Milwaukee (AP) - July Players of the Month awards were announced today, much to
the dismay of the dominating relievers from several clubs. Despite outstanding
performances from a number of top closers, the league's firemen still failed
to break into the elite group of award recipients.
Selected for the month of July were Motor City Madmen's outfielder Ellis
Burks, Washington Seadogs infielder Chuck Knoblauch, Punxatawney Groundhogs
hurler Bobby Thomas, and Galena Hamsters fireballer Jererimi Gonzalez.
Ellis Burks hit a blistering .368 in the month. He drove in a league high
30 runs in the month, as well as hitting 18 extra-base hits, including 10
home runs. He also stole seven bases while getting caught just once. "I've
been blessed with the opportunity to play ball in the PVBL and am honored
to get this award to recognize my achievements this season. I hope that my
teammates and our fans will respond to this positively and give our team
the boost it needs to come out on top." said Burks in a late afternoon press
conference.
Knoblauch received the award for the inferior DL. Despite hitting "only"
.321 in the month, Knoblauch had ten doubles, two triples and four home runs
to go with an amazing 16 stolen bases. "He has really helped this team become
great. He has been the real difference for us this year. With all the injuries
and everything, he's been the foundation of the team. He truly deserves the
recognition." said teammate and former Abomination Lance Johnson.
Righty Bobby Thomas of the Punxatawney Groundhogs walked away with the
DL's Pitcher of the Month award. No other starter even came close to his
performance in the month of July. Thomas was 5-0 with a 0.97 ERA and 29
strikeouts in 36 and 2/3 innings. "Well, when you are in a zone, you can't
be stopped, and I couldn't be stopped." said Jones.
Despite number which paled in comparison to Thomas', Gonzalez stole his
league's Pitcher of the Month award by compiling a 4-0 record in the month
with a 1.66 ERA and 24 strikeouts. "It felt good to be recognized as an
All Star as well as the player of the month. I just hope I can keep it up
for the [much hated] Hamsters."
A number of other performances were worthy of recognition this month,
including a number of relief pitchers. Perdro Borbon, John Wetteland, and
Trevor Hoffman all had outstanding month's from the bullpen as did runner-up
Luis Thomas. On the other side of the plate, Barry Bonds had an outstanding
month, hitting .382 with 9 doubles and 8 home runs. Frank Thomas led the
league in home runs in July with 11. Dave Justice had 32 RBIs to lead the
league in that category.
