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2004 season November 8, 2004 Sluggers on fire:
Hitters ruled in the AFL last week, with a couple of notable long bombs coming from the bats of a few of the the Scottsdale Scorpions' better hitting prospects. Conor Jackson (Diamondbacks - OF) hit his league-leading seventh homerun of the year about 450 feet on Tuesday night, with the ball clearing the left-field bullpen and landing on the top of the grassy hill at Scottsdale Stadium ... Rickie Weeks (Brewers - 2B) continued his impressive power surge, smacking his sixth big fly of the year Saturday afternoon. Weeks is hitting .362/.500/.725, and is showing marked improvement in the field ... Charlton Jimerson (Astros - P) ended Wednesday night's game at Scottsdale with a walk-off grand slam ... Grand Canyon slugger Chris Shelton (Tigers - C/1B) went yard twice this week to trail Jackson for the lead by one homerun ... Shelton's Rafter teammate Ryan Raburn (Tigers - 2B) had his first two homerun game last week.
AFL Sleepers: This week we take a look at half a dozen players that are performing better than expected. These guys aren't the top prospects from their individual parent organizations, but they are certainly opening some eyes with their AFL performances:
Omar Quintanilla (Athletics - SS) - What's not to like about this former University of Texas infielder? "Q" is leading the league in hitting at .418/.459/.552, has more walks than strikeouts (5 vs. 4), and is playing a very good shortstop for the division-leading Desert Dogs. Reid Gorecki (Cardinals - OF) - The former Delaware Blue Hen played most of the season in Class A, but he hasn't been intimidated at all by AFL pitchers, batting 377/.472/.590, with three homeruns and 10 walks. He's also a hustler on the field. Switch-hitting Tommy Murphy (Angels - OF) is one of the key cogs in the Phoenix Desert Dog lineup. The converted shortstop is batting .343/.413/.457.
The division-leading Scottsdale Scorpions have ridden a powerful offense to a 17-10 record, but the relief work of sidearmer Steve Schmoll (1.28 ERA, 8/2 K/BB in 14.1 IPs has also been a key success factor. Paul McAnulty (Padres - 1B/OF) is another hitter who has not played above the Class A level, but the 5'10", 220 pound left-handed hitter is batting .361/.420/.653. Tony Pena Jr. (Braves - SS) has quietly put together a fine AFL season, batting .344/.403/.426, and is proving to be a very good defensive shortstop. --------------------------------- The league heads into its next to last week of the season with the last four night games on Tuesday through Friday. --- Bill Mitchell All photos on the Arizona Fall League Report are credited to Bill Mitchell, unless noted otherwise, and are not to be used for any other purpose without express permission.
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