The 2008 Can-Am League Playoff picture is clearing and it's becoming more and more likely that the Rox will not be a part of the postseason for the second consecutive season.   Right now the "Tragic Number" which would mean the elimination of the Rox from playoff contention is six.  Any combination of Rox losses and Sussex Skyhawks' victories totaling six over the last 13 games will eliminate Brockton.

The race for the final three spots is very interesting.  Quebec has the #1 overall seed being the first half champions.  Quebec and Atlantic City are currently tied for 1st place in the second half of the season.  Sussex is just a half game back.  If Atlantic City or Sussex wins the second half, they would be the #2 overall seed.

The #3 and #4 seeds would then be determined by the next two best overall records.  If Quebec wins the second half also, the playoff seeds would be the top three remaining overall records.

The fact that Sussex has pulled to within a half a game of first place in the second half is amazing.  The Skyhawks have 45 wins this year under first year skipper Hal Lanier.  Sussex had not won more than 34 games in each of its past two seasons.  They're doing it without a lot of stars either.

If you click on that link to read about Hal Lanier, know that his biography is not correct.  Wikipedia is nice, but it is rarely 100% accurate.  There is an interesting note about Lanier being beaned and suffering from Epilepsy because fo the beaning in 1965.  I interviewed the former big leaguer when he and Sussex came to Brockton last and in my research, I couldn't find any information on the beaning.  Who threw the pitch?  Where did it hit him?  How long was he out?

Look at his stats from the much more accurate Baseballreference.com.  He played 159 games in 1965!  So I asked him about the note, which is everwhere on the internet (not picking on Wikipedia).  It didn't happen!  Absolutely not true.  He has no idea where the rumor started, but it didn't happen.

You have two weeks left to see the Rox play in 2008.  Brockton returns home on Monday, August 25th for the final eight games of the season.  You could see 2B Melvin Falu break the league record for hits in a season, the league record for highest batting average, or even chase .400.  You could see OF Jud Thigpen break the franchise record for home runs in a season.  You could see RHP John Kelly break the record for career Rox victories and strikeouts.  You could see RHP Jerry Dunn break the team record for saves in a season.  Hope to see you there.

Did you see the Opening Ceremonies the other day for the Beijing Olympics?  Awesome...just awesome.  There are some independant ballplayers in the 2008 Games.  Bob Wirz has it covered.

Worcester's Tom Cochran finally lost.  The Rox almost beat him in Worcester on July 15th, a game that Manager Chris Miyake says still bothers him.  Those tough losses, the "could have" and "should have" games are the ones that stick around. 

Brockton has not swept an opponent yet this year in a three-game series, they can do that for the first time today against Ottawa. 

Well the Rox and Capitales are in a rain delay, so I finally have a few minutes to jump on.  Thanks to those who have emailed in the extremely long absence of the blog.  All I can say is that the season is an incredibly busy time.  Enough of that.

Did you see this?  Isaac Hess threw a no-hitter for the Windy City Thunderbolts of the Frontier League.  That's pretty exciting news all by itself, but this story has legs a mile long.  Rox fans may remember Jesse Goldberg-Strassler, the Brockton Rox Victoria Snelgrove Media intern from the 2005 season.  Jesse hosted the Rox pre and post game shows on WXBR (then it was WBET) for Dave Raymond (now with the Houston Astros), the play-by-play voice of the Rox in 2005.

Well since his experience in Brockton, Jesse has worked for the Montgomery Biscuits, the AA affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays, and now is the MAN in the booth for Windy City.  As exciting as it is to pitch a no-hitter (something I would know NOTHING about), it's nearly as much of a thrill to call one as a broadcaster (I've never done it).  Jesse's experience yesterday, and the story he will tell forever because of it, is one of the reasons I love baseball.

Jesse was doing a broadcast re-creation, paying tribute to the first ever radio broadcast on August 5th, 1921 by Harold Arlin on KDKA radio in Pittsburgh.  Those early broadcasts were done using a telegraph wire and a handful of props.  The broadcast consisted of at least two people.  One was at the game, relaying the events in minimal detail via telegraph back to the actual radio station, where Harold Arlin would "call" the game.  Harold, and other early baseball broadcasters, would have props on hand including gloves, a baseball, and blocks of wood which they would use to simulate the noises of a baseball game.  The broadcasters at the radio stations would "re-create" the game in the studio using the information sent via telegraph.

Well Jesse was doing something very similar last night.  He was in the office hooked up to his broadcast equipment and receiving bits and pieces of what was happening.  So when the night was over and the final out was recorded, Jesse had called a no-hitter, but he didn't see single pitch that was thrown.

Rox Record Book
It looks like there are some records which could fall in convincing fashion this year, and 2B Melvin Falu will be the new man at the top of the books.  He is on pace to shatter former Rox 1B Craig Lewis’ mark of 111 hits in a season.  Falu has 104 hits with 25 games to play.  Falu also is on pace to finish with the Rox best overall batting average for a single season, a mark which was set by DH Francisco Matos in 2004 when he hit .359.  There is a possibility for Falu and/or OF Jud Thigpen to tie or break the Rox single season home run record as well.  Three players have hit 14 home runs in a single season and Falu and Thigpen are just four home runs from the high-water mark.  Another record which could be interesting to follow is SS Saul Bustos’ 64 RBI in 2002.  Thigpen currently has 50 RBI and is on pace to finish near 70 RBI for the season.  It would take a strong finish by the Rox, but closer RHP Jerry Dunn has the opportunity to break the franchise mark for saves in a season set by RHP Conor Brooks in 2003.  Dunn has 16 saves in 17 opportunities.  He is already second all-time in the Rox record books, trailing only Brooks who finished his career with 28 saves.

FYI, the league's records for hits and average are also in danger of being crushed by Falu.  New Jersey's Sandy Madera hit .364 in 2007 to set the record for highest average and the Jackals' Zach Smithlin finished with 135 hits in 2005.