An American Reporter in Paris

[majormet]

It was a rough week in Paris as the Swingers have now dropped 10 straight games after getting manhandled by the Chicago Cubs. Cubs are a first place team now with a 3 game lead over the Mobile Swordfish in the NL Central. It is just a bad clubhouse atmosphere at this point. The Paris manager, Keith Wells is sitting next to me on the flight to Louisville and was just at his wit's end. Kept saying that there was no magic lineup or bullpen configuration, frustrated by lack of talent. He made a comparison to hiring 10 Starbucks barista to work in an air traffic control room. It is a somber mood all over.

Game #43 - Chicago Cubs 6 Paris Swingers 0

WP - Orval Overall (5-1)
LP - Ernesto Cancio (3-3)
Save - John Purdin (1)

Star of Game - Orval Overall (6 IP, 2 hits, 0 ER 10 K's)

Homers
Chicago - Randy Torma (1)


Recap - Overall is a tough assignment, he threw a no hitter earlier in the year and was fooling Paris batters all game. Torma drove in 3 runs and 2 way player Charlie Buffinton had 3 hits and that was enough to silence Paris. Culley Rikard and BJ Vogt had the only 2 hits in the game for Paris. Dave Owen made a critical error in the game as most of the runs on the bullpen were unearned. Cancino only gave up 2 earned runs but could not get out of the 5th inning. Just a game where nothing was going right for Paris


Game #44 - Chicago Cubs 11 Paris Swingers 1

WP - Vic Willis (4-4)
LP - Bob Stoddard (2-5)

Star of Game - Patsy Gharrity (2 homers and 3 RBI's)

Homers
Chicago - Patsy Gharrity (1,2), Bris Lord (7), Tommy Corcoran (6)


Recap - Mostly a 5-1 game with Chicago getting 6 runs in the 9th so boxscore appears a lot worse. Ed Lennon gave up 5 earned runs in the 9th, he has been terrible with an ERA over 11, not sure why he is still here. Stoddard gave up 5 runs over 6 innings but still has a 4.64 ERA here which is like 1968 Bob Gibson comparatively. Ben Gamel had 3 hits and 2 RBI's. Lord, Corcoran and Gharrity had 2 hits each for the Cubs. Culley Rikard had 2 hits and an RBI and Gene Baker/Billy Murphy had 2 hits each in the loss. Willis struck out 10 batters in 7.1 Innings


Game #45 - Chicago Cubs 16 Paris Swingers 1

WP - Charlie Buffinton (5-1)
LP - Manny Heimback (1-5)
Save - Jason Hammel (2)

Star of Game - Elmer Flick (4-5, Homer, 5 RBI's)

Homers
Chicago - Ben Gamel (2), Elmer Flick (5), Bris Lord (8)
Paris - Lee Bales (1)


Recap - Cubs scored 10 runs in the middle innings and too many batters had to come in and pitch. Heimbach gave up 7 runs and then Bill Keegan gave up 3 runs, bullpen was taxed so Billy Murphy came in and ate up innings. Ken Starr had 2 hits and Bales hit the homer, but 2 runs in 3 games shows how bad Paris is. Elijah Henderson had 3 hits and Gamel drove in 3 runs while Buffinton fanned 8 batters over 5.2 innings. Hammel shut the door with a long relief save.



Standing - Paris is now 14-31 in 10th place in the NL Atlantic trailing first place Philadelphia Phillies by 20 games.


Transactions - Jae Seo is injured and now on 10 day injured list, replaced on roster by Arnold Leon who pitched 4 games earlier in the season and is actually 1-0. They officially released Gordon Rhodes who was a terrible starter this year.


Looking Ahead - Paris takes to the road to play the Louisville Bats. Louisville is 24-21 and in 4th place in the NL Central behind Chicago Cubs, Mobile Swordfish and world champion Cincinnati Reds. The way Paris is playing a 10 year old team from Bozeman could beat them.

[progen]

Originally Posted by majormet

It was a rough week in Paris as the Swingers have now dropped 10 straight games after getting manhandled by the Chicago Cubs. Cubs are a first place team now with a 3 game lead over the Mobile Swordfish in the NL Central. It is just a bad clubhouse atmosphere at this point. The Paris manager, Keith Wells is sitting next to me on the flight to Louisville and was just at his wit's end. Kept saying that there was no magic lineup or bullpen configuration, frustrated by lack of talent. He made a comparison to hiring 10 Starbucks barista to work in an air traffic control room. It is a somber mood all over.

Game #43 - Chicago Cubs 6 Paris Swingers 0

WP - Orval Overall (5-1)
LP - Ernesto Cancio (3-3)
Save - John Purdin (1)

Star of Game - Orval Overall (6 IP, 2 hits, 0 ER 10 K's)

Homers
Chicago - Randy Torma (1)


Recap - Overall is a tough assignment, he threw a no hitter earlier in the year and was fooling Paris batters all game. Torma drove in 3 runs and 2 way player Charlie Buffinton had 3 hits and that was enough to silence Paris. Culley Rikard and BJ Vogt had the only 2 hits in the game for Paris. Dave Owen made a critical error in the game as most of the runs on the bullpen were unearned. Cancino only gave up 2 earned runs but could not get out of the 5th inning. Just a game where nothing was going right for Paris


Game #44 - Chicago Cubs 11 Paris Swingers 1

WP - Vic Willis (4-4)
LP - Bob Stoddard (2-5)

Star of Game - Patsy Gharrity (2 homers and 3 RBI's)

Homers
Chicago - Patsy Gharrity (1,2), Bris Lord (7), Tommy Corcoran (6)


Recap - Mostly a 5-1 game with Chicago getting 6 runs in the 9th so boxscore appears a lot worse. Ed Lennon gave up 5 earned runs in the 9th, he has been terrible with an ERA over 11, not sure why he is still here. Stoddard gave up 5 runs over 6 innings but still has a 4.64 ERA here which is like 1968 Bob Gibson comparatively. Ben Gamel had 3 hits and 2 RBI's. Lord, Corcoran and Gharrity had 2 hits each for the Cubs. Culley Rikard had 2 hits and an RBI and Gene Baker/Billy Murphy had 2 hits each in the loss. Willis struck out 10 batters in 7.1 Innings


Game #45 - Chicago Cubs 16 Paris Swingers 1

WP - Charlie Buffinton (5-1)
LP - Manny Heimback (1-5)
Save - Jason Hammel (2)

Star of Game - Elmer Flick (4-5, Homer, 5 RBI's)

Homers
Chicago - Ben Gamel (2), Elmer Flick (5), Bris Lord (8)
Paris - Lee Bales (1)


Recap - Cubs scored 10 runs in the middle innings and too many batters had to come in and pitch. Heimbach gave up 7 runs and then Bill Keegan gave up 3 runs, bullpen was taxed so Billy Murphy came in and ate up innings. Ken Starr had 2 hits and Bales hit the homer, but 2 runs in 3 games shows how bad Paris is. Elijah Henderson had 3 hits and Gamel drove in 3 runs while Buffinton fanned 8 batters over 5.2 innings. Hammel shut the door with a long relief save.



Standing - Paris is now 14-31 in 10th place in the NL Atlantic trailing first place Philadelphia Phillies by 20 games.


Transactions - Jae Seo is injured and now on 10 day injured list, replaced on roster by Arnold Leon who pitched 4 games earlier in the season and is actually 1-0. They officially released Gordon Rhodes who was a terrible starter this year.


Looking Ahead - Paris takes to the road to play the Louisville Bats. Louisville is 24-21 and in 4th place in the NL Central behind Chicago Cubs, Mobile Swordfish and world champion Cincinnati Reds. The way Paris is playing a 10 year old team from Bozeman could beat them.

Ten games in a row is tough. When I play OOTP at the MLB level, I always take on an expansion team, usually the Expos, so trust me, I know what losing is about, especially in the first year, where my goal is to not lose 100 games. I love the challenge, and it takes so much patience, and where your constantly looking at the waiver wire, just trying anything to help the club. Good luck and I'll keep following.

[majormet]

Originally Posted by progen

Ten games in a row is tough. When I play OOTP at the MLB level, I always take on an expansion team, usually the Expos, so trust me, I know what losing is about, especially in the first year, where my goal is to not lose 100 games. I love the challenge, and it takes so much patience, and where your constantly looking at the waiver wire, just trying anything to help the club. Good luck and I'll keep following.

Thanks for reading, I actually manage the Utah Saints in the league which is on my other thread, won the World Series in 2023, started in 2019 but in 2025 have hit a patch of trouble...

For Paris, it is completely simulated so I can't go and make lopsided trades, just interesting to see if they can come out of their duldrums. Their best player is hurt in Harlond Clift and they have to deal with pitchers being worn out in blowouts for sure.

With all these teams it is hard to improve much in a draft as well.

Phillies are 34-12 in this simulation and still are managed by Gabe Kapler.

[majormet]

It just gets worse and worse, as Louisville completed a sweep of the Paris Swingers and now the Ottawa Argonauts come to town and normally not such a scary thought, but Ottawa has won 11 straight games, while Paris has lost 13 straight. The team has given up it is clear some moves were made by management but it is like shuffling in frisbees for paper plates.


Game #46 - Louisville Bats 18 Paris Swingers 0

WP - Rich Nye (3-1)
LP - Paul Thormodsgard (0-2)

Star of Game - Ben Paulsen (2 hits, homer, 6 RBI's)

Homers
Louisville - Alfredo Amezaga (3), Ron Karkovice (4), Ben Paulsen (8), Garry Hancock (3,4)


Recap - 18-0, can't say much here, when you see the guys that were going yard in this game. You don't win if you allow homers to Karkovice for sure. Thormodsgard got lit up for 6 runs in 3 innings. Bob Keegan, Leo Rosales, and infielder Lee Bales also gave up 3 runs each. Nye and John Milligan limited Paris to 6 hits and no runs. Gene Baker did collect 2 hits in the game for Paris. Louisville plated 7 runs in the 6th inning.



Game #47 - Louisville Bats 7 Paris Swingers 4

WP - Tom Morgan (4-3)
LP - Claude Willoughby (0-1)
Save - Mike Adams (10)

Star of Game - Ben Paulsen (2-3 2 RBI's)

Homers
Paris - Gail Hopkins (8), Ken Starr (5)
Louisville - Bill White (7)

Recap - Paris actually was leading 4-3 going into the bottom of the 5th and that is when Willoughby came in and stunk it up. With all the pitchers being exhausted Willoughby was brought up to pitch and Lee Bales was sent down for the day. Joel Collins started and as usual was dead after 4 innings, this guy getting a quality start is like a no hitter to others. Paris got to Morgan but the door was slammed by 3 relieves in Ricky Bottalico, Chad Qualls and then closer Adams. Paris got 9 hits, 2 each by Hopkins and Bobby Kielty but it was not enough as Paris keeps losing.



Game #48 - Louisville Bats 12 Paris Swingers 5

WP - Johnny Vandermeer (4-5)
LP - Ernesto Cancino (3-4)

Star of Game - Ryan Bruan (3-4, 2 HR 4 RBI's)

Homers
Paris - Dave Owen (5)
Louisville - Clint Barmes (7), Ryan Braun (9,10), Frank Parkinson (4)

Recap - Cancino stunk and gave up 7 runs in the third inning and there was no chance from there. Braun is having a great rookie season and was heart of the Louisville offense. Parkinson had 4 hits and Barmes had 3 RBi's as well. Bob Keegan did a pitch a scoreless inning but the pen got ravaged again. Owen drove in 3 runs and Bobby Kielty, Barry Evans, Tomas Tellis and Billy Murphy each had 2 hits. Vandermeer who has not been as awesome this year was tough, and Paris got most of their runs off Matt Clement in relief.


Standing - Paris Swingers are 14-34 and in 11th place in the NL Atlantic trailing the first place Philadelphia Phillies by 22 games, they still lead the lowly Scranton Owls by 5 games.


Transactions - Culley Rikard is injured and was placed on the 10 day injured list. Bill White was recalled to take Rikard's place on the roster. Walt Huntzinger was signed as a free agent and was added to the big club as he was released by Pittsburgh Pirates. Arnold Leon was designated for reassignment with addition of Huntzinger. Leon ended up in AAA and they released Ricardo Rodriguez who was claimed by the Bakersfield Red Aces.

Looking Ahead - Ottawa Argonauts and their 11 game win streak come to town. Ottawa is 28-20 and in 6th place in the NL East behind the Riverhead Racers. Then I am excited as Paris goes to Jones Beach to play the Jets. This is close to home, so staying with my family nearby. Jones Beach surprisingly has a winning record. Paris has to stop the bleeding at some point.

[majormet]

Worse became code red as the Paris Swingers were swept at home by the Ottawa Argonauts. Attendance is dwindling fast as this team can't hit or pitch. Paris extended their losing streak to 16 games while Ottawa expanded their winning streak to 14 games. Billy Bryan as team veteran held a closed door meaning for 40 minutes but he really lacks credibility therefore it really was just a monologue for the most part. There is not much you can do without any assets or prospects.


Game #49 - Ottawa Argonauts 9 Paris Swingers 4

WP - Chris Bootcheck (1-0)
LP - Ed Lennon (1-3)

Star of Game - Snuffy Stirnweiss (3-4, 2 RBI's)

Homers
Ottawa - Stephen Souza (7), Bobby Estellela (6), Johnny Burnett (3)


Recap - It was a 3-3 game after 5 innings but Ottawa exploded for 5 runs in the 6th inning off of Ed Lennon and Leo Rosales. Bob Stoddard had started and pitched 5 innings and gave up just 3 runs. Paris knocked Bullet Joe Bush out in the 5th inning but Ottawa's pen won the game as Bootcheck, Macay McBride, Pete Vuckovich and Moonman Greg Minton held Paris off the board. Stirnweiss, Souza and Estallela drove in 2 runs each. Gene Baker did have 2 RBI's for Paris but it was another loss


Game #50 - Ottawa Argonauts 4 Paris Swingers 3

WP - Carl Mays (3-3)
LP - Manny Heimbach (1-6)
Save - Dwayne Henry (9)

Star of Game - Carl Mays (6 IP, 2 ER, 3 hits, 0 K's)

Homers
Ottawa - Rick Leach (7)
Paris - Gail Hopkins (9)

Recap - Ottawa had a 4-1 lead and Paris showed some life and made it close at 4-3 Heimbach gave up all the runs in the first 5 innings and the pen collectively of Claude Willoughby, Denys Baez, Fautio de los Santos, Walt Huntzinger and Bob Keegan held Ottawa scoreless for 4 innings. Dusty Baker and Emil Brown had 2 hits each for Ottawa and ex Michigan quarterback Rick Leach drove in 2 run. Hopkins and Barry Evans had 2 hits each for Paris but their rally fell short as Henry saved the game


Game #51 - Ottawa Argonauts 15 Paris Swingers 1

WP - Dan Reichert (3-1)
LP - Ed Lennon (1-4)

Star of Game - Steven Souza (4-5, HR 3 RBI's)

Homers
Ottawa - Rick Leach (8), Steven Souza (8)
Paris - Billy Bryan (4)

Recap - Surprisingly a 1-1 game after 5 innings, but Ottawa got 2 in the 6th, 5 in the 7th and 7 in the 9th and this ended up a blowout. Paul Thormodsgard started and pitched 5 innings and allowed just 1 run and 2 hits while fanning 6 batters. Claude Willoughby gave up 5 runs and Fautino de los Santos gave up 4 and Billy Murphy had to get the last out. Leach, Souza and Dusty Baker had 3 RBI's each. Snuffy Stirnweiss scored 3 runs. Bryan's homer was one of 4 hits for Paris.


Standing - Paris is 14-37 in 11th place out of 12 in the NL Atlantic, 24 games behind the first place Philadelphia Phillies. They are one game back of the Charleston Cheetahs who are in 10th place.


Transactions - Harlond Clift was reactivated finally today but he is doing a rehab stint in AAA Amarillo. Claude Willoughby was once again recalled with Lee Bales going down to get an extra arm in the pen.


Looking Ahead - We head to Long Island to play the Jones Beach Jets who are 27-24 which is still 9th place in the NL East 8 games behind first place Riverhead Racers, the Newark Thieves come to town.

[majormet]

The season hits the one third mark and I am in my parent's housing typing up this report as the Paris Swingers took 2 out of 3 games from the Jets. Commuting to the games was challenging as there are only 2 narrow parkways to Jones Beach and one road into the ballpark. You would think with so many baseball teams in the area that the fan bases would be thin, but sports gambling took over the sports world so the ticket prices are less than a movie price. I went partying with some friends but now heading to Paris to night as the Swingers play the Newark Thieves in Paris, so glad that we don't go to Newark.


Game #52 - Paris Swingers 6 Jones Beach Jets 3

WP - Joel Collins (1-4)
LP - Pete Falcone (4-4)

Star of Game - Joel Collins (6.2 IP, 5 hits, 0 ER 7K's)

Homers - None

Recap - the 16 game losing streak comes to an end as Joel Collins pitches the game of his life, I did not think he had it in him. Claude Willoughby gave up 2 of the 3 runs, he is not very good. Barry Evans was the top hitter with 3 hits and an RBI. It was a 3-0 lead after 7 innings before Willoughby made it 3-2 then Paris scored 3 runs in the 9th to extend the lead. Bobby Kielty and Bobby Floyd had 2 hits each in the game. Falcone was tough for Jones Beach only gave up one run in 5 innings and their pen let them down. Jones Beach did get 8 hits, 2 each by Curtis Goodwin and Dude Esterbrook.


Game #53 - Jones Beach Jets 13 Paris Swingers 2

WP - Matt Whisenant (3-1)
LP - Ernesto Cancino (3-5)

Star of Game - Bill Krieg (1-3, HR 3 RBI's)

Homers
Jones Beach - Aaron Hill (4), Bill Krieg (4), Bob Coluccio (6), Dude Esterbrook (16), Jim Donahue (1)


Recap - You can't give up 5 homers in a game and expect to win. Cancino wasn't terrible gave up 3 runs in 5 innings. Claude Willoughby gave up 4 runs and Denys Baez gave up 3 runs. Baez is disappointing a lot of people with his 8.60 ERA. Jones Beach used 7 pitchers in a spread out bullpen game to get the win. Coluccio drove in 5 runs and while D'Andre Brown and Hill had 2 hits each. Jones Beach offense came from Gail Hopkins and Bobby Floyd each having 2 hits games.


Game #54 - Paris Swingers 11 Jones Beach Jets 5

WP - Bob Keegan (3-0)
LP - Bill Reeder (0-3)

Star of the Game - Ken Starr (3-5, HR 5 RBI's)

Homers
Paris - Gene Baker (6), Ken Starr (6)
Jones Beach - Dude Esterbrook (17),

Recap - Paris wins a series and they are led by the prosecutor Ken Starr. Starr pretty much stormed out of the locker room the night before saying that if no one wants to play that won't stop me from putting up numbers, so that is what he did today. Esterbrook homered but commited 3 errors for Jones Beach in this game at first base which is hard to do. Keegan is the bright spot in the pen with an ERA of 3.08 along with Scott Brown at 2.76,. Bob Stoddard pitched a solid 6 innings and gave up 1 run but left with Jones Beach leading 2-1. Paris inexplicably had an 8 run inning in the 8th inning due to Esterbrook's bad fielding. Besides Starr, Tomas Telis had 2 hits and Baker drove in 2 runs


Standing - Paris is 16-38 in 10th place in the NL Atlantic pulling one game ahead of the Charleston Cheetahs, they trail the West Palm Beach Dinos by 5 games for 9th place


Transactions - Harlond Clift finished his rehab assignment he flies to Paris from Amarillo and Claude Willoughby and his 14.40 ERA drive from Jones Beach to Amarillo.


Looking Ahead - The Newark Thieves come to town, they are 28-26 and are tied for 9th with the Jones Beach Jets who we just played in the NL East, then we fly to Sarasota to play the Sarasota Typhoon.

[majormet]

Writing this bad update from the plane ride to Tampa which gets us to Sarasota to play the Sarasota Typhoon. This week was another sweep at home this time at the hands of the Newark Thieves. It was equally tough that they lost Leo Rosales for the year, not that he was any good but he was an innings eater. It has been a long time since Paris has won a home game


Game #55 - Newark Thieves 7 Paris Swingers 0

WP - Jarrod Washburn (4-2)
LP - Manny Heimbach (1-7)

Star of Game - Jarrod Washburn - 8 IP, 4 hits, 0 ER, 4 K's

Homers
Newark - Miguel Ojeda (8)


Recap - Washburn dominated and he has been having a very good year and Marcus Stroman came in to pitch the 9th inning. Ojeda drove in 3 runs and Newark got hits each from Smokey Robinson (yes the Motown singer), Paul Dejong, and Myles Straw. Heimbach gave up 3 runs in in 4 innings, and probably lowered his 7.15 ERA. Ed Lennon continues to struggle with 3 runs allowed too. Harlond Clift returned and collected 2 hits and Gene Baker had 2 hits as well but not much connecting in this game for Paris


Game #56 - Newark Thieves 3 Paris Swingers 2 (10 Innings)

WP - Dummy Deegan (2-3)
LP - Scott Brown (2-2)
Save - Dick Bokelmann (8)

Star of Game - Yu Darvish (6 IP, 5 hits, 2 ER, 5 K's)

Homers
Newark - Joe Riggert (9)
Paris - Gene Baker (7)

Recap - this was in the top of the 10th inning as Paul Dejong delivered the game winning hit off of Scott Brown. Paul Thormodsgard was good for 4 innings but 81 pitches and he was gone. Walt Huntzinger and Denys Baez had scoreless stretches in relief but the two dependable bullpen arms squanded the 2-1 lead in Brown and Bobl Keegan. The Riggert homer off of Keegan tied the game. Bobby Kielty and Gail Hopkins had 2 hits each for Paris, but the could not hold the lead.


Game #57 - Newark Thieves 5 Paris Swingers 3

WP - Ed Dugan (6-1)
LP - Joel Collins (1-5)
Save - Dick Bokelmann (9)

Star of Game - Ken Starr (3-4, HR 3 RBI's)

Homers
Newark Thieves - Joe Riggert (10)
Paris Swingers - Ken Starr (7)

Recap - Newark had the lead from the start and slowly gave back a 5-1 lead and won 5-3. Bobby Floyd made a big error which caused 2 unearned runs so Collins numbers were good again. Fautino de los Santos gave up the other 2 runs which were the difference. Dugan pitched into the 8th inning and has great stuff. Smokey Robinson and Miguel Ojeda had 2 hits each for Newark. Starr was the offense for Paris. but is still a .180 hitter. At least there were no serious blowouts in this series.


Standing - Paris is 16-41 in the 10th place in the NL Atlantic trailing first place Philadelphia Phillies by 25 games, they lead the Charleston Cheetahs by one game and trail the West Palm Beach Dinos by 5 games.


Transactions - Leo Rosales is done for the year. He tore his labrum against the Newark Thieves and now Arnold Leon is back up to replace him. Leon is still recovering from appearing in 126 games in 2023 for the American League Delaware Big Train. Lee Bales was recalled and Bill White was designated for reassignment.

Looking Ahead - the Paris Swingers travel to Sarasota to play the Typhoon. Sarasota is a divisional foe who are in 5th place at 29-27 then the London Cyclones come to town in a regional rivalry game that will fill up the stadium.

[majormet]

The Paris Swingers won one out of 3 games in Western Florida and still continue to show the signs of an under talented expansion team. I am relaxing on the beach while writing some puff pieces on the upcoming series at home against the London Cyclones. The whole European rivalry thing.

Game #58 - Sarasota Typhoon 9 Paris Swingers 7

WP - Jeff Montgomery (4-2)
LP - Ed Lennon (1-5)
Save - Sean Green (14)

Star of Game - Josmil Pinto (pinch hit grand slam, 5 RBI's)

Homers
Sarasota - Jim Howarth (2), Josmil Pinto (11)


Recap - Paris was leading 2-1 heading to bottom of the 7th inning and Sarasota erupted for 8 runs. Paris got 2 in the 8th and 3 in the 9th to rally and come up short. Ernesto Cancino started looked good but fatigued in the 5th inning. Sarasota then crushed the bullpen especially Lennon and Denys Baez. Baez' 8.91 ERA is a major concern for Paris management. Cozy Dolan pitched a solid 5 innings for Sarasota but did not factor in the decision. Chito Martinez had 2 hits and 2 RBi's for the winning team. Paris offense came from Tomas Telis and Dave Owen who had 2 RBI's each


Game #59 - Paris Swingers 8 Sarasota Typhoon 6

WP - Bob Stoddard (3-5)
LP - Jake Boultes (0-4)
Save - Scott Brown (4

Star of Game - Gail Hopkins (3-5, HR 2 RBI's)

Homers
Paris - Harlond Clift (5), Gail Hopkins (10)
Sarasota - Kelvin Moore (14)

Recap - Paris was up 8-0 heading to bottom of the 8th and gave up 6 runs in the 8th and 9th and held on for dear life. Hopkins has 10 homers and 35 RBI's now and has been a pleasant surprise. Stoddard pitched into the 8th inning in this one. Newly added Doug Corbett gave up 3 runs in the 8th and Walt Huntzinger could not get anyone out. Paris got to Boultes and also battered Blane Boyer for 4 runs. Hopkins and Lee Bales had 3 hits each and Clift drove in 3 runs for the winning Paris team. Moore had 3 hits for Sarasota


Game #60 - Sarasota Typhoon 2 Paris Swingers 1

WP - Sean Green (2-2)
LP - Manny Heimbach (1-8)

Star of Game - Manny Salvo (7 IP, 1 ER 3 hits, 5 K's)

Homers
Sarasota - Hal Morris (7), Joe Pepitone (9)

Recap - Heimbach had the game of his life 7 shutout innings and was kep in the game and gave up a homer to Morris in the 8th and then the walk off homer to Pepitone. Salvo was tough for Sarasota but was pulled after 7 innings. Dave Owen drove in the lone run for Sarasota in this old fashioned pitching duel. Gene Baker and BJ Vogt had only other hits for Paris.


Standing - Swingers are 17-43 still in 10th place in the NL Atlantic trailing the 9th place West Palm Beach Dinos by 7 games. They are still one game ahead of the 11th place Charleston Cheetahs.

Looking Ahead - The lowly London Cyclones come to town with a 15-45 record and are in dead last in the NL East. Next series puts us on the long plane ride to the Bay Area to play the San Francisco Giants.


Transactions - Culley Rikard comes back from injury which sends Lee Bales back to Amarillo. Arnold Leon was sent down as Paris promoted Doug Corbett to the big club. Corbett was very effective last season for the Duluth Champions but had been beaten around previous season for the San Bernardino Butchers.

[majormet]

So you would think this was a sweep at home against an awful team and yet London won two out of three games, it has been a long time since they won a series. Fans came out in droves as baseball keeps expanding to Europe so there are going to be some rivalries. It just seems Paris peaked in the first month and the roster overhaul has just backfired immensely


Game #61 - Paris Swingers 9 London Cyclones 1

WP - Paul Thormodsgard (1-2)
LP - Cal Hogue (0-9)

Star of Game - Culley Rikard (2-4, 2 homers, 3 RBI's)

Homers
London - Larry Gilbert (15)
Paris - Dave Owen (6,7), Culley Rikard (4-5)


Recap - Rivalry kicked off after Dave Owen did a bat flip and celebrated his homer, London starter Cal Hogue took exception and threw at the head of the obnoxious Ken Starr. Starr charged the mound and the benches emptied. Starr and Hogue got suspended for 3 games each by the league after that melee. As for the Game, was shocked that Thormodsgard got to the 8th inning and then Bob Keegan finished the game the Gilbert homer and lone run was actually off of Keegan. Paris got hits each from Rikard, Owen and Gene Baker. BJ Vogt drove in 2 runs and it was a rare win. Jose Ortiz had 2 of the 5 London hits.


Game #62 - London Cyclones 11 Paris Swingers 1

WP - Roy Golden (2-8)
LP - Joel Collins (1-6)

Star of Game - Bob Lemon (3-5, HR 3 RBI's)

Homers
London - Bob Lemon (8,9), Billy Conigliaro (15)

Recap - Hard to make Roy Golden look good but Paris did, he was awful in for past 2 years with Savannah Thunder. Golden fanned 8 batters over 6 inning and Paris could not figure him out. Lemon drove in 5 runs and had 3 hits, Conigliaro had 3 hits, both guys are sub .210 hitters. Hank Thompson and Paul Zuvella drove in 2 runs as well. Harlond Clift got one of the 3 Paris hits and drove in the only run. Doug Corbett has been awful gave up 4 runs in relief and has a 37.80 ERA. Collins had the awesome start in his last game but was gone after 2 innings today



Game #63 - London Cyclones 7 Paris Swingers 3

WP - Johnny Humphries (1-1)
LP - Walt Huntzinger (0-1)

Star of Game - Jose Ortiz (3-4)

Homers
London - Bob Lemon (10), Marv Foley (3), Robin Jennings (1)
Paris - Billy Bryan (5)


Recap - London takes the series and Paris keeps melting. Neil Allen has been used as a starter by London and he just missed the 5 inning mark. Ernesto Cancino fanned 7 for Paris over 4 plus innings, but it was a Billy Bryan error that allowed 4 unearned runs to come in off of Huntzinger. Ortiz and Larry Gilbert had 3 hits each for London, while Lemon drove in 2 runs and had 7 RBI's over 2 games. Paris only had 4 hits, but Bryan, BJ Vogt and Dave Owen each drove in a run.


Standing - Paris is 18-45 now, yet only in 10th out of 12 in the NL Atlantic as they lead the Charleston Cheetahs by 1 game and the Scranton Owls by 3, they look up and are 7 games out of 9th behind the West Palm Beach Dinos

Transactions - Culley Rikard was activated which sent Lee Bales back to Amarillo

Looking Ahead - a big plane ride to play the San Francisco Giants who are 41-22 and are in 4th place in the NL Pacific, which will be a tough series, then a return home to play the very weak Peoria Oil Men.

[majormet]

Well horrible just becomes more horrible as the Paris Swingers got swept again by the San Francisco Giants this time out west. I enjoyed my time out there, but quite honestly there is too much leniency on the homeless, they can basically walk the streets naked and boy is it hard to get a cab there. Nonetheless, Paris is doing terribly and there is not much reason to go to games as this is a mess and the All Star Break hasn't even happened yet. There are no exciting players, it will take time here


Game #64 - San Francisco Giants 2 Paris Swingers 1

WP - Bobby Parnell (1-0)
LP - Walt Huntzinger (0-2)
Save - Bill Wise (4)

Star of Game - Paulie Walnuts (6 IP, 3 hits, 1 ER 5 K's)

Homers
Paris - Harlond Clift (5)

Recap - Game was tied 1-1 in the seventh but a wild pitch by Denys Baez allowed Mark Teahen to score and Giants won the game 2-1. Earlier in the same inning, Gene Baker committed his 8th error of the year which made it the second game that Huntzinger has lost in relief without giving up an earned run. Bob Stoddard and the crime figure Walnuts battled for 6 innings in a 1-1 game. Paris only had 3 hits in the game. San Francisco got 2 hits each from Eddie Murray and Deacon White, but only had 6 hits as well.



Game #65 - San Francisco Giants 6 Paris Swingers 5

WP - Carl Hubbell (5-1)
LP - Denys Baez (2-1)
Save - Terry Forster (10)

Star of Game - Culley Rikard (3-5, HR 2 RBI's)

Homers
Paris - Billy Bryan (6), Culley Rikard (6)
San Francisco - Eddie Murray (16)

Recap - Game was tied 5-5 going into the bottom of the 8th but the legendary Murray led off with a solo blast of Baez and that was the game as the rotund Forster saved the day. Rikard gets the star of the game in the losing effort. Paris rallied back being down 5-1 to tie the game off the Giants pen after Gus Weyhing was strong in 5 innings. Manny Heimbach was knocked out early, but Bob Keegan and even Ed Lennon were strong in relief. Besides Rikard, Gail Hopkins had 2 hits for Paris. Pete Ward added 2 hits and 2 RBI's for the victorious Giants


Game #66 - San Francisco Giants 10 Paris Swingers 0

WP - Boardwalk Brown (9-2)
LP - Paul Thormodsgard (1-3)

Star of Game - George Wood (3-4, 2 HR 3 RBI's)

Homers
San Francisco - Pete Ward (14), Tommy Davis (7), George Wood (5,6)

Recap - one sided game as Brown was in top form fanning 6 in 7 1/3 innings and Thormodsgard was horrific. Jae Seo and Fautino de los Santos gave up 2 runs each after Thormodsgard gave up 6. Shane Mack added 2 hits for the Giants. Paris could only must up 3 hits in the game and the sweep was complete.


Standing - Paris is 18-48 and tied for 10th in the NL Atlantic With the Charleston Cheetahs and are still 3 games ahead of the last place Scranton Owls.


Transactions - Jae Seo was activated from the IL and they designated Doug Corbett for reassignment

Looking Ahead - The lowly Peoria Oil Barons come to town. They are 12-54 and in last place in the NL Midwest, if there ever was an opportunity to win a series it would be now. After that the trip to Philadelphia looms.

[majormet]

Another series and another loss, Paris Swingers won one of 3 games from the horrible Peoria Oil Barons at home and this season moves like molasses to the all star break. There was confidence that Paris could sweep this series as Peoria was just another bad first year team, but the script did not go as planned.


Game #67- Peoria Oil Barons 6 Paris Swingers 5

WP - Jonathan Torres (1-8)
LP - Joel Collins (1-7)
Save - Scott Maine (1)

Star of Game - Jonathan Torres (7 IP, 1 ER, 3 hits, 5 K's)

Homers
Peoria - Tom Gettinger (5), Mario Carreon (1)
Paris - Billy Bryan (7), Bobby Kielty (3)

Recap - Game was much closer than it looked, Peoria had the 6-1 lead heading into the bottom of the 9th when Paris erupted for 4 runs off of reliever Tommy Toms and became a closer game. Collins fanned 7 over 6 innings and gave up 4 runs which wasn't bad. Gettinger had 3 hits and 3 RBI's and Carreon had 2 hits and 2 RBI's for the winning Peoria team. Bryan had a 3 run homer in the 9th for Paris but they fell short as Maine came in and closed the door.



Game #68 - Paris Swingers 8 Peoria Oil Barons 4 (12 innings)

WP - Walt Huntzinger (1-2)
LP - Scott Maine (2-2)

Star of Game - Culley Rikard (3-6, walk off grand slam)

Homers
Peoria - Tom Gettinger (6)
Paris - Harlond Clift (7), Bobby Kielty (4), Culley Rikard (7)

Recap - wild games that was 2-2 heading into the 12 inning. Peoria scores 2 runs at the top of the innings and leads 4-2 but then surrenders 6 runs in the bottom of the inning with Rikard's walk off grand slam off of Maine. Maine was called upon for the save and ended up giving up all 6 earned runs in the 12th. Ernesto Cancino could not make it out of the 5th inning but the whole Paris pen held Peoria in check until the 12th when Bob Keegan gave up 2 runs. Rikard had 3 hits and Kielty, BJ Vogt, plus Ken Starr had 2 hits each. Jason Phillips had 4 of Peoria's 15 hits


Game #69 - Peoria Oil Barons 16 Paris Swingers 7

WP - Mike Mimbs (4-4)
LP - Bob Stoddard (3-6)

Star of Game - Dan Uggla (2-3 HR 6 RBI's)

Homers
Peoria - Dan Uggla (5), Pinky Hargrave (2)
Paris - Billy Bryan (8), Harlond Clift (8), Dave Owen (8)

Recap - Paris actually had a 3-0 lead after 4 innings, but then Stoddard lost it and gave up 4 runs in the 5th. Peoria got 6 runs in the 7th off of Denys Baez and Ed Lennon and the game was a walk in the park. Mimbs was erratic but survived 5 innings to get the win. Hargrave's homer was a grand slam. Tom Gettinger had a great series and ended with 3 hits in this game. Billy Bryan had 4 and Bobby Kielty added another 3 but Paris came up short.


Standing - Paris is 19-50 in 11th place in the NL Atlantic trailing the Charleston Cheetahs by a game and are 3 games ahead of the last place Scranton Owls.

Transactions - None

Looking Ahead - Paris has the division leading Philadelphia Phillies at 51-18 on the road in Philly which will be hard to win a game, then the Cozumel Scouts come to town.

[majormet]

The trip to Philadelphia was as expected an easy sweep for the division leading Phillies. Paris continues to just struggle with having a minor league roster in a major league. I enjoyed the time in Philadelphia a city I had not been to since a class trip in the 5th grade. Now we head back to Paris to play the Cozumel Scouts


Game #70 - Philadelphia Phillies 5 Paris Swingers 1

WP - Ray Culp (10-1)
LP - Manny Heimbach (1-9)

Star of Game - Ray Culp (6 IP, 3 hits, 0 ER 7 K's)

Homers
Philadelphia - Danny Tartabull (18)

Recap - Philly scored 3 in the bottom of the 5th on Tartabull's 3 run homer. to take a 4-1 lead and that was the game. A Don Mattingly error help Paris score their only run. Culp was unhittable as he has been all season. Eric Soderholm contributed 2 hits in the game for Philadelphia. Heimbach gave up all 5 runs in 5 1/3 innings, solid scoreless relief from Denys Baez, Bob Keegan and Fautino de los Santos. Paris was only able to get 5 hits in the game and no runs batted in, Tomas Telis scored the only run


Game #71 - Philadelphia Phillies 14 Paris Swingers 3

WP - Johnny Beazley (8-2)
LP - Paul Thormodsgard (1-4)

Star of Game - Deacon McGuire (4-5, 2 RBI's)

Homers
Paris - Harlond Clift (9), Ken Starr (8)
Philadelphia - Brian Daubach (6), Danny Tartabull (19), Eric Soderholm (18)

Recap - Paris scored 2 runs in the top of the 7th Inning to make it a 3-2 game but Philly scored 5 in the 7th and 6 in the 8th and the game looked much worse on paper. Beazley was tough for 5 1/3 innings not giving up a run. Paris got to Jack Hamilton as he gave up the homers to Clift and Starr. Thormodsgard gave up 3 runs over 5 innings but Phillies struck hard for 4 runs each off of Ed Lennon and Walt Huntzinger. Daubach and Soderholm drove in 3 runs each and superstar McGuire was a tough out. Clift and Bobby Kielty had 2 hits each for losing Paris.


Game #72 - Philadelphia Phillies 13 Paris Swingers 2

WP - John Shaffer (4-2)
LP - Joel Collins (1-8)

Star of Game - Johnny Grubb - (4-5, Homer)

Homers
Philadelphia - Johnny Grubb (14), Charlie Gehringer (9), Miguel Alsina (17), David Dejesus (3), Don Mattingly (19), Ted Lepcio (2)

Recap - You give up 6 homers you lose. Paris scored their 2 runs in the first inning but that was it. Shaffer pitched a solid 6 innings after giving up the 2 runs. Collins gave up 5 runs and was knocked out in the 4th inning. Denys Baez is getting overused, he gave up 3 homers and allowed 5 runs in a third of an inning. Grubb had 4 hits. Gehringer and Mattingly drove in 3 runs apiece for Philadelphia. Harlond Clift had 2 of the 5 hits for Paris in the game.


Standing - Paris is 19-53 and in 11th place in the NL Atlantic trailing the 10th place Charleston Cheetahs by a game and are still 3 games ahead of the last place Scranton Owls.

Transactions - None

Looking Ahead - The Cozumel Scouts come to town with a dismal 21-51 record in the NL West which has them in 11th place like Paris. Then the plane heads to Winnipeg to play the Wolf Pack.

[majormet]

The Paris Swingers get to the all star break and actually win a series at home against the lowly team from Cozumel. The team and I were very happy to have a few days to stay in Paris before we connect a few flights to get to Winnpeg after the all star break.

Game #73 - Paris Swingers 7 Cozumel Scouts 6

WP - Scott Brown (3-2)
LP - Joe Klink (1-4)

Star of Game - Greg Vaughn (4-5, 3 RBI's)

Homers
Paris - Gail Hopkins (12), Gene Baker (8)

Recap - Paris blows a 6-3 lead as closer Brown wins the game but gives up 3 runs in relief. Game was won in final at bat off of Klink on a Culley Rikard walk off hit that plated home Bobby Kielty. Ernesto Cancino started but as always just lasted 4 innings, he gave up 2 runs. The bullpen flirted with disaster but managed to hold on. Paris got to Cozumel starter Tim Redding early as Redding gave up 4 runs and was pulled in the 4th inning. Rikard had 2 hits and 2 RBI's, while Baker and Harlond Clift drove in 2 runs. Vaughn was on the losing team but was star of the game. Cozumel also got 3 hits from Roy McMillan.



Game #74 - Paris Swingers 6 Cozumel Scouts 3

WP - Bob Stoddard (4-6)
LP - Matt Wagner (1-6)
Save - Scott Brown (5)

Star of Game - Gene Baker (3-4, HR RBI)

Homers
Cozumel - Tyler Austin (16,17), Von Joshua (9)
Paris - Gene Baker (9)

Recap - Paris had the lead from start to finish. Stoddard pitched 6 innings and gave up 2 solo homers and Walt Huntzinger gave up the 2nd homer to Austin as the longball accounted for all the runs for Cozumel. Paris got to Wagner early and knocked him out in the 4th inning. Ed Lennon and Jae Seo pitched scoreless innings and the closer Brown recovered from the night before and pitched a 1-2-3 9th. Baker had 3 hits and Barry Evans drove in 2 runs to carry the offense.


Game #75 - Cozumel Scouts 11 Paris Swingers 8

WP - Fred Olmstead (3-2)
LP - Faution de los Santos (0-3)
Save - Jimmie Sherfy (12)

Star of Game - Greg Vaughn (2-5, 2 HR 3 RBI's)

Homers
Cozumel - Greg Vaughn (10,11), Tyler Austin (18)
Paris - Gene Baker (10), Bobby Kielty (5)

Recap - What a heartbreaking loss. Cozumel grabbed an 8-0 lead as they battered Manny Heimbach and Ed Lennon. Roy McMillan made a huge error which opened up the gates to tie the game and leave Ed Bauta with 3 unearned runs in relief after Steven Fife gave up 5 runs. With the score tied 8-8 in the 7th, Greg Vaughn homered to lead off against de los Santos and that is where the game was decided. Vaughn, Austin and Von Joshua drove in 3 runs each and Joshua had 4 hits. Kielty and Baker had 3 RBI games for Paris.



Standing - Paris is 21-54 tied for 10th place with the Charleston Cheetahs in the NL Atlantic trailing the West Palm Beach Dinos by 13 games for 9th place and leading last place Scranton Owls by 5 games


Looking Ahead - long plane ride to Winnipeg to play the Winnipeg Wolf Pack who are 40-35 and in 5th place in the NL Midwest in a surprising 2nd season then Paris heads home to play the Montreal Anchors.


Transactions - None

[majormet]

Leaving Winnipeg and heading back to Paris, many connecting flights. It was a good series for the Paris Swingers as they won 2 out of 3 games against a team that has been playing decently. I am not going to say this team has turned the corner, that would be attributable to a team full of young players that have large ceilings but at least they are playing something that resembles baseball

Game #76 - Paris Swingers 3 Winnipeg Wolf Pack 2

WP - Ernesto Cancino (4-5)
LP - John Fulgham (5-6)
Save - Scott Brown (6)

Star of Game - Ernesto Cancino (7 IP, 6 hits, 1 ER, 4 k's)

Homers - None

Recap - Paris had a 3-0 lead and held on for the 3-2 win in this one. Gail Hopkins had 2 hits while Culley Rikard, Bobby Floyd and Harlond Clift drove in the runs. Cancino pitched 7 innings which was a big change for him but he can't throw more than 80 pitches in a game. Denys Baez got the hold and Brown almost gave away the game in the 9th. Fulgham who had pitched a no hitter in 2024 was tough for 5 innings and only gave up 1 run. Paris got 2 runs off of reliever Eric DuBose. Bobby Young had 2 hits and an RBI for Winnipeg but they came up short


Game #77 - Winnipeg Wolf Pack 5 Paris Swingers 0

WP - Al Cicotte (4-0)
LP - Bob Stoddard (4-7)

Star of Game - Ben Rivera (7 IP, 0 ER 2 hits, 9 K's)

Homers
Winnipeg - Dustin Ackley (10), Bobby Young (5), Jason Biggs (14)

Recap - This was a scoreless game until the bottom of the 8th and Winnipeg erupted for 5 runs off of Stoddard and mostly Ed Lennon. Jason Biggs, better know as Jim from American Pie hit the first of 3 homers in the inning which sent Stoddard to the showers. Stoddard pitched 7 innings and only gave up the homer and has a 3.80 ERA now. Rivera was very tough but had to give way to Cicotte who got the win. Paris only mustered up 3 hits in the game. Young's homer was a 3 run blast off of Lennon.



Game #78 - Paris Swingers 6 Winnipeg Wolf Pack 0

WP - Paul Thormodsgard (2-4)
LP - Angel Miranda (3-8)

Star of Game - Paul Thormodsgard (7 IP, 3 hits 0 ER 5 K's)

Homers
Paris - Gail Hopkins (13), Gene Baker (11)


Recap - the offense were the 2 three run homers by Hopkins and Barker as Thormodsgard was in complete command in this game and Bob Keegan pitched the final 2 innings. Hopkins homer was off of Miranda while Baker drilled his shot off of very ineffective reliever Ben Cardoni. Paris is getting better pitching these days and it leads to them winning two straight series.


Standing - Paris is 23-55 in 10th place in the NL Atlantic, one game ahead of the Charleston Cheetahs and they are 11 games behind the 9th place Savannah Thunder.


Transactions - None

Looking Ahead - The Montreal Anchors come to town this week and they are doing well, as they are in a 4 way tie for 2nd place in the NL East only one game behind the Riverhead Racers. After that we have that very dreaded trip to Moscow, so Russia here we come

[majormet]

The halfway mark has been met as the Paris Swingers get swept at home by the very improved Montreal Anchors who are in 2nd place by their lonesome in the NL east and only one game behind the Riverhead Racers. Any momentum from back to back series wins seems to have vanished. Now we have to go to Russia and there has been so much unrest in Moscow.

Game #79 - Montreal Anchors 4 Paris Swingers 3 (12 innings)

WP - Bobby Burke (4-1)
LP - Ed Lennon (1-6)

Star of Game - Jay Pritchett (5.2 IP, 2 ER 3 hits, 4 K's)

Homers - None

Recap - Casey McGehee delivered the go ahead RBI single plating home Chris Dickerson off of Lennon to give Montreal the win. Paris came back from 2-0 and got 3 runs in the bottom of the 6th off of Pritchett and Scott Ullrich. Montreal tied it in the 8th off of Denys Baez. Joel Collins did not help by getting ousted in the 4th inning after 51 pitches and left with injury and Jae Seo got injured as well in the game. Bob Keegan had 2 sparkling scoreless innings. McGehee had 3 hits for Montreal and Modern Family's Pritchett was steady until the 6th. Paris got 2 hits each from Harlond Clift and Gene Baker. Baker also drove in 2 of the 3 runs


Game #80 - Montreal Anchors 6 Paris Swingers 1

WP - Bartolo Colon (2-6)
LP - Manny Heimbach (1-10)

Star of Game - Bartolo Colon (5 IP, 1 ER, 5 hits, 6 K's)

Homers
Montreal - Dan Brouthers (8)


Recap - Montreal was leading 2-1 into the 6th inning and got 3 runs off of reliever Fautino de los Santos before he could record an out. Colon pitched well for 5 innings and Montreal's bullpen took over. Heimbach only gave up one earned run in 5 innings but has that dismal record. Brouthers and Jack Corcoran drove in 2 runs each for Montreal. Paris got 8 hits and 2 by Ken Starr


Game #81 - Montreal Anchors 12 Paris Swingers 8

WP - Doug Bochtler (3-0)
LP - Walt Huntzinger (1-3)

Star of Game - Dan Brouthers (4-6, homer, 2 RBI's)

Homers
Montreal - Chris Dickerson (16), Dan Brouthers (9), Willie Kirkland (17)
Paris - Harlond Clift (10), Bobby Kielty (6), Culley Rikard (8), BJ Vogt (6)

Recap - The first half numerically in the season ends with a cat and mouse game. Paris had the 6-2 lead then Montreal was up 8-6 and then it was 9-8 before Montreal got 3 more in the 9th to win 12-8. Paris lit up Doc Gooden which is hard to do in his rookie year. Gooden was knocked out in the 4th round. Most of the bullpen was awful giving up a lot of runs after Ernesto Cancino was lifted in the 5th. Jae Seo did get out of a jam at one point. Montreal got 4 hits from Brouthers and 5 RBI's from Kirkland. Kielty and Rikard had 3 hits each as Paris accumulated 13 hits in the game. Clift drove in 4 runs


Standing - Paris is 23-58 and tied for 10th place in the NL Atlantic with a 6 game lead over last place Scranton Owls and are tied with Charleston Cheetahs and trail Savannah Thunder by 12 games for 9th place

Transactions - None

Looking Ahead - the Moscow Battalion are up head in Russia. Moscow is a first year team as well and they are 27-54 in 10th place in the NL West then Paris comes home to play the Pittsburgh Pirates.

[majormet]

A week in Russia was just not fun. People are not friendly, the cuisine was bland and not to mention the Paris Swingers got swept and now have a 6 game losing streak. Players were out of sorts and you can feel the lack of personal decision on the streets

Game #82 - Moscow Battalion 18 Paris Swingers 7

WP - Sherry Smith (3-2)
LP - Bob Stoddard (4-8)

Star of Game - Art Shamsky (4-5, 2 homers, 6 RBI's)

Homers
Paris - Bobby Kielty (7), BJ Vogt (7), Tomas Telis (2)
Moscow - Art Shamsky (32,33)

Recap - Shamsky is having an incredible rookie year and the Russian Jewish community is loving his star presence in Moscow. Stoddard gave up 10 runs but only 4 were earned as Gene Baker and Culley Rikard had big errors while he was on the mound. Billy Bryan pitched 2 1/3 innings of scoreless ball which is great since he is a catcher. Moscow scored all 18 of their runs in the first 6 innings. Moscow started veteran pitcher Al Downing and Paris was able to knock him out in the 4th, but Smith and Gary Thayer calmed the Paris offense. Herb Plews, Freddie Bynum, and Gus Mancuso each had 3 hits and 2 RBI's. Kielty and Vogt drive in 2 reach for Paris


Game #83 - Moscow Battalion 6 Paris Swingers 1

WP - Bill Otey (4-1)
LP - Paul Thormodsgard (2-5)

Star of Game - Buster Chatham (3-4, Homer 3 RBI's)

Homers
Moscow - Gus Mancuso (2), Buster Chatham (15)

Recap - Moscow scored 5 in the 2nd off of Thormodsgard and that was the game in a nutshell. Jim Bivin started for Moscow but petered out in the 5th inning allowing Otey to get the win. Walt Huntzinger was strong in relief with 2 scoreless innings. Antonio Cruz had 3 hits and Mancuso drove in 2 runs to carry Moscow. Billy Bryan had one of the 5 Paris hits which accounted for the only run driven in.


Game #84 - Moscow Battalion 13 Paris Swingers 3

WP - Jim Tobin (5-11)
LP - Joel Collins (1-9)

Star of Game - Adrian Garrett (4-4, 2 homers and 7 RBI's)

Homers
Paris - Gail Hopkins (14), Culley Rikard (9)
Moscow - Ben Eby (7), Adrian Garrett (3,4)

Recap - Paris gets 14 hits in the game but scores just 3 runs. Collins, Jae Seo, Fautino de los Santos and Ed Lennon gave up most of the runs. Garrett has a career game for Moscow as he is just a .178 hitter. Billy Zitzmann added 3 hits for Moscow as they were carried by 5 strong innings pitched by Tobin and Iron Mike Tyson had 2 strong innings as well. Rikard and Hopkins had 3 hit games for the losing Paris team


Standing - Paris is 23-61 in 11th place in the NL Atlantic trailing the 10th place Charleston Cheetahs by a game but still possess a 6 game lead over the last place Scranton Owls.


Transactions - Bobby Floyd was DFA'ed as they made room to bring Lee Bales back to the big club.

Looking ahead - The Pittsburgh Pirates come to down for 3 games. Bucs are 49-35 in fifth place in the NL Central, which means the losing streak could hit 9 games. Then the plane heads to Oklahoma to play the Oklahoma City Colts, which is annoying because we have to fly back to Paris and then come back the following week to play Tulsa.

[majormet]

Worse gets worse as the Paris Swingers get swept at home by the Pittsburgh Pirates and now have dropped 9 games in a row. We are on the plane right to Oklahoma City and the feeling is that a 120 loss season is inevitable. My feeling is that maybe 7 of these guys belong in the majors, there are just too many beer league guys masquerading as major leaguers. At this point, with another expansion ahead, most of the players believe they will be somewhere else next year.


Game #85 - Pittsburgh Pirates 9 Paris Swingers 3

WP - Lefty Stewart (2-5)
LP - Manny Heimbach (1-11)

Star of Game - Ralph Kiner (2 homers 3 RBI's)

Homers
Pittsburgh - Jim Gentile (13), Hanley Ramirez (19), Ralph Kiner (27,28), Gio Urshela (22)

Paris - Bobby Kielty (8)

Recap - Pittsburgh got an early 6-0 lead off of Heimback and did not turn back. Ramirez would have a great week which would give him NL Player of the Week. Surprisingly Ed Lennon and Jae Seo, two guys who have struggled mightily had scoreless relief appearances. Walt Huntzinger and Fautino de los Santos were both ineffective. For Pittsburgh, journeyman Stewart scattered 3 runs and 8 hits over 6 innings. Ramirez anchored the offense with 3 RBI's for the Bucs. Culley Rikard, BJ Vogt and Kielty had 2 hit games for Paris, but not enough


Game #86 - Pittsburgh Pirates 18 Paris Swingers 0

WP - Pete Dowling (8-5)
LP - Ernesto Cancino (4-6)

Star of Game - Buddy Lewis (2-4, 2 Hr's 4 RBI's)

Homers
Pittsburgh - Jim Gentile (14), Jim Lemon (5), Buddy Lewis (9,10)


Recap - Game was closer as Pittsburgh got 11 runs in the top of the 7th inning and were up just 6-0 at the time. Dowling has been an elite pitcher in the league for many seasons was struggling this year but he was pitching in Paris which was a bye week. Bid McPhee and Lemon had 3 hits for Pittsburgh. Gentile the former Texas Ranger drove in 3 runs. Paris only had 3 hits on the day. Jae Seo, Fautino de los Santos and Ed Lennon were crummy in relief for sure. Infield Lee Bales may have been the best pitcher going 2 1/3 innings and just allowing 1 run.



Game #87 - Pittsburgh Pirates 25 Paris Swingers 6

WP - Joe Sambito (4-2)
LP - Bob Stoddard (4-9)

Star of Game - Hanley Ramirez (4-5, 2 HR's 6 RBI's)

Homers
Pittsburgh - Hanley Ramirez (20,21), Ralph Kiner (29), Buddy Lewis (11)
Paris - Billy Bryan (9), Gail Hopkins (15), Ken Starr (9)

Recap - Pittsburgh has been waiting a few season for Ramirez to break out and he broke out in Paris. Pittsburgh got fat in Paris without eating a single croissant. Joe "Flash Gordon had 3 hits and Kiner drove in 5 runs. Kiner has 29 homers and 78 RBI's and is looking at big numbers this year while not dating Elizabeth Taylor. Hopkins had a strong game going 3 for 3 for Paris, but 25 runs is hard to counter. Paris Got to Kevin Foster early and he did not see the 4th inning. However, Stoddard gave up 7 runs in the first 3 innings. Infield Barry Evans gave up 6 runs without retiring a batter, a game to forget


Standing - Paris is 23-64 in 11th place in the NL Atlantic trailing 10th place Charleston Cheetahs by 4 games and ahead of last place Scranton Owls by 5 games.


Transactions - None of note

Looking Ahead - the Swingers go on the road to play the Oklahoma City Colts who are 47-40 in 5th place in the NL Midwest tied with the Little Rock Sunbirds. The next home series will face the divisional rival Savannah Thunder at thome

[majormet]

This was a 2 game series thanks to tornado alert in OKC, otherwise it would be a 12 game losing streak to 11 games. Billy Bryan was next to me on the plane ride back to Paris as they play the Savannah Thunder and was playing Rhiannon by Fleetwood Mac on his ipod, kept singing "will you ever win" It has been that bad, Savannah is not great so maybe a win is in the cards. With no offdays would have made sense to play the makeup game in Oklahoma City when we are in Tulsa next series but instead it is added to the Albuquerque trip next month. I found Oklahoma City to be very uncultured but that was just because I was locked up in a hotel for almost the whole time


Game #88 - Oklahoma City Colts 7 Paris Swingers 1

WP - Tom Seaver (11-5)
LP - Paul Thormodsgard (2-6)

Star of Game - Tom Seaver (6.1 IP, 2 hits, 0 ER 12 K's)

Homers
Oklahoma City - Bill Eagan (17,18), Micah Hoffpauir (8)

Recap - Tom Seaver in Tom Terrific mode as he is having his breakout year. Paris batters were befuddled and only got an unearned run off of reliever Ken Reynolds on a Culley Rikard sacrifice fly. Thormodsgard got shelled for 5 runs in 4 innings, Bob Keegan did get a scoreless inning, sadly this year a scoreless inning is something. Eagan is a .216 stick for Oklahoma City but he has some power and drove in 3 runs. Fred Odwell also had 3 RBI's for the victorious team.


Game #89 - Oklahoma City Colts 9 Paris Swingers 6

WP - Denny Bautista (4-9)
LP - Walt Huntzinger (1-4)
Save - Tom Bradley (23)

Star of Game - Joel Collins (5 IP, 1 ER, 2 hits, 5 K's)

Homers
Paris - Billy Bryan (10)
Oklahoma City - Franmil Reyes (20), Bill Eagan (19), Fred Odwell (20), Chris Richard (17)

Recap - lots of homers that ruined a great start from Collins. Denys Baez, Huntzinger and Bob Keegan all gave up runs to hurt Paris in this game. Paris had the 4-1 lead heading into the bottom of the 6th but Paris gave up a 6 spot and that was the game. Bautista survived 6 innings to get the win. Paris got to Jeff Little and Ken Reynolds in relief but that 6 spot was the difference. Odwell drove in 3 runs and Richard had 2 RBI's for Oklahoma City. Bryan had 2 hits and 3 RBI's for Paris while they got 2 hits each from Gail Hopkins and Ken Starr


Standing - Paris is 23-66 in 11th place in the NL Atlantic trailing the 10th place Charleston Cheetahs by 4 1/2 games and leading the last place Scranton Owls by 5 1/2 games because of rain out and how bad Scranton is, only Paris could gain a half game lead in the standings over Scranton with an 11 game losing streak.

Transactions - None

Looking Ahead - the Savannah Thunder come to town. They are 39-51 and in 9th place in the same NL Atlantic so this could be a good series. Then it gets ugly as they play a dominant Tulsa Rattlers team in Oklahoma

[majormet]

The Thunder came to Paris and Paris was able to salvage the series and halt the losing streak at 13 games. This was necessary as the next trip is to Tulsa to play the Tulsa Rattlers which is like being processed in a meat grinder


Game #90 - Savannah Thunder 7 Paris Swingers 2

WP - Ray Francis (8-7)
LP - Ernesto Cancino (4-7)
Save - Dick Lines (9)

Star of Game - Ray Francis (7 IP, 2 ER 3 hits, 5 K's)

Homers
Savannah - Roy Foster (20)


Recap - mostly a 4-2 game and Savannah tacked on 3 runs in the 9th off of Scott Brown to put the game away. Francis was pretty tough for Savannah and got through 7 innings. Bob Keegan and Jae Seo had scoreless innings and Cancino only gave up 3 runs in 5 innings. Foster drove in 4 runs and Hal Chase had 3 hits for the victorious Savannah team. Paris only mustered up 3 hits and the runs were driven in by Culley Rikard and Gail Hopkins



Game #91 - Savannah Thunder 7 Paris Swingers 2

WP - Art Mahaffey (10-4)
LP - Bob Stoddard (4-10)

Star of Game - Hal Chase (3-4 HR 3 RBI's

Homers
Savannah - Hal Chase (13), Dennis Casey (11)
Paris - Ken Starr (10)

Recap - not a misprint same score different day and reverse pitcher records. Mahaffey had 5 walks which limited him to 5 innings but has been the Savannah ace this year. Savannah got 4 runs in the 2nd inning off of Stoddard and it was game over. Stoddard has really been faltering of late and has seen his ERA vault to 4.75. Chase drove in 3 runs and had 3 hits and Casey had 3 hits for Savannah. Another game with just 5 hits by Paris, runs were driven by Culley Rikard and Starr.



Game #92 - Paris Swingers 2 Savannah Thunder 1

WP - Denys Baez (3-1)
LP - Ron Flores (0-4)
Save - Scott Brown (7)

Star of Game - Paul Thormodsgard (6 IP, 3 hits, 1 ER 7 K's)

Homers
Paris - BJ Vogt (8), Ken Starr (11)

Recap - Vogt breaks the 1-1 tied with a homer in the 8th inning off of Flores. Starr homes in consecutive games to keep Paris in the game to snap the losing streak. Thormodsgard can have great games, today was that kind of day for him. Tommy Bridges dueled with Thormodsgard for 6 innings and was pulled. Starr had 2 hits and is producing of late, he must sense a deadline trade. Hal Chase drove in the lone Savannah run


Standing - Paris is 24-68 and in 11th place in the NL Atlantic trailing the 10th place Charleston Cheetahs by 3 1/2 games and leading the last place Scranton Owls by 6 1/2 games. Therefore very cemented in 11th place


Transactions - None

Looking Ahead - It won't get pretty as the plane heads to Tulsa to play the the Tulsa Rattlers, seems Paris will not face top ace Brownie Foreman but still Tulsa is 70-23 with a 4 game lead over the St Louis Cardinals in the NL Midwest. Then the Amagansett Assassins head to town which will be a fair series, too bad we are not going there instead of Tulsa.

[majormet]

The trip to Tulsa went as expected as the Paris Swingers were swept and head home to play the fellow expansion Amagansett Assassins. No one expected to win a game, certainly the mindset of taking a butter knife to a duel.

Game #93 - Tulsa Rattlers 7 Paris Swingers 1

WP - Huyler Westivelt (8-3)
LP - Manny Heimbach (1-12)

Star of Game - Huyler Westivelt (7.2 IP, 0 ER, 1 hit, 7 K's)

Homers
Tulsa - Ed McKean (10)

Recap - Paris got one measly hit from Lee Bales which drove in the only run which was unearned due to a Ronnie Belliard error. Westivelt was locked in and Paris was seeing marbles at the plate. McKean hit the 3 run shot off of Heimbach in the first inning and that was the game. Bob Keegan was good enough for 2 scoreless innings but not much to say about this game. It felt terribly long


Game #94 - Tulsa Rattlers 9 Paris Swingers 1

WP - Alan Hargesheimer (7-2)
LP - Joel Collins (1-10)

Star of Game - Alan Hargesheimer (6 IP, 3 hits, 1 ER, 6 K's)

Homers
Paris - Gail Hopkins (16)
Tulsa - Jonathan Villar (4)

Recap - Mostlya 3-1 game as Collins was effective but the 6 spot came in the 8th inning for Tulsa. It is hard to win games when your starters are spent early and your pen always has a guy that is kerosene. Today Denys Baez was the igniter as he absorbed 5 of those earned runs. Collins fanned 8 batters for Paris at least and Hopkins had 3 of the 5 hits, but that was no match for Hargesheimer. Lee Magee had a 3 hit game for Tulsa and Villar drove in 3 runs and that was all that was needed to vanquish Paris

Game #95 - Tulsa Rattlers 9 Paris Swingers 2

WP - Gene Krapp (11-4)
LP - Ernesto Cancino (4-8)

Star of Game - Sid Bream (3-3 homer, 2 RBI's)

Homers
Tulsa - Jose Cruz (17), Sid Bream (10), John Kerins (14)

Recap - Paris actually was leading 2-0 going in to the 5th against Krapp who is an elite pitcher in the NL and Paris only had 3 hits, which 2 were by Harlond Clift. Fautino de los Santos was the reliever who let the game get away. Cancino can't get past the 4th inning and that continues to be an issue. Krapp walked 6 batters in the game and Paris was the recipient of 9 walks in the game but could not rally. Bream, Cruz and Kerins each had 2 RBI's each as the first place Tulsa team showed why they are in first.


Standing - Paris is 24-71 in 11th place in the NL Atlantic trailing the 10th place Charleston Cheetahs by 4 1/2 games and leading the last place Scranton Owls by 6 1/2 games

Transactions - None

Looking ahead - The Amangansett Assassins travel across the pond to play Paris, they are 28-68 and firmly in 11th place in the NL East so this is anyone's series. Then the make up game on the road to Oklahoma City before playing a series against another meat grinder in the Albuquerque Blackbirds.