Category: Dailies
Player Spotlight: Outfielder, Jon Jay
Although Jon Jay is currently playing for the Cardinals, and very well I might add, before he left I
had the opportunity to pick his brain and get some insight on who he is as a person, not just as a baseball player.
But before we get to the question and answer part, I’d like to take some time to show you how well Mr. Jay has been doing while with the Cardinals, just in case you haven’t been paying attention as close as you should be.
His last seven games:
|
DATE |
OPP |
AVG |
AB |
R |
H |
2B |
3B |
HR |
RBI |
BB |
SO |
|
7/3 |
MIL |
.318 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
7/4 |
MIL |
.319 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
|
7/6 |
COL |
.327 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
7/7 |
COL |
.352 |
5 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
|
7/8 |
COL |
.368 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
|
7/9 |
HOU |
.377 |
4 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
7/10 |
HOU |
.385 |
4 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
His totals after all 33 games:
|
G |
AVG |
AB |
R |
H |
2B |
3B |
HR |
RBI |
BB |
SO |
SB |
CS |
|
|
33 |
.385 |
65 |
11 |
25 |
6 |
0 |
3 |
9 |
2 |
12 |
0 |
1 |
And his first Major League hit on 4/30/10 against Cincinnati:
And his first Major League start as right fielder 5/16 against the Reds
Keep it up Jay!
And now for why I wrote this blog in the first place…the interview!
Full Name: Jonathan Henry Jay
Nicknames: Jay and The Bomb
Favorite baseball player of all time: Ken Griffey Jr.
Team you watched growing up: Atlanta Braves
If you weren’t in baseball, what would you be doing? I’d be a businessman.
Where do you see yourself in 25 years? Hopefully I can have a good baseball career and do community work around where I’m living.
Newest Hobby: Dominating World Cup FIFA 
Best prank pulled that you’ve seen or been a part of while in pro ball? In ’06 when we (Quad Cities) won the championship, a guy put on Clyde the Drexler mascot head and ran around the locker room.
Favorite movie: Bad Boys II 
Greatest memory since playing baseball: All the years of hard work, to make my major league debut this year and the relationships I’ve created.
Who is your greatest influence? My mom
Song that gets you pumped up: Anything Jay-Z song
Most embarrassing moment while playing baseball: Dropped a fly ball to lose a game in college against the Florida Gators.
Describe yourself in five words or less: Fun, easy-going and simple
If you were a drink, what kind of drink would you be? Pina Colada because it’s ‘daytime fun’.
Favorite play in a baseball game: Robbing hits from guys in the outfield
Any broken bone stories? No, thank God. Knock on wood.
If you were a kid would you rather be the one in Rookie of the Year, Angels in the Outfield or Little Big League? Rookie of the Year, definitely.
Three things you can’t live without: My phone, any type of ball (basketball, baseball, soccer ball) and my family.
Lightning Round Responses
Dogs or Cats
Summer or Winter
Fruits or Vegetables
Movies or Books
Offense or Defense
Ketchup or Mustard
Have the ability to fly or read people’s minds
Be able to stop time while you slept or never have to do laundry
And that’s a wrap on Jon Jay. We wish him the best in St. Louis!
THE DECISION……has been made
Hey everyone! Dave here. Well, THE DECISION was announced last night by Lebron James as I’m sure you all know by now. Normally I wouldn’t spent any time on this on the Redbirds blog because everyone under the sun has made their opinions heard on one format or another. However, when our PA announcer announced to the crowd “The King” was going to Miami there was a pretty significant reaction from the crowd. So since you people (myself included) care about this, I’ll let you know how it should have gone down last night.
The room that ‘Bron was announcing his decision should have been completely dark to start. Then loud music (we were thinking Jock Jams), lasers and pyrotechnics should have consumed the room upon his entrance. He proceeds to dance his way to the chair, takes a seat and says…”hit it Will!”
Will Smith blasts into the room with a microphone and breaks into “Miami” as Lebron dances out of the room. I mean seriously, if you’re going to hold the audience captive for a full hour and keep the world waiting…might as well do it in style, and Jordan and I agree this would have been the best way to do it. Maybe it’s just because we love Will Smith because you have to admit he is pretty awesome.
Anyway, doubleheader tonight at AZP so come on down for that. If you can’t make it tonight, we have fireworks on Saturday and a day game on Sunday before the All-Star Break. Also, make sure to stay tuned to Chirp Chatter as I’ll break down the Redbirds’ first half and give you thoughts and analysis on our team.
By the way, “Miami” is an extremely catchy song…check it out. >
Player Spotlight: Outfielder, Joe Mather
Full name: Joseph Paul Mather
Nicknames: Joey Bombs, Jumper, Joe Joe
Favorite Color: Right now it’s royal blue.
So it changes? How often does it change? If I see a color that I really start liking, I’ll just change it.
Favorite baseball player of all time: Trot Nixon
What team did you watch growing up? The Red Sox
If you weren’t in baseball, what would you be doing? Hopefully I’d be traveling around. If I had to have a job, I’d like to try and play tennis.
Where do you see yourself in 25 years? On a lake somewhere with my family watching my kids grow up.
Do you have any rituals? Drink a cup of coffee, hot tub, stretch and then pre-game high-fives.
Newest Hobby: FIFA 2010 Soccer for Play Station
Best prank pulled that you’ve seen or been a part of while in pro ball? I saw a cop come into the clubhouse and fake arrest a guy for being out after curfew.
Favorite movie: Hot Rod 
Favorite movie quote: “Life is short- stunt it.” ~ Rod Kimble from Hot Rod
Greatest memory since playing baseball: There’s so many…probably getting called up to St. Louis for the first time.
Who is your greatest influence? My parents
Song that gets you pumped up: “Forever” by Drake and “Drop the World” by Eminem
Most embarrassing moment while playing baseball: Running all the way back into the dugout with only two outs.
Describe yourself in five words or less: Goofy (just a little bit), fun-loving and super rad
Can I have five dollars? Sure. 
If you were a drink, what kind of drink would you be? Water because I love it. That’s pretty much all I drink, it’s good for you and…I like to be good for people?
Favorite play in a baseball game: Home run, it’s got to be a home run.
Any broken bone stories? Yes, I broke my hand. I broke it in Phoenix, we were playing the Diamondbacks and I was facing Randy Johnson and I swung and broke that bone. I ended up
striking out after that.
If you were a kid would you rather be the one in Rookie of the Year, Angels in the Outfield or Little Big League? Rookie of the Year
Three things you can’t live without: Pizza, Nerf basketball hoop and my iphone
Three people you can’t live without: My mom, my dad and Andy Sandberg
Lightning Round Responses
Dogs or Cats
Summer or Winter
Fruits or Vegetables
Offense or Defense
Movies or Books (although books are usually better)
Ketchup or Mustard
Cold or Hot
Have the ability to fly or read people’s minds
Be able to stop time while you slept or never having to do laundry again
Joe Mather, everybody.
Jordan. Out.
A Hot Dog Race to Remember
Hey everyone! Dave here. Well, if you attended Thursday night’s game, you witnessed one of the more epic hot dog races this wonderful ballpark has ever seen.
We had Kevin (mustard), Sam (ketchup) and I (hot dog) race from the first base warning track to the third base warning track. However, this was far from your more traditional hot dog race. Here’s the pic-by-pic recap and how it all went down (all photos courtesy of Allison Rhoades):
Getting all limbered up before the big race
AND WE’RE OFF! I waste no time taking mustard down…he had no idea what was coming.
We wrestle around a little bit, and now it’s on with no looking back.
At this point, I can’t forget to actually win the race. Ketchup has taken a commanding lead and I have to try and catch up (see what I did there — ketchup, catch up…oh well, moving on).
Mustard then did an excellent job of not letting me off so easily and taking me down so he can get up. I can’t speak for mustard, but at this point my head is spinning and I’m feeling a bit disoriented.
Mustard got one last quick shove while I’m trying to regain my bearings. At this
point I’m thinking ketchup has cruised to an easy victory.
While mustard sees ketchup in his sights I’m fighting the dizziness and trying to
get to my feet.
I stumble around like a lunatic as the hot dog hoodie falls over my eyes and I can’t see anything. I guess I had it coming, but I had to shake it off and get back in the race. As they say, if you can’t take the heat stay out of the kitchen.
And look at mustard think he can get to ketchup and beat him. He’s smiling as I’m far behind in third place. Oh he has no idea what was coming up next…
BAM! Ketchup was hanging out behind home plate to slow mustard down. I come sprinting in from behind and take him down once more. Mustard was the heavy favorite to win, so we had to make sure he never had too much momentum going.
As ketchup once again takes the lead, mustard is still in shock after I speared him. Notice anything unusual here? Well, it appears there is a pickle waiting in the Redbirds dugout. What more could we possibly have in store?
As mustard runs by the dugout HERE COMES THE PICKLE! Out of nowhere mustard gets blind-sided once again, except this time it was the pickle’s turn.
It was a clean take-down as I just barely scampered out of the way. The pickle was played by Shane (NOTE: It isn’t easy moving around in that pickle costume, so major props to Shane for not only willingly participating, but to perfectly executing the tackle. If Memphis ever has a pro football team here, Shane would love to be their middle linebacker, but only if he gets to wear the pickle costume).
Despite the lack of photographic evidence, I somersaulted across the finish the line as the pickle was apparently not satisfied with just taking mustard down. He scampered across the finish line just in front of one of the diving condiments.
We quickly scurried off the field (after all, there is still a baseball game to be played) as I apparently leave ketchup hanging.
Thank you Kevin for being a good sport about this whole thing. He had no idea what was planned, but after all…what goes around comes around. So make sure you keep an eye out for the next time the not-so-conventional hot dog race trio makes their next appearance.
Oh yea…and the pickle.
Say hello to our little friend
Hey everyone! Dave here. Just a little update on our ‘Birds. We’re down in Nashville, and split the first four games of the series and have a double header tonight. Be sure to listen to the game on 560 AM in Memphis or online on their web site. As always, you can also follow live pitch by pitch updates on the game by clicking the “Gameday” link on our homepage next to the batter vs. pitcher match up.
Anyway, remember those horrible storms we had in early May? Well, what you may not realize was that storm created a little friend here at AutoZone Park.
What is that you may ask? Why, it’s our little press box plant! It appears to be growing out of the gutter, but we’ve recently officially adopted it as our plant. Fortunately it rains enough that we don’t really have to worry about watering it, so we don’t do much but watch it grow.
It’s located just off the press box, directly above the first suite to it’s left (your right if you’re looking at it from the stands). It’s circled in blue in the photo below:
Maybe we should name the plant…suggestions are welcome.
Woof.
Yesterday the Memphis Redbirds opened their gates at 1:00 p.m. like usual for a Sunday afternoon home game, except this time the fans’ four-legged friends were able to come too! Shade, water and waste removal were provided for the pups and they seemed to have fun while they were here for Bark in the Ballpark.
You had your big dogs, little dogs, hot dogs, crazy dogs (mostly our full-timer Dan’s dog Maizey), some with weird names, others sporting creative outfits and some that I personally wanted to take home with me.
Dollar hot dogs were offered by King Cotton and even more fun was included thanks to Purina, BrownDog Lodge, Invisible Fence and Little Stinkers Pet Waste Removal.
Nationally renowned act Jake the Diamond Dog was also in attendance to take over bat boy duties every few innings. He even made it a point to go #1 on the field after taking water to the first and third base umpires. The crowd roared with laughter after figuring out exactly why Jake had stopped in the middle of right field, although I’m sure grounds crew wasn’t very thrilled about it.
The Memphis Animal Shelter joined in the festivities bringing eight dogs that were up for adoption.
I am delighted to say that all the dogs were welcome into new homes, including one Caesar Jameson Rooney, adopted by intern roommates Kevin Rooney and Shane Berliner. They already have some cute family photos, don’t you think?
I’m not sure these boys know what they’re getting themselves into…but Caesar already seems to know that he is the boss and Kevin and Shane are his pets. 
Throw in a hot dog eating contest, a new addition to our intern class and puppy pools to keep those doggies cool, and I think we had a
pretty successful Bark in the Ballpark! Thanks to all who made their way to AutoZone Park!
Ode to Clapping
We will honor tonight the most traditional form of approval at the game tonight: clapping. So as something to whet your clapping appetite, we have this:
Jordan with a not so serious clap
Marketing intern Matt with a very serious and focused clap
Ticket Sales Exec Bryan with a happy and festive clap
Which brings us to Stadium Operations intern Shane. See, since Shane got his haircut a couple of weeks ago, I think he looks just like Jim Carrey from his “Dumb and Dumber” days. Your thoughts?
His Jim Carrey looks don’t get him excused from a nice clap
So keep on clapping for your Redbirds! I am looking forward to seeing everyone at AutoZone Park this weekend!
Weekend Update
Hey everyone! Dave here. Well, another weekend in the books for all of us in Redbirds land. At least for the interns, this was our first weekend off in awhile so we made sure to make the most of it.
Friday night a bunch of us headed over to Harbor Town to run the Harbor Town 5k. I apologize for not taking any photos myself. It’s kind of tough to lug around my camera when running a little over three miles. So these photos I got are courtesy of Michelle, who blogs about living in Memphis. I suggest you check it out. Here’s the link to her blog: http://www.memphistanista.com/2008/06/harbor-town-5k.html
After the race people stopped to catch their breath around Miss Cordelia’s market
What’s a Memphis event without a live band?
Anyway, the Redbirds are currently on the road in Albuquerque and we return home on June 10th. Tyler Greene is riding a 16-game hitting streak and Jon Jay is back with us! If you remember he started the season with the ‘Birds and had a 16-game hitting streak before being called up to the St. Louis Cardinals. With St. Louis he hit .302 with a .302 on-base percentage and a .442 slugging
percentage in 45 plate appearance.
So remember, we return home June 10th for a four-game home stand against the Iowa Cubs with fireworks on Friday! See ya there!
Mid-week round up
Hey everyone! Dave here. Oh man is it getting hot outside. I expected a hot summer, but not quite this hot only in early June. Oh well, I guess it’s better this way than it being too cold.
Anyway, the Redbirds are currently on the road in Oklahoma City then go to Albuquerque before coming back home to play Iowa on June 10th. We’ve won three games in a row and now sit just two games behind Nashville for the division lead. We’re playing well right now so look for us to catch those Sounds for first place in the not too distant future.
So remember the pocket schedule blog a couple of months ago? Well..we’re baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack. Look for us running around distributing pocket schedules in the Greater Memphis area. If you see us give us a holler, and we can throw some schedules your way.
Looking ahead to Friday…
The Harbortown 5K on Mud Island to benefit the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Memphis. Myself and some co-workers plan on running it. Right now they’re at 609 participants so it looks to be a pretty good turn out. Look for another blog early next week with photos from this event.
Hope everyone stays cool out there!
Make sure to vote for your Memphis Redbirds!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ONLINE FAN VOTING RETURNS FOR THE 2010 TRIPLE-A ALL-STAR GAME
Triple-A Baseball and MLB Advanced Media, LP (MLBAM) are excited to announce that fans across the country will once again have the opportunity to vote online for their favorite players to be selected to the Triple-A All-Star Game. This year’s contest will be held at Coca-Cola Park in Allentown, Pennsylvania, home of the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, on July 14 at 7:00 p.m. EDT and will match outstanding players from the International League and the Pacific Coast League. Fan balloting will be held from June 3-25 and will account for one-third of the total vote along with ballots cast by members of the media and each club’s field manager, coaches, and general manager. Using MLBAM online voting services, fans will be able to access the ballots at the official websites of Minor League Baseball (MiLB.com), the Pacific Coast League (PCLBaseball.com), the International League (ILBaseball.com), and the websites of all 30 Triple-A teams.
All fans who participate in the online balloting will be able to vote for players for both the IL and PCL rosters. Fans can select one player for each of the infield positions, plus three outfielders, a designated hitter, and four pitchers -two starters and two relievers. Write-in votes for players not listed on the ballot will also be accepted. Up-to-date statistics and position-by-position comparisons will be available at the click of a mouse to help fans make their selections. Voting updates will be made available weekly for both Leagues. Once the balloting period is over, fans can check the aforementioned websites for additional updates and features leading up to the All-Star Game. The 23rd annual Triple-A All-Star Game will be broadcast live from Allentown on Wednesday, July 14 on MLB Network as well as MiLB.TV on the World Wide Web. The All-Star Game week schedule in Lehigh Valley also includes the “Pigapalooza” Fan Fest on Saturday, July 10 and the annual Triple-A Home Run Derby on Monday, July 12.
********** DID YOU KNOW… **********
This year’s event will be the second Triple-A All-Star Game held in the state of Pennsylvania. In 1995, Lackawanna County Stadium (now known as PNC Field) and the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre club played host to the Game, which then was held in a National League affiliates vs. American League affiliates format. American League pitching combined for a 9-0 shutout, the first in the Game’s history, in a memorable contest that included future stars such as Derek Jeter, Jason Isringhausen, Jeromy Burnitz, Ron Coomer, and Mark Loretta.
For additional information contact:
Chris Sprague, International League (614) 791-9300
Mike Feigen, Pacific Coast League (719) 636-3399
Matt Provence, Lehigh Valley IronPigs (610) 841-7447
Nathan Blackmon, MLBAM (704) 843-4441
Chirp Chatter 