EL1 Eastern League

Eastern League news

Published on August 9, 2004 under Eastern League (EL1) News Release


New Hampshire's Chacin Is Chase Monthly MVP For July

The Chase Bank has named New Hampshire Fisher Cats left-handed pitcher Gustavo Chacin the Eastern League Chase MVP for the month of July. Chacin, a 23-year old native of Maracaibo, Venezuela, was a near unanimous selection for the award after going 5-0 with a 0.98 ERA in six starts for the Fisher Cats in July.

The 5'11", 190 lb. hurler limited opponents to a .185 batting average in July and struck out 32 batters while surrendering only nine walks in 36.2 innings of work. The former Pioneer League All-Star has a league-best 13 wins this season and is also currently ranked among the league leaders in ERA (3.33-tied 8th) and innings pitched (121.2- 8th). Gustavo, who was also named the Eastern League Player of the Week for the week ending July 25th, was signed by the Toronto Blue Jays as a non-drafted free agent on July 3, 1998.

Chacin will receive his award later this month in an on-field presentation at Gill Stadium in Manchester, New Hampshire and he will also be recognized at the Chase MVP Awards banquet when the season ending award winners are announced.

Now in its eighth season, the Chase Awards Program is designed to recognize the monthly achievements and season long accomplishments of Eastern League players. Chase and the Eastern League will name a monthly most valuable player throughout the season, as well as a season ending Chase Eastern League MVP. In addition, Chase will select a Chase Pitcher of the Year, Chase Rookie of the Year and a Chase Manager of the Year at the end of the season. All award winners are chosen by Eastern League sports writers and radio announcers and will be recognized at a season ending awards banquet.

Chacin Week By Week- July ‘04
W L ERA SO OPP AVG
7/01-7/10 2 0 0.71 9 .191
7/11-7/17 0 0 3.60 7 .333
7/18-7/24 1 0 0.00 8 .000
7/25-7/31 2 0 0.75 8 .195
-----------------------------------------------------------
July 5 0 0.98 32 .185
Season 13 2 3.33 90 .225

All-Star Jerseys Now Available Via Online Auction

The Bowie Baysox have announced that the gameworn jerseys from the 2004 3-A-Day of Dairy Eastern League All-Star Game are now available to fans through an online auction which is being hosted at www.minorleaguebaseball.com. All jerseys are signed and pictured on the auction page on the official website for Minor League Baseball. Fans and collectors will have three weeks to bid on their favorite players as the jersey auction ends on August 20.

Major League Baseball authenticated all 52 jerseys, which were worn at the July 14th Eastern League All- Star Game played at Prince George's Stadium in Bowie, MD. Each jersey also has a 3-A-Day of Dairy patch on the sleeve making it truly unique. At the All- Star Game, the Southern Division defeated the Northern Division by a final score of 4-1. During the game, each Double-A player had the unique opportunity to wear his affiliated Major League jersey, which he then autographed in front of an authenticator who gave the MLB stamp of approval.

Rock Cats Establish New Season Attendance Record

The New Britain Rock Cats surpassed its All-Time Total Regular Season Attendance record set in 2003.

As of August 8 the Rock Cats have now entertained a total of 271,143 patrons in 2004. This new high has been reached through just 59 games at New Britain Stadium this year. The Rock Cats have 11 home games remaining on their 2004 schedule.

Rock Cats' President and General Manager, Bill Dowling, again expressed his appreciation to the fans for their enduring and spirited support of the team. "We are all enormously grateful to the fans of Connecticut and Western Massachusetts for making Eastern League baseball in New Britain a success."

Transactions

Akron Aeros
None

Altoona Curve
Received INF Tom Evans
Received RHP Matt Peterson from New York Mets Organization
Sent RHP Eddie Candelario to Lynchburg (A)
Placed LHP Mike Connolly on the DL
Received RHP Blake Stein from Nashville (AAA)

Binghamton Mets
Placed RHP Kole Strayhorn on the DL
Received RHP Orlando Roman from St. Lucie (A)
Received RHP Jose Parra from the New York Mets
Received RHP Bryan Edwards from St. Lucie (A)
Sent OF Angel Pagan to Norfolk (AAA)

Bowie Baysox
Activated INF James Lofton from the DL
Placed OF Matt Walker on the DL
Received OF Jay Gibbons from Baltimore
Sent RHP Craig House to Ottawa (AAA)
Activated RHP Sendy Rleal from the DL
Received LHP Jeff Wilson from Frederick (A)
Sent RHP Jerry Spradlin to Ottawa (AAA)

Erie SeaWolves
Placed INF Jack Hannahan on the DL
Sent RHP Brian Schmack to Toledo (AAA)
Received RHP John Birtwell from Lakeland (A)
Received RHP Jorge Cordova from Lakeland (A)
Received OF Chad Meyers
Activated INF Jack Hannahan from the DL
Placed RHP Preston Larrison on the DL
Received RHP Humberto Sanchez from Lakeland (A)
Sent RHP Rick Kirsten to Toledo (AAA)
Sent OF Rich Gomez to Toledo (AAA)

Harrisburg Senators
Activated P Rich Rundles from the DL
Sent P Rich Rundles to Brevard County (A)

New Britain Rock Cats
Sent C Rob Bowen to Minnesota
Received LHP Francisco Liriano from Ft. Myers (A)
Activated RHP Bobby Korecky from the DL
Placed LHP Jason Miller on the DL

New Hampshire Fisher Cats
Sent INF Danny Solano to the Syracuse (AAA)
Activated C Victor Valencia from the DL
Placed C Jose Umbria on the Temporarily Inactive List
Received RHP Jordy Templet

Norwich Navigators
Placed RHP Chris Begg on the Temporary Inactive List
Received RHP Joe Bateman from Hagerstown (A)
Received LHP Brian Mazone
Placed SS Angel Chavez on waivers
Sent RHP Scott Munter to Fresno (AAA)
Received RHP Merkin Valdez from San Francisco

Portland Sea Dogs
None

Reading Phillies
Placed LHP Matt Squires on the DL
Activated 2B Brian Hitchcox from the DL
Placed RHP Cary Hiles on the DL
Placed LHP Kevin Dougherty on the DL
Placed 3B Jeff Phelps on the DL
Received INF Carlos Leon from Clearwater (A)
Received LHP Kyle Parcus from Lakewood (A)

Trenton Thunder
None

Line of the Week

August 5, 2004
IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
7 0 0 0 0 7 0 0.00

Gustavo Chacin, New Hampshire Fisher Cats

New Hampshire Fisher Cats LHP Gustavo Chacin pitched seven innings of no-hit ball against the Bowie Baysox on August 5th. This is the second time in the past month that Chacin has held the opposing team hitless through seven innings, as he accomplished the feat on July 20th against the Binghamton Mets.

Quote of the Week

"Hitting is timing; pitching is upsetting timing."

Warren Spahn, Boston Braves

News and Notes From Around The League
Week Ending August 8, 2004

Akron Aeros

INF Joe Inglett hit .464 (13-for-28) with six doubles, two triples, three runs batted in and eight runs scored last week. OF Nate Grindell hit .522 (12-for-23) with three doubles, one home run, five runs batted in and four runs scored last week.

Altoona Curve

Altoona finished last week by winning six consecutive games and improving to franchise-record 25 games above the .500 mark at 69- 44. OF Nate McLouth, who earlier in the season set a new club record with a 30-game on-base streak, eclipsed his own record by reaching base safely in his 31st consecutive game on August 8th.

Binghamton Mets

With their win on Sunday, the B-Mets have now won five straight games (all versus the Trenton Thunder). The B-mets season-high win streak is six, done twice, most recently from May 8th to the 14th. OF Wayne Lydon hit .333 (11-for-33) with three doubles, two home runs, eight runs batted in and six runs scored last week.

Bowie Baysox

1B Mike Huggins is batting .361 with runners in scoring position with 22 runs batted in and one home run. With runners in scoring position and two outs, Huggins is batting .400 with eight runs batted in. With the bases loaded this season Huggins is batting .600 with seven runs batted in.

Erie SeaWolves

INF Juan Tejeda hit .294 (10-for-34) with three doubles, two runs batted in and four runs scored last week. INF Ryan Raburn hit .250 (8-for-32) with three doubles, four home runs, nine runs batted in and seven runs scored last week. In one start last week RHP Rick Kirsten went 1-0 with four strikeouts, a 2.57 ERA and a .167 opponents batting average.

Harrisburg Senators

OF Rich Lane hit .333 (9-for-27) with one home run and seven runs scored last week. INF Larry Broadway hit .360 (9-for-25) with six runs batted in and two runs scored last week. In two starts last week LHP Michael Hinckley went 1-0 with 11 strikeouts, a 2.19 ERA and a .200 opponents batting average.

New Britain Rock Cats

OF Kevin West broke the New Britain franchise home run record when he belted his 37th career home run last week to pass Michael Cuddyer on the all-time list. Last week, West surpassed Doug Mientkiewicz on the Rock Cats all-time doubles list. West is also closing in on the Rock Cats all-time RBI list, he is just five short of the 166 career RBIs set by Jeff Smith.

New Hampshire Fisher Cats

OF Maikel Jova hit .429 (12-for-28) with two doubles, one home run, six runs batted in and five runs scored last week. OF John- Ford Griffin hit .300 (9-for-30) with five doubles, one home run, three runs batted in and two runs scored last week.

Norwich Navigators

On August 8th the Navigators hit three consecutive home runs for the second time in franchise history. In the bottom of the 3rd inning OF Doug Clark hit a two-run homer to left. 3B Mike Cervenak followed with a blast to left-center. OF Dan Ortmeier added the third straight with a shot that hit the scoreboard in rightcenter. All three home runs came off New Hampshire starter Francisco Rosario.

Portland Sea Dogs

SS Hanley Ramirez hit .294 (10-for-34) with three stolen bases, one double, two runs batted in and six runs scored last week. 2B Kenny Perez hit .409 (9-for-22) with two doubles, one run batted in and three runs scored last week.

Reading Phillies

With official crowds of 8,912 and 8,693 Friday and Saturday, the R-Phils moved into first place in the Eastern League in average attendance (7,020). Akron, who held the top spot for most of the year, is second at 6,976. Reading led the Eastern League in attendance in 2002 and 2003.

Trenton Thunder

RHP Rik Currier recorded the 10,000th strikeout in Thunder franchise history by striking out Binghamton's Chase Lambin in the 4th inning on August 6th. OF Mitch Jones hit .357 (10-for-28) with three doubles, two home runs, five runs batted in and five runs scored last week.

Eastern League Player of the Week

NATE MCLOUTH, an outfielder for the Altoona Curve, is the Eastern League's Player of the Week for the week ending August 8th. The 5'11", 170 lb. slugger had an outstanding week for the Curve, hitting .433 (13- for-30) with one homer, five RBI, 11 runs scored, four steals and a .633 slugging percentage in seven games. The 22-year old broke his own clubrecord by reaching base in his 31st straight game on Sunday at Harrisburg. McLouth, a native of Whitehall, Michigan, currently leads the Eastern League in hits (136) and is also ranked among the league leaders in batting average (.324-4th), runs scored (72-5th), stolen bases (26-5th) and doubles (28-6th). Nate was selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 25th round of the June 2000 draft out of Whitehall High School in Michigan. Nate McLouth's Batting Line for the week ending August 8, 2004: G Avg. AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R SB BB SLG% 7 .433 30 13 3 0 1 5 11 4 1 .633 Year to Date: G Avg. AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R SB BB SLG% 107 .324 420 136 28 1 7 61 72 26 34 .445

Eastern League Pitcher of the Week

BOOF BONSER, a righthanded pitcher for the New Britain Rock Cats, has been named the Eastern League's Pitcher of the Week for the week ending August 8th. Bonser, a native of Pinellas Park, Florida, was 2-0 with 16 strikeouts and a 1.93 ERA for the Rock Cats last week. In his first start of the week the 22-year old gave up two runs on eight hits while striking out 12 batters to earn a win against the Norwich Navigators. In his second appearance of the week Bonser gave up three runs on six hits and struck out four batters to pick up a win against the Portland Sea Dogs. The 6'4", 230 lb. hurler has a league-best 125 strikeouts this season and is also ranked sixth in the league in innings pitched (130.1). Boof was acquired by the Minnesota Twins in a trade with the San Francisco Giants on November 14, 2003.

Boof Bonser's Statistics for the week ending August 8, 2004:
G W L S IP H R ER K BB ERA
2 2 0 0 14 14 5 3 16 1 1.93

Year to Date:
G W L S IP H R ER K BB ERA
23 8 9 0 130.1 140 80 70 125 48 4.83

Check out the Eastern League Statistics

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Eastern League Stories from August 9, 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.


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