Worst to First Quest Continues for Larimer April 17, 1998
Mike Nitwit, Rocky Mountain News Sports Writer
LAPORTE, CO -- The first casualty of the Larimer Knights 1998 season has been found and
it is reliever Jay Hensiek. Hensiek carries the burden of Larimer's only
loss so far this year and nearly lost Thursday's game against Binghamton,
when he gave up three runs in 2 innings. Hensiek was sent to Fort Morgan
and his spot on the roster was taken by veteran 3B Steve Buechele, who
will play third for a few days while Jim Edmonds sits to allow his
injured foot to heal. Also expected to see some playing time is defensive
specialist Curry Powell. Manager Don Baylor indicated that he would not
tolerate a sub-par performance by Chris Hoiles for very long, and he is
sticking by that. While there will be a considerable loss in offensive
output with both Hoiles and Edmonds riding the bench, the pitching so far
this season, with the notable exception of Hensiek, has carried the
Knights in their first 11 games.
On the subject of Hoiles, there were rumors that team owner John Dybala
had received an offer for a player to replace Hoiles, but the trade was to
have included Brian Giles, who, as an anonymous front office worker put
it, "is only slightly more tradeable than Jim Edmonds right now." Recent
comments by Dybala himself indicate that the left fielder is not safe from
being traded, but he would fetch a considerable asking price.
