2008 Birmingham Barons

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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 (2-1 in 3 starts, 2.93 ERA, 13 strikeouts, 4 walks)
  • Lucas Harrell #34 (2-0 in 2 starts, 1.38 ERA, 9 strikeouts, 1 walk)
  • Kyle McCulloch, #37 (1-2 in 3 starts, 4.50 ERA, 13 strikeouts, 6 walks)
  • Carlos Torres, #2 (1-0 in 2 starts, 6.23 ERA, 17 strikeouts, 5 walks)
  • Justin Cassell, #20 (0-1 in 3 starts, 2.93 ERA, 9 strikeouts, 5 walks)
  • Jack Egbert, #40 (0-0 in 1 start with 1 save, 2.25 ERA, 4 strikeouts, 1 walk) (received from AAA Charlotte April 18)
  • Brian Omogrosso, #32 (0-0 in 1 start, 0.00 ERA, 6 strikeouts, 1 walk) (placed on DL April 17)
  • Fernando Hernandez, Jr, #30 (1-0 in 2 appearances, 4.50 ERA, 3 strikeouts, 1 walk)
  • Jon Link, #25 (0-1 in 8 appearances, 1.17 ERA, 9 strikeouts, 4 walks)
  • John Lujan, #27 (0-0 in 6 appearances, 0.90 ERA, 4 strikeouts, 3 walks)
  • Derek Rodriguez, #35 (3-0 in 6 appearances, 1.86 ERA, 17 strikeouts, 6 walks)
  • Clevelan Santeliz, #7 (0-0 in 6 appearances, 3.00 ERA, 5 strikeouts, 1 walk)
  • Joe Torres, #41 (0-0 in 8 appearances, 1.13 ERA, 6 strikeouts, 6 walks)
  • Matt Zaleski (0-0 in 5 appearances, 0.00 ERA, 3 strikeouts, 1 walk) (sent to A+ Winston-Salem April 18)

Catchers

Infielders

  • 1B Micah Schnurstein, #50 (batting .244 with 2 runs on 11 hits, 3 RBI, 2 steals. No errors)
  • 2B Victor Mercedes, #12 (batting .250 with 5 runs on 9 hits, 4 RBI, 1 steal. 2 errors)
  • SS Robert Hudson, #15 (batting .244 with 4 runs on 10 hits, 2 RBI. 2 errors)
  • 3B Javier Castillo, #29 (batting .222 with 8 runs on 10 hits, 4 RBI, 1 steal. 2 errors)
  • SS Robert Valido, #8 (batting .137 with 3 runs on 7 hits, 0 RBI, 2 steals. 2 errors)

Outfielders

  • Ricardo Nanita, #23 (batting .292 with 4 runs on 14 hits, 12 RBI, 3 steals)
  • David Cook, #24 (batting .277 with 6 runs on 13 hits, 3 RBI, 1 steal)
  • Stefan Gartrell, #48 (batting .237 with 3 runs on 9 hits, 4 RBI)
  • Miguel Negron, #4 (batting .231 with 6 runs on 12 hits, 2 RBI, 2 steals)
  • Thomas Collaro, #44 (batting .194 with 3 runs on 6 hits, 4 RBI) (received April 5 from AAA Charlotte)
  • Noah Hall, #17 (placed on DL April 5)

Coaches and trainers

Southern League All-Stars

Results (21-17)

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 (7-5)

  • 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 4 vs West Tennessee (7-2, 3-2, 7-2, 4-2) building a 3 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 is scheduled for May 28 against the Jacksonville Suns. The Barons will wear throwback uniforms honoring the 1951 and 1952 teams which were affiliated with the Boston Red Sox. Jimmy Piersall, a veteran of those teams, will attend. The Suns will wear 1967-era uniforms honoring the year Nolan Ryan pitched for Jacksonville.

Statistics

As of April 19 the Barons were batting .221 with 48 runs and 3 home runs in 484 at-bats. The Barons pitchers were a combined 10-5 with a team ERA of 2.55 with 43 runs and 5 home runs allowed.

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