Well, ladies and gentlemen...this day has been a long time coming. And, no, I don't just mean the end of a long winter. For the Fleetwood Walkers, it runs much deeper than that.
Rather, it is now time for two-and-a-half years of diligent rebuilding to (hopefully) begin reaping dividends. It is time for all of our draft picks and free agents and trade acquisitions to finally put Fleetwood back on the map. Simply put, it is time to win.
Glancing at my starting lineup for BRASSball's Opening Day 2006, one can see a case study in my retooling process:
1) Marcus Giles (2B): A holdover from the last winning Fleetwood team (2003). Thanks for your patience, Marcus...we think it will be worth the wait. (For what it's worth, I originally acquired Giles back "In the Year 2000" by trading away one-and-a-half seasons of Mariano Rivera.)
2) Jim Edmonds (CF): A former Walker who escaped before the Dark Years (2004-2005), but has now returned. I was able to lure him away from division foe Cincinnati with my deep--but shrinking--bank account (beefed up by years of free-agent passiveness).
3) Derrek Lee (1B): My big off-season trade acquisition. I picked him up from Tinley by trading away two homegrown players, Edwin Encarnacion and Jae Seo. Ironically, I'll be facing both of these former Walkers to start the 2006 season.
4) Miguel Cabrera (3B): A saw this guy in person at Low-A Kane County when he was just a teenager. I'm much happier seeing him bat cleanup for me now, though.
5) David Wright (DH): A player I wanted back in the 2003 draft, but failed to select early enough. Luckily, I was able to make amends in 2004...again, by trading away two homegrown players (Kazuo Matsui and Kevin Mench).
6) Jermaine Dye (RF): My most recent acquisition, also from Cincinnati. I was able to pry him away primarily with another cash outlay.
7) David DeJesus (LF): A first-round draft pick back in 2004. So far, so good.
8) Ramon Castro (C): Part of my three-headed catching platoon along with Javier Valentin and J.D. Closser. I picked up Castro (plus Luis Matos and a draft pick) from Metropolis back in '03 for Jorge Posada (one of my first "rebuilding" moves). Interestingly, I also picked up Valentin from Metropolis one year later for Tom Wilson and some pocket change.
9) Neifi Perez (SS): Oh, Neifi. What's a guy like you doing on a team like this? Seriously, Neifi is backing up Bobby Crosby, who will be sitting a lot versus right-handed pitchers. As for Crosby, he was a 6th-round draft pick for me back in 2003. Not bad.
Mark Buehrle (Starting Pitcher). I traded for Buehrle's free-agency rights this off-season...again, with Cincinnati. Two pitching prospects (Gavin Floyd, Aaron Cook) and $28 million later, here he stands...toeing the rubber on Opening Day. I may have overpaid, but I think I've earned that right.But enough retrospection. On to the game...
On paper, Fleetwood was a clear favorite over the Tinley Redbirds on this day. The Walkers were playing at home, had the better starting pitcher (Buehrle vs. Rodrigo Lopez), and had a stronger lineup.
But that’s why they don’t play the games on paper.
It quickly became apparent that we were in for a pitchers’ duel. Despite Fleetwood’s strong lineup, Lopez was on top of his game. He did not allow a baserunner until the 4th inning, and did not allow a hit until the 6th inning. Luckily for Fleetwood, Buehrle matched this effort with scoreless frames of his own.
Finally, in the bottom of the 6th, Fleetwood got on the board thanks to a sacrifice fly by Miguel Cabrera. After 6 innings, Fleetwood now led 1-0.
After a scoreless 7th inning, Tinley mounted a rally in the top of the 8th. Rookie Matt Murton led off with a single (his second of the day). Humberto Cota followed with a double to left-center. Unfortunately for Tinley, though, Murton tried to score from 1st on the double and was thrown out at home by Jim Edmonds. Buehrle regrouped and escaped the inning without allowing a run.
Despite Buehrle's eight scoreless innings, Fleetwood manager Rube Foster brought in relief pitcher Derrick Turnbow to pitch the 9th inning. Rewarding his manager’s confidence, Turnbow struck out the side for the save. Final score: Fleetwood 1, Tinley 0.
W: Buehrle. L: Lopez. SV: Turnbow.
Tomorrow’s matchup: Tinley (Erik Bedard) at Fleetwood (Greg Maddux).
BOXSCORE: 2006 Tinley Redbirds At 2006 Fleetwood Walkers 4/1/2006
Gm 1: Fleetwood wins a low-scoring season opener; Buehrle & Turnbow star.
Redbirds AB R H RBI AVG Walkers AB R H RBI AVG
R.Durham 2B 2 0 1 0 .500 M.Giles 2B 3 1 1 0 .333
R.Adams SS 4 0 1 0 .250 J.Edmonds CF 2 0 0 0 .000
R.Ibanez RF 4 0 0 0 .000 D.Lee 1B 4 0 0 0 .000
B.Broussard 1B 4 0 0 0 .000 M.Cabrera 3B 1 0 0 1 .000
G.Anderson LF 4 0 0 0 .000 D.Wright DH 2 0 0 0 .000
E.Encarnacion 3B 3 0 2 0 .667 J.Dye RF 3 0 0 0 .000
M.Murton DH 3 0 2 0 .667 D.Dejesus LF 3 0 0 0 .000
H.Cota C 3 0 1 0 .333 R.Castro C 3 0 0 0 .000
A-T.Graffanino PR 0 0 0 0 ---- N.Perez SS 2 0 0 0 .000
B-R.Barajas C 0 0 0 0 ---- C-J.Phelps PH 1 0 1 01.000
J.Repko CF 3 0 0 0 .000 D-B.Crosby PR,SS 0 0 0 0 ----
-- -- -- --- -- -- -- ---
Totals 30 0 7 0 Totals 24 1 2 1
A-Pinch Ran For Cota In 8th Inning
B-Subbed Defensively (C ) For Graffanino In 8th Inning
C-Pinch Hit For Perez In 8th Inning
D-Pinch Ran For Phelps In 8th Inning
Redbirds........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 7 0
Walkers......... 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 - 1 2 0
Redbirds (0-1) IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA SCORESHEET
R.Lopez LOSS(0-1) 7 2 1 1 4 2 0 1.29 A1 D1
R.Springer 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 D2
Totals 8 2 1 1 4 2 0
Walkers (1-0) IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA SCORESHEET
M.Buehrle WIN(1-0) 8 7 0 0 0 4 0 0.00 A1 D2
D.Turnbow SAVE(1st) 1 0 0 0 0 3 0 0.00 D3
Totals 9 7 0 0 0 7 0
ATTENDANCE- 19,144 DATE- Tuesday, April 1st 2006 TIME- Day WEATHER- Average
T- 2:47
LEFT ON BASE- Redbirds: 5 Walkers: 5
DOUBLE PLAYS- Redbirds: 1 Walkers: 2
DOUBLES- H.Cota(1st), J.Phelps(1st)
SACRIFICE FLIES- M.Cabrera
WALKS- J.Edmonds-2, M.Cabrera, D.Wright
HIT BY PITCH- R.Durham-2, M.Giles
STRIKE OUTS- R.Ibanez, B.Broussard-2, G.Anderson-2, M.Murton, H.Cota, D.Dejesus,
R.Castro
GIDP- R.Adams, H.Cota, D.Lee
BALKS- M.Buehrle
WILD PITCHES- R.Lopez
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