Hagerstown Suns

Wind, rain and heat weren't going to stop the Hagerstown Suns from playing on Friday. But a fallen light standard sure did. A bank of lights along the left-field side of Municipal Stadium was blown out of its cement base during Friday¿s storm, causing the cancellation of the Hagerstown Suns¿ game against Augusta. The storm, featuring high winds and heavy rain, swept through Hagerstown around 2:45 p.m. The light fell around 3 p.m., bouncing off the front corner of the stadium¿s beer garden structure before falling across the fence to its resting place in left field, just behind the infield dirt.

The scheduled exhibition baseball game Tuesday between the Harrisburg Senators and the Hagerstown Suns was canceled due to unplayable field conditions. Instead, the Suns held a workout at Municipal Stadium that was open to all exhibition game ticket holders. All exhibition game tickets are redeemable for a future general-admission ticket to a Suns game, excluding Opening Day, April 15.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011 BASEBALL The beginning and the end will come at the same location for the Hagerstown Suns next season. The Suns will open and close their 32nd season at Municipal Stadium, according the their 2012 schedule that was announced on Wednesday. Hagerstown will open its 140-game schedule with a seven-game homestand, beginning on April 5 against West Virginia. After four games with the Power, Lexington comes in to close the opening series.

The Hagerstown Suns and Goodwill Industries of Hagerstown will host Goodwill Night Tuesday, Aug. 21, at Municipal Stadium, 274 E. Memorial Blvd., Hagerstown. The Suns plays the Kannapolis Intimdators at 7:05 p.m. Fans are encouraged to bring items to donate to get a voucher for free tickets to Sunday, Sept. 2, game against the Asheville Tourists. For more information about the Suns, go to www.hagerstownsuns.com .

A Hagerstown Suns employee suffered a serious head injury Tuesday morning when he fell off a four-wheel drive vehicle he was riding on at Municipal Stadium, city police said. The 18-year-old man was riding on the vehicle with two other employees, said Lt. Paul Kifer, a spokesman for the Hagerstown Police Department. The employee was sitting on a garbage bag on the back of the vehicle when the driver made a left turn, and the employee fell off, hitting his head, Kifer said.

The Hagerstown City Council Tuesday gave thumbs up to the Hagerstown Suns to hold 12 fireworks displays at Municipal Stadium in 2011.   The Suns minor league baseball team earlier this month provided the council with a list of 13 dates for fireworks shows, one of which had yet to be determined. The council approved the 12 confirmed dates during its regular meeting on Tuesday. Hagerstown's lease for the stadium requires the Suns to notify neighbors of the fireworks schedule, according to city documents.

Former Hagerstown Mayor Robert E. Bruchey II has been named interim general manager of the Hagerstown Suns, effective March 1, the team announced Monday. “The interim position will be for the 2013 season, and we'll re-examine that at the end of the season,” Bruchey said in an interview at the Suns offices at Municipal Stadium. Asked if he was in the running for or applying for the GM position, Bruchey said the interim position was a surprise and, “I guess we'll see what happens this season and how well we do.” Bruchey, who lost his bid for re-election as mayor last November, began working for the Suns on Jan. 14 as the team's director of sales, marketing and community affairs.

Sometimes prophecy can be found in stupid statements. About 20 years ago, a former Hagerstown Suns player was blindsided by a hometown newspaper friend. They were chit-chatting before an interview, but unbeknownst to the player, that sneaky journalist had a tape recorder running the entire time. A few days later, his off-the-cuff statement made it to print. “We have a saying around here,” the player said. “We say 'If you find a girl in Hagerstown with a full set of teeth, marry her.'” Not too bright.

The Hagerstown Suns has endorsed five candidates for Washington County Commissioner. The minor league baseball team has endorsed Jim Brown, J. Herbert Hardin, Bert Iseminger, Jim Kercheval and Paul Swartz. Those candidates have demonstrated support for using hotel-motel tax money to build a new ballpark, General Manager Kurt Landis said. In August, team owner Andrew Rayburn said he wasn't monitoring the candidates' positions on the stadium. But in an e-mail Friday, Landis said people have been calling the team's office to ask whom to support in the election.

The city is committed to keeping professional baseball in its corporate limits, the Hagerstown City Council said Tuesday, hours after Hagerstown Suns co-owner Tony Dahbura warned the Washington County Board of Commissioners that the franchise could leave town. Without commitment from the city and county to help pay for stadium renovations, Hagerstown might be on the verge of losing the Hagerstown Suns, Dahbura told the commissioners earlier in the day. "As we have been quietly saying and warning, it was only a matter of time before other communities come around and attempt to take the franchise from Hagerstown," Dahbura said.

Everyone seems to have their day when they play for the Hagerstown Suns. On Monday, Khayyan Norfork and Wes Schill drove in two runs each as the Suns jumped out to another early lead on the road and rode it to a 9-4 victory over the Greensboro Grasshoppers. With the victory, the Suns (21-13) moved to a three-game lead in the South Atlantic League's Northern Divison. Hagerstown has won nine of its last 11 games. The Suns led 5-0 after four innings and added four runs in the sixth to take a commanding 9-0 lead and defended the advantage for the victory.

If anybody wondered, the Hagerstown Suns are serious about their craft. They, like former NFL coach Herm Edwards, believe you play ... to win ... the game. And the Suns proved it Sunday, even though they only won once. Erick Fernandez blooped an RBI single with two outs in the ninth inning to lift the Suns to a come-from-behind, walk-off 4-3 win over Delmarva in extra innings in the nightcap to earn a split in a Sunday doubleheader at Municipal Stadium. Fernandez landed the knockout punch the Suns missed earlier, as the Shorebirds thwarted Hagerstown's comeback attempt in the opener, using three three-run homers to take a 12-7 victory.

Attracting professional baseball continues to be a major talking point in Fredericksburg, Va., and it's drawing concern from at least one Hagerstown City Council member. A study that examines the economic feasibility of a multiuse stadium in Fredericksburg will be presented Monday to the city's economic development officials, according to an agenda found on the Fredericksburg Economic Development Authority's website. “I get a feeling that the Fredericksburg proposal, the movement down there is a serious proposal,” Councilman Donald F. Munson said Thursday.

If baseball uniforms had collars, the Hagerstown Suns would be wearing blue ones. It has nothing to do with the team's newly adopted team colors. It's more about the style they play. Like the city they play in, the Suns have to work hard to get ahead. Hagerstown isn't flashy, but it is always looking for a fight ... we're talking about the baseball team, not the city. The Suns exit April with a 13-11 record and sit just one game out of first place in the South Atlantic League Northern Division, trailing Hickory after Monday morning's rainout.

Ivan Pineyro found a way to escape becoming a victim of Hickory's home run hitters. Don't let the Crawdads hit the ball. Pineyro struck out 12 of the 18 Hickory hitters who went down swinging over six innings as the Hagerstown Suns notched a 3-0 victory on a chilly, wet Sunday before 553 fans at Municipal Stadium. Pineyro (1-2) had his best outing of the season, punching out a dozen on 75 pitches, while allowing three hits - all doubles - and two walks. David Fischer pitched the final three innings - getting the first six outs on whiffs - to pick up his second save, while closing out the five-hit shutout.

Four Hickory errors helped the Hagerstown Suns build an early four-run lead en route to an 8-2 victory over the Crawdads on Saturday at Municipal Stadium. The miscues extended the first, fourth and fifth innings and allowed the Suns (12-11) to take a 4-1 lead. The errors were too much for the Crawdads (14-9) despite two more home runs to pad their South Atlantic League-leading total. Kylin Turnbull (1-0) returned to the Suns and immediately notched a victory with six innings of three-hit pitching, allowing one run without a walk while striking out seven.

Home runs are all about using negatives to make positives out of negatives. One mistake by an opposing team, leading to one mighty swing of the bat, can erase a multitude of sins. Joey Gallo carried that eraser for the Hickory Crawdads on Friday. Gallo connected for a two-run home run in the eighth inning to offset a pair of unearned runs and steal a 3-2 victory from the Hagerstown Suns before 696 fans at Municipal Stadium. The tightly played game yielded three runs - all unearned - through the first seven innings.

Hagerstown Mayor David S. Gysberts visited the Rotary Club of Long Meadows recently and spoke about the new efforts to revitalize downtown by possibly working with the Sora Development Group and by looking at building a multi-use community complex near downtown, which would include a baseball facility for a minor league team, such as the Hagerstown Suns. Gysberts said he liked the idea of using the former hospital site off East Antietam Street, but that he wanted to study the issue further before making any firm announcements about where this kind of facility would be best placed in the local community.

Ripken Design representatives went over its newest multiuse stadium feasibility study with Hagerstown officials Tuesday, and a long discussion ensued about the three alternative sites in the city's East End. “I want to see this get done,” Mayor David S. Gysberts said toward the end of a Hagerstown City Council work session at City Hall. “I think the citizens are looking for us to provide leadership.” Assuming a facility costing about $30 million, the new study examines the former Washington County Hospital site and two locations adjacent to the Hagerstown Suns' current ballpark on East Memorial Boulevard.

Sometimes, winning doesn't come from domination. It's more like surviving barely. It's avoiding taking any hits, especially those of the self-inflicted variety. The Augusta GreenJackets didn't exactly knock out the Hagerstown Suns on Tuesday. Instead, the GreenJackets hung to the end and basically outpointed the Suns for a 3-1 victory before 538 fans at Municipal Stadium. Augusta (12-6) barely put the ball in play, using an assortment of plays that just found grass to get the lead.