Ok, such as Western North Carolina went without rain for most of the month of August, the Blog has gone just as long without an entry. That drought ends today with Asheville wrapping up their three-game series with the Greenville Drive and begining their final series of the regular season against Augusta on Saturday before the playoffs begin on August 3^rd.

Hey Now You're An All-Star...

         Even Smashmouth thinks thats a lot of star power  

This week the post season all star roster was announced and to nobody's surprise the Tourist had a fair share of representation. Joe Mikulik earned manager of the year for the second straight season and Michael Mitchell, Helder Velazquez and Darin Holcomb all earned All-Star honors. On top of that domination, Jhoulys Chacin was tapped as the best right hander in the league despite leaving to High-A Modesto shortly after the All-Star break. The Tourists have more star power than the Democratic National Convention, all we need now is some Sheryl Crow.. oh wait here she is....  You can click here to hear the Tourists congratulations to there stars... all star final .mp3

 Did you say Dalmations..or Domination?

101.. that's the amount of runs Darin Holcomb has batted in this season.  While the term "101" might indicate either an introductory course for Biology or English class, Holcomb is the one doing the teaching in the SAL this season. Voted as the league MVP on Tuesday Holcomb's numbers are atop the leader board in nearly every offensive category. His 46 doubles is one shy of the Asheville franchise record set by Hal Magert in 1937 and a six RBI night on Thursday pushed Holcomb up 101 driven in on the season. It ha been sheer dominations for the 12^th round selection by Colorado. Holcomb has gone quietly about his business leading the Tourists into the playoffs and hopefully into the championship series. So while 101 might mean a Disney dalmation to some, for Holcomb it is another day at the ballpark and a season that has been anything but spotty.       

Asheville has endured two big losses -some would call spankings or whitewashings -  at the hands of the Columbus Catfish. Clearly Columbus is not the same team the Tourists beat seven of eight times in May as the Catfish are now tied with Asheville for second place in the second-half standings and are fighting for their post-season lives. However Asheville has received giant production from unexpected sources such as Brian Lapin (three homeruns in the past three games) and Brent Bowman.

"Brian Lapin delivers the Championship Bulldog Power"

For Lapin it is a relief to see the Fresno State product pick up the pace and recover from injuries that he endured at the beginning of the season. Perhaps the emergence of Lapin can be better summed up by the famous cartoon character He-Man: "By the Power of Greyskull, I have POWER!." The Rockies and Lapin knew that all along.

As for Bowman, the Tourists are able to float along without Jeffrey Cunningham who is still recovering from a strained muscle. Bowman was called up from Tri City during the last homestand and has been making solid contact ever since. With Bowman in the lineup, Joe Mikulik has been able to use Darin Holcomb as the number three hitter and gives the skipper what looks to be a solid RBI style bat.

The pitching is a whole different concern and we will reserve judgment on Australian Shane Lindsay until his next couple of outings. Lindsay in a limited debut for Asheville had an impressive 2 2/3 innings pitched on Saturday and delivered explosive mid- 90's fastballs before leaving in the third inning.

            To sum up some sentiments around the Park, here for everyone's pleasure once again is the Comic strip. Enjoy. For the full readable version click here