Monster M*A*S*H unit

Despite injuries, JetHawks are tied for division lead

By ED HARBOUR
Valley Press Staff Writer

True, their once five-game lead over San Bernardino in the California League South Division has dwindled to a dead heat. But with a different player falling prey to injury almost daily, one can forgive a little slippage in the standings.

"Hey, there's still 20-some odd games to be played (in the first half)," Lancaster manager Mark Parent said. "I'm not going to let the guys use this as an excuse."

But looking only at the numbers, Parent and his club have every right to use the barrage of injuries that have hit the team as an excuse.

In the first week of the season, outfielder P.J. Williams broke his left hand in a freak accident sliding into third base. Finally healthy, Williams got his first playing time in six weeks Tuesday, hopeful that it "will never happen again."

Two weeks into the season, top prospect Antonio Perez was struck by a foul ball from teammate Mike Abate, waiting in the on-deck circle. It knocked him out of action for over a month. The breaks, bruises and sprains have just escalated from there.

First baseman Peanut Williams had surgery to remove bone chips from his left elbow and will be out until July.

In an almost unreal irony, Abate had his hand broken by a foul ball hit by teammate Terrmel Sledge, sidelining him for four to six weeks.

Outfielder Juan Silvestre is scheduled to return today against High Desert, two weeks after straining his left hamstring muscle.

Infielder Robert Gandolfo is also close to returning after spraining and re-spraining his ankle.

The turning point of the year, in regard to injuries, could come today. Second baseman Willie Bloomquist had a bone scan performed Wednesday on his ailing left hand. The diagnosis is expected to be announced today.

Best case scenario: Deep bone bruise, with Bloomquist and his .361 average and 39 runs back in the lineup in about a week.

Worst case: broken hand.

Either way, Bloomquist's situation is typical of the JetHawks' season.

When the one player was ready to come off the disabled list, there was someone ready to his place.

It got so bad at one point in the season that Parent had only nine position players to choose from toward the end of the team's last northern road swing. The situation prompted Parent to jokingly inquire about whether or not the team "could hold a tryout in Stockton" to fill out the roster.

With five of the nine players on the field for opening day having spent time on the disabled list, it would've been easy for the club to fold. Though not at the dominating pace they started the season, the JetHawks still have managed to win games without their once stacked lineup.

With Perez down, Gandolfo injured and Bloomquist, at the time, in Class-AAA, Seattle assigned Corey Freeman and Guillermo Martinez to the club from extended spring training in Peoria, Ariz.

The duo has played amazingly in the field and has held its own at the plate.

Freeman is batting .245, two points higher than Perez, with three errors in 24 games.

"The two of them have played extremely well for me," Parent said. "They both have a natural instinct for the ball, especially (Martinez). He just has a good baseball mind."

In his JetHawks debut, Martinez committed a pair of errors on tough plays. "I can live with those," Parent said. "He's out there trying to make an amazing play."

The key to the JetHawks surviving an "injury summer," has been the performance of role players like Martinez and Freeman.

Sheldon Fulse, also brought in from Peoria, hit .274 while Williams and Silvestre healed. Lefthander Freddy May also has been a find.

After being cut in late April by the Dodgers, May was picked up by Seattle and assigned to Lancaster where he is hitting .406 in 10 games with the club.

Uploaded June 1, 2000