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Old 08-21-2018, 08:35 PM   #14
battists
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Just a phone call - May 25 - May 31, 2026

Paul sat on the edge of his office chair, absently looking out over the ballfield. His cell phone was pressed rather harder than necessary to his ear as he listened intently to the voice on the other end of the line.

"Straight "A"s?? That's amazing! Please tell her I told her that when she wakes up, ok?" He smiled. "What? What? I'm sorry honey, this connection is terrible. What? Yeah, OK, I'll talk to you later." He paused nervously. "I love you," he finished, but Patty had already hung up. Paul let out a long sigh, and consciously willed his muscles to relax.

Paul heaved another sigh and tried to focus on the status report up on his computer screen. Cary expected weekly reports from his minor league managers touching on a number of things: team performance, player development, etc. It wasn't exactly Paul's favorite task of the week, but lately he had come to realize that the job he had seen as simply a lifeline at first had the potential to turn into something more like a career for him.

This week had been good. The Estrellas had won five of six this week, bringing them to nine wins in their last ten games, and sending them into second place in the division, just two games out of first place. There was nothing quite like chasing the division leaders to get the competitive juices flowing! The kids were excited, and so was Paul.

There had been a few personnel changes. They'd gotten Francisco Deleon back, and finally jettisoned one of the logjam of catchers (Zuniga, who Paul wouldn't miss at all). Deleon had responded by getting on base in eight of his nine plate appearances for the week, going 4-for-5 with 4 walks. All of his catchers were picking it up, in fact. Moss had hit at a .438 clip for the week, and Santiago Sanchez, still playing at 1st, just continued to mash, hitting .412. For the season, Sanchez was now hitting .336 with a .404 OBP, but his power hadn't developed just yet. Even the much-maligned Alex Bowen, who seemed more and more destined for a season-plus in rookie ball, had hit .333 for the week. Duane Baker had chipped in with three hits in ten scattered at bats.

They had picked up two new infielders. Melvin Ashley was another New Yorker, a left-handed bat who had made it all the way up to A ball, but who had managed to get released five separate times since being drafted two years ago. Didn't exactly smack of someone who would be around for a long time, but Paul liked having the extra left-handed bat off the bench. Cris Guzman, at 24, was an old man on this roster. He had been in the Detroit organization for almost six years before being released. He'd bounced around low A and rookie leagues during that time, never hitting higher than .267. Solid defender, not much with the bat. Ashley had stroked the ball well this week, hitting .375 and knocking in a run in nine plate appearances. The rest of his infielders were struggling a bit. Carlos Trujillo, who had previously been red-hot, had hit just .200 for the week. With the new additions, it might be time to give him a few games off. 3B Travis Crawford had been productive, hitting .278 and knocking in five. Everyone else was at or below .250.

The outfield, though, was mashing the ball something fierce. He had five outfielders get more than 10 PA this week, and the lowest batting average among them was Denny Bergeron's .317. Daniel Davis had had himself another smoking week - .400/.516/.640 with a HR, 9 RBI, and 7 SB. How this guy didn't win player of the week was beyond Paul.

The pitching was starting to perform better as well. Another stellar outing from Joe Carver was rubbing off on the other guys. Lanny Hall had had two good starts at the beginning and end of the week, and Chad Huckey had thrown six innings of scoreless ball as well. New signee Luis Bruno had thrown 3.2 innings of scoreless relief this week.

Team Status
Season Record: 23-17
Record for this Stretch: 5-1
Position: 2nd

Standout Performers
C Santiago Sanchez (.450/.455/.450 2 RBI 6 R)
CF Daniel Davis (.400/.516/.640 1 HR, 9 RBI, 7 SB)

Santiago Sanchez

SP Chad Huckey (6.0 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.83 WHIP)
RP Luis Bruno (3.0 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.67 WHIP)

Chad Huckey
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