[battists]

Well, Paul thought, here I am again. He had another stack of papers in front of him on his desk. It was an old affair, a mahogany roll-top credenza with six cubbies neatly arranged across the width of the desktop. Littered, of course, with papers. If the desk looked like it had been picked up off the street on trash day, well, that's because it had been. Paul had seen it on the way back to his apartment the other night, and then had spent 15 minutes trying to explain what he wanted to his office manager, Alejandro. Alejandro's English was just about as good as Paul's Spanish, and after fifteen minutes of mutually furious pantomiming, Paul had practically dragged Alejandro to his car, driven him to the credenza, pointed, and exclaimed,

"Quiero esa mesa!!!" As realization dawned on the stocky manager's face, Paul heaved a sigh of relief. International communication having succeeded, Alejandro took them back to the ballpark, borrowed one of the groundskeeping trucks, and together they lugged the heavy old desk back to the office. All it had cost him was a few beers for Alejandro, and it made the office feel a little bit more "his." The sterile, modern desk management had installed was on its side in the hallway.

Paul put his feet up on the desk and looked at the latest set of scouting reports. He had gained around ten new players in just the past week, and since they'd had games every day, he really hadn't had much of a chance to look at them much. The most intriguing one was . . . you guessed it . . . a catcher. Big, strapping Venezuelan kid by the name of Francisco DeLeon. The GM had moved him from the low A Golden State league, where he wasn't getting much work. Great, Paul had thought, the perfect place for him to get at-bats: a team with six catchers! But Paul had thrown him into a game near the end of the week, and he had promptly gone 4-for-4 in that one. So, Paul sighed and guessed he would have to find the kid more at-bats.

At any rate, there hadn't been much positive to look at this week. 7 games in 7 days, and two wins at opposite ends of the week, sandwiched by five straight losses. In a week they had gone from first place to 4.5 games back, as Juraez was on an eight-game winning streak. The Estrellas had lost three of four to Monterrey, then had made another 12-hour drive that night to start a home stand against Leon, who had taken two of three from them. And very nearly three, as his team had gone from a 6-1 lead in the 9th to eking out a 6-5 victory. He had gained a few gray hairs from that one. This coming week was against two new teams; two three-game sets against the 9-6 Ecatepec Vaqueros and the 4-11 Tijuana Potros. Today was a much-needed off day. His bullpen had been taking a beating all week, so they desperately needed a day off in this brutal schedule.

There had been some big personnel changes this week. Mike Davis, his biggest power bat, had gone up to Golden State. But, for some reason, Cyril Stefanelli remained in Hermosillo and seemed to be taking his frustration out on opposing hitters. He had hit .600 this week. He'd given outfielder Glenn Payne some work this week, and he'd responded with a patient eye and a .583 OBP. Santiago Sanchez, playing out of position at first, continued to be a tough out, hitting .385 with .529 OBP. But Carlos Trujillo, who had dominated opposing pitchers during the first week of the season, cooled off considerably, hitting just .136 in a team-leading 23 plate appearances.

As for his pitching staff, well, as anticipated, they hadn't fared very well against the stiff competition this week. Newcomer Jorge Escobar, a 19-year old Dominican righty with some great heat, had thrown the closest thing they'd seen to a gem so far this season: 6 2/3 innings of 4-hit, 1-run ball. Scotty Smith had held his own in his start as well, before returning to the outfield when reinforcements arrived. But other than that, his staff's stat sheet was filled with numbers like "31.5 RA/9" or "3.25 WHIP". Hell, only two of his thirteen pitchers struck out more than he walked. Ah well, it was a work in progress. If they could just take two of three from Ecatepec, that would be a great start to the week.

Team Status
Season Record: 8-7
Record for this Stretch: 2-5
Position: 3rd

Standout Performers
3B Cyril Stefanelli (.600/.611/.733, 0 HR 2 RBI)
C Francisco DeLeon (.800/.833/.800, 0 HR 2 RBI)
1B Santiago Sanchez (.385/.529/.462, 0 HR 1 RBI)
RF Glenn Payne (.375/.583/.500, 0 HR 0 RBI)

SP Jorge Escobar (6.2 IP, 0.75 WHIP, ERA+ 999)