For me, and many others in this league that are at university, crunch time is fast approaching as exams begin in less than a month. So that means the State of the PVBL will be off the press until exams are over--meaning the end of April. After that, its summer vacation for me and I'll be free... but right now I'd better keep away from such thoughts.
So this edition will be concise because I'm behind schedule...
June is upon us and already thoughts about the All-Star game are creeping up. Or rather, the All-Star break. Who will be the division leaders come the midway point of the season? Can the Springfield Atoms and the Edmonton Oilers continue to surprise and upset their divisional rivals? And, can Spokane stay in contention until Greg Maddux returns and joins one of the most dynamic rotations which includes Juan Guzman, Jack McDowell and David Cone?
The unexplained phenomenon in the PVBL continues to be the Vero Beach Bums. At press time, the Vero Beach Bums were 41-14 (a .745 winning percentage). At that pace, they could end up with 120 wins come October. Neither last year's Punxatawney Groundhogs or Galena Hamsters flirted with such dominance. The Bums are 20-7 at home, 21-7 on the road, 33-10 against righthanded pitchers, 8-4 against lefties. They know no weaknesses. And their dominance has yet to show its underside--they have won 9 of their last 10 games. Albie Lopez, with 10 wins less than a third of the way through the season, certainly he's getting a touch of Cy Young fever (and I haven't mentioned his 1.38 ERA!).
On the opposite side of the spectrum, the former Brooklyn Flaming Skulls have sunken to the depths of utter failure (Sacramento can no longer claim that title), stark contrast to their wild card status last season. In fact, their losing was further complicated by their unstable ownership and inevitably, they moved north to Thunder Bay. While the Montreal and Edmonton franchises have captured fans in the east and west respectively, the Thunder Bay Storm will develop a fan base in central Canada. But there's little chance of them competing this year. Owner and GM Jesse Gouldson doesn't have very big shoes to fill this year because little is expected of them, mainly due to the fact that they currently have the worst pitching staff in the EL.
The most improved team so far this season has been the Tucson Border Patrol. The Tucson franchise is composed mostly of young players with a lot of potential, and with the development and training the team has gone through, it is a vastly improved staff from last year, mostly among the pitching, where they used to have their greatest woes. Rookie Jaret Wright and the two Andys are the brightest lights in this young staff, but even Jeff D'Amico and Jason Schmidt are showing poise.
Then again, Tuscon doesn't seem to be the only team with improved pitching. Last year in the EL, Mo Vaugn lead all batters with a .373 BA. Vinny castilla was 10th overall, batting .329. This year, Gary Gaetti is leading batters with a .346 BA, while Jose Cruz Jr. is 8th with a .296 batting average! Top batting averages have declined by more than 30 points. Only 5 players in the EL are batting over .300.
Mark McGwire is in familiar territory again, being second in the league in home runs. But he's 5 behind his own teammate, Brady Anderson (who is also leading the league in batting average and RBIs). Both sluggers have a fair shot and breaking 60.
A month is a lot of time in baseball terms, and fates may swing around by the All-Star break. The only thing that will remain for sure is that there will still be snow in Montreal by then (in real life, I mean!).
Before I leave the stage, I had the opporunity to chat with Galena Hamsters' owner Matthew Peck and some members of the team. His team is, problably more than anyone else, feeling the heat of June as the playoffs start to come into focus. While the Hamsters are confident of a berth already in this early season, anything can happen come the fall...
Q: The Galena Hamsters, for a second year in a row, are dominating the EL,
leading the entire league by a 3.5-game margin. But last year the dominance
ended short when the team failed to continue into the second round in the
playoffs. The only thing the team has left to prove this year is whether it
can win big in October. Has the team made the necessary changes to increase
their post-season chances?
Honestly, I don't think there were that many changes that needed to be
made. We didn't win 106 games last year by accident. We had a lot of
talent, and my main priority was to make sure we brought that level of
talent to the field this year. The hurdle we couldn't quite jump last year
during the post season was nagging injuries to a few of our key players,
including Reggie Sanders and Kevin Stocker. Still, I don't want to make any
excuses about last year's playoffs--Brooklyn beat us, fair and square. They
played excellent ball that series. I applaud them, it's too bad they are
having major difficulties this year.
Q: Not to raise any doubts, but the Hamsters have an unimpressive 14-11
record at home, compared to the 20-5 record on the road. I heard that the
players have been complaining about the lighting in Hamsters Stadium. Can
any of the players suggest some reasons why, or is it really just a matter
of the spring jitters?
I don't think the lighting is the problem. It's probaby my fault, actually.
During home games, I always offer the players the all you can eat buffet at
the stadium. They may be indulging themselves at the buffet a little much,
as they often times seem to be lethargic on the field at home.....
Q: The more they play, the Hamsters are looking like the Yankees of the
60s. They have the second-best offense in the league behind the Patrol and
far and away the best pitching staff, with a combined 2.78 ERA. What more,
the franchise has in stock young prospects like Andruw Jones and Doug
Glanville. What has been the franchise's key strategy to developing such a
strong, talented team?
We believe that if a team has speed, pitching, and defense, they are a
condender. Throw in some good hitting and you have a division winner. It's
no coincidence than that the Hamsters led the PVBL last year in stolen
bases. We have speed, and we're not afraid to use it, to be agressive. We
also had the best defense in PVBL last year. We have the fundamentals
down--we do the little things to win. Guys like Kevin Stocker, Willie
McGee, and Brant Brown have made huge contributions, although those
contributions might not be evident simply by looking at the box scores from
day to day.
This team also believes in staying loyal to its players, while at the same
time maintaining a very strong minor league system of youngsters. With the
free agent plan in permanent effect, it is our goal to have a player at
each position in the minors that could take the place of major league
players we lose to free agency.
Q: Compared to the starting rotation, composed of big guns Kevin Appier,
Jaime Navarro and Darryl Kile, the bullpen is relatively unknown, and yet
it is one of the great strengths of the team. While Slocumb is an obvious
leader, pitchers like Terry Adams, Jones and Clingman, have been the
unromanced heroes of this team--the final keystone to the bridge. Any
comments to that, particularily among the relievers?
I couldn't be more pleased with our pitching staff. I truly feel we have
one of the best staffs in the game. Our starting pitching is very solid,
and our relief corp is phenomenal. In fact, most people don't realize how
good our relief corp is because it is overshadowed by our powerful starting
pitching staff. Tennessee Jones, drafted in last year's amateur draft, is a
superstar in the waiting who should get a chance to earn a spot in the
rotation as early as '99. But he's been great in the role of long relief
this year. Terry Adams, acquired from Punxatawney in the Rick Wilkins deal,
has a bright future ahead of him in the pen. Roy Clingman is a strong
vetern that we can count on in the late innings.
Q: Andruw Jones, one of the league's top prospects, has been pushed down to
the minors because the team is so deep. How come the team hasn't made a
trade involving Jones to acquire pitching, since he would be a valuable
addition to a lot of teams needing offensive punch?
*laughs* Andruw Jones is the best prospect in the minor leagues at this
point. We have no plans to trade him at this time. Besides, why would we
trade Jones for pitching, as we have a 2.78 team era, the best in the EL.
As you stated, the Hamsters have a very deep team. We have no immediate
needs. At only 18 years of age, we feel that Jones is almost ready to take
the next step and become the every day right fielder for the Hamsters.
Expect him to be there starting in 1999, and hopefully for 20 years beyond
that. He could turn out to be the best player in PVBL 5 years from now.
Q: One of the remarkable things about the Hamsters franchise is that it is a collage of young players and veterans nearing the ends of their careers.
What do players like Bip Roberts and Willie McGee contribute to the team?
As mentioned earlier, Willie McGee is a huge part of the team. He is a
cheerleader when he is on the bench, he is a coach before games, and he
does the little things on the field to win ballgames. He knows what his
place on the team is, which makes him immeasurably valuable. Bip Roberts is
another guy that does the little things. He plays very fundamental
baseball. He also puts up big numbers. A lot of people thought he was
playing over his head last year when he batted .267, scored 88 runs, and
drove in 85. But he's putting up those same numbers again this year. It's
going to be interesting in '99, as we have the youngster Luis Castillo that
is eying the 2B job.
Q: This question is directed to Reggie Jefferson. Last year you were the
unequaled team leader in offense, considering that you hit the most home
runs and RBIs. This season, everyone seems to be contributing (6 players
are looking to near the 80-RBI mark). What is the difference in this year's
lineup compared to last year's, in both attitude and production?
This year's lineup knows that each person has to step it up a notch to
score runs. We lost Vinny Castilla, last years homerun and RBI leader, to
free agency. We lost Reggie Sanders (.330/30hr/100rbi) in a trade with
Motor City, and Dave Nilsson to injury. We went out and got Sean Berry to
add some punch to the lineup, but other than myself and Berry, there aren't
any legitimate power hitters in this lineup. We get our runs from timely
hitting, agressive baserunning, and scrappy hitting. In that way, we are a
lot like the Cardinals of the mid 1980's in that other baseball league.....
