If last season was the Year of the Call Up, in which seven former Loons made their major league-debut before September, then 2012 has to be the Year of the Trade. From July 25, when the Dodgers first put in for Miami’s Hanley Ramirez, to late August and the blockbuster trade with the Red Sox, a total of 10 former Loons have been moved to further their careers with different organizations. Let’s dive in.

The first two, right-handed pitchers Nate Eovaldi (’09) and Scott McGough (’11), were traded to the Miami Marlins in exchange for Hanley Ramirez and LHP Randy Choate. Eovaldi started the season in Double-A before joining the Dodgers starting rotation in May. The Texan left the Dodgers with a 1-6 record and 4.15 ERA and through six starts for the Marlins is 3-3 with a 5.33 ERA. McGough is pitching (1-1-1, 3.68) at the Advanced Single-A level for the Jupiter Hammerheads.

Next to shed their Dodger Blues were pitcher Logan Bawcom (’11) and outfielder Leon Landry (’11), who the Dodgers traded to Seattle for pitcher Brandon League. While League has struggled to look comfortable in his new digs, Bawcom holds a 2-0-5 record and 2.13 ERA for the Double-A Jackson Generals and Landry is raking for the High Desert Mavericks (Advanced A) with a .385 batting average in 104 at-bats and five home runs.

On July 31, the Dodgers welcomed veteran outfielder Shane Victorino to Hollywood, sending pitchers Josh Lindblom (’08), Ethan Martin (’09) and Ryan O’Sullivan (’12) to Philly. The Phillies Joe Blanton also headed west for cash. Lindblom’s Major League ERA has doubled since the trade and Martin’s has stayed about the same (Double-A), but the creativity and humor of Ryan O’Sullivan has probably taken off in the Florida State League, where rain delays thrive. Since joining the Threshers on August 18, O’Sullivan has already seen five games called due to weather.

The trade winds appeared to have settled, but on August 25 a quarter-billion dollar trade moving Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, Josh Beckett and Nick Punto to LA sent ripples across the MLB landscape. The Dodgers final piece to what they hope is a championship-caliber team moved pitcher Allen Webster (’10) and two players to be named later, thought to be outfielder Jerry Sands (’09-’10) and pitcher Rubby de la Rosa (’10).

Looking strictly at player movement, apart from James Loney and Ivan De Jesus, the Dodgers built their impressive 2012 line-up with 10 former Loons (8 pitchers and 2 position players).

Now that the London Olympics have concluded and the world has gotten its fill of Spice Girls reunions for the next 10 years, it’s time for people of the Great Lakes Bay Region to focus in on another celebration coming to its end.

On August 25, 2011, the Great Lakes Loons announced the beginning of its 5th Anniversary Celebration, and with less than 15 home games left in 2012, we stop to reflect on the team’s first five seasons for one final time. So just as NBC’s Closing Ceremony coverage highlighted all of the great storylines that took place during the London Games, From the Nest presents Loons fans with these highlight reels from each of the Loons first five seasons. Enjoy!

Loons Top Ten Plays from 2007 (FTN)

Loons Top Ten Plays from 2008 (YouTube)

Loons Top Ten Plays from 2009 (YouTube)

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Loons Top Ten Plays from 2011 (YouTube)

Have a favorite play of the bunch? Let us know below or on Facebook.

If the Loons turn a triple play on the road, does anybody see it?

From 2009 to 2011, Loons play-by-play broadcaster Brad Golder has been the only person to sight a Great Lakes Loons triple play, because all three have taken place on the road, miles away from Dow Diamond.

Just when we had about forgotten the team’s last triple play sighting in Fort Wayne on May 29, another emerged. And not surprisingly, the sighting was on the road in Bowling Green. The 6-4-3 sequence marked the fourth in Loons history.

Tired of only reading about the Loons ‘Sasquatch’ and never seeing it, and even more tired of those who don’t believe it happened, we at From the Nest reached out to see if we could get some video confirmation of the event.

After some question dodging and costume bartering with the Hot Rods front office, we finally received what we think is video evidence of Brad’s sighting from Tuesday night. But like the iconic photos of big foot and the Loch Ness monster, it’s hard to really tell if shortstop Darnell Sweeney caught a line drive or fielded a ground ball.

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With no roar of the crowd and only eerie silence, our context clues are limited; though if you watch the Drew Vettleson’s route on the base-path, it would suggest that Sweeney did indeed snag the first out on the liner. There are still skeptics out there who will only see what they want to see, so stubborn in their ways that it will take seeing one at Dow Diamond before they finally give in; but this exclusive video from our friends in Bowling Green may have just confirmed a piece of Loons history.