Duluth Press - Come draft time, the Bjork were looking to fill one of the few
holes on their roster, either by landing a quality starter, a leadoff
hitter, or a solid player at 2nd, 3rd or CF. Duluth GM Andy Lund and Head
Skipper Kirby Puckett really liked Sosa, but knew he wouldn't be around
pick #14. They tried to move up to no avail, and decided to settle with
other possibilities. By the way things looked, the Bjork thought they
could kill 2 birds with one pick by taking a little known teenage by the
Name of Cloud Oort with the 14th pick. ".. he's very young, very fast.
We figured his bat and glove would come around in afew years, and we were
willing to give him the time he needed with this young organization."
Lund commented. Then, the unthinkable happened, Oort failed his physical.
"It seems Oort has had heart problems in the past. His agent didn't
release this information to us, leading us to be clueless on the whole
ordeal. Luckly we found a slight murmur when we took his pulse and blood
pressure. The doctors said it wasn't serious, but there was a small
chance that it could affect his performance on the field." Puckett
explained. Upon recieving this news, Duluth staff worked around the
clock, up to the final hour before the draft to find a new star, who would
they come across, but Garth "Country" Kinchen, a fireballer out of
Branson, Missouri. Garth put up impressive numbers during his senior year
for the Mizzo Tigers, going 11-2 with a 2.01 era and a 9.7 K to BB ratio
and an opponents batting avg of a floss-thin .198. Country was rated as
the #2 amateur pitcher coming out of the draft behind Sosa by Baseball
America. "Garth won't be as an immediate impact as the others, but in a
year or two, he'll be one of the top 3 guys to come out of this years
crop." commented pitching coach Rusty "Red" Johnson. Garth, along with
Hallony, Gott, Loaiza, Ludolph, A-Rod, Coleman, Newfield, Nicol and Thomas
make the Bjork's future look brighter than ever. Do not fret Bjork fans,
out time will soon come.
