This week's entry is short and sweet;
Only a few games were played on this street.

The first half ended below .500 and with a bit of a hush;
And after a hot All-Star Break, half two has started with a one game rush.

Hang on for this update quite small;
Time for This Week in Timber Rattlers Baseball.

Friday, June 19; Wisconsin @ Kane County rained out: It rained. A lot.  Then, it looked like it was going to rain some more.  This game was supposed to start at 6:30pm.  It was called off at 7:30pm.

Saturday, June 20; Wisconsin 7 @ Kane County 2 & @ Kane County 2; Wisconsin 0: I'll just state for the record that I hate doubleheaders in Kane County.  It's supposed to be 30 minutes between games.  I was ready for 35.  It turned out to be 48 minutes between games.  I had an long interview to play between games, but I had a feeling that I was going to be reading out of the Geneva, Illinois phone book if the between games break went any longer.  To the games.  The Rattlers put game one away early by grabbing a 7-0 lead.  I could sense that other teams in the league were pulling for the Rattlers to sweep this doubleheader and and make the Cougars sweat a little as they tried to clinch a playoff spot.  (Actually, I could read their e-mails and text messages.)  Unfortunately, the Cougars scored twice in the first inning of the second game and the Rattler offense managed just two hits.  It wasn't fun having the Cougars clinch a playoff spot, but at least they acted like they had been there before.  There wasn't a hugh celebration on the mound after the final out.  Just a quick handshake line and an orderly retreat to their dugout to watch the fireworks.

Sunday, June 21; @Kane County 6, Wisconsin 0: I am almost positive that this was not the way the coaching staff wanted to end the first half. The loss knocked the Rattlers to 34-36 for the first half and gave the Timber Rattler franchise their seventh consecutive half with a losing record.  The last time the team had a winning record in a half was in the second half of 2005.  That's a long time.  There was even an incentive thrown out there for the players before the series began.  Finish at or above .500 and the workout when you get back into town on Wednesday will be at 4pm instead of 7pm.  The offense had four hits and the Cougars put four runs on the board in the second inning to wrap this one up early.

Monday, June 22; Off Day...for most.  The only Rattler action on this day was Brett Lawrie finishing second in the Home Run Derby at Clinton as part of All-Star Monday.

Tuesday, June 23; Midwest League All-Star Game: The East beat the West 6-3. Not much action for the five Timber Rattlers in this All-Star Game.  The three Timber Rattlers pitchers faced a combined four batters and none of those Eastern Division hitters reached base.  Daniel Meadows got the only hitter he faced to pop out.  Wily Peralta threw four pitches (three in the 90s) and a knee-buckling slider to catch his guy looking at strike three.  Jim Henderson got the final out of the eighth inning and the first out of the ninth.  The Rattlers hitters had rough nights.  Corey Kemp and Lawrie were 0-for-2.  Kemp had a frustrating night.  He was the reserve catcher and was informed that he would be warming up pitchers in the bullpen before he went into the game.  There were only two catchers on the West squad and with a heat index of 99 and with a pitcher being warmed up to go in every inning, he was worn out before he even got into the game.  It could have been worse.  Charlie Cutler, the starting catcher from the West, thought his day was over when he left the game.  That's when he found out he had to got down and catch the pitchers getting warmed up in the second half of the game.  I do not recommend this as a weight loss program.  Lawrie struck out both times he was at the plate.

Wednesday, June 24; Off Day...mostly.  The players who were not in Clinton for the All-Star game had to practice at 7:00pm.  It was still very hot and practice in this case was a little stretch, a little catch, a few bullpens for some pitchers, and a round of batting practice.  The real news on this day happened off the field.  That was when word came down that Henderson, the Rattlers closer who was 17-for-17 in save opportunities and just two saves shy of tying the franchise record for saves, had been promoted to Brevard County in the Florida State League

Thursday, June 25; @Wisconsin 4, Peoria 1:  The offense shook their doldrums with three first inning runs.  John Delaney singled in two runs with two outs and Chris Dennis followed with another RBI single.  Later in the game, Steve Braun doubled in a run for the 4-0 lead.  Periard pitched well, but could not get the final out of the fifth inning to qualify for the win.  Nick Tyson got the last out of the fifth and pitched a 1-2-3 sixth as he kept his season long scoreless streak alive and picked up his first win.  But, the question remained...Who will close this game?  On this night it was Dan Merklinger.  He was in the tandem with Periard and pitched a scoreless seventh, worked out of a bit of a jam in the eighth inning, and pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for the save.  Oh, and the Timber Rattlers are 5-0 against the Midwest League affiliate of the Chicago Cubs.  Just thought that I'd point that out.

The way the closer role will be filled for now...to the best of my understanding...is a by committee, but not for one inning.  If the second guy in the tandem is pitching well, he'll stay in there.  If Rigoberto Almonte, Liam Ohlmann, Brandon Ritchie or any of the other relievers are tossing the ball well in the seventh or eighth inning, they'll go back out to pitch the ninth.  Somewhere there is an old school baseball fan smiling.  The OSBF is also looking for one more thing to grouse about because one of the best complaints they have is: If a guy is pitching so well, why take him out?

One other bit of news on Thursday was that Lawrie has been selected to participate in the XM Futures Game.  It's in St. Louis at Busch Stadium on the Sunday before the major league All-Star Game.  Phillippe Aumont, a Rattler in 2008, went to Yankee Stadium for the 2008 Futures Game.  He talked about Yankee Stadium, Monument Valley, and all of the history...oh, wait...no.  He talked about seeing:

and about

as the ESPN reporter in the World Team dugout.

Yeah.  You caught me.   Not a lot of content this week.  So, a quick EA/CD combo to pump up the page views.  Don't look at me like that.  You would have done the same thing.

THE WEEK AHEAD IN BULLET POINTS:

•  Friday, June 26: vs Peoria; Webkinz giveaway, Fireworks, 7:05pm
  
• Saturday, June 27 vs. Peoria; Appleton Baseball Day, Fireworks, 6:35pm
• Sunday, June 28 vs. Peoria; Brewers Sunday and Bark in the Park Day, 1:05pm
• Monday, June 29 - Off Day...Off day?....Off day.
• Tuesday, June 30 vs. Clinton: Bang for your Buck Night, 7:05pm
• Wednesday, July 1 vs. Clinton: CANADA DAY, 12:05pm
• Thursday, July 2 vs. Clinton: Thirsty Thursday and Player Magnet giveaway, 7:05pm

Now, a video from the hot list a million years ago when I was at WSUP:



So long, everybody.