The Washington Nationals continue to stockpile pitching when they signed veteran lefthanded pitcher Shawn Estes to a minor league deal with an invite to Spring Training.  The Estes signing adds to an impressive list of pitchers added this off-season.  They include, righthanded relievers Ryan Speier and Joel Peralta, lefties Chuck James, Doug Slaton, Jesse English, Victor Garate and the resigning of Logan Kensing and Andrew Kown from last seasons team.

Estes, 37, made 13 starts for AAA-Albuquerque (Dodgers) last season going 3-4 with a very good 3.07 ERA.  After not getting a call-up to Los Angeles in June he decided not to pitch the remainder of the season.

Speier, 30, is tall at 6'7" and has pitched in the major leagues with Colorado, most recently last year in 5-games.  He spent much of the 2008 season with the Rockies and recorded a PCL league high 33-saves in 2007.

Peralta, 33, appeared in 27-games with the Rockies last season going 0-3 with a 6.20 ERA.  He began the season with AAA-Colorado Springs posting a 6-0 record and a 2.45 ERA in 37 games in relief.

Slaten, 30, also has pitched in the major leagues the past three seasons with Arizona.  Last year he split between AAA-Reno going 3-2 with a 3.09 ERA and 9-saves in 39 games and Arizona going 0-0 with a 7.11 ERA in 11-games.

English, 25, was picked up from the San Francisco Giants as a waiver claim after pitching for the Giants AA-Connecticut club.  He posted a 7-7 record and a 4.20 ERA as a starting pitcher, but lefthanded hitters batted only .151 against him last season.

Garate, 25 another Nationals waiver claim in September of 2009 pitched the entire season at AA-Chattanooga (Dodgers) and recorded a 2.04 ERA in 47 releif appearances.

Thompson, 23 was acquired last August when the Nats sent Nick Johnson to the Marlins.  He appeared in 6-games for AA-Harrisburg and was 0-3 with a 3.31 ERA and recorded 27-K's in 33 innings pitched.  At AA-Jacksonville he was 5-9 with a 4.11 ERA in 20-starts.   Thompson was the Marlins #1 selection in June 2005 out of Second Baptist HS in Houston.

Kensing, 27, was impressive with the Chiefs last season in 31 games he was 2-1 with 17-saves and recorded a 2.97 ERA.  He walked only 6-batters and struckout 35 in 33-innings. With the Nationals he struggled in 32-relief appearances giving up 35-runs in 35 innings.

Kown, 28, split time at three levels in the Nationals system last season going a combined 9-4 with a 3.83 ERA in 101-innings pitched.  Kown had a breakout season in 2009 after being selected by the Tigers in the 5th round of the 2004 draft out of Georgia Tech and earning NCAA All-American honors.

James, 29 missed all of last season after arm surgery.  The lefty won 11-games for the Atlanta Braves in back to back seasons in 2006 and 2007.  He struggled in 2008 and returned to Richmond and made 15 starts and recorded a 2.97 ERA.

 

 

The Syracuse Chiefs major league affiliate the Washington Nationals have been busy during the 2010 off-season signing many players at the major league level - catcher Pudge Rodriquez, second baseman Adam Kennedy and pitchers Jason Marquis, Brian Bruney, Matt Capps, Eddie Guardardo, Miguel Batista and Tyler Walker,

At the minor league level, Nationals GM Mike Rizzo and his staff were busy replenishing the coffers at the AAA-AA levels.  They include the signing of catcher Jamie Burke, 1B Josh Whitesell, infielders Eric Brunlett, Pedro Lopez and Chase Lambin, outfielders Chris Duncan, Jerry Owens, Pedro Powell and Kevin Mench.  In addition they have resigned pitchers Andrew Kown and Logan Kensing and infielder Pete Orr from last years club.

Other players added by waiver claims and trades late in the year include pitchers Jesse English, Ryan Mattheus, Doug Slaten and Aaron Thompson.

Also expected to be in the mix is veteran lefthanded pitcher Matt Chico who looks to rebound after two injury interupted seasons.

Here is some brief tidbits on the players who could play in Syracuse this season:

Jamie Burke, 38 is a veteran catcher who split time last season between Seattle and AAA-Tacoma and also appeared in six games for the Nationals last season.  Used mostly as a back-up and insurance at the major league level.

Josh Whitesell, 27, orignally drafted by the Nationals in 2003 he was claimed by the Diamdbacks in 2008 and batted .328 wih 26 HR and 110 RBI that season with Tucson-AAA.  Last season he appeared in 63 games for AAA-Reno and batted .293 with 58 RBI before spending the remainder of the season in Arizona.

Eric Bruntlett, 31 spent the entire 2009 season with Philadelphia as a utility player appearing in 72-games.

Pedro Lopez, 26, split his 2009 season between Indianapolis-AAA and Altoona-AA.  he batted .241 in 42 games for the Indians and spent the entire 2008 season in Syracuse with the Chiefs as their everyday shortstop.

Chase Lambin, 30, spent the 2009 season in Japan with the Chiba Lotte Marines and batted only .192 in 120 at bats.  The season before he batted .300 with 14 HR and 54 RBI at AAA-Albuquerque (Marlins).  He was originally drafted by the Mets in 2003 and played for Norfolk in 2005-2006.  His best season coming in 2005 between Binghampton/Norfolk when he hit 24 HR home runs and batted over .300.

Jerry Owens, 29, lefthanded hitting outfielder with great speed played in only 12-games for the Chicago White Sox last season before being traded to Seattle and spending the remainder of the season with Tacoma.  He batted .323 with 23 stolen bases in 100 games. 

Chris Duncan, 27, batted .227 in 87 games for the St. Louis Cardinals last season before being released.  He signed with the Red Sox and played in only 27-games for the Pawsox the rest of the way before being released again.

Pedro Powell, 25 began his career in the Pirates organization before spending the past two years as property of the Tampa Bay Rays organization.  He has never played above the AA-level but has tremendous speed recording 268 career stolen bases in seven minor league seasons.  2004-60 , 2005-46, 2006-63, 2007-67, 2008-29 and 2009-28.

We will look at the new pitchers in the fold later on.

 

 

 

The Washington Nationals signed veteran outfielder Kevin Mench as a free agent and assigned his contract to the Syracuse Chiefs.

Mench, 32 last played in the major leagues in 2008 with the Blue Jays appearing in 51 games and batting .243 in 115 at bats.  He also played 21 games for the Chiefs that season batting .284 with 1 HR and 12 RBI.

He spent last season with the Hanshin Tigers of the Japanese Cemtral League and had only 54 at bats before a season ending injury.

The native of Delaware began his career in the Texas Rangers organization in 1999.  He joined the Rangers major league team in 2002 and spent parts of five season in Texas.  He had his best seasons in 2004- 26 HR 71 RBI .279 AVG and 2005 - 25 HR 73 RBI .265 AVG.

In 2006 he was traded to Milwaukee mid-way thru the season and batted a combined .270 with 13 HR and 68 RBI that season.

He spent another season with the Brewers in 2007 batting.267 with 8 HR and 37 RBI in only 288 at bats that season.

Mench joins Josh Whitesell, Chris Duncan, Eric Brunlett, Jerry Owens and Pete Orr (re-signed) as off-season pick-ups this season.

 

 

The Syracuse Chiefs were saddened to hear of the passing of righthanded pitcher Ron Klimkowski.  The Jersey City native was 64 years old.

The "Klemmer" was signed by the Boston Red Sox in 1964 and spent parts of four seasons in the Boston minor league system before being traded to the New York Yankees along with lefthanded pitcher Pete Magrini, who also would pitch for the Chiefs, in August of 1967.  The player he was traded for - Elston Howard.

Ron joined the Chiefs in August of the 1967 season and was 0-3 with a 6.30 ERA in just 3-starts for a Chiefs team that finished last.  He would return to Syracuse to start the 1968 season and was 2-1 with a 5.14 ERA in 17 games pitching out of the bullpen.  He would be assigned back to AA-Binghamton in July where he would spend the remainder of that year.

The 1969 season started with Klimkowski again making the Chiefs roster out of spring training but again buried in the bullpen.  It wasn't until injuries to Gary Jones and Mickey Scott and the poor performance of veteran Rich Beck that manager Frank Verdi inserted Klimkowski into the starting rotation on April 27th.

He would go on to make 24 starts for the Chiefs that season and put up numbers that made him the International League's Most Valubale Pitcher and a member of the 1969 IL All Star team.

In 24 starts he completed 13 games, 10 in a row (July 11-August 25), He was 15-7 with a league best 2.18 ERA and allowed only eight home runs in 173 innings pitched.  During the Chiefs run for the playoffs he notched nine consecutive wins from June 26-August 5th.

That season earned him a promotion to New York and he appeared in 3 games for the Yankees that season .

In 1970 he would spend the entire season with the Bronx Bombers going 6-7 with a respectable 2.66 ERA in 45 games that season, used mainly out of the bullpen.

With the hopes of moving into the Yankees starting rotation in 1971, the Yankees traded him along with lefty Rob Gardner to Oakland for outfielder Felipe Alou before the start of the season.

Ron pitched in 26 games for the A's that year going 2-2 with a 3.40 ERA before being sent out to Iowa later that season.

In 1972 he falied to make the A's club out of spring training and began the campaign back in Iowa before the Yankees re-acquired him and assigned him to the Chiefs.  He would make 13 starts for the Chiefs going 5-5 with a 3.33 ERA.  That led to another call -up to New York and he finished the '72 season with the Yankees going 0-3 with a 4.06 ERA.

His career ended in 1973 with arm trouble and an in-effective 12 appearances for the Chiefs, he would be sent to AA-West Haven later that season.

Ron Klimkowski was a major part of the Syracuse Chiefs 1969 Governors Cup Championship team.  He was also the starting pitcher the day Frank Baker hit that memorable home run over the scoreboard at MacArthur Stadium when the Chiefs defeated Louisville 4-3 in 10 innings.

 

I'm as good at titling things as the creators of Rocky and Bullwinkle.  So, these entries are going to have varying names as we move along.  You can decide which title you like most.  Maybe I'll choose it.

The Syracuse Chiefs 49th Annual Hot Stove took place on this past Friday night at the Holiday Inn Liverpool as over 300 fans gathered to talk baseball on a balmy January night.

Special thanks to the Washington Nationals who were represented by GM Mike Rizzo, Manager Jim Riggleman, Director of Player Development Doug Harris, Chiefs manager Trent Jewett, players Pete Orr and Seth Bynum and former major league all stars Bill Monboquette and 2009 Chiefs hitting coach Darnell Coles who received the Jake Meyers Great Guy Award.

Also in attendance were LeMoyne College Coach Steve Owens and his new pitching coach who also played for the Chiefs and in the major leagues with Toronto, Boston and San Diego, Scott Cassidy, Auburn Doubledays GM Carl Gutellius and others.

A full re-cap with photos will appear on Monday on www.syracusechiefs.com.

Special thanks to Chiefs Assistant GM Mike Voutsinas and Director of Merchandising Wendy Shoen for all their work on making the 49th one of the best ever.

Thirty six years ago in 1974 the New York Yankees sent 20 year old lefthanded pitcher Scott McGregor to Syracuse to begin the season in the Chiefs rotation under second year manager Bobby Cox.

The Yankees number one pick in the 1972 June Draft received a reported $80,000 signing bonus and had juast come off a pretty good season the year before in West Haven when he led the Eastern League with 12 wins, 197 innings and a 3.29 ERA.

The 1974 season saw the California native join a veteran staff that included Lowell Palmer, Mike Pazik, Larry Gowell and Rick Sawyer.  But is was McGregor who would put up big numbers for manager Bobby Cox that season leading the Chiefs to the finals of the International League Governors Cup only to lose to Rochester in a thrilling seven game series.

McGregor was named I.L. Rookie of the Year, represented the Chiefs in the 1974 I.L. All Star Game and went 13-10 with a 3.44 ERA.  What was even more impressive from this 20 year old was that he completed 12 of his 27 starts, struck out 124 batters and tossed 3 shutouts - 2 back to back vs Tidewater and 3 in 4 starts.

Scotty went on to go 2-0 in the I.L. playoffs defeating Rochester 8-1 in game five that put the Chiefs up 3 games to 2.  His 9-inning masterpiece was his final appearance that season that totaled over 220 innings.

He pitched for the Chiefs again in 1975 making 21 starts and going 6-9 with a 3.99 ERA before being placed on the disabled list for the remainder of the 1975 season.  Without their ace, the Chiefs would lose to Tidewater in the Finals of the Governors Cup Chanpionship for a second consecutive season.

Still only 22 years old and back for his third season with the Chiefs, McGregor now the ace of the staff had help from Rick Sawyer, Ken Clay, and big time prospects Jim Beattie and Doug Heinold before the trade that would change history in the I.L.

On June 12th the New York Yankees in an effort to capture their first Pennant in over a decade traded prize prospects Dave Pagan, Tippy Martinez and Scott McGregor to the Baltimore Orioles for lefthanded veteran pitcher Ken Holtzman.

The Chiefs were in second place 3 1/2 games off the pace ahead of the Rochester Red Wings were McGregor would be sent.  With the Chiefs he was only 4-5 with a 3.84 ERA in his first 10 starts, six of which were complete games - his trademark.

But after the deal, McGregor fashioned a remarkable 8-1 record with a 2.38 ERA in 13 starts in the flower city.  He also completed eight more games, five of which were shutouts.  He 4-hit the Chiefs in Syracuse on July 5th and allowed only 3 hits in a 7-inning shutout a month later on August 25th.

The Red Wings played over .700 baseball the rest of the way (63-26) and despite the Chiefs winning 53 of their next 86 without McGregor, the Red Wings won the Pennant in 1976.  The Chiefs finished second and took on the Memphis Blues in round one of the I.L. Playoffs.

The Chiefs swept the Blues 3-0 defeating Floyd Bannister and Mark Lemongello, two future major league pitchers, while the Pennant winning Red Wings were defeated by Richmond 3-1.

The Chiefs would go on to win the 1976 I.L. Governors Cup that season (the last time they won) without McGregor. Ironically, his replacement, left hander John Sielicki went 10-2 including winning the deciding game against the Braves in September.

McGregor would go on to pitch 14 years in the Major Leagues with Baltimore, appearing in two World Series (1979, 1983) and winning 20 games in 1980.

Happy 56th Birthday Scott McGregor.

 

 

It's the time of the year (and decade) when it seems like everyone has a top ten list of everything imaginable.  

The Chiefs family was saddened this week by the passing of long-time season ticket holder Don Schad.  Don sat behind the Chiefs dugout along with his wife April and brother John and formed a friendship with everyone who sat around him.  

THANK YOU to all of our fans who attended the Dinner at the Diamond Holiday Party on Tuesday night in the Hank Sauer Room.  Guests at the sold out event enjoyed an evening of food, fun, and baseball talk, plus Santa made an appearance.