Dans help propel LSU over Alabama

Two Danville Dans helped collect 9 hits for the LSU Tiger 10-2 win over Alabama last. Night. Outfielder Mason Katz (Dans 2010) started things off with a three-run homer in the first inning and shortstop Austin Nola (2009) followed with a grand slam in the fourth.

Dans Alumn Bobb Garners Award

RAWLINGS WEST COAST CONFERENCE PITCHER OF THE WEEK
ABE BOBB, RS-SO., RHP, SAN FRANCISCO

San Francisco's Abe Bobb is the Rawlings West Coast Conference Pitcher of the Week.

Bobb blanked No. 24 San Diego over 7.1 innings in leading the Dons to a 1-0 victory over the Toreros, who had won seven straight. Bobb struck out six and scattered six hits without issuing a walk in the victory, while lowering his ERA to 2.33 for the season.

Dans Alum Abe Bobb Shines in Dons Win over Fresno State

FRESNO, Calif. – San Francisco starter Abe Bobb (Dans 2011) "spun a doozy" Saturday night at Beiden Field, leading San Francisco past Fresno State, 6-3. Bobb (3-1) earned his team-leading third win of the season, pitching a season-high 7.2 innings.

Bobb allowed just two runs, striking out six and walking only one. The sophomore right-hander now owns an impressive 21-to-4 strikeout-to-walk ratio. The Denver, Colorado native maintained his velocity into the eighth inning, working in the upper 80s all evening long.

Blast from the Past

Wow - 65 years of stories and memories of teams and times at Danville Stadium. From those days long ago, we have photographs of the construction of the Stadium, the first team to play there - the Danville Dodgers, Sachel Paige standing on the field, and many, many other pictures that tell the story of it's history.

Today, we are lucky enough to live in a digital age where we can relive the action. In 1996, eight Danville Dans helped lead the LSU Tigers as they won the College World Series. Leading the group was Warren Morris, who won an ESPY award by hitting a walk-off home run called "The Shot Heard Round the Bayou." Check out -

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The other Dans on the team were: Tom Bernhardt, Patrick Coogan, Brian Dougherty, Chris Demouy, Tim Lanier, Keith Polozola, and Trey McClure.

Come help celebrate the 65th at the Danville Dans game on July 9th!

DANS LAMM GOES IN 6TH

2009 Danville Dan, Mark Lamm (Vanderbilt)was drafted today by the Atlanta Braves in the 6th round of the 2011 Major League Baseball Draft. Congratulations Mark!

MAHTOOK GOES IN ROUND 1

2009 Danville Dan, Mikie Mahtook, has been selected in the first round (31 overall) of the major league draft by the Tampa Bay Rays. Mahtook is the 5th Danville Dan to go in round one.

Congratulations Mikie from the Dans Family!

Dans News Note

Minnesota Twin, Matt Tolbert (Dans 2001) caught the last out on a hard liner from Adam Dunn, to seal yesterday's no-hitter for Francisco Liriano against the Chicago White Sox. Matt had an assist or put out in all three outs in the 9th.

Coghlan Takes two To Yard

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=14154613&topic_id&c_id=mlb&tcid=fb_video_14154613

Cut and past this link to see highlights of former Dan, Chris Coghlan, hit two home runs against the LA Dodgers. Score at that point in last night's game - LA zero, Coghlan 2.

COLEMAN BANGS STRIKES IN DEBUT

The following is a story on Coleman's debut posted at MLB.com:

KANSAS CITY -- Royals manager Ned Yost wasted no time getting rookie Louis Coleman his first exposure to the big leagues. Just hours after his arrival, Coleman was brought in to pitch against Cleveland, relieving Sean O'Sullivan after a leadoff single in the Indians' seventh.

That was Yost's plan -- get through at least six innings with O'Sullivan, then go to Coleman, Aaron Crow and, if necessary, Joakim Soria. As it turned out, Soria was not needed because Coleman notched two shutout innings and Crow worked a scoreless ninth to get credit for the 3-2 victory.

Watch video and read more on MLB.com

"Both those kids came in banging strikes," Yost said. "That's key. If you're coming in late in key games, you've got to bang strikes."

Coleman, right in character with his Minor League strikeout credentials (16 in seven innings), struck out the first batter he faced, Adam Everett. He retired three batters in the seventh. In the eighth, he gave up two hits but got help when center fielder Melky Cabrera threw out a runner at the plate.

The ecstatic Coleman was oblivious to the weather conditions -- rain and temperatures around 50 degrees -- in his Major League debut.

"You always think of a sunny day, the wind blowing in, just perfect conditions," Coleman said. "But today it was raining, you had to make do. Still, it didn't feel like it was raining or that it was cold. It was a blast and everything I thought it would be. Like everybody says, it was a dream come true."

A walk-off victory made it even sweeter.

Yost was impressed by his latest rookie reliever.

"We got a real good view of him in Spring Training of how good he is, and he showed it again tonight in his Major League debut," Yost said. "No butterflies, just came in on the attack."

Dan Called up to Majors

Louis Coleman (LSU-Dans 2006) has been called up to the Kansas City Royals from AAA Omaha, bringing the number of Dans Alumni to play major league baseball to 19. GOOD LUCK LOUIS!

Note: In his first major league appearance, Louis pitched two shutout innings of relief tonight against the Cleveland Indians.

DANS ALUM NAMED SEC PLAYER OF THE WEEK

BATON ROUGE, La. - LSU junior outfielder, and 2009 Danville Dan, Mikie Mahtook has been named SEC Player of the Week.

Mahtook led the Tigers to three wins in four games last week, batting .643 (9-for-14) with two homers, two triples, six RBI and six runs scored. He batted .636 (7-for-11) in LSU's series win over Ole Miss with two homers, one triple, five RBI, four runs scored and one stolen base.

Mikie launched two homers in the Game 1 victory, marking the fourth two-dinger game of his career. He also made a brilliant running catch in right-centerfield for the final out in Sunday's series-clinching win.

Mahtook, who is riding a 14-game hitting streak, is batting .515 (17-for-33) in SEC games.

DANVILLE SAYS GOODBYE TO THE DUKE

Area fans saw Dodger great, Duke Snider, hit a home run over the right field wall at Danville Stadium on June 20, 1947, when the Brooklyn Dodgers came to town to play their farm club, the Danville Dodgers. The Hall of Fame center fielder for the "Boys of Summer" died early today at the age of 84.

"The Duke of Flatbush" hit .295 with 407 career home runs, played in the World Series six times, and helped bring the Brooklyn Dodgers their only World Series Championship. Snider still holds the Dodgers all time home run record at 389, hitting at least 40 home runs in five different seasons. The eight-time All-Star was one of “Dem Bums," deeply loved by the fans of the Borough of Brooklyn.

In Dodger blue, Snider wore No. 4 and was regarded as one of baseball’s best center fielders in a time considered by many, the golden age of baseball.

Danville Stadium and the Danville Dans join the baseball nation in sending condolences to “The Duke’s” wife Beverly, and their family and friends.

DANS ALUM NAMED PRESEASON SBC PITCHER OF THE YEAR:

Arkansas State junior starting pitcher and 2009 Dans alumni, Jacob Lee, has been named Sun Belt Conference Preseason Pitcher of the Year.

Lee also earned a Preseason All-Conference nod. He is the top returning pitcher for the Red Wolves from last season, whose pitching staff ranked third in the Sun Belt Conference.

Jacob is coached by Tommy Raffo.

COLLEGE BASEBALL SEASON KICKS OFF WITH A BANG!

Dans alumni began the college season yesterday when St. Leo (FL) defeated Valdosta State with a 19 run barrage.

2010 and 2011 pitcher Aaron Brandt pitched 5 innings, earning with win, allowing only 2 hits and striking out 8. 2010 Alumni, Anthony Santa, blasted a home run over the left field wall, and 2008 Danville Dan Frank Rawdow (a Mississippi State transfer) went 4 for 6. 2009 and 2010 Dan catcher Jason Hamm went 2 for 5 in the win.

Great start Dans! The college baseball season kicks off in full force on Feb. 18th

DANS ALUM NAMED TO PRESEASON LIST

Brett Huber (Dans 2009) has been named to the preseason watch list for the Stopper of the Year by the National Collegiate Baseball Writer's Association (NCBWA).

Huber was named an All-SEC selection and freshman team selection a year ago before claiming Freshman All-American Honors. The Ole' Miss right-hander posted 12 saves and a 2-0 record for the Rebels last year, along with 54 strikeouts, walking only 19 batters.

Established seven years ago, the Stopper of the Year award is presented annually to the top relief pitcher in the nation. Nominations for the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Award were made by baseball sports information/media relations contacts. The final awards will be released Wednesday, June 1, prior to the start of NCAA regional tournament competition.

DANS MORELAND (2005) TURNS TIDE FOR RANGERS

Column by EVAN GRANT / The Dallas Morning News
egrant@dallasnews.com


ARLINGTON – In 1996, the last time a team came back from being down two games to none in the World Series, a single at-bat defined the New York Yankees' march to the title.

The Rangers now have an at-bat to match Jim Leyritz's series-changing home run from 1996.

It came from the most unlikely of places: No. 9 hitter Mitch Moreland.

Moreland's second-inning, two-out, three-run homer put the Rangers on top Saturday in what turned out to be a 4-2 win in Game 3 of the World Series. To say it gave the Rangers a lead would be an understatement. To say it gave the Rangers life might be an understatement, too.

"It was the one shot we'd needed," said Jeff Francoeur. "When we've won, we've scored a couple of runs early and given our pitchers room to operate and dominate. All of a sudden, we had that."

Francoeur knows just how important the at-bat was. He had made the second out of the inning just moments earlier, failing to get a ball in the air so that Nelson Cruz, who was at third after leading off the inning with a double, could score.

When Moreland came to the plate, the Rangers were in danger of wasting another opportunity. Their Game 1 loss was filled with wasted opportunities. In Game 2, the Rangers went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position in a 9-0 loss.

Wasting another opportunity early in Game 3 might have sucked the air out of the largest crowd ever to watch a game in Arlington (52,469) and sapped the fabled resiliency right from this Rangers team.

Moreland made sure it didn't happen.

After San Francisco lefty Jonathan Sanchez pitched around Bengie Molina to get to the left-handed hitting Moreland, the rookie calmly took the first two pitches to get to 2-and-0. But he fouled off a fastball, seemingly missing a great chance to capitalize, then took a second called strike.

Only then did the at-bat really begin. Moreland, whom the Rangers drafted as much for his pitching ability as his bat, dug in, determined to get something up in the strike zone with which to do something. Sanchez was determined not to give him another fastball.

And so the war waged. Moreland fouled off a pair of sliders. Then Sanchez threw successive changeups. Moreland fouled both of those off. It left Sanchez virtually no option but to come back with a fastball. He left it in the hitting zone, and Moreland drove it out of the park, changing the game.

"I knew he was going to pitch me tough," said Moreland, whose repertoire as a left-handed pitcher pretty much mimicked the low 90s fastball, slider, changeup combo that Sanchez threw at him. "I feel like I've had a couple of tough situations, long, drawn-out at-bats, and that helped my confidence."

It would not be a stretch to say Moreland's at-bat may have been the biggest of the 213,498 the Rangers have taken since they moved to Texas in 1972.

It would also not be a stretch to say that when the season began, he would be one of the more unlikely candidates to take such an at-bat.

He was still buried on the organization's depth chart behind golden prospects Justin Smoak and Chris Davis . Even after Smoak was traded and Davis was demoted, Moreland was called up only to be a platoon first baseman to face right-handers while Jorge Cantu faced lefties. The Rangers went into the playoffs with that arrangement.

But Moreland has grinded out at-bats all October while Cantu went hitless. He played better defense than the Rangers expected. And so, after Cantu started the first games against lefties in the AL Division Series and AL Championship Series, manager Ron Washington turned to Moreland for the club's first game against a lefty in the World Series.

The reason is simple.

"We've watched him grow up before our eyes," hitting instructor Clint Hurdle said. "He's a tough kid who has showed up at big times. Tonight, he really battled in a big situation. There he is, your No. 9 hitter, a rookie, playing up in a big moment."

He got the Rangers back into the World Series. It doesn't come much bigger than that.

• • •

MORELAND UPDATE

In last night's Rangers 8-0 win over the Yankees, Mitch (Dans 2005) went 1 for 4 with 2 RBI's. He is batting .500 for the playoff series. GO MITCH!

MORELAND HAS BANNER GAME!

Dans alumni, Mitch Moreland (2005), went 2 for 3 with a walk and an RBI yesterday as the Texas Rangers defeated the New York Yankees 7-2 in the American League playoffs! Go Mitch!

DANS ALUM NAMED TOP RELIEF PITCHER

2007 Danville Dan, A.J.Griffin (San Diego), has been named the Northwest League's top Right-Handed Relief Pitcher of the Year, amassing a league leading 14 saves in 15 attempts, one shy of the Vancouver Canadians (Oakland A's) single-season record of 15 (Jose Guzman). He was also named to the 2010 Northwest League All-Star team as selected by the 8 managers across the NWL.

CONGRATULATIONS A.J.!

Mitch Moreland goes 2-for-4 in big league debut

12:17 AM CDT on Friday, July 30, 2010
By DREW DAVISON / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News
ARLINGTON

It caught Mitch Moreland by surprise. After all, he wasn't expecting a life-changing phone call at 10:45 p.m. Wednesday. Triple-A Oklahoma City manager Bobby Jones delivered the news to Moreland, informing him that the Rangers were calling him up.

The Rangers decided to go with Moreland with Ian Kinsler headed to the disabled list. "It's the best feeling in the world," said Moreland, who grew up in Amory, Miss. "I've dreamed of this since growing up and, ever since I could walk, this is what I wanted to do."

Moreland started at first base instead of Chris Davis on Thursday and singled in his first career at-bat. He went 2-for-4.

Moreland was able to fly in his parents and sister to be on hand for his big league debut.

Moreland, who played primarily in the outfield in the minors, will play only first base with the Rangers. His last 12 starts at Triple-A were at first base, and the team feels he is capable of playing it at the major league level.

"I know he is a player, and he's swung the bat well," manager Ron Washington said. "When we knew we weren't going to have Kinsler, we went down and got the best player down there. And that was Moreland."

Moreland comes to the Rangers after hitting .289 with 12 home runs, 29 doubles and 65 RBIs in 95 games with the RedHawks. Over his last 45 games, Moreland has hit .345 with nine home runs, 13 doubles and 40 RBI's.