Four BayBears have made the list of the best players in the Southern League. Unlike last year, these players are actually deserving of the spots. You might remember last year when Mobile hosted the game that many BayBears were hardly deserving of the honor. This year, they got it right. The 2006 SL All-Star BayBears are:

Luis Cruz
George Kottaras
Drew Macias
Jared Wells

Jared Wells will of course not be there as he has been promoted but will be replaced by Sean Thompson, another deserving candidate. More coverage on the All-Star game as it gets closer.

It's looking less and less likely that the San Diego Padres will be the major league affiliate of the BayBears next season. Kevin Towers, SD GM, has expressed interest in moving the Padres affiliate to the Texas League. Mobile BayBears GM Bill Shanahan is not allowed to comment on the issue until August due to MiLB rules. If the Padres were to leave the BayBears, it would end a strong 10 year affiliation that has seen over 60 players from Mobile go to play for San Diego, including Mobile native Jake Peavy. Speculation on who would replace the Padres? The Cubs maybe? The Double-A affiliate for the Cubbies is the West Tenn Diamond Jaxx, a team that has struggled severely in the attendance department. Through 38 openings this year, the Jaxx have averaged only 1,494 fans per game (last in the Southern League). Another reason why the Cubs may move their AA team to the Port City is personal ties. According to FOX10 news here in Mobile, a top Jaxx official (can't remember exactly which one) graduated from Spring Hill College right here in the city. I really wouldn't mind having the Chicago as our MLB team. There are die hard Cubs fans all over the country who love tracking future stars and prospects. The stadiums match, too. We will have to wait until late in the season to find out if the switch is made; and if so, what team it is to.

The BayBears went off the deep end Wednesday afternoon against the Huntsville Stars, beating them 15-0. Roger Deago picked up the win in a stellar outing allowing no runs over 7 innings. Matt Lauderdale and Drew Macias drove in 4 runs each while Juan ciriaco went 4-6. Mobile is now first place in the division at 2-1.

BayBears Luis Cruz and George Kottaras were selected to the 2006 All-Star Futures Game Roster. They will be the only players from the Padres farm system to appear in the game. Congrats to Cruz and G-Kott.

Second half of the SL starts tonight, which means that the records for all teams are 0-0 and we can forget about the ugly first half Mobile had. Gary Jones has mentioned several times that with the exception of the series with league-killers Jacksonville, the BayBears have been playing quite well. But have they? Keep in mind that they have played without Cesar Carrillo (who was promoted) for much of the season. The BayBears started out the year with a .409 record through April. They have only two losing streaks 5 games or longer; most of their losses come after wins in a win/loss pattern. In May, the team was 13-29, and in the last month Mobile has a winning record of .411. Has anything really changed? It seems like it, the players play with more energy and urgency, but the numbers don't back it up. The only way you can really change and improve "the numbers" is to win. A good start would be to take a series which begins tonight against Huntsville, the only other team with a worse record than Mobile in the first half.

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The Biscuits have been hot and fresh out of the oven in the past series against the BayBears. Montgomery shut out Mobile for the second time in four games Friday night 1-0. The BayBears managed only 5 hits off Montgomery pitching, led by starter Jim Magrane. Mobile starter John Hudgins got the loss dropping him to 3-3. The two teams will meet again Saturday to wrap up the first half of the Southern League schedule.

Jacksonville Loses Bid For Record
The Jacksonville Suns finally lost Friday night, ending their winning streak at 15, one shy of the Southern League record. The Suns had a one-run lead going into the bottom of the 8th when Mississippi exploded for 6 runs. Jax came back to score one more run, but in the end, the Braves finished off the Suns 11-7. The Suns (48-21) have overwhelmingly clinched the SL Southern Division 1st Half title, giving them a spot in the playoffs.

Many things have to be updated. Scoreboard definitely. Someone in the Press-Register Sports Soud-Off yesterday actually complained about it. The video board is truely embarrasing. Last time I went to a game, however, it did seem like they replaced a bunch of the missing number pixel lights. He is also right when he says that they don't follow through on their promotions. Example: Last year on Mayor Dow bobblehead night they wouldn't give me a bobblehead, even though the promotion clearly stated "first 1000 fans." They told me that you had to be 18 (voting age) to get one, while I was still 17 at the time. Well just about all my frustration over everything I disliked about the BayBears came out then and there. I pitched a fit for about 30 minutes and one of the BayBear staff finally decided to just give me one. I will never forget that. Mobile has some of the worst promotions/PR people I have ever seen. Who cares about coming to the park to get a plunger? (not even kidding) A new logo and/or a new name would benefit the team. The colors are outdated (navy blue and red) and the logo they came up with 2 years ago (the MB Mobile one) has just about been scrapped as they mostly wear the Old English M hats now. It may seem a bit out there, but I would like to see the name changed back to BaySharks or just Sharks like the 1994-95 TX-LA League team with the colors changed to orange and green. This would no doubt put some originality back into this organization. The park is not clean. That is a fact. Take a look at every single seat in the upper deck. The green color of the seats are fading into a light white color, which looks disgusting. The concourse smells like a bathroom (no joke), and there are puddles of water just about everywhere you turn. The landscaping in Gaslight Park is going downhill as well. More developments for evey fan (not just qualified ticket holders) should be looked into for down the first base side on the field level (which is the BayBears side). Countless improvements to the third base side have been made including the Beach and the Pepsi Pavilion. This might be a tough task, but with a little EFFORT and an open mind, the Mobile staff can make the BayBears a whole lot better and make it a place where families and sports fanatics alike can come and enjoy a game and want to come back.

Jonathan Ellis was suspended 50 games today for violating the league's substance abuse policy. He didn't make the trip up to montgomery for tonight's game (obviously) and is reportedly now invited to Jason Grimsley's BBQ this Sunday.

Speaking of tonight's game, we lost. Big. 7-0. Only 3 hits for Mobile. Sean Thompson got the loss, giving up 8 hits and 6 ER, dropping his record to 1-6 with a 4.15 ERA. Suprisingly, the BayBears aren't the worst team in the league even though they do tie for the most wins. The crappiest team in the Southern League is the Huntsville Stars at 23-40 (.365).

Instead of talking about the loss last night, I'm going to talk about the Friday game, which was way better. I actually went to Friday's game. It was quite a thriller. The thrill began in the bottom of the 8th when the Bears were down 5-3 and had two men on. Luis Cruz delivered a 2-out RBI to get us within one. The Smokies brought in reliever Chris Kinsey to face George Kottaras. Big. Mistake. G-Kott laced a double that almost cleared the left-center fence to drive in Cruz and Juan Ciriaco. The place exploded with cheers as the BayBears gained the lead 6-5. Tennessee threatened in the bottom of the 9th with two men on after a double and an intentional BB, but Dale Thayer struck out pinch hitter (and birthday boy) Danny Richar to end the game and earn the 11th save of the season for him. I asked Jared Wells where he hoped to be at the end of the season after the game. Only a few words came from his mouth. "San Diego, hopefully." The way things are going for him, that may be a possibility.

Why has Neal McCready been writing the BayBears column in the Press-Register lately? I can't stand reading this guy's ... "writing." If you want a good example of his "writing," check this out. Disgraceful. At least it's a little better than those "staff reports" that are no more than 30 words long.

Gary Jones won his 1000th game as a manager Wednesday night, as the BayBears defeated the Smokies. To keep the celebration going, the team decided to lose last night to keep Jonesey at an even number. Tonight the two teams battle it out in the hump game of a five game set. 7:05. I'll try to be there.

Sorry for the lack of updates over the past several days. I have been up at Auburn for the University's Camp War Eagle Orientation Session. I will be a freshman in the fall majoring in Architecture (which means almost zero free time). Anyways, CWE was fun for the most part. I learned so much in such a short period of time. I also registered for classes. I'm really really tired.

Back to baseball. The BayBears got swept by the Jacksonville Suns in a five game set in FL. Mobile returns home tomorrow night to play Tennessee.Gary Jones still stuck on win 999.

Special thanks to John for the kind words in the last post.

Outfielder Kennard Jones (of Blue Bunny commercial fame) and pitcher Ryan Meaux have been promoted to Portland. I don't know what else to say.