ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, September 4, 1996 TAG: 9609040082
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: ANALYSIS
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
A plethora of losses punctuated Salem's 1996 season in the Carolina League.
The Colorado Rockies made the Salem Avalanche's 1996 season memorable by sending major-league All-Stars Larry Walker, Bill Swift and Eric Young to play here for brief periods.
Former big-league pitchers David Nied and John Burke toed the rubber for the Avalanche.
Since they did a good job in sending major-leaguers to Salem, the only question that remains is when will the Rockies start providing the Avalanche with some decent minor-leaguers?
Actually, this year's club contained several fine prospects. There just weren't enough to help the club attain a winning record in the just-completed Carolina League season.
After a 16-9 start, Salem went 46-67 the rest of the way and ended both the first and second halves of the Carolina League season at the bottom of the Southern Division. Monday's 7-3 loss to the Lynchburg Hillcats ended the 17th consecutive losing half for a Salem ballclub.
``It's been a disappointing year,'' said Salem manager Bill McGuire. ``Very frustrating. We did some good things and developed some good players we don't need to lose sight of that. We just didn't play as well as we would have liked.''
A Salem club has not had a winning record for even as much as a half-season since the Salem Buccaneers, a farm club of the Pittsburgh Pirates, won a first-half division championship in 1988. Salem baseball is 118 games under
Owner Kelvin Bowles, who's also a scout for the Florida Marlins, feels that player development shouldn't necessarily mean winning is unimportant. Quite the contrary. After two losing seasons under the Rockies, he's ready to see a winner in Salem.
``On the positive side, the Rockies have been outstanding to deal with,'' said Bowles. ``That means a lot. I don't know one problem we've had with a player, coach, manager or trainer.''
However...
``The performance [on the field] has got to get better,'' said Bowles. ``We can't sit here and continue to have losing clubs. I'm sure the players don't like it. I know they don't like to lose. I'm sure the Rockies don't like it, but it's up to them to do something about it. The only reason they even had an opportunity to come in here was the previous 13 1/2 [half-] seasons of below-average performance by the previous club.''
A losing club was probably one of the reasons the Avalanche drew an average of just 2,632 fans to Salem Memorial Baseball Stadium, a $10 million facility that opened in August 1995. Bowles said he plans to write a letter to Dick Balderson, the Rockies vice president in charge of player personnel, ``voicing my displeasure'' with the quality of the first two Avalanche clubs.
``I owe it to the people who have supported this ballclub and I certainly owe it to the city that provided us this fine facility to have a winning ballclub,'' said Bowles. ``In hindsight, I wish we had signed a two-year agreement [in 1995], but I insisted on four years.''
Balderson said he understands Bowles' desire to own a franchise that actually wins more games than it loses.
Balderson defended the organization's philosophy of making the development of pitchers a priority. Since the Colorado farm system is still in its early stages of development, the organization has a lack of depth in position players. Still, the Rockies selected 30 pitchers and just 24 position players in this year's amateur draft.
Despite the losses, there were highlights. Team Most Valuable Player Blake Barthol was named to the All-Carolina League team as a catcher. Sluggers John Giudice and Nate Holdren entertained Salem faithful with their shots that escaped even the towering walls of Salem Memorial Baseball Stadium. Steve Bernhardt's quiet consistency at third and at the plate was certainly appreciated by the organization.
Doug Million, Brent Crowther and Mike Vavrek were all part of a once-decent pitching rotation. Luther Hackman provided one of the most memorable moments when he fired a no-hitter against Kinston on Aug. 4, the first complete-game, nine-inning no-hitter in the league since 1992. Nied spent a quality month in Salem and was rewarded with a promotion to the Rockies, who selected him with the first pick of the 1992 expansion draft.
Trouble was, the Rockies' farm system couldn't always replace those players when it was time for them to be promoted. Crowther, Million, Bernhardt and Giudice were called up during the season. Even Holdren and reliever Matt Pool got called up with a week to go.
Salem flirted with first place before a late swoon sent them to a 34-35 record in the first half. After Crowther and Million were called up, things began to go south.
``I don't know what happened,'' said Barthol. ``I wish I could tell you. We started off hot, then just couldn't get the big hits. It was a roller coaster all year.''
LENGTH: Medium: 93 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: headshot of McGuire colorby CNB