The Beloit Snappers, Midwest League (low Class A) affiliate of the Twins, are making their last appearance of the season in Cedar Rapids this week with games Saturday night, Sunday afternoon and Monday afternoon, and as I’m prone to doing, I’ve been out at the ballpark getting a look-see at the young future Twins.
Snappers in the field in Cedar Rapids
I saw plenty of offense out of some of the Snappers on Saturday night and Iowan BJ Hermsen survived some early struggles to squeak out a “Quality Start” in front of a packed house that included a fair number of Hermsen fans. Beloit won the game 10-5.
Sunday, the results were less favorable for the Snappers, as they gave up three runs in the first inning to the Kernels en route to a 6-1 loss.
But enough about the games. The purpose of this post is simply to give Twins fans a glance at the names and faces of a few of the young players who are toiling in the farm system as they work toward their dreams of playing Major League baseball. They work hard and know they face long odds… and they deserve some recognition. – JC
Jhonatan Arias donned the catchers gear on SundayDH Michael Gonzales was the picture of intensity at the plateSS Andy Leer takes his lead off 1BLF Derek McCallum gets his cutsRF Daniel Ortiz went deep with this swing... but foul3B Jairo Perez rips a line driveOF/1B Lance Ray checks signs before getting in the batters boxStarting pitcher Adrian Salcedo strides toward homeCF Daniel Santana watches a pitch sail wide of the plateRelief pitcher Sam Spangler delivers to the plate2B Reggie Williams readies on defense
Tuesday night saw the finale of the Beloit/Cedar Rapids series and once again, things didn’t go real well for the Snappers as they fell to the Kernels 5-1. I stuck around through the 7th inning stretch but I couldn’t resist the urge to get home and watch the last half of the Twins/White Sox game.
Rather than give a whole lot of facts and figures from the game, I thought I would just post a few of the short video clips I recorded, with little or no commentary. Hope you enjoy getting a little taste of the Twins’ Class A Midwest League affiliate and I apologize in advance for the poor video quality. I’ve had this camera for about three years now, I think, and it’s the first time I’ve ever tried the ‘video’ feature.
The Snappers lone run in this game was accounted for by a Danny Rams home run in the 2nd inning (don’t you love it when the idiots sitting in front of you decide to stand up to let their ill-behaved kids change seats just as someone launches the ball over the LCF wall?).
James Beresford singled…
… and Beresford broke up a double play.
Rams catches a pop foul.
Aaron Hicks, out with an injured pinky finger, coaches first base.
Steven Liddle steals second base.
Despite a throwing error, the Snappers nail a runner at home.
Lance Ray singles.
Reggie Williams singles.
Daniel Santana called out on a bunt attempt… looks like he was still in the box to me.
Unless the Snappers find their way in to the MWL Playoffs (not totally out of the question yet, but they need to start kicking it in gear), this will be their last visit to Cedar Rapids for the season. I really enjoyed watching the effort they put out in the three series here this year and I look forward to seeing how they’ve matured by the time I see them in Spring Training in 2011.
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After the Twins finished putting on their woopin’ of the BitchSox Tuesday night, Seth Stohs of sethspeak.net invited me to join him for a few minutes in the second half of hisMinor League Weeklypodcast. We talked about my impressions and observations concerning many of the Snapper players I saw play here in Cedar Rapids this season (along with a couple of shameless plugs forKnuckleballs, of course). Ft. Myers Miracle pitcher Bruce Pugh was his guest for the first half hour or so of the program and I freely admit he was a heck of a lot more interesting than I was! Give it a listen, if you have some time today. Of course, I’d like to thank Seth for having me on the program. – JC
