Fish chalk up five errors in 2011 debut

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This article was published 04/05/2011 (5644 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

GARY, Ind. — It was cold, see-your-breath cold.

There were, generously, 50 spectators in attendance, spread out across a 6,000-seat ballpark.

And the baseball was, at times, almost comical, with every bit of a winter’s accumulation of rust put on display Tuesday afternoon as the visitors recorded five errors, walked nine batters and ran themselves into all kinds of trouble, including a rare 8-5-6 double-play.

But it was history-making just the same at U.S. Steel Yard as the Winnipeg Goldeyes ushered in a bold new era for their franchise, marking their first game in the American Association with a 5-4 pre-season loss to the Gary SouthShore RailCats.

So with that, a relationship in Winnipeg with the Northern League that stretched, on and off, for the better part of a century is officially now over and a brand new era in the American Association has begun.

And there was ample reason for optimism Tuesday — even amidst all the stumbles and bumbles and inauspicious setting.

Because for all that went wrong for the Goldeyes Tuesday, much more went right — a surprising amount went right, in fact — for a club that had its opening weekend of spring training in Winnipeg wiped out, first by rain and then by snow, and only finally put cleats on grass once they got down here late Monday afternoon.

And so call it history if you like, Winnipeg Goldeyes manager Rick Forney had another description for Tuesday’s game.

“That,” said Forney, “was a good second day of practice.”

Was it ever. For starters, the top of the Goldeyes lineup — all freshly acquired in the off-season — looked formidable. Leadoff man Jonathan Wyatt did exactly what you want a leadoff man to do, getting on base and scoring twice.

Third baseman Amos Ramon had a productive game hitting in the second spot, going 2-for-3 with an RBI. Kody Kaiser, listed on the Goldeyes depth chart as an outfielder but getting a look at second base, went 3-for-4 with two RBI hitting in the third spot.

And newly acquired catcher Alan Rick, who will also do duty at first base this season, was a factor everytime he came to the plate, going 1-for-2 with two walks, a double and a run scored.

That’s an impressive offensive display on a chilly day and it will only become more potent once former big-leaguer Brian Myrow — who went 1-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts — finds his stroke in the cleanup position.

“We battled good, we played hard and we had a bit of a chip on our shoulder out there today,” said Kaiser, who played last season with the Detroit Tigers double-A affiliate in Erie, Pa.

“I think we showed something out there.”

The pitching was also noteworthy — and not just for all those walks. Forney sent a total of eight pitchers to the mound during the scheduled ten innings and none looked out of place. Starter Dustin Glant walked three batters over two innings, giving up three runs but only one of them was earned. Zach Baldwin was the only other Goldeyes pitcher to throw two innings and looked composed, scattering three harmless hits while striking out one.

Left-hander Ian Thomas, who won five games for the Fish out of the bullpen last year and was the Northern League rookie pitcher of the year, loaded the bases in the seventh inning but then found his groove and struck out back-to-back batters to extinguish the threat.

And Barry Fowler, a 35-year-old rookie trying to break into the pro game, more than held his own, giving up just an infield single while striking out one in his inning of work.

“It’s early, real early, but we showed some intensity,” said Thomas. “We threw the ball well and got out of jams when we did get into trouble.”

The Goldeyes play the RailCats again this morning before moving on to St. Paul, where they are scheduled to play the Saints on Thursday and Friday.

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca