Bisons notebook
Olympian Stevens puts U. S. A. on his chest
Buffalo Bisons reliever Jeff Stevens leaves the team early next week to prepare for the U. S. Olympic Team. He was given his jersey on Thursday.
“It’s really exciting and an honor to be playing,” Stevens said. “I’m really looking forward to the experience.”
The Olympic flag will be displayed just behind the left field fence in Dunn Tire Park for the duration of the Olympics in honor of Stevens. He will train with the team in California and North Carolina before leaving for the Games in Beijing.
Stevens threw seven shutout innings for Team USA in the 2007 World Cup and recorded a save against Cuba in the championship game of that tournament.
He began this season in Double-A Akron where he went 5-1 with an ERA of 2.50. He was promoted from Akron on June 2 and is 0-2 with a 4.32 ERA and five saves.
Team USA last competed in the baseball competition in the Olympic Games in 2000. Former Los Angeles Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda led the team in Sydney and guided a squad featuring Ben Sheets and Roy Oswalt to the gold medal over Cuba.
Since baseball was recognized as an official medal sport in Olympic competition in 1992, the U. S. has finished fourth (Barcelona, 1992), the bronze (Atlanta, 1996) and gold (Sydney, 2000). The U. S. did not qualify for the Athens Games in 2004.
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Thursday’s game between the Bisons and the Norfolk Tides at Dunn Tire Park was cancelled because of wet grounds and heavy rain. Because it was the last scheduled game between the two teams, the game will not be made up.
First pitch was scheduled at 1:05
p. m., but the game wasn’t officially called until just before 4 p. m., as crews worked to get the field ready for play. Heavy rains Thursday morning soaked the outfield and warning track and just when the field appeared to be in playable condition, more showers came.
The Bisons leave today for an eight-game road trip beginning in Charlotte. Their next home game is Aug. 2 against Syracuse. This is the third consecutive season, and fifth out of six, that the Bisons will not play a full 144-game schedule.
“Unfortunately the rains came at a time when we wanted to play after a tough loss [Wednesday],” said Bisons manager Torey Lovullo. “Now it’s on to the road for a tough eight-game swing and we’ll see how we can pick up the pieces from here.”
Fans holding tickets to Thursday’s game can exchange them for a comparable ticket to any future 2008 Bisons game. All ticket exchanges must be made at the Dunn Tire Park box office.
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The rainout won’t affect the Bisons’ pitching rotation and everyone will be pushed back a day. Thursday’s scheduled starter, Bryan Bullington, will instead pitch tonight at Charlotte.
Bullington (4-6, 5.60) was limited to 52 pitches in game one of last Sunday’s doubleheader and was starting Thursday on short rest.
“They’ve all had that moment before when they’ve gotten really prepared mentally and then had a letdown with a rainout and have to get cranked up again,” Lovullo said. “They understand what it means to do it again the next day. Bullington never really got cranked up. . . . He was in a nice casual state that won’t affect him for [today].”
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Todd Linden has now reached base safely in his last 15 games (.321, 9 for 28, seven walks). . . . Linden, Michael Aubrey and Jordan Brown have all reached base in every game since the All-Star break, a span of seven games. . . . Tony Graffanino has hit .400 (6 for 15) in his first six games with the Herd.
