Tag: AutoZone Park

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From My Seat Sports

A (Slightly Premature) Redbirds Season Wrapup

The 2016 Memphis Redbirds concluded their home schedule with Sunday’s loss to the Nashville Sounds. They have eight road games to play (four in Oklahoma City, four at Round Rock), but won’t reach the Pacific Coast League playoffs for a second year in a row. A few thoughts as we near the end of the Redbirds’ 19th season in Memphis.

• It would be hard to script a better feel-good weekend to conclude the season at AutoZone Park. On Friday — the day after a walk-off victory — the Redbirds greeted the 10 millionth fan to enter the gates at Third (now B.B. King) and Union. (The prizes presented this lucky family would fill a small warehouse.) Better yet, former president Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, visited the ballpark as part of a promotion for Habitat for Humanity. Then Saturday, the stadium drew its largest crowd of the season with announced attendance of 11,041.

• The Redbirds have suited up 56 players this season, matching a record set in 2002. But it isn’t so much the men who have played at AutoZone Park this summer who have written the season’s story. It’s more a tale of those who did not. Last March, the Redbirds’ middle-infield appeared to be Aledmys Diaz (shortstop) and Greg Garcia (second base). But when St. Louis Cardinal shortstop Jhonny Peralta broke his left thumb late in spring training, Diaz found himself with a promotion and proceeded to hit .312 for the Cards until he had his own digit damaged by an inside pitch in late July. When incumbent second-baseman Kolten Wong struggled in St. Louis, Garcia was called to help spur the offense and has since become an integral — and versatile — member of the Cardinal bench. Outfielder Jeremy Hazelbaker would have been a middle-of-the-order presence in the Memphis lineup, but Tommy Pham went down with an injury on Opening Day. Since making his big-league debut, Hazelbaker has drilled 11 home runs for St. Louis, including four as a pinch-hitter.

Then there’s the pitching. The Cardinals’ top prospect, Alex Reyes, sat out the season’s first seven weeks, having been suspended for testing positive for marijuana. He made only 14 starts for the Redbirds before being called up to help the Cardinal bullpen. The system’s second-ranked starting pitcher, Luke Weaver, made a solitary start for Memphis (August 8th) before being promoted to St. Louis after Michael Wacha went to the disabled list with a shoulder injury. It’s a form of fantasy baseball, but imagine this Redbirds team with Reyes and Weaver making 40 percent of the starts. It’s highly unlikely they’d be 11 games under .500 and in the cellar of their division had such a scenario met with reality.

• The Redbirds are again near the bottom of the PCL in attendance, having sold 324,581 tickets for the season, an average of 4,704 per game (ahead of only Colorado Springs). The numbers don’t jibe with a stadium annually ranked among the finest in minor-league baseball, and in a city that has shown a passion for sports, from the high school level to the NBA. What are the factors that weigh on the AZP turnstile count?

This season’s schedule was odd. From April 15th to July 3rd, Memphis had but one home stand longer than four games. That’s a lot of starting and stopping when it comes to stadium operations, sales efforts, and building any momentum when it comes to engaging fans with the product on the field. As mentioned above, the team’s top stars this season were two pitchers who started a total of 15 games, only seven of them at home. And concession prices remain steep, as much as $8 for a beer or hamburger. Fireworks on Saturday night continue to attract larger crowds. Theme nights — from Star Wars to Christmas in July — add some color to the concourse. And the right promotion will draw crowds: More than 9,000 attended a pair of games where Yadier Molina jerseys and Adam Wainwright bobbleheads were distributed. But Tuesday night in May? Wednesday night in August? These are the white whales of minor-league baseball.

The Redbirds hit the 9,000 mark seven times this season after never hosting such a crowd in 2015, and total attendance was up more than 15 percent this season. So growth is evident. Can it be sustained?

• Next year will bring the 20th season of Redbirds baseball in Memphis. The anniversary would be a nice occasion for the club to start celebrating its history, and in a manner that would remind local baseball fans — for posterity’s sake — how glorious the team’s history has been at times. The Pujols Seat stands regally on the rightfield bluff, where Albert’s championship-winning home run landed way back in September 2000. Beyond that, there is nothing visual that would tell a casual fan that baseball was played at AutoZone Park the day before he or she walked through the gates.

Up in St. Louis, the parent Cardinals fly 11 flags representing each of the franchise’s World Series championships. The 11 years are painted as pennants above the home team’s dugout. Here in Memphis, you can find acknowledgment of the Redbirds’ two PCL championships (2000 and 2009) on a wall next to the batting cage, below the main concourse, and only with a credential for access.

The franchise’s lone retired number — Stubby Clapp’s 10 — was unceremoniously erased from the bullpen wall when the Cardinals retired the same number to honor Hall of Fame manager Tony LaRussa. Five former Redbirds have been honored as MVP of a League Championship Series: Adam Kennedy, Pujols, Placido Polanco, David Freese, and Michael Wacha. There’s no indication any of these stars once played in a Redbirds uniform. Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina have started more games as the Cardinal battery than any two men in the storied franchise’s history. They also played together in Memphis in 2004, as thousands who lined up for those promotional items well know. It’s time casual baseball fans are reminded about two decades of Redbirds history. Who knows? They might become more than casual fans.

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From My Seat Sports

Redbirds Report Increased Attendance at AZP

CREDIT: MLB.com

MLB.com

Alex Reyes

It is the ever-present riddle of minor-league baseball: Does winning matter? I’ve sat in AutoZone Park for a Pacific Coast League playoff game — featuring a Redbirds team that obviously did its share of winning — with fewer than 3,000 fans in the stadium. On the other hand, I’ve been in the same ballpark on a Saturday night — fireworks! — in June, the team well out of contention, and more than 10,000 fans in attendance.

So, no, the business of Memphis Redbirds baseball does not require the team to win for profitability. (The only guarantee of profitability in the minor leagues would be seventy Saturday games, all of them followed by fireworks.) With almost two months of the 2016 season now in the books, Redbirds attendance is up, by one measure 23 percent. The team sold an average of 3,631 tickets through the first 20 games of 2015 and through 20 openings this season, it was 4,487. (This year’s figure ranked 12th in the 16-team Pacific Coast League. A year ago, Memphis was last with an average of 4,037.)

Better yet, on April 23rd (a Saturday, with fireworks of course) the Redbirds enjoyed their first sellout (10,171) since the dramatic stadium renovations prior to the 2015 season. Three Saturdays later, ticket sales hit 9,038, a figure the team never reached a year ago. Then 9,756 last Saturday. (In 2015, the Redbirds didn’t sell as many as 8,000 tickets to a game until July 3rd and never topped 9,000.) The increased attendance figures are also passing the eye test. Concession lines were uncomfortably long at times during each of those big Saturday nights. It’s one thing to sell tickets. The Redbirds have to get those ticket-buyers into the stadium and in line for hot dogs.

What about the baseball these larger crowds are seeing? Through Sunday, the Redbirds were 17-23, five games behind first-place Round Rock in their division of the PCL. Memphis is dead last in the PCL in runs scored (158 through Sunday), but pitching has kept the Redbirds in games (3.99 ERA, third in the PCL). If the AutoZone Park box office continues to hum this summer, on-field improvement would be merely a bonus.

• Redbird fans — at least those who track prospects — have been spoiled by recent Memphis rosters. Stephen Piscotty spent three months last year in the Redbirds outfield. In 2014, Randal Grichuk hit 25 homers for Memphis before earning a late-season promotion to St. Louis. Kolten Wong starred at second base for the 2013 Redbirds while Michael Wacha and Carlos Martinez combined to win 10 games for Memphis. Matt Adams led the 2012 Redbirds with 18 home runs and Matt Carpenter hit .300 for the 2011 team. You can find all seven of these players currently filling prominent roles for the Cardinals.

But good luck identifying the next player to make the leap from AutoZone Park to Busch Stadium. Infielder Greg Garcia has already made an impact with the Cardinals — he had six hits in 10 at-bats off the bench in April — but lost his spot in St. Louis with the emergence of Aledmys Diaz, an early candidate for National League Rookie of the Year. When shortstop Jhonny Peralta returns from hand surgery, Garcia’s return to the big leagues will get that much steeper. Outfielder Tommy Pham is (again) rehabbing after an early season oblique strain, but Jeremy Hazelbaker has played the role of fourth outfielder quite well (seven home runs) for the Cardinals.

As for players like Dean Anna, Charlie Tilson, Anthony Garcia, or Mike Ohlman, there would have to be significant turnover in St. Louis for them to be considered big-league options. Among pitchers, only closer Sam Tuivailala and his radar-breaking fastball appear ready for prime time. Dean Kiekhefer made his major-league debut earlier this month when Seth Maness was placed on the disabled list. He’ll find innings hard to come by in a Cardinal bullpen packed with Trevor Rosenthal, Kevin Siegrist, and Seung-hwan Oh.

The biggest name on the Redbirds’ roster is 21-year-old hurler Alex Reyes, just back from a 50-game suspension for marijuana use. Reyes is the seventh-ranked prospect in all of baseball (according to Baseball America), and the only Cardinal farmhand in the top 100. He struck out eight Fresno Grizzlies in four innings Sunday, while not allowing a run and teasing 100 mph on the radar gun. A few more outings like that — along with continued face-plants in the St. Louis rotation — and Reyes could find a promotion slip in his locker.

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From My Seat Sports

Craig Unger on the Latest Sale of the Memphis Redbirds

Just two years ago, the St. Louis Cardinals made Memphis officially “Cardinal Country” by purchasing the franchise’s Triple-A affiliate. In a deal announced Monday and expected to be finalized in early April, the Cardinals have just as suddenly sold a majority share in the Memphis Redbirds. The new owner, Peter Freund (pronounced “froind”), is president of Trinity Packaging Corporation and calls New York home. Freund owns a pair of Class-A franchises (Williamsport in the New York-Penn League and Charleston in the South Atlantic League) and — gasp! — a minority interest in the New York Yankees.

Memphis Redbirds GM Craig Unger

Redbirds president and general manager Craig Unger is still calling the shots at AutoZone Park and will be for the foreseeable future. I asked Craig for some early impressions of the Redbirds’ sale and new ownership.

Were you surprised by the deal? Was there general surprise among your staff?

Anytime there’s a sale, there’s an element of surprise. Peter came in and was very excited about the opportunity here in Memphis, and excited by what the Cardinals had been able to do over the last two seasons. He sees a real opportunity to get involved in a great city, and great sports city. It’s exciting for us to see his enthusiasm for the Memphis Redbirds.

Had you met Mr. Freund before he approached the Cardinals?

I did not meet him until this process was in order. I’m familiar with the two other teams he has ownership in, what they do. I had talked to their GMs on completely unrelated items. One of their group reached out today to say welcome to the family and “This will be great for you guys.”

We look at this as bringing the heart and soul of the Redbirds back to Memphis. There were a lot of shared resources that we had with St. Louis. Some of the business operation was coming out of St. Louis. This is an opportunity for us to bring everything back. It will be a small business being run out of Memphis, out of AutoZone Park. It will be an opportunity for us to further connect with the local business community and fans. Peter’s excited to come here and meet the fans, sponsors, media.

Looking at things from the Cardinals’ standpoint, it almost looks like a house-flip, it happened so quickly. Considering the sagging attendance last season and ballpark renovations (which cost more than $6 million), did the Cardinals make a profit?

The financial details are between Peter and [Cardinals owner] Bill DeWitt. The Cardinals came in to stabilize a situation that was in desperate need of stabilization. There was a great deal of risk of the former bondholders just giving up on the stadium. There needed to be some upgrades, from the playing surface to upstairs.

This investment by Peter is a real strategic partnership. The Cardinals’ big animal is St. Louis. That’s where they have to focus. Having someone come in with a track record in minor-league baseball, being engaged with what’s going on at this facility . . . that is where this became very attractive. The Cardinals could retain interest in the organization and that was important to them. It was important to Peter.

How will the sale impact stadium operations? Your staff?

After this deal is closed, everything will operated centrally, here at AutoZone Park. There are some accounting functions that have been run out of St. Louis, human resources, IT services. These are all things we’ll bring in-house. There will probably be some staffing up as we unbundle some shared resources. We’ll have to build infrastructure and personnel to support a fully functional baseball team and all that goes with it.

What about the fan experience? Will the sale impact what a fan sees at AutoZone Park, as early as April?

I don’t think there will be anything right away that they can put their finger on. The fan experience is something we look at constantly. It’s centric to what Peter’s objectives are: improving the fan experience. He has ideas from two other minor-league teams to bring in and build upon. I think what you’ll see is a longer-term commitment to having more fun at the ballpark.

We want to increase the fun but not lose the connection to baseball. You have to serve both sides: the fans here to have nachos and hot dogs, and those who are keeping score and really in tune with the players, even those for visiting teams. You have to service both sides.

What would you say to a longtime Cardinal fan who’s skeptical about a man with a partial ownership in the New York Yankees owning the Memphis Redbirds?

This will remain the Cardinals’ affiliate. Having the Cardinals’ ownership here is important. Peter is very much in tune with that. He understands how important the Cardinals are in this market. And that’s why a continuing [minority] ownership for the Cardinals was critical for this.

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From My Seat Sports

Frank Gives Thanks

I have so much to be thankful for; not quite enough room on the Internet. But I can start with a column on blessings from the world of sports.

• I’m grateful for the annual Martin Luther King Day game at FedExForum. It’s astonishing to me that this game isn’t televised nationally on ABC (or at least ESPN). A basketball game that celebrates tolerance and decency in mankind? We need more of these. Glad this one belongs to Memphis.

• I’m grateful for Phil Cannon and his extraordinary courage and grace in the face of cancer. One year after another, the FedEx St. Jude Classic sets a standard for professionalism and hospitality beyond the reach of your average PGA event. That’s Phil’s legacy.

• I’m grateful for “The Mask Game.”

• I’m grateful for American Pharoah. Truth be told, I’d given up on seeing a Triple Crown winner. The abundance of thoroughbred breeding and trainers bypassing the first two races to prep for the Belmont seemed to preclude such a three-year-old lightning strike. So glad I was wrong.

• I’m grateful for the impossible debate over which of the Grizzlies’ “core four” will have his number retired first. (It will be Zach Randolph.)

• I’m grateful for Justin Fuente and his “1-0” plan. It’s worked more often than not.

• I’m grateful for a visit to AutoZone Park by St. Louis Cardinals hero Willie McGee. Influence across baseball generations is a beautiful thing to see.

• I’m grateful for a man named Jeremy Hazelbaker. And his considerable talents on a baseball field.

• I’m grateful for memories of the leftfield bluff at AutoZone Park. The Redbirds have done so many things right since arriving here 17 years ago, but shutting off that bluff (after shaving it down) was a strikeout. My daughters grew up on that grassy slope (and its neighboring playground), as countless other Mid-South children did. In my mind, it was the best park (within a park) in the city. Last seen with a pickup truck and a target for winning said truck.

• I’m grateful for Josh Pastner’s optimism. We live in a cynical, sobering world. Find positive energy where, when, and however you can.

• I’m grateful for Jake Elliott on fourth down.

• I’m grateful for an NBA Finals with the cities of Oakland and Cleveland represented. It will happen, Memphis.

• I’m grateful for the Memphis Open and the survival of professional tennis at the Racquet Club. There are far more NBA and NFL teams in America than ATP events, making a week in February distinctly “big-league” for local tennis fans. Now, if we could just talk Roger Federer into a visit . . .

• I’m grateful for reaching a place where a three-game losing streak by the Memphis Tigers (football team!) seems painful.

• I’m grateful for the White Station Middle School soccer program. Over the last six years, I’ve seen two little girls grow into young ladies (and young leaders) under the guidance of coach Tom Pickering. A soccer field was merely the setting.

• I’m grateful for the time I got to spend this year with members of the 1984-85 Memphis State basketball team. Unforgettable group.

• I’m grateful for Paxton Lynch’s mobility. And his arm strength. And his field vision. So are NFL scouts.

• I’m grateful for the hope Dedric Lawson has restored for Memphis Tiger basketball. An extraordinary, precocious talent. May his drive to improve and develop match his drives to the rim.

• I’m grateful for the local Race for the Cure, and its new home downtown at AutoZone Park. We’re winning the fight against breast cancer, but many more miles to run.

• I’m grateful for the Flyer’s loyal readers and advertisers, who are welcome at our family table every year, one after another.

Happy Thanksgiving everybody.

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Letters To The Editor Opinion

What They Said …

CREDIT: Greg Cravens

Greg Cravens

On Toby Sells’ cover story “The Urban Child Investment”

But … bu … it’s all for the childruns! Must be good!

ALJ2

ALJ2,

If they threw in puppy adoptions, they might have something there. They could charge billable hours per paw.

crackoamerican

About Jackson Baker’s Politics Blog post “GOP Luminaries Play the Trump Card at Local Banquet” …

[Trump’s] the best thing that ever happened to the Democrats. The vast majority of moderate Republicans know he’s a nut, and they won’t be voting for nut. Gonna hand the election to Hillary.

Chester Jones

Norris says “the people” want straight talk. No they don’t. Trump tells this cohort of the GOP-base what they want to hear: They want to know it’s not their “fault;” it’s the fault of the Other. They want their fears and biases confirmed, and that’s what Trump does to a fault. So, no. They most assuredly don’t want actual “straight talk.”

Packrat

About Frank Murtaugh’s From My Seat post “Memphis Redbirds 2015: Memorable Season or Not?” …

I agree with Frank that it’s questionable at best that the changes made to [AutoZone Park] have improved the park. I certainly don’t think taking away the playground is an improvement. Not only was it the one free thing for small children to enjoy, but it was definitely one of my son’s favorite aspects of going to games. … I also agree that while the new bluffs put fans closer to the game, I fear it’s only a matter of time before a toddler or small child gets beaned by a line-drive foul ball. Fans were farther away from the action on the old bluff, but nobody seemed to mind, and the travel time was long enough for balls headed out there that parents were able to get their kids out of the way. And, lastly, one change that, to me, is definitely not an improvement: the moving of the ticket takers all the way up to the entrance to the stadium versus where they had always been before at the plaza entrance. While seemingly a minor change, at more than one game I went to this year, myself or someone I was with was hit up for money by guys IN THE PLAZA! Being solicited on the sidewalk outside of the stadium is one thing, but this is the kind of experience that might make surburbanites swear off ever coming to a Redbirds game again.

tsunamiroja

About Chris Davis’ Fly on the Wall story “Clean Sweep” …

In the article “Clean Sweep” featured in “The Fly on the Wall,” a woman sweeping the steps of Idlewild Presbyterian Church was highlighted, along with the fact that she was wearing no clothes. “Nobody has satisfactorily explained what she was doing with the milk crate or the bag of Kingsford charcoal pictured below.”

I will explain it quite simply: mental illness, alcoholism, homelessness. And she has a name. Her name is Marilyn.

At Idlewild, we have loved her, fed her, counseled with her, tried to refer her for some help, cautioned her, and have even had to use “tough love” at times. For we dare to believe that beneath all that brokeness is a beloved child of God.

It was disheartening, even shameful at times, to hear the ridicule and the laughter that this evoked, for it is not funny. The homeless and the mentally ill are the lepers of our day, and they are ignored at best, scapegoated, and abused by a narcissistic culture at worst.

Jesus was as clear as day toward the end of his life when he told a parable about what was truly important. “When did we see you hungry … or naked?” Today I hear him asking: “When did we see you mentally ill and homeless? As you did it unto the least of these, our brothers and sisters, you did it to me.”

For we are all broken in one way or the other. Some are able, with our privilege, to hide it better than others.

Stephen R. Montgomery

Pastor, Idlewild Presbyterian Church

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From My Seat Sports

Memphis Redbirds 2015: Memorable Season or Not?

Every year as September approaches, I find myself considering how the soon-ending Memphis Redbirds season will be remembered. The inaugural campaign of 1998 had Vince Coleman, J.D. Drew, and visions of a new downtown ballpark. There were the championships seasons of 2000 and 2009, of course, Albert Pujols and David Freese becoming heroes in Memphis before St. Louis knew their names. Just two years ago, Oscar Taveras, Michael Wacha, and Kolten Wong made AutoZone Park prospect central. So how will the 2015 season stand out in the history books?

Jeremy Hazelbaker

• The easiest name to remember will be Jeremy Hazelbaker’s, and not just for the way it makes your tongue dance when you say it. The 28-year-old outfielder was released by the Dodgers organization on May 1st, having hit .245 in 14 games for Double-A Tulsa. The Cardinals signed him two weeks later and assigned him to Double-A Springfield, where he found his stroke and hit .308 in 40 games before earning a promotion to Memphis. With the Redbirds, Hazelbaker has hit .303 (through Sunday) and driven in 35 runs in just 44 games while manning rightfield on a nightly basis. He plays the game hard, does little things on the bases right (there actually are no “little things” in baseball), and seems to be knocking on the door of his major-league debut. Let’s hope the Dodgers get to see it.

• Forty-five players. The Redbirds have suited up 45 baseball players in five months, a profound ripple effect of injuries shelving the likes of Jon Jay, Matt Adams, and Adam Wainwright in St. Louis (and Matt Holliday, and Randal Grichuk, etc.). This has to have made first-year manager Mike Shildt’s job especially challenging. Is Tommy Pham available to play centerfield tonight … or filling a vacancy up I-55? Where can Tyler Lyons fit into the rotation? Wait … he’s in St. Louis making a spot start. The roster turnover in Memphis makes it especially hard for fans to connect with the players they’re cheering. Had Holliday and Jay stayed healthy, for instance, Stephen Piscotty would still be starring at AutoZone Park. The Redbirds may have just two players with 100 hits this season (Dean Anna and Rafael Ortega) after seeing five such players in 2013 and 2014.

• Despite the roster fluctuation, the Redbirds recovered from a rotten start (14-23 on May 17th) and remained in contention for a playoff spot until a six-game losing streak this month derailed the pennant chase. They reeled off a pair of eight-game winning streaks despite not having any real thunder in the middle of the batting order. (The club’s leading RBI total — currently 51 by Xavier Scruggs — will be its lowest in nine years.) Solid starting pitching from Nick Greenwood, Tim Cooney, and, when he was here, Tyler Lyons kept Memphis competitive against teams with stronger attacks. (Cooney’s mid-summer appendectomy was a serious blow.) Had Marco Gonzales been healthy (he’s started 10 games for the Redbirds), the gap between Memphis and first-place Round Rock might be considerably less.

• On a personal level, the 2015 season marked the end of my daughters’ childhoods at AutoZone Park. The closing of the leftfield bluff and the playground adjacent to that bluff erased the physical remnants of at least two Memphians’ earliest memories of Redbirds baseball. And I’m not sure the ballpark is improved by the alterations. The two mini-bluffs around each foul pole are better than the often-empty seats they replaced, but they aren’t as open as the former big bluff, and not quite as safe, with foul balls — line-drive foul balls — finding their way to these landing zones regularly. The stadium’s footprint needed to be reduced. Here’s hoping young families can still make as many memories there as mine did.

• The empty seats at AutoZone Park had to be a shock to the system to the franchise’s new owners. The Cardinals have won so steadily since the turn of the century, and draw 3.5 million fans to Busch Stadium as though it’s a civic obligation to attend baseball games in downtown St. Louis. Alas, with four home games left on the schedule, the Redbirds are dead last in the Pacific Coast League in average attendance (4,050). And this is a significant drop from the figure a year ago: 5,693 (ninth in the PCL). The model for business at Third and Union clearly needs some adjusting. Concession prices are steep for minor-league action. Having heard rumors of a $5 beer in the stadium (standard price: $8), I spent half an hour at a game in late July asking vendors where I could find such a deal. No one knew. If a fan can’t get much more than popcorn for $5, that fan may reconsider bringing a group to see a game at dinner time. Entire sections of empty seats on a Tuesday night can scream louder than fireworks on Saturday night.

• The Cardinals would not own baseball’s best record (78-45 through Sunday) were it not for contributions — large and small — from Piscotty, Lyons, Cooney, Pham, and Greg Garcia, all players who have appeared more at AutoZone Park this summer than Busch Stadium. Ultimately, this is the measuring stick for any minor-league season, particularly at the Triple-A level. Did the team help the parent club succeed? If St. Louis returns to the World Series, the 2015 Memphis Redbirds season will indeed be especially memorable.

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From My Seat Sports

The Memphis Redbirds’ Revival

Eight-game winning streaks can transform a baseball season. Just ask the Memphis Redbirds. After losing the first game of a double-header to Omaha at AutoZone Park on May 17th, the St. Louis Cardinals’ Triple-A affiliate found itself slogging along with a record of 14-23, last in the Pacific Coast League in batting average, runs scored, and (perhaps most deflating) attendance. But starting that very Sunday — with a 4-1 win over the Storm Chasers in the second game of the double-header — the Redbirds have been rolling, earning their eighth consecutive win at Fresno Monday night. Memphis is still a game shy of .500 (22-23) and trails Round Rock by six-and-a-half games in its division of the PCL. If Memorial Day is the first mile marker for measuring a baseball team’s strengths, the 2015 Redbirds have gained plenty over the last week.

What went wrong over the season’s first six weeks? There are plenty of new faces in uniform for the Redbirds, as there is every season in the minor leagues. (Welcome home, Jacob Wilson.) But the team also features veterans who contributed significantly for a division champion in 2014: pitchers Tim Cooney and Zach Petrick, rightfielder Stephen Piscotty, middle-infielder Greg Garcia, and first-baseman Xavier Scruggs.

Based on their numbers a year ago, Piscotty (the Cardinals’ third-ranked prospect) and Scruggs should be this team’s run-producers. Scruggs drove in 87 runs in 2014, his first season facing Triple-A pitching, and had a slash line of .286/.370/.494 (batting average/on-base percentage/slugging percentage). This year, the X-Man has 21 RBIs in 39 games, his averages having dropped to .219/.369/.477. A year ago, Piscotty drove in 69 runs with a slash line of .288/.355/.406. This season: 20 RBIs and .235/.343/.451. The Cardinals have tasked Piscotty with developing his power stroke (note the increase in slugging percentage) and the Stanford alum is already more than halfway to his 2014 home run total (9) with 6. If Piscotty and Scruggs find consistent strokes as the temperature rises, the Redbirds could threaten the Express at the top of the American Southern Division.

A pair of veteran acquisitions — Ty Kelly (.197 batting average) and Dean Anna (.233) — hasn’t made anyone forget Kolten Wong or Randal Grichuk. Seeking an offensive boost, the Redbirds released 31-year-old Scott Moore on May 18th to make room for Jacob Wilson, the former Bartlett High School and University of Memphis star who, with Ed Easley of Olive Branch, has added meaning to the “home” team at AutoZone Park. Wilson homered in his first Triple-A game and has hit .238 over his first seven games with Memphis. Most importantly, the Redbirds’ starting pitching has stabilized during the winning streak, with Petrick, Tyler Lyons, and Nick Greenwood following Cooney in the rotation. (Top prospect Marco Gonzales is again on the disabled list with shoulder discomfort.)

As for the sagging attendance, the weeknight numbers should improve now that schools have closed for the summer. And Memphis is the only PCL city also home to an NBA team that reached the second round of the playoffs. Perhaps enough Grizzly fans will need a warm-weather sports fix to help the franchise escape the PCL’s attendance cellar. In the meantime, general manager Craig Unger and the new Cardinal brass at Third and Union face the challenge of filling empty suites (even with a reduction in number after the massive club-level renovation, some suites remain unoccupied) and convincing casual fans that minor-league baseball is premium entertainment.

• Conventional wisdom says players don’t sell tickets to minor-league baseball games. But there’s a slugger currently wearing a Redbirds uniform you might consider seeing before he hangs up his long-worn spikes. Dan Johnson — signed by Memphis on May 4th — played his first professional game in 2001, and his first Triple-A game (for Sacramento) in 2003. Over his 15 pro seasons, the 35-year-old Johnson has appeared in 431 big-league games with five teams. But he’s closing in on his 1,300th minor-league game. Remarkably, Johnson has been MVP of both Triple-A leagues (the PCL in 2004 and the International League in 2010). He’s hit 241 home runs in the bushes (182 at the Triple-A level). Johnson is Crash Davis minus the chest protector and Annie Savoy. Find time to visit Third and Union, buy a cold drink (however expensive), and give this baseball player a hand for playing the game he loves.

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From My Seat Sports

Frank’s Thanks 2014

It’s a week for counting blessings. I’ve got my share, to say the least, including some from the world of sports. Here are a few that stand out this year. (And Happy Thanksgiving.)

• I’m thankful for Justin Fuente. This line is getting longer and longer.

• I’m thankful for new life for professional tennis at The Racquet Club: The Memphis Open.

• I’m thankful for the glimpses I got of Oscar Taveras. I’ll tell my grandchildren about seeing him play at AutoZone Park (and one game last August at Busch Stadium in St. Louis).

• I’m thankful for Mike Conley in the fourth quarter.

• I’m thankful for FESJC director Phil Cannon. And the best golf tournament Tiger Woods has never played.

• I’m thankful for the unexpected (Mississippi State number one?!) and the unlikely (Ole Miss over Alabama?!).

• I’m thankful for #wigsnatch.

• I’m thankful for sunsets at AutoZone Park. Find a place beyond rightfield and gaze over the Peabody.

• I’m thankful for a Tiger sweep of Louisville, reigning national champs at the time.

• I’m thankful for Joe Jackson’s block of Gonzaga’s Przemek Karnowski. King for a day.

• I’m thankful for the NFL’s “No More” campaign. Overdue.

• I’m thankful for Wolo and Bash on Sports 56 (and that other blue-eyed Frank’s rendition of “Come Fly With Me”).

• I’m thankful for linebackers named Tank. Two sacks (one a safety), a forced fumble, and an interception . . . in the same game.

• I’m thankful for the Grizzlies’ annual Martin Luther King Day game. Sports can contextualize larger dreams.

• I’m thankful for Kevin Lipe’s infusion of humor in his Grizzlies analysis. It’s basketball, people.

• I’m thankful for those who will infuse humor as the Tiger basketball season unfolds. (I’ll try.)

• I’m thankful for Penny Hardaway’s continued presence and impact on his hometown.

• I’m thankful for a volleyball court and soccer field at Tom Lee Park.

• I’m thankful for the ever-growing Green Line, and bike lanes(!). Memphis is getting healthier.

• I’m thankful for the MLB Network. I somehow reached adulthood without it.

• I’m thankful for a wife who can play catch with me. With a baseball. And gloves.

• I’m thankful for Vince Carter in a Memphis Grizzlies uniform.

• I’m thankful for talented college point guards. They’re out there.

• I’m thankful for New Year’s Day bowl games we can all watch together: the Cotton, Rose, and Sugar (with winners of the latter two playing for the national championship).

• I’m thankful for Steve Selby, especially when the Redbirds are out of town.

• I’m thankful for Marc Gasol in the high post.

• I’m thankful for the idea of the NBA Finals at FedExForum. Idea now . . . .

• I’m thankful for Jamie Griffin’s coverage of high school sports on Local 24 and at MemphisFlyer.com. Often the best stories, certainly the most local.

• I’m thankful for two daughters who recognize that sports fuel the mind as well as the body. They’re my favorite athletes.

• I’m thankful for each and every reader. (And those readers keeping me sharp.)

Categories
From My Seat Sports

Memphis Redbirds Mid-Season Report

Oscar Taveras

The 2014 Memphis Redbirds have been a perplexing team. Stacked with just enough veterans and an outfield a few major-league teams would be happy to field, the club has been scratching and clawing to reach break-even for three months now. After opening the season with three wins, the team has never been four games above .500, and never more than five below .500 (as they were through Sunday). The good news? Memphis is tucked in the Pacific Coast League’s version of the World Cup’s “Group of Death,” four teams within five games of one another with two months left in the regular season. A return to the postseason after four years is within reach. But will this team ever find traction?

Last Thursday at AutoZone Park, the Redbirds opened a critical 18-game stretch against their three division rivals: Round Rock, Nashville, and first-place New Orleans. Game-time temperature was in the mid-80s, there was a reasonable crowd to open a homestand, and veteran John Gast was on the hill for the ’Birds. The Redbirds’ second through sixth hitters in the batting order — Randal Grichuk, Oscar Taveras, Stephen Piscotty, Scott Moore, and Xavier Scruggs — each entered the game with at least 38 RBIs. (Memphis and New Orleans are the only two PCL clubs with four 40-RBI men.) The table seemed to be set for something fun.

Gast didn’t last four innings. Unable to hit the upper 80s on the radar gun, the 25-year-old lefty took a step back in his climb back from surgery last July, allowing 10 hits, four walks, and nine earned runs while retiring only 10 batters. (This is a pitcher who opened the 2013 season with a franchise-record streak of 32 scoreless innings.) Angel Castro relieved Gast and didn’t allow a hit in 3 2/3 innings, but the damage had been done. As for the potent Memphis offense, they outhit the Express, 13-10. Alas, every Redbird hit was a single, four of them by uber-prospect Taveras. Memphis left 13 men on base and fell four games under .500 for the first time this season.

Joe Kelly was no better Friday night. Making his first rehab start after a lengthy stay on the St. Louis Cardinals’ disabled list, Kelly lasted only two innings, allowing a pair of runs and three walks. The Redbirds’ offense awakened for seven runs, one shy of those scored by the Express.

Despite the presence of Taveras, Grichuk, and Piscotty (that all-prospect outfield), the Redbirds’ offense (ranked 10th in the 16-team PCL in batting) has been schizophrenic. Memphis has scored seven or more runs 29 times (winning 24 of those games), but has scored fewer than three runs 21 times (losing all but three). In the run-happy PCL, the Redbirds are seventh in scoring and 11th in home runs. Only four PCL teams have allowed fewer runs than the Redbirds, yet Memphis has yet to build so much as a four-game winning streak.

Starting pitching, of course, is the lifeblood of any winning streak. Redbird manager Pop Warner has called upon nine different pitchers to make multiple starts this season. Thirteen were needed last season, and that’s with current Cardinals Michael Wacha and Carlos Martinez combining for 28. That team finished 69-75 (though the Redbirds weren’t eliminated from the playoffs until the season’s final game). Who is the ace for the 2014 Redbirds? Tim Cooney (15 starts) and Angel Castro (14) have had lockdown outings — and each has been lit up. The Cardinals’ minor-league Pitcher of the Year last season, Zach Petrick is 4-3 with a 4.48 ERA in his first Triple-A season. In 23 starts, Scott McGregor and Boone Whiting have combined for a 1-11 record. When the Cardinals needed a starter to fill the newly disabled Wacha’s spot in the rotation last week in Colorado, they called upon Marco Gonzales, who has starred this year for the Double-A Springfield Cardinals.

Without steadier starting pitching, it’s hard to envision these Redbirds playing post-season baseball. The continued growth of Taveras (.318 batting average), Grichuk (.283), and Piscotty (.315) will draw the attention of fans at AutoZone Park (and scouts, as the July 31st trade deadline nears). If Wacha (or Jaime Garcia) regains his health in St. Louis, Gonzales may be assigned to the Memphis rotation. It would be the most productive demotion in recent Redbird history, perhaps just enough to win the PCL’s Division of Death.

Next week: A midseason look at the St. Louis Cardinals and how recent (and current) Redbirds may impact their playoff chances.