muckdogs

From the Daily News (Wednesday):

• Conehead the Vendor was on hand to distribute beer and snacks to the crowd of 1,298 who showed up for the Muckdogs' home opener last night that started with rain, ended with a loss, but was nonetheless chock full of good cheer. Nor was he the only one. Officials from the Rochester Red Wings were there to get things in gear for the new season. And John Mozeliak, general manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, even came out to speak before the game. Reporter Brian Hillabush has a pair of great articles on today's front page covering the home opener. Check them out.
• Batavia's Town Board will host a public hearing on July 16 to get comment on the town's proposed contribution of $225,000 for the Genesee Valley Agri-Business Park.
• An article on the front page covers Council's planned discussion on the relocation of the city's youth football program that was covered in detail by The Batavian earlier today.
• Today's opinion page features a column by Tom Rivers about Tim Russert, the Buffalo native and host of Meet the Press, who died suddenly last week. Rivers found that as much as Russert was in the national spotlight, he still had time for small-town, small-press America. It's a great column. Worth a read.

For the complete stories, the Daily News is available on local newsstands, or you can subscribe on BataviaNews.com.

You could have said the night started ominous. Sure, the fans were there, diehard and decked in team merch, blankets tucked under their arms. They entered Dwyer Stadium under an arc of balloons — and Muckdog management even saw fit to roll out the red carpet, or at least a pair of shaggy red-colored rugs.

Then came the rain.

Everyone was talking about it. You couldn't not. Not with those low-hanging clouds that looked as thick as continents rolling slowly past. When one of them finally broke at about 6:30pm, everyone who wasn't under cover got a good soaking. Concession boys scrambled to get the condiment carts under the eaves. Managers called out for more hands on deck to roll tarp over the field. Ladies held seat cushions over their heads.

But it passed. Soon it was pretty much over. Fans got down to the business of watching baseball, and the Batavia Muckdogs and the Auburn Doubledays got down to the business of playing it.

Well, they lost. Batavia went down 1-6 against Auburn. Oh well. Now they'll take it to Auburn for the third and final game of the series tomorrow night down two games to none.

Don't forget to tune it to WBTA for the play-by-play.

Peanuts, knuckleballs, the smell of freshly mown turf, double plays, soda pop, stadium bleachers, rally caps... and The Batavian — all fine reasons to come out for the Muckdogs home opener Wednesday at Dwyer Stadium. I will be there an hour shy of game time at about six o'clock, proud to pull up table and chair at the home of the hometown legends.

Come by and say hello. Don't be shy. I'll try not to be.

The Rochester Red Wings will get another $15,000 for improvements to Dwyer Stadium this year after the City Council approved 5-3 a resolution authorization the expenditure.

Councilman Bill Cox led the opposition, saying that taxpayers should not subsidize private enterprise.  He objected specifically to the funds being used for grounds keeping.

"We're being asked to do this with no specific knowledge of any bricks or mortar or steel that needs to be repaired," Cox said.

The money is coming from the city's capital budget and, according to City Attorney George Van Nest, is consistent with previous grant requirements for the city to maintain the stadium.

Previously, the city entered into an agreement with the Red Wings with payments of $10,000 and $15,000 this year, $20,000 next year and $25,000 the following year.  Council President Charlie Mallow indicated the resolution was consistent with that agreement.

City Manager Jason Molino made the point that grounds upkeep is appropriate use of Capital Account funding, because "without a field, you don't have a stadium."

The Red Wings are currently operating the Batavia Muckdogs.

UPDATE: Buffalo News correspondent Bill Brown filed this report on the council proceedings. 

We're a little behind in our Daily News reading (with Philip on vacation).  From the Saturday/Sunday edition, however, there were some items of note.

• Becky Wolford won a contest to sing the National Anthem prior to a Muckdogs game.  She's also survived a brain tumor.  The story by Joanne Beck details her diagnosis and  efforts to fight the disease, which included much prayer and multiple surgeries. It's a fine news feature, but fails to acknowledge WBTA's role in sponsoring the contest.
• The Economic Development Center has approved a $36,000 mortgage and tax abatement to help Summit Lubricants move into the former Pepsi plant at 4-D Treadeasy Ave. Summit manufactures heavy lubricants and has been in Batavia since 1991 and its expansion will lead to 17 new jobs.
• In Lifestyles, ag reporter Tom Rivers profiles Bob Welker, a herdsman at Stein Farms, where he helps deliver calves and tend to sick cows. "It takes a special person to be herdsman because not everyone can work with sick animals every day," co-owner Dale Stein told Rivers. "You have to e willing to do everything for the animals. Maybe one in a hundred cold do it -- maybe one in a thousand.

We recommend you pick up your copy of the Daily News at a local newsstand, or subscribe on the Daily News web site.

Earlier this year, the Playing Rules Committee for Major League Baseball instituted some changes that would be tried out in the Minor Leagues to help speed up the game. (It should be mentioned that these changes were enacted before the Colorado Rockies took six hours and 22 innings to beat the San Diego Padres 2-1 in April.)

The changes would limit the time the pitcher has to throw the ball and the number of conferences on the mound with other players or coaches. From the MLB site:

Any combination of three or more manager/coach visits to the mound in a game without removing the pitcher will result in the automatic removal of the pitcher from the game on a fourth visit, regardless of whether prior visits were to the same or different pitcher(s). Additionally, no more than one infielder at a time is permitted to visit the mound, including during any visit by a manager or coach.

In Sunday's Niagara Gazette, contributor Doug Smith had a suggestion of his own to help keep the game going.

...it’s one of life’s little contradictions that for most dedicated baseball fans, the quicker the game, the better.

To further this end, the New York-Pennsylvania League has instituted some speed-up rules for the 2008 season that begins in Batavia on June 18. The advisory reads like the tax code, but basically, umpires will crack down on those long caucuses on the mound in which most of the players discuss where they’re going after the game, or reference “that babe in section 102.”

With strong young arms and short pitch counts, the NY-P already ranks among the minor-league leaders in game pace, so this seems an unusual place to start, and Base Paths can’t see this providing much improvement.

Want to really speed up the games?

Limit the number of pickoff throws. Three per runner ought to do it, and Kenny Rogers is pretty close to retirement anyway.

The Batavia Muckdogs will get a taste of the changes when their season starts in Auburn on June 17. Tune in to WBTA (1490 AM) to get your Muckdogs baseball fix.

Check out WBTA for this and more stories:

• Muckdogs General Manager Dave Wellenzohn will stand atop a lift above the entrance to Dwyer Stadium starting this Friday morning and through to the premiere of his radio show — I presume on WBTA — at 8:15am Saturday morning. All in the name of promoting the team.

The City Council voted unanimously to approve a $10,000 fund transfer — another $15,000 will be voted on at the next meeting — to fix up the ball field at Dwyer Stadium, home to the Batavia Muckdogs. A recent inspection of the field by the grounds crew found an uneven field ravaged in some spots by divots.

Naomi Silver came by the meeting to talk about the proposed maintenance. Silver heads up the business side of the Rochester Red Wings that took over management of the Muckdogs in early March.

When Silver was questioned about how long the Rochester group planned to manage the Muckdogs — even if it failed to turn a significant profit — she said: "We want to come here. We don't want to get rich on it. We want to do the right thing."

Silver called the Red Wings relationship with the Muckdogs "a true labor of love."

Wouldn't it be cool to sing the National Anthem prior to a professional baseball game?

Well, here's your chance to see if your rendition  more closely matches Whtiney Houston or Roseanne Barr (warning, you really don't want to click that link unless you're completely deaf).

WBTA is sponsoring a contest that will allow the winner to sing the Anthem prior to the July 4 Muckdogs game. (More info: Last item in the April 28 news update.)

The auditions are at Noon on Saturday, May 17.  We're not clear on the location, but we think at Dwyer Stadium.

Speaking of WBTA --  previously we reminded you about their Saturday auction.  No online word on who won what items (if you won something, leave a comment), but the site says there is another auction June 6.  Why is this important? Because everybody loves an auction!

WBTA will broadcast all 38 home games for the Batavia Muckdogs this season, the local radio station announced this morning (the station's web site doesn't offer permalinks, so eventually that announcement will scroll down and off the page ... for anybody who finds this item weeks from now).

The station will also broadcast some away games. Wayne Fuller will handle play-by-play.