Dramatic! John Gall announces his retirement

Before last night's season-ending win over Omaha, John Gall announced his retirement from professional baseball.

After hitting a sacrifice fly in his final at-bat of the game in the seventh inning, Gall stopped just in front of home plate on the third base line on the way back to the dugout and removed his cleats. He then walked over and hung them on the dugout railing as he was greeted with a standing ovation from the crowd. After a series of hugs and handshakes from his teammates, he came back out for one more curtain call...

...Over the course of a 10-year minor league career, Gall batted .293 in more than 1,100 games and nearly 4,200 plate appearances. He was named an Eastern League and a Double-A All-Star and was voted as one of the most virtuous players in the St. Louis system by his teammates.

Fare thee well, John Gall.

Eddie's Farm: July 16

Eddie's Farm goes 3-4 last night as everyone plays...

Round Rock
The Express scored five runs in the 7th to take a 5-4 lead, but OKC got one back in the top of the 8th, and the Express ultimately fell in 14 to Oklahoma City 7-5. Lots of ABs to go around, John Gall was 3x6 and Bogusevic, Manzella, and Yordany got two hits each. Manzella was The Man though, getting a 2-out grand slam in the 8th. McLemore threw 6IP, 8H/4ER, 4K:0BB, Geary threw a scoreless 7th. Casey Daigle gave up the 8th inning run, and Jeremy Johnson got the loss in a 4IP, 3H/2ER outing on OKC's C Kevin Richardson's second homer of the game.

Corpus Christi
Corpus got two in the 8th and one in the 9th - a walk-off - to defeat Frisco 3-2. Jhon Florentino and Mitch Einertson had two hits each. Drew Locke and Jason Castro got RBI singles to tie the game with two outs in the 8th, and Einertson's second hit scored Collin DeLome for the walk-off. Wilton Lopez threw 6IP, 6H/2ER, 4K:0BB and Erick Abreu pushed his record to 3-0, giving up a hit and a walk in 3IP for the win.

Lancaster
Jon Gaston was a double short of the cycle in a 3x4, 2RBI game as the JetHawks whooped High Desert 9-4. Jack Shuck went 3x4, while Clemens, Cabral, Barnes, and Corrado each had two hits. Clemens had 3RBI and Brandon Barnes had a couple of RBIs himself. Leandro Cespedes threw 5IP, 3H/2ER, 5K:2BB. Also of note: Lancaster manager Wes Clements got tossed by the 1st base umpire in the 8th. Hooray!

Lexington
Delmarva is a buzz-saw, and Lexington is running squarely through it, with the Delmarva Delmarvas getting four runs in the 6th for a 5-2 win over the Legends. Two hits each from Jay Austin and Michael Diaz accounted for most of the Legends' seven hits. Robert Bono got the loss with 5IP, 10H/5ER, 2K:0BB. Arcenio Leon (whoop whoop whoop) threw 2.1IP, didn't give up a hit, but walked four batters.

Tri-City
Erik Castro is starting to come around for the ValleyCats, hitting a 2-run shot in the 2nd inning as the ValleyCats beat State College 6-5 in 10 innings. Nick Stanley doubled in the bottom of the 10th (Ben Orloff running), Jake Goebbert was HBP, Castro sac'ed both runners over. State College reliever Marc Baca intentionally walked J.D. Martinez (a wise move) to load the bases, and with pinch-hitter Brian Kemp up, Baca threw a WP that scored Orloff. Let's hear it for walk-off WPs! Two hits from Wikoff, Dixon, Castro and Renzo Tello paced the ValleyCats. Brandt Walker got the start with 4IP, 3H/2ER, 4K:1BB, followed by 3IP of scoreless relief from Justin Fearnow and Antonio Noguera. Scott Migl and J.B. MacDonald gave up 3ER in 2IP, and Brendan Stines recorded the win with a scoreless 10th.

Greeneville
Greeneville took a 7-6 lead into the bottom of the 9th at Johnson City, and then got the Johnson as they scored twice in the bottom of the inning for an 8-7 win. Jonathan Meyer got hisself a 2-run double - his 4th of the season - while Oscar Figueroa was 2x3 with three runs, a solo homer, and 2RBI. Jose Cisnero threw 4IP, 7H/4ER, Dan Sarisky gave up 2ER in 2IP, and Nathan Pettus gave up a 2-run walk off homer in the bottom of the 9th for the loss.

GCL Astros
Rough night for the Gastros as they lose to the GCL Marlins 15-2. Nestor Santana got two of the Gastros' five hits. Three more errors led to three unearned runs. Euris Quezada gave up 6ER in 4IP for his 4th loss, and an ERA of 9.64.

YotD: May 26

Only two games in the Astros farm system last night. Let's get to it:

Round Rock
The Express spotted Yorman Bazardo six runs in the first two innings as Bazardo threw 8IP, allowing 3H/0ER with 6K:1BB against Salt Lake last night. 75 of his 112 pitches were for strikes, while Yordany Ramirez - hitting 8th - was the only Expresser (Expressite? Express?) to not get a hit. Saccomanno, Johnson, and Abercrombie each contributed 2RBI to the cause in an 8-1 win. Brian Bogusevic had three hits, while Manzella, Towles, Gall, Abercrombie and Johnson had two hits each.

Lexington
Ross Seaton (5IP) and Henry Villar (4IP) combined for a 4-1 win over Savannah, striking out seven and walking none. Lexington hitters got five doubles while Michael Diaz knocked in two runs.

At what point is it okay to talk about having Jason Smith check out what the Hill Country has to offer?

The stats are brutal:

0x20 (two sacrifices though), so 0x18
0x5 with men on
0x4 with RISP

Last night in the bottom of the 11th, with 0 out and Hunter Pence on first base, Jason Smith nutted two bunt attempts and then couldn't get it done to push Pence to 2nd base.

Is three weeks too early to talk about sending him to The Rock?

Edwin Maysonet at Round Rock is hitting 9x27, .333/.471/.407 with 7K:7BB
John Gall is hitting 18x59, .305/.391/.475, with 2HR-10RBI, 8K:9BB

If Jason Smith comes up to bat - at any point in the game - what is your first reaction? Maybe this should be a factor...

So how did Moehler do?

The guy who Paulino replaced? Brian Moehler? Yeah, he threw almost as many pitches in Round Rock tonight (77) than he had to this point in the season for the Astros (82).

It's a game still in progress, but Mohler went 4IP, 3H/1ER, 0K:3BB in his first rehab start for Round Rock. The Express spotted him six runs in the 1st.

So far, four doubles by the Express - Gall, Yordany, Abercrombie, Kata - and Ramirez has a 2x4 night going to raise his average to .348.

Minor League Roundup

Some days, as time allows, we'll take a look at the Minor Leaguers and see how those guys are doing. Some days we won't. That's the hook. You'll just have to keep coming back. Astros County is now getting over 120 hits a day, which after five months and no marketing budget, is pretty awesome - so thanks for your support. Tell a friend.

Round Rock
Arias gave up 2ER in 3IP to raise lower his ERA to 10.13 in a 4-1 loss to New Orleans. Bogusevic got two hits while John Gall cracked a double and Manzella hit a triple. Yordany Ramirez is hitting .316 while J.R. Towles is sitting nicely at .357

Corpus Christi
Slugfest last night as the Hooks and Whatever the NW Arkansas Team Is Called each got 13 hits. Problem was, NW Arkansas scored two more runs in a 9-7 loss. Mitch Einertson went 3x4 while Jimmy Van Ostrand went 2x5 to lower his average to .414. Polin Trinidad took the loss with 4ER in 5IP.

Lexington
The Legends got the crap kicked out of them 12-0 at the hands of the Hickory Hickories (this name has been changed). Managing only two hits of offense, Jordan Lyles gave up 4ER in 4.1IP (but did strike out six batters), and then reliever Brian Wabick got rocked for 5ER in .2IP.

Lancaster
The JetHawks dropped their sixth straight last night to the Inland Empire 66ers, 11-4. Marcos Cabral hit his first homer of the season.

John Gall is pretty dang funny

There's a new feature going through MLB.com called "Batting Around" in which beat writers pick a minor leaguer and ask them interesting questions. I think they stole this idea from me, which will teach me to trust my PDA with my thoughts. But the one on John Gall is really funny. Lots of interesting tidbits: Gall likes to cook, likes Gossip Girl (almost a deal-breaker), etc. Read the whole thing, but here's my favorite part:

MLB: If you could trade places with one person for a day who would it be and why?

JG: (Houston Astros GM) Ed Wade. So I could put myself on the Houston Astros' 25-man roster.

More Sayonara!

More cuts made today as the Astros trim down for Opening Day 2009 (or OD09, as it will now be known).

Pitchers Clay Hensley, Danny Graves and Neal Musser were reassigned to Minor League camp today. Graves has until Tuesday to accept the minor-league assignment and has been given permission to speak to other teams.

Says Graves: "I'm not really sure what I want to do yet. Coming into camp, this was the team I wanted to play for, and if it didn't work out here, then I felt like it was time for me to go home."

Hensley will be sent to Round Rock and prepare for a starting role.
Hensley will prepare to be a starter, but because he's versatile enough to pitch out of the 'pen as well, it's likely he'll be one of the first considered for a promotion if the Astros have a need this season.

John Gall and Matt Kata were also reassigned to Minor League camp as it's now obvious IF5 is between Jason Smith and Edwin Maysonet.

And continuing this wonderful Spring...

Hey, at least a cherry blossom tree has...uh, blossomed outside. That's about the only thing about Spring going right for Astros fans. The Astros lost - again - this time to the Cardinals, 5-1.

The Astros got more hits than errors today, though. So that's nice. But only four of them. One a pinch hit from John Gall, the others from Berkman, Erstad and Bogusevic. Chris Johnson drew the lone walk for the Astros.

Geoff Geary had the only perfect outing, with a strikeout in 1 IP.
Hampton went three innings and gave up two earned runs on three hits.
Russ Ortiz had his worst outing this spring, with three earned runs on three walks and four hits. Of the 15 batters he faced, seven reached base.
Byrdak threw 1.1IP and walked a batter, while Valverde threw one inning and walked two batters. Neither of them scored, and his ERA lowered to 6.00.

Pirates beat Astros, yet again

I know it's Spring Training, but it still pisses me off.

Berkman, Lee and Tejada went 0x5, and Berkman scored a run on a sac fly as the Pirates beat the Astros 6-5.

Moehler was, for the most part, sharp, giving up a home run in two innings of work:

"Whether you've got a guaranteed job or guaranteed deal or whatever, I still want to go out there and pitch well," he said. "I'm not one of those guys that goes out there and works on stuff in spring training. I'm trying to get guys out."

Other highlights:
John Gall collected two singles and an RBI
Matt Kata had a run-scoring triple
Michael Bourn had a couple of hits, including an RBI triple.

Pitchers seeing action today:
Moehler (2 IP, 2H, 1 ER, 2K)
Paulino (2 IP, 2H, 1 ER, 1 BB)
Valverde (1 IP, 3H, 2 ER, 2K)
Hawkins (1 IP, 0H, 0 ER, 1K)
Byrdak (1 IP, 1H, 2ER, 1BB, 1K)
Fulchino (1 IP, 1H)
Geary (1 IP, 0H)

Bourn, Ramirez and Abercrombie each stole a base. That's two for Bourn on the Spring.

Astros sign five to minor-league contracts

Press release from the Astros today as they invited five players to spring training with a minor league contract:

OFs Reggie Abercrombie & John Gall,
RHP Clay Hensley
INFs Mark Saccomanno & Jason Smith

Smith has spent time in the Majors here and there since 2001 with the Cubs, Rays (back when the Devil was a part of their handle), Tigers, Rockies, Blue Jays, D'm'ndback' and Royals. Smith was non-tendered by the...yep, Royals on December 12 in order to clear room for Horacio Ramirez. He was a PCL All-Star in 2008.

Just so we're clear, Ed Wade has picked up the following players this off-season whose services were no longer required by Kansas City: Gil de la Vara, Tyler Lumsden, Jeff Fulchino, now Jason Smith.

Enjoy Kissimmee, fellas!

Some Minor League transaction notes

The Astros made a couple of minor league moves - signing two first-basemen: John Gall and Josh Pressley. They also signed Reggie Abercrombie to a minor league contract with a Spring Training invitation. Getting the pink slip was pitcher Agustin Pinales.

John Gall: 30-year old righty (cousin of Eric Byrnes). Hit a home run over Taiwan, carrying Team USA to the bronze medal game of the 2008 Olympics. Gall hit .312 for the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes in 2008 with 112 hits in 98 games. Struck out 50 times, walking 31 times in 359 at-bats (.369 OBP and .493 SLG) last year.

Josh Pressley: 28-year old righty who spent the last two seasons in the independent Atlantic League. Killed the ball last year with a .354 average (173x489) with 30 HR and 101 RBI in 133 games. 76:73 (K:BB) and a .605 SLG earning the Atlantic League's 2008 Player of the Year award.

Agustin Pinales: 21-year old righty appearing in 16 games for Greenville in 2007 allowing 36 earned runs in 39.1 innings, going 1-4 with an 8.24 ERA.