BURLINGTON, VT — Earl Grant seems to be laboring under the weight of his five-year, $29 million contract.
He’s winless in two starts with an ERA over 11.
Phishheads pitching coach Bill “Spaceman” Lee isn’t worried, though.
“Earl’s a pro, he’ll settle in,” said Lee. “He’s been pitching OK except he hasn’t kept the ball in the park.”
In the first game, Grant hit a batter and gave up a single on a grounder that dribbled through second with two out in the fourth, the first two runners he had allowed. The next batter …

BURLINGTON, Vt. — There’s intense competition going on for a handful of roster spots on the Phishheads this spring.
With five middle infielders in camp, there’s a real battle going on for one, possibly two bench spots. Starters Brian Walker at SS and Jose Estrada at 2B don’t have much to worry about, but behind them, Kiminobu Baba, Cesar Delgado and Pepe Gutierrez are vying for the top utilityman slot. In the early going, Gutierrez looks like the odd man out, as he hasn’t hit well and isn’t as versatile defensively …

BURLINGTON, VT — The CBU Phishheads made their first waiver claim this week, picking up 18-year-old shortstop prospect Felix Ochoa from the Carson City Silver Strikers. Ochoa hit .346 in very limited action last year, sitting on the bench for all but 11 games and 26 AB.
With Carson City having picked up Burlington’s cast-off utilityman Zak Simpson, 34, as an unrestricted free agent, Ochoa was exposed to waivers to clear the 40-man roster. Burlington snapped him up. He adds depth, but confusion to the middle-infield pileup for the P-heads, who …

BURLINGTON, VT — Fans of the CBU’s Burlington Phishheads celebrated long into the night after hearing the stunning news that their team had captured the offseason’s most-prized free agent, Earl Grant.
Grant, a 26-year-old righthander, was among the league’s top pitchers last season. Although several other ace starters were also available, Grant is several years younger than most of the rest of the prime free agents.
That played a big role in the team’s decision to throw an enormous, 5-year, $29 million per year salary at the pitcher, with the fifth year …

BURLINGTON, VT — The Phishheads made catcher Josh Whitford, 26, their initial free agent pickup of the offseason, signing him to a minor-league contract. The team said it sees Whitford as a one- or possibly two-year backup catcher.
It’s a clear signal the team has committed to 24-year-old Angel Cruz as its No. 1 receiver for at least the near future, confirmed by GM Larry Hockett.
Hockett said that despite Cruz’s failings in the batter’s box (.195 with 2 homers and struck out 88 times in 302 AB), his defense was good …

GOSHEN, VT — The Burlington Phishheads “brain trust” is holed up at the quaint, quiet Blueberry Hill Inn for the week, planning out next season, enjoying the Inn’s legendary good cooking and getting in some serious mountain biking on the Green Mountain National Forest trail system.
For a team with a losing record, the Phishheads aren’t planning a lot of moves this offseason.
GM Larry Hockett just pulled the trigger on the team’s second trade with Colorado, shipping out backup 1B Tim Lee and minor-league starter Dave Drader for SS Tim Stewart …

BURLINGTON — The Colorado Everest and Burlington Phishheads just finalized their second deal of the inaugural season; Burlington shipping 26-year-old power-hitting first baseman Tim Lee and AAA starter Dave Drader west for prized shortstop prospect Tim Stewart and third baseman Zach Shaffer.
Lee, the cornerstone of the deal, thanked Phishheads GM Larry Hockett.
“When they drafted me after drafting Big V (Angel Vazquez), the team told me to be ready to step aside when he was ready to play in the bigs,” Lee said. “They told me that in return, even though …

All season long the clubs that make up the CBU’s Veeck Division have lived with the possibility that the entire division might finish under .500. Talk began immediately this spring after the division posted a paltry 35-61 combined Spring Training record, and continued straight through the All Star break. While experts haven’t routinely agreed on much during this inaugural CBU season, there’s one issue they have no doubts about: the Veeck Division is the weakest in all of baseball.
An intra-division trade between the Akron Dandies and Redbank Bandits …

Aug. 22
REDBANK PA — A sour note for the Burlington Phishheads in today’s 10-2 blowout win over Redbank was starting pitcher Gunnar Elmore leaving the game with a stiff back in the fourth inning.
Juan Guerra came in for one pitch and was credited with the win, after Elmore couldn’t finish the inning. The visitors tacked up four runs in the top of the fifth to take the lead for good and Guerra (4-9) got the cheapest of  decisions.
Elmore was pitching well, having given up two runs on three hits in …

July 14th 2009 | Princeton Fieldhouse
44,686 fans were in attendance in the Princeton Fieldhouse as the best of the best in the Classic Baseball Union battled it out in the league’s first All-Star game. On a cool night with a slight wind the Landis League and Giamatti League All-Stars took to the field for the 7:05 game time to begin writing history. Taking the mound was Whitehorse’s ace Gustavo Diaz versus Gaston Couture of New Orleans. Couture would go on to line out to centerfield, Sioux Falls’s Bryan Wigmore would …