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May 31
The Cannons are at .500! While that doesn't quite have the feel of "The Giants win the pennant!" it feels almost as good to Calgary fans. The Guns have done this by winning 9 of their last 10 games, including this afternoon's tilt against Fresno. This also marks the first time this season the Cannons have won a homestand, with a record so far of 5-1.
Today's action leaves the Cannons four games back of Tacoma, while stretching to 1.5 games their lead over the third place Trappers. The Cannons have done this with pitching, with their team ERA under five for the first time in a long time, and their rank (going into today) of 11th in ERA, up from 16th and last only a few weeks ago. The bats, with a team average of .266, is still languishing in the lower echelons of the PCL, but is still up 14 points in the last three weeks. And the team's 59 home runs leads the league.
These events seemed to put the team in a great mood for the post game reception with the season ticket holders (those who withstood 3 1/4 hours of prairie sun, the Blues Brothers, and me hawking!). Among the things I learnt at the reception include:
-Players listen to what the hawkers are yelling.
-Most of our players are Bull fans.
-Lou Frazier could make an OK living doing card tricks if baseball doesn't pan out.
On the whole, our guys seem to be a pretty good bunch. And they are winning!
With Fresno in town, the games are once more on the Internet. The play by play guy for Fresno is very complementary about Burns Stadium, and Calgary in general. A bit of that may have to do with him going out last night and having a great time in our nightlife. Click on the graphic below to listen to the games.
May 21
As the Cannons go up the coast to Vancouver to face the C's, a few thoughts.
The Guns are now 7 games out of first (Tacoma) after losing 3 of 4 to the Rainiers. The are only 1 1/2 games out of second however, as Tacoma has broken from the pack by winning 10 of it's last 12 games. If the Guns (or any other West Division team) don't wake up soon, it could be a long summer for Canadian PCL fans.
All four teams in the division have worse home records than road ones, and only Tacoma is over .500 at home. Hopefully this lousy home record trend will continue when the Guns are in Vancouver, then reverse when they are at Burns.
The C's are coming of willing three of four from the Las Vegas Stars, and as a result are ahead of Calgary by 1 1/2 games, tied with the Trappers.
Our 'former club', Nashville (complete with manager Trent Jewett and many of last year's Guns) come into town for four games starting Tuesday. The festivities include a contest on Wednesday which gives a trip for two to Nashville to meet and talk with Terri Clark.
Also this homestand, the Blues Brothers are in town on Sunday, and the Famous Chicken is here to close out the stand on June 2. Also on Sunday May 31 is the annual season ticket reception after the game, where season ticket holders are fed (roast beef I think this year), and get to talk to the players.
There's no Internet radio feed from Vancouver, so your best bet is to click on the up to the minute scoreboard above for the latest action.
May 17
After a few days of football like scores, the Cannons series against Omaha brought scores back to baseball proportions. The Royals scored 18 runs in the four games here, while splitting with the Cannons. This ERA under 5 is a big improvement for the Guns staff, which is mired in last in team ERA at 5.74. The team is also 15th of 16 teams in batting average, at .259. However, true to the Guns tradition, Calgary is second in Home Runs, 9 behind Iowa with 46.
The team left with a 3-5 record in the latest homeswing. The team's .500 on the road, a record that will be tested as they face the Tacoma Rainiers starting Sunday evening. Tacoma is the division leader (with the Cannons 5 games back) after sweeping the Trappers in Edmonton. (And winning three of four here). After four games in Vancouver, the team is back in Calgary on May 26, where they will be hosting the Nashville Sounds, with many of last year's Cannons.
May 11
You gotta love the PCL. It has to be the only place in baseball where a 10-0 lead is not insurmountable. The Cannons did lose to Tacoma after being down by that score, but got all 10 runs back, losing 11-10, with the tying run on third. It was a pretty ugly game, with five errors resulting in seven unearned runs.
The Cannons don't seem to like Burns Stadium. Thus far, the team is .500 on the road, but only 2-8 at home, after two losses to Tacoma Saturday night and Sunday afternoon.
Tacoma being here brought back long time Cannon Dave Brundage. "Brundie" is a coach with the Rainiers. He holds the record for most games played in a Cannon uniform.
A note from the series with Memphis. Former Cannon Reed Secrist is playing for the Redbirds, after his Japanese team didn't pick up his option year. He's doing OK there, batting .266 with 12 RBIs going into Friday's game.
Speaking of batting, going into today's game (a 15 hit effort in a losing cause), the Cannons ranked 15th of 16 teams in hitting, with a lowly (for the PCL) .251 batting average. Only Nashville is lower, at .233.
We are also 15th in team ERA, at 5.60 (and rising after yesterday's 6 earned runs).
The Cannons play again throuth Saturday, two more against Tacoma, then the first of the 'new' teams comes in, Omaha, for four, including a Friday 12:05 game. Yay, an Friday night off!
May 3
The Cannons managed a split in Nashville, winning the last two against the Sounds, last night in 11 innings, and 8-4 today. Lou Frazier hit his first Cannon home run in the winning effort.
Next up is the Memphis Redbirds, starting on Tuesday. Click on the station link below to listen to the games. Games start at 6:00 MDT Tuesday through Friday.
Memphis is 14-10, and first in their division after a win Sunday in Fresno. The Cannons, at 9-15 are, amazingly, only 3 games back of the Trappers in the West Division of the Pacific Conference. A few wins against the Redbirds and the Guns can be back in the standings coming home for an 8 day homestand starting Saturday. It's a night game, followed by a Mother's Day afternoon game.
May 1
Sorry about the 10 day break between reports. My computer has a few hickups, resulting in an unplanned hiatus.
The Cannons have been on the road, and what we saw here the last four days of the homestand has continued. The Cannons continue to have problems with their pitching. The worst of this had to be the 20-15 loss here against Las Vegas, with football lines being used during most of the 4:26 minute game (As in "Well, they're only down by a field goal now"). In Edmonton, they actually lost a 9-0 lead in a loss to the Trappers.
The only saving grace is that the rest of the division is also not setting the world on fire. With the lack of a split season, the Cannons could bury themselves early in the season, but they are only 2 1/2 games back of the division leading Trappers.
The hitting has been improving during the last week, due in no small part to the new Cannons, including major league journeyman Lou Frazier, sent down from the White Sox as the road trip began.
The Cannons have thus far not seen much traffic between here and Chicago, as despite a slow start, the Sox stick with the same lineup they took north a month ago. Having said that, Cannons fans are perhaps hoping for a few pitchers to be sent down, to help Tom Spenser's struggling squad.
After three more games against Nashville (last year's Calgary club, with several players and last year's manager still there), the Cannons play four against Memphis to end their longest away stand of the year (12 games in 14 days), and finally return back to Calgary next Saturday.
That's all the Cannons news for now. If you have any comments, please mail me at kmorriso@cadvision.com.
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