Hey, the Bricktown Showdown might work

Since the American Association’s dissolvement into the Pacific Coast League and the International League in 1998, Minor League Baseball has tried everything in its power to have a Triple-A World Series, which the Memphis Redbirds were a part of back in 2000 when they faced the Indianapolis Indians in Las Vegas.

Of course, as you know, Las Vegas is not a baseball town at all. I remember back in 2001 and 2002, the baseball brains at ESPN had a home-run derby style show that was at Cashman Field in Las Vegas and it was sparsely attended like the Triple-A World Series that had been held there.

Which was the reason why the good people at Minor League Baseball decided not to have it in 2005, which was the best thing for Triple-A baseball and the fans.

In 2006, Minor League decided to have a free-for-all, winner-take-all single game between the champions of the International League and the Pacific Coast League and revive the Triple-A World Series.

But this time, it would not be held in Sin City.

The people at Minor League Baseball decided that if this Triple-A World Series was going to work, it would have to be held in a solid minor-league market.

Called Oklahoma City.

Three factors that I think played into the minors’ decision to have the series in Oklahoma City was that first of all, the state of Oklahoma has two highly regarded college baseball programs in Oklahoma and Oklahoma State and when the two schools have their annual showdown at Bricktown Ballpark, they draw well over 10-13,000 to the ballpark for the game every April.

Secondly, the state of Oklahoma has churned out greats like Mickey Mantle, whom the street that the ballpark is on is named after, Johnny Bench, and Warren Spahn, who won 20 games in 13 different seasons.

And lastly, the Bricktown ballpark is an excellent ballpark and the district that the ballpark is in has been a part of Oklahoma City’s revitialized Downtown district like Autozone Park.

But over 9 or 10,000 are there at the ballpark tonight in Oklahoma City, so that should be enough to bring this Showdown back to OKC for another year, don’t you think? 

A full Nelson and a couple of pitchers up Interstate 55 will do, mate!!

One thing I’ve learned about September callups in almost 20 years of following baseball and the last nine following Memphis Redbirds baseball is that callups can make or break your season.

Case in point when the Montreal Expos were in a race for the Wild Card spot in 2003, the Expos’ chances were hurt because unlike the other 29 teams on September 1st, they could not call up their star players from the Expos system, a move which pretty much proved to be the death knell for the Montreal Expos (now Washington Nationals) and their chance for their first postseason appearance in 23 years.

For the Cardinals, three of this year’s Redbirds, Chris Naverson, Josh Kinney, and John Nelson will head up Interstate 55 to join the big leagues, as reported on the Memphis Redbirds’ web site.

John Nelson, during his time here in Memphis, hit .215 with 21 homers and 48 RBI’s. The big problem that he had during the season was his plate discipline, he struck out 153 times in 423 plate appearances this season. His 21 homers led the team this season as well as his 153 strikeouts and 48 RBI’s.

For Chris Narverson, he led the Redbirds in wins with 8, while making only 15 appearances for the Redbirds this season. He also hit a home run on July 4th when the Redbirds faced Nashville in Memphis, the only Redbirds pitcher to do so this season.

Unlike Narverson and Nelson, only Kinney has spent a stint with the Cardinals this season, Kinney pitched in 10 games for the Cardinals this season and had a team-best 1.52 ERA while whiffing 76 batters for the Redbirds in 71 innings of work.

The trio will join John Rodriguez, Anthony Reyes, who has pitched well at Autozone Park this season, and Brad Thompson, who was called up on Friday after the series opener against New Orleans.

In other news around the world of Triple-A, the Toledo Mud Hens defeated the Indianapolis Indians last night in a one-game playoff in Toledo 4 to 0 to win the IL West and head to the postseason for the second consecutive year. They will open their run for their second IL championship tonight against Charlotte in Toledo.

Forgot to report this, folks

Because of Indianapolis’ win over Louisville and Toledo’s loss to Columbus, the Tribe and Mud Hens will play a one-game playoff to determine the final playoff spot in the International League tonight at Fifth Third Field in Toledo.

Nashville will open their run for a second PCL championship and the third for a Tennessee team in the PCL since the PCL realigned in 1998 when they host the Round Rock Express in Nashville Wednesday night and the Salt Lake Bees and Tucson Sidewinders will open their series on Thursday night in Salt Lake.