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The Mysterious Millers
Pittsburgh, Pa.
The 2011 season sure seemed like a strange one for the boys from the 'Burgh. Coming off a 2010 season that had the team win 100 games and reach their sixth straight playoff appearance, the team added OF Johnny Patterson, SP Oscar Angulo, All Star reliever Jamie Crook, power bat Jamie Monson and defensive wiz DJ Boatner. The thought was that they would build on their successful campaign and be ready to make another run for the Brewmasters Cup.
Well, that all sounds nice in thought, however the reality was far from the dream. After a 15-10 start for the Millers, they followed up with their worst month in quite some time in May (7-20).
Photo of Superstar OF, #16, Ethan Bafford, Pittsburgh Millers
"Everything just seemed to go wrong," said all world left fielder Ethan Bafford, "It was a bad environment on and off the field."
Clubhouse Issues
Bad environment it was, rumors constantly shadowed this team and started spreading quickly. Zach Henne was out partying too late, Jamie Crook had a problem setting up TJ Mileski, and there was a conflict between he and Jamie 'Trojan' Raymer. Even alleged infidelity was thrown about when Dave 'Champ' D'Orio was accused of sleeping with one of Alex Gomez's girlfriends. If you can imagine the story line, it was brought up.
It wasn’t only the players who were involved in the controversy, during the 2011 BLB Amateur draft, the Millers GM Mike C was “acting like a child” and almost got fired from his post after complaining about a draft pick.
One anonymous source said to the Post-Gazette, “He’s a prick. An a—hole. Period.”
Photo of Millers GM Mike C
"We all make mistakes, and we all have our opinions" Mike said with a half-hearted grin, "Sometimes it's better to keep a low profile and worry about fixing those mistakes than running your mouth."
Put up, Shut up, or Blow it up
Fix those mistakes he did, Yoshi Tamieke and Jamie Crook were gone early during the slump when they were shipped to Denver. Dave D'Orio was shipped out to Denver in a separate deal that netted the team bat only, no glove Jamie McInturf who batted close to .300 during his short tenure as a Miller.
Zach Henne was moved for Robby Castro and Ty McKay, two players who could step in and help the main club immediately but the main piece was Kayden 'Smoke' Walker, in a move that Mike admits, was solely focused on the long term outlook of the team.
"The Henne deal was the toughest move we've made outside of dealing Freddy. We didn't believe that he would be worth the numbers he'd be asking, and ‘Smoke’ was a guy that we believe can be a front-line pitcher in this league for a long time." Mike said during a December interview with the Post Gazette. Walker is expected to begin the season in AA Harrisburg, and he headlines a young group of talented arms that include Ron ‘Hangman’ Bynum, Ted Kessler, Dusty Orbon, Zack Cook and Antonio Perez.
For most of the 2011 season, the Millers looked like a sure bet to miss out on the playoffs for the first time in a long time. But an 18-9 September earned them a playoff date with the division rival Maine Guides, however this date, like 2010’s date with the Dallas Snappers, left them once again with blue balls and a cab ride home early.
"We don't want to be known as the team that loses every year in the wild card game." Ethan Bafford said.
Time for a change
While the Millers haven't been shy about making moves in the past, this offseason was about one focus, cultivating a core that will grow together for the next few years. It started with a 5 year 62 million dollar extension for superstar Left fielder, Ethan Bafford.
"Priority number one, no doubt, was to lock up the best player in the game to a long term deal. He's earned every penny and we believe he will spend the rest of his career in black and gold. I rarely use the term 'untouchable' but there isn't a package of players who will ever equal his value in my opinion," Millers GM Mike said at the press conference in December.
After Bafford was locked up, Jamie McInturf (Trade to NO) was the next domino to fall, Victor Rodriguez (Trade to TOR), Micah Bunting and Alex Gomez (Trade to PHI), Johnny Patterson (Trade to BAT), and DJ Boatner (Trade to BAL) followed suit.
Close to 30 million came off the books for the 2012 season’s payroll. Incoming was a new class of Millers that began with defensive minded backstop, that the teams scout raves about in Mike del Rio, and two open positions for 2010 first rounders Jimmy Peller and Dave Shook, who will man CF and RF respectively. The bullpen was completely re-done, with a major addition in longtime closer Ian Strachan, who along with Jamie Raymer, will be given the responsibility of turning the game over to Tubby Mileski. This offseason they also added Ming-Hoa Zi, Marco Valunzuela, CJ Rackham, Negussu Sadiki.
Photo of Ian Strachan, Pitcher, #50, Pittsburgh Millers
“I think we’ve got a good mix of vets and young players,” Mike said, “We’re deep in a lot of different areas, and we have the ability to mix and match to gain certain advantages during the game, and we have the utmost confidence in our legendary manager, Lonnie Hyde and his staff to lead us to the promise land.”
The team will be led by their offense as usual, however their pitching staff is what has some in the organization most excited. Jamie ‘Fudd’ Thomas will once again be the ace, followed by A.J Hightower, Herb Rocha, Oscar Angulo and 2009 1st rounder JD Robillard. It’s a formidable rotation, however in a division that boasts the likes of Maine and Pawtucket, the players feel a bit slighted.
“Yeah, we’ve heard all about how good the Pats and Guides arms are, and don’t get me wrong, they’ve got some talented guys, that’s why they’ve represented the DL the past two years in the Cup, but nobody in our rotation will back down from the challenge of kicking their asses back to New England after we play them.” Jamie Thomas said with a certain swagger in his voice during a local charity event last week. “We have no interest in finishing third this year, we have the talent and I can tell you for sure that we’re not going anywhere anytime soon.”
AJ Hightower was more blatant with his comments when he said, “They won’t touch me this year. If they didn’t know who I was last season, they gon’ learnnnn today,” he proclaimed in his best Kevin Hart impression, while still visibly disappointed about not making the All-Star team. “We’re gonna do it, man, I feel it.”
Bold statements from a guy who had a 5.87 ERA vs Maine last season, but you’ve got to love the confidence.
All in all, it should be another exciting season down at Kennywood Park this season, one that many Millers fans hope will finally result in that elusive Brewmaster’s Cup.
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