The McCoy Division is a Hot Place to Be June 3, 1998
by Jack Frodd
In no other division is the rivalry as tense. The split between the first
and last teams is a mere 5.5 games. The only other division that comes
close is the Spock Division, in which the Laurel Lynx are 11.5 games
behind, although no teams are close to contesting the domination of the
Galena Hamsters.
The Edmonton Oil Kings and the defending champions, the Hartford Whalers,
have been duking it out through most of May. The Deadwood Outlaws may yet
pull a stunt like they did last year, and the Montreal Royals have a
pitching staff that is past improving.
Here's the current scenario:
Edmonton-No one should be surprised by them now. Two starlets Jose Cruz Jr.
and Kelly are leading the pack, and they currently have the second best
pitching in the EL. They probably have the best young relief in the entire
PVBL with Wholers and Cordova and they Jason Dickson, Jose Rosado, and
surprise--Frascatore-- are pitching one hell of a storm. Unlike the Oultaws
and the Whalers, the future can only get better!
Hartford-Despite a string of injuries, the Whalers are still hanging on.
But their offense is weak and their pitching is marginal. What's with
Sheffield and Griffey Jr.??? Saunders has been the big surprise in the
pitching staff, but man, they need better leadership than that!
Deadwood-John Valentin has been a dud so far after last year's MVP
performance. Overall, the offense is quite strong coming into June. Roger
Clemens continues to shaft his former team, but Jeff Fassero, Al Leiter and
newly-acquired Ramon Martinez are all pitching with ERAs over 4.00. For
some reason, the "Deadwood force" we all predicted last season isn't
looking that way at all.
Montreal-They aren't that impressive, but the young pitching staff, lead by
Randy Johnson, could be unstoppable. Torres, Grace and Rueter have been
pitching good enough to win in any other team but the Royals--yes, their
offense is horrible. They've tried many remidies, but with little success.
Lankford was shipped away and now Tim Raines and Mike Lansing have been
asked to pick up the slack. Montreal could be a contenting team, but it's
unpredicatble at best.
