For the first time in five games, the Boise Hawks bullpen was outstanding – allowing just one hit over nearly seven innings of work, however, that one hit was a two-run home run, as Salem-Keizer extended the Hawks season-opening losing streak to five games with a 5-3 win.

There was a very intimate crowd at Volcanoes Stadium, as the crowd was announced at just over 2,200 – but you be the judge as this video shows how many fans were in the ballpark during the national anthem.

Cliff Andersen was the story offensively, knocking in three runs – two on a first inning double, but Boise did not get a runner to second base in the final four innings.  Really impressed by Robert Whitenack, the Division III draft pick out of SUNY-Old Westbury, who used his knuckle curve and a solid fastball to retire all six men he faced.

THE BACON: To the left is the den of the broadcaster on the road – the desk in the hotel room.  Since my laptop monitor is dead, I have to bring another screen with me, plus with my diet – you notice it is diet soda there (went with the Walmart brand since it was 59 cents – sorry Pepsi) and the bottle of water has been refilled countless times.

Went to the gym with the team for the mandatory workout – something I have never done in my years with the club.  My wife and I are on a major diet and working out is something we consider a priority right now, so I am going to take every advantage I can on the road.  After 20 minutes of row machine, a 15 minute jog and a 15 minute walk, I watched something hillarious, as Jae-Hoon Ha and Tarlandus Mitchell were playing racquetball in a court below – neither knowing the facets of the game.  Those who had finished their workouts were huddled around the court – it was REALLY funny.

After the game, I accompanied the team to Applebee’s for dinner – for me, it was a small salad, unlike in the past, which it would have been a full order of nachos, some mozzarella stick, and some beer.  The mood of the team is upbeat, although the losing is beginning to wear on some of the players – especially the veterans.

NEWS: Carrie Muskat of cubs.com has reported that Brett Jackson, the Cubs first-round pick, has signed and following a physical, will report to Boise to begin his professional career.  It would mark the sixth-straight year that a first-round pick has been assigned to Boise (2004 Ryan Harvey/Lou Montanez/Luke Hagerty, 2005 Mark Pawelek/Luke Hagerty, 2006 Mark Pawelek/Tyler Colvin, 2007 Mark Pawelek/Josh Vitters/Kyler Burke, 2008 Mark Pawelek/Josh Vitters/Kyler Burke/Andrew Cashner/Ryan Flaherty).

SIGNINGS:  With the signing of Brett Jackson, it marks 13 official signings by the Cubs – including the four players (Whitenack, Petraitis, Rohan, Keefe) with the Hawks (although Jackson is the only one that the Cubs have announced)…others include Wes Darvill (5th round), Charles Thomas (10th), John Mincone (11th), Cody Shields (15th), Matt Williams (18th), DJ Fitzgerald (22nd), Justin Bour (25th), and Tim Clubb (29th) – who are all in the Arizona Rookie League.

One day in the books in the capital city of Oregon and another loss in the books for the Boise Hawks, as Salem-Keizer claimed a 6-1 victory tonight.

The Hawks were stymied by three Volcanoes pitchers, with Sean Hoorelbeke the only player to have a multi hit game.

The team got to test out Volcanoes Stadium (left), the only park in the league with a chain link outfield fence.

Jeff Antigua was solid in his Boise debut, allowing just a two-run home run in four innings of work, walking two and striking out four.  However, the bats were silent – despite a good round of BP (including this video of Jae-Hoon Ha) by the team.

For the first time this season, Boise relievers were able to make appearances without allowing a run, as Ryan Sontag got four outs and Mike Perconte got three outs to close the game.

Another negative that I heard about after the game was from catcher Matt Cerda, who’s parents were at the game, but forced to watch the game from an outfield berm (video of the park shows the berm beyond the short fence in left field) – as despite a crowd of 2,724 (well below capacity), they were not given a seat in the park (unless they bought one).  For me, my vantage point (pictured above) is a small booth – but the window makes it tough to see.

Tomorrow will see the first team lift on the road – which I will be attending…not sure what the staff will make me do?

It has been a struggle for many of the Hawks this afternoon, not from the fact that the club is 0-3 to start the 2009 season, but Salem has one of the more difficult eating situations for the team.

Watch my short You Tube account of what is around our hotel and eating in Salem http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4XLsgLBw6M

I like our hotel, the Comfort Suites – a nice room with ample space for me to work during the morning and to be able to file postgame reports, but the ammenities near the hotel are view and far between.

You see, there is no eateries on site, in fact, there are no eateries within a half mile radius of the property.  A little less than a mile is a lone Denny’s – which one in the NWL will get sick of real quick, and for me, after all of the years, I won’t touch Denny’s (nothing against their food – but when you have had it over and over, it gets old).  From Denny’s, there is a Costco, which you have to have a membership to enter – beyond that, it’s another mile or so to Walmart – which has a Subway inside, along with a Panda Express and Taco del Mar near it.

So a three to four mile round trip for food – and a two mile trip after the game at night just for a postgame meal.  Not good.

What was worse was that without anything within sight of the hotel, it has been difficult for the foreign players to find these spots.  Larry Suarez and Robert Hernandez were trying to find the food and I pointed them in the right direction – followed by Jeff Antigua, who as tonight’s starter, will have to make the long walk for food…maybe this is why Salem-Keizer has such a decisive home field advantage.

Yes, last night the Hawks lost…yes, last night the Hawks blew a 5-1 lead for the second straight night…yes, the Hawks had just one hit after the fifth inning and the bullpen allowed six more runs…however –

Tri-City is gone and the Hawks are 420 miles down the road.

Instead of dwelling on the completion of a three-game sweep by the Tri-City Dust Devils (wasting another solid start, this time a four inning, two-hit stint by 19-year-old Su-Min Jung), we focus on the all-night drive West.

And yes, the Eagle has landed in Salem (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSq5YVbHxY0)

It was a pretty typical bus ride – a two movie trip (Taken and Fired Up were the two movies – and kudos to Dan Golden the trainer for stepping up to the plate and going to a Redbox and getting new movies instead of Joe Dirt or Anchorman for the umteenth straight year).  Skipper Franklin Font really liked Taken – which had some good action moments, while most of the team missed Fired Up (typical high school movie with football players trying to “mingle” with girls at a cheerleader camp).

Once again at 5:30 a.m. I stepped up to the plate and helped Hal our bus driver find the Comfort Suites here in Salem – since there are two hotels of the same name within a mile and a half.

Tonight will be a big night for me, as it is my 300th Northwest League broadcast – not a bad milestone and ranks third all-time in Hawks history behind Rob Simpson and Dave Hahn.

We’ll have more later today from Volcanoes Stadium as you get a few of what I see from the booth (that is, if my photos will load).

What a weird ball game at Memorial Stadium tonight, as for the second-straight evening, the Hawks bullpen allowed a staggering 11 runs – watching a 5-1 lead turn into a 12-7 loss, dropping the club to 0-2 – joining Eugene as the only team in the loop without a win.

First off – Robert Hernandez was stellar in his season debut.  In reading many blogs about Extended Spring Training, Hernandez was a guy who most thought would end up in Peoria – but found his way to the Treasure Valley and allowed just four hits and one run in five innings.

Josh Lansford allowed a pair of runs, but after he settled down in his first appearance as a pitcher (he tossed last year in Tennessee in a mop up role), showed a live fastball.

However, it went downhill fast in the eighth, just as a rain squall moved over Memorial Stadium.  Yes, not a typical Boise summer thunderstorm, but literal rain.  When I moved to the area in 2001, my boss at The College of Idaho, Marty Holly, told me it never rains in Idaho – and it really is true, since normally from May to September, the only rain we receive are in pop-up thunderstorms.  Not last night, as an off-and-on downpour started in the fifth inning, with the bulk of the precipitation falling in the eighth – just as Mike Perconte made his 2009 Hawks debut.  You could tell he could not get a good grip for his slider, which is his out pitch – with a couple hits, a pair of wild pitches, a hit batter, and a walk allowing Tri-City to close within 5-4.  Enter Yohan Gonzalez, who threw seven of his first eight pitches for balls, walking in the tying run, then allowing a Jeremiah Sammy seeing-eye two-run single to give the visitors the lead for good.

Lost in the loss was solid performances from both Cliff Anderson and George Matheus, who each had three hits – although you could definitely tell Anderson is still hobbled by a hamstring injury that landed him on the DL in Peoria.

NOTES – In eight innings this year, Boise starting pitchers have allowed just two runs, while in ten innings, the bullpen has allowed 22…four different players (Hak-Ju Lee, Logan Watkins, Matt Cerda, Jose Valdez) each have two errors through the first two games…tonight’s crowd of 2,618 was one of the bigger early season Sunday crowds in recent memory…as part of the 20th-year history of Memorial Stadium, Tri-City pitching coach Darryl Scott returns to the scene of where he began his pro career, as a member of the 1990 Boise Hawks – where his battery mate was catcher Troy Percival…

THE BACON – Following Monday’s game, the Hawks will hit the road for a five-game road swing to Salem-Keizer, with the club leaving town via charter bus immediately after the game…look for insight in the roadtrip here throughout the week – with hopefully some video or photos to bring you close to the action.

The Hawks had an easy time in their exhibition win over a primarily 35-and-over All-Star team from Boise, claiming a 21-2 victory – but it is for real on Saturday night vs. Tri-City.

Jose Valdez had a pair of triples, showcasing the speed that allowed him to swipe 26 bases in the Dominican Summer League last summer, while John Contreras, George Matheus, and Jae Hoon Ha each had three hits.

After Larry Suarez struggled with his command – exiting after two innings of a scheduled three inning appearance, converted pitcher Andres Quezada was impressive, fanning four batters.

The weather was more problematic than usual, as rain forced the start time back 21 minutes to 7:36 – as home plate and the pitchers mound was covered during the squall.  More rain is in the forecast over the weekend – which probably will make usage of the Memorial Stadium tarp.

A sellout crowd will be on hand Saturday for Opening Night – and will be entertained by Reggy the Purple Party Dude…who is pretty funny.

NOTES – Mike Perconte arrived from Peoria and was in uniform, wearing No. 35…Jose Made was promoted to Peoria, while draft pick Cody Shields was sent to Mesa for an unspecified injury.  It is expected that Cliff Anderson will join the team from Peoria, while 28th Round pick Jordan Petraitis of Miami (Ohio) will join the team from Mesa.  Tomorrow’s game is set for 7:15 p.m., although with 20th Anniversary of Memorial Stadium hoopla before the game, start time will more than likely be late.  All 76 Hawks games are carried live on flagship station 1350 KTIK-AM and online at www.boisehawks.com, while all 38 home games will be available with live video, through either www.milb.com (click on the multimedia page) or at www.boisehawks.tv.

On back to back nights in 2004, former Cubs first-round pick (and current OF with the Tulsa Drillers in the Rockies organization) Ryan Harvey hit two of the more impressive home runs – one over the centerfield wall in Yakima, and one over the centerfield wall in Tri-City.  To this day, they are the only two homers hit to that part of those parks that I’ve ever seen.

In doing some clean-up in the press box, I found old play-by-play tapes and recovered the audio for you.  You will need Windows Media Player to listen to the highlights.

Highlight1.wma (Harvey’s HR in Yakima)

Highlight3.wma (Harvey’s HR in Tri-City)

NOTES – The Treasure Valley All-Stars that the Hawks will be playing their exhibition game against on Friday are not high school/college players, but the top players in Boise’s Over-25 and Over-35 men’s baseball league.  The squad will be coached by Andy Swenson.

 

Prior to media day, the team made multiple changes to their numbers – as jerseys did not fit and players traded numbers.

Number changes – Gonzalez 41 (was 22), Sierra 33 (was 23), Nagel 43 (was 26), Quezada 34 (was 29), Antigua 16 (was 32), Sosa 38 (was 15), Lee 14, Shields 40 (was 17), Interim Manager Font 26 (was 13), Pitching Coach Rosario 32 (was 16)…

OF NOTE: Larry Suarez will get the start tomorrow against the Treasure Valley All-Stars, with Jon Nagel getting the opening day start against Tri-City.  Robert Hernandez will start Sunday, with Su-Min Jung getting the call in Monday’s series finale…it is expected that Mike Perconte will join the team tomorrow from Class-A Peoria, one of many roster moves that are expected from the Cubs prior to opening day.