[Ben E Lou]

JUNE 2002

THIS MONTH’S RECORD: 14-14
OVERALL RECORD AT MONTH-END: 42-41
CURRENT STANDING: Second place. 3.5 games behind the division-leading Mets.

INJURIES DURING MONTH:
No major injuries

MAJOR LEAGUE PERFORMANCES OF NOTE/LINEUP CHANGES/ROTATION CHANGES:
Overall, the pitching struggled this month, dropping to 24th in ERA (4.34). No one individual in the rotation had a huge drop, other than Sipe, who had a 7.61 ERA in the month.

The offense continues to improve. We’re now 5th in hitting (up to .265), 3rd in homers and 6th in runs score. C McDonald has emerged as a serious rookie of the year candidate. He hit .308 and slugged .626 this month. “The Hammer” leads the league in hits (104) and is in the thick of the batting title race.

SEASON-TO-DATE TEAM STATISTICAL LEADERS
AVG: 2B Dye--.323
HR: C McDonald--18
RBI: C McDonald--54
SB: CF Sylvain--31
SP ERA: Prahl—3.80
RP ERA: Boykins—2.23
SAVES: Dinger—17
SP K’s: Figueroa--88

PLAYER DEVELOPMENT:

Monday 6/4/2002:
Samuel Charneco has lost some power...
Jose Melendez has lost some momentum, his range at LF drops to B ...
Jose Melendez has lost some momentum, his range at RF drops to C ...

Monday 6/11/2002:
Samuel Charneco seems to have lost some bat speed, resulting in less contact...
Jacobo Sousa is getting faster, his speed increases to B ...

Monday 6/18/2002:
William Polly increased his bat control, resulting in more contact!

Monday 6/25/2002:
Anthony Schuster seems to have lost some bat speed, resulting in less contact...
Ruben Rodriguez has lost some momentum, his range at CF drops to D ...
Ruben Rodriguez has lost some momentum, his range at RF drops to D ...
Joshua Dinger has worked out more, his duration raises to C ...
Jacobo Sousa plate discipline seems to have faded...

Charneco is 37 and at AAA. No biggie…That really hurts for Melendez. He was drafted chiefly because of his defense, hoping that his offense would improve. Serious doubts now cast on him making it….Sousa is still stuck at 4/4/6…Polly has been in A-ball for all four years since he’s been drafted…Schuster’s still 6/6/6…Rodriguez now may become a defensive liability….Dinger just keeps getting more and more fearsome. He had an 0.71 ERA in June.

AAA NOTES
SP Hipolito Dominguez—4-3, 2.79 (7/6/6), 5 stars. His report now says he could “pitch very well” at the big league level. I promote him, and send Sipe back down.
MR Lucas Fernandez—0-0, 2.92, (7/8/5), 4 stars
1B Danny Anderson--.711 OPS, (3/3/7), 4 stars. Pretty decent first month in AAA.
RF Bryan Heasley--.892 OPS, (6/3/4), 4 stars

AA NOTES:
SP William Bent—4-6, 3.24 (4/3/5), 4 stars. Computer doesn’t say so, but that rise to “4” in stuff makes me promote him to AAA.
SP Danny Robinson—7-4, 3.02 (3/3/5), 3.5 stars
SS Robert Pauli--.766 OPS, (3/3/4), 4 stars

A NOTES:
SP Greg Benedict—6-5, 2.91, (1/3/4), 4 stars
SP Donovan Wade—1-1, 1.80 (0/2/5), 3.5 stars. Nice start for our 2nd-round pick from this year.
1B Hugh Anderson--.877 OPS (2/3/5), 4.5 stars
1B Tyler Poulson--.725 OPS, (2/2/3), 3.5 stars
CF Joseph Gillenwater--.791 OPS (2/3/3), 5 stars

PERSONAL DIARY ENTRIES:
None.

TRADES
None.

MONTHLY AWARDS
Pitchers Of The Month: Cecil Sanders, TX (4-0, 1.32) and Hernan Palacio, CHC (4-0, 2.05)
Batters Of The Month: LF Hernan Gomez, CHW (.356, 11, 27) and LF Alejandro Sanchez (.337, 27 RBI)

TEAM NEWS

Sunday 6/3/2002 :
Sidney Sutton crushes 2 homers against San Diego.

Wednesday 6/6/2002 :
Alan Dye extends his hitting streak to a career high 20 games!
Michael Sylvain has 4 hits against Milwaukee.

Friday 6/8/2002 :
Alan Dye extends his hitting streak to a career high 21 games!

Saturday 6/9/2002 :
Alan Dye extends his hitting streak to a career high 22 games!

Sunday 6/10/2002 :
Alan Dye extends his hitting streak to a career high 23 games!

Monday 6/11/2002 :
Alan Dye extends his hitting streak to a career high 24 games!
Ruben Rodriguez has 4 hits against Montreal

Tuesday 6/12/2002 :
Alan Dye extends his hitting streak to a career high 25 games!

Wednesday 6/13/2002 :
Alan Dye sets a new season Team-Record for Hitting Streak with 26 games!
Alan Dye extends his hitting streak to a career high 26 games!

Friday 6/15/2002 :
Alan Dye extends his hitting streak to a career high 27 games!

Saturday 6/16/2002 :
Alan Dye's hitting streak was snapped at 27 games!
Ruben Rodriguez crushes 2 homers against Florida.

Saturday 6/23/2002 :
Ruben Rodriguez has 4 hits against Colorado.

Monday 6/25/2002 :
Anthony Schuster scores 4 runs against Montreal.
Michael Sylvain scores 4 runs against Montreal.
Scott Mcfarland has 4 hits against Montreal.
Walter Mcdonald has 4 hits against Montreal.
Walter Mcdonald hits 2 homers against Montreal.
Walter Mcdonald has 5 RBI against Montreal.
Walter Mcdonald scores 4 runs against Montreal.

Tuesday 6/26/2002 :
Rodney Campbell hits 2 homers against Montreal.

IMPORTANT LEAGUE NEWS
The great Jose Cabello hit his 600th career homer this month (off of our own Dean Sipe), further extending his all-time record. He’s still rated “8” in power, and is 34. He probably still has a good bit more homers in him.

Toronto’s Benny Ferros threw a PERFECT GAME this month! Ferros is one of the game’s bright stars. He’s 35 years old, and has 220 career wins. Fierros also has over 3,000 strikeouts.