Todd Helton

Todd Helton of the Colorado Rockies announced his retirement from Major League Baseball yesterday, effective at the end of the season. Todd Helton started his professional career with the 1995 Asheville Tourists after being a First Round, Pick #8, by the Colorado Rockies out of the University of Tennessee. He played 54 games for the Tourists after he signed with the Rockies and he hit .254 with only one homerun and 15 RBI's in 201 at bats. It was a unremarkable debut by a First Round Draft Pick with such high expectations. The real star of the 1995 Tourists was Outfielder Derrick Gibson who hit 32 homeruns and drove in 115. Todd Helton was on the fast track to the Rockies, however, and he was in Colorado to stay by 1998. He exhibited much more power in Colorado and hit 25 Homeruns and drove in 97 to finish 2nd in the Rookie of the Year balloting that season. He played 17 seasons in the majors, all with the Colrado Rockies, and has a career Batting Average of .317 with 367 Homeruns and 1397 RBI's in 2235 games to date. Those are Hall Of Fame worthy numbers. He appeared in one World Series with Colorado in 2007 against the Boston Red Sox. He went 5 for 15 with one RBI in that Series. The Boston Red Sox swept them in 4 games. Derrick Gibson made it to Colorado for a total of 17 games in 1998-99. His career totals were 14 for 49 for a .286 average with 2 homeruns and 8 RBI's. He spent a total of 14 seasons in the minors. I remember watching both of them play that season and the comparison between those two players is proof of how fickle a career in baseball can be. I remember being in awe of Gibson's raw baseball skills and I kept waiting on Helton to show me anything outside of being a First Round bust. It is a good thing I am not a baseball scout.

Turn Out The Lights

The Asheville Tourists turned out the lights on the 2013 season after yesterday's 6-2 Labor Day loss to the Augusta Greenjackets. That was a continuation of Sunday night's suspended game and there was an announced crowd of over 6,200 people. The Tourists scored their first run in the bottom of the second inning on a wild pitch and David Bergin tied the game at 2 with an RBI double in the sixth. Jayson Aquino (0-9) couldn't hold the lead and gave up four runs in the seventh to make the final score 6-2. The Tourists and Greenjackets did not bother playing the regularly scheduled game for reasons unbeknownst to me. The Tourists really took their lumps in the second half of the season to the tune of a 25-43 record and last place in the South Atlantic League standings. The offense struggled to score runs down the stretch and that was a big contributing factor to their record in the second half, an opinion that was shared by Tourists Manager Fred Ocasio in an article in the Asheville Citizen-Times last week.

A Rain Delay

One hard fact about baseball is that you cannot play baseball in a monsoon. Therefore the Greenjackets and Tourists made it to the bottom of the second inning last night before the rains came and the Greenjackets holding a 2-1 lead. They had to suspend the game and continue it today as part of the season finale. It has rained this summer like it never has before. I do not know the meteorolgical stats behind it but, I was talking to a few fans after the game and one older gentleman told me that he had only been able to come to five games this year and everyone had ended up being a rainout. I remember when Catcher Rick Dempsey of the Baltimore Orioles was playing in the 1980's, he used to entertain the fans during rain delays by coming out and doing a pantomime homerun routine where he finished up by sliding headfirst into a big puddle of water to a standing ovation to those fans that were left. The only entertainment we got last night was the Augusta Greenjackets bullpen throwing a football around. Where are the characters in baseball these days?

Stolz's Career Day

Asheville Tourists Shortstop Jason Stolz drove in a season high five runs with a bases clearing double over the Centerfielder's head in the fourth inning and a 2 RBI triple in the eighth inning. He also scored the winning run on Second Baseman Zach Osborne's RBI single with the next batter. Third Baseman Matt Argyropoulos went 4 for 4 with 2 runs scored. Tourists Manager Fred Ocasio shiffted the defensive lineup around a little bit as he had Jason Stolz at Shortstop, Zach Osborne at Second, and Matt Argyropoulos at Third. Newcomer David Bergin, who also had two hits, operated out of the Designated Hitter spot in the lineup. Tourists starter Ben Hughes went 6 innings, gave up 5 runs, 4 earned, and two homeruns but did not factor in the decision. Reliever Alving Mejias pitched two scoreless innings to get the win (5-5). Closer Raul Fernandez pitched a scoreless ninth to get his team leading 16th save.

Ocasio Sounds Off

Asheville Tourists Manager Fred Ocasio sounded off on his teams woes in the second half of this season that has lead to the worst record in the South Atlantic League, 24-42 in the second half and 62-72 overall after last nights loss to Augusta. He cited the fact that the "offense has really struggled" in the second half due to "not getting two-out RBI's." This lack of production is in spite of the fact that the Tourists lead all of professional baseball in stolen bases with over 200 and have the league MVP, Rosell Herrera, in their lineup as well as leading the SAL in team batting average (.273). In the games I have been to, I have seen the Tourists aggressiveness on the base paths run themselves out of several potential big innings. David Bergin getting thrown out at second base in the bottom of the 8th inning in last night's game cost them the opportunity to tie it up as the next batter, Max White, hit a double off of the top of the rightfield wall that probably would have scored Bergin. I do not know if someone missed a sign or if it was a botched hit-and-run but it wasn't even a close play at second base. Ocasio was professional enough to not name any of the teams players but it has been a frustrating second half for both the Manager and the players.

A Good Show

Last night's baseball game between the Augusta Greenjackets and the Asheville Tourists was a really good game and featured some of baseball classic matchups. The Tourists were down 4-3 going into the bottom of the ninth inning and put two on base with two outs. The Tourists got the matchup they wanted. It was Greenjackets closer and power pitcher Tyler Mizenko versus Tourists slugger Francisco Sosa who had already hit his 20th homerun over the rightfield wall in the 6th inning. I don't think that Mizenk really wanted to give him anything good to hit so he nipped around the plate and ended up walking him on a 3-2 count. Sosa showed great patience and did not bite on the 3-2 pitch that was low and outside. That brought up clean up man David Bergin with the bases loaded and two out. He grounded a ball in between third and shortstop that Greenjackets Third Baseman Mitchell Delfino really had to stretch for the grounder and threw wide to First Baseman Joseph Rapp and pulled his foot off the bag. He still had the time and the where with all to reach back with his left foot and touch the bag a split second before David Bergin's foot landed on the bag. It was a close play but I had a very clear view of it from my spot in Section A, Row B, Seat 10 along the first base line and he was out by a half of a step. Tourists starter Andrew Brown absorbed his first loss of the year (7-1), giving up 4 runs in 7 innings, with the big blow being a three run homer by Right fielder Charles Jones in the fourth inning. Reliever Shane Broyles came on to pitch shutout baseball over the final two innings and got out of a bases loaded jam in the top of the 8th inning.

Shut Down Pitching

The Asheville Tourists got a solid start from Andrew Brown (5 innings, 1 earned run) and 4 innings of shutout relief- 2 from Shane Broyles and 1 inning a piece from Trent Blank and Jacob Newberry- in an 8 -1 win over the Charleston River Dogs. Brown won his 7th game without a loss. The Tourists were powered by 2 Derek Jones homeruns (his 17th and 18th) and 3 RBI's and a Ben Waldrip homerun (his 3rd) and 3 RBI's. The Tourists improved their overall record to 61-67 but just 23-37 in the second half.