Big 12 Tournament to return to double-elimination format

■ Big 12 changes baseball championship format (big12sports.com)

Big 12 Conference athletic directors Wednesday approved a proposal from the league's baseball coaches to change the format of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship. Starting with next season's event in Oklahoma City, the event will use a double-elimination format.

The eight teams that qualify will be split into two four-team pools and will use double-elimination to determine a winner of each pool. Those winners will meet in a one-game championship game.

The Championship will start on Wednesday with four games followed by four games on Thursday. The Friday and Saturday schedules will be determined by on the number of games needed to determine the winners in each pool. The championship game will be held on Sunday.

Big 12 baseball coaches wanted to make the change for two reasons. First, the double-elimination format mirrors what is used in the NCAA tournament. Second, the current four-team pool play format was determined by head-to-head records and last year the two teams that met in the championship game (Baylor and Texas A&M) were determined before Saturday's four games. Those games were basically meaningless.

With the athletic directors approving the change, it will be passed on to the presidential level and must be approved by the Big 12's board of directors at their next meeting in October.

Mizzou in the Minors 2010

It's time for a wrap-up of the summer's exploits by Tiger alumni in the Minor Leagues.

■ Brock Bond (06-07) spent most of the year with the Fresno Grizzlies (Pacific Coast League) in the San Francisco Giants organization. He was named a mid-season PCL All-Star in July. But then in late August the organization moved him down to the Richmond Flying Squirrels in the Double-A Eastern League, a move caused in part by the influx of draft-deadline signings and organizational shuffling of players. He never did make it back up to Fresno in 2010.

Bond finished the season with a combined .283 batting average. His BA at Triple-A was actually higher than AA, at .285.

• MiLB feature on Brock Bond: Bond has enhanced his resume by playing more positions than just second this season, spending time at third base and shortstop. Bond said any way he can get to the Majors would be a good way.

"I've worked my butt off over the years," he said. "Ever since I was a little kid, I always had the dream of playing in the big leagues. That dream hasn't gone away, and I don't think it will until I either make it or they force me out."

■ Tyler Clark (08-10) was drafted in June and quickly signed with the Detroit Tigers, who sent him to the Connecticut Tigers (New York-Penn League). He posted a 3-1 record, plus 3 saves, with a 2.05 ERA. ■ Trevor Coleman (07-09) spent the season with the High Desert Mavericks (High-A California League) of the Seattle Mariners organization, posting a .216 batting average.

■ Aaron Crow (06-08) began the season with the Northwest Arkansas Naturals (Texas League) in the Kansas City Royals organization, and went nowhere fast. He posted a 7-7 record with a disappointing 5.66 ERA before being shipped down to Single-A and the Wilmington Blue Rocks, where he continued to struggle, posting a 2-3 record and 5.93 ERA. Crow will be spending time this fall in the Royals' instructional league in Surprise, AZ.

■ Nathan Culp (04-06) has spent the summer mostly with the AA San Antonio Missions (Texas League), with a number of short stints with the AAA Portland Beavers (Pacific Coast League) in the San Diego Padres organization. He pitched a total of 4 games in 3 stints with the Triple-A club. He was 5-8 with a 4.21 ERA with the Missions and 0-3 with a 9.95 ERA in Portland.

■ Erik Dessau (04-05), an independent leagues veteran, pitched in 2010 for the Calgary Vipers (Golden League). Dessau had a 4-3 record, with a 6.15 ERA.

■ Greg Folgia (07-09) spent his second summer in the pros with the Lake County Captains (Midwest League) of the Cleveland Indians organization. He hit just .232 for the season.

■ Evan Frey (05-07) spent a second consecutive year with the AA Mobile BayBears (Southern League) in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization. He hit for a .286 average. His numbers overall showed a modest increase from 2009.

■ Kyle Gibson (07-09), in his first full year in professional baseball, captured the attention of prospect watchers everywhere. He combined to go 11-6, 2.96 ERA (152.0 IP, 50 ER) with 39 walks and 126 strikeouts in 26 starts between Single-A Ft. Myers, Double-A New Britain and the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings. At season's end, he was named the Minnesota Twins Minor League Pitcher of the Year, and is expected by most watchers to debut in the major leagues sometime next season.

■ Justin James (02-03) This has been quite a year for James, who played for the Tigers in 2002 and 2003 and was drafted in the 5th round by the Blue Jays in '03. He worked his way through the Toronto farm system until he was shipped off to the Reds organization in the off-season of 2007-08, and spent 2008 toiling in the Cincinnati minor leagues. In 2009 he found himself out of affiliated baseball and signed with the Kansas City T-Bones of the independent Northern League, where he played through 2009 and began the season in 2010.

On June 18, 2020, the T-Bones sold James' contract to the Oakland A's organization, who sent him to AA Midland, promoting him to Triple A a month later.

On August 31st, James was promoted to the Oakland A's parent club, where he is still pitching.

■ Andrew Johnston (05) spent the entire 2010 season with the Triple-A Colorado Springs SkySox (Pacific Coast League) in the Colorado Rockies organization, posting a 3-3 record and 4.85 ERA as a mid-innings reliever. His season was one of inconsistencies, posting excellent months (0.75 ERA in April and 1.69 in September, balanced by 7.81 in May and 8.74 in August.

■ Mike Liberto (09-10) was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in June and, after a short stint in the Arizona Rookie League, went on to the Rookie Midwest League Burlington Royals, then to the Appalachian League Burlington Bees, and finishing his season in September with the Single-A Idaho Falls Chukars. All together, he posted a .201 batting average.

■ Ryan Lollis (06-09) had a good year with the Augusta GreenJackets (South Atlantic League) of the San Francisco Giants organization, compiling a .287 batting average.

■ Kyle Mach (06-09) spent 2010, after playing in 5 games with the Augusta Greenjackets, with the A-ball Salem-Keizer Volcanoes of the San Francisco Giants organization, posting only a /184 batting average.

■ Doug Mathis (05) spent his summer on I-35 between the AAA Oklahoma City RedHawks (5/21-7/1; 7/11-7/16; 8/2-9/2) and the MLB Texas Rangers (4/11-5/14; 7/6; 7/20-7/24). He was 5-7 with a 5.56 ERA in AA and 1-1 with a 6.05 ERA at MLB.

■ Hunter Mense (04-06) racked up the frequent flyer miles for the Florida Marlins organization in 2010

• April 8-21: Jupiter Hammerheads (Single-A)
• April 22-May 15: New Orleans Zephyrs (AAA)
• May 16-26: Jacksonville Suns (AA)
• May 27-31: New Orleans Zephyrs (AAA)
• June 1-4: Jacksonville Suns (AA)
• June 5-7: New Orleans Zephyrs (AAA)
• June 8: Jacksonville Suns (AA)
• June 9-July 12: Jupiter Hammerheads (A)

In his own words: I've been everywhere, man (The Life and Time of Aitch)

After July 12th, though, the road trip ended, as the Marlins gave him his release.

And then his season got really interesting.

On July 28th, outfielder Hunter Mense signed with the Kansas City T-Bones of the independent Northern League . . . as a Left-handed Pitcher. He pitched a total of 9 innings in 8 appearances, racking up a 3.00 ERA.

■ Brett Nicholas (10): signed shortly after being drafted by the Seattle Mariners and spent most of his summer with the Single-A Spokane Indians (Northwest League), finishing with a .242 batting average.

■ Aaron Senne (07-10) was drafted by the Marlins organization in June and was soon off to the Single-A Jamestown Jammers (New York-Penn League), where he became a key member of the team. Of the players who spent the whole season with the Jammers, Senne was the leader in batting average (.296) and OBP (.381).

■ Andrew Shipman (03) pitched for the Gary Southshore Railcats (independent Northern League) posting a 4-2 record and 2.94 ERA. He led the Northern League in Saves, with 21.

■ Rick Zagone (06-08) began the season with the Frederick Keys (High-A Carolina League) and was promoted in early July to the Double-A Bowie Baysox of the Eastern League, both in the Baltimore Orioles organization. He was 5-6 with a 3.20 ERA in Frederick, and 5-5 with a 4.34 ERA in Bowie.

Another one bites the dust

■ California drops baseball program (Rivals.com)

The University of California-Berkeley’s money issues took their toll on the baseball program Tuesday as coach Dave Esquer was told his program would be cut.

The school has exceeded its athletic department budget by $10-13 million in recent years and the belt-tightening begins next fall with the elimination of baseball and other sports.

■ Oregon State's Casey saddened to see California's baseball program axed (gazettetimes.com)

"For a school with Cal's tradition, to drop it without anybody having a hint, is kind of shocking," he said, speaking at Goss Stadium during fall practice. "It's a good indication of where some of these universities are as far as (athletic department) debt is concerned."

Cal started baseball in 1892, won two NCAA championships and more than 50 ex-Bears have played in the majors. Cal and OSU have played intermittently since 1920; Cal leads the all-time series 38-26.

Mizzou in the Minors

■ Joe Benson and Kyle Gibson named 2010 Twins Minor League and Player and Pitcher of the Year (mlb.com)

Gibson, 22, combined to go 11-6, 2.96 ERA (152.0 ip, 50 er) with 39 walks and 126 strikeouts in 26 starts between Single-A Ft. Myers, Double-A New Britain and Triple-A Rochester this season. He held opponents to a .242 (136-for-563) batting average. The right-hander went 5-0 with a 1.62 ERA (39.2 ip, 7 er) with 35 strikeouts in May and was named the Twins Minor League Pitcher of the Month. Gibson was also named the Twins Minor League Pitcher of the Week for April 24-May 1, after going 1-0 with a 0.64 ERA (14.0, 1 ip), including a complete-game one-hitter on April 29 at Jupiter.

■ Joe Benson, Kyle Gibson named top prospects (Minneapolis Star-Tribune)

The kid knows how to pitch. He has a good sinker, he can cut the ball in on lefties. his slider is sharp and he has worked to improve his change up. He should debut in the majors sometime next season.

A closer look at the 2011 schedule

Here are the final 2010 RPI numbers for the teams on MU's tentative 2011 schedule. RPI numbers are from Boyd's World Pseudo-RPI final rankings. MU is also listed with their 2010 RPI, for comparison purposes.

0.624 Texas (3 games)
0.604 Oklahoma (3 games)
0.590 Texas A&M (3 games)
0.583 North Carolina
0.571 Baylor (3 games)
0.561 Kansas State (3 games)
0.556 Texas State
0.548 Texas Tech (3 games)
0.547 Kansas (4 games)
0.545 Southern Cal
0.544 Nebraska (3 games)
0.536 Missouri
0.529 UNC-Charlotte (4 games)
0.520 Oklahoma State (3 games)
0.515 Central Michigan (4 games)
0.514 Lemoyne (3 games)
0.503 Cal Poly
0.499 Illinois
0.479 Gonzaga (2 games)
0.479 Missouri State (2 games)
0.464 Illinois-Chicago (4 games)
0.464 Central Arkansas (2 games)
0.456 Eastern Illinois
0.423 SIU-Edwardsville

As we do every year, we've adapted a statistic used by Boyd Nation at Boyd's World which he calls the Intended Schedule Strength. We're taking a look at the average final RPI numbers for the teams on the schedule (counting each team's RPI as many times as they will play MU on the schedule), with the goal of seeing what the Tiger coaches are expecting from their assemblage of opponents. Of course, neither they nor we have any way of knowing how well MU's opponents will actually perform in 2001 as compared to 2010, but their most recent statistics are all we have to go on.

Based on that approach, Missouri's intended schedule strength for 2011 comes out to 0.533

Tim Jamieson's Intended Schedule Strength had been moving slowly upward over the past few years, with a dip of just .001 last year. The 2011 ISS, though, represents a step backward.

2011: .533
2010: .540
2009: .541
2008: .537
2007: .534
2006: .532
2005: .528
2004: .528

I'm really hoping someone will send me an e-mail telling me I've made a mistake in my math, but those are the numbers I come up with.

2011 Tentative Schedule

From my sources, the 2011 schedule as it currently stands:

FRI 2/18 • Southern Cal @ USC
SAT 2/19 • Cal Poly @ USC
SUN 2/20 • North Carolina @ USC

FRI 2/25 • @ UNC-Charlotte
SAT 2/26 • @ UNC-Charlotte (DH)
SUN 2/27 • @ UNC-Charlotte

FRI 3/4 • Illinois-Chicago @ MU 6PM
SAT 3/5 • Illinois-Chicago @ MU (DH) 1PM
SUN 3/6 • Illinois-Chicago @ MU 1PM

TUE 3/8 • Gonzaga @ MU 6PM
WED 3/9 • Gonzaga @ MU 4PM

FRI 3/11 • Lemoyne @ MU 6PM
SAT 3/12 • Lemoyne @ MU 2PM
SUN 3/13 • Lemoyne @ MU 1PM

FRI 3/18 • Central Michigan @ MU 6PM
SAT 3/19 • Central Michigan @ MU 1PM (DH)
SUN 3/20 • Central Michigan @ MU 1PM

TUE 3/22 • Central Arkansas @ MU 6PM
WED 3/23 • Central Arkansas @ MU 4PM

FRI 3/25 • Oklahoma @ MU 6PM
SAT 3/26 • Oklahoma @ MU 2PM
SUN 3/27 • Oklahoma @ MU 1PM

WED 3/30 • @ Texas State 6:30PM

FRI 4/1 • @ Texas
SAT 4/2 • @ Texas
SUN 4/3 • @ Texas

WED 4/6 • Illinois @ Busch Stadium, StL 7PM

FRI 4/8 • @ Oklahoma State
SAT 4/9 • @ Oklahoma State
SUN 4/10 • @ Oklahoma State

WED 4/13 • SIU-Edwardsville @ MU 6PM

FRI 4/15 • Kansas @ MU 6PM
SAT 4/16 • Kansas @ MU 2PM
SUN 4/17 • Kansas @ MU 1PM

TUE 4/19 • Kansas @ Kauffman Stadium, KC 6:30PM (this date has since been shown to be in conflict with the Royals' published schedule)

THU 4/21 • @ Baylor
FRI 4/22 • @ Baylor
SAT 4/23 • @ Baylor

TUE 4/26 • Eastern Illinois @ TR Hughes Stadium, O'Fallon, MO 6:30PM
WED 4/27 • Missouri State @ MU 6PM

FRI 4/29 • Texas A&M @ MU 6PM
SAT 4/30 • Texas A&M @ MU 2PM
SUN 5/1 • Texas A&M @ MU 1PM

TUE 5/3 • @ Missouri State 6:30PM

FRI 5/6 • @ Kansas State
SAT 5/7 • @ Kansas State
SUN 5/8 • @ Kansas State

FRI 5/13 • Texas Tech @ MU 6PM
SAT 5/14 • Texas Tech @ MU 2PM
SUN 5/15 • Texas Tech @ MU 1PM

FRI 5/20 • @ Nebraska
SAT 5/21 • @ Nebraska
SUN 5/22 • @ Nebraska

WED 5/25 • Big 12 Tournament @ Oklahoma City


I count 56 regular season games, so this schedule is likely very close to what will actually take place.

10 Sports that should not be on TV more than College Baseball

■ 10 Sports that should not be on TV more than College Baseball (CollegeBaseballToday.com)

#4 Golf: Remember, golf is not a sport. It is a SKILL. (And I love when people try to argue try to argue with me that it is a sport.) Look, just like darts. And bowling. And horseshoes. All those things are skills. So is golf. And whoever can sit on their couch for hours on end and watch guys swing clubs at balls and earn millions… well that’s a pretty lame skill too. Sadly.

2011 Schedule

■ Another date on Mizzou's 2011 schedule has been revealed. According to an unofficial Texas State schedule posted at CollegeBaseball.Rivals.com :

MU @ Texas State, March 30th, 6:00 PM.

Texas State is located in San Marcos, TX, just north of the San Antonio metro area.

We are gradually constructing a 2011 MU Schedule, based on published schedules from other schools. To date, we have the following:

February 18: Southern California @ USC
February 19: Cal Poly @ USC
February 20: North Carolina @ USC

March 30: Texas State @ San Marcos, TX

April 15,16,17: Kansas @ MU
April 19: MU vs. KU @2 Kauffman Stadium, KC

If you hear of any other dates - or if you somehow get hold of a copy of MU's schedule-in-the-making - my e-mail address is simmonsfield@hotmail.com

SimmonsField Photo: Floater

Lee Laskowski, 2001-2004

150 Days Until Opening Day 2011

The Mizzou Baseball 2011 schedule opens on February 18th in sunny southern California with a game against the USC Trojans!

"There is no sports event like Opening Day in baseball, the sense of beating back the forces of darkness and the National Football League" (George Vecsey)

Play Ball !!

TV @ TCU

■ TCU an easy sell for new assistant coach (Forth Worth Star-Telegram)

How was the transition from player to coach in consecutive seasons?

[Missouri coach Tim Jamieson] was a little against that because I was going to be coaching guys that had just been my teammates. Fortunately, persistence paid off. I got a little warmup the summer before when I coached a summer team and brought four Missouri kids with me. It was a little bit of a trial run. That really, really helped.

SimmonsField Photo: Star in the making

Ian Kinsler, 2003 Starkville Regional

Frank Graham honored

Frank Graham is a familiar face at Taylor Stadium. As a long-time season ticket holder, he can frequently be seen in Section C, Row 5, Seat 1, cheering on his Tigers.

Graham was a member of the Tiger baseball team from 1940 to 1942, a team that won the Big Six conference title in '41 and '42.

He is always good for a few stories about Mizzou Baseball in the old days, including tales of John "Hi" Simmons, who had only been on the job for a couple of years prior to Graham.

But Frank Graham is more well known in the state of Missouri for other achievements. He was honored this week for his involvement with the state 4-H program.

■ Longtime donor, former state 4-H director, honored Thursday night (Columbia Missourian)

Graham, 90, began his career with the extension program after he graduated from MU in 1942. He was a star pitcher for the Tigers' baseball team but passed on a chance to play for the St. Louis Cardinals while he waited for the Army to draft him.

He never saw combat in World War II. Instead, he helped train paratroopers in Georgia. After the war, he moved back to Columbia and was the director of the Missouri 4-H program.

The pitcher in Graham showed through, said Charlie Alexander, 68.

"He used to try to teach the 4-H kids how to throw a curve-ball," he said. "Of course none of us ever caught on, but I remember him teaching us how to hold the ball."

Bullpen Scramble: September 17

Still plenty of open spots for the Tiger Bullpen Scramble, according to MUTigerBaseball on Twitter

Details about the event are here:

Tournament Flyer & Registration

Mizzou Baseball in the Minors

■ Kansas City Royals roster set for instructional league (SBNation. KansasCity)

The Kansas City Royals have set their roster for the upcoming Instructional League. Highlighting the list are catcher Wil Myers and first round picks pitcher Aaron Crow and shortstop Christian Colon.

The team will report Sunday and begin training on Monday. The league starts on Sept. 27.

Conference Hokey-Pokey: Huskers in Big 10

■ Big Ten won't be easy for Nebraska (CollegeBaseball.Rivals.com)

“Let’s be honest, this whole process was based on football and the Big Ten’s revenues, plain and simple,” Nebraska coach Mike Anderson said. “I’m the baseball coach at Nebraska and we moved to the Big Ten, so dang right I am going to like it. If I’m going to continue as the coach here at NU, I’m going to have to like moving to the Big Ten.”

SimmonsField Photo: Catch

Matt Stallings, 2003

Mizzou in the Minors

■ Cyclones end Jammers' season (observertoday.com)

The Jamestown Jammers New York- Penn League season came to an end this past week, as they fell to the Brooklyn Cyclones 2-1 in their best-of-three playoff series.
. . .
In the opener, Jamestown blew a 6-1 lead, got a clutch tie-breaking single from Dallas Hord in the bottom of the eighth inning, to help the Jammers take a 1-0 series lead.

Down 1-0, Aaron Senne tied the game with a home run to right field.
. . .
In the series finale on Thursday, Sept. 9, the Jammers had the bases loaded with no one out in the top of the ninth inning, but were unable to score, as the Cyclones went on to win 6-4.

Senne singled and was pinch-ran for by Hord, before Noah Perio and Brent Keys singled to load the bases. Danny Black hit into a fielder's choice that saw Hord forced at the plate. Nelson Pereira, who relieved Hunter Bennett, was able to retire Poulk and Ozuna on strikes to end the game.

Mizzou Baeball in the Minors

■ Crow dominant as Rocks prevail (Wilmington Blue Rock News)

Aaron Crow (2-2) was dominant. The right-hander fanned a career-high 13 in 6.2 scoreless frames. He started the game in style striking out the side in the first. Then, after a lead-off double in the second, he retired 11 in a row.

The 2009 first-round pick recorded all three outs in an inning on strikes three times. He set down the side in order three times and allowed only two men into scoring position all night.

■ The Worth of an "Easy Drive" (burlingtonroyals.mlbblogs.com))

A little bigger surprise may have been the effort of Michael Liberto, Burlington's starting shortstop. Liberto's last ten games (5-for-34, .147) were not nearly as good as his first nine in the Appalachian League (9-for-29, .310), but he went 3-for-5 and was Burlington's only offensive spark plug until the ninth. "It's definitely a confidence booster," Liberto said. "I went into that slump, and that happens."

2011 KU Schedule released

■ Kansas has released its official 2011 Baseball schedule.

The Jayhawks visit Taylor Stadium in Columbia for a 3-game set against the Tigers on April 15, 16 and 17th. Then, the annual MU-KU game at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City is just a few days later, on Tuesday, April 19th.

Also on the KU schedule is the Coca-Cola Classic in Surprise, AZ, a tournament MU has played in before. No word yet on whether the Tigers are headed to Arizona again this coming February. I guess you could say it will be a Surprise.

Mizzou Baseball in the Majors

■ Ian Kinsler returns to Rangers and returns to familiar place in the lineup (dallsnews.com)

Ian Kinsler was back in a familiar spot Monday.

He led off. It's where he spent part of 2007 and most of 2008-09. But it was the first time he's led off since Oct. 3, 2009.

"I still like hitting in the first inning because I think that's where I'm at my best," said Kinsler, who went 1-for-5. "My goal is to touch home plate as many times as I can in the game. Obviously that takes the guys behind me, but you can't score unless you get on base."

■ Former Missouri pitcher Scherzer sees streak end (Columbia Missourian)

Max Scherzer's run of efficient labor ended on Labor Day.

The Detroit pitcher, and former Missouri ace, allowed four earned runs on nine hits in 7 1/3 innings, walking two and striking out six.

Mizzou Baseball in the Minors: Road Trips

■ Another player sent to Chukars (kanscityroyalsblog.com)

The Kansas City Royals have reassigned infielder Michael Liberto to the Idaho Falls Chukars for the final six games of the Pioneer League season. Liberto, who is in his first professional season, joins his fourth team this summer.

Michael Liberto was selected in the 21st round of the 2010 June Draft by the Kansas City Royals out of the University of Missouri. With the Mizzou Tigers, Liberto hit .317 in 50 games in his senior season this spring. Liberto began the 2010 season in the Arizona League (Rookie) with the Surprise Royals, where he hit .111 (3-for-27) in eight games. Midway through July Liberto was promoted to the Midwest League (A), where he batted .118 (4-for-34) in ten games with the Burlington Bees. In early August, Liberto was sent to the Appalachian League (Rookie) and hit .222 (14-for-63) in 19 games played with the Burlington Royals. The five-foot-seven middle infielder had a combined .169 batting average in 37 games played between those three teams.

Liberto joins the Chukars in time for the second game of the final homestand of the season. Tonight’s 7:15 game against the Orem Owlz at Melaleuca Field will be followed by a fireworks extravaganza.

SimmonsField.com: What people want to read about

Blogger.com has begun a new "Stats" feature this summer, which allows me to see some details on who is visiting this blog, when, from where, and what they have clicked on the most.

I thought my regular readers might find some of this information interesting. The stats are only from May, 2010, through today, which is the time period since Blogger began this feature. So, basically this tells me - and you - what Tiger fans have been interested in this summer.

■ Most clicked-on posts

• 339 Pageviews Tony Vitello headed to TCU? (Jul 16, 2010)
  
  
• 293 Pageviews 2010 Mizzou Baseball Recruits (Oct 11, 2009)
  
  
• 240 Pageviews Rumors, anyone? (Jul 21, 2010)
  
  
• 237 Pageviews MU Coaching Shuffle (Aug 5, 2010)
  
  
• 152 Pageviews 2011 Mizzou Baseball Roster: Tentative (Jun 18, 2010)
  
  
• 142 Pageviews Mizzou Baseball: Fall Roster (Aug 18, 2010)
  
  
• 134 Pageviews Mizzou Baseball: Jersey Numbers (Jun 24, 2010)
  
  
• 130 Pageviews Mizzou Baseball in the Minors: Demoted, Promoted,... (Aug 1, 2010)
  
  
• 109 Pageviews Tim Hawkins: Former MU Tiger a Big Hit in Comedy (Jul 1, 2010)
  
  
• 97 Pageviews Mizzou in the Minors: Justin James (Aug 9, 2010)

In other words, people have been most interested in the things they're not going to find information about elsewhere.

The one that surprises - and gratifies - me is the Jersey Numbers post. I mentioned my preoccupation with jersey numbers to some of my friends at the ballpark this last season and nearly all of them nodded their heads, said "Uh-huh" and looked at me like I had just confirmed their suspicions that I am a little too obsessed with Mizzou Baseball. Apparently I'm not the only one.

■ Pageviews by Countries

SimmonsField.com received 15,649 pageviews from the United States from May through August. No surprise there.

But how about:

134 Canada
126 South Korea
95 Russia
87 Netherlands
38 Japan
23 Luxembourg
23 Ukraine
20 Germany
19 Taiwan

Who'd'a thunk it?


Thanks to all the MU Baseball fans who make this effort worthwhile.

SimmonsField Photo: Wallpaper

Mizzou in the Majors: Justin James

■ Justin James makes major league debut (NewsOK.com)

A's catcher Landon Powell kept the ball from the inning-ending strikeout of Jeter and gave it to James.

"He struck out a Hall of Famer,” Powell told the Mercury News. "That'd be a good one to keep.”

■ Memorable (SFGate.com)

"When Jeter came up, I mentally stepped it up a little, especially with the bases loaded," said James, who had his parents and three best friends in attendance. "That's a lot of adversity."
. . .
Landon Powell . . . described James' fastball as very lively. "He's very hard to catch - I'd imagine that would make him hard to hit."

Mizzou in the Minors: Aaron Crow

■ First-rounder Crow fans career-high 13 (mlb.com)

Former first-rounder Aaron Crow fanned a career-high 13 batters as Class A Advanced Wilmington beat Myrtle Beach, 3-2, on Wednesday.
The 23-year-old Missouri product allowed three hits and one walk over 6 2/3 scoreless innings, topping his previous strikeout high of nine set July 13 while pitching for the Double-A Northwest Naturals.

■ Crow dominant as Rocks prevail (bluerocks.comO)

Aaron Crow was brilliant, the Wilmington offense did just enough and the Blue Rocks bullpen held on for dear life. Add everything up and it equaled a 3-2 victory for the Blue Crew over the Myrtle Beach Pelicans on Wednesday night at Frawley Stadium. The win helped Wilmington stay with 1.5 games of Potomac in the race for a CL North second-half crown.

Max

Max masters Minnesota for 9 innings. Video

Mizzou in the Majors: Justin James

■ Justin James glad he listened to little brother (San Francisco Chronicle)

Last year, Justin James was close to packing in his baseball career. He'd spent a year and a half with a mysterious arm injury, and doctors could find no structural damage.

The right-hander's younger brother, Chad - a left-hander who was the Marlins' top pick in the 2009 draft - convinced him to stick it out, and the two worked with a trainer, John Carey, who resolved Justin James' arm issues. His shoulder was too tight, and deep tissue work helped loosen things. His fastball, which had lost 8 mph, is better than ever: James throws 95 mph.

■ September call-up excites James (mlb.com)

"You never want to take the jersey off your back," James said, "but I was going through a rough time."

He took time out of his offseason to visit with his brother's trainer, who discovered that, despite negative MRI results on his sore arm, the right-handed pitcher had no mobility in his shoulder. Thus, James was able to use that knowledge to work his way back to the mound.

"That was one of the best decisions I ever made in my life, going there," he said. "It really changed my life around. My brother kept telling me to hang in there and keep going, and I did."

Mizzou in the Minors

■ Tepesch wants to refine off-speed stuff (LoneStarDugout.com - Subscription required)

Much like fifth-round pick Justin Grimm, 14th-round selection Nick Tepesch brings a big arm with plenty of potential to the Texas Rangers system. Lone Star Dugout caught up with the 21-year-old University of Missouri product.