Railroader Tim Dunn taken by Reds.

The 2009 Railroaders congratulate their current team member Tim Dunn for his selection in the MLB draft. The Cincinnati Reds picked the right-hander Dunn, the TranSouth Player of the Year, in the 46th round. Dunn was 12-0 with a 1.81 earned run average and earned NAIA All-America honors as a Trevecca Nazarene junior this spring. Tim’s current record with the 2009 Railroaders is 2-1 with a win against the Sikeston Bulls on Thursday, the day of his MLB selection. Fulton and the Railroader Fans express their utmost best for Tim and his accomplishments

Time to Burn some Oil

What a game it was last! I was proud to see so many Railroader Fans stick around after the rain delay to watch the guys come back and win over the Bulls. Despite falling behind again early in game, the Railroaders kept after them and it paid off with a big 8th inning scoring spree. Don’t ever give up, that’s what I like about baseball.

I got up early this morning and headed to the oil field to check out Owensboro for the game tonight. The Oilers come into town with a 6-5 record, just a half game lead ahead of us in 2nd place. We’ve got 3 games with them this weekend, one in Fulton tonight and 2 in Owensboro Saturday and Sunday. The Oilers have won 1 game in their last 5 games, losing 2 straight to the Bulls and Pirates before beating the Greyhounds on Wednesday. The Oilers appear on paper to be very much like our Railroaders as far as stats, an even match up for the Railroaders. It’s our first meeting with the club this year, and it’s important we make our present known. It will be a great time for us to gain some ground in the standings with some wins over Owensboro. So let’s go Fans, and help get the Railroaders off on the right foot tonight in Fulton before they head to Oiler land for completion of their 3 game series.

Holy Cow. . .someone call the clowns!

I’m not sure what happened last night. After I woke up, in my hospital bed, I was told a Bull trampled me and the resulting concussion has made my memory of the event a little sketchy. I do remember the pain of our loss at the hands of Sikeston. Whatever went wrong, it surely showed in some our playing. But I’ve been told I need to get back up on the beast and try again. After all, they’re just another ball team and can be controlled. We just need to do a better job of going after them and keeping the pressure on. Sure we may get thrown a couple of times during a game, but that doesn’t mean we can’t get back up and go again. Tonight is another chance for us to prove ourselves and come back with a win. Sure, the fall was ugly, but so am I. It never stopped me from getting the girls. So let’s get out there and break these Bulls before they run out of town!

That’s more like it, now bring on the Bulls!

Two straight road wins, that’s what I’m talking about. Now that we put the Cats out, let’s remember that the next time we face the Dogs! So it’s time to come home and fight the Bulls for 2 games starting Wednesday and then the Oilers on Friday night. I've been showing coaches Davis and Allen a few of the finer points on Bull riding, I do have some experience you know.

The Bulls are hot of late having won 5 of 6 games since they left our Yard 10 days ago. We opened up the season at home with a loss against the Bulls then took them down the next 2 games. Since then, they’ve beat the Greyhounds 2 times, the Bobcats 1 of 2, and the Oilers twice. Now what’s wrong with that picture?

Our wins against the Bobcats pulled us out of a quagmire of 4 straight losses that included a 3 game sweep by the Dogs. We’ll take no more of that! It’s obvious that the Bulls are looking to tack more on to a 2 game winning streak at the expense of the Railroaders. Especially since they loss their last 2 games against us, including that 22-8 shellacking in the second game, which I’m sure, they won’t soon forget. The Cats are one thing, the Bulls another and we need to be ready for every and anything. Let’s don’t rest on our laurels of past victories. Time to focus and continue with our momentum. We’re only 2 games behind the leading Pirates, tied with the Oilers, and a game and a half behind the 2nd place Bulls. Time to make a move!

Enough Already!!!

Did anyone at the Yard last night see or hear that Greyhound beating me with a baseball bat? I needed help and no one came to my rescue. Looks like the Railroaders had the same problem, no one stepped up and took dogs by the collar to put them in their place. What’s going on, guys? Three straight losses to the Greyhounds? Please, no, I can’t stomach the pain. I’ve told Marlene to go back to the circus. Apparently the Hounds were too attracted to her and really out-performed themselves to impress her. After all, she is good with four-legged creatures.

Now back to the Railroaders. What happened to our enthusiasm and zeal for the game? Everyone has a bad game, but really, I can’t believe our guys have given up. Well, the Bobcats are next, and my face can’t take much more scratching up or my good looks will be gone forever. We have 2 games with the Felines to turn things around and come back to face the Bulls for a couple of nights beginning on Wednesday. Then the Oilers in town on Friday. There’s a lot of work ahead to get done, and it’s time we get up and get moving! The Fans are behind you, Railroaders, now go play some ball!

Their Bark Is Worse Than Their Bite

We have no excuse for getting beat by the Hounds last night. There is nothing special about them other than their fans, especially the loud barking mongrel. You can bet they’ll bring all the mutts with them tonight when they come to the Yard for a doubleheader. So let’s get with it Railroaders and Fans, and take these next 2 games from them.

I’ve asked my sister, Marlene, how we can handle these Greyhounds. She has been working as a dog training in the Barnum & Bailey Circus since the end of last season, and has learned how to tame and control every breed of canine. She says first and foremost, we must let them know who’s the master. That starts with controlling their base running and hitting. Second, we must hit the ball in places they aren’t, so they’ll have to chase it. When they don’t catch it, reward them with a treat, a pat on the head and another run on the board for us. Seems simple to me. All we really need to accomplish this is to play good solid and focused baseball. We need timely hits when it counts. The Railroaders have shown they have the right stuff, now it’s time to put it to use and get this train rolling again. The season’s still early, let’s put away these dogs and move on the cats. The Bulls are returning next week too, and they have been hot of late. Then the Oilers come in and they are proving they're a team to beat. So don’t let these puppies run all over us, they are not the team our Railroaders are and it’s time to prove it!

Dog Trainning Refresher Course

Well, both the Pirates and the Railroaders chased me back into river on Tuesday after the game. It took me 2 days to swim down stream all the way back to Fulton because my raft was mistakenly hauled away as Winter Storm 2009 debris. Seems that neither the Railroaders nor I could get a break in that second battle.

Now it’s time to consider the Greyhounds for the first time this season. Thursday’s game is rained out, so we go to Union City on Friday night to take them on in their season home opener. It would be nice to chalk up another win at their expense. They’ve struggled the first 5 games winning only the first game against the league leading Oilers. We're sure to see their best pitcher in our game. I’m sure they are going to play and run hard on Friday and try to correct their poor start. They’ve also added a few new dogs to the roster. Doesn’t matter though, it will still be the first time the 2009 Railroaders will see them, the a first time for them to see us!!! I have good feeling about the next few days. After Friday’s game, the Hounds will come over to the “Yard” for a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 5 pm. For sure, those dog loving fans will be here, so we need all hands to come out and cheer our Railroaders on, both in Union City and in Fulton. It’s going to be a great series, as it always is. You don’t want to miss it!