MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL - BECAUSE THE BEER IS CHEAPER >>>

For those who may not have heard, our favorite living baseball announcer, Mike Curto, got the call up to the Bigs to announce some of yesterday's Mariners game.

How did he do?

Swimmingly. The guy hardly missed a beat. Curto may have been a little tentative in the first couple innings, trying hard to find space to speak between Rick Rizzs' effortless stream of baseball, but he quickly settled into a rhythm. Curto called strikes and balls with ease. He told jokes. He asked Rizzs interesting questions. He even managed to squeeze in a bunch of PCL insight, shedding valuable light on the Mariners players that were called up from the Rainiers this season.

In short, Curto announcing for the Mariners is like Curto announcing for the Rainiers (38-42): funny and solid. And while he insists his time in the Mariners' booth was just a one day affair, somebody in the Mariners' upper office could have taken notice. At least, we here at the Weekly Volcano expect they did.

But we can't let Curto get off with a completely stellar review. This is the Rainiers Minute, after all. We have to complain about something.

1.    Having Curto in the booth didn't help the Mariners score runs. The team looked as lackluster as ever at the plate (aside from Ackley's second dinger in the Bigs). 

2.    Rick Rizzs didn't assign Curto one of his Rizzs-style nicknames. This bummed us out. We were especially hoping for a nickname that would convey Curto's recent foray into rave culture. Mike "the glowstick" Curto, or something like that.

That's what we were bummed about. Not much.

Enough about Curto and the Mariners. More about Curto and the Rainiers. Or just the Rainiers.

Notes ...

-Rainiers relief pitcher Josh Lueke was selected to the 2011 PCL All-Star team. The 6'5" right-hander from Kentucky has posted a 2.48 ERA in 32 innings pitched with the Rainiers. The selection means Lueke will probably head to Salt Lake City on July 13 to compete in the Triple-A All Star Game. We say probably because pitchers have been known to decline an All Star invitation in order to save their arms. Save their arm or take some time off to play "Call of Duty."

Because, hey, it's a long season. These guys get withdrawals. 

-Lueke was the only Rainier selected to the 2011 All-Star team.  What, what, what? Who made these selections? Whoever it was must have barely glanced at the Rainiers roster. Haven't they heard of Dustin Ackley? Or Greg Halman? Or Mike Carp? What about these guys, huh? Oh, wait. That's right. Disregard. 

-The Rainiers, who had Wednesday off, were on a bit of a terror until Tuesday night. The team won five in a row, including a 19-5 victory over the Las Vegas 51s that saw the Rainiers score six runs in the first inning. Of course, all good things end. The Rainiers lost the series finale to the 51s on Tuesday night. They lost, but not before our new favorite Rainier, Kyle Seager, could bang out three hits. Nice work, Seager. Just keep feeding us stats so we can keep mentioning your name. We need to foster this crush.

-Cheney Stadium will play host to a plethora of ‘Independence Weekend' events this weekend. Starting tonight with Tasty Thursday and going through Sunday with fireworks, Cheney will for all intents and purposes embody the American spirit. This means the Fresno Grizzlies are in for four games of liquored up fans, excited kids and fireworks galore. God, it must suck to be the visiting team around the Fourth of July.

Tasty Thursday starts tonight at 7:05 p.m. We wish we could tell you who tonight's starting pitcher is, but the Rainiers website has announced the pitcher as T.B.D. And we're only, what, six hours before the game?

Gotta love the Minor Leagues.

UPDATE: The Rainiers website site now says Nate Robertson will take the hill for hometown nine. Dude's got an impressive goatee.

LINK: The "Rainiers Minute" collection