Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, December 2, 1994 TAG: 9412020041
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
When discussion turns to the Carolina League, new Salem Avalanche manager Bill Hayes can recall with a degree of fondness that he's been there and done that.
One place he won't ever go to or do anything in again, at least in a professional capacity, is decrepit Municipal Field.
``I'm real glad of that,'' Hayes said.
Come spring, when Hayes is learning his way around the presumably luxurious surroundings at the new ballpark under construction for the recently revised price of about $6 million, he can recall the mysteries and horrors of the old yard down the street.
Hayes, 37, knew it well from his visits here in 1992 while employed by the Chicago Cubs as the manager of the Winston-Salem Spirits.
``In the dugout, they'd post the ground rules and of all the times we played there, I don't think I ever learned them all,'' he said.
One law that required no interpretation was the one that governed somebody jacking one over the short fences.
``We told our guys that when they hit it, to keep running until we told them to stop,'' he said.
The other side of that was the wrenching traumas inflicted on young pitching staffs that had to work those infernally nettlesome grounds. To the delight of the Colorado Rockies organization, with whom Salem is now affiliated, the new ballpark shouldn't pose such a problem.
The splendid young pitchers now working their way through the Rockies chain will have enough to worry about once they get to the thin atmosphere of Denver's newly-built Coors Field.
``Bob Gebhard [the Rockies general manager] is a pitching guy,'' Hayes said. ``His philosophy is that we can always get hitters who will enjoy coming to Coors Field. We've got a lot of good young arms in this organization.''
We can assume that some of those youthful rocket launchers will be landing at Salem after spending their 1994 summer at Central Valley of the California League and Asheville of the South Atlantic League. It is the Central Valley franchise, which Hayes managed to a 65-71 record this past season, that has been transplanted to Salem.
Central Valley started April with a 16-6 record, but its fortunes deteriorated swiftly after that.
``We had three guys in the bullpen, all right-handers, named Mark Voisard, Chris Henderson, and Jason Hutchins, who went one-two-three in the the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings and it was lights out,'' Hayes said. ``Then Voisard and Hutchins got called up to [AA] New Haven.
``We made Henderson the closer and he struggled for a while. After that, we took a starter named Garvin Alston and made him the closer. He had a 90-plus [mph] fastball and he was going great, then he got called up.''
If this is a troubling reminder of the warm-them-up-then-jerk-them-out-of-town-to-the-next-league ways of previous Salem tenant the Pittsburgh Pirates, perhaps it shouldn't be.
``I think it depends a lot on your age and experience whether you get called up in this organization,'' Hayes said. ``Voisard and Hitchins were both older guys who had been at Central Valley the previous year. We had some other guys who had solid years who stayed there the whole time last year.
``I don't think they'll be jerking guys out of Salem as soon as they do well. I think they [the Rockies minor-league bosses] like to wear those championship rings, too.''
To that end, Hayes ought to have plenty of help. Arriving along with him will be pitching coach Billy Champion, a former big-leaguer, and bench coach Tony Torchia.
Torchia has been in pro ball 32 years and was the Asheville manager last year. The Tourists went 60-73. Torchia was the Carolina League manager of the year in 1967 after directing Winston-Salem to the circuit championship. In 13 seasons of minor-league managing, he had a .521 winning percentage, including a 19-7 postseason record. He never lost a playoff series. His teams won five championships.
``I've never worked on a three-man staff until I came to the Rockies,'' said Hayes, who worked in the Cubs chain for six seasons before assuming command at Central Valley last year. ``We'll be well-rounded. Tony's a hitting and infield guy, Billy has the pitchers, and I'll have the catchers and outfielders.''
Hayes was a receiver in the Cubs and Kansas City organizations, making an ultra-brief major-league appearance for Chicago. He picked up his know-how about outfield guidance from Cubs instructor Jimmy Piersall, known to old-line Roanokers as the general manager of the old Roanoke Buckskins semipro football team and to baseball fans as a major leaguer of colorful repute.
Hayes says he has no idea who he'll be getting to play in Salem, but he assumes some of them will be coming from both the old Central Valley club and Asheville.
One possibility is live-armed left-hander Doug Million, who signed this year for a reported $905,000 bonus after being the seventh player taken overall in the June amateur draft.
``Maybe we can lobby for him,'' Hayes said.
AVALANCHE DEBRIS: Hayes will be moving his family - wife Kimberly, 5-year-old Kirstyn, and 1-year-old Megan - to the Roanoke Valley once the school year ends for the eldest girl in the Phoenix, Ariz., area. ``I was away from them all last summer and that was tough,'' he said. ... Former Salem Buccaneers manager Scott Little, the boss here in 1993, has been assigned to manage at Erie of the New York-Penn League. The Pirates moved there from Welland after the past season. .. New Avalanche sweatshirts and T-shirts are in stock now and will be available at Spartan Silk Screen in Salem.
by CNB