Photos from the home opener

Photos from the home opener at Werner Park on Saturday are up on the Omaha Baseball 360 Facebook page. While you are there, click on 'Like' so you'll see new photo albums as they are uploaded.

Historic night at Werner Park ends with a Storm Chaser victory

George Brett, Bob Gibson and Jeff Suppan chat in the
Storm Chasers' dugout before the game.

The Omaha Storm Chasers got a strong effort from their starting pitcher Danny Duffy and got just enough offense to win their inaugural game at Werner Park 2-1 against Nashville in front of 6,533 fans.

Duffy was on a strict pitch count limit (he threw 76 pitches), so he had to be removed one out shy of qualifying for the win (he pitched 4.2 innings). His final line was impressive though: 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB and 7 Ks.

Everett Teaford, Luis Mendoza, Blaine Hardy, Jesse Chavez and Luis Coleman combined to only allow one earned run over the final 4.1 innings. Chavez got the win. Coleman picked up the save.

New schedule of events for the home opener at Werner Park

1:00 pm to 3:00 pm: Free Fan Fest. Storm Chaser players will be available to sign autographs and the ballpark will be open for fans to explore.

4:00 pm: Tailgate party in parking lot F4 (the northwest lot) in a tent with live music, food and drinks.

5:15 pm: Ribbon cutting ceremony, followed by the opening of the gates.

6:30 pm: Pregame celebration, scheduled to include Storm Chasers owners Bill Shea, Warren Buffett and Walter Scott, Team President Alan Stein, MLB Hall of Famer George Brett, Minor League Baseball President Pat O’Conner, Pacific Coast League President Branch B. Rickey, local elected officials and many more. The National Anthem will be performed by Omaha native and recent American Idol contestant Tim Halperin.

Opening Night Moved to Saturday

Just received this from the Omaha Storm Chasers:

OMAHA, Neb. — Due to inclement weather, the Omaha Storm Chasers are rescheduling their home opener at Werner Park to tomorrow, Saturday, April 16, 2011 at 7:05 p.m. Fans holding tickets for tonight’s game can exchange their for tickets to tomorrow’s game by taking their tickets to the Werner Park ticket office. Ticket office hours will be extended today until 8 p.m. to accommodate ticket holders and will open tomorrow morning at 9 a.m.

Events planned for Friday will be combined with the special events scheduled for Saturday. Friday’s game will be played as part of a doubleheader on Sunday, April 17, 2011 beginning at 2:05 p.m., the regularly scheduled time.

Planned events at Werner Park for the home opener

Weather permitting, here’s a rundown of the planned events at Werner Park this afternoon and tonight for the Storm Chasers home opener:

• Gates open at 5:30 pm. Although if you are hoping to get a free parking spot (Lot F4), it sounds like you might want to get there closer to 4:00 pm. Game time is 7:05 pm.

• Additional free parking opens at Papillion-La Vista South High School (108^th & HWY 370) with shuttles departing for Werner Park every 10 minutes.

• There will be a party tent on the grounds with live music, food and drinks.

• The first 2,500 fans through the gates will receive Werner Park welcome mats.

Jesse Chavez trying to work his way back to the big leagues

(Photo: Omaha Storm Chasers)

Jesse Chavez has been one of the solid components of the Omaha Storm Chasers bullpen this season. He hasn’t allowed any runs so far in 5.1 innings of work.

The 27-year-old righty hasn’t been in the minor leagues since he pitched for Indianapolis in 2008. Since then he’s seen time at the major league level for Pittsburgh, Atlanta and Kansas City where he’s posted a 6-10 record with a 5.09 ERA in 139 relief appearances.

He found out toward the end of Spring Training that he didn’t make the big league club, so he would be starting the season in Omaha.

“It’s tough,” said Chavez on the Omaha Storm Chasers pre-game show a couple of nights ago with Mark Nasser. “Nobody wants to get sent down when they’ve been in the big leagues for an extended period of time.

Suppan pitches well, Duffy on his retirement, and more

There is rain in the forecast for the home opener tomorrow
(Photo: emples)

Jeff Suppan looked much better in his second start of the season last night in Round Rock than in his first start this season. In his first start on April 8 at Albuquerque, he gave up 7 ER on 7 H in 4.0 IP. Last night he gave up just 1 ER on 6 H in 5.1 IP.

Rob White from the Omaha World Herald wrote a feature about LHP Danny Duffy, who is scheduled to start tomorrow night for the first ever Storm Chasers game at Werner Park. The feature includes this quote about Duffy's brief retirement last year: “I knew I wanted to come back a while before I did. Watching 'Baseball Tonight' (on television), and seeing people I had faced kind of lit that fire. Baseball has always been what I was meant to do. I just had to go home for a while to realize that.”

Clint Robinson feels like he has something to prove

When you are selected in the 25th round, you tend to feel like you have something to prove. Clint Robinson, the designated hitter/first baseman for the Omaha Storm Chasers who is off to a quick start this season, certainly does.

“When you don’t get drafted out of high school, and you don’t get drafted as a junior out of college and when you’re a 22-year-old senior that’s going to have to be a prove yourself draft pick,” Robinson said to Mark Nasser during the Omaha Storm Chasers' pre-game show last night. “You have to go every year and prove that I belong here.

“You look around and there’s not too many guys like me – low round picks, you’ve got no money. And up in Double-A and Triple-A – those are usually thinned out by now. Obviously the Royals have seen something and I’m going to keep doing what I do and keep proving whatever doubters I have wrong.”

Express rally past Omaha 5-2

Here's a summary of the game tonight between the Storm Chasers and the Round Rock Express, as issued in a press release from the Express:

ROUND ROCK, Texas – Matt Kata’s game-winning, two-run homer keyed a four-run fifth inning as the Round Rock Express rallied past the Omaha Storm Chasers 5-2 in Monday night’s Pacific Coast League action at The Dell Diamond. It was the first home run of the season for Kata, who is in his third season as a member of the Express.

Brian Barden broke up Everett Teaford’s no-hit bid with a one-out, wind-aided single in the fifth. After Brad Nelson struck out, Kata followed with a two-out homer that easily cleared the Express bullpen beyond the left-centerfield wall. That erased a 2-1 Omaha lead, and the Express never trailed again. Taylor Teagarden followed with a solo homer, and Endy Chavez capped the frame with an RBI double.

Meanwhile, three Round Rock pitchers combined to hold Omaha to three hits on the night. David Lough had a first-pitch solo homer in the first inning, and Clint Robinson led off the top of the fifth with a home run. Omaha’s only other hit on the night was Johnny Giavotella’s one-out bunt single in the seventh.

Starter Derek Hankins (1-0) worked 5.0 innings and allowed only the two solo homers with two strikeouts. Ramon Aguero walked the first batter he faced in the sixth on four pitches but disposed of the next three batters on six pitches. Zach Phillips worked the final three frames without allowing a run; he walked one and struck out three.