The Brewster

Aloha Ka Punahou 2005.27

Kestle to stabilize rookie-stacked rotation for stretch run
Daffy MacNeill to make ML debut, start 4 of last 17

Tropics fans are hoping Hawaii's season-ending starting rotation, dubbed
"Four rookies and a Jake," will not turn into four funerals and a wedding.

With the Tropics at 65-80 and having to make some tough roster calls over the winter,
CEO Charlie Hough has approved the plan to give the ball to four rookies (and an
undefeated vet) during 2005's last 17 games, including the brutal season-ending 15-
game road trip at Omaha, California, Vancouver, and Valencia.

"Good thing we're having fan appreciation day before the road trip," said team spokes-
person Stitch Lilo.

Yet fans will get their first glimpse of the nation's number two ranked starting pitcher.

"Hell, they just wanna see a guy named Daffy," Hough said. "And I don't mean Dean."


MacNeill to debut


Carl 'Daffy' MacNeill

Carl 'Daffy' MacNeill, whose 21-1, 1.66 record last year helped Medford demolish the
Single-A season team win record (they finished 98-22), this year was 1.74 in 6 starts
at Double-A and 9-5, 2.47 at Triple-A Death Valley (while missing 4 weeks in between
assignments), will start his first ML game today, Sunday, on 2005 Van Appreciation
Day.

"Everybody who drives a van gets free parking. How daffy is that?!"

MacNeill is scheduled to make three additional starts, all on the road, before wrapping
up his 2005 campaign. MacNeill was acquired from the Kraken for Jeff Stowell and
Barbed-Wire Reyes, who now makes license plates in Paris.

"Ay," Al Hoot said, "We, I, hated to give up Stowey, but sometimes one has to
separate oneself from one's love attachments for the good of the team."


Two Tom's and an Assi
Tom Rivers (17-5, 2.57) and Tom Davies (18-3, 2.93), will also cross the expanses
from Death Valley to O'ahu to make their ML debuts and toe the rubber every fifth
game for Hawai'i, as will

Assi Rubanza, the 6' 7" native of South Africa, who has not lived up to potential since
being acquired in 2002.


Jake Kestle (5-0, 1.67) is slated to start three games of the final seventeen.
"He will see action versus Vancouver—and he will beat Vancouver," Hoot said.

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1b Félix Mendoza will play daily.