A Fan's Guide to the Midwest League

The Hot Stove: News & Rumors

Things I know, or think I know, and an occasional interpretation.

Winter news in the Midwest League is largely about affiliation changes (won't be any this winter), coaching staff appointments, stadium repairs, and rumors about teams moving to new towns. That's what you'll find below.

• 2008 Schedule: The upcoming season has significant differences from any recent MWL schedule. The interdivisional schedule has been de-emphasized: When Eastern Division teams play Western Division teams, the sets are three games long. Since intra-divisional series will mostly remain at four games, this has led to some interesting solutions to fill the occasional necessary gap.

• University of Dubuque graduate Joe Clapaty (class of '68) is exploring the idea of building a ballyard in Dubuque's port district (more or less where Petrakis Field was, it sounds like). It's quite clear from his comments on the project that he wants the park to house an MWL team, which is generating speculation about what teams are available.

  My comments: I don't think Clapaty's ready to commit to buying a specific team at this point, so the discussion is probably premature. No Midwest League team is obviously for sale, and most are committed to long leases. There's not much point to buying, say, the Chiefs if the intention's to move the team. Beloit's the most obviously-troubled MWL franchise at the moment, but who's to say what the situation will be in two years? And keep in mind that Marion seems content with its Frontier League solution, despite strong rhetoric a couple years ago when their South Bend deal fell through. My usual cautions stand: There's always someone talking about buying an MWL team. Some of those efforts are clearly serious. Nearly all fail.

  Also posted on my blog....

• Coaching Staff: Nelson Prada will manage the Snappers in 2008. His coaching staff will include returning hitting coach Rudy Hernandez and pitching coach Gary Lucas, who returns to the MWL after a two-year absence.
• The Snappers and Twins have extended their Player Development Contract through the 2010 season.
• Beloit's ballpark replacement effort, which failed in December of 2006, seems likely to be resurrected in the next few months.
• More Snappers news? Drop me a line.

• Long-time Burlington executive Dave Walker was appointed King of Baseball at Baseball's Winter Meetings, joining a list which is nearly six decades long. Congrats, Dave; well-deserved.
• Coaching Staff: Brian Rupp, who once managed the Peoria club, will lead the Bees in 2008. Ryan Long will return as hitting coach, and Burlington's new pitching coach will be Doug Henry. Former manager Jim Gabella will manage Idaho Falls next year after coordinating the Royals' Extended Spring camp, while pitching coach Bobby St. Pierre's been assigned to the Appy League Burlington team.
• Player Development Contract: The Bees/Royals PDC, which was signed in 2006, runs through 2010.
• More Bees news? Drop me a line.

• Naming Rights: The Kernels have sold naming rights to the ballpark, which will be known as Dale and Thomas Popcorn Field at Veterans Memorial Stadium for the next five seasons.
• Coaching Staff: The Angels have appointed Keith Johnson to manage at Cedar Rapids; he's been hitting coach at Arkansas for the past two summers. The new pitching coach will be former Kernel hurler Brandon Emanuel, and hitting coach Damon Mashore will join the Kernels from the D'Backs organization.
• PDC Extension: The Angels and Kernels have extended their Player Development Contract through the 2010 season.
• Bud Curran: Long-time Cedar Rapids groundskeeper Bud Curran passed away on November 9 at the age of 88. Bud was the only head groundskeeper the old Veterans Memorial Stadium knew....
• More Kernels news? Drop me a line.

• Coaching Staff: Manager Mike Micucci, hitting coach Brian Dayett and pitching coach Danny Clark will all be returning to Clinton for 2008.
• More LumberKings news? Drop me a line.

• Coaching Staff: Manager Aaron Nieckula, pitching coach Don Schulze, and hitting coach Haas Pratt. Nieckula and Schulze are returning; Pratt was a Cougar last summer. Benny Winslow, originally announced as hitting coach, has left the Oakland organization.
• Lease Extended: The Cougars have extended their contract with their landlords, the Kane County Forest Preserve District, through 2028. In return for this extension, the Cougars will be permitted to sell naming rights for Elfstrom Stadium (though there's a provision to keep Philip Elfstrom's name on the facility in some form). This new agreement is expected to make the long-delayed ballpark renovation possible. While the published numbers concerning the planned renovation still don't properly balance, this moves everything closer together. I see, too, that the Cougars are paying the Forest Preserve over a million dollars per year....
• More Cougars news? Drop me a line.

• Coaching Staff: Ryne Sandberg will return as Peoria's manager. Rich Bombard will be his pitching coach (returning to Peoria after an absence); Carmelo Martinez will be Peoria's new hitting coach.
• Player Development Contract: The Chiefs and the Cubs have extended their PDC through 2012.
• More Chiefs news? Drop me a line.

• It's wet in Davenport! Again. While the recent ballpark renovations and sandbags have kept the playing field dry, the land around JOD Modern Woodmen Park flooded when the Mississippi overflowed its banks. The league moved the late-April Lansing @ QC series to other venues.
• Coaching Staff: Steve Dillard returns as QC's manager for 2008; this will be his third managerial season with the Bandits (he was also hitting coach in 2006, when they had that other name.) Dillard's coaches will be Arthur (Ace) Adams (pitching) and Joe Kruzel (hitting), both of whom are new to the league.
• Player Development Contract: The Bandits and Cardinals have extended their PDC through 2010.
• They've returned to The River Bandits!
• JOD No More: Davenport's ballpark will be Modern Woodmen Park for the next decade.
• The Swing's ownership change was approved on November 14, 2007. The new boss--his title is Vice President--is Kirk Goodman, formerly with the Jacksonville Suns.
• More Swing news? Drop me a line.

• Coaching Staff: Terry Pollreisz will manage Appleton's team next summer; he'll be assisted by hitting coach Rafael Santo Domingo and pitching coach Jaime Navarro. Jim Horner and Lance Painter have been assigned to High Desert; Dana Williams is no longer with the Mariners organization.
• More Timber Rattlers news? Drop me a line.

• Coaching Staff: The entire coaching staff is returning to Dayton: Manager Donnie Scott, pitching coach Doug Bair, and hitting coach Darren Bragg.
• PDC Extended: The Dragons and Reds have extended their Player Development Contract through 2012. This is not exactly a surprise development.
• More Dragons news? Drop me a line.

• Coaching Staff: Last year's Fort Wayne manager, Doug Dascenzo, is returning for Memorial Stadium's last hurrah. He'll be joined by pitching coach Tom Bradley and hitting coach Tom Tornincasa, both of whom have worked at Fort Wayne before.
• Harrison Square Ballyard: The Wizards broke ground for the new ballpark (and Fort Wayne broke ground for the entire Harrison Square development project) on November 29. The construction company's put up a webcam.
• Hardball Capital News: The Wizards' owners are partnering with local investors to purchase the South Atlantic League's Savannah Sand Gnats.
• General Sports and Entertainment News: The former owners of the Fort Wayne team have purchased the Derby County Rams of the English Premier [Soccer] League.
• More Wizards news? Drop me a line.

• Coaching Staff: The Dodgers have appointed former Kane County skipper Juan Bustabad to manage the Loons this year; he'll be assisted by returning hitting coach Garey Ingram and new pitching coach Danny Darwin. The Dodgers and Lance Parrish parted ways at the end of the season.
• Dow Diamond will host the 2008 Midwest League All-Star Game on June 17.
• They bought a what? The Loons have bought radio station WYLZ, which they have rechristened ESPN 100.9. Details here.
• More Loons news? Drop me a line.

• Coaching Staff: The Jays have assigned Clayton McCullough to manage the Luggies. Lansing's hitting coach will be Justin Mashore; Tom Signore will return as pitching coach.
• PDC Extension: The Blue Jays and the Lugnuts have extended their Player Development Contract through 2010.
• The Luggies are continuing the ballpark rehabilitation project they began last winter. The most obvious feature of the renovation is the conversion of several luxury boxes into an upper-level club.
• More Lugnuts news? Drop me a line.

• Coaching Staff: Mark Haley returns for his fourth season as manager of his home-town team. He'll be assisted by pitching coach Erik Sabel and hitting coach Francisco Morales; both worked at Yakima last summer.
• More Silver Hawks news? Drop me a line.

• Coaching Staff: Joe DePastino--a member of the original Michigan Battle Cats team--will manage the Whitecaps in 2008. Benny Distefano will return as hitting coach; the new West Michigan pitching coach will be Mark Johnson. Tom Brookens, who was originally planning to return to West Michigan, accepted a promotion to Erie when Matt Walbeck joined Rangers as their third base coach. Alan Mills, originally announced as pitching coach, has been reassigned to Oneonta.
• More Whitecaps news? Drop me a line.