News From Las Vegas

Glen Bush and Adrian Hendrickson did win jobs with the the ML club. Although Phil Satou and Placido Bravo actually performed better in Spring training. It was decided after a lengthy discussion that both would be better served pitching at AAA this year.

When the Bipster heard that B.C. Stone was on the market in Boise, he wanted to jump on a deal. It took three days of convincing him that although it might be a good move in a couple aspects, that it may not be a good move overall. Like hell yeah, we would love to have B. C. in a Sand Cats uniform! Like yes, there is no secret that we would like to move Alving Infante and Richard Gabriel, but where do we find another player or maybe two we are willing to give up? Besides that, B.C. would be hard pressed to accept a backup role or as an insurance salesman. After all that, he still wasn't convinced but caved to our way of thinking. We had to watch him and make sure he didn't try something behind our backs though, you know how owners are.

Paul Ingram was outraged with the antics of Alving Infante so far this season. Paul held his temper in check though but you could tell it affected him on the field. Simmy and Alving think he is the starter in Las Vegas, but the Coaching Staff has other ideas and maybe 30 or less games into the season both will see the light.

Strange Spring Training news in Las Vegas concerning the Long Ball. We hit 17 fan favorites in Spring Training. Out of those, only 4 were hit by the power guys. That left the Coaching Staff a bit on edge, especially Ron Carson who was scratching his ass and sucking his thumb more than usual. Pitching wise, we gave up 19, 9 of those by two veterans that know better. Buzz Sullivan was mystified at that also but thinks it could be catcher interference, as we did start two very young ones most of the time. On the bright side of things, only the aforementioned Paul Ingram laid an egg at the plate as the rest of the starters hit very well just not in sync as the run production indicated. Defensively, only Jay Hegan had problems handling the ball the most and we are not exactly sure why either. We did try some stick-um, but the ball and his hand got stuck in the glove. We even thought it could be sweaty palm syndrome, we tried rosin but when he went to throw the ball it flew into the stands behind him.

With Spring Training out of the way, the Sand Cats are thrilled to get the season under way. Our annual outing to Arch Rival Seattle is first on the agenda with an opening 4 game series. Last year we went 1-3 in the opening series and desperately seek to change that fate. Yeah, the Sand Cats may be full of surprises this year and then again might run back to Helena with our tails between our legs to find that comfy Grotto we left behind to hide in.