*** New York-Penn League Final Report ***
By Nick Colangelo, Minor League Baseball Editor
The Mahoning Valley Scrappers entered the post season as the underdog, but made quick work of both the Auburn Doubledays and the Tri-City ValleyCats en route to their first New York-Penn League championship. Winners of their respective divisions, Auburn (Pinckney Division) and Tri-City (Stedler Division) were tied for the most wins during the regular season with 50, however they were unable to post a victory in the playoffs, as the Scrappers posted back-to-back sweeps. The Brooklyn Cyclones, winners of the Mcnamara Division, were ousted in the first round by the ValleyCats in three games. Despite a disappointing finish to the season, Tri-City dominated the post season awards. Pitcher Ronnie Martinez garnered league MVP honors, while shortstop Ben Zobrist earned the Kinsella Award, which is given to the league's Rookie of the Year. Vermont's Gus Hlebovy earned the league's Rolaids Relief Man Award, and Brooklyn's Ambiorix Concepcion was the recipient of the Stedler Award, which goes to the player deemed likely to go the farthest in professional baseball. New Jersey's Tom Shields was named Manager of the Year.
ABERDEEN IRONBIRDS - The IronBirds ended a disappointing 2004 campaign on a down note, dropping their final four outings, giving them a fourth place finish in the Mcnamara Division with a record of 35-40. The low point of the season featured a seven-game losing streak from July 16-22, from which the IronBirds never bounced back. Quincy Ascencion led the IronBirds with 68 hits and 32 RBI, however the Aberdeen lineup struggled to find their power stroke all year, going deep a league-worst 28 times. Levi Robinson finished tied for sixth in the league with 18 stolen bases. On the hill, All-Star David Haehnel was a bright spot, posting a 3-1 record with a minuscule 1.21 ERA in 37.1 innings, while striking out an impressive 61 batters. He also finished the season tied with Vermont's Gus Hlebovy for the league lead with 16 saves.
AUBURN DOUBLEDAYS - The Doubledays exploded onto the scene in 2004, posting a 31-8 record through the end of July that featured a 13-game winning streak and a seven-game tear. The hot start gave the Doubledays momentum to earn the Pinckney Division title, finishing nine games ahead of Mahoning Valley with a record of 50-24. The Scrappers however shocked the Doubledays in the first round of the playoffs, sweeping the best-of-three series en route to a league title. The Doubledays lineup featured a handful of weapons, as the team led the NY-P with a .274 average and 247 runs scored. They received solid campaigns from Adam Lind, Aaron Mathews, Chip Cannon, and Brian Hall. Lind finished the regular season hitting .308 with 82 hits, fourth-best in the league. Lind also tied for the league-lead with 28 doubles, and had 30 extra- base hits overall (3rd), and was a member of the New York-Penn League All Star team. Mathews finished seventh in the league with 75 hits, including six triples, which tied him for second best. Mathews was also tied for runner-up in runs scored, with 52. Cannon and Hall provided the big bats for the Doubledays, with 10 home runs apiece, which was fourth best in the league. Catcher Chris Thigpen's .301 average along with his efforts behind the plate earned him a spot on the All-Star team as well. Juan Perez led the team with six wins, going 6-1 in 11 starts with an ERA of 2.76. Erik Rico posted a 5-1 record out of the bullpen, with a fantastic 1.27 ERA in 28.1 innings.
BATAVIA MUCKDOGS - When the Muckdogs got off to a 5-1 start, things looked a lot brighter than they did when the season ended on a six-game losing streak. In a season that featured multiple losing streaks, including a 13-game skid, the Muckdogs posted a league-worst 28-46 record. Fans in Batavia didn't take to the losing well either, as the Muckdogs managed to draw an average of just 1,002 fans per opening. There were few bright spots in a lineup that struggled to hit just.230, but Sean Gamble was one. Gamble was eighth in the league in hitting with an average of .304. He finished seventh with 75 hits, including six triples, which tied for second in the league. Ryan Frith also showed signs of potential. His 11 bombs tied for second best in the NY-P. On the hill, James Happ went just 1-2 in 11 starts, but had a solid 2.02 ERA. On the other side of the spectrum, Derek Griffith struggled to a 1-7 record, with an ERA of 4.24.
BROOKLYN CYCLONES - The Cyclones had quite a successful 2004 season, which resulted in the Mcnamara Division title. Unfortunately, the Cyclones were ousted in the first round of the playoffs after a hard fought three-game series, which Tri-City won 2-1. The Cyclones saw their success translate into an attendance total of 294,229 for the season, best in the NY-P. Ambiorix Concepcion led the Cyclones with 46 RBI, which was tied for fifth in the league. He also hit .305, seventh best in the league, and stole 28 bases. Concepcion's efforts earned him the Stedler Award, which is given to the New York-Penn League player deemed most likely to go the farthest in professional baseball. Dante Brinkley led the team in hitting, finishing third in the league at .316. Brinkley also scored 47 runs, seventh in the NY-P, and, along with Concepcion, was chosen as an outfielder for the end of season league All- Star team. The Cyclones strong point this season was pitching, with a staff that featured two arms in the top ten in the league in ERA, and also hurled a league-best ten shutouts. Michael Devaney was a stud, posting a 5-0 record in 14 starts with an ERA of 1.95. Devaney's ERA was second in the league behind Lowell's Anibal Sanchez. Mike Swindell finished ninth in the league with an ERA of 2.69. Swindell went 4-1 and struck out 62 in 63.2 innings. Joseph Williams, who had a 2.28 ERA in a team-high 75 innings, was selected as on of two left-handed pitchers on the All-Star squad.
HUDSON VALLEY RENEGADES - The Renegades dropped three of their final four games, and finished a disappointing three games behind division champ Brooklyn in the Mcnamara, with a record of 39-33. Their pitching staff led the league with an ERA of 2.99, allowing 206 earned runs. Unfortunately for the Renegades, their sloppy play in the field yielded 66 unearned runs on the year. On the hill, Jarrad Lavergne posted a dominant 1.64 ERA in 60.1 innings of work. Lavergne would have led the entire league in ERA, but just fell shy of the minimum 62 innings pitched. Ryan Bitter was strong out of the bullpen for the Renegades, as he went 3-1 with an ERA of 0.95 in 21 appearances. Cathcer John Jaso was the lone Hudson Valley batter to hit over .300, with a .302 average in 199 at-bats, which earned him an All-Star nod.
JAMESTOWN JAMMERS - The Jammers struggled to a 30-45 record in a campaign that featured multiple losing streaks, including a season-high seven game skid from August 22-28. With a team average of .262, the Jammers found themselves towards the top of the league. The problem, however, is their team ERA of 4.35 was the worst in the league. On a staff that featured mostly unimpressive statistics, Derek Tillman and Jason Vargas managed to put together some nice number. Tillman went 6-2 with a 2.60 ERA in 25 relief appearances, while Vargas went 3-1 with an ERA of 1.96 in eight starts. Jonathan Fulton finished tied for second place in the NY-P with 11 home runs.
LOWELL SPINNERS - Lowell finished the year on a high note, winning seven of their last ten games. Despite closing out the year strong, the Spinners (32-44) still found themselves in the cellar of the Stedler Division at season's end. All-Star pitcher Anibal Sanchez dominated NY-P hitters, holding them to just a .157 batting average. Overall, Sanchez went 4-4, with a league-best 1.77 ERA and 101 strikeouts, also tops in the league. The Spinners as a staff mowed down 711 batters for the year, 44 more than the next highest total. Barry Hertzler finished eighth in the league with an ERA of 2.69. Salvado Paniagua led the team with six home runs and 32 RBI, but hit just .222 for a team that managed to hit only .242.
MAHONING VALLEY SCRAPPERS - The Scrappers snuck in the back door of the playoffs, entering as the lone non-division winner. In the first round, they faced Auburn, who had posted the best record during the regular season, and were favored. All the Scrappers did was sweep the series, then followed with a championship sweep over Tri-City to win the league title. The Scrappers title run featured some dominant pitching, particularly from Justin Hoyman. In two starts, Hoyman allowed just a run in ten innings of work to go 1-0. Tony Sipp also went 1-0, striking out six in a five-inning outing. Fernando Pacheco led all playoff batters with a .500 average. The Scrappers as a team finished the regular season second in hitting at .273. The also led the league in hits with 717. Among those leading the charge at the plate were Wyatt Toregas, Christopher Gimenez, Argenis Reyes, and Mike Butia. Toregas roped seven home runs and drove in a team high 48 RBI, which was the fourth highest total in the league. Gimenez, who was chosen to the NY-P All-Star squad, hit .300 with ten homers and drove in 38. His ten bombs were fourth best in the league. Reyes was also chosen as an All-Star after leading the league with 101 hits and 53 runs scored, while posting the fifth-best batting average in the league at .312. He also stole 27 bases. Butia was fourth in the league in hitting with a .315 average. He also drove in 44 runs, which was second on the team and ninth in the NY-P. Butia's efforts earned him a spot on the NY-P All-Star team as a designated hitter.
NEW JERSEY CARDINALS - The Cardinals, who ended the year winners of six straight, fell just shy of the post season, finishing 2 1/2 games behind Brooklyn in the Mcnamara Division with a record of 41-34, while finishing just 1/2 game out of the wild card. Tom Shields yielded the rewards of his team's success and was named Manager of the Year. Chris Patrick also garnered some attention. Patrick finished second in the league in hitting with a .325 average. Levi Webber led the team with six home runs, while Jacob Mullinax drove in a team-high 36. Pitcher Miguel Aguero was a workhorse for the Cardinals, tossing 91 innings, the second most in the league. Aguero, who was 5-5 overall with an ERA of 2.97, finished second in the NY-P with 82 strikeouts.
ONEONTA TIGERS - To say Oneonta struggled to the finish line would be a giant understatement. The Tigers took themselves out of any contention by dropping 14 of their final 17 games, and finished with a record of 33-41. With all the dark that loomed at the conclusion of the 2004 season, Juan Llamas shined bright. Llamas finished in the top ten in the league in multiple categories, including ninth in batting (.303), third in hits (86), third in doubles (20), second in extra-base hits (31), and second in RBI (55). He also led the Tigers with seven home runs. His strong, all-around numbers earned him the nod at third base on the New York-Penn League All-Star team. Nate Bumstead impressed in 11 appearances (nine starts) on the mound, going 3-1 with a 2.03 ERA. Bumstead's 75 strikeouts were tied for fifth-best in the league.
STATEN ISLAND YANKEES - The Yankees managed to win just 28 games (28-44), which was tied with Batavia for the least amount in the NY-P. With a lineup that didn't feature a batter who hit .300, it's easy to understand why the Yankees struggled to find their winning ways. As a team, they hit just .243. Justin Christian had a nice all-around year, hitting .274 and led the Yankees with seven homers and 33 RBI. He also stole a team-high 15 bases. Eric Abreu pitched really well in limited action for the Yankees as he posted a 3-0 record with an ERA of 1.63 in 27.2 innings. He also struck out 47 while walking only six, for a fabulous strikeout-to-walk ratio just under 7-to-1. TJ Beam was solid, finishing sixth in the league with a 2.57 ERA.
TRI-CITY VALLEYCATS - Led by the arm of League MVP Ronnie Martinez, the ValleyCats posted a 50-win season en route to a Stedler Division title. Unfortunately, the ValleyCats ran into a red-hot Mahoning Valley squad in the championship series and were swept by the Scrappers. Martinez, who went 11-2 in 15 starts, had an ERA of 1.96, which was third in the league. He also held opponents to a .190 batting average while striking out 81. Almost as solid was Rodrigo Escobar, who went 8-0 with an ERA of 1.33, with 62 strikeouts in 54.1 innings. Maria Garza and Ben Zobrist both were strong with the bat, and each earned a spot on the NY-P All-Star team. Garza hit just .238, but slammed a league-best 15 home runs and led the league with 65 RBI. Zobrist, who's .339 average led the league, was chosen as the recipient of the Kinsella Award, which is awarded to the league's Rookie of the Year. As a team, the ValleyCats led the league with 63 home runs.
VERMONT EXPOS - The Expos dropped seven of their final ten games to fall below .500, finishing the 2004 season with a 34-38 record. Luke Montz led the Expos with ten home runs, finishing fourth in the league in that category. Brad Ditter led the team in hitting, and finished tenth in the league with a .302 average. Gus Hlebovy earned the Rolaids Relief Man award, collecting 16 saves, despite a 4.32 ERA. His 16 saves tied Aberdeen's David Haehnel for the league-lead. Pitcher Jim Henderson's 2.59 ERA was seventh best in the NY-P. Aaron Wideman had a nice season, going 3-1 in ten stars, with a thin ERA of 1.81.
WILLIAMSPORT CROSSCUTTERS - 2004 was a season full of streaks for the Crosscutters, who finished 34-40. The problem was, when they would win three, they'd lose four. Or, they would throw together four wins, after they dropped six. It was a roller coaster year, which is why they never really were a threat to make the postseason. One constant in an otherwise inconsistent campaign was pitcher Blair Johnson. Johnson finished the year fifth in the league in ERA at 2.44. He posted a 6-1 record in 14 starts, including two complete games. Johnson held hitters to just a .193 average in 88.2 innings of work. Back to being inconsistent, reliever Dustin Craig nailed down 11 saves, but had a record of 1-6. At the plate, Mike Carlin had a team-high six homers and drove in 22 runs. Tim Brown, who hit just .238, led the team with 30 RBI. Jermel Lomack led the NY-P in stolen bases, swiping 29 in 33 attempts.
