Monthly Archives: December 2010

By Roger Hoover

The 2010 Tennessee Smokies saw a season of unprecedented success in club history, culminating with a franchise-best 86-53 regular season record and a second-straight Southern League North Division championship.

While the season has been over since late September, the end of the calendar year is a good time to look back at all the Smokies accomplished in 2010. Here is a look at the top ten moments of Tennessee’s historic 2010 season.

Andrew Cashner

10. Cashner Mows Down Mississippi: Smokies pitcher Andrew Cashner wasted no time in signaling that 2010 would be a special season for the Smokies. On opening night at Mississippi’s Trustmark Park on April 9, Cashner struck out the first seven men he faced and nine of the first 10 as the Smokies won 4-3. Cashner’s superb performance helped Tennessee get off to a 15-3 start to the regular season, giving the Smokies the best record in all of professional baseball.

Starlin Castro

9. Smokies Earn Big-Time Call-Ups: While Cashner and star shortstop Starlin Castro helped Tennessee get off to a great start on their first half North Division championship run, the two stars would end the first half of the season playing at Wrigley Field for the Chicago Cubs. Both stars left Tennessee on May 7, with Castro joining the Cubs and Cashner being promoted to Triple-A Iowa. Castro made history in his Cubs debut, driving in a big league record six runs for Chicago, the most for any rookie in a debut. Cashner would later be called up to the Cubs on May 31. Castro finished his rookie season as the Cubs’ everyday shortstop, and hit .300 with 41 RBI. Cashner went 2-6 with a 4.80 working in the Cubs bullpen.

Tony Campana

8. Campana Finally Homers…Sort Of: With the North Division Championship Series against the West Tenn Diamond Jaxx tied at one game apiece heading into Game Three, the Smokies received the unlikeliest spark towards a victory. Leadoff hitter Tony Campana, who has never hit a home run in his professional career, hit an inside-the-park home-run to begin the ballgame. It was the beginning of a 4-6 performance for Campana at the plate that night, and Tennessee won 9-2 at Pringles Park on September 11. The next night the Smokies clinched the series by winning Game Four 5-2.

Chris Archer

7. Archer Starts Spotless: After being called up from the Daytona Cubs, pitcher Chris Archer began his first Double-A action in memorable fashion. Archer did not allow an earned run in his first 33 innings with Tennessee, and was the Southern League Pitcher of the Week from July 19-25. Archer finished the 2010 season with a combined 15-3 record with a 2.34 ERA, and was named the Cubs Minor League Pitcher of the Year.

Brandon Guyer

6. What a Good Guyer: Outfielder Brandon Guyer had his best season in 2010, earning Cubs Minor League Player of the Year honors while finishing hitting .344 with 13 homers and 58 runs batted in. Guyer’s best stretch came in the second half, as he carried an 18 game hitting streak from July 26 to August 18, and was named the Southern League Hitter of the Week for the first week of his hit streak.

Mick Gillispie with Cubs Owner Tom Ricketts

5. Tom Ricketts Says Hello: The Smokies were honored twice this season with a special guest in the ballpark. Chicago Cubs owner Tom Ricketts visited East Tennessee twice to see the Smokies play, once on July 19 and during the first game of the North Division Championship Series in September. It was the first year of ownership for the Ricketts family, and he visited with Smokies players, fans, and was a guest on the Smokies Radio Network with broadcaster Mick Gillispie.

Tony Thomas

4. Thomas is Grand: Off all the moments in the first half North Division title run for the Smokies, it was a grand swing of the bat by Tony Thomas that helped the Smokies continue to shrink the magic number. With the Tennessee leading West Tenn in the standings by only a half game, and the Smokies trailing the Diamond Jaxx 4-2 on June 13, Thomas hit a grand slam in the seventh inning to give the Smokies a 6-4 lead in a game Tennessee won 7-5. Later that week, Tennessee clinched the first half championship in Mobile.

Robinson Chirinos

3. Fourth of July Fireworks from Chirinos: A record crowd of 7,728 fans filled Smokies Park on July 4 knowing they would see fireworks. However their favorite blast of the night wasn’t thanks to pyrotechnics, it was a walk-off homer by Robinson Chirinos. Chirinos hit his ninth homer of the season in Sunday’s game, a three-run shot that delivered instant victory to the Smokies over the Huntsville Stars.

Bill Dancy with Brian Cox

2 Awards Galore: Honors poured into Smokies Park during the 2010 season. The awards began in June, as six Smokies were named to the Southern League All-Star Team: catcher Robinson Chirinos, catcher Steve Clevenger, outfielder Tony Campana, first baseman Blake Lalli, and relievers Ryan Buchter and Luke Sommer. Chirinos, Campana, and Brandon Guyer were further honored later in the season as postseason All-Stars. Manager Bill Dancy, in who has over 1600 wins as a minor league manager, was named the Southern League Manager of the Year, while Smokies General Manager Brian Cox was named the Southern League Executive of the Year. The Smokies Radio Network’s Mick Gillispie was named the Southern League’s Radio Broadcaster of the Year, and longtime Knoxville News-Sentinel Smokies beat writer Nick Gates won the Southern League Sportswriter of the Year Award, in addition to having press row at Smokies Park named, “Nick Gates Press Row.”

Smokies celebrate at Rickwood Field

1. Smokies Win Rickwood Classic: With all that the Smokies accomplished in 2010, it was a special humid June afternoon at Birmingham’s historic Rickwood Field that tops this list of Smokies moments. In a tightly played 11-inning game at America’s Oldest Ballpark, the Smokies outlasted the Birmingham Barons 8-7 in front of 9,448 fans at the 15^th annual Rickwood Classic on June 2. Marquez Smith hit a solo homer in the top of the 11^th inning to give the Smokies the win, while Ty Wright shined with a 4-6 performance at the plate with two runs batted in. The Smokies wore throwback uniforms for the contest, and Hall-of-Famer Harmon Killebrew was in attendance.

As great as 2010 was, we’re already looking forward to 2011!

Happy New Year Smokies Fans!

By Rennie Leon / smokiesbaseball.com

SEVIERVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Smokies, Double-A minor league affiliate of the Chicago Cubs, proudly announce today former major leaguer Brian Harper will be the team’s manager for the 2011 season.  Joining Harper on next year’s staff will be pitching coach Marty Mason, hitting coach Mariano Duncan and athletic trainer Nick Frangella.

Harper arrives to the Smokies after leading the San Francisco Giants’ Class A San Jose Giants to the 2010 California League Championship.  He also spent two years in the Giants’ organization as its roving minor league catching instructor (2008-09).  Prior to this time with the Giants, he was in the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim’s minor league system, managing its rookie league team in the Arizona League (2001-05) and the Class AAA Salt Lake Bees (2006-07).

Harper’s major league career spanned from 1979-95 and included a World Series appearance with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1985 and World Series championship with Minnesota Twins in 1991.  He hit .295 in 1,001 big league games and caught behind the plate for a total of seven teams.

Mason comes over from the Cardinals, where he’s spent the last 25 years coaching.  Prior to his most recent stint as the team’s major league bullpen coach (2000-10), Mason coached in the Cardinals’ minor league system at Advanced-A St. Petersburg (1986-87, 1989), A-Savannah (1988), AA-Arkansas (1990-96), AAA-Louisville (1997) and AAA-Memphis (1998-99).  He played in both the New York Yankees and Cardinals’ minor league systems from 1980-86.

Duncan has been in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization the past eight years, most recently as the team’s first base coach since 2006.  He also coached at AAA-Las Vegas (2005), AA-Jacksonville (2004) and for the team’s rookie league team in the Gulf Coast League in 2003.  Duncan is a 12-year major league veteran infielder (1985-97) and was a member of two World Series championship teams, the 1990 Cincinnati Reds and 1996 New York Yankees.

Athletic trainer Nick Frangella will return for a fourth season with the Smokies in 2011, his sixth overall in the Cubs’ minor league system.

All three members of the Smokies’ 2010 staff will remain within the Cubs organization.  Manager Bill Dancy will manage the Triple-A Iowa Cubs, while coaches Dennis Lewallyn and Tom Beyers have been promoted to minor league pitching coordinator and hitting coordinator, respectively.

By Roger Hoover / Smokies Radio Network

The baseball world received some sad news on Friday when we learned former Cubs third baseman and long-time WGN Radio broadcaster Ron Santo passed away.

Santo, who worked on WGN as a color analyst since the 1990 season, died at age 70 due to complications from bladder cancer.

He played for the Cubs from 1960-73, spending his fifteenth and final year as a player with the White Sox in 1974.

Ron Santo in 1962 (Photo Courtesy of the Chicago Tribune)

In his career, he was a All-Star nine times, slugged 342 home runs, won the gold glove award five times, hit .300 or better four times, had the best on-base percentage in 1964 and 1966 in addition to leading the league in walks four times.

Santo is also regarded as one of the finest players who is not a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. His iconic number “10″ was retired by the Cubs in 2003.

Santo's is one of six Cubs with a number retired at Wrigley Field (Photo Courtesy of the Chicago Tribune)

He accomplished all of these feats while suffering from juvenile diabetes,  making him one of the first in Major League Baseball to play with the disease.

Santo’s health problems also included a cardiac bypass surgery, and the amputation of both of his legs below the knee in 2001 and 2002.

Despite some tough times due to his health, Santo never lost his enthusiasm for Cubs baseball which fans clearly heard on WGN broadcasts. Whether working with Thom Brennaman, Harry Caray, or his partner since 1996 Pat Hughes, Santo’s reactions to the Cubs triumphs or defeats endeared him to fans across the country.

Santo with longtime Cubs play-by-play announcer Pat Hughes. The duo began working together on WGN Radio in 1996. (Photo Courtesy of the Chicago Tribune)

Santo always believed that the Cubs would win the World Series, and began every season boasting, “this is the year!” While he never saw the Cubs reach the Fall Classic, Santo’s enthusiasm never wavered, even when he was frustrated with how they were playing.

Many times during the past couple of seasons, I’d listen to the Cubs on WGN Radio over the internet while working in the Smokies Radio Network booth at Smokies Park. As our staff prepared to broadcast that night’s Smokies game, we’d love listening to Pat and Ron describe all the action for the big league Cubs.

It was especially rewarding when we’d hear Santo give his thoughts on some of our former Smokies who made it up to the Cubs like Starlin Castro, Tyler Colvin, Andrew Cashner, Casey Coleman, Darwin Barney, Welington Castillo, Brian Schlitter, Marcos Mateo, Mitch Atkins, Justin Berg, and Jeff Samardzija.

If someone left the booth and missed some of the game, the question wasn’t always “what happened?” but rather “what did Santo say?”

Santo interviewing former Cubs manager Lou Piniella. (Photo Courtesy of the Chicago Tribune)

As a lifelong Cub fan, I’ll miss having one of the greatest players around the ballclub every day. I’m not sure there were any bigger fans of the Cubs than Santo, and to have someone with that much love for the team on the microphone was great for everyone listening.

The Cubs will go on without Ron Santo next season, but it won’t be nearly as much fun not having #10 in the booth saying “boy oh boy or good grief” when times were tough, or screaming “yes!!!!!” at the top of his lungs with every homer or Cubs win.

Farewell Ronnie, let’s hope this is the year!