Ronald Bay served up a two-run homer to T-Bones catcher Craig Hurba in the fourth inning to give the visitors a 3-1 lead and the Fish weren't able to erase the full margin. The T-Bones managed just five hits on the night but Winnipeg was unable to string together hits that resulted in big numbers.
Buck up, buddy boy
Talk is cheap, unless you're Doug Simunic. The Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks manager is in hot water with the Northern League over comments he made to the Free Press as well as on a Goldeyes radio broadcast last week. Simunic had harsh things to say about the Northern League's leadership and the current state of the league. The league's six owners held a conference call on Tuesday night and discussed Simunic's comments and subsequent discipline. The league has yet to levy a fine, but it's expected to be in the $5,000 to $10,000 range. Simunic issued a brisk "no comment" when reached on Thursday.
The mini-rant
The Northern League has painted itself into a very small corner with mismanagement at the boardroom level and Simunic, who has been in the league since its return to action in 1993 -- making him the elder statesmen of the loop -- allowed his passion to get the best of him last week. The league has neutered the commissioner's office and Clark Griffith is little more than a salesman looking for expansion markets. Griffith is an experienced baseball man and capable of more, but the owners, who have stewarded their way from 12 teams to six in the last couple of years and stumbled in the expansion department, deem themselves more competent in league matters. Simunic shouldn't have said as much as he did, but the league's reaction is heavy-handed and smacks of "the truth hurts."
Opening Day, Yankee style
Goldeyes bench coach Rudy Arias was a bullpen catcher and batting practice pitcher with the Florida Marlins, New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles before landing in Winnipeg.
"In 1996, I was with the Yankees and we opened up at home that year. To me, there's nothing like Opening Day at Yankee Stadium," said Arias. "That was a World Series year. We had Derek (Jeter), Bernie (Williams), Rock Raines, Cecil Fielder. Joe Torre was the manager. We got Tino Martinez that year. The only place that I really feel different is Yankee Stadium. It's got that special atmosphere. You walk through Monument Park and there are all these guys you just dream of knowing."
Today
T-Bones at Goldeyes, Canwest Park, 7:05 p.m.
-- Gary Lawless
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