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2002 season

November 17, 2002

Despite the fact that many of the league's better pitchers are being shut down for the rest of the AFL season, there were quite a few great performances from the hurlers this week.  While the pitchers were mostly toying with the hitters, one slugger tied an AFL record this week.

From the mound:  

Grand Canyon southpaw Jung Bong (Braves - P) continued his ascent into the top echelon of AFL pitchers with 10 scoreless innings this week. The Korean native gave up only four hits, lowering his ERA to 1.50 ... Another Atlanta lefty, Horacio Ramirez (Braves - P), pitched well in his only start, yielding one hit over four shutout innings. Ramirez fanned five batters ... While on the subject of southpaws, it should be noted that Brent Hoard (Twins - P) looked tough in his two outings, giving up only one run in seven innings ...

Brent Hoard

Two Peoria left-handers, Josh Stewart (White Sox - P) and Mario Ramos (Rangers - P), both held the opposition scoreless in their outings. Stewart didn't give up a hit in his five innings of work against Grand Canyon on Friday afternoon. His ERA is now down to 0.81 ... The AFL's top hurler this season, right-hander Bobby Jenks (Angels - P), started twice this week. While he wasn't as effective in his first appearance, Jenks came back yesterday with a six-inning scoreless outing ... Nate Bump (Marlins - P) has slowly improved with each outing. His Thursday night outing at Phoenix was a dandy, as the Mesa right-hander threw five scoreless innings against the Desert Dogs, yielding only one hit and not walking a batter. Bump doesn't throw hard, but moves the ball around the plate nicely ...  Jeremy Guthrie (Indians - P) had his longest outing as a professional Thursday evening, pitching three scoreless innings in his third appearance since signing with Cleveland earlier this fall. He scattered three hits and did not give up any bases on balls. Guthrie's fastball was consistently around 90-91 MPH ... Brian Bruney (Diamondbacks - P) continued his surprising AFL season by earning his fifth and sixth saves. The right-hander, who spent the majority of the 2002 season in low Class A, has still not given up a run in 16.2 IPs.

Todd Linden

At the plate: Tagg Bozied (Padres - 1B) went deep twice this week to tie the league season record of 11 homers. He has three games left to attempt to establish a new mark ... Hee Seop Choi (Cubs - 1B), who trails Bozied with eight long balls, missed most of the week due to illness ... Ken Harvey (Royals - 1B) hit his seventh homerun Saturday afternoon. The Scottsdale Scorpion slugger went 4-16 to drop his batting average below the .500 mark. Now at .477, Harvey is still on pace to break the league season record of .434, set by Scott Pose in 1993 ... Gabe Gross (Blue Jays - OF) hit a walk-off homerun, his third of the season, Friday afternoon to lead his Grand Canyon team to a 2-1 victory over Peoria. After a slow start, Gross is batting .286 and beginning to look like the top prospect of a year ago ...

Oakland Athletics infielder Adam Morrissey is one of the many pleasant surprises in the AFL this year. True baseball fans love to watch tough ballplayers like this native of Australia ... Pittsburgh southpaw Mike Gonzalez is climbing the prospect ladder as the velocity on his fastball goes shooting higher and higher ...

Shane Victorino (Dodgers - OF) hit a line drive homer into the right-field bullpen earlier in the same game to give Peoria a 1-0 lead. It was Victorino's first of the year ... Todd Linden (Giants - OF) began to heat up this week, with a four-hit game on Monday and a three-hit game on Saturday. The switch-hitter's totals for the week were 12 for 22, boosting his average from .213 to .?74 ... Despite limited playing time for the Phoenix Desert Dogs, Eric Crozier (Indians - OF) has at times shown some pop in his bat. The left-hander hitter slammed a homer into the wind Saturday afternoon, his third of the year. He also made several nice defensive plays recently, especially on fly balls chased into the right field foul territory at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. 

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The final three days of regular season action begin on Tuesday, followed by a one-game playoff at Scottsdale Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The Scottsdale Scorpions and Peoria Javelinas have both already clinched playoff berths. A report on the final three days of the regular season will be posted on Friday, followed by a complete report of the league championship contest on Saturday.

--- Bill Mitchell