Ozzie Ball Posted September 14, 2008 Share Posted September 14, 2008 Anyone listening to the radio broadcast? These guys are terrible but oddly amusing. And wow on Hudson, he's just had an unbelievable season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scenario Posted September 14, 2008 Share Posted September 14, 2008 (edited) QUOTE (Ozzie Ball @ Sep 13, 2008 -> 09:21 PM) Anyone listening to the radio broadcast? These guys are terrible but oddly amusing. They're not too bad for minor league announcers. They're pretty complimentary of GF, and they sound like they're having fun, which makes it easier to listen to. Meanwhile Drew O'Neill is making me nervous in the 8th. Time to get him out of there. 8-2 in the bottom of the 8th. Orem has the bases loaded and nobody out. Gap closed to 8-5. 2 outs. GF is bringing in their second new reliever this inning right now. Daniel Albritton... one of our best relievers enters the game. Edited September 14, 2008 by scenario Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scenario Posted September 14, 2008 Share Posted September 14, 2008 The first guy batting against Albritton creamed a ball to center, sending Jordan Cheatam to the fence to make a fantastic catch over the shoulder on a dead run. If we win, it's the play of the game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scenario Posted September 14, 2008 Share Posted September 14, 2008 (edited) Bottom of the 9th. Still 8-5. Great Falls is 29-4 when they lead the game entering the 9th this year. Roberto Lopez up first... facing Albritton. Lopez strikes out. HUGE. One down. Next guy line out to the SS. Two down!! Strike one. (0-1) Strike two. (0-2) Swung on and missed. (0-3) It's OVAAAAAAAAAAA!!!! Great Falls players pour onto the field. The Great Falls Voyagers are the Champions of the Pioneer League Edited September 14, 2008 by scenario Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzie Ball Posted September 14, 2008 Share Posted September 14, 2008 Go Voyagers!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scenario Posted September 14, 2008 Share Posted September 14, 2008 (edited) Thought it was worth mentioning here... More info in the FutureSox forum. Star of the game... starting pitcher Daniel Hudson... a dominating performance. 6 innings; gave up only 1 run on 4 hits; struck out 12 and walked 2. I listened to the game and the announcers (for the other team) said of the few guys who did get wood on the ball... that no one hit the ball hard off him. Two relievers made it interesting after an error opened the door to a big inning... until Daniel Albritton came in and put out the fire in the 8th... aided by a great over the shoulder catch by CF Jordan Cheatam on a blast that could have potentially tied the game. Congrats to manager Chris Cron and the Great Falls Voyagers... 2008 Champions of the Pioneer League. Edited September 15, 2008 by scenario Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPN366 Posted September 14, 2008 Share Posted September 14, 2008 Tip of the hat... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elrockinMT Posted September 14, 2008 Share Posted September 14, 2008 We have the Reds Pioneer League affiliate here. They actually won the Northern Divison, but lost to Gt Falls in the playoffs 2 games to none. But, reports on Gt Falls were very positive this year. Hudson could be a real star in the making Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jordan4life_2007 Posted September 14, 2008 Share Posted September 14, 2008 (edited) So not all of our minor leagues suck? Hooray! Edited September 14, 2008 by Jordan4life Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bighurt4life Posted September 14, 2008 Author Share Posted September 14, 2008 We've got a couple of studs in Carter and Hudson. I can't wait to see what they do next season, Carter will probably be brought along more slowly as he's had control problems in the past, but hopefully at least one of them will end up on W-S to start the season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted September 14, 2008 Share Posted September 14, 2008 Congrats boys, hopefully it is a sign of things to come! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texsox Posted September 14, 2008 Share Posted September 14, 2008 more and better trade bait for the 25 man roster coming our way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthSideSox72 Posted September 14, 2008 Share Posted September 14, 2008 QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Sep 13, 2008 -> 11:10 PM) So not all of our minor leagues suck? Hooray! We sent 3 teams to the playoffs this year. The system has improved significantly in the past year or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scenario Posted September 14, 2008 Share Posted September 14, 2008 (edited) QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Sep 14, 2008 -> 09:33 AM) We sent 3 teams to the playoffs this year. The system has improved significantly in the past year or so. Absolutely. I think it's particularly significant that the core of the 2007 Great Falls team (which played in last year's Pioneer League championship) made the 2008 playoffs with Winston-Salem. It will be interesting to see how they do in Birmingham next year. So... AA Birmingham made the playoffs (best team ERA in the Southern League) and sends several players to Charlotte next year. W-S made the playoffs and replenishes Birmingham. And Great Falls (with league ERA champ Dexter Carter and top 3 strikeout pitchers in the Pioneer League) will send players to both Kannapolis and W-S next year. Add late season additions like Jordan Danks and GBeck to the mix... Things are looking much better folks... Not great yet... we could use some more quality position depth at AAA and AA... but much better. Edited September 14, 2008 by scenario Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scenario Posted September 14, 2008 Share Posted September 14, 2008 The story of the game from milb.com... (shortened and edited by me) Voyagers crowned Pioneer champs The Orem Owlz didn't face Dan Hudson during the regular season. They probably could have used the practice. The 21-year-old right-hander matched a career high with 12 strikeouts over six innings Saturday night as the Great Falls Voyagers held off the Owlz, 8-5, in the decisive third game of the Pioneer League Championship Series to capture their first title since 2002. "It was definitely a team effort to get this far," Hudson said. "I put it in my mind that if we were going to get into the playoffs, we were going to need a strong pitching performance. It was unbelievable." The Voyagers, who squandered a pair of leads in Friday night's 4-3, 13-inning loss in Orem, came out swinging in Game 3. After Hudson struck out a pair in the opening frame, Great Falls put up six runs in the second. Zach Larson started the outburst with a two-run single and Lee Fischer, who committed a costly error in the 13th inning of Game 2, added a two-run double as the Voyagers staked Hudson to a big early cushion. Drew O'Neill followed Hudson with a scoreless seventh but ran into serious trouble in the eighth. Enrique Lechuga replaced him with the bases loaded and Orem shaved the deficit to 8-5. Daniel Albritton came on with 2 outs in the 8th and yielded a deep drive to center field off the bat of Michael Wing, but Jordan Cheatham made a spectacular over-the-shoulder catch in front of the wall to end the threat. "Usually. the dagger is on offense when somebody gets a big hit or a home run," Cheatham said. "But I pretty much thought that was the dagger right there." "It was one of the best catches I've ever seen in a clutch situation like that," Hudson added. Albritton made sure there wasn't any suspense in the ninth. He struck out league MVP Roberto Lopez, got Jimenez on a liner to short and fanned Giovannato to record his first postseason save and set off a wild celebration by the visitors. Doug Thennis went 2-for-3 with a homer, two RBIs and two runs scored and Tyler Kuhn also collected a pair of hits and drove in a run for Great Falls, which avenged a two-game sweep at the hands of the Owlz in last year's Finals. Orem starter Jeff Boshers (1-1), who went unbeaten in his first 14 appearances as a professional, lasted 1 1/3 frames and surrendered a season-high six earned runs on seven hits and a walk with three strikeouts. Tyson Auer went 2-for-4 with a run scored for the Owlz, who were denied their fourth championship in five years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Posted September 14, 2008 Share Posted September 14, 2008 QUOTE (Texsox @ Sep 14, 2008 -> 09:24 AM) more and better trade bait for the 25 man roster coming our way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dasox24 Posted September 15, 2008 Share Posted September 15, 2008 This makes me very happy. I'm not sure many realize it, but winning breeds winning. I know a lot of people focus on stats rather than wins v. losses in the minors, but a successful championship team can be very vital in the development of a player as well... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jordan4life_2007 Posted September 15, 2008 Share Posted September 15, 2008 The system has improved? What have I missed? I'm being serious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scenario Posted September 15, 2008 Share Posted September 15, 2008 (edited) QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Sep 15, 2008 -> 03:22 PM) The system has improved? What have I missed? I'm being serious. We had a changeover in management of our minor league operations last year, hired a new group of scouts, and have had two consecutive good drafts... with 2008's being a very good draft. (Minor league systems can turn around pretty quickly if a team has a couple of good drafts... and doesn't trade the players away.) The dividends were pretty clear this year with 3 of the Sox 6 minor league clubs reaching playoffs in their leagues. Probably the biggest change has been the improvement in our pitching. The pipeline has gotten much better and deeper. And we have a couple of very good position prospects who look like they will move through the system relatively quickly. Edited September 15, 2008 by scenario Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jordan4life_2007 Posted September 15, 2008 Share Posted September 15, 2008 But aren't all our "prospects" at the lower levels? IMO, you're not really a prospect until you atleast start producing at high A. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigruss Posted September 15, 2008 Share Posted September 15, 2008 QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Sep 15, 2008 -> 05:11 PM) But aren't all our "prospects" at the lower levels? IMO, you're not really a prospect until you atleast start producing at high A. The whole point of being a prospect is based on 'ifs' so no, you can be a prospect at any point in the system. How good of a prospect depends though, you may not be viewed as anything at this stage, as all sorts of factors weigh in on how people look at a guy, but potential is a huge deciding factor in how good a prospect is at this level. SOme of the highest touted draft picks play in these leagues/levels first, so they are still highly regarded prospects. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scenario Posted September 15, 2008 Share Posted September 15, 2008 (edited) QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Sep 15, 2008 -> 03:11 PM) But aren't all our "prospects" at the lower levels? IMO, you're not really a prospect until you atleast start producing at high A. I think that quite a few of our top draftees from 2007-2008 will be in high-A or AA next year. I'm really interested in seeing how those two teams look next spring. I want to see how the core of this year's Birmingham pitching staff (which was very good) looks next year at Charlotte. Brandon Allen made huge strides this year and may start 2009 in Charlotte. John Shelby was one of the top offensive players in the Carolina League and gets to show his stuff in AA next year. A couple of other position players look promising too. So some talent is starting to hit the upper levels. Edited September 15, 2008 by scenario Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jordan4life_2007 Posted September 15, 2008 Share Posted September 15, 2008 (edited) Thanks for the info guys. I haven't followed our minors at all this past year. Edited September 15, 2008 by Jordan4life Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPN366 Posted September 15, 2008 Share Posted September 15, 2008 QUOTE (scenario @ Sep 15, 2008 -> 04:41 PM) I think that quite a few of our top draftees from 2007-2008 will be in high-A or AA next year. I'm really interested in seeing how those two teams look next spring. I want to see how the core of this year's Birmingham pitching staff (which was very good) looks next year at Charlotte. Brandon Allen made huge strides this year and may start 2009 in Charlotte. John Shelby was one of the top offensive players in the Carolina League and gets to show his stuff in AA next year. A couple of other position players look promising too. So some talent is starting to hit the upper levels. I think Big BA will start out in B'ham in 2009, fingers crossed, but will get promoted after no more than 6 weeks or two months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted September 16, 2008 Share Posted September 16, 2008 QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Sep 15, 2008 -> 04:11 PM) But aren't all our "prospects" at the lower levels? IMO, you're not really a prospect until you atleast start producing at high A. I think the point worth making is that you don't just draft guys who start producing at High A, in general. Maybe your top pick or two can, but the other 48 picks you make, don't. These guys have to get their feet wet and move up the ladder. You start filling in at the lowest levels, and then those guys earn their way up. We are currently seeing the guys at the lowest levels be pretty successful. They are starting to move to the levels that people will start to take notice of them. Fixing the minors is only instant if you pull a Twins type pump and dump where you move everyone of value for prospects that are already at High A and AA baseball. Those guys are a lot harder to get ahold of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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