by Caitlen Sullivan
Vancouver Sun Sports Reporter
April 21, 2000
Mounties Cling to First Place
Drama Behind the Plate
The Mounties won five and lost four over the last ten days and cling to a one game lead in the JL Pac Division over the California Crusaders. Rookie relief pitcher Emundo Deleon was diagnosed with severe shoulder inflammation, and he will be out of action for months. At least temporarily the Mounties have asked Mark Brandenburg to take the ferry ride from Victoria to fill out the bullpen.
Doug Newhouse continues to assault the league’s pitchers as he actually UPPED his average to .446 to clearly take over the MBBA league in that department. Included in his 29 hits are 6 home runs, and he has knocked in 15. He continues to be a terror on the bases as well with 12 stolen bases in 14 attempts. That puts him ahead of last year’s league leading 92 pace. The other offensive force has been lead-off hitter Jimmie Joe Janero who actually has more hits than Newhouse by one (for a .390 average). He is attempting to reach 1,000 hits this year before his 25th birthday (he turns 24 in June). He needs 160 more to attain that goal, so he’ll have to remain healthy AND productive. JJ has exceeded 200 hits once in his career and twice has had more than 180.
Drama has begun to unfold behind the plate. Veteran catcher Mario Cascio hasn’t been hitting a lick this year (.140). The veteran, acquired from Des Moines in a trade prior to the 1998 season, was on thin ice early last year for not producing, but he found his stride by mid season and was an important contributor during the second half and in the playoffs. But this year he doesn’t seem to be seeing the ball well at all and his skills behind the plate continue to deteriorate. The Mountie physician sent Mario for an eye exam, and it turns out he needs glasses. Further tests will be done. Surprisingly the 34-year-old has accepted being optioned to Victoria to see if he can get his offensive tools into gear while adorning specs.
Perhaps even more surprising, the Mounties did not call up promising young Juan Casteneda to replace him. The theory is that Casteneda needs more time to hone his skills at the AAA level before making the jump to the big leagues. And they didn’t recall veteran defensive whiz Zack Bowers either. Instead, Vancouver has recalled another veteran, Sylvester “Huck” Finn, who has never played a game in a Mountie uniform. The former Hawaii backstop has a .285 lifetime average and he represents a substantial upgrade over Cascio defensively, especially because of his strong arm. The club signed Finn to a minor league free agent contract back in May of last year as possible insurance behind the plate.
Meanwhile speculation remains rampant that the other Mountie catcher, Don Koester, is also skating on very thin ice. He’s hitting only .100, but at least he is more proficient defensively than Cascio. But frankly if your catcher is only going to be hitting in the .100’s, then you’d be way better off with an outstanding defender like Bowers in the lineup. And while Bowers will never hit for average, he does have tremendous power on those rare occasions when he makes contact. The Mountie brass might soon arrive at this same conclusion, so don’t be surprised to see Bowers replacing Koester sooner rather than later. The pitching staff would definitely benefit from having both Finn and Bowers doing the catching.
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