The Binghamton Buzz

Ramblings from Henry and Fayette Streets

 

The Week That Was: April 16th to April 23rd

The B-Mets began the week with a three game set in Manchester, New Hampshire against the Fisher Cats.  They lost two of three against the Cats, their only win coming on Tuesday night, a 10-6 final with Collin McHugh earning his second win of the season.  The team made the long drive home after their loss on Wednesday night, arriving back in Binghamton in the wee hours of the morning on Thursday.  A four game set was on tap for the Mets against the Portland Sea Dogs beginning Thursday night.  Being home worked wonders for the B-Mets as they swept the Sea Dogs in four games, outscoring their opponent 26-8.  As the weekend ended, the B-Mets found themselves with a 9-7 record and in third place in the Eastern Leagues Eastern Division, 2 1/2 games behind frontrunner New Britain.  Rylan Sandoval made the most of his callup from St. Lucie on Monday, going 3/9 with two triples, a double, six RBI’s and two runs scored.  Collin McHugh picked up his second win of the week on Sunday, and in eleven innings pitched this past week he gave up only two runs, on six hits, while striking out twelve and walking four.

 

Player Profile: Catcher, Kai Gronauer

With ‘Generation K, Part Two’ making their way through the Mets organization, catcher Kai Gronauer has had a unique vantage point in watching their development.  Gronauer, in his fourth season within the Mets organization, has had the opportunity to catch for pitching prospects Matt Harvey and Jeurys Familia last season, as well as Zach Wheeler this season, as a member of the Binghamton Mets.

The 25-year-old native of Solingen, Germany was signed in 2008 as a non-drafted free agent.  At the time of his signing, Gronauer was considered the best player in the Baseball-Bundesliga as a member of the Solingen Alligators.  Baseball-Bundesliga is Germany’s top baseball league, and Gronauer’s former team in Solingen has been a member of the league since 2003.

After signing with the Mets organization, Gronauer progressed through the ranks, making it from the Gulf Coast Mets to Binghamton in three seasons, with stops in Savannah and St. Lucie along the way.  In 2011, while playing for the Binghamton Mets against the Portland Sea Dogs at Fenway Park in Boston, it was Gronauer’s three run shot over the Green Monster in the top of the 11^th that was the difference in the B-Mets 6-4 win.

In 2012, Gronauer has appeared in 6 games with the B-Mets, catching  Darin Gorski for two of his starts (both starts Gorski allowed one hit in six innings pitched), Greg Peavey for two starts (one of which was during his EL Pitcher of the Week time period), and Mark Cohoon and Zach Wheeler for a start a piece.  On the season he’s batting .200, with one double to his credit.

Quote of the Week

This week’s quote comes from the “Department of Things You Won’t Hear Matt den Dekker Say When He’s In the Show”.  Thursday the 19^th (after the team made the seven hour drive back to Binghamton from Manchester, New Hampshire) Matt tweeted:  “There is literally a rooster crowing outside.  Please stop.” Hopefully someone was able to find Matt the number for the City of Binghamton animal control officer, and he could get some much needed rest in after a long bus ride back ‘home’.

Did you know?

The entire New York Mets starting lineup for their game against the San Francisco Giants on Saturday, April 22^nd at one time or another played in Binghamton.  This includes left fielder Jason Bay, who was a member of the 2002 Binghamton Mets until he was dealt to the San Diego Padres (along with Josh Reynolds and Bobby Jones) at the trade deadline for Jason Middlebrook.  Other notable teammates of Bay on the 2002 B-Mets squad included Heath Bell, Aaron Heilman, and Jose Reyes.

Atty Report

In their first nine games played at home last season, the B-Mets total attendance was 20,389 for an average of 2,265 per game.  In comparison, the B-Mets have had 17,654 fans come through the turnstiles in 2012, for an average of 1,962 per game in their first nine games, which computes to a 13% decrease over last season.