http://mwlguide.com Midwest League Rumors & News Hand coded by joel. http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss en-us Tue, 24 Jan 2006 22:40:00 -0500 Wed, 30 Apr 2008 12:30:00 -0500 http://mwlguide.com/rumors.html#riverbandits 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.]]> jowo@mwlguide.com Wed, 30 Apr 2008 12:30:00 -0500 bandits-20080430 http://mwlguide.com/rumors.html#dragons PDC Extended: The Dragons and Reds have extended their Player Development Contract through 2012. This is not exactly a surprise development. (Note: I also did some editing elsewhere on the Rumors page.)]]> jowo@mwlguide.com Sun, 20 Apr 2008 12:30:00 -0500 dragons-20080420 http://mwlguide.com/rumors.html#loons They bought a what? The Loons have bought radio station WYLZ, which they have rechristened ESPN 100.9. Details here.]]> jowo@mwlguide.com Wed, 26 Mar 2008 12:30:00 -0500 loons-20080326 http://mwlguide.com/rumors.html#cougars 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.]]> jowo@mwlguide.com Sat, 22 Mar 2008 09:30:00 -0500 cougars-20080322 http://mwlguide.com/rumors.html#kernels 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.]]> jowo@mwlguide.com Sat, 22 Mar 2008 09:00:00 -0500 kernels-20080322 http://mwlguide.com/rumors.html#whitecaps 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.]]> jowo@mwlguide.com Fri, 15 Feb 2008 15:05:00 -0500 whitecaps-20080215 http://mwlguide.com/rumors.html#riverbandits Player Development Contract: The Bandits and Cardinals have extended their PDC through 2010.]]> jowo@mwlguide.com Sat, 09 Feb 2008 14:30:00 -0500 bandits-20080209 http://mwlguide.com/rumors.html#league 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 will be 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.]]> jowo@mwlguide.com Tue, 29 Jan 2008 13:00:00 -0500 schedule-20080129 http://mwlguide.com/rumors.html#lugnuts The most obvious feature of the renovation is the conversion of several luxury boxes into an upper-level club.]]> jowo@mwlguide.com Tue, 29 Jan 2008 12:50:00 -0500 lugnuts-20080129 http://mwlguide.com/rumors.html#wizards 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.]]> jowo@mwlguide.com Tue, 29 Jan 2008 12:45:00 -0500 gse-20080129 http://mwlguide.com/rumors.html#riverbandits 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.]]> jowo@mwlguide.com Wed, 16 Jan 2008 23:30:00 -0500 dillard-20080116 http://mwlguide.com/rumors.html#wizards 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.]]> jowo@mwlguide.com Wed, 16 Jan 2008 08:40:00 -0500 dascenzo-20080116 http://mwlguide.com/rumors.html#cougars 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....]]> jowo@mwlguide.com Wed, 09 Jan 2008 10:10:00 -0500 cougars-20080109 http://mwlguide.com/rumors.html#timberrattlers 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.]]> jowo@mwlguide.com Sat, 05 Jan 2008 06:20:00 -0500 wisconsin-20080105 http://mwlguide.com/rumors.html#loons 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.]]> jowo@mwlguide.com Thu, 03 Jan 2008 10:10:00 -0500 bustabad-20080103 http://mwlguide.com/rumors.html#bees King of Baseball at Baseball's Winter Meetings, joining a list which is nearly six decades long. Congrats, Dave; well-deserved.]]> jowo@mwlguide.com Thu, 03 Jan 2008 10:05:00 -0500 davewalker-20080103 http://mwlguide.com/rumors.html# jowo@mwlguide.com Thu, 27 Dec 2007 15:00:00 -0500 edits-20071227 http://mwlguide.com/rumors.html#silverhawks 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.]]> jowo@mwlguide.com Thu, 20 Dec 2007 18:35:00 -0500 haley-20071220 http://mwlguide.com/rumors.html#chiefs Player Development Contract: The Bees/Royals PDC, which was signed in 2006, runs through 2010.]]> jowo@mwlguide.com Wed, 19 Dec 2007 21:10:00 -0500 sandberg-20071219 http://mwlguide.com/rumors.html#bees Player Development Contract: The Bees/Royals PDC, which was signed in 2006, runs through 2010.]]> jowo@mwlguide.com Tue, 18 Dec 2007 13:05:00 -0500 beespdc-20071218 http://mwlguide.com/rumors.html#cougars Coaching Staff: The entire 2007 Cougar coaching staff--manager Aaron Nieckula, pitching coach Don Schulze, and hitting coach Benny Winslow--will be returning to Kane County next season.]]> jowo@mwlguide.com Sat, 15 Dec 2007 08:35:00 -0500 cougarscoaches-20071215 http://mwlguide.com/rumors.html#riverbandits The River Bandits!]]> jowo@mwlguide.com Thu, 13 Dec 2007 19:30:00 -0500 riverbandits-20071213 http://mwlguide.com/rumors.html#chiefs Player Development Contract: The Chiefs and the Cubs have extended their PDC through 2012.]]> jowo@mwlguide.com Wed, 12 Dec 2007 19:25:00 -0500 chiefs-20071213 http://mwlguide.com/rumors.html#riverbandits Modern Woodmen Park for the next decade.]]> jowo@mwlguide.com Wed, 12 Dec 2007 18:30:00 -0500 woodmen-20071212 http://mwlguide.com/rumors.html#timberrattlers Coaching Staff: Terry Pollreisz will manage Appleton's team next summer; he'll be assisted by hitting coach Rafael Santo Domingo. The new T'Rats pitching coach hasn't yet been named. Jim Horner and Lance Painter have been assigned to High Desert; Dana Williams is no longer with the Mariners organization.]]> jowo@mwlguide.com Sat, 08 Dec 2007 06:55:00 -0500 wisconsin-20071208 http://mwlguide.com/rumors.html#lugnuts 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.]]> jowo@mwlguide.com Wed, 05 Dec 2007 21:40:00 -0500 lansingcoaches-20071205 http://mwlguide.com/rumors.html#lugnuts PDC Extension: The Blue Jays and the Lugnuts have extended their Player Development Contract through 2010.]]> jowo@mwlguide.com Wed, 05 Dec 2007 21:30:00 -0500 lansingpdc-20071205 http://mwlguide.com/rumors.html#swing jowo@mwlguide.com Wed, 05 Dec 2007 21:25:00 -0500 qc-20071205 http://mwlguide.com/rumors.html#lumberkings Coaching Staff: Manager Mike Micucci, hitting coach Brian Dayett and pitching coach Danny Clark will all be returning to Clinton for 2008.]]> jowo@mwlguide.com Wed, 05 Dec 2007 21:20:00 -0500 lumberkings-20071205 http://mwlguide.com/rumors.html#kernels 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.]]> jowo@mwlguide.com Wed, 05 Dec 2007 21:15:00 -0500 kernelscoaches-20071205 http://mwlguide.com/rumors.html#kernels PDC Extension: The Angels and Kernels have extended their Player Development Contract through the 2010 season.]]> jowo@mwlguide.com Wed, 05 Dec 2007 20:30:00 -0500 kernelspdc-20071205