Sports stats

Northern League news and notes

August 17, 2004 - Northern League (NL) News Release


TIGHT RACES: With less than three weeks remaining in the regular season, the Northern League's second half races are extremely close in both the North and South Divisions. Two playoff clubs from 2003, the St. Paul Saints (21-10) and Winnipeg Goldeyes (19-11) hold the top two spots in the North with the Saints having a 1.5 game advantage. First half champion, the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks are 5.5 games out at 15-15.

St. Paul has the Northern League's best overall record at 51-27, two shy of its club record for wins set in 1995. The Saints are 41-1 when leading after seven innings and 45-0 when having after the lead after eight frames. Winnipeg, which is seeking its 11th consecutive playoff appearance, opens an 11-game roadtrip to the three Chicago area clubs Tuesday night in Gary. The club is 11-3 when tied after eight innings. The Goldeyes will host the Saints for the final four games of the regular season, Sept. 2-5.

The South Division teams have not been as dominant in the second half, but the standings are just a close. The Joliet JackHammers have a 1.5 game lead at 18-12 with the Kansas City T-Bones and first half champ Schaumburg Flyers tied for second at 17-14. Schaumburg won its 48th overall game of 2004 on Monday versus St. Paul, one more than the previous franchise mark set in 2003.

Beginning August 20, Joliet will play its next 12 games versus the top three teams in the North, hosting Winnipeg for four and then going to Fargo and St. Paul for four games each. The JackHammers and Flyers conclude the regular season with a three-game series, Sept. 3-5.

The best of five Northern League semifinal playoff round opens in Fargo and Schaumburg on Tuesday, September 7.

LEAGUE RECORD WATCH: Several Northern League single season individual and team records are on the verge of being broken in 2004. Kansas City outfielder Rick Prieto is chasing two of those marks. His nine triples are one shy of the league record set by Sioux City's Jose Peguero in 1996, and his 84 runs scored match the third most ever, four behind the all-time high shared by Winnipeg's Terry Lee (1997) and Duluth-Superior's Anthony Lewis (2000).

3B Pat Scalabrini of Winnipeg has 32 doubles, eighth most in league history and just two shy of the second highest total. The NL record is 39 by Carmine Cappuccio of Winnipeg in 2001. Schaumburg's 1B Mario Delgado and Kansas City's DH Eddie Pearson are tied for the 2004 top spot with 81 rbi, tied for eighth on the all-time list.

St. Paul's Chris Chavez has posted 23 saves this season, matching the second most in league history, five behind fellow Saint Bruce Walton's total in 1995. Chavez' next save will be his 63rd career in the Northern League, a new record. The lefty is tied with Barry Nelson and Chris Weidert at 62 apiece. As a team, St. Paul has recorded 28 saves, four shy of its own Northern League mark set in 1995.

Chavez' teammate, outfielder Adam Olow, enters play on Tuesday with a .372 batting average. The league record for a season is .373 by Winnipeg's Terry Lee in 1995.

HURRICANE RELIEF: Winnipeg manager Hal Lanier returns to the dugout Tuesday night as the Goldeyes open their 11-game roadtrip in Gary. He took Saturday and Sunday off from his baseball duties to concentrate on his wife, Pam and daughter, Chrissy, who were at the family's home in St. Cloud, Florida, when Hurricane Charley hit the area on Friday afternoon.

With telephone service out, an anxious Lanier did not hear from his family until Sunday morning, when Pam and Chrissy assured him they were all right.

"There were two days of not knowing how or where they were, and it was pretty scary all around,"

Lanier said on Sunday. "I have a walk-in closet at the (Florida) home, and when I finally got a hold of Pam, I found out she and Chrissy spent three or four hours taking shelter in there while the storm ripped through the neighborhood."

His wife and daughter have been staying with family elsewhere in Florida for the last few days with power and telephone service still down.

"The area was hit pretty hard," Lanier continued. "We had some minor damage to our own property, as did the houses on either side of us. But down the street, I hear the damage was pretty bad. We were the lucky ones."

Pitching coach Rick Forney ran the Goldeyes in Lanier's absence.

ALUMNI UPDATE: Former Northern Leaguers Bobby Madritsch and George Sherrill have enjoyed success starts to their major league careers with the Seattle Mariners. Madritsch, who set a modern Northern League record with 153 strikeouts at Winnipeg in 2002, is 2-0, 2.63 in six total games since being promoted from Tacoma on July 21. The lefthander was 2-0, 3.00 in four relief appearances before joining the Seattle rotation, where he has allowed four runs in 15 innings with a pair of no decisions. He makes his next start on Tuesday night in Kansas City.

Sherrill, promoted from Tacoma on July 14, is 1-1, 3.38 in 13 relief appearances. The lefty, who pitched at Sioux Falls in 2001 and Winnipeg in 2002-03, earned his first major league win in relief of Madritsch on August 11 against Minnesota.

The most recent Northern Leaguers to be purchased by major league organization have also been effective. Lefty Brian Mazone, sold by Joliet to the San Francisco Giants on August 2, is 1-1 with a save and a 0.00 era (4 unearned runs/10.1 innings) in three games/two starts at Norwich in the Eastern League. He worked eight shutout innings to beat New Hampshire in his debut on August 7. Righthander Dominic Woody, purchased by the Anaheim Angels on August 3 after becoming a full-time pitcher less than two months earlier at Gary, is 1-0, 2.77 in his two starts at Rancho Cucamonga in the California League, defeating Lake Elsinore in his last outing on August 12.

FLYING THROUGH RECORDS: It's been a record-breaking season for Schaumburg first baseman Mario Delgado. Here's a list of some of his accomplishments:

--Homers: Tied for 2nd in league at 21, 5 more than previous Schaumburg record...Has 30 career homers as a Flyer, 8 more than previous team mark.

--RBI: Tied for league lead with 81, 3 more than previous Schaumburg record...Has 135 rbi as a Flyer, 16 more than previous team mark.

--Extra base hits: Is 2nd in the league with 47, 3 more than previous Schaumburg record...Has 82 ebh as a Flyer, 8 more than previous team mark.

--Doubles: Is 3rd in the league with 25, 3 shy of single season club record...Has 49 in career, 2 shy of team record.

MORE SLUGGING FEATS: Thanks to third baseman Juan Camacho, the Gary SouthShore RailCats posted consecutive wins over Lincoln on August 14 and 15, the first time the team had accomplished that feat since July 28-29. Camacho's seventh inning grand slam beat the Saltdogs, 5-2 on August 14. The next afternoon, Camacho homered in the bottom of the 13th inning for a 5-4 victory, the first walk-off home run in the two-year history of U.S. Steel Yard.

REDHAWK RETIREE: The Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks retired the #35 uniform number of Jeff Bittiger in a ceremony at Newman Outdoor Field on August 13. Bittiger, who pitched and coached for the RedHawks from 1996-2003, is now a consultant for the organization while also working as a scout with the Oakland A's. He was 36-12, 3.46 on the mound for Fargo-Moorhead from 1996-2002 and produced a 193-115 overall record in 23 pro seasons. Bittiger joins Roger Maris (#9), who played for the old Fargo-Moorhead Twins in 1953, as the only players to have their numbers retired by the RedHawks.

AND IN OTHER CEREMONIES: The Gary SouthShore RailCats gave away Bobbleheads of Chicago Cubs reliever LaTroy Hawkins on August 13. Hawkins, who starred at Gary's West Side High School, was able to attend the game while serving a three-game suspension with the Cubs. Hawkins' three-year-old daughter, Troi threw out the ceremonial first pitch that night at U.S. Steel Yard.NORTHERN LEAGUE BRIEFS: Sioux City played its 1,000th Northern League game on August 7 with St. Paul and Sioux Falls reaching that milestone two days later...Fargo-Moorhead manager Doug Simunic earned his 600th Northern League victory on August 5 at Gary...Winnipeg's leading winner is reliever Shayne Holbrook at 10-3...The previous Goldeyes record for relief victories was 7 by Joe Montgomery in 1998...Winnipeg tied a team record with 9 consecutive home victories, July 10-August 6...Lou Lucca missed by a single of becoming the first St. Paul Saint to ever hit for the cycle, producing a double, triple, and home run on August 13 vs. Fargo-Moorhead...The RedHawks enter play on Tuesday at 15-15 on the 2nd half...Fargo has never had a losing record in a half since joining the Northern League in 1996, going 21-21 in the 1st half in 1997...Schaumburg's Hank Woodman improved to 8-0 in 9 career starts against St Paul with a 5-1 win on August 16...Joliet's Bubba Smith hit his 348th professional homer on August 15 at Sioux City...Schaumburg's Chris Weekly has reached base via a hit or walk in each of his last 34 road games beginning May 31...Kansas City's Eddie Pearson tops the league with 23 homers, 7 more than league leader Bryan Warner had in 2003... The T-Bones established a CommunityAmerica Ballpark attendance record with 8,510 on August 7 against Joliet...Gary, which lost a Northern League record 14 consecutive games earlier this season, had an 11-game losing streak come to an end on August 11 against Joliet...Prior to 2004, the league record for consecutive defeats had been 10...Righthander Donnie Smith has joined the Winnipeg coaching staff after the reliever was placed on the inactive list with right shoulder problems on August 14.



Northern League Stories from August 17, 2004


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.


Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central