Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Questions & Answers with Mike Guerrero

At Spring Training in Arizona, I was able to catch up with new Stars manager, Mike Guerrero, about the upcoming 2010 season.



How is Spring Training going and what have you guys been doing to get ready for the season?








How excited are you to be in Huntsville, a step up in the system, and working with a team that’s produced quite a few quality Brewers players the past few years?









What’s the Mike Guerrero approach to a baseball team?









What other challenges do you face as a manager in trying to prepare kids who are 18-25 years old to play in triple A and the major leagues?








Do you think your experience sending people up from Brevard County to Huntsville will help you now advance people up from Huntsville to Nashville?









Pitching Coach John Curtis is coming back this year with Huntsville, but talk about the new staff and how you are preparing with them for the season.









Well Mike, thanks for joining us, welcome to Huntsville, and enjoy Arizona. We look forward to seeing you in a few weeks.






Friday, March 12, 2010

Spring Training Journal 2010: Day 2

I apologize for this being a day late, but I came down with a bad cold and/or strep throat possibly, so the last 24 hours have not been to enjoyable. Day two consisted of a ton of driving! We covered over 500 miles with our journey to the Grand Canyon and other parts of northern Arizona. There was quite a bit of snow on the ground and lots of wrecks on the interstate early in the morning. It really was remarkable to see entire fields with a blanket of snow that was around four feet deep on the ground. Not something you see in the South everyday. We did the usual at the Grand Canyon...take pictures, look at the views, have lunch and something not so usual...see two Vanderbilt fans of all things walking around. On the way back, we stopped in Sedona and Jerome which are small towns but very interesting and touristy. Jerome was interesting because the entire town sat on the side of a hill and buildings literally were right up against the streets. Very unique and probably dangerous. The day ended with viewing some college basketball at a local sports bar and getting ready for Friday. Brewers will be hosting the Cubs and we will have a chance to meet new Stars skipper, Mike Guerrero, for the first time. Stay tuned for pictures and audio clips coming soon!

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Spring Training Journal 2010: Day 1

Well when you're a broadcaster, normally 4:30am doesn't factor into your day, but this was the exception. After an easy flight that featured a little work and catching up on some reading for a change, we landed in Phoenix around noon local time. Then a quick check in to the hotel and off to Peoria to catch as much of the Brewers v Padres as possible. First off, huge props to the Pads for their facility. It was first class, a perfect spring training type atmosphere and convenient to restaurants and shops rather than being stuck in the middle of no where. They share this facility with the Mariners, so everything was decorated half and half. Our seats were with the players' families, which was interesting because it was a first time. It was pretty cool to see parents cheering and booing umpires while watching their kids play on a major league field just as if it were a coach pitch game.

Even by catching the earliest flight out of Huntsville today, we made it to our seats in the top of the fourth inning. The Brew Crew was down 3-1 at this point because of a first inning three run homer off Gallardo. That was really his only blemish as the outing seemed to be better than his line score. He went three innings, allowing three earned runs but just two hits and two walks. Around us were the wives, kids and parents of Casey McGehee, Corey Hart and Scott Schoeneweis. The kids were amusing, especially when their dads came to the plate in the middle of the game. I could overhear McGehee's wife talking about how Casey enjoys Milwaukee and likes playing against his former team, the Chicago Cubs (McGehee picked up playing time while Aramis Ramirez was injured in 2008). One of the highlights of the day was Schoeneweis striking out Padre slugger, Adrian Gonzalez and battling back from being down 3-0 on the next batter to pick up another K as well. After picking up one in the sixth, the Brewers managed to steal the lead in the seventh on an Alcides Escobar RBI single. However, it disappeared in the eighth as Milwaukee squandered the lead and gave up the game to San Diego, 5-4. No real highlights from the game except for Schoeneweis and Escobar.

Later, we drove by the University of Phoenix Stadium to check out the Cardinals (Arizona that is) venue, which is getting ready for Wrestlemania XXVI in a few weeks before heading downtown to US Airways Arena and Chase Field (home of the D'Backs). After a long day, we hit a sports bar, watched some college basketball since it is tournament time with the conferences and headed straight back to the room to rest. Tomorrow is a day of leisure as we will head to the Grand Canyon (high of 40 degrees) to check out some scenery in the northern part of the state. This will hopefully be worth the drive since we are skipping Alabama v South Carolina in the first round of the SEC tournament. Friday we will be at the Brewer's complex in Maryvale as they host the Cubs and then again on Saturday against the Rockies. Stay tuned for more updates from Arizona, possible sound bytes and more! And thank you to everyone for having me as part of the Huntsville Stars and Milwaukee Brewers organization.