Beat Boise Bonanza
Roster Correction plus Hall of Fame Preview
by Caitlen Sullivan
Vancouver Sun Sports Reporter
May 19, 2035
The Mounties set up a challenge for themselves a couple of weeks back: BEAT BOISE OR BUST. The idea was to finish the year with more wins than the expansion Boise Spuds, a goal that didn’t look very easy at the time. Well, the Mounties crept a bit closer prior to visiting Potatoville this past week for a three game series. Voila! A Sweep! And the Mounties end the week by moving ahead of the Spuds in the Frick Frontier.
- A 2-1 win as Juan Guerrero threw eight strong innings and Rodrigo Lugo struck out two in a perfect ninth to get the save.
- Scott Harper belted two home runs to support eight innings of two-hit pitching by Bert Hugill for a 6-3 victory.
- José Zamora and Lugo teamed up for a 5-2 win made possible after a three run blast by Gebre-Egziabher Mwaka.
General Manager John Gagan has corrected a roster decision error that he made a couple of weeks back. On taking over the club, Gagan was faced with a decision as James Cunningham had cleared waivers and needed to be dealt with from his designated-for-assignment status. Cunningham refused demotion to Victoria. Rather than release him, another player was optioned to Victoria and Cunningham was returned to the Vancouver roster. The logic was that he could be used as a defensive substitute in the outfield.
That logic was, however, flawed. The starters in the Vancouver outfield (Ki-seop Park, Guy Webb, and Gebre-Egziabher Mwaka) are all strong defensively and don’t warrant late inning defensive replacement. Even Pierre Cordona, who isn’t hitting, is more than adequate defensively. On top of that, infielders Zi-jing Lou and Valentín Colón are quite capable of moving to the outfield and playing very well defensively.
So, Cunningham’s defense was superfluous. But if an infielder had to be shifted to the outfield, then there was a substitution depth problem in the infield. The solution was simple. Cunningham has been paid off and released. Christian Baudouin has been recalled from Victoria. Baudouin is fast as a rocket and can play second, third, or short with the best defenders around.
The Mounties announced this week that a Mounties Hall of Fame will be opened at Northwoods Outpost in the near future. More details will be forthcoming in the days and weeks ahead, but expect a grand opening by summer. As a hint as to what might be forthcoming, the club released a photograph of one of the plaques that will be on display in the Hall. Aside from plaques for the four Mounties in the BBA Hall of Fame, there will be information about players who have been inducted into the Vancouver Mountie Hall of Fame.
Stay tuned.
