[bpbrooksy]

April 1st, 1901 - April 4th, 1901: OPENING DAY

Baltimore Barbers (0-0) at Philadelphia Generals (0-0)

Baltimore Barbers
1. 3B Mike Rice
2. CF Juan Burgos
3. 1B Mike Kirkendall
4. LF Pedro Marquez
5. 2B Alex Ariano
6. RF David Sale
7. SS Vicente Torres
8. C Octavio Comparan
9. P Jason Brockway

Philadelphia Generals
1. 2B Jose Carrillo
2. 3B Dwayne Harvey
3. SS William Phillips
4. CF Benito Arroyo
5. LF Adam Sumption
6. RF Mike Behan
7. 1B Oscar Villarreal
8. C Jon Poulos
9. P Conrad Hardesty


Welcome to Turrell Field, home of the Philadelphia Generals, and our first-ever series in the ULB. I've been itching to get cracking with these games, because they will educate us far more than clicking around pages in the pre-stats era of a league would.

The 1901 campaign is beginning with a four-game road set in Philadelphia. We'll only be home for one weekend during these next two weeks, so get used to our guys coming up first in the inning. The Generals are managed by young gun Tim Owens, just 31 years of age.

In front of a sellout crowd of nearly 5,000 fans, Jason Brockway will face off against Philly starter Conrad Hardesty, a right-hander one year younger than Brockway who labored through spring despite a strong fastball.

Play ball!

~~~

This one got off to a rough start. After singling to open the ballgame, Mike Rice went in with a slide to break up a double-play grounder, and went out of the game with what appeared to be some kind of lower-body injury, potentially in the hip. It gave utility man Trevor McCord the opportunity to slot into his first game, at the expense of our leadoff hitter's help. Here's hoping it's nothing series, as Rice would be our team's second man on the IL before the first 24 hours of play were completed.

Burgos earned an assist in the home first, nailing Dwayne Harvey at second as he attempted to turn a blooper into a two-bagger. Jason Brockway helped his cause and broke the score with a two-out RBI single in the second. David Sale had an RBI single of his own in the third, and threw a runner out at the plate in the home half. Baltimore collected eight baserunners off Hardesty before the third inning ended.

Sale scored on yet another two-out single, this time in the fifth.

Brockway was effectively wild through most of his start. He walked five hitters and only struck out three, and those came back to bite him when four men scored in the sixth to make it 4-3 Generals. That would be all for Brockway, who wasn't terribly impressive today.

Philadelphia stranded a man at second in the 7th, but the Barbers did the same in the 8th. Philly closer Josiah Peete walked two batters including the leadoff man in the 9th, but Vicente Torres grounded out to end it.

PHILADELPHIA 4, BALTIMORE 3
WP: C. Hardesty (1-0)
LP: J. Brockway (0-1)
SV: J. Peete (1)

~~~

Baltimore Barbers (0-1) at Philadelphia Generals (1-0)

Baltimore Barbers
1. CF Juan Burgos (.000)
2. RF David Sale (.250)
3. 1B Mike Kirkendall (.000)
4. LF Pedro Marquez (.400)
5. 2B Alex Ariano (.000)
6. SS Vicente Torres (.250)
7. 3B Trevor McCord (.500)
8. C Alberto Angulo
9. P Jason Mango

Philadelphia Generals
1. 2B Jose Carrillo (.000)
2. 3B Dwayne Harvey (.667)
3. SS William Phillips (.000)
4. CF Benito Arroyo (.000)
5. LF Adam Sumption (.250)
6. RF Mike Behan (.333)
7. 1B Oscar Villarreal (.000)
8. C Jon Poulos (.500)
9. P Collin Hogan


The Barbers didn't get their first hit until the sixth inning, after Philadelphia starter Collin Hogan had thrown 5.1 frames of near-perfect baseball. It was a double off the bat of leadoff man Juan Burgos, but the runner was stranded in scoring position, keeping the Generals in front with a 1-0 lead.

The lead was slim because Jason Mango was also having a good night for us. With just two hits allowed in the first five innings, Mango was keeping us in the game while the offense took its time to wake up. Unfortunately, Philly added another run in the home sixth.

The Barbers got the go-ahead run to the plate in the person of Alberto Angulo in the seventh. Lefty Adrian Brown came in off the bench to try and deliver. On a 1-0 pitch, he smoked a grounder through the hole on the right side -- but Mike Behan gunned down the runner testing his arm at home. It was the right call, in my book; we had no guarantee that we were going to get any kind of rally going off of Hogan again.

Mango ended his night after completing the seventh, allowing just two runs on four hits. He would have been left in, but was due up first in the eighth. A two-out walk in the inning brought a hitless-on-the-year Mike Kirkendall up to bat. It was a perfect time for Kirk to display the power he had been scouted for, but instead he went down hacking on a pitch inside.

With Hogan still out there in the 9th, cleanup man Pedro Marquez drew a leadoff walk, and was replaced at first on a fielder's choice by Alex Ariano, who trotted to second on a one-out single after the Generals nearly turned a double play. Trevor McCord -- who wasn't even really supposed to be starting either of these games -- walloped one into the left-center gap. There was a play at the plate, but the call was safe: two runners scored and the Barbers had tied it!

With the infield drawn in, defensive replacement Octavio Comparan knocked one back up the middle to give the Barbers a 3-2 lead. Hogan finished the inning (nobody had been warming up, largely assuming that Baltimore would go down quietly.) Closer Jesse DeTar got his first look in the bottom of the ninth. He allowed a leadoff double before getting three quick outs to seal the win.

BALTIMORE 3, PHILADELPHIA 2
WP: M. Lumaj (1-0)
LP: C. Hogan (0-1)
SV: J. DeTar (1)

~~~

Baltimore Barbers (1-1) at Philadelphia Generals (1-1)

Baltimore Barbers
1. CF Juan Burgos (.111)
2. 3B Trevor McCord (.429)
3. 1B Mike Kirkendall (.000)
4. LF Pedro Marquez (.250)
5. 2B Alex Ariano (.000)
6. RF Adrian Brown (1.000)
7. C Octavio Comparan (.600)
8. SS Vicente Torres (.250)
9. P Marcos Latorre

Philadelphia Generals
1. 2B Jose Carrillo (.125)
2. LF Adam Sumption (.125)
3. CF Benito Arroyo (.286)
4. SS William Phillips (.167)
5. 1B Eric Dotson
6. RF Jose Delgado
7. 3B Oscar Villarreal (.000)
8. C Jon Poulos (.250)
9. P Kevin Kincaid


Neither team had a hit until the third inning, both halves of which unfolded in remarkably similar fashion. A leadoff single, the pitcher failing to advance the runner (one strikeout, one 2-6 putout of the lead man), and a quiet couple of outs.

It was another pitcher's duel at first. The scoreless tie was broken in the fourth when Benito Arroyo demonstrated why Philadelphia chose him as one of their first three picks. Arroyo cranked one hard into right, where the ball took a bad bounce off the fence and eluded Barbers outfielder Adrian Brown. Then, Arroyo turned on the jets and hustled home with the series' first homer -- albeit one that never left the park.

A rattled Latorre then committed a two-base throwing error on a comebacker, and serves up a long double to Eric Dotson to make it 2-0 Generals. The inning would see Philadelphia load the bases, but Latorre struck out his opposite number and got a weak flyout to limit the damage.

The fifth inning didn't start any better. Back-to-back hits put men on the corners before Octavio Comparan threw out a runner trying to swipe second. Still, a single for William Phillips knocked home the run and pushed the lead to three. Then, a sac fly and another run. At this point, Philadelphia was outhitting the Barbers by an 8-1 mark. That would be all for Latorre.

In the seventh, Pedro Marquez connected on Baltimore's first homer of the year, a two-run big fly into right field that cut the Generals' lead in half. Comparan threw out Arroyo in the home half to keep Philadelphia from rallying.

The Barbers had the tying run at the plate for two straight at-bats in the eighth, but didn't do anything with it. Jackson Rideout made his season debut and pitched a scoreless eighth, after John Kahmann had thrown two of his own in long relief.

Philly closer Josiah Peete faced the heart of the order and pitched a perfect inning with two strikeouts. We were only able to muster two hits the whole game, while committing three errors on defense. Ariano has two already. Not our best showing so far in the early season.

PHILADELPHIA 4, BALTIMORE 2
WP: K. Kincaid (1-0)
LP: M. Latorre (0-1)
SV: J. Peete (1)

~~~

Baltimore Barbers (1-2) at Philadelphia Generals (2-1)

Baltimore Barbers
1. CF Juan Burgos (.077)
2. RF David Sale (.167)
3. 3B Trevor McCord (.273)
4. LF Pedro Marquez (.250, 1 HR, 2 RBI)
5. C Octavio Comparan (.375)
6. SS Vicente Torres (.300)
7. 1B Dan Tyler (.000)
8. 2B Alex Ariano (.000)
9. P Fernando Rios

Philadelphia Generals
1. 2B Jose Carrillo (.083)
2. LF Adam Sumption (.154)
3. CF Benito Arroyo (.455, 1 HR, 2 RBI)
4. SS William Phillips (.222)
5. 1B Eric Dotson (.667)
6. RF Agustin Linares (.000)
7. 3B Oscar Villarreal (.000)
8. C Jon Poulos (.375)
9. P Ricardo Montano


Still no word on Mike Rice tonight. If the severity of his injury is undiagnosed by the time we get back home, we may throw him on the IL and have him miss the opening series in favor of getting another infielder onto the bench.

The Generals struck first again, with Eric Dotson drilling an opposite-field homer in the second. Dotson increased his average to .800 in the fourth when he doubled and scored on a Dan Tyler error. Clearly, this Barbers team did not drill their fundamentals with David Ortiz enough in spring training. Something to keep an eye on, as that was an inning we should have escaped without throwing a run onto the board, and that's not the first time that's happened in this four-game set with Philadelphia.

Tyler had a chance for redemption in our half of the fifth. Two runners reached to start the frame, and Vicente Torres bunted them over to get the tying runs both into scoring position. Tyler at least brought home one with a deep sac fly. Baltimore loaded the bases with two outs (Ariano was walked to get to the pitcher, who singled into left) but couldn't convert the scoring chance.

In the top of the seventh, Philadelphia began to look a bit like Baltimore, as far as clean fielding is concerned. A dropped pop-up on a tough play, and a booted grounder on what would have been a 4-6-3 put two men on to lead off the inning for the Barbers. Dan Tyler singled to load 'em up for an 0-for-12 Alex Ariano.

With the pitcher on deck and no good defensive replacement available, Ariano swung the bat and weakly forced one through a drawn-in infield to tie the game at two. Fernando Rios had a great start, collecting seven K's in six innings, but Mike Kirkendall needed a chance to make up for his 0-for-10 start, so he pinch-hit. Kirkendall grounded out to the second baseman, who went home for the first out and allowed Mike to reach safely, albeit trading an out for it.

Jeff Lomax came in to swing in Burgos' stead. Mostly for the matchup -- Ricardo Montano was still in for the Generals -- but also because Burgos hasn't heated up yet out of the leadoff spot. Lomax struck out, and Sale grounded out to end the inning with the tally tied at two.

The excitement quickly morphed into stress. Jose Carillo started the home seventh with a single, stole second, and advanced to third on an errant throw from Comparan. But Pedro Marquez would be the hero of the inning, catching a deep fly and sending a perfect throw home to tag out Carillo trying to score. After Arroyo walked, Comp made up for the error by catching him on a steal attempt.

The ballgame cruised through the remainder of nine innings without either team breaking the tie. The Barbers had two on in the tenth, but GIDP'd their way out of the chance. In the home eleventh, the Generals put men on the corners with one out, Eric Dotson leading the charge at third base. Backup catcher Calisto Evaristo came up for his first ULB plate appearance. Had he not been fresh into the box, we probably would have walked him to load the bases and force Philadelphia's hand with the pitcher due up next and no bench players left (the closer Peete, at that point in the game.)

Inexplicably, Evaristo struck out, and Peete singled into right. The closer gets the walkoff win. There's one to tell your kids you were at.

PHILADELPHIA 3, BALTIMORE 2 - F/11
WP: J. Peete (1-0)
LP: M. Lumaj (1-1)

Scattered Thoughts

- Defense was a bit of a glaring issue in this first series, but it looks like teams all around the league are adjusting to the pressures of professional baseball with paying crowds and consequences in the pennant race. The New York Dukes lead the majors with 13 errors, and we play them next; the Freedom have only made three.

- Looks like Rice is going to be going to the IL tomorrow morning. We'll announce an official move once we get back home to Baltimore. The Barbers have four infielders on the 40-man who are not currently with the big club, so his replacement will likely come from there. Hopefully it's nothing too serious, as we haven't really seen what he's capable of for this team. He has a hit in his only at-bat.

- The team as a whole is hitting .190, worst in the Eastern League. We have no stolen bases and just one homer. Good thing our pitching has been solid so far, or we may have been swept out of Philadelphia.

Around the League

- Washington beats Boston 16-1 on Opening Day. They win their first three against Boston, with starter Josh Carrol throwing the ULB's first shutout on April 3rd. By this date, they're the only undefeated team in the majors, and the Voyagers are the only winless squad.

EASTERN LEAGUE - Hits Leaders
T-1. R. Acosta, NEW (8)
T-1. J. Cantu, NYD (8)
T-3. B. Arroyo, PHI (7)
T-3. S. Guzman, NYD (7)
T-3. J. Miller, NEW (7)
T-3. W Perez, NYD (7)