2008: Rain, Rain, Go Away
Thursday was Opening Day for the 2020 MLB season… or at least it would have been, if not for the COVID-19 outbreak that has put our entire world, and basically all sports, on an indefinite hold. However, without the coronavirus, today would have been 12 days until MiLB Opening Day. With 15 seasons in the books for the West Virginia Power, it’s to turn back the calendar and revisit each of the first 15 Opening Days in Power history.
On Thursday, we opened up the first chapter of the West Virginia Power with the 2005 Opening Day game in Hagerstown. Friday, we looked back at the first home opener in team history in 2006. The winning streak continued Saturday with the 2007 opener, and now we see what happened in 2008.
The 2007 season was a special one for many reasons. The Power made the playoffs for the first time under their new moniker, clinching the first-half Northern Division crown by a resounding 11 games with a 48–20 record. The team also cracked the 80-win plateau for the first time, notching the second-most wins in club history (the 2013 squad also had 82, while the 2015 group had 87 wins). The team even had a record seven Midseason All-Stars, while manager Mike Guerrero was chosen to manage the Northern squad. Alas, it was on to 2008, with new skipper Jeff Isom taking the reigns in Charleston. Among his crop of players stood a future Power manager, Eric Farris, who was making his full-season debut that summer after a fourth-round selection by Milwaukee in 2007 netted him a 63-game stint in Helena.
Farris had quite the stellar campaign with the Power in 2008, but he didn’t see action in the first two games of the season. In fact, no one saw any action the first two days of the year in Hickory, N.C., as the Opening Day game was postponed twice to April 5, when the teams squared off in a doubleheader at L.P. Frans Stadium.
Though Farris was not a part of either of these contests, future big leaguer Jonathan Lucroy appeared in both, catching the first game and serving as the DH in the second one. However, he barely dotted the box scores, going 0-for-7 combined with three strikeouts and a run scored. Of course, he’d put that little slump to rest rather quickly, as he managed to hit .310 with 10 homers and 33 RBI in 65 games with West Virginia that year, earning a Midseason All-Star nod and a promotion to High-A Brevard County.
Anyways, the two teams split the twin bill, with West Virginia winning the first game 5–3 courtesy of a four-run fifth that included a run-scoring single, wild pitch, walk and hit by pitch. John Alonso became the second Power player ever to homer in a season opener, mashing a second-inning blast for the game’s first run.
Hickory managed to eke out the second contest in extras, 3–2. After West Virginia tied it in the top of the seventh with an RBI double from Ulrich Snijders, Curtis Pasma tossed a 1–2–3 frame to provide fans free baseball, but Corey Frerichs ceded a two-out walk-off single to Christopher Jones in the eighth to end it.
- A side note: Farris did not make his Power debut until May 12.
Even with two games to choose from, only four players from these Opening Day box scores made the big leagues: Caleb Gindl, Lucroy and Zelous Wheeler from West Virginia, along with Duke Welker from Hickory.
Several notes from this season:
- West Virginia extended its Opening Day winning streak to three games with their game one win over Hickory. That streak is still the most consecutive Opening Days won in team history (in fact, West Virginia has not win back-to-back Opening Days since then).
- The 3–2 loss in game two would cascade the Power into its ultimate Opening Day woes, as that defeat was the first of seven straight season-opening trip-ups.
- West Virginia has only had its Opening Day game postponed one other time (2017 vs. Rome at Appalachian Power Park). They have never had the first two days of a season postponed again.
- The Power would once again clinch a postseason berth in 2008, winning the Northern Division’s second-half crown by three games, but, as fate would have it, they were swept in the SAL Championship Series once more, this time by the Augusta GreenJackets (The Columbus Catfish broomed West Virginia in 2007 in the league title set).
- Several players had huge seasons in 2008: Eric Fryer boasted a league-best .335 average, the second-best single-season mark in Charleston, WV SAL history. He also registered the only cycle ever by a Power player to date, accomplishing the feat August 9 vs. Hickory. Steffan Wilson had a massive year, ripping 19 home runs (third all-time in CWV SAL history) and tallying 100 RBI (second-most all-time)… Wheeler also had 89 RBI, tied for third-most.
- Gindl had the second-most single-season hits (156) in Charleston, WV SAL history, and third-most doubles (38), while Lee Haydel recorded the third-most hits (154).
That’s all for the 2008 Opening Day double dip. We’ll take a peak at the 2009 season debut Monday!
