The IronPigs can be summed up by this one melancholic fact: On Sunday they won their first series of the season by taking three of four from the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees. Yep, the first series they've won all season. That series win, though, pulled them out of the cellar in the International League North, by one game over Rochester.
All of the prospects who could have been lighting up the nights at Coca-Cola Park this year were traded last summer or during the off-season. So fans make do with the team that is. The starting pitching, except for Joe Savery, is surprisingly sturdy for a team with such an unprepossessing record. Nelson Figueroa, who seems to be a genuinely good guy, has been a welcome recent addition to the rotation. Brandon Duckworth, once with the Phillies, is also an easy guy to cheer for. In truth, it's easy to cheer for lots of these guys, such as Scott Mathieson and Mike Zagurski, both trying to make comebacks from surgeries.
Willy Taveras, another recent addition, immediately changed the flavor of the team. He joined Rich Thompson--he of the career 81% stolen-base rate, as another energetic speedster at the top of the order. But my favorite player this year, called up from Reading in mid-April, is Melvin Dorta. Dorta is not a prospect of any kind. At Double-A Reading, the 28-year-old was an extra infielder who was not likely to see much playing time. But the Rollins' injury caused a roster shift and Dorta came up to fill a spot. In 47 games, he is hitting .317 and almost from the start demonstrated a flair for getting timely hits. He has also pretty much taken over as starter at 2B.
A Venezuelan of Italian descent, Dorta also provided one of the sweetest quotes I've heard in a long time: "When we win, I'm happy and I eat a lot. When we lose, I'm sad and I eat a lot. When a game is postponed, I'm disappointed and I eat a lot." A very Italian sentiment. Come to think of it, though, that's what lots of fans at IronPigs game do, too.
