The Border Patrol were sitting pretty, on top of their division by 6
games early in the season, with a 20-6 record. Then, the unthinkable
happenned. Star CF Rich Becker, expected to replace Rondell White
broke his collar bone. This preicipitated a long, painful slump for
the Border Patrol. Just when the team thought they had adjusted to a
tough loss, Andy Benes went down with a torn tricep tendon, shelving
him for the season. Benes was replaced in the rotation by young Jeff
D'Amico. D'Amico had been doing a nice job in the bullpen, picking up
5 wins before moving to the rotation. He pitched well for a few
starts, then HIS tricep tendon became inflamed, ending his season as
well. In the same game, veteran pitcher Oil Can Boyd injured his
bicep tendon, ending his season. Once Tucson got down to their 8th
starter, they were essentially doomed. Tucson struggled this season
to 79-83 record.
"It's disappointing to have a season lost to injury the way this one
was. Andy's been our best pitcher for a while now, and losing him was
a big blow to our rotation." said Owner/GM Scott Watterson. "We
really weren't able to replace him on the mound, and so our run
production wasn't enough to overcome our pitching woes. Randy Johnson
had a tough start to the season as well. He really didn't start
pitching the way we expected until the middle of August, which was
quite a bit too late for this season."
"Losing a guy like Andy, that really hurts, but we've got to just suck
it up. There's a lot of guys that need to look in the mirror and
decide if we really want to be champions, or just another team." said
Randy Johnson. "I blame myself for a lot of the problems our pitching
staff had this season. As the veteran of the staff, it's my job to
talk to the younger guys and get them to understand that pitching is
more than just having a good fastball. For whatever reason, I was
having a tough time locating my own pitches, and that makes it hard to
criticize the other guys."
Fortunately, there is reason to believe that Tucson will be much
better next season. Continuing development of the younger players has
really helped out. Todd Walker turned in a fine season, despite
playing much of it out of position at second base. Mathius Lund
pitched in by playing a fair amount of outfield as well. Both have a
lot to live up to, as they were aquired in a trade with Hartford that
sent Kevin Brown to Conneticut.
"We expect a lot from these young guys. Even the older guys around
here are mostly under 30. This is a solid team, and we hope to be
able to build on our good finish this year and have a winning season
next year. There's a good chance of us making the playoffs next year.
In any other division, I'd say it was a given, but the Kirk division
is just brutal." said Watterson.
There is talk of Tucson relocating their stadium to the Tijuana area
next season. "We're a little too far from the border to really draw
the crowds up from Mexico. A spot closer to their country should
really boost attendece. Plus, it's tough to compete with the U of A
football and basketball teams for fans. Maybe a lower altitude will
prevent some of these gopher balls too." said Watterson. Tucson gave
up 259 homers this season. "That's just too damn many homers to
allow. Guys like Chuck (Bonner) and and Tom Bradford really can't
affort to have people slugging the hell out of them. Lance had a
tough start of the year too. In fact, Lance suggesting issuing helmet
to the fans in the bleachers." said Andy Benes. "It was just killing
me watching those guys go out and struggle, when I know I could have
been contributing. At least I'll be ready for next season."
That them was discussed at length in the clubhouse the last few weeks
of the season. Talk of tanking for a better draft pick was discarded
with disdain. "We need to develop an attitude here that losing is
never acceptable." said fiery youngster Jaret Wright. "I took a lot
of L's this season, and I hated every second of it. Next year will be
hour year. I'm going to bust my butt to make sure of it. We all are.
I'm going to spend the offseason working with RJ and Andy to make sure
I'm at the top of my game next season. The other guys will be working
out all offseason. Nobody likes losing, and we're just going to have
to buckle down and make sure we don't have to go through another
season like this one."
