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| News and Notes of the Gulf Coast Hurricanes A Coastal Strat-O-Matic League franchise since 1998 |
| The trade rumors surrounding Mike Sweeney turned out to be well-founded. Gulf Coast sent the slugging 1B/DH to the New York Split Apples along with Jeff Suppan, in exchange for Julian Tavarez and Woody Williams. With expansion looming for next year and the prospects of being able to keep Sweeney slim, he was dealt for some much needed pitching for the second half of the season. The 2 newly acquired pitchers will move into the 4 and 5 slots in the rotation, following Darren Dreifort, Robert Person and Jamey Wright and hopefully take over the innings that have been shared by a plethora of pitchers so far this year. The last 2 slots in the rotation have seen a number of pitchers, such as Shawn Estes, Rob Bell, Eric Milton, Carl Pavano, Brett Tomko, and A.J. Burnett. As a bonus, Tavarez and Williams' numbers are quite good for next year so far, and coupled with the arms that have been stockpiled, the staff looks good for 2002. |
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| Back to My Sandlot |
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| New arms added for Playoff push |
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| 2000 Team Statistics |
| Benitez to let it all hang out in season's second half |
| With the season reaching it's halfway point, the Hurricanes record stands at 40-40 and in a 3 way tie with San Antonio and Troy for second place in the Southwest division. Armando Benitez has pitched a total of 17 innings for the entire season. HAL has seen fit to put one of the best relief pitchers in Baseball into a game a lot less than was intended. The result is a mediocre record up to this point...but there is a positive aspect to it all. That leaves Benitez with 60 innings of work for the second half. Put that with the 50 innings remaining for Trevor Hoffman, and the end-game drama of close games is in good hands.The rest of the bullpen fills out with Mike Remlinger, Felix Rodriguez, Carl Pavano, Shawn Estes and Brett Tomko. Set 4 is shaping up to be a key set this year indeed. |
| Addition of Piazza bolsters lineup vs Left Handers |
| When the Big Unit Randy Johnson limited the Hurricanes to 1 run over 16 innings in a key 2nd set matchup between Gulf Coast and San Antonio, it flashed a huge neon sign in front of team management. 'We Need Help Against Tough LH Pitchers' the sign said, and when Al Leiter followed up with 2 good appearances, it was what was needed to have the team make a move. "We certainly didn't want to have to move a player of Erstad's ability" GM Mickey Klutts stated. "But when Amherst called and said Piazza could be had...well, we had to move forward." The addition of Piazza, both in the lineup vs left-handers and off the bench as a pinch hitter when a right-hander starts, will certainly give opposing managers a reason to pause. "We were way too left-handed and backwards right-handed dominant, that's for sure" Klutts added. With Erstad, the team had Todd Helton, Gary Sheffield, Ivan Rodriguez, Brian Giles, Alex Ochoa, Jose Vidro, Tony Batista and Neifi Perez all who fit that description. Piazza has even gone ahead and dyed his hair Billy Idol blond, to signify the switch and hopefully add some inspiration to both he and his new team this season. |
| New look outfield can be better than ever |
| Lost in the acquisition of Piazza, Tavarez, and Williams, and the loss of a fan favorite Darrin Erstad, is the acquisition of former Hatteras Hurricane star Kenny Lofton, who was picked up in exchange for Scott Williamson from the Albuquerque Turkeys. Lofton returns to a team that saw him as it's leadoff man in the first year of the franchise and his return gives added speed, depth and versatility. It also means a shuffling of the outfield and added playing time for 2 key backups, left fielder Alex Ochoa and center fielder Adrian Brown. Combined, the 2 players are very much like the departed Erstad and maybe a little more versatile. Ochoa has tremendous power, especially vs right handed pitching and he posseses speed, range and a strong throwing arm. Brown combines on base vs righties and batting average vs lefties, along with great defense and the ability to steal bases. The outfield rotation may not have skipped a beat with the trade of Erstad and may even bring a more steadying effect to who plays where. Brian Giles will now be the every day right fielder, Brown and Lofton will combine in center and Ochoa will take over in left and be spelled occasionally by designated hitter Gary Sheffield. With the new acquistions, there is power, speed, batting average, and on-base at every slot in the order. The second half of the season should be interesting this year yet again. |
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| June, 2001 |
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| Hurricane Watch May, 2001 |
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