With winter ball in full swing we thought it would be a good idea to update Cardinals and Redbirds fans on the Boys of Summer that are still playing. And we'll get to that but first we want to make sure everyone knows which team they are rooting for in the Spanish speaking leagues like the Dominican, Venezuelan, Mexican-Pacific and Puerto Rican leagues. Each team in those leagues is listed below with their English translation and a fun fact.

Dominican Winter League

Toros del Este - English Translation: Bulls of the East - This team is loaded with former PCL guys this season like former Nashville Sounds Vinny Rottino and Ozzie Chavez.

Tigres del Licey - English Translation: Tigers of the Licey - Former Redbird Timo Perez leads the team in average, home runs and RBI so far this season. These guys are good, they have 22 national championships and 10 Caribbean Series titles.

Leones del Escogido - English Translation: Lions of the Escogido - Escogido actually means chosen so the literal translation is 'from Leon of the Chosen One' but in this case we're pretty sure leones means lions. Former Redbird Nerio Rodriguez is on the team pitching at 38-years-old. PCL Rookie of the Year Eric Young Jr. is also on the squad.

Aguilas Cibaenas - English Translation: Cibaenas Eagles - Former Redbird Hector Luna plays for the Eagles and is a teammate of Al Albuquerque. Seriously, they have a pitcher named Al Albuquerque.

Gigantes del Cibao - English Translation: Giants of the Cibao - This is Redbirds first baseman Mark Hamilton's team. Unfortunately, he hit just .191 in 15 games for the Giants but hey he played left field almost exclusively, which was probably the reason he was there.

Estrellas de Oriente - English Translation: Stars of East - Former Bird Kelvin Jimenez is a Star this winter along with former Cardinal Fernando Tatis. Hey, Tatis spelled backwards is sitat.

Venezuelan Winter League

Leones del Caracas - English Translation: Lions of the Caracas - This is our very own Jon Jay's team this winter. Jay is hitting over .300 and has a team-high 21 RBI as of November 13. They're also in first place as of November 13.

Navegantes del Magallanes - English Translation: Navigators of the Magallanes - The Navigators are in second place as of the publish date of this blog. The Navigators were founded way back in 1917 and boast Mets lefty Johan Santana on their all-time roster.

Bravos de Margarita - English Translation: Brave of Margarita - Again the literal translation is a little different here meaning Brave of Daisy, just think about that the next time you're having a margarita.

Aguilas del Zulia - English Translation: Eagles of Zulia - According to legend the Eagles got their name from the label of Zulia Beer, whose label features a blue eagle. How great would it have been if the Cardinals would have dropped the Birds on the Bat for Spuds MacKenzie in the 1980s?

Tigres de Aragua - English Translation: Tigers of Aragua - The Tigers' all-time roster reads, well like an all-time greats roster. Mariano Riveira, Paul O'Neill, Torii Hunter, Jim Edmonds, Miguel Cabrera, Rod Carew and Dave Concepcion all played for Aragua. Former Iowa manager Buddy Bailey has led the squad to five titles in the past six years.

Tiburones de La Guaira - English Translation: Sharks of the Guaira - Hall of Famer Luis Aprecio played six seasons for the Sharks. White Sox manager and Venezuelan Ozzie Guillen is one of six former Sharks to have his number retired by the club.

Cardenales de Lara - English Translation: Cardinals of Lara - Lara and Aragua are the only teams in the Venezuelan Winter League to share mascots with big league teams. The Cardinals colors, however, a little different than the St. Louis version, Lara's colors are black and red.

Caribes de Anzoategui - English Translation: Caribbean of Anzoategui - The Anzoategui region has one single beach that is over 60 miles long.

Mexican-Pacific League

Venados de Mazatlan - English Translation: Deer of Mazatlan - Why does America not have a major league franchise called the Deer? The Milwaukee Bucks is close but it just doesn't have the same ring to it. Unlike the tiny Arkansas town of Deer, whose teams are the Deer Antlers.

Aguilas de Mexicali - English Translation: Eagles of Mexicali - Former Philadelphia Phillies ballplayer and former owner of one fine mullet John Kruk played for the Eagles 1986 championship team.

Mayos de Navojoa - English Translation: Mays of Navojoa - Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson, former Cardinals skipper White Herzog and Boston Red Sox star Kevin Youkilis all played for The Tribe.

Naranjeros de Hermosillo - English Translation: Orange Sellers of Hermosillo - Orange Sellers? Redbirds hurler Fernando Salas is pitching for Hermosillo this winter.

Yaquis de Obregon - English Translation: Yaquis of Obregon - The Yaquis were a Native American tribe who lived in northern Mexico and the southwestern United States.

Caneros de los Mochis - English Translation: Caneros of the Mochis - We have no idea what caneros means and we couldn't find a logo for the team so if anyone knows what or who a canero is let us know.

Algodoneros de Guasave - English Translation: Cotton Plants of Guasave - Former Redbird Andy Cavazos is twirling for Guasave this winter.

Tomateros de Culiacan - English Translation: Once again we've been foiled by our lack of Spanish speaking skills and have no idea what tomateros means, tomatoes?

Puerto Rican League

The Puerto Rican League just started on Thursday, November 12 so there isn't a whole lot to say about this league right now other than our clubhouse managers are all Puerto Rican and working in the league. So a big shout out to Nelson Padro, Celso Collado and Ruben Allende.  The league didn't play in 2007 but it's back now and better than ever.

Lobos de Arecibo - English Translation: Arecibo Wolves

Criollos de Caguas - English Translation: Caguas Creoles

Gigantes de Carolina - English Translation: Carolina Giants

Indios de Mayagüez - English Translation: Mayaguez Indians

Leones de Ponce - English Translation: Ponce Lions

The Caribbean Series starts on February 2, 2010 on Margarita Island in Venezuela with each of the four leagues mentioned sending their champion to the series. Tigres de Aragua of the Venezuelan Winter League is the defending Caribbean Series champ.

And as promised a little update on the Birds still playing ball, however, be fair warned it is not pretty. Of the 11 position players that have Cardinals ties only two of them are hitting over .300, the aforementioned Jon Jay in the Venezuelan Winter League and Tyler Henley in the Arizona Fall League. Prospect Daryl Jones is hitting under .200 and Redbirds first baseman Mark Hamilton hit under .200 in his stint in the Dominican Winter League. Daniel Descalso and Bryan Anderson have neither one put up the numbers everyone expected so far in the Arizona Fall League. Meanwhile, on the bump Evan MacLane is still cruising. The lefty is 4-0 with a 1.80 ERA in five starts for Oriente in the Dominican Winter League. Former 'Bird Mike Parisi is out in the Fall League as well after recovering from Tommy John surgery this past season. The Arizona Fall League concludes on Saturday, November 21.   

In November of 1978 while living in Ft. Lauderdale, I had a phone conversation with my older brother, Don, and he told me had had just run the Marine Corps Marathon. I was instantly overcome with jealously. My brother had done it, didn't tell me he was going to do it and I was on the outside looking in. That left me with an intense desire to run a marathon. For 31 years it has been eating away at me and I have tried to train for the "big run" but always came up short. Until now.

 

After watching my oldest son Austin run the Marine Corps Marathon (MCM) last year, I was inspired to try it one last time. Austin, running in just his second marathon, logged an impressive 2:57 qualifying him for the Boston Marathon. I enjoyed watching him run and I loved the event. Being from a military family, I thoroughly enjoyed being around the Marines. The crowds were good and, of course, running through historic Washington, D.C. had to be a great experience. I told Don, who was also there to watch, that we should run it in 2009. He agreed.

 

I knew it wouldn't be easy. I had trained to run the MCM in 2004, but came up with some nagging injuries less than two months before the race and had to shut it down. The following year I did successfully run the St. Jude's Half-Marathon, but that's a far cry from the full 26.2 miles.

 

The other complication to deal with, besides being 53-years-old and pot-bellied, is the grueling travel schedule in the Pacific Coast League. Wake-up calls at 3:30 AM, late nights and press box food are not conducive to proper training. Too many missed days, not enough miles per week. Not to mention the heat and humidity of summers in Memphis. As a result of the heat, many of my runs took place after midnight following games at AutoZone Park. The streets of Bartlett are peaceful and the runs turned out to be a good way of winding down from the games.

 

As I got closer and closer to the race date (October 25) I was surprised that my overall health was holding up...until four weeks out. During my last scheduled long run (20 miles) I developed intense pain in my right hip and knee. It forced me to walk quite a bit and I was very disappointed. However, the pain started to drift away over the next couple of weeks to where I figured I'd be OK.

 

Then my wife Rhonda caught a serious cold. I did my best to fight it off and was successful until about two weeks before the race. The cold set in and by October 18 I'm being told I'm on the verge of bronchitis and I should stop running. I explained that wasn't an option and to give me the strongest medication they had. Antibiotics for sure and then the nurse practitioner said steroids would be best, but since I was running in a race that she wouldn't give it to me. I explained to her that "race" was not in my vocabulary, I was simply going to try and survive. I also told her that my performance would not cause race officials to hand me a plastic cup and, well, you know.

 

So, it was off to D.C. Friday with Rhonda and Austin, as Austin made it a Selby trio in the event.

After short runs Friday and Saturday, I knew I still wasn't particularly healthy for this thing, but I was going to give it a shot.

 

We went to the D.C. Convention Center where the Expo was being held to pick up our bibs and other goodies and that certainly got the adrenaline flowing. Not to mention all the great swag they try and sell. They got a few dollars from me, for sure.

Up at 5:00 AM on race day we caught the shuttle from the hotel at 6:00 AM which dropped us off near the Pentagon for the 8:00 AM start. There were people everywhere!!! There would be over 21,000 running in the marathon portion of the event. Austin headed to the front row for his start and Don and I moved to the rear since our expected times would be slower. Don was actually in shape to run 4:00-4:15, but decided he would run with me and that proved to be huge in getting me through the ordeal.

 

After a flyover by a couple of Ospreys, a howitzer sounded and we were off! And we didn't move! It would be about 15 minutes before we reached the start line.

 

The first seven miles or so were the hilliest on the course. And, naturally, less than two miles into the race, it was time for a stop at the Port-a-Potty. Ah, but as George Brett once said, "All my troubles are behind me".

 

I felt pretty good through the hills as we crossed over the Potomac into Georgetown. What started to strike me were the huge crowds with people everywhere and bands playing throughout the course. I'm told there were over 100,000 spectators along the course.  I was looking forward to the 10-mile mark which passes just below the Lincoln Memorial because Rhonda and Barbie would be there to cheer us on and there they were, jumping up and down waving their hands while Don and I mugged for the encouraging crowd. That's the thing, all the people along the course cheered for everyone. The people and the overall atmosphere were huge because not only was it inspirational, but also served as a major distraction as the aches and the fatigue began to creep in.

 

I didn't really start to notice any aches and pains until about the 17-mile mark where the legs were getting a little heavy and my lungs started burning, probably a result of the health issues I had been battling. Then, about one mile later as we neared the Capitol, a little boy ran out right in front of me and I had to slam on the breaks. Luckily I didn't hurt the kid or pull about a half-dozen muscles. If I had fallen down, I probably would not have gotten up. But, I survived that scare and motored around the front of the Capitol (quite a sight) and cruised past the Smithsonian.

 

After that, it was across the 14^th street bridge over the Potomac and on into Crystal City (Arlington). The bridge was long and I knew at that point I was starting to run out of gas. As we crossed into Crystal City we passed the 21-mile sign. I was pretty confident I would make it, but knew those last five miles would be doozies.

 

As we came out of the Crystal City loop, it was back to the Pentagon where we had been what seemed like days ago. Two miles to go and I had nothing left. My pace was slowing, but Don continued to encourage me. He was in such good shape that he talked to me throughout the entire run. I think I stopped talking about 17 miles in.

 

We made it to the 25-mile marker where there was one last water station and it was huge! A little water, a little Powerade and I knew I would make it.

 

There was still one major hurdle to clear. It would seem, in the Marines' kind of warped way of thinking,   thought it would be cool to have the race finish on a steep incline. So we faced a steep climb to the Iwo Jima Memorial where the finish line awaited us. Just as we were about to turn the corner to go up the hill, there was Austin shouting encouragement for us. A great pick-me-up! Massive crowds lined the hill and somewhere in there Rhonda and Barbie were screaming their heads off, but I never heard them. The noise was intense and exhilarating and certainly helped the climb. Once we reached the top it was a 90-degree turn to the right and a dash of less than 100 yards past a set of bleachers and more cheering. I don't remember the first half of that dash, but do remember the last part thinking that I was going to do it and I was going to force a smile on my face as I neared the finish line.

 

As we crossed the line I shook Don's hand and thanked him for running with me. I wouldn't have made it without him.

 

Shortly after finishing, we were each greeted by a Marine who hung a finisher's medal around our necks and congratulated us on our accomplishment. I was actually feeling pretty good. No real intense pain. No nausea. Not bad considering the temperature had reached 60 degrees which is very warm for a marathon.

 

Oops. Wait a minute something had to get out of whack. As we were waiting to pose for our picture in front of the Iwo Jima Memorial, I got real light headed and knew instantly that I was dehydrated. I managed to hang in there to get the pictures taken, but then headed to the First Aid tent for treatment. I thought it was funny that one of the doctors checking me out asked me if I was planning to run another one. I said based on the fact I'm in the First Aid tent, now might not be the appropriate time for that question. A few bottles of water and Powerade later I was good to go and it was off to find Rhonda and everyone else.

 

I was excited to learn that Austin had logged a 2:54, good for 94^th out of 21,000+ runners. A chip- off- the- old block? Nope. He had certainly outclassed his Old Man. Pretty impressive.

 

However, no time to enjoy, we had a 5:30 PM flight back to Memphis we had to catch. As we rushed to catch the flight it was funny to watch Rhonda walk way ahead of us as Austin and I had the pace of Tim Conway doing his "Old Man" routine. We weren't the only runners easing our way through the airport.

 

As we settled into our seats I kept saying the same thing over and over, "I did it. I did it." After 31 years I had finally done it. No one could take this away from me. I had demonstrated mental toughness I didn't know I had and just found a way to do it.

 

Oh, my time? A funny thing. Everybody sets a goal. My plan was to try and beat five hours. However, heading into the race at less than 100 percent, I knew I wouldn't make it. I never worried about it and just focused on finishing. I finished in 5:19:01. I'm pleased with that considering the circumstances, but to be honest with you 6:19 or 7:19 would have been fine. At the end of the day, time isn't important. 26.2 - been there, done that. That's all that matters.

 

Will I run another one? Right now I'm quite content with one, but never say never!       

 

 

 

 

The Arizona Fall League starts today out in the dessert and several other Winter Leagues are already underway. The Arizona Fall League is probably the most glamorous of all the Winter Leagues due to the fact it is normally a who's-who of top prospects from all 30 MLB teams. Let's just run down the list of who will be in Arizona for a few extra weeks of fun in the sun. Well the top two picks from this summer's draft will be there with Stephen Strasburg (Washington Nationals) bringing his millions of dollars and 100-MPH fastball. No. 2 pick Dustin Ackley will be there representing the Seattle Mariners. Including Strasburg and Ackley, five of the first 10 picks from last summer's draft are scheduled to be in Arizona. The Giants uber-catching prospect Buster Posey will be there. The Marlins are sending Andrew Miller in hopes of getting the big lefty back on track. The Kansas City Royals top prospect Mike Moustakas will play third for the Surprise Rafters. Former Ole Miss Rebel and Collierville, TN-native Zach Cozart will represent Cincinnati. And all those guys are just a few of the best, future big leaguers.

So if this the best-of-the-best prospects league, who are the Cardinals sending? Since the Cardinals traded four of their Top 10 prospects from last year fans will definitely see some new, yet familiar faces wearing the Birds on the Bat while playing for the Surprise Rafters this fall. The players the Cards have slated on the Rafters Opening Day Roster are below along with their position and the highest level they reached in 2009.

• Gary Daley - RHP - Double-A Springfield - Daley pitched in just nine games, all in relief, for the S-Cards this past season going 0-2 with a 4.76 ERA. The right-hander didn't make his debut until August 19 for Springfield after starting the year with Single-A Quad Cities, where he went 4-3 with a 6.93 ERA in 32 games, 10 starts. Daley was the Cardinals third round pick out of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in 2006.

• Scott Gorgen - RHP - Double-A Springfield - Gorgen reached Double-A in just his first full year of pro ball after being a fourth round pick out of California-Irvine in 2008. The right-hander went 4-5 with a 5.20 ERA in 11 starts for the S-Cardinals after posting a 3-5 record with a 2.93 ERA in 14 games, 13 starts, for Single-A Palm Beach. Gorgen's twin brother was a 16^th round pick of the Rays last year.

• Mike Parisi - RHP - Single-A Palm Beach - Former Redbird Mike Parisi will be one of very few guys in the Fall League with MLB experience. Parisi pitched in 12 games, two starts, for St. Louis in 2008 before blowing out his elbow in a game with Memphis at Sacramento in early August. The right-hander missed almost all of 2009 recovering from Tommy John surgery.

• Adam Reifer - RHP - Single-A Palm Beach - Reifer racked up 21 saves in 54 games for the Cardinals this past summer going 4-7 with a 4.47 ERA along the way. In his first full year of pro baseball Reifer followed up a stellar 2008 when he was tabbed the third-best prospect and best pitching prospect in the New York-Penn League after punching out 41 batters in 30.1 innings.

• Bryan Anderson - C - Triple-A Memphis - Anderson is another former Redbird scheduled to get some extra at-bats in the Fall League after missing significant time due to an injury. Anderson was the 'Birds starting catcher before going down with a shoulder injury sustained in a collision at the plate in late June. The California-native is still considered one of the Cardinals best prospects but needs to use the Fall League to vault into 2010.

• Daniel Descalso - 2B - Triple-A Memphis - The Arizona Fall League will be the icing on the cake to an amazing 2009 campaign for Descalso. After crushing the Texas League for a .323 average and 26 doubles in 73 games, Descalso was promoted to Memphis for 46 games before joining Team USA for their gold medal run in the World Cup. He'll share the Rafters infield with Team USA teammate Ike Davis from the New York Mets organization.

• Tyler Henley - OF - Double-A Springfield - Henley just wrapped up the best season of his young career leading Springfield with a .303 average and 31 doubles in a career-best 123 games. The former Rice star hadn't even played in 123 games in his two previous years as a pro until this past summer. Henley is on the taxi squad for the Rafters, which means he is only active on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

• Daryl Jones - OF - Double-A Springfield - Jones has been one of the Cardinals top prospects since he was drafted in the third round out of high school in 2005. However, since then his career has been up-and-down until 2008 when he was named the Cardinals Minor League Player of the Year. Jones will be making up some at-bats this fall as well after missing a lot of time in the second half of the season with a leg injury.

Other former Redbirds playing ball this fall are Jon Jay, who is hitting .400 in four games for Leones del Caracas in the Venezuelan Winter League, and Fernando Salas, who has turned in 1.1 scoreless innings for Naranjeros de Hermosillo in the Mexican Pacific League. Naranjero translates to orange seller in case you were wondering.

Follow us on twitter (memphisredbirds) and check back here for updates on our Boys of Fall. You can also follow the Arizona Fall League games pitch-by-pitch over on MiLB.com. Games start at 1:35 p.m. CT so if you're bored at work or like us and get to say it's part of your job check it out.

It was there everyday for 3310 days, staring the the Redbirds players in the face during their indoor batting sessions, taunting them. Unassuming to passersby, but a longtime hurdle or curse for a struggling franchise.

The blank yellow pennant.

Legend has it that back in 2000, when the Redbirds won their first PCL Championship, chief engineer Goose 'Cranberry' Larson added to the batting cage mural by painting a 2000 pennant to the collection of championship pennants, as well as a blank pennant underneath it.

His thinking for the extra pennant was that the team, with such stars as Albert Pujols and Stubby Clapp, would be winning again in the near future. What Goose didn't know though was that Pujols would leave the Triple-A club to become the Cardinals MVP of the aughts, and the absence of another championship would leave the pennant empty for some time.

The players never talked about it and if you didn't know any better, one might have thought they didn't even know about it. But I assure you, it's lurking in the backs of their minds.

Deep in the middle of their first postseason trip since 2000, I recently went down to the clubhouse to see if I could have the players weigh-in on the curse. But before I could even utter the question out, the Redbirds Athletic Trainer Chris Conroy pulled me aside.

"The players don't like talking about it," Conroy told me. "In fact, it is never talked about in the clubhouse, we've kicked guys out for talking about it."

Luckily, I wasn't kicked out and Conroy was more than willing to give me a little background on the curse.

According to our inside man, the players really didn't start paying it any attention until 2005 when 'Iron Mike', the team's pitching machine that sits alongside the mural's wall, started acting funny.

"It was pretty strange, the pitches from the machine would start pulling towards that wall," Conroy said pointing at the mural. "It didn't matter how fast or slow you set 'Mike' to, the ball would always veer to [the wall]."

The machine's problems could have been attributed to its old age, but the players seemed to latch on to the idea that 'Mike' was pointing to the blank pennant. In 2006, six years since their championship, the curse of the blank pennant was a full-fledged actuality and Goose Larson was out of a job.

Conroy was so open about the blank pennant simply because he does not believe in sports curses. I also asked Australian strength trainer Cameron Brown, who played dumb, probably for superstitious reasons.

But as of Friday, September 18, the Redbirds no longer have to worry about the curse of the blank pennant, having won the PCL crown in Sacramento. Now when the team returns to Memphis, a '2009' will fill the historic void, officially lifting the curse from the team. And I guarantee that underneath it the wall will remain white.

The Redbirds are giving Memphis something it hasn't seen since 2000, a playoff-caliber professional baseball team. So don't spend your weekend on the standard gimmicks of exotic foods or monkeys riding dogs. Instead take a trip to AutoZone Park and see a team that represents Memphis on a national level. Come support your Memphis Redbirds!

The Redbirds first playoff game against the Albuquerque Isotopes starts Wednesday at 8:05 pm CST and can be viewed on Milb.tv or heard on Steve Selby's radio broadcast available on Sports 560AM. The Redbirds will return to AutoZone Park Friday night for the only promised playoff game in Memphis. Games four and five, if necessary, will be at AZP on Saturday and Sunday. Tickets here.

Now, a Memphis Redbirds playoff history lesson.

The team's last ride through the PCL postseason was a very fortuitous one, with the last game leaving a mark on AZP forever, literally...a red mark.

We've all seen it, all alone and out of place like Kenny Loggins at a hip-hop show. I'm talking about AZP's red seat, the only one in the stadium, down the right field line. It wasn't always red, and unless one gets right up next to it, they may not know its significance.

The seat commemorates Albert Pujols' walk-off home run in the 13th inning of Game 4 of the PCL Championship Series of 2000.

Up 2-1 in the five-game series, Pujols' solo jack won the 'Birds their first and only PCL Championship on September 15, 2000.


The red seat offers a great view of the park and on a really crowded day, bragging rights.

Unfortunately the team's success did not hold forth and for the following eight seasons, while the other teams were playing well into September, AutoZone Park lay dormant.
 
Until now.

The 2009 Redbirds squad put an end to this sour streak last Saturday night by clinching the PCL's American North division.

Now Friday, September 11, Memphians and Redbirds fans all over can watch playoff baseball at AutoZone Park.

And if things go just right, perhaps the park will have two red chairs in 2010.

 

• Like 2009, the Redbirds first round opponent was against Albuquerque (the Dukes). The series went five games with the 'Birds winning the opener and the final two.

• The Redbirds went 6-10 against Albuquerque in the 2009 regular season and hit .253 against the 'Topes. The 2000 Redbirds were also 6-10 against ABQ.
  

• Albert Pujols hit the most recent Memphis Redbirds post-season home run on 9/15/00.

• Stubby Clapp is the only Redbird to have recorded a triple in the post-season.

• Albert Pujols holds the team's most post-season stolen bases with three.

• Stubby Clapp has the Redbirds most post-season home runs with three.

• Bud Smith and Bryan Eversgerd are the only two Redbirds pitchers to record more than one postseason win, each with two.

Colby Rasmus, the talented lefty that has been ranked as the Cardinals No. 1 Prospect from 2007-09, gets his own bobblehead Monday in the Redbirds Labor Day regular season finale.

It wasn't until his third full-season of professional baseball that Rasmus made his debut in Memphis. He went 3-for-5 in the season opener against the RedHawks with a run and a double, but he didn't really get hot until summer. In June, the then-21-year-old hit for .337 (34x101) with 12 extra-base hits and 15 RBI.

Rasmus' year was cut short due to injury and made his last start at AutoZone Park on July 22, 2008.

In 2009, the four-year pro made his major league debut for the Cards, appearing on their Opening Day Roster. Rasmus has been in St. Louis since April, where he is hitting .257 (101x393) through 123 games.

Though he only played 43 games in Memphis, Rasmus rounds out the 2009 All AutoZone Park Bobblehead series on Monday. The first 1500 fans to walk through the gates, which open at noon, will receive a bobblehead.

The Redbirds defeated the Sounds 9-1 Tuesday night, marking the 'Birds first win in Nashville since June 24 of 2008. The Redbirds put up seven runs in a big third inning to retake the half-game lead in the American North division.

• Today's line-up is as follows:
  
  1. Jon Jay - CF
  2. Tyler Green - SS
  3. Allen Craig - LF
  4. David Freese - 3B
  5. Jarrett Hoffpaiur - 2B
  6. Brian Barden - 1B
  7. Mark Shorey - RF
  8. Matt Pagnozzi - C
  9. Todd Wellemeyer - P

• Wellemeyer pitched for 0.2 innings in Monday's series opener, allowing four runs on three hits that put Memphis in an early hole. If Wellemeyer can't make it past the first today, Oneli Perez is next up in the regular rotation.
  
• Mark Shorey was activated from the disabled list and will start in right field today.
• The Redbirds are first in the division by a half-game. The team's record when in first is 24-13.
• The American North's other team vying for first, the Iowa Cubs, lost last night to Omaha to fall to 1.5 games back from first.

Before arriving to Herschel Greer Stadium today, I was able to get some pictures of my home away from Memphis for the blog. Enjoy.

Just after turning on Chesnut, a bridge provides a great skyline of the city. Nashville's famous 'Batman Building' is on the right. Next to it is 'The Bullet' also known as 'R2D2'.

Here is Nashville's full-scale replica of the Ancient Greek Parthenon. I've had many a field trip here. Inside is a giant statue of Athena.

And of course...Old Greer's classic staple, the big guitar. Most appropriate for the Music City.

Follow us on twitter for the game today or tune in to WHBQ 560 AM with Steve Selby.

As an intern for the Redbirds, apart from Opening Day, there is isn't anything more highly-anticipated than the Staff vs. Intern Baseball Game. And it finally came. Thursday.

 

Though the intern team has only beaten the full-timers once in the game's nine-year history, the '09 Interns had high hopes. Calm and collected Manager Wassel placed the interns' five former baseball players (be-it college, high school or intramural) at the front of the 12-man line-up.

2nd Row (L to R): Jeff Wilen, Courtney Munson, Heather Mills, Joe Rejc, Leigh Eisenberg, Stewart Comer. 1st Row: Ben White, Cory Shedd, Ben Spradling, Nick Cataldi, Phil Simon. Standing: Manager Alex Wassel.

'Play Ball' was shouted at around 3:30 P.M. by umpire Ed Collins and the 10^th Annual Staff / Intern Game was underway.

 

The full-timers scored one run in the first inning when Kyle Parkinson (yes, the bloggers' boss, of course), who reached base on single to center field, was driven in by a sacrifice fly by Harrison Lampley.

 

Nick Cataldi hit the game's only triple in the top of the fourth for the interns and scored on center fielder Phil Simon's sac fly. The score eliminated any chance of there being an embarrassing shutout loss (honestly, we probably wouldn't have blogged about that - or I'd let Ben write it, because he is very good at putting our many short-comings into words), and leveled the score 1-1.

 

This was the first time the interns really believed they might be able to pull off the long-shot victory. However, any dreams of conquering the full-timers were quickly thwarted in the bottom of the fourth, when they put up four more runs to make it 5-1.

 

Six consecutive hits from the top of the order paved the way for the team's four-run inning.

 

The full-timers added one more to their lead in the fifth when intern second baseman Cory Shedd, in an attempt to turn the double-play, committed a throwing error to first that allowed Corey Gillum to score.

 

The interns' final push came in the sixth when the team crafted three runs out of five hits. The inning ended with a play at the plate, after Joe Rejc belted a double over left fielder Nelson Padro's head.

Cataldi safely scored from second on the play, but Phil Simon had to beat the throw to home-plate delivered by cut-off man Valentin.

Some say Simon was safe and scored; others, like umpire Collins, disagree.

 

"I saw a bang-bang play," Collins said. "I saw the ball and I saw a tag...I'm real sure."

The photo is ambiguous, so you can see just how close of a call had to be made in real-time. Also, disregard the ball on the ground, that is from a different pitch.

The inning ended, along with any of the interns' realistic chances of winning, with hitters six, seven and eight coming up in the seventh. The interns, or 'Assistants' as their shirts and business cards read, hadn't given up just yet.

Everyone has a classic underdog story that they retreat to in times like these for motivation. And I went straight to mine, recalling Buddy, the golden retriever from Air Bud: Seventh-Inning Fetch; who, even without opposable thumbs, comes back to help the Angels win the World Series all-the-while saving his missing puppies from the antagonist Rocky Racoon. Man, that dog could rake.

Anyways...

Possibly agitated that his home-plate slide was ruled an out, intern outfielder Simon made the play of the game in the next inning; a running and diving catch to record the second out.

"I dedicate my catch to Shane Robinson," said Simon of his center field mentor.

Unfortunately the intern team went 1-2-3 at the plate in the seventh, making it officially a 6-4 loss.

KP dominated almost every stat category, going 3-for-3 with two doubles, an RBI and two runs. Simon had a game-high two RBI.

Though they didn't lead their team in anything except maybe cleanest uniforms, the Communications Interns did their part and went 2-for-5, each with a single.

"They definitely were the surprise of the game," said proud boss and player of the day Kyle Parkinson.

On the mound, Ben White led all pitchers with two strikeouts to teammate Leigh Eisenberg.

 

The Redbirds clubbies combined to go 5-for-12 with one RBI, third baseman Celso Callado leading the way with a 1.000 batting average. None of the clubbies were available to interview, except Karasek, but trust me, that would have only been a waste of time.

All in all, everyone had fun; but deep down we all know what would have happened if we had have played nine innings. Youth would have prevailed. Alas. Good luck intern class of 2010.

A very special thank you to our brave photographer Allison Rhoades for taking these photos.

Check out the box score below. Click to make bigger. Print to show your friends.

As fairly new residents of the Bluff City, Alex and I knew very little in the way of how to act as Memphians early into the internship, often eating ribs with a knife and fork, driving our cars up and down Main Street, and sipping white wine from a stemmed glass while calling people "Yankees."

Whatever the case, we had no idea how to handle ourselves.

In an effort to correct an obvious cultural deficiency, the two of us, along with Alex's friend Wes, set sail to immerse ourselves in all things Memphis, with the first stop being Graceland, the onetime home of Elvis Presley.

The three of us knew very little of the music icon, so we readied ourselves for an educational Saturday.

It didn't take long for our cultural perceptions to be shocked. A large crowd at the welcome center was gathered around a stock car donning Elvis' face on the hood. Not sharing the same excitement as the others, we instead got our picture taken in front of a painted backdrop of Graceland. We would have our chance to buy the photo at the end of the tour, but we passed on buying them after we had a worker take a real picture of us in front of the house, for free.

At that point, we knew we were in. We were really doing it. Graceland. After a few seemingly mandatory high-fives, the three of us got our act together, picked up the tattered headsets that would serve as hosts to an audio-guided tour and boarded a shuttle filled with wily seniors that carried us through the front gates.

We were given a relatively comprehensive introduction to the history of the King's homestead, and then we were off, set free to roam through the multitude of themed rooms that collectively comprised the home of one of music and pop culture's greatest contributors.

Alex and I have put together a photographic tour that documents what we saw. Enjoy.

As soon as we walked into the first room of Graceland and witnessed the twin-peacock stained glass doorways, Alex and I knew we were going to dig the rest of the tour. Most believe Elvis' style to be tacky and ridiculous, but you must understand, stuff like this is right down our alley. I'm wearing a sequined American flag poncho right now!