HILLSBORO -- City leaders have signed and sealed an agreement to bring minor league baseball to Hillsboro next year. Now it’s up to The Yakima Bears to deliver the final approval from the baseball leagues. The Bears are the short-season 'A' affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

At a special session Tuesday evening, Hillsboro City Councilors Darell Lumaco, Nenice Andrews, Aron Carleson, Olga Acuna and Steve Callaway voted to approve the licensing contract. Councilor Mike Castillo was absent from the meeting.

Owners of the team, Short Season LLC, now must get baseball officials, including the Northwest League of Professional Baseball, Minor League Baseball and Major League Baseball, to sign off on the deal by Sept. 4.
Hillsboro's baseball deal is approved
If you missed it: Naming Hillsboro's minor league baseball team
Northwest League of Professional Baseball

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Salem-Keizer Volcanoes are the Short-season 'A' affiliate of the SF Giants and are now the closest pro team to Portland. The Volcanoes are managed  by former Cleveland High and Portland State star Tom Trebelhorn.

The Volcanoes have won three of the last seven Northwest League titles and play their home games at Volcanoes Stadium, better known as "The Crater".

 

 

Annual All-Star exhibition to feature 50 US, World prospects.

In a handful of games each day, one elite pitching prospect will stare down one elite hitting prospect standing in the batter's box.

In one game on July 8, that is all that's going to happen.

MLB revealed Thursday the US Team and World Team rosters for the 14th All-Star Futures Game. The annual exhibition is the first of three days of events at Royals ballpark Kauffman Stadium.

Twenty-seven of the 50 players participating were chosen in the Draft's first two rounds, including the top four picks in 2011: US Team hurlers Gerrit Cole (Pirates), Danny Hultzen (Mariners), Trevor Bauer (D-backs) and Dylan Bundy (Orioles). Other top '11 picks on the domestic lineup card include pitchers Matt Barnes (Red Sox) and Alex Meyer (Nationals) and infielder Kolten Wong (Cardinals).
MORE HERE

The MLB season has started, sort of. Seattle and Oakland are playing two regular season games in Tokyo today (3am) and tomorrow (2am) while spring training continues for everyone else.

The Mariners will have five more spring games after these season openers and then continue this series in Oakland next Friday, April 6th.

The Mariners won 3-1 and are 1-0! My favorite part of this boxscore is that Ichiro is batting 3rd, interesting.


Seattle
AB R H RBI HR BB K SB LOB Season Avg
C. Figgins 3b 4 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 .250
D. Ackley 2b 5 2 2 2 1 0 1 1 1 .400
I. Suzuki rf 5 0 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 .800
J. Smoak 1b 5 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 .000
J. Montero dh 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 .000
M. Carp lf 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000
C. Wells lf 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
M. Olivo c 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
M. Saunders cf 4 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 .250
B. Ryan ss 4 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .250
Totals 39 3 9 3 1 0 4 2 10

Former Southridge HS and OSU Beaver standout Darwin Barney gettin' some press.

By Gordon Wittenmyer Chicago Sun-timesMESA, Ariz. — Cubs second baseman Darwin Barney put on just enough weight in the off-season that you can see it in the expanded biceps. And he seems to have made an even stronger impression on his new manager, who has Barney penciled in as his every-day guy at the position.

“I’m a little bit overwhelmed after having watched him [from] the other side,’’ said manager Dale Sveum, who watched the Cubs last year from afar as the Milwaukee Brewers’ hitting coach. “He’s a lot stronger and a lot quicker than I thought.’’

Barney, who was the rookie of the month in April last year, says he learned after wearing down some during the longest baseball season of his career. He hit .306 before the All-Star break and .238 after, losing about 15 pounds over the course of the season.
www.suntimes.com...
Barney debuts 8/12/10

CLEARWATER, Fla. - When Mike Stutes went home to Oregon for Christmas, he realized his parents had recorded every pitch their son threw during his rookie season with the Phillies.

"I was bored," Stutes said, so he started watching. Fifteen minutes later, Stutes was no longer bored.

"My motion looked completely different toward the end of the season," he said. "So then I really sat there and watched it."

The 25-year-old righthander came to spring training with greater self-awareness in 2012. Sure, he's still fighting for a spot on the roster, but now he has a clearer idea of what to expect. And no longer does every pitch have to be perfect; he can actually tinker.
MORE HERE

PERTH, 12 February - The 'Alcohol Think Again' Perth Heat pulled out the Game Three victory over the Jet Couriers Melbourne Aces, repeating as Claxton Shield champions in the 2012 ConocoPhillips ABL Championship Series.

For the second straight night, this tightly-contested game went on for 13 pressure-packed innings, with James McOwen racing home on a wild pitch to score the winning run. Reliever Jack Frawley threw four scoreless innings to finish off the game and earn the win. Virgil Vasquez, who pitched his team to a complete game victory in Game One, was named series MVP.

Corvallis coach Brooke Knight and his The Alcohol Think Again Perth Heat defend their ABL Championship.


Friday, 10 February #2 Melbourne at #1 Perth Heat 4, Aces 1
Saturday, 11 February #2 Melbourne at #1 Perth Aces 3, Heat 2 (13)
Sunday, 12 February #2 Melbourne at #1 Perth Heat 7, Aces 6 (13)

theabl.com.au
Corvallis coach Brooke Knight led the Perth Heat to the Australian Baseball League's first title

There are several off-season pro leagues around the world. Here's a list of leagues and important Dates:

The Arizona Fall League is organized and run by MLB. The AFL is stocked by MLB teams with very high level prospects and is a more controlled environment then the Caribbean leagues.

Opening Day 10/04/2011
AFL Rising Stars Game 11/05/2011
AFL Championship Game 11/19/2011

The Caribbean winter leagues are independent leagues that have been operating for years. They are filled with local players, some on MLB and MiLB rosters and American players getting some extra work in. You can see the winter stats of ALL the MLB affiliated players here.

Dominican Winter League
Opening Day 10/14/2011
DWL All Star Game 12/13/2011
Regular season ends 12/21/2011

Mexican Pacific League
Opening Day 10/11/2011
Second half begins 11/22/2011
Regular season ends 12/30/2011

Puerto Rican League
Opening Day 11/04/2011
Regular season ends 01/04/2012
Postseason begins 01/07/2012
Postseason ends 01/25/2012

Venezuelan Winter League
Opening Day 10/12/2011
All-Star Game 12/13/2011
Regular Season ends 12/30/2011
Playoffs begin 01/02/2012

The Caribbean Series pits the champions of the four Caribbean leagues in a round robin tourny every February.
Begins 02/02/2012
Ends 02/08/2012

The Australian Baseball League is a league in it's second year filled with local players and American and other players at the A and AA level.
Opening Day 11/03/2011
Regular season ends 01/22/2012
Playoffs begin TBD
Championship Series begins TBD

The hosts celebrated at the 2012 Caribbean Series in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Leones del Escogido won four of six games overall to finish first and to pick up the championship at the highest baseball tournament for club teams in Latin America. The winners of the Winter Leagues in Mexico, Puerto Rico, Venezuela and the Dominican Republic participated this year.

Leones won the event for the fourth time. Teams from the Dominican Republic now have captured the title 19 times. Escogido won the first four games in the 2012 Caribbean Series to build an early lead in the standings of the double round-robin tournament. The Indios de Mayaguez from Puerto Rico and the Tigres de Aragua from Venezuela finished in second and third with even 3-3 records. Mexico’s Yaquis de Obregon came in fourth with two wins.

The 2013 Caribbean Series will be played in Hermosillo, Mexico.

Complete Results:

Thursday, February 2:
Indios de Mayaguez (PUR) 3 – Tigres de Aragua (VEN) 1
Leones de Escogido (DOM) 2 – Yaquis de Obregon (MEX) 1

Friday, February 3:
Yaquis de Obregon (MEX) 2 - Indios de Mayaguez (PUR) 0
Tigres de Aragua (VEN) 2 - Leones de Escogido (DOM) 5

Saturday, February 4:
Indios de Mayaguez (PUR) 1 - Leones de Escogido (DOM) 6
Yaquis de Obregon (MEX) 4 - Tigres de Aragua (VEN) 2

Sunday, February 5:
Tigres de Aragua (VEN) 7 - Indios de Mayaguez (PUR) 0
Yaquis de Obregon (MEX) 0 - Leones de Escogido (DOM) 2

Monday, February 6:
Leones de Escogido (DOM) 0 - Tigres de Aragua (VEN) 7
Indios de Mayaguez (PUR) 4 - Yaquis de Obregon (MEX) 3

Tuesday, February 7:
Leones de Escogido (DOM) 1 - Indios de Mayaguez (PUR) 3
Tigres de Aragua (VEN) 6 - Yaquis de Obregon (MEX) 2

Final Standings:

1) Leones de Escogido (DOM) 4-2
2) Indios de Mayaguez (PUR) 3-3
3) Tigres de Aragua (VEN) 3-3
4) Yaquis de Obregon (MEX) 2-4

2012 Caribbean Series Info
Viva Mexico! Yanquis win 2011 Caribbean Series!

The 2011 Arizona Fall League is holding its 20th season.

The league -- which has been home to nine Major League MVP Award winners and three Cy Young Award winners in its two decades of history -- features seven weeks of baseball, pitting teams comprised of many of the top prospects in baseball at six Maricopa County Spring Training stadiums.

The season kicks off with Opening Day on Oct. 4 and wraps up with the annual championship game Nov. 19 at Scottsdale Stadium. The popular Rising Stars Game is scheduled for Nov. 5 at Surprise Stadium.

The AFL is a fall league for minor league prospects run by MLB. There are six teams in the Arizona Fall League: the Scottsdale Scorpions, Mesa Solar Sox, Peoria Saguaros, Phoenix Desert Dogs, Peoria Javelinas and Surprise Rafters. These club names were picked by Major League Baseball as reflective of the Southwestern desert traditions in the state. The players are top flight prospects from AAA and AA teams. Each big league team can send one player from A ball.

Each of the 30 MLB teams sends 6 players and each of the AFL teams has 6 players each from 5 MLB teams. The staffs of the teams are comprised of coaches from the 5 MLB teams which comprise their rosters.
AFL Homepage
Trout, Harper headline AFL rosters

The Nippon Series, pitting the Central League champs vs the Pacific League champs is the championship series of professional baseball in Japan. Japan has a long and colorful history of professional ball. Most experts would rate the level of play in the Japan Major leagues as somewhere in the AA-AAA level.

The Central and Pacific League champs are determined by a "Climax Series" in each league.

The first place finisher from the regular season is the league champion. It is possible, through The Climax Series, that the league champion might not make it to The Japan Series.

The first, second and third place finishers from the regular season are in The Climax Series, the playoffs.

In Stage 1 the second-place team faces the third-place team in a best-of-three series. The winner advances to Stage 2.

A one-win advantage is automatically awarded to the league champion, so in Stage 2 the 1st Place team (league champion) starts this stage with a one game lead.

The first team to win four games in the six-game Stage 2 wins the league spot in the Japan Series.
Complete post season schedule
Official Nippon series page
The Japan Series each year tournament result (1950-2008)
Great Japanese Baseball Primer
www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/baseball
www.npb.or.jp (English)
2010 Japan Series

Umpire Dale Scott will be the crew chief for Tuesday's All-Star Game at Chase Field. Scott, who has called three World Series, including the Diamondbacks-Yankees series in 2001, will be serving in his third All-Star Game. Scott currently is in his 26th season as an umpire and spoke to The Republic about his memorable moments in the big leagues.

Question: Where are you from originally and what are your ties to the Valley?

Answer: I'm a native Oregonian, I grew up in Eugene, Oregon and I live in Portland. I've had spring training in Phoenix the last 25 years. I do have friends and some relatives down there, so Phoenix is like kind of a second or third home for me. I think I bought 24 tickets for friends and family to attend the game Tuesday.

Read more: www.azcentral.com/sports/...

Three Strikes and the Portland Beavers are Out!

The Portland Beavers were the AAA Minor League affiliate of the San Diego Padres. The Beavs played at least 72 games in Portland each year.

After 107 years of pro baseball in Portland, 55 of those years at Multnomah Field/Civic Stadium/PGE Park, it's over for the foreseeable future. With PGE's make-over as a soccer/football only facility there is no suitable stadium in the entire Portland area for professional baseball at any level.

You can read about the history of baseball in Portland here:
www.minorleaguebaseball.com/team4/page...
www.oregonstadiumcampaign.com/history_oregon...
www.pdxhistory.com/html/portland_baseball...

Monday Sept 6 vs. Las Vegas, 2:05 PM

Full Schedule Here
Join the Beav's facebook Page.

All games at PGE Park.
If you can't get out to a game you can listen to Rich Burk doing play-by-play. Portland Beavers radio broadcasts will be carried solely on Freedom 970-AM in 2010. Rich Burk returns for his 10th year behind the microphone for the Beavers, teaming with Tim Hagerty for the third straight season. I have listened to a lot of Beavers games and Rich is an excellent announcer.