2013 Birmingham Barons

The 2013 Birmingham Barons was the first Barons team to play in downtown Birmingham's Regions Field after 25 years in suburban Hoover. The team opened their 2013 campaign with a 5-2 win at the Montgomery Biscuits on April 4. Their home debut came on April 10 before a sell-out crowd as they came back to defeat the Mississippi Braves 9-5. It ended on September 15 with a 4-2 win over the Mobile BayBears in game 5 of the Southern League Championship, giving the Barons their sixth pennant since 1981.

The season marked the Logan family's 7th season as team Owners and the team's 28th season as a Chicago White Sox AA affiliate. They played in the North division of the Southern League along with the Huntsville Stars, Chattanooga Lookouts, Jackson Generals and Tennessee Smokies.

Jonathan Nelson was the team's general manager. Julio Vinas, a former member of the 1995 Birmingham Barons was announced as the team's new field manager on December 18, 2012. Gary Ward was the team's batting coach and Britt Burns coached pitchers.

Since 2008, the Barons have worn white pinstripes with black caps with a white Gothic "B" outlined in red at home, and road grays inspired by the uniforms worn by the Negro American League champion 1948 Birmingham Black Barons.

The Barons finished the regular season with a record of 77-63 (.550) and clinched the division's first-half pennant race with a 44-26 (.629) record, 9 games ahead of the Lookouts and clinching a playoff spot. In the second half they finished 9.5 games behind the Smokies. The club's first season at Regions Field attracted 396,820 fans, the fourth-highest attendance total in team history.

Roster

Pitchers

• Spencer Arroyo (9-7 in 26 starts, 3.42 ERA, 92 strikeouts, 44 walks)
• Scott Snodgrass (11-11 in 26 starts, 4.70 ERA, 90 strikeouts, 59 walks)
• Stephen McCray (10-7 in 22 starts, 3.25 ERA, 70 strikeouts, 78 walks)
• Erik Johnson (8-2 in 14 starts, 2.23 ERA, 74 strikeouts, 21 walks)
• Nick McCully (7-3 in 12 starts, 3.08 ERA, 48 strikeouts, 24 walks)
• Michael Nix (3-4 in 9 starts, 5.64 ERA, 39 strikeouts, 19 walks)
• Chris Bassitt (4-2 in 8 starts, 2.27 ERA, 37 strikeouts, 17 walks)
• Scott Carroll (0-2 in 6 starts, 4.32 ERA, 14 strikeouts, 2 walks)
• Chris Beck (2-2 in 5 starts, 2.89 ERA, 22 strikeouts, 3 walks)
• Nestor Molina (1-1 in 4 starts, 4.71 ERA, 29 strikeouts, 11 walks), placed on DL April 17
• Wes Whisler (0-2 in 3 starts, 7.16 ERA, 8 strikeouts, 10 walks)
• Jake Petricka (3-0 in 1 start, 2.06 ERA, 41 strikeouts, 18 walks), placed on DL April 19
• Jarrett Casey (0-1 in 1 start, 6.94 ERA, 8 strikeouts, 2 walks)
• John Danks (1-0 in 1 start, 2.57 ERA, 1 strikeout, 1 walk), rehabbed from Chicago May 2
• Jake Peavy (1-0 in 1 start, 1.80 ERA, 4 strikeouts, 2 walks)
• Myles Jaye (0-1 in 1 start, 17.18 ERA, 3 strikeouts, 2 walks)
• Taylor Thompson (12 saves in 32 appearances, 2.15 ERA, 46 strikeouts, 13 walks)
• Kevin Vance (7 saves in 40 appearances, 3.91 ERA, 84 strikeouts, 36 walks)
• Ryan Kussmaul (5 saves in 23 appearances, 2.43 ERA, 36 strikeouts, 7 walks)
• Daniel Webb (4 saves in 13 appearances, 1.77 ERA, 21 strikeouts, 5 walks), promoted from Winston-Salem May 4
• Cody Winiarski (3 saves in 8 appearances, 0.00 ERA, 18 strikeouts, 2 walks)
• Salvador Sanchez (27 appearances, 2.74 ERA, 46 strikeouts, 10 walks), placed on DL April 25
• J. R. Ballinger (20 appearances, 6.91 ERA, 33 strikeouts, 14 walks), promoted from Winston-Salem April 22
• Don Remenowsky (19 appearances, 3.94 ERA, 28 strikeouts, 6 walks)
• David Cales (16 appearances, 1.82 ERA, 22 strikeouts, 16 walks)
• Josh Romanski (15 appearances, 6.26 ERA, 20 strikeouts, 11 walks)
• Santos Rodriguez (15 appearances, 2.35 ERA, 25 strikeouts, 14 walks), assigned from Charlotte April 20
• Henry Mabee (7 appearances, 1.54 ERA, 5 strikeouts, 2 walks)
• Ryan Buch (5 appearances, 4.91 ERA, 5 strikeouts, 8 walks)
• David Herbek (1 appearances, 0.00 ERA, 1 strikeout, no walks)

Catchers

• Mike Blanke (batted .226 with 25 runs on 75 hits, 7 home runs, 43 RBI, 7 errors)
• Miguel Gonzalez (batted .244 with 12 runs on 29 hits, 2 home run, 16 RBI, 7 errors)
• Chris McMurray (batted .200 with 4 runs on 6 hits, 1 home run, 2 RBI, 1 error)
• Jeremy Dowdy (batted .000 with no runs, hits, home runs or RBI in 4 at bats and no errors)

Infielders

• 1B Dan Black (batted .290 with 70 runs on 130 hits, 17 home runs, 83 RBI, 7 errors)
• 1B Andy Wilkins (batted .288 with 37 runs on 70 hits, 10 home runs, 49 RBI, 3 errors)
• 1B Paul Konerko (batted .400 with 1 run on 4 hits, no home runs, 1 RBI in 10 at bats, and no errors)
• 2B Micah Johnson (batted .238 with 2 runs on 5 hits, no home runs, 1 RBI in 21 at bats, 1 steal and no errors)
• 2B/3B Daniel Wagner (batted .274 with 33 runs on 81 hits, 1 home run, 23 RBI, 23 steals, 10 errors)
• 3B/OF Cody Puckett (batted .258 with 43 runs on 90 hits, 15 home runs, 50 RBI, 7 steals, 20 errors)
• 3B David Herbek (batted .253 with 9 runs on 21 hits, no home runs, 7 RBI, 2 steals, 3 errors)
• 3B Tommy Manzella (batted .059 with no runs on 2 hits, no home runs, no RBI, 1 steal, 3 errors)
• SS Marcus Semien (batted .290 with 90 runs on 114 hits, 15 home runs, 49 RBI, 20 steals, 20 errors), promoted to Charlotte August 1
• SS Tyler Saladino (batted .229 with 49 runs on 97 hits, 5 home runs, 55 RBI, 28 steals, 17 errors)

Outfielders

• Trayce Thompson (batted .229 with 78 runs on 116 hits, 15 home runs, 73 RBI, 25 steals)
• Keenyn Walker (batted .201 with 77 runs on 93 hits, 3 home runs, 32 RBI, 38 steals)
• Cody Puckett (batted .258 with 43 runs on 90 hits, 15 home runs, 50 RBI, 7 steals)
• Micheal Earley (batted .275 with 35 runs on 64 hits, 4 home runs, 29 RBI, 4 steals)
• Jared Mitchell (batted .174 with 23 runs on 43 hits, 5 home runs, 20 RBI, 13 steals), assigned from Charlotte April 19, placed on DL April 26
• Brandon Jacobs (batted .237 with 13 runs on 37 hits, 2 home runs, 17 RBI, 3 steals)
• Brandon Short (batted .225 with 20 runs on 36 hits, 2 home runs, 17 RBI, 3 steals)
• Joe De Pinto (batted .375 with 2 runs on 6 hits, no home runs, 2 RBI, no steals), promoted from Winston-Salem April 26

Southern League All-Stars

The Barons had a total of 10 players named to the Southern League South Division All-Star Team in July. Erik Johnson and Andy Wilkins were promoted to Charlotte before the game, and Ryan Kussmaul withdrew due to injury, leaving seven Barons on the roster, including Mike Blanke, Dan Black, Marcus Semien, Trayce Thompson, Nick McCully, Scott Snodgrass and Taylor Thompson.

Marcus Semien was named the Southern League's Most Valuable Player after the season.

Schedule (33-18)

As of May 27, the Barons are 33-18 and lead the North Division, 6 games ahead of the Tennessee Smokies. They are 15-5 at Regions Field.

April (15-10)

• 4-8: Lost 3 of 5 at Montgomery Biscuits (5-2, 1-2, 1-2, 8-4, 1-5)
• 10-14: Won 5 of 5 vs Mississippi Braves (9-5, 7-3, 3-0, 13-2, 4-1)
• 15-19: Lost 3 of 5 at Chattanooga Lookouts (4-7, 4-3, 4-5, 3-5, 3-0)
• 20-24: Won 3 of 5 vs Huntsville Stars (5-10, 3-8, 3-1, 5-1, 8-3)
• 25-29: Won 3 of 5 at Montgomery (3-11, 6-1, 0-3, 14-8, 5-2)

May (17-8)

• 1-5: Won 5 of 5 vs Chattanooga (2-0, 6-2, 8-0, 3-2, 16-14)
• 7-11: Won 4 of 5 at Tennessee Smokies (16-0, 12-11, 9-7, 5-4, 4-5)
• 12-16: Lost 3 of 5 vs Montgomery (7-3, 1-2, 5-2, 3-6, 0-1)
• 17-20: Lost 3 of 5 at Jackson Generals (1-2, 2-1, 2-6, 10-4, 1-7)
• 23-27: Won 4 of 5 at Jacksonville Suns (3-5, 5-3, 3-0, 2-0, 4-1)

Notable games

The Barons' home opener was a sellout with 8,505 seats available for the game. Through 15 games, the Barons claimed a commanding lead in average attendance per home game at 5,219. The Jacksonville Suns were in second with an average attendance of 4,390.

The 2013 Rickwood Classic was held on May 29 against the Tennessee Smokies.

External links

• Birmingham Barons website