THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 28, 1994 TAG: 9407280668
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM ROBINSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 59 lines
Each season they change the names, numbers and sometimes the managers, yet look where the Toledo Mud Hens are again in late July. Back at the bottom of their division, nearly last in the entire International League, playing poorly. Playing out the string.
The heady days of May, when the Mud Hens recorded a 19-7 mark after Larry Parrish replaced Joe Sparks as skipper, are now shrouded by the 19-35 fog the Hens have meandered into since.
Somehow, they are fifth in the league in hitting and fourth in pitching. But statistical niceties were good for nothing once more Wednesday at Harbor Park, where the Tides drubbed them, 7-1, a night after Norfolk's rainy 10-3 romp.
As Dave Telgheder, Kenny Greer and Pete Walker limited Toledo (45-58) to six hits, the Tides (52-53) climbed back to within a game of the elusive .500 mark. They also narrowed the gap to five games between themselves and second place, the final playoff position, as Richmond lost to first-place Charlotte.
``We've got something to shoot for, we might as well shoot for it,'' said Tides manager Bobby Valentine, who hopes his team's third attempt in the last nine days to even its record - for the first time since April 8 - provides a boost to even better things.
``If we get to .500 (tonight), well then we've got to play Richmond and Charlotte next,'' Valentine said. ``So I don't know if it's going to springboard us to six-over, but it might. We're playing pretty good.''
Eleven hits - 10 off Toledo starter Jose Lima (4-8) in five innings - were more than enough to hand the Hens another loss. Extra-base hits did significant damage. Joe Kmak lined a two-run double over the head of leftfielder Riccardo Ingram, who misplayed the ball, in the first, and Omar Garcia ripped a two-run triple in the Tides' four-run fifth inning that completed their scoring.
In the meantime, another Tides starter added another strong effort to a growing string. Telgheder (7-7), touched for a run in the first on Rudy Pemberton's leadoff triple and Steve Springer's double, gave up five hits in seven innings. Remarkably, only twice in the Tides' 13 games since the All-Star break has their starter failed to pitch into the seventh inning.
The last two nights, the Mud Hens haven't been within sniffing distance after seven.
``Playing in Toledo is probably the hardest place in the league to play,'' said Tides outfielder Shawn Hare, who spent parts of the last four seasons there before coming to Norfolk off waivers in mid-May.
In Toledo, seeing the ball to hit it is a constant struggle, Hare said, and ``by this time of year, the park has mentally worn you down.''
``It's hard to shake,'' he said. ``And if you're having trouble seeing the ball, you can never get in a groove, so you struggle on the road.''
Year after year, Toledo's woes are something else that never seem to change. by CNB