{"id":7208,"date":"2010-08-05T16:15:48","date_gmt":"2010-08-05T23:15:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.seamheads.com\/?p=7208"},"modified":"2010-08-05T16:15:48","modified_gmt":"2010-08-05T23:15:48","slug":"andy-etchebarren-succeeds-with-his-type-of-player","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/2010\/08\/05\/andy-etchebarren-succeeds-with-his-type-of-player\/","title":{"rendered":"Andy Etchebarren Succeeds With His Type of Player"},"content":{"rendered":"

Defense carried the day for Andy Etchebarren<\/strong> during his 15-year major league career, which included six seasons when he either was the No. 1 catcher or shared the backstop load when Baltimore Orioles <\/strong>teams made the postseason.\u00c2\u00a0 So it should be \"\"<\/a>no surprise his York (PA) Revolution<\/strong>, already assured of a playoff berth <\/strong>in his first full season as a manager in the Atlantic League<\/strong>, <\/strong>have a solid defensive team.<\/p>\n

They had one stretch in June when they went a club-record 76 innings without making an error, and have committed only 46 in their last 81 games.\u00c2\u00a0 It may surprise those who have followed the 67-year-old manager\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s career and his personal .235 batting average that York also leads the veteran-laden Atlantic League in scoring (5.8 runs per game), including tallying some100 runs more than their head-to-head opponents.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I want guys who can put the ball in play and play defense\u00e2\u20ac\u009d, he said this week, adding that home run totals were not of great consequence when he studies prospects for his club.<\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0Look No Further Than Sioux Falls for Clear Dominance<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Sioux Falls (SD) <\/strong>Pheasants, who won the American Association <\/strong>title just two years ago, are making a strong argument that they are the most dominant team in any of the eight Independent leagues this summer.<\/p>\n

Steve Shirley\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s <\/strong>first-half North Division <\/strong>titlists have won 20 of 27 second-half games, and with less than four weeks to go are nine and a half games better than any of the other nine teams in the league with their blistering 52-23 record, with South Division <\/strong>champion Shreveport-Bossier, LA <\/strong>second best.\u00c2\u00a0 The Pheasants are a full 13 games better than the season-long Northern runner-up, the Lincoln (NE) Saltdogs<\/strong>, who are struggling with only two wins in their last 10 games.<\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 * * * *<\/p>\n

FOR ADDITIONAL INDEPENDENT BASEBALL COVERAGE?<\/strong><\/p>\n

www.AtlanticLeagueBaseball.com<\/a> ADDED TO www.IndyBaseballChatter.com<\/a> <\/strong><\/p>\n

* * * *<\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0Not Your Normal No-Hitter<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Only the third no-hitter in the 13 years of the Atlantic League <\/strong>was registered Wednesday night when the pitching-dominant Southern Maryland Blue Crabs (Waldorf) <\/strong>bested Newark, NJ, <\/strong>3-1.\u00c2\u00a0 Joe Newby <\/strong>needed three-out help from league saves leader Jim Ed Warden<\/strong>, who entered the road contest with a major mess.<\/p>\n

Newby (4-3) walked three of the first four hitters he faced in the ninth inning and hit the other one before Manager Butch Hobson <\/strong>went to Warden, who already had 19 saves.\u00c2\u00a0 Warden retired all three hitters he faced to leave the bases loaded.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve had one (save) this special,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Warden.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/strong>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s weird because it probably is the most special, but also probably the first one I actually didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to come in for.\u00c2\u00a0 We had guys warming up in the bullpen starting in the seventh in case he ran into trouble, but we were all rooting for him to get out of every situation he was in and keep it going.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

(This is an excerpt from the column Bob Wirz writes on Independent Baseball.\u00c2\u00a0 Fans may subscribe at <\/em><\/a>www.WirzandAssociates.com, enjoy his blogs, <\/em>www.AtlanticLeagueBaseball.com<\/em><\/a> and <\/em>www.IndyBaseballChatter.com<\/em><\/a>, or comment to <\/em>RWirz@aol.com<\/em><\/a>.\u00c2\u00a0 The author <\/strong>has 16 years of major league baseball public relations experience with Kansas City and as spokesman for two Commissioners and lives in Stratford, CT.)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Defense carried the day for Andy Etchebarren during his 15-year major league career, which included six seasons when he either was the No. 1 catcher or shared the backstop load when Baltimore Orioles teams made the postseason.\u00c2\u00a0 So it should be no surprise his York (PA) Revolution, already assured of a playoff berth in his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":452,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[9600,5808,6643,1764,4032,631,9598,2196,3716,9597,493,7116,1013,121,9599,9595,9596,7686,7110,5809],"class_list":["post-7208","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","tag-13-years","tag-andy-etchebarren","tag-backstop","tag-baltimore-orioles","tag-baseball-coverage","tag-batting-average","tag-defensive-team","tag-division-champion","tag-dominance","tag-dominant-team","tag-independent-baseball","tag-independent-leagues","tag-league-career","tag-major-league","tag-pheasants","tag-playoff-berth","tag-saltdogs","tag-shreveport-bossier","tag-sioux-falls-sd","tag-york-pa"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t