Jim Goulart

Thursday's Daily Menu: All times are Central Nashville: RHP Jimmy Nelson at Iowa (Cubs), 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 home vs. Pensacola (Reds), 6:15 PM pre-game, 6:30 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. ********** Brevard County: RHP Damien Magnifico 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. All home games and many road games are scheduled to be broadcast. When road games are only available via the opponents' audio feed (or not at all), we'll let you know that. No Florida State League games are available via MiLB.TV. ********** Wisconsin: RHP Tristan Archer (with RHP Barrett Astin in tandem) at West Michigan (Tigers), 10:40 AM pre-game, 11:00 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. MiLB.TV -- for subscribers; Wisconsin is one of four Midwest League clubs that have all their home games available via MiLB.TV. West Michigan, tonight's opponent, is an MiLB.TV carrier. So 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. DVR Alert: Next TV game is Monday 4/14 (My NEW32).

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Not many, but a few Timber Rattlers sneak into this West Michigan photo gallery

On Thursday, early matinees will entertain you in the home or office, look for the Link Report by mid-morning: The Timber Rattlers pre-game kicks off at 10:40 AM Central. The Sounds pre-game is at 11:45 AM Central.

The second Huntsvile VIDEO story on this page includes a Jason Rogers interview

MEDIA: From Tuesday's 4-1 Nashville win in Iowa -- AUDIO: LF Eugenio Velez drives a double to the outfield corner to put the Sounds up 2-0 in the 3rd AUDIO: SS Hector Gomez hits a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning to give the Sounds a two-run lead VIDEO: Nashville's Pete Orr legs out a triple in the Sounds' 4-1 win over the Iowa Cubs From Wednesday's 6-1 Nashville loss -- VIDEO: Nashville's Taylor Green belts a solo homer in the Sounds' 6-1 loss to Iowa AUDIO: Jeff Hem's call of the Taylor Green home run *** More "end of an era" fan VIDEO from Huntsville VIDEO: Loyal Fans - Final Huntsville Star’s Home Season Opener Is “Bittersweet” *** From Wednesday night's Brevard game -- AUDIO: Game highlights - The 'Tees win 4-1 over Lakeland to improve to 5-1 AUDIO: Victor Roache joins Andrew Luftglass on the Manatees Pregame Show *** Rattler Radio Blog (now reinforced with AUDIO) -- Wednesday's Postgame Entry

Photo gallery included at the link -- Big crowd, big win, good vibes for Huntsville Stars in home opener by Mark McCarter, Huntsville Times HUNTSVILLE, Alabama - A terrific crowd. A semi-dramatic home run. A win for the home team. Fireworks. If you have to have the beginning of the end, this wasn't a bad way to do it. The Huntsville Stars' final home season - for the foreseeable future - opened Wednesday night, with a win and some electricity. Then there was this symbolic moment: As the air hung heavy with the smoke from fireworks and cars oozed out of the parking lot, there went Miles Prentice, the team's erstwhile majority owner, wheeling carry-on luggage from the stadium and into a waiting rental car. The Stars went off and stretched their winning streak to five, one shy of the longest streak from all of 2013. They got a tie-breaking seventh-inning home run from Nick Ramirez, one of the few players who no previous Huntsville tenure. And they drew an announced crowd of 5,297. Tell me again why they're moving to Biloxi in 2015??? "You could feel a little presence behind our players," said manager Carlos Subero, in his first home game as Stars manager. "They had a good vibe going." Opening night attendance is never a perfect barometer, but when cars are still waiting to turn off the Memorial Parkway access road and onto Don Mincher Drive into the stadium at the game's first pitch, it's an encouraging sight. "I'm hoping it wasn't just an opening day thing. We got a lot of good feedback tonight," said general manager Buck Rogers, who related a conversation with a long-time resident who admitted he hadn't been to a game in six years - "guilty as charged," the fan said - but promised to return. It's something a potential new owner might notice, should somebody be willing to relocate to Huntsville to a ballpark more appealing and modern than the current digs. "The cause is good and I hope everybody rallies behind it," Rogers said. It's something the former owner couldn't help see. Prentice, who never attended a single home game in 2013 when he was the team's majority owner, was planted in the box seats Wednesday night for this opener, though he is but a minority partner these days. Go figure. Prentice sold the club to Ken Young - previously noted as the owner you wish had galloped in on a white horse for Huntsville eight or 10 years ago - as part of the process to move the franchise to Biloxi for next year. Prentice's lack of involvement and investment in the franchise has been negligible - he'll remind you he purchased the scoreboard, but it hasn't worked properly since the Clinton Administration - and much of the franchise's downfall and now departure can be blamed for that. Prentice was joined in the stands by Gord Ash, the Brewers' vice president, and Scott Martens, the director of business operations for Milwaukee's minor league system. Gentlemen, start your pandering. Biloxi could be an attractive spot for Milwaukee to have its Double-A team, but this is the season for working agreements to be renewed or changed throughout baseball, and could be Biloxi doesn't think the Brewers would be attractive enough for its new park. It was Ash who famously observed in a July 2009 interview after watching a game attended by 660 fans: "This is a very apathetic baseball town, and something's going to have to change. They're going to be sorry in a couple of years when they don't have baseball. I don't know if they're going to lose the team, but they're going to lose our interest in being here because there's no enthusiasm." It wasn't inaccurate then, and certainly recent history has proved him right. Ash actually served a valuable purpose to begin the conversation about baseball's future and a potential new park, forcing a community's introspective look at its interests. For one glorious night, the enthusiasm was back. How many of the fans will be back? And will it be enough to bring baseball back?

Final: @Huntsville 5, Pensacola 4 STARS RALLY TO BEAT PENSACOLA Huntsville, AL - The Huntsville Stars rallied late Wednesday night in their home opener and defeated the Pensacola Blue Wahoos, the Double-A Affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds, 5-4. Mitch Haniger’s two-out double in the fifth tied the score at 4-4. Haniger drove a 3-2 pitch to left center against Blue Wahoo starter Mikey O’brien. In the bottom of the seventh, Stars first baseman Nick Ramirez drove a Fabian Williamson(0-1) pitch over the right field wall which broke the 4-4 tie. It was Ramirez’s first home run at the Double-A level and proved to be the game winner. The Blue Wahoos built a 3-0 lead against Stars starter Brooks Hall. Hall did not factor into the decision, but did contribute a two-run single in the bottom of the second which cut the deficit to 3-2. Pensacola took a 4-3 lead in the third after Bryan Anderson’s sacrifice fly. Anderson also homered in the loss. The Stars bullpen combined for five shutout innings of baseball. Johnnie Lowe, Kevin Shackleford and David Goforth held the Blue Wahoos off the scoreboard nailing down the Stars fifth straight win. Goforth earned his third save of the season after leaving the tying and go ahead runners on base in the eighth and ninth innings. The Stars improved to 5-1 on the season and are now 21-9 all time in home openers at “The Joe”. Pensacola falls to 4-2 on the year. The Stars and Blue Wahoos continue their series Thursday night. RHP Daniel Corcino (0-1, 4.50) will start for Pensacola while RHP Drew Gagnon (0-0, 3.60) will start for Huntsville. The game can be heard starting at 6:15 PM with Steve Jarnicki on 92.9 FM, 1450 AM WTKI and online at www.wtkiradio.com. VIDEO: Watch game highlights (plus a sighting of normally-absentee owner Miles Prentice) Huntsville Box Score Stars win despite being outhit, 12-6; RHP Brooks Hall (seven hits, four runs, three ER) struck out five and did not walk a batter in four innings, and as you watched, helped himself with the bat. Could the Brewers have waited a year before tying up a 40-man roster spot with the 23-year-old (24 in June), perhaps, but they did not want to chance it. 1B Nick Ramirez (.893 OPS despite not yet taking a walk) is off to a fine start after six games. Huntsville Game Log Tie it up at 4-4: Huntsville Bottom of the 5th Pitching Change: Mikey O'Brien replaces Carlos Contreras, batting 9th. Josh Prince strikes out swinging. Nick Ramirez singles on a line drive to center fielder Yorman Rodriguez. Jason Rogers walks. Nick Ramirez to 2nd. Kentrail Davis strikes out swinging. Mitch Haniger doubles (2) on a fly ball to center fielder Yorman Rodriguez. Nick Ramirez scores. Jason Rogers scores. Adam Weisenburger flies out to left fielder Donald Lutz. The eventual game-winner: Huntsville Bottom of the 7th Josh Prince flies out to center fielder Yorman Rodriguez. Pitching Change: Fabian Williamson replaces Mikey O'Brien, batting 5th. Defensive Substitution: Steve Selsky replaces pitcher Mikey O'Brien, batting 9th, playing first base. Nick Ramirez homers (1) on a fly ball to right field. Jason Rogers strikes out swinging. Kentrail Davis flies out to left fielder Donald Lutz. The only two Stars walks issued were by David Goforth in his two hold-your-breath but scoreless innings to close things out -- Pensacola Top of the 8th Pitching Change: David Goforth replaces Kevin Shackelford, batting 5th, replacing left fielder Kentrail Davis. Bryan Anderson grounds out, second baseman Josh Prince to first baseman Nick Ramirez. Juan Silverio singles on a line drive to center fielder Mitch Haniger. Brodie Greene grounds into a force out, shortstop Nick Shaw to second baseman Josh Prince. Juan Silverio out at 2nd. Brodie Greene to 1st. Steve Selsky walks. Brodie Greene to 2nd. Devin Lohman strikes out swinging. Pensacola Top of the 9th Bryson Smith grounds out, pitcher David Goforth to first baseman Nick Ramirez. Yorman Rodriguez singles on a soft fly ball to right fielder D' Vontrey Richardson. Donald Lutz flies out to center fielder Mitch Haniger. Rey Navarro walks. Yorman Rodriguez to 2nd. Bryan Anderson lines out to center fielder Mitch Haniger.

Sixty-four strikeouts vs. nine walks in seven games thus far for the Nashville offense.

Audio via Jeff Hem's blog -- "Today’s interview is with last night’s Sounds starter and winner, Mike Fiers, who discusses his dominant ’14 debut, coming back from an injury-shortened ’13, the Sounds’ formidable starting rotation and playing winter ball in Venezuela where his manager was Rick Sweet."

Worthwhile FanPost over at BrewCrewBall -- Making Sense of all these Outfield Prospects

No clubhouse? No showers? No problem for Timber Rattlers at Fifth Third Ballpark by Cory Morse, mlive.com COMSTOCK PARK, MI -- When Michael Ratterree finished batting practice, he grabbed his glove and jogged off the field with his Wisconsin Timber Rattlers teammates. But they didn’t head to the dugout. They exited through an open gate in left-centerfield at Fifth Third Ballpark before the home opener on Tuesday, April 8, and headed toward a building that resembles a construction trailer. Since the Jan. 3 ballpark fire damaged the West Michigan Whitecaps clubhouse, the home team has taken over what is normally the visitor’s clubhouse. When the visiting team pulls up to the park in the beginning of the season, the players will see their temporary digs in the parking lot. “We were kind of surprised,” said Ratterree, a 10th round pick by the Milwaukee Brewers last year out of Rice University. “But we understand. They had a tragedy with the fire.” Ratterree has seen the baseball extremes this young season. He played in the Brewers final exhibition on March 29 with the big club and even homered at Miller Park off major league pitcher Jeremy Guthrie. “Their clubhouse was unreal,” said Ratterree, who was the Pioneer League Player of the Year last season at Helena. “It was nice to have my own locker. “But you can’t really compare it to this,” he said as he looked around the temporary facility. There are two rooms in the temporary clubhouse, and it has just one bathroom and no showers. Players sit on folding chairs and are surrounded by their clothes and equipment, which are scattered on the floor. “I heard about the fire back in January,” said Wisconsin pitcher Preston Gainey, who was drafted in the 11th round in 2012 out of the U.S. Naval Academy. “We didn’t know about these facilities, though. It’s tough when you have 30 guys and no showers.” This is Gainey’s second season in the Midwest League with Wisconsin, the Brewers’ Class A team. “You get used to having makeshift workouts sometimes,” said Gainey, who was outside the building doing workouts with a sledge hammer and a tire. Bill Moore, who was a Whitecaps clubhouse guy for seven years, played the role of crossing guard on Tuesday. He was posted in the back parking lot to make sure the Timber Rattlers crossed the lot safely from the field to clubhouse. “My biggest concern is a ballplayer getting hit (by a car),” said Moore, of Stanton. “These are my surrogate kids tonight.” Once the home clubhouse is completed in approximately a month, the Whitecaps will move back into their regular digs. Yes, we have a Timber Rattlers trailer photo gallery.

Weather.com: Des Moines, IA Huntsville, AL Lakeland, FL Comstock Park, MI Looks cozy for the Stars Home Opener!

Sortable individual stat pages: Nashville Huntsville Brevard County Wisconsin

STANDINGS: AAA - Pacific Coast League American Southern Division AA - Southern League North Division High-A - Florida State League North Division A - Midwest League Western Division

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

Wednesday's Daily Menu: All times are Central Nashville: RHP Johnny Hellweg at Iowa (Cubs), 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 Brooks Hall at home vs. Pensacola (Reds), 6:15 PM pre-game, 6:30 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. ********** Brevard County: RHP Tyler Wagner 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. All home games and many road games are scheduled to be broadcast. When road games are only available via the opponents' audio feed (or not at all), we'll let you know that. No Florida State League games are available via MiLB.TV. ********** Wisconsin: LHP Tyler Alexander (with RHP Taylor Williams in tandem) at West Michigan (Tigers), 5:15 PM pre-game, 5:35 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. MiLB.TV -- for subscribers; Wisconsin is one of four Midwest League clubs that have all their home games available via MiLB.TV. West Michigan, tonight's opponent, is an MiLB.TV carrier. So 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. DVR Alert: Next TV game is Monday 4/14 (My NEW32).

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The Whitecaps' closer Montreal Robertson was born in Arkansas, by the way...

It's not even been a week, but a nice little habit for our readers is to check in regularly on the team stat pages -- completely sortable, for instance sort by games to get a sense of who is only seeing limited bench time, etc. Sort by OPS is always helpful, although it'll mean so much more with bigger samples later. We'll make this a convenient daily post in our Link Report open. Individual stat pages: Nashville Huntsville Brevard County Wisconsin Nashville batters have only walked eight times in five games. Eugenio Velez and his 1.541 OPS (!) has three of those walks.

Manatees audio -- what a leap for us since the Brevard "dead zone" of an online presence early this decade... RHP Jacob Barnes Pregame Interview Game highlights LHP Hobbs Johnson Postgame Interview - He sounds just like you'd expect a North Carolina "Hobbs" to sound, cool. (This coming from a guy with a strong Boston accent...)

Via Jeff Hem's blog -- "Tonight’s interview is with Sounds first baseman Hunter Morris, who had three hits Sunday in Omaha and two hits last night in Iowa. He’s 7-for-19 (.368) so far, and trust me when I tell you some of the outs have been hard, loud outs. Morris discusses his hitting thus far, how he feels about his own game and the team early in the season and what feels different compared to last year, his first experience at Triple-A."

Maybe it's a lame duck season for Huntsville Stars, but it doesn't have to be the last one Mark McCarter, Huntsville Times