Jim Goulart

Manny Parra is scheduled to start Saturday's Nashville game, we imagine pitchers will be pushed back in such a way that Frankie De La Cruz will now follow Parra Saturday.

Friday's Daily Menu: Times Central; pitchers subject to change -- Nashville: RHP Frankie De La Cruz at Omaha (Royals), 6:50 PM pre-game; 7:05 gametime -- Game Postponed, see above Live Audio Link iPad/iPhone: Listen Huntsville: RHP Jesus Sanchez at home vs. Carolina (Reds), 6:43 PM gametime Live Audio Link iPad/iPhone: Listen Traditional broadcast via Carolina feed: Listen Brevard County: RHP Adrian Rosario at home vs. Clearwater (Phillies), 6:05 PM gametime Sorry, no audio available for this contest... Wisconsin: LHP Del Howell at home vs. Peoria (Cubs), 6:15 PM pre-game; 6:35 gametime Live Audio Link

If the Sounds had played Friday, their media notes were ready and included this -- REED, HAWKINS TO JOIN SOUNDS: Nashville will add a pair of faces to its roster this weekend in Omaha as outfielder Jeremy Reed is scheduled to join the club after accepting an outright assignment from Milwaukee and Brewers reliever LaTroy Hawkins will continue his rehabilitation assignment with the team. Reed, who made the Brewers’ Opening Day roster as a non-roster invitee to spring training, was designated for assignment on Monday when catcher Jonathan Lucroy was activated by Milwaukee. Reed opened the year by going hitless in seven pinch-hit appearances for the Brew Crew. A corresponding move will need to be made to add him to the Sounds’ active roster. Hawkins, who is on Milwaukee’s 15-day disabled list as he recovers from right shoulder surgery, posted a 4.91 ERA (2 ER / 3.2 IP) with five strikeouts in three rehab outings for Advanced-A Brevard County to start the year. *** So the Brewers get another day to figure out how to make room for Reed at the AAA level. Be sure to check the game notes while they still display the status of the Nashville - Omaha lifetime series.

Well-penned by Baseball America's Matt Eddy via twitter -- Irony 1, Storm Chasers 0. Renamed Royals Triple-A affiliate has home opener delayed by one day due to inclement weather. *** Nashville is now scheduled for a doubleheader Sunday afternoon. The rest of the Link Report will be up within the hour. -- Jim

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

I love the story on how Ozzie the Cougar (not lion) became the Sounds' mascot. WikipediaWhen Amerisports Companies LLC, took control of the team in April 1997, they decided that a mascot was needed. Since the group also owned the Class A Kane County Cougars minor league team, which had an extra mascot uniform, the surplus cougar outfit was sent to Nashville. After building a fan following during Ozzie’s first season, team management decided to make him the permanent mascot. Initially, the Ozzie costume was identical to the brown cougar costume which is still in use by Kane County, but was replaced by the current yellow outfit in 1998.

So glad Chris isn't limiting himself to three post-game thoughts now.

Pre-Game Jonathan Lucroy interview with Cory Provus Post-Game WTMJ Interview with Randy Wolf WTMJ with Prince Fielder discussing his hot start (Wednesday night) 540 ESPN Post-Game with Jonathan Lucroy 540 ESPN Post-game (from Wednesday) with Pitching Coach Rick Kranitz (available at Lucroy link just above)

Country music star is good-luck charm for Sounds by Greg Sullivan, the Tennessean Emmylou Harris is known as both a Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter and one of the most prolific backing vocalists of her generation. But in the clubhouse of her local baseball team, the 64 year-old is now being revered as a human rabbit's foot by athletes in a sport long known for its superstitions. "Maybe she's good luck," new Sounds third baseman Taylor Green said. Green sure needed it. He was called up to Nashville on Sunday from Double-A Huntsville and had a miserable Triple-A debut. He went 0-for-4 and misplayed a bunt on defense that contributed to New Orleans' winning run in a 14-inning Sounds defeat. Then when Harris arrived at Greer Stadium with her dog and an entourage the following afternoon for a promotional photo shoot, Green was roused from a clubhouse card game by a group of more-tenured Sounds. "They said you're the new guy, you're going out there," Green said. "I did my duty. We just stood there and took pictures with her dog and that's about it." The next time Harris arrives at the ballpark, though, all the Sounds may line up to do the photos with her. Green hit a home run in his very next at-bat for his first Triple-A hit and is 4-for-12 with two doubles after Thursday's 6-5 loss to Oklahoma City to go with sterling defense since his bad play Monday night. "Maybe I need to take more pictures with her," Green said. "I'm not too sure, but that was pretty neat. My parents have a bunch of albums of hers." Sounds second baseman Eric Farris said he is now having second thoughts about his decision to pass photo obligations on to the most junior team member, who had to follow orders to keep with clubhouse tradition. "They asked me to do it but I don't really like dogs," Farris said. "So I tried to stay away from that one. But I figured, 'Taylor just got here, why don't we get him some press?' "It kind makes me wish I went out there and took the pictures now because he's been tearing the cover off the ball. Let's just hope he keeps it up." While Green, a 24-year-old British Columbia native, may try his best to forget his Triple-A debut, he is not likely to forget his first big Nashville moment and what has been happening since. "Those types of people have a different aura around them," Green said. "You can feel it and it's pretty neat." Country singer Emmylou Harris (center) has been a good-luck charm for the Sounds in recent games. / Submitted photo http://cmsimg.tennessean.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=DN&Date=20110415&Category=SPORTS04&ArtNo=104150311&Ref=AR&MaxW=640&Border=0

Updated photos of the Manatees in action at Four Seam Images

Manatees overpower Threshers by Mark DeCotis, Florida Today VIERA — Once again, the Brevard County Manatees sprinted out to a first-inning lead at Space Coast Stadium and once again they let their opponent back into the game -- this time it was the Clearwater Threshers. But unlike Sunday when they blew a 5-0 first-inning lead in an 11-7 home loss to the Daytona Beach Cubs, the Manatees on Thursday made their initial three-run outburst stand up and added four more for a 7-2 victory, their third in a row. The Manatees improved to 3-5, while Clearwater fell to 5-3. The Florida State League North Division rivals meet again at 7:05 PM today (6:05 Central) for Jackie Robinson Night in the second game of their three-game series. Hunter Morris kept up his torrid hitting for the Manatees, collecting his team-leading 10th and 11th hits and driving in his fifth and sixth runs. "I spent a lot of time in spring training with all the hitting coaches and coordinators in the organization," Morris said. "They've done a good job getting me prepared." "I had a great experience (in the Instructional League) and then was fortunate enough to get to go to the Fall League. I played against some really good competition. I feel really prepared. Hopefully it carries over." Manatees starter Nick Bucci pitched five innings, allowing two runs on six hits and striking out five. "I felt good going out there for my second start," Bucci said. "We made a conscious effort to throw fastballs inside, and it worked well for five innings." Reliever Rob Wooten, continuing his recovery after ligament replacement surgery on his right elbow, pitched the eighth and ninth innings for the Manatees. He didn't allow a run, keeping his earned run average at 0.00 this season. Nick Bucci -- Photo by Dennis Greenblatt, Florida Today http://cmsimg.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=A9&Date=20110415&Category=SPORTS&ArtNo=104150332&Ref=AR&MaxW=300&Border=0

Nashville Audio Archive -- April 14 - Chat with Outfielder Brendan Katin Always a classy guy...

Nashville Media Notes

Nashville Media Notes: MAYSONET PLACED ON D.L., SANCHEZ PROMOTED TO NASHVILLE: Infielder Edwin Maysonet has been placed on the disabled list retroactive to Wednesday and will be replaced on the Nashville roster by infielder Juan Sanchez. The 24-year-old utilityman hit .100 (1-for-10) with a double and two strikeouts in four games at shortstop for Double-A Huntsville this season. Sanchez batted a combined .222 (82-for-355) with two home runs and 24 RBIs in 113 games between Advanced-A Brevard County and Huntsville in 2010, appearing defensively at second base (5G), third base (13G), shortstop (38G), left field (5G), center field (19G), and right field (31G). *** By the way, it appears that outfielder Jeremy Reed's status is still listed as "reassigned". Perhaps this explains why the Sounds roster appears to be 25, but in actuality, sits at 24. If Reed plays tonight, then that would be confusing.

PCL American North Club W L PCT GB *ELIM # Home Away L 10 Streak Nashville 5 2 .714 - - 5-2 0-0 5-2 W2 Iowa 3 4 .429 2.0 136 0-0 3-4 3-4 L3 Memphis 3 4 .429 2.0 136 3-4 0-0 3-4 L3 Omaha 2 5 .286 3.0 135 0-0 2-5 2-5 L3 SOU North Club W L PCT GB *ELIM # Home Away L 10 Streak Huntsville 4 2 .667 - - 1-0 3-2 4-2 W2 Tennessee 4 2 .667 - - 1-0 3-2 4-2 W1 Chattanooga 3 3 .500 1.0 64 2-3 1-0 3-3 W2 Jackson 3 3 .500 1.0 64 0-1 3-2 3-3 L1 Carolina 1 5 .167 3.0 62 1-4 0-1 1-5 L1 FSL North Club W L PCT GB *ELIM # Home Away L 10 Streak Daytona 6 1 .857 - - 4-1 2-0 6-1 L1 Clearwater 5 2 .714 1.0 63 2-0 3-2 5-2 W1 Lakeland 4 3 .571 2.0 62 1-1 3-2 4-3 L1 Tampa 3 4 .429 3.0 61 2-3 1-1 3-4 L2 Brevard County 2 5 .286 4.0 60 0-2 2-3 2-5 W2 Dunedin 1 6 .143 5.0 59 1-4 0-2 1-6 W1 MID Western Club W L PCT GB *ELIM # Home Away L 10 Streak Beloit 5 2 .714 - - 3-0 2-2 5-2 W5 Burlington 5 2 .714 - - 2-1 3-1 5-2 W1 Quad Cities 5 2 .714 - - 2-2 3-0 5-2 W3 Wisconsin 4 3 .571 1.0 63 2-2 2-1 4-3 L1 Cedar Rapids 3 4 .429 2.0 62 1-2 2-2 3-4 W1 Peoria 3 4 .429 2.0 62 2-2 1-2 3-4 L1 Kane County 2 5 .286 3.0 61 0-3 2-2 2-5 L3 Clinton 1 6 .143 4.0 60 1-3 0-3 1-6 L5

Good catch, we'll know more this afternoon.

Huntsville Press Release: Infielder Juan Sanchez has been promoted to Triple-A Nashville. Sanchez is 1-for-10 in four games with the Stars. In a related move, catcher Shawn Riggans has been reinstated from the disabled list and will join the Stars tonight. Riggans split time between Double-A Binghampton and Triple-A Buffalo in the Mets organization. He played 64 games with the American League Tampa Bay Rays between 2006-08. With these moves, the Stars active roster stays at 24, the Southern League limit. *** The 24-year-old Sanchez gets his first taste of AAA ball in what no doubt will be a utility role. Almost assuredly Nashville will tell us later today that SS Edwin Maysonet was formally placed on their 7-day DL to make room for Sanchez. Both the AAA and AA 24-man rosters now carry three active catchers, not to mention the 25-man big league roster. Looks like Matt Cline and Yancarlos Ortiz will need to handle shortstop duties in Huntsville for now, perhaps even a Sergio Miranda cameo appearance there.

Stars show some promise on and off the field during home opening victory By Mark McCarter, The Huntsville Times HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- Quick question: How do you say "Take Me Out To The Ball Game" in German? The Huntsville Stars chose for some mysterious reason an Oktoberfest theme for their season-opener Wednesday night. Beck's beer cheaper, leiderhosen optional. As fans arrived, they were greeted at the stadium by a German band playing selections from what seemed the "K-Tel Greatest Polka Hits" CD. Sure. You think baseball in April, you think beer-guzzling in the fall. Then again, both are joyous celebrations. It's always intriguing to see what an Opening Night might do, with the novelty of pro baseball having evaporated, with Huntsville long proving a fickle spectator city and so many area sports fans busily occupied on rivals.com to see which college football team is being most recently accused of cheating. This time, 5,338 convened at Joe W. Davis Stadium to root, root, root for the heimmannschaft. The ol' park looked pretty good for her age. Redirected lighting made the field look brighter. And it highlighted a field that for the most part was pretty enough to be awarded a "Yard of the Month" sign. (Still, there's the constant reminder of bewildering infrastructure woes; to wit, the wi-fi signal to the press box was kayoed when the electrical circuit in the visitors' clubhouse was overloaded.) A win doesn't hurt the cause. A bunch of runs early didn't hurt that. At exactly 7:05 - the traditional first-pitch time before it was switched to 6:43 p.m. this year - Huntsville already had a 5-0 lead. With Wily Peralta pitching, five runs is a luxury like a Kevlar vest under a catcher's chest protector. He pitched 4 2/3 innings of perfect ball and left with a 6-2 cushion in the seventh. A more than interested spectator was Miles Prentice, the Stars' majority owner. Last season, he sat among 7,782 fans for the Southern League All-Star Game. This time, another good crowd. Another lovely night. Another reminder of the "what could be" about this franchise. Prentice was understandably dazzled by the field and feels this is the best front-office staff gathered in more than a half-dozen years. The last two years he said "we couldn't catch a break" because of bad weather. Figure time has come for that to change; wouldn't that be the case, now that migraine-causing draining issues have been solved, there'll be little to drain? The All-Star attendance left Prentice optimistic, and reminded him that "the (population) numbers are here." Prentice frankly said that "we should be averaging 2,500 a game." That'd be a stretch from past seasons. It should be do-able. "We've got to reach out," Prentice admitted. There is a large population base. The team has potential to be good. There's an overstocked menu of promotions to lure fans, some more corny or daring than others. (For instance, the women's-only gathering this Friday, sponsored by a local adult boutique. And, sorry, but a webcam broadcast from the stands rather than a radio arrangement is more bush league comedy than Southern League-quality.) The bottom line issue that keeps dangling is the team's future, or any potential sale. "I don't like to move," Prentice said. "But it's been a rough couple of years," he acknowledged. Maybe they'll get things smoothed like the field. Maybe things will go brighter, like the lighting adjustment. Here's hoping they'll keep playing "Take Me Out To The Ball Game" here. In any language.

Huntsville TV station with game highlights and Manager Mike Guerrero's post-game interview

Stars' first baseman Sean Halton interviewed by a Huntsville TV station

Sounds top Redhawks 6-1 in error-plagued contest By William Williams, Nashville City Paper Brett Carroll couldn’t really laugh at Anderson Hernandez’s blunder. That’s because Carroll, a center fielder for the Nashville Sounds, had been there — just two batters before and he almost ended up with a mouthful of grass. It was that sort of zany Wednesday afternoon at Greer Stadium as the Sounds grabbed a 6-1 victory in a five-error game that including four miscues from the visiting Oklahoma City Redhawks. The odd thing is both teams had been fielding pretty solidly prior to Wednesday. The Redhawks (2-4) had committed just five errors. The Sounds (5-2) — who wrap up an eight-game homestand Thursday with a 7:05 p.m. matchup against Oklahoma City — had just four coming into the day game. In fairness, the afternoon tilt was only 14 hours after a twilight doubleheader ended on Tuesday night after Monday’s game was postponed due to rain. “It was a late night [Tuesday],” Sounds manager Don Money said. “And you have a 12 o’clock game [Wednesday] and everybody is a little down, dragging a little bit. You know those kind of games happen.” The first error came at the expense of Carroll, a Middle Tennessee State grad and eight-year veteran who the Milwaukee Brewers picked up in a trade with the Kansas City Royals two weeks ago. In the second inning, Oklahoma City’s Tommy Manzella lofted a fly ball to center field. Carroll backed up to make the catch, but adjusted to the flight of the ball too late. The ball glanced off his glove and Manzella raced all the way to third on the error. “I went right and the ball started fading back to my left side and I got turned around,” Carroll, who spent the last seven years in the Florida Marlins organization, said. “When you start moving like that, your head starts moving and I almost fell on my face.” Hernandez reached first safely on a ground ball to third, in which the throw went home to try to get Manzella but he slid in safely to give the Redhawks a 1-0 lead. Carroll, a Knoxville native, would redeem himself on the next play — at the expense of Hernandez. With one out, Oswaldo Navarro flied to center and this time Carroll made the routine grab. As he made the catch, though, his teammate and right fielder Brendan Katin yelled for him to throw to first base. Why? Hernandez had rounded second as Carroll made the grab. Carroll made the easy throw to first base to double off Hernandez and end the inning with the unusual 8-3 putout. “I think he was doing me a favor. He felt sorry for the ball I botched in center field and he thought, ‘I’ll give you an out here to make up for it,’ ” Carroll joked. “I asked [Katin] later on ‘What was going on?’ He was like ‘I think he forgot the [number of] outs.’ That is what I figured because it wasn’t a shallow fly ball or something he thought was going to drop. I just think he had a little brain collapse like we always do. We’re prone to do that.” Hernandez, however, wasn’t mistake-free. The second baseman botched a routine groundout in the fourth. Hernandez wasn’t alone, though. In the seventh, first baseman Koby Clemens, the son of former seven-time Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens, dropped a foul ball that he had to chase up the line. That kept the at-bat of Sounds catcher Martin Maldonado alive. Maldonado later struck out swinging for the second out, and the Redhawks threw down to second to try to catch Brandon Boggs stealing. Oklahoma City had him in a rundown but the Redhawks forgot about Carroll, who was on third. Boggs stalled long enough to allow Carroll to score the Sounds’ sixth run. “I don’t know what happened on their side,” Money said of the weird play of events for Oklahoma City. “I’m glad it did, and not [to] us.” But the craziest play yet was in the sixth inning and once again involved Carroll. The 28-year-old led off with what appeared to be a routine grounder to third base. Navarro went to scoop it up but couldn’t grip the ball as it sputtered out of his glove for an error. As he went to pick it up a second time with his glove, he flipped it up so high that it flew onto the other side of the diamond near foul territory. Carroll never stopped running, racing to second. He didn’t stop there as he realized Navarro had ventured away from third base. Carroll took a chance and slid in safely to third, just beating the tag. He scored on the very next play to tie the game when Boggs singled to center. Maldonado knocked in Boggs for the go-ahead run with a double down the right field line. “That is an oddball one,” Money said of Navarro’s two-error play. Added Carroll: “That’s the beauty of this sport. It kind of keeps you coming back because you never know what to expect.” Except Wednesday was anything but beautiful.

The Tennessean has a photo gallery from Wednesday's game, notice there is a "show / hide captions" button to the lower left of the photo. The gallery appears on the same page as a feature written on Oklahoma's Koby Clemens.

Stars lead off home schedule with victory over Carolina By Mark McCarter, The Huntsville Times HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- First man up, Lee Haydel has a simple but difficult task. "You want to set the pace for the game," he said. Mission accomplished on Wednesday night, when the Huntsville Stars opened their home schedule. Four pitches into the Stars' first inning, Haydel singled to ignite a five-run explosion, pacing Huntsville to a 6-5 win over the Carolina Mudcats. The Stars host Carolina Thursday night at 6:43 in the second game of this five-game homestand. Stars manager Mike Guerrero describes what he looks for in a lead-off man just as simply. "A guy that consistently gets on base," he said. Does Haydel fit that? "So far he does." Haydel is 7-for-20 on the season and has reached base 11 times in 24 plate appearances. Haydel, a 23-year-old from La Place, La., with a gumbo-flavored accent, is back for his second year with the Stars. He batted .285 last season and stole 22 bases. The return to Class AA doesn't bother him, as he considered last year a learning season. "I understand it's a long road and a lot of time you will repeat," said Haydel, sporting a smear of red clay across his uniform top. "I have no problem being here. Double-A is a good league. With my age, I'm not really young, but I'm not really old either, so it's OK." "He has things to work on and he's working on them," Guerrero said. "He's improved in a lot of areas and he has plenty of space to grow in the others." The Carolina starter was Daryl Thompson, who will be destined to live eternally in pregame press notes accompanied by this anecdote: During a brief stint in the majors with Cincinnati, headed to Yankee Stadium for his debut he took the No. 4 train the wrong direction, winding up in Brooklyn rather than the Bronx. This appearance started off in the wrong direction, Huntsville mugging him for five runs in the first, ten men coming to the plate. Steffan Wilson, Chuckie Caufield and Juan Sanchez had run-scoring hits. Huntsville starter Wily Peralta was on cruise-control into the fifth, retiring the first 13 men he faced. The Mudcats, now 1-5 on the season, cut it to 6-2 on a Cody Puckett RBI single in the fifth and an opposite field homer by Neftali Soto in the top of the seventh; one batter later, Peralta exited to a warm ovation. "(A five-run lead) gives you the cushion to say, 'I've got to pound the strike zone,' " Guerrero said of Peralta, who "has the ability to command the strike zone with three pitches." Sixth game of the season, some of the butterflies should well be gone. "It kinda felt like Opening Night a little bit," Haydel said, "but you just go out there and do what you've got to do to do your job. "It was fun, though."

Follow Thursday's action as it happens: Nashville (Gameday also available) Huntsville (Gameday also available) Brevard County Wisconsin

Thursday's Daily Menu: Times Central; pitchers subject to change -- Nashville: RHP Josh Butler at home vs. Oklahoma City (Astros), 6:50 PM pre-game; 7:05 gametime Live Audio Link iPad/iPhone: Listen Huntsville: LHP Dan Merklinger at home vs. Carolina (Reds), 6:43 PM gametime Live Audio Link iPad/iPhone: Listen Traditional broadcast via Carolina feed: Listen Brevard County: RHP Nick Bucci at home vs. Clearwater (Phillies), 6:05 PM gametime Sorry, no audio available for this contest... Wisconsin: RHP Jimmy Nelson at Cedar Rapids (Angels), 6:15 PM pre-game; 6:35 gametime Live Audio Link