Hartford swept by Royals, Lose Cunnane June 24, 1999
Montreal, AP- The optimism that once had shown on the Whalers players'
faces following the McGwire and Benard/Connolly trades around the Amateur
Draft is now gone. Hartford was swept in a frustrating road series with
the surging Montreal Royals. Every game was close and both Masato Yoshi
and Ken Hill pitched splendid complete games but took a loss each (as did
Ramon Martinez who pitched okay in Game 1). The only highlight today for
Hartford would have been Mark McGwire's 28th homerun of the season and 58,
59 and 60 RBI in Game 2 despite coming up short, 4-3.
The string of losses, and close ones at that, have deflated those Hartford
clubhouse. Their faces are sullen and their hopes are fleeting. So, now
what?
The Whalers are 11 1/2 games out of first in last place in the McCoy
Division (the surging Montreal Royals have climbed to within a 1/2 game of
Deadwood, meanwhile). Hartford has won only 2 of its last 10 and has
slipped below .500 in and out of its division (now 19-22 InDiv). The
starting pitching has been sufficient while the relief pitching and the
offense has bene non-existent. Their has been little if any so-called
"relief" coming from the Hartford bullpen of late. They have tried
promotions, demotions, trades and nothing has worked. Rookies John Hunter
and Clint Faatz clearly are not ready for the spotlight while veterans like
Ramon Martinez, Aaron Sele and Mike Mimbs have clearly been disappointing
everyone, including themselves. "I suck," replied Sele yesterday, "I
should be traded. I'm not saying I want to be. I'm just saying if I were
the owner I would trade me." Meanwhile, one of Hartford's best
up-and-coming prospects, Will Cunanne, went down for 3-4 months with an
inflamed tricep tendon. Cunnane is not going to return this season. All
Hartford's current situation can do for Owner Jeremy Chrabascz is force to
make him dwell on "the good old days." "I remember," commented Chrabascz,
"when we had Greg Maddux, Kevin Brown, Ben McDonald, Arthur Rhodes and an
upstart young buck named Tony Saunders all in our rotation. Pitching in
this league is hard to come by and the talent pool is dilluted. I'd say
there are maybe 2 or 3 stupendous pitching staffs comparable to the ones
Galena, Vero and we had back in our inaugural season." Chrabascz would not
comment on the future of his current club, only to say, "Something needs to
be done." Although many found it commendable that Hartford had not given
up on their chances this year, it would seem that some sort of change or
gameplan will be put into place soon. GM Peter Gammons could only say,
"We're evaluating. Things just have not gone according to plan." A few
minor decisions have already been made that we know of.....
-Matt Williams and Will Cunnane are currently on the DL.
-2B Tilson Brito and RHP George Connolly have been promoted.
-Recently acquired CF Marvin Benard will be playing CF full-time to
increase the Whale's speed on the base paths and hopefully increase run
production. Rookie CF Chris Stynes has been benched indefinitely.
-Jay Buhner will be playing 3B in place of Williams.
-Galarraga will be hitting behind McGwire to force people to pitch to both
of them.
-Socks Byrne has moved back up to #2.
-Ramon Martinez will continue to be the #5 spot in the rotation despite his
struggles.
Rumors that we CANNOT substantiate....
- The franchise will be moving and changing mascots in order to get a fresh
start.
- A new "surprise" manager will finally be hired before season's end.
- The Whalers are going to unload a lot of veteran talent in the hopes of
landing some youngsters and draft picks.
- The Whalers are going to put Galarraga, McGwire, Buhner and others on the
block to draw an ace pitcher back to New England.
- Certain players are demanding to be traded.
- Front office members have considered asking some people on the team to
help "tank" the season for high draft picks
and they are furious.
