"I thought this would be our year. Maybe I was wrong," says catcher Darrin
Fletcher. The Royals have by far the most extensive and severe list of
injuries in the PVBL. All the players on the DL could be sidelined up to a
month. The Royals have gotten by without Steve Cooke (their top reliever
last season) and Mark Portugal (picked up in the Free Agent draft), but
Salomon Torres, arguably their second-best pitcher behind Randy Johnson,
will be unable to play until 1999. "Last year Ray Lankford had trouble
staying heathly, but injuries rarely hurted us," says Fletcher. "This year
were aren't so lucky."
Earlier this year, the young backup pitcher for the Montreal Royals, Art
Maupin, was sidelined for almost a month. Now, his partner Darrin Fletcher
will take his turn on the DL. He took a blow to his femur in a home plate
collision, and may be out of action for 6 weeks.
"It's tough to get an injury at this time of year," says Fletcher. "I know
Art [Maupin] can do the job, but it will be a challenge for him to be on
top of his game every day. Especially when every game counts so much."
Royals This Week
-The Royals gained a game on the Edmonton Oil Kings, but all thanks to
Edmonton's 6-game losing streak. "We're lucky we're still in race," says
Carter. "We just have to take that as a good sign." The Montreal Royals
lost 2 out of 3 against the last-place Thunder Bay Storm and were swept by
the Tucson Border Patrol.
-Luis Andujar, replacing injured pitcher Salomon Torres, pitched a shutout
in the first game against the New Diggens Frogs. The Royals won 2-0.
-In that game, Dick Collins got his first save of the season. The southpaw
was recently sent up from Ottawa to replace Mark Portugal.
-The next game, as expected, was another low-scoring affair (the Royals and
Frogs are 3rd and 4th in pitching in the league). The Frogs won that battle
4-3 as Jose Mesa gave up the winning run in the bottom of the tenth.
-While the Royals have had their share of bad luck this season, they should
be counting their blessings for the fact that the Edmonton Oil Kings are
the worst first-place team in the PVBL. In the McCoy division, 8 wins
separates the first place team from the last place team.
