DOWN TIME: 

With a few days between sims, we had a chance to go over with GM Gary Altman about some of the blossoming talent down on the farm.  He also spoke out for the first time about the firing of the Bombers Pitching Coach as well as head Scout Malcolm Mills.

Francisco Gonzalez, SP, Drafted 90^th by the Bombers has dominated AA ball going 4-2 with a 2.54 ERA.  He’s made 8 starts for 46 innings with 40 K’s and a WHIP of 1.33.  At 20 years old, South Carolina management anticipates a move to AAA ball if the trend continues.  Gonzalez is not a scouts dream either, throwing between 87-89 mph and substandard ratings.  When GM Gary Altman was asked about Gonzalez he said, “This is a results oriented business, and right now Gonzalez is putting up results, no matter what anybody thinks about him.  Right now he believes, and he’s making believers of us too!”.  Altman went on to give say, “Every now and again scouts are wrong.  Our scout, Malcolm Mills, who I believe to be one of the best scouts in the business, makes more right choices than wrong ones, and that is evident by where our farm system is ranked in the ABL.”  When pressed for a vote of confidence for Mills, Altman had this to say, “We’ve fired a pitching coach 20 games into the season, so eating a contract does not scare either me or ownership.  It’s what’s in the best interests of winning for our fans.  I don’t relish that aspect of the job, but again, this is a results  oriented business, and ownership wants the ABL trophy.  If Mills can’t get me the information to make a good, sound, informed decision, then South Carolina will be taken in another direction.”

Bobby Bennett, MR, Drafted 100^th by the Bombers is now in AAA after being promoted from AA ball.  At 22 years old, he throws in the low 90’s and has a cutter and slider.   He’s been used in multiple spots in the bullpen in his young career.  In AA for Long Island, Bennett was 1-0 with an ERA of 3.18 in 9 games.  He threw 11 1/3 innings, 3 hits and 11 K’s.  His bug-a-boo in AA ball was the walks where he gave 9 passes.

In AAA he’s 1-1 with 1 save, and an ERA of 1.93.  14 innings, 16 hits, and 5 BB’s and 9 K’s.

Altman personally phoned Bennett to tell him of the promotion.  He also made it clear that he’d need more command of his pitches and would have to cut down on his walks.  He’s given up a few more hits, but a few less walks and the strikeouts are down a bit too.  All told, with better competition rises in certain numbers are to be expected, but his ERA trending downward and being used to save a game speaks volumes for this pitcher.  At his age and being in AAA, he’s a strong candidate to make the big club as a player that was drafted 2,385^th overall.

Dave White, C, Drafted 118^th overall was promoted to AA after only 3 AB’s in A ball.

So far, a very small sample size (14 AB’s) has seen White rake out 8 hits, and knock in 4. 

Not really a scout’s dream with limited as he’s lacking in every rating category is proving the neigh-sayers wrong, so far.

2 Steps Forward, 1 Step Back

500 HERE WE COME

The Bombers assault on reaching 500 took a step back seeing them go 0-3 vs Kansas City and 1-2 vs Las Vegas.  South Carolina is now sitting at 18-28 with a road trip to Jacksonville and Maple coming up.

ED BELL 

Contract negotiations with the superstar starter appear to have stalled.  Ed Bell has a record of 4-2 in 10 starts, with an ERA of 4.21.  San Diego, Ann Arbor and Dallas have been linked as suitable dance partners for a trade.

ACQUISITIONS 

Two players were signed to minor league contracts.  CF'er Greg Willis and 1B Emilio Costello (no relation to Lou Costello).

Willis will report to Coney Island (A Ball), and Costello, a 1Bman by trade will see action at his native position, CF, and in his hometown, for the Bronx Bombers (AAA).

Costello was originally drafted by Cabo San Lucas in the 122nd Round and was released on April 23rd.

In limited action this season, Costello was 2 for 7 in A ball, and 1 for 3 in AAA.

CENTERFIELD 

The Doug Rogers trial was a epic failure.  Rogers hit .150 (3 for 20) with 1 RBI.  Not that production was overly important because the defense was there, but cleary Rogers was not ready to make a two level jump.

Robert O'Neil will be called up and has been added to the 40 man roster.  O'Neil was tearing up AAA hitting .326 with 11 taters and 30 RBI's.  O'Neil looks like he'll be the final CF'er for the Bombers until the return in mid August of Juan Marin, who was having a tremendous season. 

500 HERE WE COME

The Bombers assault on reaching 500 took a very positive step forward going 2-1 vs Jersey, and then 3-1 against Cabo San Lucas.  The Bombers are sitting at 17-23, and have gone 12-8 since firing their pitching coach at 5-15.

FAN INTEREST & ATTENDANCE

Fan interest is at 64 and has held steady there.  Looking to have a few promotional days to see if we can perk that up somewhat.

Attendance over last year (which didn't exist and is befuddling) is down 2.3%.  To turn that around for the remainder of this homestand, $2 off every ticket sold.  The goal this year is 3,000,000 fans, and we're on pace to achieve that (3.2 million) but management would be ecstatic to push the 4 Million mark, which could allow GM Altman to persue a high end free agent to help guide the youngsters to the promised land.

7 games remain on this 14 game homestand and we’ll be hosting Kansas City for 3, and then 4 against the first place Las Vegas Jokers before hitting the road for a 5 hour bus ride to Jacksonville to start a short 7 game road trip.

FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH FOUND

Bob Hamlyn, C, who at 37 years old hit homers in 3 consecutive games, in the series win against the Jersey Jesters.
OUCH!!!!
Star Bomber CF'er Juan Marin, is out for 3 months with a broken leg suffered making a defensive play. He was placed on the 60 day DL, freeing up a coveted roster spot for Doug Rogers, 24, called up from AA Long Island to patrol CF for the Bombers.  Altman says that the selection was because there was no native CF'er playing in AAA and Rogers offers some speed as well to create havoc on the base paths.  Manager Ritchie plans to play the kid everyday in CF and has him penciled into 9th in the order, moving SS Michael Green to 8th in the order.

In 36 games, Rogers was hitting .276 with 2 HR, 23 RBI's and 5 SB's.  He's made zero errors for the Ducks and has 2 assists

TRANSACTIONS:
Victor Enriquez and Tom Tart were both demoted to AAA, and

Glen Slaughter and Dave Nicholson were promoted.  Slaughter gives the Bombers a left-handed arm in the bullpen.

Enriquez, in his last start for the Bombers went 1.1 IP giving up 7 runs (6 earned) on 5 hits and 1 BB.

CONTRACTS

No word on the Ed Bell negotiations to report at this time.  Rumors from an anonymous source high up in the South Carolina front office says that a trade of Bell if negotiations fall apart could occur sooner than the trade deadline.  When this reporter brought this to Altman for confirmation, Altman simply stated that, "Ed Bell is an intregal part of this franchise both now and for the future and we'd love nothing more for him to finish his ABL career with the Bombers.  Not to put the cart before the horse, but we'd love to have him remain with our organization when he decides to hang up his spikes."

Dallas is rumored to be looking for Major League talent and Bell would be a great fit there.

Off and Running

Well here we are, the very first blog about the South Carolina Bombers organization.

Ownership has given his expectations to General Manager Gary Altman, but Altman has higher expectations and is not afraid to act in the franchise's best interests.


GOING, GOING, GONE!
After a 5-15 start, and 20 games into the Inaugural ABL Season, pitching coach Luis Gonzalez was relieved of his duties and fired.  Since that point in time, the Bombers have responded well to manager Tom Ritchie by going a modest 7-6
http://www.usfleagues.net/abl/reports/coaches/coach_352.html


WELCOME TO THE SHOW!
Bombers 1st Round Draft choice, #3 overall and the #3 Prospect in the ABL, Joe Frost, in his 1st ABL AB hit a homerun off Minnesota's Arturo Ruiz on 4/30 in the 1st inning!

HITTER OF THE WEEK!
Bombers Marín TML Hitter of the Week
Monday, May 7th, 2012: At the age of 32, Juan Marín might have some potential he hasn't realized yet -- if his success at the plate last week is any indication. The South Carolina center fielder put up some exceptional numbers the past seven days with a .441 batting average. For his efforts Marín collected the Thurman Munson League Player of the Week Award.

He racked up 15 hits in 34 at-bats, 4 home runs and 8 RBIs last week in 7 games.

Marín is hitting .316 this year with 7 home runs, 16 RBIs and 24 runs scored. He has 42 hits in 133 AB, 13 walks and a .383 on-base percentage.

ROOKIE OF THE MONTH!
Stephen Jackson was named the very first Rookie of the Month in the Thurman Munson League in ABL History for April 2012 by hitting .382, 5 HRm, 18 RBI and 16 RS.

RUMOR HAS IT...

Ed Bell, 38, is secretly in negotiations to extend his contract and remain with the Bombers for the remainder of his career.  His experience and leadership qualities are just what the young Baby Bombers need in maturing into a juggernaut in the ABL.  Currently, Bell is 3-1 with a 3.54 ERA