THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 6, 1995 TAG: 9507060497
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM ROBINSON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 62 lines
Tides first baseman Omar Garcia is still out with a bruised little toe, third baseman Aaron Ledesma is still with the Mets and now second baseman Ed Alicea has come up with a jammed ring finger on his left hand.
The desperate situation left the Tides with two healthy infielders - Greg Graham and Rey Ordonez - now that Butch Huskey, filling in at first, is technically an outfielder. That prompted Wednesday's emergency promotion of second baseman Jesus Azuaje, a 22-year-old Venezuelan up from Class-A St. Lucie.
Azuaje was batting .275 in St. Lucie in 47 games after beginning the season in Double-A. Because of the disrupted spring training, Azuaje actually spent much of March with the Tides and impressed manager Toby Harrah with his defense.
Azuaje was part of the offseason trade that brought pitchers Paul Byrd, Jerry DiPoto and Dave Mlicki to the Mets from Cleveland for Jeromy Burnitz and Joe Roa.
DIRTY DEAL: Former Tides outfielder Jarvis Brown, released May 28, signed a Triple-A contract with the Cincinnati Reds last week, and almost instantly was told he'd been traded to the Baltimore Orioles and assigned to Double-A Bowie.
Baltimore, apparently, pursued Brown as a free agent but was told Brown had no interest in going to Double-A. So the Reds and Orioles worked out a deal that put Brown in Bowie anyway.
Tides officials were dismayed because Brown was a favorite of theirs whom they hated to see released by the Mets.
``Is that collusion, or is that just baseball?,'' Harrah asked Tides general manager Dave Rosenfield.
``That's life,'' Rosenfield said.
HUSKEY TAKES OFF: Before Wednesday, Huskey was tied for the league lead in home runs with 14 and led in RBIs with 53, three more than Pawtucket's Matt Stairs. He also was hitting .275 with a seven-game hitting streak. Since June 15, Huskey has batted .359 with five home runs and 25 RBIs.
CHANGING ROLES?: The Mets have floated the idea that Wednesday's starter, Jason Jacome, could return soon to the Mets as a reliever. Jacome has only five career relief appearances, and none since 1991 in rookie ball, but Tides pitching coach Bob Apodaca doesn't discount the idea of Jacome coming out of a bullpen.
``But I'd rather see him start an inning rather than come in to get out of a jam, though I do think he can get lefthanders out,'' Apodaca said. ``With the people they have now, there might be an opportunity to get back to the big leagues now in the bullpen, because he is a major league pitcher. I still see him as a starter, but they have good arms now in their five (starting) spots.''
KNIGHTS' REVOLVING DOOR: Charlotte, the Marlins' top farm team which lost 21 of 27 games before Wednesday, activated veteran pitcher Alejandro Pena on Wednesday. Pena will be the 52nd player to play for the Knights, who used 43 all last season when they were affiliated with the Cleveland Indians.
ESPN2's IN TOWN: ESPN2's telecast of tonight's game between the Tides and Charlotte Knights has pushed back the first pitch until 7:35 p.m. The first 5,000 fans will receive Tides caps. by CNB