Today's 4-2 Lynx win boxscore, play-by-play drew some attention to cleanup man Gary Burnham's pursuit of a couple club marks.
Burnham's game-tying RBI double in the fourth and the bases-full walk he drew in the seventh — Buffalo lefty Rich Rundles (2-4) handled out free passes like he was the L.A. Galaxy's ticket manager, walking five straight to force in the winning runs — brought him up to 75 RBI, ten away from Shane Andrews' club record set in 1994.
(See? The Rich are almost the most generous. Five straight walks? That was ballsy.)
RBI are an overrated stat, but a club record is a club record and Burnham by all accounts is a deserving kind of guy. He has 14 games (10 against Syracuse's struggling pitching staff) to tie or beat the mark, so if the top of the order — that means you, Javon Moran, Joe Thurston and Jason Jaramillo — can get on base for him, there's an outside chance.
Burnham's on-base percentage was .389 entering today and he pushed it up a couple points by getting on base three times in four plate appearances. Does anyone know what the Lynx single-season record is and what constitutes a full season (i.e., minimum number of plate appearances to qualify for the IL batting title)?
Jack Cust, now thriving with the Oakland A's had a .422 OBP in 2003, a season where he appeared in only 97 games and had less than three plate appearances per team game played. The '02 Lynx, the last one to make the playoffs, had Endy Chavez and Joe Vitiello put up respective OBPs of .392 and .390.
Burnham's double was his 31st — seven off the club mark set by Luis Ortiz in that '02 playoff season. Matching that is a longshot.
Geoff Geary (2-1) got the win today with a couple scoreless frames. The Lynx (51-78) will likely get the franchise's 1,000th win during the eight-game, seven-day road trip that begins tomorrow with a doubleheader in Syracuse.
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What a great day to be at the ballpark. Great weather, excellent attendance (by Lynx standards ), very good game and my 4 year old prizes the foul ball he caught ( found ).
Gary Burnham has proven a lot this year, namely that he can hit at the Triple A level, big time....TV reporters from CJOH, A Channel and CBC all at the game. I overheard Dan Seguin talking to some fans and he said he was working on an "end of season" piece for next week. I suspect in the next few weeks we'll have plenty "end of" pieces....I knocked the Phillies for not replenishing the Lynx roster with vet /4A type players after they lost Calloway, Collier & Mazzone but they do deserve credit for bringing in vet Gookie Dawkins, very good addition to the Lynx....Thurston, excellent game, again...why wasn't Rundles yanked?...Rouse was brutal in the field...one time and still? uber prospect 3B Andy Marte ( centrepiece in deals for both Renteria in 05 & Crisp in 06 ) HR was one of the hardest hit balls I saw this season at Lynx Stadium....CF Brian Barton ( recently promoted from AA & # 5 Indians prospect this offseason re. Baseball America ) made a weak throw to third trying to get Thurston who had tagged up on a fly ball to medium centre but also made a nice running catch in left centre off Jim Rushford.....RH Adam Miller pitched in relief ( he did earlier in the series as well ), he started the season as one of the elite SP prospects at AAA ( # 1 Indians prospect re. Baseball America ). Is this a long term role for him? or are the Indians nursing him back from injury trouble?.....Keith Ginter played 1B for Buffalo, he hit 33 HR combined in 03 & 04 for the Brewers in a 2B/3B role. Another guy at Triple A who is a victim of the 12 & 13 man staff. No surprise he is adding 1B to his repertoire...Shin Soo Choo, a pretty good prospect ( I thought he would spend most of the year in Cleveland ), got hurt and is struggling...who is Mulhern? good numbers...Francisco good year....Ennis, Geary & Sanches outstanding today...
For the first time this season I felt kinda wistful, man oh man I will miss this.
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