"Fear the Deer"

I’ve moved!

UncleLar — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 18:01:25 +0000

I decided I wanted to improve the blog for 2008 and to do that I need to move the blog off of WordPress.com onto a domain of its own.

So here’s the new site (and my apologies to all for not getting the word out BEFORE the 2008 draft).

DeerPhobia.com

Hopefully, you enjoy the new clean look to it.

Larry Johnson to throw out first pitch

UncleLar — Wed, 14 May 2008 08:36:52 +0000

Larry Johnson To Throw Out First Pitch Of The Season via kwout

CDT tracks down the ex-Spikes

UncleLar — Mon, 05 May 2008 23:09:12 +0000

Motte making case for big promotion via kwout

UncleLar Take:

Be sure and check out the link. Guy Cipriano has down a great job of updating how each of the ex-Spikes are performing with their current teams.

Former Spike Chris Castorri makes his Curve debut

UncleLar — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 11:15:22 +0000

Castorri became the second Spike to play for the Curve, Brandon Williams being the other, when he made his AA debut over the weekend against the Erie Seawolves. Castorri’s appearance was an actual promotion to the Curve, while Williams was simply as an emergency fill in pitcher who got the call simply because he was just 40 minutes away in State College. Unfortunately, Chris’ debut wasn’t as memorable as he would like as he took the loss giving up a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh as the Seawolves won 5-4.

Read about it in the Johnstown Tribune Democrat

CDT: New Spikes manager going the extra mile

UncleLar — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 18:27:01 +0000

New Spikes manager going the extra miles via kwout

New Spikes skipper gives his thoughts

UncleLar — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 06:59:46 +0000

Lewistown Sentinel via kwout

UncleLar Take:

I got a kick over Fisher’s reaction to the environment here in State College.

If he’s worried about anything, it’s the risk of putting a group of young men into an idyllic setting — he said the park here spoils the young players, who advance to lesser facilities within the organization — not to mention the distraction of Penn State, the setting for the team.

Sabermetrics coming to the Pirates?

UncleLar — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 23:53:23 +0000

Dan Fox, on of the authors at the Baseball Prospectus announced in his column today that he would be leaving BP to join the Pirates front office staff. It looks like the Pirates will be embracing some of the statistical analysis approaches that BP is famous for.

In a related topic, I’ve been flirting with the idea of adding a twist to this site. This season rather than simply acting as a repository of information about the Spikes, I intend to add some sabermetric analysis. Hopefully readers will find the new stuff as interesting as I do and embrace it the way that it appears the Pirates might be.

Spikes hire Brian Tracy as pitching coach

UncleLar — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 18:34:01 +0000

(STATE COLLEGE, PA) – The Pittsburgh Pirates recently announced Brian Tracy will become the newest member of the State College Spikes field staff by serving as the pitching coach for the 2008 season. Tracy replaces Wilson Alvarez, who was originally named to the position.

Tracy spent the entire 2007 season as a member of the Spikes’ pitching staff. The right-hander tossed 22 2/3 innings in 14 games for the Spikes, earning a 3-2 record with a 4.37 ERA. Tracy was drafted by the Pirates in the 20th round of the 2007 First-Year Player Draft.

Read the rest of the article

Where are the Spikes now?

UncleLar — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 01:09:07 +0000

From the Spikes year end roster

Catchers -

Matthew Clarkson -
Ron Pena – Hickory Crawdads
Nick Stillwagon -
Drew Walker – inactive expected to be assigned to Hickory

Infielders -

Justin Byler -
Matt Cavagnaro – Hickory Crawdads
John Fitzpatrick -
Brian Friday – Lynchburg Hellcats
Smelin Perez – Jupiter Hammerheads Rule 5 AAA draft loss
Daniel Rios -
Bobby Spain – Hickory Crawdads

Outfielders -

James Barksdale – Lynchburg Hellcats
Marcus Davis – Hickory Crawdads
Miles Durham – Hickory Crawdads
Eric Huber -Hickory Crawdads
Victor Igsema – ????
Austin McClune – Hickory Crawdads
Keanon Simon – Hickory Crawdads

Pitchers -

Gary Amato – Hickory Crawdads
Basilio Alvarez – ????
Harrison Bishop – Hickory Crawdads
Tom Boleska -
Taylor Cameron -
Jorge Charry -
Mike Felix – Hickory Crawdads
Matt Foust – Hickory Crawdads
Yoffri Martinez -
Kyle McPherson -
Daniel Moskos – Lynchburg Hellcats
Eddy Nunez -
Moises Robles – Hickory Crawdads
Dionis Rodriguez – Hickory Crawdads
Adam Simon -
Nicolas Suero -????
Brian Tracy – hired as Spikes pitching coach
Andrew Walker – Hickory Crawdads
Duke Welker – Hickory Crawdads
Brandon Williams -

Others (who were here during the season) -

Christian Castorri – Lynchburg Hillcats
Daniel Forrer – Gulf Coast Pirates
Dustin Molleken – Hickory Crawdads
Jake Cuffman – Lynchburg Hillcats
Michael Ambrose – ????
Ricky Diaz – ????
Ronald Uviedo – Hickory Crawdads
Tony Watson – Lynchburg Hillcats
Zach Duke – Pittsburgh Pirates

The “blanks” can be expected to be the foundation of the Spikes this season with some shuffling that will take place as the college kids are signed in June. The whereabouts of the ????’s are unknown and they may well be out of baseball.

How Daley got his groove back

UncleLar — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 19:54:43 +0000

Nevada County Local Sports: How Daley got his groove back – TheUnion.com via kwout