Jacksonville Hickories: Talkin' softly, but carrying big...

philliesfan134 · **Posted:** Fri Jul 26, 2013 5:23 pm

David Banner is a rapper. I remember him being an artist on the NFL Street 2 soundtrack.

although Bruce Banner the Hulk comes to mind.

ERISA Dude · **Posted:** Fri Jul 26, 2013 5:28 pm

The Hickories announced the signing of the following free agents:

The Hickories released the following statement about the signings: While we are very happy with the players already on our roster, we only had 29 players under contract and wanted more depth without relying on the upcoming draft. Right now, we expect Dan Johnson to be on the major-league roster, though we are not sure whether he will man first-base or be a DH. Fernando Hernandez will contend for a spot out of our bullpen, while our other signings (Quintero and Chavez) provide minor-league depth until they develop further or we incur injuries.

Training

The Hickories have equipment on par with what is being used around the league by most teams; however, we've been told that they are investing significant sums of money to devise specialized equipment. The first of this equipment will probably not be ready until closer to the All-Star break – it is equipment intended to help batters train on both their contact and power. By the end of the season, they hope to also have specialized equipment For their pitchers.

Reporters at the Hickories training facility indicate that the players seem to be focusing on training in groups, with all starting pictures working on stamina, relievers practicing various breaking balls, with emphasis on two-seam fastballs, split fingered fastball's and hard sliders; the majority of the outfielders are working on speed training; and the majority of the infielders (except for free-agent signings) are working on fielding. The infield free agents (Chavez, Johnson, and Quintero) are working on their batting skills.

ERISA Dude · **Posted:** Fri Jul 26, 2013 5:30 pm

philliesfan134 wrote:

David Banner is a rapper. I remember him being an artist on the NFL Street 2 soundtrack.

although Bruce Banner the Hulk comes to mind.

I don't know about the rap artist, but when they took the hulk and turned it into a TV show with Bill Bixby, they didn't think the name "Bruce" would go over well with viewers so they renamed him David

ERISA Dude · **Posted:** Fri Jul 26, 2013 5:46 pm

Here are the remaining names - I'll give the answers to the hardest ones:

Art Vandelay

Buck Rogers

Way Cool, Jr: I think we all can agree that rock and roll music is the best, and the best time period for Rock 'n roll was the 80s. Slightly less popular than the awesome Motley Crue and def leopard was a band called ratt. The lead character in my favorite song of theirs was called "way cool junior." I found an old CD of theirs about a day after I started making my arrange team and knew I had to include this name as one of my players

Geordi LaForge

Mackey Sasser: A young backup catcher with the NY Mets back in the late 80s. After their world series, but before they got Mike Piazza. He looked to have a bright future – okay hitting, but a very solid arm. He developed this weird, nervous habit where could not throw the ball directly to the pitcher without double or triple clutching. At some point, it got so bad, that runners on first would take off as he started to throw to the pitcher because they knew he would have to stop and reclutch it. Needless to say, he did not have much of a career.

Remington Steele

Edgardo Alfonso: One of my favorite and why Mets players from around the same time. As Mackey. Brought up as a 3b, he was solid in the field and at the plate, very quiet, and not flashy. When the Mets brought in Robin Ventura, Edgardo Alfonzo switched to second base. He did not complain about it actually became one of the top second baseman in baseball. Then, the Mets brought in Roberto Alomar and shifted Alfonzo back to 3rd, where he struggled.

http://www.amazon.com/wiki/Edgardo_Alfonzo

Freeman McNeil

detroittigers15 · **Posted:** Fri Jul 26, 2013 8:35 pm

Vandelay Industries!

ERISA Dude · **Posted:** Fri Jul 26, 2013 11:07 pm

Yes!!!

ERISA Dude · **Posted:** Sat Jul 27, 2013 12:01 pm

OPENING DAY

4/2/08: Opening-day pitted the Hickories' Gabe Kotter (92 GB 2SF – two, HSL – two, VSL – three, CCH – two) going against Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay (95 BA 2SF – two, CU – four, CB – five, CH – four, HSK – two). Willie Mays Hayes took the first pitch of the season – a sinker sliding away – and pulled it into shallow right-field for a single. Hayes went to third when Plant softly singled to right and just made it into third ahead of the tag. A deep fly ball from Vandelay brought in a run, while Plant was stranded on second after swiping that base with one out. The Blue Jays quickly tied the game when Rios doubled after Eckstein singled and stole second. Another single gave the Blue Jay's a two – one lead entering the second. The Blue Jays added a run in the second, while Halladay settled into a nice groove, allowing just 6 hits in the next 7-1/3 innings, when he was replaced by closer BJ Ryan.

Kotter also settled into a good rhythm, relying on a combination of fastballs, two seamers, and hard sliders early in the count and using a nice circle change to record 6 strikeouts through 5 innings. Henry "Indiana" Jones entered in the sixth and was very strong, although he gave up one run in the eighth when Vernon Wells singled in Rios, who reached on a fielders choice and stole second. The submarine pitcher seemed to do well at keeping the Blue Jays hitters off-balance.

The Hickories made some noise in the 9th, with SS Way Cool, Junior doubling down the right field line off of BJ Ryan, and a Mays-Hayes single against a drawn-in infield allowed Cool and Crash Davis (who singled on Halladay before he was removed) to score, pulling the Hickories to within a run. Two batters later, with runners at first and third and two out, first baseman Buck Rogers singled down the right field line, bringing in the tying run and sending Vandelay to third. Jeff "the Dude" Lebowski grounded out with a runner on third ending the inning.

With the game tied at four, Roy Hobbs (94 EB HSL – two, SEB – one, SP – one, HSK – two), who was initially expected to be a starter, but had trouble getting batters out with 2 strikes, entered the game and used a strikeout to close out the inning with a Bluejay on second.

In the 10th, Geordie Laforge singled with one out, stole second, and scored the go-ahead run when Crash Davis single to left. In the bottom of the 10th, Hickories' closer Enigo Montoya (94 CD HSL – four, SCB – two, SC – three, star finisher, intimidator) entered the game and gave up a one out double to Aaron Hill before giving up a walk off homerun to Alex Rios.

Final score: six – five (10) Blue Jays

ERISA Dude · **Posted:** Sat Jul 27, 2013 12:04 pm

Still no guesses? Here are some hints...

Buck Rogers - old sci fi comic and tv show

Geordi LaForge - Star Trek

Remington Steele - pierce brosnan's big break

Freeman McNeil - football

Paul McCartney15 · **Posted:** Sat Jul 27, 2013 12:10 pm

I was watching E.T. The other day and in one scene E.T. Is shown reading a Buck Rodgers comic. Pretty interesting.

ERISA Dude · **Posted:** Sat Jul 27, 2013 2:48 pm

Yup - Buck Rogers and the 21st Century. I never read the comics, but they made a TV show that lasted a few seasons and I always thought the name sounded cool

ERISA Dude · **Posted:** Sun Jul 28, 2013 9:53 pm

April game summaries

4/3/08: Hickories McClain at Blue Jays Burnett. The Hickories had a disappointing first inning as Willie Mays Hayes and Robert Plant, who both appear to be real spark plugs, each singled and made it to second and third where they were stranded when Burnett completely made the next three Hickories batters look overmatched. The Blue Jays used a big second inning and a Rios seventh inning homerun to win the game, although the Hickories, again, made for an exciting 9th,, leading off with back-to-back singles and ultimately scoring a run. Final score: seven – five, Blue Jays

4/4/08: Hickories Cohen at Red Sox Lester: Lester was at the top of his game and clearly overmatched the young Hickories, who were fortunate to tie the game with the help of a Red Sox error; Cohen pitched well but gave up a two run homerun to David Ortiz. Final score: four – three, Red Sox

4/5/08: Final score: four – three, Red Sox

4/6/08: Boston Red Sox Tim Wakefield pitching line: 9 IP, 2H, 11 K, W, 0R; final score: five – zero, Red Sox. With this loss, the Hickories are the only team in the majors without a win

ERISA Dude · **Posted:** Sun Jul 28, 2013 9:58 pm

Geordi LaForge - The engineer from Star Tek: the next generation. Very disappointed at the lack of culture in this group!!!

Remington Steele - pierce brosnan played a private I who worked with a pretty lady. Sort of like Bruce Willis' big hit, Moonlighting, which most of you probably don't know either.

Freeman McNeil - the New York Jets 2nd leading rusher (behind Curtis Martin). A super-talented guy who played on a bad team. I got to meet him one time and he was really nice. He asked my name and actually said he was pleased to meet me.

ERISA Dude · **Posted:** Tue Jul 30, 2013 9:42 pm

April game summaries

4/7/08: Hickories Buttermaker (88 FB HSL – two, SLV – three, FOS – two, SFB – three) versus Blue Jays Wolfe (88 BE CU-3, SLV – three, CH-3)

leadoff triple from Dan Johnson

David Banner hit a one out double, but was thrown out at the plate

Hickories put runners at first and third with two outs against the Blue Jays tiring reliever and then Robert Plant hit a soft opposite field single

Greg Zaun pulled a high inside hard slider down the right field line for a run scoring double that would stand as the game-winning run

Final score: two – one, Blue Jays

Comments: if there was a bright spot to this game, it was the all out positive defensive play, as Hickories starter Buttermaker held the Blue Jays to a single run through 8-1/3 innings even though he only struck out one batter. All players did a good job at getting to the ball and making their plays, but second baseman Robert Plant stood out. He and fellow midfielder Way Cool, Jr were the only batters with multiple hits today, and with his 10 fielded balls, Plant showed good range to his right and dropping back into shallow right-field.

ERISA Dude · **Posted:** Thu Aug 01, 2013 6:28 am

April game summaries

4/8/08: Hickories Kotter versus Blue Jays Burnett: Dan Johnson, sporting a 118 batting average, led off the bottom of the ninth with the Hickories down by a run and put the third pitch from Burnett – a hanging curveball – over the right field fence, tying the game and hitting the first home run in Hickories history. The game would not end until the 14th inning, when David Banner led off with a double and scored on a single from LaForge into the left center field gap, which would be the 1st walk off hit in Hickories history, clinching the franchise's 1st win.

Final score: four – three (14) Hickories

Comments

4/9/08: Hickories McClain versus Blue Jays Halladay: McClain survived a first-inning jam in which the Blue Jays put runners at second and third with two out, and a Lyle Overbay two-out triple in the second, while the Hickories stranded two runners in scoring position in the second and third innings. Mays Hayes broke the 0-0 tie in the bottom of the fifth with an RBI single. One out later, Cool scored from third on a wild pitch, and after the Blue Jays Eckstein dropped what should have been the third out of the inning, Buck Rogers drove in another run, giving the Hickories a three – zero lead after five. Rios homered to lead off the sixth, and Overbay homered off of reliever Jack Tripper to start the seventh. The Hickories scored in the bottom of the seventh when Vandelay hit a 1 out triple to left center field and came home on a Rogers sacrifice fly. Set up man Mickey Shuler made his first appearance of the season, retiring the heart of the Blue Jays Lineup in order, and closer Montoya closed out the ninth uneventfully. Final score: four – two, Hickories

4/10/08: Hickories Cohen (98GB 2SF – one, HSL – two, SCB – one, CCH – one) versus Blue Jays McGowan (97 DA SL – two, CB – two, SP – two): Matt Stairs led off the second with a one – two count home run off of a slow curve, and the Jays added a run in the following inning when Vernon Wells softly hit an RBI single to right field. In the meantime, all of McGowan's pitches were working well and he held the Hickories to a single hit in the first 5 innings, but in the sixth, Crash Davis led off with an opposite field single and after 2 fielders choices, runners were at first and third with two out and Art Vandelay at the plate. Vandelay drove the first second pitch he saw over the left-field wall for an opposite field three run homerun. This was the first home run by a Hickories player with no prior major league experience, and it put the Hickories up by 1. The Blue Jays immediately tied the game on back to back triples, the second one off of reliever Mickey Shuler. Two batters later, Vernon Wells hit a go ahead double and a single by Matt Stairs gave the Blue Jays a commanding six – three lead entering the bottom of the seventh. This would stand as the final score of the game

BrewersFuzz · **Posted:** Thu Aug 01, 2013 9:19 am

Whoo! From first win, to first sweep!

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