MichaelLortz.com/JordiScrubbings.com

(This post originally appeared on Bus Leagues Baseball.com)

While perusing the YouTubes for quality bus league entertainment, I found this video taken just the other night from Bradenton, Florida, home of the expansion Bradenton Marauders.

Not sure who won or which one is the soon-to-be new Dad, but at least now he has a story for his future son or daughter.

Gotta love the dizzy bat race. Always a classic.

(UPDATE: Here is the story about the Dad-to-be, his wife, and their co-workers.)

(This post originally appeared on Bus Leagues Baseball.com)

Just to the west of Clearwater, along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, and on the northern reaches of the Tampa Bay area lies Dunedin, birthplace of the voice of Space Ghost and home to the Dunedin Blue Jays, Class-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays.

Last Saturday, I made my second trip to Dunedin. Although I was there a few years ago for a spring training game, this past weekend I made it a priority to do some sightseeing first. A few blocks away from Dunedin Stadium, formerly Knology Park, is Dunedin’s quaint downtown area. It is the type of quiet downtown you probably won’t see on generic postcards of Florida with their pink flamingos, palm trees, and Mickey Mouse homages, but it is the type of downtown that is a true welcome respite from the hustle, bustle, glitz, glamor, and fast-paced city life of places like Tampa, Orlando, or Miami. Dunedin is little shops and restaurants, bike paths and parks.

And to be honest, I could definitely see myself ending up in a place like Dunedin, probably owning a bar or a pizza place and working on the next great American novel.

After getting a bite to eat at a slightly overpriced Mexican restaurant, I made my way to the ballpark to see the aforementioned Dunedin Blue Jays take on the Clearwater Threshers. Besides being a battle of two of the top teams in the Florida State League North Division, and a chance to see top prospects such as Blue Jays catcher Travis D’Arnaud and Treshers outfielder Anthony Gose, Saturday was also the fifth (or sixth) birthday of the Dunedin Blue Jays mascot, D-Jay. In the house to celebrate with their fine blue feathered friend was Rocky the Bull of the University of South Florida, Blue of the Tampa Yankees, Phinley of the Clearwater Threshers (awkward!), Lucky Dog of Aaron’s Furniture, Rocket of Jet’s Pizza, and a big green pickle person.

Also at the park to join in the festivities were nearly 200 local area Boy and Girl Scouts. Although friends with D-Jay, the scouts were part of their own promotion – they not only got to interact with the Blue Jay ballplayers and staff, but also were set to camp out in the outfield.

As I arrived at the stadium, many of these scouts were lined up along the first base line and given a rousing round of applause for doing all the things scouts do and being fine young role models and future leaders. While on the field, the scouts also had a chance to mingle with the mascots, which was always good for a few laughs and smiles.

After a few more minutes of mascot shenanigans, hi-jinxs, and tomfoolery, the Dunedin Blue Jays took the field and the game began. By the third inning however, it was obvious the Threshers were going to be in control. With starter Austin Hyatt stymieing the Blue Jays and the Threshers’ hitters hammering Dunedin hurlers Andrew Liebel and Ryan Page, Clearwater cruised to a 9-2 victory.

During the game I had a chance to not only talk to Dunedin Blue Jays Assistant GM Janette Donoghue, who was a kind and very busy host, but also with John Ruckart, Scoutmaster of Boy Scout Troop 64 from Oldsmar, Florida. According to Ruckart, the boys of Scout Troop 64 decided as a group to be a part of the ballpark event instead of going to their already scheduled weekend camp-out.

“We are a boy-led and boy-run organization,” Ruckart said. He also mentioned that because most of the scouts were Tampa Bay Rays fans, they were rooting for Dunedin to beat Clearwater, as the Threshers are a Phillies farmteam and of course, the Phillies defeated the Rays in the 2008 World Series.

(Oddly enough, to make the whole situation weird, at that very moment the Rays were playing the Toronto Blue Jays in St. Petersburg, about an hour south of Dunedin.)

After the Threshers victory, after most of the crowd had left, and as the groundscrew began their nightly yardwork, the 34 scouts of Boy Scout Troop 64 and all the other scouts, parents, brothers, and sisters began their descent on to the field, with Boy Scouts in centerfield and the Girl Scouts in right. Within less than 20 minutes, nearly 2/3 of the outfield was covered in tents and other sleeping shelters. It was as if a little village had sprung up where once ballplayers roamed.

And while John Melloncamp was able to sing his classic “Centerfield” in centerfield at the postgame concert at Tropicana Field, the 198 scouts at Dunedin Stadium could have one-upped the rocker with their own similar tune.

“Look at me, I can sleep, in the outfield.”

(Picture taken shows the Girl Scout tents in front and the Boy Scout tents to the back.)

I’m not sure if this is going to make sense to anyone but me, but hey, it’s my site, right?

Anyway, without getting all political, let me know if my analogy makes sense.

I’m so out of the box, I’m waiting for The Man to give me one box to put my office items in, and another to live in.

The other day, Matt Cerrone of MetsBlog.com discussed an ESPN.com article about the Mets worst on-field failures since they last won the World Series in 1986. As part of the panel on the ESPN article, Cerrone asked his readers what they thought was the worst moment in Mets history.

ESPN and Cerrone listed Kenny Rogers walk of Andruw Jones in 1999, Mike Scoscia’s home run in 1988, the season ending chokes of 2007 and 2006, the Yankees celebrating their World Series win in Shea Stadium in 2000, and Carlos Betran’s strikeout to end the 2006 playoffs. Some readers mentioned Yadier Molina’s home run to give the Cardinals the lead in the last game of the ’06 playoffs as well as Luis Castillo’s muffed fly ball in 2009.

All of these are incorrect. Although it happened in 1985, the year before the Mets won it all, there was one moment that profoundly affected Mets history since 1986.

In late 1985, in the last inning of a late-season game against the St. Louis Cardinals, pitcher Hayden “Sidd” Finch placed the baseball on the mound, walked off the field, out of the clubhouse, and boarded a plane to London with his girlfriend. The only reason Finch gave was sealed in an envelop addressed to the Mets front office. To this day, they have never addressed the issue.

Although the Mets won the World Series in 1986, they could have used Finch in the years that followed. A starting rotation of Finch, Dwight Gooden, Bob Ojeda, Ron Darling, and Sid Fernandez would have meant right-hander Rick Aguilera would have been regulated strictly to the bullpen or perhaps packaged with Kevin Mitchell for a different leftfielder than Kevin McReynolds – maybe to Toronto for young left fielder George Bell, to Cincinnati for Eric Davis, or maybe to Pittsburgh for a very young Barry Bonds?

With Finch, the Mets could have also survived Gooden’s drug problems and suspensions. Could Finch have even been a calming influence in the chaotic Mets clubhouse, a positive influence on a team now known for their reckless partying? Maybe he would have kept Darryl Strawberry on the straight and narrow.

From a front-office perspective, maybe the Mets still swindle the Royals for David Cone, although I am not sure what they would do with him. Maybe Cone goes in the Aguilera/Mitchell for Bonds trade.

On the field, there is no doubt the Mets would have not lost a step in 1987 and possibly beaten the Twins in the World Series. And in 1988, Finch undoubtedly outduels Orel Hershiser.

Not needing money, I think Finch would have stayed with the team through the early 90s. Maybe his Buddhist sensibilities and philosophies create a positive team vibe that is hampered only by age and the early-90s Mets never see the arrival of Vince Coleman, Eddie Murray, and other perennial sourpusses.

Maybe the Mets create a dynasty.

If only Davey Johnson or Robert Temple could have talked Finch into staying with the team.

For all the talk about how the state of Florida is such a bad state for sports teams, I have seen a few articles and mentions lately that attest to the opposite.

Over at The Sports Economist, Skip Sauer quotes a governor’s office press release that the average attendance at spring training games this year set a new record, with 6,640 per game. Overall, the Grapefruit League saw a total attendance of 1,427,627. Although the total number is lowest since 2003, there have been several teams, such as the Cincinnati Reds and the Cleveland Indians, who have moved their spring operations to Arizona.

The next day, the blog aggregate service TampaBLAB reported that Tampa Bay Lightning ratings were up a whopping 27.7% this year and 22.2% more households watched games. Steve Lepore of the blog Puck the Media expects that number to go up even more next season.

A few weeks earlier, the Twitter account for the Lakeland Local blog mentioned that the Lakeland Flying Tigers had 744 people in attendance in a game against the Tampa Yankees. Curious, I asked if that was normal. Lakeland Local responded by saying “It’s better than normal. The Flying Tigers averaged about 380 a game last season.” That’s nearly 100% more people the 2009 average.

The Flying Tigers also drew 2,108 for their home opener, according to Lakeland Local.

So we have Spring Training attendance up, more people watching Lightning games, and a whole lot more people going to see the Lakeland Flying Tigers. Can this be explained or are the people of Florida becoming more involved in following professional sports?

(Note: I do not have any numbers on the Orlando Magic this year and last year’s numbers are slightly weird. They did really well in the Eastern Conference Finals against LeBron James and the Cavaliers, but their appearance in the Finals showed a decrease from the year before – granted, however, that was the Lakers vs. Celtics and all their associated history.)

Before we scream “hallelujah” about the spring training number, a few factors have to be determined:

1. Was there an increase in “snowbirds” between 2008 and 2010? How did the economy effect the amount of retirees spending their winters in Florida? Those people most definitely attend spring training games as they are in their winter homes from Thanksgiving to approximately Easter.
2. Did the number of statewide tourists in the spring months increase between 2008 and 2010? Whereas snowbirds are consistent visitors, a spike in tourism could drastically alter the annual numbers. Personally, I always meet a tourist or two at every spring game I go to.
3. The Strasburgh Effect – Did the Nationals see a large spike in their attendance due to the debut of 2009 #1 pick Steven Strasburg? How much of the increase was attributable to Strasburg?

Of course, the big unknown is are these rising numbers of attendance throughout Central Florida indicators that people all over are going to more events? What about the Tampa Bay Rays?

To be honest, I don’t think these few indicators will help the Rays and their attendance woes. The spring snowbirds have migrated back and Steven Strasburg has moved on. Surprisingly, the Rays didn’t do well attendance-wise or on the air in 2009 despite their 2008 World Series run.

Although there are a few small positive signs, we’ll see if those are exceptions or precursors to a growing trend.

(This post originally appeared on Bus Leagues Baseball.com)

I’ll admit, I suffer from severe East Coast bias. It’s a sickness that has plagued me since birth. It’s like shyness. You can try to step out of your shell, but unless you go bold and take that step, you’ll never not have East Coast bias. You can’t half-get-rid-of-it. And you can’t cover it up with ProActive either. It’s always there, you just hope nobody sees it.

That said, as part of my multi-gazillion dollar contract to write here at Bus Leagues Baseball (what, you didn’t think bloggers got paid? ‘Tever*.) and cover the Florida State League – which is in my backyard – I also cover the California League and the Carolina League. Since I covered the Carolina League yesterday, I’m going to take my first look at the California League tonight.

* (It is just a matter of time before that abbreviation for “whatever” takes off. You heard it here first.)

Time to shine some UV treatment on that East Coast Bias. Let’s familiarize ourselves with the best team first – always a logical place to start.

The award for Best Team Record So Far goes to: the Visalia Rawhide with a shiny 8 wins and only 4 losses. Led by Baseball America Top Prospects Marc Krauss (OF), Ryan Wheeler (1B), Rey Navarro (SS), Paul Goldschmidt (1B), and Rossmel Perez (C), this Arizona Diamondbacks farm team is loaded.

Coincidentally, whereas I mentioned “Super” Joe McEwing of the Winston Salem Dash yesterday, the Rawhide are also coached by a former Met, employing Alan Zinter as a hitting instructor.

(Why I remember Alan Zinter as a Met, I have no idea. He was drafted by the team, but never played in New York. He was sent to Detroit while still riding the buses as part of a trade for first baseman Rico Brogna.)

If you are looking for Visalia on the internet, they can be found on Twitter here, Facebook here, and LinkedIn here. Outside of the tubes, they are also hosting a weekend promotion entitled “Girls’ Weekend” this June, where the team is hoping to help any women interested in baseball to become fanatical endorsers of the Rawhide.

Here is an odd news item: Until this year, you could not buy Cracker Jack at the ballpark in Visalia. You can now, but I wonder how many other ballparks don’t sell Cracker Jacks?

Tune in next week as I attempt to find the location of all the cities in the Baseball Federation of Kenya using only a map of Florida.

[Editor's note: Just before the season began, we interviewed Rawhide Asst. GM Elizabeth Martin. It was entertaining, so go back and give it a look.]

(This post originally appeared on Bus Leagues Baseball.com)

I once met a guy who claimed everyone had a relative in the Carolinas. Since I did at the time, I agreed with him. Who was I to assume where everyone had kinfolk? And if the family I have in the Carolinas talk to people I don’t know, those people have to be family for someone else, right? So therefore, ipso facto, e pluribus unum, quid pro bono, if everybody is somebody and my family member talks to somebody I don’t know and don’t know everyone, there of course everyone could possibly be related to someone who lives in the Carolinas.

That makes sense to me.

Now the reality of this fact is that unfortunately I have not talked to my kinfolk in the Carolinas for some time. That is too bad, because I have been dubbed nascent guru* of the Carolina League. Being tight with the peeps in the Carolinas could have been advantageous. But ’tis not to be.

* (By the way, the hip-hop community lost one of its pioneers on Monday when legendary rapper Guru passed away at the age of 47. His Jazzamatazz albums are really good. Check this out for example.)

Anyway, we are about 12 games into the Carolina League schedule. Here is what’s going on:

Best Record: the 9-3 Winston-Salem Dash. Led by manager “Super” Joe McEwing, the Dash have won 7 in a row. Second baseman Andrew Garcia is mashing early, hitting .386 with 15 RBIs and a 1.063 OPS. A pair of hurlers is also standing tall: left-hander Justin Edwards (2-0, 1.50), and Baseball America top prospect Nevin Griffith (2-0, 1.38).

If they keep up those numbers, they could be the minor league equivalent of the 1906 Cubs. (Team ERA of 1.75!)

HR Leaders: Gerardo Rodriguez and Adam Milligan, both with 4 and both from the Myrtle Beach Pelicans.

For some reason, when I think of the name Milligan, I think of both mid-80s Mets flop Randy Milligan and pro wrestling legend Blackjack Mulligan.

Of course, Milligan isn’t related to either one of those guys (to my knowledge). But he is related to someone, and that someone, at least for the time being, has kin in the Carolinas.

As I mentioned yesterday, Shaq-Fu is  possibly the most polarizing video game in the last 20 years. Although there are numerous online videos of people destroying Shaq-Fu games, there is one video that stands out above the rest. It is without a doubt the most creative movie about Shaq-Fu ever made. It is so good, not only do I wish I was in its creation, but I am thinking there is some Hollywood head honcho pondering whether a remake could be the next summer blockbuster.

This is no random destruction video. This is a legit short film, with a plot, characters, and special effects. Check it out, but be warned, you may be swayed into thinking Shaq-Fu is a good thing.

Thirty-six months ago*, I discovered a group of proud warriors intent on ridding the world of what they called ” the worst video game of all-time”.

They are the Shaq-Fu Liberation Front and their mission is two-fold: to either destroy every copy of  the Shaq-Fu video game or drive the price of the remaining copies so high the average person could never afford to experience the sheer un-awesomeness of Shaq-Fu: The Video Game.

To see how the Liberation Movement was going 36 months* later, I sent an email to one of the websites webmasters. After establishing contact and conducting a brief interview, I found out that although their website is more popular today than at any time in their eight year history, all is not well with the Shaq-Fu Liberation Front. Besides the fact that the members have been forced to scatter across America, they have recently been met with furious opposition. A group describing themselves as the saviors of Shaq-Fu has emerged to challenge the front.

These believers in Shaq-Fu have dedicated themselves to creating new homes for Shaq-Fu cartridges and saving them from what they claim is the wicked unabashed evilness of the Shaq-Fu Liberation Front. They have sent out a request for people to send them copies of Shaq-Fu so they may find them a safe and loving home.

Shaq-Fu Liberation Front however is not scared of this new opposition. According to the Liberation Front member I spoke to, by amassing all the Shaq-Fus in one happy, joyous home, the pro-Shaq-Fu fans are indirectly limiting the Liberation Front’s mission of reducing the availability of the game.

As I mentioned 36 months ago* I was not a big fan of Shaq-Fu. I played it once or twice and found it a lame rip-off of games like Double Dragon and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. During our conversation, I found myself agreeing with the Liberation Front member’s theory that the Shaq-Fu video game was originally a scraped idea that was dusted off when Electronic Arts paired with Shaquille O’Neal with the intent of capitalizing on Shaq’s growing popularity.

(By the way,  36 months like the 36 Chambers of Shaolin. I’ll admit, that is a cool coincidence.)

So who will win this epic battle for the heart and soul of a video game few cared about when it was first released? Currently, Shaq-Fu games are priced between 1.00 and 43.94 on Ebay. Will the Liberation Front get their hands on these copies and destroy them, erasing Shaq-Fu from our collective consciousness? Or will the Save Shaq-Fu Society gathers them in their loving embrace and be able to spread the gospel of their favorite martial arts video game?

After 10 years, the first part of my magnum opus is finally online.