ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, June 1, 1996 TAG: 9606030077
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
The 5-2 loss the Salem Avalanche suffered to the Frederick Keys on Friday night in front of 4,233 spectators was merely perturbing. The loss of pitcher Luther Hackman was frightening.
Hackman's nose was shattered by a line drive off the bat of Eric Chavez in the top of the third inning, an incident that marred the Avalanche's night even before it went on to tie a season high with its fifth straight defeat.
The loss of Hackman, who will undergo surgery Monday and will be out four to six weeks, preceded by two innings the loss of Avalanche manager Bill McGuire, who was ejected in the fifth for arguing with base umpire Chris Boberg.
The good news for the Avalanche was that Hackman was treated and released from Lewis-Gale Hospital shortly after being transported there by a Salem rescue unit.
``Right now, it doesn't matter to me who fills Luther's spot,'' McGuire said. ``All I care about is whether or not Luther's fine. His nose was shattered. A lot of bad things can happen when a player gets hit in the nose. There was a kid when I was in the Seattle Mariners organization who get hit in the head and went into seizure.
``It was luck that his nose was just broken, if you can call it luck.''
It was a scary scene when Hackman went down. The Avalanche was trailing 4-0 when Chavez hit a screamer through the box that Hackman barely may have deflected with his glove or hand.
The ball ricocheted off Hackman's face and rolled to first baseman John Fantauzzi, who recorded the putout and then ran to Hackman, who staggered for a moment before sitting down behind the mound. Trainer Bill Borowski and McGuire quickly moved to Hackman's aid as players gathered around.
``It was real scary,'' Fantauzzi said. ``It shook me up when I saw him. He looked like a boxer who had been knocked out. He was glassy-eyed and he was spitting up blood.
``I've played baseball since I was 6 years old and it's the first time I've ever seen anything like that. It shook me up for an inning or so.''
The Avalanche never recovered, emotionally or on the scoreboard. Frederick had scored four off Hackman in a first inning that featured doubles from Chavez, Rick Short and Jim Foster.
McGuire was given the rest of the night off after arguing with Boberg, who had called Frederick runner Eddy Martinez safe on a stolen-base attempt. McGuire did not agree.
``I didn't go out there to get thrown out,'' said McGuire, who was ejected for the first time this season. ``I didn't cuss him, I didn't say anything I shouldn't have. The only thing he said to me was I was out there too long. I'll bet I wasn't out there 30 seconds. If there's a time constraint on how long you can be out there, I want to see a rule book.''
Salem (29-25) managed just six hits against Frederick pitching. Keys starter Nerio Rodriguez (2-3), who has pitched mostly in relief this season, surrendered just five hits in eight innings, his longest outing of the year.
``We put him in the rotation to get him some innings and build his arm strength,'' said Frederick manager Julio Garcia. ``He threw very well. He's pitched better and better every time out.''
One hit off Rodriguez was John Giudice's solo home run in the sixth. Chad Gambill added a solo shot off reliever Francisco Hernandez in the ninth.
``We got in a hole and could never get out,'' Giudice said.
SNOWBALLS: Salem outfielder Pookie Jones went on the disabled list Friday with a left knee strain. Jones injured the knee last week at Lynchburg when he crashed into the batting cage while chasing a foul fly ball. Earl Cunningham will be called up from Asheville to replace Jones. ... The Memorial Stadium hot tub continues to generate publicity. A camera crew from ABC's ``Good Morning America'' was at the ballpark videotaping sights and sounds for an upcoming feature. A crew from CBS ``This Morning'' show will be at the park in coming weeks. Three weeks ago, The Washington Post published an article on the hot tub on the front page of its Style section.
NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Medium: 82 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ERIC BRADY/Staff. Salem's Kyle Houser gets set to tagby CNBFrederick's Eddy Martinez at second base on Friday. The umpire ruled
Martinez safe, spawning a controversy that resulted in Salem manager
Bill McGuire's ejection. 2. Salem manager Bill McGuire (right)
argues with base umpire Chris Boberg on a call at
second base during Friday night's game. color. KEYWORDS: BASEBALL