EL1 Eastern League

Eastern League News

Published on July 14, 2003 under Eastern League (EL1) News Release


The Chase Bank and Eastern League President Joseph McEacharn are pleased to announce that Bowie Baysox second baseman Mike Fontenot has been named the Chase Eastern League Player of the Month for the month of June.

Selected by Eastern League news and media personnel and broadcasters, Fontenot received nearly half of the votes to edge New Britain right-hander Willie Eyre for the award.

Born June 9, 1980 in Slidell, Louisiana, Michael Eugene Fontenot was selected by the Baltimore Orioles as the 19th overall selection in the 1st round of the June 2001 draft after hitting .339 with 14 home runs, 50 RBI and 54 runs scored in 59 games during his sophomore season at Louisiana State University.

The 23-year old had an outstanding month for Bowie, hitting .380 (35-for-92) with seven doubles, two triples, three home runs, 12 runs scored, 21 RBI, two stolen bases, a .416 on-base percentage and a .598 slugging percentage in 25 games.

Fontenot is currently hitting .295 with six home runs, 39 RBI and 30 runs scored in 75 games with the Baysox after batting .264 with 53 RBI and 61 runs scored in 122 games in his professional debut with the Frederick Keys last season.

Mike reached base in all 25 games he played in last month and had a hit in 23 of the 25 games, raising his average by 50 points. Fontenot went 2-for-3 in the first game of a doubleheader on July 4th to set a new Baysox record by reaching base safely in his 43 consecutive games.

Chase and the Eastern League will name monthly most valuable players throughout the season, as well as a season ending Eastern League Chase MVP. In addition, Chase will select a Chase Pitcher of the Year, a Chase Rookie of the Year and a Chase Manager of the Year at the conclusion of the 2003 Eastern League season.

Fontenot will receive his award during an on-field presentation later this month at New Britain Stadium in New Britain, Connecticut. As the second of five monthly award winners, Mike will also be recognized at the Chase MVP Awards banquet during which the season-ending award winners will be announced.

U.S. Team Wins All-Star Futures Game

Chattanooga Lookouts outfielder Stephen Smitherman blasted a solo home run off San Antonio Missions left-hander Travis Blackley in the bottom of the sixth inning to give the United States Team a 3-2 win over the World Team in front of a crowd of 42,983 at the 2003 All-Star Futures Game at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago on Sunday night.

Erie SeaWolves right-hander Preston Larrison came on in relief of Baltimore Orioles prospect John Maine to record the final out of the sixth inning and earn the win. Royce Ring, who joined the Binghamton Mets after being traded from the Chicago White Sox organization as part of the Roberto Alomar trade on July 1st, recorded the final out of the game to pick up the save.

A total of 11 players from the Eastern League participated in the Futures Game. New Haven Ravens outfielder and current E.L. batting leader Alexis Rios went 1-for-3 with a home run for the World Team.

Akron Aeros outfielder Grady Sizemore took home the Larry Doby Award as the Most Valuable Player of the game. After hitting an RBI single that tied the game in the first inning, Sizemore led off the third inning by pulling a home run over the right-field wall off Expos prospect and former Harrisburg Senators pitcher Seung Song.

"This was a pretty good experience for me," Sizemore said. "I'm just excited to be here. I was looking to have fun and play some baseball and take it all in."

Akron Duo Combines For Second No-Hitter Of The Year

RHP Chad Durbin and LHP Oscar Alvarez of the Akron Aeros combined to toss a no-hitter as the Aeros blanked the Bowie Baysox, 4-0, on Monday, July 7 at Canal Park in Akron, Ohio.

Making only his second start after coming off the disable list following Tommy John surgery on his right elbow, Durbin pitched the first seven innings of the game and struck out eight batters without giving up a walk. Durbin, a 25-year-old who has made 47 starts in the major leagues for the Kansas City Royals, retired the first 20 Baysox batters he faced before hitting Bowie third baseman Ivanon Coffie with a pitch with two outs in the seventh inning. With the win Durbin improved his record to 2-0 on the season and lowered his ERA to 1.50 on the season.

Alvarez came on in relief to pitch the final two innings of the game and struck out a pair of batters without issuing a walk. Akron's offense was led by first baseman Eric Crozier, who went 3-for-3 with a pair of RBI and two runs scored. Crozier led off the second inning with solo home run and added an RBi double in the bottom of the fourth inning.

The no-hitter was Akron's second of the season. Fernando Cabrera, Aaron Myette and Jose Vargas combined to no-hit the Harrisburg Senators in their 15-0 win at Canal Park on April 8.

Minor League Attendance Passes 20-Million Fan Mark Attendance at Minor League Baseball games is continuing at a robust pace, moving over the 20-million mark in games played through June for the first time in at least a 50 years. A total of 7,581,227 fans passed through the gates in June, pushing the season total to 20,092,646 for the 176 teams in 15 leagues.

The 2003 totals represent an increase of 179,952 fans in raw numbers over the 2002 season and it was achieved in 101 fewer openings. On an average per opening basis, the increase amounts to 2.8 per cent.

The regular season totals for the last two seasons were the second and third largest in the 101-year history of Minor League Baseball, hitting 38,808,339 in 2001 and 38,639,142 in 2002.

The all-time attendance record of 39,782,717 fans was set in 1949 when there were 448 teams in 59 leagues.

Mike Stanton Rehabs With B-Mets

On Tuesday, July 8, New York Mets relief pitcher Mike Stanton made a rehab appearance with the Binghamton Mets as they took on the Erie SeaWolves at NYSEG Stadium. Stanton gave up three runs on six hits in one inning of work and took the loss as the SeaWolves edged the B-Mets 4-3.

Fourth among active big league pitchers with 860 career appearances, Stanton underwent surgery on June 13 to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee.

After signing with the Mets during this past offseason, the 36-year old Stanton has posted a 2-3 record and a 4.71 ERA in 25 games this year.

In 15 season in the majors, Stanton has a lifetime record of 55-40 with 71 saves and a 3.79 ERA.

Changes Made To Eastern League All-Star Rosters

The New Britain Rock Cats, in conjunction with the Eastern League, have announced numerous changes to the rosters for the Eastern League All-Star Game.

New Britain RHP Henry Bonilla and New Haven LHP Dave Gassner and OF John-Ford Griffin have been added to the roster for the Northern Division and Reading INF Anderson Machado was added to the Southern Division squad.

Bonilla replaces Norwich RHP Kevin Correia, who was promoted to Triple-A Fresno after posting a record of 6-6 with a 3.65 ERA with Norwich.

Gassner takes the roster spot of New Britain RHP Willie Eyre. Eyre was promoted to Triple-A Rochester after going 5-4 with a 3.25 ERA with the Rock Cats.

Griffin was named to the team to replace teammate OF Gabe Gross, who was sent to Triple-A Syracuse after hitting .319 with seven home runs and 51 RBI in 84 games with the Ravens.

Machado was named to the Southern Division team to replace INF Juan Richardson, who has been on the disabled list since June 17th with a sprained left ankle and will be unable to participate in the game.

Rob Knepper of the Norwich Navigators was also selected as the trainer for the Southern Division team.

July 8, 2003
IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
2 1 0 0 1 2 0 0.00

Casey Fossum, Portland Sea Dogs

Boston Red Sox left-hander Casey Fossum struck out a pair of batters and gave up one hit and one walk in two innings of work in his second rehab appearance with the Portland Sea Dogs in their 6-2 win over New Britain on July 8. In his first rehab appearance with the Sea Dogs on July 5, Fossum pitched one inning and gave up two runs on two hits to take the loss.

Quote of the Week

"They invented the All-Star Game for Willie Mays"

Ted Williams, Boston Red Sox

News and Notes From Around The League
Week Ending July 13, 2003

Akron Aeros

Over his last seven games OF Tyler Minges is batting .375 with two runs scored, one home run and six RBI. LF Luke Scott hit .381 with three doubles, one home run, five RBI and three runs scored and is batting .351 with four home runs and 15 RBI in 14 games with Akron. RHP Francisco Cruceta gave up one run and had six strikeouts to earn his seventh win of the season last week.

Altoona Curve

OF Shawn Garrett hit .429 with two doubles, six RBI and three runs scored in six games last week. Garrett will be playing for the Northern Division team at the 2003 Eastern League All-Star Game after playing for the National League squad in the 2002 Double-A All-Star Game in Norwich, CT. LHP Tom Fordham struck out 12 batters in 12 innings of work and was 1-0 with a 0.75 ERA last week.

Binghamton Mets

E.L. Pitcher of the Week Bob Keppel was 1-0 with six strikeouts and a 0.69 ERA last week. In his first appearance of the week the 21-year old was originally scheduled to start but threw in relief after New York Mets reliever Mike Stanton pitched one inning of rehab to start the game. 3B Rodney Nye went 13-for-29 (.448) with two doubles, one triple, one home run, eight RBI, 11 runs scored and four walks last week.

Bowie Baysox

LHP Jeff Wilson gave up a pair of hits and struck out five batters in six shutout innings in his first start since May 28, 2002 in the Baysox 3-0 win over Trenton on Sunday. 1B/DH Juan Diaz hit a pair of home runs and drove in six runs last week. Diaz now has six home runs and 23 RBI in 26 games with the Baysox this season.

Erie SeaWolves

RHP Brian Schmack picked up a pair of saves last week to improve his Eastern League leading total to 22 on the season. LHP Homero Rivera has not earned a win since June 22 but is still tied with Altoona's Sean Burnett for the Eastern League lead in wins with 10.

Harrisburg Senators

Harrisburg won consecutive road games for the first time this year with an 8-4 win at Reading on Wednesday night. RHP Chris Schroeder earned the win in relief for Harrisburg in that game and also drove in the game winning run with a sixth inning single, his first hit of the year.

New Britain Rock Cats

C Joe Mauer and RHP J.D. Durbin represented the Rock Cats and the Minnesota Twins at Sunday's MLB Futures Game in Chicago. Mauer went 0-for-2 and Durbin pitched 1/3 of an inning in relief. RHP Brian Wolfe gave up two runs on seven hits and struck out two batters in seven innings of work on Sunday to earn his first win since May 27th.

New Haven Ravens

In his last 12 games, including three starts, LHP Dave Gassner has pitched 30.2 innings, allowing only 26 hits, seven walks and eight earned runs (2.34 ERA) while striking out 20 batters. OF John-Ford Griffin hit .455 with two home runs and 10 RBI last week. Griffin had four multi-hit games last week, including two four hit games, and went 2-for-5 with a home run and five RBI at Trenton on Thursday.

Norwich Navigators

RHP Kevin Correia pitched an inning and a third in his Major League debut with the San Francisco Giants on Thursday. Correia becomes the second Navigators player this season to make his major league debut within four days of leaving Norwich and is the fourth former Norwich player to make his Major League debut this season.

Portland Sea Dogs

1B Dustin Brisson hit the Sea Dogs first grand slam of the season on July 11 in Portland's 8-5 win at Norwich. 3B Kevin Youkilis has reached base in 50 consecutive games, which is the longest current streak in professional baseball and the longest of his career. OF Jeremy Owens currently has a six game hitting streak and leads the Eastern League in extra-base hits with 38.

Reading Phillies

E.L. Player of the Week Jeff Inglin is the only Reading Phillie to play in all 94 games and has not committed an error this season. SS Anderson Machado has scored at least one run in each of the last five games and has scored two runs in the last three games. RHP Taylor Buchholz is 3-2 with a 2.03 ERA in 40 innings of work over his last six appearances.

Trenton Thunder

The Thunder have a record of 14-27 on the road this season and are hitting just .230 with a 5.47 ERA away from home. Trenton has a record of 8-4 this season when Mitch Jones hits a home run and are 5-6 when Brian Myrow goes deep.

Chevrolet Player of the Week

JEFF INGLIN, an outfielder for the Reading Phillies, is the Eastern League's Chevrolet Player of the Week for the week ending July 13th. Inglin, a native of Petaluma, California, had an outstanding week, batting .448 (13-for-29) with three doubles, three home runs, 12 RBI, nine runs scored, one stolen base, three walks, a .500 on-base percentage and a .700 slugging percentage in seven games. Inglin drove in at least one run in every game last week and had multiple hits in five of the seven games to raise his batting average from .286 to .301 over the course of the week. The 27-year old currently leads the league in home runs (16) and RBI (72). The 5'11", 180 lb. slugger was signed by the Philadelphia Phillies as a Minor League Free Agent on December 31, 2002.

Chevrolet Pitcher of the Week

BOB KEPPEL, a right-handed pitcher for the Binghamton Mets, is the Eastern League's Chevrolet Pitcher of the Week for the week ending July 13th. The Chesterfield, Missouri native was 1-0 with six strikeouts and a 0.69 ERA last week. In his first appearance of the week, the 21-year old struck out five batters and did not surrender a walk while scattering one run on two hits in six innings of work to earn a no-decision against the Erie SeaWolves at NYSEG Stadium. In his second start of the week the 6'5", 200 lb. hurler tossed a complete game one-hit shutout against the first-place New Haven Ravens at Yale Field on Sunday, to improve his record to 4-1 and lower his ERA to 1.60 on the season. Keppel was selected by the New York Mets in the first round (36th overall) of the June 2000 draft.

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Eastern League Stories from July 14, 2003


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