More On The No-No

Angels’ Double-A pitcher throws no-hitter

NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Angels minor-leaguer Ryan Brasier pitched a no-hitter in the Double-A Arkansas Travelers’ 4-0 victory over the Tulsa Drillers on Thursday night.

Brasier, a sixth-round pick by Los Angeles in 2007, struck out three and walked two — his only baserunners.

In the ninth inning, Brasier got Tulsa’s Matt Repec to ground out to third and Radames Nazario hit a fly ball to right field.

After a ball to Anthony Jackson on the first pitch, Brasier got two called strikes and Jackson then fouled off a pitch before grounding out to second base to end the game.

From the Trav's official site

Boxscore

No-Hitter At Last

I've been to hundreds of minor and major league baseball games through the years, and you can even throw in lots of college games, and last night at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock I witnessed something I've never seen. Ryan Brasier threw a 9-inning no-hitter. The first in the new park ever and the first in the Texas League since 2002. What a night! It was "Bark At the Park" night so lots of people brought their dogs, which was sort of entertaining in itself, and a full moon hovered over the stadium as he threw his gem. Awesome night.

It looks like that's my last game of the weekend as the forecast calls for storms the entire time, but at least 2 new films hit the theaters and 1 of them really makes me want to break my month long theaterless streak. Here's more on both:

Furry Vengeance

The Plot: A real estate developer (Brendan Fraser) looking to turn a forest into new homes faces some unusually tough competition: the local woodland creatures.
My Thoughts: Looks like a family/comedy flick that relies on slapstick humor... and from what I've seen it looks like it's going to suck. Take the kids though I guess, they might get a kick out of it.

A Nightmare on Elm Street

The Plot: Disfigured serial killer Freddy Krueger (Jackie Earle Haley) stalks a group of young people in their dreams, forcing them to remain awake as the only alternative to death.
My Thoughts: Seriously, this looks awesome. I've been following the progress for over a year and it's FINALLY in theaters so I'm going to definitely get out to see it. I watched all of the 8 films in the original series in the last month just to prepare. Jackie Earle Haley looks like a perfect pick for the new Freddy and from what I've seen, they're going more with real horror than the ridiculous comedy front-man that Freddy became in the series. Great news.

Travs Let The Dogs Out

Well, this is perhaps the worst idea I've ever seen... and also the greatest. I'm a season ticket holder for the Arkansas Travelers and they've announced a promotion that is going to be "interesting". I'm definitely going to be there but there is no way I'll take Shakes. Oh he's a great dog and minds well, very well actually, it's just that I want to watch some baseball and not watch him attempt to pee on every single thing within the range of his whizz-cannon for 3 hours. Also, there's no way that his first concert would be the Baha Men. I just wouldn't do that to my best friend. Cruel and unusual indeed. But hey, should be a helluva fun night. I love the idea and maybe I'll bring him home a buddy from the Humane Society... who knows?

So read on, and bring your pooper scoopers:

See full article here

The Arkansas Travelers invite all dogs and humans to the first Bark In The Park Night on April 29 at Dickey-Stephens Park. Grammy winning recording group The Baha Men will perform all of their hit songs including "Who Let The Dogs Out" following the Travs game to kick off their 2010 Summer Tour.

Plans for the first Bark In The Park at Dickey-Stephens Park include an on-field doggie parade before the game and an owner/dog look-a-like contest. The Humane Society will be on-hand with dogs available for adoption, and a host of other canine-related activities are being planned.

Following the game fans are invited to enjoy a free post-game concert starring The Baha Men, winners of the 2000 Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording for their world-renowed song "Who Let The Dogs Out."

Tickets for Bark In The Park go on sale on March 6. Dogs are admitted free with their owners but must be on a leash. Admission to the post-game concert is included with the purchase of a ticket to the game.

The Baha Men show is made possible by the Crain Automotive Team and Crain Media.

I Saw A Couple Of Baseball Rarities

I love baseball. As many games as I've attended in my lifetime though it seems like I should be able to say I've seen pretty much everything I guess. But last night at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock I sat in my season box seat and witnessed a first for me, and the park, and it occured in a game where a no-hitter also occured... only the 2nd time I've ever seen one of those tossed at the professional level. What a night.

NWA Naturals' lefty Will Smith's (not the Fresh Prince for the record) perfect game came to an end in the bottom of the sixth inning when he walked Clay Fuller. Then he walked Orlando Mercado to put runners on first and second with no outs. Catcher Alberto Rosario attempted to lay down a sacrifice bunt twice and then grounded into the first triple play in Dickey-Stephens Park's five-year history. Rosario grounded it to third, who stepped on the base to start the 5-4-3 triple play allowing Smith to still face the minimum.

Smith didn't come out for the 8th though due to a high pitch count. Kelvin Herrera relieved him and faced the minimum in his 2 innings to finish the no-hitter. 27 batters faced, 27 retired.


And talk about a tough luck loss. Matt Shoemaker (8-2, 2.28) pitched a complete game. He gave up five hits and an unearned run, striking out eight without a walk while throwing 106 pitches. In his last three outings, Shoemaker is 2-1 with a 0.36 ERA, giving up 11 hits and four walks in 25 innings. He has struck out 16 batters in that span. Shoemaker has already been Texas League Pitcher Of The Week twice this year and was a mid-season all-star.



Dickey-Stephens Park Milestone Moments:

* April 29th, 2010 - Ryan Braser pitched the 1st no-hitter (against Tulsa)
* July 19th, 2011 - Will Smith and Kelvin Herrera pitch the 2nd no-hitter (against the Travs)
* July 19th, 2011 - NWA turns the 1st triple-play in the 6th inning

And I was at all 3 moments. Sweet.

Trav's Game Pics

Somehow I completely hosed my digital camera over the weekend. Well, I say somehow but I have a feeling it was the soaking it got thanks to a lake visit. Oopsie. Ah I was sort of looking for a new one anyways as mine had started to get a bit outdated, which actually they start doing about as soon as you open the box. It was "only" 8 megapixels, which is just unacceptable it seems now. So my new one is twice as good and I tried it out at Dickey-Stephens Park earlier this week during a game between the Travelers and Springfield Cardinals (hooray!).

This year our Travs are pretty loaded with talent really. There's 3B Luis Jimenez (.285 - 7 HR - 45 RBI), SS Darwin Perez (.296 - 1 HR - 27 RBI) and everybody's all-world Mike Trout (.330 - 8 HR - 22 RBI - 23 SB). Hell just come out and watch future MLB superstar Trout if for no other reason, as the kid delivers more often than a herd of mailmen. I've really enjoyed watching him lead-off every night and hope we get to keep him all season... but I wouldn't count on it, despite the fact that he doesn't even turn 20 until August.

For the visitors, former Arkansas Razorback Zack Cox has been in town playing 3b for the visiting Springfield club. He tore it up at A-ball (Palm Beach) hitting .335 in 42 games but has found the jump to AA a bit more difficult as he's only hitting .236 right now. He did have a recent 6-game hitting streak so hopefully he's showing some signs of getting it going. Plenty of time as this is his first full year in the minors.

Anyway... here's just a few pics from the evening at America's nicest minor league ballpark, starting with Zack Cox (#7) at the plate. Click 'em to blow 'em up:

Hogan vs Canseco!

No, not Hulk Hollywood Hogan, but University of Arkansas-Little Rock assistant athletic director Gary Hogan. He'll face off against baseball bad boy Jose Canseco in a boxing match before the Arkansas Travelers game tonight and I for one am intrigued.

Canseco is 46 on Friday, Hogan is 60. Hogan is a former THV sportscaster and in the '80's he fought light heavyweight contender Mike Quarry at Ray Winder Field.

The match will consist of four two-minute rounds with all proceeds going to charity.