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

• Justin Cassell, #20 (3-2 in 8 starts, 3.32 ERA, 29 strikeouts, 17 walks)
• Clayton Richard, #33 (3-5 in 8 starts, 2.87 ERA, 31 strikeouts, 9 walks)
• Kyle McCulloch, #37 (1-4 in 8 starts, 3.98 ERA, 28 strikeouts, 17 walks)
• Carlos Torres, #2 (4-1 in 6 starts, 4.54 ERA, 40 strikeouts, 9 walks)
• Brian Omogrosso, #32 (1-1 in 5 starts, 3.13 ERA, 13 strikeouts, 13 walk) (on DL April 17-23)
• Lucas Harrell #34 (2-0 in 2 starts, 1.38 ERA, 9 strikeouts, 1 walk) (placed on DL April 21)
• 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 (0-0 in 19 appearances, 2.12 ERA, 20 strikeouts, 9 walks)
• Jon Link, #25 (1-1 in 15 appearances, 2.57 ERA, 14 strikeouts, 9 walks)
• Derek Rodriguez, #35 (4-1 with 1 save in 14 appearances, 2.82 ERA, 22 strikeouts, 11 walks)
• John Lujan, #27 (0-1 in 14 appearances, 4.70 ERA, 14 strikeouts, 12 walks)
• Clevelan Santeliz, #7 (0-1 in 10 appearances, 4.41 ERA, 6 strikeouts, 8 walks) (placed on DL May 6)
• Fernando Hernandez, Jr, #30 (1-0 in 8 appearances, 5.79 ERA, 10 strikeouts, 5 walks) (placed on DL May 8)
• Shaun Babula (1-0 in 7 appearances, 3.97 ERA, 8 strikeouts, 3 walks) (received from Charlotte April 22)
• 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)
• Ryan O'Malley (0-0 in 1 appearance, 16.20 ERA, 1 strikeout, no walks) (received May 8)

Catchers

• Jared Price, #14 (batting .167 with 3 runs on 5 hits, 2 home runs, 3 RBI. 1 error)
• Cole Armstrong, #9 (batting .163 with 12 runs on 16 hits, 5 home runs, 11 RBI. 1 error)
• Eric Hollis, #11 (batting .000 with no runs on no hits in 4 at-bats) (on DL April 3-May 9)

Infielders

• 1B Micah Schnurstein, #50 (batting .214 with 13 runs on 25 hits, 11 RBI, 2 steals. 3 errors)
• 2B Victor Mercedes, #12 (batting .200 with 8 runs on 14 hits, 7 RBI, 2 steals. 4 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 Hudson, #15 (batting .230 with 11 runs on 23 hits, 6 RBI, 1 steal. 3 errors)
• SS Robert Valido, #8 (batting .172 with 9 runs on 20 hits, 5 RBI, 8 steals. 7 errors)
• 3B Javier Castillo, #29 (batting .265 with 15 runs on 30 hits, 13 RBI, 1 steal. 6 errors)

Outfielders

• Noah Hall, #17 (batting 1.000 with 2 runs on 2 hits, 1 RBI) (on DL April 5-May 10)
• David Cook, #24 (batting .316 with 22 runs on 36 hits, 14 RBI, 2 steals)
• Ricardo Nanita, #23 (batting .281 with 18 runs on 36 hits, 20 RBI, 6 steals)
• Thomas Collaro, #44 (batting .235 with 8 runs on 20 hits, 12 RBI) (received April 5 from Charlotte, returned May 10)
• Miguel Negron, #4 (batting .233 with 11 runs on 28 hits, 11 RBI, 7 steals)
• Stefan Gartrell, #48 (batting .211 with 8 runs on 19 hits, 10 RBI, 2 steals)

Coaches and trainers

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

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.