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Sunday, May 21, 1995 Page: 18C
Nothing’s perfect, especially Phillie visits to Moosic
By the sounds coming out of Philadelphia, things may not change much Monday
nightIf the past is any indication the scene will likely play like this:
The Phillies will all show up at Lackawanna County Stadium for the
bi-annual exhibition game with their Class AAA affiliate.
Some players will sign autographs during the pre-game hoopla, some will sit
in the locker room until game time.
The stars everyone packs the stands to see will bat once, maybe twice, and
take a seat on the bench.
And the stands will clear out afterward with at least a few grumbles about
how briefly the names of Lenny Dykstra and Dave Hollins and Darren Daulton
were announced during the night.
“I’m sure that grumbling goes on everywhere,” Phillies general manager Lee
Thomas said, referring to other Major League exhibitions with minor league
affiliates.
Still, there is no rule that mandates the Phillies regulars must play a
full nine innings during a free night on the Major League schedule.
“They want a night off, too,” Thomas said. “We try to get ’em an at-bat or
two. All I can say is we’ll do the best we can.”
Their best, in that respect, hasn’t pleased more than a few fans who called
the game a joke after the early exits of Dykstra and Daulton the last time the
Phillies came to Moosic in 1993.
It was one of the problems the Lackawanna County Stadium Authority voiced
to the Phillies last season before Philadelphia renewed its player development
contract with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Not all area fans react this way.
Some are grateful to the Phillies for making an appearance in the area
every two years, as evidenced by the fact the game sells out every year.
But some people just can’t be satisfied.
The Phillies should be applauded for taking the time to play a game their
team really has no interest in. It’s mostly a promotional gesture to promote
goodwill between the parent team and its Class AAA area.
Quite simply, it’s done for the Phillies fans located in the
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area.
When a guy plays 162 games over six months, with grueling flights and long,
hard-fought nights, off days become precious.
That’s especially true in this strike-shortened season, which took away a
few more days of rest for Major League teams and shortened the 1995 schedule
to 144 games.
Some teams backed out of previously announced games with their Class AAA
affiliates. Most recently, the Montreal Expos incensed the good people of
Ottawa by canceling their exhibition game.
The Phillies decided not to go that route, but to take their planned path
up the Northeast extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike. It didn’t take long
for them to confirm the game.
And it had nothing to do with dollars, specifically the $10,000 the
Phillies would have had to pay the Red Barons had the game been canceled by
terms of the contract between the two parties.
“We value our relationship with everybody in that area,” said Thomas, who
will attend Monday’s 7 p.m. game. “We said we’d play the game and we’re
sticking to it.
“I know the relationship hasn’t been great in the past,” continued Thomas,
referring to the questions both sides had for each other before they agreed to
continue their affiliation with a two-year player development contract late
last season. “We gave them, what, one winning team there? But we have some
winning teams coming up through the system.”
And when the Phillies arrive in town for the fourth time since the Red
Barons came into existence in 1989, it should be considered a victory for
everyone.
“It’s good for the area, it’s good for us,” Thomas said. “We like to let
people know we care about the affiliates.”
* * *
HIS DESTINY: If all goes according to plan, the Phillies on Monday will get
a look at Jeff Juden, the guy they are probably most interested in seeing on
the mound for the Red Barons.
That isn’t by any specific design, according to Red Barons manager Mike
Quade, but rather, it conveniently works out that way.
The Red Barons were hit with doubleheaders Friday and Saturday because of
previous postponements, followed by today’s 2 p.m. game in Rochester. Given
that, Quade said it’s important for Red Barons pitchers to pitch on their
scheduled days in order to keep in a rhythm.
Juden’s turn falls Monday, and Quade is hoping the Phillies get to watch
him for awhile.
“That’ll give him a chance to pitch in front of the brass,” Quade said. “If
he throws well, I’d like to see him throw 100 pitches.”
That is something Juden has yet to accomplish this season.
The hard-throwing 6-foot-8 right-hander began the 1994 season in
Philadelphia’s starting rotation, before ineffectiveness and arm troubles sent
him to the Red Barons.
Juden’s Class AAA season was also cut short, as he needed an operation to
remove bone spurs from his right elbow. If he proves healthy again, well, the
Phillies seem to love tall right-handers who make a living with the fastball.
It hasn’t been determined who will pitch for the Phillies, but most likely,
they won’t be listed on the Phillies’ roster.
With Philadelphia’s staff plagued by injuries since spring training, the
Phillies are planning on using pitchers from the lower levels of their minor
league system.
“That’s going to be a little bit of a problem,” Thomas said. “Hopefully,
we’ll bring two or three pitchers from somewhere.”
Projected starters Tommy Green and Bobby Munoz haven’t thrown a
regular-season pitch for the Phillies this year, and most recently, starter
David West is hampered by arm troubles that kept him from pitching past the
second inning during his last two starts.
* * *
THE CORNERSTONE: If Mike Williams was looking for confidence, he certainly
should have some after Friday night.
The Red Barons right-hander, who was strictly a reliever before being
demoted to Class AAA Monday, made a strong start for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in
pitching a complete game during the second game of a doubleheader loss to
Rochester.
In retiring the final 13 hitters he faced, Williams matched some of his
best Red Barons performances that led him to a combined 18-3 record during the
1992 and ’93 seasons.
After opening last year with the Phillies, where Williams went 2-4 as a
spot starter and reliever, he struggled with self-doubts in a 2-7 Class AAA
season.
“It was (lack of) confidence last year,” Williams said. “I got frustrated
and let it bother me. I told myself I’m not going to do that this year. Even
if I’d have given up 10 runs, you’ve got to get something positive out of
everything to take into your next start.”
Looks like the International League is in for some frustration. Williams
survived two walks in the first two innings to limit Rochester to two runs,
and struck out six hitters in the six innings he worked Friday.
* * *
MENACING MOUND: When Jim Deshaies left Friday’s game with a strained side
muscle, it wasn’t the first time a Red Baron pitcher was done in by the mound
at Silver Stadium.
Last year, the Red Barons lost Tyler Greene to a back injury while he was
pitching in Rochester, causing Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Craig Strobel to wonder.
“Maybe it’s all psychological, but we just seem to have a problem with it
here for some reason,” Strobel said.
Deshaies suffered his injury during the third inning, and may miss his next
scheduled start this week.
“I’m not planning on it,” said Deshaies, a veteran of 12 Major League
seasons. “It’s day-to-day.”
Then again, Deshaies wasn’t planning to leave the mound Friday immediately
after the injury. But when he reported some soreness in his side after
throwing a couple of warmup pitches, Strobel and Quade decided it would be
risky to allow the 34-year-old left-hander to continue.
“Your body’s way of dealing with that is to go into a spasm,” said Strobel,
explaining that the injury could have developed into something more than a
strain had he pitched through the pain. “It just got tight on him.”
Deshaies is currently receiving electric stimulation and ice treatments to
heal his side, which he hopes will have him ready by Thursday or Friday.
“I’m hoping that I won’t have to miss a start,” said Deshaies, who at 3-3
is Scranton/Wilkes-Barre’s most successful pitcher.