THE FLYING TIGERS (71-67 in 2010) - Lakeland tied for second place in the first half of the FSL season in 2011 as the club matched Tampa and Clearwater at four games behind first-half winner Dunedin. In the second half, the Flying Tigers finished 8.5 games out of first in fourth place as the Yankees cruised to a 42-25 second half record to take the back half of the season. Lakeland hit .253 as a team with a league-leading 486 walks while the pitchers combined for a 3.30 ERA, good to tie Tampa for second in the FSL. Lakeland also walked the second fewest batters in the league (307) while the Yankees walked the fewest (299). The Flying Tigers posted the best fielding percentage (.978) of any team in the Florida State League last season.
THE YANKEES (78-57 in 2010) - Tampa comes into Joker Marchant Stadium as the two-time defending Florida State League champions. Last season, Tampa downed Charlotte in four games including a 9-0 win in the championship tilt. In 2010, the Yankees and the Rays were also in the championship round with Tampa taking the crown in five games.
NEW MANAGER - The Flying Tigers are under new leadership in 2011 as long-time minor league manager Dave Huppert takes over for the departed Andy Barkett who is now managing at Jacksonville (Marlins, AA). This is Huppert’s fourth stint as manager in the Florida State League having coached the Sarasota White Sox (1993), the Brevard County Manatees (1999-2001) and the Clearwater Threshers (2007). At Clearwater, Huppert took the Threshers to the FSL title while he guided the 2001 Manatees to the FSL co-championship. He joins Lakeland from the Lakewood Blue Claws in the Phillies’ organization. A two-time Minor League Manager of the Year (1988, Stockton, California League and 2001, Brevard County, Florida State League), Huppert has coached 22 previous seasons in the minors and has a 1,531-1,405 career record.
GOOD BLOODLINES ... Flying Tiger pitcher Shawn Teufel is the son of former Major Leaguer Tim Teufel, who played for 11 seasons in the bigs. The elder Teufel is now the manager of Buffalo, the Mets AAA affiliate. He also coached in the Florida Staete League, two managing the St. Lucie Mets in 2004-05 and 2008-09.
GOOD BLOODLINES, PT. 2 ... Flying Tiger teammates Eric and Shawn Roof are the sons of Tigers’ roving instructor Gene Roof.
IF YOU GET ONE HIT, MAKE IT COUNT ... Manager Dave Huppert made it to the show for 17 games, playing two games for Baltimore in 1983 and 15 more for Milwaukee in 1985 with 21 combined at bats. His one lone hit in the majors came off of Hall of Fame knuckleballer, Phil Niekro.
THAT’S A LOTTA SQUATTIN’ ... Manager Dave Huppert spent ten seasons as a player in the minor leagues as catcher. On April 19, 1981, he drew the start behind the plate for Rochester and caught 31 of the 33 innings against Pawtuckett in the longest professional baseball game ever played.
MORE ON THE LONGEST GAME ... The 33-inning game took eight hours and twenty-five minutes to complete over two days. It began on April 18 and was eventually halted at 4:09 a.m. at the end of the 32nd inning. The game resumed on June 23 and took just 18 minutes to finish with Pawtucket’s Dave Koza driving in the winning run in the bottom of the 33rd inning. Pawtucket had 114 at bats while Rochester struck out 34 times while a total of 882 pitches were offered. Two future Hall of Famers, Cal Ripken, Jr., (Rochester) and Wade Boggs (Pawtuckett) appeared in the contest. With the Major Leaguers on strike at the time, the game drew 5,746 fans and 149 reporters. When the game was called at 4 a.m., only 18 fans remained.
WHAT’S A GUY GOTTA DO? ... Shortstop Gustavo Nunez returns to Lakeland despite leading the 2010 Flying Tigers with 116 hits. He becomes the first Lakeland player to lead the club in base hits one season and return the next since Jim Walewander in 1985 and 1986. Nunez led the FSL in assists (388) while leading all league shortstops in games played at the position (123), total chances (628), putouts (214), and most double plays (76).
MAKE ROOM FOR SOME MORE ... Last season, Lakeland established a club record with a season attendance of 64,010 topping the old mark of 61,255 set in 1987. Attendance has increased in every season under General Manager Zach Burek, growing from 32,179 fans in 2006, his first season at the helm of the Lakeland club.
MAKE ROOM ONE THE BENCH AS WELL ... A total of 65 players donned a Flying Tigers’ uniform in 2010, just four players shy of the all-time record of 69 players that played for the 1968 Lakeland club.
DON’T FORGET YOUR PARTING GIFT ... Pitchers Rob Waite and Micheal Torrealba were slated to start the 2011 season at Lakeland, but an injury to Jose Ortega in Detroit forced a domino effect with Waite heading to Erie and Torrealba going to West Michigan. To take their places Shawn Teufel was promoted from the Whitecaps to Lakeland while Dan Gentzler was also assigned to the Flying Tigers.
OTHER EX-LAKELANDERS IN RECENT MOVES ... Catcher Max St. Pierre was placed on the temporary inactive list at Toledo, so Jeff Kunkel earns a trip to the Mud Hens with Billy Alvino taking his roster spot in Erie.
SOME FAMILIAR NAMES RELEASED ... Detroit released several players during Spring Training including former Flying Tigers: Alden Carrithers, Kody Kaiser, Jon Kibler, Max Leon, Matt Mansilla, Pat McKenna, Miguel Mejia, Josh Rainwater, Wilfredo Ramirez and Chris White, while Andy Bouchie and Kyle Peter announced their retirements.
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