CUP O' JO: Wednesday, May 13th

Live Blog From SCL Tourney: Gonna try something new tonight. A live blog from the Sonoma County League Tournament in Sonoma. The SCL Champ Gauchos face Sonoma at 7pm. I'll post updates here from the trusty iPhone. And we'll give Twitter a go as well and see how quickly I can figure it out ;-) (Follow me at PTownFan)  Hard to know how long the battery will last and hopefully the connection is good. If this works out, the Argus Courier will include future live blogs of Casa playoff games on Petaluma360.com via RSS feed. Don't you love technology? When it works.

Here's an update on how PTown Area Pros are doing on the diamond these days. Will catch up with the Up And Comers wrapping up their college seasons later this week.

JONNY GOMES (OF, AAA Louisville Bats, Cincinnati Reds Organization)
Jonny has settled in and is swinging a powerful stick, leading the team in home runs.  Hit #7 last night off Tampa Bay World Series closer, David Price.  He was the hero of that game as the Bats battled back from a 6-2 deficit in the 9th and went ahead on Gomes' two out double. On a two strike count.  Yah Jonno. He's batting .250 with an .866 OPS.  Louisville is on top of the International League West with a 3.5 game lead over Toledo.  I'm trying to get a pic of that timely hit and will add it if the photographer shows the Pearls some love.  The Reds still own the third best record in the National League with a 10-14 record.  OF Darnell McDonald has really cooled off and OF Chris Dickerson is below the Mendoza so perhaps the Reds will get hungry for a power bat off the bench soon.

BRANDON MORROW (P, Seattle Mariners)
After a 15 day stint on the DL for biceps stiffness, Morrow is back as the Mariners' closer.  He returned Saturday with a flair for the dramatic, loading the bases and putting the winning run on first before notching his 6th save with a Brendan Harris ground out.  Whew.  After a hot start, the Ms have dropped to 14-17 with Morrow's save ending a 6 game skid.

ERIC BRUNTLETT (IF, Philadelphia Phillies)
Santa Rosa's Bruntlett is not getting many ABs off the bench, but we'll keep an eye out for any surge in playing time or stats. 

KONRAD SCHMIDT (C, HighA Visalia Rawhide, Arizona Diamondbacks Organization)
Konrad is batting .279 with 7 extra base hits and 11 rbis in 22 games.  He had a huge game last week going  2-for-5 with a double, home run, two runs scored and five RBIs in a big win over the Stockton Ports for the Rawhide's 6th consecutive win.  The Rawhide, in their swanky new stadium, are atop the Cal North Division with a 3.5 game lead over Modesto and a 4 game lead over pre-season favorite San Jose.  Head 'em up and move 'em out boys.

TOMMY EVERIDGE (IF, AA Midland Rockhounds, Oakland Athletics Organization)
Tommy is leading the Rockhounds in hits with 40 and is second in rbs with 27 in 31 games.  He's belted 3 home runs so far this season and is batting .305 for the hot hitting Hounds with a team average of .302.  They lead the Division by 1.5 games over Corpus Chrisi with an 18-14 record.  Though listed as a 1B, Tommy's been playing a lot of 3B as the organization seems determined to give prospect Chris Carter more time at first.

JOEY GOMES (OF, Joliet Jackhammers, IND)
Joey's season starts Friday against Schaumberg.  The Jackhammers have had a perfect Spring and Gomes had a home run in Monday's 6-3 win over the Flyers. 

Springin' Forward CUP O' JO - March 9, 2009

Ahhh...  Daylight Savings Time, 65 degree weather,  WhodaThunkIt exciting WBC baseball in high def and TWO pros from the 707 on the MLB Home Run leader board during Spring Training.

JONNY GOMES (OF, Cincinnati Reds Organization)
Jonny got a start at 1B yesterday and had a two run homer in the 4th to break a 0-0 tie of LHP Brett Cecil. He's batting .429 with 2 home runs. At 9 RBIs, he is tied for the MLB lead with Chicago's Hoffpauir.

JASON LANE (OF, Toronto Blue Jays)

Wow.  Where have I been?  Sebastopol's Lane, a non-roster invitee with a minor league contract is having a helluva spring with the Blue Jays.  Batting .500 in 20 ABs, and leads the MLB in total bases with 20.  He had a 3-for-3 day against the Reds Saturday. Keep mashing Jason.

BRANDON MORROW (P, Seattle Mariners)

Morrow had his second start pushed back due to forearm soreness and then came down with the flu late last week.  Hopefully he's on track for a start later this week. More from the Everett Herald.

ERIC BRUNTLETT (INF, Philadelphia Phillies)
Santa Rosa's Bruntlett is batting .350 including 2 doubles in 20 ABs this spring.  Bruntlett's spot on the 25man seems solid.  Here's a bit on how Charlie Manuel plans to use him this season. 

DJ GENTILE (OF, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Mustangs)
DJ is batting .360 with a double and  3RBIs so far this season.  The team had an 8 game win streak snapped on a 8 game road trip which winds up in Berkeley for a three game series.  The Mustangs are 8-2 on the season.

SAM BANISTER (University of Arizona Wildcats Softball)
She's batting .363 with 7 doubles, 5 home runs and 20 RBIs. Sam has played in every game and is perfect defensively.  The team is 21-5 on the season after smoking St. Joseph's 20-1 yesterday to win the Hillenbrand Invitational.  They're ranked 13th.

CASA GRANDE H.S. GAUCHOS
The Gaucho Varsity season is off to a 2-1 start.  You can follow them here: http://www.casagrandebaseball.com/ .

The Most Pearlacious Pearls of 2008

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2008 completely rocked.
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The 707 area code's Boys Of Summer and some of their amigos had a pretty entertaining year.  I dove through the Pearls of Wisdom treasure trove for the best stories of '08 and have strung those lustrous accomplishments together for you to reflect upon this New Year's Eve.  Here are ten gems, and some bonus links, I'm raising my celebratory glass of bubbly to as we ring in 2009...
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#10

Tampa Bay Ray Jason Bartlett steals a base
and wins free Tacos For The People
relieving the financial pressure of PTownJr's 5000 calorie diet for a few hours.  Barty had a premonition about the whole thing and dressed ALCS MVP Matt Garza (area code 209) as a taco during rookie hazing last summer.

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#9

Inaugural Pearls Of Wisdom Create-A-Caption contestants
get a little crazy after the Rays eliminate the White Sox
with their 100th win of 2008...

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#8

Jonny Gomes completes the Zero To Hero metamorphosis
with his own World Series Blog and gets all dressed up to meet The President.

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#7

Eric Bruntlett, another PTown Area Pro,
is the hero of World Series Game 3...
a game I would otherwise like to forget... along with the horrendous Game 1 fielding of the Rays fans sitting in my seat thanks to ZipCode Profiling.

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#6

Bud Selig Tunes Into The Wrong Weather Channel
ensuring that no one will EVER forget Game 5 of the 2008 World Series. Not even the extraordinary Kenyan fans that I hope Tex is trying to save with that cushy contract of his.

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#5

Konrad Schmidt wins the Peals Of Wisdom Batting Title with a .329 average at High A Visalia 
Konrad also earned kudos for his stylin' horsehoe-and-patch mustache combo on Josh Collmenter Mustache Awareness Night. This celebration was born of the great Josh Collmenter/Jason Giambi "Separated At Birth" debate.  Which, tragically, you may have missed during Konrad's promotion from Single A to High A.

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#4

RHP Chad Fillinger reaches on a fielder's choice
in his first career at bat
The Jackhammers were short handed and the pitchers were pressed into offensive action on July 22nd. Who did Chad force at second? PTown's Joey Gomes...   who earned Northern League Player of the Week honors a bit later. Sadly, there is no photographic evidence of Chad's historic at bat, but the entire PTownFan(mily) witnessed it over dinner via internet radio. So we'll celebrate the strength of Chad's belief that one day he would toe into the batter's box... and get paid for it...  with a high school yearbook photo.

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#3

Tommy Everidge has a career year,
earning AA Midland Rockhounds MVP.
He also took home the MiLB's award for Best AA Single Game Performance of 2008 with a 10 RBI (!!!!) game in May. Tommy had an awesome season and it would be so much more awesome to see him sporting the green and gold in '09. Come on Billy Beane. $ell $some Ticket$ in the 707. 

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#2

Brandon Morrow flirts with history,
nearly notching a No-No in his first MLB start.
After the best debut in Mariner's history on September 5th vs. the Yankees, Brandon almost did it again in front of the home town crowd at McAfee Coliseum. Following the trade of closer JJ Putz, the Mariners haven't decided whether to keep Brandon in the rotation or slide him into the closer role. Brandon stepped in for an injured Putz mid-season and was nearly flawless. Tough decision for Seattle and The Pearls will have an ear to the ground.

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#1

The Rays win the 2008 American League Pennant. 
I can't believe I cried over a baseball game. But hey, so did the entire state of Massachusetts.  The Rays storybook season did not end with a World Series Ring, but there wasn't a single loser on the field at the end of Game 5 in Philly. Only winners.
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It's hard to imagine the guys can Rep The 707 any better in 2009. All that... and then some... from one Area Code.

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Awesome.

Congratulations Eric Bruntlett...

"Your team just took the 2008 World Series.  Here's our announcer Johnny Olson to tell you what you've won..."

"Well Bob, all a baseball player really wants to do at the end of the season is get home to his wife, his family and all the comforts of home.  So we've arranged for Bud Selig's private jet to whisk Eric home to Santa Rosa, CA, in the heart of the Sonoma County Wine Country.  Where 3 inches of rain are expected this weekend. Bud will personally make the determination if conditions are appropriate to proceed. That might be 24 hours or 48 hours or who knows. We'll celebrate Thanksgiving here if we have to."

"Eric, your reaction?"

Tug McGraw Conjures Up A Game 3 Win For The Phils

The Battle Of The Baseball Supernaturals  World Series took an eerie turn last night.   Reminiscent of The Rays inexplicable Game 5 loss to The Red Sox last week, the Phillies came out on top last night despite another umpiring non-controversy that broke the Rays Way. Here's the bloody game recap. Crikey.

You see, the ghost of Tug McGraw was quietly wrecking havoc with the Rays' 9th inning defense as the team tried to send a tied game to extras. At 1:47am.  His long lost, then found son, Tim McGraw of country music fame, walked the game ball out to legendary Phillies hurler Steve Carlton for the first pitch ceremony last night.  Seems he walked a little bit of Tug around the mound as well.

Explains a lot:

• Jamie Moyer's Game Of A Lifetime while sick as a dog. From the looks of things, might be tonsilitis.
• Matt Garza's Which Matt Is That performance
• Longo's wind shortened longball to LF in the top of the 6th with 2 out and one on
• Utley and Howards' back to back wind lengthened jacks to RF in the bottom of the 6th
• The Mad Australian's plunking of Santa Rosa's pinch-hitting Eric Bruntlett in the bottom of the 9th
• The Mad Australian's Wild Pitch in the 9th allowing baserunners to advance
• Navi's bad throw on a 9th inning attempt allowing baserunners to advance
• Carlos Ruiz dribbler down the 3rd base line with bases loaded and a 5 man infield shift
• Evan Longoria's Hail Mary lob of Ruiz' dribbler over Navi's head
• The Phillies' walk-off dribbler is only their second base hit of the night 

And wouldn't you know it... the lead baserunner who was advanced all the way to walk-off run scoring status was Philly Eric Bruntlett, a guy who lives 20 miles up the road from PTown.

So, in a magnaimous return to The Pearls' roots... giving kudos to PTown area pros in pursuit of America's Game... Eric, here are your kudos.  Your second Pearlacious World Series Moment has been duly noted.  And my journalistic responsibilities have been met. And we expect to see you at Camp next weekend.

The Rays must win tonight or tomorrow to bring the Series home to Tampa Bay.  Where The Trop can work her much more potent magic.

Rays Gearing Up For A Game Of Inches?

Pre-Game Pearls for tonight's must maintain momentum m-m-m-game. 

• Jonesin' for the Rays Walk Up Music during this road trip? There's a playlist at the bottom of the post ;-)
• BJ bounced back from a disappointing Game One, driving in what proved to be the winning run in the 4th.  The fielding tools of fans in Section 120 went untested in Game Two.
• But, Melvin Upton, you hustle your booty down the line every time. It's a game of inches and that inch might mean earn a World Series Ring.  Just ask Rocco. Almost punched out and drew a huge walk in a moment of umpire indecision.  Almost safe at home in a massive collision.  And how 'bout that beautiful double play catch/pick off combo catching Jason Werth too far off first base.  Game of inches. You never know when Werth is gonna serve up another bobble-drop on a routine play in right. Game of inches BJ. If Rocco can run like he might not see another World Series, so can you.  No style points for gliding on the basepaths. Especially the first 90 feet.
• Wicked weather predicted in Philly today.  Sounds like the worst might blow through by 9pm.  Or maybe not.  Could be a long night on the east coast.
• A rainout tonight might also muck up the Rays rotation.  Rays Index does a great job breaking that down. (http://www.raysindex.com/2008/10/world-series-rotation-rainout-could.html)
• Santa Rosa's Eric Bruntlett had his 15 minutes of fame getting the Phillies on the board with a solo pinch hit home run in Game Two. That'll be enough Eric. You don't need to be a hero to get an invite to Camp For A Cure.  
• Taylor Swift sings the National Anthem tonight.  Barely better than Tampa Bay's Back Street Boys.  Not by much. And I'm a country fan.
• Jonny Gomes the Spin Doctor.  All miked up for Game Three after his now famous flesh pressing with Obama.  The chatter that made it through was a spin on a Maddon quote last week. And it flopped. 
• Speaking of Joe Maddon, he was named Manager of the Year.  Amen. Exactly right. Here's a neat little tour of the Skipper's office courtesy of ESPN's Jim Caple.
  
  
  
• The Mad Australian, Grant Balfour is back on track. Pena and Longo need to ride that wave. The team whose bats wake up first might just win this thing.  The Phillies' are capable of much better than 1-28 with Runners In Scoring Position. 
• Jonesin for the Rays Walk Up Music? 

Really? Rays Phillies World Series A Ratings Bust?

The blogs are abuzz about the looming TV Ratings Bust that a Tampa Bay / Philadelphia World Series will bring.  Commenters by the dozen quip, "Who outside these two cities even cares?"

You can bet Major League Baseball and FOX were making room in the vault for a Pink Hat Nation (once known as the Boston Red Sox) and LA Dodgers matchup.  Tradition, 90 million years of drama, star studded camera angles... big buck$.  Even a Rays/Dodgers series would have play off starved fan appeal on two coasts.

But the Rays and the Phillies? The naysayers don't think that anyone outside those area codes knows a thing about 'em, much less care how it turns out.  While this matchup is not the cash cow it might have been, here are PTown's Points To Ponder when fickle fingers find the remote tomorrow night:

1. Good time to buy stock in West Coast Pizza Chains:  An 8pm East Coast start time means mama's gotta cook during the game.  Ain't gonna happen in this house.  Pizzicato, Pappa Murphy's, Old Chicago, and Mary's Pizza are programmed into the speed dialer.  4 games, 4 pizzas.  4,000 miles of cardio at the gym between games.  
2. Not one, but TWO players are repping the "707" in this series: Jonny Gomes does not have a lock on the love from fans to the north.  Eric Bruntlett, the Phillies starting shortstop, was acquired by the Phils last November. Eric, who lives in Santa Rosa, was t-h-i-s close to a karma filled coaching appearance at CampForACure until the Astros called to tell him his cleats would be waiting even further from home in 2008.  I'd say the commute was worth it.
3. America loves an underdog. And the baseball world is full of them.  The Rays "zero to hero" story has a lock on the whole Underdog thing.  But baseball is full of hometown kids made good. There will be 50 of them on the field this week. Each with a network guys they played ball with from Little League on up... with their own legion of fans.  The thrill of a World Series victory with a home town connection. That's got to be good for a point or two in the ratings. Woonsocketians, just a stone's throw from BeanTown know what I mean. (Thanks Bugs and Cranks)
4. "The dog ate my homework" only has a prayer of working on the East Coast: With a 5:00 start out west, there's still lots of time to git 'er done.  But back east, it's bedtime for the little guys before the game even starts. 
5. This series will feature baseball players, not movie stars:  Seriously, it's annoying as hell when the TV dudes eat an entire inning interviewing some Hollywood Hottie DURING THE WORLD SERIES?  But Tampa Bay has a few. Apologies in advance for the predictable cameo appearances of The Great Hulk Hogan and Mike Alstott.   Jonny, 707's Shock Jock, has become somewhat of a hybrid in his 26th Man Role. Half MLB Star, half Papparazi Photo Op.  But at least he's in the dugout.  But seriously Jonny, when you go to meet the president in a few weeks, borrow a shirt OK?

Photo: Getty Images