Baseball is a season and that season is summer

Our baseball season opens on Thursday at the Diamond, the first game of 140 or so over the course of a long season. Baseball is almost every day from now until September, the background hum as spring becomes summer and summer becomes awesome. Are you excited?

April 6, 2011; 11:48 AM • by John Murden

Our baseball season opens on Thursday at the Diamond, the first game of 140 or so over the course of a long season. Baseball is almost every day from now until September, the background hum as spring becomes summer and summer becomes awesome. Are you excited?

The Richmond Flying Squirrels 2011 roster, featuring 8 players ranked among the top-30 organizational prospects by Baseball America, is a blend of players from last year’s inaugural season team and players coming up from the 2010 California League Champion San Jose Giants. The team also has a new manager in Dave Machemer, who comes to Richmond after two seasons at the helm of the single-A Augusta GreenJackets.

A standout among the new players is 2nd baseman Charlie Culberson, named by Baseball America as the #6 prospect in the Giants’ system and among the top prospects in the Eastern League. Other players to keep an eye out for are pitchers Eric Surkamp, Jason Stoffel, Ryan Verdugo, and Clayton Tanner, outfielders Roger Kieschnick and Juan Perez, and catcher Johnny Monell.

Seven members from last year’s team are back, including Kieschnick, Tanner, pitchers Daryl Maday, David Quinowski, and Ronnie Ray, catcher Aaron Lowenstein and utility man Sharlon Schoop.  Maday and Tanner were both selected as Eastern League All-Stars in 2010, and Maday was on the mound for Richmond’s first home win last April.

Some fan-favorites from last year that we don’t have back in Richmond include Brandon Belt, currently starting at first base for the World Champion San Francisco Giants, and David Mixon, Darren Ford (the first former Squirrel to play in big leagues), Thomas Neal, and Connor Gillaspie, all of whom were promoted to the AAA Fresno Grizzlies.

The Squirrels’ season opens this Thursday at home with a 4-game series with the New Britain Rock Cats (Minnesota Twins). The Rock Cats posted the worst record in minor league baseball last year (44-98), but start the season with touted pitching prospect Liam Hendriks. The Richmond Flying Squirrels ended last season on a high note, winning three straight against the Bowie Baysox (75-67) to take the last series of 2010 and leaving the Squirrels with a final record of 68-73. Despite the losing record, Richmond took the the Eastern League attendance crown, with the 2nd best attendance in all of minor league baseball.

Schedule

April 7 7:05PM (HOME)
New Britain Rock Cats vs Richmond Flying Squirrels
Bromberg (0-0) vs Maday (0-0)
Opening Night Fireworks

April 8 6:35PM (HOME)
New Britain Rock Cats vs Richmond Flying Squirrels
Opening Weekend Fireworks

April 9 6:35PM (HOME)
New Britain Rock Cats vs Richmond Flying Squirrels
Fleece Blanket Giveaway – the 1st 2,500 fans 21+ up will receive a Flying Squirrels Fleece Blanket

April 10 2:05PM (HOME)
New Britain Rock Cats vs Richmond Flying Squirrels
Cereal Bowl Giveaway – cereal bowl to first 2,500 kids club members (14 & under).

Complete Flying Squirrels’ 2011 Opening Day Roster

 
Pitchers – Justin Dowdy, Justin Fitzgerald, Maday, Matos, Dan Otero, Quinowski, Edwin Quirarte, Ray, Stoffel, Surkamp, Tanner, Ryan Verdugo, Thomas Vessella
 
Catchers – Lowenstein, Monell
 
Infielders – Culberson, Jose Flores, Koshansky, Schoop, Joel Weeks
 
Outfielders – Christian, Kieschnick, Mike McBryde, Perez

April 6, 2011 11:48 AM 4