[Ben E Lou]

AUGUST 2001

THIS MONTH’S RECORD: 13-14
OVERALL RECORD AT MONTH-END: 59-76
CURRENT STANDING: Fourth place, 26 games behind the division-leading Mets.

TEAM NEWS

Saturday 8/5/2001 :
Eugene Lamb slams 2 homers against Houston.
Elliot Feder has 4 hits against Houston.

Monday 8/14/2001 :
Samuel Figueroa pitches a 2-hit shutout against New York (N)!!

Thursday 8/24/2001 :
Michael Sylvain has 4 hits against Montreal.
Michael Sylvain crushes 2 homers against Montreal.
Eduardo Fuensanta slams 2 homers against Montreal.

Friday 8/25/2001 :
Michael Sylvain sets a new season Team-Record for Stolen Bases with 50!

INJURIES DURING MONTH:
None.

MAJOR LEAGUE PERFORMANCES OF NOTE/LINEUP CHANGES/ROTATION CHANGES:
Shultis struggled in July, and REALLY struggled in August. He had a 5.14 ERA in July, and a 6.27 in August. The rest of the pitching staff remains mediocre. The staff ERA drops to 4.17

Sidney “Tumbleweed” Sutton had a nice first month in the bigs, hitting .262 with a .808 OPS. His platoon partner McFarland, getting to hit against left-handed pitching, hit .296. “Superfly” Sylvain may be coming into his own. He hit .330 this month with a .919 OPS! He’s still only “4” in power (with Brilliant talent). Of course, the kid is still only 23. 2B Alan Dye shows that his first month wasn’t a fluke. He followed up a .315 July with a .307 August. Team batting average rises to .257, 14th overall.

SEASON-TO-DATE TEAM STATISTICAL LEADERS
AVG: 3B Schuster--.288 (Dye is hitting .311, but not enough AB’s to qualify)
HR: 1B Lamb—29 (2 teams)
RBI: SS Feunsanta—76
SB: CF Sylvain--52
SP ERA: Figureoa—3.86
RP ERA: Dinger—1.61
SAVES: Dinger—32
SP K’s: Shultis--158

PLAYER DEVELOPMENT:

Monday 8/14/2001:
Steve Fulmer has lost some momentum, his range at 2B drops to C ...
Steve Fulmer has lost some momentum, his range at 3B drops to D ...
Steve Fulmer has lost some momentum, his range at SS drops to E ...
Carlos Villar seems to have improved his pure stuff!
Bill Collins increased his bat control, resulting in more contact!
Luis Pierce has lost some momentum, his range at C drops to D ...

Fulmer was at AAA. He’s done at age 36. I’ll let him finish the year down there, but he won’t be re-signed. Collins, who can play 1B/LF/RF, has his contact rise to “Good”. He might now become a viable utility player, and even the right-handed half of a platoon.

AAA NOTES
SP Hiplotio “The Terminator” Dominguez—15-3, 3.90, 7/6/6, 5 stars.
SP Dean Sipe—1-1, 4.10, 4/6/7, 5 stars. (This was his first month in AAA.).
MR Douglas Diez—4-2, 3.95, 7/4/8, 4.5 stars
C Walter McDonald--.953 OPS. 4/7/8. 5 stars
LF/CF Jacobo Sousa--.878 OPS. 4/4/5. Down to 1 star as he turns 26. Talent still avg/good/avg
RF Bryan Heasley--.828 OPS, 6/3/4. 4 stars.

AA NOTES:
SP William Bent—14-8, 3.79, 2/2/6. 4 stars.
3B/1B Cruz Muniz--.758 OPS, 2/4/3. 4 stars.
SS Robert Pauli--.787 OPS, 3/3/4. 4 stars (First month in AA).
SP Chad Alejo—1-3, 2.23, 1/4/5. 3 stars. (First month in AA. Worth reporting due to his stats.)

A NOTES:
SP Jim Decker—5-6, 3.30, 0/3/4. 3.5 stars.
1B Danny Anderson--.847 OPS, 2/2/6. 4 stars. Scout and stats say he’s ready for AA. I call him up.
1B Tyler Poulson--.712 OPS, 2/2/3. 4 stars.
SS Robert Pauli--.811 OPS, 3/3/4. 4 stars. Stats and scout say he’s ready for AA. I call him up.
CF Stephen Dills—1.043 OPS, 2/4/5. 2 stars. Great performance. I call him up to AA.

PERSONAL DIARY ENTRIES:
None.

MONTHLY AWARDS
Pitchers Of The Month: Samuel Avendano, ANA (5-0, 0.71) and Kim Thomas, ARI (5-0, 1.20)
Batters Of The Month: LF Jason Bevilacqua, BOS (.376, 9 HR, 26 RBI) and James Parente, ARI (.383, 28 RBI)

IMPORTANT LEAGUE NEWS
None.

MY SEPTEMBER CALL-UPS OF NOTE
I call up 2-star SP William Braziel to replace Shultis in the rotation. No one else of significance.