Punxatawney (AP)--"It's been a long week. It's not getting any better. At least I haven't gotten hurt yet," said a weary, exhausted Punxatawney Groundhogs owner Dan Shapiro. The young billionaire is still in school, along with owning his team, and experienced his first "hell week" of college these last few days. During that time, he has also started up the AVBL and had to deal with many injuries to his PVBL team.
"Our luck finally caught up to us. We'd avoided the bug all year. Until now. Half our lineup is gonna be taking some time off. But I figured since the whole team was hurt, I might as well open a new hospital in Punxatawney for my team.
With that, he opened the front doors to the Punxatawney Hogspital and admitted in a few of his players. Jason Giambi, nursing a fractured finger was first through the door. Jose Valentin, Roberto Kelly, and Rondell White followed. Curt Leskanic is currently on rehab in Roswell and is expected back soon.
With these 4 players out, Punxatawney has decided that this is an excellent time to get some of their benchwarmers and prospects more playing time. They unveiled a new lineup to be used until all their players are again healthy. First, they announced that Giambi, Valentin, and Kelly would all be heading to Roswell to relax for a few days and then begin rehab after a short stay in the Hogspital. Rondell White, on the DL, already has his own Hogspital suite. A number of players were being called up to replace the injured crew.
Damon Mashore was called up yesterday to replace Rondell. Kevin Sefcik, Allan Rochefort, and Pat Rapp will all be making their first trip to the majors for the Hogs as well. The new lineup will be (against lefties and righties):
2B Tony Batista
3B Scott Rolen
LF Marty Cordova
DH Ryan Klesko
RF Billy Ashley
C Greg Myers
CF Damon Mashore
1B Wilton Guerrero
SS Roy McPheeters
The rotation and bullpen roles will remain pretty much the same but Pat Rapp may get a start or two in the next few weeks.
However, despite all the injuries and problems the Hogs have faced, they have still managed to avoid getting swept in any of the recent doubleheaders. They also slipped below .700 winning percentage but in a win in tommorow's 100th game of the season would put them at .700 exactly once again.
Today was a fine example of how erratic this week has been. After Rondell's injury yesterday and a slightly restructuring of the lineup, the Hogs came out ready to play in today's doubleheader. Roy McPheeters started due to Valentin's injury and Damon Mashore got his first start of the year in CF. They both had excellent offensive showings. McPheeters continued to surprise Shapiro with a 2-5 day, 2 runs, and a solo homer.
"Early in the year Roy got 30 at bats while Norberto Martin was out. He did great--even hit .300 in that stint. But then we picked up Valentin and Roy's been itching to get in. He didn't get that chance until today. Apparently he doesn't want back onto the bench," Shapiro said.
"My whole career has been like this," the 34 year old rookie said. "I never got a serious look, I was always riding the pine until someone got hurt or needed a day off. I was ready to retire when Shapiro called me up and told me he needed a backup. I was shocked to get a chance to play in the majors back in April after 13 years in the minors, but I didn't have a problem."
Another contributor to the Hogs offense was Damon Mashore. He was 3-4 and drove in 2 runs with a double, stealing 1 base. He helped carry the Hogs to a 5-1 lead after 6 innings, but for once the strong Hogs bullpen faltered. Aldred left after 7 1/3 innings having allowed 3 runs, 7 hits, and 3 walks while striking out 5. Bobby Munoz finished the inning, allowing 1 more runs to put the score at 5-4. The Ricky Bottalico came on for what seemed like a sure save. But Ricky couldn't get the job done, giving up a walk and a hit and not getting any outs before he was pulled. Ruffcorn gave up just one hit but it allowed the 6th run to score, charged to Bottalico. Punxatawney couldn't retaliate against Scott Hayes and fell 6-5.
In the second game, the Hogs once again jumped out to an early lead and led 6-0 going into the 7th. This time the bullpen was able to hold the lead and the Hogs won 6-2. Roy McPheeters had another great game at the plate, going 3-4, scoring once, and driving in 2. Ryan Klesko homered and singled, driving in two runs. Mashore, however, was 0-4, though he did drive in 1 run.
The win went to Jon Lieber, his 10th of the year. Lieber had a great outing to follow a shaky one last week, taking the victory with 7 scoreless innings of 7 hit, 5 strikeout ball. He did not walk any Mets. Tim Worrell gave up 2 runs runs in the 8th (1 earned) but Sean Bergman, coming back from a brief rehab in Roswell, got the last 4 outs of the game to get Punxatawney win number 69.
Stats 'n Stuff:
The current top batting average Groundhog is not Ryan Klesko or Rondell White right now. Jose Valentin is hitting .347, just ahead of Klesko at .346. However Klesko has a substantial lead in HR at 37, 8 ahead of Giambi and 12 ahead of Valentin. He has also driven in 108 runs, 13 more than Giambi. Currently, Ryan is tied for second in HR and tied for first in RBI.
Damon Mashore had a fine first day of Hogdom. He went 3-8, driving in 3, doubling once, and stealing one base. However, today's player of the day was Roy McPheeters. McPheeters was 5-9, scored 3 times, drove in 3, and homered once. He is a 34 year old getting his first major league experience. So far, McPheeters has hit .359 (14-39) with 10 runs, 4 homers, and 13 RBI in just 10 games. His OPS is an astounding 1.097 and he has made just 1 error so far.
"No, of course he won't get to play over Valentin when he gets back, but he is certainly proving himself a capable replacement should the time ever come," Shapiro said.
Upon hearing this comment, McPheeters replied, "Yeah, the story of my life. But if we bring home a trophy this year, it'll make all the hard work worth it."
Right now, with a 26 game lead and just 63 games left to play, Punxatawney will almost definitely bring home some hardware.
"I just hope we're healthy for the playoffs. I'm gonna try and get the best record in the Defiant League, but if puts my players health in jeopardy a division title will be enough for me." Rumor has it that Pat Rapp will be starting in place of Dustin Hermanson tommorow. This may be the start of a number of days off for starters now that Shapiro is confident that his lead will hold no matter how poorly his team plays for the rest of the season.
