[Ben E Lou]

JULY 2005

THIS MONTH’S RECORD: 18-6! We’re on a ROLL—38-14 over the last 2 months!
OVERALL RECORD AT MONTH-END: 65-40
CURRENT STANDING: First place. 6.5 games ahead of the Mets. BEST RECORD IN BASEBALL!

MAJOR INJURIES:
None this month.

TEAM NEWS FROM THIS MONTH

Sunday 7/3/2005:
James Wuest hits a 466-foot homerun!!
James Wuest crushes 2 homers against Los Angeles.

Wednesday 7/6/2005:
Matthew Erwin hits a 463-foot homerun!!

Sunday 7/10/2005:
James Wuest hits a 463-foot homerun!!
Freddy Castonguay fans 12 batters against Philadelphia.

Tuesday 7/12/2005:
P Freddy Castonguay will play in the OOTP-Allstar game!
1B John Swensen will play in the OOTP-Allstar game!
CF James Wuest will play in the OOTP-Allstar game!

Sunday 7/17/2005:
Steve Adams fans 12 batters against Florida.

Thursday 7/21/2005:
Ronald Feely crushes 2 homers against San Diego.

Saturday 7/23/2005:
Matthew Erwin slams 2 homers against Pittsburgh.
Matthew Erwin drives in 6 runs against Pittsburgh.

Thursday 7/28/2005:
James Wuest scores 4 runs against New York (N).
Matthew Erwin drives in 5 runs against New York (N).

Saturday 7/30/2005:
John Swensen has 4 hits against Philadelphia.

Sunday 7/31/2005:
Tyrone Sweeney slams 2 homers against Philadelphia.

Monday 8/1/2005:
Russ Mangan was named Player of the Week!
He batted .429 in 21 AB, with 3 HR and 8 RBI.

MAJOR LEAGUE PERFORMANCES OF NOTE/LINEUP CHANGES/ROTATION CHANGES:
The pitching staff lowered its ERA by over 20 points, to 3.72 (8th). Castonguay continues to challenge for the Cy Young Award with a 4-1,1.47 month. At this point he’s first in the NL in ERA, 2nd in wins, 3rd in IP and 6th in K’s. Adams continues to make up for his slow start. He was 2-0 with a 2.58 in 5 starts. Lopez was 1-1 with a 6.30 in 4 starts in the #5 slot this month. 35-year-old Harry Stickles continues to get it DONE. He’s 7-2 with a 3.72 ERA overall, 3-0 with a 2.45 in July.

WE continue to climb offensively, raising our team average 6 more points to .256. We’re 2nd in runs scored too. 3B “Pluto” Reid had another very good month after his player-of-the-month June, turning in a.954 OPS. He’s now at .283 with 16 homers, 51 RBI and a .803 OPS. Swensen had a monster month, turning in a 1.035 OPS, as did Erwin (.964). LF Mangan may be coming into his own. He had a .950 OPS.

SEASON-TO-DATE TEAM STATISTICAL LEADERS
AVG: 1B Swensen--.293
HR: CF Wuest and RF Feely--20
RBI: CF Wuest--65
SB: 2B Sweeney--38
SP ERA: Castonguay—1.92
RP ERA: Steele—1.93
SAVES: Marmolejo--25
SP K’s: Castonguay--139

PLAYER DEVELOPMENT:

Monday 7/11/2005:
Marcos Fernandez seems to have lost some of his feel for his stuff...
George Palafox has gained more power!
George Palafox has improved his plate disclipine!

Monday 7/18/2005:
John Galbreath has lost some momentum, his range at 1B drops to E ...
Ben Henriques has lost some momentum, his range at CF drops to B ...
Ben Henriques has lost some momentum, his range at RF drops to B ...
Russ Mangan has lost some power...

Consider Fernandez is 34 and out for the year, that isn’t surprising…He’s still 8/7/8 at this point….Palafox is now Good/Brl/Average talent-wise. If his 2/3/4 ratings can come up to match that, he’ll be useful…Mangan still is “Good” in power.

AAA NOTES
SP Gregorio Cruz—4-3,1.94, (8/7/6),4.5 stars
SP Hikoshirou Haruhiko—7-4,2.84,(7/7/6), 5 stars—With a 5 ½ game lead, I’m going to let him spend some more time in AAA. Hopefully I won’t need him until next season. I can save a year on the arbitration clock by keeping him down for now.
MR Antonio Latta—5-0,4.95,(5/4/7), 4 stars—He cut his ERA in half this month, and increased a rating. He belongs in AAA
CL James Barta—4-5,5.46,24SV,(6/5/6),4 stars—Stats and ratings continue to improve.
1B Franklyn Armstrong--.754OPS (6/3/4),3.5 stars

AA NOTES:
SP Gregory Alkire—9-4,2.65, (3/5/4), 3.5 stars
2B Timothy Cadiz—.869OPS,(2/5/5),3 stars

A NOTES:
SP Max Conde—13-2,3.51,(1/3/4),3.5 stars
SS Arthur Owens--.877OPS,(3/2/7),3.5 stars—I call him up to AA.

PERSONAL DIARY ENTRIES:
None.

TRADES
None.

MONTHLY AWARDS
American League-Pitcher of the Month:
James Cudd (ANA)!
He had a record of 3-0 in 5 games started, with an ERA of 1.09 and 1 shutouts.
American League-Batter of the Month:
Wilbert Mccormick (KC)!
He batted .398 in 93 AB, with 7 homers and 22 RBI.
National League-Pitcher of the Month:
Rickey Thrower (CHC)!
He had a record of 3-0 in 4 games started, with an ERA of 1.05.
National League-Batter of the Month:
Tyler Emory (SF)!
He batted .432 in 81 AB, with 3 homers and 9 RBI.

OTHER IMPORTANT LEAGUE NEWS
These players were selected for the AL OOTP-Allstar Team :
P Oscar Sabatini from Tampa Bay
P Antonio Rosas from Chicago (A)
P Matthew Engelman from Toronto
P Josias Silva from Minnesota
P Arthur Jan from Oakland
P Eugene Galligan from Toronto
P William Degregorio from Cleveland
P Alex Guardado from Cleveland
P Antonio Padilla from Cleveland
P Rhett Washington from Seattle
C Daniel Turberville from Cleveland
C Manny Neyra from Detroit
1B Eugene Lamb from Baltimore
2B Ronald Demuth from Toronto
3B Wilbert Mccormick from Kansas City
SS William Renzi from Toronto
LF Silvio Freire from Detroit
CF Ralph Myler from Chicago (A)
RF Steven Backes from Anaheim
1B Al Mouser from Tampa Bay
CF John Ucelay from Toronto
CF Bryon Davis from Texas
LF Luis Alcaraz from Baltimore
2B Royal Devera from Tampa Bay
3B Roberto Uriarte from Tampa Bay

These players were selected for the NL OOTP-Allstar Team :
P Tito Galarza from San Francisco
P Joseph Siggers from Florida
P Freddy Castonguay from Montreal
P Douglas Treece from Arizona
P Dean Sipe from San Francisco
P George Basora from Houston
P Darron Zamarripa from Chicago (N)
P Jason Doane from Cincinnati
P Merle Grizzle from Arizona
P Angel Hernandez from Colorado
C Tyler Emory from San Francisco
C Nathan Jackson from New York (N)
1B John Swensen from Montreal
2B Raul Romero from Los Angeles
3B Paul Moak from Los Angeles
SS Ricardo Cazares from St. Louis
LF Hyman Hinderliter from Florida
CF James Wuest from Montreal
RF Elmer Connors from New York (N)
1B John Hopper from Houston
CF Scott Betton from Pittsburgh
LF Jerry Grimmer from Pittsburgh
LF Chris Rettig from Cincinnati
3B Denver Banks from San Francisco
3B Charles Gee from Milwaukee