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One day after Punxatawney Groundhogs utilized a 6 home run onslaught to beat the Chicago South Siders 11-7, the Hogs took another game from Chicago by a score of 13-5. They hit 4 balls out in the second game.
However, team owner Dan Shapiro had much bigger news. He read the following statement at a press conference immediately following today's victory:
"Today we welcome a number of members to the Groundhog family. Most importantly, Sean Corwin, who sold his DC franchise, will become our general manager. This is effective immediately. Following this hiring, Sean and I made official a number of other hirings for our coaching staff."
"Our pitching coach will be Mark "The Bird" Fidrych and Sid Bream will be our baserunning coach. The special fielding instructor will be Bill Buckner. Bernie Carbo will be the batting coach. Many remember Cartlon Fisk's 12th inning homerun to win the 6th game of the 1975 World Series. Bernie Carbo was the man who hit the 3 run homer in the 8th to tie the game. Also, you may recall that Kent Tekulve is the bullpen coaching, having been hired a few days ago."
"In addition, we have made some changes in the on-field coaching staff as well. Coaching third will be Phillie great Mike Schmidt. Coaching first will be Keith Hernandez. Also, to assist manager Shapiro, a pair of bench coaches have been hired. Ex-Giant manager ex-John McGraw and Ex-Mets and Yankees manager ex-Casey Stengel (both in spirit form, of course), have been contacted by psychic Dionne Warwick and will be present in the dugout during all future Hogs games. Warwick will also be present, as she will interpret the messages from them for me since I am unfortunately not a psychic."
"Also, we now need a team for the low minors with the upcoming amateur draft. The team will be the Rhyolite Eddie Gaedel's (a town located in Death Valley, the lowest point in the continental US and named after the shortest major leaguer ever). And actually, they won't be too far from our Roswell Weather Balloons so we can easily call up their players to the real minors at any time!"
Shapiro opted not to answer any questions at the time and left the room. However, some reporters had heard rumors that the terms of GM Corwin's contract were one pizza per week.
In their on-field action yesterday, the Hogs beat Chicago 11-7. Jose Valentin was 4-5 with a homer and a double. Leadoff hitter Roberto Kelly was 2-5 and hit a 3 run homer. Tony Batista and Scott Rolen each had 3 hits as well. However, Rondell White was once again a huge part of the offense, going 3-5, driving in 3, scoring twice, and hitting a pair of homers. They devoured Josias Elliott (who earlier had beaten the Hogs) as Elliott threw the whole game, allowing 20 hits, 2 walks, and 11 runs. He also struck out 7.
Rocky Coppinger evened his record at 6-6, getting through 6 innings having given up only 2 runs but tired in the 7th and gave up 3 more before he was pulled. His final line was 6 1/3 innings, 8 hits, 5 runs, 4 earned, 6 walks, and 5 strikeouts. Sean Bergman was not able to stop the South Siders rally right away as he gave up 2 more runs in the 7th. At that point, the Hogs lead was down to 8-7, but they scored 3 more in the 7th and 8th to go up 11-7. Ricky Bottalico threw a scoreless 9th to close it out.
However, in today's game, the Groundhogs trashed the South Siders. Jason Giambi had a phenomenal game, going 5-5, scoring 3, and driving in 6 on a pair of homers. Tony Batista was 3-4 and scored twice, stealing 2 bases. Rondell White had another strong game, going 2-5, homering and driving in 2. Ryan Klesko had his first home run in a number of games as well.
The runs were scored off Chicago ace Paul Wagner who had been 9-1 before this outing. Wagner was pulled after just 3 innings as he allowed 5 runs. Larry Scott relieved Wagner, going 3 innings and giving up 3 more runs, 2 of which were earned. Terry Matthews finished up and did no better, allowing 5 more runs in the last 2 innings.
Jon Lieber recorded his team leading 7th victory, improving his record to 7-3. However, he struggled a bit more than normal, perhaps distracted by recent trade talk involving him.
"I tried to tell Jon that he was off the trading block before the game, but he's surely still a little nervous. Who wants to leave the best team in the game?" Shapiro said.
Lieber threw 5 2/3 innings, giving up 4 runs and 10 hits. However, he maintained his phenomenal control, walking just one man. Curt Leskanic, a league leader in opposing batting average, went for 2 1/3 innings. He gave up 1 hit, 2 walks, and 1 run. Bobby Munoz finished up with a 5 pitch perfect 9th inning.
Sean Corwin had no comment for the press at this juncture, but wanted to make sure everyone knew that he wanted to receive league mail so he could keep up with the various trade rumors. However, he was busy compiling a draft list for the amateur draft and had no time to talk to the press.
After the amateur draft in a few days, Punxatawney will resume play with one last game against the South Siders. Dustin Hermanson (6-2, 4.44) is scheduled to go against A.J. Sager (5-5, 3.33). After that game, the Tampa Bay Mets come to Punxatawney and divisional play will resume for the Riker division.
As Punxatawney nears the end of the first out of division play stint, Shapiro claims to be very happy with the results. All of their games were against the strong Data division which has no team below .500. They are 18-11 and if they win their next game, a 19-11 record (.633) would prove that they can play with the best. In their last 10 games, they are 9-1 and have improved their home record to 21-8. They have also devoured lefties to the tune of 12-5. When they return to divisional play, it would not be surprising for a return to .700. They are closing in on that mark right now at 43-21 (.672).
Written by Dan Shapiro