[Ben E Lou]

JULY 2004

THIS MONTH’S RECORD: 9-15
OVERALL RECORD AT MONTH-END: 53-52
CURRENT STANDING: Third. 8.5 games behind the Mets. We’re 5 games behind the Brewers, who lead the pack for the Wild Card berth.

MAJOR INJURIES:
Ouch!!! Another MAJOR injury. This time it is Castonguay. He tears his rotator cuff, and is done for the year. Smith gets called back up. Then, to continue our incredible run of injuries to the pitching staff, Billy Hague, who was starting to put it together (4 ER in his last 20 IP) goes down for 6 weeks with bone chips in his elbow on 7/27. I decide to call up Cruz rather than trade for a SP immediately. Cruz pitches pretty well in his debut on 7/30 (5IP, 1 ER), so I decide to stand pat.

TEAM NEWS FROM THIS MONTH

Sunday 7/4/2004:
Freddy Castonguay fans 12 batters against San Diego.

Tuesday 7/13/2004:
P Steve Adams will play in the OOTP-Allstar game!

Wednesday 7/21/2004:
Ronald Smith fans 11 batters against Philadelphia.

Tuesday 7/27/2004:
Tyrone Sweeney has 4 hits against Milwaukee.

MAJOR LEAGUE PERFORMANCES OF NOTE/LINEUP CHANGES/ROTATION CHANGES:
Adams struggled this month (0-3, 6.06), and of course three members of the rotation are injured. FA pickup Stickles has done quite well (3-2,3.10). Most of the guys in the ‘pen had decent months.

We’re slumping offensively, down to 9th in runs scored, and hitting .242 (26th). We’re still first in homers with 123. One guy that sure isn’t slumping is Tyrone Sweeney though. He hit .303 this month to raise his overall average to .298

SEASON-TO-DATE TEAM STATISTICAL LEADERS
AVG: 2B Sweeney--.298
HR: RF Feely--22
RBI: RF Feely--72
SB: 2B Sweeney--47
SP ERA: Baumer—3.15
RP ERA: Martinez—3.00
SAVES: Marmolejo--23
SP K’s: Adams--140

PLAYER DEVELOPMENT:

Monday 7/5/2004:
Robert Springer's control seems to have taken a bump...
Robert Springer has lost some lower body strength, his duration drops to D ...

Monday 7/19/2004:
Earl Birnbaum has lost some momentum, his range at LF drops to D ...
Earl Birnbaum has lost some momentum, his range at CF drops to D ...
Francisco Labarbera increased his bat control, resulting in more contact!
Francisco Labarbera has improved his plate disclipine!

None of these changes appear to be of major significance yet, although if Labarbera can improve a little more, he could be a potential starter.

AAA NOTES
SP Hikoshirou Haruhiko—6-9,4.99,(7/6/5), 4.5 stars

AA NOTES:
SP Gregory Alkire—4-10,5.07, (1/4/4), 3.5 stars
MR Antonio Latta—1-2,2.36,(2/4/7), 4.5 stars
CL James Barta—5-2,1.73,22SV, (3/4/5), 4 stars
1B George Palafox--.649 OPS, (2/3/4), 3.5 stars

A NOTES:
SS Arthur Owens--.772OPS,(1/2/6),3.5 stars

NEW PERSONAL DIARY ENTRIES:
None.

TRADES
None.

MONTHLY AWARDS
American League-Pitcher of the Month:
Esteban Mendez (MIN)!
He had a record of 3-1 in 5 games started, with an ERA of 1.00.
American League-Batter of the Month:
Ralph Myler (CWS)!
He batted .378 in 98 AB, with 11 homers and 30 RBI.
National League-Pitcher of the Month:
Oscar Melgoza (NYM)!
He had a record of 5-0 in 7 games started, with an ERA of 1.19 and 1 shutouts.
National League-Batter of the Month:
Hector Montoya (PHI)!
He batted .444 in 90 AB, with 4 homers and 15 RBI.

OTHER IMPORTANT LEAGUE NEWS
These players were selected for the AL OOTP-Allstar Team :
P William Hager from Kansas City
P Perry Edelstein from Detroit
P Carol Gallagher from Baltimore
P Patrick Spurling from Boston
P Josias Silva from Minnesota
P Jonathan Kiesel from New York (A)
P Antonio Rosas from Chicago (A)
P Percy Regnier from Oakland
P George Dam from Detroit
P Stephen Skinner from Tampa Bay
C Jared Barrows from Anaheim
C Rey Longoria from Toronto
1B Brain Haveman from Boston
2B Ronald Demuth from Toronto
3B Moises Escobar from Texas
SS Luis Szymanski from Detroit
LF Patrick Meredith from Anaheim
CF Ralph Myler from Chicago (A)
RF Jesus Quintana from Texas
1B David Mohn from New York (A)
LF Silvio Freire from Detroit
CF John Ucelay from Toronto
RF Manuel Vizcarrondo from Minnesota
2B Keith Thompson from Texas
2B Chet Hall from Seattle
These players were selected for the NL OOTP-Allstar Team :
P John Choy from New York (N)
P Virgil Valles from San Francisco
P Justin Ward from Los Angeles
P Steve Adams from Montreal
P Ronnie Ramirez from Milwaukee
P Dean Sipe from San Francisco
P Samuel Figueroa from Atlanta
P Jaime Ramirez from Florida
P Merle Grizzle from Arizona
P Miguel Vasquez from Los Angeles
C Walter Mcdonald from Atlanta
C Gregory Nisbet from Cincinnati
1B Peter Adams from Cincinnati
2B Raul Romero from Los Angeles
3B Rodney Jolly from Philadelphia
SS Jeffrey Ganey from Pittsburgh
LF Luis Ruano from Chicago (N)
CF Adrian Apodaca from New York (N)
RF Elmer Connors from New York (N)
1B Stewart Harshman from St. Louis
RF Clarence Howard from Florida
LF Jerry Grimmer from San Diego
RF Randy Argo from Cincinnati
3B Charles Gee from Milwaukee
3B Denver Banks from San Francisco