In Which Everybody But Burgamy Sucks..

15-1.

Javier Colina was 3-5 with a home run and three RBIs and catcher J.R. House hit a grand slam as the Long Island Ducks routed the Camden Riversharks by the final score of 15-1. The 15 runs allowed by Camden (6-16) was a season-high as Riversharks pitching also surrendered 14 hits and 9 walks.

The Riversharks got on the scoreboard first in the Top of the 2nd as Brian Burgamy hit his 4th home run of the season off Ducks’ starter Joselo Diaz. Burgamy had the only three hits of the ball game for Camden.

Long Island wasted no time tying up the game as Matt Esquivel hit his 2nd home run of the season over the left field wall tying the game 1-1.

The Ducks gained the lead for good in the bottom of the third as six straight hitters reached with two outs highlighted by a two-run single by John Rodriguez giving Long Island a 4-1 advantage.

Riversharks starter Robert Rohrbaugh (1-2) was chased after just 2.2 innings allowing four runs on four hits.

Long Island extended their lead in the bottom of the fifth courtesy of a two-run error by shortstop Juan Francia giving Long Island a 7-1 lead.

The Ducks’ bats stayed hot in the sixth inning as relief pitcher Eddy Camacho allowed six runs including J.R. House’s grand slam, his first home run of the season, making it 13-1 Ducks.

Long Island starter Joselo Diaz (2-1) got the victory and has now thrown 14.1 innings in two starts against the Riversharks allowing just 2 runs.

The Riversharks and Ducks will play the series finale tomorrow night from Bethpage Ballpark as Heath Phillips (1-2) will face off against Jake Dittler (1-3). First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 PM.

In Which I Groove A 3-0 Fastball To Von Hayes...

So, the Facebook question I posted on Finely's wall made in into the May Edition of Shark Bites. Well, ONE of the questions. The softball. Here were the other one:

Given that The Atlantic League is full of players that have either hung on a little too long in Triple A, or been to The Show and are on the tail end of their careers, have you ever had to flat out tell a guy he can't hack it anymore? To maybe get on with the next part of their lives?

Former Shark Jason Botts Signed By NY Mets

The New York Mets announced that they have signed OF JASON BOTTS to a minor league contract and assigned him to the Buffalo Bisons. Botts will be active for the Herd's 7:15 p.m. game against the Indianapolis Indians.


Botts, 30, went to Spring Training with the Colorado Rockies but was released prior to the season. He signed on with the York Revolution of the independent Atlantic League and hit .370 (20-54) with four home runs and 13 RBI in 14 games.

Botts spent the 2010 season with Triple-A Syracuse and hit .279 (77-276) with 20 doubles, eight home runs and 48 RBI in 80 games. He played 93 major league games with the Texas Rangers from 2005-2008.

Brian Burgamy's 3rd Home Run of 2011

BB is a hell of a nice guy. Signed his home run ball for me after I "liberated" it from behind the fence in left center.

5/19/11: Sharks v. Bluefish

All you really need to know about tonight's game is contained in this text I received from my friend Adam, who because he works at Campbell's Field, by choice, is forced to watch some awful baseball sometimes:


"[RiverSharks starter Jake Dittler] goes 4.1, 8 runs on 11 hits. Which is 11 more than the Sharks have."

El Pulpo Es Siempre Divertido De Ver.

5/18/11: Sharks v. Bluefish

Seriously, this should count as half a win.

Day baseball at Campbell's Field! What could be better? Well, for starters, the special 11am start coincided with a "Baseball In Education" day. Which meant kids. Lots and lots of kids. Also, the forecast called for rain. So with dark clouds above and the wind somehow blowing both in and out of the park, the Sharks took the field against the only team with a worse record than theirs in the Liberty Division, the Bridgeport Bluefish.

It actually started out great. Bluefish starter Matt Pike surrendered six runs in his three innings of work before he was pulled. The Sharks were actually taking advantage of Bluefish mistakes and getting timely hits. Soon they were ahead 6-2.

Then the rain came. It poured for nearly an hour, and the field took a serious beating. There was a moat by the on deck circle that went from dugout to dugout. I didn't think there was enough DiamondDry in the world to clean up the mess.


But the rain finally let up around 1:30, and after the tarp was rolled back, most of the infield looked playable. Credit the Sharks groundscrew for getting the rest into shape. We were ready to resume by 2:15.

The rain had one positive side effect: it sent the kids scurrying, first up into the concourse, then back onto their buses, and finally back home. After play resumed there were about 30 fans left in Campbell's. Including the ushers and interns.

And me, cause I have no religion, and am apparently a glutton for punishment.

Bridgeport scored eight unanswered runs and, after the game was tied, the Bluefish pushed one more run across in the ninth to defeat the Camden Riversharks (5-12) by a score of 11-10. It was heartbreaking. But it's a long season, right?

Really, really, long. Sigh.

Report: Pedro Feliz signs with Camden Riversharks

D.J. Short

May 13, 2011, 7:42 PM EDT

Pedro Feliz has signed with the Camden Riversharks of the independent Atlantic League, according to a Tweet by Mike Ashmore of the Hunterdon County Democrat.

Feliz was granted his release by the Royals after batting .167/.286/.375 in 24 at-bats during spring training. The 36-year-old third baseman batted just .218/.240/.293 with five home runs and 40 RBI over 429 plate appearances between the Astros and Cardinals last season. His .533 OPS was the lowest among players with at least 400 plate appearances. And while he has earned the reputation as a solid gloveman, even his defense showed signs of decline.

The Marlins quickly shot down talk of adding Feliz before the start of the season, so there just doesn’t appear to be a good fit with a major league club right now. Or maybe ever again.

5/11/11: Sharks @ Barnstormers

The RiverSharks couldn't quite mount a comeback Wednesday night and lost another game to the Lancaster Barnstormers, 4-3.

The Good: Raul Padron got the start at first and crushed a ball in the 6th inning for his second home run of the year. Lancaster catcher Alvin Colina had trouble all night trying to catch knuckleball pitcher Charlie Zenk, the duo combined for 2 wild pitches and 2 passed balls, one of which allowed Drew Macias to score in the 1st inning. Knuckleballers who are accurate are usually successful. Wild knuckleballers, well, welcome to the Atlantic League, kid!


The Bad: After his 0 for 5 nightmare last night, Mike "Seriously, I'm not very good at this." Lamb went 1 for 3 with a walk. Pitching continues to be a real problem for the Sharks, starter Jason Johnson went 5 innings and gave up 9 hits, including a moon shot over the left field fence to Lancaster 1st baseman Tommy Everidge. Ryan McKellar pitched 3 pretty solid innings of relief, giving up only 2 hits and striking out 3.

The Ugly: I have now been present at 50% of the Sharks wins this season. They are 2 - 8 in their last ten games. Y'know how they say you can't win the pennant in May? You can certainly lose it. Ugh.

5/10/11: Sharks @ Barnstormers

The RiverSharks were three outs away from a series opening win against the Lancaster Barnstormers on Tuesday.

But in the bottom of the 10th, with the bases loaded (thanks to three walks, two from closer Mumba Rivera and one intentional) Fernando Seguinol drilled a single into left that scored JC Holt and Gilbert Mejia.

And so the Sharks drop a heartbreaker in extra innings, 10-9. A real shame because...

The Good: The Sharks got back-to-back pinch hit home runs from Drew Macias and Raul Padron in the bottom of the 8th to tie the game, and Noah Hall led off the 10th with a solo homer to take the lead. Earlier the Sharks battled back from a four run deficit after starter Chris Mason let the first six Barnstormers on base. Former Barnstormer Lloyd Turner went 3 for 5 with two RBI, but...


The Bad: Did I mention the first six Barnstormers reached base? And we lost in extra innings on a bases loaded 2 run single?

The Ugly: WE SCORED 9 RUNS AND IT WASN'T ENOUGH????


Oh, Mumba. You couldn't even get one out. And Mike "Clearly My Best Days Are Behind Me" Lamb goes 0 for 5. And the Sharks deserved to WIN this game, I've never seen the bats come alive like they did tonight. But the pitching is just not there for this team. Game 2 tomorrow @ 6:30.

5/4/2011 Sharks v. Ducks

The Good: Juan Francia goes 4 for 5 with four singles. Mike Lamb goes 2 for three with a walk, single and RBI double. My buddy Adam starts his part time job at Campbell's Field working Sharks home games. Very few people at the game tonight, because...

The Bad: It was a miserably cold, windy night. Maybe 600 people in attendance, of which at least 400 were the parents of the kids they brought out to sing the National Anthem. The loud, fidgety kids. The unsupervised, descended like seagulls upon anyone holding a baseball in the field, kids. The sitting on top of the dugout when there are 5000 other seats available to them in this empty stadium, kids.


The Ugly: The "It Would Be Funny If It Wasn't Kinda Sad" line on Sharks pitcher Jake Dittler tonight: 2/3 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO, He threw 39 pitches and got exactly 2 outs. He faced 9 batters. In the first inning.

Ducks 5, RiverSharks 2