2008 Birmingham Barons

The 2008 Birmingham Barons opened their 2008 campaign on April 3 with a Thursday-night home game against the Knoxville Smokies. The Barons compete in the South division of the Southern League along with the Jacksonville Suns, Mississippi Braves, Mobile BayBears and Montgomery Biscuits. They play their home games at Regions Park in Hoover. All games are broadcast on WYDE-FM "The Source" and are called by Director of Broadcasting Curt Bloom.

This marks the Baron's 23rd season as the Chicago White Sox AA affiliate, and their 21st year in Hoover. The minor league contract was extended by 4 years to 2010 on July 20, 2006. It is the second season under new owners Don Logan and his sons Jeff and Stan. Jonathan Nelson is the team's general manager. Carlos Subero was announced as the Barons new field manager on January 17, 2008, replacing Rafael Santana who managed for one season.

New for the 2008 season are uniforms with red accents and a solid-red alternate jersey, created as part of the team's new graphic identity. The team's home whites keep their trademark pinstripe while road grays reflect the design of the Negro American League champion 1948 Birmingham Black Barons uniforms. Regions Park also debuted a new 56' x 43' LED video scoreboard constructed by Daktronics, Inc.

Roster

Pitchers

• Clayton Richard, #33 (5-6 in 12 starts, 2.64 ERA, 47 strikeouts, 13 walks) (promoted to Charlotte June 11)
• Justin Cassell, #20 (4-3 in 12 starts, 3.69 ERA, 43 strikeouts, 24 walks)
• Kyle McCulloch, #37 (3-4 in 12 starts, 4.05 ERA, 37 strikeouts, 22 walks)
• Carlos Torres, #2 (6-2 in 11 starts, 3.95 ERA, 64 strikeouts, 13 walks)
• Brian Omogrosso, #32 (1-2 in 5 starts, 3.62 ERA, 16 strikeouts, 18 walks) (on DL April 17-23, May 16-29 and June 18-)
• Ryan O'Malley (1-1 in 5 starts, 6.95 ERA, 17 strikeouts, 5 walks) (received May 8)
• Lucas Harrell #34 (2-0 in 2 starts, 1.38 ERA, 9 strikeouts, 1 walk) (on DL April 21-June 23. Sent to Kannapolis June 23)
• Jack Egbert, #40 (0-0 in 1 start, 2.25 ERA, 4 strikeouts, 1 walk) (received from AAA Charlotte April 18 and transferred back April 22)
• Joe Torres, #41 (1-0 in 29 appearances, 3.04 ERA, 31 strikeouts, 16 walks)
• Derek Rodriguez, #35 (5-1 in 26 appearances, 2.84 ERA, 40 strikeouts, 14 walks) (sent to Charlotte June 12)
• Jon Link, #25 (2-1 in 25 appearances, 1.88 ERA, 23 strikeouts, 10 walks)
• Fernando Hernandez, Jr, #30 (3-1 in 14 appearances, 4.67 ERA, 19 strikeouts, 12 walks) (on DL May 8-18)
• John Lujan, #27 (0-1 in 14 appearances, 4.70 ERA, 14 strikeouts, 12 walks)
• Shaun Babula (2-0 in 12 appearances, 4.64 ERA, 15 strikeouts, 9 walks) (received from Charlotte April 22)
• Clevelan Santeliz, #7 (0-1 in 10 appearances, 4.41 ERA, 6 strikeouts, 8 walks) (on DL May 6 - June 6, sent to Winston-Salem June 6)
• Matt Zaleski (0-0 in 5 appearances, 0.00 ERA, 3 strikeouts, 1 walk) (sent to A+ Winston-Salem April 18)
• Joe Winkelsas (0-0 in 2 appearances, 3.00 ERA, 1 strikeout, no walks) (received from Charlotte May 6. On DL May 18-31. Released on May 31)
• Aaron Poreda (received from Winston-Salem June 11)
• Dewon Day (received from Charlotte June 12)
• Ryan Rote (received from Winston-Salem June 21)

Catchers

• Cole Armstrong, #9 (batting .235 with 22 runs on 40 hits, 6 home runs, 25 RBI. 4 errors) (on DL June 12-19. Transferred to Charlotte June 28)

• Eric Hollis, #11 (batting .214 with 4 runs on 3 hits, 2 RBI. 0 errors) (on DL April 3-May 9 and May 29-June 12)
• Jared Price, #14 (batting .167 with 3 runs on 5 hits, 2 home runs, 3 RBI. 1 error) (sent to Charlotte May 9)
• Erick San Pedro, #14 (batting .600 with 1 run on 3 hits. O errors) (received May 30)
• Adam Ricks (received from WInston-Salem May 29 and sent back May 30)

Infielders

• 1B Micah Schnurstein, #50 (batting .214 with 25 runs on 40 hits, 2 home runs, 15 RBI, 3 steals. 3 errors)
• 2B Victor Mercedes, #12 (batting .294 with 20 runs on 40 hits, 2 home runs, 25 RBI, 5 steals. 6 errors) (on DL April 25 - May 7)

• 2B Joe Persichina (batting .286 with 2 runs on 6 hits, 2 RBI. No errors) (received from Kannapolis April 25, returned May 8)

• SS Robert Valido, #8 (batting .226 with 19 runs on 42 hits, 1 home run, 15 RBI, 11 steals. 13 errors)

• SS Robert Hudson, #15 (batting .263 with 18 runs on 41 hits, 1 home run, 13 RBI, 2 steals. 4 errors)

• 3B Javier Castillo, #29 (batting .268 with 29 runs on 53 hits, 4 home runs, 36 RBI, 1 steal. 7 errors) (promoted to Charlotte June 15)

Outfielders

• David Cook, #24 (batting .317 with 41 runs on 60 hits, 11 home runs, 25 RBI, 8 steals) (promoted to Charlotte June 12)
• Miguel Negron, #4 (batting .275 with 27 runs on 57 hits, 3 home runs, 23 RBI, 12 steals)
• Ricardo Nanita, #23 (batting .268 with 27 runs on 55 hits, 4 home runs, 25 RBI, 9 steals)
• Stefan Gartrell, #48 (batting .237 with 19 runs on 36 hits, 3 home runs, 16 RBI, 2 steals)
• Thomas Collaro, #44 (batting .235 with 8 runs on 20 hits, 12 RBI) (received April 5 from Charlotte, returned May 10)
• Noah Hall, #17 (batting 1.000 with 7 runs on 10 hits, 6 RBI. No errors) (on DL April 5-May 10, promoted to Charlotte June 23)
• Javier Colina (received from Winston-Salem June 12)
• Lee Cruz (received from Kannapolis June 24)

Coaches and trainers

• Carlos Subero, manager
• Wes Clements, hitting coach
• J. R. Perdew, pitching coach
• Joe Geck, athletic trainer
• Raymond Smith, conditioning coach

Results (47-36)

April (13-12)

• 3-7: Won 2 of 5 vs Tennessee Smokies (3-0, 1-2 in 7, 1-5 in 7, 2-5, 2-1), finishing 1 game back in the Southern League's south division
• 8-12: Won 3 of 5 at Chattanooga Lookouts (6-5, 4-0 in 11, 3-6, 5-3, 4-5), taking a half-game lead in the division
• 14-18: Won 5 of 5 vs Mississippi Braves (4-2 in 11, 2-1, 2-1, 6-5 in 13, 3-2), taking a 2 game lead
• 19-23: Won 1 of 5 at West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx (0-3, 2-3. 6-1, 2-15, 4-8), dropping to 1 game ahead
• 24-28: Won 3 of 5 vs Montgomery Biscuits (4-5, 3-8, 4-2, 4-0, 4-0), retaking a 2 game lead
• 30: Lost the 1st of a 5 game series vs Mobile BayBears (2-4), dropping back to a 1 game lead

May (19-11)

• 1-4: Split the remaining 4 games 2-2 vs Mobile (1-4, 4-2, 3-0, 4-8) remaining 1 game ahead
• 5-9: Won 2 of 5 at Montgomery (1-2, 7-4, 10-16, 3-4 in 7, 9-5 in 7) climbing back to 2 games ahead
• 10-14: Won 4 of 5 vs West Tennessee (7-2, 3-2, 7-2, 4-2, 1-3) building a 3 game lead
• 15-19: Won 3 of 5 at Jacksonville Suns (2-6, 4-6, 11-5, 3-2, 13-5) stretching their lead to 4 games
• 21-25: Won 4 of 5 at Huntsville Stars (6-5 in 10, 8-6, 5-4, 6-11, 6-5) climbing to 5 games ahead
• 26-30: Won 3 of 5 vs Jacksonville (11-0, 13-3, 2-4, 7-8, 3-0) extending the lead to 6 games
• 31: Won the 1st of a 5-game series at Mississippi 6-0, jumping up to a 7-game lead

June (3-0)

• 1-4: Won the next three of four remaining games at Mississippi (6-0, 7-4, 6-5) staking claim to an 8 game lead

Notable games

Opening night attracted 6,872 to Regions Park, the biggest opening since 1993 and the third largest in the 21-year history of the stadium. On May 10 the stadium honored Joseph Burgess of Midfield as the 6 millionth fan to attend a game at the park.

The Barons partnered with the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute and the Alabama Negro League Association to sponsor a "Tribute to the Negro Leagues" night during their April 15 game against the Mississippi Braves. The Barons wore Birmingham Black Barons caps, which were part of a larger charity auction to benefit the co-sponsors. Several Negro Leagues veterans participated in the event.

The 2008 Rickwood Classic was held on May 28, with the Jacksonville Suns defeating the Barons at Rickwood Field 4-2. The Barons wore throwback uniforms honoring the 1951 and 1952 teams which were affiliated with the Boston Red Sox. Jimmy Piersall, a veteran of those teams, attended. The Suns wore 1967-era uniforms honoring the year Nolan Ryan pitched for Jacksonville.

Clayton Richard's shutout game against Mississippi on May 31 was the first by a Baron since Josh Stewart blanked the Hunstville Stars on August 14, 2002.

Statistics

As of June 3 the Barons were batting .257 with 272 runs and 40 home runs in 1,987 at-bats. The Barons pitchers were a combined 35-25 with a team ERA of 3.58 with 235 runs and 23 home runs allowed. Average home attendance was 4,543 (3rd in the Southern League).