4 state All-Americans

Alabama will have at least four of the 40 players in the 2007 All-American Baseball Game, which will be played in Albuquerque in June.

Theodore's Kentrail Davis and Gulf Shores' B.J. Jones are going to the game. They join Hoover's Ross Wilson and Grissom's Hunter Morris, who were picked earlier. Davis has signed with Tennessee, Jones with Auburn, Wilson with Alabama and Morris with Auburn -- not that it will matter when the pro draft hits in June.

Prattville's Austin Bailey is considered one of the state's top prep picks. Maybe he doesn't rank in the top four?

Brewing brawl?

According to the Jacksonville Suns' press release about Sunday's game, the benches emptied twice in the Biscuits' 7-2 victory, though no brawls followed. That could mean they're in for a tango at some point in the last two games of the series on Monday and Tuesday mornings.

In the fifth inning Sunday, Reid Brignac homered and the next hitter, Evan Longoria, paid the price. It led to three ejections: Suns pitcher Alvis Ojeda, Biscuits manager Billy Gardner and Biscuits relief pitcher Jeremy Flanagan (?!?). Since Flanagan wasn't in the game at that moment, I'd take a wild guess and imagine he did a fine sprint in from the dugout, followed it with some demonstrative language (either verbal, body or both).

Biscuits starter Chris Mason may have taken a retaliatory shot across the Jacksonville bow to start the next inning. Leadoff hitter Anthony Raglani drew a walk that included a wee too many inside pitches.

I'm confident in saying it was a "wee too many inside pitches." As evidence, I cite the teams leaving their benches once again.

MIDNIGHT UPDATE: The Biscuits just sent out their game release. It added that center fielder Fernando Perez suffered a knee injury on a third-inning rundown and is expected to miss at least a week.

List of locals

Here are the locals I could find currently active in professional baseball. We decided to expand it to include major-league players this year.

If you know someone who's in extended spring training, they don't count yet. If you know someone I'm flat missing, politely e-mail me or politely list him in a blog comment.

This is the roster that will be in Sunday's paper, but the list can change next week.

PITCHERS
Class AAA
Brian Bass, Montgomery -- Rochester (Twins)
Chris Booker, Monroeville -- Columbus (Nationals), we're including him this year. What the heck?
Class AA
Michael Nix, Auburn -- Mississippi (Braves), a note I'll hunt down next week
Bill White, Alexander City -- Frisco (Rangers), though Louisville, Ky., is listed as his residence by Frisco, we'll keep him
Wesley Wright, Grady -- Jacksonville (Dodgers), went to Goshen High, lives in Grady
Class A
Brandon Dickson, Marbury -- Quad Cities (Cardinals)
Tyler Wilson, Andalusia -- Rome (Braves)

POSITION PLAYERS
Major leagues
Marlon Anderson, Prattville -- L.A. Dodgers
Class AA
Craig Brazell, Montgomery -- Wichita (Royals)
Jai Miller, Selma -- Carolina (Marlins)


UPDATE
A changed name slipped through. Marbury's Cory Meachum is now Cory Rauschenberger and he's with Class AA Springfield (Cardinals).

Wayward Biscuits to wait

I know I teased to it earlier this week, so I apologize. Because of space concerns, we're going to wait at least a week before starting the Biscuits statistics graphic package. No Wayward Biscuits are coming Sunday. We are going to start the Locals in the Minors, though. At least that's something, right?

Houser to DL

Just got back from Prattville's playoff sweep of Wetumpka and saw that the Biscuits put pitcher James Houser on the disabled list after he had his wisdom teeth removed. I'm sure he's not feeling very chipper right now anyway.

History lesson

Many of my friends will count today among the low marks in the American education system.

Mike Summers isn’t one of them, but he’s the cause, dadgumit. Summers teaches history at Alabama Christian and reached a special place on his sophomore-level American history classes this week.

He’s teaching about spectator sports in our nation, how they grew and developed and what part they’ve played building the American fabric.

Today, his classes heard about the history of baseball from a poor, poor source -- me.

If you know an ACA sophomore, consider their pain. (They did ask some great questions, though.)

Hopefully, they now know a little about Abner Doubleday and Alexander Cartwright, the first World Series, the 1919 Black Sox and the Curse of the Bambino (1920-2004).

I told them about President Franklin Roosevelt’s request that baseball continue for the country’s morale while the United States fought in World War II. I told them how the teams filled their rosters with players not able to go to war. The students are mostly 16 years old and seemed awed over Joe Nuxhall, who was 15 at his major-league debut in 1944.

I touched on Jackie Robinson and how his success may have helped spark the civil rights movement.

The boring stuff for them had to be the antitrust exemption, which I think a valuable explanation of baseball’s place in our society, and how the labor movement moved forward after Curt Flood.

They laughed at Montgomery’s team name in 1892 (the Lambs). I, of course, followed with the 1903-04 team name (the Pretzels).

I ended with a slew of numbers. Last year's major-league attendance was almost 75 million and the minors drew more than 41 million. Last week, Forbes Magazine estimated the Yankees’ value at $1.2 billion and gave the major leagues’ operating income at $496 million.

Hopefully, they’re all awake by now.

Stars series finale

Chairon Isenia, a Riverwalk Stadium fan favorite the last three years, has some extra duty when he visits tonight. He's throwing out the ceremonial first pitch.

Also, pitcher James Houser will have his wisdom teeth removed Thursday before traveling to Jacksonville for the series there. The Biscuits are moving Houser to the fifth spot in the rotation to give him a few extra days to recover.

Pitcher Evan Meek threw a 30-pitch simulated game today and is expected to come off the disabled list this weekend.

Your lineups ...
BISCUITS
Jason Pridie, cf
Brooks Badeaux, 2b
Reid Brignac, ss
Evan Longoria, 3b
Chris Nowak, 1b
Shaun Cumberland, rf
Gabriel Martinez, dh
John Jaso, c
Patrick Breen, lf
Mike Prochaska, lhp

STARS
Steve Sollmann, 1b
Hernan Iribarren, 2b
Steve Moss, cf -- make that dh
Brendan Katin, rf
Lou Palmisano, c
Mike Carlin, dh -- lf
Jeff Eure, 3b
Yohannis Perez, ss
Mel Stocker, lf -- cf
Mike Jones, rhp


UPDATE: Isenia threw from about a foot in front of the mound and his pitch sailed high and inside. It registered 50 mph on the stadium radar gun.

Cantu to big leagues

The Devil Rays put third baseman Akinori Iwamura on the 15-day disabled list today and promoted Jorge Cantu from Class AAA Durham. Iwamura is suffering from a right oblique strain.

There won't be a corresponding move involving the Biscuits. Catcher Joshua Johnson will be activated by the Bulls.

Crack of dawn

When did the sun start coming up this early? Surprisingly, lights unnecessary for a 10:35 a.m. start.

With it being Grand Slam School Day, the Biscuits' front office has "dressed up" the players' scoreboard pictures. They've put the players' mug shots into the costumes of famous cartoon characters. We're endeavoring to ID them all.

Your lineups ...
biscuits, eggs, sausage, pancakes, etc.

BISCUITS
Fernando Perez, cf -- the Roadrunner
Jason Pridie, lf -- Shrek
Reid Brignac, ss -- Marvin the Martian
Evan Longoria, 3b -- Popeye
Chris Nowak, dh -- Big Bird
Shaun Cumberland, rf -- SpongeBob SquarePants
Gabriel Martinez, 1b -- Elmo
John Jaso, c -- Donald Duck
Josh Asanovich, 2b -- Yosemite Sam
Chris Mason, rhp

STARS
Steve Sollmann, 1b
Hernan Iribarren, 2b
Steve Moss, cf
Brendan Katin, rf
Ulyses Davenport, dh
Mike Carlin, lf
Jeff Eure, 3b
Max St. Pierre, c
Yohannis Perez, ss
Steve Hammond, lhp

In search of Wayward Biscuits

Paging Brent Smeltzer. Brent Smeltzer to the white courtesy phone. (Brent tracks this stuff much better than I do, so I'm calling on him to double-check me.)

We plan to start our weekly look around the Tampa Bay system Sunday and we include a look at the "Wayward Biscuits: Those who strayed from the Rays." Here's who I've found that falls on that list ...

Jesus Colome, Washington Nationals
Jason Standridge, Kansas City Royals
Jose Veras, New York Yankees, DL

Dewon Brazelton, Class AAA Omaha (Royals)
Ryan Christianson, Class AAA Memphis (Cardinals)
Fernando Cortez, Class AAA Omaha (Royals)
Jesus Feliciano, Class AAA New Orleans (Mets)
Iker Franco, Class AAA Richmond (Braves)
Joey Gathright, Class AAA Omaha (Royals)
Johnny Raburn, Class AAA Albuquerque (Marlins), just promoted from Class AA Carolina
Jose Rodriguez, Class AAA Round Rock (Astros)
Rico Washington, Class AAA Memphis (Cardinals)
John Webb, Class AAA Iowa (Cubs)

Jace Brewer, Class AA Wichita (Royals)
Robinson Cancel, Class AA Binghamton (Mets)
Marcos Carvajal, Class AA Binghamton (Mets)
Jason Cromer, Class AA Wichita (Royals)
Dan DeMent, Class AA Harrisburg (Nationals)
Jean Machi, Class AA New Hampshire (Blue Jays)
Jim Magrane, Class AA Harrisburg (Nationals)
Frank Moore, Class AA Carolina (Marlins)

Vince Harrison, Class A Jupiter (Marlins)

Jose Diaz, Yokohama BayStars, Japan -- or ホセロ as it has at http://www.baystars.co.jp/
Gerardo Garcia, Puebla Pericos, Mexico


There are nine independent leagues listed in my 2007 Baseball America directory and the earliest Opening Day is May 4. We'll find more then.

Left-leaning thinking

The Biscuits face another left-handed starter tonight against Huntsville, which counts four southpaws in its rotation. Mississippi (Montgomery's next home series) has an entire rotation that is left-handed, while the Barons and Diamond Jaxx had two each. Heck, the Biscuits have three.

Talked to Chairon Isenia today and I'm going to make you read tomorrow's paper to see what we talked about. Apologies. =)

Today's lineups ...
BISCUITS
Fernando Perez, cf
Brooks Badeaux, dh
Reid Brignac, ss
Evan Longoria, 3b
Chris Nowak, 1b
Shaun Cumberland, rf
Josh Arhart, c
Jason Pridie, lf
Josh Asanovich, 2b
James Houser, lhp

STARS
Steve Sollmann, 1b
Adam Heether, 3b
Steve Moss, cf
Brendan Katin, rf
Lou Palmisano, c
Mike Carlin, dh
Jeff Eure, lf
Yohannis Perez, 2b -- make that ss
Guilder Rodriguez, ss -- make that 2b
Adam Pettyjohn, lhp

Autograph Day

Left-handed pitcher Chris Seddon had the last spot in the autograph line and it looked like he was lucky to be a right-handed writer. Pretty good crowd for Autograph Day before today's game.

Skeeter Barnes, the team's hitting coach in 2004 who is now a roving instructor for the Rays, is back in town and hopes the city forgives him for that year's Crumby Biscuits. Center fielder Fernando Perez turned an ankle in Saturday's game, but said it won't have any further effect and he'll look to run some more today.

Today's lineups ...
BISCUITS
Fernando Perez, cf
Brooks Badeaux, ss
Reid Brignac, dh
Evan Longoria, 3b
Chris Nowak, 1b
Shaun Cumberland, rf
Josh Arhart, c
Patrick Breen, lf
Josh Asanovich, 2b
Derek Feldkamp, rhp

STARS
Steve Sollmann, 1b
Hernan Iribarren, 2b
Mike Carlin, lf
Brendan Katin, rf
Lou Palmisano, c
Steve Moss, cf
Jeff Eure, dh
Adam Heether, 3b
Guilder Rodriguez, ss
Manny Parra, lhp

Series starter

Catch our regular Series Starter feature -- this one on Montgomery infielder Brooks Badeaux -- at montgomeryadvertiser.com. A teaser: He doesn't have fond memories of the Auburn Tigers.

The Stars and Biscuits play the lidlifter on their five-game set tonight at Riverwalk Stadium. Montgomery center fielder Fernando Perez is coming off a team-record four-steal effort at Birmingham on Friday and promises he'll run more than his three attempts in the first 14 games.

Tonight's lineups ...
BISCUITS
Fernando Perez, cf
Jason Pridie, lf
Reid Brignac, ss
Evan Longoria, 3b
Chris Nowak, 1b
Shaun Cumberland, rf
Josh Arhart, dh
John Jaso, c
Josh Asanovich, 2b
Chris Seddon, lhp

STARS
Mel Stocker, lf
Hernan Iribarren, 2b
Mike Carlin, dh
Brendan Katin, rf
Steve Sollmann, 1b
Steve Moss, cf
Jeff Eure, 3b
Maxim St. Pierre, c
Yohannis Perez, ss
Sam Narron, lhp

UPDATE: Pitcher Evan Meek threw again Saturday and has a simulated game scheduled for Wednesday. He could come off the disabled list as early as Friday.

The second annual Tour for the Cure, a cancer-awareness fundraising marathon that will take Tim Riley to 189 professional baseball stadiums in 159 days, is in the house. Riley and Chris Richards are set up on the concourse. This is Day 18 and Stop 24 of the tour. The trip's blog is at www.tourforthecure.org.

Series finale Friday

It's Fireworks Night at Regions Park as the Biscuits and Barons play the rubber game of their five-game series. Montgomery outfielder Fernando Perez has updated his player journal at minorleaguebaseball.com and the pitching staff is gearing up to take some batting practice of its own in the home series that starts Saturday with Huntsville.

Today's lineups ...
BISCUITS
Fernando Perez, cf
Brooks Badeaux, dh
Reid Brignac, ss
Evan Longoria, 3b
Shaun Cumberland, rf
Gabriel Martinez, 1b
John Jaso, c
Jason Pridie, lf
Josh Asanovich, 2b
Mike Prochaska, lhp

BARONS
Jason Bourgeois, lf
Chris Getz, 2b
Chris Kelly, 3b
Thomas Collaro, rf
Cory Aldridge, dh
Jeremy West, 1b
Donny Lucy, c
Sean Smith, cf
Robert Valido, ss
Kris Honel, rhp

More on Hebner

Assuming you've read the Biscuits notes in Friday's paper, I can easily say that I agree with Brooks Badeaux's opinion of Richie Hebner.

Badeaux played for Hebner during Hebner's five-year tenure as hitting coach with the Durham Bulls. The Devil Rays fired Hebner and the entire Durham staff last year, and Hebner is now the hitting coach for the Birmingham Barons.

Badeaux said that Hebner can make anybody laugh. I'll attest to that. Standing around the batting cage with him earlier this week, I had to seriously limit my laughter listening to his humorous stories because I didn't want to distract the hitters taking their swings.

He also hinted that he still had raw feelings at being fired, but said he was happy with the White Sox. "Good organization, good guys," he said.

Hebner said former Biscuits manager Charlie Montoyo deserved his promotion to Durham, "but I thought I'd be there with him."

Hebner also said Badeaux will be a good coach "if he wants to stay in this game," though Badeaux said he's still shooting for the major leagues. Hebner also complimented Biscuits pitcher Chris Seddon, who also played in Durham when Hebner was there.

And nobody with the Biscuits who knows Hebner would say a bad word about him. He's a casualty of the shenanigans that happened at Durham last year.

If you needed proof

A college friend who used to work with the Barons asked me about some former Biscuits tonight. One of the people he mentioned was Joey Gathright and he told his wife about Gathright's car-jumping ability. He also mentioned the phrase "youtube."

Enjoy ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cySfw8f0beg

I wonder if this is the mysterious Fernando Cortez tape. Both said way back just before the Biscuits' inaugural game that Cortez had a tape of Gathright taking flight. The youtube video says it's from 2002.

Cortez said he'd never show the tape to anyone and it would always remain in his personal stash. This could be someone else's footage or somebody went all Pamela Anderson/Tommy Lee and stole it from Cortez.

Surprisingly, that was posted only last month.

Thirsty Thursday

Game 4 of the Biscuits-Barons series is tonight. Right fielder Shaun Cumberland gets his first night off, which gives Jason Pridie his first professional start as a right fielder. Brooks Badeaux is in left field. That's Badeaux's fourth position of the season, joining second base, shortstop and third base.

With Cumberland taking it easy for a day, that leaves Evan Longoria as the only player to have started every game, though he wimped out once and was the designated hitter.

Your lineups ...
BISCUITS
Fernando Perez, cf
Brooks Badeaux, lf
Reid Brignac, ss
Evan Longoria, 3b
Chris Nowak, 1b
Gabriel Martinez, dh
Josh Arhart, c
Jason Pridie, rf
Josh Asanovich, 2b
Chris Mason, rhp

BARONS
Sean Smith, cf
Chris Getz, 2b
Chris Kelly, 3b
Thomas Collaro, rf
Cory Aldridge, dh
Jeremy West, 1b
Ricardo Nanita, lf
Donny Lucy, c
Robert Valido, ss
Wes Whisler, lhp

Show and go

I arrived between the "Oh, say, can you see" and the "home of the brave," but that's what you do for such an early-morning start -- 11:05 a.m. Center fielder Fernando Perez gets a game off for the first time this season and Chris Nowak tries his hand at designated hitter.

Your lineups ...

BISCUITS
Jason Pridie, cf
Brooks Badeaux, 2b
Reid Brignac, ss
Evan Longoria, 3b
Chris Nowak, dh
Shaun Cumberland, rf
Gabriel Martinez, 1b
John Jaso, c
Patrick Breen, lf
James Houser, lhp

BARONS
Chris Getz, 2b
Jason Bourgeois, lf
Chris Kelly, 3b
Thomas Collaro, rf
Cory Aldridge, dh
Jeremy West, 1b
Donny Lucy, c
Michael Myers, cf
Robert Valido, ss
Jack Egbert, rhp

Meek ponders helmet

Disabled pitcher Evan Meek is back with the team, though he said he's sitting in the stands tonight and joked he still might wear a helmet. Reid Brignac is back in the lineup after missing the last two games with a hamstring, while John Jaso won't play tonight after getting hit in the elbow Monday.

Today's lineups ...
BISCUITS
Fernando Perez, cf
Josh Asanovich, 2b
Reid Brignac, ss
Evan Longoria, 3b
Chris Nowak, 1b
Shaun Cumberland, rf
Josh Arhart, c
Patrick Breen, dh
Jason Pridie, lf
Derek Feldkamp, rhp

BARONS
Chris Getz, 2b
Jason Bourgeois, cf
Chris Kelly, 3b
Thomas Collaro, rf
Cory Aldridge, dh
Jeremy West, 1b
Ricardo Nanita, lf
Donny Lucy, c
Robert Valido, ss
Gio Gonzalez, lhp

Revamped Hoover Met

Err, I mean Regions Park.

The old Hoover Metropolitan Stadium took on a new name with its $4.5 million renovation this offseason. The changes look nice. The public will mainly see a new entrance, while the media gets to enjoy a revamped press box.

Having said that, here are today's lineups for the series opener between the Biscuits and hated Birmingham Barons ...

BISCUITS
Fernando Perez, cf
Brooks Badeaux, ss -- Reid Brignac missing a second straight game
Evan Longoria, 3b
Chris Nowak, 1b
Shaun Cumberland, rf
John Jaso, dh
Josh Arhart, c
Patrick Breen, lf
Josh Asanovich, 2b
Chris Seddon, lhp

BARONS
Chris Getz, 2b
Jason Bourgeois, lf
Chris Kelly, 3b
Thomas Collaro, rf
Cory Aldridge, dh
Jeremy West, 1b
Donny Lucy, c
Sean Smith, cf
Robert Valido, ss
Adam Russell, rhp

UPDATE: Biscuits manager Billy Gardner said Reid Brignac has been cleared to play, but he's holding him out one extra day. He said he expects Brignac to play Tuesday. Brignac has been suffering from a tweaked right hamstring and appeared prepared today: "I'm fine."

Also, Evan Meek was excused from today's commute to Hoover and is still feeling the effects from getting hit by a foul ball Saturday.

Meek hit by foul ball

The Biscuits put pitcher Evan Meek on the disabled list today after Meek was hit by a foul ball in the dugout Saturday night at Chattanooga.

According to a poster on a Devil Rays fans' message board Sunday morning, Meek walked to a stretcher and was taken to a hospital. The Biscuits announced putting Meek on the disabled list 2 hours, 46 minutes later -- about 30 minutes before Sunday's game -- with a cryptic release that listed only one word, "concussion," to explain Meek's move to the DL.

The Biscuits activated Jarod Matthews to take Meek's place. Matthews has been with the team, but not on the active roster, since the start of the season.

UPDATE: Biscuits manager Billy Gardner said Meek was taken to a hospital but released a short time later. "I don't think he ever lost consciousness, but it obviously stunned him," Gardner said. Gardner said he wasn't sure if Meek will stay in the dugout for this week's series at Birmingham or sit in the stands behind the protective net.

TV exposure

The Devil Rays had an interesting tidbit about third baseman Akinori Iwamura in today's game notes.

The Japanese network NHK has been tracking Iwamura for the last eight weeks to produce a one-hour special that will air Saturday and used a new ultra-highspeed camera to chronicle Iwamura's time in the United States. In all, the network recorded 137 hours -- that's 8,200 minutes -- of raw footage. That's more than 2 1/2 hours per day.

I'll bet the director's cut DVD will have some good stuff.

Mighty Talbot

The Durham game tonight was obviously much more interesting than the dog being played at Riverwalk Stadium at the moment.

Mitch Talbot made his Class AAA debut with six no-hit innings in the Bulls' 1-0 win. According to my records (and I'm including last year's Southern League playoffs, dadgumit), that's 28 straight scoreless innings for Talbot.

Sept. 3 at Mississippi: Braves score a second-inning run and Talbot leaves after six.
Sept. 9 vs. Jacksonville: Talbot throws five-hit shutout, striking out Biscuits-record 14.
Sept. 14 vs. Huntsville: Talbot throws five-hit shutout, striking out 10.
Tonight vs. Pawtucket: Talbot throws six no-hit innings.

West Tenn series finale

Yep, a lot late with these, but it's the series finale. Gabriel Martinez is back in the lineup from his ankle injury, the Biscuits are hyped for Tuesday's off day and the Diamond Jaxx put Thursday's Opening Day starter, Justin Thomas, on the DL.

BISCUITS
Fernando Perez, cf
Josh Asanovich, 2b
Reid Brignac, ss
Evan Longoria, 3b
Chris Nowak, 1b
Shaun Cumberland, rf
Gabriel Martinez, dh
Patrick Breen, lf
Josh Arhart, c
Mike Prochaska, lhp

DIAMOND JAXX
Sebastien Boucher, cf
Erick Monzon, dh
Jeff Frazier, lf
Marshall Hubbard, 1b
Matt Tuiasosopo, 3b
Brent Johnson, rf
Chris Minaker, ss
Luis Oliveros, c
Luis Valbuena, 2b
Joseph Woerman, rhp

Sonnanstine wins Durham debut

Since Andy Sonnanstine was one of the Biscuits' most beguiling pitchers, I figure I'll track each one of his starts at Durham. His Class AAA debut was today and, based on it, he may be able to keep getting outs there, too.

Sonnanstine gave up two hits and one run over six innings, walked one and struck out eight in the Bulls' 6-1 victory Sunday.

Game 4 vs. D-Jaxx

Nary a cloud in the sky this afternoon as the Biscuits wrap up batting practice. Here are the lineups for today's 4:05 p.m. tilt.

BISCUITS
Fernando Perez, cf
Jason Pridie, lf
Reid Brignac, ss
Evan Longoria, 3b
Chris Nowak, 1b
Shaun Cumberland, rf
Patrick Breen, dh
John Jaso, c
Josh Asanovich, 2b

Chris Mason, rhp

DIAMOND JAXX
Sebastien Boucher, cf
Chris Minaker, ss
Marshall Hubbard, 1b
Jeff Frazier, lf
Matt Tuiasosopo, 3b
Ronny Prettyman, dh
Mike Wilson, rf
Rene Rivera, c
Luis Valbuena, 2b

Doug Fister, rhp -- scheduled starter Joseph Woerman swapped to Monday after showing a 101-degree temperature

Saturday Night Fever

Weather.com lists the temperature at the moment (4:40 p.m.) as 50 degrees, so we're definitely on pace for the coldest game in Riverwalk Stadium history. Bundle up for this lineup ...

BISCUITS
Fernando Perez, cf
Brooks Badeaux, 2b
Reid Brignac, ss
Evan Longoria, 3b
Chris Nowak, 1b
Shaun Cumberland, rf
Josh Arhart, c
John Jaso, dh
Jason Pridie, lf

James Houser, lhp

DIAMOND JAXX
Sebastien Boucher, cf
Chris Minaker, ss
Jeff Frazier, lf
Marshall Hubbard, 1b
Matt Tuiasosopo, 3b
Brent Johnson, dh
Mike Wilson, rf
Rene Rivera, c
Luis Valbuena, 2b

Robert Rohrbaugh, lhp

April 6 vs. Diamond Jaxx

Since the daily lineup is one staple of the blogs kept by the big-league writers, I guess I'll do it, too. What the heck, right??

Fernando Perez, cf
Jason Pridie, lf
Reid Brignac, ss
Evan Longoria, 3b
Chris Nowak, 1b
Shaun Cumberland, rf
John Jaso, dh
Josh Arhart, c
Josh Asanovich, 2b

Opening Night lineup

Biscuits manager Billy Gardner has his lineup ready for Thursday's Opening Night against the West Tenn Diamond Jaxx. Don't use ink if you fill out your scorecard now because it is subject to change.

Fernando Perez, cf
Josh Asanovich, 2b
Reid Brignac, ss
Evan Longoria, 3b
Chris Nowak, 1b
Shaun Cumberland, rf
John Jaso, dh
Josh Arhart, c
Jason Pridie, lf

Chris Seddon, lhp

The Jaxx won't arrive until Thursday afternoon, but they have scheduled left-hander Justin Thomas to be the starting pitcher.

New Rays site

The Devil Rays have launched a Spanish-language Web site, raysbeisbol.com.

Necisito mejorar mi espanol. Yo hablo muy poco.
(I need to work on my Spanish. I speak very little.)

Numerical roster

1. Chris Mason, rhp
2. Shaun Cumberland, of
4. Fernando Perez, of
6. Evan Longoria, 3b
7. Billy Gardner, manager
8. Reid Brignac, ss
9. Brooks Badeaux, if
10. Patrick Breen, of
11. Hector Torres, hitting coach
12. Josh Asanovich, 2b
15. Josh Arhart, c
16. Neil Allen, pitching coach
18. Jason Pridie, of
23. Nick DeBarr, rhp
24. Chris Seddon, lhp
25. Evan Meek, rhp
27. Brian Henderson, lhp
28. Jarod Matthews, rhp
29. Jeremy Flanagan, rhp
30. Gabriel Martinez, if
31. Richard De Los Santos, rhp
32. Mike Prochaska, lhp
33. James Houser, lhp
35. Derek Feldkamp, rhp
36. Brett Wayne, rhp
37. John Jaso, c
38. Chris Nowak, 1b
39. Dale Thayer, rhp

The annual Meet the Team event is 6 p.m. Wednesday at Eastdale Mall.

Last-day releases

There are two players listed on the latest minor-league roster who aren't on a travel squad or ticketed for extended spring training: catcher Yamid Haad and infielder Hee-Seop Choi.

Disclaimer

Below are the travel squads that were posted at the Rays' minor-league complex this morning. Obviously, they can change. Some of those guys won't be on the active roster for the season openers. Officially, those guys are on the short-season Hudson Valley roster, but the players call it the "phantom DL."

Each team's bus leaves in a few hours after a pair of intrasquad games finish and everybody packs up. Each bus shouldn't be too crowded. The Rays decided to allow the players to drive their own cars, if they so chose and signed a waiver. That gets the players off the hook for shipping their cars, which is an expensive proposition. Last year, the fine for not riding the bus was less than the shipping cost for a car. A lot of them took the fine.

Left behind

EXTENDED SPRING
Catchers
Mayobanex Acosta
Ronald Edwards
Michael McCormick
Ian Paxton
Steve Pickerell
Shawn Williams

Infielders
Kevin Colon
Seth Dhaenens
Bill Matthews
James Mayer
Shawn O’Malley
Henry Wrigley

Outfielders
Shane Sullivan

Pitchers
Chris Andujar
Travis Barnett
Alex Cobb
Diego Echeverria
Chris Fessler
Matthew Fisher
Bladimir Florentino
Roberto Gil
Tyree Hayes
Jason Ragan
Claudio Rodriguez
Mark Suchowiecki
Scott Welch
Ryan Zimmerman

REHABS
Position players
Jason Grabowski
Brandon Rousseve

Pitchers
Jon Barratt, elbow
Aneudi Cuevas, elbow
Jeremy Hellickson, shoulder
Brian Lockwood, Tommy John
Shinji Mori, torn labrum
Chuck Tiffany, rotator cuff
Doug Waechter, shoulder

Columbus roster

COLUMBUS (25)
Catchers
Craig Albernaz
Nevin Ashley
Matt Spring

Infielders
Joseph Callender
Jairo De La Rosa
Matt Fields
Brett Grandstrand
Cesar Suarez

Outfielders
Desmond Jennings
Maiko Loyola
John Matulia
Ryan Royster
William Stewart

Pitchers
Brian Baker
Joshua Butler
Matthew Falk
Woods Fines
Neal Frontz
Chris Kelly
Ryan Morse
Wilton Noel
Ryan Owen
Ryan Reid
Lewis Rollins
Wade Townsend

Vero Beach roster

VERO BEACH (26)
Catchers
Alex Jamieson
Christian Lopez
Sergio Pedroza

Infielders
Patrick Cottrell
Matthew Devins
Rhyne Hughes
Jason St. Clair
Hunter Vick
Neil Walton

Outfielders
Erold Andrus
Jackson Brennan
Chris Cunningham
Garrett Groce
J.T. Hall

Pitchers
Jonathan Beltre
Wade Davis
Eduardo De La Cruz
Greg Dupas
Jino Gonzalez
Jeffrey Kamrath
Kevin Lynn
Jacob McGee
Paul Moviel
Aaron Walker
Matt Walker
Mike Wlodarczyk

Montgomery roster

MONTGOMERY (25)
Catchers
Josh Arhart
John Jaso

Infielders
Josh Asanovich
Brooks Badeaux
Reid Brignac
Evan Longoria
Gabriel Martinez
Chris Nowak

Outfielders
Patrick Breen
Shaun Cumberland
Fernando Perez
Jason Pridie

Pitchers
Richard De Los Santos
Nick DeBarr
Derek Feldkamp
Jeremy Flanagan
Brian Henderson
James Houser
Chris Mason
Jarod Matthews
Evan Meek
Mike Prochaska
Chris Seddon
Dale Thayer
Brett Wayne

Durham roster

As posted today at the minor-league complex.

DURHAM (26)
Catchers
Raul Casanova
Joshua Johnson
Shawn Riggans

Infielders
Wes Bankston
Brent Butler
Jorge Cantu
Joel Guzman
Elliot Johnson
Matthew Maniscalco
Jorge Velandia

Outfielders
Dustan Mohr
Jeremy Owens
Chris Richard
Justin Ruggiano

Pitchers
Steve Andrade
Tim Corcoran
Scott Dohmann
Jason Hammel
J.P. Howell
Seth McClung
Jeff Niemann
Chad Orvella
Tony Peguero
Jeff Ridgway
Andy Sonnanstine
Mitch Talbot