Bobby Beat 2002 v5: Kellogg Retires, Morales wins ROY, ARBs

[jiminyhopkins]

Washington, DC--

Today, Bobwhites' righthander Joshua Francis Kellogg announced his retirement from the MBBA.

The downhill slope probably started in July of 2001. Kellogg was having a tremendous year, to the tune of 12-5, 2.72 ERA in 21 starts for the Bobbies. During pregame stretches one day, Kellogg strained his hamstring and spent much of the rest of that season on the disabled list. The next spring, his age 37 season, he had just lost too much off of his pitches to be an effective starter. J.F. was moved to the bullpen, where he did provide sporadic usefulness as a long reliever, but the writing was on the wall.

Kellogg retires with a 3.67 career ERA in 1818 innings over 14 seasons, mainly with the Valencia Stars. His peak was during the 1995 and 1996 seasons for the Stars, pitching 471 innings those two years and racking up 27 wins against 14 losses, while striking out 385 batters and recording ERAs of 2.04 and 2.38. According to his agent, Kellogg hasn't ruled out a future job in the MBBA as a coach of some sort, but would prefer to go home to Kentucky and do some hunting and fishing, as well as help out with the local HS baseball team.

As one departs, another arrives. Bobs' 3B Paco Morales is the near-unanimous winner of the Johnson League ROY Award, as expected. Read his recent Player Spotlight feature article here.

In arbitration news, Washington submitted its figures today. As expected, P Jimu Harunobu was non tendered, while other players such as 2B Joe Sixpack were actually offered less money than they made this season. The highest offer, $5,000,000, was made to outfielder Daniel Kerber. Arbitration hearings and results are scheduled to take place later in November.

In other news, rumors continue to surface of a significant trade involving that other woeful JL Atlantic team, the Louisville Sluggers. Stay tuned to this forum and the Bobs' Twitter feed (@MBBA_Bobbies) for the latest updates!

[Al-Hoot]

nice article

[recte44]

Kellogg was brillant at times, though only 97-89 in his career.