San Francisco Angels

 Wood Bat Baseball Team

Recap of 2003 season- Washington Trip, June 13- 15

In the Great Northwest, above Klickitat and Yakima, east of Snoqualmie and Skykomish, and way below Okanogan, lies the city of Wenatchee, where the earnest citizenry is still polite, and most everyone drives well under the speed limit.

On Friday & Saturday nights, June 13 &14, the visiting San Francisco Angels played the Wenatchee AppleSox, last year's Pacific International League North Division champions. From a radio in their dugout, the Angels could hear Eric Granstrom's superb play-by-play of the games, broadcast live by local station KPQ and full of commentary about the players. The AppleSox are seriously organized for the baseball experience:  a well-maintained field with good lighting, judicious umpires, between-inning contests for the kids, promotions, a solid home team, and best of all on this particular weekend, an outstanding visiting team! In the breezy valley air off the eastern Cascades, the Angels handily munched through the first two games, 6-1 and 9-2, and then spit out a rotten 12-4 loss.

For the Wenatchee AppleSox website, just click on that happy Good Pickens label.

Click on the KPQ radio logo for more AppleSox information & pictures.

On Sunday morning, the Angels moved through the mountains and onward into the city of Kirkland, right up on Lake Washington,  just north of Seattle. The Angels clawed with the Kodiaks. The fearless road team went ahead, fell behind, and then overwhelmed the Kodiaks for a 9-5 win. The Angels flew back home with a 3-1 record for the weekend trip against talented summer college teams.

click here for box scores & play-by-plays

Catcher Brad Shannon (Sonoma State) is locked in with a .382 .404 batting average and .676 .717 slugging percentage.

           Cultural Exchange

The Angels became acquainted with the variety of life forms at the Wenatchee Chapter of the Intergalactic Baseball Genesis Project  (see our Mission Statement). Below left, Ben Smith signs the orb for young Wenatchee warriors. At right, pitchers Jereme Nelson and Christian Aguirre bond with the AppleSox Coyote. Below right, Guest Services native Carly Ross waves semaphore as a sign of fertility. A ripe apple, so to speak.

The Angels thank Father Jim Corcoran and the entire AppleSox fellowship for their hospitality during our pilgrimage. 

Above left: Leftfielder Keian Davis (Sonoma State) had a strong series, going 6-for-12. Above right: Shortstop Django Whittington Brudnick (Indiana Tech) swings at a high fastball. Django went 6-for-11. Django is hitting .400, Davis is at .370. Both players also showed off their outstanding defensive skills.

Below left, these front three clowns are often at the top of the lineup: Danno Kingman, Colin Stewart, and Mike Mukuno. Directly behind them is pitcher John William Herbert, "Worm". Worm pitched into and then out of trouble throughout Friday's night's 6-1 win. He joins the three amigos in the group of four Angel veterans chosen to represent the team in this Wednesday's league all-star game at Vacaville's TCUP stadium. Yes, it's Worm and the three stooges, so the picture below will be used exclusively to promote the Angels image to the general public. Looking on is outfielder Tom Shannon, who bashed a pinch-hit triple in the first game, after fouling off 144 pitches (number is approximate).  Also in the background is pitcher Jerame Nelson, eating a graham cracker, Hershey's kiss, and marshmallow on Campfire Girls Day in Wenatchee.

Below right: Matt Flaherty pitched six strong innings Saturday in the Angels'  9-2 win. Jake Holt stands ready at third base.

	Above: John C. Herbert steals a Pepsi from the scorekeeper. Left: Angel Wes Bentley releases pitch at Peter Kirk Park in downtown Kirkland. In relief, Bentley shut down the Kodiaks on Sunday, just as he had done against the AppleSox on Friday night. The Kodiaks are a strong team but the infield needs work.

(It took a lot of work to prepare for the trip:)

Wenatchee Trip- Friday June 13- Sunday June 15

The Angels have been regularly beating the local teams but really need to travel to find the strongest teams possible. The Wenatchee AppleSox is a strong team with an enthusiastic fan base. The Kirkland Kodiaks might even be better! Please get your fee in now! Friends and family, please help us with this trip! Contact the travel director at 650-875-7788.

Plane Fare to Seattle- Due Now!

The Angels have committed to purchase a group airfare to Seattle for the June 13-15 trip to play teams in the NBC-affiliated Pacific International League (PIL). Friday June 13 is a night game at 7pm against the Wenatchee  Applesox, last year's PIL champions, and hundreds of their fans.

Wenatchee is a three-hour drive from Seattle. Wenatchee is a 16-hour drive from San Francisco. 

As now planned, the Angels will fly out early Friday morning and return Sunday evening:

United Airlines

Departure: Friday June 13, 7:55am, Flight #1178 from  San Francisco (SFO) to Seattle-Tacoma (SEA)

Meet at 6:00 am at United Airlines.

Return: Sunday June 15, 6:10pm, Flight#593 from Seattle-Tacoma to San Francisco

The competition on this trip will prepare the team for the very tough NBC regional qualifying tournaments coming up in July.  The team is charging each player $180 to cover the transportation and lodging for the trip. Payment due date is right now! Make check out to San Francisco Angels Baseball. 

There are still extra seats available for family and friends.  However, we really do need more outstanding pitching on this trip, and better depth among the position players. Some of the players' benefactors have yet to recognize the incredible value of the summer Angels experience, thus inhibiting the performance the team, the development of the players, and the great appreciation the player will have for the person who cuts the check to get the player to Wenatchee and onward to bliss! This unique experience is passing by and might never be revisited. Sponsor a pitcher! Call us and pledge to us the money you were going to use to repair the dent on your SUV. Send your loved one and his pal to an experience of a lifetime, send them to Wenatchee!

Check out our teams's Roster with the Wenatchee trip list. Are you not X'd in for the trip? Well, why not?! Speak to the travel director about convenient installment and check holding plans. We just made a convenient payment arrangement with star infielder Jake Holt, and we can discuss payment arrangements with you too. Please call the travel director at 650-875-7788 and do yourself a lot of good.

Parents and well-wishers, please supplement this affordable but overly modest fee with a generous payment to more fully cover team travel expenses. We will provide a full accounting. We need drivers for the Wenatchee trip- we're renting 4 minivans ($151.00 each plus insurance and gas).

Please participate with your financial support before we're forced by lack of resources to pimp our players to foreign tourists as salacious entertainment!