Jim Goulart

Link while active, text follows: Power set to begin talks in affiliate search By Tommy R. Atkinson Charleston Gazette Staff writer CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The West Virginia Power will begin finding out which major league baseball teams are willing to play ball. Today is the first day minor league teams can begin contacting and negotiating player-development contracts with major league affiliates for the 2009 season. The Power's player-development contract with the Milwaukee Brewers expired this month. The Brewers told Power management earlier in the year they didn't want to hold any discussions about a renewal until after the season. The Brewers have signed a pair of two-year agreements with the Power since Appalachian Power Park opened in 2005. There have been published reports that the Brewers may be moving to Appleton, Wis., to replace the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. The Brewers are one of 17 major league teams whose player-development contracts with low Class A affiliates run out this fall. "The speculation is the Brewers are bound for Appleton, which leaves us three options,'' said Power general manager Andy Milovich. "The speculation is that's been a done deal for a long time. We'll see. "With the Brewers you can extend at any time. We could have done that weeks ago, months ago, today. Either their minds are made up or they haven't gotten around to the point where they're ready to talk.'' Since the Power never received a commitment from the Brewers one way or another, Power management notified minor league baseball officials after the regular season ended that they wanted to explore their options. Milovich said there are three teams available for next season: the Pittsburgh Pirates, Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers. "I have no idea which way it's leaning,'' he said. "We'll hit the phones and see how it plays out. We'll contact the farm directors from the three teams that are available and see what their thoughts are. "It might be something that comes together very quickly. You have people that haven't seen our facilities that might want to take time and meet and talk. It shouldn't take very long because there's not that many teams. I think we've got three weeks to meet, talk and wrap things up. "It could be something we talk with somebody [today] and it's the right fit and it's the direction we want to go. Initially, I would say we have a preference. I think the trend in major league baseball and minor league baseball is to partner with somebody that's a close major league affiliate.'' It's hard to figure why the Brewers would want to end the affiliation with the Power. The Power played in the South Atlantic League championship game for the second straight season. And the Power has drawn fans, setting attendance records three out of four seasons. "The baseball people I talked to would love to stay,'' Milovich said. "They love the climate, the fans [and] they've enjoyed the front office staff. "All you have to do is listen to the crowd when the team's down ... it's an exciting place. You have baseball guys that want to do what's right for development. Traditionally, when you have that debate, the business guys win out.'' The Brewers have always sent their best prospects to the Power, including Ryan Braun, who was last year's National League rookie of the year, and Yovani Gallardo, who has been in the Brewers' starting rotation the past two seasons. The Brewers also sent last year's first-round draft pick Matt LaPorta to Charleston, and Evan Frederickson, one of this year's first-round draft choices, was on the Power's roster this season. "It's pretty remarkable the talent we've seen,'' Milovich said. "I think [the Brewers have] been great from a fans' perspective, seeing quality baseball.'' Milovich, however, can also see why the Brewers would want to head to Appleton, which is in the same state as the major league club. "They'll develop fans [who] get attached to the players when they're coming through the Midwest League and hopefully lead to future ticket sales, television viewers [and] radio sales [for the major league club],'' he said. Milovich said no matter what happens, Charleston will have baseball next spring and beyond. "I'm sure we'll land on our feet with somebody the community can be happy about,'' he said. "I think the fear [and] panic from a lot of fans that don't understand the process is we won't have baseball in 2009. We're guaranteed a major league affiliate. There's nothing for the fans to worry about. We'll always do what's in their best interests.''

The wise-aleck remarks in this thread on multiple fronts is really bringing this thread down.

Not one thing about this series should have surprised us. Not one darn thing.

Rather than add to the West Virginia thread, just tossing it out there that I don't see Huntsville as a slam-dunk renewal. Just because it's what, 70 miles to Nashville, where the Brewers are locked in for two more years in a gawd-awful situation that was extended under false stadium pretenses? Carolina (Raleigh), Chattanooga, and Jacksonville all have beautiful new Southern League stadiums that were built this decade. Attendance is strong at each, especially in Jacksonvile. Travel is tougher out of Raleigh and Jacksonville, which are kind of outposts in terms of SL geography. So, in answer to a question posed on this forum a few weeks back, I think there's little doubt the Brewers will at least pursue these options. We've asked some friends in the Huntsville media to follow this story.

A reader emailed me the following analysis I had asked for. He focused on the Florida State League squads. I just took the 3b that played the most games for the team, and recorded # of games and # of errors. Team Errors/Games Started SAR 17/105 CLR 13/45 LAK 11/52 TAM 15/118 FTM 6/53 DUN 19/88 STL 11/42 VER 21/110 Green, BRV 18/100 JUP 16/82 PMB 8/64 DAY 14/59 So Taylor Green did much better than lots of guys that didn't get many games in at 3B (if you pro-rate per game). Among guys that played over 80 games, there really wasn't THAT much difference among players, and Green was slightly better than the median. IIRC, he did slightly better than the median on Range Factor, too.

Jim at Bernie's Crew has an interview transcript with Helena broadcaster Steve Wendt

Link while active, text follows: Looks like Brewers' last game in Charleston By Mitch Vingle Charleston Gazette Sports Editor It seemed like old times Thursday night at Appalachian Power Park. Way back to, oh, a couple weeks ago, when the area and state weren't into high school football. Or college football. Or pro football. The West Virginia Power baseball team did a nice job grabbing the Kanawha Valley's spotlight on an evening on which there was none of the above. With a summer breeze making a surprise appearance, the vendor was yelling "popcorn, peanuts.'' For at least one more time this summer, Cookie worked the public address microphone. Bull was in the radio booth. The Toast Man was chiding the Augusta Greenjacket players. ("Rejected by the Padres!'') The club even hired a country singer, Jason Wickline, to entertain the crowd beforehand. ("She's something to write home abouuut ...'') The face of Power left-handed pitcher Mike Ramlow was lit. "It's a big deal to be one of the last teams playing in the season,'' he said. "That's why you go out there every year to start. You want to be the last ones playing.'' He called the championship games "a lot more tense.'' "You make one mistake and it gets amplified,'' he said. "Just everything is big-time.'' We saw that early in the game when the Power's Zelous Wheeler, red-hot in the playoffs, booted a grounder to allow an Augusta run. But back to Ramlow's comment. The one in which he said, "you want to be the last ones playing.'' It's the question that blew through the APP's stands like that summer wind. Would this be the last group of Milwaukee Brewers playing here? Well, Dan O'Brien Jr. was at the game. In case you're unaware, he's the former Cincinnati Reds general manager who succeeded Jim Bowden and then was fired in 2006. O'Brien is now the assistant general manager to Doug Melvin in Milwaukee. In the press box, O'Brien was asked if this was the last time we'd see the Brewers as the home team affiliate. "Well,'' he said, "I'd like to think we'll be playing through Saturday night.'' See ya later, Brewers, huh? That's on top of published speculation Milwaukee may be moving to Appleton, Wis., to replace the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. Of course, there's been speculation here, too. Charleston and Tampa Bay have been linked. The logic has been the marriage would make sense since Princeton has the Rays' Appalachian League team. But strike that one. The Rays recently signed a new contract with Bowling Green. So where does that leave Charleston? The list may be down to four. "As soon as the regular season ended, we were able to contact minor league baseball [officials], which we did,'' said Power general manager Andy Milovich. "We notified them we wanted to explore our options. Then, on the 12th, they'll send out notifications to all the major and minor league teams as to who's looking. "Between the 12th and 16th, we'll correspond. On the 16th, you can sit down and negotiate with clubs. Right now, as I understand it, there are five clubs available: the Brewers, [Washington] Nationals, [seattle] Mariners, [Pittsburgh] Pirates and [New York] Mets.'' He was asked if Milwaukee's divorce from Charleston is a done deal. "I think it's a done deal,'' Milovich said. "Sometimes silence says a lot.'' Leaving the Mariners (now in Appleton), Nationals, Mets and local favorite Pirates. The Mets, of course, have the marquee name. The Pirates and Cincinnati Reds split the fans in this area. Either the Mets or Bucs would be nice. Anyway, Milovich said the minor league clubs will try to figure out who will draw. The major league clubs check out the facilities and community. The best fit wins. "[The decision is] upon us in the next several days,'' O'Brien said.

Link while active, text follows: Power swept in SAL Championship Series by Michael Dailey Charleston Daily Mail sports writer It's been 18 long seasons since the last South Atlantic League championship banner was hoisted in Charleston. On Thursday evening, the Augusta (Ga.) GreenJackets extended the championship drought for at least another season. The GreenJackets completed a three-game sweep of the West Virginia Power in the SAL Championship Series with a 4-3 win in front of 2,715 fans at Appalachian Power Park. The win clinched Augusta's first league title since the 1999 season, and was the club's 16th win in its last 21 games. Augusta went 5-0 in the postseason. "We went 93-50 this year and that's the best winning percentage in any league, so I think that shows that we've playing well the whole season," said Augusta skipper Andy Skeels, after a champagne shower. "But we played real well going down the stretch. "Our pitching carried us and we got some timely hits along the way. It all worked out very well." Augusta starter Scott Barnes picked up his second win of the season over the Power in allowing five hits and two runs over six innings. David Mixon pitched a perfect seventh inning before giving way to Andrew De La Garza, who earned a save in tossing two innings. West Virginia fell behind 2-0 in the first inning as the GreenJackets jumped on Charleston starter Evan Anundsen early. A pair of singles, two walks and an error helped chase Anundsen after just two-thirds of an inning. Augusta plated its final two runs on a two-out double by Nick Noonan, who finished the series 5-of-12 (.417), with four runs and three RBI. For the Power, the loss was the franchise's 12th straight in the SAL Championship Series, having also been swept in 1991, 1992 and 2007. Still, the Power didn't go down without a fight. West Virginia plated a run in the second on an RBI single by Matt Cline to cut the Augusta lead to 2-1. Caleb Gindl slashed the lead to 4-2 with a solo homer to right center in the fourth inning. The Power plated the game's final run in the bottom of the ninth when Steffan Wilson led off the inning with a triple off the left-center field wall. Wilson scored on a Gindl groundout, before De La Garza ended the season by striking out Curt Rindal. "We just tried to keep battling," said Power third baseman Zelous Wheeler. "Things just didn't go our way. They got a couple of breaks here and there, but we battled our butts off and we had a good season." Even with the abrupt and disappointing end of the season, Power Manager Jeff Isom is proud of the great strides the team made this season. "I'll look back on this season and reflect on how we started the season," said Isom, of the Power's 32-37 first half record. "Things weren't very good. We didn't hit the ball, we didn't pitch the ball very well and our defense was in question as well. "But our guys made great adjustments along the way. As the season went on into the second half, it was really great for our staff to just watch these players get better as the season went on." The Power went 45-25 in the SAL season's second half and finished with an overall record of 77-62.

Link while active, text follows: Power swept away Augusta wraps up Sally League title with 4-3 victory By Mike Whiteford Charleston Gazette Staff writer On a night that held the cruel prospect of elimination, the early omens did not bode favorably for the home team. After just two pitches, the Augusta GreenJackets already had advanced base-runners to first and second - the result of solid singles to center and right, respectively. Two walks and an error followed in the inning, giving the GreenJackets two quick runs and sending them on to a 4-3 victory over the West Virginia Power and the South Atlantic League championship Thursday night at Appalachian Power Park. A festive crowd of 2,715 seemed to sense the Power's do-or-die predicament and was noticeably noisier and more expressive than usual, especially in key moments. Manager Jeff Isom called it the best crowd of the season. The GreenJacket victory completed a three-game sweep in the best-of-five series and, amazingly enough, handed the Charleston franchise its 12th straight loss in SAL championship series play. In addition to these three losses, the Power dropped three in a row last year and three in each of the 1991 and '92 finals when the team called itself the Charleston Wheelers and was a Cincinnati Reds affiliate. For the Power, a Northern Division championship and a berth in the championship round scarcely seemed possible four months ago. The team opened the season with 12 losses in its first 15 games and ended the first half with a 32-37 record. "After watching the first half,'' Power outfielder Caleb Gindl said after the game, "you wouldn't think we had a shot.'' All in all, Gindl added, the season offered a good lesson in perseverance. "I learned to never give up, no matter how far down you are,'' he said. "It looked like we didn't have a shot in the first half. We came back in the second half and made it this far. We had a great run. [i learned to] never get down. Keep your head up and keep plugging away no matter what the situation.'' Added infielder Zelous Wheeler, "We had fun. This team had tight chemistry. Things didn't go our way, but we played well.'' Similarly, Isom found solace in the team's turnaround. "It's been an exciting year for us,'' said the first-year Power manager. "We go from struggling in the first half to playing for the championship. We look at this as a victory for us the way the second half went. I'm very pleased with every one of our players. They improved as the season went on. I'm very pleased with the effort and what they did on the field in the second half.'' Against Augusta, however, the league's top-hitting team generated little offense in the three games, finishing with just seven runs and 21 hits against a pitching staff that led the league with a 2.95 earned run average. But the GreenJackets, a Giants farm club, did more than lead the league in ERA. "We were 93-50, and that's the best winning percentage in all of professional baseball,'' said Augusta manager Andy Skeels. "I'm here to tell you that.'' In winning five straight postseason games, Augusta pitchers yielded just five runs and 29 hits. After the GreenJackets took a 2-0 first-inning lead, the Power scored in the second on singles by Steffan Wilson, Curt Rindal and Matt Cline. The GreenJackets scored two in the fourth to take a 4-1 lead, but Gindl homered to right-center in the bottom of the inning, cutting the deficit to 4-2. Leading off the ninth, Wilson tripled high off the wall in left and came home on Gindl's infield out. POWER POINTS: The Power finished 77-62 in the regular season and 3-5 in the postseason. ... Augusta starter Scott Barnes pitched for St. John's University in the spring and was taken in the eighth round of the June draft. He entered Thursday's game with a 1.38 ERA and had allowed just 15 hits in 32 innings with the GreenJackets. Against the Power Thursday, he allowed two runs and five hits in six innings. ... Wilson had three of the Power's seven hits. ... The Charleston franchise's last SAL title came in 1990.

Final: Augusta (Giants) 4, West Virginia 3 West Virginia Site Game Summary: GREENJACKETS SWEEP POWER TO CLAIM SAL CROWN The Augusta GreenJackets defeated the West Virginia Power 4-3 on Thursday night at Appalachian Power Park and swept the best of five series to claim their first South Atlantic League Championship since 1999. Shane Jordan and Nick Noonan started the game with back-to-back base hits. Dayton Buller walked to load the bases and Thomas Neal brought in the first run of the game with a bases loaded walk. Garrett Baker reached on Zelous Wheeler's fielding error at third to bring in the second run of the inning. West Virginia cut the lead in half in the bottom of the second on Matt Cline's two-out RBI single. The GreenJackets plated their final two runs on Noonan's two-out single in the fourth inning. Caleb Gindl belted his first postseason homer in the bottom of the fourth to bring the Power within two. Steffan Wilson began the ninth inning with a triple and scored the final run of the game on Gindl's groundout. Scott Barnes (2-0) allowed a pair of runs on five hits over six innings and earned the victory. Evan Anundsen (1-1) was pulled two-thirds of the way through the first inning because he had thrown 40 pitches. He allowed a pair of runs on two hits and was tagged with the loss. Andrew De La Garza allowed a run on two hits over two innings to earn his third save of the post season. The franchise has now lost 12 straight games in the Championship Round, a stretch that goes all the way back to 1991. Steffan Wilson paced the Power with a 3-for-4 performance. He was the only Power player with a multi-hit game on the night. The loss ends West Virginia's successful 2008 season. They finished the year with a record of 77-62 after starting the year 3-12. They will begin the 2009 season at home against the Lexington Legends on Thursday, April 9th. West Virginia Box Score Rob Wooten finished with three scoreless innings to keep it close... West Virginia Game Log

We need a volunteer to look up minor league error totals from players who played primarily third base in the two high-A leagues, Florida State and Carolina. That may be difficult to do without indicating how many games those players appeared in, given promotions and such. I'm guessing Green's total would appear more than adequate given such an analysis.

An insightful interview with Stars' GM Buck Rogers at MiLB.com here. Among his insights are that the Stars' game broadcasts will be internet only (no local radio) starting next year. What? No more "Is your chicken kickin'?" advertisements?

Last season, the Brewers provided a list of their instructional particpants, which we posted here. We'll try to acquire this year's list. But it's only a league in that if there are games, they are intrasquad or loosely organized with other clubs. There are no standings, box scores or media reports. Unless you're in Maryvale and can report directly to us on any activity you see taking place (workouts, injury rehabs, drills, etc.), the list of names is all you'll hear about it.

Al hasn't seen Taylor Green play. In Al's post, he was paraphrasing what Agent39 (Josh) would have said. This argument is one reason we're going to re-categorize how we archive audio interviews next season. I haven't heard or read anyone disaparage Green's work at third base, a position he only played for the first time regularly last season. If anything, he was lauded for how he made the transition during his Organizational Player of the Year season in 2007. X, if you're looking for reports that Green is the next Brooks Robinson or Graig Nettles and you're OK with Green leaving for lack thereof, fine, but your quote "He's not an asset defensively at 3B" -- we just don't know what that's based on, that's all.

Link while active, text follows: Power faces another elimination game by Michael Dailey Charleston Daily Mail sports writer CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Another day, another elimination game. That's what the West Virginia Power faces tonight when it takes the field in game three of the South Atlantic League Championship Series at Appalachian Power Park. After dropping a pair of road games to the Augusta (Ga.) GreenJackets to open the series, West Virginia now must win one game to keep the best-of-five series alive and three straight to claim the franchise's first league title since 1990. The first pitch is slated for 7:05 PM (6:05 Central), with West Virginia sending ace Evan Anundsen (12-8 regular season, 1-0 playoffs) to the mound against Augusta's Scott Barnes (3-2, 1.38 ERA in the regular season). Anundsen is 1-1 against Augusta this season, with his loss coming to Barnes in the GreenJackets' 6-0 win on Aug. 11. Barnes is 1-0 against the Power. The Power will host games four and five on Friday and Saturday evenings if necessary. So far in the series, pitching has bested the hitting as the GreenJackets' league-best pitching staff (2.95 ERA) has limited the Power's league-best hitting club (.276) to just four runs and 14 hits. West Virginia is batting 14-of-66 (.212) in the series. "There's a reason why they're No. 1 in pitching in our league and they've shown it to us the first two games," Power Manager Jeff Isom said. Anundsen's outing will be his second straight with his team facing playoff elimination. After the Power lost the opener to Lake County (Ohio) in the Northern Division playoffs, Anundsen won game two of the best-of-three series. "We had our backs against the wall and he comes in and throws an awesome game against Lake County," Isom said of Anundsen. "He went seven innings and gave up two hits. He really responded for us right there." Isom holds out hope for a similar come-from-behind win against the GreenJackets. "We're down 2-0 at this point and our backs are against the wall again," Isom said. "But I don't think this is anything that's too unfamiliar for us. We just need to take care of business at our place now." In an effort to do just that, the Power players and coaches are approaching game three with confidence and surprisingly little stress. "We've got to win three straight at home if we want to win a championship here," Isom said. "We've told our guys since the start of the season that they were going to be judged by how you played in the regular season. "The playoffs are great, and winning a championship would be great, but we've had a successful season up to this point, so there's no pressure on us. We've just got to go out there and win ball games, have fun and just do what we've been doing to put ourselves in this position." West Virginia is 3-7 this season against Augusta, including 2-2 at Appalachian Power Park.

Thursday's Daily Menu: West Virginia: RHP Evan Anundsen at home vs. Augusta (Giants), 5:55 PM Central Time pre-game, 6:05 PM gametime; Game Three of a Best-of-Five; Power down, 2-0 Audio link via WSWW, be sure to select the proper date (game will also archive at this link): http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/clubs/ip_index.jsp?sid=milb&cid=t525 *** Box Score / Game Log: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2008_09_11_augafx_wvaafx_1

Tough matchup history-wise West Virginia's starter tonight will be right-hander Evan Anundsen, who gave up four earned runs in four innings in his only regular-season start against the GreenJackets, which came Aug. 11. Lefty Scott Barnes, who allowed one hit in seven shutout innings in the same game, will take the mound for the GreenJackets.

Link while active, text follows: Power in danger of getting swept again By Ryan Pritt, Charleston Gazette It may seem like déjà vu all over again, and in fact it is. After Tuesday night's 5-1 defeat at the hands of the Augusta GreenJackets, the West Virginia Power now faces an 0-2 deficit in the South Atlantic League championship series for the second straight year, and another loss will end their season. After a day off Wednesday, the series resumes at 7:05 (6:05 Central) tonight at Appalachian Power Park. The good news for Power fans may be that at least the team has been in this situation before. The bad news is that last year, when faced with the same predicament, the Power responded by getting hammered 6-0, completing a sweep at the hands of the Columbus Catfish. In fact, Charleston-based Sally League teams have lost 11 straight championship series games, getting swept in 2007, and in 1991 and 1992 as the Charleston Wheelers. Unfortunately, there are several similarities between this year's team and last year's team. Just like last season, West Virginia's high-octane offense has been stymied at the season's most crucial time. As it did in 2007, the Power entered the 2008 playoffs as the SAL's leader in batting average and runs. Mirroring the 2007 team's struggles, the Power has been held to four runs combined in the first two games of this year's championship series. Last season, the Power's Game 1 pitching opponent was Lewis Rollins, who led the SAL in wins and was second in strikeouts during the 2007 regular season. Tuesday night in Game 2, it was Augusta's Madison Bumgarner who shut West Virginia down. Bumgarner was this year's Sally League pitcher of the year and led the league in wins and strikeouts. After being pushed to a deciding Game 3 in the opening round of the playoffs last year by the Hickory Crawdads, the Power ran into a Catfish club that made quick work of its opening round opponent, and after sweeping down the Power went 5-0 in the postseason. West Virginia overcame a 1-0 deficit in this year's opening round against the Lake County Captains, winning the series 2-1. But with another loss tonight, it could guarantee an undefeated playoff record for an opposing Southern Division team for the second straight year. Augusta ousted the Asheville Tourists in a two-game sweep in the first round last week. Power fans are pinning their hopes on the right arm of tonight's starter, Evan Anundsen. Despite modest regular-season numbers (12-8, 4.28 era, 102 strikeouts), Anundsen was lights-out in his Game 2 playoff start against Lake County, going seven scoreless innings, allowing only two hits, walking one and striking out six. But for the Power and its 11-game championship series skid, there is no goat to blame, no curse of the Babe, not even a rival's jersey buried deep within the concrete of 3-year-old Appalachian Power Park. It's just bad offense. Zelous Wheeler and Steffan Wilson were both among the Southern Atlantic League's top 10 in RBIs this season, but neither player has driven in a run thus far in the championship series. Caleb Gindl and Eric Fryer both hit over .300 during the regular season, ranking them among the top 13 in the Sally League, but the two are a combined 4-for-15 against Augusta in the first two games. There is no doubt that if Fryer, Wheeler, Wilson, Gindl and the other Power hitters can't find a way to resurrect an offense that blistered opposing pitching during the regular season, history just may repeat itself. For the fourth straight time.

Too bad the travel day in this series is Wednesday, the only evening we could have focused on that broadcast rather than the Brewers.

Charleston Daily Mail: Green Jackets' four-run rally sends Power down 2-0 West Virginia heads home for Game 3 Thursday, needing three wins for elusive SAL title AUGUSTA, Ga. -- For the West Virginia Power, it's one and done. The Power headed home to Charleston from here late Tuesday, down 2-0 in the best-of-five South Atlantic League Championship Series to Augusta. For a second straight night of postseason baseball, the GreenJackets' strong pitching staff made it tough on the SAL's top hitting team. Augusta scored four runs in the sixth inning for a 5-1 victory at Lake Olmstead Stadium behind the SAL's top pitcher, 19-year-old lefty Madison Bumgarner, who is 17-3 on the season, including two playoff wins. So, the Northern Division champion Power needs three straight victories in the series from Thursday through Saturday nights at Appalachian Power Park if the Charleston franchise is to get its first SAL title team since 1990. Charleston teams have now lost 11 straight in SAL Championship Series history, getting swept in 1991, 1992 and last season. Power Manager Jeff Isom will send ace right-hander Evan Anundsen (12-8 in the regular season, 1-0 in the playoffs) to the mound Thursday at 7:05 (6:05 Central) in hopes of stopping that skid. The Power lost the series opener 9-3 Monday and in going down 2-0 has only 12 hits. In four straight playoff wins (two over Asheville in a Southern Division series sweep), Augusta has a 0.50 team earned run average after easily leading the SAL with a 2.95 ERA during the regular season. Southern Division champ Augusta (a San Francisco Giants' farm team) closed its home season by winning 31 of its final 38 games at its pitcher-friendly home park. In Tuesday's game, West Virginia starter Dan Merklinger allowed Augusta only two hits through five innings before the GreenJackets struck in the sixth. The GreenJacket rally started off Merklinger with a one-out single by Shane Jordan. West Virginia brought in reliever Mike Ramlow, who was greeted by a Nick Noonan single to score Jordan for a 1-1 tie. Two batters later, Dayton Buller's two-out pop behind first base fell between three Power fielders. Noonan never broke stride on the play and scored from first base for the Augusta lead. Angel Villalona followed with a two-run homer on Ramlow's next pitch. Ramlow (1-1 in playoffs) took the loss. Bumgarner allowed the Power only one unearned run and four hits over six innings of work for the win. Mitch Lively closed the game with three perfect innings for the Augusta save. The lone West Virginia run came in the fourth. Logan Schafer began the inning with a single, moved to third on Steffan Wilson's one-out double down the left field line and scored the first run of the game on a passed ball on Buller. Left-hander Scott Barnes (3-2) will get the GreenJackets' start in Game 3 Thursday night.

If the Indians control this pick, it's going to be Taylor Green. Book it. Stamp it. Fred Flintstone-chisel it into a big rock. If I'm wrong, you can come after me with the big rock. Wind-blown whispers, little sparrows, call it what you will, but that's how it's going to go down. So much so, we could close the thread down now, but obviously we'll keep it open.

Tuesday's Daily Menu: West Virginia: LHP Dan Merklinger at Augusta (Giants), 5:55 PM Central Time pre-game, 6:05 PM gametime; Game Two of a Best-of-Five; Power down, 1-0, final three games would be in Charleston Audio link via WSWW, be sure to select the proper date (game will also archive at this link): http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/clubs/ip_index.jsp?sid=milb&cid=t525 *** Box Score / Game Log: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2008_09_09_wvaafx_augafx_1

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

Post-season paperwork reported by Baseball America: Reinstated from DL: RHP Chad Robinson, RHP Mark Rogers, RHP Derrick Turnbow, C Eric Munson, 3B Taylor Green, OF Lorenzo Cain, OF Stephen Chapman Reinstated from inactive list: LHP Chris Narveson, 1B Ned Yost So Ned Yost was officially on the Inactive List while coaching in Helena this summer. I'll work towards tidying up these loose ends on our Brewerfan Player Index Page and Team Pages over the next couple of days, thanks. I know it's only paperwork, but several players who were on the respective DL's were not included in this report (Edgar Trejo, Jose Romero, Brett Whiteside, others). Normally I'd say the list only includes players from high-A and up, but then why is Chad Robinson listed. Again, it's just paperwork, though.

MiLB.com has a three-minute Caleb Gindl interview video feature.