PVBL: Washington Sea Dogs
Washington Splits With Phoenix, Front Office Miffed
July 7, 1999

(AP) WASHINGTON, D. C.--Washington split a two-game set with Phoenix today, but Washington GM Aaron Weiner is furious at the league office.

"There is no way we were going to pitch Tim Belcher against Phoenix," Weiner said. "Before I left for New York, I asked for a four-man rotation. This is very frustrating."

Weiner added that the four-man rotation was asked for last week; despite this fact, Belcher went against Phoenix in the last series and caused the only loss of a 3-game series.

"We wanted the four-man all along," Weiner said. "First, NO change in the lineup for the last Phoenix series. Then, FIVE surprise games while I'm out of town, with no way for me to adjust for them. Add that to the fact that we had to play Phoenix during the weekend, and I'm very frustrated."

Washington may have a legitimate beef. No other Sea Dog starter has an ERA of over 3.24; with Belcher's poor performance today, his ERA rose to a un-Sea Dog-like 5.52. Plus, the Sea Dogs lost by only one run and scored six; with Ben McDonald going, it would have been unlikely that they would have lost the game.

"While Tim Belcher is a very high-quality major league starter, there's a reason he's our fifth," Weiner said. "We wanted our big guns going against Phoenix."

In that first game, Washington put up a three-spot in the third inning on a three-run homer by Larry Walker, his 26th. But then, Belcher gave up seven runs in the next two innings to put the Sea Dogs out of reach.

"I'm not discouraged that Aaron (Weiner) was angry with the league office for having me pitch today," Belcher said. "I can understand why he'd want Mack (Leefenhaufenhauz) and Ben going instead of me and Ben. I'm angrier that I didn't pitch well."

The second game was without controversy, and more importantly for the Sea Dogs, without loss. Washington jumped all over Phoenix ace Shane Reynolds, tagging him for six runs in the first inning. Mickey Kelly knocked his third homer in five days to cap the rally.

"Calgary helps," Kelly said with a laugh. "But I've definitely been seeing the ball much better since I've come out of my slump."

Ben McDonald won his 15th game of the season though he was far from dominating. McDonald allowed 10 hits in seven innings, though he did not walk a batter.

"I credit this one to the offense," McDonald said. "I wasn't that sharp today, but they really picked me up."

The split keeps Washington 7.5 games ahead of Phoenix (49-32) with five games to go until the All-Star Break. It dropped Washington to 57-25, the first time in two weeks they've been under .700.


Notes and Quotes:

"It's not the first time it's happened, either."

-GM Weiner

"What's the all-time record for wins in a season? Ben doesn't want to know, but I do."

-Shawn Estes

* * *


One of the perks of losing a World Series is that the losing manager gets to manage the All-Star Game the next season.

And Washington manager Aaron Weiner is up to the task.

"It's gonna be great going mano-a-mano with Peck again," Weiner said.
"But we're in this game to win it. And we intend to play that way."

When Weiner was asked who he would be picking as reserves for the game, Weiner was mysterious.

"Well, you can certainly expect to see some Sea Dogs on there," Weiner said. "But I'm not totally sure who I'd pick."

Washington is expected to have at least three representatives at the game. Larry Walker and Chuck Knoblauch are expected to start the game.

However, there will certainly be controversy surrounding the shortstop situation. Despite the fact that Calgary plays in a bandbox, Kevin Elster has hit 26 homers this season, twice Larkin's total. Larkin, who is second in the league in runs, has the edge, but it's close.

"If given my choice, I'd definitely choose Barry because of his defense," Weiner said.
            The projected starting lineup:      Team
            
            C  Benito Santiago  .279-14-44      Bing
            1B Frank Thomas     .380-38-77      Calg
            2B Chuck Knoblauch  .328-12-42-28   Wash
            3B Scott Rolen      .297-14-35-5    Punx
            SS Barry Larkin     .324-13-47-32   Wash
            LF Jose Canseco     .338-24-62      Hous
            CF Larry Walker     .331-26-75-21   Wash
            RF Brian Jordan     .323-14-49-11   Vero

Weiner said that McDonald, who is likely to start the game, said that he would probably not go more than two innings. Weiner concurs.

"Ben is scheduled for the last day before the Break," Weiner said. "What I really wanted to do is start Ben on the last day, and then keep him as a reserve."

If McDonald doesn't start the game, Weiner said that Springfield's Joey Hamilton is likely to get the starting role.

"He's been one of the best in PVBL history, and he's second in wins," Weiner said. "If Ben wasn't having such a historical season, I'd probably have pitched Hamilton anyway."

* * *


Speaking of McDonald - and Estes's question - the record for wins in a season is 24, by Shane Reynolds in 1997. McDonald is on pace to shatter it, but he's keeping everything in perspective.

"My job is to win ballgames, not records," McDonald said. "If I break the record, that's great, I'll be really happy."

McDonald's success has to be strongly attributed to the Sea Dog offense. Washington has not scored less than six runs for McDonald in a game since May.

"This is a great team," McDonald said. "It's great to focus on great individual performances, but I don't want to take anything away from my teammates."

* * *


Ernie Young continues his rise to stardom.

The 26-year old right fielder has been on a tear recently, raising his batting average from .268 all the way to .295, which is a career high mark. He has 17 homers and 51 RBI, and is still among the league leaders in walks.

"You know, if I could have just one reserve of my own choice on the All-Star team, it would be Ernie," Washington manager Aaron Weiner said. "He's just a tremendous ballplayer; he does it all."

Young, one of the premier defenders in the league, has played right field for most of this season, but he has been featured at almost every position on the diamond.

"As you get a little older, you get a little wiser," Young said. "I think I'm just getting more patient with my game, taking things a little more naturally. Playing right field helps, because it's such a power position."

Young is second among right fielders in homers, second only to Juan Gonzalez, who plays in Calgary.

* * *


Despite having the best record in the PVBL, Washington has two position controversies.

The first is at third base, where Robin Ventura is quickly losing his grasp on the position to Bill Mueller. The other is at catcher, where Mike MacFarlane and Ben Petrick are battling hard.

Both are already platooning, but Petrick and Mueller have clearly outplayed MacFarlane and Ventura so far.

"Neither Robin nor Mike has lost their job yet," Weiner said. "The fact that we're platooning them doesn't mean we've lost any kind of confidence in them."

While the Petrick/MacFarlane platoon makes sense, since Petrick is hitting .355 against lefties and MacFarlane 20 points higher than Petrick against righties, Mueller hits equally well against both righties and lefties while Ventura hits 50 points better against lefties.

"Well, Bill's just as good a defender as Robin, and he's a switch-hitter," Weiner said. "As much as Robin means to the offense, he could take the shorter end of the platoon soon."

--written by Aaron Weiner