IL Team Outlooks

by IL Press Release
Published on April 5, 2000 under International League (IL1)

BUFFALO BISONS

THREE CENTURIES OF BASEBALL: The Bisons enter their third century and 115th season of baseball in 2000 as they take on the Ottawa Lynx in the opener of a four-game series at JetForm Park from Thursday, April 6 through Sunday, April 9. The Herd is 5-4 in road season-openers in the Modern Era (1985-99) including three straight wins in those games (1996: 8-5 win at Nashville, 1994: 4-2 win at New Orleans, 1992: 9-7 win at Oklahoma City). In their illustrious 114-year history the Bisons have posted a record of 8,238-7,940 (.509) with six playoff championships (including five International League Governors' Cup championships). The team has a Modern Day record of 1,140-1,008 (.531) and posted a 937-788 (.543) mark in the 1990's (second-best record for the Bisons in the last century).

RETURNING BISONS: There are 13 players on this year's active Opening Day roster who spent time with the Bisons last season. The returning hitters include Russell Branyan, John McDonald, Chan Perry, Marcos Scutaro, Bill Selby, Jolbert Cabrera, Scott Morgan, David Roberts and Mark Whiten. Among the returning pitchers are Jim Brower, Sean DePaula, Willie Martinez and Paul Rigdon. However, only six of these players were on the Opening Day roster at the start of last season (Russell Branyan, Jim Brower, Chan Perry, David Roberts, Marcos Scutaro and Bill Selby). Pitcher Chris Nichting and catcher Jesse Levis, who are also on the active roster this season, were Bisons in 1998 and 1995 respectively.

BISONS BITS: The Bisons are entering their 86th season in the International League in 2000 with a record of 6,235-5,936 (.512), Buffalo has the 2nd most victories in International League competition, second only to the 8,283 wins held by the Rochester Red Wings (beginning 113th season in the IL)&Since moving to Dunn Tire Park in 1988, the Herd has compiled 512 home wins, an average of 39 per season, including 128 combined victories in the past three years&Buffalo begins the 2000 season with 24 straight games against North Division opponents, after posting a record of 37-43 (.457) against divisional foes last year&Russell Branyan averaged one home run every 13.17 at-bats (30 HR in 395 AB) and an RBI every 5.90 at-bats (67 RBI in 395 AB) in 1999&The Bisons posted an 8-13 record in April last season (5-8 at Dunn Tire Park and 3-5 on the road).

CHARLOTTE KNIGHTS

DO I KNOW YOU? Only three players return from the Knights 1999 Opening Day roster: pitchers Kevin Beirne, Chad Bradford and Derek Hasselhoff. There are seven others who also decorated the Knights roster in 1999: pitchers Pat Daneker, Joe Davenport, Jon Garland, Jason Secoda, infielder Brandon Moore, and outfielders Manny Gonzalez and Scott Lydy.

HELLO NNNNEWMAN: During the sixth inning of all Knights home games, General Manager/VP Tim Newman will have a booth set up for fans to ask him any questions. This will be an open session for all fans to voice any questions, comments, complaints or concerns to the general manager.

STAR SEARCH WITH A TWIST: On Saturday, April 13, the Ultimate Sports Fan Tour will visit Knights Castle. Charlotte native Matt Malm, 31, is undertaking the adventure of a lifetime. Malm is visiting every NBA, Major League Baseball and NFL venue in search of the wildest, wackiest and most passionate fanatics. He will attend 365 sporting events in 365 days, driving a motorhome. Malm will throw out the first pitch before the Knights take on the Toledo Mud Hens.

COME RIDE THE SUPER INFORMATION HIGHWAY WITH THE KNIGHTS: The Charlotte Knights are proud to announce the launch of their new and improved web site. The Knights, in partnership with NBC6.com, have completely retooled their site, adding features such as daily game updates and a Doppler weather window. The web site also includes the Knights 2000 roster, schedule, ticket information, souvenirs and a look back at the 1999 Championship season. Check out the Knights new site at www.aaaknights.com. Soon, fans will be able to order merchandise online.

COLUMBUS CLIPPERS

STARTING THINGS OFF RIGHT: Right-handed pitcher Jake Westbrook will be the Clippers 2000 season opening day starting pitcher. Westbrook came to the Yankees organization as part of the deal that sent Hideki Irabu to the Montreal Expos. Westbrook was 11-5 with a 3.92 ERA in 27 starts for Double-A Harrisburg last season.

TRYING TO KEEP THE TRADITION ALIVE: The Clippers will look to continue their tradition of winning on opening day. In their first 23 seasons, the Clippers are 15-8 ( a .652 winning percentage) in season openers.

IT'S A WHOLE NEW ROSTER: There will be plenty of new faces in Columbus this season. There are only six returning players on the Clippers opening day roster. Not included on that list is catcher Tom Wilson, who is making his return to Columbus. He previously played for the Clippers from 1995-97.

IT'S A WHOLE NEW ROSTER, PART 2: Four of the five members of the Clippers starting rotation are new to the team this season. RHPs Jake Westbrook, Denny Lail, Jason Beverlin and Brandon Knight will all debut as Clippers this year. LHP Ed Yarnall is the only starting pitcher back from last season. In 1999 he went 13-4 with a 3.47 ERA for the Clippers en route to winning I.L. Pitcher-of-the-Year honors.

DURHAM BULLS

BOGGS TO WING IT IN DURHAM: Opening Night 2000 will feature future Hall of Famer Wade Boggs in its' pre-game lineup. Boggs is scheduled to throw out the ceremonial first pitch before the Bulls host Columbus on April 12th. Boggs is a special assistant to Tampa Bay General Manager Chuck LeMar after collecting 3,010 hits in 18 years on the field. Last August 7th, Boggs became the first player in major league baseball history to hit a home run for his 3000th hit. It came off Cleveland's Chris Haney in Tampa. Boggs will work with the major and minor league players and help in the Devil Rays marketing and public relations department.

AFTER YOU'VE BEATEN THEM, JOIN THEM: Bulls fans should be glad veteran Dave Hollins is on their side this season. Hollins helped the rival Charlotte Knights to the International League title over the Bulls last season. Hollins hit .538 in seven games at his new home field, Durham Bulls Athletic Park, with three home runs, 11 RBI and nine runs scored. In 14 contests against Durham, Hollins hit .387 with 14 runs scored. The 33 year old switch hitter joined the Bulls after spending most of the spring in major league camp. Last year's title with Charlotte gave him championship rings in Class A, Double-A, Triple-A and the majors (with Philadelphia in 1993.)

IT WOULDN'T BE TRIPLE-A WITHOUT THEM: Four Bulls have been with the team for all three years of Triple-A. Outfielders James Buccheri and Randy Winn, along with pitchers Mickey Callaway and Mike Duvall have been in for the duration. Buccheri has played in 122 games, Winn 75, Duvall 51 and Callaway 24. There are several other candidates to join them, but all are on the major league team. This is the first season that Scott McClain, Steve Cox and Chris Martin won't be in uniform. All three are among the Bulls Triple-A leaders in almost every category.

INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS

TRIBE OPENS AT RICHMOND: The Indians have won their last two Opening Day contests. Last season, DH Rod McCall hit a first-inning grand slam and Denny Neagle tossed 5.2 innings (3 R) as the Tribe defeated Toledo, 9-7 at Victory Field. The Indians last opened the season on the road in 1997 when they dropped a 10-3 contest to Louisville. Indianapolis is 4-3 on Opening Day since 1993. The Indians and R-Braves split the 12-game series in 1999. Indianapolis held the advantage at The Diamond, however, winning four of six. The Indians were also 2-0 against Richmond in day games last season. Over the last 10 seasons, Indianapolis holds a 20-14 advantage over the Braves.

SILVER ANNIVERSARY: Congratulations to Tribe broadcaster Howard Kellman who celebrates his 25th year as the team's play-by-play announcer in 2000. Howard's top five memories of Indians baseball are featured on page 124 of the Indians' media guide. Returning for his eighth season in the Indians' radio booth is Brian Giffin.

MARCH MADNESS: With the Final Four recently completed in Indianapolis, the entire state of Indiana had a serious case of March Madness. It didn't take long for new Tribe skipper Steve Smith to get in some digs against Indians' President Max Schumacher - Smith's alma mater, the Pepperdine Wave, dismissed Max's beloved Indiana Hoosiers in a blowout in the first round of the tourney.

LOUISVILLE RIVERBATS

MILEY'S THE MAN: The RiverBats' new manager this season is Dave Miley, who spent the last four seasons as the skipper for the Indianapolis Indians while they were the Reds' Triple-A affiliate. Louisville teams were never able to fare well against the Indians' teams led by Miley. The Tribe had records of 15-9 (1996), 17-7 (1997), 11-5 (1998), and 9-7 (1999) against Louisville while Miley was the man at the helm. Miley's four-season composite record against Louisville was 52-28. Miley's staff includes coach Phillip Wellman, who last year managed the Reds' AA team in Chattanooga, and pitching coach Grant Jackson, who has been Miley's aide at the Triple-A tier since 1996.

FOR STARTERS: The Louisville RiverBats begin their 2000 campaign Thursday, April 6 at Norfolk against the Tides. The Louisville Redbirds/RiverBats franchise saw a three-game Opening Day winning streak snap last season when the Columbus Clippers edged the RiverBats 6-5 on Opening Night at Cardinal Stadium. Louisville now has a 7-11 overall opening day record. The club is 1-3 in openers played away from home. Thursday's game marks Louisville's first road opener since 1994, when the Iowa Cubs tripped the then-Redbirds 5-3. The RiverBats' home opener, their inaugural game at the new, downtown Louisville Slugger Field, is slated for Wednesday, April 12. The game is already sold out.

A RITE OF SPRING: The Louisville RiverBats finished their minor-league spring training season with a 9-3 record. Included among the nine wins was an 8-5 victory over the Cincinnati Reds in a scrimmage played Friday, March 31 at the Ed Smith spring training complex in Sarasota, Florida.

THE SKINNY ON THE OPENING DAY RIVERBATS: The RiverBats' pitching staff includes three lefties, two in the starting rotation (Osvaldo Fernandez & Justin Atchley) and one in the bullpen (Neil Weber) & OFs Mike Frank and Brooks Kieschnick are the only left-handed bats among non-pitchers & There are no switch-hitters on the roster & Five players start the season on the Louisville disabled list: LHP Terrell Wade (strained left shoulder), RHP Mark Wohlers (strained right elbow), RHP Javier Martinez (strained right elbow), C Mike Stefanski (strained right shoulder), and OF Pat Watkins (left ankle sprain).

NORFOLK TIDES

BAD KARMA: Tonight's scheduled starting pitcher Bill Pulsipher strained a calf muscle while running yesterday and may have to be scratched from tonight's line-up. RHP Richie Lewis, who did not pitch in the Old Dominion exhibition game on Tuesday night probably gets the nod for the Tides on Opening Day 2000.

NUMBER EIGHT: Tonight is the Tides' eighth season at Harbor Park. In the previous seven home openers, Norfolk has compiled a 4-3 record. A season ago, the Tides defeated the Louisville RiverBats 7-6 in ten innings. Last year's win snapped a three-game losing streak in home openers. Norfolk has won four of its last six season openers.

OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE FENCE: Coaches and officials often have differing opinions in just about every sport that keeps score. The Tides have a couple of double-duty guys. New coach Howie Freiling spends his off-seasons officiating basketball games in the Raleigh, NC area. LHP Bobby M. Jones was assistant varsity basketball coach at St. Mary's High School in Rutherford, NJ this past winter.

OTTAWA LYNX

THIS 'N THAT: Today marks the earliest home opener in Lynx history - the earliest the Lynx had opened a season prior to today was their home opener on April 8, 1994 against the Rochester Red Wings...the Lynx have placed INF Fernando Seguignol on the 7-day DL with tightness in his right hamstring...Jeff Cox needs 27 wins for 900 in his managerial career.

HOW'S THAT FOR OPENERS: The Ottawa Lynx are trying to avoid losing their third straight home opener at JetForm Park. Here's a look at how the Lynx have fared in their seven previous home openers:

YEAR DATE OPPONENT W/L FINAL SCORE

1993 April 17 Charlotte L 4-3

1994 April 8 Rochester W 1-0

1995 April 14 Charlotte L 3-0

1996 April 11 Scranton/WB W 4-0

1997 April 11 Charlotte W 5-3

1998 April 9 Scranton/WB L 5-1

1999 April 14 Scranton/WB L 5-1

APRIL SHOWERS: The Ottawa Lynx have failed to post a winning record in the month of April in franchise history. Here's a look at how the team has fared in the month of April since 1993:

YEAR APRIL RECORD FINAL RECORD

1993 7-10 73-69

1994 8-13 70-72

1995 10-11 72-70

1996 10-12 60-82

1997 7-16 54-86

1998 7-13 69-74

1999 10-11 59-85

PAWTUCKET RED SOX

RENDEZVOUS WITH DESTINY: The long journey that is the IL Schedule (144 games in 151 days) begins in earnest today. While one game means little in the big scheme of things, Opening Day is one game that fans will hear all about. So, with that in mind, the PawSox are expected to put out a starting line-up with speed at the top, power in the middle, and experience at the bottom. Here is the probable PawSox Opening Day nine:

1. Donnie Sadler CF

2. David Eckstein 2B

3. Michael Coleman RF

4. Dernell Stenson 1B

5. Wilton Veras 3B

6. Morgan Burkhart DH

7. Jim Chamblee LF

8. Andy Sheets SS

9. Tim Spehr C

Tomo Ohka RHP

In addition to Ohka, who puts his 15-0 career minor league record on the line on Thursday vs. Syracuse at McCoy Stadium, the other PawSox starting pitchers in order are RHP Sun Kim, RHP Jared Fernandez, RHP Julio Santana, and RHP Jason Sekany.

A PITCHING STAFF WITH SUBTITLES: Remember that foreign language class in 8th grade that you never really cared about? Well, in the case of the 2000 PawSox, a crash course in Japanese or Korean would certainly come in handy now. In fact, the Most Valuable member of the PawSox (at least in terms of the media) could turn out to be assistant trainer Chang Ho Lee. Chang Ho Lee speaks both Japanese and Korean fluently and that will prove to be invaluable with the likes of South Korean natives Sang-Hoon Lee (no relation to Chang Ho Lee at least we think), Sun Kim, and Japanese import Tomo Ohka all currently on the PawSox pitching staff. (That does not even include the injured Jin Ho Cho who is also from South Korea). The thing that Chang Ho will have to keep in mind is that writers are on deadline, so he must strive to keep the post-game translation short and sweet.

RICHMOND BRAVES

WINNER ANNOUNCED: Aylett Bruce Hill, Sr. has been selected to throw out the ceremonial first pitch of the 2000 season. The Richmond Braves selected Mr. Hill as being the Richmonder most deserving of performing the honor after accepting nominations throughout the month of March. Hill, 90, received his high school diploma March 20th from the Superintendent of Richmond Public Schools. Mr. Hill had attended classes at the Adult Career Development Center for the last 10 years before receiving his degree. He has resided in Richmond since the late 1940s.

ALL-CENTURY BALLOT RELEASED: The Richmond Braves released the ballot for their All-Century Team today. Consisting of 54 men, the ballot will be voted upon by the fans during the 2000 season. A 26-member All-Century Team will be announced in July. The squad will consist of two managers, nine pitchers, four outfielders, two catchers, two first basemen, two second basemen, two third basemen, two shortstops, and one utility player/designated hitter. The utility player/designated hitter will be the Richmond Brave that receives the most votes without being elected at his given position. The fans' selection of the All-Century Team is part of the Richmond Braves' season-long celebration of a century of professional baseball in Richmond.

10 MILLION STRONG: The Richmond Braves are anticipating the 10 millionth fan in franchise history sometime early this season. The Braves, who have drawn 9,962,341 fans since arriving in Richmond in 1966, need 37,659 visitors to reach the 10 million plateau.

ROCHESTER RED WINGS

FAMILIAR FACES: Of the 24 players on the Red Wings 2000 Opening Day roster, 10 played for the Red Wings last season and 12 have played for the Red Wings sometime during their career.

BEEN THERE, DONE THAT: 19 of the 24 players on the Red Wings 2000 Opening Day roster have Triple-A experience. Only RHP Ryan Kohlmeier, RHP Mike McDougal, RHP Josh Towers, OF Wady Almonte and OF Luis Matos have never played above Double-A.

SHOWTIME: 13 of the 24 players on the Red Wings' 2000 Opening Day roster have appeared in the Major leagues (7 position players and 6 pitchers). Nine of those players have enjoyed big league time with the Orioles.

THE 1990'S WERE VERY, VERY GOOD TO ME: With a 61-83 record last season, the Red Wings finished the decade of the 90's with the 9th highest winning percentage in Triple-A with a 735-692 (.515) record.

SCRANTON/WILKES-BARRE RED BARONS

AWARDS NIGHT: Prior to tonight's game, the returning members of last years team will be presented with an engraved crystal clock commemorating their IL North Division title. Tonight's recipients will be Marc Bombard, Pat Burrell, Darren Burton, Larry Huff, Sean Fesh, Joe Grahe, Barry Johnson, Anthony Shumaker and Jimmy Rollins. Other members from 1999's team will receive their award when they arrive in town playing for other teams or they will be shipped to their current team if it is not in the IL.

HE MAY TIE A RECORD AND NOT EVEN KNOW IT (OR REMEMBER IT): On September 6, 1998, David Doster went 3-5 against the Buffalo Bisons raising his average to a season high .276. It also extended his hitting streak to a team high 24 straight - one short of the team mark set by Ricky Otero who hit in 25 straight April 5-August 21, 1997. When Doster made the Phillies out of spring training last year and remained the entire season, it was assumed the streak had ended. However, according to Howe Sportsdata, the official statistician of Minor League Baseball, the streak is still alive despite one full year in the big leagues. During the 24 gamer, David batted .376 (38-101) with 5 HR and 24 RBI. As a bonus, Doster also finished the year with RBI in 9 straight games - one short of the record set by David Tokheim 7/13-21, 1995.

OPENING DAYS: Tonight's game is the 12th home opener in franchise history & They enter the game with a 5-6 home opener record & In 1999, behind Randy Wolf, they shutout the Pawtucket Red Sox 7-0 & This will be the 2nd time Rochester has opened the Lackawanna County Stadium having 1st done so in 1990. In that game, the Red Barons went down in defeat 6-3 & In season openers overall, including road games, the Red Barons are 5-6 but have won three straight. This will be the 1st time Rochester and SWB have opened against each other (2 in Rochester) with Rochester winning all three.

SYRACUSE SKYCHIEFS

PAT KELLY: Returns for a 2nd season at the helm of the SkyChiefs. Kelly is in his 16th consecutive season as a minor league manager he began his managerial career in 1986 with Charleston of the South Atlantic League. Kelly managed Ottawa to a 2-year record of 123-160 in 1997-98. He has also managed Las Vegas (1990) and Indianapolis (1991-92) at the AAA level. Kelly has two new faces on his coaching staff, Pitching Coach Gary Lance and Coach Omar Malave. Lance had been in the Royals organization as a minor league pitching coach since 1993. Malave begins his first season at AAA after four seasons managing the Blue Jays AA-Knoxville club, In his four seasons at Knoxville, Malave led the Smokies to a 292-266 record and 3 straight Southern League playoff appearances.

ROSTER: The SkyChiefs roster, as of April 5, features 12 pitchers 5 LHP/7 RHP 3 catchers, 7 infielders and 4 outfielders. There is one switch hitter (Izturis), one left-hand hitter (Witt) and 12 right-hand hitters (Abernathy, Blake, Brown, Brumfield, Dalesandro, Greene, Lopez, Mottola, Mummau, Otanez, Thompson and Wells). The youngest SkyChief is Cesar Izturis at 20 years, 1 month and 27 days. Jacob Brumfield is the "gray-beard" of the squad at 34 years, 10 months and 6 days.

NEW FACES: The SkyChiefs roster is a blend of old faces and new faces. C Charlie Greene comes over to the Blue Jays organization and will be appearing in his 4th IL uniform in the last 4 years (Tides, Red Wings & RiverBats). INF Willis Otanez terrorized the SkyChiefs in 1998 when he belted 27 HR and drove in 100 runs for Rochester. 1999 IL all-star Chad Mottola changed pinstripes this past off-season, trading in his Charlotte pinstripes for SkyChiefs pinstripes. RHP Matt DeWitt came over to the Blue Jays in the November 11 trade that sent Pat Hentgen to St. Louis. Reliever Robert Ellis began his pro career just to the east in Utica for the White Sox NYP affiliate and signed as a free agent this past January. RHP Kerry Taylor played last season in the independent Atlantic League for Atlantic City, but has major league time with San Diego. He pitched for Toledo in 1998.

OPENERS: Since 1978, when Syracuse became the Blue Jays AAA affiliate, Syracuse is 8-14 in season openers; 6-7 on the road and 2-7 at home. Against the PawSox, Syracuse is 4-2 in season openers at Pawtucket and 0-1 at Syracuse. Syracuse has opened their season at Pawtucket every even year since 1994. The SkyChiefs have won two straight season openers.

TOLEDO MUD HENS

BIG LEAGUE STUFF: SP Jeff Weaver will start the season with the Mud Hens. He was optioned from Detroit at the end of last month. Weaver will only be spending the first week with the Mud Hens before returning to the Tigers. Last season, Weaver went 9-12 with Detroit with a 5.55 ERA in 163.2 IP. Masao Kida will also begin the year with the Hens. The 31-year-old Japanese pitcher went 1-0 with the Tigers in 1999 with an ERA of 6.26 in 64.2 innings. Steve Sparks will begin this season with Toledo after 147.2 IP with Anaheim last year. The 34-year-old veteran went 5-11 with a 5.42 ERA. Nelson Cruz pitched great in the Tigers camp this spring but not good enough to make the big club at the break. Cruz dominated last year with Toledo going 7-1 with a 2.73 ERA. In Detroit in 99, Cruz went 2-5 with an ERA of 5.67.

CARDONA READY FOR NEXT CHALLENGE: Catcher Javier Cardona was named the Tigers Minor League Player of the Year in 1999. The 24-year-old from Puerto Rico had a career year with AA Jacksonville as he set career highs in games (108), at bats (418), runs (84), hits (129), doubles (31), home runs (26), and RBI (92). Cardona played 47 games with Toledo in 1998 and hit .191 with 5 HR.

McMILLON GOES FROM BARON TO HEN: Outfielder Billy McMillon will make his first official appearance in the Mud Hens uniform on April 6th. He has, however, been to Ned Skeldon Field before as the enemy. For the last two seasons, McMillon hit 29 home runs and drove in 123 RBI for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons. McMillon also finished 3rd in the IL with 97 runs scored last season.

International League Stories from April 5, 2000

• IL Team Outlooks - OSC Original by IL Press Release

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