The Portland Beavers, est. 2001

[Questdog]

Monday, June 4, 2001

An off day and the day before the Draft, so I am busy at work! We waived 1B Ernesto Gonzelez to send him back to Indianapolis and recalled 1B George Hopkins. Hopkins has done nothing to warrant the recall, we just think he has the best chance of giving us something positive sooner or later. Danny Hernandez (22 L) is the most talented, but he is not hitting at Indy the way he did at Jacksonville and we do not want to rush him too quickly.

[Questdog]

Tuesday, June 5, 2001

Amateur Draft

At 1:05 PM, the Texas Rangers made SS Stan Elliott of the University of Minnesota the first pick of the Amateur Draft, now a world-wide affair. His glove is only average at short and he has a propensity for making errors, but his bat is certainly worthy of attention. Not a lot of power, but a lot of hits and walks and he has the speed to steal bases at will. He is 20 years old, bats from the right side and is looking for $8.5 million to sign. He's a decent kid and a hard worker.

The remaining top 10 picks:
2. Los Angeles (N): George Singleton, cf, University of Texas (20 L)
3. Atlanta: Jorge Valles, rf, Texas Tech University (21 R)
4. Los Angeles (A): Ted Cox, ss, University of Arizona (21 R) (my #1)
5. Baltimore: Mark Dahms, lf, University of Louisville (22 L)
6. Chicago (N): Andy Roberto, Jr., 1b, University of Florida (22 R)
7. New York (N): Roger Granger, cf, University of Florida (20 L)
8. Philadelphia: Ron Hart, ss, Georgetown University (22 R)
9.Chicago (A): Carl Thompson, rhp, Franklin County Tech HS, Turners Falls, MA (18 R)
10. Toronto: Alberto Ochoa, lf, Santa Clara University (21 L)

The Portland Beavers, who picked next to last in every round, drafted the following players:
1. Dave Shelley, p, Annandale HS (MN) (17 L)

A little lefty (5' 11" 165 lbs) with a killer curveball and good control. Does not wow the radar gun. Won't be 18 until November. High marks for leadership. He has already committed to college, so we are going to have to give him a big bonus or lose him.

2. Bill Kelly, 3b, Boston College (20 L)

A solid glove and a power bat. Not a fast runner, but not horrible. High Character. What's not too like?

3. Dave Anes, cf, Oklahoma State University (21 R)

Good range, great arm, great legs, solid if unspectacular bat with a decent eye. From the Dominican Republic. Hard worker and easy to get along with.

4. John Stallings, rf, Vanderbilt University (20 L)

Solid all around and can run. High character, but not so bright. I thought Vandy was supposed to be for eggheads?

5. Jose Duenas, lf, Centralia HS (MO) (19 L)

Not much power, but otherwise a solid hitter. Decent wheels and can play a good outfield and emergency infield.

6. Steve Fitz, ss, Bellingham HS (MA) (19 S)

One of the scouting reports I have on him says, "Quietly goes about his business on and off the field." I don't know about the off field part, but on the field, the assessment is spot on. He won't do much to lose games, but he won't do much to win them either. Little power and a bit of a free swinger, but makes consistent contact, fields his position adequately and can run a little. Not the hardest worker.

7. Joe Marsella, 2b, Christ Presbyterian Academy (Nashville, TN) (17 R)

Everything said about Fitz can be said about Marsella, except that he is not very bright and he is not as good a fielder as Fitz. That is why we will try to convert him to second base. Apparently, there are not a lot of Presbyterians with strong arms, so he has been playing on the left side of the infield.

8. Bob Toth, 1b, Home schooled (Houston, TX) (18 L)

6' 3" 215 lbs. SD Eddie Henderson projects medium-to-low average hitter with good power and patience at the plate. I can take that in an 8th rounder. He is also asking for a hefty signing bonus.

9. Bruce Tarbert, c, New Oxford Senior HS (PA) (19 R)

A decent receiver and a decent runner for a catcher and has decent power. Will he make enough contact to play, though? Not a very hard worker either, but we need a catcher for our rookie team and he is about the best left.

10. Randy Woods, p, West Side HS (Newark, NJ) (18 L)

Another little lefty. 5' 9" 165 lbs. You'd think I have a fetish for them, but I do not. It is just coincidence. Woods is a very high character type, does not wow the radar gun, but gets the ball over with something on it. He'll be on the reliever track for us as I don't think his stamina will support starting in the major leagues.

11. John Stanley, p, Oklahoma Centennial HS (Oklahoma City, OK) (19 L)
12. Byron Lindle, p, University of Southern California (20 R)
13. George Allen, p, Bishop Feehan HS (Atteboro, MA) (19 R)
14. Dave Parker, p, Hillcrest HS (Ammon, ID) (17 R)
15. Don Myers, p, University of California at Irvine (20 R)
16. Ricardo Lantigua, lf, San Jose de Ocoa, Dominican Republic (19 R)
17. Champ Earle, 2b, University of Utah (20 R)
18. William Zepeda, ss, University of Florida (20 R)
19. John Bunch, lf, University of Southern California (20 L)
20. Steve Anagnostopoulos, 3b, Granite Hills HS (Apple Valley, CA) (18 R)
21.Mike Callahan, ss, California State University, Fullerton (20 R)
22. Mickey Davis, 1b, The Kings Academy (Sunnyvale, CA) (18 R)
23. Sergio Berrios, c, University of Arkansas (20 R)
24. Dan Braga, p, Long Beach State University (20 R) (From Portland)
25. Dave Thompson, p, Western Carolina University (23 R) (my lowest rated player in the draft)
26. Marco Nunez, ss, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (19 R)
27. Oscar Lopez, ss, Arizona State University (19 S)
28. Lee Cuningham, c, Haverford College (PA) (21 L)
29. Kyle Peters, 1b, Citizens Christian Academy (Douglas, GA) (19 R)
30. Dave Walen, 2b, Manual Arts HS (Los Angeles, CA) (19 R)



Notable Names:
Rd. 3. Farrell Human, rhp, Arizona - He's a Wild Man!
Rd. 7. Terry Cherry, cf, Chicago (N)
Rd. 8. Dave Phenix, cf, Arizona (needs to learn how to spell his name)
Rd. 9. John Strauss, rhp, Boston - looked perplexed when asked if he liked "The Beautiful Blue Danube".
Rd. 10. Phil Slider, rhp, San Diego - does not throw one.

[Questdog]

Tuesday, June 5, 2001

Manager Eddie Cape (59) has his Cardinals in town to play a quick 2-game series. They swept the Giants in 3 games in St. Louis over the weekend, only allowing 3 total runs int he 3 games. We split a 2-game series with them in St. Louis, April 16-17. They are 7th in the National League in scoring with 4.5 runs per game (Portland is #16 (last) with 3.5. They are 2nd in doubles and 2nd in batting average, hitting .275 as a team. Portland is batting .247. They are 5th in runs allowed with 3.8 per game (Portland is #12 with 4.5). The pitching staff has the lowest batting average allowed of anyone in the National League (.238).

St. Louis Cardinals (32-24 .571 2.5 GB in 2nd place in the NL West) at
Portland Beavers (21-35 .375 13.5 GB in 7th place in the NL West)

Javier de la Rosa, StL (28 R 4-4 2.75 7.1-1.4-1.7-7.6 H/9-HR/9-BB/9-K/9) vs Tony Ricketts, Por (26 R 2-7 4.41 9.6-1.2-1.7-5.8)

We have not faced de la Rosa before. He is #8 in ERA and H/9. We should not see a lot of walks in this game as Ricketts is 4th in the NL in BB/9 and de la Rosa is 5th. de la Rosa is also 6th in SO/9, 3rd in SO/BB ratio, 5th in OPP BA and 3rd in WHIP. The only other list Ricketts is on is the one for losses, where he is tied with teammate Edmondo Buenaventura and Fran Johnson of Atlanta for the most in the league.

Lineups: Pos Name (Age Bats BA-HR-RBI-OPS)
ST. LOUIS
1: RF Doyle Campbell (26 R .329-2-19-.783 in 234 AB)
2: 2B Steve Cargile (30 R .260-2-18-.747 in 204 AB)
3: 1B Miguel Medina (25 R .324-8-43-.916 in 219 AB)
4: LF Fred Keith (29 S .314-4-19-.882 in 121 AB)
5: C Art Green (31 S .260-2-8-.673 in 100 AB)
6: CF Willie Cardona (27 R .256-4-21-.769 in 164 AB)
7: 3B Guy Forse (24 L .236-5-22-.701 in 140 AB)
8: SS Don Quinones (27 R .276-0-8-.745 in 87 AB)
9: P Javier de la Rosa (28 S .150-0-1-.340 in 20 AB)

PORTLAND
1: RF Jerry Alston (28 L .326-0-2-.806 in 43 AB)
2: CF Scott Setta (34 R .289-2-10-.741 in 90 AB)
3: LF Rich Babbin (36 L .282-6-25-.819 in 156 AB)
4: 2B Fred Pariseau (31 R .234-5-22-.654 in 201 AB)
5: C Ron Charles (30 R .400-1-4-1.217 in 10 AB)
6: 1B George Hopkins (29 S .229-2-9-.646 in 118 AB)
7: SS Rick Ferrell (25 R .231-0-2-.493 in 65 AB)
8: 3B Tim DePriest (26 R .154-0-1-.308 in 13 AB)
9: P Tony Ricketts (26 R .176-0-1-.399 in 17 AB)

Game Start: 7:05 PM
Weather: 56 deg. Clear Skies with an 8 MPH wind blowing right to left.

Doyle Campbell strikes out! Steve Cargile works the count full and takes ball four. Miguel Medina works the count full and takes ball four. Did I say something about not seeing a lot of walks?.... I know about jinxes and half believe in them and yet I persist.... Fred Keith flies out to center. Art Green flies out to center!

Bottom of the 1st: Jerry Alston swings at the first pitch and grounds out to 1st. Scott Setta gets a full count and flies out to right. Rich Babbin lines one hard, but it is caught by RF Doyle Campbell.

Bottom of the 2nd: Fred Pariseau leads off by lining a 1-2 pitch into the gap in left center for a double, but the next three are retired without any hullabaloo.

Top of the 5th: After walking the pair in the 1st inning, Ricketts has retired 11 in a row until Willie Cardona gets the Cardinals' first hit, a no-doubter to straight away center for a home run. 1 to 0, Cardinals. Guy Forse swings at the very next pitch and hits one off the right field foul pole. 2 to 0, Cardinals.

Bottom of the 5th: George Hopkins leads off with a walk. Rick Ferrell gets a full count and swing and hits one hard to right and up and over the wall!!! Home run! 2 to 2!

Top of the 6th: Steve Cargile gets a lead-off walk and steals 2nd. With 2 outs, Art Green singles him home. 3 to 2, Cardinals.

Bottom of the 6th: With 1 out, Rich Babbin beats out an infield hit. With 2 outs, Ron Charles grounds a hit up the middle and Babbin heads for 3rd. CF Willie Cardona makes a bad throw and Babbin scores! 1B + E-8. 3 to 3!

Bottom of the 8th: New pitcher: LHP Dennis Haan. 1.66 ERA in 21.2 IP. Jerry Alston has to hit, since we have already used our only other right fielder, Rich Doody. Alston lines a hit to right! Scott Setta bunts him over to 2nd. Pinch-Hitter: Ray Wilson. He grounds one to short and Dave Strong boots it! 1st and 3rd with 1 out. Strong is a 1B/3B and has no business playing shortstop, but their idiot manager pinch-hit for their starter without having a backup, except RF Doyle Campbell. Hit 'em all to short, boys! Fred Pariseau flies out to left and the runners hold. 2 outs. Ron Charles gets a full count, but strikes out....

Top of the 9th: On the Hill: RHP Ron Beckman, beginning his 2nd inning of work. The Bullpen is already warmed up. Art Green lines a hit to center. Willie Cardona bunts him over to 2nd. With 2 lefties coming up, we make a Call to the Bullpen: LHP Jim Ackley. Guy Forse pops out to 2nd. 2 outs. Frank Winters lines a 2-2 pitch to left for a hit and Green scores. 4 to 3, Cardinals. Pinch-hitter: LHB Rich Eden, the only player left on their bench. Winters steals 2nd. Eden grounds one to 2nd and Fred Pariseau throws the ball over 1B George Hopkins' head for a 2-base error, scoring another run... 5 to 3, Cardinals.

We go down in order int he bottom of the 9th....

Lost - 5 to 3

We had 6 hits and made 1 error.
The Cardinals had 6 hits and made 2 errors.

Tony Ricketts went 7 innings, allowed 3 runs, 3 hits, 2 home runs, 3 walks and struck out 2.
RHP Ron Beckman (L 1-2) went 1.1 innings, allowed 1 run and 2 hits.
LHP Jim Ackley went 1/3 of an inning, allowed 1 unearned run and allowed 1 run-scoring hit.
RHP Neville Carter faced 1 batter and struck him out.

Javier de la Rosa went 6 innings, gave us 3 runs (2 earned), 5 hits, 1 home run, 1 walk and struck out 5. He threw a WP.
LHP Dennis Haan (W 3-0) went 1 inning, gave us 1 hit and struck out 1.
RHP Ed Johnson (SV 15) went 1 inning and struck out 2.

2B Fred Pariseau had 2 hits with a double, but made a run-scoring 2-base error. SS Rick Ferrell hit his first career home run and had 2 RBIs.

For the Cardinals, CF Willie Cardona hit his 5th home run of the season. 3B Guy Forse hit his 6th home run of the year.

[Questdog]

Wednesday, June 6, 2001

St. Louis Cardinals (33-24 .579 2.5 GB in 2nd place in the NL West) at
Portland Beavers (21-36 .368 14.5 GB in 7th place in the NL West)

Gary Poole, StL (35 R 4-5 4.12 9.9-1.2-1.8-4.6 H/9-HR/9-BB/9-K/9) vs Alan Gross, Por (26 L 2-2 3.84 8.9-1.2-2.7-7.1)

We have not faced Poole before. He is 8th in the league in fewest BB/9.

I do not think it is a good idea to toss a lefty at this Cardinal lineup, but I have little choice.

Lineups: Pos Name (Age Bats BA-HR-RBI-OPS)
ST. LOUIS
1: RF Doyle Campbell (26 R .325-2-19-.774 in 237 AB)
2: 2B Steve Cargile (30 R .257-2-18-.745 in 206 AB)
3: 1B Miguel Medina (25 R .324-8-43-.920 in 222 AB)
4: LF Fred Keith (29 S .304-4-19-.855 in 125 AB)
5: 3B Dave Strong (31 R .277-4-12-.818 in 83 AB)
6: CF Willie Cardona (27 R .257-5-22-.785 in 167 AB)
7: C Rich Eden (30 L .338-3-7-.916 in 74 AB)
8: SS Don Quinones (27 R .270-0-8-.730 in 89 AB)
9: P Gary Poole (35 R .190-0-3-.429 in 21 AB)

PORTLAND
1: RF Jerry Alston (28 L .319-0-2-.782 in 47 AB)
2: CF Scott Setta (34 R .280-2-10-.718 in 93 AB)
3: LF Frank Wiginton (30 S .289-3-21-.825 in 159 AB)
4: 2B Fred Pariseau (31 R .239-5-22-.665 in 205 AB)
5: C Ron Charles (30 R .357-1-4-1.018 in 14 AB)
6: 1B George Hopkins (29 S .223-2-9-.635 in 121 AB)
7: SS Rick Ferrell (25 R .232-1-4-.536 in 69 AB)
8: 3B Tim DePriest (26 R .125-0-1-.250 in 16 AB)
9: P Alan Gross (26 L .353-0-2-.833 in 17 AB)

Game Start: 7:05 PM
Weather: 58 deg. Partly Cloudy with an 8 MPH wind blowing right to left.

Doyle Campbell lines out to center. Steve Cargile grounds a hit to center. Miguel Medina flies out to center. 2 outs. Fred Keith grounds out to 2nd.

Bottom of the 1st: Jerry Alston works the count full and then laces a hit into left. Scott Setta drives one to deep center. Willie Cardona leaps at the wall and comes down with the ball in his glove.... Jerry Alston gets thrown out trying to steal. 2 outs. C Rich Eden and P Gary Poole are a tough combination to try to run on. Frank Wiginton grounds a hit up the middle. Fred Pariseau drives one to deep center, but Cardona has it again....

Top of the 3rd: Don Quinones leads off with a single and gets bunted to 2nd. With 2 outs, Steve Cargile bounces a hit up the middle to score the run. 1 to 0, Cardinals.

Bottom of the 3rd: With 2 outs, Scott Setta draws a walk. Frank Wiginton then hits yet another triple! 1 to 1, tie game! Fred Pariseau then hits one to short and Don Quinones boots it and Wiginton scores! E-6. 2 to 1, Beavers!

Bottom of the 5th: P Alan Gross leads us off with a double! He is really hitting so far, but he has never shown any hitting ability at all in the past. He goes to 3rd on a ground out and scores on a deep fly ball by Scott Setta. 3 to 1, Beavers.

Bottom of the 6th: With 1 out, Ron Charles singles to left. George Hopkins singles to right and Charles heads to 3rd, He beats the throw and Hopkins moves up to 2nd. Rick Ferrell grounds out to short and Charles scores. 4 to 1, Beavers. they give Tim DePriest, a .111 hitter, a free pass to pitch to P Alan Gross, a .368 hitter with a double already in this game.... of course, me pointing this out means Gross will make an out for sure.... Ha, Ha!!! NO, IT DOES NOT!!! Gross singles up the middle and Hopkins scores! 5 to 1, Beavers! That sends P Gary Poole packing. New pitcher: RHP Jim Allen. Jerry Alston lines a hit to left and DePriest, the intentional walk, scores! Love it! 6 to 1, Beavers! Scott Setta strikes out to end the inning.

Top of the 9th: A triple by PH Guy Forse and back-to-back 2-out errors by SS Rick Ferrell, the first errors he has made since joining the Beavers, gives the Cardinals a pair of runs, but we

Won - 6 to 3

We had 8 hits and made 3 errors.
The Cardinals had 10 hits and made 1 error.

Alan Gross (W 3-2) went 8.2 innings, allowed 3 runs (2 earned), 10 hits, 1 walk and struck out 2. At bat, he had 2 hits with a double, scored a run and had an RBI.
RHP Neville Carter faced 3 batters to get 1 out, but 2 reached on errors.

Gary Poole (L 4-6) went 5.2 innings, gave us 6 runs (5 earned), 7 hits, 3 walks (1 INT) and struck out no one. He threw a WP.

RF Jerry Alston had 2 hits and an RBI. LF Frank Wiginton had 2 hits with his 7th triple of the season, scored a run and had an RBI.

For the Cardinals, SS Don Quinones had 3 hits and a walk and scored 2 runs.

[Questdog]

Thursday, June 7, 2001

Trade!

SS Randy Penn is ready to come off the DL and I decided I did not want to send SS Rick Ferrell back to AAA if I could figure out a way to get IF Rickey Clayton out of town, since he thinks his .541 OPS deserves to be starting. I hit the phones hard and found that the Giants were the only team that would even consider taking him on and only if I gave them something else they wanted, namely CF Scott Setta. Now, I like Setta and he has done a decent job for us, especially considering his past failures. But he is 34 and not someone we can build our future upon. Just to refresh your memory, if you have forgotten: Setta was the 2nd pick of the 1986 Draft and won the Rookie of the Year in 1989 for the Phillies, hitting .309 with 31 HR at age 22. He was an 8-time All-Star and 5-time Silver Slugger until he lost most of 1998 to an injury. He was 30 then and the last two seasons, he was but a shadow of himself, hitting around .200 with no power. Last year, he had an even .500 OPS, playing mostly for Seattle. We took a flier on him and he has played much better for us, though still not like he used too, of course. He's been a good story, though, and a good draw for our fans, since most of our players are guys they never heard of. But I cannot miss an opportunity to make our future brighter. So GM Gaylord Sandborn (49) and I worked out a deal that made both parties apparently very happy. My assistant GM Ron Hensley was beside himself, gushing over the deal.

We send the Giants CF Scott Setta (34 R), 2B Rickey Clayton (31 R), RP John Stone (26 R) and RP Bob Hyland (33 R) and the Giants send us SP Angel Rodriguez (23 R), C Howard Lane (21 R), SS Alex Casillas (19 R), LF Billy Rawson (25 L) and RP Mike Meyer (23 R).

Stone is 26 and has not pitched anywhere for us. He has just been sitting around on the Hillsboro (A-) roster. He was a Supplemental Round pick by the Dodgers in 1997 and pitched a perfect game in rookie ball that year, but has never pitched in a higher league and his control has gone south. He is useless, but less useless than RP Bob Hyland, who has been pitching at Indianapolis and has an ERA of 12.12 in 26 innings. I kid you not. But GM Sandborn asked for them both by name, so here you go, Gaylord. Enjoy. Maybe he did not notice the 1 at the front of Hyland's ERA, but he should have at least noticed the 3.08 WHIP (2 hits and a walk EVERY inning!). Rodriguez is the only real player they are giving up; the others are just low level prospects that will at least prove to be upgrades in our very thin minor league system. C Howard Lane was a 13th round pick in 2000. RP Mike Meyer was a 9th round pick in 1996. LF Billy Rawson was a 9th round pick in 1998 by Toronto, who released him in the following Spring. Alex Casillas was a scouting discovery from the Dominican Republic in 1998. Angel Rodriguez, however, was a Supplemental Round pick in 1999 and was the #88 prospect on Baseball America's list in the Spring of 2000. This Spring he jumped up to the #34 spot. He is 7-2 with a 2.33 ERA in AA and I think we might move him up to AAA. Bonus: He can hit, too! He's batting .207 with a home run, which is better than a lot of our AA hitters!

We activated SS Randy Penn from the Disabled List and sent RP Freddy Arana back to Indianapolis (AAA) and called up CF Vicente Saavedra (26 R) and RF Eddie Cabrales (31 R). Hopefully they can help against the lefties as everyone of our starting outfielders is useless against the southpaws. We are back to a 6-man bullpen now.

We end our current home stand with a 4-game series against manager Jose Garcia (66) and his Mets. They just split a 2-game series with the Phillies in Philadelphia. This is the first time we have faced them. They are 10th in the National League in scoring with 4.1 runs per game (Portland is still #16 (last) with 3.6). The lead the NL with 93 stolen bases. The 2nd place Braves have 68. They are 7th in runs allowed with 4.0 per game (Portland is #12 with 4.5).

New York Mets (26-33 .441 15.5 GB in 6th place in the NL East) at
Portland Beavers (22-36 .379 14 GB in 7th place in the NL West)

Nelson Taveras, NYN (34 L 4-3 3.68 10.3-0.0-1.4-3.5 H/9-HR/9-BB/9-K/9) vs Ron Rau, Por (29 R 4-6 3.78 9.5-0.9-2.2-5.0)

Taveras is a bit shy of qualifying, but he would be 3rd in the league in fewest walks per 9 and he has not allowed a home run yet in 51.1 IP.

Larry and Gary ought to be brothers, so they are!

Lineups: Pos Name (Age Bats BA-HR-RBI-OPS)
NEW YORK (N)
1: SS Jesus Ramirez (22 S .290-3-20-.818 in 207 AB)
2: 2B Guillermo Valenzuela (24 S .275-2-15-.680 in 200 AB)
3: LF Larry Brown (28 R .264-5-24-.794 in 197 AB)
4: CF Gary Brown (27 L .278-5-21-.917 in 108 AB)
5: RF Howard Ammons (24 L .262-5-14-.781 in 107 AB)
6: C Bobby Pina (31 L .253-4-19-.723 in 174 AB)
7: 3B Virgil Northcutt (34 R .201-13-31-.692 in 214 AB)
8: 1B Manny Esquivel (28 L .316-9-32-.889 in 193 AB)
9: P Nelson Taveras (34 L .105-0-1-.316 in 19 AB)

PORTLAND
1: RF Jerry Alston (28 L .333-0-3-.798 in 51 AB)
2: CF Vicente Saavedra (26 R First Game .275-2-13-.771 in AAA)
3: 1B Ray Wilson (37 R .269-0-3-.683 in 52 AB)
4: 2B Fred Pariseau (31 R .234-5-22-.653 in 209 AB)
5: C Ron Charles (30 R .353-1-4-.988 in 17 AB)
6: LF Frank Wiginton (30 S .294-3-22-.841 in 163 AB)
7: SS Rick Ferrell (25 R .219-1-5-.508 in 73 AB)
8: 3B Tim DePriest (26 R .105-0-1-.255 in 19 AB)
9: P Ron Rau (29 R .111-0-0-.269 in 18 AB)

Game Start: 7:05 PM
Weather: 59 deg. Partly Cloudy with a 7 MPH wind blowing out to center.

Jesus Ramirez swings at the first pitch of the game and lines a hit to center. Full count to Guillermo Valenzuela and he swings and misses for strike three. Larry Brown up and Ramirez takes off for 2nd, but C Ron Charles throws him out! 2 down. Brown sends one to the gap in left center and Vicente Saavedra runs it down! He is the best of all of our fly chasers.

Bottom of the 1st: Jerry Alston pokes one into left for a hit. C Bobby Pina and P Nelson Taveras make a tough battery to run on; I hope we have some sense today. Well, Alston shows some sense and does not run, but Vicente Saavedra, in his first Beaver at bat, initiates himself into the club by grounding into a 4-6-3 double play. Ray Wilson, as sorry a #3 hitter as ever was, lines out to left.

Bottom of the 2nd: Frank Wiginton draws a 2-out walk and then Rick Ferrell doubles into the left field corner and Wiginton scores from 1st! 1 to 0, Beavers! Tim DePriest lines a hit to center and Ferrell scores! 2 to 0, Beavers!

Bottom of the 3rd: Jerry Alston leads off with a hit. Now, SD Eddie Henderson tells me that Alston cannot hit lefties to save his life, but since coming up to the Beavers, he is now 6 for 10 with 2 doubles and a walk against southpaws! This time, he shows no sense and takes off for 2nd. Bobby Pina throws the ball into center field and Alston goes to 3rd! Vicente Saavedra grounds out to short and Alston scores. 3 to 0, Beavers! Ray Wilson and Fred Pariseau both single and Ron Charles takes a walk to load the bases up with nobody out. Frank Wiginton strikes out. SD Eddie Henderson is right about him, at least. Rick Ferrell draws a walk to force in a run! 4 to 0, Beavers! Tim DePriest draws a walk! 5 to 0, Beavers! This from a pitcher with 1.4 walks per 9 innings coming into this game. He has now walked 4 in 2.2 innings and only had 8 in 51.1 IP on the season. P Ron Rau ends the fun by grounding out to 2nd.

Top of the 4th: 2B Fred Pariseau makes his 3rd error in as many games and Gary Brown gets hurt sliding into 2nd and has to leave the game. They get runners to 1st and 3rd with 2 outs, but we wiggle out.

Bottom of the 4th: New pitcher: RHP Bobby Giorgi. Jerry Alston leads us off with a double down the left field line. He goes to 3rd on a ground out. Pinch-Hitter: SHB George Hopkins. He flies out to deep right and Alston trots home. 6 to 0, Beavers.

Top of the 6th: Guillermo Valenzuela singles and with his team down 6 to 0, he steals 2nd. With 2 outs, Howard Ammons hits a home run to right. 6 to 2, Beavers.

Top of the 8th: Jesus Ramirez leads off with a triple. Get the pen up! Guillermo Valenzuela plops one down in front of the plate a C Ron Charles fields it quickly, but throws the ball down the right field line for a 2-base error and Ramirez scores. 6 to 3, Beavers.

Won - 6 to 3

We had 9 hits and made 2 errors.
The Mets had 7 hits and made 1 error.

Ron Rau (W 5-6) went 8 innings, allowed 3 runs (2 earned), 7 hits, 1 home run, 1 walk and struck out 3.
LHP Jim Ackley (SV 1) went 1 perfect inning and struck out 1.

Nelson Taveras (L 4-4) went 3 innings, gave us 5 runs, 6 hits, 4 walks and struck out 3.

RF Jerry Alston had 3 hits with a double, stole a base and scored 2 runs. I do not know what to do when Lebron Williams comes back from the DL. Alston is hitting so well and he is the better fielder.... He is striking out a lot, but still getting his hits. Vicente Saavedra, in his Beaver debut, went 0-4 with an RBI and a strikeout and a GDP, but did make a nice catch in center. SS Rick Ferrell had 2 hits with a double and a walk, scored a run and had 2 RBIs. 3B Tim DePriest had a hit and a walk and 2 RBIs.

For the Mets, RF Howard Ammons hit his 6th home run of the season. CF Gary Brown, a $20 million ballplayer, has already missed 5 weeks with one injury and now will miss 2-3 more with another.

[Questdog]

Friday, June 8, 2001

New York Mets (26-34 .433 15.5 GB in 6th place in the NL East) at
Portland Beavers (23-36 .390 14 GB in 7th place in the NL West)

Bryan Upchurch, NYN (28 R 2-4 2.77 8.2-1.2-1.7-5.1 H/9-HR/9-BB/9-K/9) vs Edmondo Buenaventura, Por (31 R 1-7 5.71 9.9-0.7-3.6-5.9)

Upchurch is 5th in the NL in fewest BB/9.

This is Buenaventura's first start in a month. If he has a bad outing, he will be looking for employment elsewhere.

Lineups: Pos Name (Age Bats BA-HR-RBI-OPS)
NEW YORK (N)
1: SS Jesus Ramirez (22 S .294-3-20-.831 in 211 AB)
2: 2B Guillermo Valenzuela (24 S .275-2-15-.676 in 204 AB)
3: LF Larry Brown (28 R .264-5-24-.788 in 201 AB)
4: RF Howard Ammons (24 L .261-6-16-.798 in 111 AB)
5: 3B Virgil Northcutt (34 R .202-13-31-.688 in 218 AB)
6: C Bobby Pina (31 L .249-4-19-.715 in 177 AB)
7: 1B Manny Esquivel (28 L .310-9-32-.872 in 197 AB)
8: CF Bob Blair (26 L .324-3-10-.786 in 108 AB)
9: P Bryan Upchurch (28 R .040-0-2-.117 in 25 AB)

PORTLAND
1: RF Jerry Alston (28 L .364-0-3-.864 in 55 AB)
2: LF Frank Wiginton (30 S .289-3-22-.830 in 166 AB)
3: CF Rich Babbin (36 L .283-6-25-.816 in 159 AB)
4: 2B Fred Pariseau (31 R .236-5-22-.653 in 212 AB)
5: C Ron Charles (30 R .350-1-4-.967 in 20 AB)
6: 1B George Hopkins (29 S .222-2-10-.625 in 126 AB)
7: SS Rick Ferrell (25 R .237-1-7-.562 in 76 AB)
8: 3B Tim DePriest (26 R .136-0-3-.345 in 22 AB)
9: P Edmondo Buenaventura (31 R .067-0-1-.192 in 15 AB)

Game Start: 7:05 PM
Weather: 58 deg. Partly Cloudy with a 9 MPH wind blowing right to left.

Jesus Ramirez grounds out to 3rd. Guillermo Valenzuela grounds a hit up the middle and then steals 2nd. Larry Brown grounds out to short. Howard Ammons lines a hit to right and Valenzuela scores. 1 to 0, Mets. Full count to Virgil Northcutt and he takes ball four. Bobby Pina grounds out to 2nd.

Bottom of the 1st: Jerry Alston lines a hit to left. Frank Wiginton beats out an infield hit. Rich Babbin hits a rocket to the gap in right center and it bounces to the wall for a triple! 2 runs score! 2 to 1, Beavers! Fred Pariseau strikes out looking. Ron Charles up. Passed Ball! Babbin scores! 3 to 1, Beavers! Charles grounds out to 1st. 2 outs. George Hopkins grounds out to 1st.

Top of the 2nd: Manny Esquivel leads off with a double to right center, goes to 3rd on a hit by Bob Blair and scores on a fly ball by Jesus Ramirez. 3 to 2, Beavers.

Top of the 3rd: Larry Brown leads off with a double, but gets thrown out trying to steal 3rd.

Bottom of the 3rd: Frank Wiginton draws a 1-out walk and Rich Babbin erases him on a fielder's choice at 2nd. With 2 outs, Fred Pariseau drives one to center. Bob Blair gets there to catch it in plenty of time, but does NOT catch it for a 2-base error putting the runners at 2nd and 3rd. Ron Charles knocks a hit to left and Babbin scores. 4 to 2, Beavers!

Top of the 5th: Larry Brown knocks a 2-out hit, steals 2nd and goes to 3rd on C Ron Charles bad throws (E-2) and then scores on a wild pitch.... 4 to 3, Beavers.

Top of the 6th: Bobby Pina, their catcher, leads off with a triple to center. The lead-off hitters of their innings are now 4 for 6 with 2 doubles and a triple.... The only player to make outs leading off is their lead-off hitter, Jesus Ramirez. The Bullpen is alerted. Manny Esquivel knocks a 1-0 pitch into the right field seats for a home run.... 5 to 4, Mets.

Top of the 7th: New Pitcher: RHP Greg Richey. 2B Cary Gilreath, who came in last inning when Guillermo Valenzuela was injured, leads off with a home run to left. 6 to 4, Mets. Both Richey and Buenaventura have worn out their welcomes..... Larry Brown follows with another homer, this one to center for 422 ft. 7 to 4, Mets. After the next batter flies out to the warning track in center and then Virgil Northcutt singles, Richey is relieved and I am going to try hard to make this both he and Edmondo's final appearances as Beavers....

Bottom of the 7th: With 2 outs, Frank Wiginton singles and then Rich Babbin hits his 2nd triple of the game! 7 to 5, Mets. That sends P Bryan Upchurch to the showers. New pitcher: RHP Mario Gomez. Fred Pariseau pops out to 3rd to end the inning. I would not mind it if Pariseau hit the bricks, too, but his contract is going to make him hard to move. $6.6 million for this year and then he is a free agent. I have asked around before on him and the other GMs say they do not want an overpriced veteran....

Lost - 7 to 5

We had 10 hits and made 1 error.
The Mets had 14 hits and made 1 error.

Edmondo Buenaventura (L 1-8) went 6 innings, allowed 5 runs, 10 hits, 1 home run, 1 walk and struck out 5. He threw a run-scoring WP.
RHP Greg Richey went 1/3 of an inning, allowed 2 runs, 3 hits and 2 home runs.
LHP Pedro Huerta went 1.2 innings and retired all 5 batters he faced, striking out 3 of them!
RHP Neville Carter went 1 inning, allowed a hit, an intentional walk and struck out 2.

Bryan Upchurch (W 3-4) went 6.2 innings, gave us 5 runs (4 earned), 8 hits, 1 walk and struck out 3.
RHP Jack Ivy (SV 10) went 1 inning and gave us a hit.

RF Jerry Alston had 2 hits and scored a run. He has 12 hits in his last 6 games. LF Frank Wiginton had 3 hits and a walk and scored 2 runs. CF Rich Babbin hit 2 triples, scored 2 runs and had 3 RBIs. 1B George Hopkins had 2 hits.

For the Mets, LF Larry Brown had 3 hits with a double and his 6th home run of the season, stole a base and scored 2 runs. 1B Manny Esquivel had 2 hits with his 10th home run of the year, scored 2 runs and had 2 RBIs. 2B Cary Gilreath went 2 for 2 with his 1st home run and stole a base.

Down on the Farm: In his 1st start for us and his first after moving up from AA to AAA, Angel Rodriguez (23 R) pitched a 2-hit shutout for Indianapolis. He did not walk anyone and struck out 8. At bat, he had 2 hits and a home run, his 2nd this year! Okay, I think I know who will take Edmondo Buenaventura's spot in the rotation....

[Questdog]

Saturday, June 9, 2001

Trade!

True to my word, I made it so a handful of those players making my life miserable will make someone else's life miserable. This trade cost us more and I had to let two players got that i did not want to, but neither one would be here in 5 years in any event. Plus, Pittsburgh, the team we traded with, is over budget already, so we had to pretty much pay everyone's salary for this year. So now we are broke, too.

We sent Pittsburgh C Masanori Ishii (32 R), P Neville Carter (32 R), P Greg Richey (32 R), 2B Fred Pariseau (31 R), P Edmondo Buenaventura (31 R) and $8.8 million and the Pirates sent us 2B Mike Cavallaro (27 R), P Bruce Byrd (25 R), P Mike Lane (23 R), 2B Blaine Guyette (23 R) and LF Keith Page (19 R).

Assistant GM Ron Hensley thinks I am the greatest trader since Jack traded his cow for those beans! I hate to see Ishii and Carter go, but they are both 32 and would not be a part of the success story here in Portland in any event. The rest of them will not be missed. Well, the $8.8 million will be missed. That is mostly Fred Pariseau's fault. We had to pay his $6.6 million salary this season to get the Pirates to afford the trade.

What we got is mostly filler material, but one is a gem and another might be worth something. LF Keith Page (19 R) is the gem. He was the 11th pick of the 2000 draft out of high school in Warren, Ohio. He's smart and a very hard worker. SD Eddie Henderson thinks he has batting titles in his future. He can run, has a good eye and is a very tough out. He has some power, too, but that is not his strong suit. Baseball America had him ranked at 347 this Spring. P Mike Lane (23 R) is the one that might be worth something, or might not. He was drafted in the 2nd round in 1998 out of Dallas Baptist University. He throws very hard. His control and his secondary pitches are not quite as promising. I think he is a shoo-in to be a decent reliever with his fastball, but could be a very good starter if his curveball or changeup develop and he masters his control. He already has a decent good slider. He's also a pretty good hitter, batting .250 in his minor league career so far. Baseball America had him ranked at #171 this Spring. The other three are just throw ins, although Cavallaro is going to get a chance to win our vacated second base job. He has a solid glove and has hit decently in the minors, though without power. He was a 19th round draft pick by Toronto back in 1994 and made the Eastern League (AA) All-Star game last year. He's already been released three times, so we do not expect a lot.

P Angel Rodriguez (23 R), P Larry Castillo (27 R), P Freddy Arana (25 R) and C Rich Nolan (30 L) were promoted to Portland from Indianapolis (AAA).

New York Mets (27-34 .443 14.5 GB in 6th place in the NL East) at
Portland Beavers (23-37 .383 14 GB in 7th place in the NL West)

Myron McDowell, NYN (25 L 1-2 2.45 8.8-0.5-1.5-3.9 H/9-HR/9-BB/9-K/9) vs Pete Reilly, Por (27 R 3-1 2.84 8.3-1.4-4.0-4.7)

3B Tim DePriest is already booked on a flight for Indianapolis after tonight's game. We will recall 3B Joe Hartin after his 10 days in the minors are up today. If DePriest has a monster day, I might change my mind, but that seems extremely unlikely.

Lineups: Pos Name (Age Bats BA-HR-RBI-OPS)
NEW YORK (N)
1: SS Jesus Ramirez (22 S .288-3-21-.814 in 215 AB)
2: 2B Cary Gilreath (26 R .333-1-3-.766 in 27 AB)
3: LF Larry Brown (28 R .272-6-25-.817 in 206 AB)
4: RF Howard Ammons (24 L .270-6-17-.810 in 115 AB)
5: 3B Virgil Northcutt (34 R .203-13-31-.688 in 222 AB)
6: C Bobby Pina (31 L .254-4-19-.732 in 181 AB)
7: 1B Manny Esquivel (28 L .313-10-34-.894 in 201 AB)
8: CF Tom Wilson (28 R .298-0-5-.747 in 47 AB)
9: P Myron McDowell (25 L .200-0-0-.400 in 5 AB)

PORTLAND
1: CF Vicente Saavedra (26 .000-0-1-.000 in 4 AB)
2: 2B Mike Cavallaro (27 R Major League Debut .284-2-22-.729 in AAA)
3: 1B Ray Wilson (37 R .268-0-3-.671 in 56 AB)
4: C Ron Charles (30 R .333-1-5-.893 in 24 AB)
5: RF Eddie Cabrales (31 R First Game .258-1-2-.803 in 31 AB in AAA)
6: 3B Tim DePriest (26 R .120-0-3-.305 in 25 AB)
7: SS Rick Ferrell (25 R .225-1-7-.535 in 80 AB)
8: LF Frank Wiginton (30 S .300-3-22-.848 in 170 AB)
9: P Pete Reilly (27 R .286-0-2-.571 in 14 AB)

Game Start: 2:05 PM
Weather: 64 deg. Partly Cloudy with a 9 MPH wind blowing right to left.

Jesus Ramirez strikes out on three pitches! Cary Gilreath grounds out to short. Larry Brown pops out to short! 1-2-3!

Bottom of the 1st: Vicente Saavedra strikes out on three pitches. Mike Cavallaro, in his first major league at bat, hits one hard, but lines out to short. Ray Wilson grounds out to 3rd.

Bottom of the 2nd: Ron Charles leads off with a double into the left field corner, but the next three go down meekly.

Top of the 4th: Jesus Ramirez becomes their first base runner with a lead off walk and then steals 2nd, but is stranded their when the next three make outs.

Bottom of the 4th: Ray Wilson leads us off with a double to center. with 1 out, Eddie Cabrales lines a hit to center and Wilson scores, easily beating the throw! 1 to 0, Beavers! Cabrales moves up to 2nd on the play. Tim DePriest singles to left center and Cabrales scores! 2 to 0, Beavers!

Top of the 5th: With 2 outs, Manny Esquivel gets their first hit, a grounder into right. Tom Wilson follows with their 2nd hit, a grounder up the middle. P Myron McDowell gets their third hit of the game and third in a row and the bases are loaded with 2 outs for Jesus Ramirez. He taps one in front of the plate and C Ron Charles throws him out!

Top of the 7th: With 1 out, Manny Esquivel homers to straight away center. 435 ft. 2 to 1, Beavers.

Top of the 9th: New Pitcher: LHP Jim Ackley. Pinch-hitter: RHB Stu Redman. He strikes out on three pitches! As the rain begins to fall, Virgil Northcutt grounds a hit into left. Pinch-hitter: RHB Diego Martinez. .173 with a .497 OPS in 52 AB. He swings at the first pitch and doubles down the left field line. Northcutt tries to score from first, but Wiginton gets the ball in quickly to SS Rick Ferrell, who fires home for the out! 2 down. Martinez goes to 3rd on the play at the plate. Pinch-hitter: RHB Alan Landis. .213 with a .461 OPS in 89 AB. Call to the Bullpen: RHP Ron Beckman. Landis swings at the first pitch and sends it deep to center. CF Vicente Saavedra races back and has just enough room to make the catch! ....and THIS Ballgame Belongs to the Beavers!

Won - 2 to 1

It is uncanny that as bad as our lineup is against lefties that we manage to win against them! We are now 6-5 against southpaws on the season.

We had 4 hits and made no errors.
The Mets had 7 hits and made no errors.

Pete Reilly (W 4-1) went 8 innings, allowed 1 run, 5 hits, 1 home run, 1 walk and struck out 7. After winning his first two games mostly on luck, he has now pitched two straight gems, going at least 8 innings each time.
LHP Jim Ackley went 2/3 of an inning, allowed 2 hits and struck out 1.
RHP Ron Beckman (SV 6) faced 1 batter and retired him....barely, but an out is an out.

Myron McDowell (L 1-3) went 8 innings (CG), gave us 2 runs, 4 hits, 1 walk and struck out 5.

2B Mike Cavallaro, in his Major League Debut, went 0 for 4, but at least did not strike out. 1B Ray Wilson hit a double and scored a run. C Ron Charles hit a double.

For the Mets, 1B Manny Esquivel had 2 hits with his 11th home run of the season (2nd in two days).

[Questdog]

Sunday, June 10, 2001

3B Tim DePriest departed as scheduled last night for Indianapolis and 3B Joe Hartin is here for today's game.

New York Mets (27-35 .435 15.5 GB in 6th place in the NL East) at
Portland Beavers (24-37 .393 14 GB in 7th place in the NL West)

Harris Clay, NYN (35 R 6-3 2.68 7.9-0.8-1.8-7.6 H/9-HR/9-BB/9-K/9) vs Tony Ricketts, Por (26 R 2-7 4.35 9.1-1.4-1.9-5.5)

Clay is 8th in the NL in ERA, tied for 6th in wins, 7th in BB/9 (3rd on his team), 5th in SO, 7th in SO/9 and 4th in SO/BB.

Ricketts, who survived the two big trades still a Beaver (hopefully happily), even though he was the number one player every other GM asked about, is 8th in the NL in BB/9.

1B Manny Esquivel is slowly working his way up the batting order. He was in the #8 hole when this series began.

Lineups: Pos Name (Age Bats BA-HR-RBI-OPS)
NEW YORK (N)
1: SS Jesus Ramirez (22 S .284-3-21-.806 in 218 AB)
2: 2B Cary Gilreath (26 R .290-1-3-.668 in 31 AB)
3: LF Larry Brown (28 R .271-6-25-.811 in 210 AB)
4: RF Howard Ammons (24 L .263-6-17-.790 in 118 AB)
5: 3B Virgil Northcutt (34 R .204-13-31-.685 in 226 AB)
6: 1B Manny Esquivel (28 L .319-11-35-.915 in 204 AB)
7: C Bobby Pina (31 L .250-4-19-.721 in 184 AB)
8: CF Alan Landis (30 R .211-0-7-.456 in 90 AB)
9: P Harris Clay (35 R .160-0-3-.454 in 25 AB)

PORTLAND
1: RF Jerry Alston (28 L .361-0-3-.846 in 61 AB)
2: 2B Mike Cavallaro (27 R .000-0-0-.000 in 4 AB)
3: LF Frank Wiginton (30 S .295-3-22-.834 in 173 AB)
4: CF Rich Babbin (36 L .288-6-28-.845 in 163 AB)
5: 1B George Hopkins (29 S .231-2-10-.635 in 130 AB)
6: C Rich Nolan (30 L Major League Debut .273-2-6-.723 in 66 AB in AAA)
7: SS Rick Ferrell (25 R .217-1-7-.516 in 83 AB)
8: 3B Joe Hartin (32 R .185-0-1-.526 in 27 AB)
9: P Tony Ricketts (26 R .158-0-1-.358 in 19 AB)

Game Start: 2:05 PM
Weather: 71 deg. (1st time over 70 degrees all season!) Clear Skies with an 8 MPH wind blowing right to left.

Jesus Ramirez beats out an infield hit. He steals 2nd and goes to 3rd when C Rich Nolan throws the ball into center. E-2. He is a good catcher, hopefully just having Opening Night jitters. Cary Gilreath grounds out to short and Ramirez scores. 1 to 0, Mets. Larry Brown triples to right center. Howard Ammons grounds a hit past George Hopkins at 1st and Brown scores. 2 to 0, Mets. Virgil Northcutt grounds out to 1st and Ammons goes to 2nd. 2 outs. Manny Esquivel grounds one hard into the hole on the right side, but 2B Mike Cavallaro makes a great stop and throws him out!

Bottom of the 1st: Jerry Alston leads off with a walk. Mike Cavallaro grounds into a force at 2nd, 4-6. Frank Wiginton grounds into a 4-6-3 double play.

Bottom of the 2nd: Rich Babbin leads off with a home run to right! 2 to 1, Mets.

Bottom of the 4th: With 1 out, Frank Wiginton doubles and then immediately steals 3rd base. Rich Babbin grounds out to 1st and Wiginton scores to tie the game at 2.

Bottom of the 6th: With 1 out, Jerry Alston triples to center, but he is still there when the inning ends.

Bottom of the 8th: With 1 out, Joe Hartin hits a home run to left! 3 to 2, Beavers! That was pure genius, calling him back from Indianapolis!!

Top of the 9th: On the Hill: LHP Jim Ackley, beginning his 2nd inning of work. Pinch-hitter: RHB Diego Martinez. He grounds out to 3rd. Bobby Pina walks. Call to the Bullpen: RHP Ron Beckman. Tom Wilson swings at the first pitch hits his first home run of the season down the left field line.... 4 to 3, Mets.

Bottom of the 9th: New pitcher: RHP Jack Ivy, their closer. 10 SV and a 1.53 ERA. 31 SO in 29.1 IP. Full count to Rich Babbin and he takes ball four. George Hopkins swings at the first pitch and grounds into a 4-6-3 double play. My patience is wearing thin on him. I have given him every opportunity to succeed, but it seems he is just washed up at age 29.... Pinch-Hitter: LHB Randy Penn and his .188 average. He works the count full and takes ball four. Rick Ferrell works the count full and grounds out to the pitcher. Ballgame.

Lost - 4 to 3

We had 6 hits and made 1 error.
The Mets had 9 hits and made no errors.

Tony Ricketts went 6 innings, allowed 2 runs, 6 hits, 1 walk and struck out 6. 101 pitches.
RHP Freddy Arana went 1.1 innings, allowed 1 hit and struck out 2. He threw a WP.
LHP Jim Ackley went 1 inning, allowed 1 run, no hits, 1 walk and struck out 1.
RHP Ron Beckman (L 1-3) went 2/3 of an inning, allowed 1 run, 2 hits, 1 home run (to a straw hitter) and struck out 1. I am surely going to miss Neville Carter and his fastball....

Harris Clay (W 7-3) went 8 innings, gave us 3 runs, 6 hits, 2 home runs, 1 walk and struck out 3.
RHP Jack Ivy (SV 11) went 1 inning and gave us 2 walks.

RF Jerry Alston hit a double and a triple and drew a walk, but no runs or RBIs. LF Frank Wiginton hit a double, stole a base and scored a run. CF Rich Babbin hit his 7th home run of the season, drew a walk and had 2 RBIs. C Rich Nolan, in his Major League Debut (at age 30), went 0 for 3 with a strikeout and made an error. PH Randy Penn drew a walk. 3B Joe Hartin hit his 1st home run of the season.

For the Mets, LF Larry Brown had 3 hits with a triple and scored a run. PH/CF Tom Wilson hit his 1st home run of the season (not as a PH) and had 2 RBIs.

[Questdog]

June 11, 2001

Monday Morning Report

AL Player of the Week - Steve Carrillo, 3b, Detroit (27 L .395/.420/.625) Had 13 hits with 1 2B, 3 HR, 5 R and 7 RBI in 6 G His 3rd Player of the Week award this season.
NL Player of the Week - Don Quinones, ss, St. Louis (27 R .346/.473/.490) Had 12 hits with 2 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 5 BB, 7 R and 7 RBI in 6 G

(Slash lines are for the season, not the week)

June 4: RF Terry Hall of Montreal had 5 hits at Pittsburgh. All singles plus a walk. He scored a run and had 3 RBIs. The Expos won, 14 to 4.
June 5: Houston beat Colorado at home, 18 to 4. They had 19 hits and scored in every inning except the 2nd.
June 5: SS Dave Maurais of Washington had 5 hits at home versus New York (A). They were all singles and he scored twice and had an RBI. The Senators won, 10 to 6.
June 5: Minnesota beat Texas at home, 18 to 8. They scored in every inning but the first. The had 22 hits, 6 of which left the yard, all by 6 different players.
June 6: RF Charlie Reshard of Philadelphia had 5 hits at home versus New York (N). He hit a double and a home run, scored 3 runs and had 2 RBIs. The Phillies won, 12 to 4.
June 6: RF Jody Gannon of Chicago (A) hit 2 home runs at Milwaukee. He had 3 hits and 4 RBIs. The White Sox won, 8 to 1.
June 7: 3B Larry Menard of Chicago (N) hit 2 home runs at home versus Arizona. He had 4 hits and scored 3 runs. The Cubs won, 6 to 2.
June 8: 1B Raul Valadez of Chicago (A) hit 2 home runs at Boston. He had 3 hits and 2 walks. The White Sox lost, 8 to 3.
June 9: Montreal won at Los Angeles (N), 7 to 5, in 16 innings. The Dodgers scored 3 times in the bottom of the 9th to force overtime and no one scored until the 16th. C Dwight Smith of Montreal hit 2 home runs and had 3 hits and 2 walks and scored 4 runs.
June 9: RHP Greg Dollar of Texas pitched the first no-hitter of the 21st century at home versus Baltimore. He walks 2 and struck out 4. He is now 2-1 with a 3.60 ERA. The Rangers won, 8 to 0.
June 9: 1B Antonio Mata of Tampa Bay had 5 hits at Minnesota. He hit a double, stole a base, scored 2 runs and had an RBI. The Rays won, 12 to 3.

Random Fact of the Week: Small Markets Rule! The Royals have the largest budget of any of the teams currently in first place and they rank 15th of the 32 teams.

[Questdog]

Tuesday, June 12, 2001

RF Lebron Williams is ready to play, so he was activated from the Disabled List. Rich Doody was waived so we could send him to Indianapolis. I hate sending him out, as he has done a decent job, but Jerry Alston can't be sent down when he is hitting .375 and the other two outfielders are needed to face left-handed pitching. He'll be back, unless someone claims him on waivers.

We are in Houston to play a 2-game series with manager Champ Walker and his Astros. They are a very hot team right now. They beat the Marlins 3 out of 4 in Miami over the weekend and are now 8-1 in June. We are 2-3 against them on the season and split a 2-game set in Portland the last time we met, April 30 - May 1. They are 3rd in the National League in runs scored with 5.0 per game (Portland is #16 (last) with 3.6). They are last in the NL in doubles, but 1st in home runs. They have 85 HR in 62 G. They lead the NL in OPS. They are 4th in runs allowed with 3.7 per game (Portland is # 11 with 4.5). Their pitching staff leads the NL in ERA at 3.25.

Portland Beavers (24-38 .387 15 GB in 7th place in the NL West) at
Houston Astros (39-23 .629 in 1st place in the NL West)

Alan Gross, Por (26 L 3-2 3.63 9.1-1.1-2.5-6.5 H/9-HR/9-BB/9-K/9) vs Rich Clark, Hou (32 R 4-3 3.72 7.3-0.6-4.1-5.5)

Clay is 8th in the NL in H/9 and tied for 8th in most walks. We beat him on April 13, scoring 6 runs in 3.2 innings, but Lebron Williams and Rich Babbin are the only two players in the lineup today from that game.

Lineups: Pos Name (Age Bats BA-HR-RBI-OPS)
PORTLAND
1: LF Frank Wiginton (30 S .294-3-22-.833 in 177 AB)
2: 1B Ray Wilson (37 R .271-0-3-.687 in 59 AB)
3: RF Lebron Williams (32 L .290-4-19-.773 in 155 AB)
4: CF Rich Babbin (36 L .289-7-30-.863 in 166 AB)
5: C Ron Charles (30 R .321-1-5-.875 in 28 AB)
6: 3B Joe Hartin (32 R .200-1-2-.639 in 30 AB)
7: SS Rick Ferrell (25 R .207-1-7-.493 in 87 AB)
8: 2B Mike Cavallaro (27 R .125-0-0-.250 in 8 AB)
9: P Alan Gross (26 L .400-0-3-.955 in 20 AB)

HOUSTON
1: RF David Rodriguez (26 L .259-7-26-.740 in 216 AB)
2: 2B Jim Ellison (27 R .239-5-24-.665 in 188 AB)
3: C Howard Morrell (27 R .309-13-43-.961 in 204 AB)
4: LF Mike Cane (28 L .280-18-56-.889 in 250 AB)
5: 1B Dave Brown (31 R .279-8-33-.803 in 244 AB)
6: 3B Ron Janeiro (30 R .313-11-33-.986 in 163 AB)
7: SS Ed Larson (26 R .300-2-4-.847 in 60 AB)
8: CF Ken Kavulich (28 R .294-0-0-.588 in 17 AB)
9: P Rich Clark (32 S .160-0-3-.385 in 25 AB)

Game Start: 7:05 PM
Weather: 69 deg. Partly Cloudy with a 16 MPH wind blowing out to right.

Frank Wiginton grounds out to the pitcher. Ray Wilson grounds out to 3rd. Lebron Williams beats out an infield hit. Rich Babbin singles to right center. Ron Charles flies out to right.

Bottom of the 1st: David Rodriguez grounds out to 2nd. Jim Ellison pops out to the catcher. Howard Morrell walks. Mike Cane, who leads the NL in home runs, singles to center. Dave Brown walks to load the bases up with 2 outs. Ron Janeiro strikes out looking! Thank you, Mr. Ump! That pitch was pretty high.

Top of the 3rd: After striking out P Alan Gross, P Rich Clark walks the next three to load the bases up. Rich Babbin grounds into a force at 2nd, 4-6, and Frank Wiginton scores. 1 to 0, Beavers.

Bottom of the 3rd: Jim Ellison and Howard Morrell lead off with back-to-back singles. Mike Cane lines a hit to center and the bases are loaded with nobody out. Dave Brown knocks their 4th straight hit and Ellison scores to tie the game at 1. Ron Janeiro strikes out. Ed Larson flies out to left and Morrell heads home, but Frank Wiginton nails him! 3 outs!

Bottom of the 6th: With 2 outs, Ed Larson hits a home run to left. 422 ft. 2 to 1, Astros.

Bottom of the 7th: New Pitcher: LHP Pedro Huerta. Jim Ellison hits a 1-out double and then Howard Morrell walks. Pinch-hitter: RHB Roger Bradshaw. Call to the Bullpen: RHP Ron Beckman. Bradshaw doubles to left and Ellison scores. 3 to 1, Astros. But Beckman manages to wiggle out without any more runs scoring.

Lost - 3 to 1

We had 4 hits and made no errors.
The Astros had 9 hits and made no errors.

Alan Gross (L 3-3) went 5.2 innings, allowed 2 runs, 7 hits, 1 home run, 3 walks and struck out 8. The 8 K's ties the Beaver record, but he threw 116 pitches and could not face another batter to try to break the mark.
RHP Freddy Arana faced 1 batter and retired him.
LHP Pedro Huerta went 1/3 of an inning, allowed 1 run, 1 hit and 1 walk.
RHP Ron Beckman went 1.2 innings, allowed 1 hit and struck out 2.

Rich Clark went 5 innings, gave us 1 run, 2 hits, 3 walks and struck out 4.
RHP Mark Drumm (W 2-1) went 1 inning and gave us a hit.
RHP Gene Lynch (SV 19) went 1 inning, gave us a hit and a walk and struck out 1.

RF Lebron Williams had 2 hits and a walk. I have four outfielders that I wish could all play (at least against righties), but not a single infielder worth a nickel....

For the Astros, SS Ed Larson hit his 3rd home run of the season and drew a walk.

Down on the Farm: The Jacksonville Suns of the Southern League (AA) hit three home runs in the first inning of their game at Pensacola against the Wahoos. They lost, 4 to 3....

[Questdog]

Wednesday, June 13, 2001

Portland Beavers (24-39 .381 16 GB in 7th place in the NL West) at
Houston Astros (40-23 .635 in 1st place in the NL West)

Ron Rau, Por (29 R 5-6 3.62 9.4-0.9-2.1-4.8 H/9-HR/9-BB/9-K/9) vs Levell Garrett, Hou (34 R 1-0 2.51 8.8-0.0-0.6-4.4)

This will be Garrett's first start of the season. He has pitched 14.1 innings in relief so far, none against Portland.

Lineups: Pos Name (Age Bats BA-HR-RBI-OPS)
PORTLAND
1: LF Frank Wiginton (30 S .289-3-22-.823 in 180 AB)
2: 2B Randy Penn (32 L .186-0-6-.504 in 102 AB)
3: RF Lebron Williams (32 L .297-4-19-.787 in 158 AB)
4: CF Rich Babbin (36 L .288-7-31-.855 in 170 AB)
5: C Ron Charles (30 R .281-1-5-.771 in 32 AB)
6: 1B George Hopkins (29 S .224-2-10-.622 in 134 AB)
7: SS Rick Ferrell (25 R .200-1-7-.477 in 90 AB)
8: 3B Joe Hartin (32 R .206-1-2-.623 in 34 AB)
9: P Ron Rau (29 R .095-0-0-.232 in 21 AB)

HOUSTON
1: RF David Rodriguez (26 L .255-7-26-.727 in 220 AB)
2: 1B Dave Brown (31 R .279-8-34-.804 in 247 AB)
3: SS Paul Cook (26 L .255-14-34-.794 in 208 AB)
4: C Howard Morrell (27 R .311-13-43-.966 in 206 AB)
5: LF Mike Cane (28 L .285-18-56-.894 in 253 AB)
6: 3B Ron Janeiro (30 R .305-11-33-.963 in 167 AB)
7: 2B Jim Ellison (27 R .245-5-24-.677 in 192 AB)
8: CF Ken Kavulich (28 R .286-0-0-.571 in 21 AB)
9: P Levell Garrett (34 L .000-0-0-.000 in 2 AB)

Game Start: 7:05 PM
Weather: 74 deg. Partly Cloudy with a 12 MPH wind blowing out to center.

Frank Wiginton tries to bunt his way on, but misses it and so he lines a hit to left. Randy Penn grounds into a force at 2nd, 6-4. Lebron Williams swings a t a 3-0 pitch and grounds into a force a t 2nd, 4-6. 2 outs. Rich Babbin lines one to the right field corner, but David Rodriguez makes a sterling catch to end the inning.

Bottom of the 1st: David Rodriguez, flush from his great grab, strikes out. Dave Brown, 4th in the NL in runs scored, lines out to center. Paul Cook grounds out to 3rd. 1-2-3!

Top of the 2nd: Ron Charles leads us off with a home run to right center! 1 to 0, Beavers.

Bottom of the 3rd: With 1 out, David Rodriguez triples. Dave Brown follows with a grounder into left for a hit to tie the game at 1. Paul Cook then hits a perfect double play ball to SS Rick Ferrell, but he boots it. E-6. With 2 outs, Mike Cane singles to score Brown. 2 to 1, Astros. Ron Janeiro then homers to left. 5 to 1, Astros.

Bottom of the 4th: New Pitcher: LHP Steve Mulder. With 1 out, David Rodriguez flies out to left and Frank Wiginton trots in with the ball and sits on the bench and gets The Meister to rub his shoulder. I already used Jerry Alston, so Eddie Cabrales goes out to left. The Meister says it is nothing serious and that Wiginton should be fine in a week or less.

Top of the 5th: With 1 out, Lebron Williams homers to right. 5 to 2, Astros.

Lost - 5 to 2

Man, our offense is manure....

We had 12 hits and made 1 error.
The Astros had 8 hits and made no errors.

Ron Rau (L 5-7) went 3 innings, allowed 5 runs (1 earned), 6 hits, 1 home run, 1 walk and struck out 1. He threw a WP.
LHP Steve Mulder went 2 hitless innings, allowed 1 walk and struck out 1.
RHP Larry Castillo went 2/3 of an inning, allowed 1 hit, 2 walks and struck out 1.
LHP Pedro Huerta went 2.1 innings, allowed 1 hit and 1 walk.

Levell Garrett (W 2-0) went 6 innings, gave us 2 runs, 10 hits, 2 home runs, no walks and struck out 1.
RHP Gene Lynch (SV 20) went 1 inning, gave us a hit and struck out 1.

RF Lebron Williams had 2 hits with his 5th home run of the season. C Ron Charles had 2 hits with his 2nd home run of the year. 3B Joe Hartin had 3 hits. PH Rich Nolan hit a double.

For the Astros, 3B Ron Janeiro hit his 12th home run of the year and had 3 RBIs.

[Questdog]

Thursday, June 14, 2001

We are in Denver to play manager John Potter (49) and his Rockies a 4-game series through the weekend. They just split a 2-game set here with the Cardinals. The first time we met them, we took 3 of 4 in Portland, May 17-20. They are 2nd in the NL in runs scored with 5.2 per game (Portland is #16 (last) with 3.5). They are 2nd in batting average and 3rd in home runs. They are dead last (316) in runs allowed with 6.1 per game (that's a LOT, even for a team that plays half of its games in Coors - Portland is tied for #10 with 4.4). Their pitchers have a 5.68 ERA (Bullpen - 6.78) and the league is hitting .298 against them. If George Hopkins does not have a decent series here, he will be shipped out and not only him....

Portland Beavers (24-40 .375 17 GB in 7th place in the NL West) at
Colorado Rockies (35-30 .538 6.5 GB in 4th place in the NL West)

Pete Reilly, Por (27 R 4-1 2.54 7.8-1.4-3.5-5.3 H/9-HR/9-BB/9-K/9) vs Armando Blancas, Col (29 R 4-6 5.69 12.7-1.5-3.8-5.5)

Blancas has actually done better at here than on the road. He is 3-2 with a 4.42 ERA in Coors, but 1-4 with a 7.83 ERA away from home. When we faced him in Portland, we won 16 to 12!

I think we will wait and let P Angel Rodriguez make his Major League Debut in St. Louis on Tuesday. When I told him this, he said "I can pitch here. No one can hit me!" When I mentioned that he had allowed some hits in the minor leagues, he said,"They were lucky to hit what they could not see." I said, "Well, luck is all on the side of the batters here in Denver and they hit doubles and home runs on balls they cannot see."

Lineups: Pos Name (Age Bats BA-HR-RBI-OPS)
PORTLAND
1: RF Jerry Alston (28 L .364-0-3-.896 in 66 AB)
2: 3B Ray Wilson (37 R .254-0-3-.655 in 63 AB)
3: LF Lebron Williams (32 L .301-5-20-.805 in 163 AB)
4: CF Rich Babbin (36 L .287-7-31-.847 in 174 AB)
5: C Ron Charles (30 R .306-2-6-.878 in 36 AB)
6: 1B George Hopkins (29 S .219-2-10-.614 in 137 AB)
7: SS Rick Ferrell (25 R .202-1-7-.478 in 94 AB)
8: 2B Mike Cavallaro (27 R .091-0-0-.182 in 11 AB)
9: P Pete Reilly (27 R .250-0-2-.500 in 16 AB)

COLORADO
1: SS Tony Kraft (29 R .273-2-29-.648 in 289 AB)
2: 2B Jesus Lopez (33 R .268-0-19-.648 in 142 AB)
3: 1B Bobby Manzano (25 L .312-16-48-.965 in 221 AB)
4: CF Julio Chapa (26 R .262-13-47-.780 in 260 AB)
5: RF Jeff Johnson (26 L .360-8-32-.975 in 242 AB)
6: C Max Espinal (28 R .304-7-36-.838 in 204 AB)
7: LF Benton Bedard (31 R .242-12-26-.829 in 194 AB)
8: 3B Melvin Mendoza (31 R .229-11-34-.730 in 214 AB)
9: P Armando Blancas (29 R .133-0-2-.333 in 15 AB)

Game Start: 7:05 PM
Weather: 63 deg. Raining with a 15 MPH wind blowing in from center.

Jerry Alston leads off by taking a 3-2 pitch for ball four. Ray Wilson grounds into a 6-4-3 double play. Lebron Williams lines a hit to right. Rich Babbin takes a 3-2 pitch for ball four. Ron Charles pops out to short.

Bottom of the 1st: Tony Kraft grounds out to short. Jesus Lopez grounds out to 3rd. Bobby Manzano walks on four pitches. Julio Chapa, 5th in the NL in RBIs, grounds out to 3rd.

Top of the 2nd: 2 innings and we have grounded into 2 double plays....SS Rick Ferrell gave us this one.

Bottom of the 3rd: In a scenario handed down from the baseball gods, P Pete Reilly gets the first two batter out and then walks the bases loaded and then Julio Chapa gets their first hit of the game, a Grand Slam. 4 to 0, Rockies.

Bottom of the 4th: Melvin Mendoza leads off with a home run to left. 5 to 0, Rockies.

Top of the 5th: With 1 out, Rick Ferrell triples and scores on a fly ball. 5 to 1, Rockies.

Bottom of the 5th: On the Hill: RHP Larry Castillo, beginning his 2nd inning of work. Julio Chapa leads off with another home run. 6 to 1, Rockies. Chapa has now hit 2 home runs in a game for the 2nd day in a row.

Top of the 6th: Jerry Alston leads off with a triple and scores on a fly ball. 6 to 2, Rockies. Lebron Williams singles and then Rich Babbin hits a triple! 6 to 3, Rockies. He scores on a fly ball. 6 to 4, Rockies.

Top of the 7th: With 1 out, Mike Cavallaro singles, PH Frank Wiginton gets plunked and Jerry Alston beats out an infield hit to load the bases up, but Ray Wilson grounds into his 2nd double play of the day, 4-6-3.

Bottom of the 7th: New Pitcher: RHP Freddy Arana. The Rockies load the bases up with nobody out on a double and 2 walks. Melvin Mendoza then singles to score a run. 7 to 4, Rockies. A Wild Pitch makes it 8 to 4, Rockies. A fly ball makes it 9 to 4.... where is my Sudoku book? Oh, look, Julio Chapa has hit his 3rd home run of the game. Here it is....

Lost - 17 to 5

New team record for runs allowed by the Beavers.

We had 9 hits and made 1 error.
The Rockies had 14 hits and made 1 error.

Pete Reilly (L 4-2) went 3.1 innings, allowed 5 runs, 3 hits, 2 home runs, 7 walks and struck out 1. If you want to win in Coors, you cannot walk 7 batters in 3.1 innings....
RHP Larry Castillo went 2.2 innings, allowed 1 run, 3 hits, 1 home run and struck out 1.
RHP Freddy Arana went 2/3 of an inning, allowed 5 runs, 2 hits and 3 walks. He threw a WP.
LHP Jim Ackley went 1.1 innings, allowed 6 runs, 6 hits, 1 home run and struck out 1.

Armando Blancas (W 5-6) went 7 innings, gave us 4 runs, 8 hits, 1 HBP, 2 walks and struck out 2.

RF Jerry Alston had 2 hits with a triple and a walk and scored a run. LF Lebron Williams had 3 hits and scored 2 runs. CF Rich Babbin hit a triple, drew 2 walks, scored a run and had an RBI. SS Rick Ferrell hit a triple and scored a run. PH Frank Wiginton and PH Rich Nolan were both hit by pitches.

For the Rockies, 2B Jesus Lopez drew 4 walks, one with the bases loaded, and scored 2 runs. The 4 walks ties the 21st century major league record. C Max Espinal had 3 hits with a double and a walk and scored 2 runs. 3B Melvin Mendoza had 2 hits with his 12th home run of the season, drew a walk, scored 3 runs and had 2 RBIs. CF Julio Chapa had 4 hits with 3 home runs, including a Grand Slam, and had 10 RBIs. He is the 1st major league player to hit 3 home runs in a game in the 21st century and his 10 RBIs are a new record, surpassing the old record of 7. He hit 2 home runs yesterday here against St. Louis, but only had 3 RBIs.

Elsewhere: RHP Edmondo Buenaventura won his first start for the Pirates, allowing no runs and 2 hits in 7 innings at Atlanta. So he has now won as many games for them as he did for us in 9 starts. C Masanori Ishii hit a home run in the game. He is the starting catcher for the first place Pirates. Buenaventura is their #5 starter, RHP Greg Richey is their #2 setup man and RHP Neville Carter is their #1 middle reliever. 2B Fred Pariseau is their backup infielder.

[Questdog]

Friday, June 15, 2001

Our 2nd round pick in the June draft signed today and so we now have 29 of our 30 picks inked to contracts. 29th rounder Kyle Peters rebuffed our offer and will go to college. Editor's Note: I ALWAYS screw up and draft at least one IMPOSSIBLE to sign player every year! I ALMOST made it through this draft, though!

RHP Freddy Arana and RHP Larry Castillo were sent to Indianapolis and RHP's Jesus Cordova and Steve Plummer were flown here on the red-eye last night. I do not think they are any better than Arana or Castillo (in fact, I am certain that Plummer would be better off just tossing it underhand), but our bullpen is tired and the odds of us having a complete game in Coors are nil. We will make a similar move tonight, if necessary.

Portland Beavers (24-41 .369 18 GB in 7th place in the NL West) at
Colorado Rockies (36-30 .545 6.5 GB in 4th place in the NL West)

Tony Ricketts, Por (26 R 2-7 4.25 9.1-1.3-1.8-5.7 H/9-HR/9-BB/9-K/9) vs Rob Green, Col (31 R 3-2 4.43 8.6-0.9-3.3-3.3)

Green beat us in Portland, going 8 innings and allowing 3 runs.

Lineups: Pos Name (Age Bats BA-HR-RBI-OPS)
PORTLAND
1: RF Jerry Alston (28 L .371-0-3-.937 in 70 AB)
2: SS Randy Penn (.178-0-6-.482 in 107 AB)
3: LF Lebron Williams (32 L .311-5-20-.821 in 167 AB)
4: CF Rich Babbin (36 L .290-7-32-.866 in 176 AB)
5: C Ron Charles (30 R .282-2-7-.805 in 39 AB)
6: 1B George Hopkins (29 S .220-2-11-.611 in 141 AB)
7: 2B Mike Cavallaro (27 R .143-0-1-.276 in 14 AB)
8: 3B Joe Hartin (32 R .263-1-2-.712 in 38 AB)
9: P Tony Ricketts (26 R .150-0-1-.340 in 20 AB)

COLORADO
1: SS Tony Kraft (29 R .270-2-29-.644 in 293 AB)
2: 2B Jesus Lopez (33 R .264-0-20-.656 in 144 AB)
3: 1B Bobby Manzano (25 L .311-16-49-.962 in 225 AB)
4: CF Julio Chapa (26 R .271-16-57-.826 in 266 AB)
5: RF Jeff Johnson (26 L .356-8-32-.966 in 247 AB)
6: C Max Espinal (28 R .313-7-36-.857 in 208 AB)
7: LF Benton Bedard (31 R .239-12-26-.817 in 197 AB)
8: 3B Melvin Mendoza (31 R .234-12-36-.751 in 218 AB)
9: P Rob Green (31 R .333-0-3-.750 in 12 AB)

Game Start: 7:05 PM
Weather: 72 deg. Clear Skies with a 10 MPH wind blowing in from center.

Jerry Alston grounds out to 1st. Randy Penn grounds out to 1st. Lebron Williams swings at a 3-0 pitch and grounds out to 3rd.

Bottom of the 1st: Tony Kraft pops out to 3rd. Jesus Lopez takes a 3-2 pitch for ball four. Bobby Manzano grounds a 3-1 pitch into right for a hit and Lopez goes to 3rd. Julio Chapa strikes out on three pitches! 2 outs. Jeff Johnson grounds out to 1st!

Bottom of the 3rd: Jesus Lopez draws a 1-out walk, his 6th in the last 2 games, and then Bobby Manzano, who has not hurt us much so far this season, hurts us with a 2-run home run to left center. 425 ft. 2 to 0, Rockies.

Top of the 4th: Randy Penn gets a 1-out single and then steals 2nd. Lebron Williams doubles him home. 2 to 1, Rockies. A wild pitch sends Williams to 3rd and he scores on a ground out to tie the game at 2.

Top of the 8th: Still tied at 2. Joe Hartin hits a 1 out single. PH Frank Wiginton tries to bunt him over, but bunts into a force out, 1-6. Jerry Alston pops one up to first, but Bobby Manzano muffs it and runners are at 1st and 2nd with 2 outs. Randy Penn swings at the first pitch and grounds a hit up the middle and Wiginton scores! 3 to 2, Beavers! Lebron Williams grounds out to 1st to end the inning.

Bottom of the 8th: New Pitcher: RHP Ron Beckman. He sits their 3-4-5 hitters down in order!

Top of the 9th: New pitcher: RHP Tom Bergman. 8.14 ERA in 21 IP. 32 H. With 1 out, Ron Charles draws a walk and then George Hopkins sends him to 3rd with a single to right. Mike Cavallaro draws a walk to load the bases up. Joe Hartin pops out to first for the 2nd out and Frank Wiginton, playing with a bum shoulder (he stayed in to play left after he pinch-hit), grounds out to 1st to end the inning without any runs.... We go to the 9th only up 1....

Bottom of the 9th: Max Espinal leads off with a routine fly to left. Benton Bedard grounds out to 3rd. 2 outs. Melvin Mendoza up. He swings at a 2-2 pitch and grounds it up the middle. 2B Mike Cavallaro reaches it and fires to first to get him by a nose! ....and THIS Ballgame Belongs to the Beavers!

Won - 3 to 2

Tony Ricketts was our first pick in the Expansion Draft, and so will always be the Original Beaver and he will always have a job in Portland as long as he wants it. It may be that he has to wear the Bucky Beaver costume and greet children in the stands, but he'll have a job....

We had 6 hits and made no errors.
The Rockies had 5 hits and made 1 error.

Tony Ricketts went 6.2 innings, allowed 2 runs, 1 home run, 1 HBP, 2 walks and struck out 5.
LHP Jim Ackley (W 1-1) faced 1 batter and retired him.
RHP Ron Beckman (SV 7) went 2 perfect innings!

Rob Green (L 3-3) went 8 innings, gave us 3 runs (2 earned), 5 hits, 1 walk and struck out 5. He threw a WP.

SS Randy Penn had 2 hits, stole a base, scored a run and had an RBI. Lebron Williams hit a double, scored a run and had an RBI. 1B George Hopkins had 2 hits and a walk, but no runs or RBIs. He was caught stealing.

For the Rockies, 1B Bobby Manzano had 2 hits with his 17th home run of the season and had 2 RBIs, but he made a big error that helped us score a run.

[Questdog]

Saturday, June 16, 2001

We needed somebody to start this game to keep Angel Rodriguez from making his major league debut in Coors Field. So LHP Steve Mulder was waived to send to Indianapolis (AAA) and RHP Billy Rueter was called up to be the sacrificial goat. He has been at Indy for 15 days, so that is kosher. Since the two bums from Indy had not been used yesterday they will hang around to be thrown at the wolves today.

Portland Beavers (25-41 .379 17 GB in 7th place in the NL West) at
Colorado Rockies (36-31 .537 6.5 GB in 4th place in the NL West)

Billy Rueter, Por (28 R 0-1 3.09 10.0-1.5-3.9-3.9 H/9-HR/9-BB/9-K/9) vs Greg Douglas, Col (26 R 1-1 12.15 17.6-4.0-6.8-5.4)

This will be the second start for Douglas and his first in Denver. In his first, at Cincinnati, he gave up 5 runs and 9 hits in 4 innings. When I was looking around for trades last weekend, I almost pulled the trigger on a deal with the Rockies that would have included Douglas, so it will be entirely fitting if he were to shut us down today.

Lineups: Pos Name (Age Bats BA-HR-RBI-OPS)
PORTLAND
1: RF Jerry Alston (28 L .351-0-3-.889 in 74 AB)
2: 2B Mike Cavallaro (27 R .125-0-1-.292 in 16 AB)
3: LF Lebron Williams (32 L .310-5-21-.820 in 171 AB)
4: CF Rich Babbin (36 L .283-7-33-.848 in 180 AB)
5: C Ron Charles (30 R .262-2-7-.765 in 42 AB)
6: 1B George Hopkins (29 S .229-2-11-.629 in 144 AB)
7: SS Rick Ferrell (25 R .204-1-7-.499 in 98 AB)
8: 3B Joe Hartin (32 R .262-1-2-.692 in 42 AB)
9: P Billy Rueter (28 R .200-0-1-.400 in 5 AB)

COLORADO
1: SS Tony Kraft (29 R .269-2-29-.642 in 297 AB)
2: 2B Mike Campbell (30 R .317-3-17-.898 in 60 AB)
3: 1B Bobby Manzano (25 L .314-17-51-.975 in 229 AB)
4: CF Julio Chapa (26 R .267-16-57-.814 in 270 AB)
5: RF Jeff Johnson (26 L .355-8-32-.962 in 251 AB)
6: C Max Espinal (28 R .308-7-36-.848 in 211 AB)
7: LF Benton Bedard (31 R .239-12-26-.816 in 201 AB)
8: 3B Melvin Mendoza (31 R .230-12-36-.738 in 222 AB)
9: P Greg Douglas (26 R .500-0-1-1.000 in 2 AB)

Game Start: 2:05 PM
Weather: 75 deg. Clear Skies with an 8 MPH wind blowing in from center.

Jerry Alston strikes out. Mike Cavallaro lines a 3-2 pitch over the second baseman for a hit. Lebron Williams flies out to left, Benton Bedard making a shoestring catch to rob him of a hit. 2 outs. Rich Babbin up. Wild Pitch! Full count and Babbin takes ball four. Ron Charles grounds out to short.

Bottom of the 1st: Tony Kraft leads off with a double to left center. Mike Campbell flies out to center. Bobby Manzano up. Kraft steals 3rd, but it is pointless as Manzano jacks a home run to right. 2 to 0, Rockies. Julio Chapa jerks one down the left field line. If it stays fair it is a home run....it is fair. 3 to 0, Rockies. Jeff Johnson, who leads the NL in runs scored, takes a 3-2 pitch for ball four. Well, all was not wasted in selecting Rueter. He DID get one man out, after all.... Mac Espinal grounds a hit to left. Now, the Rockies get arrogant and try a double steal, but C Ron Charles throws Johnson out at 3rd. 2 down. Benton Bedard hits one to straight away center, over Rich Babbin's head for a triple. 4 to 0, Rockies. Yeah, he is 1 for 7 in getting batters out now.....Melvin Mendoza pops out to 3rd! 2 for 8!

Bottom of the 2nd: P Greg Douglas leads off and hits a 410 ft. home run to right center. 5 to 0, Rockies. P Billy Rueter is staying in for a while.....

Top of the 3rd: Jerry Alston leads off with a hit and with 1 out, Lebron Williams doubles to right center to put runners at 2nd and 3rd. Rich Babbin grounds out to short and Alston scores. 5 to 1, Rockies. Ron Charles grounds a hit up the middle to score Williams. 5 to 2, Rockies.

Bottom of the 4th: Melvin Mendoza leads off with a hit and P Greg Douglas tries to bunt him over, but he bunts one right back to P Bully Rueter, who fumbles it, losing the chance for the force at 2nd and then rushes the throw to first and throws it away for a 2-base error. 2nd and 3rd with no one out. Get one of those bums from Indy up in the pen! Tony Kraft lines a hit to left and 1 run scores. 6 to 2, Rockies. With 1 out, Bobby Manzano lines a hit up the middle, scoring another run. 7 to 2, Rockies. With 2 outs, Jeff Johnson beats out an infield hit to load the bases up and then Max Espinal doubles to empty them. 10 to 2, Rockies. Dang! I left the Sudoku book at the hotel.... Maybe they have one here in the gift shop....

Lost - 10 to 4

The "two bums from Indy" finished up the game without allowing the Rockies to score any more runs. 4.1 innings and only 1 hit, 3 walks and 3 strikeouts. It was the Major League Debut for each of them. I am at a loss to explain this, except that maybe the Rockies were just tuckered out from all the base running already. Their combined line at Indianapolis: 5.04 ERA .308 Opp. BA. 50 IP 66 H 5 HR 27 BB 28 SO.

We had 9 hits and made 1 error.
The Rockies had 13 hits and made no errors.

Billy Rueter (L 0-2) went 3.2 innings, allowed 10 runs (6 earned, but his own error), 12 hits, 3 home runs, 1 walk and struck out 2.
RHP Jesus Cordova, in his Major League Debut at age 28, went 1.1 hitless innings, walked 2 and struck out 1.
RHP Steve Plummer, in his Major League Debut at age 26, went 3 innings, allowed 1 hit, 1 walk and struck out 2. That might end up being his complete major league career! He will at least have something to brag about to his grand kids!

Greg Douglas (W 2-1) went 5.1 innings, gave us 4 runs, 7 hits, 2 walks and struck out 5. He threw a WP. At bat, he hit a home run and drew a walk and scored 2 runs.

LF Lebron Williams hit a double and scored a run. George Hopkins hit a double, drew a walk and scored a run. 3B Joe Hartin had 2 hits and an RBI.

For the Rockies, 1B Bobby Manzano had 3 hits with his 18th home run of the season, drew a walk, scored 2 runs and had 3 RBIs. CF Julio Chapa hit his 17th home run of the year. He now has 6 against the Beavers; no one else has more than 2. C Max Espinal had 2 hits with a double, scored a run and had 3 RBIs.

Down on the Farm: The Southern League and the California League both had their All-Star Games today.

In the Southern League (AA), the following Jacksonville Suns were selected for the game: SP Gary Gay (27 R), SP Willie Quiroz (27 R), 1B Danny Hernandez (22 L), 2B Taylor Cohen (26 R) and CF Sal Ramos (31 R). They all played. Neither Gay nor Quiroz allowed a run in their brief outings. Hernandez, the only prospect in the bunch, and Cohen started the game. Hernandez was 0 for 4, but Cohen hit a home run. Ramos struck out pinch-hitting. The South Division (our division) lost, 9 to 4. Taylor Cohen's not a prospect, but he might be the best 2nd baseman in our organization now and could conceivably end up in Portland before the season is through.

In the California League (A+), the following Stockton Ports were selected to participate: SP Danny Roberson (26 L), RP Mike Nichols (25 R) and C Richie Chapman (27 S), not a single prospect to be found. Roberson pitched and suffered the loss, allowing 3 runs in 2/3 of an inning. Nichols pinned the loss on Roberson by giving up the hits that scored the runners Roberson put on base. Now, THAT's teamwork! Chapman got to pinch-hit, but made an out. The North Division (our division ) lost, 7 to 6.

Elsewhere: CF Scott Setta started his first game for the Giants and hit a 2-run home run and drew a walk. The Giants beat the Dodgers at home, 3 to 1.

[Questdog]

Sunday, June 17, 2001

Portland Beavers (25-42 .373 18 GB in 7th place in the NL West) at
Colorado Rockies (37-31 .544 6.5 GB in 4th place in the NL West)

Alan Gross, Por (27 L 3-3 3.60 9.2-1.1-2.7-7.0 H/9-HR/9-BB/9-K/9) vs Tom Herrig, Col (31 R 2-1 3.13 8.5-0.6-2.8-6.3)

This will be the 2nd start for Herrig with the Rockies. He was with the Mets earlier and pitched fairly well, but they released him on June 1. I am guessing, but he probably refused a demotion to AAA.

If you are a fan of 1B George Hopkins, this is your chance to say goodbye. Unless he has a big game, he will be sent out. And he may not be they only one. Tomorrow is an off day and I plan on doing some light house-cleaning....

Lineups: Pos Name (Age Bats BA-HR-RBI-OPS)
PORTLAND
1: RF Jerry Alston (28 L .342-0-3-.859 in 79 AB)
2: 2B Mike Cavallaro (27 R .143-0-1-.317 in 21 AB)
3: LF Lebron Williams (32 L .309-5-21-.818 in 175 AB)
4: C Ron Charles (30 R .261-2-8-.742 in 46 AB)
5: 1B George Hopkins (29 S .231-2-11-.640 in 147 AB)
6: 3B Joe Hartin (32 R .283-1-3-.718 in 46 AB)
7: CF Vicente Saavedra (26 R .000-0-1-.125 in 7 AB)
8: SS Rick Ferrell (25 R .208-1-7-.511 in 101 AB)
9: P Alan Gross (27 L .364-0-3-.871 in 22 AB)

COLORADO
1: SS Tony Kraft (29 R .272-2-30-.648 in 302 AB)
2: 2B Jesus Lopez (33 R .262-0-20-.660 in 145 AB)
3: 1B Bobby Manzano (25 L .322-18-54-.999 in 233 AB)
4: CF Julio Chapa (26 R .265-17-58-.817 in 275 AB)
5: RF Jeff Johnson (26 L .358-8-32-.969 in 254 AB)
6: C Max Espinal (28 R .312-7-39-.856 in 215 AB)
7: LF Javier Alvarez (32 R .317-3-10-1.009 in 41 AB)
8: 3B Melvin Mendoza (31 R .230-12-36-.734 in 226 AB)
9: P Tom Herrig (31 L .429-0-0-1.000 in 7 AB)

Game Start: 1:05 PM
Weather: 67 deg. Partly Cloudy with an 11 MPH wind blowing in from center.

Jerry Alston pokes a hit to right. Mike Cavallaro takes a 3-2 pitch for strike three. It was a good foot high.... Lebron Williams lines a hit to right. Ron Charles pops out to first. 2 outs. George Hopkins flies out to shallow center. I like to listen to the radio broadcasts while I am at the games and I swear every time Hopkins is up the announcer describes the balls he hits as either "tapping" it somewhere, or hitting it "softly" or, as this one, "poking" it....

Bottom of the 1st: Full count to lead-off hitter Tony Kraft and he swings at the payoff pitch and lines a hit past short. On the first pitch to Jesus Lopez, Kraft steals 2nd. Lopez lines out to short. With Bobby Manzano up, Kraft tries for 2rd, but Ron Charles nails him! 2 outs. Manzano strikes out!

Top of the 2nd: We load the bases up with two outs, helped by a beaning of our pitcher, Alan Gross, but Mike Cavallaro grounds out to end the inning.

Bottom of the 3rd: Javier Alvarez and Melvin Mendoza lead off the inning with back-to-back singles. After P Tom Herrig bunts them up to 2nd and 3rd, P Alan Gross strikes out Tony Kraft and Jesus Lopez to get out of the jam!

Top of the 6th: Still no score. Rick Ferrell draws a 2-out walk and then P Alan Gross dumps a hit to right and Ferrell goes to 3rd. Jerry Alston rips a grounder past the diving second baseman for a hit and Ferrell scores! 1 to 0, Beavers! Mike Cavallaro up and for once, he does not end an inning! He lines a hit to left and Gross tries to score from 2nd and he does, without a throw! 2 to 0, Beavers!

Bottom of the 6th: With 1 out, Julio Chapa doubles down the left field line and with 2 outs, Max Espinal homers to left. 422 ft. Tie game: 2 to 2.

Bottom of the 8th: New Pitcher: LHP Jim Ackley. With 1 out, he walks PH Vern Deccio and then Julio Chapa beats out an infield hit. He walks PH Benton Bedard to load the bases. Pinch-hitter: RHB Mike Campbell. Call to the Bullpen: RHP Ron Beckman. Campbell is allowed to hit and grounds into a force at the plate, 6-2. 2 outs. Javier Alvarez swings at the first pitch and hits an inning-ended grounder to 3rd that will get us out of the jam with no runs scored, but Joe Hartin boots it. E-5. 3 to 2, Rockies. Melvin Mendoza then makes my heart leap by hitting one to the warning track in right center, but Rich Babbin, now in center, tracks it down to end the inning.

Top of the 9th: New pitcher: RHP Tom Bergman, their closer. Unbelievably, even though he has a 7.89 ERA and has allowed 33 hits, including 3 home runs, and has walked 11 in 21.2 IP, he has converted 11 of 12 save opportunities. Lebron Williams swings at the first pitch and lines a hit to right. Ron Charles flies out to right. George Hopkins, his last chance to do something to save his job, swings at a 3-2 pitch and flies out "softly" to left. 2 outs. Joe Hartin, with a chance to redeem himself for the error last inning, swings at the first pitch and sends one down the right field line that maybe, could be....not gone, but off the top of the wall for a double and Williams races around and scores from 1st! Tie game! 3 to 3. Randy Penn up. He came in when we pinch-hit for Mike Cavallaro earlier, so their is no one else to play second and he must hit. He strikes out looking.

Bottom of the 9th: C Russ Barnes leads off with a bloop single to right. Tony Kraft beats out an infield hit. LHP Pedro Huerta is available, but by the time we reach a lefty in the order, the game will be over, so the ball is in Ron Beckman's hands, come what may. Jesus Lopez tries to bunt the runners over but pops it up and P Beckman makes a diving catch for the first out! RF Vern Deccio bounces one right back to the mound for an easy double play, but SS Rick Ferrell drops the throw at 2nd and every one is safe. E-6. Bases loaded, 1 out. We are going to lose, on not one, but TWO late inning errors by usually sure-handed defenders. Sometimes, the baseball gods just need you to lose to keep the Cosmos in balance.... Julio Chapa up.... Do I have to watch? He flies out to center and the slow-footed Barnes tags up at 3rd and heads home....Rich Babbin's throw is wide to the first base side of the plate and C Ron Charles moves over to snatch it, but cannot get back in time to tag Barnes, who slides in safely with the winning run....

Lost - 4 to 3

We had 13 hits and made 2 errors.
The Rockies had 11 hits and made 1 error.

Alan Gross went 7 innings, allowed 2 runs, 8 hits, 1 home run, no walks and struck out 5. At bat, he had a hit, got hit by a pitch and scored a run.
LHP Jim Ackley went 1/3 of an inning, allowed 1 unearned run, 1 hit and 2 walks.
RHP Ron Beckman (L 1-4) went 1.1 innings, allowed 1 unearned run and 2 hits.

Tom Herrig went 6 innings, gave us 2 runs, 10 hits, 1 HBP, 1 walk and struck out 4.
RHP Tom Bergman (W 4-1) went 1 inning, gave us 1 run, 2 hits and struck out 1.

RF Jerry Alston had 3 hits and an RBI. LF Lebron Williams had 3 hits and scored a run. 3B Joe Hartin had 2 hits with a double and an RBI. PH/CF Rich Babbin had a hit.

For the Rockies, SS Tony Kraft had 3 hits and stole a base. C Max Espinal hit his 8th home run of the season and had 2 RBIs.

[Questdog]

June 18, 2001

Monday Morning Report

AL Player of the Week - Steve Carrillo, 3b, Detroit (27 L .393/.414/.636) Had 10 hits with 2 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 5 R and 5 RBI in 6 G His 4th Player of the Week award this season and 2nd in a row. How many players have ever won the POW in a week that saw their batting average drop? Carrillo just did....
NL Player of the Week - Floyd Miller, ss, San Diego (27 R .284/.367/.498) Had 12 hits with 1 2B, 5 HR, 5 R and 13 RBI in 6 G Sure thought Julio Chapa would be the winner. He had 6 HR, 8 R and 15 RBI.

(Slash lines are for the season, not the week)

June 11: RHP Phil Putnam of San Francisco pitched a 3-hit shutout at home versus Arizona. He walked 1 and struck out 8. He is now 5-4 with a 3.42 ERA. The Giants won, 6 to 0.
June 13: CF Julio Chapa of Colorado hit 2 home runs at home versus St. Louis. He had 3 hits and 3 RBIs. The Rockies won, 9 to 3.
June 13: Boston scored three times in the bottom of the 9th to beat Washington, 5 to 4. A 1-out, 1-run double by 2B Bob Meyer ended the game.
June 14: LHP Doug Stone pitched a 5-hit shutout at Chicago (N). He did not walk a batter and struck out 4. He is now 6-1 with a league-leading 1.55 ERA. The Expos won, 5 to 0. It is his first complete game shutout of the season, but the 5th shutout he has started, which leads the major leagues.
June 14: LF Mike Cane of Houston hit 2 home runs at home versus San Diego. He had 4 RBIs. The Astros won, 10 to 8. Cane is the first major leaguer to reach 20 home runs on the season. It was the Astro's 65th game of the season, so Cane is on pace to hit 49.8 for the year. His 2nd home run came off a lefty, only the 2nd of his 20 that come off left-handed pitching, against whom he is hitting .194.
June 14: LHP Greg Weber of San Francisco pitched a 4-hit shutout at home versus Los Angeles (N). We walked 2 and struck out 3. He is now 6-5 with a 2.55 ERA. The Giants won, 9 to 0. It is Weber's 2nd shutout of the season, tying him for the major league lead.
June 15: St. Louis had two players each hit a pair of home runs at Arizona. 1B Miguel Medina had 3 hits, drew a walk, scored 3 runs and had 4 RBIs. C Art Green also hit a double, drew a walk and had 6 RBIs. The Cardinals won, 15 to 4.
June 15: LHP Bob Guardado of Kansas City pitch a rain-shortened 6 inning shutout at home versus Minnesota. He allowed 3 hits, no walks and struck out 5. He is now 5-0 with a 2.03 ERA. The Royals won, 7 to 0.
June 16: Each team had a player hit 2 home runs in the San Diego at Houston game. SS Floyd Miller of San Diego had 3 hits and 5 RBIs. Doug Frain of Houston did not start the game, but led off the 7th inning with hit a pinch-hit home run and when his team batted around, he hit another, this one a Grand Slam! The Astros scored 11 runs in the inning. Miller's 2 home runs were the only ones hit by San Diego, but Houston hit 7 all together, 6 in that 7th inning! The Astros won, 12 to 7.
June 17: 1B Manny Esquivel of New York (N) hit 2 home runs art Cincinnati. He had 4 RBIs. The Mets won, 9 to 1.
June 17: CF Joe Gombos of Chicago (N) hit 2 home runs at home versus Montreal. The Cubs lost, 3 to 2.
June 17: LF Mike Cane of Houston hit 2 home runs at home versus San Diego. He had 4 hits with a double and a Grand Slam and 6 RBIs. The Astros won, 7 to 1. He now has 68 RBIs in the Astros 68 games. Let me do the math....that is a pace for 162 RBI on the season!
June 17: LHP Don Hinkle of Chicago (A) pitched a 5-hit shutout at home versus Texas. He walked 1 and struck out 10. He is now 3-9 with a 4.02 ERA. The White Sox won, 5 to 0.

Random Fact of the Week: In the voting for the All-Star Game, there is quite a race for the starting spot among NL catchers. Stan Brown of San Francisco currently leads, with Howard Morrell of Houston second and Dwight Smith of Montreal in third. Less than 45,000 votes separate first from third place.

[Questdog]

Monday, June 18, 2001

Off day for the team, but, as promised, I did some light house cleaning. Very light. I tried to trade for a mediocre right-handed first baseman to use in a platoon, but the other GMs in this league are all idiots. It is impossible to make a small trade with them, i.e. mediocre player for mediocre player. None of them would talk to me at all unless I included a player 10 times better than the one I wanted. Of course, then they would give me more, but more is not want I wanted! I am talking 35 yr.old has beens in AAA that I was trying to pickup. I was even willing to offer a prospect, but not a Top 50-rated one, so they had no desire to talk....idiots.

1B George Hopkins, 1B/3B Ray Wilson and 2B Mike Cavallaro were sent to the minors and 1B Rick Deveney, 3B Jim Eighmy and SS Ivan Lopez were called up. Lopez cannot hit at all, but he is a Gold Glove caliber shortstop, much better than anyone else we have. He'll play short and the previous two shortstops, Randy Penn and Rick Ferrell will platoon at second. The three pitchers added over the weekend will stick around until the ones sent down spend their 10 days in purgatory, although I may rotate them for other bums before that.

[Questdog]

Tuesday, June 19, 2001

We are in St. Louis to play manager Eddie Cape (59) and his Cardinals a short 2-game series. They beat the Diamondbacks 3 of 4 over the weekend. We are 2-2 against them on the season and split 2 games in Portland the last time we met, June 5-6. They are 5th in runs scored with 4.6 per game (Portland is #16 (last) with 3.5). They are 3rd in batting average and OPS and their batters have the fewest strikeouts in the NL. They are 6th in runs allowed with 3.9 per game (Portland is #13 at 4.7). Their pitchers have the 2nd lowest OPP BA.

Portland Beavers (25-43 .368 19 GB in 7th place in the NL West) at
St. Louis Cardinals (40-28 .588 4 GB in 2nd place in the NL West)

Angel Rodriguez, Por (23 R Major League Debut 8-2 2.10 6.8-0.1-2.3-5.8 in AA and AAA H/9-HR/9-BB/9-K/9) vs Ron Desmarais, StL (35 R 6-5 4.64 8.6-1.5-3.3-5.9)

Desmarais beat us, 5 to 1, here in St. Louis on April 17. In 5 innings, he gave us 1 run, 4 hits, 1 walk and struck out 4.

Angel Rodriguez makes his Major League Debut. I hope he is ready. Certainly, he should at least be better than Andy Chase or Billy Rueter. He is not a strikeout pitcher, succeeding by keeping the ball down and in the zone with four solid pitches: a cutter, a curve, a changeup and a forkball. He is from Columbia and is a pretty good hitter to boot, with 2 home runs in the minors this year. His last start was his AAA debut and he pitched a 2-hit shutout and hit a home run.

SS Ivan Lopez will also be making his Major League Debut. If he can keep from striking out every time and not make any errors, we will consider it a success.

Lineups: Pos Name (Age Bats BA-HR-RBI-OPS)
PORTLAND
1: RF Jerry Alston (28 L .357-0-4-.878 in 84 AB)
2: 2B Randy Penn (32 L .188-0-7-.495 in 112 AB)
3: LF Frank Wiginton (30 S .286-3-22-.815 in 185 AB)
4: CF Rich Babbin (36 L .288-7-34-.854 in 184 AB)
5: 3B Joe Hartin (32 R .294-1-4-.745 in 51 AB)
6: 1B Rick Deveney (28 L .172-0-0-.557 in 29 AB)
7: C Ron Charles (30 R .235-2-8-.673 in 51 AB)
8: SS Ivan Lopez (25 R Major League Debut .257-0-10-.649 in 109 AB in AAA)
9: P Angel Rodriguez (23 R Major League Debut .235-2-6-.669 in 34 AB in AA and AAA)

ST. LOUIS
1: RF Doyle Campbell (26 R .297-2-22-.719 in 286 AB)
2: 2B Steve Cargile (30 R .257-2-22-.730 in 241 AB)
3: 1B Miguel Medina (25 R .318-10-48-.903 in 267 AB)
4: LF Fred Keith (29 S .312-5-25-.854 in 157 AB)
5: 3B Dave Strong (31 R .282-4-17-.817 in 124 AB)
6: CF Willie Cardona (27 R .271-6-28-.804 in 199 AB)
7: C Rich Eden (30 L .298-3-7-.825 in 84 AB)
8: SS Hector Molina (30 R .220-2-10-.603 in 159 AB)
9: P Ron Desmarais (35 R .192-0-1-.385 in 26 AB)

Game Start: 7:05 PM
Weather: 77 deg. Clear Skies with a 19 MPH wind blowing in from right.

Jerry Alston swings at a 3-1 pitch and flies out to left. Randy Penn swings at the first pitch and lines a hit past the shortstop. He steals 2nd. Frank Wiginton strikes out. 2 down. Rich Babbin strikes out on three pitches.

Bottom of the 1st: Doyle Campbell, 2nd in the NL in stolen bases, swings at a 3-1 pitch and grounds out to 2nd. Steve Cargile grounds out to short. Ivan Lopez, making the first play of his major league career, bobbles the ball momentarily, but recovers and gets the out. Miguel Medina hits a 1-0 pitch to deep center but Rich Babbin has no trouble running it down! 1-2-3!

Top of the 2nd: Rick Deveney leads off with a blast to center! Home Run! 426 ft. 1 to 0, Beavers! Bringing him back was pure genius!

Bottom of the 2nd: Willie Cardona gets their first hit with a double to the wall in right center with 2 outs. P Angel Rodriguez does not lose his composure, however, and strikes out the next hitter, Rich Eden, to end the inning!

Top of the 5th: The first time through our order, P Ron Desmarais struck out 5, including SS Ivan Lopez in his first major league at bat. His 2nd time up, he lead us off with a line drive hit to left! P Angel Rodriguez bunts him over to 2nd and then he steals 3rd and scores on a Jerry Alston ground out. 2 to 0, Beavers!

Bottom of the 6th: Doyle Campbell leads off with a walk and then steals 2nd and 3rd and scores on a fly ball by Miguel Medina. 2 to 1, Beavers.

Top of the 8th: Jerry Alston leads off with a little poke hit to left. Randy Penn bunts him up and then Frank Wiginton grounds a ball to 2nd that hits something and bounces over the second baseman for a hit and Alston scores from 2nd! 3 to 1, Beavers!

Bottom of the 8th: With 1 out, Steve Cargile draws a walk, because that is what he does, but P Angel Rodriguez get the dangerous Miguel Medina to bounce into a 5-4-3 double play to end the inning!

Bottom of the 9th: P Angel Rodriguez is at 100 pitches. Fred Keith leads off with a walk and we make the Call to the Bullpen: RHP Ron Beckman. Dave String pops out to 1st. Pinch-hitter: LHB Frank Winters. He flies out to left. 2 outs. Rich Eden lines a 1-0 pitch towards 3rd and Joe Hartin makes a diving catch! ....and THIS Ballgame Belongs to the Beavers!

Won - 3 to 1

We had 8 hits and made no errors.
The Cardinals had 4 hits and made no errors.

Angel Rodriguez (W 1-0) went 8+ innings, allowed 1 run, 4 hits, 5 walks and struck out 4. He threw a WP. He has better control than the 5 walks and WP would indicate, but two of them went to Steve Cargile, who already has 47 on the season. Just some butterflies, I am sure.
RHP Ron Beckman (SV 8) went 1 inning and retired all 3 batters he faced. He is not a strikeout pitcher either, but so far has been out most effective reliever.

Ron Desmarais (L 6-6) went 7.1 innings, gave us 3 runs, 7 hits, 1 home run, 2 walks and struck out 7.

1B Rick Deveney, in his triumphal return from exile and in only his 3rd start of the season, hit his first home run of the year. SS Ivan Lopez, in his Major League Debut, went 1 for 4 with a strikeout and scored a run and played good D, starting a double play.

Down on the Farm: The South Atlantic League (A) had its All-Star Game today. The following Lexington Legends were selected to play: SP Frank McGlone (26 R), RP Nelson Cintora (26 R) and that is it. Neither is a prospect. McGlone pitched 2/3 of an inning and gave up a walk and 3 hits and a run. Cintora pitched 1.1 innings and struck out 3. The Northern Division (our division) won, 4 to 2.

[Questdog]

Wednesday, June 20, 2001

Our game with St. Louis was rained out and rescheduled for September 14 as part of a double header.

[Questdog]

Thursday, June 21, 2001

We are back home to face manager Bill Reichel (61) and his Cubs in a 4-game series through the weekend. They swept 2 games from Cincinnati on Monday and Tuesday. This is our first meeting with them. They are 8th in the National League in scoring with 4.2 runs per game (Portland is #16 (last) with 3.5). They are 15th in runs allowed with 5.3 per game (Portland is #11 with 4.6). Their pitchers lead the league with the most home runs allowed, by far. 86 for them in 71 G and 73 for the Dodgers in 69 G. 3rd worst is the Portland Beavers with 71 in 69 G.

Chicago Cubs (30-41 .423 16.5 GB in 7th place in the NL East) at
Portland Beavers (26-43 .377 17.5 GB in 7th place in the NL West)

Antonio Loera, ChN (31 R 5-7 3.04 8.1-0.8-2.7-8.8 H/9-HR/9-BB/9-K/9) vs Tony Ricketts, Por (26 R 2-7 4.13 8.9-1.3-1.9-5.8)

Loera is their $19 million Ace. He is second in the NL in strikeouts and first in SO/9 and 6th in SO/BB.

Lineups: Pos Name (Age Bats BA-HR-RBI-OPS)
CHICAGO (N)
1: SS John Godfrey (28 L .298-4-31-.773 in 245 AB)
2: 2B Jake Johnson (30 R .276-6-21-.800 in 156 AB)
3: C Al Soto (33 S .251-8-32-.713 in 243 AB)
4: 3B Larry Menard (34 R .305-12-41-.831 in 256 AB)
5: 1B Arturo Guerra (34 L .341-19-35-1.045 in 205 AB)
6: LF Dan Beyeler (24 L .202-2-10-.605 in 104 AB)
7: RF Gene Clem (26 L .286-0-5-.679 in 70 AB)
8: CF Joe Gombos (22 R .210-10-31-.639 in 238 AB)
9: P Antonio Loera (31 R .167-0-1-.367 in 30 AB)

PORTLAND
1: LF Frank Wiginton (30 S .286-3-23-.809 in 189 AB)
2: 2B Randy Penn (32 L .193-0-7-.509 in 114 AB)
3: RF Lebron Williams (32 L .317-5-21-.828 in 180 AB)
4: CF Rich Babbin (36 L .287-7-34-.847 in 188 AB)
5: 3B Joe Hartin (32 R .278-1-4-.716 in 54 AB)
6: 1B Rick Deveney (28 L .182-1-1-.645 in 33 AB)
7: C Ron Charles (30 R .255-2-8-.695 in 55 AB)
8: SS Ivan Lopez (25 R .250-0-0-.500 in 4 AB)
9: P Tony Ricketts (26 R .136-0-1-.310 in 22 AB)

Game Start: 7:05 PM
Weather: 61 deg. Clear Skies with a 7 MPH wind blowing right to left.

John Godfrey bounces a hit through the right side. Full count to Jake Johnson and with Godfrey on the move, he grounds a hit to right and Godfrey easily goes to 3rd. Al Soto flies out to left and Godfrey scores without a throw. 1 to 0, Cubs. Larry Menard grounds into a force a 2nd, 5-4. 2 outs. Arturo Guerra, a triple crown threat with his NL 4th best .341 batting average and his 2nd best 19 HR (although, inexplicably, he only has 35 RBI), pops out to 3rd.

Bottom of the 1st: Frank Wiginton tries to bunt his way one but P Antonio Loera makes a good play and gets him out. Randy Penn works the count full and takes ball four. Lebron Williams lines a hit to center. Rich Babbin strikes out. 2 down. Joe Hartin pops out to 2nd.

Top of the 2nd: 1-2 pitch to Dan Beyeler and he homers to right. 2 to 0, Cubs. I swear that EVERY home run against us has been with two strikes on the hitter.... Gene Clem follows with a double down the left field line. After Joe Gombos strikes out, Clem steals 3rd. He needn't have bothered, because P Antonio Loera doubles to right center. 3 to 0, Cubs.

Bottom of the 4th: Joe Hartin leads off with an infield hit and then Rick Deveney doubles down the right field line. Ron Charles flies out to right, to shallow to score. Ivan Lopes punts a hit into right and both runners score! 3 to 2, Cubs.

Bottom of the 6th: New pitcher: RHP Ed Anders. P Antonio Loera is not a high stamina guy and he was at 99 pitches through 5 innings. Ron Charles and Ivan Lopez lead off with back-to-back singles. P Tony Ricketts bunts them up to 2nd and 3rd with 1 out. Frank Wiginton grounds out to 2nd and the runners hold.... 2 down. Randy Penn lines one hard, but right to LF Dan Beyeler. He muffs the ball and it gets past him for a 2-base error! 2 runs score! E-7. 4 to 3, Beavers!

Top of the 8th: P Tony Ricketts, after the rough start has settles down and unbelievably has made it to the 8th inning and with a lead, no less! He gives up a 1-out single to Al Soto and then strikes out cleanup hitter Larry Menard. 2 down. But lefty-swinging Arturo Guerra and his .341 average and 19 home runs are up, so we make a Call to the Bullpen: LHP Pedro Huerta. Manager Reichel responds by pulling down Guerra and sending up a pinch-hitter! RHB Ron Rafferty. I guess it is a brilliant move because Rafferty singles through the hole on the right side and Soto goes to 3rd. Lefty-swinging Dan Beyeler up and he is allowed to hit. Or allowed to draw a base on balls, I should say, to load the bases up. Another lefty, Gene Clem is up, so P Huerta stays on the mound. Clem swings at an 0-2 pitch and misses it to end the inning!

Top of the 9th: New Pitcher: RHP Ron Beckman. Joe Gombos works the count full and swings at the payoff pitch and misses! 2B Sergio Arriaga, a .214 hitter, swings at a 2-2 pitch and misses a home run by a foot, knocking it off the top of the right center field wall for a triple.... Call to the Bullpen: LHP Jim Ackley. Infield is in. John Godfrey grounds out to short and the runner has to hold. 2 outs. Pinch-hitter: SHB Sal Diaz, who is making his Major League Debut in a game with 2 outs and the tying run on 3rd base! He is 24 and hit .311 with an .824 OPS in AAA this season. He was the last man left on the Chicago bench. He hit both lefties and righties in the minors, so Ackley stays in, especially since the next hitter, Al Soto, stinks against lefties. 2-2 pitch to Diaz and he hits a little blooper to left and Frank Wiginton races in and snares it just before it lands in the grass! ....and THIS Ballgame Belongs to the Beavers!

Won - 4 to 3

We had 9 hits and made no errors.
The Cubs had 9 hits (5 in the 1st two innings) and made 1 error.

Tony Ricketts (W 3-7) went 7.2 innings, allowed 3 runs, 7 hits, 1 home run, 1 walk and struck out 5.
LHP Pedro Huerta went 1/3 of an inning, allowed 1 hit and 1 walk and struck out 1.
RHP Ron Beckman went 1/3 of an inning, allowed 1 hit and struck out 1.
LHP Jim Ackley (SV 2) faced 2 batters and retired them both!

Antonio Loera went 5 innings, gave us 2 runs, 6 hits, 3 walks and struck out 5. At bat, he hit a double and had an RBI.
RHP Ed Anders (L 1-1) went 2/3 of an inning, gave us 2 unearned runs and 2 hits.

LF Frank Wiginton drew 2 walks and made the game saving catch at the end, but was also caught stealing. RF Lebron Williams had 2 hits. 3B Joe Hartin had 2 hits and scored a run. 1B Rick Deveney had 2 hits with a double and a walk and scored a run. SS Ivan Lopez had 2 hits, scored a run and had 2 RBIs.

For the Cubs, LF Dan Beyeler hit his 3rd home run of the season to stake the Cubs to a lead, but gave it back later with a 2-base error.