It's 'great' to have 8

Enlarge Image

After homering in the second inning, Goldeyes' Josh Asanovich has to take evasive action as Joliet pitcher Rory Shortell gets wild in the bottom of the frame. (PHIL.HOSSACK@FREEPRESS.MB.CA)

The newly-reminted Willis (née Sears) Tower in Chicago is the world's third-tallest building. The view from the top is nearly as far as in a Manitoba canola field.

So the next time Northern League commissioner Clark Griffith ascends the building's 110 stories, maybe he will brag: "I can see my league from here."

The two teams bound for the Northern League in 2010, based in Rockford and Zion, Ill., are both a Dubble Bubble chuck away from the Windy City, which brings the number of Chicagoland teams to five.

Kevin Costner's Lake County Fielders are an expansion franchise. The Rockford RiverHawks are playing out 2009 in the Frontier League.

The Northern League had 12 teams as recently as 2005, when defections to the American Association and Golden League began to hit. The loop shrunk to six teams when Edmonton and Calgary left following the 2007 season.

"Even with the two teams leaving, the league was strong," said Goldeyes GM Andrew Collier. "There are six strong ownership groups and six great ballparks.

"The league wanted to expand, but they didn't want to do it just for the sake of expanding. They wanted to make sure there were strong ownership groups and good ballparks."

Collier praised the league for how it delicately handled the new additions.

"They've done a good job of waiting on Lake County to announce until everything was signed, sealed and everybody in the city was on board," Collier said. "Same thing with Rockford."

The league is also working on adding two more teams for 2011, but further details aren't available. Collier hopes one of those will be nearby, "(bridging) the gap between here and Chicago," but expects any further teams to be put through the same rigours experienced by Lake County and Rockford.

The Goldeyes seem unanimous in support of the league's growth, but adding Illinois as essentially a second home draws a slightly different reaction.

"I'm very happy about the extra two teams," said third baseman Brent Metheny. "Not too happy about the location.

"We'll go to Chicago, maybe play six games or eight games. It's great for the players. It just makes it difficult when we come home and we play eight or 10 straight days. It's good for us as players; however, a lot of the fans don't want to come here 10 straight nights and watch the same team four straight nights."

Goldeyes manager Rick Forney said that with the mundane sameness that goes into a long baseball season, anything refreshing will be welcome.

"I'm sure everybody's sick of looking at the same uniforms, playing in the same stadiums," Forney said. "It shows that the league is making significant progress and is being pretty aggressive and having things work out their way."

Baseball people don't often call for longer road trips, but that's exactly what Collier and Forney recommend.

"Bringing in two new teams in the Chicago area doesn't really help us much if we're only going to play a six- or seven-game series," Forney said. "It makes more sense to go down there and make three stops while we're there. Hopefully they'll take our travel into consideration when they make the schedule next year."

The Northern League altered its schedule for the 2009 season, creating more balance between the number of times teams play one another. The switch meant more travel for the Chicago teams, who rarely left the region in 2008.

daniel.falloon@freepress.mb.ca

Winnipeg 13 Joliet 1

The Winnipeg Goldeyes (44-25) have experienced a power surge lately, popping 12 home runs on their recent six-game road trip. Tuesday's 13-1 shocking of the Joliet JackHammers (25-46) bumped up the average.

Fish home-run smacks met Waterfront Drive four times in the game's first two innings, with Josh Asanovich, Kevin West, Dee Brown and Juan Diaz all going long against Joliet starter Rory Shortell. Diaz, a former JackHammer, added another in the eighth to bring his total to a league-leading 21. He's now hit 10 homers since July 25.

Brent Metheny was last to hop on the Long Ball Express, popping Winnipeg's sixth long ball of the game in the eighth.

Goldeyes starter Bill Pulsipher, picked up earlier in the day from Puebla of the Mexican League, fireballed his way through five innings, allowing no runs on two hits.

Joliet's Brad Correll broke up the shutout with a solo shot in the eighth.

The second game of the first-versus-worst series takes place tonight at 7. Winnipeg's Mark Michael (2-2, 4.50 ERA) and Joliet's Devin Anderson (0-3, 6.12 ERA) are the projected starters.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition August 5, 2009 D1