By Scott Plack

4/19/09

Question 1: How bad is it for Conard?

Tanner: Well, when he first hurt it we saw him limping and he had a grimace on his face… but, well, he always has a grimace so we didn’t know how bad it was.  But later Conard explained that he felt/heard a “pop” and it felt like someone stabbed his calf with a knife.  I am not an expert but the people who are tell me it will be a year or more before he can play again.  So the Trendsetters organization gets the tremendous opportunity of paying him to recover.  As you can tell I am overjoyed!!

Question 2: What now?

Tanner: For the short term, Rodríguez will move to DH, Hansen will take over in LF and Dave Lewis will be called up from AAA.  But I wouldn’t be surprised if in the next couple of weeks some new talent and possible old faces are seen in the clubhouse.  Mainly I wouldn’t be surprised because I am the one who does the deals, so I know what we are thinking.  I guess you guys might be, and I know you guys just love surprises.  For the long run, we are going to miss Conard’s 30 plus homerun power so we are looking to address that currently.

Question 3: Did Ruíz help bury a jersey to curse the Codgers?

Tanner: Absolutely not.  Look, Ruíz has enough problems trying to hit the ball; he doesn’t have time for any other activities.  Ruíz explained to me that some guy asked for one of his jerseys to sell for charity and Jorge let him have it.  What happened to it after that, we don’t really know.  I mean, if I was going to take the time to curse some team it would be someone that we played more often, and the Codgers don’t seem to need any help in losing games, especially in the playoffs.  I kid, I kid.   I love old people and their lovable Codgers team.  But like I said, I have way more of my own problems to think about and no time for planning and cursing other teams.

Question 4:  Are you embarrassed by the fact that one player on the Featherheads has more homeruns than your entire team?

Tanner: Not really, because at the moment we have won one more game than they have, so that’s the more important stat to me.  And we went 4-2 last week despite losing a big bat in the middle of the lineup.  So, no, I am not embarrassed, but I am looking forward to the matchup between our pitchers and their lineup.  So far we have only allowed three long balls, so it’s going to be a great series filled with drama, which is good this early in the season.

Question 5: Next week is a big week: 3 games vs. Florida, then 3 games vs. the Coal Sox.  What’s your prediction?

Tanner: I hate losing.  I want my team to win every game they play, but that is not what happens in baseball.  Instead, I am hoping to take 2 of 3 in both series.  Florida has some great power – 20 homeruns over the first 12 games – and we need our bats to come to life.  The series against the Coal Sox will just be great baseball as their high powered offense will face off against McCullough and Davis.  Our lineup will look a little different, with Hansen taking over the lead off spot, Rodríguez moving to the number 3 spot and Cline hitting fourth.  Also, this week marks the return of Floyd Gates to the starting lineup after a disappointing first few weeks by Qu.  So I am hoping to come out 4-2 against a couple of tough division rivals.