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2004 season

November 15, 2004

Playing to win:

It's been apparent that the players and coaching staffs are taking the games a little more seriously this year, rather than just treating their seven weeks in Arizona as a development period. One unnamed source, who also played last year in the AFL, said that they were told at the beginning of the season to play to win more this season rather than just working on their games. The number of ejections is way up this year, with Phoenix manager Dean Treanor (Marlins) already having been bounced from games at least three times. Chris Shelton (Tigers - C/1B) was thrown out of Saturday's game in Scottsdale after striking out, although he really was cursing himself while running down the baseline after the dropped third strike. Perhaps the umpires are a little more sensitive this year, too ... Shin-Soo Choo (Mariners - OF) made an all-out effort (see picture) to catch a foul ball in the left field corner during the ninth inning of the same game as Shelton's ejection, jamming his knee as he slid into the fence. 

Big flies:

Paul McAnulty (1B - Padres) yanked an impressive shot out of Scottsdale Stadium on Saturday, his sixth of the year and second long ball of the week. McAnulty is hitting an impressive .355/.406/.667 ...

Paul McAnulty

Conor Jackson (Diamondbacks - OF) still leads the league in homeruns, hitting his eighth of the year on Wednesday night, a shot that easily cleared the left field wall in Scottsdale ... Brian Dopirak (Cubs - 1B), one of the younger players in the AFL having only played Low A ball in 2004, hit his fourth homer of the year this week. Dopirak is hitting .277/.333/.506 ... Another young player, left-handed hitting Jeremy Hermida (Marlins - OF) continues to impress. He's now got four HRs in 114 ABs, and is hitting .263/.295/.482 ...Jeremy Brown (Athletics - C) is making the most of limited playing time. The "Moneyball" poster boy hit his second big fly of the year this week, and is batting .400/.543/.760.

Hot Hurlers:

Huston Street (Athletics - P) continues to excel, as the 2004 draftee saved two games this week. Street has given up only one run in 17.1 IPs and sports a very nice 18/2 K/BB ratio ... Street's Phoenix Desert Dog teammate Steve Obenchain (Athletics - P) isn't regarded as a top prospect, but has thrown some nice games in the AFL this year. The right-hander threw five strong innings on Friday, giving up only one run and lowered his ERA to 3.71 ... Francisco Rosario (Blue Jays - P) pitched the first four innings of a rare AFL shutout on a rainy Friday night, giving up only two hits and striking out four ... Bobby Bradley (Pirates - P) had a solid outing this week, giving up only three hits and no walks, while striking out six, in five innings.

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Regular season action ends on Thursday, with the championship game scheduled for Saturday afternoon at Scottsdale Stadium. The Phoenix Desert Dogs are close to clinching their division, with the Scottsdale Scorpions holding a slim one game lead over the Peoria Saguaros in the other division coming into today's action.

--- Bill Mitchell

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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.