Good, Bad and Ugly Archives
April 1998

Thursday, April 17, 1998

The Good:

The Purple Starfish's (Matt) Craig Counsell (7A) went 2-for-4 with his first homer; the former Rockie is somehow hitting .353.

The Bad:

The Winning O'Men's (Greg) Tyler Green (6A) got ripped for six earned runs in three innings. How'd this guy go for $6?

The Ugly:

The Harry Careys (Doug) Donovan Osborne (3A) cruised for five innings against the D'backs before giving up five runs in the sixth. Robb's Oriole Connection star, Andy Benes (13C) was the beneficiary, throwing a complete game for his second win.

Monday, April 20, 1998

The Good:

Master Batters (Barry) Walt Weiss (10A) went 3-for-4 in the Braves' 7-5 win over Colorado; he's hitting .447 so far, but you just know he'd love for the Braves to stay at Coors for a few more weeks.

The Bad:

Batbold (Mike) saw Livan Hernandez (5B) continue his awful start against Arizona; he lasted 3-and-a-third, giving up five hits, seven earned runs and four walks in the 15-4 loss. His ERA rose to 7.71.

The Ugly:

The Big Johnsons (Tim J.) Mark Wohlers (30A) came in the bottom of the ninth and promptly walked two batters, forcing Bobby Cox to go deeper in the pen and giving Kerry Lightenberg (Jeff O., reserve draft) his first save.

Tuesday, April 21, 1998

The Good:

The Winning O'Men's (Greg) Mike Hampton (15B) improved to 4-0 this year with the Astros' 6-0 win over the Mets. Hampton, who is 16-3 in his last 21 starts, threw a complete game, giving up seven hits and just one walk. Runner-up: the Purple Starfish (Matt) saw Delino DeShields (26B) go 4-for-4 and improve his average to .367.

The Bad:

The Splendid Splinters (Bill E.) watched Kevin Brown (25C) get ejected in the fourth inning against the Cubs after he gave up three runs, four hits and three walks in three innings. Despite that, most of us would be happy with Brown's ERA: 2.23.

The Ugly:

The Harry Careys (Doug) reserved Brad Ausmus (4B) this week after the Astros catcher got off to a horrible start and his average dropped below .100. So, of course, Ausmus went 2-for-3 with a homer last night against the Mets, raising his average by 30 points.

Wednesday, April 22, 1998

The Good:

The Stanwyk Shepherds (Jeff T.) Mike Piazza (43B) hit two homers and finished with 4 RBI in the Dodgers' 9-6 win over the Brewers. After a slow start, Piazza now has 7 HRs, 20 RBIs and he's hitting .301. And most important, his teammates like him.

The Bad:

The Stanwyk Shepherds (Jeff T.) also watched Jeff Blauser (2B) go 0-for-6 in the Cubs' 14-inning loss to San Diego. Despite the worst 0-fer of the day, Blauser is still hitting .275.

The Ugly:

The Harry Careys (Doug) saw John Jaha (18A) go down with torn ligaments during the Dodgers game; he'll be out 4-6 weeks. Runner-up: I'm Idaho! (Jeff O.) had Doug Henry (reserve, 4th) give up a 3-run homer to pinch-hitter Jim Tatum in the bottom of the ninth as the Mets won, 10-7.

Thursday, April 23, 1998

The Good:

After a dismal 1997, Opportunistic Infections (Bill C.) has to be pleased with the recent output by Ron Gant (29D), who homered in his third straight game last night against Montreal.Gant is still only hitting .239, but at least he has five homers.

The Bad:

The Winning O'Men (Greg) saw Shawn Estes (4B) continue his early-season slump by giving up six earned runs in 5-1/3 innings last night against Pittsburgh. Estes, who gave up nine hits and five walks in the Giants' 7-0 loss, has now walked 19 batters in 28-2/3 innings. His ERA stands at 6.59.

The Ugly:

Oriole Connection (Robb), which tried to trade Ricky Botallico (20D) last month, is now without the Philadelphia closer for the next 6-8 weeks with elbow problems.The Purple Starfish's (Matt) Mark Leiter (reserve, 10th) is expected to get most of the Phils' save opps; he picked up his first save last night with an inning of work in a 6-3 win over the Reds.

Sunday, April 26, 1998

The Good:

The Master Batters (Barry) saw Vinny Castilla (34A) go 4-for-4 and homer twice in the Rockies' 7-6 win over Maddux and the Braves. (And the game wasn't even at Coors.) Castilla, who hit his league-leading 10th and 11th homers, had five RBIs and also recorded his second stolen base.

The Bad:

Oriole Connection (Robb) had to hurt after Doug Jones (19A) gave up ninth-inning homers to Javier and Hayes and the Brewers lost, 8-7. (Fortunately, Oriole held onto Urbina.) Looking much like he did when he pitched for the Cubs three years ago, Jones suffered his first loss of the season.

The Ugly:

While Batbold (Mike) watches Paul Konerko (18A) struggle to hit .200, the Dodgers' Matt Luke (Starfish, 7th round) hit his first homer in Los Angeles' 4-3 win over Chicago. Luke went 3-for-5 and he's hitting .303. I still have no idea who this guy is and where he came from.

Monday, April 27, 1998

The Good:

The Splendid Splinters (Bill E.) watched Eddie Taubensee (7A) hit a 2-run homer in the ninth to give the Reds a 3-1 win over the Phillies. Taubensee went 2-for-4; he's hitting .360. Runner-up: The Master Batters (Barry) activated Stan Belinda (reserve 6th) just in time. Belinda pitched a scoreless ninth inning in the Reds win, improving to 1-2 this season with a 2.75 ERA.

The Bad:

The Cactus League Peelers (Eric) had high hopes after bringing J.T. Snow (15B) back for another season. But after hitting just .181 through the first month, Snow was benched in favor of Charlie Hayes (I'm Idaho, 6A) last night against Pittsburgh.

The Ugly:

The injury report is both good and bad for Batbold (Mike), which could have Willie Greene (18A) back sooner than expected, maybe as early as this week. Then there's Reggie Sanders (21A), who hyperextended his lower back making a catch last night. X-rays were negative; he'll be evaluated more today. Sanders is hitting .218; remember when this guy went for $30-plus in roto?

Tuesday, April 28, 1998

The Good:

After a rocky few weeks, the Stanwyk Shepherds (Jeff T.) finally received a solid outing from Hideo Nomo (19D), who earned a complete game victory in the Dodgers' 6-3 win over Milwaukee. Nomo lowered his ERA to 4.81 by going nine innings, allowing three hits, three runs and just two walks.

The Bad:

The Harry Careys (Doug) watched Barry Larkin (24A) continue his early-season slump by going 0-for-4 in the Reds' 11-8 loss to Philadelphia. After turning 34 early this week, Larkin is now hitting .194 and he's combining with Steve Finley (15D) to kill the Harrys' average.

The Ugly:

I'm Idaho! (Jeff O.) watched closer John Franco (36B) blow his second save in two days; he gave up a two-run single to Moises Alou (27B, Irish) in the ninth as the Astros won, 4-3 in 10 innings. Franco's ERA is now 4.50.

Wednesday, April 29, 1998

The Good:

Depressed? Not the Opportunistic Infections (Bill C.) Pete Harnisch (6A), who improved to 2-0 after earning a complete game win over the Phillies. The Reds scored their lone run in the first and let Harnisch do the rest. He threw 115 pitches, giving up just two hits and one walk and lowering his ERA to 3.12.

The Bad:

The Big Johnsons (Tim J.) thought they had an expansion-draft steal in Kent Mercker (1B), but so far he's killing the Johnsons ERA. Mercker lasted only four innings in the Cards' 13-7 win over the Expos; he allowed five hits, four earned runs and three walks, and his ERA rose to 6.40. Runner-up: The Stanwyk Shepherds (Jeff T.) saw Dave Mlicki (5B) drop to 0-3, while his ERA rose to 7.27.

The Ugly:

Tough day for the Big Johnsons (Tim J.), who saw Mercker get ripped and later learned that rookie Pirates third baseman Freddy Garcia (4A) was sent down to AAA Nashville after hitting .167 for April. Guess Garcia and (former O'Men) Mark Johnson have something in common now: Both have had great springs for the Bucs, only to flounder when the bell rings for real.