SPRINGDALE, AR – The Northwest Arkansas Naturals are proud to announce the creation of the Naturals Hall of Fame. Four former notable Naturals will appear on the first ballot.  Fans, prominent community members and local media members will be voting and collaborating to determine the first member of the Naturals Hall of Fame.

“We want to recognize individuals for their accomplishments and contributions to not only the Naturals but the baseball community,” said General Manager, Eric Edelstein.

The Naturals used the following criteria used to determine eligible candidates for the Hall of Fame:

• Players who have appeared with the club only on rehab assignments are not eligible.
• Player or coach must not be an active member of the team.
• Individuals who have not coached or played for the Naturals are eligible for nomination/inclusion by “veterans selection” committee beginning with the second year inductee class.

After much consideration and various rounds of discussion the Naturals have announced the candidates for the first inductee to the Naturals Hall of Fame. The inaugural ballot for the Naturals Hall of Fame includes: Mike Moustakas, Kila Ka’aihue, Eric Hosmer, and Clint Robinson.

A member of the Naturals during the 2010 championship season, Mike Moustakas batted .347 in 66 games and hit 25 doubles, 21 home runs and drove in 76 runs. Moustakas was named the 2010 Texas League Player of the Year.

Kila Ka’aihue batted .314 with 11 doubles, 26 home runs and 79 RBI in 91 games with the Naturals during their inaugural season in 2008. Ka’aihue was named the 2008 Texas League Player of the Year.

Eric Hosmer joined the Naturals late in the 2010 season and was a key part of the title run. In 50 games with the Naturals, Hosmer batted .313 with 14 doubles and 13 home runs. Hosmer hit six home runs and had 12 RBI for the Naturals during the Texas League Playoffs.

Clint Robinson won the Triple Crown in 2010, leading the Texas League in batting average (.335), home runs (29) and RBI (98). Robinson became the first player since 1999 to win the Triple Crown and only the third player in Texas League history.

The Northwest Arkansas community will get their first chance to vote starting at FanFest on Saturday, March 2 at Arvest Ballpark. Fans will also be able to vote online at nwanaturals.com. The fan votes will be tallied and will be counted as one vote.  The fan vote will be added with the votes of the Naturals Hall of Fame Committee.  The Naturals with the most votes will be declared the winner and will be the first inductee to the Naturals Hall of Fame.

The Natural with the most votes will be announced on Opening Day, Thursday, April 4 and will be inducted into the Naturals Hall of Fame on Saturday, August 17. The first 2,000 fans through the gates at Arvest Ballpark on August 17 will receive a replica plaque of the Naturals player voted into the Naturals Hall of fame. 

The Northwest Arkansas Naturals are the Double-A Texas League affiliate of the Kansas City Royals and play at state-of-the-art Arvest Ballpark, located in Springdale. Visit our website, nwanaturals.com, for information on season tickets and ticket plans.

In a by-gone era, there was a bit of a perception from the outside looking in that the Kansas City Royals were a franchise opposed to minorities.

Black pitchers were essentially unheard of in Kansas City. But John Mayberry, Hal McRae, Frank White and Amos Otis, prominent black position players in the 1970s, more than made up for it.

Hispanics, on the other hand, played almost no role with the Royals for decades. Tracing the history of Mexican-born and Latin-born Royals makes for a short story.

So to make a Royals All-Star team of Hispanic players is difficult. But in honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month, it’s worth a try.

The first problem was what to do with new members of the team Salvador Perez and Alcides Escobar. Perez is already the greatest Hispanic catcher in team history. He has virtually no competition. But he’s not even played a full season in KC.

So for the sake of the exercise, the team will exclude current players who haven’t played at least two seasons for the Royals. And to keep it simple, the team will only include players born outside of the U.S.

Catcher: Perez will own this spot in no time. But the Royals first All Star was Puerto Rican Ellie Rodriguez. Someone had to make the All-Star Team in 1969. Why not a guy who hit just .236 with 2 homers in that inaugural season?

He gets the sentimental nod over Dominican Miguel Olivo, who hit 35 homers and had 106 RBIs while sharing the catching duties for two seasons. Olivo was probably a lot better than Rodriguez, but he never could unseat John Buck, which tells you something.

1B: Wow. Almost no options here at all. Tempting as it is to go with Orlando Cepeda based on his Cooperstown credentials, the truth is the Puerto Rican slugger did nothing in 33 games in KC, and played strictly DH.

The nod goes to… Mendy Lopez. The Dominican played a handful of games at firstbase in 2003, when he hit .277 with 3 homers.

2B: Lots of choices here, including some decent contributors like Jose Lind, Jose Offerman and Carlos Febles. But one of the most beloved Royals ever was Cuban Cookie Rojas. The diminutive, bespectacled Rojas made four trips to the All-Star Game for KC.

SS: The one position where the Royals have employed tons of Hispanics is shortstop. Alcides Escobar will claim this honor after this season. But before that there was a host of nightmarish options to choose from: Yuniesky Betancourt? Neifi Perez? Angel Berroa? Angel Salazar? Onix Concepcion?

I’ll go with Puerto Rican Rey Sanchez because he hit .294, .273, and .303 in his three seasons in KC.

3B: Two options here, which seem basically interchangeable. I’ll go with a tie: Dominican Wilson Betemit and Venezuelan Alberto Callaspo, who both hit reasonably while in KC.

Outfield: Not a lot of options here, surprisingly, so the choices are obvious. Puerto Rican Carlos Beltran is arguably the second greatest Royal in history, and has a chance to go into Cooperstown wearing a Royals cap.

Mexican Jorge Orta played four solid seasons and was a key contributor on the 1985 World Series champs. In that series, he reached first base safely (wink) on the most important play in team history.

And the third outfielder is Melky Cabrera, who rejuvenated his career in 2011. The Dominican hit .305, socked 18 homers, collected 201 hits and played solid defense in his one year in KC. Busted for PEDs in 2012, we may never know how legit those stats were, but it was a darn good season.

DH: Like it or not, Dominican Jose Guillen claims this spot. He belted 45 homers as one of the only power sources in the KC lineup from 2008 to 2010.

Starting Pitchers:

1), Hipolito Pichardo, Dominican Republic: 42-39, 4.48 ERA, 67 starts. Not many pitchers have a plus .500 win percentage recently. Pichardo has more wins than Luke Hochevar in half as many starts.

2) Bruce Chen, Panama: 35-32, 4.59 ERA. One rotten season (1-6, 5.78 ERA in 2009) sullies his otherwise solid numbers.

3) Luis Aquino, Puerto Rico: The first Hispanic pitcher to play a significant role, from 1988-92, Aquino made 55 starts over five seasons. His career mark is 22-19. He pitched in 114 games in KC.

4) Runelvys Hernandez, Dominican Republic: Hernandez was given every opportunity to succeed. But on some teams that had almost no other option, he still wore out his welcome. Hernandez posted a 25-33 mark in 78 starts before eating his way into early retirement.

5) The options are so bleak, Hernandez makes the rotation, but no one else is worthy of consideration. (Jose Rosado and D.J. Carasco are ineligible because they were born in the U.S.)

Relief Pitchers:

1) Joakim Soria, Mexico: Without a doubt the greatest Hispanic pitcher in Royals history. Soria’s160 career saves rank third in team history, and only arm injuries keep him from being one of the best relievers of his era.

2) Roberto Hernandez, Puerto Rico: The first Hispanic closer in team history. Hernandez notched 54 saves in two seasons, but was never really welcome in KC.

If minorities were discriminated against in some form or fashion in KC, hopefully that day has passed. Salvador Perez, and Alcides Escobar are getting every opportunity today, as Joakim Soria was before he was knocked out by an arm injury. The Royals have made more effort to sign Latin talent in the past few years, so hopefully more Hispanic players will bolster the current youth movement.

But as can be seen by this “All-Star Team,” the number of Hispanic stars in KC’s history is shockingly small. Not much history to celebrate in National Hispanic Heritage Month.

I have seen the offense of the 2012 St. Louis Cardinals, and first impressions are that this lineup is every bit as fierce on the field today as it has been for months on paper.  Yadier Molina, Matt Holliday, and Carlos Beltran all hit solo home runs, and David Freese added a 2-run bomb for good measure on their way to an 11-5 pounding of the Brewers’ for their home opener (with the windows and roof closed, no less!).  It’s the second team the Cardinals have beat on the road to spoil that team’s home opener.  Two games into a season doesn’t tell us much about what the next 160 games are likely to be, but better to be 2-0 after two than 1-1 or 0-2.

As we all know, the Cardinals are under new leadership, as Mike Matheny’s inaugural season as a Major League manager sets sail.  So far, I’ve not seen anything that makes me question his ability to perform in this role as a high level–he certainly had little trouble being a leader during his playing days.  I did, however, see something out of Ron Roenicke during Friday’s game that left me scratching my head.

Roenicke managed the Brewers to back-to-back losses to the Cardinals on Friday (Oct 16, 2011 & Apr 6, 2012)

Taking a look at the bottom of the 5th on Friday, the Brewers had a chance to make some noise, and score a couple of runs to get back in the game.  The Cardinals were up 6-2 at that point, a nice lead, but 4 runs in Miller Park in the 5th is far from “in the bag”.  The Brewers had the bottom of the order coming up, and Garcia had pitched very well, after giving up a couple of runs in the first.  Jamie faced only three batters in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th innings, and after Cards went down 1-2-3 in the top of the fifth, the Brewers came to bat.

Mat Gamel led off and hit a ball hard to center, for a single.  Jonathan Lucroy followed with a single of his own.  Marco Estrada, who replaces the shelled Yovanni Gallardo was due up next, and Roenicke decided (as most mana…er, um…as most National League managers would) to pinch hit for him.  Runners on first and second, nobody out, bottom of the fifth against the opposing team’s [only left-handed] starter (whose pitch count was low, yes, but it’s game #2 on the season)–this is a huge moment in the game.  Roenicke pulled Estrada back for…Norichika Aoki, who bats left-handed.

There were five guys on the bench (Brewers players, not burgers & fries) that Ron Roenicke could’ve gone to in this situation: Kottaras, Ishikawa, Izturis, Morgan, and Aoki.  Of the group, Caesar Izturis is the only switch-hitter, the other four are lefties.  Roenicke chose the only rookie in the group, Aoki, to face Garcia, for his first career at-bat in the big leagues.  Somehow, it seems, Roenicke expected this to continue the rally.

Or…

Perhaps he was thinking that if sent a lefty up there (not that he had a lot of options), he might be able to get Matheny to go to the bullpen, and end Garcia’s day.  Personally, I’d say that’s highly unlikely, given Jamie’s 2nd, 3rd, and 4th inning performances, though, though I guess you never know.  But, in that case, wouldn’t you have sent a left-handed batter (or any of the 5 I listed) to the on-deck circle during Lucroy’s at-bat to get Matheny thinking that way?  (side note: with Lucroy’s base-running blunder, perhaps going with Kottaras makes sense, in hindsight)  In any event, after this spot in the lineup, you’re back to the top of the order: Weeks-Gomez-Braun.

Let me get this straight: you have a scoring opportunity like that, at this point, and go with a LHB PH to face a LHP? #DidIMissSomething

April 6, 2012 3:46 pm via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite

@Dathan7

Dathan

This was going to be the Brewers best chance to catch the Cards until probably the 8th inning, or maybe the 7th in a best-case scenario…which also would’ve increased the chances that they’d not have another opportunity as good when the bottom of the 9th rolled around.  Given that, plus it’s the home opener for the National League Central champions, whose opponent that day beat them in that very building to eliminate them from the NLCS, and advance to the World Series, this is a game Roenicke should’ve really wanted to win.  (Obviously, you try to win them all, but this one is special)

He chose Aoki.  Garcia started him off by showing him a slider for a ball, then promptly used the next three pitches to strike him out.  Rickie Weeks then stepped in, and hit a ground ball towards (second baseman) Daniel Descalso, who was unable to field the ball, given that he was mauled by Jonathan Lucroy, prior to Descalso being able to field the ball*.  In the boxscore, this is a fielder’s choice–Lucroy is out, Weeks reaches on the FC.  On the field, however, it’s an idiot move at best–Gamel would’ve scored, bringing the game to within 3, making Braun (on-deck) the tying run, and assuring the middle of the Milwaukee order one more at-bat in this game.  But instead, Gamel has to stay at third, Weeks reaches first, placing runners at the corners with two outs and Carlos Gomez due up.  Gomez swings at the first pitch he sees (really?) and flies out to Holliday to end the inning.

Brewers rally?  Dead as dead gets.

The Cardinals would go on to score again in the 6th, 7th, and 9th innings.  The Brewers came up with a few runs in their half of the 9th as well, but fell well short of the ten runs they needed to win their opener.

Had Roenicke sent pitcher (and right-handed batting) Estrada to the plate to bunt the runners over in the 5th, then the Brewers probably end up sending the top of their lineup to the plate with 1 out and two runners in scoring position for Rickie Weeks.  If Weeks can work a walk (say that five times fast), the bases are loaded for Gomez, with Braun to follow.  If he gets a hit one run (maybe two) score, and it’s a one-run game.  Obviously, any number of combinations are possible, but it starts with making the right decision for who to send to the plate in the 9th spot.  God, I love National League baseball.

*In a completely unrelated story, Kyle McClellan would enter the game in the 9th, and bean Jonathan LuCroy.

Offense Comes Alive in Game 2 Victory
Chasers collect 18 hits in 15-4 romp; need one win for first PCL title

Mike Feigen / Omaha Storm Chasers

OMAHA, Neb. — The Omaha Storm Chasers had a memorable inaugural season at Werner Park, ushering in a new era of Kansas City Royals prospects, winning the franchise’s first division crown since 1999 and hitting a series-ending walk-off home run to advance past the conference championship round. The home slate ended on a high note Wednesday night, as the Chasers crushed the River Cats 15-4 in Game 2 of the Pacific Coast League Championship Series, moving to within one win of a league title.

Just as they did during the division-clinching game against Round Rock on August 31, the Storm Chasers fell behind early before cruising to victory. Sacramento jumped out to 3-0, first-inning lead off eventual winning pitcher Vin Mazzaro, capping the inning with a two-run home run to right off the bat of Adrian Cardenas. Mazzaro (2-0) would escape further damage, working five total innings while allowing three runs on six hits. He walked four and struck out two, throwing 91 pitches.

Omaha got back in the game with a run in the first and another in the second before crossing the plate five times with two out in the third. River Cats starter Tyson Ross (0-2) took the brunt of the offensive assault, finishing his evening after 2.2 innings, allowing seven runs – four earned – on nine hits, walking one while striking out three.

With runners on first and second and two down in the third, Irving Falu hit a slow bouncer toward short that looked like it would end the inning. However, the ball took a funny hop and skipped off the glove of shortstop Tyler Ladendorf, loading the bases. Manny Pina then dropped a two run single into shallow left-field, giving the Chasers a 4-3 lead in the game. A fielding error and two singles followed, and by the time the inning was over the Storm Chasers held a 7-3 advantage.

After Sacramento inched closer with a run in the top of the sixth, Omaha put its collective foot on the gas and didn’t let up. The Chasers scored twice in the sixth, three times in the seventh and three more times in the eighth, piling up 18 hits in the contest. Jarrod Dyson finished 4-for-6 with a homer, four RBI, three runs, a double and a stolen base in the winning effort, tripling his total playoff output of two hits entering the night.

David Lough and Clint Robinson also had three-hit games, each tallying a double and two runs batted in. The Chasers had five doubles on the night from five different players and had six players with multi-hit games.

Kevin Pucetas, Brandon Sisk, Zach Miner and Federico Castaneda combined for four innings of relief, allowing a run on three hits and two walks, striking out three batters. With a travel day coming up Thursday, manager Mike Jirschele should have a fully-rested bullpen for any remaining series games.

The Chasers are now 5-1 in the playoffs, needing just one win on the road in Sacramento to claim the first Pacific Coast League Championship in franchise history and first league title since 1990. In the potentially-clinching Game 3, 22-year-old California native and left-hander Mike Montgomery (5-11, 5.32 ERA regular season) will take the mound in his home state for the first time in his career. On the mound for the River Cats will be right-hander Travis Banwart (3-3, 7.38), a pitcher the Storm Chasers have not seen this season.

Friday’s first pitch is scheduled for 9:05 p.m. central from Raley Field in Sacramento. The game can be heard on 1620 The Zone and the Chasers will also host a watch party at Brewsky’s on 156^th & Q. Should Omaha win the PCL Championship, the Chasers would battle the International League champion in a one-game playoff on Tuesday in Albuquerque, N.M. First pitch of that contest would be 7:05 p.m., with the game broadcast nationally on VERSUS.

The following is a press release from the Northwest Arkansas Naturals, provided here in its entirety.

Salvador Perez promoted to KC
Affable, able defender to get extended look

KANSAS CITY, MO – MLB.com is reporting that the Kansas City Royals have promoted former Naturals’ backstop Salvador Perez to the major leagues.

Perez is expected to join the Royals for Wednesday night’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays and is expected to remain with the club for the rest of the season.

He’ll replace catcher Brayan Pena, who is going to Miami for the birth of his child and is on paternity leave. That left the Royals with only Manny Pina, another former Natural, to catch because veteran backstop Matt Treanor is on the disabled list with a concussion.

Perez, called up from Triple-A Omaha, has adapted well since his promotion to the Pacific Coast League. In 12 games, he’s batted .333 (16-for-48) with five doubles, a home run and 10 RBIs. With the Naturals, Perez hit .283 with eight homers, 43 RBIs in 79 games.

Perez also represented the Naturals in San Antonio at this year’s Texas League All-Star Game, having wowed the circuit’s voting personnel mostly with his defense and game calling ability. At the time of his promotion, Perez was the best catcher in the league at throwing out runners, gunning down 47.8% of runners attempting to steal against him (43 CS in 90 attempts). Signed by Kansas City as a non-drafted free agent in September of 2006, the Valencia, Ven. resident was ranked prior to the season as the Royals’ 17^th best prospect by Baseball America.

The Royals cleared room on the 40-man roster for Perez by placing right-hander Kyle Davies on unconditional release waivers Wednesday. Davies made two rehab starts for the Naturals in the season’s first half.

Perez’ arrival in Kansas City marks the 11^th player on the current Royals 25-Man big league roster to have played for the Naturals since their inaugural season in 2008.

The Northwest Arkansas Naturals are the Double-A Texas League affiliate of the Kansas City Royals and play at state-of-the-art Arvest Ballpark, located in Springdale. Visit our website, nwanaturals.com, for information on season tickets and ticket plans.