[Ben E Lou]

APRIL 2006

THIS MONTH’S RECORD: 15-11
OVERALL RECORD AT MONTH-END: 15-11
CURRENT STANDING: Tie for first with New York.

MAJOR INJURIES:
None.

TEAM NEWS FROM THIS MONTH

Thursday 4/13/2006:
Russ Mangan hits 2 homers against St. Louis.

Tuesday 4/18/2006:
Matthew Erwin crushes 2 homers against Arizona.

Thursday 4/20/2006:
Dewey Baumer strikes out 14 against Chicago (N).

Friday 4/21/2006:
Harry Reid has 4 hits against Chicago (N).

Tuesday 4/25/2006:
Harry Reid has 4 hits against Los Angeles

MAJOR LEAGUE PERFORMANCES OF NOTE/LINEUP CHANGES/ROTATION CHANGES:
The pitching has been quite solid. We’re 6th in ERA (3.45) and 5th in BA allowed (.221). The rotation members all have ERA’s of 4.18 or less. Castonguay is leading the way at 3-1 with a 2.56. Marmolejo has a 5.23, the result of one bad outing, but he’s 6 for 7 in saves.

As usual, we’re low in batting average (.233—27th), but doing pretty well in scoring (tied for 12th). No one is really tearing it up. All eight regulars have between 9 and 14 RBI’s. Interestingly enough, cleanup hitter Wuest has the fewest at 9 (with a decent .765 OPS).

SEASON-TO-DATE TEAM STATISTICAL LEADERS
AVG: 1B Swensen--.291
HR: C Camacho--5
RBI: C Camacho--14
SB: 2B Sweeney--11
SP ERA: Castonguay—2.56
RP ERA: Martinez—1.26
SAVES: Marmolejo--6
SP K’s: Baumer--37

PLAYER DEVELOPMENT:

Monday 4/10/2006:
Tyrone Sweeney has lost some momentum, his range at 2B drops to D ...
Tyrone Sweeney has lost some momentum, his range at CF drops to E ...
Antonio Latta has worked out more, his duration raises to C ...
Max Conde seems to have lost some of his feel for his stuff...
Mark Mart has lost some movement on his pitches...

Monday 4/24/2006:
James Wuest seems to have lost some bat speed, resulting in less contact...
Matthew Erwin has lost some power...
Francisco Labarbera seems to have lost some bat speed, resulting in less contact...

Wuest drops to Avg in contact. He’s still 7/8/10 at this point. He’s 35, and signed through 2009, so I’m a little worried…Labarbrera drops to 3 stars.

AAA NOTES
SP Gregorio Cruz—1-1, 3.86 (8/7/6)—His stars now become gold (2 ½).
SP Hikoshirou Haruhiko—4-1,2.13,(7/7/6)—He’s also now at 2.5 gold stars. He’d be the first guy called up if someone in the rotation falters.
MR Antonio Latta—1-1,2.65,(7/5/7), 4 stars
CL James Barta—1-3,7SV,(6/5/6),4 stars

AA NOTES:
SP Gregory Alkire—0-0,4.45, (4/5/4), 3.5 stars
SS Arthur Owens--.940OPS,(4/3/7),3.5 stars

A NOTES:
No one great than 3 stars.

PERSONAL DIARY ENTRIES:
Eva and I got married. She doesn’t want children yet.

TRADES
None.

MONTHLY AWARDS
Sunday 5/1/2006:
American League-Pitcher of the Month:
James Cudd (ANA)!
He had a record of 5-0 in 6 games started, with an ERA of 1.26.
American League-Batter of the Month:
Rueben Thaler (OAK)!
He batted .303 in 99 AB, with 11 homers and 20 RBI.
National League-Pitcher of the Month:
Junior Prado (FLO)!
He had a record of 3-0 in 5 games started, with an ERA of 0.75 and 1 shutouts.
National League-Batter of the Month:
Maximo Farmer (NYM)!
He batted .326 in 95 AB, with 8 homers and 28 RBI.
American League-Player of the Week:
1B Michael Sisco (CWS)!
He batted .360 in 25 AB, with 5 HR and 10 RBI.
National League-Player of the Week:
LF Keith Rosales (COL)!
He batted .448 in 29 AB, with 3 HR and 10 RBI.

OTHER IMPORTANT LEAGUE NEWS
Friday 4/26/2006:
MON: James Wuest gets his 2000th career hit!!