Minor Thoughts - April 9, 2009

April 9, 2009:

The first thing I loved seeing in the B-Met game was Emmanuel Garcia playing CF. Garcia was an ex-prospect in the infield, and just hasn’t come around. I talked to him last month, standing outside the minor league complex and said to him “this has to be your year”, which was a nice way of saying poop or get off the pot… he agreed, saying “yes, this is the year it has to be”. Maybe moving him to the outfield will do something… heck, it did the first at bat, where he singled…. A little bit of a rocky start for Mike Antonini, but how do you define an April night in Binghamton that’s 48 degrees, with a 15 mph steady wind?... the league got it’s first look at Roy Merritt (Mack’s 18th prospect)… three batters, 2 Ks, one pop to the catcher… game.

B-Mets opening day roster set…

Pitchers: Nick Abel, Mike Antonini. Adam Bostick, Eric Brown, Ryan Cultas, Julio De La Cruz, John Madden, Tim McNab, Roy Merritt, Fernando Nieve, Dylan Owen, Jose Sanchez

Catchers: Mike Nickeas, John Thole

Infielders: Matt Bouchard, Shawn Bowman, Lucas Duda, Mark Kiger, Josh Peterson, Ruben Tejada

Outfielders: Emmanuel Garcia (an obvious conversion from second base), Carl Loadenthal, Caleb Stewart, D.J. Wabick

The following players have been assigned to Binghamton and placed on the DL:

RHP Salvador Aguilar
RHP Tobi Stoner
RHP Jake Ruckle
RHP German Marte
RHP Elvys Quezada

The following players were transferred to Brooklyn (SS-A):

LHP Edgar Alfonzo
C Salvador Paniagua
OF Frank Diaz


The Bisons second game of the 2009 season will be the first fridaynightbash!® of the year, sponsored by Seneca Gaming Corporation. The night begins at 4:00 p.m. with a two-our pre-game Plaza Party with live music and $2.00 hot dog special. The Bisons then take on the Pawtucket Red Sox at 6:05 p.m. with a post-game fireworks show.

The final six games of the Bisons’ season-opening homestand will be Anderson’s presents Bisons Kids Week. All six games will have a 1:05 p.m. first pitch and ALL Tickets are JUST $6.00. Fans can also enjoy $1.00 Ice Cream, Popcorn and Coca-Cola Soda each day and there will be special Merchandise Discount in the concourse. Each game during Kids Week will have something different. Sunday, April 12 is Easter Sunday, presented by Uncle Bob’s Self Storage with a pre-game Easter Brunch inside Pettibones Grille Restaurant and a pre-game Easter Egg Hunt for children 12-years old and younger, presented by Village Sweet Shoppe. Get your Dyngus Day celebration started right on Monday, April 13 with a special Polish Sausage lunch special in Pettibones Grille and Polish music during the game. On Wednesday, April 15, Anderson’s will be handing out FREE Ice Cream to the first 700 kids in attendance.

I’m still without any official rosters from either Lucy or Buffalo. It didn’t take the Bisons long to operate like the other affiliates.