FL Chillicothe Paints

Of Streaks and Such

Published on July 23, 2005 under Frontier League (FL)
Chillicothe Paints News Release


With Florence coming to town, and bringing ex-Paints manager Jamie Keefe and its worst-to-first turnaround with it, it seems appropriate to take a look at some of the biggest streaks and such around the Frontier League this season.

And there's no better place to start that than with the Paints' streakiest hitter.

John Ramistella's .289 batting average -- as of July 21 -- seems to be a solid point for the outfielder. Ramistella missed the All-Star game because of an untimely slump that sent his average from .289 to .267 over the course of 10 days in late June. Ramistella's average has spiked up and down from the .300 mark five times this season, with a high point of .307 on the Fourth of July.

Still, the biggest point about Chillicothe's left-slash-center fielder is his timely hitting, and what it means to the team. Ramistella played in 24 of the 25 Paints victories through the first 51 games, and had at least one hit in each of them, hitting .340 during the same span (33-for-97).

And now to Florence.

Standing on the field after managing the East Division to a win in the All-Star Game, Keefe was candid about his team's performance.

"I honestly don't know what's going on," he said. "We've had a lot of luck with some of the players we picked up and things have just been going right for us."

True. Maybe.

The Freedom's fortunes can't entirely be explained away by vague statements.

For one thing, Florence boasts the league's leading hitter and the eighth-best pitching staff on the Frontier. Mike Galloway's .399 batting average was (again, as of July 21) 22 points better than the next-best hitter in the league, and his 17 home runs led teammate Kyle Geswein by two. On top of that, Galloway's 53 RBIs were second best in the league, making him a legitimate candidate for the triple crown.

"He's one of the guys we were fortunate with," Keefe said that steamy night in Washington. "The acquisition with Galloway and some of the other guys, we just lucked out in a lot of ways."

And the connections Keefe made in his five years as a Paints coach haven't hurt him either.

Years ago, Darin Kinsolving entrenched himself as an enduring image of the Paints' past, trotting around the bases, arm raised, circling his way around walk-off home runs. Now, after a yearlong stint in the Northern League, Kinsolving found his way back to the Keefe and the Frontier League, and is once again becoming the player Paints' fans remember.

"He's a guy who's had a tough year," Keefe said. "I've always said you do whatever you have to do to win ballgames, but there is a line."

There are two, actually.

The first came when Keefe began pursuing Kinsolving, flirting with his former superstar to join the remade Freedom. When the deal -- a trade with the Northern League's Gary Southshore Railcats -- seemed to be a done deal, Keefe felt compelled to pick up the phone.

"I had to call Chris (Hanners, the Paints owner)," Keefe said. "(Kinsolving) is not their property, but in my eyes he still kind of was. You have to do what you have to do, but the respect level still has to be there."

It's one of those things, had a rough year, gone through a lot. I've always said, you have to do what you have to do to win games, but there is a line."

Kinsolving has crossed one of his own, too.

After hitting .258 with Sioux Falls and Gary last season, the sweet-swinging former Paints infielder hit barely better than .200 with Edmonton and Gary this. But, in his first 22 games back in the Frontier League, Kinsolving hit .355 with six home runs, 24 RBIs and 18 runs scored. Kinsolving hit safely in all but three games during the span, including a hitting streak of 14 games that was still going on as of July 21.

"He had three great years in Chillicothe," Keefe said. "He's a big part of our future in Florence, too."

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Frontier League Stories from July 23, 2005


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