There's an old baseball canard to the effect that every time you go to a ball game, "You may see something that you've never seen before." Well last night the 3384 faithful who turned out for the Vancouver/Eugene tilt at historic Civic stadium sure got their money's worth, because they actually got to see two things (maybe three) they'd never seen before.  However, I suspect that the last of these events passed unnoticed by nearly all in attendance.

The pitching matchup looked like we might have a pitcher's duel on our hands with Vancouver's Scott Deal going against Matt Buschmann for the Emeralds.  Buschman's been solid for the Ems despite his 3-3 record going into last night's game (3.12 ERA, 63K and 11BB in 60.2 innings), but Deal has been flat out dominant for Vancouver.  So it was a bit surprising when Emeralds left fielder Chad huffman led off the second inning with a triple, coming in to score two pitches later on a sac fly by right fielder Michael Campbell.  Deal is an extreme ground ball pitcher, but the Ems were doing a good job last night elevating a lot of his pitches.  Still, Deal managed to get through the first 3 innings throwing only 33 pitches, 28 for strikes.

Which brings us to the top of the 4th inning and "thing you've never seen before" #1.  The inning did not start well for the Ems' Buschmann. Hit-by-pitch, single plus E4 allowing the runners to reach 2nd and 3rd, RBI single, foul-out sac fly to the second baseman, and then a 2-run home run that was just smoked by Vancouver right fielder Ramiro Mendez.  Four runs and only one out so far.

Buschman's very next pitch sailed up and in and dumped Vancouver catcher Gustavo Rosendo in the dirt.  My opinion is that the ball just slipped out of Buschman's hand, but home plate umpire Ben Robinson didn't see it that way and immediately ejected Buschman.  Em's skipper Doug Dascenzo was out of the dugout in a split second and much argument ensued.  It's worth noting here that Eugene has had trouble with Robinson in other games this year, so there's no doubt a huge resevoir of frustration that's been built up.

Dascenzo and Robinson wrangle for a bit, and Dascenzo brings in Jon Kirby to start warming up.  Dascenzo decides he isn't finished with Robinson however, and ends up planting himself on home plate arguing with Robinson while Kirby is trying to warm up.  Kirby eventually turns 90 degrees and starts making warm-up tosses to the FIRST BASEMAN, but believe it or not, this is not the "thing you've never seen before" (although up until that point, I never had).  

What was totally over the top for me was Em's President and GM Bob Beban coming on to the field of play (while Dascenzo and Robinson were arguing-- Dascenzo would later be tossed himself) with a cell phone that was connected to Northwest League President Bob Richmond, who was apparently ready to give Robinson a verbal spanking (or his walking papers, which would have been really interesting in the middle of a game).  Beban tried to make Robinson take the call but Robinson, correctly, refused and ordered Beban off the field. I'm guessing Robinson had a few messages on his own cell phone after the game though.  Wow.

Kirby managed to get out of the inning with no further damage, and Scott Deal came on in the bottom of the 4th after a long, long time in the dugout.  The delay clearly cost Deal some of his normally pinpoint command because he actually walked a batter and ended up throwing significantly more balls than he had in the first three innings.  Deal gave up a run in the inning on two singles and a walk, and Kirby retired the side in order in the top of the 5th.

Deal came on in the bottom of the 5th, retired Ems lead-off hitter Mike Epping on a weak grounder to short, gave up a bloop hit to Ems third baseman (and Padres #1 draft pick) Matt Antonelli, and then first baseman Craig Cooper slammed Deal's first pitch over the left field wall for a two-run home run.  And I can say with certainty that this was something the Eugene faithful had never seen before because that was the first home run Scott Deal has given up in the entire 66 and a third innings he's pitched this season.  Again wow.

As I mentioned in a previous diary, Scott Deal's family has been traveling around the Northwest League to watch all of his starts.  I actually got to meet them (and briefly Scott) at Scott's start in Salem on July 27th.  I ended up sitting with them last night for the latter part of the game and they were bemoaning the home run, but I assured them that if the kid only gives up one home run this season, he's doing pretty darn good.

I could go one about the rest of the game (which Vancouver eventually won 10-5).  Every Vancouver batter reached base at least once and every Canadian except lead-off man Larry "don't call me Ty" Cobb either scored a run or had an RBI or both.  But let me wax rhapsodic about Scott Deal instead.

Physically Scott Deal reminds me of Tim Hudson.  The Canadians roster lists him at 6'4", 190lbs, but there's no way the kid is 6'4".  Deal is also an extreme groundballer like Huddy, throwing 2- and 4-seam fastballs primarily while working in a good changeup and the occasional slider.  Deal doesn't yet throw a split-finger pitch, but if he learns to use a splitter as a strikeout pitch, he could be devestating.  Deal has 31 strikeouts in 66.1 innings, but remember this is short-season low-A ball and I think Deal's going to need a better out pitch to succeed at higher levels.

Deal succeeds right now by inducing an endless chain of ground ball outs.  As a "pitch to contact" guy, he's incredibly efficient.  In the July start at Salem, Deal threw 58 pitches (36 strikes) in his first six innings of work, and of the 18 outs, 14 were groundballs.  Deal ended up being the hard-luck loser in that contest, after Vancouver third baseman Alexander Valdez booted a ball in the 7th inning and let the inning get out of control, but it was an amazing performance for Deal nevertheless.

The other thing I love about Deal is that he works quickly.  As in, "has the ball and is ready to throw before the batter gets back in the box."  He clearly likes to control the pace of the game and get a quick rhythm going to keep the hitters off-balance.  Hitters are starting to step out on him to disrupt his timing, and he's going to have to adjust to that, but if the batters let him control the pace of the game they have no chance.

Deal was a high school pick in the 2005 draft.  He'll just turn 20 in December.  After instructional league in the Fall (grandpa Deal confirms that Scott already has his invite), Scott will probably be assigned to one of the full-season A leagues next year.  Clearly, it's risky to project a kid this early in his career, and I'd like to see him facing some higher-quality hitting, but let me just say I hope he ends up pitching for Oakland as well as Tim Hudson did.  The kid is clearly 2-3 years away from the majors, but I'm going to be following his future career with great interest.