Surprising Vampires nipping at Edmonton's heels
May 2, 2001
Winners of 8 in a row, Glanville back just in time
New Orleans, LA (AP) - One thing is clear, the New Orleans Vampires are the
hottest team in baseball. What isn't clear is how or why. The Vampires
certainly are the biggest surprise so far this season as no one had expected
a whole lot out of them. They're young and untested. However, New Orleans'
youngsters have thus far passed the litmus tests of the rest of the league
or of their division anyway.
Winners of 8 in a row and 9 of their last 10, the Vampires have pulled to
within 1 1/2 games of the once unstoppable and unbeatable Edmonton Sled
Dogs. Meanwhile, the teams who had boasted that they would end the Sled
Dogs' dominance, Montreal and Deadwood, have fallen 5 1/2 and 13 games back,
respectively. "We're not sure just exactly how we're doing it but we're
doing it," explained Player-Manager Bip Roberts, "Unfortunately, the season
is long...damn long." Looking at the statistics, it isn't too difficult to
figure out just how the Vampires have done it--pitching, pitching and more
stupendous pitching. Although both were shafted for any serious
consideration for Player of the Month, starting pitchers Sterling Hitchcock
and Paul Quantrill have been the greatest 1-2 punch in baseball (well...1-5
punch anyway). Here's a breakdown of the rotation:
Hitchcock 5-1 2.74 ERA 42.2 IP
Bass 1-2 3.16 ERA 31.1 IP
Wasdin 1-3 5.71 ERA 34.2 IP
Hamlin 2-1 1.64 ERA 33.0 IP
Quantrill 4-0 1.07 ERA 42.0 IP
"It's clear to everyone," said Roberts, "that John (Wasdin) has been the
rotation's weakest link so far. He knows it and we've been working on it.
But a change is being made." "I'm no good to the team if I'm not
contributing. Dennis (Lamp, the pitching coach) has been working on some
kinks in my delivery but I've got a ways to go, I think." The "change"
Manager Bip Roberts elluded to was a move to the bullpen for Wasdin and a
promotion for a job well done for youngster Jackson Pride. Pride will join
the rotation in Wasdin's place. "I'm excited. No disrespect to John, but
I've been waiting for this opportunity for a long time," remarked Pride.
Pride is 1-0 with 3 saves and a 1.62 ERA out of the bullpen so far this
year.
Meanwhile, youth continues to power the club. Rookies Chris Singleton and
Alex Gonzalez have single-handedly kept the club afloat offensively while
Jason Kendall has struggled and Doug Glanville has been on the DL.
Singleton has made the most of his recall to start in place of the injured
Glanville, hitting .290 in 18 games (upon replacing Tony Gumbert). Alex
Gonzalez, acquired for his defense not necessarily his offense, leads the
team with 15 RBI.
The good news for New Orleans is that Doug Glanville is finally coming back.
Although this was expected to be bad news for rookie CF Chris Singleton,
Manager Roberts has decided to reward Singleton's play by keeping him in
center and moving Glanville to LF. "Doesn't matter to me. I just want to
play," commented Glanville, "The kid (Singleton) deserves to be in there,
anyway." That means that offseason acquisition Matt Lawton will sit as,
thus far, he has been a bust for the Vampires. New Orleans is hoping that
the batting order will get a needed spark from Glanville resuming the
leadoff role ahead of Byrne and Kendall.
One of the most pleasant surprises for the organization has been the
performance of long reliever Bret Saberhagen. Sabes is 2-0 with an 0.84 ERA
in 10.2 innings of relief week so far this season. His career has clearly
been rejuvinated. "I've bounced from team to team and the talk of the town
was that I was through. Hell, everybody around me in this league had me
even considering retirement. I'm glad I didn't," said Bret.
News & Notes:
- Relief pitcher Mark Thompson was placed on the DL with a sore rotator cuff
- Relief pitcher Mike Walker was reassigned to AAA Lakeland (FL)
- P's Clint Faatz and *Matt Clement were Recalled from AAA and LOW,
respectively, and will join the Active pen
- Jackson Pride, as previously reported, will assume the 3rd starter role in
place of John Wasdin
- P John Wasdin will now work Long Relief behind P Bret Saberhagen
- P's Faatz and *Clement will work Middle Relief
- CF Chris Singleton, as previously reported, will remain in the starting
lineup
- RF Matt Lawton will go to the bench
- OF Doug Glanville will return to the starting lineup and will leadoff and
play LF
- OF Socks Byrne will move to RF and bat 2nd for the first time this year
- C Jason Varitek was reassigned to AAA Lakeland (FL)
Aside: New Orleans has the best record against left-handed pitching in PVBL
so far at an astounding mark of 10-2!!!
