PVBL: New Orleans Vampires
Vampires drop 2 on the road against World Champs
April 9, 2000

While the New Orleans Vampires were ruining their excellent start to the season by coming out lethargic on the road in Deadwood, dropping 2 in a row, their front office continued to be busy.

Looking to deal veteran catcher Chris Hoiles for quite some time, especially since acquiring rookie Jason Varitek as Kendall's backup, the Vampires finally got their wish. Hoiles boarded a plane for Kamloops today while New Orleans awaited the arrival of veteran lefty Denny Neagle. It was a straight-up deal and here's a look at the two players:
C   Chris Hoiles    49-88-29    32/11   39/43
LHP Denny Neagle    54-81-99    28/9    63-FB, 86-CU, SL-47, CB-45

Neagle will reportedly fill Hoiles' vacant AAA spot for the time being.

Meanwhile, New Orleans signed two free agents to 1-yr minor league contracts:
*LF     Matt Luke   38-83-28    27/0    49/53
 RHP    Doug Drabek 30-76-66    34/14   83-FB, 52-SL, 55-CB
New Orleans had also been in contact with *1B Ryan Jackson and veteran RHP Ricky Bones but eventually declined to offer them contracts after workouts.

The Vampires are currently 2-2 and in sole possession of second-place in the McCoy Division, 1 game behind first-place Deadwood. They are 2-0 at home and 0-2 on the road, thus far. Their offense has been sputtering, scoring only 3 runs in the last 3 games combined (one of them coming in a 1-0 victory over Edmonton). The WHOLE LEAGUE has been struggling on offense, for that matter.

--written by Jeremy Chrabascz