CEENTA Sights & Sounds of the Week (Aug. 2)
The Intimidators celebrated another strong win on Saturday night followed by fireworks in front of our largest crowd of the season. In today’s Sights & Sounds of the Week, presented by Charlotte Eye, Ear, Nose, and Throat Associates, we’ll take a look at:
+ A strong string of road success
+ Extra innings in Greensboro
+ Bat Dogs
+ JZ’s homecoming
+ Salvaging a split in Lakewood
+ One-Run Wonders
+ Saturday’s big crowd
Road Warriors
The Intimidators started this week on the road in the middle of a seven-game trip. Kannapolis took two of three games in Greensboro (July 22–24) before heading up north to Lakewood, N.J., where the team split a four-game series (July 25–28). The split in Lakewood ended a streak of seven consecutive road series wins, dating back to late May.
May 28–31 — at Hagerstown — won three of four
June 1–3 — at Greenville — took two of three
June 12–15 — at Delmarva — won three of four
June 20–21 — at Greensboro — swept two-game series
July 4–7 — at Augusta — won three of four
July 8–12 — at Charleston — won three of five
July 22–24 — at Greensboro — won two of three
Yes, seven consecutive road series wins. In that stretch, the Intimidators went 18–7 away from Kannapolis, a .720 winning percentage. The team has improved to 28–22 on the road this season, the third-best road record in the South Atlantic League this season behind Hickory (30–20) and Augusta (31–24).
The Intimidators capped this string of winning road series by taking the first two games in Greensboro, including a 15-inning affair on July 23. It was the longest game of the season. A look at the extra innings fun from Twitter…
By the way, the following day in Greensboro, a few of their players participated in a cow-milking contest. Um… what?
Bat Dog Hijinx
The Grasshoppers have employed at dogs since 2006 when Miss Babe Ruth first joined the squad as a young pup. Now a old gal, this is the final season that Miss Babe Ruth will serve as an official bat dog for the Hoppers. I’m sure, however, that she’ll still be around the front office so long as Donald is still there. That said, her heir-apparent LouLou Gehrig still have some learning to do as we saw….
Ziznewski’s Homecoming
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Whenever the Intimidators hit Lakewood, N.J., players from the Northeast will typically have family and friends come down to see the games. New Jersey is the closest a lot of these guys will get to home, and this year in addition to guys like Connor Walsh (Pennsylvania) and Ryan Plourde (Connecticut) have family make the trip of their corners of the northeast down to the Garden State, no one on the Intimidators had more of a following than Staten Island native John Ziznewski during the trip.
Over the four days to start this week, JZ had over 150 people come out to see him play, including over 60 on Monday. The only time that many people come see a guy play Minor League Baseball is a Major Leaguer on a rehab assignment. It was pretty cool hearing the cheers as he stepped to the plate.
Springsteen Night
By the way, Saturday night in Lakewood was Bruce Springsteen Night, so in addition to tweets like these, my game recap was all out. I suggest you check it out.
The Historic String of Road Success
Let’s put this string of road success into perspective:
Kannapolis last won four consecutive road series in early 2014, taking two of three in Hickory (April 15–16), sweeping three games at West Virginia (April 21–23), claiming three of four in Rome (April 24–27), and sweeping two games in Lakewood (May 7–8).
The last time the Intimidators won five straight road series, it spanned the end of the 2008 season and into 2009. That went:
August 11–14, 2008 — at Asheville — won three of four
August 15–18, 2008 — at Hickory — won three of four
Aug. 29-Sept. 1, 2008 — at West Virginia — won three of five
April 13–16, 2009 — at Lexington — won three of four
April 17–20, 2009 — at Bowling Green — won three of four
In fact, the only other streak that comes close is a run from August 2007 into early 2008 in which Kannapolis won six straight road series during a run of nine straight road series without a losing set from August 1, 2007, to May 2, 2008. The Intimidators opened August 2007 by taking three of four games in Delmarva then splitting a four-game series in Lakewood. The next time the I’s hit the road, they went:
August 17–20, 2007 — at Savannah — won three of four
August 21–23, 2007 — at Asheville — won two of three
August 30–31, 2007 — at Greensboro — swept two games
April 3–6, 2008 — at Greenville — won three of four
April 15–18, 2008 — at Augusta — won three of four
April 22–23, 2008 — at Greensboro — swept two games
The Intimidators followed that run by splitting a four-game series at Lakewood, so nine straight road series without a loss. That’s the bar the 2015 squad has a chance to match when it next hits the road with commuters to Greensboro and Hickory next week.
Beyond that, there is no available data. The Minor League Baseball stat portal goes back to 2005 with game-by-game results. What we do know is this: the Intimidators are on a run the likes of which we haven’t seen in nearly a decade.
Power Surge
Kannapolis has not been much of a home-run hitting team this year, but the I’s have enjoyed a recent surge of power at the plate.
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In the team’s last 10 games, the Intimidators have hit five home runs, including the one in the highlight above by Brett Austin. John Ziznewski, Cody Daily, and Alexander Simon (who hit two) have all gotten in on the action.
One Run Wonders
The Intimidators won yet another game by one run on Friday, capped by a Ziznewski walk-off single. Kannapolis has been the best in the Minor Leagues in one-run games this season.
[milbvideo id=”320171883" width=”400" height=”224" /]
Strong Saturday
Kannapolis capped the week with a 7–4 win over the Grasshoppers in front of 4,551 — the largest crowd (by one fan) this season. The Intimidators drew 4,550 to the ballpark on April 22 for our annual Education Day. Here are a few pictures of the packed house.
