Happy Valley Hardball with a sabermetrics twist

Nittany Lion single-season home run king recognized for his three long balls on Friday. UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Former Penn State catcher Ben Heath (Huntersville, N.C.) was recognized for his three home run performance on Friday with a front page story on MiLB.com, the official website of Minor League Baseball. Heath went deep in each [...]

Vinny Pezzimenti Ben Heath’s return to State College was brief, uneventful and, surprisingly, featured no fanfare whatsoever. His departure, however, was far more fruitful. Heath, the former Penn State baseball standout, learned early Saturday morning that his homecoming at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park would be cancelled. The reason: Heath was being promoted from the [...]

By Darryl Grumling, Special to the Mercury Earlier this season, Craig Clark was successfully scaling the rugged mountains of minor league baseball. Over the past two months, though, the Spring-Ford graduate has had to deal with some obstacles which have for the moment curtailed his climb. Clark, a 25-year-old left-hander, saw a promising start for [...]

Not many paths to Coca-Cola Park and the Triple-A All-Star game have taken as many turns and twists as Nate Bump’s. From south Florida to Shreveport, La., to State College to Camden, N.J. to, now, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, the 33-year-old Towanda, Pa., native has journeyed down almost every highway professional baseball has to offer. [...]

by R.J. Anderson The book on David Aardsma was always the same: power arm with a blessed fastball, but wild command and an affinity for fly balls – and by extension, home runs. He was essentially a major league journeyman. The former first round pick out of Rice had spent the first few seasons of [...]

A club-record four Lehigh Valley IronPigs were chosen to participate in the 2010 Triple-A All-Star Game presented by Lehigh Valley Health Network on July 14 at Coca-Cola Park, the International League announced today. Three IronPigs – 1B Andy Tracy, 3B Cody Ransom and reliever Scott Mathieson – were elected to the starting lineup while RHP [...]

Cory is now playing ball with the Florence (KY) Freedom and the team did a story on his family and their baseball connection for Father’s Day. FLORENCE, KY – Baseball has long been synonymous with the bond between father and son. The difference between coach and spectator mirrors the tightrope all fathers walk as both [...]

From MLB.com Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu said that right-hander David Aardsma will be his closer moving forward despite a blown save Friday night that saw him drop to 0-4 with a 5.95 ERA this season. But Wakamatsu said he might use Aardsma in more non-save situations to stay sharp. “You’d like to be able to [...]

The Houston Astros announced Sunday the signing of Penn State power-hitting catcher Ben Heath, the team’s fifth-round pick in the 2010 First-Year Player Draft. Heath, 21, led the Nittany Lions in most offensive categories this season, hitting .369 with a school-record 19 homers, 57 RBI, 53 runs scored, 16 doubles, 148 total bases and a [...]

By John Wagner He has spent time in the Major Leagues, winning a World Series ring with the Marlins in 2003. He’s a former first-round Draft pick after an All-American career at Penn State. But this season, Nate Bump has a more modest goal in mind: He wants to prove he’s worthy of another chance [...]

From CTPost.com Nate Bumps Lowers ERA to 2.29 — Nate Bump continues to get better in his quest to return to the major leagues. The right-hander, who started last season with an 8-2, 2.49 run in a dozen starts for Camden, N.J., in the Atlantic League, turned in his best performance in a series of [...]

The sinkerball pitcher gets batters to ground out on a windy night in Allentown. By Jeff Schuler OF THE MORNING CALL Nate Bump has been playing professional baseball for 12 years, suiting up for some 1,800 games over that span. He can’t remember one quite like Saturday night. Gusty, swirling winds kicked up enough dirt [...]

Wine had signed with the Washington (PA) Wild Things in the Independent League but was traded to Amarillo for a player to be named later.

From the York Daily Record. New pitcher: The Revs invited right-handed pitcher and Susquehanna Township graduate Sean Stidfole, 26, to pitch a bullpen session Tuesday. He will remain with the club through spring training, according to manager Andy Etchebarren. The former Blue Jays prospect has an 18-13 career record with a 3.68 ERA. He has [...]