THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 1, 1995 TAG: 9509010643
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM ROBINSON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 93 lines
As fitting punctuation to their International League dominance this season, the Norfolk Tides on Thursday accomplished something that had not been done in the league since 1976.
In leaguewide balloting of club personnel and media, the Tides swept the individual awards for most valuable player, most valuable pitcher, rookie of the year and manager of the year. Rochester was the last club to capture the same honors 19 years ago.
Third baseman Butch Huskey, batting just .195 on May 26, was named the most valuable player for hitting 28 home runs, driving in 87 runs and batting .284 before his promotion two weeks ago to the New York Mets.
Jason Isringhausen, though only with the Tides two months, earned most valuable pitcher and rookie of the year honors for the phenomenal impact he had before going up to the Mets. Isringhausen went 9-1, including nine consecutive victories before his lone loss, in 12 starts.
He is the first pitcher to win rookie of the year since Buffalo's Walter Craddock in 1957.
And Toby Harrah, in his first season in the Mets organization, took the top manager award for keeping the Tides consistently strong through an unusually large number of personnel changes.
In addition, the Tides were represented on the All-Star team by outfielder Alex Ochoa, who came to them in a trade from Rochester on July 28.
``Awesome. Unbelievable,'' Huskey, 23, said in Los Angeles, where the Mets played Thursday night. ``For me to come back from the year I had in '94, this is a great honor. I'm totally excited.''
Huskey rebounded from an injury-plagued rookie season with the Tides in which he batted .228 with 10 home runs and 57 RBIs. He led the league in slugging percentage at .548 and played all three outfield spots, third and first this season.
``I was prepared to play every pitch, every inning and every at-bat. To me, that's something I didn't do in '94,'' said Huskey, the Tides' first MVP since Tom O'Malley in 1989, though last season's MVP, Jeff Manto, began the year with the Tides before being traded to Rochester. Huskey is the sixth third baseman in eight years to be named MVP.
Though Huskey, who hit 23 home runs and drove in 70 runs over his final 76 games, blossomed under Harrah's tutelage, Harrah declined to take credit for Huskey's or the Tides' surge.
``I just suggested a few things, but not anything different than (ex-manager) Bobby Valentine did last year,'' Harrah said. ``This year Butch was healthy, and it shows by his results.''
Of his team's performance, Harrah said, ``I was lucky to be at the right place at the right time, with great talent. Everybody says 75 or 80 percent of managing is handling your pitching staff, so I've got to give more than half the credit to (Bob) Apodaca. He's the best pitching coach I've ever been around.
``And Ronnie Washington at third base, he's been very aggressive. I think he's been 99 percent right with everything he's done.''
Despite pitching only 87 innings after his promotion from Double-A, Isringhausen, 22, astounded the league by maintaining an ERA below 1.00 for most of his time with the Tides. He finished at 1.55 with a league-high three shutouts and 75 strikeouts. The Tides' previous most valuable pitcher was John Mitchell in 1986.
``Good players make a good manager, and great pitching makes better managers,'' said Harrah, the first Tides skipper to win manager of the year since Joe Frazier in 1975. ``We've had both.''
The league all-star team:
1B: Don Sparks, Columbus
2B: Kevin Jordan, Scranton
SS: Derek Jeter, Columbus
3B: Butch Huskey, Tides
C: Jorge Posada, Columbus
OF: Alex Ochoa, Rochester/Tides
Robert Perez, Syracuse
Mark Smith, Rochester
DH- Carlos Delgado, Syracuse
SP: Jason Isringhausen, Tides
RP: Rod Nichols, Richmond ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
Butch Huskey
Most Valuable Player
J. Isringhausen
Top pitcher, rookie
Toby Harrah
Manager of the Year
by CNB