Jim Goulart

Brevard Press Release: VIERA, Fla. – The Florida State League office announced today that three members of the Brevard County Manatees, INF Orlando Arcia, OF Jose Sermo and RHP Mark Williams, have been suspended for violating the league’s On-Field Behavior Policy. The suspension was handed down following an incident that occurred on Monday, July 7 in a game between the Manatees and the Clearwater Threshers at Space Coast Stadium. Arcia, Sermo and Williams were cited as instigators in the incident and were thus handed the following suspensions. Arcia will be suspended for one game, effective on Saturday, July 12. Williams and Sermo will be suspended for three games, each. Williams will begin his suspension on Saturday, July 12, while Sermo will begin his suspension on Sunday, July 13. Players serving suspensions from the Florida State League are required to leave the field before the game starts and may not be in the dugout or press box during the game. They must also change into civilian clothes and either leave the ballpark or take a seat in the grandstand well removed from the vicinity of their team’s bench or bullpen. *** The Manatees also announced that INF Brandon Macias transferred from Huntsville back to Brevard County. The roster is at 24 active players, one below the Florida State League limit, with no players on the disabled list.

Many new updates here, quite the story: Biloxi stadium budget concerns leave door open for Stars' return to Huntsville in 2015 Mark McCarter, Huntsville Times The Southern League playoffs in September might not be the final chapter in the Huntsville Stars' history after all. The Stars have been sold and a move to Biloxi, Miss., for the 2015 season has been approved by the Southern League. However, Biloxi city officials learned Wednesday that the lowest contractor bid for a new stadium was at $32.27 million, some $5 million more than the initial budget. Though land has been cleared for a new ballpark adjacent to the Beau Rivage Casino, construction has not begun. It is unlikely but a "possibility" that the team might play in Huntsville in 2015, team owner Ken Young told AL.com. The Stars have one year remaining on their lease with the city of Huntsville for the use of Joe Davis. City officials are aware that what once appeared to be an advantage for the city to at least receive some financial restitution for the Stars' departure might now become a disadvantage in having to continue the operation of a stadium and make appropriate investments to continue play, hosting a team in a second "lame-duck" season. The departure of the current franchise is imminent, whether following the 2014 playoffs (the Stars won the first-half Southern League North title to earn a berth in postseason) or after 2015. As has been frequently reported, local leaders remain confident another franchise can be obtained within two or three years, likely to play in a downtown stadium and still playing in the Class AA Southern League. Mayor Tommy Battle has met with Pat O'Connor, president of Minor League Baseball, and the mayor said any serious potential owners of a future Huntsville team are being directed to deal with O'Connor's office. The construction budget figures provided to Biloxi officials left Mayor A.J. Holloway "disappointed," according to Biloxi TV station WLOX. "We're going to look at it, see what we can cut and what we can't cut, and we might have to go through the process again," Holloway said. "We don't know what to think right now. It's pretty much out of our budget," Holloway said. "We're committed to building a baseball stadium in Biloxi, and regardless of the outcome today, we'll find a way to make it work and we'll find the resources and we'll be playing baseball next year," Councilman Kenny Glavan told WLOX. Exactly where the team will be playing is the question. "We'll just have to wait for the construction schedule," said Buck Rogers, the Stars' general manager, who has been hired in the same capacity at Biloxi. Rogers, who is dividing his time between Huntsville and Biloxi, said it would be premature to speculate on scheduling for next year. If a stadium is not completed, the city of Biloxi must pay a $10,000 fine for every game missed. Construction on minor league stadiums can often be completed in less than a year, but Biloxi's construction could easily be compromised by the weather, as it's frequently in the path of violent late-summer and early-fall storms. It would not be unprecedented for a team to open the season with a protracted road trip. The Sacramento River Cats, a Class AAA affiliate of the Oakland A's, played nearly 40 consecutive road games, not playing at home until mid-May, because of delays in construction on a new stadium there. The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees of the Class AAA International League, played every game on the road in 2012 because of stadium construction. The initial budget for the Biloxi stadium, including the infrastructure work that has already begun, was $36 million. It was being financed by a $21 million bond project by the city, which was initially met with resistance by some community leaders, and $15 million from the state's settlement with BP after the Deepwater Horizon accident, as earmarked for the construction from Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant. Be sure to read the comments at the end of the article, one in particular, which describes in detail the current state of Joe Davis Stadium. *** Here's a video report on this situation out of Huntsville. *** Here are reports out of Biloxi: Huntsville mayor says Stars are welcome to stay in Alabama State law could stop Biloxi from negotiating with stadium's low bidder That link includes a worthwhile video news report to provide understanding... *** And then finally, there's this: Serious talks underway to bring new baseball team to Huntsville Nick Lough, WAAF A former Huntsville Stars owner confirmed to WAFF that serious talks are underway to bring a new minor league baseball team to Huntsville. “There are conversations going on,” said Huntsville attorney Mark McDaniel. McDaniel owned the Huntsville Stars from 1994 to 2001 and was the attorney for the Southern League, the league the Huntsville Stars play in, from 2001 to 2011. McDaniel was also part of a group that was unsuccessful in purchasing the Kansas City Royals several years ago. The former owner wouldn’t say who contacted him about bringing a team to Huntsville, but did reveal a new ball team would cost around $16 million. “Any time you’re talking about $16 million it’s pretty serious,” said McDaniel. It’s unclear if there are any Southern League teams interested in moving to Huntsville. McDaniel believes it’s imperative that Huntsville build a new ballpark if they ever want another team to play in the rocket city. “[Huntsville] is in need of a new ballpark and a downtown ballpark would be perfect,” said McDaniel. Earlier this year, former Huntsville Stars owner Miles Prentice sold the team to a group out of Biloxi, Mississippi. The Mississippi city is currently in the process of building a new stadium and has hopes of bringing the Stars to Biloxi for the 2015 season. *** That last link includes several more videos, in one, Huntsville's mayor indicates that he's not interested in seeing the team play half its games in Huntsville, only to move to Biloxi in the second half of the season. What a mess...

Wednesday's game -- VIDEO: Helena's Jack Cleary hits an RBI single as the Brewers fall, 8-3 to Orem. What glorious backdrops in these Pioneer League stadiums...

Wednesday's game -- AUDIO (Jeff Hem's call): Nashville's Sean Halton bashes a solo homer in the Sounds' 8-1 loss to Memphis VIDEO: Watch Halton's blast

Wow, some pretty serious talk from Cedar Rapids management -- Kernels tee off on Wisconsin reliever, feel good about it Five-run 8th inning gives C.R. a 7-5 win Jeff Johnson, Cedar Rapids Gazette Jake Mauer was ecstatic his Cedar Rapids Kernels were able to mount a five-run rally in the eighth inning Thursday night to pull out a 7-5 win over the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. That all five of those runs came against relief pitcher Tyler Alexander, well, that was even better. Rarely do you hear a manager speak with relative glee about an opposing player’s trials and tribulations, but the Kernels skipper wasn’t shy about doing it this time. Even when offered the opportunity to have his comments be off the record. “Pretty good what happened to him there,” Mauer said. There’s a history between the Kernels and Alexander, a side-arming lefty who entered the game in the eighth to try and protect a 4-2 lead but gave up a go-ahead, three-run home run to Logan Wade and a couple of following insurance runs. A June 4 game between the teams in Appleton featured six ejections and a bench-clearing incident that cost each club $1,400 in fines from the Midwest League. Alexander was the starting pitcher, and his two hit batsmen began what turned out to be a rather ugly situation. At least that’s what Mauer and the Kernels believe. Tanner Vavra and Chad Christensen each were plunked by Alexander in the eighth, Christensen immediately after Wade’s huge hit. Alexander was forced to leave the game a batter later after Mitch Garver smoked him in the right foot/ankle with a vicious comebacker. Vavra also left the game, replaced defensively for the ninth. “I had kind of a long at-bat there (before being hit), so I don’t know if he just missed in hard or if he got a little emotional after Logan’s homer. I’m not really sure,” Christensen said, diplomatically. “I’m just happy with the result. Logan had a big hit, he hit me, and I tried to steal second on him, then Garver had a big hit. So if he did throw at me, it came back to bite him.” “He was the one who started the problem before,” said Mauer, who demonstratively discussed his concerns with Nate Caldwell, the home-plate umpire. Caldwell and base umpire Adrian Gonzalez were, coincidentally, the men in blue for that June 4 game. If you’re wondering, Cedar Rapids and Wisconsin play a series again here in early August. “I don’t think he hit Tanner on purpose, but he might have taken a shot at Chad,” Mauer said. “I don’t know. Guy hits a three-run home run in front of him. A little too fishy for me ... The baseball Gods do funny things, man. Things have a funny way of evening out. They take care of themselves most of the time.” Wade was playing his first game with the Kernels (38-51, 7-12) since going on the disabled list May 7 with a dislocated shoulder, incurred while diving for a grounder. He played 10 rehab games in the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League before coming back to town Wednesday. “Playing down in Florida was kind of tough, with the heat and playing during the day,” Wade said. “I’m definitely excited to be back. I wasn’t trying to hit a home run there. I was just trying to hit something hard.” Wisconsin (46-43, 10-10) scored four unearned runs against newbie starting pitcher Chih-Wei Hu in the first inning, but the Taiwanese right-hander settled down and threw six wonderful innings. Hu, promoted from Rookie-level Elizabethton, gave up just five hits, one after the first. “Because this was my first game and I just came here, I wasn’t familiar with the hitters and the environment here,” Hu said, with translation help from Dean Lin, who covers professional players from Taiwan for Major League Baseball. “I just have to get used to it.” Alex Muren got the win in relief, with Dallas Gallant his first save. Gallant missed the first 50 games of the season serving a Major League Baseball-imposed suspension for testing positive for amphetamines while a Kernel last season. *** At the article link above, you'll also find brief game highlights on video, but we don't see LHP Tyler Alexander's late-inning ankle/leg injury.

Final: @AZL White Sox 7, AZL Brewers 3 Maryvale Box Score Welcome back, David Denson, rehabbing from hamate bone (wrist) surgery. Jake Gatewood made an error at short, but that's only his 2nd in 14 games. For the Arizona League, that's excellent. Starter Bubba Blau lowered his ERA to 0.83, the victim of two unearned runs here. Maryvale Game Log

Final: @Chattanooga 5, Huntsville 3 Lookouts Storm Back And Steal One From Stars Steve Jarnicki, Huntsville Stars Chattanooga, TN - The Chattanooga Lookouts erased a 2-0 lead and scored five unanswered runs late to come back and defeat the Huntsville Stars 5-3 Thursday night at AT&T Filed in Chattanooga. The Stars scored an early run against Chattanooga starter Nick Struck in the first inning. Nick Ramirez recorded an infield RBI single on the right side of the infield scoring Nick Shaw making it 1-0 Stars. Drew Gagnon lined an RBI single to right center in the fifth scoring Yadiel Rivera making it 2-0 Stars. The Lookouts started their comeback in the bottom of the fifth inning against Gagnon. Alex Liddi singled and stole second base. Pinch hitter Bobby Coyle brought Liddi home on a groundout to first base making it 2-1. In the bottom of the sixth, Gagnon retired the first two batters before getting in trouble. O'Koyea Dickson and Chris O'Brien recorded back to back singles. Greg Holle then came in to face Liddi. Liddi singled back up the middle tying the game at 2-2. Gagnon, who took a no decision went 5.2 innings allowing two runs on four hits. The Lookouts took the lead for good in the seventh against Holle. Noel Cuevas led off as a pinch hitter and reached on an infield single. Darnell Sweeney singled putting runners at first and second with nobody out. After Holle struck out Jeremey Hazelbaker, Scott Shebler singled into right field scoring Cuevas giving the Lookouts a 3-2 lead. Sweeney later scored on a wild pitch making it 4-2. Daniel Mayora added a sacrifice fly extending the lead to 5-2. The Stars staged a late comeback in the ninth, but came up short. Josh Prince led off with a walk. Prince later scored on a sacrifice fly by Shaw getting it to a 5-3 game. With a runner at first and two outs, Josh Ravin got Adam Weisenburger to ground out back to the mound. Mike Thomas earned the win out of the Lookouts bullpen. He pitched two scoreless innings and improves to 3-3. Holle suffers the loss after allowing three runs on five hits and is now 1-2 on the year. The Lookouts (9-12, 35-56) lead the Stars (9-12,55-36)1-0 in their five game series. Game two will be Friday night. The Stars will have RHP Jacob Barnes (1-3, 4.91) on the hill. Chattanooga will feature RHP Matt Shelton (2-1, 3.65) on the mound. The game can be heard starting at 6:00 pm CDT on 92.9 FM, 1450 AM and wtkiradio.com. *** Not fun from a Stars' perspective, but you can watch how things went poorly late via video found here. *** Stars' center fielder D'Vontrey Richardson leaps in vain to catch Scott Schebler's drive. The ball landed at the base of the wall while Schebler scrambled to third with his 12th triple of the year. The Lookouts broke a 2-2 tie with three runs in the seventh inning and went on to beat Huntsville, 5-3. Chattanooga's win moves the team into a tie with Huntsville for third in the SL North Division. Chattanoogan photos by Tim Evearitt http://www.chattanoogan.com/photos/2014/7/photo.21838.large.jpg Erik Komatsu catches up with O'Koyea Dickson's deep drive to left field. http://www.chattanoogan.com/photos/2014/7/article.280120.2.jpg *** Huntsville Box Score Big 6'8" Greg Holle had been excellent in his return to the Stars, but it wasn't his night. SS Yadiel Rivera doubled twice and had the only multi-hit game. Huntsville Game Log

Tennessean Notes Column: Sounds pitchers know all about being All-Stars

Chris Mehring has included his own audio call of the ITPHT in his Thursday pre-game Rattler Radio blog post.

Agent39 (Joshua Kusnick) writes this free Baseball Prospectus piece about how splitterpfj put Tyler in touch with him.

We follow-up the Tristan Archer story (see a few posts above) with Bob Brainerd's latest player feature, also on the righthander, including future plans off the pitcher's mound.

AUDIO via Jeff Hem's blog -- "Today’s interview is with Rick Tomlin, minor league pitching coordinator for the Sounds’ parent-club Milwaukee Brewers. Tomlin discusses the arms in the Brewers’ farm system to this point in the season, what he’s looking for at this stage of the season and the stellar season Jimmy Nelson continues to put together."

Expectedly, no Jason Rogers in the Nashville lineup after yesterday's exit. Missed the beginning of Jeff Hem's pregame just now, if we learn more about the nature or severity of Rogers' injury, we'll let you know.

Golf tourney to benefit Manatees player's son Please support Jorge Lopez and his family if in the area on Friday August 8th. Hopefully the Brewers are helping to contribute to the day's plans. No wonder Lopez has been so excited about his upcoming Futures Game appearance, it seems his family is dealing with quite a challenge.

Weather.com: Memphis, TN Chattanooga, TN Lakeland, FL Cedar Rapids, IA Orem, UT Glendale, AZ Santo Domingo, DR

Sortable individual stat pages: Nashville Huntsville Brevard County Wisconsin Helena Maryvale Dominican Summer League Brewers

STANDINGS: (For split-season leagues, 2nd half standings are shown as the default, although overall standings are also available at the link.) AAA - Pacific Coast League American Southern Division AA - Southern League North Division High-A - Florida State League North Division A - Midwest League Western Division Rookie Advanced - Pioneer League North Division Rookie - Arizona Summer League Central Division DSL - Dominican Summer League San Pedro de Macoris

Look for these just prior to the respective game times -- Nashville Media Notes - it's a unique link each day, but look for it under the "Roster" banner on the Sounds' site. Brevard County Media Notes - again, it's a unique link each day, but look for it under the "Multimedia" banner on the Manatees' site. Wisconsin Media Notes - Linked on the Rattler Radio blog

To see tweets as to when the Link Report has been technically "completed" with available links, as well as to know when the new day's Report has been posted, please follow @Mass_Haas on Twitter.

Follow Thursday's action as it happens with box score / game log links: Nashville Huntsville Brevard County Wisconsin Helena Maryvale DSL Brewers MiLB.com feature -- organizational scoreboard, Brewers

As per our highlight above, if you only want to make a one-month commitment to MiLB.TV for Helena (plus the other Brewer affiliates), here's the link for the $12.99 purchase. *** Also, DVR ALERT! The next televised Timber Rattlers game is Friday, July 11th on MyNew32 TV (7:00 PM airtime).

Thursday's Daily Menu: All times are Central Nashville: RHP Mike Fiers at Memphis (Cardinals), 11:45 AM pre-game, 12:05 PM gametime Free Live Audio Link Jeff Hem is the play-by-play voice of the Sounds; follow him on Twitter @jeffhempbp; we'll link to his blog updates at On the Air…and Off MiLB.TV -- for subscribers; all Nashville games, home and away, will be available to watch via MiLB.TV's $49.99 season-long package ($12.99 to pay for a single month). The audio feed is from the home team. All MiLB.TV details available at the link. ********** Huntsville: RHP Drew Gagnon at Chattanooga (Dodgers), 6:00 PM pre-game, 6:15 gametime Free Live Audio Link Steve Jarnicki is the new play-by-play voice of the Stars - welcome aboard! Follow Steve on Twitter @SteveJarnicki. All games, home and away, are scheduled to be broadcast. MiLB.TV - It appears seven of the ten Southern League teams telecast their home games (not the Stars). ********** Brevard County: LHP Hobbs Johnson at Lakeland (Tigers), 5:00 PM pre-game, 5:30 gametime Free Live Audio Link -- Select the proper link based on listed schedule Dave Walkovic returns as the play-by-play voice of the 'Tees; follow the Brevard broadcast booth staff on Twitter @BCManateesRadio, as all games are scheduled to be broadcast in 2014. No Florida State League games are available via MiLB.TV. ********** Wisconsin: RHP Taylor Williams at Cedar Rapids (Twins), 6:15 PM pre-game, 6:35 gametime Free Live Audio Link - 1280 AM WNAM Chris Mehring is back to do his customary fantastic work as the Voice of the Rattlers. Follow him on Twitter @CMehring; we'll link to Chris' infamous blog often -- Rattler Radio. For the $49.95 season-long package, fans in Brewer Nation can watch all Sounds games, Stars' road games from seven Southern League locales, and all Timber Rattlers home games and some road games. NOTE: Thirty-nine (!) of the Rattlers' 70 home games will be broadcast on TV this season. Time Warner Cable SportsChannel (9) and WACY-TV My NEW32 (30) will split duties. We'll let you know when and who, and remember to refer to the Rattlers' full TV schedule so you can coordinate your DVR activity. ********** Helena: RHP Jorge Ortega at Orem (Angels), 7:45 PM pre-game, 8:05 gametime Free Live Audio Link There's a new Voice of the Helena Brewers in 2014, as Dustin Daniel (@dustin__daniel on Twitter) takes over for legendary Steve Wendt. We look forward to Dustin building his own legacy moving forward. MiLB.TV -- This entire seven-game road trip (Orem and Grand Junction) will be available for viewing by MiLB.TV subscribers, including archived broadcasts. ********** Arizona Rookie (Maryvale): at the White Sox complex in Glendale, 9:00 PM gametime; never audio for games in this league Miller Park Prospects - Arizona League Primer ********** DSL Brewers: at the DSL Braves, 9:30 AM, although game data won't be available until later in the day We're also going to lock in the link to Brad Krause's fantastic Miller Park Prospects - Dominican Summer League primer right here, at least for the first couple of months of the DSL campaign, for your easy review. Brad will also be adding DSL Link Report duties to his Brevard coverage for us here. Thanks, Brad!

http://www.brewerfan.net/images/store/dailylinkreport.jpg

Sample some Mike Fiers and the Sounds at noontime today before flipping over to the big league matinee. Link Report for Thursday will be up shortly before game time.

From Tuesday's game -- VIDEO: Helena's Mitch Meyer blasts a two-run homer as the Brewers fall, 12-5, to Orem *** Gosh, we mish Steve Wendt's archived pre-game audio interviews with this club...