Category: Falcons

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Herts Falcons add Sosa

Jose Sosa has completed his transfer from the Southern Nationals to the Herts Falcons ahead of Sunday’s NBL game with the Bracknell Blazers.

The 34-year-old Dominican has five NBL seasons under his belt. Between 2009 and 2011 he played for the Croydon Pirates. In 2012 he won the National Championship with the Harlow Nationals. Last year he moved to the Southampton Mustangs. Over his five NBL seasons he has hit 7 home runs, with batting average .297 and slugging average .429. Sosa is a switch-hitter.

 

His primary positions are first base and centerfield, but he has also pitched over the years with a record of 11 wins and 22 losses and an earned run average of 7.97.

NBL statistics courtesy of ProjectCOBB.org.uk

 

by Herts Baseball News Editor

British baseball begins search for a new Ryan Bird


Herts Baseball Club has been trying to delay making this announcement, hoping against hope that it will not happen, but it has now been confirmed that three-time National Baseball League MVP (Most Valuable Player), Ryan Bird, has moved to America.

Over the last 6 years he has been one of the most dominant baseball players in Great Britain. His name appears prominently at the top of the majority of the defensive and offensive NBL stats. He received immediate recognition, voted as the NBL’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) in 2008. This was his first season in the League and this achievement is even more significant given that this was a time of total domination by the amazing London Mets. In the following year Bird was once again voted as the League’s MVP, making him the first player to receive two MVP awards since the days of Simon Pole during the London Warriors era. In 2009 he was also the league’s home run champion with 5 dingers.

In 2012 he made a high-profile move to the Herts Falcons and the domination continued. In 2013 he was voted NBL MVP for a third time.

He has performed consistently throughout and he is the NBL leader in career batting average (.500), career on-base average (.572) and career slugging average (.808). His primary position is catcher, but he has also had a real impact as a pitcher. His career ERA is 2.72 with a record of 15 wins, 4 losses, 2 saves and, very notably, one of the highest strikeouts per nine innings ratios (16.4). Last season he pitched those memorable back-to-back no-hitters for the Falcons.

Ryan Bird won his second NBL MVP award in 2009 as a Richmond player

This season’s opening game against the London Mets was his last for the Falcons before his move to the USA and he said good bye to the fans with another outstanding performance going 4-4 with a home run which probably is still hovering somewhere over St Albans.

NBL statistics courtesy of ProjectCOBB.org.uk

Bird’s departure is a major blow not just to Herts Falcons but to British baseball as a whole which needs players like him to fill the ballparks around the country.

This is one of several high-profile departures for the Falcons this season. Dave House, Jordan Farkas, Robbie Unsell and Xavi Gonzalez are all moving overseas. The start of the year for the Falcons has felt a lot like the opening scene of the Oscar-nominated movie Moneyball as staff at the Oakland Coliseum were removing the large banners of Jason Giambi, Johnny Damon and Jason Isringhausen.

Xavi Gonzalez is another Herts Falcons player who is playing overseas with the Stuttgart Reds this season

However, losing these big players also means that the door is open at Herts for the new stars to rise to the top of British baseball. The addition of players like Abel Salas and Jamie Gregory has been a major boost helping manager Lee Manning to start rebuilding the roster. Last week Herts fans had an extra boost seeing video footage of catcher Andrew Fulford preparing in Tampa Florida for his upcoming NBL debut. Manning has also shown faith in the club’s talented young players. Carlos Casal Jr, Conner Brown and Tom Everex-Armstrong joined Liam Green to make their NBL debuts in 2013 and this year they have been joined by Will Zucker, with more youngsters pushing hard with the club’s Triple-A team. We will have to wait and see how far these players will go over the next few years and if they will be the next Ryan Birds of British baseball.

 

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Herts represented at the MLB European Baseball Academy Try Outs for the first time in its history

Herts Falcons and Great Britain National Team players Jamie Gregory and Tom Everex-Armstrong have been invited to this year’s Major League Baseball European Academy Try Outs. Although there have been several other British players called up to the MLB European Try Outs in previous years, this is the first time that members of Herts Baseball Club take part in this prestigious programme.

The MLB European Baseball Academy was created to provide training for European, New Zealand and African baseball prospects by former major leaguers. It also provides a central scouting location during the weeks it is open and over two dozen Academy alumni have signed contracts with MLB teams.

In 2011, Alex Liddi became the first Academy product to be called up to the major leagues with the Seattle Mariners. Donald Lutz was the second, making it in 2013 with the Cincinnati Reds. Instructors have included Barry Larkin, Lee Smith, Art Howe, Wally Joyner, Bruce Hurst, John McLaren, Steve Finley, Craig Shipley and Dale Murphy.

Through July 2013, over 50 Academy alumni had been signed by MLB organizations. So far there have been no British players who have gone on to sign contracts with MLB teams from the Academy, but the signs are that MLB is beginning to recognise the talented players playing in Britain, which is a boost for players in this country.

Armstrong and Gregory are taking part in this weekend’s segment of the Academy which is held in Barcelona, Spain.  Herts fans should rest assured that both will be back in time for Herts Falcons’ next league game on Sunday, 11 May 2014, at the Bracknell Blazers.

 

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Eagles, Hawks and Raptors confirm rosters ahead of Opening Day

The National Anthem played at Grovehill Ballpark last Sunday (photo by Richard Lee richardleephotography.org)

The Herts Falcons opened their season last Sunday.  This Sunday it is the turn of the Herts Eagles and the Herts Hawks to open their Triple-A and Double-A League seasons, respectively.  The Eagles host the always competitive Oxford Kings, while the Hawks meet with Double-A League favourites,  London Mammoths.

Both games are at Grovehill Ballpark in Hemel Hempstead. Herts Eagles vs Oxford Kings starts at 1:00pm while Herts Hawks vs London Mammoths starts at 12:00pm.

The Herts Falcons already announced their roster.  The other three Herts teams unveiled theirs this evening (see below).  These rosters may change over the course of the season as players move between teams in accordance with the BBF player movement rules.

 

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Sunday’s Falcons vs Nationals doubleheader moved to 3rd of August

Nats and Falcons will have to wait a little longer before their first meeting since last year’s national championships semi-final (photo by Richard Lee richardleephotography.org)

A confirmation has just been received that this Sunday’s scheduled NBL series between the Herts Falcons and the reigning champions, Southern Nationals, has been rescheduled due to issues with the Nationals’ home ballpark.

The game will now be played on Sunday, 3 August.

This news means that the Falcons will have a five week break between last Sunday’s opening series with the Mets and their next game on 11 May 2014 which is a doubleheader away to the Bracknell Blazers.

by Herts Baseball News Editor

The NBL is back! Mets and Falcons open the season with another classic

Cris Hiche greeted at home after his grand slam which started an almighty comeback (photo by Richard Lee richardleephotography.org)

If the Opening Day games between the Herts Falcons and the London Mets are an indicator of what is to come this season, fans of British baseball would be advised to buckle up as we are in for a wild ride. The games had everything – incredible comebacks, home runs, gutsy pitching performances, heroic plays, heavy collisions and more.

Usually batters take a little longer to get back up to full speed after the winter offseason and pitchers hold the advantage in the first few weeks of the season, but that was turned on its head as hitting dominated throughout despite facing some of the best pitchers from the 2013 season. The starters in game one were Mike Osborne for Herts (6-0 and ERA 1.12 in 2013) and Sam Sproule for London (1-1, ERA 1.91 in 2013), but batters didn’t appear too concerned about those numbers. The Mets took an early 10-2 lead although it must be pointed out that most of these were unearned runs as the Falcons’ new look defence was still finding its feet. “It will take a little more time for us to tune up our defence after losing several key players who moved overseas” said Falcons manager Lee Manning. The Mets conceded an average of 3.36 runs per game last season so it would have been a natural reaction for Herts heads to drop and accept defeat. It was also interesting to see how the squad would react to such a score line. With so many new faces and a much lower average age there was a risk that there would be a negative effect on confidence and team spirit, but that wasn’t the case. In the bottom of the third inning Herts showed that they cannot be written off under any circumstance. A grand slam home run by Cris Hiche to centerfield, 2-run double by Jamie Gregory and a sacrifice fly by Carlos Casal Jr, brought in 7 runs reducing the deficit to 1 run. In the fifth inning a towering 2-run home run by 2013 NBL MVP, Ryan Bird, hits by Abel Salas, Darrin Ward and a sacrifice fly by Dave Tretheway gave Falcons a 13-11 lead.

The Mets responded in a big way not only to come back from this but to build an unassailable lead winning the game 23-13. This included a home run by Martin Tucker and a very scary moment when London outfielders Jonathan Cramman and Josh Saunders made a brave attempt to make a diving catch which resulted in a very serious collision requiring a 10-minute delay while treating both players. Thankfully, both managed to recover and seemed in good shape by the end of the day. There was also an injury to Ryan Bird which seemed innocuous but which may take him more time to recover from. The Falcons had to go into the second game without Bird as he had to be taken out of the lineup.

Abel Salas was the starting pitcher for Herts in game two and he went the distance. The Mets took an early 6-0 lead which included a grand slam home run by Zach Stroman, but from that point Salas was in control of the game and produced a battling performance which gave his team the opportunity to win. To do this, they needed their offence to get back into the game against the London Mets’ best pitcher of 2013, Pietro Sollecito. They responded with 4 runs in the bottom of the first and 3 in the second inning to take a 7-6 lead and added an eighth run in the third inning. The Mets came back to tie it at 8-8 in the fifth only for Herts to retake the lead in the bottom of that inning with 3 more runs. With darkness gradually setting in, both teams knew that the game can be called at any moment so the Falcons needed to keep that lead at any cost. The Mets scored two in the top of the sixth inning but Abel Salas produced two key strikeouts in the final inning to end the game stranding London’s tying run at third base and securing a win for Herts.

“After such an outstanding comeback in the first game we felt that we missed a good opportunity, but we showed character to respond in the second game especially as the team had to do it without the injured Ryan Bird and it is a positive sign that we have players who can step up in difficult situations with the game on the line” said Herts Falcons Manager, Lee Manning.

by Herts Baseball News Editor

The Show begins this Sunday as Falcons-Mets rivalry resumes

After two seasons of reaching the postseason but missing out on the NBL title, the Falcons are ready to go at it again – will it be third-time-lucky? They open the 2014 NBL season this Sunday, 6 April, against bitter rivals, London Mets, at Grovehill Ballpark in Hemel Hempstead. It’s a doubleheader. First game starts at 1:30pm.

Last weekend’s display of home run power was the boost which Herts fans needed. Cris Hiche launched two against the MK Bucks, going the opposite way for the first one and the second to the deepest part of the ballpark in dead-centerfield. Two of the team’s new acquisitions also went deep. Lefty Abelardo Salas drove the ball over the left-centerfield wall, while a day earlier Jamie Gregory went deep over the left field wall.

There was more good news for the Falcons as starting pitcher, Mike Osborne, made his first appearance on the mound after sustaining an injury earlier in Spring Training. The discomfort from the injury didn’t seem to affect him as he put on another of his solid performances which NBL fans have come to expect from him over the last 15 seasons in which he has accumulated 45 wins and 372 strikeouts.

The second week of HSL games gave the Falcons a chance to field many of the club’s youth team players who are part of the Great Britain U19 and U16 national teams. They put on some very encouraging performances so that would suggest that we may be seeing more of the club’s young talent on the biggest stage in British baseball this season.

Over the last few seasons the series with the Mets have always been tense affairs with an average of one bench-clearing per game. The two clubs have a healthy rivalry which has served both clubs well by motivating them to push harder to improve in every department from on-field competitiveness to infrastructure and grassroots development. This has made them the two biggest clubs in the UK.

Among the Mets to watch out for on Sunday are catcher Grant Delzoppo batting .522 (3rd) with 3 home runs in 2013, pitchers Pietro Sollecito (7-2, ERA 0.95), Julian Somers (5-0) and Sam Sproule (1-1) not forgetting Erick Henson who is always a difficult batter to face.

Pietro Sollecito is expected to start one of the two games and perhaps Sam Sproule the other, however there may be one or two surprises as new players are usually unleashed to unsuspecting opponents at this time of the year.

For the Falcons, it looks as though 2012 home run leader, Dave Tretheway, may not be ready in time to make his return after his ankle operation kept him out for the whole of the 2013 season. Louis Hare is in a similar situation having undergone a broken elbow and knee operations following a football accident. No date has been set for his return yet.

Hot and cold drinks, hot dogs, and other snacks and refreshments will be on sale at the ballpark and with many HSL games scheduled on the same day, the venue is expected to be buzzing with home and away fans. The hope is that the weather will co-operate to make it a truly great occasion as Opening Day always is.

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Blow for Herts as Xavi completes move to Germany

Over the last few weeks the Herts Baseball Club front office has been opening mailboxes with trepidation in anticipation of bad news. A final confirmation of that news came a week or so ago. During the winter period the big clubs in Europe have been holding negotiations with the Herts Falcons 2013 MVP, Xavi Gonzalez. The paperwork has been received and the Falcons shortstop will be wearing the colours of the Stuttgart Reds in 2014.

The 24-year-old Venezuelan joined Herts 12 months ago and played a key role in the very successful 2013 season for the Falcons which saw the team finish top in the regular season standings for the first time in the club’s history, with a winning percentage of .857. His outstanding fielding ability was recognised by the league awarding him the NBL Gold Glove at shortstop. There aren’t many 5-tool players in the world and Gonzalez is one of them. His batting average was .411 and slugging average .712 with 3 home runs which made him the joint-team leader in that category. Defensively he committed only 2 errors. We can add his speed to that with 13 stolen bases.

As one of the best players in the NBL last season it will be difficult for the Falcons to replace a player like Xavi Gonzalez, but this means that there is an opportunity for someone to take his spot in the lineup and become a star just like him. The Opening Day clash with the London Mets is just a few days away so it will be interesting to see who will play in the shortstop position this Sunday.

“Everyone in the club will miss Xavi not just because of his baseball ability, but we will also miss him as a person and because of what he brought off the field” said club president, Aspi Dimitrov. He added: “There aren’t many players who would make a 4-hour round trip from Bournemouth every week for games and training sessions”.

Gonzalez is expected to make his debut for the Stuttgart Reds in the Germand Bundesliga this Sunday at 12pm UK time in their Opening Day game against Heidenheim Heideköpfe. The Reds finished fifth in the South Division with a .500 winning percentage.

So does this transaction carry any significance in terms of the long-term prospects for growth and development of Herts Baseball Club and the British baseball league as a whole? Does this mean that clubs like Herts cannot compete with teams in the Netherlands, Germany and Italy due to their financial superiority? Will all of Britain’s rising stars end up playing under similar professional or semi-professional contracts in these countries? A few years ago the answers to these questions would probably have been pessimistic, but there are signs of a shift in direction in the UK. There is a buzz around the leagues right now and obvious signs that clubs are starting to realize that there is potential to grow the sport and secure a market share similar to the British ice hockey and basketball professional leagues. Front offices are beginning to approach the running of their clubs as a business generating extra income which is then quickly reinvested into baseball infrastructure, grassroots development and promoting the game in the community.

“We are very optimistic that in the next few years we will be able to turn the table and compete financially with the big European leagues. The traffic of players will change direction and we hope that we will be able to see Xavi back in a Herts jersey. This gives us one more reason to push even harder” said Dimitrov.

 

by Herts Baseball News Editor

Week two of HSL reveals player trades ahead of Opening Day

We are starting to see team rosters shaping up in the HSL games as the 2014 baseball season is just days away. The Herts Falcons are being reinforced by new signings Abelardo Salas, Andrew Fulford and Jamie Gregory. Another new arrival, Robert Davis, had an emergency and missed the final pre-season games of the Falcons, so we will have to wait and see if he has done enough to be included in the Herts roster on NBL Opening Day this Sunday, or whether he will start in the minor leagues and look to work his way up in the coming weeks. The Falcons picked up a win against MK Bucks. Cris Hiche hit two homeruns in that game. New signings Salas and Gregory also hit homeruns this weekend, which is exciting news for Herts fans.

British baseball fans would have noticed that the NBL’s 2012 Most Valuable Player, Jarrod Pretorius (pictured right), was wearing a MK Bucks uniform this weekend so there is a question as to which team he is likely to play for this season.

Falcons’ second game ended in a tie against the South London Pirates which was awarded as a win for the Pirates on the “count-back” rule. This was the first opportunity to see the Pirates this Spring and they unveiled an interesting starting pitcher (pictured left). The name of the player was not disclosed but he will certainly cause problems for NBL teams this season with a lively arm.

At the same time news was filtering through from Town Mead Ballpark of a potential shift in the balance of power in the NBL. The rumours are that GB National Team player, Maikel Azcuy, Edwin Alcantara and perhaps one or two other members of the 2013 championship-winning Nationals will be wearing the Arrows uniform this season. Home runs are rare at Town Mead Ballpark, but that didn’t seem to worry Azcuy who launched one in the Arrows’ 14-3 win over London.

In a further blow to the reigning champion Nationals it is being reported that their gold glove-winning catcher, Will Lintern, has made the move to Hove Tuesday.

Bracknell and Southampton have announced several big additions. Catcher James Pearson has joined the Blazers, while the Mustangs will look to go one better this year with the addition of Jose Lopez, Marius Urbanavicius and Steve Petzer. We understand that they have lost their base-running king, Victor Aizpura.

GB Team third-baseman Maikel Azcuy is reported to have made a move to the Essex Arrows

Elsewhere during week two of the HSL the London Marauders produced a staggering comeback as they overcame a 10-run deficit going into the final inning of their HSL game against the Herts Hawks. Some would attribute this partially to the Hawks running out of pitchers at the end, but there is no doubt that the Marauders needed a great deal of clutch hitting to make this possible. The U17 league teams all won. London Mets U17 beta Southampton. The Herts Harriers came out on top in a closely fought 1-run game with the London Musketeers. The Ravens (U19/U17) also picked up a win in their game with Cambridge Royals’ second team.

The unbeaten streak continued for London Mammoths pitcher, John Peters, as his team won convincingly against the Essex Redbacks. The Herts Raptors brought the tying run to the plate but Kent Mariners held on for the win on Saturday.

Click to view the full HSL scoreboard and HSL standings.

The action continues next weekend. 8 HSL games are scheduled at Grovehill Ballpark and they will be followed by the main event, London Mets at Herts Falcons, in their NBL season opening series.

WEAR THE HERTS BASEBALL JERSEY IN 2014

Herts Baseball Club welcomes youth players from 6 to 16 and adult players from 14 to 45+ from complete beginners to experienced ballpalyers. New players can join at any time of the year. For more details on how to give baseball a try contact us.