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Punxtawney, after a promising 2-0 shutout victory yesterday, lost both halves of a twin bill against the Springfield Panthers, allowing the Panthers to climb back above .500. Punxatawney, after a phenomenal 23-8 start, has lost 6 of 10. Hogs OGGM Dan Shapiro, widely criticized for making an inordinate number of trades when his team was doing so well, took all the blame. "Yeah, its my fault. I traded away some great players. Robbie, Roger, Pete, Mike Stanley. But it doesn't mean this group won't win just as well as they did. We're now a younger team and we're still the best team in the PVBL. You just watch--we're still the best."
They are still the best, but just barely. Spokane has gone 6-4 in their last 10 and are now just 1/2 game behind Punxtawney for the best team title. Hartford, the only other team over .600, is 1 1/2 back. In their own division, however, Punxtawney leads the new Denver Doushbags by 8 games, Tampa Bay by 9.5, and North Spokane by 13.5. It is their 2-4 out of division record which concerns Shapiro. "To be honest, I'm not sure if we can compete will the best teams in the other divisions. But as long as we take the Riker title in this inaugural year, I'll be happy," he said.
In the doubleheader, Punxtawney did not fare well in either game. All the players involved in the many trades by Punxtawney got there just in time for the opening game. The starting lineup was radically different. Marty Cordova was hitting 3rd, Jose Valentin 5th, Tony Batista 7th, and Greg Myers 9th. For the first 4 1/2 innings, it went quite well. Punxtawney took a 4-0 lead, led by the fine hitting of Cordova, Roberto Kelly, and Rondell White. Dustin Hermanson was on top of his game once again until the fateful 5th. The Panthers scored 5 times, all against Hermanson. He left trailing 5-4. Jim Burright came in to relieve, gave up a run in the 6th, but held Springfield scoreless after that. Punxtawney came back in the 7th, getting one more run. But that was all for the offense as Kent Mercker came in for the save, relieving started Jaime Moyer who got his second win. Hermanson took the loss, dropping to 3-1.
A depressed Hermanson after the game told reporters, "This time my control problems got the best of me. 3 walks and a hit batter in 5 innings isn't satisfactory." Jim Burright, working in only his second game, threw 3 fine innings of relief. He allowed only one run, 2 hits, and 1 walk. But the sputtering Hogs offense couldn't come up with the 6 runs they needed to match the Panthers. 8 men were left on base and the team got just one extra base hit. Springfield had only 9 hits but 5 were extra base hits, including homers by Matt Stairs and Edgar Martinez.
The second game was not much better. This one was a close game, a 3-2 battle. However, it was again Springfield who emerged victorious. Pedro Martinez made his first Groundhog start and took the loss although he threw 7 fine innings, giving up 3 runs on 11 hits, walking 1 and striking out 7. Dario Veras also threw his first strong outing, going 1 scoreless inning in relief. Springfield starter Joey Eischen, along with relievers Robert Person and Bob Wolcott, managed to hold the Hogs to 7 hits and 4 walks with just 1 earned run. Eischen got his second win and Wolcott his third save.
Punxatawney didn't really have an offensive leader in this game. Roberto Kelly scored one run and Ryan Klesko, who was 2-4, had the other. Jason Giambi had the lone RBI with a sacrifice fly. Jim Eisenreich led the Springfield offense, going 3-4, scoring once and driving in a run.
Next up for Punxtawney is a day off. Shapiro is going to do some icebreakers so his team can get to know eachother. He is taking suggestions for good games to play. Hopefully after this day of relaxation, when they return to Punxatawney to play Phoenix, the Groundhogs will return to their winning ways. Bobby Thomas will be making his first start of the season in that game.
Trade Wire:
Punxatawney is looking for a top starter and we are willing to trade 2 of our starters other than Pedro Martinez in exchange for one. Other than that, as you probably all know by now, everyone on the team is available for trade, except Ryan Klesko. If you want someone on my team, let me know. We can work something out.
Written by Dan Shapiro