ChiefsVoice

A big thank you to all of the minor league fans out there, especially the ones who visited O'Brien Field in our record breaking 2005 season, listened on the internet or checked out the website. We appreciate your support and feedback. From all the players who were with the Chiefs this season to my fellow front office employees, thanks for your support on the field and off as well (jersey auctions, getting the word out, etc). I will be stopping by throughout the off season so please keep the questions coming in the thread and I will get to them as often as I can. When the prospect handbook comes out and when we get scoops on our coaches/rosters, NSBB will be the first place I come with the news after I take care of my job responsibilities. Thanks again for listening and for asking great questions all season long, I appreciate the support and look forward to an even better 2006! Nathan

Gallagher's Day By Day...it didnt copy perfectly and is kind of jumbled, but here it is! DATE G# OPP H/R DEC GS GF CG IP AB TBF H R ER HR BB SO WP BK 04/08/2005 1 WIS R W 1 5.2 20 20 4 1 0 0 0 6 0 0 04/14/2005 1 CLI H L 1 5.0 19 23 4 3 0 0 1 3 0 0 04/20/2005 1 CED R 1 6.0 20 22 0 2 0 0 2 8 0 0 04/26/2005 1 WMI R W 1 6.1 20 23 2 0 0 0 1 10 0 0 05/01/2005 1 KCC H 1 6.0 18 20 0 0 0 0 2 10 0 0 05/06/2005 1 KCC R 1 6.0 18 23 2 1 0 0 3 4 1 0 05/11/2005 1 BEL R W 1 7.0 27 27 5 1 1 1 0 6 0 0 05/16/2005 1 BUR H W 1 7.0 23 24 3 1 1 0 1 8 0 0 05/22/2005 1 DAY R 1 5.0 22 25 8 3 3 0 2 5 0 0 05/27/2005 1 CLI R W 1 6.0 20 22 3 0 0 0 2 8 1 0 06/01/2005 1 SWM R W 1 5.1 20 24 6 1 1 0 3 4 0 0 06/06/2005 1 LAN H 1 3.2 15 21 6 3 3 0 5 3 0 0 06/11/2005 1 BEL H W 1 5.0 20 25 6 3 3 0 3 3 0 0 06/17/2005 1 QC H L 1 7.0 22 25 3 2 2 1 1 4 0 0 06/27/2005 1 CED H W 1 7.0 22 23 2 0 0 0 1 5 1 0 07/02/2005 1 BUR H 1 5.0 17 19 3 2 2 0 2 1 0 0 07/07/2005 1 KCC H L 1 7.0 26 27 6 3 3 1 1 3 0 0 07/13/2005 1 BUR R W 1 5.0 16 20 2 2 2 0 3 4 1 0 07/18/2005 1 CED H W 1 6.0 21 25 6 3 3 0 1 10 0 0 07/24/2005 1 LAN R L 1 1.2 10 15 5 6 6 1 5 3 0 0 07/30/2005 1 FTW R W 1 6.0 23 25 5 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 08/04/2005 1 KCC R W 1 6.0 18 23 4 3 1 1 4 2 0 0 08/09/2005 1 CLI R W 1 5.0 19 24 5 2 2 1 4 5 0 0 08/16/2005 1 SOU R L 1 4.1 15 21 4 5 5 2 5 3 0 0 08/21/2005 1 QC R 1 4.2 24 29 10 6 6 2 2 8 0 0 08/28/2005 1 WMI H W 1 7.1 24 25 3 0 0 0 1 8 1 0 W-L-S ERA GP IP H AB AVG TBF R ER HR BB SO WP BK Total 14-5-0 2.71 26 146.0 107 519 .206 600 53 44 10 55 139 5 0 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Away Games 9-2-0 3.04 15 80.0 65 292 .223 343 33 27 8 36 81 3 0 Home Games 5-3-0 2.32 11 66.0 42 227 .185 257 20 17 2 19 58 2 0 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- April 2-1-0 0.00 4 23.0 10 79 .127 88 6 0 0 4 27 0 0 May 3-0-0 1.22 6 37.0 21 128 .164 141 6 5 1 10 41 2 0 June 3-1-0 2.89 5 28.0 23 99 .232 118 9 9 1 13 19 1 0 July 3-2-0 4.70 6 30.2 27 113 .239 131 16 16 2 12 26 1 0 August 3-1-0 4.61 5 27.1 26 100 .260 122 16 14 6 16 26 1 0 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Starter 14-5-0 2.71 26 146.0 107 519 .206 600 53 44 10 55 139 5 0 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- IP H AB AVG TBF HR 3B 2B BB SO GB FLY RA ER ERA vs Left 61.2 48 221 .217 262 4 2 12 37 59 51 66 20 2.92 vs Right 84.1 59 298 .198 338 6 1 8 18 80 94 74 24 2.56 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Leading Off 36.0 26 136 .191 150 0 0 3 10 32 44 32 0 0.00 Bases Empty 85.1 63 326 .193 365 5 1 11 32 94 89 73 5 0.53 Bases Loaded 3.0 2 10 .200 12 0 0 1 0 2 0 7 6 18.00 Scoring Position 38.0 23 122 .189 144 2 1 4 10 27 33 51 29 6.87 risp w/ 2 outs 16.2 8 56 .143 63 1 0 2 6 12 14 21 8 4.32 Runners On 60.2 44 193 .228 235 5 2 9 23 45 56 67 39 5.79 runners ON w/ 2 outs 24.2 16 85 .188 97 3 1 4 10 24 21 23 14 5.11 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- First Inning 26.0 22 94 .234 110 1 1 6 12 26 23 26 12 4.15 Second Inning 25.2 17 90 .189 107 1 1 1 15 22 30 22 8 2.81 Third Inning 25.0 17 83 .205 104 1 0 4 11 29 19 24 7 2.52 Fourth Inning 24.2 24 90 .267 99 3 0 4 5 20 23 26 9 3.28 Fifth Inning 23.0 16 86 .186 93 3 1 2 5 20 28 20 6 2.35 Sixth Inning 15.0 7 52 .135 60 1 0 3 4 15 17 14 2 1.20 Seventh Inning 6.1 4 23 .174 25 0 0 0 2 6 5 8 0 0.00 Eighth Inning 0.1 0 1 .000 2 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0.00 Ninth Inning 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -.--

I didnt get an update on Alberto after the end of July. The original prognosis was that he would be out for 8-10 months so if thats accurate then he would just be getting ready to go at Spring training so I would guess they don't have a plan for him. He was/is a very solid hitter at .316. But 1 home run in a half won't cut it at first base or third base which are his 2 natural positions. His defense was improving but not stellar. I will be heading out to Arizona to visit form friends in early October and I plan on meeting up with our coaches and trainer from this year so I will see if I can get any more info on Alberto.

Full-A is clearly way better than college. But that's not relevant, IMO, to the Fuld question. If Fuld skips one level and jumps to AA at age 24, and that's too much for him and he struggles, I would conclude that he really isn't going to be a significant big-leaguer anyway. If he can't handle that jump at that age, after hitting .320+ for the past three months, he probably isn't good enough to be a significant major leaguer. AFter hitting .320+ for the past three months, I'd think he probably is well ready to advance to AA and perform well. And if he does so, that would confirm that he can be legitimatlely viewed as a genuine prospect. Obviously he can go one step, but if it's 23 at low A, 24 at high A, 25 in AA, 26 in AAA, and 27 before he reaches the majors, that would be one of the oldest major league rookies I know of. I can't think of more than one or two position players who were rookies at age 27, and who ended up being quality starting players. Some fringe guys, yes, but not many asset starters. Most likely Fuld will never be good enough to be a quality starting player. But if he's going to be an asset regular starter down the line, then I assume he'd be able to move more quickly. That's one extreme, obviously. Certainly he can start in Daytona next year, and get promoted mid-year. Then he could begin 2007/age-25 in AA and promote mid-year to Iowa, or begin 2007/age-25 at Iowa. But I guess I'd like to see him producing well at Iowa by 2007/age 25 by mid-season at least, and preferably from the start of the season. Fuld and Harvey seem like totally different cases. Fuld seems to have an advanced eye, remarkable contact guy (<10% K rate), and I have assumed (without really knowing) that he's a pretty polished defensive player. Given his contact profile, I'd guess that he's already able to handle breaking stuff pretty well, and doesn't have any major holes in his swing that are going to get exploited. Given his K/BB profile, I'm assuming he already has an eye for the strike zone. So I guess I don't see why AA would really be too much for him, or exactly what he'll need years of minor-league development to develop or learn. Harvey, different story. He needs to get a clue about what the strike-zone is like. He needs to get an idea of how to recognize breaking pitches. He needs to learn how to keep his stroke consistent. He needs to learn how to put the bat on the ball. He needs to learn how to balance his swing, and how to get the most out of his power without missing the ball all the time. He'll probably never be able to learn all that stuff, but if he is going to learn all that stuff, at best it's going to take him a long, long time. Certainly giving him even a single step may be too much (see Dopirak), and given that he has so much trouble putting the bat on even low-A pitching, he's going to need to improve a lot or he'll get massacred by high-A and certainly AA pitching. On Fuld - If you send him to AA in 2006, who doesn't get to go there and has to repeat Daytona? Chris Walker? .284/6/57 60 SB this year... Kevin Collins? .265/18/52....or JJ Johnson? .261/10/50... I'm just not sure there is a slot for him to start at AA. Then again a lot can happen personnel wise before April. Glad I dont have to make those calls! As for Harvey, there are a lot of major leaguers with no clue on the strike zone (Sosa, Adam Dunn, Sexson, Glaus, Jenkins, Patterson, etc). Ryan doesn't have nearly as many holes as you think he does. He is headed to instructs and between that and next spring they will help him a lot and I expect a big 2006 from Ryan at Daytona and West Tenn

Jerry Blevins. He was taking care of my sunglasses and cleaning them. I thought it might be coming sometime over the weekend but not then because i had team president Rocky Vonachen on air with me. Turns out he was in on it as well though the plan was hatched by our strength guy Mitch Poche with aid from Trainer Matt Johnson and Julio Garcia. We did break the attendance record. One of those 2 rainout we got to count because we opened gates and played 2 innings. So we got the suspended game and QC got the regularly scheduled game. There is a piece on the record breakers on the team website but we went from 254,407 to 256,612!!!! And if i do get a share (which i dont), i havent seen it yet!

I'll work on this tomorrow. My scorebook is still at the stadium

Yep. it probably will take him more than 3 full years unless you guys don't expect Pie, Murton, Greenberg, Walker, Harvey, Montanez or Bacon to make it in the next three years...There are a lot of Cubs OF Prospects and only 3 OF spots not to mention the fact that there are 3 others up there right now... and who defines an age appropriate level? I've seen 19 year olds both blow through the MWL and struggle at the MWL. I've also seen 24-25 year olds struggle here and then somehow flip a switch at High A the next season and make the majors...and I've seen 22-23 year olds make the MWL look simple and then flat out suck and flame out at AA... The point is that each individual is different and must be handled differently in regards to where they go and how fast they move. That's why they have Director of Player Developments and a lot of rovers and assistants...

I guess I just dont agree that he has to move quickly. He can easily start 2006 at Daytona and end at West Tenn. This was just his 1st year of pro ball. Same with Eric. There is a huge MYTH on this board and elsewhere that the MWL is the same as college ball and that is just a joke. Ask anyone who has played NCAA baseball and they will tell you that the competition at Low A is a lot better. Going 1 step at a time is fine and better than jumping someone to AA having them struggle, sending them back down to Daytona and killing their confidence and wasting a year.

Unfortunately no. If gas were about $1.50 less a gallon then i would have considered it but I am also in a wedding in the Chicago area on Saturday which I wasn't sure I'd be able to attend but since we missed the playoffs I'll be there... I will be listening to Ron tonight though as i sit on my couch watching the Cards-Cubs and Agassi-Blake...it is very nice to veg out in front of the tube for once! And I did talk to Eric today and he is excited about the series against Carolina. He asked all about our final weekend here and wished he had been here to add more shaving cream to my attack from Saturday night!

Thanks! I was very impressed by Blackford. However, he threw 57 pitches and 51 of them were fastballs so I'd really have liked to see another pitch or two. But having said that, he shut down the best offense in the league over 5 innings with just a fastball that was 90-92. Guzman got hit hard on Monday. He was encouraged though. I talked to him after the game and he was happy with his performace. He made a mistake on the HR but his fastball was good and he had more command with the curve than he did on Tuesday. Berg's command on Monday was very sharp. He ran out of gas in the 9th inning but was very good through his first 3 innings. He moved the ball in and out and up and down. I expect he could be at the front of Peoria's rotation in 2006 along with Blackford. (and hopefully Pawelek!)

Thanks for the compliment. I wish it wasnt the last broadcast either, im so fricking bored!

I dont think we will see Sam jump two spots. Unless he has a phenomenal spring, I expect to see Fuld and Harvey make up 2/3's of the Daytona outfield in 2006...just my opinion.

Murton at WT vs RHP: AB/AVG/HR/RBI/SLG/OBP/BB/K 196/.332/4/40/.459/.388/18/26 LHP: AB/AVG/HR/RBI/SLG/OBP/BB/K 117/.349/4/16/.564/.414/11/16 at Iowa vs RHP AB/AVG/HR/RBI/SLG/OBP/BB/K 25/.280/0/2/.440/.379/2/6 vs. LHP AB/AVG/HR/RBI/SLG/OBP/BB/K 9/.556/1/1/.889/.417/2/2

Make that 14-1 on the back to back to back jacks off Hyle...Aaron Smith now pitching...67 MPH knuckler

hey Jon, nice plaques of Eric and Ron! Those look great. If you need any photos of guys who have been in peoria this year to play around with let me know via PM or email and i can get you some nice action shots of Harvey, Gallagher, Johnson, montanez, etc

Awesome. Great job on the poll guys and congrats to Eric whom it was a pleasure not only to watch play every day but to also get to know at a person. The above comment does not surprise me one bit. It fits right in with Eric.

I know I got some emails and PMs from some of you asking what items would be up for silent auction at games this week with all money going to the Hurricane Relief fund. We will have 4 Black Ryan Harvey signed bats (1 a day) 4 Cubs 1945 replica jerseys we wore in july all team signed (1 a day) 1 Metallica jersey team signed in silver. 4 Team signed white bats (1 per day) Signed baseballs from Ryan Harvey, Grant Johnson, Sam Fuld, Mike Billek Angel Guzman and team signed balls. We also have signed balls for Saturday night from Nomar Garciaparra, Kerry Wood, Bob Gibson, Rick Ankiel and the 2002 Championship Chiefs Team. In addition we have other assorted memorabilia includes a leather Bradley University jacket, 4 tickets to the Cubs-Astros game at Wrigley Field September 25th and Chiefs packages. Thanks in advance for all your help as we try to help the Hurricance victims in the SouthEast.

and check in on the Chiefs game too!!!! :D

yep he earned it. plus he was on a 100 pitch count and Larsen fouled off 4 pitches in the last at-bat and Aselton finished at 101 pitches. Of course it helped that we are 0-11 with RISP tonight and 2-29 in the series (OUCH)

Yes. He started at 105.1 so he finishes at the minimum 112 innings. His ERA is 2.49 which wins the ERA title. Sean will finish 3rd. Aselton has been here all year. This was his 41st appearance, 10th start.

Sorry it took me so long to get this answer, but thanks to the good folks at the Peoria Journal Star, especially our beat writer Ryan Ori who tracked down a photo, the answer is: 12

PEORIA, IL— The Peoria Chiefs, have announced they will unveil a statue of Peoria’s Mr. Baseball, Pete Vonachen prior to the 2:00 PM game against South Bend on Sunday September 4th. The statue was presented Wednesday night at Pete’s 80th birthday celebration in Peoria and will be permanently placed inside the front gate at O’Brien Field. The statue was commissioned by Peoria’s Lonnie Stewart and it depicts Pete bending over to hand a baseball to a young fan. The unveiling ceremony will take place at 1:30 PM on Sunday and the statue will be inside the front gate by the first section of seats walking straight into O’Brien Field. Pete celebrated his 80th birthday on Wednesday August 31st with a celebration in Peoria that benefited Crittenden Center. Pete Vonachen has long been associated with baseball in Peoria and helped bring the Chiefs to Peoria in the 1980s. He purchased the team in September 1983, renamed the team the Chiefs and set up an affiliation with the Chicago Cubs. He made national headlines by sitting on top of the clubhouse during a 20 game suspension and was often talked about on Cubs broadcasts by good friend Harry Caray. In 1992, the stadium the Chiefs called home was renamed Pete Vonachen Stadium. After selling the team in the late 1980s, Pete led a group to re-purchase the Chiefs in 1994 and set up an affiliation with the St. Louis Cardinals. He served as the Chiefs General Manager and President until 1998 when he son Rocky took over the day to day operations. Vonachen delivered the eulogy at the funeral for Harry Caray in Chicago in February 1998 which was broadcast on WGN. The efforts of Pete, Rocky and the other Chiefs investors led to the opening of O’Brien Field in 2002 and the street in front of the stadium was renamed Pete Vonachen Way.

After both tossed 3plus innings, Guzman and Berg will now piggyback in the season finale. Blackford (arrived today) into rotation and Billek moved back a day... Thursday Sep 1 @ BEL: RH Grant Johnson vs. LH Kyle Aselton 7:00 PM Friday Sep 2 vs. SB: RH Jesse Estrada vs. RH Ross Ohlendorf 7:00 PM Saturday Sep 3 vs SB: RH Todd Blackford vs. RH Koley Kolberg 6:30 PM Sunday Sep 4 vs SB: RH Mike Billek vs. RH Chris Kinsey 2:00 PM Monday Sep 5 vs. SB: RH Angel Guzman & RH Justin Berg vs. RH Steven Jackson 2:00 PM

He was clearly nervous and his control was not on. He throws hard though which is good, just missed the zone and fell behind in counts. Didnt really get hit hard but the walks really hurt. He throws a fastball, a fastball with sink, slider and change. He also threw two wild pitches which I think had a lot to do with having not worked with the catcher before. His mound presence was encouraging and I predict a much better outing on Monday.

Bid on Grace Suite for Sunday's Game; Money Goes to Red Cross Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund This is your chance to help a good cause and also enjoy Peoria Chiefs baseball with 20 people from the Suite level. The Peoria Chiefs, NEXTEL and AAA Radio are proud to offer the Mark Grace Suite for this Sunday's (Sep 3) Peoria Chiefs-South Bend Silver Hawks game which begins at 2:00 PM with gates opening at 1:00 PM. http://www.peoriachiefs.com The winning bidder will receive the use of the Mark Grace Suite for the game along with 20 tickets. The Suite will be stocked with snacks and non-alcoholic beverages. All 20 people will also receive a Peoria Chiefs/NEXTEL party pack. The bid will start at $200 and increase in increments of $10. Bidding will close at 9:00 PM (Central Time) on Friday September 2nd. All money raised will go to the American Red Cross Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund! All fans who donate $10 or more at any remaining Chiefs game will receive a voucher good for one free ticket to an April or May Chiefs game next season. The Chiefs will set up various donation buckets around the stadium starting Friday when the team takes on South Bend at 7:00 PM. In addition, the Chiefs will have items available in silent auction format at all four games. The Chiefs will auction items signed by current and former Chiefs and include baseballs, bats and hopefully jerseys. The team will also have signed baseballs from Nomar Garciaparra and Kerry Wood available for auction. All of the money from the auctions will go to the Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund.