Okay… where to start. Scott here…Its been a tough first half. There have been some positives, and a bunch of rough spots. Overall, I like our group of guys, but we need to do better.
We’ve found a way to lose a few games that I was sure we’d win… yesterday at East Hartford included.

For those of you not there, we were winning the whole game until the bottom of the 6th where they got 4 runs to take a 5-4 lead… and all the runs were on legit hits (including a 2 Run Homer) that put them up for good. Thanks to Jeff Billing for coming out and giving our guys who’ve been doing most of the pitching a bit of a rest… and you pitched great for 5.1 innings, until they finally got to you. Possibly my fault. I considered bringing in a reliever, either Lucas or someone else… but Jeff had thrown so well, I didn’t want to mess with anything. Still amazed we lost that game. It overshadowed Rick Barrett’s big day unfortunately. Rick hit a 3 run homerun of his own in the first, and later supplied a sac fly… driving in ALL our 4 runs. A monster day. East Hartford pitched their slow loopy pitching Knights killer of the last few years, Ryan Gott. I still don’t know why that guy has our number… he just never gives us pitches we want to hit, and we don’t adjust to him well. Also overshadowed was what was for the most part, a solid defensive outing. The only error that cost us was a ball Blais didn’t catch up against the fence in right field. I was in a funk all last night after that game. We played so well, I though we deserved that one. They played well for 1 inning. FVCK!

Another tough one recently was the game 2 of our recent Muzzy double header. Rick Barrett gave us 5 strong against the Indians, only 4 days removed from throwing around 90 pitches in a tough loss to Elmer’s on the previous Thursday. After pulling him from the game with us leading 6-2, I figured if we could get 2 relief innings, one a piece from Luke Palma and one from Earl Oakes, we’d be solid. It didn’t work. Luke who had pitched like 90 pitches himself only 3 days earlier was definitely not his usual self, walking a few, hitting a guy, and giving up a few hits. I pulled him while we still had the lead, bringing in Earl, who also like Luke had been dynamite this year on the hill. Earl who pitched some in the recent days as well, was also not himself, and gave up the one big hit giving the Indians the lead, before retiring the last two outs. My frustration here and hindsight being 20-20 is that I had Glenn Hyatt, a pitcher who’s only thrown 1 inning for us all year (in the scrimmage in early May) available, and I didn’t call his number to throw first. I should have given him his shot on the mound with a 4 run lead… he was well rested, and ready, but he also hadn’t thrown much anytime recently. I put Glenn in 1 inning to late and he proceeded to strike out 2 in closing out the Indians in the top of the 7th. FVCK!

Attendance at times has been spotty. In general… a lot of guys have missed a decent number of games. Almost every game not as Muzzy field has been a bit of a struggle, which is unfortunate. Lately I’ve brought in (or tried to bring in) a few new guys to help… and hopefully Devin and Jeff can help contribute down the stretch. A few guys I thought would make more, have either NOT shown up at all, or very little. If any of the mentioned guys read this, please don’t take it as any kind of negative on you (or me complaining)… its just I miss having you around as a player and a person, and I’ve felt your absence strongly. I know Kyle Faust said he’d be limitted this year, and it be tough, but he also assured me how much he wanted to get out there and play and pitch. He missed it after not playing last year. Kyle has been one of our best pitchers over the last 8 years. That makes it even tougher having him not made even one regular season game yet this year. He pitched one inning in the scrimmage, and thats it. I really thought he would have played 3-4 games by now… and the result would be not having to throw the same guys so much. Same goes for Rex Cone. Rex works a tough schedule to ever make games (and now works a new job that goes later and is farther away), but I thought based on his off days, and my making sure to schedule a bunch of 7pm starts, he’d have made more that he has so far. He had said he would try to make enough to qualify for playoffs because he’s actually on vaca for playoff time. Rex we miss you, and just want you there. You make it more fun and make us a much more imposing offense. A couple other guys I thought would just make a little bit more than they have actually been able to… guys like Erik Michael (our 2012 gold glove, been so busy with work), Justin Kilker (when healthy, has the potential to be one of our best players… plus his work schedule has been very tough on making games.), Glenn Hyatt (a tough work schedule and rainouts have hurt his ability to show), Shawn Ferguson (our fantastic SS has been limited by his umpiring schedule amoungst other things). Hopefully we are able to see all of you more often over the last 6 weeks of the regular season, and if possible you can put yourself in position to qualify for playoffs. You guys showing makes us a better team, and you not being around has been missed in the dugout… you all brought a lot of fun to our squad. I hope to see you all soon.

POSITIVES…
I really like all you new players. Thanks for joining us this year. Julio’s intensity and love for baseball shows. You are a fast mother f-er, and possibly the best center fielder we’ve ever had. Hopefully the arm is ok in the second half so you can pitch more. Brian has been huge this year in filling in the whole left by Paul Franceschi. He’s a great catcher who can also play infield. A very good hitter, who is always making solid contact, and a very solid guy. Luke Palma has been a great guy to have on the team, and at times a force on the mound. So glad I asked Pat Holden for players that might want to play… we’d never have found you or your 3 other high school teammates (Walter, Mike, and Devin). Mike Scanlon has brought some much needed versatility… first, second, third, or catcher… and a good hitter. Hopefully you get in more of a groove in the second half and start ripping guys like I know you can. Walter brings speed, a good glove, and the added value of a great small ball player (great bunter, steals a base or two, etc). His confrontations with fellow team “talker” Gilbert have been pretty funny. Devin Zeller has just recently started coming as we needed another guy. He brings a good glove, and hopefully once he’s back in the rhythm of things a solid bat. Sean Cameron is another solid player that initially I thought would be a full time guy, but his work and travel schedule have limited his ability. He should be making a few more games moving forward, and bulstering our lineup and infield. Lastly is Glenn Hyatt… who like I said earlier has been limited by his work schedule. A team player who’s done whatever he’s been asked, and been good whereever he’s played, in the OF and on the mound in limited time. Hopefully we see more of you soon. Jeff Billing just started playing with us… hopefully you can pitch more in the future.

Our pitching in general has been good. Rick Blais, Rick Barrett, Earl Oakes, and Luke Palma have all thrown very well this year. Keep up the good work, and I’ll do my best not to over extend you all.

One last positive has been having 3 of our best players here more regularly. Eddie Dickman, welcome back to the fold. We missed you last year when you were only available in limited capacity. Rick Barrett… your presence has been huge, anchoring our lineup and also pitching very well all year… all while playing a very good infield. Earl, we finally have you full time, and you’ve made a big positive impact, on the mound, in the infield, and at the plate.

I’ve updated our team stats, and you can see them here:
http://www.bristolknights.com/roster/2013-bristol-knights-player-statistics/

We’ve got one half of the regular season left, and also the playoffs to prove that we are a better team than we’ve shown. Get yourself some BP (cages or otherwise), get yourself some ground balls, please try to make as many of the remaining games as possible, and lets turn this season around and finish out the year on top.

Thanks.

– Scott Dickens, Manager Bristol Knights.