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2005 season October 10, 2005 It would be an understatement to say that the 2005 Arizona Fall League season is shaping up as one of the best hitters years ever. What's even more of a sure bet is that the Surprise Scorpions may have the best collection of offensive talent on one team in the 14-year history of the Arizona Fall League. Without a doubt, balls are flying out of the park and runners crossing the plate at unprecedented levels. There are more than a few sluggers who may contend for the league homerun record --- despite the fact that this season has been shortened by one week compared to the past few years. Those sluggin' Scorpions:
The joke around the Scorpion
bench is that their team should really be called the "Surprise Angels
plus Butler," seeing how most of the offensive fireworks have been
provided by Brandon Wood (Angels - SS), Kendry Morales
(Angels - 1B), Howie Kendrick (Angels - 2B) and Billy Butler
(Royals - OF). Kendrick leads the team with a .526 average after the
first four games of the season. Morales is close behind at .500, Butler
is hitting .368 and Wood is tied for the league in homeruns with three. Other hitting stars:
Ian Stewart (Rockies - 3B) proved that he's worthy of the hype as one of the minor leagues top hitters by smoking the ball with authority in the first week. The left-handed hitter batted .385/.500/.923 with nine RBIs, and played strong defense at the hot corner ... Stephen Drew (Diamondbacks - SS) homered in his first three games and batted .385/.500/.923 ... Garrett Jones (Twins - 1B) crushed two long bombs in Tuesday's season opener at Peoria. Both balls cleared the outfield berm with room to spare ... Lastings Milledge (Mets - OF) displayed solid hitting skills all week, demonstrating why he's one of the top five-tool prospects in organized baseball. Milledge hit .429/.467/.786 and won Thursday night's game at Mesa with a three-run walk-off blast ... You probably already know all of the above mentioned players, but you may not know much about Dan Uggla (Diamondbacks - 2B). The hard-nosed player who hit 21 homeruns with AA Tennessee this season started his AFL career with three long bombs. Can anyone pitch here?:
Yeah, it must suck to be a pitcher in the AFL this year. But someone's got to take the mound to face all of these great hitters. Several hurlers actually looked pretty good this week ... Adam Miller (Indians - P) showed no ill effects of the elbow injury that sidelined him for part of the 2005 season. The big right-hander from Texas pitched three scoreless innings in his first fall outing ... Jered Weaver (Angels - P) is also making up for time lost this year, but for a different reason as he didn't sign until late May. The 2004 #1 draft choice struck out six of the seven batters he faced in his first outing on Wednesday night ... Adam Loewen (Orioles - P) is another pitcher who can help himself considerably with a good performance in the AFL. The big left-hander pitched three scoreless innings his first time out ... Big right-hander Humberto Sanchez (Tigers - P) fanned seven in four innings for Mesa on Thursday, yielding only one unearned run. Looking ahead: Prince Fielder (Brewers - 1B) and Corey Hart (Brewers - OF) reported today after finishing the big league season with the parent club. Ryan Zimmerman (Nationals - 3B) is also due in this week. Loewen will be on the hill for the Javelinas in the Wednesday night game in Phoenix Municipal Stadium. Play ball! --- 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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