Last week Missouri State University named Kyle Moats as their new Director of Athletics replacing longtime director Bill Rowe who is retiring after 52 years with the Bears. Moats knows there is a fine between shaking things up and leaving the program as status quo.
Moats will come to Springfield from Louisville where he was most recently the Associate Athletics Director for National Marketing. I spoke with Moats about taking over the Bears program and balancing success on the field with providing opportunities for student athletes while maintaining a program that is compliant, and displays the highest level of class.
Moats considered himself an underdog for the position and compared himself to Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird in a recent interview. Get to know Kyle Moats a little better and wait until you hear his take on Rick Pitino’s white suit!
Moats ready for Missouri State challenge
Role players come up big for Cardinals
Tuesday’s win for the Cardinals was all about players knowing their roles and delivering when called upon. Brad Thompson made his first start of the year after not pitching since May 17 th and outfielder Nick Stavinoha delivered a clutch hit off the bench in the Cardinals 5-2 win over Cincinnati.
It would be hard to imagine manager Tony LaRussa not having a guy like Thompson to rely on after LaRussa called Thompson’s performance "outstanding." With not a lot of offense behind him and facing Bronson Arroyo, Thompson battled through five innings allowing two runs on five hits with only one walk and kept the Cardinals in the game.
Knotted at 2-2 in the bottom of the sixth, Stavinoha, who entered the game in a double switch broke the 2-2 tie with a double off Arroyo (pictured go over Willy Taveras’ head, Bill Greenblatt, UPI St. Louis) that scored Yadier Molina who was hit by a pitch and Joe Thurston who singled. That ended Arroyo’s night, but he would be charged with another run when Stavinoha would later score on a wild pitch off reliever Carlos Fisher.
Stavinoha says it’s tough being a bench player. He obviously wouldn’t trade his spot on the major league roster for starting everyday in Memphis, but he said it’s tough to stay mentally prepared, and playing off the bench is one of the hardest things to do in baseball.
As far as Thompson, you’ll hear LaRussa praise his effort, but I wonder if this was an audition for major league teams? GM John Mozeliak needs a bat at third base and it would appear the Cardinals would have to give up some pitching to swing a deal. This was Thompson’s first game since May 17 th and while Thompson was filling in the rotation while the Cardinals adjusted around Lohse and Pineiro, I also think the start was a showcase to other teams.
There was a rumor awhile back that the Cleveland Indians were looking for pitching and would be willing to deal Mark DeRosa, a versatile player who can handle three infield spots and the corner outfield positions. The only issue is would the Cardinals be willing to take on DeRosa’s hefty contract and would LaRussa be in favor of getting rid of his swing man?
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Royals drop 5th in a row
Walks will kill your team. It happened in the sixth inning for the Royals. Kyle Davies pitched well through 5.2 innings. He got run support on solo home runs from Jose Guillen and Miguel Olivo which tied the score at 2-2, but things went downhill from there.
After getting Evan Longoria to ground out and Carlos Guillen to strike out, Davies’ seventh of the night, he lost control walking Willy Aybar and Ben Zobrist. Davies left the game with six walks and those last two proved the deadliest as Horacio Ramirez came on in relief and gave up a two run double to Rays’ outfielder Matt Joyce to break the tie.
The Rays added two more runs in the eighth to hand the Royals their fifth loss in a row. Up 1-0 on Guillen’s homer in the second, Davies walked Aybar in the fourth and Zobrist homered to give Tampa a 2-1 lead, but Olivo answered in the fifth off Rays’ starter Andy Sonnastine with a solo home run to left.
Sonnastine went 6.2 innings allowing just those two solo home runs as Tampa’s bullpen held the Royals hitless over the final 2.1 innings while racking up five of the final seven outs on strikeouts.
The Royals drop 5.5 games behind Detroit in the AL Central.
Baseball coming back to Hannibal
After several decades without a professional baseball team in the area, the city of Hannibal will begin a new era of baseball on Thursday June 4th, when the Cavemen start the 2009 season at Clarence Field.
Led by an ownership group with several years of baseball and major league experience, the Cavemen get their start literally from the ground up. Their field needed repairs and updates which have all been completed, including the installation of lights and changes to the terrain to help against spring flooding.
Each owner of the team has been responsible for their area of expertise whether it’s been marketing, concessions, ticket sales or day to day baseball operations. The man in charge of the baseball operations is General Manager Mark Sanders.
He’s talked with me about the major undertaking of getting the team started and how everyone has contributed to what Sanders hopes is a successful start to the Cavemen’s first season.
If you live in the Hannibal area, or even if you’re a hour or two away, plan a visit to Hannibal for the day and make sure you take in a ballgame. Click here for ticket information.
Former NW Missouri coach recovering from surgery
Jim Svoboda, now the quarterbacks coach from Montana State, received an excellent recovery prognosis following his surgery for appendix cancer. Svoboda underwent surgery back on May 19th at the Creighton Medical Center in Omaha, NE.
Svoboda was offensive coordinator at D-II’s Northwest Missouri State when they won their back to back national championships in 1998 and 1999 before heading to UCLA as offensive coordinator and QB coach. Svoboda has been with Montana State since 2007.
