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The Herd:

“Dollar Dog and Fireworks Night,” School Kids Day and Star Wars Night highlight an eight-game homestand for the Buffalo Bisons, Triple-A affiliate of the New York Mets, that starts Saturday, June 6 at Coca-Cola Field.
The Bisons will play four games against the Indianapolis Indians, June 6-9, before welcoming in the Durham Bulls for four games June 11-14.
“Dollar Dog Night,” with post-game Fireworks gets the Bisons homestand started on Saturday, June 6 (7:05 p.m.) against Indianapolis. Fans will be able to purchase unlimited hot dogs for just $1 each when the gates open at 6:05 p.m. The first 3,000 fans in attendance that night will also receive a Reusable Bag, presented by Twin Village Recycling.
Other marquee dates during this upcoming homestand includes the Bisons annual School Kids Day on Monday, June 8 with a special 10:35 a.m. first pitch for the area’s school children. There will be a Bisons Poster Giveaway to the 3,000 fans in attendance on Tuesday, June 9 (7:05 p.m.). The return of Star Wars Night, presented by Alfred State College, with characters from the 501st Legion's Garrison Excelsior, will be part of a fridaynightbash!®, sponsored by Seneca Gaming Corporation, on July 12 (7:35 p.m.).
Please see below for a complete promotional scheduled for all eight games.
Tickets are available by calling THE-HERD (716-843-4373) or charge-by-phone at 1-888-223-6000. You can also order online at Bisons.com or visit the Coca-Cola Box Office (Mon-Fri, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Saturdays, 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.).

B-Mets:

A couple winters ago, New York Mets general manager Omar Minaya made the mistake of leaving catcher Jesus Flores unprotected for the Rule V draft.
The Washington Nationals scooped Flores up and now he's seen as the long-term answer behind the plate for the Nationals. Minaya said leaving Flores unprotected is “the one” regret he has as general manager of the Mets.
Despite that, Minaya left another young catcher, 22-year-old Josh Thole, unprotected in last winter's Rule V draft.
Luckily for Minaya, nobody drafted Thole, who is making a case to be organization's future catcher while honing his craft with Double-A Binghamton.
Thole, a former first baseman, moved behind the dish on a full-time basis last season when he was with High-A St. Lucie, and it was a big adjustment.
“Getting back into the catching, it’s a lot different here than what I had to go through in high school. It’s kind of like starting from scratch. I kind of redid everything, from the stance to throwing to second base to blocking. Everything has just been a whole big change for me,” Thole told The New York Daily News last fall.
It's a big change that's gone smoothly – his defense has made strides in his first year as a full-time backstop.
“He’s developing into very good defensive catcher. He’s a good leadership type, who is calling good games,” Mets vice president of player development Tony Bernazard recently told Baseball America.
Offensively, Thole makes a lot of contact – his 11.3 K% is sixth-lowest in the Eastern League. He draws his share of walks (10.7%) and his .417 wOBA is sixth-best in the circuit, though his sky-high .417 BABIP is due to regress.
Thole isn't going to hit many home runs – he only has eight in 1,282 plate appearances in the minors – but he's more than a singles hitter. His 16 doubles are tied for second in the Eastern League and his 25 two-baggers ranked within the top 15 in the Florida State League last year.
Opportunity could knock in the near future as the Mets long-term catching situation is unclear.
Veteran Brian Schneider and minor league journeyman Omir Santos currently share the duties. Schneider is a free agent after the season and has little chance of being retained, and while Santos has been a nice story, he's not someone an organization looks at as a long-term option. Thole figures to be ready sometime in 2010 and could end up as a table-setter thanks to his strong on-base skills.

http://www.projectprospect.com/article/2009/06/03/minors-only-florimon-and-thole



“I feel like as far as I’ve come along, I’ll be able to pitch at that level,” Holt said in St. Lucie just before learning about the news. “I’m throwing my secondary pitches for strikes. They’ve come a long way. (St. Lucie pitching coach) Phil Regan has picked up where (2008 Brooklyn pitching coach) Hector Berrios left off. Repetition has definitely paid off.” Since allowing nine runs in 3 2/3 innings, including three homers, in his Florida State League debut on April 9, the 6-4, 205-pound righthander from Albemarle, N.C., dominated high-Class A hitters with St. Lucie. In 37 2/3 innings, he allowed six runs (five earned) and 26 hits while striking out 45 and walking six, for a 1.19 ERA spanning seven starts. Rated the organization’s No. 4 prospect entering the season, Holt clearly has leapfrogged the Mets’ top upper-level prospects in stature — either because they have underwhelmed, such as Jon Niese, who has an 8.05 ERA at Triple-A Buffalo, or because they have landed on the disabled list, such as Dillon Gee with a shoulder strain.

Read more: "Surfing The Mets - NY Daily News" -

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/mets/2009/06/farm-report-holt-to-binghamton.html#ixzz0HODhN7rW&A