LB Armada Blog

Buller's new gig

noreply@blogger.com (Josh) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 22:10:00 +0000

Sean Buller came by the Armada office the other day to deliver his good news. The big lefty has been tapped as the new head coach at Valley Christian in Cerritos. Here's the official release:

Buller named head coach at Valley Christian
Left-hander could still be involved with LB in 2010

LONG BEACH (October 20, 2009) -- For the past three seasons, Sean Buller has cut his coaching teeth with the Golden League’s Long Beach Armada. Now the Long Beach native will take over his own program as the newly named head baseball coach at Valley Christian High School in Cerritos.

The official announcement came from Valley Christian this weekend, less than two months after the Armada’s season ended in August.

Buller served as the Armada’s only player/coach in 2009, his second straight year of double-duty. A fan favorite at Armada games, Garry Templeton kept Buller on his staff as Bullpen Coach – a position he held since the 2008 campaign – to begin this past season and promoted him to Pitching Coach at the season’s midway point.

Not only did the Armada lead the GBL with a team ERA of 3.94, almost one run better than the next best team (Tucson at 4.77), but Buller led by example from the mound. In 2009, he worked out of the bullpen for three saves and a 2.70 ERA while striking out 19 batters in 20 innings of work.

After pitching collegiately at University of San Francisco, Buller began his professional career as an undrafted free agent with the Detroit Tigers in 1998. The left-hander worked his way up the Tigers farm system to become one of the organization’s top pitching prospects in 2001 for the Triple-A Toledo Mudhens before a shoulder injury kept him out of baseball until his 2007 comeback with the Armada.

While Buller’s main responsibilities lie with Valley Christian’s baseball program, he’s tenure with the Armada isn’t necessarily over as a result.

“If Garry decided to bring me back, I’m still a part of the team,” said Buller. “The school is okay with it as long as I can balance it.”

The school’s season would finish in May, around the same time as the Armada begins training camp for the 2010 campaign.

2010 Slogan Contest

noreply@blogger.com (Josh) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 23:56:00 +0000

The Long Beach Armada has had it with minor league baseball teams sporting regular run-of-mill slogans each season, and to this point, we haven't really been a part of it. Trotting out tired old phrases like "Greatest Show on Dirt" and so many others aren't the tagline this team needs. That's why in preparation for the 2010, the Armada is turning to it's fans here in Long Beach and across the nation to determine what should be our slogan for the team's sixth season in the International City.

Maybe we should play off the fact that this is the home of Snoop Dogg. Would something like "Play Bizzall" make for a good slogan? I'm not sure, but that's what we want the fans to decide. We're a few years to late to rip off the Blair Witch Project's title which shares with the name of our stadium. "The Blair Field Project" anyone?

So we are turning to the community of Long Beach - and to the entire country really - to determine our 2010 slogan.

A few other ideas we're kicking around include:

"Catch the Fever!"
"All Aboard!"
"Baseball Ahoy!"
"Get into the Game!"

Personally, I guess "Play Bizzall" is the most unique, but is it what the people want? Could we get Snoop Dogg himself out there to say it on Opening Day 2010 to really kick this thing off the right way? Between that and the potential for another run at Lima Time, the stadium might blow up.

Now is the time to make suggestions for what you think would be a great minor league baseball tagline for the Long Beach Armada as we enter our sixth season. We'll open up some of the best suggestions to a public vote soon, but right now we need suggestions.

Who knows what may happen. Perhaps we will fall victim to random celebrities using their popularity to hijack the voting the way Stephen Colbert did to NASA. Something tells me we might get a few too many votes for the tagline of "Tune into the Colbert Report tonight after the Daily Show" which doesn't really get our point across, but neither does something like "Come Out & Play" so what's the harm.

Please leave your preliminary suggestions in the comment field below. Let the madness begin!

Replay coming to MLB?

noreply@blogger.com (Josh) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 06:05:00 +0000

One problem that is about to blow up in Major League Baseball that you won't see as an issue in the Golden Baseball League: the use of instant replay. And the first dominos have already fallen. Here comes the rest...

With one round of the 2009 MLB playoffs in the books, baseball's instant replay debate is once again being, um, replayed -- this time with new evidence a la the League Division Series. With bungled calls in several series, most notably the fair ball called foul in the Yankees-Twins ALDS, look out as critics will begin the cries for more use of replay technology while purists defend the use of umpires who "get it right more often than not."

A year ago I said that implementing instant replay for home runs would lead Major League Baseball down the slippery slope of letting instant replay decide most of if not all of a very objective game. Because of the baseball's objective nature compared to particular calls in football or basketball (calling holding or block fouls is much more subjective than safe or out), it's much easier to instant replay to overtake the game, which I must say may not be the worst thing.

"I realize a home run is more important than a regular old play because it means point are either on or off the scoreboard. But where does it stop?

Home runs are okay to replay. But not a play at the plate, which might be more difficult to call despite an umpires close proximity to the play. I don't like the concept of limited instant replay. That's how things started in the NFL, and the league seems to expand replay every year to include more and more rules that were either overlooked or deemed not important enough when the NFL originally added replay.

...

If MLB is going to use instant replay, they shouldn't decide to do it just for HRs. Might as well implement it everywhere and get the whole thing over with.

That's what I wrote over a year ago, and now it's time for us all to get ready as baseball could very realistically be adding new elements to it's replay abilities by as soon as next season. I don't think this will get as advanced as the NFL where managers are throwing challenge flags and instead of losing timeouts, the teams have to make extra outs or something.

But what if the MLB used tennis's Hawk-Eye replay system (in use since 2006) to rule fair and foul balls in relation to where they bounce down the foul lines. It takes tennis less than 10 seconds, and it's accuracy is virtually unsurpassable. That could easily be implemented, and calls like the one from the Yankees-Twins series would not longer be in doubt.

Let's get an official in the booth who can quickly assess if the ball beats the runner to the bag on routine force outs. Or perhaps make it extremely centralized a la the NHL, and have the MLB headquarters directly review any plays in question. After all, while a home run directly reflects points on the scoreboard and thus clearly can affect a final score, what about a runner called out at first base who might have come around to score after subsequent hits later in the inning?

Don't argue about the sanctity of the game being ruined by the addition of technology. The "sanctity" of the game is in doubt so long as umpires are blowing these calls. Replay doesn't worsen the game's reputation.

The flood gates are open with home runs, so it's only a matter of time before everything else flows through.

from the No Joshin blog

2010 Season Tickets Available!

noreply@blogger.com (Josh) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 18:42:00 +0000

ALL 2010 SEASON TICKETS ARE 10% OFF WITH A 25% DEPOSIT BY NOVEMBER 2! NOW IS THE TIME TO GET INTO THE GAME WITH 2010 ARMADA SEASON TICKETS!

Season Ticket Seat	Regular Price	10% Discount Price	25% Deposit by 11/2/09
Field Box Seat	~~$600~~	$540	$135
Reserved Seat	~~$300~~	$270	$70
General Admission Seat	~~$175~~	$157.50	$40

Blair Field seating map

2010 Armada Season Ticket Benefits

BENEFITS	Field Box	Reserved	General Admission
Team Meet-n-Greet Event	x	x	x
Free VIP Parking Pass	x
In-Seat Food Service	x
20% Off Armada merchandise card	x	x	x
Never A Wasted Ticket Program*	x	x	x

* Never A Wasted Ticket Program – Redeem unused season tickets from past games at the box office for a ticket to another Armada game for free. Now you can bring a friend with leftover tickets. Subject to availability.

Parking Passes come with an order for Field Box season tickets or can be purchased from the Armada for $100 for the season. Save $120 off the drive-up price of parking with a 2010 Armada Parking Pass!

Download 2010 Season Ticket Order Form
Download, fill out, and fax to (562) 427-7423 today, or
call (562) 427-HITS (4487) to reserve your seat!

Download this information guide

Promotional Ideas for 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Josh) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 18:01:00 +0000

Got any ideas for promotions next season? Submit them here!

Free email forms

Lima's ERA also went North

noreply@blogger.com (Josh) — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 23:09:00 +0000

The Armada season did ~~prematurely~~ end this season without a playoff berth. Despite the team's strong showing in sweeping the final four games of the year over Victoria, it just didn't seem the same without the man who was the face of the team this year - Jose Lima - there to enjoy it.

For Lima, he put together a very solid year in returning to baseball in the US after last year's stint in Korea. Lima dominated opposing hitters in his time with the Fleet putting together a 2.93 ERA despite his 5-5 record. The run support Lima had was a big part of why his record looked so mediocre, but his control was still as good as ever -- at least while he was in Long Beach.

Statistically, the trade did not help Lima's cause for a return to the big leagues. Here's a look at his numbers in his time with the Armada and then with the Edmonton Capitals:

Season	Team	W	L	ERA	G	GS	SHO	IP	SO	BB	H
Playoffs 2009	Edmonton Capitals	0	1	4.69	1	1	0	7.2	3	0	9
Summer 2009	Long Beach Armada	5	5	2.93	11	11	1	83	51	9	84
Summer 2009	Edmonton Capitals	1	2	6.48	5	5	0	33.1	16	11	41
TOTAL		6	8	3.99	17	17	1	124	70	20	134

His ERA spiked in the cold Canada air, and while he wasn't at the comfy confines of the pitchers park that is Blair Field, his control didn't seem to go with him on the trade. Lima had 51 strike outs pitching for the Armada compared to 9 walks. In Edmonton, 16 Ks to 11 walks. Not as impressive.

His average outing in Long Beach was longer than in Edmonton as well. He averaged 7 1/3 to 7 2/3 innings with the Armada in his 11 starts. In five outings in Edmonton, "Lima Time" was cut short, averaging 6 2/3 innings per outing.

He's a guy who was great in the clubhouse. Great for the fans. Great for singing national anthems. Great for the community and the team, but his numbers were not great for the Capitals. Hopefully Lima Time will get a chance to return to the big leagues some day, a dream does not seem close to giving up on, but the folks in Long Beach wouldn't mind another pit-stop through town first. It'd also be a great way to get the ugly taste of an inflated Canadian ERA out of everyone's mind.

Armada regain lead

noreply@blogger.com (Tyler) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 04:31:00 +0000

The Armada regain the lead after scoring two runs in the bottom of the seventh. Josh Womack came home and scored off the RBI single from Matt Edgecombe, then Kaplan was able to walk home from third and score after first baseman Daryl Jones was hit by the pitch to put the Fleet up 4-3. The Armada has four runs, eight hits, and no runs. The Seals have three runs, six hits, and no errors.

Ramirez scores for Fleet

noreply@blogger.com (Tyler) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 03:33:00 +0000

We go into the sixth and the Fleet scored one run in the bottom of the fifth to trail the Seals by a run. Catcher David Ramirez came home and scored off the RBI single form Matt Edgecombe. Edgecombe picked up his 39th RBI of the season. David Ramirez told us this is his final season with the Armada, so look for Ramirez to end his career with the Armada strong.

Seals take a 3-1 lead

noreply@blogger.com (Tyler) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 03:24:00 +0000

Bottom of the fifth and the Armada find themselves trailing the Victoria Seals 3-1. Matt Kavanaugh came home and scored off the sacrifice fly from Brett Flowers. Let me say that for the end of the season for the Seals and the Armada they are giving us fans a good show tonight. Brandon Howard is now up to bat for the Armada. Manager Gary Templeton gave Omar Bramasco the night off, so Howard is replacing Bramasco at short stop. The Armada has one run, six hits, and no errors. The Seals have three runs, five hits, and no errors.

Seals score two runs

noreply@blogger.com (Tyler) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 02:49:00 +0000

The Victoria Seals have taken their first lead of the night after scoring back to back doubles to take a 2-1 lead. Petie Montero was brought in off the RBI double from Brett Flowers to tie the game at one. Gabriel Riley responded with an RBI double of his own as he brought in Brett Flowers from second to give the Seals a 2-1 lead over the Armada. The Armada has one run, two hits, and no errors. The Seals have two runs, five hits, and no errors.

Armada take first lead

noreply@blogger.com (Tyler) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 02:32:00 +0000

The Armada were able to take the first lead in the bottom of the first 1-0. It started with Matt Edgecombe's base hit advancing to first base. J.J. Sherrill then came up to bat and with a deep base hit allowed him to advance to second but brought in the speedy Matt Edgecombe from first. Matt was going to put on the breaks at third but Skipper Gary Templeton signaled him to run for home. The Armada has one run, two hits, and no errors. The Seals have no runs, two hits, and no errors

Armada vs Seals Season Finale

noreply@blogger.com (Tyler) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 01:52:00 +0000

Good evening Armada fans and welcome to the final game of the 2009 Armada season. We would like to thank all of the fans for supporting the Armada this season. We hope all of you were able to catch a game at Blair Field and experience Lima Time and IRABUMANIA. The Armada look to end this season with a bang as they host the visiting Victoria Seals in the final game of this four game series. Zach Beal will get the ball tonight as he looks to end the season with win number two.

Armada Starting Lineup:
1. Brandon Howard #3 SS
2. Jonny Kaplan #5 3B
3. Matt Edgecombe #34 LF
4. J.J. Sherrill #19 DH
5. Daryl Jones #31 1B
6. Asif Shah #25 RF
7. Dan Luyben #10 2B
8. David Ramirez #21 C
9. Josh Womack #20 CF

SP: #27 Zach Beal
1-1, 2nd Start, 8.03 ERA

Armada putting away Seals

noreply@blogger.com (Tyler) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 02:59:00 +0000

We go into the eighth and it's all Armada as they pick up three runs to extend the lead to 11-4. Asif Shah with his first home run as an Armada pushed the lead to 4-9. J.J. Sherrill was hit by the pitch and advanced to first while Brandon Howard came home and scored putting the Fleet up 10-4. The Armada wasn't done as Josh Womack ran home and scored off the RBI form Andy Bouchie. The Armada looks like they have picked up their third win of this series which means they have done their part to keep their playoff hopes alive. The score is tied in Tucson at two in the top of the third.

HOME RUN!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Tyler) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 02:46:00 +0000

With the Armada fans going crazy right fielder Asif Shah picks up his first home run as an Armada, hitting it deep into left field to put the Fleet up 9-4. This is turning out to be a good game tonight fans, Blair Field is the place to be. The Armada has nine runs, nine hits, and no errors. The Seals have four runs, eleven hits, and no errors.

Gabriel Riley comes through for Seals

noreply@blogger.com (Tyler) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 02:36:00 +0000

Bottom of the seventh and Victoria not going away easy as they were able to score two runs in the top of the seventh. Gabriel Riley was the factor for the Seals as he scored his third home run of the season to bring the lead to 3-7. Riley scored again as he scored off the RBI single from Billy Krause.

Armada closing away

noreply@blogger.com (Tyler) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 02:29:00 +0000

We go into the seventh and the Armada increase their lead to eight. Matt Edgecombe came up to bat and picked up a double, advancing to second base. Jonny Kaplan with a hit into center field brought in Matt Edgecombe to score. So the Armada playing good baseball tonight as they try to keep their playoff hopes alive.

Seals show life

noreply@blogger.com (Tyler) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 02:01:00 +0000

The Victoria Seals have responded by scoring two runs in the top of the fifth. Matt Kavanagh scored off an RBI from Gabriel Riley which put Riley at first, Flowers at second, and Rios at third cutting into the Armada lead 2-7. The Seals would score once more as Brian Rios came home and scored off the RBI walk from Billy Krause which brought the Seals within four runs of the Fleet. The Armada has seven runs, six hits, and no errors. The Seals have three runs, eight hits, and no errors.

Fleet score five runs

noreply@blogger.com (Tyler) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 01:23:00 +0000

The Fleet was able to score five runs in the bottom of the third to extend their lead to 7-1. It started with Asif Shah coming up to bat and was walked to first and Sherrill was able to walk home and score to bring the lead up to 3-1. Then Brandon Howard brought in Jonny Kaplan to extend the lead to 4-1. A wild pitch from James Garcia to Omar Bramasco allowed Brandon Howard to advance to second, Josh Womack to third, and Asif Shah to come home and score to give the Armada a 5-1 lead. The Fleet would make one last run as Omar Bramasco picked up a two run single bringing in Josh Womack from third, and Brandon Howard from second to give the Armada a commanding 7-1 lead over Victoria. The Armada are playing a Seals team that really has struggled most of this season, as they currently hold a 15-24 record in the second half, 32-48 overall.

Armada regain lead

noreply@blogger.com (Tyler) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 00:48:00 +0000

We go into the third and the Armada have regained the lead, scoring one run in the bottom of the second. Omar Bramasco with a broken bat and base hit that barley missed the glove of first baseman Brett Flowers brought in Asif Shah from second to give the Armada a 2-1 lead over the seals. Bramasco picked up his 50th RBI of the season. Bramasco is also the leader in RBIs for the Armada this season. The Armada has two runs, four hits, and no errors. The Seals have one run, two hits, and no errors.

Seals tie ball game

noreply@blogger.com (Tyler) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 00:37:00 +0000

Bottom of the second and the Seals not letting the Armada slip away as they tie the game at one. Billy Krause with a hit deep into right field picked up the double bringing in Gabriel Riley from third for the score. That put Krause at second, and Mermer at third. Takashi Miyoshi came up to bat and hit a fly ball that ended the inning. The Armada has one run, two hits, and no errors. The Seals also has one run, two hits, and no errors.

Armada score one run

noreply@blogger.com (Tyler) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 00:27:00 +0000

We go into the second and the Armada were able to score one run to give themselves a 1-0 lead over the seals. Brandon Howard came up to bat and picked up the double advancing to second base. Omar Bramasco with a base hit brought in Brandon Howard, running all the way home from second to score for the Fleet. The Armada has one run, two hits, and no errors. The Seals have no runs, no hits, and no errors.

Armada vs Seals 8/30

noreply@blogger.com (Tyler) — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 23:55:00 +0000

Good evening Armada fans and welcome to game three of this four game series between the Armada and the Victoria Seals. For the Armada to advance to the playoffs they have to do it two different ways:

1. The Armada need to win either tonights game or tomorrows game.
2. The St. George RoadRunners need to win the next two games against the Tucson Toros at Hi Corbett Field.

We will keep you posted throughout the game of the score between the RoadRunners and the Toros. In my mind I think we will see the Armada playing in the Playoffs in September. Buckle up your seat belts fans, were going down to the wire. Kris Honel will get the ball tonight. Honel was acquired by the Armada in exchange for fan favorite Jose Lima. Honel will look for his third win of the season.

Armada Starting Lineup:
1. Brandon Howard #3 2B
2. Omar Bramasco #6 SS
3. Steve Moss #32 LF
4. J.J. Sherrill #19 DH
5. Andy Bouchie #15 C
6. Matt Edgecombe #30 1B
7. Jonny Kaplan #5 3B
8. Asif Shah #25 RF
9. Josh Womack #20 CF

SP: #34 Kris Honel
2-1, 6th Start, 1.80 ERA

Seals earn one run

noreply@blogger.com (Tyler) — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 05:15:00 +0000

The Armada need some insurance runs as the Victoria Seals are within one run of the Armada 6-5. Billy Krause came home from third and scored off the RBI single from Jamar Hill. Hill picked his 64th RBI of the season. It's still anyones ball game fans as Omar Bramasco is now up to bat. Also fans just wanted let everyone know we have some scouts at Blair Field tonight.

Armada on top

noreply@blogger.com (Tyler) — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 04:54:00 +0000

We go into the eighth and what an inning that was as the Armada were able to capture the lead from the Seals late in this ball game 6-4. It started with Brandon Howard coming home and scoring from third to trim the Victoria lead to 2-4. Then Josh Womack came home and scored to bring the lead down to 3-4. The Armada were able to keep it going as Andy Bouchie was walked to first base, plus Bramasco was able to walk home from third and score to tie the game at four. The Armada made on last run in the seventh as Matt Edgecombe brought home Moss from third and Sherrill from second. The Armada are starting to play good baseball late in this game, plus are doing their part to keep their playoff hopes alive. Good news fans the RoadRunners beat the Toros 6-2.

Armada desperately need runs

noreply@blogger.com (Tyler) — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 04:24:00 +0000

Bottom of the seventh and the Armada now playing catch up as they trail the Victoria Seals 4-1. Jamar Hill came home and scored from third off the RBI single from Brett Flowers. Flowers picked up his 47th RBI of the season. Brandon Howard is now up to bat for the Armada. The Armada has one run, seven hits, and one error. The Seals have four runs, nine hits, and no errors.

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