Auf Wiedersehen Jon & Jason

Game 137: Bulls 6, Braves 8
Season: 78-59
Games Left in Season: 7; Home Games: 4
Box

I’ll leave last night’s game to the wrap, the Herald-Sun, and Adam Sobsey. What I want to write about today is the contributions of Jon Weber and Jason Childers to the 2009 Durham Bulls. Without them we wouldn’t be where we are today — on the verge of a division championship and heading towards the playoffs. Thank you.

Jon Weber

The numbers are simply superb. He played in 117 games this year. I don’t recall him missing a day with an injury. He’s the only .300 batter on the team (.302). His OBP was .382, his OPS was .879. He leads the International League with 46 doubles (and likely to hold that lead since the next in line has 36) and in extra base hits. Those are his numbers, and those numbers were clearly good enough, in my opinion, for him to get a shot with the Rays this year. I’ve written about that more than once this year.

More than that, even a fan can notice that he seems to be a man with a sense of humor and good spirit. He’s certainly put up with a good bit from this blog regarding his bat-throwing tendencies. (In that regard, I have it on good authority that all the partners and associates of Farfaleaux, Foghart, & Bloviate, L.L.C. join me in wishing Jon all possible success and genuinely regret missing the opportunity of filming Jon tossing a bat in Fenway Park.)

He has remarked that he’s looking to play in Japan next year and if that doesn’t happen he hopes he will be back in Durham. Here’s hoping that he gets his wish.

Jason Childers

Back on April 19th, the very first game of this season, Jason made the first of his team-leading 55 appearances for the Bulls this year. He has done a bit of everything from middle relief to closing, accumulating 9 wins, 6 losses, 9 holds, and 5 saves. I like his Opponent’s On Base Percentage, a nice low .310. His 61 strikeouts to 23 walks isn’t anything to sneeze at either. As a fan the great thing about Jason is that I don’t flinch when I see him come into the game. If we’ve got a lead, I don’t think he’s going to let it get away. If we don’t have the lead, he’ll give us a chance to get back in the game. He’s done that all year. We’re going to miss him these next two weeks.

Jon and Jason are off to the wilds of Cary, NC to tune up for the World Cup of Baseball. If there’s a major sporting event that’s gotten less coverage I don’t know what it could be (think about that…). Here at WDBB we’ll do our best to keep an eye on them as they travel off to Regensburg, Germany for the first round game on September 10th against Venezuela. Or maybe I’ll get over to Cary to watch them play Team Canada on 3rd, 4th, 5th, or 6th.

If there were ever two men who represent what American baseball is all about, Jon Weber and Jason Childers are those guys. They work hard, play hard, respect the game, and have fun. What more could you ask for in men who are representing our country and the game we all love?