A Final Story for a New Beginning

by Joseph Kuykendall

Three years ago when I first got the “job” with Boston Sports U18 (BSU18), I never imagined I’d be sitting in the Fenway Press Box for my “last” game with the site. But here I am watching the team I first began covering (Lowell Spinners) play at America’s Most Beloved Ballpark and I couldn’t be more happier or blessed.

I always loved sports but never really thought about entering the sports media world. It all started somewhat by chance. I was a devoted reader to the Spinners monthly E-Mail Newsletter, and thanks to that I saw an ad for a youth sportswriter to write about the Spinners for a local website. I inquired about it, wrote a sample essay and was hired by the BSU18 founder and “boss” Mike Winn.

I still can remember my first media day for the Spinners and my first game during the 2009 season. At that first game, I showed up with just a notepad and paper, not knowing that a computer was involved in the equation, or what a sportswriter really brought to a game. Needless to say, that was the last time I ever showed up to a game without a computer.

Anyway, as the 2009 season progressed, I began to find my new love. Speaking to many players and covering many games was a dream come true. One of the highlights for that season was doing an interview on Alex Wilson who is quickly making his way through the Sox system as I write this. Wilson is a West Virginia native – and I have family there – so that played into the appeal of me wanting to interview him.

Me doing a pregame interview at the 2011 New York-Penn League All-Star Game at LeLacheur Park.

I also got lucky my first year with the Spinners because they made the playoffs for just the second time in franchise history. The Spinners lost to the Staten Island Yankees in the first round of the New York-Penn League Playoffs. That series remains controversial among the Spinners front office but that is a story for another time.

In the offseason, I wrote about college football and basketball, because those are two of my favorite sports, but didn’t actually attend games. I just wrote about what I saw on TV, witnessed, etc. This would eventually change thanks to a good friend, and boy, was it the experience of a lifetime.

I don’t remember as much of the second season (2010) at LeLacheur Park as I do the first, but it was much like the first. I covered them throughout the season and did my college basketball and football work in the winter. I do remember being upset that the Spinners would be playing in Futures at Fenway that year and I couldn’t attend because my cousin was getting married in Southern California. But it turned out alright as the games at Fenway experienced a “monsoon” and I got to attend the MLB All-Star Game at Angel Stadium while in SoCal.

I hadn’t really socialized with other writers on the site through my first two seasons which I regret but I still enjoyed every minute of what I did.

Then came my third season (two years) covering the Spinners. It was a year that completely changed me. It is the year 2011 and it started just like my other years; I did college football and basketball coverage in the baseball offseason but once summer rolled around, my focus turned to LeLacheur Park. About midway through the season, I noticed someone had covered the Spinners for BSU18 one of the nights I was there and I was utterly confused. Then I went to LeLacheur Park the next night to cover a game and Spinners Media Relations contact Jon Boswell asked me who the kid was, because he was confused as well since he had only known me to cover games for the site.

My uncle and I court side at the 2012 CAA Basketball Tournament.

Turns out it was Joshua Kummins. Joshua and I slowly began to communicate via Facebook, and finally worked a Spinners game together. It was a doubleheader with the “Human Home Run” on display in between games (I believe the Spinners were playing the Connecticut Tigers). From then on we covered one or two more games together before the season ended and through our socializing at these games, I learned that it would be possible for me to branch out and cover more games besides just Spinners baseball. Josh really encouraged me to reach out and contact other teams (both professional and college), thus resulting in expanded coverage for our site. If it weren’t for Josh I would have been doing my usual of being credentialed with the Spinners and that being it.

Josh and I are very similar in many ways: we both love baseball and college athletics and sports in general. We live and breathe sports. But what also makes us very similar is that we are both strong in our faiths, his being Judaism and mine being Christianity. I always found those similarities to be neat.

My first new “gig” was covering the New Hampshire Fisher Cats in their Eastern League playoff run which resulted in an Eastern League Championship for them. Here I met one of our young promising writers Patrick Cavanaugh. Pat is an awesome kid. He was full of energy and so polite and respectful of me when we met and he even gave me the grand behind-the-scenes tour of Northeast Delta Dental Stadium (Home of Fisher Cats) since I had never covered a game there. Pat and I are also similar in that we both want to one day be sports broadcasters in addition to our journalistic duties.

Once baseball season came to an end, it was time for me to get back into my college football coverage. But what was different with this coverage is, thanks to Josh, I was able to cover actual games live. I covered two Boston College football home games and a home game at the University of New Hampshire as well. I also did a weekly New England Roundup column highlighting the main FCS and FBS programs in the area. This really strengthened my interest of college football, as well as my knowledge of the sport.

As Joshua put it, “Now is where the real story begins.”

Thanks to my parents, college basketball has been an extreme passion of mine my whole life. And once again thanks to the encouragement of Joshua, I covered college basketball in Boston from top to bottom in the 2011-2012 winter. I covered games at Northeastern, Boston, College, Boston University, and Harvard.

I had the time of my life seeing these games played from behind the scenes and from press row. One of the people who was really encouraging of me was Dick Kelley, the Assistant Athletics Director and Basketball Sports Information Director (SID) at BC. Since he was an Andover native too, he really helped me out and allowed me to do things many kids my age wouldn’t normally be able to do. Anyway, my main beats were with BC and Northeastern since I had previous connections and interests to the ACC and CAA.

One of Josh’s favorite things that I ever said to him was, “Sometimes when I drive home from a game at eleven at night I think to myself, ‘Why I am doing this?’ Then I remember how awesome it is and how lucky I am.” That is referring to my late night drives home from a game that I would cover midweek on a school night.

I was even lucky enough to travel all the way down to Richmond, Va. to cover the CAA Tournament that Northeastern was playing in. One of my fondest ever sports writing memories. Thank you to my uncle who acted as my “chaperone” for the weekend slowing me to experience the tournament.

Again because of my connections at BC, I was able to cover the NCAA Sweet 16 Boston Regional as a media member. Never would I have imagined that I would be sitting three rows behind the Syracuse bench watching them play and eventually interviewing them. An absolute dream come true.

I cannot begin to thank everyone involved in allowing me to do what I was able to do this past winter. I even branched out to cover some college hockey games with Josh (which is his forté) and loved it and found myself following a new sport because of it. I was never a strong hockey fan until I met Josh.

Because of my work in the college basketball world, I was approved to become a member of the United States Basketball Writers Association which was an unbelievable honor that words cannot describe.

In the end, I covered 40+ Division I games ranging from football to basketball to hockey.

I would have said you were crazy if you had told me this would happen six months prior. But that is what made it so special, how it was not a given and something new to me.

On a side note, the NCAA Division III Volleyball Tournament was held in Springfield, Mass. Because volleyball is the sport I play, I covered the semifinals of the tournament at Springfield College making it two NCAA Tournaments for me in less than two months.

When all was said and done, I had an incredible run. I had done all that I previously mentioned before I was 18 which is tough for me to fathom. “Blessed” is not a strong enough word to explain how I feel for all the opportunities given to me and people I met. And my parents too. How many parents would let their child drive home from Boston at 11PM on a school night multiple times? Just goes to show how awesome my parents are.

One other BSU18 writer I have yet to mention is Danny Jaillet. This kid’s stuff is absolutely incredible. He writes just about everything (including proposed sports video games and a lot more) and everything he writes is top notch quality. I always enjoy reading his stuff. One of the funiest things any of my colleagues ever said to me was something Danny said. One day I had an article idea for him so I pitched it to him. He responded with, “Yes, I’ll do it. I need an excuse not to do my chemistry homework.” What an awesome comment.

I had an remarkable final ride with the Spinners this season and it ended Saturday with Futures at Fenway. I’ll still be doing some part-time coverage for the site but it just won’t be the same being in the city 24/7 covering games whenever I can. I found it fitting to end with Futures as it allows me to go out with a bang and fitting to end with the team I began with.

My favorite player across any sports covered for my three years was on the Spinners roster this season: catcher J.T. Watkins.

Watkins was drafted out of West Point and is the definition of a role model. If you strive to be like him you’ll be in pretty good shape. He was always sure to say hello to me when he saw me and gave me the utmost respect.

I think this is already long enough but it just goes to show how much fun I have had. I have so much more to say but then I’d need to find a publisher. I would like to think all my colleagues and Mike for the opportunity to do what I did. And all the other writers, SID’s and people I met at games covered who helped me along the journey and got me to where I am. There were so many outstanding people I met – too many to list. But thank you, thank you, thank you to all of them. I am proud to have been an official BSU18 member and can only hope our site continues to grow and gain the respect it deserves. We should be judged not by our age but by our quality. We do a pretty darn good job covering all Boston Sports inside and out and I wish more people recognized it for what it is.

By this point, I am sure I have left something out but I can’t write it all. I am excited to continue my journey at James Madison University where hopefully my talents learned with BSU18 will help me further myself in this career field.

This isn’t the end, it’s the beginning of the awesome lifestyle I want to live. Thank you.

Hudson Valley 6, Lowell 5: Rough Day at the “Century Park” for the Spinners

by Joseph Kuykendall

Aneury Tavarez (above) put in a solid day's
 work Saturday night going 3-for-3
with 2 singles as well as a HBP.

BOSTON---Right away things got off to a shaky start for the Spinners and it was basically downhill for them the rest of the way. On just the second pitch of the game, Hudson Valley Renegades’ Joey Rickard hit a rocket off the face of Spinners’ starter Brian Johnson sending him to the ground and finally taken off the field on a stretcher. After that “life-draining” play, the Spinners never really found their groove until it was too late and lost 6-5 at the hands of the Renegades.

The confines of Fenway weren’t so friendly Saturday afternoon to Red Sox 2012 First Round pick Brian Johnson. As mentioned before, on just his second pitch thrown in the shadows of the Green Monster, a liner off the bat of Hudson Valley center fielder nicked Johnson right below his left eye sending Johnson to the ground while struggling to throw the glove off of his right hand to hold the area he was hit. Johnson never lost consciousness and never bled but was visibly in pain. It has been confirmed that Johnson suffered multiple fractures to the orbital bone on the left side of his face and never lost consciousness. He is resting comfortably at the hospital.

Despite the scary situation, the game would have to go on. Jacob Dahlstrand, who was set to piggy-back Johnson after two innings or so anyway, came on to relive the injured Johnson. He would make it out of the first inning unscathed but after that is when he began to fall apart.

Both the Spinners and the Renegades would send just three men to the plate in the first inning but in the second is when Hudson Valley blew the door wide open. Dahlstrand allowed the first two ‘Gades to reach base without a hit (hit-by-pitch and walk, respectively). Two batters later, Joel Caminero would double in the two runners on base to get a quick 2-0 lead for the visiting team. The very next batter, Jake DePew singled in Caminero to score the third and final run of the inning.

In the bottom of the second inning, the Spinners got one run back after Rhode Island-native Zach Kapstein plated David Chester with an RBI single. This would be the Spinners last run until they made one final run at the lead in the ninth inning.

The Renegades must’ve figured Dahlstrand out as he would allow single runs in both the third and fourth inning before his removal at the end of the fourth inning.

After a quiet fifth inning on both sides, DePew continued to shell the Spinners pitching knocking a solo home run just over the Green Monster to push the Hudson Valley lead to 6-1. This time it was off of a Gerardo Olivares pitch who is relatively new to the Spinners roster (made Spinners debut 8/10). The home run put DePew a triple shy of the cycle at the time although he would never get the triple needed.

The two teams would combine for just two hits in the seventh and eighth inning keeping the ‘Gades lead at 6-1 as things headed into the ninth inning.

Jadd Schmeltzer pitched a scoreless top of the ninth to limit the size of the comeback Lowell would have to make in the bottom half of the frame.

The Spinners made a valiant attempt at a comeback only to come up one-run short. Despite the first batter of the inning being retired, the Spinners got the next four consecutive batters in the inning to reach via a triple, walk, double, and error, respectively. After Kapstein grounded out for the second out in the inning, catcher Roberto Reyes hit a nub-shot down the third base line to reach first safely and score Matty Johnson (who reached on the error). Johnson was the fifth and final Spinners  run as the batter following Perez (Mike Miller) grounded out to the second baseman to stop the magic for the Spinners.

With the loss, it is the Spinners second loss in a row at Futures at Fenway (last appearance was 2010) after starting out 3-0 in their first three appearances in the event. This is the third time the Spinners and Renegades have squared-off in the event (2007 and 2008) and the first time the Renegades have won in their battle. Lowell is now 28-30 on the season and, much like the Red Sox, can’t seem to make it back to .500. They have been impressive of late though, as the Spinners haven’t had a losing streak of two or more games since they lost four-in-a-row July 18-21.

The two teams continue their three game series tomorrow afternoon with a 1:05 first pitch in the second game of the series, this time at LeLacheur Park.

Kuykendall can be followed on Twitter @JoeKBSU18 and contacted at JKuykendall@BostonSportsU18.com

Three Spinners named to 8th Annual NYPL All-Star Game, Two will participate

by Joseph Kuykendall

Francisco Taveras
(Courtesy of John Courneau/Lowell Spinners)

LOWELL—A year removed from hosting the All-Star game themselves, the Lowell Spinners send two (kind of three) of their own to this years installment of the New York-Penn League All-Star Game. This year’s All-Star game will be hosted by the Mahoning Valley Scrappers in Niles, Ohio. The Scrappers are geographically the farthest opponent from LeLacheur Park.

Although only two Spinners are on the American League Affiliate roster, they had three players selected in the game. Arguably the Spinners best pitcher, William Cuevas will not participate in the game because he is unable to play in it. The other two players with the same honor as Cuevas are utility player Dreily Guerrero and pitcher Francisco Taveras. “All three have been very integral in our development and our success that we’ve had,” said Spinners’ manager Bruce Crabbe.

All three players were signed as international free agents by the Red Sox: Guerrero and Taveras were signed in 2009 while Cuevas put the pen to the paper in 2008.

            Cuevas has had an incredible season for the baby Sox. In 11 appearances (including 4 starts) the 6’0” righty leads the team and is tied for fourth in the NYPL with a 1.61 ERA. What’s more impressive about his ERA number is that he also leads the team in innings with 56.  In addition to preventing runners from scoring, runners have hard time even reaching base as his 46 strikeouts and 1.00 WHIP are both Top 8 in the league. Manager Crabbe simply stated, “Cuevas, I think his numbers speak for themselves.”

            Cuevas made his professional debut in 2009 in the Dominican Summer League and put up great numbers there too. In three consecutive seasons in the DSL, Cuevas never had an ERA greater than 3.17. After appearing in 3 games in his third season in the DSL in 2011, Cuevas was moved to the Gulf Coast League Red Sox where he had a 2.79 ERA and 25 K’s.

            The reason for Cuevas not pitching in the All-Star game is that he is scheduled to pitch for the Spinners on Sunday; the last game before the All-Star Game on Tuesday. Per league rules if you can’t play in the game, you’re not on the roster. “We’re keeping him on his schedule and we’re gonna go from there,” said Crabbe, “Development in their career is much more important than pitching one inning in an All-Star Game. I know it’s a great honor to go but his development’s much more important and we’re looking at that.”

This didn’t upset Cuevas the least bit because he knows his job is to play for the Lowell Spinners in the Red Sox system, “No [I’m not disappointed I cant play in the game]. It’s my work.”

            In the end he was still a selection which is an honor in itself and Cuevas definitely agreed with that, “It feels so good. It’s an honor to me to represent the team. I want to be there but things happen like that,” said Cuevas.

            As for his great season to date, Cuevas couldn’t be any more happier, “It feels so good. Amazing. I’m doing the right things the right way. I’m a little lucky.”

The one Spinners’ pitcher actually on the roster, Francisco Taveras, also ventured through the DSL and GCL. He spent 2009 in the DSL and 2010 and 2011 with the Sox in Fort Myers, FL. One of his most impressive statistics is that through his 47 professional appearances he has struck out at least one batter in every single one of those outings.  As for this season, the south paw has found himself a nice groove. He was Lowell’s opening day starter and did an excellent job in that game allowing no runs over five innings and has since continued to own the mound. His 2.06 ERA and 41 K’s also rank with the leagues best at 7^th and 8^th, respectively.

            Wednesday, the day Taveras was announced an All-Star, he proved exactly why he was chosen. Coming in to “piggy-back” recently drafted Mike Augliera, Taveras went 5.2 strong innings picking up the win in relief. He struck out three and walked two while allowing just one run which proved to be unearned.

            Taveras will be joined in Ohio by one of his Dominican counterparts Dreily Guerrero. Guerrero has just about done it all for the Spinners living up to the term utility. “He’s played 5 positions I think, been very consistent with the bat, he’s been up and down from Greenville a couple of times, and he’s just been a catalyst for our team for sure,” said Crabbe.

He has played at least one game at all three outfield positions as well as third base and second base. He is hitting .286 on the season, good enough for second on the team. What sets him apart is his running ability and ability to get on base. He has 10 steals on the year and a .348 OBP which is also second on the team. He too has split time in the DSL and GCL before arriving in Lowell this season for his fourth summer of professional baseball.

Crabbe has been very happy with all his all-stars this season and thinks there is one common thread that has made them so successful, “As far how they’ve developed period, they’re all three very young players and getting their feet underneath them early, possibly being comfortable in their environment, it’s been a big play in, I think, them having success and getting themselves comfortable.”

The 8^th annual NYPL All-Star Game takes place on Tuesday, August 14^th and still remains as the only Class-A Short Season All-Star Game (Northwest League is other A-SS League). After the game, the two participating Spinners’ All-Stars will quickly hop on a plane back to Lowell as they are hosting the Aberdeen IronBirds at beautiful LeLacheur Park the very next day.

Kuykendall can be followed on Twitter @JoeKBSU18 and contacted at JKuykendall@BostonSportsU18.com