1996 PLAYER / PITCHER OF THE WEEK #5

NAME	TEAM	AVG	SLG	G	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	R	RBI	K	W	IW	SB	CS	HBP
GALARRAGA,Andres	DEW AL	.542	1.125	6	24	13	2	0	4	9	16	4	2	1	1	0	1

NAME	CLUB	G	W	L	S	ERA	IP	R	ER	H	K	BB	IBB	WP	BK	HB	HR
NOMO,Hideo	FWP AL	2	2	0	0	1.59	17	3	3	7	15	1	0	0	0	0	1

NAME	TEAM	AVG	SLG	G	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	R	RBI	K	W	IW	SB	CS	HBP
RODRIGUEZ,Henry	HAM NL	.304	.913	6	23	7	2	0	4	4	10	3	1	0	0	0	0

NAME	CLUB	G	W	L	S	ERA	IP	R	ER	H	K	BB	IBB	WP	BK	HB	HR
RADKE,Brad	MIC NL	2	2	0	0	1.06	17	2	2	13	10	2	0	0	0	0	1

Long Beach Titans @ Steel City Sluggers
Series Preview:	After 4 weeks, Steel City finally has a home series – can they keep the red-hot momentum from the road while enjoying some home-cooking’?
Series Summary:	Steel City remains on fire, sweeping Long Beach and improving to 23-5 on the year. We knew our offense would be good, but the off-season deals to shore up the pitching have paid huge dividends.

Winnipeg Goldeyes @ Hampton Huskies
Series Preview:	The Hampton Huskies head into Week 5 in hopes of righting the ship after a somewhat slow and disappointing 10-12 start, but unfortunately, it will have to come against one of the leagues better teams in the Winnipeg Goldeyes who lead the NL West with a 14-8 record which is 2nd best in the National League.
Game #1:	Salomon Torres (0-0) at Mark Langston (0-1) Off-season acquisition Langston has been a bust so far for Hampton and cruised into this start with a 7.00 ERA as a full-time starter (can you spell C-R-A-P?) and after the first inning he did nothing to dispel that reputation. Langston made it through leadoff hitter Rich Becker and speedy Kenny Lofton without issues but then Robin Ventura (who would go on to be a pain in the ass all series) doubles and then scored on Jay Buhner’s single to give the Goldeyes the early 1-0 edge. It was all Zzzzzs with a few Ks thrown in until the bottom of the 4th for both teams when the Huskies finally got some offensive momentum. Jeff Reed doubled and then scored on Eric Young’s triple into the right field corner to tie it up 1-1. Torres’s day worsened a bit the next inning at the hands of Henry Rodriguez who launched a mammoth (wool included) blast into the opposite field stands with a runner on as part of a three-run inning for Hampton. Winnipeg narrowed the margin to 4-2 the next inning when Edgardo Alfonzo grounded into a double play that brought in Kenny Lofton with the bases loaded. Then the wheels fell off the bus for the Winnipeg pitching staff as the inning was as rotten as a Manitoba winter day. Torres started the inning but never managed to record an out as he gave up a double to Jeff Reed and an infield single to Eric Young to make it 1st and 3rd with none out and Brian McRae due up. In came buddy Groom and in came seven runs. On the bright side, Groom did register one out. On the dark side, he gave up three hits, walked one batter and hit two more … all of which came in to score. By the time the dust settled, it was 11-2 and the game was all but over. The Goldeyes did make it closer by capitalizing on some horrific relief pitching by Doug Bochtler and scored three runs in the 8th (one was earned) thanks to the righty giving up three walks and one hit without registering an out. Craig Paquette added another couple of runs in the bottom of the 8th with his 4th home run of the year off Winnie reliever Jeff Shaw to end it at 13-5 with the Huskies smacking out 15 hits on the day. Buhner had two RBIs on the day for Winnipeg to bring his season total to an impressive 18 in just 23 games. For Hampton, Langston was solid for six innings to improve to 1-1 with six Ks and two walks and five hits allowed. Reed and Eric Young each had three hits for Hampton with Young scoring twice and Reed driving in three.
Game #2:	Huck Flener (1-0) at Chan Ho Park (0-2) A poor start from the get-go as normally Grade 12 Hampton starter Park began the game as a 7 … nice … What he didn’t manage to mess up in the three innings Park lasted, reliever Doug Bochtler completed F-ed up. The Goldeyes scored two off Park in the first inning on Kenny Lofton’s 3rd homer of the season and added another in the 3rd inning on an RBi single by Jeff Frye to spot them to a 3-0 lead. Bochtler then put the nails in the Huskies’ coffin by providing yet another clinic on pitching with your eyes closed and gave up four runs (in fairness only three were earned) in just 1/3 of an inning with another couple of walks and two hits – including a solo homer to Robin Ventura (5). Up 8-0 after four innings the Goldeyes put it into cruise control and although the Huskies scraped out a few runs on a two-run homer by Henry Rodriguez (7) in the 6th and a solo homer by Tony Clark (1) in the 7th it was a no-contest and the visitors took it handily 8-3. Flener (2-0) lowered his ERA to 1.50 with five shutout innings of two-hit ball while Park fell to 0-3 and saw his ERA bloat to 7.61.
Game #3:	Back to Hampton to win a not close game … Hampton takes it 9-3 by jumping all over Tom Candiotti with all but one of their runs in the first 4 innings. Brian McRae had three of the Huskies’ 16 hits including his 4th home run of the season and Kevin Stocker stayed hot with three hits including two doubles, one RBI and two runs scored. Mickey Tettleton knocked Candiotti out of the park with a solo homer in the 4th inning. Candiotti’s line score on the day was 3.2 IP, 13 H, 8 R, 8 ER, 5 SO. Yucky. Tom Gordon improved to 2-1 with 8 pretty good innings – he walked just one and struck out six – but did give up back-to-back homers to Robin Ventura (6) and Mark McGwire (6) in the 3rd inning. McGwire had three hits on the day while Ventura’s continuing insane pace for clutch hitting cranked up his RBI total to 24 in 25 games. Kenny Lofton stole his 18th base.
Game #4:	Yet again a pitching collapse, but this time from an unlikely source as the Huskies put a beat down on Tom Glavine who came into the game with an ERA under 1.00 and no homers allowed yet this year and left with a 2.38 ERA (still bloody good) and four homers allowed in a 9-4 drubbing by Hampton. Al Martin (3), Mike Stanley (2) and Henry Rodriguez (9) all went back-to-back-to-back on Glavine in the 3rd inning after Rodriguez had homered earlier in the 1st inning to give the Huskies an early 4-0 lead. Orel Hershiser (3-2) allowed four runs (three earned) on seven hits over seven innings and had one walk and two Ks for the win.
Game #5:	Good God …a close game. But it really was not. Winnipeg entered the 8th inning up 5-0, but the Huskies managed to score three unearned runs off reliever Jeff Shaw to tighten the gap to 5-3 before the lights got turned off. Omar Vizquel and Edgardo Alfonzo had miscues in the 8th that accounted for all of the Hampton runs – with Henry Rodriguez driving in two of them on a line drive double off the left-field wall. Curt Schilling started the game for Winnipeg but only managed to go 1.2 innings before Kevin Stocker drove the ball back at Schilling and off his leg. Schilling had to be removed and will be out 18 days. Other highlights for Winnipeg included Kenny Lofton heating up the batter’s box with three singles … but then erasing them by getting caught three times trying to steal off Jeff Reed. Vizquel added two hits with only Robin Ventura’s 1st inning RBI double going for extra bases. Kent Bottenfield got his 2nd save of the year with the final five outs.
Game #6:	Winnipeg cranked out five runs in the top of the 5th off beleaguered Hampton starter Mark Langston and then no one did pretty much anything else as they rode the wave to a 5-1 win to end the series with a split. Kenny Lofton had another three-hit game (all singles) but still was death on the basepaths as he tried to steal twice and was thrown out by Mike Stanley both times. Robin Ventura (8) stayed red-hot for the Goldeyes with a two-run homer off Langston. Andy Benes improved to 2-1 and went the distance with only five hits and a walk allowed while striking out four. He also doubled, scored a run and drove in a run. Brian McRae (5) homered as the only sign of life from Hampton in this one.
Series Summary:	A split against Winnipeg was probably much better than we could have hoped for so I think we should just fast forward to putting us in the World Series.

Sugar Land Skeeters @ Blarney Drive Bandits
Series Summary:	Sugar Land takes 4 of 6.

Portland Mavericks @ Corktown Bootleggers
Game #1:	Portland 4-1 W. Springer 1-3 L.Gooden 1-3 S. Osuna 1
Game #2:	Corktown 7-2 W.Baldwin 4-0 L. Wells 3-1
Game #3:	Corktown 5-4 (10) W. Hernandez 2-0 L. Jones 1-1
Game #4:	Corktown 11-6 W. Urbina 1-1 L.Lopez 0-1Portland had a 5-0 lead.
Game #5:	Corktown 8-7 W. Orosco 1-0 L. Fernandez 2-3 S. Percival 1
Game #6:	Portland 10-9 (17) W. Jones 2-1 L. Corbin 1-0 S. Mecir 117 inning marathon. Portland scores in the 8th, 9th 11th and 17th. Corktown was able to tie it each time until the end. Plenty of runners thrown out at for each team.
Series Summary:	Corktown takes the series 4-2. Portland gave the home town team a battle in this series.

Harper Woods Expos @ Fort Worth Panthers
Series Summary:	Panthers win 5 of 6.

Mexico City Chihuahuas @ DeWitt Tigers
Series Preview:	DeWitt welcomes Mexico City to town.
Series Summary:	DeWitt takes games 1,2,4-6 in taking the series 5-1. Mexico City took game 3 7-5. The rest of the series was DeWitt winning by a total score of 46-10. Leiter had a complete game in Game 5.

Valdosta Bombers @ Santa Rosa Beach Bums
Series Preview:	Valdosta seeking a break from onions, peanuts and pecans come to Santa Rosa Beach for the waves, sand, and sun.
Series Summary:	Bombers do just that, especially to the Bums relief taking 4 or 6.

California Quakes @ New Hampshire Nighthawks
Series Preview:	California comes all the way east to New Hampshire to face the tired Nighthawks
Game #1:	A 2-run double caps a 3 run 3rd for the Nighthawks. The Quakes then get 3 in the 5th and 4 in the 6th off Tim Worrell to take a lead that they would never give up. Sid Fernandez gets the win going 6IP 6H 3ER 9Ks. California 7 Nighthawks 4
Game #2:	California jumps out to a 5-0 lead in the first 3 innings. A 5-run 5th for the Nighthawks ties the game after a 3-run HR for Ed Sprague. Lead doesn’t last long as Blas Minor gives up 3 in 6th to give a lead to the Quakes that they would hold for the rest of the game. Quakes hit 3 HR in the game (Salmon, O’Neil, and Palmer). California 11, Nighthawks 8
Game #3:	Game 3 is a laugher as California gets 7 runs in the 2nd and 6 runs in the 8th. Mark Clark pitches well 7.2IP 4H 7Ks. California 16 Nighthawks 0
Game #4:	Both starters pitch well, the game is tied at 1 going into the bottom of the 9th when Tyler Houston walks it off with an RBI single to get the Nighthawks a win. Nighthawks 2 California 1
Game #5:	Another pitchers duel as the game goes to 11 innings tied a 1 run apiece. Mike Lansing breaks the tie in the top of the 11th with an RBI double. Trevor Hoffman shuts down New Hampshire in the bottom half to secure another win for California. California 2 Nighthawks 1
Game #6:	Another laugher in this one as Nighthawks pitching can’t shut down the Quakes bats. Even though the Quakes only scored in 3 innings, they still got 16 runs. 4 in the 1st, 5 in the 6th and 7 in the 8th to take this one easy. California 16 Nighthawks 7
Series Summary:	Quakes take the series 5-1. A ton of hit batters in this series, although it was nice to see New Hampshire pitching hit something other than a California bat.

Chicago Demolition @ Castle Rock Hounds
Series Preview:	Chicago comes to Castle Rock, finding the Hounds on a 3-game losing streak. Writeups due to compressed playing time over Thanksgiving weekend.
Game #1:	Guzman pitches a gem for the Demolition, going 8.1 and not allowing any runs. Timlin finishes it off. McDonald gives up three solo homers, and that is all Chicago would get. Final is Demolition 3, Hounds 0. WP: Guzman (4-0) LP: McDonald (0-4) S: Timlin (6)
Game #2:	The Demolition completely, well, demolish the Hounds on this day, pushing Castle Rock’s losing streak to 7 games. Clemens picks up a quality start in the victory and Kenny Rogers gives up 13 runs (but only 3 earned), as both teams are sloppy in the field. WP: Clemens (3-2) LP: Rogers (2-2)
Game #3:	The Hounds are looking for some ray of hope in the middle of a losing streak, but none is granted to them. Ariel Miranda gets pasted by Chicago, and the final is 13-0. Chicago has outscored Castle Rock by a 35-6 margin over the last two games. WP: Stottlemyre (3-3) LP: Miranda (0-4)
Game #4:	Finally, in Game 4, the Hounds pull out a victory with Pettitte tossing 8 shutout innings and outdueling Pedro to get the victory. Bonds has the key HR. WP: Pettitte (3-1) LP: Pedro Martinez (2-4)
Game #5:	The Hounds’ excitement is short-lived, as the Demolition jump out to a 3-0 lead and don’t need anymore, as Wilkins pitches a strong 6 innings, and the Chicago bullpen does its job. WP: Wilkins (1-0) LP: Dickson (1-2) S: Timlin (7)
Game #6:	Trying to salvage some dignity, the Hounds pull off the Game 6 victory over Clemens and the Demolition. Ben McDonald picks up his first win of the season with 6 innings and 0 earned runs. WP: McDonald (1-4) LP: Clemens (3-3) S: Plunk (3)
Series Summary:	The Demolition outscores the Hounds by a 45-19 count over the six-game series, so Castle Rock is lucky to take 2 out of 6.

Cincinnati Outlaws @ Stockton Wings
Series Summary:	Cincinnati Outlaws @ Stockton Wings Split 3 games each.

Michigan Mauraders @ Manhattan Gas Hornets
Series Preview:	Michigan travels to Manhattan to show off their home-run muscle and against the Gas Hornets pitching staff that might be brutal!!
Game #1:	One 2 run homer in this one from Robby Thompson fuels the 12 hits, 5 walk Mauraders attack as they win the opener 6-1. Brade Radke (W 2-2) goes the distance.
Game #2:	Gas Hornets get 14 hits including 3 homers; Ernie Young 2(2,3) and Lenny Harris (1), but it’s nowhere near enough to counter the 19 hit, 4 walk attack from Michigan. Rafael Palmeiro 2(7,8), Brady Anderson (5), Mike Lieberthal and Brett Boone (3) account for the 5 Mauraders dingers. FINAL SCORE 13-8 Michigan. WP Rich Robertson (1-0)
Game #3:	Michigan gets homers from Rafael Palmeiro (9), Cal Ripken (8) and Robby Thompson (2) – but only 4 runs and THAT’s not enough. Manhattan scores 7 for a win. Wil Cordero, subbing at 1b, gets 2 hits and 3 RBIs. All 10 Manhattan hits were singles. Terry Mulholland the W (2-3) and Steve Avery the L (2-2).
Game #4:	Things return to normal in this game as Michigan jumps to a 4-0 lead after 2. But Charles Nagy then walks off the mound in the 2nd (6 day injury) and the Gas Hornets tie it up with 4 in the 3rd. Then single runs for Michigan in the 4th, 5th and 6th followed by 3 in the 7th gets them p 10-4. Manhattan gets 3 in the 7th, but that’s it as Michigan wins 10-7. Santiago (3) goes deep for Manhattan. BUT Dave Clark (1), Mike Lieberthal (5), Michael Tucker (2) and Bret Boone (4) add to the Michigan homer parade (10 hits and SEVEN walks). Rich Robertson wins another (2-0).
Game #5:	So, can it get worse? 15 hits, 6 walks, 5 homers and a 12-2 final score – SURE it can get worse as Michigan mauls the Gas Hornets again. Bernie Williams hits 2 (5, 6), Vinny Castilla hits 2 (7,8) and Bret Boone hits another (5). Mark Gardner goes the distance for the W (2-2)
Game #6:	Michigan finishes a week of batting practice with 14 more hits, 3 more homers (drought) and only 9 runs. But When Brad Radke (W 3-2) tosses a 5 hit 1 run game for 8 innings, it was way more than enough. And that 1 Manhattan run came in the 1st and gave them the lead. Homer run honors in this game goes to Vinny Casitlla (9), Chris Hoiles (9) and Cal Ripken (9). FINAL: Michigan 9-1 winners.
Series Summary:	Well, we won 1 at home!!! And Michigan showed they have some serious power – beef up the staff and they could go deep this year!

XDetroit Stars @ Flossmoor Flying Squirrels.
Series Summary:	The Flying Squirrels beat up the Stars 5 games to 1.