Eastern League news
Published on September 21, 2004 under Eastern League (EL1) News Release
The New Hampshire Fisher Cats Win The 2004 Eastern League Championship
The New Hampshire Fisher Cats completed a sweep of the Altoona Curve in the Eastern League Championships Series on Saturday night, with a 2-0 win at Gill Stadium in Manchester, New Hampshire. The game was originally scheduled to be played on Friday night, but was postponed due to rain.
New Hampshire clinched the championship win behind the strong pitching of Francisco Rosario, Jamie Vermilyea and Brandon League, who combined to toss a four-hit shutout on Saturday night. John Hattig gave the Fisher Cats all the offense they would need in the game when he blasted a two-run homer in the bottom of the third inning.
In the opening game of the series the Fisher Cats scored single runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings of the game to rally from a 4-2 deficit and and defeat the Curve 5-4. Tyrell Godwin scored the game-winning run for the Fisher Cats on an RBI double by Dominic Rich, who went 2-for-5 with a double, a triple, two RBI and one run scored. League pitched 2.2 innings of scoreless relief to pick up the win for
the Fisher Cats and DeJong pitched a scoreless ninth inning to earn a save.
In game two Maikel Jova's lead off home run in the top of the seventh inning broke a 4-4 tie and gave the Fisher Cats the win. Godwin drove in a season-high four runs for the Fisher Cats, including a three-run homer in the fifth inning that gave New Hampshire a 4-1 lead.
Chris Baker earned the win and DeJong pitched a scoreless ninth inning to earn his fourth save of the postseason. The Curve were led offensively by Tom Evans, who had three hits, and Ray Sadler, who went 2-for-3 and scored two runs.
New Hampshire's playoff run was keyed by their pitching staff, which had a league-best 1.56 ERA during the playoffs. The Fisher Cats staff held their opponents to a .186 batting average and also struck out 72 batters while allowing only 22 walks.
Road To The 2004 Championship:
New Hampshire Fisher Cats
Northern Division Championship (New Hampshire over Binghamton, 3-1)
Game One, September 8: New Hampshire 2, Binghamton 0
Game Two, September 9: New Hampshire 10, Binghamton 4
Game Three, September 10: Binghamton 1, New Hampshire 0, 10 inn.
Game Four, September 11: New Hampshire 5, Binghamton 2
Eastern League Championship (New Hampshire over Altoona, 3-0)
Game One, September 14: New Hampshire 5, Altoona 4
Game Two, September 15: New Hampshire 5, Altoona 4
Game Three, September 12: New Hampshire 2, Altoona 0 2
Binghamton's Scott Brown Promoted To General Manager
Scott Brown, the assistant general manager of the Binghamton Mets for eight of the team's 13 seasons, will assume the duties of general manager, becoming the third GM in franchise history.
Bill Terlecky, the B-Mets GM from 2001-2004, will step into a new role as the Special Advisor to the President. "Terk", dubbed by some as the "Director of Fun", will concentrate on enhancing the entertainment atmosphere at NYSEG Stadium and increasing the team's involvement in the community, key factors in the B-Mets attracting their highest attendance in 10 years this past season.
Brown, 39, will direct day-to-day operations of New York's Double-A affiliate, his second GM post in the Mets farm system. From 1988-90 and then again in 1997, the Baltimore native served as the GM of the St. Lucie Mets in the Florida State League. His tenure as the B-Mets second in command occurred during the 1995-96, 1998-99 and 2001-04 seasons.
After his stint as GM in St. Lucie, Brown moved to Binghamton in the autumn of 1990 to work for a group that undertook an ill-fated attempt to bring professional baseball to the Southern Tier. The New York Mets then hired him as the assistant to the scouting director, a position he held from 1991-94.
"Scott has committed himself to this organization and has been instrumental in our success over the years," said team president Mike Urda. "With Brownie and Terk as management's 1-2 punch, we look forward to even better times ahead for the team and our fans."
Baseball runs in the family for Brown. His father, Bob, toiled for more than 35 years for the Baltimore Orioles and was honored in 2003 as an inductee in the team's hall of fame. Scott's wife Rebecca also works in the B-Mets front office, and together they have four daughters: Madelyn, Sydney, Abigail and Victoria. Harrisburg's Josh Labandeira Promoted To Montreal Harrisburg Senators infielder Josh Labandeira was promoted to the Montreal Expos on Friday.
Labandeira joined the Expos in Philadelphia and was 0-for-2 in two appearances over the weekend. The 25-year-old Labandeira batted .270 in 134 games this season for the Senators with nine home runs and 33 runs batted in. He was selected to play in the Eastern League All-Star Game this past July.
Josh becomes the second member of this year's Senators team to be promoted to the major leagues following Shawn Hill, who pitched in three games with Montreal earlier in the season.
Former R-Phil Ryan Howard Wins 2004 Round-Tripper Contest
Ryan Howard, a 24-year-old lefthanded hitting first baseman in the Philadelphia Phillies organization, was named the winner of the Minor League Baseball Round-Tripper Contest for 2004. He led all Minor League players with 46 home runs, easily defeating runnerup Dallas McPherson, who had 40.
Howard will be honored at the Baseball Winter Meetings in Anaheim in December, where he will receive the Joe Bauman Trophy and a check for $9,200 ($200 for each home run). Bauman set the Minor League Baseball record when he hit 72 homers for Roswell, New Mexico, in 1954.
Howard spent most of the season with the Reading Phillies, where he hit 37 homers. After a promotion to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre of the International League at the end of July, Ryan added nine more before being moved up to the parent Phillies in late August.
Minor League Classification leaders, will also receive $500 each. The winner at the Double-A level was Mitch Jones of the Trenton Thunder, who blasted an Eastern League-best 39 homers this season. New Hampshire's Chacin and League Promoted To Toronto The Toronto Blue Jays purchased the contracts of Gustavo Chacin and Brandon League from the New Hampshire Fisher Cats on Sunday.
Chacin is scheduled to make his major-league debut as Toronto visits the New York Yankees on Monday night. Chacin sparkled in the minor leagues this season, posting a combined 19-2 record in 28 starts with the Fisher Cats and Triple-A Syracuse.
League went 6-4 with two saves in 41 games with New Hampshire, striking out 90 batters in 104 innings. League was also named the MVP of the Eastern League playoffs.
Line of the Week
September 18, 2004
IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
6 3 0 0 4 6 0 0.00
Francisco Rosario, New Hampshire Fisher Cats
New Hampshire Fisher Cats right-hander Francisco Rosario combined with Jamie Vermilyea and Jordan DeJong to toss a four-hit shutout as the Fisher Cats claimed a 2-0 win over Altoona to clinch the Eastern League Championship on Saturday night. Francisco struck out six batters and scattered three hits in six innings of work to earn his second win of the playoffs.
Quote of the Week
"There are only two seasons - winter and Baseball."
Bill Veeck, Cleveland Indians
Eastern League Stories from September 21, 2004
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