Charlie Hayes comes out of hibernation with a bang, destroying the Jints with a 106 GSc performance that sees him go 5-for-5 with 2 doubles and 2 homers while driving in 5.
Little niggles to Van Slyke and Alomar play their part as we are unable to make up any real ground on the Mets in the early part of June and remain 6 ½ back of them when they come to TRS for 3.
Just ahead of that, we finally send Tom Prince (hitting .097 on the season) down to AAA and call up veteran Tony Pena (PIT IRL 1980-86), picked up in the offseason on a minors deal.
We also claim Jose Mesa off waivers from Florida (who took him from us in the ED) and install him in the BP with Hector Fajardo headed to Lincoln.
We split that series but get a scare when Bonds is HBP—thankfully he’s OK and will miss no time.
We do finally start closing the gap with a 9-game win streak as the Cards come along for the ride and even in early July it looks set to be a three-way go, although the Cubs also make a nice move around this time and can’t be ruled out yet.
A fairly hectic 11-8 win over the Reds sends us to the ASB a game clear at 51-37 with the Cards and Cubs right there as well.
We’ve two transaction tix left and spend one of them over the break in the following manner:
It’s a move not without its risks, primary among them being if anything happens to Jay Bell then our fallback plan suddenly moves from Shawon to untested rookie Chris Gomez, who will now come up for his first appearance in the Show.
All the same, we feel the presence of Roberto in those late and close situations is worth it.
And wouldn’t you believe it, we get to see how right or wrong we are quick smart as Bell suffers a separated shoulder not two days later and is set to miss 6 weeks.
That comes at the end of a dreadful series in Atlanta where we are swept and Bobby Bo is also hurt. He’ll have to be nursed but doesn’t need an IL stint.
Mike Benjamin comes back to the group and Chris Gomez, come on down, you’re the next contestant on
The Shortstop is Right…
Later the same week, Bonds goes down with a hamstring strain and he’ll miss 6 weeks as well.
Talk about misery loving company…
We seriously flirt with the idea of trading our way through all of this ahead of the Deadline but just can’t get it done so Marvell Wynne comes up and Moises Alou will play the lion’s share of innings in LF with some help from Reggie Sanders.
Then four more guys get hurt in one game—Alomar, Van Slyke, Wynne (in his first game) and Big Cat.
None will miss serious time – Van Slyke will be out for a week, the most serious of the four – but the cumulative effect this is having on the group will undoubtedly hit home at some point later in the season when we least want it to.
For now, we enter the stretch run tied with the Cards on 58-46, a game clear of the Mets.
Oh well, I guess I didn’t need those fingernails anyway…
The Yanks make a nice move in July that puts them in the perfect place to break their fans' hearts again...
Monthly Award Winners
June
American League
Batter – Jim Thome (Indians): 299 / 12 HR / 25 RBI
Pitcher – Mike Henneman (Yankees): 1-0 / 0.50 / 15 SV / 7 K / 18 IP
Rookie – Manny Ramirez (Red Sox): 320 / 6 HR / 21 RBI
National League
Batter – Sammy Sosa (Cubs): 309 / 8 HR / 13 RBI
Pitcher – Steve Avery (Astros): 4-0 / 1.05 / 22 K / 34.1 IP
Rookie – Bobby Jones (Expos): 4-1 / 2.59 / 25 K / 41.2 IP
July
American League
Batter – Mark McGwire (A’s): 309 / 12 HR / 18 RBI
Pitcher – Pete Harnisch (Yankees): 4-1 / 2.06 / 25 K / 48 IP
Rookie – Greg McMichael (Royals): 3-0 / 0.67 / 6 SV / 3 K / 13.1 IP
National League
Batter – John Kruk (Dodgers): 378 / 6 HR / 15 RBI
Pitcher – Chris Bosio (Rockies): 4-1 / 1.60 / 33 K / 56.1 IP
Rookie – Jason Bere (Cubs): 4-1 / 3.41 / 33 K / 37 IP
News, Leaders and Top 20s
Milestones and Observations of Note
300 HR: Darryl Strawberry
2000 Hits: Kent Hrbek, Harold Baines
300 Saves: Tom Henke
The Braves lose catcher Lenny Webster for the year with an ACL tear and knee problems also spell the end this year for Mariners OF Roberto Kelly.
Deadline trades of note:
