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?
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
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John Murden
John Murden covers Church Hill, the Fan, Carytown/Museum District , Northside, and random Richmond stuff for RVA News.
Notice: Comments that are not conducive to an interesting and thoughtful conversation may be removed at the editor’s discretion.
Thanks for this. I am super stoked about baseball season and all it’s warm-weather, beer-drinking awesomeness.
Love baseball. Between the foul lines (actually at the gate) time stands still. Politics, war and the rest wait outside, but inside baseball today is a lot like baseball 50 or 100 years ago. Somehow it has withstood the test of time.
Also if you like the Washington Nationals like I do you might get to see #1 overall pick Bryce Harper when he swings through town with the Harrisburg Senators. He starts in Single-A Hagerstown and is expected to rise quickly through the farm system. Good, cheap chance to see a young phenom before he goes up to DC.
Game #1/Home #1
TONIGHT: The Richmond Flying Squirrels and New Britain Rock Cats will meet in the opener of a four-game series…The Flying Squirrels and the Rock Cats will both be opening their 2011 seasons in tonight’s contest.
TONIGHT’S STARTERS: Right-hander Daryl Maday gets the start on Opening Day for the Flying Squirrels…Making his second career Opening Day start…Also started for Connecticut on Opening Day on 4/9/09 at Portland…Tossed four scoreless innings, allowing two hits while striking out two and walking two and receiving a no-decision…Started the Flying Squirrels’ home opener and inaugural game at The Diamond on 4/15/10…Earned the win firing 5 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing four hits while striking out four and walking two… Won first seven decisions including six straight 4/15/10-5/12/10…Named Eastern League Pitcher of the Week 4/26/10-5/2/10…Named an EL Mid-Season All-Star…Did not pitch in the game due to promotion…Promoted to Triple-A Fresno 7/3/10…Went 8-5 with a 2.34 ERA in 16 starts prior to promotion…Went 1-4 with a 9.21 ERA in seven games including five starts with Fresno…Sent back down to Richmond 8/4/10…Went 1-3 with a 9.68 ERA in nine games, two starts, after being sent down…Is 5-1 with a 3.00 ERA in eight career starts against New Britain…Allowed two hits over eight scoreless innings in his first start against the Rock Cats last season on 4/20/10 at The Diamond…Selected in the 30th round of the 2006 First-Year Player Draft…Attended the University of Arkansas.
Right-hander David Bromberg gets the nod in the series opener for the Rock Cats…Enters the 2011 season rated as the #13 prospect in the Minnesota Twins farm system according to Baseball America…Making his second career Opening Day start…Also started for Low-A Beloit on Opening Day 4/4/08 against Kane County…Suffered the loss allowing five runs, all earned, on three hits in 4 2/3 innings while striking out four and walking three…Began the 2010 season with New Britain…Went 5-5 with a 3.62 ERA in 17 starts for the Rock Cats, striking out 65 batters and walking 35…Recorded nine quality starts in 17 total outings…Tossed seven-plus innings three times…Allowed 105 hits in 99 1/3 innings…Did not face Richmond in 2010…Promoted to Triple-A Rochester 7/19/10…Went 1-4 with a 3.98 ERA in nine starts with the Red Wings…Struck out 47 batters and walked 13 in 52 innings…Registered four quality starts in nine outings…Spent the entire 2009 season with Advanced-A Fort Myers going 13-4 and posting a 2.70 ERA in 27 games including 26 starts…Led the Florida State League in strikeouts (148) while finishing second in wins (13), fourth in ERA (2.70), and fifth in innings pitched (153.1) and batting average against (.224)…Named the FSL Most Valuable Pitcher as well as a FSL Mid-Season and Post Season All-Star…Spent 2008 with Low-A Beloit going 9-10 with a 4.44 ERA in 27 starts…Led all of minor league baseball with 177 strikeouts…Fanned a career-high 13 batters 8/24/08 at Burlington…Named a Midwest League Mid-Season All-Star…Went 9-0 with a 2.78 ERA in 13 games, 11 starts, with Rookie Elizabethton in 2007…Struck out 81 batters and walked 32 in 58 1/3 innings while holding opponents to a .211 batting average against…Named Appalachian League Pitcher of the Year and a Post Season All-Star while helping the E-Twins to a Appalachian League championship…Has struck out 10-plus batters five times in his career…Selected in the 32nd round of the 2005 First-Year Player Draft…Attended Santa Ana (CA) Junior College in 2006.