at the box score, the Legends were off their game too. Probably the most interesting note about tonight’s game is that Hickory committed 5 errors along with 4 runs and 11 hits. Lexington committed 2 errors along with 6 runs and 8 hits. In most games I watch where a combines 7 errors are committed, the score looks more like a basketball score.

The ‘Dads got off to a bad start in the top of the first inning. Mike Felix started on the mount for Hickory tonight. Say what you will, but good things rarely follow a home run by the lead-off batter. What’s even more upside down about Felix’s first inning was that he struck out 4 batters. That’s something you don’t get to see very often… Especially in an inning where the opposing team scores three runs. I suppose when you look at this situation, all of our defense in the top half of the first came from Felix with the strikeouts. Our fielding didn’t get much work done. Instead of me detailing what happened here, take a look at the LOG.

Rich Donnelly Visits Hickory

Hickory fans, espeically those who listened to Mike Janela’s broadcast tonight, were treated to a special guest. Rich Donnelly (left) is the player development advisor for the Pittsburgh Pirates. If I understood correctly, Rich will be visiting all of Pittsburgh’s farm clubs at least twice before the all-star break. When I found out he was in the press box on tonight’s broadcast, I went up and briefly introduced myself and took the opportunity to make a quick photo of him with Mike Janela during a broadcast break. While I was waiting for the break, I listened to what he was saying, and I was quite impressed. I would love to listen to a lot more of what he has to say. His insight on what are doing and should be doing at this level of play is amazing. It’s interesting to listen to his commentary from a fan perspective. It’s stuff that you don’t expect to hear, but it sheds a lot of light on what the farm system is about. You can listen to this broadcast on the arcihves of MiLB.com Game Day Audio.

The ‘Dads play game two of this series at noon tomorrow…

John M. Setzler, Jr.
(the guy with the camera)

The ‘Dads dropped a game this afternoon to the Kannapolis Intimidators after winning the first two of the series.

I had the opportunity to go to Saturday’s game in Kannapolis, where the Crawdads took a commanding 14-1 win over the Intimidators. Jose De Los Santos (pictured) led the offense with 4 hits and 4 runs scored. The ‘Dads total offensive effort was strong on Saturday though. Miles Durham had 2 homers with 5 RBIs while Chris Jones and Victor Alvarez both 2 RBIs as well.

Sunday’s efforts weren’t so impressive. The game was going very well until the bottom half of the 8th frame. The Crawdads entered the bottom half with a 3-0 lead. Raphael De Los Santos pitched 6 scoreless frames and was replaced by Harrison Bishop to open the 7th. Bishop cleared the 7th without giving up anything, but the 8th was going to be a different story. A throwing error, a wild pitch, and a couple fielding errors allowed the Intimidators to put up 5 runs in the bottom of the 8th, to give themselves a 5-3 win over the Crawdads.

After today’s game, The ‘Dads are tied for first in the Northern Division with the Greensboro Grasshoppers. Both teams share a 7-4 record after 11 games.

I’m sure today’s loss was one of those things that happens occasionally. We have seen the ‘Dads put others in the same situation already this season, so today was our turn :)

If you can’t attend the game, you should tune in to WMNC “The Big Dawg” 92.1 and listen to Jersey Mike Janela’s play-by-play of each and every Crawdads game this season. If you aren’t in range of this station, go to the Hickory Crawdads Website and click on the Listen Live link to listen online. You can also send Mike your questions via email during game time to crawdadsradio@gmail.com.

The ‘Dads will finish their series in Kannapolis on Monday and then return home for a 4-game series with the Lexington Legends. Come on out to the park!

John M. Setzler, Jr.
(the guy with the camera)