The lights at Ripken Stadium were turned off minutes after the IronBirds played their final regular-season game last Thursday, losing 6-1 to the Lowell Spinners. But fans lingered in the concourse, listening to a live feed from Brooklyn, N.Y., where a Cyclones? loss would make the IronBirds the New York-Penn League wild-card entry and put them in the playoffs for the first time ever.
It took 12 innings, but Brooklyn defeated the Vermont Lake Monsters, 4-3, and put Aberdeen where they have been at the end of the past five seasons ? left out.
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Before he knew the result of the Brooklyn game, manager Andy Etchebarren addressed his players. “I told them that I don?t know how this thing is going to end up, but no matter what happens, I thanked them for the effort they gave me,” he said.
In his second year as the Aberdeen manager, Etchebarren said he saw marked improvement in his team, especially in the bullpen. “Last year, we won 27 games, and 41 times when we took the starter out we had the lead,” Etchebarren said.
Aberdeen went 41-34 this season, making it the best season ? and first winning season ? since the team has been in Aberdeen. Wins and losses aside, Etchebarren said that the biggest accomplishment was in developing the young players.
“They ran hard, they were aggressive, they learned how to play a little bit of baseball,” he said. “I?m very happy with the progress of a lot of the players.” He would not name names, but Etchebarren said that there were five or six players with big-league potential.
First baseman Chris Vinyard could be one. Starting the year hot ? batting nearly .400 ? Vinyard went through a tough slump but adjusted and pulled himself out of it before the All-Star break.
“I had to put myself in the backs of people?s minds,” Vinyard said about trying to get noticed by the Orioles. “I exceeded my expectations tenfold, I could not ask for much more, besides making the playoffs,” he said.
Vinyard said that this season he learned how to be more disciplined at the plate. During the off-season, Vinyard plans to work out, but also take a break from baseball. “I had my first college game in January, it will be good to take time off and give my body a rest,” he said.
Etch-A-Sketch
» Etchebarren was a two-time all-star for the Orioles and was the starting catcher for the 1966 World Series champions.
» In 1966, he hit a career-high 11 home runs and knocked in 50 RBI.
