Droppings from the Nest, August 1st-4th

The reason I’ve been putting off this set of droppings is that I also wanted to incorporate a post about the Albertsons 70th Birthday Bash celebration we had at the park on Saturday…but I’m waiting to get my hands on a couple of pictures.  Therefore, I am just going to move on with the droppings and come back to the celebration later today.  (Trust me the pictures are worth the wait).

Now to the droppings:

Trey McNutt.JPGIn other news, the Hawks made a couple of additions to their roster after Sunday’s game.  RHP Trey McNutt (right) and C Jose Guevara both joined the team last night in Everett. 

McNutt was this year’s 32nd Round Pick out of Shelton State CC.  In Mesa he recorded a 0-1 record with a 0.00 ERA in 7.1 IP.  He allowed five hits, five runs, walked three and struck out seven.  Guevara also joins the team from Mesa where he was hitting .088 with one double and four RBI.  Guevara was signed as non-drafted free agent in 2005 out of Anaco, Venezuela.

Droppings from the Nest, July 31st

Jackson.jpgThe Hawks were able to nab a 12-9 victory over the Canadians last night–but for some reason I still felt like the energy had been deflated from the clubhouse.  After the game, word got out that Cubs No. 1 draft pick Brett Jackson had been promoted to Peoria.

To mimic the sentiment Mike Safford expressed in his post “It was great to know you, Brett Jackson…”, when Jackson arrived on July 4th he breathed new life into our Hawks.  His quirky and fun-loving personality in the clubhouse really brought out the best in the team. 

Good luck to you, Brett.  But now who can I count on to be responsible for the shaving cream pies during the post-game interviews?

3B Robert Wagner has been promoted from Mesa to take Jackson’s place on the roster.  He was picked by the Cubs in the 38th round of the 2009 draft out of Panola Junior College in Texas.  With the AZL Cubs, Wagner was hitting .339 with four doubles, three triples, three homers and 11 RBI.

Now to the droppings:

Droppings from the Nest, July 30th

It was a pretty ugly homecoming for the Hawks last night, losing to Vancouver 15-5.  The worse part was that Vancouver had some travel woes, allowing me (and I’m sure plenty of others) to think they would be an easy win because of the lack of sleep and stress of the trip.  So much for that.

On to the droppings:

Hopefully tonight we play a little better ball and give the media a reason to write about us.  Go Hawks!

Droppings from the Nest, July 29th

Mitt.jpgBecause of the off day yesterday, the droppings are few and far between.  We still managed to get a little love though.

As you can tell from the droppings, the big news yesterday involved some movement within the organization.  Cubs No. 2 draft pick, D.J. LeMahieu was promoted to the Peoria Chiefs, skipping right over us here in Boise.  In return, Chiefs second baseman Derrick Fitzgerald was sent to Boise.  In order to make room on the Hawks roster, RHP Larry Suarez was sent to Mesa.  Talk about the domino effect!

So as we move into this homestand against the Vancouver Canadians, we have added two new players to the roster, Fitzgerald and LHP Chris Rusin.  Should be interesting with the roster a little shaken up again.

Droppings from the Nest, July 28th

Driving by the stadium on my way to work this morning, I noticed all of the guys piling off the bus.  I can only imagine that bus ride–brutal.  But, they have the day off and I am sure while some will be catching up on the sleep they didn’t get on the bus last night, others will be out enjoying Boise.

Now, to the (limited) droppings:

Bromance.jpgBromance extras: You can check out my article on the Hak-Ju Lee-Logan Watkins “bromance” on www.boisehawks.com, but also be sure to look at the photo album of all Boise Hawks “bromances”.  And as an extra little tidbit, here is my interview with Hak-Ju Lee about his “bromance” with Logan Watkins (with Watkins serving as the translator); it’s pretty raw, but funny nonetheless. 
Lee on Watkins Bromance.wav   

And to clarify, a “bromance” is a close, non-sexual relationship between two men–essentially, they are best friends.

Droppings from the Nest, July 25th-27th

While the team has been busy in Eugene, I’ve got some catching up to do…

Later today,look for new stories at www.boisehawks.com on Hawks’ “bromance” and the making of our special behind the scenes video produced by Oh! Show Productions

Droppings from the Nest, July 24th

field.jpgIt’s funny how my body is trained.  When 5:00 rolls around I have to literally tell myself I can go home and not to the stadium. 

Oddly enough, I ended up going to the stadium anyways.  We were hosting a company picnic there, and even though I wasn’t scheduled to work the event, I thought I would stop by just to say hi anyway.

I guess it’s just hard for me to get out of the routine of going to the stadium every night.

Anyway, on to the droppings:

Rusin.jpeg
Additionally, I just got word that the Hawks have added LHP Chris Rusin to the roster.  He will join the team in Eugene tonight. 

Rusin was selected by the Chicago Cubs in the 4th round (140th overall)
of the 2009 draft out of the University of Kentucky.  At UK, the
southpaw recorded a 7-4 season with 108 strikeouts.  Rusin is coming to
Boise from Mesa where he’s pitched five innings for the AZL Cubs,
allowing one hit, walking three and strking out two. 

Droppings from the Nest, July 23rd

Last night was another brutal loss for the Hawks as they fell to the S-K Volcanoes 10-8.  The guys immediately loaded the bus for Eugene and will start their series with the Emeralds tonight at 8:05 pm (Boise time).

Well enough logistics, I know we have some cool droppings to collect:

Boise Hawks Baseball Camp: Bringing It Back to the Kids

Kopitzke camp.jpgThis week, the Boise Hawks hosted their annual baseball camp directed towards children ages 7-14.  The camp is two half-day sessions jam-packed with drills.  The kids had the chance to learn from Hawks players and Manager Casey Kopitzke (who is actually the first manager to take part in the yearly camp) while rotating from station to station, covering everything from base running to pitching.

Check out the montage of clips from the first day of camp here.

Besides the manager getting involved, there was also something new to the way the camp was run–on the baseball side.  Manager Casey Kopitzke did not assign guys to the camp but instead hung up a sign-up sheet so the guys could volunteer on their own.

Yohan camp.jpg“I think it’s best if the guys decide they want to do something like this on their own,” said Kopitzke.  “I want to make sure everyone has a good time…I don’t want to give a kid a bad experience because maybe the player didn’t want to be there.”

However, there was no shortage of interested players testing out their coaching skills.  On the first day of camp pitcher Corey Martin manned the station on throwing basics, pitcher Yohan Gonzalez and catcher Richard Jones worked with the kids in the batting cages, first baseman Justin Bour taught the kids some ground ball skills, pitcher Danny Keefe worked on fly balls and Kopitzke took over base running.  On the second day, outfielders Jose Valdez and Runey Davis worked in the cage, pitcher Ryan Sontag took over fly balls,  infielder Logan Watkins and Tarlandus Mitchell taught the kids double plays, Kopitzke taught a little bit of catching, and pitchers Jon Nagel and Yohan Gonzalez taught the kids a little bit of pitching.

group camp.jpgAfter the sessions, the kids were able to eat lunch with the guys and get a few autographs.

By far, it has been one of my favorite events this season–it is so cool to see these guys work with the youngsters, and you know these kids are just in awe because they were able to play with professional baseball players.  So awesome!

Droppings from the Nest, July 22nd

Feliz Cumpleanos.jpgHappy belated birthday to Hawks infielder George Matheus who turned 21 yesterday.  Feliz Cumpleanos, George! 

Matheus’ birthday (and balloons during the post-game interview) was the highlight of the evening, as the Hawks loss to Salem-Keizer 8-6 last night, evening the series.

Now let’s get to those droppings:

Additionally, RHP Joe Simokaitis was promoted to the Daytona Cubs
(High-A) after the game.  He pitched 9.1 innings for the Hawks with a
8.68 ERA,
allowing 14 hits, nine runs (all earned), walking three and striking
out five.  Simokaitis, a former short stop made the transition to
pitcher this year.