Results tagged ‘ Carolina League ’
Come to The Grove tonight, you could win a suite
Tim Berry starts for the Keys tonight against Wilmington in what ought to be a game filled with strikeouts. He and Blue Rocks starter Kyle Zimmer are two of the best in the Carolina League when it comes to missing bats.
The Keys open a four-game homestand tonight at 7 p.m. against Wilmington. It’s Casino Night at Harry Grove Stadium, too.
Reasons to come to tonight’s game:
- Tonight’s pitching matchup – Keys LHP Tim Berry vs. Blue Rocks RHP Kyle Zimmer — has double-digit strikeout potential. Both are top-5 in strikeouts in the Carolina League and Zimmer leads the league in K/9 at 12.41. When these two started opposite one another on April 12, 16 batters walked away with a K after six innings.
- One fan will win a suite to a future Keys game as part of our Casino Night. We’ll have several special in-game promotions, as well.
- Zimmer is Kansas City’s top pitching prospect and has been known to throw 99 mph fastballs.
- The Keys are playing well right now, leading the Northern Division at 18-14 and leading the Carolina League in runs scored.
- Zane Chavez’s mustache: view it here when he rounds second base after hitting a homer at Winston-Salem.
- Buy your tickets here, call 301-815-9939 or visit the box office at The Grove.
*Some game notes:
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WHIFF IT, WHIFF IT GOOD: Tonight’s starters are two of the best strikeout pitchers in the Carolina League. Zimmer leads the league in strikeouts per nine innings, striking out 12.41 batters per nine. Zimmer’s 40 strikeouts are tied for second in the league and Berry’s 38 are fourth.
FEELIN’ HOT, HOT, HOT: Keys catcher Zane Chavez and second baseman Jerome Pena have been swinging hot bats as of late. Chavez is batting .389 with 13 RBIs in his last nine games, providing some pop in the middle of Frederick’s order. He’s also walked 11 times in the last six games, putting him in second in the Carolina League with 21 free passes on the season. And after a dreadful start to the season, Pena is batting .344 over his last 10 games with two homers and eight RBIs, raising his batting average to .224.
BORN TO (SCORE) RUN(S): The Keys remain the worst hitting team in the Carolina League by batting average, hitting just .230 as a team, but lead the league in runs scored with 156. Possible explanations for the Keys’ offensive efficiency – they lead the league in walks (156) with 36 more than the teams tied for second and have the second-best OBP in the league (.329). Frederick’s batting .244 with runners in scoring position and have hit 24 homers this season.
*Keys lineup for tonight:
*Another chance to win a Manny Machado bobblehead on our Facebook page today before we give out 1,000 courtesy of BayRunner Shuttle at the gate at tomorrow’s 6 p.m. game. Keep your eyes peeled for a Manny trivia question on our Facebook timeline. Buy your tickets for Saturday’s game here, call 301-815-9939 or visit the box office at The Grove.
Shake your Keys.
The Bundy Effect: putting meat in Carolina League seats
The ace of Frederick’s 2012 staff was slated to pitch for the Orioles this afternoon against the Pirates at their park in Bradenton, Fla., but rain prevented him from taking the mound. Had the game been played, based on the attendance spikes Bundy caused during his starts in the Carolina League, one would have expected a larger than usual crowd, even on a soggy Tuesday afternoon.
The top-rated pitching prospect in baseball, Bundy, one of four Orioles pitchers set to take the mound against Pittsburgh this afternoon, went 6-3 with a 2.84 ERA with the Keys last season, striking out 66 batters in 57 innings.
Average paid attendance for Bundy’s five starts at Harry Grove Stadium was 7,148. His first start in Fredrick, Thursday, May 26, drew 9,833 people to the Grove, the Keys’ season high. Nearly a month later, on Saturday, June 23, 9,477 came to see the Orioles’ 2011 first-round draft pick. On superhero night (Saturday, July 14), 7,583 came to the ballpark, the first 1,000 receiving a Bundy t-shirt, including this Bundy fanatic:
Joe Cassitto, otherwise known as Bundy Man
Bundy’s lowest attended home start was his last on Thursday, Aug. 8, when 4,113 came to the Grove. That was his only home start in which attendance dipped below the Keys’ Carolina-League-leading average of 4,724 per contest.
In the five road starts Bundy made in the Carolina League in which attendance was reported (Wilmington and Lynchburg failed to do so in his first starts away from home), teams averaged 5,028 spectators per game.
On July 4 in Potomac, 7,442 fans packed the P-Nats’ park to watch the hard-throwing righty. On July 20 (a Friday), 5,843 fans bought tickets in Winston-Salem. Bundy pitched at Potomac, Winston-Salem, Lynchburg and Wilmington last season.
Of the five games with reported attendance, only once did Bundy fail to exceed a team’s average attendance for the 2012 season — Thusday, June 28 at Winston-Salem. Still, 3,857 fans came to that contest, less than 600 fewer than the Dash’s average of 4,428, which ranked second in the league.
Bundy’s effect on Carolina League crowds was obvious — he made them larger. His effect in the South Atlantic League during his eight starts with Delmarva and in the Eastern league in his three starts with Bowie is less clear, though he likely caused an uptick in weekday attendance at those stops.
Bundy averaged 2,116 fans in all of his starts with Delmarva, all but two of which were weekday games, which typically don’t draw as well as weekend contests (Friday, Saturday or Sunday games). Five of Bundy’s 10 starts in which paid attendance was reported in the Carolina League came on weekends.
In the SAL, Bundy only exceeded attendance averages twice, both times on the road — at Asheville on opening day and at Hagerstown on Sunday, May 20.
His biggest crowd in Delmarva was 3,056 on Monday, May 14, which is still shy of the Shorebirds average of 3,303 last season. Delmarva’s location on the Eastern Shore may have also kept some Orioles fans away. Portions of that group likely came to Frederick to see the O’s prospect.
In the two starts Bundy made with Bowie in which attendance was reported, he drew crowds of 4,847 on a Monday in Richmond and 2,747 on a Tuesday in Bowie. Both those numbers are shy of the average figures for those clubs.
Regardless, Bundy’s season in the Carolina League brought fans in big numbers to its minor league ballparks.
Attendance during Bundy’s 2012 starts at Harry Grove Stadium:
5/26 – 9833, 6/14 – 4736, 6/23 – 9477, 7/14 – 7583, 8/8 – 4113
Road attendance in Bundy’s 2012 Carolina League starts:
6/2 @WIL – NA, 6/8 @LYN – NA, 6/28 @WS – 3857, 7/4 @POT – 7442, 7/20 @WS – 5843, 7/26 @WIL – 5289, 8/1 @LYN – 2710
Carolina League 2012 average attendance:
| Frederick Keys | 4,724 | ||||
| Winston-Salem Dash | 4,428 | ||||
| Wilmington Blue Rocks | 4,235 | ||||
| Carolina Mudcats | 3,418 | ||||
| Myrtle Beach Pelicans | 3,273 | ||||
| Potomac Nationals | 2,953 | ||||
| Salem Red Sox | 2,628 | ||||
| Lynchburg Hillcats | 2,426 |
*A Frederick Keys Bundy bobblehead comes free with an ticket plan at Harry Grove Stadium. Ticket plans are on sale now. Machado bobbles are available, too, if you prefer Manny over Dylan. One bobblehead per ticket plan seat.
* Read Bundy Man’s account of his day at the Grove here.
*All the minor league Harlem Shake videos you could ever ask for. Notice that the Keys video is first.
*A man named Hamburger has been suspended 50 games. Where’s the beef?
*The Keys Job Fair is tonight and tomorrow. Come by the stadium from 6-8 p.m., apply and interview for a gameday position with the Keys.
Shake your Keys.
Brandon Apter
Mike Mueller
Frederick Keys Baseball
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