Baseball America ranked Memphis Autozone Park the best baseball park in the minor leagues.  I know that I’ve really enjoyed my experiences there.  If I had to describe it, I’d say that it has the look and feel of a major league park with a more relaxed and low-key atmosphere.  In any event, I found this part of the article really interesting:

However the Redbirds success paved the way for the Vancouver Grizzlies to relocate their NBA franchise in the fall of 2001. Chase said the club lost $1 million in corporate revenue to the Grizzlies. The increased competition to lure fans, media coverage and sponsorships—coupled with the altered economic landscape following the 9/11 attacks—resulted in a shortened grace period for the Redbirds.

How disappointed would you have to be as the proprietor of this ballpark to watch the Grizzlies sweep in and scoop up your hard fought corporate dollars and a significant portion of the disposal income in the area?  That has to be frustrating.

Now for your weekly Brett Wallace defense update:

After opening his Arizona State career as a first baseman, Wallace moved to the hot corner as a junior last spring. I asked several scouts about his defense at third base, and the initial response usually was, “He’s better than you’d think.” Then I’d ask, “But how good is he?” and the answer would range from adequate to below average.

He’s slumping a bit with his offense right now but I’d still expect him to force his way into Memphis at some point this year.

Matt Baker quick hits the problems with the Springfield bullpen.  I’m going to have to disagree with him.  I don’t see Samuel or Maiques being moved for another pitcher.  Unless one of them is hurt, they’re going to be given every chance to work out their issues on the mound during games.  They’re both good enough relief prospects to force that.

Quad Cities, much like the big league club’s game, was rained out.

Memphis 0, Oklahoma City 6

• Shane Robinson was 2-for-3 with a BB.
• The offense was stifled totaling 3 more base runners in addition to the Shane Robinson efforts above.
• The Bryan Anderson passed ball count stands at 2.
• Clayton Mortensen had a good outing.  He went 7 innings allowing 6 hits and 3 walks.  He struck out 5.  If the walk rates stay at their current levels, he’s going to struggle in the majors.  He’s not striking out as many batter as you’d like to see but he’s maintaining his strong groundball tendencies with 10:6 ratio in this effort.
• Josh Kinney came in for the 8th but struggled.  He walked 2 batters and allowed 1 hit while tallying 3 ER.  Charlie Manning offered him little help allowing an inherited runner to score before allowing his own ER.
• Brian Barton, aerospace engineer, is now a PCL ejectee.

Springfield 8, Midland 12

• Jim Rapoport was 2-for-4 with a triple and a walk.  He scored 3 runs.
• Donovan Solano went 2-for-4 with a walk.
• Brett Wallace was 0-for-2 with 3 BBs.  An alternate theory for Wallace’s struggles: he’s expanding the strikezone because opposing pitchers aren’t giving him anything to hit.
• Tony Cruz was 0-for-2 with 3 BBs.
• Mike Folli was 2-for-4.
• Tyler Herron retired only 2 batters.  Not sure if he got hurt or was just pulled because he was getting destroyed.  He walked 2 batters, struck out 1, allowed 4 hits and 4 ER.
• Tyler Hearne is putting his Mexican skills to good use.  In 3.2 innings he allowed 3 hits and 1 ER in 3.2 innings.  He struck out 4 and walked 2.  He also recorded a 6-to-1 GO:AO ratio.
• Pete Parise got tagged for as many runs as he recorded outs: 5.
• Kenny Maiques struggled mightly.  He walked 4 in his inning of work for 2 ER.
• Elvis Hernandez allowed 1 hit and 1 walk in his inning of work.

Palm Beach 3, Charlotte 6

• Curt Smith hit a 3-run HR.  He struck out in the other 3 ABs.
• Jose Garcia went 2-for-3.
• Palm Beach was shut down by Darin Downs who tossed a complete game 6-hitter.  He struck out 7 and I have no idea if this just a fantastic pitching performance or a good prospect that shut down the Cardinals.
• Brian Broderick allowed 7 hits and 4 ER in 4.1 innings.
• Blake King couldn’t help out his starter so after allowing 2 hits and 1 walk Sam Freeman came in to strand 2 runners.
• Lance Lynn looked good for 3 innings striking out 4 and allowing 3 hits and 1 ER.
• Adam Reifer allowed 1 hit and struck out 1 in a scoreless frame.

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 19th, 2009 at 11:45 pm and is filed under Daily Farm Reports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.