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Eugene Church · 10-16-2008, 07:25 PM

The Islandian Times

Tuesday, July 24, 2001

Around the IPA
Ruthlandian Union - South Division

The Claxton Diamonds are currently in fifth place in the Ruthlandian Union South Division and trail first place Marston by 10 games. Toss out a bad April and May and the Diamonds are playing good ball under Stacy Engel. For June they were 16-15 and 12-12 in July.

"You are in trouble when you can score a lot of runs, but the other teams can score more," said Claxton's glib manager Stacy Engel in accessing his team's first season in the Islandian Pro Alliance. "The Old Perfessor" told BNN, "I must be getting too old for the game. It took me 60 games into the season before I realized I had a .370 hitter wasting a lot of time sitting on the bench instead of swinging the bat. Once I wised up and traded Winky Rush to Volusia for pitcher Johnny Szwak and put Dan Molnar in the line-up, it made me look like a genius."

Hitting is definitely the strong point of the Claxton Diamonds. The Diamonds have compiled a .281 team batting average, second-best to Marston's .289 in the RU South. Leading the Claxton hit brigade is left fielder Dan Molnar (.379/10 HR/25 RBI/19 R) in just 30 games, All-Star right fielder Dixie Baker (.320/28 HR/91 RBI/64 R), All-Star second baseman Donny McCoy (.341/34 D/2 T/4 HR/45 RBI/69 RBI), shortstop Bobby Ritter (.312/4 HR/53 R), first baseman Marty McCluskey (.305/11 HR/51 RBI/45 R), third baseman Keith Olsen (.302/24 D/3 T/7 HR/50 RBI/57 R) and center fielder Wayne Wilson (.277/6 HR/24 R/40 R) in 63 games.

According to Engel, "You give us the pitching some of these clubs have and no one could touch us, but God has a way of not arranging that, because it's not as much fun."

So much for fun. Here's what "The Old Perfesser" has to work with. His best starter came from the bullpen. Engel was desperate for a starter, so he took his best reliever, Alex Vanzetti, and made a starter out of him. Vanzetti (7-3 2.53) is now his number one starter. Johnny Szwak (9-5 3.85) was 7-1 at one time and has had some rocky starts of late, but can usually keep the game close for a while. He is 3-4 with a 4.18 ERA since coming to the Diamonds in a trade for outfielder Winky Rush (.294/8 HR/53 RBI/41 R). Claxton's biggest winner is bewildering. You never know which Tetsunori Nagashima (12-6 4.47) will show up. He has run hot-and-cold all season long. Brilliant at times, very bad at times.

Engel says, "It a flip of the coin, sometimes I win with whatever his name is and sometimes I lose with whatever his name is." Engel is notorious for not being very good with names.

The Diamonds number four starter is newcomer Sammy Melton (2-1 4.07), who has done a pretty decent job in his three starts. The 21-year-old lefty beat first place Marston 11-2 ten days ago for his first IPA victory. Engel is predicting good things for Melton.

What's the prediction for the Claxton Diamonds? Fifth or sixth if the pitching doesn't come around. But no matter what happens, good pitching or bad, it should be a fun season as long as "The Old Perfesser" is in charge.

10-16-2008, 07:25 PM	#497
Eugene Church Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 35,957	The Islandian Times Tuesday, July 24, 2001 Around the IPA Ruthlandian Union - South Division The Claxton Diamonds are currently in fifth place in the Ruthlandian Union South Division and trail first place Marston by 10 games. Toss out a bad April and May and the Diamonds are playing good ball under Stacy Engel. For June they were 16-15 and 12-12 in July. "You are in trouble when you can score a lot of runs, but the other teams can score more," said Claxton's glib manager Stacy Engel in accessing his team's first season in the Islandian Pro Alliance. "The Old Perfessor" told BNN, "I must be getting too old for the game. It took me 60 games into the season before I realized I had a .370 hitter wasting a lot of time sitting on the bench instead of swinging the bat. Once I wised up and traded Winky Rush to Volusia for pitcher Johnny Szwak and put Dan Molnar in the line-up, it made me look like a genius." Hitting is definitely the strong point of the Claxton Diamonds. The Diamonds have compiled a .281 team batting average, second-best to Marston's .289 in the RU South. Leading the Claxton hit brigade is left fielder Dan Molnar (.379/10 HR/25 RBI/19 R) in just 30 games, All-Star right fielder Dixie Baker (.320/28 HR/91 RBI/64 R), All-Star second baseman Donny McCoy (.341/34 D/2 T/4 HR/45 RBI/69 RBI), shortstop Bobby Ritter (.312/4 HR/53 R), first baseman Marty McCluskey (.305/11 HR/51 RBI/45 R), third baseman Keith Olsen (.302/24 D/3 T/7 HR/50 RBI/57 R) and center fielder Wayne Wilson (.277/6 HR/24 R/40 R) in 63 games. According to Engel, "You give us the pitching some of these clubs have and no one could touch us, but God has a way of not arranging that, because it's not as much fun." So much for fun. Here's what "The Old Perfesser" has to work with. His best starter came from the bullpen. Engel was desperate for a starter, so he took his best reliever, Alex Vanzetti, and made a starter out of him. Vanzetti (7-3 2.53) is now his number one starter. Johnny Szwak (9-5 3.85) was 7-1 at one time and has had some rocky starts of late, but can usually keep the game close for a while. He is 3-4 with a 4.18 ERA since coming to the Diamonds in a trade for outfielder Winky Rush (.294/8 HR/53 RBI/41 R). Claxton's biggest winner is bewildering. You never know which Tetsunori Nagashima (12-6 4.47) will show up. He has run hot-and-cold all season long. Brilliant at times, very bad at times. Engel says, "It a flip of the coin, sometimes I win with whatever his name is and sometimes I lose with whatever his name is." Engel is notorious for not being very good with names. The Diamonds number four starter is newcomer Sammy Melton (2-1 4.07), who has done a pretty decent job in his three starts. The 21-year-old lefty beat first place Marston 11-2 ten days ago for his first IPA victory. Engel is predicting good things for Melton. What's the prediction for the Claxton Diamonds? Fifth or sixth if the pitching doesn't come around. But no matter what happens, good pitching or bad, it should be a fun season as long as "The Old Perfesser" is in charge. Last edited by Eugene Church; 10-16-2008 at 08:04 PM.