[Ben E Lou]

MAY 2004

THIS MONTH’S RECORD: 21-8
OVERALL RECORD AT MONTH-END: 32-22
CURRENT STANDING: First. One game ahead of the second-place Marlins.

We had a 14-game winning streak during the month, which greatly contributed to our taking over first.

MAJOR INJURIES:
MR Daniel Houtaz, who was 1-3, with 2 saves and a 4.20 ERA, is out for the season with bone chips in his shoulder. I called up Leonard Bach, who was 3-1 with a 3.22 ERA in AAA, to replace him

TEAM NEWS FROM THIS MONTH

John Swensen has 4 hits against Arizona.

Monday 5/10/2004
Harry Reid was named Player of the Week!
He batted .500 in 24 AB, with 2 HR and 4 RBI.

Friday 5/14/2004 :
Ronald Feely hits 2 homers against St. Louis.

Saturday 5/15/2004:
John Swensen hits 2 homers against St. Louis.

Monday 5/17/2004 :
Matthew Erwin was named Player of the Week!
He batted .480 in 25 AB, with 2 HR and 9 RBI.

Tuesday 5/18/2004:
Jose Camacho crushes 2 homers against Atlanta.

MAJOR LEAGUE PERFORMANCES OF NOTE/LINEUP CHANGES/ROTATION CHANGES:
The pitching staff lowered the ERA to 4.12 (17th). #4 starter Fernandez has gotten it together (6-2,4.15) and the Big Three are all having solid seasons as expected. The only pitcher on the entire staff with an ERA above 4.00 for the month of May was #5 starter Ronald Smith and he REALLY struggled (0-1,9.89) in 6 starts. He’s getting demoted (if he’ll accept the demotion). Whoever is doing best in AAA will replace him in the rotation.

Offensively, we’re hitting .256 (12th) as a team, but we lead the league in homers (75) which is a big reason why we’re leading the league in runs scored (280). Pretty much every starter had a good month in one way or another. Leadoff man Tyrone Sweeney was one of the major catalysts though. He turned in a .974 OPS, with 3 homers, 17 RBI and 15 stolen bases. He scored 25 runs during the month! RF Feely also had a big month--.290-10-29.

SEASON-TO-DATE TEAM STATISTICAL LEADERS
AVG: RF Feely--.304
HR: RF Feely--17
RBI: RF Feely--50
SB: 2B Sweeney--18
SP ERA: Baumer—3.29
RP ERA: Martinez—2.20
SAVES: Marmolejo--11
SP K’s: Castonguay--66

PLAYER DEVELOPMENT:

Monday 5/10/2004:
Harold Gingras has learned reading pitchers better, his stealing ability raises to C ...
Hikoshirou Haruhiko has worked out more, his duration raises to A ...

Monday 5/24/2004:
Bernard Romain has lost some momentum, his stealing ability drops to D ...
Roberto Santoro has worked out more, his duration raises to B ...

Monday 5/31/2004:
Richard Brandl has worked out more, his duration raises to A ...

Nice to get some bumps in pitchers’ endurance. The SB changes aren’t a big deal either way.

AAA NOTES
SP Gregorio Cruz—4-1,3.33, (7/6/6),5 stars
SP Hikoshirou Haruhiko—3-3,4.98,(6/5/4), 4.5 stars
SP Billy Hague—4-2,1.96,(6/8/6), 1 gold star—He’s got the best ERA among starters at AAA. He gets the call-up as Smtih accepts the demotion to AAA.
MR Carlos Saldivar—0-2, 4.25, (8/8/5), 3.5 stars

AA NOTES:
SP Gregory Alkire—1-6,5.50, (1/4/4), 3.5 stars
MR Antonio Latta—1-1,3.91,(2/3/6), 4.5 stars
CL James Barta—3-2,2.75,11SV, (3/4/5), 4 stars
1B George Palafox--.559 OPS, (2/3/4), 3.5 stars

A NOTES:
SS Arthur Owens--.830OPS,(1/2/5),3.5 stars

NEW PERSONAL DIARY ENTRIES:
None.

TRADES
None.

MONTHLY AWARDS
American League-Pitcher of the Month:
William Hager (KC)!
He had a record of 5-0 in 6 games started, with an ERA of 1.79.
American League-Batter of the Month:
Ralph Myler (C()!
He batted .340 in 103 AB, with 10 homers and 26 RBI.
National League-Pitcher of the Month:
Ronnie Ramirez (MIL)!
He had a record of 4-0 in 5 games started, with an ERA of 1.15.
National League-Batter of the Month:
Raul Romero (LA)!
He batted .390 in 105 AB, with 5 homers and 20 RBI.

OTHER IMPORTANT LEAGUE NEWS
None.