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A12 • Monday, June 19,1989, THE MEDICINE HAT NEWSleague launches into fresh seasonin camp,” he said. “Some are 6- Helena Brewers(41-29-1IV2)SUSAN QUINN BRENDAN NAGLEOf The NewsDespite the late arrival of the majority of players to Pioneer League teams, the North and South divisions seem to be shaping up quite nicely, to the relief of president Ralph Nelles.Several changes in :’0 front offic- \ es took place in the off-season for the eight-team league.Pocatello Giants of the South division and Helena Brewers of the North division both have new owners. John Wen-dal from Lakeland, Fla., and Bill McKee from Westlake, Ohio have jointly bought the Giants, who will also operate a mid-West team at Rockford, Illinois in the A league this year.In Helena, Ronald Romaneski from Yakima, Wash, has taken over the Brewers.“I think it’s going to mean a big improvement,” Nelles said of the new ownerships. “They’ve done a lot of work on the field in Pocatello, $100,000 improvements. In Helena, the city has backed a number of improvements there.”Interest in the league has sparked already, as is evident from the advance ticket sales.“The advance sales in a lot of cities are ahead of last year. I think we’ll have a better year than we did last year,” Nelles of-ferred.The Pioneer League is due to open its season tonight. Each team plays a 70-game schedule. The division winners advance to a best-of-five championship series.Here is a team-by-team outlook for the 1989 season:Northern DivisionGreat Falls Dodgers(52-17)Great Falls Dodgers are returning league champs this season, after edging Butte Copper Kings 4-3 in the fifth game of the best-of-five league final series.Dodgers general manager Ray Klesh said his team will be one of the largest teams in the league this season. But there are no returnees from last year.“We’ve got some very large kidsfoot, 8-inches tall.”Included in the skyscraper club are 6’ 5” first baseman John Deutsch and 6’ 8” pitcher Mike Potthoff. The Dodgers also have a speedster in Tom Goodwin. Goodwin played for the U.S. Olympic baseball team at the Seoul Games.“Tom can flip off the light switch, get into bed and be fast asleep before the light goes out,” Klesh said of Goodwin’s wheels. “He’s a good centre-fielder with a lot of speed.”Klesh said the size of his club should provide some power at the plate.“I think we’re going to have some power this year,” he said. “We’re cautiously optimistic about taking the crown again.”Billings Mustangs (35-34-17)The Medicine Hat Blue Jays open the Pioneer League regu-lar-season schedule with a game at Athletic Park against the Billings Mustangs today. And Billings general manager Bob Wilson is hoping to spoil the home opener for the Jays as the baseball league cranks up for another season.Wilson said the Mustangs — the squad finished the season as runner-up in the Northern Division with a 35-34 record — are a more experienced club this club this season and will be competitive.“I think we have a little older ball club,” he said. “This year I think we’ve got more experience.”Wilson said there are four players from last season’s roster returning to play for the Mustangs. Jon Fuller and Brian Nichols — both catchers — pitcher Kurt Dempster and outfielder Danny Perozo will all be back witht the Mustangs this season. He said he also has a good crop of younger players but hasn’t had time to make up a final roster yet.“It’s really hard to tell (whowill be starting) right now,” said Wilson. “We don’t even have a roster yet.”He said the Mustangs will have to beat the Great Falls Dodgers this season if his team wants to win the North Division title.“I’d have to say Great Falls is going to be tough in our division,” he said. “But I think it’sgoing to be a good race allaround.”The Helena Brewers have three returning outfielders this season and field manager Dusty Rhodes said the rest of the club will be made up of new players.Troy O’Leary,Angel Diaz and Joe Roebuck are the returnees.Diaz and Roebuck playedbackup roles last season. Rhodes said it’s going to be difficult to asses the team’s potential until the league begins and the players get some experience.“I don’t think we’ve got the experience we had last season,” said Rhodes. “It’s just going to be hard to judge what we’ve got until we start playing.”The pitching staff is also young. Rhodes said the Brewers picked up a pair of strong college pitchers. Most of the players Rhodes was hoping to secure went to teams higher up in the Milwaukee Brewers organization.Medicine Hat Blue Jays(12-58-40 1/2)The Medicine Hat Blue Jays are banking on a trio of returning players and a couple of college-age additions to lift them out of the cellar of the league.Field manager Ralph “Rocket”Wheeler is looking for greatthings to come from pitchers Eric Bradley and Jeff Mooney, and catcher Juan Jaime — all veterans of last year’s Jays.“They’re going to add experience because they’ve got that year under their belts,” saidWheeler. “It’s up to them to produce. They shouldn’t be as apprehensive about the game this year.”Wheeler is also optimistic about catcher Carlos Delgado, the only 16-year-old on the roster this year. “He’s a big, strong catcher and still growing.”Bob Nandin is back as coach, while' Scott Jamieson takes over the general manager position from Dean Linden. The Jays have also invested in some improvements to Athletic Park, which will make it “one of the best playing fields in the league this year,” Wheeler claims.Southern DivisionButte Copper Kings(44-26)The Copper Kings have no returning players this season but that hasn’t dampened the enthusiasm of field manager Bump Wills. Wills said his squad has picked up a couple of good draft picks from the club’s parent organization in Texas.“I’m happywith the way things are going,” said Wills.“It appears we’ll have some fairly strong pitching.”The clubpicked up outfielder Donald Harris. Harris played college ball at Texas Tech and was the no. 1 pick for the Texas Rangers at this year’s amateur draft. Timmy Morrow — the no. 2 pick last year — will also play outfield along with Dan Peltier who played college ball at Notre Dame.He said he’s not concerned with the lack of experience on this year’s club because the players are all talented.“Experience certainly does count for something but the guys are young and talented,” he said. “It could be a plus or a minus but we’re looking for it to be a plus. We’re enthusiastic.”Salt Lake Trappers(41-29-3)The Salt Lake City Trappers, the only club in the Pioneer League without a major league affiliate, finished three games off the pace last season after enjoying three straight years as league champions.Field manager Barry Moss said this year’s squad won’t be strong in any one area of the game, but instead well be a balanced club.“We have good speed, good defence, a reasonable amount of power hitting and a solid offence,” Moss said. “We don’t seem to be overly strong in any one area by we are definitely a balanced ball club.”Returning to the Trapper club this season are pitchers Fred Riscen and Tony St. John. Outfielders Pat Waid and Ray Karzzewski are also returning this season.The club picked up a pair of college players that Moss has been eyeing in the past year. JoeBeaulac from Eckerd College in St. Petersberg, Fla., and Travis Parchione of Loyola-Marymount University in Los Angleis will both be in the outfield for the Trappers this season.“I think we’ll be a very competitive club,” Moss said.Idaho Falls Braves(28-42-16)The Idaho Falls Braves, who finished third in the south last year, have brought in a new field manager to lead a fresh lineup this season. Cloyd Boyer comes to the Braves from Atlanta’s rookie team in Pulaski, Va. Jim Procopio will take up the slack in Virginia.“I’ve always wanted to come' to this country,”Boyer said. “And the other guy who was here (Procopio) is from the East, so we decided to switch.”Boyer brings with him two young, capable kids from the Pulaski club, who along with two from the Bradenton, Fla. and three from last year’s Idaho Falls squad make up seven returnees to the Braves roster.“It’s all new kids,” Boyer said. “I won’t have any way of knowing what I’ve got (in terms of talent) until a couple of weeks into the season.”The team has worked together for less than a week, he said.“The way they’re swinging the bat it looks like they’ll be able to hit. But it’s only batting practice. I’m hoping we have good pitching.”The Braves open to Salt Lake Trappers at home tonight.Pocatello Giants(26-44-18)The Giants not only cleaned house in the front office in the off-season, they moved it to a newbuilding, says new general manager Marty Cusack. However, the team will play at the same ballpark.Deron McCue \takes over field boss duties from Jack Hiatt and Ed Bonine is the coach. The team ^will be made upof mostly new faces, with the exception of outfielders David Booth and Joey Sparkes, the Giants’ fourth-round pick in the 1987 free agent draft.“All the rest are brand new players,” Cusack said.
Newspaper Details
Medicine Hat News
Medicine Hat, Alberta, CA
Mon, Jun 19, 1989
Page 12
Full Page
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Elyria P.
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