No Rhubarb!

That the News Tribune is hurting shouldn't surprise anyone. Newspapers are hurting everywhere. Unfortunately, the TNT has lost another fine voice from the Sports section. The News Tribune has long been the best in the Puget Sound, and one of the best on the West Coast, with a history of great reporters like NFL Hall of Famer John Clayton, Don Borst, Mike Sando and the late Mike Kahn.

Today, Frank Hughes, currently the Seahawks beat writer and longtime NBA reporter for the Tribune announced he's accepted the buyout and left the paper. Frank was always informative, often irreverent and seemed to handle his newfound blogging responsibilities very well.

We wish him well, and hope he sticks around the area.

Again.

Sort of.

Yeah, the Rainiers season is over, and the Mariners season might as well be. There are other kinds of sports to follow, and damned if I don't plan on doing so. We shall be resurrecting the short lived Electoral College Dropouts to cover the election, plus we have a new blog, Jack Thompson Haunts Your Dreams, this one covering the beloved Washington State Cougars and the world of college football.

Ambitious, I know.

Our boy Joe was so close. Joe Woerman pitched six strong innings, had perhaps his best start of the season, but didn't get the win over the hated Portland Beavers. Joe went six, gave up four runs but only one earned, leaving with a one-run lead. The Rainier bullpen couldn't keep the lead though, as Jon Huber blew the save and Tracy Thorpe threw some gas on the fire. Three Rainiers not known for power hitting, Tug Hulett, Reed Johnson and Prentice Redman all homered in the loss.

Same two teams tomorrow at 7:00. Weather should be perfect for baseball.

A few weeks ago we brought you the horror of Blowie. Now, thanks to Deadspin, we learn it gets much, much worse: witness "Baby Blowie".

Does this qualify as child abuse?

The penultimate game of a very long road trip went to the Rainiers, as they beat up on Las Vegas 8-1. Holding a 2-1 lead before exploding for four in the seventh. Starter Andrew Baldwin earned the win with six strong innings, and new Rainier Michael Saunders cracked his first Triple-A homerun.

The finale of a the road trip tomorrow at 7:05. Then Tacoma comes home.

A four game sweep of a road series is a difficult task. A four game sweep of a good team like the Sacramento River Cats even more so. The Cats scored two in the first, another two in the second and never looked back, spanking Rainiers' starter Sean White for six runs in 4 2/3 innings. Sacramento shortstop Cliff Pennington was the hitting star, racking up two triples and a double.

The Rainiers move on to Las Vegas and four against the 51's.

Tug Hulett lead off with his fourth triple of the season, and the Rainiers jumped on Sacramento starter Kirk Sarloos. Tacoma put up four in the first, three in the second and Sarloos was sent to the showers. After stretching out to a 9-1 lead, the Rainiers and starter Richard Rorhbaugh coasted home, earning the Rainiers' starter his fifth win and evening his record at 5-5. Catcher Rob Johnson was the offensive star for Tacoma, cracking his second and third homers of the season.

Same two teams tomorrow at 7:05, as the Rainiers go for the four-game sweep. After that, it is on to Las Vegas.

Photo courtesy of Kevin Freitas dot net

We here at No Rhubarb! have long wanted to make a pilgrimage to the Dockyard Derby Dames. Tough chicks with cool made-up names moving at obscenely high speeds warms even out baseball-purist heart. Saturday was the third bout of the season, with the Trampires taking on the Femme Fiannas and the Hellbound Homewreckers hosting the Toothless Annies from Lilac City Rollergirls.

We had never actually attended roller derby before, but luckily we had experienced hands KF dot net and the Missus along to explain the rules. The Dames site also includes this handy guide, but really, the only way to figure it out is to watch it.

The Rainiers dropped their second in a row in Salt Lake, as the Bees jumped on starter Sean White for three runs in the first. The Rainiers came back to tie the contest in the fifth, powered by Our Favorite Rainier Matt Tuiasosopo's two-run double. The Bees then pulled ahead in the bottom of the inning, scoring another three off of White. Salt Lake reliever Matt Wilhite took the win, White the loss.

Last game of the three-game tilt is on Thursday, first pitch at 6:05

The Rainiers gave up an early run to the Fresno Grizzlies, than struck for run in the first four innings. After building up a big lead, Tacoma had to hang on to a 10-7 win. Jeff Clement hit a home run and a double, Nick Blasi collected three hits and Cesar Jimenez vultured a win with 2 1/3 innings of relief. Our boy Joe Woermann got the start and probably pitched as well as he has all year, going 4 2/3 with nine hits, four walks and six strikeouts. The Rainiers take the series with their third straight win, and now head off for a 12-day road trip beginning in Salt Lake.

Yes, we fully intend to get back on the ball with game reports

The Rainiers won big in the afternoon and then won small in the evening. Tacoma whacked Fresno in the first game, scoring five runs in the first on the way to a 12-3 laugher. The first six Rainiers reached base, highlighted by Jeff Clement's three-run homer.

The Rainiers then picked up the second game in a squeaker, beating Fresno 2-1. The bullpen was the star of this game, as Jake Woods, Roy Corcoran and Jared Wells each threw a shutout inning. Woods picked up the win, Wells the save. Victor Diaz doubled home Jeff Clement in the first and drove in Tug Hulett in the fifth to account for both Rainier runs.

Final game of the series and of the homestand Sunday at 1:30.

Stockton, California is a hellhole. We know this, because when we made the drive from San Diego to Tacoma, we stayed the night in Stockton. Due to a late start from San Diego, we didn't arrive at our hotel until about three in the morning.

It was 107 degrees. At three in the morning. We shan't be returning.

We do give credit though, to the Class-A Stockton Ports, who proudly sport an old-school name in a world filled with MuckDogs and RiverCats and AquaSox. We like the name Ports, as one might expect. Strikes us as dignified and speaks to the history of the game.

We won't ever, ever go back there though. Now, we don't give Stockton credit for Splash, a fairly nondescript, jelly-bellied whatsit who does sport a nice jewfro/dreadlock combo. Splash is neither different enough to be interesting, nor crazy enough to be truly frightening. Once more, with feeling Stockton.

Jeff Clement's recent stay in the majors didn't go real well. That much is obvious. Of course, the entire Mariner team has been terrible, so it can't be his fault alone. What is also obvious is that Jeff Clement is done with the minor leagues. He came back last night, crushed a grand slam in the fourth to lead the Rainiers over Las Vegas. His Triple-A line now stands at .388/.527/.706.

You can catch Clement and the Rainiers today at 11:30 for a daytime tilt against Las Vegas. We hope the weather clears up. Chris Jakubauskas (2-0, 2.70) against Miguel Pinango (2-3, 4.73).

We here at No Rhubarb! are always rooting for our Rainiers, that much should be obvious. We admit though, to rooting for some a little more than others. One of those is Joe Woerman. Joe - we're close enough to call him Joe - is having a simply terrible year. His last appearance lowered his ERA to 14.00. Of course, we need to count the two walks. That raises his total to 23 walks in 18 innings. Yeesh.

Roster moves ahoy! The Rainiers get an old friend back in time for tonight's game against the hated Las Vegas 51s. Jeff Clement returns from a not particularly stellar stint with the big league Mariners, after hitting .167 with 20 strikeouts. Clement did dominate at the Triple-A level, but this has to be a disappointment. Jeremy Reed is promoted to replace him.

The weather was perfect for baseball. The company (Kevin Freitas dot net, our intrepid copilot and photographer) was excellent. The seats were great. The drinks were cold and the hot dogs extra-hot.

It would have been awesome then, had the Rainiers had bothered to show up. Coming in, we were certain we were in for a good game. Tacoma ace Ryan Feierabend was on the mound, the Sidewinders are terrible. Should be easy right?

Apparently not. Still, good time had by all. Pictures from KF.net to come!

Really nice match-up tomorrow to end the four-game series. R.A. Dickey takes his knuckler to the hill against Doug Davis. Davis - usually a starter for the parent Arizona Diamondbacks - is on a injury rehab assignment for cancer.

We drop in on the independent leagues today. We here at No Rhubarb! will send you a bright, shiny quarter if you can tell us just where exactly the Coastal Plain League without Googling it. Give up? The CPL is a summer collegiate league stretching through Virginia and the Carolinas. The team today is the Columbus Blowfish, located in lovely Columbia, South Carolina. Now, we think ya'll can see where this is going: Blowfish?

Yep! Meet Blowie!

Please, do yourself a favor and click to check out the larger image.

Back? Good... yeah, we know. Just remember, kids love Blowie! And Blowie loves Cocky!

And Blowie can dance like there is NO TOMORROW:

This week may be the perfect time for Rainiers baseball. The Rainiers come back into town riding a four-game win streak after sweeping the hated Omaha Royals. The Rainiers will be in town starting Thursday for an eight-game homestand against the Tucson Sidewinders and Las Vegas 51s.

Oh, and did we mention it should be in the 80s all weekend? Perfect baseball weather!

Okay, so we're working on a longer version of our favorite Friday feature, our look at mascots across the spectrum of minor league baseball. We decided to take a quick break and stop by FeedTacoma and check up the Frost Park meetup today. We stumbled upon GOALTacoma's post about South Korean star Mr. Woo and OH MY GOD WHAT IS THAT?

Surf Dude. The Tacoma Tide have a mascot. Surf. Dude.

Okay, Rhubarb you are off the hook. The title of Tacoma's Creepiest Mascot may be retired for Surf Dude.

Excuse us, we have to wash our eyes out with acid now.

The hometown nine lost a bit of its luster today. Jeff Clement and Wladimir Balentien, the two best hitters Tacoma had, were both called up to the Mariners. Unlike last September's cup of coffee, this should be it for both. Wlad becomes the new starting rightfielder for the M's, and Clement will DH against lefties righties.

As one might expect, this puts a big kink in whatever hopes the Rainiers had, but such is life in the minor leagues.