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TL1 Texas League

Texas League Update

September 8, 2009 - Texas League (TL1) News Release


Player of the Month, August 2009

Chris Carter, Midland RockHounds

.424 average (36-for-85), seven homers, 24 runs, 22 RBI

12 multi-hit games, .528 on-base pct., .800 slugging pct.

Chris Carter of the Midland RockHounds has won the Topps Texas League Player of the Month award for the second straight month, leading the league in several offensive categories.

August was Carter's finest month of the season, despite being moved from his customary first base position to the outfield. He batted .424 with seven home runs, 22 RBI and 24 runs scored in just 24 games before being called up to Triple-A Sacramento on August 25. He added nine doubles, a triple and 17 walks during the month, without committing an error in the field.

Carter, 22, reached base 56 times in 106 official plate appearances, an on-base percentage of .528, while racking up 68 total bases in 85 at-bats, an impressive .800 slugging percentage. His on-base plus slugging (OPS) of 1.328 was easily the best single-month total of any player in the league this season, surpassing Drew Locke's 1.199 mark in April.

He had 12 multi-hit games during the month, reached base three times on eight occasions, while also scoring multiple runs eight times. He twice won the Texas League Player of the Week award, giving him three Player of the Week and two Topps Player of the Month awards this season, and on August 31 he was named the Texas League Player of the Year by coaches, broadcasters and beat writers.

Amazingly, Carter's best single-game performance of the month did not come in the Texas League. On August 31, playing for the Sacramento River Cats, Carter went 3-for-5 with three home runs and seven runs batted in, giving him 12 RBI in just six August games at the Triple-A level.

Player of the Week

August 31-September 7, 2009

Cody Clark, Northwest Arkansas Naturals

5 games, .421 average (8-for-19), 3 home runs, 4 runs, 5 RBI

2 HR in division-clinching game, .450 on-base pct., .895 slugging pct.

Northwest Arkansas catcher Cody Clark carried the Naturals when they needed him most, belting two home runs in the division-clinching 6-3 win over Tulsa on September 6. Clark's first home run gave the Naturals a 2-1 lead, while his second blast pushed their margin to 6-1. It was the first multi-home run game of Clark's seven-year minor league career, and marked three consecutive at-bats in which he had homered. For his efforts, Clark was the easy choice for Texas League Player of the Week.

Clark hit safely in all five games in which he played, leading the league in batting (.421) and slugging (.895) for the week, while raising his season average to .304, his best mark in professional baseball. The 27-year-old right-handed hitter also used his late-season home run barrage to eclipse his affliliated-baseball career-high of five home runs, which he set last season between Northwest Arkansas and Triple-A Omaha. Clark's eight homers this year matches the number he put up as the catcher for the independent San Diego Surf Dawgs of the Golden Baseball League in 2005, where he was managed by current San Antonio skipper Terry Kennedy.

Clark becomes the fourth member of the Naturals to be awarded with a Texas League Player of the Week award this season, joining teammates Kurt Mertins, Jeff Bianchi and Ed Lucas. Teammate Corey Smith was awarded last season as a member of the Arkansas Travelers.

Pitcher of the Week

August 31-September 7, 2009

Casey Mulligan, Springfield Cardinals

4 appearances, 2 wins, 2 saves, 0.00 ERA,

4 innings pitched, 6 strikeouts, 2 hits, 0 walks

Entering play on August 31, Springfield relief pitcher Casey Mulligan had a appeared in a total of 11 games at the Double-A level, compiling a 1-0 record with no saves since joining the Cardinals bullpen on August 3rd. Eight days and four appearances later, Mulligan was named the Texas League Pitcher of the Week.

In a feat rarely seen in professional baseball, Mulligan collected two wins and two saves during the week, allowing no runs and just two hits in four innings of work. He struck out six batters and walked none, giving him 12 strikeouts and no walks in his last seven innings pitched. The righthander struck out 27 batters in 20 1/3 Texas League innings down the stretch, helping to stabilize the Springfield bullpen as they head into post-season play.

Mulligan, 21, began his season with Low-A Quad Cities of the Midwest League, where he had an amazing 36 strikeouts, five walks and just one earned run in 20 innings pitched. Promoted to the Florida State League, he struck out 34 and walked 12 in 28 innings for Palm Beach, before joining the Cardinals. Between the three levels Mulligan compiled a record of 7-2, with 16 saves, while striking out 97 in 68 1/3 innings. He has also allowed just 43 hits and 11 runs, which gave him a combined ERA of 1.45 this season.

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Regular Season League Leaders

HITTING STATISTICS

Batting Average

Drew Locke, Corpus Christi, .338

Chris Carter, Midland, .337

Craig Cooper, San Antonio, .312

Home Runs

Chad Tracy, Frisco, 26

Chris Carter, Midland, 24

Ryan Harvey, Tulsa, 23

Runs Batted In

Drew Locke, Corpus Christi, 109

Chad Tracy, Frisco, 107

Chris Carter, Midland, 101

Stolen Bases

Craig Gentry, Frisco, 49

Luis Durango, San Antonio, 44

Coby Smith, Arkansas, 41

Hits

Drew Locke, Corpus Christi, 170

Chris Carter, Midland, 165

Craig Cooper, San Antonio, 157

Doubles

Chris Carter, Midland, 41

Josh Donaldson, Midland, 37

Craig Cooper, San Antonio, 35

On-Base Percentage

Chris Carter, Midland, .435

Craig Cooper, San Antonio, .405

Luis Durango, San Antonio, .390

Slugging Percentage

Chris Carter, Midland, .576

Drew Locke, Corpus Christi, .531

Ryan Harvey, Tulsa, .519

PITCHING STATISTICS

Earned Run Average

Samuel Deduno, Tulsa, 2.57

Trey Hearne, Springfield, 2.82

Lance Lynn, Springfield, 2.92

Wins

Samuel Deduno, Tulsa, 12

Trey Hearne, Springfield, 12

4 others tied at 11

Strikeouts

Samuel Deduno, Tulsa, 123

Kasey Kiker, Frisco, 120

Ernesto Frieri, San Antonio, 118

Saves

Andrew Johnston, Tulsa, 31

Francisco Samuel, Springfield, 22

Evan Scribner, San Antonio, 21

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This Week in Texas League History

September 8, 1946...Using the last day of the regular season to rest pitchers and to entertain the fans, Tulsa manager Gus Mancuso and Dallas skipper Al Vincent squared off on the mound. Instead of pitching just a couple of innings as originally planned, the game ended with both men still in harness, neither wanting to quit before the other. The Oilers finally prevailed 11-10 when they scored the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning. Vincent yielded 15 hits in the losing cause, while Mancuso gave up 12, with neither "hurler" walking a batter. Amazingly, the 21-run contest was completed in one hour, 50 minutes.

September 9, 1977...Arkansas won its second Texas League championship, completing a two-game sweep of El Paso. Joe Edelen was masterful on the hill for the Travelers, limiting El Paso to just four hits, winning the game 4-0.

September 10, 1951...In a one-game playoff for the fourth and final playoff spot, Beaumont topped Fort Worth 4-2. The key blow in the game was shortstop Jack Maupin's two-run homer in the fourth inning, giving the Roughnecks a 3-2 lead.

September 11, 1949...In the final game of the regular season, Tulsa tied a team record when they turned six double plays during a 16-5 pounding of Oklahoma City. The 21-hit Tulsa attack featured a 5-for-6 performance by Joe Adcock that included two doubles and a home run. Russ Burns smashed two homers for the Oilers, which pushed his league-leading RBI total to 153. Both managers also played in the game. Tulsa skipper Al Vincent caught the final inning protected only by his glove, while Indians manager Joe Vosmik played left field for the last three innings of the contest.

September 12, 1925...Hank Miller was a one-man wrecking crew, as he stroked three home runs, was a perfect 5-for-5 and drove in seven runs as he led Dallas to a 13-2 win over Shreveport. Miller started the scoring with a three-run homer in the top of the first. He followed that with a two-run shot in the fourth and a solo homer in the seventh. Miller also had a run-scoring single in the fifth and another single in the ninth.

September 13, 1957...In one of the longest post-season games in Texas League history, Tulsa got by Dallas 4-3 when they pushed across a run in the bottom of the 17th inning. Tulsa had numerous chances to put the game away long before the 17th, as they left a total of 29 runners on base throughout the game. The 17 innings was the most played in postseason since Houston beat Fort Worth 4-3 in 17 innings on September 16, 1954.

September 14, 1964...San Antonio opened the league championship series by beating Tulsa 1-0 in 16 innings. It was the second 16-inning loss in the postseason in just five days for the Oilers, after they lost 6-5 at Albuquerque on September 9th in the opening round of the playoffs.



Texas League Stories from September 8, 2009


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