Your 2023 Wisconsin Timber Rattlers

[Jim Goulart]

 

[Jim Goulart]

18 hours ago, TURBO said:

Gray seems like a guy who just isn't going to figure things out.  One of many I guess.

His 2 for 37 didn't help him for sure.  Would have been nice had the Brewers left him in Appleton to begin with, where he was having a pretty good season.  We'll see what happens from here on out.

In an interview linked here last week (go to the 18:30 minute mark), listen to Wisconsin Manager Joe Ayrault talk about how Joe Gray, Jr. was told this was in all likelihood a temporary placement at AA, with plans in the works for him to return to Wisconsin.

[Jim Goulart]

Wednesday 5/17:

Via WSCO's "The Show with Leo and Balky: Timber Rattlers RHP Cam Wagoner (go to the 09:10 minute mark) 

Wagoner is so personable and impresses the staff behind the scenes "tremendous interview, this guy's welcome back any time"

[Jim Goulart]

Wisconsin Star Wars Jersey Auction ends late Sunday

[Jim Goulart]

Thursday 6/1:

Via WSCO's "The Show with Leo and Balky: Timber Rattlers Pitching Coach Drew Thomas (go to the 13:30 minute mark) 

Via WSCO's "The Show with Leo and Balky: Timber Rattlers catcher Matt Wood (go to the 2:55 minute mark)

[Joseph Zarr]

 

[Jim Goulart]

 

[Jim Goulart]

Udder Tuggers Jersey Auction thru the weekend

[Jim Goulart]

Thursday 6/22

Via WSCO's "The Show with Leo and Balky: Timber Rattlers Vice President of Business Operations Ryan Moede (go to the 13:20 minute mark) 

Via WSCO's "The Show with Leo and Balky: Voice of Timber Rattlers Chris Mehring (go to the 10:45 minute mark) 

[Jim Goulart]

8 minutes ago, Mass Haas said:

Via WSCO's "The Show with Leo and Balky: Voice of Timber Rattlers Chris Mehring (go to the 10:45 minute mark) 

LH reliever Justin King (currently on the IL) hitting 96-97 this year!

[Jim Goulart]

Translated article:

Michele Vassalotti, the Italian-Venezuelan who played with the Azzurri in the World Baseball Classic,

CARACAS – In sport as in life you start dreaming from an early age: who wants to become a footballer, who "pelotero" in MLB, F1 driver and so on. Then as you grow up some dreams come true, others change with the passing of the years. The important thing is to follow your dreams with passion and motivation as happened to Michele Vassalotti, a young Italian-Venezuelan who first started practicing football, but then after a visit to the José Bernardo Pérez stadium in Valencia decided to change the green rectangle for the baseball diamond. This passion for the sport of bats and gloves led him to defend the blue jersey in the World Baseball Classic.

During a conversation via Whatsapp, the champion born on August 2, 2000 in Valencia tells us how the love for this sport blossomed.

"It all started between the ages of 8 and 10, when my parents started taking me more frequently to the José Bernardo Pérez stadium, the home of the Navegantes of Magallanes. In that environment, the flame of wanting to become a baseball player was lit in me. When I was younger, I watched Major League Baseball games with my dad. I think that influenced my choice to become a baseball player."

Like all the children of Italian-Venezuelans, little Vassalotti started playing football, but the love and passion for baseball was greater than that for the patchy ball.

"My parents realized that my passion was not football but baseball, even though I played the two sports simultaneously. When I was 13-14 there was the possibility to enter an academy to become a professional, I took an interview with a company that offered me the opportunity to play and study or train. So I signed the contract and my parents agreed from the beginning."

Michele Vassaloti started practicing baseball in the "Club Hogar Hispano" in Valencia where he had a professor called Servando, who helped him to fit in the best way in the world of gloves and diamonds. Vassalotti was a member of the Centro Social Italo Venezolano in Valencia, but baseball was not played there, but softball.

"My parents were members of CSIV Valencia, but baseball was not in the Juegos FEDECIV program. In our games there is only softball, for this reason I did not play with our association in the Olympic Games of our collective".

In this 2023, the fifth edition of the World Baseball Classic was staged and among the protagonists there was the Italian national team that reached the quarterfinals where it surrendered to Japan, which then brought home the cup led by the champion Shohei Ohtani.

"In January I received the phone call to be part of the Italian national team, but there was nothing concrete. I was always in contact with the general manager of the Azzurri: we often talked about baseball, my fitness and many other things. He often followed my performances on the diamond" – Vassalotti tells us, adding –

"The day they contacted me to tell me that they had put me on the pre-roster I was having lunch with my mom and they asked me if I wanted to participate in the internship to earn a place on the team that was to participate in the World Baseball Classic. I used to go to the Dominican Republic to attend my team's retreat and sort out visa paperwork. Then I went to Arizona to fight for my place on the national team. The day before the delivery of the roster I received the phone call from the blue staff to tell me I was among the called: for me it was a surprise and an immense joy, then when I saw my name on television in the roster of Italy it was the best ".

In the World Baseball Classic, Italy beat the Cuban national team 6 – 3 in the opening game, then came the defeats against Chinese Taipei (7 – 11) and Panama (2 – 0). In the match that closed the group stage, the Azzurri overcame (1 – 7) the Netherlands. With this performance the boys coached by the Italian-American Mike Piazza flew to the next stage where they faced Japan.

"For me it was an incredible experience, an emotion to have played with the national team of my ancestors. The most important thing in this World Baseball Classic was the lessons I received from my teammates: to see how they prepared the games, how they lived them and all those little details that are in a baseball game" – he tells us during the conversation, adding –

"Then we managed to create a group that looked like a family. There are no words to describe this experience and then if we add that there was Mike Piazza as manager. He has a unique form to convey the message of how to face the races on the field, Piazza gave me so much advice that I will always carry with me. He was the manager, but in the dugout he was an extra player, he talked to all of us. That gave us a lot of confidence."

Then the Italian-Venezuelan pitcher told us how he and his teammates lived the debut match against Cuba.

"At the beginning it seemed like it was one more race, we were all calm. But then, after the first launch, there was a kind of shock in all of us and we entered the reality that we were representing the land of our ancestors. There was an extraordinary feeling in our group" – confesses the champion born in Valencia 22 years ago, adding – "In our races there was always a group of fans to incite us and shout at the top of their lungs: Italy! Italy! This gave us that extra charge. We on the bench lived all the races as if it were a final, all this fruit of the format of the tournament where it is forbidden to make mistakes!"

Baseball Italy didn't look like a national team like the others we're used to seeing. The players wore tricolor bandanas tied on their foreheads and grew moustaches and goatees just for the occasion. The cameras insisted on the coffees that were drunk on the bench, or on the portable machine that was hidden in a corner. Some players had lucky croissants tied to their shoelaces, and among them they cheered gesticulating in the way foreigners do to imitate Italians.

"The exultation with the gesture was born after one of the friendlies that preceded the World Baseball Classic. We got together and asked ourselves: what could we bring or do for the opening race that would represent us as an Italian national team. And several of the guys suggested to make the classic gesture of the Italians, this initiative was joined by the manager Mike Piazza suggesting that for the debut race we all had to wear a mustache "- tells us the pitcher Vassalotti, adding -

"The story with the coffee machine began before the challenge with Cuba. Many of our coaches and players are lovers of this drink and were talking that we did not have a coffee machine during games and I remember Mike sending one of his staff to buy an espresso machine. This gentleman brought it on the pitch and when a player wanted a coffee he had it at hand. It all started as a joke and became a boom, so much so that when we got to the next stage Nespresso provided us with everything to prepare coffee. This company sent a letter to Mike Piazza saying that they were proud to participate in this initiative with the Italian national team".

In Venezuela, Michele Vassalotti's card is from Cardenales de Lara, in the 2022-2023 season he was very close to debuting in the winter Liga Venezolana de Béisbol Profesional, but he did not receive the OK of the Milwaukee Brewes. But he hopes to be able to play as soon as possible in the Venezuelan "pelota".

Michele Vassalotti was able to wear the blue jersey thanks to his Italian origin: his grandparents arrived in the 50s came from the province of Bari: from Capurso the grandfather and from Sannicandro di Bari the grandmother, who then met in Venezuela.

 

[Jim Goulart]

 

[Jim Goulart]

Thursday 7/6:

Via WSCO's "The Show with Leo and Balky: Timber Rattlers Hitting Coach Ken Joyce (go to the 11:50 minute mark) 

Via WSCO's "The Show with Leo and Balky: Timber Rattlers OF Joe Gray, Jr. (go to the 7:45 minute mark)

[Jim Goulart]

 

[Jim Goulart]

Latest Wisconsin jersey auction - "Shantymen"

[Jim Goulart]

"In this episode, Bryce and Gannon interview a former teammate of Gannon's, Nick Merkel. Nick's career can be described as him being a "journeyman". He started D1 Ball, played at JUCO, and made his way to NAIA. All throughout that baseball journey, he encountered mental health struggles. Throughout this episode, you will hear a journey of being at your darkest and finding a way to become your best. Nick is now a minor league baseball player within the Milwaukee Brewers Organization and is on the path of becoming a pro baseball player. At Central Methodist, he broke many records, was an All-American, etc. The best accomplishment he had in college was establishing a brotherhood with his teammates. Even while struggling, Nick made many new friends and made memories he will never forget. This is an insanely valuable and vulnerable story for anyone who needs help navigating their own mental health journey. This is the episode where you say, "this can save a life"..."

[Jim Goulart]

 

[Jim Goulart]

 

[Jim Goulart]

Thursday 8/10:

Via WSCO's "The Show with Leo and Balky (Hour One): Timber Rattlers Bench Coach David Tufo (go to the 11:15 minute mark) 

Via WSCO's "The Show with Leo and Balky (Hour Two): Timber Rattlers Hitting Coach Ken Joyce (go to the 08:45 minute mark) 

[MoreTrife]

Going to be in Appleton on Thursday and I wanted to pop in to TRats game. But I probably won't be able to get to the game closer to eight. What is the smartest thing to do ticket wise? 

[Jim Goulart]

 

[Jim Goulart]

 

[Jim Goulart]

OF Terence Doston interview:
 

 

[BrewerFan]

On 8/22/2023 at 10:55 AM, TURBO said:

Wow!  I did not see that one coming.

Looking forward to some follow up on this story.

It was his 3rd year in Wisconsin starting back in 2019, then Covid, and then '21, '22-injured, '23...

It wasn't long ago we were REALLY hoping either he or Joe Gray Jr would produce to give us a potential 5-tool CFer or just develop their hit tool...we were very short on prospects.

It seemed like every year one of the two would get red hot and give you a little hope and then just snatch it back. 

I don't even know if Gray is still in the organization or if he maybe got waived earlier this year. I'd imagine his time was running out as well. 

[TURBO]

On 8/23/2023 at 2:51 PM, BrewerFan said:

I don't even know if Gray is still in the organization or if he maybe got waived earlier this year. I'd imagine his time was running out as well. 

Gray is actually having a nice rebound year in Appleton...

 

20 hours ago, TURBO said:

Gray is actually having a nice rebound year in Appleton...

I’m a big fan of Gray and his incredible raw tools, but his OPS is lower this year than it was in 2022 with a .193 BA.  I hope he can put things together again the way he seemed to in the first half of ‘21.

 

20 hours ago, ARobsBrewCrew said:

I’m a big fan of Gray and his incredible raw tools, but his OPS is lower this year than it was in 2022 with a .193 BA.  I hope he can put things together again the way he seemed to in the first half of ‘21.

I think you might be looking at something totally different than reality.  His batting average is .245, not .193.  His OPS is .682, last year it was .632.

Is he a world beater, nope, but he has shown improvement in most offensive categories over last year.

 

5 hours ago, TURBO said:

I think you might be looking at something totally different than reality.  His batting average is .245, not .193.  His OPS is .682, last year it was .632.

Is he a world beater, nope, but he has shown improvement in most offensive categories over last year.

I think you’re looking at just his A+ stats, where ARob was quoting his full season line which includes 39 PAs in AA hitting 054/103/081.

 

5 hours ago, TURBO said:

I think you might be looking at something totally different than reality.  His batting average is .245, not .193.  His OPS is .682, last year it was .632.

Is he a world beater, nope, but he has shown improvement in most offensive categories over last year.

Reaching base safely in all five plate appearances yesterday now bumped his OPS slightly above what it was last season and he has shown some improvement at A+, but with his nightmare stint in Biloxi and this being his third year in Appleton it is somewhat worrisome.