Disappointing End to "Successful" Year for Hogs October 10, 1998
Punxatawney, PA (AP)
Late last night, a 747 taxied to a stop outside gate 4 at the new
Punxatawney Airport. On board this plane was a sad group of baseball
players and coaches, coming home from Florida after being shutout in the
final game of the playoffs by the superpower Vero Beach Bums. But you
couldn't tell the crowd of 5,000 Groundhog fans standing on the runway at
midnight, cheering their players on for what was a great season that came to
a "premature end," said many of the fans.
"Two division titles in two years is nothing to be ashamed of," said Mark
Weller, Punxatawney resident.
After falling in 5 games in last year's LCS to the Bums, Punxatawney was
matched up against them again. This time, the Bums dominated the
injury-ridden Hogs. Vero Beach was fully healthy, but the Hogs were hurting
badly. The entire outfield was playing hurt. Both LF Marty Cordova and RF
Roberto Kelly spent the series on the DL. Dave Martinez played the entire
time with a badly strained PCL. Even the backups were hurting. Robin
Jennings played with a sore shoulder. Add to that Rocky Coppinger's 4-6
month injury suffered in the series opener, and you have one weakened team.
In that state, Punxatawney was no match for the amazing Beach Bums, who used
their amazing young pitching staff and balanced offensive attack to dominate
the series. Punxatawney was in the first two games until the end, losing
the first in extra inning and allowing 5 late runs in a close game to turn
what was a 5-3 games into a 10-3 loss. The final game was total domination,
a 4-0 shutout.
"We had fun. We had a tough time this year, and next year shouldn't be any
easier. But we think that next year might be our turn," said Hogs GM Dan
Shapiro.
Punxatawney's next concern is deciding how and who to protect for the Free
Agent Plan. They have not released any information on who will be
protected.
SEASON AWARDS
Player of the year--Ryan Klesko. For his second straight season, Klesko was
named the team MVP, even if it was SS Jose Valentin that won the league MVP
vote over him last year. This year, Klesko is the clearcut team MVP. He
led the team with a .287 average, stroking 35 homers and driving in 101
runs. That, along with his .355 OBP, .518 SLG, and 106 runs created were
all team-leading stats.
Honorable mention goes to Tony Batista and Jose Valentin, perhaps one of the
best keystone combos in the league. Batista played in all 162 games for the
team, batting .281 with 51 doubles and 19 homers. Jose Valentin hit .284
with 21 homers in 141 games. Between the two of them, they stole 45 bases.
Batista made just 8 errors and Valentin made only 15.
Pitcher of the year--This is a bit more of a question. We give the nod to
the oft-injured Rocky Coppinger. While he only started 25 games due to
injury, he had a 13-3 record with a 1.76 ERA. He allowed just 95 hits in
148 innings and threw the first no-hitter in PVBL history. Opposing batters
hit just .186 against him.
Honorable mention goes to Sean Bergman. He went 16-5 with a 3.06 ERA,
walking just 27 in 155 2/3 innings over 34 games, 25 starts. Bergman joined
the rotation a few weeks into the season and never left after stringing
together numerous great outings.
Reliever of the year--Bobby Munoz. Munoz had a great season out of the
bullpen, and had an ERA below 2.00 for most of the season until a few bad
outings late in the year. He went 5-2 with a 2.58 ERA in the pen. He held
opposing hitters to a .199 average in 52 games, including 5 saves and 15
holds.
Honorable mention--Ricky Bottalico, with another solid year as a closer. He
had a 3.52 ERA and 22 saves.
Some milestones that will happen next season in Punxatawney. Ryan Klesko
will probably hit his 100th homer and drive in hius 300th run. Bobby Thomas
will probably break 500 strikeouts and he, Hill, Lieber, Coopinger, and
Bergman all have a good chance at reaching 30 wins, while some might reach
40. Bottalico might notch his 50th save.
"Now we'll just sit back, relax, and wait for next season. We're looking
forward to it!" said Shapiro.
