2-17-2015

History of Phoenix Minor League Baseball 1981-1997

1981-1997: Pacific Coast League

1981

1982

1983

1984 1991

1985 1992

1986 1993

1987 1994

1988 1995

1989 1996

1990 1997

-----1981-----

The Pacific Coast League dropped Ogden from the league after a 1980 attendance figure of 76,000 and it's franchise was purchased by an Edmonton sports entrepreneur who, of course, set up his team there. The club was placed in the North division even though Ogden had been in the South. The result was a strange 6 team/4 team division split and a shortened split-season 140-game schedule.

The new Phoenix Giants team president was Ed Vallone replacing team owner Dave Downey. [There was an Ed Vallone who was played for five years in the lower minors from 1948-52.] The club's general manager remained Ethan Blackaby. Manager Rocky Bridges, who lived in the Municipal Stadium clubhouse during the season, returned for his eighth year. He slept on a roll-a-way bed and claimed not to own many clothes. "All I need is my uniform" he said. The team's hitting coach was Thomas Jones.

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Bridges' clubhouse "suite" included a TV and, of course, a huge shower. Writers and sometimes players would stay in his room until 2:00 or 3:00 AM. Since the bars in Phoenix closed at 1:00 AM, "Rocky's Place" was the place to be.

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In his book "Big League, Big Time", author Len Sherman stated on page 67: "[Eddie Lynch] and Jerry [Colangelo] and more then a dozen others had bought the Phoenix Giants...in the seventies from the club's Chicago-based owner...The Giants cost their group $250,000." The only Chicago-based owner that ever owned the Phoenix franchise was Dave Downey and with the listing of Ed Vallone as the president of the club in "The Sporting News" for the 1981 season, it can be concluded that the Lynch, Colangelo and others purchase occurred during the off-season of 1980-81 and not in "the seventies". Eddie Lynch and Jerry Colangelo were Phoenix-based sports teams owners and businessmen (they also owned the NBA's Suns). Of course, Colangelo would be heard from again regarding baseball in Phoenix.

For the second year in a row, the Giants set an attendance record but, in 1981, they earned it as the club won 16 more games then in '80. Attendance increased about 67,000 drawn by future star Chili Davis and veteran Jeffrey Leonard.

The offense hit better then .300 (.303) for the first time in club history, but they only scored two more runs then the very poor 1980 team. Outfielder Chili Davis (.350), in this third pro year, hit his stride leading the club in average, OBP (.431), slugging (.605), stolen bases (40) and tied for the lead in homers with 19 even though he was brought up to parent San Francisco after 88 PCL contests. No one had hit that many home runs since Gary Matthews in 1972 although it must be remembered that Phoenix Municipal had it's outfield fences distances shortened in 1980. Chili was also second in RBI with 75. Max Venable (.285) was back for 104 games in the outfield and tied for the lead in doubles with 24 and triples with 10 as he too was taken by the parent Giants before the season was too far advanced. Max broke a rib on April 19 when he attempted to break up a double play and was out about one month.

Jeffrey Leonard (.401) had been in pro ball since 1973 and had some major league experience with four teams. He tore up the PCL in his 47 games here with an amazing .451 OBP and .636 slugging as he shared the season with the Astros and S.F. Giants. The rest of the outfield cast were newcomers Dave Wiggins (.306 - 39 games) who was playing in his fourth pro year and at the highest minor league level of his five-year career, Kelly Smith (.225 - 24 games) [was assigned to the California League in mid-June of his second professional season]; Tommy Jones (.304 - 17 games) who finished his six-year career at his highest level; Mike Turgeon (.276 - 15 games) [played for three teams in this fifth pro year] and former major leaguer Jesus Figueroa (.421) who also hit as well as any one can in 20 games in his seventh professional season. Jeff Ransom, Bob Brenly, Jose Barrios and Tom Runnels also all played in the outfield.

First baseman Rich Murray (.326) returned for his fourth year with Phoenix and finished second in team batting. Mike Rex (.323) also returned for his third tour-of-duty as the starting second baseman having increased his BA over 100 points during his time in Phoenix. Third baseman Guy Sularz (.324) led the club with 515 at bats and was third in batting during his second year as an infield starter. Lastly, Tom Runnells (.274) became the shortstop starter. Reserve returnee Joe Pettini (.244) was the back-up at short and also saw time with the parent Giants. In addition, Sularz played some at first, Runnels at second, Jeff Ransom at short, Bob Brenly at third and Dennis Littlejohn at first.

It appears that second-year Phoenix player, Joe Barrios (.314), was the main DH. He, in 129 games, led the team in RBI (96) and was tied for the homer lead with 19 and triples with 10. Barrios also saw action at first and a number of others tried the DH post during the season.

Three men were positioned at catcher during the year with newbie Jeff Ransom (.232) seeing the most action in his fourth pro season as he also had a taste of the majors during the year. The returning Bob Brenly (.292) followed and the number-three receiver was Dennis Littlejohn who was out of action in May and June because of surgery to repair damaged ligaments in the index finger of his throwing (right) hand. He played only one more professional season after 1981.

Pitching was much improved from 1980 as the club ERA was reduced from 5.51 to 4.85 and their WHIP from 1.75 to 1.60. And, for the first time since 1976, there was a 15-game winner in Mike Rowland (15-7) who pitched his fourth year in Phoenix. Mike also led the team in innings (176), complete games (9), strikeouts (84) and WHIP (1.31) and was second in starts (25). Converted reliever Mike Williams (8-12) had 26 starts and was second in innings (157), but had a terrible ERA of 7.28 and 1.95 WHIP in his final pro season in the United States.

Al Hargesheimer (6-8) returned for 20 starts and 118 innings finishing with the team-leading ERA of 3.66 and a decent 1.42 WHIP [He was with San Francisco for part of the year.]. Mike Calvert (7-4) also came back for 17 starts with a better performance then 1980 - 4.46/1.52 ERA/WHIP. The other main starter was Jeff Stember (7-9) who also was the starting pitcher 17 times and finished 116 frames, but with poor results (6.44/1.91).

In 1981, Mike Tucker (6-7) appeared more as a starter for Phoenix ending the season with the second-best ERA on the club of 3.68 in 110 innings after being brought up from AA in June. [Tucker had gained 20 pounds over the winter, but then lost 50 through dieting]. The only other pitcher to have double-digit starts was Doug Schaefer (3-5, 6.61, 1.89) who also was an emergency outfielder. Doug hung up his spikes after the season.

Lefty Bob Tufts (9-2) was the best reliever in the pen compiling an excellent 1.70 ERA and 1.28 WHIP in 30 games and 69 innings. The most-used relief hurler and the team leader in saves (16) was Gene Pentz (3-4) who got into 41 games and 74 innings gaining so-so figures of a 4.38 ERA and 1.68 WHIP during his final pro year of eleven. Third-year pro Phil Hinrichs (5-4) also saw much action (39 games/83 innings) with limited results (5.10/1.63).

Thirty-six-year-old coach Dave A. Roberts ended his pro career in six relief games and Ron Pisel (0-1) got into five games after coming up from the Texas League in his fourth pro year. On July 5, Roberts had to catch a ride to the ballpark because his car did not start and, once there, found that he was to be an emergency starter at DH. He homered in his first at bat but finished the season with a .143 average in 35 at bats.

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The Municipal Stadium's lighting system showed it's age as, during a game on June 23, the field lights went out forcing a postponement of not only that game, but the next two night games as well. The cost to repair six transformers was $40,000 which was paid by the Giants' landlord - the city of Phoenix.

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Due to the major league players strike, a national audience watched a Phoenix Firebirds game from Municipal Stadium via ESPN

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In the Spring of 1981, the Oakland A's began discussions with the city of Phoenix to move their spring training games to Phoenix Municipal Stadium. Part of the potential deal would be a joint financing plan to build four practice fields and a clubhouse in the Papago Sports Complex. The A's were looking for another spring site because the San Francisco Giants were taking over Scottsdale Stadium in the spring of 1982 displacing the A's. The A's remained the Spring tenant at the park through 2014.

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Dennis Littlejohn was born on Oct. 4, 1954, in Santa Monica, CA. The caught for the Phoenix Giants from 1978-81 and was a performer in the minor leagues in 1976-82 with a composite batting average of .263. He attended USC.

Littlejohn played with San Francisco during the 1978-80 seasons in 2, 63 and 13 games hitting {no average], .197 and .241. His career MLB average was .203 in 222 at bats for a .292 OBP and .257 slugging. In 75 games as a catcher, he fielded .985.

Dennis lives in Bakersfield, CA, and umpires high school and junior college baseball.

Jesus Figueroa was born on Feb. 20, 1957, in Santo Domingo, DR. The played with Phoenix in 1981 and was a minor leaguer from 1975-83 averaging .268 at the plate.

He had one year in the majors. In 1980, he got into 115 games with 198 at bats for a .253 average, .308 OBP and .293 slugging. Jesus played the outfield in 57 contests with a .979 fielding mark.

Figueroa's last known address was in Santo Domingo.

Eugene "Gene" Pentz was born in Johnstown, PA, on June 21, 1953. He pitched for the AAA Giants in 1981 and was a minor league pitcher from 1971-75, 1977 and 1979-81 compiling a 4.01 ERA and a 37-42 record. Pentz attended the University of Pittsburgh.

Gene first appeared in big league games in 1975 for the Tigers as he was in 13 relief games with a 3.20 ERA. Then for the Astros in 1976-78, he got into 40, 41 and 10 games for ERAs of 2.97, 3.83 and 6.00. In his MLB career, he appeared in 104 games and finished 191 innings allowing 177 hits and 108 walks while striking out 116. His ERA was 3.63 with a .250 OAV, .351 OOB and a 8-9 record. A back injury in May 1978 shortened his career.

Pentz' last known address was in Johnstown.

Dave A. Roberts was born on Sept. 11, 1944, in Gallipolis, OH. He was a hurler on the 1981 Phoenix club and was in the minors in 1963-69 and 1981 with a 70-39 record and a 3.06 ERA. Roberts was the pitcher of the year in the International League for 1968.

Dave saw action with the Padres in 1969-1971 in 22, 43 and 37 games as a starter/reliever in 49, 182 and 270 innings. His ERAs were 4.81, 3.81 and 2.10. He then was with the Astros from 1972-1975 for 35, 39, 34 and 32 games as a starter earning records of 12-7, 17-11, 10-12 and 8-14 in 192, 249, 204 and 198 innings with 4.50, 2.85, 3.40 and 4.27 ERAs.

He was with the Tigers during the 1976-77 seasons for 36 and 22 contests finishing 252 and 143 innings compiling 16-17 and 4-10 records and ERAs of 4.00 and 5.15. Dave spent the rest of the '77 year with the Cubs (17g, 53 inn, 3.23). Roberts stayed with the Cubs for the 1978 year appearing in 35 games (20 starts) completing 142 innings for a 5.25 ERA.

Dave was with the Giants (26g, 42 inn, 2.57) and Pirates (21g, 39 inn, 3.26) in 1979. In 1980, he made two appearances with the Pirates and then moved on to the Mariners where he saw action in 37 games with a 4.37 ERA. His final major league games were in 1981 for the Mets as he got into seven games and was hit hard (9.39 ERA).

Roberts competed in 445 MLB games and completed 2,099 innings allowing 2188 hits and 615 walks with 957 strike outs. His record was 103-125 with a 3.78 ERA, .270 OAV and .324 OOB.

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From the book "The Ballplayers":

"Roberts changed organizations 11 times in his pro baseball career. 'The way I look at it," he said, 'either I'm a bum or everyone wants me.' Approached by 14 teams after graduating from high school, he was a Phillies, A's and Pirates farmhand before taken by San Diego in the 1968 expansion draft. He went 14-17 for the last-place 1971 Padres. With Houston in 1973, he recorded a career-best 17-11 record, setting a club record with six shutouts. After a 16-17 season with the 1976 Tigers, he had surgery to correct an arthritic knee. From 1977 through 1981, he worked for six teams, never winning more then six games." - Ken Cohen

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In the mid-1980s, Roberts owned Rain-Check, a lawn sprinkler system business, and lived in Houston. He would also act as a pitching coach in spring training for the Astros. As a young man, Dave worked as a boilermaker. His exposure to asbestos, in that work, probably led to his contraction of lung cancer and his early death in Short Gap, WV, on January 9, 2009. He had previously lived in Fort Ashby. Cremation followed his death and his remains were retained by his family.

Robert "Bob" Tufts was born in Medford, MA, on Nov. 2, 1955. He pitched for the Phoenix teams of 1978, 1980-81 and was in the minors from 1977-83 for a 3.53 ERA and 61-40 record.

Bob appeared in 11 games in relief for San Francisco in 1981 with a 3.53 ERA. For the A's in 1982-83, he got into 10 and 6 games with 4.50 and 8.10 ERAs. In his MLB career, he made 27 appearances completing 42 innings allowing 60 hits and 14 walks while striking out 28 for a 4.71 ERA, .328 OAV, .382 OOB and a 2-0 record.

Tufts completed his MBA at Columbia University in 1983 and he had lived in Middletown, MA. He is a vice president at Jefferies (a brokerage firm in Manhattan) and lives in Forest Hills, Queens.

-----1982-----

The PCL evened out the league's two divisions to five teams each by moving Hawaii from the North to the South. The changed made it possible for a balanced 144-game (split-season) schedule.

A survey of the league members, indicated that Phoenix was one of only two teams to keep 100% of the concession and parking revenue collected at their parks. The Giants paid the city of Phoenix $35,000 per year for rent and taxes which matched four other league members for second least. Tucson paid no rent, but did pay taxes.

The Giants stumbled to finish with their third-worst record to date with 13 fewer wins then in 1981, but again an attendance record was set with 3,800 more fans seeing the '82 action compared to '81. After the first half of the schedule, Phoenix was 31-40 and in fourth place. In the second half, they were 25-46 and in last place.

The team's batting average returned to normal at .286 and a couple of new faces led the offense. [Probably due to the presence of new hitting coach Dave Roberts.] Lead-off hitter and future MLB star, Dan Gladden (.308), joined the outfield in his fourth professional season and led the team in at bats, runs (93), doubles (40) and was second in RBI with 74. Ted Wilborn (.257), a six-year veteran, also joined the team to lead them in triples with 12. The other outfield position was shared by Paul Szymarek (.255), who reached the zenith of his career and then hung up his spikes at the end of the season, and returnee Kelly Smith (.235) who also called it quits at year's end after three pro years. Jeffrey Leonard (.356) was only around for 17 games during a 20-day MLB rehab assignment [he had a wrist injury which limited him to 80 big league games in 1982] and Max Venable (.250) participated in only 8 contests during his illness-plagued season shared with the parent San Francisco club.

Fifth-year pro catcher John Robb (.278) was the first Phoenix league All Star since 1979 and he led the team in home runs with 22 and had the highest slugging average (.513). Ron Pruitt (.320), who had 11 years of AAA and big league experience was Robb's backup.

Joe Barrios (.273) returned as a first baseman/DH for this third and final year in Phoenix and led the club in RBI with 90 and was supported at both positions by Dorian "Doe" Boyland (.259) who tied for second in triples (8) in his final pro year of seven. Newcomer from a trade with the Royals and in his third pro year, Brad Wellman (.324), became the starter at second base ending the season as the club's best hitter for average. Mike Turgeon (.269) was the usual third base regular in his sixth and final professional season and Tom Runnells (.268) the main shortstop. Returnee Joe Pettini (.325) played second, third and short in 80 games.

Tom O'Malley (.448) played well at third for 26 games in his fourth pro year and veteran Guy Sularz (.436) was at third for 9 contests. Mike Rex (.242) also came back for 61 games playing at second, third, catcher, pitcher and DH. It was a very disappointing year for Rex as he went from starting second baseman in '81 to setting on the bench in '82. Mike did not return to pro baseball for the 1983 season ending his 7-year career. There was other cross-play as Wellman also played third, Turgeon saw action in the outfield and at first and Runnels played everywhere but catcher, first base and pitcher.

The team's pitching ERA increased from 4.85 to 5.58 and it's WHIP from 1.60 to 1.71. Mike Chris (11-4) led the team in wins and ERA (3.94) in 17 starts and 110 innings It was his sixth professional season and the first out of the Tigers' organization. On May 14, he pitched a one-hitter but got the loss as the Giants lost 1-0, but four days later, San Francisco called him up. [Officially, Mark Dempsey, who had 46 more innings was given the "ERA crown"].

Third-year pro Dempsey (10-10) made 22 starts and was second in wins and innings pitched (156) and he led the club in strikeouts with 118, complete games (9) and WHIP of 1.53. Mike Rowland (9-13) was second in starts with 25 and led the team in innings (162) and was second in WHIP (1.57), but had a rather high ERA of 5.78. At the end of the year, Rowland called it quits on an 8-year career. Second in starts (27) was Al Hargesheimer (6-12), who in 153 innings had high ERA/WHIP of 6.54/2.02 in his final year in Phoenix.

Two other pitchers started in double figure games - Craig Chamberlain (2-13) made 16 and relieved in 15 more and completed 125 innings (6.91/1.91) in his fourth pro year and Andy McGaffigan (1-6) began 15 contests without great results (6.00/1.73). McGaffigan was obtained from the Yankees prior to this fifth professional season.

Phil Hinrichs (1-6) was in more games then any other pitcher (38), led in saves with 9 and had a good record of 3.75 ERA and 1.38 WHIP. Mike Tucker (6-7) appeared in 37 games for high ERA/WHIP of 6.95 and 1.84 his final pro year of five. Jeff Stember (2-3) saw action in 28 games for a terrible ERA of 7.43 and WHIP of 2.03 as he also ended his baseball life after six years. Reliever Jeff Cornell (2-4) was in 24 contests compiling a decent (for the PCL) ERA of 5.01 and 1.69 WHIP. Cornell also spent part of his fifth pro year in the Texas League.

New hurler and third-year pro player Alan Fowlkes (6-3) was great in 13 appearances including 8 starts earning a 2.70 ERA and 1.26 WHIP. Fowlkes' California license plate number was "RUBR-ARM" and he spent most of the year playing in that state for the San Francisco Giants. .

Others pitched a few games including future star Atlee Hammaker (one game before being called up to the parent Giants), Mark Calvert (6 g, 7.04), former Royals farmhand Bill Laskey (2 games prior to his call up to S.F. where he went 13-12), another former Royal Renie Martin (three games - as he too was called to the Bigs), six-year veteran Dan Schatzeder (one game before being traded to the Expos) and utility player Mike Rex (two games).

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An advertising salesman for the Phoenix club, Dave Lemmon, moonlighted as a caddie in the PGA during this era. In 1978, he caddied for PGA Champion John Mahaffey and in 1982 it was for Bruce Devlin.

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Another Rocky Bridges story: After Ron Kittle (Edmonton outfielder) destroyed the Giants in one game, Rocky described Kittle's home runs: "The first one to right field knocked the top off a pine tree and the second one to left field, knocked a Volkswagen off Van Buren."

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After nine years, Rocky Bridges' tenure as manager ended in October when it was announced that Jack Mull would move up from the Texas League to take the helm of the Phoenix club. Bridges, who had the longest tenure of any franchise manager, was retained as a scout for San Francisco.

Some final Bridges comments: "If Tom O'Malley can't make it in baseball, Walt Disney studios could use him in a movie as Huck Finn." After a loss in August: "It was a hot, dull game. We played like we were trying to clinch last place."

The tobacco chewing veteran baseball man was a throw-back who did not conform to the then evolving duties of a baseball manager. PCL manager Ed Nottle stated in 1982 [explaining why Bridges never managed in the majors]: "Nowadays, if you see a media meeting with a manger, he's in a three-piece suit and he is very articulate. Rocky will have a big chaw and he'll be spitting and he's not dressed up. Which I'm not knocking at all, but I would think that would have a little bit to do with it. If we had old-time owners in baseball, they'd probably have Rocky in the big leagues. But we've got young market-minded people and it's hard to market Rocky."

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Another ballpark character nearly lost his job. Eddie Cohen had been selling concessions since Phoenix played in Municipal Stadium (I) in downtown. He was fired by the company who acquired concession rights at Muni and the coliseum (where the Suns played). Co-owner, of the Firebirds and the Suns, Jerry Colangelo found out about it and told the company that either Eddie was to be reinstated or the concession deal was off. Eddie was back in with only one compromise: He could no longer wear his beat-up Giants hat. Cohen was still at his post selling through 1997 at Firebirds' games.

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Cohen

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The trainer of the Giants, for many years, was Harry Jordan. He retired at the end of the 1982 season.

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Everett "Rocky" Bridges was born on Aug 7, 1927, in Refugio, TX. He managed in Phoenix from 1974 through 1982. As a minor league player from 1947-50 and 1952, he had a career average of .286.

Bridges was with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1951-52 for 63 and 51 games batting .254 and .196 as a utility infielder. From 1953-57, he was on the Reds roster appearing in 122, 53, 95, 71 and 5 contests at three infield positions hitting .227, .231, .286, .211 and .000 (0-for-1).

During the rest of the 1957 season he was Washington's starter at shortstop batting .228 in 120 games. He stayed with Washington in 1958 and was on the AL All Star team as their main shortstop in 116 games with a .263 average. Rocky played with the Tigers in 1959-60 seeing action in 116 and 10 games batting .268 and .200.

Also, in 1960, he was with the Indians for 10 games (.333) and the Cardinals for three more. Bridges finished his big league career in 1961 for the expansion Los Angeles Angels hitting .240 in 84 contests. In 919 MLB games and 2,272 at bats, Rocky batted .247 with a .312 OBP and .313 slugging. He fielded .968 in 447 games at short, 270 at second, 200 at third and one in the outfield.

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From the book "The Ballplayers":

"The wisecracking Bridges fashioned a second career as an eminently quotable minor league manager. Always chewing a huge wad of tobacco, he was responsible for such gems as 'Tommy Lasorda's curve had as much hang time as a Ray Guy punt' and 'There are three things the average man thinks he can do better than anybody else: build a fire, run a hotel and manage a baseball team.'

"Before starting his minor league managing career, Bridges was a versatile utility man. In tow rare seasons which he held down just one position, he led NL second basemen (1953) and AL shortstops (1957) in total chances per game, but he never hit enough to be an everyday player." - Jesus Francisco Cabrera

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After leaving Phoenix, he was a San Francisco scout and then returned to managing in class "A" in 1984 and 1986 and then was back in AAA for 1987-88 and finished back in "A" in 1989. His career managerial record was 1,357-1,413 in 20 seasons. Bridges was a major league coach for the Angels in 1962-63 and 1968-71 and the Giants in 1985.

Rocky lived in Coeur d' Alene, ID, during the off seasons and continued to reside there full time until his death on Jan. 27, 2015.

Ron Pruitt was born in Flint, MI, on Oct. 21, 1951. He was a catcher on the 1982 Phoenix club and was a minor league player from 1972-75, 1977 and 1981-83 with a .276 average. Ron graduated from Michigan State.

He was in 14 games for the Rangers in 1975 (.176) and then was a back-up receiver and an outfielder for the Indians from 1976-80 appearing in 47, 78, 71, 64 and 23 games batting .267, .288, .235, .283 and .306. Ron finished the '80 season with 33 contests for the White Sox (.300).

Pruitt was back with the Indians for 5 games in 1981 (0-for-9) and then played in 5 and one game(s) for the Giants in 1982-83. All told, he appeared in 341 MLB games and had 795 at bats hitting .269 with a .348 OBP and .360 slugging %. He played in the outfield in 162 games and was at catcher for 89 compiling a .977 fielding average.

In 1992, Pruitt coached in the Italian majors and was hitting instructor for the Spanish team in the Olympics. He lives in Medina, OH, where for the past 20 years Ron has offered private lessons and winter/spring classes in addition to outdoor camps. His company is known as "Ron Pruitt Baseball".

Jose Barrios was born in New York City on June 26, 1957, and was with the Phoenix clubs of 1980-82. He was in the minors from 1975-83 batting .281.

Barrios' only big league experience came in 1982 when he was in 10 games and had 19 at bats for San Francisco. His batting average was .158 with a .200 OBP and .158 slugging. As a first baseman in 7 contests, he fielded 1.000.

Jose resides in Miami.

Dorian "Doe" Boyland was born on Jan. 6, 1955, in Chicago. He played on the 1982 Phoenix Giants and was in the minors from 1976-82 with a career .289 average. Doe attended the University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh.

Boyland saw action for the Pirates in 1978-79 and 1981 for 6, 4 and 11 games. In his 21 MLB games and 19 at bats, he hit .105 with a .150 OBP and .105 slugging. He only played at first base in one game and was a pinch hitter in 16 at bats.

After baseball, Boyland worked for Intel as a systems analyst in OR. He then entered the automobile business as a salesman. As of 2005, Doe was the president of Mercedes-Benz of South Orlando (FL) and ran seven dealerships (selling various auto makes) across the U.S. under the corporate name "Boyland Auto Group." He lives in Beavertown, OR.

Joe Pettini was born in Whelling, WV, on Jan. 26, 1955. He was with the Phoenix teams of 1980-82 and 1984 and was a minor league performer from 1977-86 with a .275 average. Joe attended Mercer University.

Pettini was in 63, 35, 29 and 61 games as a utility infielder for San Francisco in 1980-83. He batted .203 in his 188 MLB games and 344 at bats and had a .273 OBP and .238 slugging. His fielding mark was .943 in 106 games at short, 40 at third and 34 at second base.

Joe managed in the minors from 1989-96, including three years in class AAA, with a record of 475-569. From 1997-2001, he was the minor league field coordinator for the Cardinals and became their major league bench coach in 2002. In the off season, Joe lives in Bethany, WV.

William McKinley "Max" Venable was born on June 6, 1957, in Phoenix. He played for his hometown club in 1979-82 and was a minor leaguer from 1976-85 and 1987-89 with a career average of .276.

Venable played on the San Francisco teams of 1979-83 appearing in 55, 64, 18, 71 and 94 batting .165, .268, .188, .224 and .219. In 1984, he played 38 games for the Expos (.239) and then moved to the Reds for the 1985-87 seasons hitting .289, .211 and .143 in 77, 108 and 7 contests.

His 1989-91 years were with the Angels and he got into 20 (.358), 93 (.259) and 82 games (.246). Over his 12-year, 727-game and 1,397-at bats MLB career, he hit .241 with a .304 OBP and .345 slugging. As an outfielder in 471 games, he fielded .982. Venable played in Japan in 1992-93.

Max was a minor league manager in 1994-95 and most recently was a hitting coach at the AA Texas League. He now resides in San Rafael, CA. His son, Will, currently plays for the San Diego Padres.

Jeffrey Leonard was born in Philadelphia on June 1, 1955. He played on the Phoenix teams of 1981-82 and was in the minors in 1973-79, 1981-82 and 1990. His career minor league average was .319.

Leonard's first big league appearances were for the Dodgers in 1977 when he was in 11 games and went 3-for-10. He was with the Astros in 1978-81 getting into 8, 134, 88 and 7 contests hitting .385, .290, .213 and .167. Jeffrey finished the '81 year with San Francisco (37 g, .307).

He stayed with the major league Giants from 1982-88 for 80, 139, 136, 133, 89, 131 and 44 games batting .259, .279, .302, .241, .279, .280 and .256. Leonard played in the 1987 All Star game. He ended the '88 season with the Brewers (94 g, .235). His final two big league years were with the Mariners as he hit .254 and .251 in 1989-90. Jeffrey also played in the 1989 All Star game.

Leonard played in 1,415 MLB games and had 5,045 at bats with a .266 average, .316 OBP and .411 slugging. As an outfielder in 1,147 games and a first baseman in 19, he fielded .974. He was used as a DH in 173 games in 1988-90.

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From the book "The Ballplayers":

"Called Hac-Man for his aggressiveness at the plate and Penitentiary Face for his perpetual scowl, Leonard escaped the streets of Philadelphia to become a dangerous, free-swinging MLB hitter. He led all minor leaguers with a .365 average at Albuquerque in 1978 and was TSN NL Rookie of the Year when he hit .290 with 23 steals for the Astros in 1979. Traded to the Giants with Dave Bergman for Mike Ivie in late 1981, the sullen-looking slugger injured his hand diving for a ball in 1982 but rebounded with 21 HR in both 1983 and 1984, and his .302 average in 1984 was a career high.

"A sizzling start in 1987 (he was hitting .374 on May 27) earned Leonard an All Star appearance and in the 1987 LCS, he became only the third player in post season history to win the MVP award while his team lost the series. Leonard hit home runs in each of the first four games taunting the Cardinals with his slow, deliberate 'one-flap-down' trot, with one arm held against his side and the other arm extended. He hit .417 for the series. He was traded to Milwaukee for Ernest Riles in June 1988, and after one season signed as a free agent with Seattle where he resurrected his career. A foot injury confined him to DHing, but he nonetheless reached career highs with 24 HR and 93 RBI." - Shepard Long

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He was a minor league manager in 1997-98. Leonard had continued to live in Philadelphia and now lives in Rockin, CA. Recently, Jeffrey has been a manager in the independent Golden Baseball League which includes teams in California and Arizona.

Alan "Al" Hargesheimer was born in Chicago on Nov. 21, 1954, and pitched for Phoenix in 1980-82. He was a minor leaguer in 1978-88 compiling a 66-81 record and a 4.06 ERA.

Hargesheimer's longest big league stint was in 1980 with San Francisco when he was in 15 games (13 starts) and finished 75 innings with a 4.32 ERA. He also pitched in 6 games for the Giants in 1981 (4.34) and finished with the Cubs in '83 (5 g, 9.00) and the Royals in 1986 (5 g, 6.23).

In his 31 MLB games, he started 17 and completed 111 innings allowing 126 hits and 50 walks while striking out 55. His ERA was 4.72 with a .297 OAV and a .374 OOB.

Hargesheimer is an international major league scout who lives in Arlington Heights, IL. He is also associated with "Dream Big Athletics" a firm located in the Chicago area offering professional sports coaching.

Andrew Andy McGaffigan was born on Oct. 25, 1956, in West Palm Beach, FL. He pitched for Phoenix in 1982 and was in the minor leagues during the 1978-85 and 1990-91 seasons with a 51-37 record and 3.48 ERA. Andy attended Florida Southern University.

He was in two games for the Yankees in 1981 and then 4 and 43 contests with San Francisco in 1982-83. His ERA in '83 was 4.29 in 134 innings. In 1984, he appeared in 21 games for the Expos (2.54) and 9 games for the Reds (5.48). Andy stayed with the Reds in '85 for 15 contests for an ERA of 3.72.

McGaffigan went back to the Expos for the 1986-89 seasons appearing in 48, 69, 63 and 57 games in relief compiling ERAs of 2.65, 2.39, 2.76 and 4.86. In 1990, he was with the Giants for 4 games and the Royals for 24 more (3.09). His final big league games were with the Royals in '91 (4 g, 4.50).

His MLB career totals, in 363 games (including 62 starts) and 833 innings was 773 hits allowed and 294 walks with 610 strikeouts. Andy had an ERA of 3.38 with a .247 OAV, .314 OOB and a 38-33 record. Not the best hitter, he was 6-for-126 at the plate.

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From the book "The Ballplayers":

"A much-traveled hard-throwing righthander, McGaffigan was the Southern League pitcher of the year at Nashville in 1980 (15-5, 2.38) and made his MLB debut with the Yankees before becoming one of two prospects traded to the Giants for Doyle Alexander in the spring of 1982. McGaffigan started occasionally for the Giants in 1983, then was traded twice in 1984, first to Montreal and then to Cincinnati, where he started exclusively in 1985 and fanned 11 Astros on August 1. He was traded back to Montreal after the season in a six-player swap and [was] a setup man for...Tim Burke...[from '87-'89]...In 1986-88, McGaffigan was 16-3 in relief with 18 saves." - Shepard Long

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After baseball, he was involved in the golf business for six years and then became employed by Northwestern Mutual as a financial advisor. He lives in Lakeland, FL.

Mike Rowland was born in Chicago on Jan. 31, 1953. He pitched for Phoenix in 1978-82 and in the minor leagues from 1975-82 compiling a 4.38 ERA and a 64-78 record. Mike attended Milliken University.

Rowland was in 19 games for San Francisco in 1980 (2.33) and 9 contests in 1981 (3.45). In those 28 games (one start), he finished 43 innings allowing 33 hits and 14 walks with 16 strikeouts. His ERA was 2.74 with a .216 OAV, .290 OOB and a 1-2 record.

Mike lives in Scottsdale, AZ.

Dan Schatzeder was born on Dec. 1, 1954, in Elmhurst, IL. He attended the University of Denver and pitched for the Phoenix team of 1982. Dan was a minor leaguer in 1976, 1978, 1982, 1985, 1989 and 1991 with a 23-17 record and 3.53 ERA.

Schatzeder was with the Expos in 1977-79 getting into 6, 29 and 32 games with ERAs of 2.49, 3.07 and 2.83. He appeared in 32 and 17 games with the Tigers in 1980-81 compiling 4.02 and 6.06 ERAs. In 1982, he was in 13 games with San Francisco (7.29) and 26 games back with the Expos (3.50). Dan stuck with Montreal for the 1983-85 years seeing action in 58, 36 and 24 contests for ERAs of 3.21, 2.71 and 3.80.

During the 1986 season, he finished his time with the Expos in 30 games (3.20) and saw action in 29 more with the Phillies (3.38). His 1987 season was split between the Phils (26 g, 4.06) and the Twins (30 g, 6.39). The 1988 season started in Cleveland (15 g, 9.56) and then ended back in Minnesota (10 g, 1.74).

In 1988-89, he was with the Astros for 36 and 45 games compiling ERAs of 4.45 and 2.39. The rest of his '89 year was as a member of the Mets (6 g). His final big league games were with the Royals in 1991 (8 g, 9.45). As a MLB performer over 15 seasons and 504 games (121 starts), he completed 1,317 innings allowing 1,257 hits with 475 walks. His ERA was 3.74 with a .253 OAV, .321 OOP and a 69-68 record..

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From the book "The Ballplayers":

"A lefthander who [could] start or relieve, Schatzeder...pitched for [nine] different clubs, but was often more effective with his bat, hitting [.240] with 5 HR. In 1986 his five pinch hits were the most by a MLB pitcher since Don Newcombe in 1959. Schatzeder debuted with the Expos in 1977 with less then two full seasons in the minors and in 1979 his 2.83 ERA was best among NL lefthanders. He was traded to Detroit for Ron Le Flore and won a career-high 11 games for the Tigers in 1980, but was only an occasional starter after 1981. Overall, Schatzeder was traded four times, sold once and released [at least] twice. He made his only postseason appearance with the 1987 Twins and won game six of the World Series in relief." - Shepard Long

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Dan became a physical education teacher holding that position in the late '00s at Waubonsie Valley High School in Aurora, IL. He resides in Winfield, IL.

Jeff Stember was born in Elizabeth, NJ, on March 2, 1958. He pitched for Phoenix in 1980-82 and was a minor leaguer in 1977-82 with a 4.98 ERA and 38-40 record.

His only major league appearance came on Aug. 5, 1980, with San Francisco. He started the game and went 3 innings giving up 2 hits and 2 walks with no strike outs. In the top of the fourth, the Giants loaded the bases and, seeing the possibility of a big rally, pinch hit for him which ended his day. He allowed 3 runs, but only one was earned.

Stember lives in Roseland, NJ.

-----1983-----

Even though attendance in Spokane had been at a good level, a league franchise was removed from the city and it returned to the lower minor's Northwest League. They were replaced by glamorous Las Vegas who were placed in the South Division in it's first year of organized ball in 25 years. The move had been rumored for at least a year as the PCL apparently wanted even higher attendance and the notoriety the league would obtain in the entertainment mecca. [However, in July, baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn ordered Las Vegas to cut all ties with gambling such as eliminating casino advertising in their park. They did not comply and Kuhn, for other reasons, was replaced as commissioner at the end of the season.] Salt Lake City moved to the North division and the 1983 season lasted from April 10 through September 1.

Jack Mull, who had played on the Phoenix clubs of 1975-76, became the team manager. He had never made the majors as a player, but performed in the minors from 1969-76 as a catcher with a career .218 average. Mull had managed in 1974 and 1977-82 in the lower minors.

Mull

The '83 Giants again were the worse team in the south division finishing fourth in the first half (32-40) and in fifth place in the second (29-42). They played good ball from May 2-May 16 going 10-5, but were under .500 from there on in. Over the season, they had five more victories then the '82 edition and drew about 55,000 fewer fans. Was that a sign that the Rocky Bridges-less club was less appreciated by the fans? [The loss of four gates in August due to monsoon rain certainly did not help.] The club's batting average increased from .286 to .299, but it's ERA increased from 5.58 to 5.70 and the WHIP stayed about the same as the previous year.

The star of the show was DH/outfielder Chris Smith (.379), in his sixth pro year, he won the league batting championship (topped every player in pro ball) and set a Phoenix team batting average record eclipsing Willie McCovey's .372 from the 1959 season. The league All Star also led the club in home runs (21), RBI (102), OBP (.445) and slugging (.610). He also was tied for doubles lead with 31. Smith was also in 22 games for San Francisco during the season, but never played pro again. In July, Smith was upset when the San Francisco manager, Frank Robinson, made comments to the media about the Phoenix club stating "There's not much at AAA" and defining Chris as a "defensive liability" thus dismissing Smith's excellent season and his chances at a long MLB career. Smith made his complaints public through the media which may have helped end his time in the Giants organization.

Dan Gladden (.303) returned to the outfield to lead the team in at bats, runs (113) and triples (9). Dan also set a club record with 50 stolen bases. Newcomer, in his tenth year, Brian Asselstine (.313) was an outfield starter who tied for the doubles lead (31). It was his final season professionally The returning Ted Wilborn (.288) was also a starter and Chili Davis saw action in a rehab stint which were his final ten games as a Phoenix player. Jeff Ranson, Rich Murray, Randy Kutcher and John Rabb also saw time at the garden spot positions.

Jeff Ramson (.225) played more at catcher then any other player. Jon Rabb (.343) was in 62 contests before being called up to the parent Giants with whom he was in 40 games. James Stassi (.278) was up from the Texas League as a back-up in his second and final pro season.

Kevin Torve (.260) became the starting first baseman in his third pro year and was backed by Phoenix veteran Rich Murray (.299) who also saw playing time at third base. Wally Johnson (.288) and Brad Wellman (.311) were the main second basemen. Johnson played in the American Association, PCL and the National League during his fifth professional season and Wellman became the MLB Giants' main second baseman for 82 games that year after his call in June. Guy Sularz (.316) returned to full time action with Phoenix at third base and Tom Runnells (.303) held the shortstop position for 74 games in his final appearances for a Phoenix team. Randy Kutcher (.273) was the main shortstop backup, but he was a man of many gloves as he was also positioned at third, the outfield and at catcher during his sixth pro season .

While the offensive pretty much held up their share of the bargain, pitching lacked dependability. Scott Garrelts (5-5) was the best starter having had 20 assignments with a great 4.61 ERA, but only finished 98 innings during the fifth year of his baseball career. On August 20, Scott pitched a seven-inning no-hitter in a 1-0 victory over Tacoma. It was only the second no-no, of any type, since Phoenix had obtained a AAA franchise. The most recent gem had been in 1973 by John D'Acquisto.

Mike Chris (3-12) made 23 starts with a 5.77 ERA (official team best) and 1.75 WHIP and Mark Dempsey (9-9) also had 23 starts with the team's best WHIP of 1.43 as he tied for the team high in victories and led in innings pitched (148), strike outs (105) and complete games (9). Returnee Alan Fowlkes (9-11) was the co-leader in wins, but had a very high 6.51 ERA and 1.78 WHIP.

Mark Calvert (4-5) returned for 14 starting assignments and had a so-so 5.88 ERA and 1.70 WHIP as he pitched at three different baseball levels during the season. MLB veteran Brian Kingman (6-6), trying to hang on in his tenth pro season, saw action in 25 games (14 as a starter) and finished with a 5.53 ERA/1.57 WHIP. Herm Segelke (6-9) had 34 calls to action with 13 starts, but his stats were poor (7.18/1.97) in his eight season as a professional. The other pitcher with double-digit starts was future MLB star and five-year pro Mark Davis (6-3) with 13, but, he too, had a poor ERA/WHIP of 6.32/1.68.

Jeff Cornell (3-9) came back to the Giants and had the most games pitched with 45, saves of 18 and had very good stats (for PCL pitchers) of a 3.30 ERA and 1.40 WHIP in 74 innings. Kernan Ronan (3-8), in only his third pro season, was next in appearances with 42, but had much worse results (6.95/1.99) in his 79 innings. Up from the Texas League in his fifth year was Frank Williams (5-3) who had a good 48 innings in 25 games finishing with a 3.59 ERA and 1.45 WHIP. Ron Pisel (0-0) was in 13 contests for a oh-hum 5.59/1.99 [it was his sixth and final baseball season] and Craig Chamberlain (1-1) returned for 7 appearances (8.84/1.91) before taking a three-year hiatus from baseball.

Phil Hinrichs (0-1) was in 7 games pitching poorly (7.79/1.79), Randy Lerch was good in five appearances as was Pat Larkin in four. Hinrichs pitched for four teams during his fifth and final pro year. Lerch was a seasoned major league veteran in his 11^th pro season, but was playing out the string and Larkin was with three teams (including San Francisco) in his second of only three professional years.

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From August 17-20, a bizarre series of games were held in Phoenix between the Giants and Tacoma. The first two scheduled games were rained out and the third was suspended because of a power failure. They finally decided to complete two rain-delayed games and play one seven-inning game during daytime (which became the above mentioned no-hitter by Scott Garrelts). That was 12 hours of day baseball on August 19-20. In order to complete another game at night, Giants' GM Ethan Blackaby ordered two 4,000-watt auxiliary lights and one 5,000-watt one. However, they were only 20 feet high and infielders claimed they were blinded and hitters said they provided too little light to bat safely. During a 90-minute "discussion" period, PCL Commissioner Bill Cutler arrived from nearby Tempe and suspended the game.

Unfortunately, it was also 25-cent beer night and some of the 4,400 fans in attendance threw steel folding chairs on the field and beer on Commissioner Cutler. Police were called to restore order. The power problems to Phoenix Municipal Stadium were caused by another failure of underground cables which had been "fixed" in 1981 over an eight-day period.

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Jeff Ransom was born in Fresno, CA, on Nov. 11, 1960. He played on the Phoenix teams of 1981 and 1983 and was a minor leaguer from 1978-88 with a .239 career average.

Ransom had shots in the majors with San Francisco during the 1981-83 seasons seeing action in 5, 15 and 6 games as a catcher. In his 26 games and 79 at bats, he hit .190 with a .289 OBP and .241 slugging. He fielded .980 in 25 contests as a receiver.

Jeff lives in Berkeley, CA.

Kelvin Torve was born in Rapid City, South Dakota, on Jan. 10, 1960. He attended Oral Roberts University and played for the Phoenix club of 1983.

In 1981, Kelvin was drafted by the Giants in the second round of the amateur draft and began his career with class "A" Clinton in the Midwest League. They finished last in their division and were managed by Wendell Kim. He batted .261 with one home run and 27 RBI.

For the 1982 season, the left handed batter was moved up to the class "AA" Texas League where he played for the last place Shreveport Captains. Kevin's batting average was .305 with 15 home runs and 84 RBI. He was named to the league's All Star team as a first baseman. Kelvin played the 1983 season in the Pacific Coast League for the last place Phoenix Giants. His batting average dropped to .260 with 4 home runs and 54 RBI. He did not play professionally in 1984.

Returning in 1985, he played for the White Sox farm team, Appleton, in the Midwest League where he hit .276 with 16 RBI. He played the rest of the season with Oriole affiliate Charlotte in the class "AA" Southern League. There he got back on track with a .290 average with 15 home runs and 77 RBI.

Remaining with the Baltimore organization, he played the 1986 season in Rochester of the International League. With the second place team, he played in 109 games (356 at bats) and hit .242 with 16 doubles, 1 triple and 1 home runs. He drove in 41 RBI and stole 5 bases.

Again in 1987, Kelvin played in Rochester (finished third) where his paying time was reduced to 86 games and 252 at bats. He average increased to .262 with 10 doubles and 9 home runs. In 1988, he moved to the Minnesota Twins' organization and the Pacific Coast League's Portland Beavers. The team finished second and Kelvin hit a good .301 in 103 games and 383 at bats. His record included 28 doubles, 2 triples and 9 home runs. In June, he got his first taste of the major leagues. With the Twins, he appeared in 12 games. He was 1 for 6 as a pinch hitter and played first in 4 games and was the DH once. In total, he was 3 for 16 with one home run.

His 1989 season was spent completely at third place Portland managed by Phil Roof. He made the PCL All Star team at first base hitting .291 in 137 games (499 at bats) with 41 doubles (lead the league), 2 triples and 8 home runs. He had 62 RBI and stole 10 bases. It was great year and, after the season, the New York Mets acquired him.

Kevin begin the 1990 season with the Mets' AAA team in the International League - the Tidewater Tides. They were a second place team in their division and he finished third in batting average at .303 and started the AAA All Star game. He also hit 25 doubles, 1 triple and 11 HR with 76 RBI. In early August he was called up by the Mets. In his first at bat he hit a pinch hit double that helped them beat the Cubs. In his first start, he went 2 or 3 and after his first 7 at bats, he had 5 hits. For the season, he played in 20 MLB games (38 at bats) and 10 in the field (9 at first and 1 in the outfield). He was 11 for 38 (.289) with 4 doubles and 2 RBI and was 3 for 9 as a pinch hitter.

He played in 10 games with the Mets in 1991. In 8 at bats, he got no hits. Kelvin played one game at first. On Dec. 13, he was released by the Mets. That was the end of Torve's MLB baseball career. In his minor league career, he batted .283.

During the 1992-93 season, he played in Japan. Kelvin lives in Davidson, NC, where he is a salesman for a packaging firm and teaches at youth baseball clinics. .

Wallace Johnson was born on Dec. 25, 1956, in Gary, IN. Johnson played on the 1983 Phoenix Giants and was in the minors from 1979-86 and 1990 with a .310 composite BA. He graduated from Indiana State University.

Wallace had opportunities with the Expos from 1981-83 appearing in 11, 36 and 3 games as second baseman, In '83, he also saw action in 7 games for San Francisco. From 1984-1990, he was back with Montreal getting into 17, 61, 75, 86, 85 and 47 games batting .208, .283, .247, .309, .272 and .163. Johnson was in 428 MLB games and had 569 at bats with a .255 average, .318 OBP and .332 slugging. In later years, he was used primarily as a pinch hitter leading the NL in 1987 with 17 (17-for-61) and 1988 (22-for-64) and in pinch hit at bats in 1989. He fielded .983 with 78 games at first base and 16 at second.

Johnson was a minor league coach for the Braves over five seasons and the third base coach for the White Sox from 1998-2002. Wallace is an accountant and has given private baseball instruction since 1985. He lives in his hometown of Gary.

Tom Runnells was born in Greeley, CO, on April 17, 1955. He was on the Phoenix teams of 1980-83 and played in the minors from 1977-86 with a career .265 average. Tom attended the University of Northern Colorado.

Runnells had two chances with the Reds in 1985-86 getting into 28 and 12 games hitting .200 and .091. For his 40 MLB games and 46 at bats, he batted .174 with a .224 OBP and .217 slugging. His fielding average was 1.000 in 11 games at shortstop, 5 at second and 3 at third.

Tom was a minor league manager in 1987-89, 1993-96 and 2004-09 with six years at the AAA level. He was a major league coach for the Expos in 1990-91 and a major league manager for them in 1991 (51-61, 6^th) and 1992 (17-20, 4^th). Runnells resides in Sylvania, OH. He was named the bench coach for the Rockies during the 2009 season and still holds that position.

Brian Asselstine was born on Sept. 23, 1953, in Santa Barbara, CA. He played on the 1983 Phoenix Giants and in the minors from 1973-77, 1979 and 1983 batting .282. Brian attended Allan Hancock College.

Asselstine played all of this major league games for the Braves from 1976-1981 as a reserve player in 11, 83, 39, 8, 87 and 56 games hitting .212, .210, .272, .100, .284 and .256. He batted .254 in his 284 MLB games and 574 at bats with a .304 OBP and .378 slugging %. As an outfielder in 157 contests, he fielded .971.

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From the book "The Ballplayers":

"A speedy outfielder who showed flashes of power, Asselstine spent much of his career shuttling between the Braves and their Richmond farm club. He had finally won a regular MLB job in 1978 when he broke his ankle after 39 games and missed the rest of the season." - Jane Charnin-Aker

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Brian lives in Santa Ynez, CA.

Charles "Chili" Davis was born in Kingston, Jamaica, on Jan. 17, 1960, and his family moved to Los Angles when was a child. He played for the Phoenix clubs of 1981 and 1983 and in the minors in 1979-83 and 1998 with a career .294 average.

Davis was with San Francisco from 1981-87 appearing in 8, 154, 137, 137, 136, 153 and 149 games with averages of .133, .261, .233, .315, .270, .278 and .250. He played in the 1984 and 1986 All Star games and hit 21 and 24 homers in 1984 and 1987.

Chili was with the Angels in 1988-90 getting into 158, 154 and 113 games batting .268, .271 and .265 with 21 and 22 home runs in 1988-89. By 1990, he had transitioned from an outfielder to a DH. With the Twins in 1991-92, he played in 153 and 138 games batting .277 and .288 with 29 homers in '91.

Davis then returned to the Angels for the 1993-96 seasons seeing action in 153, 108, 119 and 145 contests with averages of .243, .311, .318 and .292 hitting over twenty home runs in all four years. He played in the 1994 All Star game. In 1997, he was in 140 games with the Royals (.279, 30 HR) and completed his major league tour in 1998-99 with 35 and 146 games for the Yankees (.291, .269).

Over his 19 seasons, 2436 games and 8673 at bats, he hit a career .274, with a .363 OBP and .451 slugging percentage. As an outfielder in 1184 games, he fielded .971. He appeared as a DH in 1170 contests.

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From the book "Baseball: The Biographical Encyclopedia":

"...Davis got a bad haircut in sixth grade and it never stopped following him around. His haircut made a friend howl because he thought the barber had used a chili bowl to do the cutting...Chili Davis displayed speed and power in seven years as a San Francisco Giants outfielder. He moved to the American League and remade himself into a durable and consistent DH good for at least 20 home runs and 85-plus RBI per season. Along the way, he earned a reputation as a clubhouse leader admired by teammates and fans.

"Davis signed with the Angels as a free agent after the 1987 season. He worked closely with batting coach Rod Carew to refine his hitting skills, but injuries marred his...1990 [season]. Davis landed next in Minnesota, where he brought stabilizing presence to a veteran group. With the new DH contributing 29 home runs, Minnesota won a division title and knocked off Toronto for the pennant. Davis batted .286 in both the Championship series and World Series, homering twice in the Twins' seven-game triumph over the Atlanta Braves. Davis established a career high with 112 RBI with the Angels in 1993. But the 1994 strike robbed him of what might have been his best season: Davis was hitting .311 with 26 homers and 84 RBI when play stopped in early August.

"In 1997, Davis signed with rebuilding Kansas City and set another career best with 30 home runs at age 37. The desire for another championship drove him to sign with the Yankees after the season. Davis missed most of 1998 with an ankle injury suffered in the second game of the year, but was back in time for the playoffs. He hit a homer and collected seven RBI in postseason action... Back in full health in 1999, Davis turned in another solid campaign for the...Yankees. But with four players sharing time at the DH spot for New York, Chile retired to World Series to pursue acting, restauranturing and clothes merchandising - all of which he had dabble in during his baseball career."

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In 2002, he was a spring training minor league coach for the Diamondbacks. In 2008, a civil jury found in favor of a former girlfriend with whom he was involved in a volatile relationship. She was awarded $300K as her testimony convinced the jury that he had committed assault and battery. Davis' attorney stated that none of his former lover's statements in court were corroborated. [There was no criminal indictment.] As of late in the decade, she was under investigation by the SEC for misuse of charitable contributions.

Chili operates the "Chili Davis Premier Baseball Training Facility" in Peoria, A, [includes batting gages and pitching tunnels.] He lives in Bellevue, WA.

Chris Smith was born on July 18, 1957, in Torrance, CA.. He played for Phoenix in 1983 and in the minors from 1978-83 with a career .303 average.

Smith had two short stints with the Expos in 1981-82 getting into 7 and 2 games with no hits in 9 at bats as a second baseman and pinch hitter. In 1983, replacing Chili Davis on the San Francisco active roster, he was in 22 games and had 67 at bats with a .328 average. In total, he batted .289 in his 31 MLB games and 79 at bats. His OBP was .365 with a .434 slugging %. He played first base in 15 games, as an outfielder in 4 games and at third and second for one game each - for a .976 fielding mark.

Chris played in Japan for the 1984-85 seasons and managed at the Class A level in 1987. He lives in Santa Ana, CA.

Thaddeaus "Ted" Wilborn was born in Waco, TX, on Dec. 15, 1958. He was a member of the 1982-83 Phoenix Giants and played in the minors from 1976-1987 with a .268 career average.

Wilborn was in 22 games for the Blue Jays in 1979 and was 0-for-12 at the plate. In 1980, he was in 8 contests with the Yankees going 2-for-8. In total, he was in 30 MLB games and hit .100 with a .143 OBP and .100 slugging. He fielded .933 in 10 outfield games. Ted was at DH in four games.

He lives in Sacramento, CA.

Craig Chamberlain was born on Feb. 2, 1957, in Hollywood, CA. He pitched for Phoenix in 1982-83 and was a minor league performer from 1979-83, 1987-88 and 1991 compiling a 4.78 ERA and 48-62 record. Chamberlain attended the University of Arizona.

His two major league chances came with the Royals in 1979-80 when he appeared in 10 (all starts) and 5 games completing 70 and 9 innings with 3.75 and 6.75 ERAs. His MLB career ERA was 4.10 in 15 games and 79 innings. He allowed 78 hits and walked 23 with 33 strikeouts. Craig's OAV was .262 with a .317 OOB and a 4-5 record.

Chamberlain lives in Surfside, CA.

Mike Chris was born in Santa Monica, CA, on Oct. 8, 1957. He pitched for Phoenix clubs of 1982-83 and was in the minor leagues from 1977-85 with a 4.18 ERA and 69-61 record. Mike attended West Los Angeles Junior College.

Chris was in 13 games (8 starts) for the Tigers in 1979 finishing 39 innings with a 6.92 ERA. In 1982-83, he was called into 9 and 7 games with San Francisco compiling 26 and 13 innings for 4.85 and 8.10 ERAs. Mike pitched in 29 MLB games, including 14 starts, and completed 78 innings allowing 85 hits and 63 walks with 46 strikeouts. His ERA was 6.43 with a .282 OAV, .411 OOB and a 3-5 record.

Mike lives in Los Angeles.

Mark Davis was born on Oct. 19, 1960, in Livermore, CA. He pitched for Phoenix during the 1983 season and in the minors in 1979-83, 1987-89, 1991, 1995, 1997 and 1999-2000 with a 3.75 ERA and 53-36 record. Mark attended Chabot Junior College.

Davis started his big league trek with the Phillies in 1980-81 appearing in 2 and 9 games (all but one were starts) earning ERAs of 2.57 and 7.74. He was with San Francisco from 1983-1987, becoming a reliever in '85, seeing action in 20, 46, 77, 67 and 20 games with ERAs of 3.49, 5.36, 3.54, 2.99 and 4.71. The remainder of his 1987 year was with the Padres where he was in 43 games with a 3.18 ERA.

He stayed with San Diego in 1988-89 getting into 62 and 70 games with 2.01 and 1.85 ERAs. He was in the All Star games of '88-'89 and led the NL in saves in 1989 with 44. Davis moved on to the Royals for the 1990-92 years appearing in 53, 29 and 13 games compiling 5.11, 4.45 and 7.18 ERAs. He finished the '92 season with the Braves (14 g, 7.02).

In 1993, he performed in 25 games for the Phillies (5.17) and 35 back with the Padres (3.52). Mark stayed with San Diego in 1994 for 20 contests for a 8.82 ERA and finished his big league career with the Brewers in 1997 (19 g, 5.51). Davis pitched in 15 big league seasons, 624 games (85 starts) and 1145 innings allowing 1068 hits and 534 walks while striking out 1007. His career ERA was 4.17 with a .249 OAV, .336 OOB and a 51-84 record.

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From the book "Baseball: The Biographical Encyclopedia":

"Closer Mark Davis spent his first eight years in the major leagues working toward his stellar 1989 season with the San Diego Padres. But a year later he was back where he started. As the saying goes, 'He went from Cy Young to sayonara.'

"Davis' big year was highlighted by 44 saves and a 1.85 ERA. But those glittering numbers and his NL Cy Young Award were put out to bid after the 1989 season. The Kansas City Royals opened their checkbook and signed Davis to a $13 million deal over four seasons. Davis never again saved more than six games in a season. First he lost his location, then his confidence and finally his closer's job. 'I dwell on it inside,' he said. 'I'd get out on the mound and I'd want to stay, so I think I tried too hard.'

"The Royals released Davis midway through the 1992 season. The Braves, Phillies and the Padres were successively unable to influence a turnaround and Davis retired in 1994. The expansion Diamondbacks, still a year away from their first major league game, gave him a shot in their minor league system in 1997. Davis was sent to the Brewers in a trade..."

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Davis is a minor league pitching coach in the Royals organization and lives in Scottsdale, AZ. In 2011, he was named their minor league pitching coordinator.

Mark Dempsey was born in Dayton, OH, on Dec. 17, 1957. He was a pitcher on the 1982-83 Phoenix teams and was in the minors in 1980-84 with a 4.22 ERA and 57-37 record. Mark attended Ohio State.

Dempsey's only big league action was in September 1982 for San Francisco when he was in three games (one start), completing 6 innings allowing 11 hits and 2 walks with 4 k's. His ERA was 7.94 with a .440 OBP and .481 OOB.

Mark lives in Union, OH.

Pat Larkin was born on June 14, 1960, in Arcadia, CA. He pitched for Phoenix in 1983 and in the minors from 1982-84 with a 14-9 record and 3.28 ERA. Larkin attended the University of Santa Clara.

In his only MLB games, he appeared in 5 games for San Francisco in 1983 finishing 10 innings allowing 13 hits and 3 walks while striking out 6. His ERA was 4.35 with a .317 OAV and a .391 OOB.

Larkin lives in Tustin, CA.

Randy Lerch was born in Sacramento, CA, on Oct. 9, 1954. He was a hurler on the 1983 Phoenix team and was in the minors from 1973-76 and 1983-86 with a career 3.12 ERA and 61-38 record.

His first trials in the majors were with the Phillies from 1975-80 as he was assigned to 3, 1, 32, 33, 37 and 30 games. From 1977-80, he made 28, 28, 35 and 22 starts completing 169, 184, 214 and 150 innings with ERAs of 5.07, 3.96, 3.74 and 5.16 with double-digit wins from '77-'79.

With Milwaukee in 1981-82, he was in 23 and 21 contests (18 and 20 starts) completing 111 and 109 innings for 4.31 and 4.97 ERAs. In 1982, he also pitched 6 games (4 starts) for the Expos (24 inn, 3.42). He started the 1983 season with the Expos (19 g, 6.75) and then finished with San Francisco (7 g, 3.38). In 1984, Lerch was in 37 games for S.F. for a 4.23 ERA and ended his big league stay with the Phillies in 1986 (4 g, 7.88). All told, Randy competed in 253 games and completed 1099 innings allowing 1232 hits and 432 walks with 507 strikeouts. His career ERA was 4.53 with a .289 OBP, .356 OOB and a 60-64 record.

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From the book "The Ballplayers":

"Known nearly as well for his hitting as for his pitching, Lerch had a lifetime batting average of .206 with 56 base hits. In 1978 his three home runs led all NL pitchers. Two of those came in a crucial September 30 game against the Pirates to help edge the Phillies past Pittsburgh for the division crown.

"He started the fourth and final game of the 1978 LCS, but was tagged for three runs and seven hits in 5 1/3 innings, as the Phillies lost to the Phillies. The 6'5" lefthander enjoyed three seasons in double-figure wins but was less effective after breaking a bone in his wrist in 1979." - Bob Carroll

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Lerch played in the Pacific Senior League in 1989-90 and now lives in Morgan Hill, CA.

-----1984-----

The Phoenix franchise was sold in March to Martin Stone who was a St. Louis native and later a resident of Lake Placid, NY. At that time, "TSN" identified him as a businessman and land speculator. He received a B.A. from the University of California, his law degree from Loyola and his Masters of Laws from the U. of California. From 1961-73 he was the CEO and principal stockholder of Monogram Industries and also taught at USC and Loyola. He purchased 75% of the club (for about $250,000 as per author Len Sherman) from the Eddie Lynch/Jerry Colangelo group who retained the remaining 25%. [In Sherman's book "Big League, Big Time", his first name was spelled "Morton"] Ethan Blackaby continued as general manager [It was the third ownership group for which he worked] and the new hitting coach was Tim Blackwell.

In the fall, Stone lobbied local officials and major league baseball for a big league franchise for the Phoenix area. It was the first known attempt to bring the bigs to Arizona and included a pitch for a new domed stadium. Stone had previously inquired into buying the Red Sox and the San Francisco Giants who were still owned by Bob Lurie.

Stone

The 1984 team had their third-straight losing season in 1984 although they did win eight more games then in '83 and ended a composite fifth place in the PCL. In the first half, they ended in fifth place and improved in the second half to a third place finish. Most discouraging for the new owner, attendance dropped another 26,000 which when added to the 55,000 loss in '83, made the reduction 81,000 since 1982.

Offensively, the team's batting average dropped 15 points to .284, but two individual club records were matched. Rob Deer tied Andre Rodgers' home run record of 31 from 1958 and Alejandro Sanchez equaled the RBI record of Gary Mathews from 1972 when he tallied 108. A seven-year pro who was obtained from the Phillies in late March, Sanchez (.318), had his career professional year by being named to the league All Star team and the PCL's Most Valuable Player. He led the team in at bats (532), runs (98), doubles (29), triples (9), RBI, slugging (.553) and was second in home runs (26) and average as a starting outfielder. In April, Alejandro became only the third person (others were Floyd Wicker and Ozzie Blanco) to hit a home run to dead center at Municipal Stadium which measured 430 feet high with a 40 foot wall. Also in his seventh year, Deer (.227), led the league in homers and set a PCL record for strikeouts (175) as an outfielder.

The other starting outfielder position was shared by a number of players. Dan Gladden (.397) played excellently in 59 games before his ascension to the majors where he became a starter in the San Francisco lineup. Jessie Reid (.231) was in 36 games during his fifth pro season and Randy Kutcher and Rich Murray also saw some action there.

Murray (.287) shared first base in his final year with Phoenix [he retired after the '85 season] with Mark Schuster (.261) and hit at DH. Ten-year professional Joe Pittman (.286) arrived to take over second base [he also had 22 games with San Francisco] and Chris Brown (.283) was the main third baseman for 74 contests in his sixth year as he also had 23 appearances with the parent Giants. Joe Pettini (.298) returned to Phoenix after a one year absence to play more at shortstop (59 games) then any other infielder. It was his final season with Phoenix as he moved on to the American Association during the season.

Brad Wellman (.296) played 42 of his games at second base and was in 93 games for San Francisco, Randy Kutcher (.277) was the main utility guy appearing in 103 games short, third, DH and in the outfield. Tom O'Malley (.346) led the team in hitting with games at first and third in his final games with the AAA Giants as he was traded to the White Sox during the year. Lifetime minor leaguer in his eighth year, (Robert) Mark Schuster (.261), had 70 games at first base and some at DH and led regulars in OBP (.361). And finally, utilityman Guy Sularz (.283) was positioned at second, third, outfield, DH and short for 114 games. Sularz ended his 11-year career after the season.

The year's catching assignments were handled by five-year veteran Randy Gomez (.274) and four-year pro Phil Ouellette (.263) who were both new to Phoenix fans. Gomez was used in 99 games and Ouellette in 70. Gomez was with the MLB Giants for 13 games. The club needed pitching so badly in August that Ouellette made three pitching appearances for 8 innings.

The team's pitching numbers improved significantly with the team ERA decreasing 130 points to 4.63 and the WHIP was down 22 points to 1.58. Jeff Blobaum (7-6) led the team in most pitching stat areas in his fourth pro season [it was his career-best year]. He tied in wins, led the club with an ERA of 3.17 and innings (145) and was second in starts with 18 of the 43 games he saw action. Mark Calvert (6-6) returned for his Phoenix swan song to tie in number of starts (19), but had rather high ERA/WHIP numbers of 5.75/1.71 in 108 frames.

The other hurler to have 19 starting assignments was Scott Garretts (5-7) who didn't repeat his good '83 season as his ERA increased to 5.90 and WHIP to 1.83, but he also saw action in 21 games for the last place San Francisco Giants. The other main starter was Mark Grant (5-7) who had 17 starting assignments with a good 3.96 ERA and 1.46 WHIP in 111 innings and led the team in complete games with four. It was only Grant's fourth professional season.

The most used pitcher was third-year pro Colin Ward (7-8) who was in 46 games and 130 innings with 12 starts. He tied for the team win total and led the team with 95 strike outs, but had so-so numbers (5.26 ERA/1.69 WHIP). Renie Martin (5-1) was a great hurler in 32 games compiling an excellent ERA of 2.32 and WHIP of 1.31. Martin did well enough that, later in the season, he was in games for the big league Giants and Phillies.

Jeff Cornell (5-5) was back and called to duty 35 times with good results (3.45/1.74) leading the team in saves (11) as he too split the year with the major's Giants. Veteran Brian Kingman (5-5) also was back for 30 calls, but finished with not good stats (6.37/1.71) and called it quits after the seasons's finale. Six-year vet John Violette (6-7) saw action in 30 contests and 130 innings with decent results (4.30/1.37 ) as he led the team with the lowest WHIP (at least 100 inn) and in strikeouts (97). However, he too, hung up his spikes at the end of the season as he had never reached the majors.

Other commonly use relievers were Bo McLaughlin (6-7) who was in 25 games/102 frames with12 starts and had a very acceptable record of 3.67 ERA and 1.45 WHIP in his 11^th year and 13-year pitcher Bob Lacey (5-3) with 24 appearances and a so-so ERA/WHIP of 5.80/1.69. Returnee Alan Fowlkes (4-4) was the only other hurler to appear in double-digit games as he faired well in 16games/11 starts finishing the season with a 3.76 ERA and 1.27 WHIP. They were Fowlkes final games for Phoenix.

In only his third pro season, Randy Bockus (0-4), had 8 starts and was hit hard (7.18/2.42). Herm Segelke (1-0) ended his nine-year pro career with 7 relief appearances (10.12/2.53); Bobby (D.) Moore (1-2) got into 6 contests up from the Texas League in his ninth year (6.28/1.81); Jim Farr (1-0) had three starting assignments (4.15/1.62) in his last professional season of seven [he never saw action in the bigs] and Atlee Hammaker (0-1) made two starts (4.50/2.00) during an injury-plagued season which saw him in only six games for San Francisco.

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During the post-season, it was announced that Jack Mull would not be returning as manager for 1985.

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Brad Wellman was a feisty second baseman who would do whatever hit took to win. For example, one year he turned two hidden ball tricks. He had lost the tip of one finger in an accident when he was a younger man and during one game was jammed on his hands by a pitch. He tried to convince the plate umpire that the ball had hit him and then-manager Rocky Bridges came out to argue. The umpire said "no", and Bridges in desperation, grabbed Wellman's hand and showed the shortened finger to the ump as proof. The umpire pointed to the dirt around home plate and said, "You find that piece of finger and first base is yours."

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Throughout the years, the Phoenix franchise tried various ways to beat the heat in the park. They installed a shower in the stands, an above-ground swimming pool and even ice blocks for fans to sit on. Owner Stone installed an experimental cooling tower that Ariz. U. was working on. Unfortunately it leaked and nearly toppled by monsoon storms.

Former GM Blackaby remembered that Phoenix Muni was build with air conditioning: “Cool air was supposed to come from vents underneath the seats. Well the problem was they obviously didn't have them on when the team wasn't there. Then when they turned them on it looked like a cockroach farm. A lot of food would find its way back there and it was an ideal place for the cockroaches to find food. Everything blew out in the open including the cockroaches.

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Jack Mull was born on Sept. 29, 1943, in Chambersburg, PA. He played in the minors from 1969-1976 as a catcher with a career .218 average. He played for the 1975-76 Phoenix teams and managed them in 1983-84.

In total, Mull was a minor league manager in 1974, 1977-84, 1986-88, 1990-91, 1993-94, 1996-97 and 1999. During those 19 seasons, his record was 1247-1298 (.490).

In 1985, he was a major league coach for San Francisco. He still lives in Chambersburg.

Joe Pittman was born in Houston, TX, on Jan. 1, 1954. He played for the 1984 Phoenix team and in the minor leagues from 1975-85 with a career .280 average. Joe attended Southern University and A&M.

Pittman had two chances with the Astros in 1981-82 for 52 and 16 games with averages of .281 and .200. During the 1982 season, he moved to the Padres where he also appeared in 55 games for a .254 BA. His final taste of the majors came in 1984 for San Francisco when he was in 17 contests with a .227 batting mark.

Joe played in 139 MLB games and had 285 at bats compiling a .263 batting average, .311 OBP and .302 slugging percentage. His fielding average was .974 as he was at second for 70 games, short for 19, third for 9 and in the outfield for one game.

Pittman played in the Pacific Senior League in 1989-90 and was a coach at Quad Cities in 1996. He also has been a scout for the Astros and currently lives in Columbus, GA.

John Chris Brown was born on Aug. 15, 1961, in Jackson, MS. He on the 1984 Phoenix club and was in the minors from 1979-84, 1989, 1993 and 1995 with a .276 average.

Brown was with San Francisco during the 1984-87 years getting into 23, 131, 116 and 38 games hitting .286, .271, .317 and .242. He completed the '87 season for the Padres (44 g, .232). Chris played in the 1986 All Star game.

He stayed with San Diego for the 1988 year seeing action in 80 games with a .949 average. His final big league appearances came with the 1989 Tigers (17 g, .193). In his 449 MLB games and 1523 at bats, he batted .269 with a OBP of .335 and a .392 slugging. As a third baseman in 423 contests and a shortstop in three others, he fielded .943.

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From the book "The Ballplayers":

" 'Chris has the talent to be an MVP,' said former teammate Mike Krukow in 1989, but the enigmatic Brown showed little desire to play like one, or often to play at all. Instead, he would infuriate both managers and teammates with a careless attitude and a litany of nagging, minor injuries that were usually described as imaginary. From 1984 to 1988, Brown missing over 250 games with ailments as ludicrous as a 'bruised tooth,' but was placed on the DL only once, when a Danny Cox pitch broke his jaw.

"Brown made the Topps and Baseball Digest all-rookie teams in 1985 after hitting .271 with 16 HR and in 1986 he was hitting .348 on June 25 and made the NL All Star team. Brown had led the Giants in hitting in both 1985 and '86, but by July 4, 1987, the club was fed up with it's moody third baseman and traded him to San Diego in a seven-player swap that brought Kevin Mitchell to San Francisco. Brown hit only .237 with 12 HR in 1987 and .235 in 80 games (though he was never on the DL) in 1988 before being traded in the off-season. Detroit manager Sparky Anderson believed he could motivate Brown, but Brown quickly came up with shoulder and back 'problems' and was released in June...Brown was called 'Tin Man" by both teammates and opponents, a disparaging reference to the 'Wizard of Oz' character who had no heart." - Shepard Long

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Chris became a contract transportation specialist in Iraq. While working there in 2004, he was nearly captured and/or injured. In December 2006, Brown was injured in a house fire of unknown origin and died two weeks later - on Dec. 26, 2006, at the Southwest Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston having never regained consciousness.

Rob Deer was born in Orange, CA, on Sept. 29, 1960. He played for the 1984 Phoenix Giants and was in the minor leagues in 1978-84 and 1995-96 with a composite .249 average with 185 home runs. Rob attended Fresno Community Collage.

Deer played in 13 and 78 games for San Francisco in 1984-85 batting .167 and .185 with 3 and 8 homers. From 1986-1990, he was with the Brewers getting into 134, 134, 135, 130 and 134 games hitting .232, .238, .252, .210 and .209 with 33, 28, 23, 26 and 27 home runs.

His 1991-93 seasons were with the Tigers for 134, 134 and 110 games with averages of .179, .247 and .217 as he hit 25, 32 and 14 homers. The rest of the '93 year was with the Red Sox (38 g, .196, 7 HR). He played in Japan in 1994 and closed out his big league stay with the Padres in 1996 has he hit .180 with 4 home runs in 25 games.

Deer played in 1155 MLB games and had 3881 at bats compiling a .220 average, .325 OBP and .442 slugging. He hit a total of 230 home runs and fielded .977 in 1053 in the outfield and 47 at first base. Rob was a DH in 21 games.

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From the book "Baseball: The Biographical Encyclopedia":

"Like Dave Kingman, Rob Deer carried a well-deserved reputation as an all-or-nothing slugger. In 11 major league seasons, he hit 230 home runs but struck out 1409 times, including 175 or more whiffs in a season three times. Although a talented right fielder with a strong arm, it was Deer's longball power that kept him in the lineup. He hit 20 or more home runs for eight straight seasons.

"Deer's best season was 1986, his first in Milwaukee. He had career peaks with 33 home runs and 86 RBIs. With the 1991 Detroit Tigers, Deer batted just .179, but 25 of his 80 hits were home runs. A year later he batted .247 - the second highest mark of his career - following a winter of workouts with White Sox hitting coach Walt Hriniak.

"On June 12, 1992, Deer hit a ball that bounced on the roof of Tiger Stadium, an area cleared previously only by Cecil Fielder, Frank Howard and Harman Killebrew. By July 19 he had hit two home runs a game five times. By the end of the next season, however, he was out of the major leagues. He did not return until 1996, when he emerged with the Padres and batted .180. But, true to form, four of his nine hits were home runs."

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Deer is a roving minor league hitting instructor for the Padres and lives in Scottsdale, AZ.

Alejandro Sanchez was born on Feb. 14, 1959, in San Pedro De Macoris, DR. He played for Phoenix in 1984 and in the minor leagues from 1978-94 and 1997-98 compiling a .276 average.

Sanchez was with the Phillies for short stints in 1982-83 for 7 and 8 games hitting .286 both years. In 1984 for San Francisco, he batted .195 in 13 contests and had his longest big league tenure in 1985 with the Tigers where he batted .248 in 71 games with 8 homers.

Alejandro was with the Twins for 8 games in 1986 (.125) and finished with the A's in 1987 for two games (0-for-3). In his 109 MLB games, he had 214 at bats with a .229 BA, .233 OBP and .402 slugging %. Sanchez fielded .929 in 50 games in the outfield. He was a DH on 32 lineups.

He lives in Santo Domingo, DR.

Richard "Rich" Murray was born in Los Angeles on July 6, 1957. He played on the Phoenix clubs of 1978-81 and 1983-84. In total, he played in the minors from 1975-85 with a .280 average.

Murray's two major league trials came with San Francisco in 1980 and 1983 for 53 and 4 games when he hit .216 and .200. In 1983, he broke his hand. Rich batted .216 in his 57 MLB games and 204 at bats. His OBP was .256 with a .333 slugging and he fielded .988 in his 56 games at first base.

In 1995, Murray was a coach at Bakersfield and is currently a hitting instructor at the Dusty Baker International Baseball Academy. He lives in Los Angeles. [Eddie Murray is his brother.]

Tom O'Malley was born on Dec. 25, 1960, in Orange, NJ. He was a member of the 1982 and 1984 Phoenix Giants and played in the minors from 1979-82 and 1984-89 compiling a .304 average.

O'Malley was in 92, 135 and 13 games for San Francisco in 1982-84 hitting .275, .259 and .120 as a third baseman. He also played in 12 games for the White Sox in '84 (.125). Tom then played for the Orioles in 1985-86, but only in 8 and 56 games (.071, .254) and, in 1987, was in 45 games for the Rangers. The 1988 season found him in 14 contests with the Expos hitting .259 and he ended his big league stay with the Mets in 1989-90 for 9 and 82 games batting .545 and .223.

In his MLB career of 466 games and 1213 at bats, he batted .256 with a .332 OBP and .340 slugging. Tom fielded .951 in 359 games at third, three at first, two at second and one at short.

O'Malley went on to a second career in Japan playing there from 1991-96 and was a league MVP in '95.

Tom managed in the independent Atlantic League from 1998-2001 and was a coach in Japan in 2002. From 2003 through 2009 he scouted for the Japanese team in Hanshin. He lives in Montoursville, PA.

Guy Sularz was born in Minneapolis, MN, on Nov. 7, 1955. He played on the Phoenix teams of 1978-84 and in the minors from 1974-84 with a career .293 average.

Sularz touched base with San Francisco off-and-on from 1980 through 1983 getting into 25, 10, 63 and 10 games with averages of .246, .200, .228 and .100. His career MLB average in 108 games and 206 at bats was.218 with a .300 OBP and .262 slugging. Guy's fielding % was .954 with 43 games at short, 36 at second and 24 at third.

According to one source he was the Phoenix Giants/Firebirds career leader in games played (751), hits (827), doubles (129) and total bases (1,077). He became a fire fighter in Phoenix and currently lives in Scottsdale, AZ.

Mark Calvert was born on Sept. 29, 1956, in Tulsa, OK. He pitched for the Phoenix Giants in 1980-84 and in the minors from 1978-1985 with a 4.95 ERA and a 36-37 record. Mark attended the University of Tulsa.

Calvert's two big league opportunities came in 1983-84 for San Francisco when he appeared in 18 and 10 games (4 and 5 starts) completing 37 and 32 innings with ERAs of 6.27 and 5.06. Mark pitched in 28 major league games finishing 69 innings allowing 86 hits and 43 walks with 19 strike outs. His ERA was 5.71 with a .305 OAV, .404 OOB and a 3-8 record.

He lives in Broken Arrow, OK.

James "Jim" Farr was born in Waverly, NY, on May 18, 1956. He played for Phoenix in 1984 and was a minor leaguer from 1978-84. He graduated from Penn State in '78.

Farr was in 5 games in relief for the Rangers in 1982 completing 18 innings allowing 20 hits and 7 walks with 6 strikeouts. His ERA was 2.50 with a .278 OAV and .342 OOB. His career ended after an elbow injury.

After pro baseball, Farr has coached college baseball for 25 years. As he was completing his masters degree at Penn St, he also was an assistant coach there for three years. Jim was then an assistant at Old Dominion before being the head coach at William and Mary from 1994-2006 leading them to a 373-310-2 record and conference championship. Since 2007, he has been an assistant and recruiter for the University of Maryland.

Alan Fowlkes was born on Aug. 8, 1958, in Brawley, CA. He pitched for Phoenix in 1982-84 and was a minor leaguer from 1980-89 compiling a 3.88 ERA and a 71-66 record. In 1981, he was the Texas League player of the year. Alan attended Cal Poly - Pomana.

Fowlkes got two shots at the majors. In 1982, for San Francisco, he pitched 21 games (15 starts) with a 5.19 ERA in 85 innings. In 1985, he appeared in two games for the Angels (9.00 in 7 inn. His MLB career record was 4-2 in 23 games, including 15 starts, as he completed 82 innings allowing 119 hits and 28 walks while striking out 55. His ERA was 5.48 with a .317 OAV and .373 OOB.

Alan lives in Lumberton, NC.

Brian Kingman was born in Los Angeles on July 27, 1954. He pitched for Phoenix in 1983-84 and was in the minors from 1975-79 and 1982-84 with a career 4.37 ERA and a 46-37 record. Brian attended the University of California - Santa Barbara.

Kingman was a starter for the A's from 1979-1982 with 17, 30, 15 and 20 starts in 113, 211, 100 and 123 inning with ERAs of 4.31, 3.83, 3.95 and 4.48 and 8-7, 8-20, 3-6 and 4-12 records. In 1983, he ended his big league career with 3 contests for San Francisco (7.71).

Brian pitched in 94 MLB games (82 starts) and finished 552 innings allowing 575 hits and 205 walks with 273 strikeouts. His ERA was 4.13 with a .269 OAV, .338 OOB and a 23-45 record. [He was the last 20-game loser in the majors until 2003 when Tigers pitcher Mike Maroth lost 21.]

Kingman lives in Fontana, CA.

Donald Renie Martin was born on Aug. 30, 1955, in Dover, DE. He pitched for Phoenix in 1982 and 1984 and was in the minors from 1977-79, 1982 and 1984-86 with a career 3.65 ERA and record of 27-23. Renie attended the University of Richmond.

Martin was in 25, 32 and 29 games for the Royals in 1979-81 (a starter in only '80) for 35, 137 and 62 innings with ERAs of 5.19, 4.39 and 2.77. With San Francisco in 1982-84, he appeared in 29, 37 and 12 contests (started in '82) with 141, 84 and 23 innings and 4.65, 4.20 and 3.86 ERAs. His final big league games were for the Phillies in '84 (9 g, 4.60).

Renie was in a total of 173 MLB games (51 starts) completing 508 innings allowing 509 hits and 256 walks with 237 strikeouts. His career ERA was 4.27 with a .264 OAV, .352 OOB and a 24-35 record.

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From the book "The Ballplayers":

"A sharp breaking curve and above average fastball earned Martin a spot in the Royals' bullpen in 1979. He was 10-10 in 1980 when he started 20 games. Not a strikeout pitcher, he relied on keeping the ball low and nibbling at the corners. Traded to the Giants in 1982, he failed to become a regular starter." - Frank Olmstead

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Martin played in 1990 in the Senior Pro Baseball Association. Since 1995, he has been a salesman for Ferguson Waterworks and the coach/pitcher of their softball team. He was planning on retiring in 2010 and currently lives in . Valrico, FL.

Michael "Bo" McLaughlin was born in Oakland on Oct. 23, 1953. He pitched for Phoenix in 1984 and was a minor league hurler from 1975-76, 1978, 1980 and 1982-85 compiling a 4.04 ERA and 39-38 record. Bo attended David Lipscomb Colleage.

McLaughlin appeared in 17, 46, 12 and 12 games for the Astros in 1976-79 obtained ERAs of 2.85, 4.25, 5.01 and 5.51. In 1979, he also pitched in 37 contests for the Braves (4.89). In 1981-82 Bo was with the A's and saw action in 11 and 21 games (11.57 and 4.84).

On May 26, 1982, McLaughlin was pitching a game against the White Sox in the eighth inning. He threw a sinker to Harold Baines, who hit it directly off McLaughlin's face. The pitch broke his left cheekbone, and his eye socket in fivedifferent places. Vomiting blood and going into shock, doctors feared that he wouldn't last the night He recovered to play a few games in September that year, but it was his final big league season.

In his MLB career, he pitched in 156 games (21 starts) completing 313 innings allowing 335 hits and 123 walks while striking out 188. His ERA was 4.49 with a .275 OAV, .348 OOB and a 10-20 record.

After baseball, McLauglin entered the real estate business. He then became a minor league coach in the Cubs and Orioles organizations and is now the minor league pitching coordinator of the Rockies. He lives in Mesa, AZ.

Herm Segelke was born on April 24, 1958, in San Mateo, CA. He was a pitcher on the Phoenix clubs of 1983-84 and in the minors from 1976-84 with a 5.29 ERA and 63-61 record.

Segelke's only big league adventure came in 3 games in relief for the 1982 Cubs when he appeared in three games and 4 innings allowing 6 hits and 6 walks with 4 strikeouts. His ERA was 8.31 with a .316 OAV and .480 OOB.

Herm lives in Antioch, CA.

-----1985-----

After many weather-related problems in Salt Lake City over the years and low attendance, the league allowed the purchase of the franchise by a Calgary businessman and the team was moved to the third Canadian city in the league's lineup - Calgary, of course. [Their first three regularly scheduled games were snowed out as the Canadian Rockies were only 60 miles away.] Calgary had a Pioneer League team since 1977 and Salt Lake City took over their vacated franchise in that league for '85.

Jim Lefebvre became the eighth full-season manager for the Giants during it's PCL existence. He had previously managed in the lower minors in 1978, but had been a major league coach in 1978-79 (Dodgers) and for the parent Giants in 1980-82.. As a player, he was in the minors only three years before playing 922 games as a utility player for the Dodgers from 1965-72. His hitting coach was Doug Mansolino.

Lefebvre

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During the pre-season, former major leaguer Bill "Spaceman" Lee ("The Wrong Stuff") signed a personal services contract with club majority owner Martin Stone with the idea that he would make a comeback and pitch for Phoenix. During spring training, Lee twice missed pitching assignments because he was on promotional tours for his book. That plus ineffective results on the mound caused his release in April. [Lee had last played pro in 1982.]

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Overall, Phoenix had the second best record in the South division. They finished second in the first half at 37-34, however, they did win the second-half title (43-29) having led all the way and qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 1977 which caused manager Lefebvre to be named PCL Manager-of-the-Year. The team was sparked by it's pitchers' good performance (a 4.05 ERA and 1.47 WHIP which was the best results for a staff since 1975).

The hurlers were led by Roger Mason (12-1) who, in 24 starts during his sixth pro year, had a team-leading 12 wins, 3.33 ERA and 1.30 WHIP. He also tied for the lead in complete games with 5 and was acquired from the Tigers' system during spring training. Mark Grant (8-15) returned for 29 starts and led the club in innings pitched (183) and strikeouts (133) with an ERA of 4.52 and 1.49 WHIP. Kelly Downs (9-10) chipped in with 19 staring assignments and was in a total of 37 contests finishing with a good 4.01/1.42 ERA/WHIP in his sixth year in baseball.

Performing in only his third professional season (which included one with the MLB Giants) Jeff Robinson (9-9) also had 29 starts completing 161 innings, but with a rather high 5.14 ERA and 1.57 WHIP as he tied Mason for the complete games lead with five. Two other pitchers had double-digit starts: Jonathan "Jack" McKnight (8-4) [son of former Giant Jim McKnight] compiled a good 3.44 ERA and 1.55 WHIP in 17 starts and 99 innings in his fifth pro year after he came up from the Texas League in June; and Mike Jeffcoat (4-5) got the starting call 10 times and also did well (3.62/1.22) until being called up to San Francisco in early July. Jeffcoat was in his sixth year, but it was the first away from the Indians' organization. [He had pitched the complete '84 season with Cleveland].

The most-used reliever was returnee Bobby Moore (6-2) who appeared 50 times for 80 innings and had a valuable 3.50 ERA, 1.38 WHIP and team-leading 14 saves. Eleven-year pro and starter-turned-reliever George Riley (6-7) was in 46 games and finished 89 innings with not-as-good numbers - 4.84/1.57. Another often-used hurler was the returning Jeff Blobaum (4-1) who pitched quite well (3.88/1.66) in 39 contests. Chuck Hensley (3-1) appeared in 35 games with very good numbers of 3.15 (ERA) and 1.37 (WHIP) in the sixth year of this baseball career.

Colin Ward (3-0) was a returnee with a high ERA/WHIP of 5.88/1.82 after coming off the DL in late June, but another lefty who had situational-type appearances was Bob Lacey (3-2) who completed 23 innings in 21 games with good results - 3.09/1.50. However, he ended his baseball playing career after being released when Ward was activated. Jack Lazorko (5-5 for two teams) had the best league numbers of any reliever - an excellent 2.06 ERA and 1.04 WHIP - in 44 games and 74 innings, but it is not known how his eighth pro season was split between Phoenix and Calgary.

The other members of the staff during 1985 were Frank Williams (1-1), who relieved in 9 games (3.95/1.76) after a year with the NL Giants and 49 appearances with the '85 parent club [he was sent down in early July]; Jeff Cornell (0-2) who did not fare well (9.82) in 5 appearances which ended his Phoenix playing days; and Larry Crews (0-0) who appeared in one game to end a five-year minor league career.

The Giants 1985 team batting average was reduced 13 points from 1984 to the lowest point since 1979's last place team. There was no home run thunder left and the only surviving position players from the past were Randy Gomez, Phil Ouellette, Mark Schuster, Jessie Reid and Randy Kutcher.

However, new players held their own and were led by the team's only league All Star - Mike Woodard (.316) who started at second base and led the league in hits [181 - set a team record] and the team in OBP, at bats, triples (9) and tied for the RBI lead with 63. It was Woodard's eighth pro year having signed as a free agent during the pre-season by the Giants. At first base was Pat Adams (.262) who, in his fifth season, also had 63 RBI and was tied for the homer lead with 11. Rick Lancellotti was a first base reserve and Mark Schuster also returned as a back-up which ended his nine-year minor league journey.

Third base was the domain of Greg Schultz (.283 - tied for the team lead in doubles and led in slugging %) who ended his career after 8 seasons and Augie Schmidt (.269), in his fourth minor league year of six [He was called up from the Texas League in June]. Fran Mullins (.267) helped at the position for 32 contests and also played at short. Six-year pro Luis Quinones (.257) [obtained from Cleveland in the pre-season] was the starter at shortstop. Backups were Schmidt and Mullins.

Randy Gomez (.265) came back and was the starting catcher for 79 games and was followed by eight-year veteran Doug Gwosdz (.252), used in 52 contests and the returning Phil Ouellette (.177) who appeared in 27 contests.

The main outfield regulars were Tack Wilson (.319) who led the league in runs (109) and the team in average and was tied for the lead in doubles (20). He also broke Dan Gladden's team stolen base record with 56, Kevin Rhomberg (.279) who was in 116 contests and ended his baseball career after nine seasons and Randy Kutcher in 97 games. Jessie Reid (.263) in 54 [he split the season with play in the California League], Ron Roenicke (.308) competed in 60 games [It was his ninth year after he signed as a free agent and he also played 65 games for San Francisco] and Rick Lancellotti (.210 - he was obtained from the Mets organization in early August - his ninth in baseball) were outfield reserves.

-----

In the league playoffs, Phoenix beat Hawaii three games to zero in round one, but then lost to Vancouver by the identical count in the finals.

The details:

Division series - Game 1 (Sept. 3 at Phoenix):

Hawaii 101 200 000 4-9-0 [LP Krawczyk]

Phoenix 000 000 014 5-10-0 [WP Moore, HR Quinores]

(attendance 2,139)

Division series - Game 2 (Sept. 4 at Phoenix):

Hawaii 101 200 000 4-8-0 [LP Jones, HR DiSpefano]

Phoenix 000 002 21x 5-10-1 [WP Moore]

(attendance 3,249)

Division series - Game 3 (Sept. 6 at Hawaii):

Phoenix 000 020 007 9-11-1 [WP Robinson]

Hawaii 200 001 000 3-6-0 [LP Sarmiento]

(attendance 2,281)

Championship Series - Game 1 (Sept. 8 at Vancouver):

Phoenix 004 000 000 4-7-1 [LP Mason]

Vancouver 000 100 301 5-7-0 [WP Crim, HR Sveum]

(attendance 3,820)

Championship Series - Game 2 (Sept. 9 at Vancouver):

Phoenix 040 000 000 00 4-6-0 [LP Blobaum

Vancouver 000 130 000 01 5-7-2 [WP Lesley, HR Felder and Loman]

(attendance 8,997)

Championship Series - Game 2 (Sept. 10 at Vancouver):

Vancouver 000 003 000 3-6-2 [WP Clutterbeck]

Phoenix 000 001 000 1-2-2 [LP Downs, HR Quinones]

(attendance 3,429)

-----

Doug Gwosdz was born in Houston, TX, on June 20, 1960. He caught for the Phoenix team in 1985 and was a minor league player from 1978-82 and 1984-89 with a career average of .242.

Gwosdz had all of his big league experience with the Padres from 1981-1984 as he got into 16, 7, 39 and 7 games with 1983 being his only complete year in the majors when he hit .109 with 55 at bats. In those MLB years, he played in 69 games and had 104 at bats for a .144 average, .246 OBP and .202 slugging. In 58 games as a catcher, his fielding average was .981.

His teammates called him "eyechart" for oblivious reasons. Gwosdz lives in Pearland, TX.

John Rabb was born on June 23, 1960, in Los Angeles. He played for Phoenix in 1982-83 and 1985 and was in the minors in 1978-83 and 1985-91 compiling a .268 BA. John attended El Camino Junior College.

Rabb was an outfielder, first baseman and catcher for San Francisco in1982-84 when he was in 2, 40 and 54 games hitting .231 and .195 in 1983-84. The 1984 season was in only complete one in the bigs. In 1985, he was in 3 games for the Braves and he finished up with the Mariners in 1988 for 9 contests.

The baseball commissioner suspended him in 1988 for failing a drug test. In the spring of 1988, he admitted to the Seattle front office that he had a problem with cocaine and he went into rehab. Following completion of that program, he played in the minors and for the Mariners. During the season, when he returned to the club following the birth of a child, he failed the test. In 1988-89, he played in the Mexican League and in 1990 his suspension was lifted and he played in the California League.

In his 108 MLB games and 204 at bats, he batted .225 with a .291 OBP and .353 slugging. He fielded .966 with 37 games at catcher, 14 at first and 14 in the outfield. He was a DH in 5 games.

Apparently, Rabb lives in Los Angeles.

Kevin Rhomberg was born in Dubuque, IA, on Nov. 22, 1955. He played on the 1985 Phoenix club and was a minor leaguer from 1977-85 with a .301 career average. Kevin attended Lewis University in 1974 and then transferred to the College of Saint Francis.

Rhomberg saw major league action with the Indians in 1982-84 getting into 16, 12 and 13 games with .333, .476 and .250 averages. In his 41 MLB games and 47 at bats, he hit .383 with a .431 OBP and .447 slugging. He appeared in the outfield in 23 games and at second, first and third for one game each compiling a .963 fielding average. Kevin also was a DH in 6 contests. He was not known for his defense.

He will be remembered for a compulsion during his baseball playing days - the need to immediately touch someone who had touched him. Other baseball players thought it was very funny to cause Rhomberg to be in a frantic state attempting to re-touch someone. Many practical jokes were played on him which probably helped end his promising career prematurely.

Rhomberg entered the insurance business in 1986, from 1987-91 he was a baseball scout and from 1997-2001 was the head coach at Lakeland Community College. Since that time, he has owned, operated and consulted in the purchase of minor league baseball franchises. He is the president of KRE, Inc. and operates a Baseball/Softball academy in Painesville Twp, OH and lives in Concord, OH.

Francis "Fran" Mullins was born on May 14, 1957, in Oakland. He was a player on the 1985 Phoenix Giants and in the minors from 1979-83 and 1985-86 for a .270 compiled BA. Fran attended the University of Santa Clara.

Mullins' first taste of the majors came in 1980 with the White Sox when he hit .194 in 21 games as a third baseman. He spent the completed 1984 season with San Francisco appearing in 57 games as a utility infielder batting .218. His final big league games were with the Indians in 1986 when he batted .175 in 28 games.

Fran appeared in 106 MLB games with 212 at bats for a career .203 average, .272 OBP and .307 slugging %. He fielded .968 in 49 games at third base, 39 at shortstop and 17 at second.

Mullins lives in Lone Tree, CO.

Gary Rajsich was born in Youngstown, OH, on Oct. 28, 1954. He played a few games for Phoenix in 1985 and was in the minor leagues from 1976-81 and 1983-85 with a .265 batting average. Gary attended Arizona State.

Rajsich's first shot at the majors was in 1982-83 for the Mets when he appeared in 80 and 11 games as an outfielder/first base man with averages of .259 and .333. The 1982 season was his only complete big league year.

In 1984, he was in 7 games for the Cardinals and he completed his big league stay with 51 games for San Francisco in 1985 (.165). Gary appeared in 149 MLB games and had 296 at bats hitting .236 with a .329 OBP and .345 slugging. He played in the outfield in 35 games and at first in 38 compiling a .994 fielding average.

His older brother was pitcher Dave Rajsich who was in the majors from 1978-80. Gary played in the Pacific Senior League in 1989-90 and was a scout for the Red Sox from 1995-2006 (scouted Jon Lester) and lives in Colleyville, TX.

Ron Roenicke was born on Aug. 19, 1956, in Covina, CA. He played with the 1985 Phoenix Giants and was in the minors from 1977-89 averaging .284. Ron attended Mt. San Antonio College and UCLA.

Roenicke was up-and-down between AAA and the majors over 8 seasons. With the Dodgers from 1981-1983, he played in 22, 109 and 81 games for the Dodgers with .234, .259 and .221 averages. He completed the '83 season with the Mariners for 59 games (.253).

In 1984, Ron appeared in 12 games for the Padres hitting .300 and in 1985 got into 65 games with San Francisco (.256). During the 1986-87 years, he was with the Phillies batting .247 and .167 in 102 and 63 contests. His final big league games were with the Reds in 1988 (14 g, .135). Roenicke's career spanned 527 games and 1076 at bats as he hit .238 with a .355 OBP and .338 slugging. He fielded .989 in 376 games in the outfield and 8 at first.

Ron's brother Gary was a major leaguer from 1976-88. Ron was a minor league manager in 1994-95 and 1997-99 and a major league coach for the Dodgers from 1992-93 and a minor league hitting instructor for them in 1996. From 2000-2005 he was the third base coach for the Angels and has been their bench coach since 2006. In November 2010, the Brewers named Roenicke has their manager beginning in 2011.

In the off-season, he lives in Chino Hills, CA.

Jeff Cornell was born in Kansas City, MO, on Feb. 10, 1957. He pitched in Phoenix from 1982-85 and was in the minors in 1978-86 with a career 3.71 ERA and 48-66 record.

Cornell's only major league experience came in 1984 for San Francisco when he came into 23 games in relief completing 38 innings allowing 51 hits and 22 walks while striking out 19. His ERA was 6.10 with a .340 OAV, .428 OOB and a 1-3 record.

Jeff became a major league scout for the Jays after retiring as a player and worked for them through 2007. In 2008, he became a scout for the Rays. He lives in Lees Summit, MO.

Bob Lacey was born on Aug. 25, 1953, in Fredericksburg, VA. He pitched for the Phoenix teams of 1984-85 and was in the minors from 1984-85 and was in the minors in 1972-77, 1981-85 and 1998-99 for a 4.05 ERA and 50-47 record. Bob attended Central Arizona Junior College.

Lacey was a relief pitcher for the A's in 1977-80 appearing in 64, 74 (led league), 42 and 47 games with ERAs of 3.03, 3.01, 5.85 and 2.94. In 1981, he was in 14 games for the Indians (7.59) and one for the Rangers. During the 1983 season, Bob got into 5 games for the Angels (5.19).

His final big league action was in 34 games for San Francisco in 1984 when his ERA was 3.88. Over his 7 MLB seasons, he was in 284 games and finished 451 innings allowing 464 hits and 139 walks with 251 strikeouts. His ERA was 3.67 with a .269 OAV, .325 OOB and a 20-29 record.

-----

From the book "The Ballplayers":

"The 6'5" Lacey debuted with Oakland in 1977 and worked 33 innings before allowing an earned run...He was used only 47 times by manager Billy Martin in 1980 but recorded a 2.93 ERA. On the last day of the '80 season, he was given his first MLB start, pitched a complete-game shutout, and apparently ruined his arm. He bounced around, was often disabled and was never again consistent." - Merritt Clifton

-----

Lacey lives in Mesa, AZ.

Jack Lazorko was born in Hobeken, NJ, on March 30, 1956. He pitched for the Phoenix team of 1985 and was in the minors from 1978-90 and 1993 compiling a 76-59 record and 4.02 ERA. Jack graduated with a degree in business administration from Mississippi State in 1978.

Lazorko never had a complete season in the majors, but did appear in five partial ones. With the 1984 Brewers, he was in 15 games and 40 innings for a 4.31 ERA. In 1985, he again appeared in 15 games for the Mariners with a 3.54 ERA and with the Tigers for 3 games in 1986 (1.05).

Jack ended his big league experience with the Angels in 1987-88 getting into 25 and 10 contests for 4.59 and 3.35 ERAs. All told, Lazorko was called into 69 MLB games (15 starts) completing 222 innings allowing 213 innings and 94 walks with 108 strikeouts. His career ERA was 4.22 with a .254 OAV, .334 OOB and a 5-8 record. Angel fans recall his kicking and sprawling stops of hits up the middle while he was pitching and his nickname "The Great Lazorko".

Lazorko lives in Rockwall, TX.

George Riley was born on Oct. 6, 1956, in Philadelphia. He pitched for Phoenix in 1985 and was in the minors from 1974-1987 compiling 4.24 and 67-76 marks.

Riley was with the Cubs in 1979-80 for 4 and 22 games for 5.54 and 5.75 ERAs. In 1984, he was in 5 games for San Francisco (3.99) and ended his major league trek in 1986 with the Expos (10 g, 4.15). He was in 41 MLB games including 5 starts finishing 87 innings allowing 103 innings allowing 103 hits and 41 walks with 40 strikeouts. His ERA was 4.97 with a .297 OAV, .382 OOB and a 1-5 record.

Riley's last known address was in Reading, PA.

Jeff D. Robinson was born in Santa Ana, CA, on Dec. 13, 1960. He pitched for Phoenix in 1985 and in the minors from 1983-85 for a 4.18 ERA and 19-16 record. Jeff attended Cal State - Fullerton.

Robinson was with San Francisco from 1984-87 seeing action in 34, 8, 64 and 63 games (as a starter in only '84) with ERAs of 4.56, 5.11, 3.36 and 2.79. The remainder of his '87 year was with the Pirates (18 g, 3.04). He stayed with Pittsburgh in 1988-89 getting into 75 and 50 contests for 3.03 and 4.58 ERAs.

His 1990 season was with the Yankees when he was called into 54 games and had a 3.45 ERA. For 1991, he was with the Angels (39 g, 5.37) and he called it quits after the 1992 when he was with the Cubs (49 g, 3.00). In his 454 MLB games and 901 innings he allowed 880 hits and 349 walks while striking out 629. His ERA was 3.79 with a .258 OAV, .330 OOB and a 46-57 record.

-----

From the book "The Ballplayers":

"San Francisco dealt this promising fastball/forkball reliever for veteran Rick Reuschel during the 1987 stretch drive. Robinson combined with stopper Jim Gott to give the Pirates an outstanding bullpen in 1988, but when Gott was injured on Opening Day 1989, Robinson failed to hold the stopper job by himself and was switched to starting before the end of the season." - Morris Eckhouse

-----

Robinson lives in Trabuco Canyon, CA.

-----1986-----

After the 1985 season, the Phoenix franchise's majority owner Martin Stone purchased the remaining 25% of the Phoenix franchise from the Eddie Lynch/Jerry Colangelo group and changed their nickname to the "Firebirds". After 12 years, Ethan Blackaby was replaced as the team's GM by Jack Singer who also became the president. He was a three-year minor leaguer (played all positions) in the Cardinals organization who was born in 1943, raised in Pittsburgh and attended Princeton. [He also played for their baseball team.] One newspaper reference to Blackaby, from September 1985, stated that he had been re-assigned to head the club's promotion and sales department. Another from "The Sporting News", dated December 1985, indicated that he resigned as GM but remained as a minority owner. [Blackaby currently lives in Phoenix.]

Singer in 2013

The various changes were a good omen as the Firebirds had their best record since 1977 finishing a composite first in the south division as Jim Lefebvre placed 40 players on his lineup cards during the season. They won the first half crown with a 43-28 mark and finished second in the second half at 38-33. The only fly in the ointment was that 7,000 fewer fans attended home games then in the previous year.

The offense made a comeback gaining 13 points in team batting average and they found a super power hitter. Rick Lancellotti (.275), returning for his last year in Phoenix, led the league in homers tying the club record of 31. He also led the club in at bats, runs (81) and RBI (106). Rick tied the homer record of Andre Rodgers from 1958 which was equaled by Rob Deer in 1984 and was only two shy of the RBI mark of 108 set by Gary Mathews in 1972 and tied by Alejandro Sanchez in 1984.

Three outfielders were regulars: Jessie Reid, Chris (D.) Jones and Tack Wilson. Reid (.269) was in 120 games to led the team in doubles with 26 and was third in homers with 14. Jones (.291) tied for the team lead in triples with 7 in 112 games in his eighth pro year and Wilson (.253), in his Phoenix swan song, performed in 102 contests.

Other players who had "OF" on their 1986 resumes were: Mike Aldrete (.371) who played 47 games for the Firebirds and 84 games for the MLB Giants in only his fourth professional year; Everett Graham (.184) up from the Texas League in his fifth season; and veteran Darrell Brown (.261 - for two teams) who split the year wearing a Calgary PCL uniform and an Oklahoma City one in his tenth year [He came to Phoenix in June after being released by the Rangers organization and then moved on to Calgary later in the season.].

Dan Gladden arrived for 7 rehab games which were his last in Phoenix and future MLB star Will Clark saw action at DH in 6 July games. It was hoped that the young stud Clark would be with Phoenix for at least a few months in his second pro year, but the only reason he played at AAA at all was to rehab an injured elbow as he had became a starter at first base for the Giants at the end of spring training.

Two catchers returned to Phoenix action led by Phil Ouellette (.313) in 90 games and Randy Gomez (.276) in 72. They were backed up by 12-year vet Brad Gulden (.261) appearing in 20. [Obliviously, these players also did some DH ing]. Ouellette and Gulden caught a few games, during the year, with the Giants. Brad ended his baseball career after the season.

The starter at first base was the returning Pat Adams (.283) who was second on the club with 15 home runs in 96 games. Mike Aldrete also played some at first as did Rick Lancellotti. The keystone sack workload was split between two returnees - Brad Wellman (.282) and Mike Woodard (.319). Wellman was in 48 games for San Francisco and Woodard performed in a dozen. Also stationed at second during the year were Randy Kutcher, Steve Miller and John Verducci.

League All Star Randy (G.) Johnson (.332) was first on the team in hitting (BA and OBP) and tied for the lead in triples as the starter at third base after he was released by the Braves. However, Johnson hung up his spikes at the end of the year - his 11th. His back-ups were second-year pro Ty Dabney (.333) who played 11 games after being called up from his MVP Texas League performance in late-July, Randy Kutcher, Brad Wellman, Mike Woodard and Ricky Adams who had knee surgery in May and was released in mid-July after 18 games.

The starting shortstops for the season were Steve Miller (64g, .217) and second-year pro John Verducci (48g, .282). Randy Kutcher (.346) who hit well in 55 games (20 at short) was called up to the Giants in mid-June for 71 MLB games. Ricky Adams (.270) [one year removed from retirement] was at short 5 times and pure shortstop Luis Quinones (.255) was with the Firebirds for only 14 games before getting the call to San Francisco.

-----

On May 21, with his team behind Hawaii 17-3 in the eighth inning, manager Lefebvre asked Randy G. Johnson to take the mound for mob-up duty. After two innings and 77 pitches from Randy, the score was 31-5 as he had walked eight, given up six hits and hit two batters. However, strange as it seems, none of the runs scored were earned.

-----

The team's ERA increased about 36 points to 4.41 and the WHIP went up to 1.52, which for PCL-action is not bad. The hurlers were led by League All Star Mark Grant (14-7) who led the league in wins and the team in starts (27), complete games (10) and innings pitched (182). Colin Ward (8-11) had 21 starts/123 innings with so-so results (5.14/1.60) and Kelly Downs (8-5) pitched well in 18 starts/108 innings to lead the team in ERA (3.42) and WHIP (1.33). Downs was called to the majors during the season. Grant and Ward were tied as the team leaders in strikeouts with 93.

Two pitchers made 17 starts: Jack McKnight (6-12) who went downhill finishing with a 6.61 ERA and 1.99 WHIP in 110 frames and third-year pro Terry Mulholland (8-5) with better stats: 4.46 ERA and 1.51 WHIP in 111 innings before his call up in late July. Randy Bockus (11-6) was generally a reliever in his 42 games, but he also started 16 games (4.26/1.57) and finished 123 innings. Bill Laskey (5-5) was a starting pitcher in 13 games with good results (3.43/1.42) after his demotion from the majors.

Veteran Mike Jeffcoat (7-2) returned for a team-leading 54 relief appearances and performed acceptably at 4.20/1.49. In his eighth baseball year, Jon Perlman (7-3), arrived for 45 games (7 starts) with a 4.31 ERA and 1.55 WHIP. Chuck Hensley (0-3) was a returning reliever in 44 contests and led the bullpen with a 2.47 ERA and 1.35 WHIP. Sidearmer/closer Frank Williams (1-1) also came back for 13 saves in 38 innings/27 games performing excellently with a 2.13 ERA and 1.18 WHIP and then was called up to pitch in 36 games for the Giants. Bobby Moore (3-1) was used in 24 games (4.74/1.54) before leaving for the American Association and Steve Smith (0-0) saw action in 7 relief roles (5.56/1.85) in his final pro season of eight.

In addition, past and future MLB hurler Jim Gott was in 2 injury rehab games and got bombed with 6.75 ERA/1.88 WHIP in his tenth season; Dean Hummel (2-2) had good luck in the win and WHIP (1.21) columns, but not so much in the ERA one (5.14) in his final pro year - his fifth. And finally, Roger Mason (1-0) returned for a one- game rehab cameo pitching 6 innings of shutout baseball.

-----

Organist Ginny Redfield was re-hired by GM Singer to add some color to the games at Muni.

-----

Bob Baker was a longtime radio and PA announcer for the Giants/Firebirds. If the home team was losing at the bottom of the ninth innings, his signature call was, "The Firebirds need one run to tie and two runs to win". Of course, if they were behind by more then one, the call would be adjusted. On May 21, Hawaii was leading 31-5 after the top of the ninth and unfortunately, Baker went ahead with the announcement, "26 to tie and 27 to win." Manager Lefebvre was livid and called Bob in the pressbox, "That's the most unprofessional thing I've ever heard" said Lefebvre. Baker's response was, "Unprofessional? I wasn't the one who had a third baseman (Randy Johnson) pitching the ninth inning, giving up 14 runs."

The next day Baker was fired. He returned as the PA announcer in 1997.

-----

In the playoffs, the Firebirds lost in round one to Las Vegas three games to two.

The details:

Division Series - Game 1 (Sept. 3 in Phoenix):

Las Vegas 110 040 000 6-11-0 [WP Hayward]

Phoenix 010 002 000 3-4-2 [LP Grant, HR Lancellotti]

(attendance 1,929)

Division Series - Game 2 (Sept. 4 in Phoenix):

Las Vegas 000 000 010 1-5-0 [LP Vosbert]

Phoenix 100 002 00x 3-9-2 [WP Laskey]

(attendance 2,184)

Division Series - Game 3 (Sept. 5 in Las Vegas):

Phoenix 103 000 000 4-9-2 [WP Ward, HR Reid]

Las Vegas 000 300 000 3-5-0 [LP Siwy, HR Woods]

(attendance 4,693)

Division Series - Game 4 (Sept. 6 in Las Vegas):

Phoenix 500 020 000 7-8-2 [LP Perlman, HR Quellette]

Las Vegas 624 007 01x 20-23-3 [WP Booker, HR Pyznarski and Smith]

(attendance 3,148)

Division Series - Game 5 (Sept. 7 in Las Vegas):

Phoenix 510 000 103 010 11-13-3 [LP Ward, HR Reid, Lancelotti and Adams]

Las Vegas 005 020 300 011 12-19-1 [WP Siwy, HR Pyzarski (2)]

(attendance 3, 091)

-----

Randy Gomez was born on Feb. 4, 1957, in San Mateo, CA. He caught for Phoenix from 1984-86 and was in the minors from 1980-87 with a .285 average. Randy attended the University of Utah.

Gomez had his only taste of the majors in August-September 1984 appearing in 14 games for San Francisco. He had 30 at bats with a .167 average, .342 OBP and .200 slugging. His fielding average was .951 in 14 games as a catcher.

Randy lives in Gilroy, CA.

Brad Gulden was born in New Ulm, MN, on June 10, 1956. He was a catcher on the 1986 Phoenix Firebirds and played in the minors from 1975-83 and 1984-86 compiling a .271 BA.

Gulden played for the Dodgers in September 1978 for three games. He then was with the Yankees in 1979-80 for 40 and 2 games hitting .163 in '79. For 8 games of the 1981 season, he batted .188 for the Mariners and then was in 5 contests for the Expos in 1982.

Brad's only complete big league season was in 1984 with the Reds when he appeared in 107 games with 292 at bats for a .226 average. His final major league games were in 1986 for the Giants (17 g, .091). Over his 182-game MLB career, Gulden had 435 at bats for a .200 batting average, .278 OBP and .276 slugging. In 163 games as a catcher, his fielding average was .982.

Gulden lives in Carver, MN, and is a car salesman and volunteer firefighter. .

Brad Wellman was born on Aug. 18, 1959, in Lodi, CA. He played for Phoenix in 1982-84 and 1986 and was a minor leaguer in 1979-84 and 1986-87 compiling a .298 batting average. Brad was signed by the Royals and traded to the Giants in the Vida Blue deal prior to the '82 season. Brad attended Chabot Junior College.

Wellman played in 6, 82, 93, 71 and 12 games for San Francisco from 1982-86 with a complete season in 1985. During the years of '83-'85, he hit .214, .226 and .236. In 1986, he got into 3 games for the Dodgers and then moved to the Royals in 1988-89 for 71 and 103 games batting .271 and .230.

He batted .231 in 441 MLB games with 927 at bats and had an OBP of .282 and slugging of .287. Brad fielded .978 in 278 games at second base, 97 at shortstop and 43 at third.

Wellman lives in Brentwood, CA, and is the owner/operator of "Wellman Sports" in San Ramon. He is also a youth baseball instructor. His son, Casey, is a pro hockey player.

Randy G. Johnson was born in Escondido, CA, on June 10, 1956. He played on the '86 Phoenix Firebirds and was a minor league performer from 1976-82 and 1985-86 hitting .279. Randy attended San Jose State.

Johnson's big league experience all came with the Braves from 1982-84 as he got into 27, 86 and 91 games batting .239, .250 and .279. In his 204 major league games and 484 at bats, he hit .267 and had a .336 OBP and .347 slugging. Randy played third in 138 games and was a second in 17 compiling a .956 fielding mark.

Johnson lives in his home town of Escondido.

Luis Quinones was born on Apr. 28, 1962, in Ponce, PR. He was on the Phoenix teams of 1985-86 and was in the minors from 1980-89, 1992-95 and 1998-99 (independent leagues) for a .259 average.

Quinones' first taste of the majors was in 1983 for the A's as he appeared in 19 games hitting .190. He next was in 71 games for the 1986 Giants batting .179 as a utility infielder. Luis then moved on to the Cubs for 1987 (49 g, .218) and then settled in for four years with the Reds. From 1988-91, Luis was in 23, 97, 83 and 97 contests with averages of .231, .244, .241 and .222. He had 12 homers in '89. His final big league games were in 1992 for the Twins (3 g, .200).

Over his 8 MLB seasons, he got into 442 games and had 1003 at bats for a .226 average, .285 OBP and .341 slugging. He fielded at a .937 clip with 132 games at third, 121 at second, 92 at shortstop, 4 in the outfield and 4 at first base.

Quinones stayed in baseball as a minor league manager in 2000 and a hitting instructor in the Tigers system since 2007. He lives in Ponce.

Darrell Brown was born in Oklahoma City, OK, on Oct 29, 1955. He played for Phoenix in 1986 and was in the minors from 1977-83, 1985-90 and 1996 (an independent league) compiling a .310 average. Darrell was a three-times draft choice before signing with the Tigers. Darrell attended UCLA.

Brown first played in the majors for the 1981 Tigers seeing action in 16 games and hitting .250. In 1982 he was in 8 games for the A's (.333) and then played two years for the Twins in 1983-84 appearing in 91 and 95 games batting .272 and .273. The 1984 year was his only complete year in the bigs.

Darrell was in 210 MLB games with 591 at bats for a .274 average, .305 OBP and .328 slugging. He fielded .994 with 149 games in the outfield. Brown also was on 21 lineups as a DH.

Brown was a scout for the Expos in 2001 and for the Marlins in 2002. He lives in Los Angeles.

Clifton "Dan" Gladden was born on July 7, 1957, in San Jose, CA. He played for the Phoenix teams of 1982-84 and 1986 and was in the minors from 1979-84, 1986 and 1993 for a .316 average. Dan attende Cal State - Fresno.

Gladden played for San Francisco from 1983-86 seeing action in 18, 86, 142 and 106 games batting .222, .351, .243 and

.246. From '84-'86, he stole 31, 32 and 27 bases. He was a starter in left field for the Twins from 1987-91 getting into 121, 141, 121, 136 and 126 games with averages of .249, .269, .295, .275 and .247. He ended his big league years with the Tigers in 1992-93 appearing in 113 and 91 games hitting .254 and .267.

Dan played in 1,197 MLB games and had 4,501 at bats compiling a .270 average, .327 OBP and .382 slugging. His fielding average was .984 in 1137 games in the outfield. He was at DH in 15 games.

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From the book "Baseball: The Biographical Encyclopedia":

"After a long minor league career, Dan Gladden burst into prominence in 1984, when he hit .351 with 31 steals in a half-season for the Giants. But after he failed to live up to that promise in two subsequent seasons, San Francisco traded Gladden to Minnesots. The move proved fortuitous for the outfielder, who good looks and hell-bent playing style endeared him to the Metrodome faithful.

"After an unspectacular regular [1987] season, Gladden took center stage in October, batting .350 with five RBI as Minnesota dispatched the Tigers in five games to claim the pennant. In the World Series against St. Louis, he batted .291 and paced the Twins with seven RBI, with four coming on a grand slam in Minnesota's opening 10-1 win.

"Four years later, Gladden returned to the post-season when Minnesota rose from the ashes of a last-place finish in 1990 to face the Atlanta Braves in the 1981 World Series. After splitting the first six games, the teams were scoreless in Game 7 heading into the bottom of the 10^th inning. Gladden doubled off Atlanta reliever Alejandro Pena to open the inning. After a sacrifice and two intentional walks loaded the bases, pinch hitter Gene Larkin smacked a hit over the drawn-in outfield and Gladden came home with the Series-winning run."

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Gladden played in Japan in 1995, was a Twins scout in 1996 and an advance scout for the Rockies from 1996-98. In 1999 he was a roving minor league instructor for the Giants. In 2000, he applied for a number of college coaching vacancies without success and then auditioned for color commentator for the Minnesota Twins radio broadcasts. He won the job and has been on the air ever since now doing the play-by-play for three innings each game. Dan lives in Eden Prairie, MN, and is an avid motorcycle owner.

Michael "Tack" Wilson was born on May 16, 1955, in Shreveport, LA. He played on the 1985-86 Phoenix clubs and was in the minors in 1976-1990 and 1996-2002 with a career .307 batting average.

Wilson had two short stints in the majors. First, in 1983, he was in 5 games for the Twins and in 1987, for the Angels, performed in 7 contests. In his 12 MLB games and 6 at bats, he had 2 hits and walked once. As an outfielder in 5 games, he fielded 1.000. He was also a DH four times.

Tack was a coach in the Braves organization in 1992-94; the Cubs system in 1997-2000 and in 2001 with the Jays. He has been associated with the Competitive Edge Baseball instruction teams, located in GA, since at least 2007 as their GM and coach. He lives in Snellville, GA.

Mike Aldrete was born in Carmel, CA, on Jan. 29, 1961. He was a player on the 1985-86 Phoenix teams and was a minor leaguer in 1983-86, 1989, 1991-93 and 1997 with a .328 average.

Aldrete was an outfielder/first baseman for San Francisco during the 1986-88 seasons batting .250, .325 and

267 in 84, 126 and 139 games. In 1989-90, he was a part-time player for the Expos in 76 and 96 games hitting .221 and .242. His 1991 season was split between the Padres (12 g, 0-for-15) and the Indians (85 g, .262).

Mike was with the A's in 1993-95 for 95, 76 and 60 contests with averages of .267, .242 and .272. The rest of the year of 1995 was spent with the Angels getting into 18 games hitting .250. The 1996 season was his last as he saw action with the Angels (31 g, .151) and the Yankees (32 g, .250). Over his 10 MLB seasons, he played in 930 games and had 2147 at bats with a .263 average, .358 OBP and .377 slugging. His fielding average was .983 with 409 games in the outfield and 286 at first base. He was DH 31 times and was a mob-up pitcher once for the '96 Yanks (1 inn., 1 h, 0 w, 0 k, 0 er).

He was a minor league coach in the Diamondbacks system in 2001 and a manager in 2002-03. In 2004, he was the third base coach for the Mariners and in 2005 the Diamondbacks' hitting coach. Since 2008, he has been the Cardinals assistant hitting coach. Mike lives in Salinas, CA.

Will Clark was born in New Orleans on March 13, 1964. He played a few games for Phoenix in 1986 and was in the minors in only 1985-86 with a .301 average.

Clark was a starter at first base for the Giants from 1986-1993 seeing action in 111, 150, 162, 159, 154, 148, 144 and 132 games batting .287, .308, .282, .333, .295, .301, .300 and .283 with over 30 home runs once and three times with over 20. He played in the 1988-92 All Star games and led the league in RBI in '88. Will then was with the Rangers in 1994-98 getting into 110, 123, 117, 110, 149 and games hitting .329, .302, .284, .326 and .305.

Will was with the Orioles in 1999-2000 for 77 and 79 games hitting .305 and .303. His final big league appearances were with the Cardinals in 2000 (51 g, .345). Clark played over 15 MLB seasons in 1976 games and had 7173 at bats with a career batting average of .303 and a OBP of .388 and a slugging % of .497. He hit 284 home runs, had 1205 RBI and played 1889 games at first base and was a DH 34 times.

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From the book "Baseball: The Biographical Encyclopedia":

"'Will Clark' said catcher Terry Kennedy in 1989, 'is the best baseball player I've ever seen.' He earned such high praise offensively and defensively. In 1991 Clark became only the 16^th player to win both a Gold Glove and lead a major league in slugging in a single year. The company Clark was keeping included Mays, Aaron, Joe Morgan, Al Kaline, Carl Yastrzemski and George Brett...

"He prepared himself well at MSU (Mississippi State)... He was an integral part of the 1984 U.S. Olympic Team that included such future stars as Mark McGwire and BJ Surhoff. The following year he won the Golden Spikes Award as the best college player in the country...

"The 1986 Giants did not have a lot to lose by giving his a chance in spring training 1986. They had dropped 100 games the year before; from 1980 to 1985 the clubs had employed six different Opening Day first basemen; in 1986 Clark became no. 7 by impressing everyone who saw him that spring. It was then he gained the nickname 'Will the Thrill'...

"Clark could surely hit but his aggressive style hardly endeared him to all of his new teammates. His high-pitched emotional outbursts grated on some, particularly outfielder Jeff Leonard who greeted Clark by spray-painting his new lizard-skin cowboy a day-glow orange. Later when Clark went on the DL with a hyper-extended elbow, Leonard tossed all his bats in the garbage. 'You won't be needing these for awhile.' jeered the outfielder. Eventually the two scuffled, after the African-American Leonard called Clark an obscenity and Clark responded with a racial epithet. Clark did the same with often-injured Giants outfielder Chris Brown, also African-American, although he apologized. Understandably, Clark was labeled a racist, a charge he denied. 'I've been branded a racist,' he said. 'That so far from the truth to be unbelievable.' Defenders point out that his best friend is African-American.

"Eventually his teammates became used to Clark's in-you-face approach to baseball and life in general. The Giants even built a 1990 advertising program around it: 'I've Got A Giant Attitude."...

"One thing that everyone mentions about Clark is his swing, often described as the best in the game. It's a big factor in 'Will the Thrill's' second nickname, 'The Natural'...

"In 1989 Clark helped the Giants into their first World Series since 1962. In 1987 the Giants had won the NL West and Clark had hit .360 in the NLCS. In 1989 he outdid himself, batting .650 with two homers and eight RBI and winning the MVP award in the five-game victory over the Cubs. In the World Series, however, he hit just .250 as Oakland humiliated San Francisco...

"With two years before he became eligible for free agency, Clark signed a $15-million, four year contract near the end of the 1989 season; it temporarily made him the game's highest paid player... When his contract expired, Clark signed with the Rangers in 1993, replacing college teammate Rafael Palmeiro as the Texas first baseman. Clark helped propel the team to the postseason in 1996 and 1998 - but hit badly in the play offs - , .125 in 1996 and .091 in 1998.

"In 1998 he topped the 100-RBI mark for the first time since 1989 and once again declared free agency...he signed with Baltimore, once again replacing Palmeiro..."

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Clark has owned a restaurant with footballer Troy Aikman and was elected to the College Hall of Fame in 2006. For five years, he was an advisor to the Diamondbacks and is currently working in the Giants' front office. He lives in P`rairieville, La.

Richard "Rick" Lancellotti was born on July 5, 1956, in Providence, RI. He played in Phoenix in 1985-86 and in the minors from 1977-91 with a career .252 BA. Rick attended Rowan University.

Lancellotti had only three short stints in the majors in 1982, 1986 and 1990. For the '82 Padres, he played in 17 games as an outfielder/first baseman and hit .179. In 1986, for the Giants, he batted .222 in 15 games used mainly as a pinch hitter and in 1990, he closed his big league experience with 4 games for the Red Sox going 0-for-8.

Rick was in 36 MLB games and had 65 at bats with a .169 average, .194 OBP and .292 slugging. He was used as a first baseman in 10 games and an outfielder in 4 more compiling a perfect fielding record. Lancellotti played in Japan during the 1987-88 seasons and had playing time in Italy and South America. He also played in the Senior League in 1989.

Since 1993, Rick has owned and operated the "Buffalo School of Baseball" at New Era Park in Depew, NY. The complex has numerous batting gages, pitching mounds, pitching machines and an indoor field. He lives in Clarence, NY.

Ricky Adams was born in Upland, CA, on Jan. 21, 1959. He played for Phoenix in 1985-86 and was a minor league performer from 1977-87 for a .276 batting average.

Adams was in 8 and 58 games for the Angels in 1982-83 as an infielder batting .143 and .250. He finished his major league stay with the Giants in 1985 seeing action in 54 games with a .190 average.

Ricky was in a total of 120 MLB games and had 247 at bats compiling a .190 BA, .228 OBP and .281 slugging. His fielding average was .961 in 71 games at short, 32 at third and 10 at second base.

Adams lives in Alta Loma, CA.

James "Jim" Gott was born in Hollywood, CA, on Aug. 3, 1959. He pitched for Phoenix in 1986 and in the minors from 1977-81, 1986, 1990 and 1994 for a 4.71 ERA and 28-42 record.

Gott started his 14-year big league trek in 1982-84 with the Blue Jays as mainly a starter appearing in 30, 34 and 35 games completing 136, 177 and 110 games with ERAs of 4.43, 4.74 and 4.02. In 1985-87 with the Giants [traded for Gary Lavelle] he was in 26, 9 and 30 games (becoming a reliever in '87) for 3.88, 7.62 and 4.50 ERAs. Jim had an arm injury in '86.

After 30 games for San Francisco in '87, he went to the Pirates where he finished the season with 25 games and a 1.45 ERA. He stayed with the Bucs for 1988-89 appearing in 67 and one game obtaining a 3.49 ERA in '88 and had an elbow injury in '89 which occurred on opening day. Jim saved 34 games in '88 setting a team record. From 1990-94, he was a mainstay of the Dodgers bullpen seeing action in 50, 55, 68, 62 and 37 with ERAs of 2.90, 2.96, 2.45, 2.32 and 5.94. He had 25 saves in 1993. Gott finished his major league career in 1995 back with the Pirates for 25 games and a 6.03 ERA.

Jim was called into 554 games and finished 1120 innings allowing 1081 hits and 466 walks with 837 strikeouts. His ERA was 3.87 with a .254 OAV, .331 OOB and a 56-74 record. Gott was known early-on as a pitcher with impressive stuff, but not great consistency. When with the Giants, he learned the split-figured fastball from Roger Craig.

Gott is a member of the Dodgers' Speaking Bureau and has founded, with his wife, "Education Spectrum" where they assist parents with children who have autism. They have also opened "Danny's Farm" in Altadena, CA, which is a petting zoo and includes attractions designed for children with special needs. Jim has two sons who have autism. He lives in San Marino, CA.

Charles "Chuck" Hensley was born on March 11, 1959, in Tulare, CA. He pitched on the 1985-86 Phoenix clubs and in the minors from 1980-90 compiling a 4.13 ERA and record of 39-47. Chuck attended the University of California.

Hensley was in 11 relief games for the Giants in 1986 completing 7 innings allowing 5 hits and 2 walks while striking out 6. His ERA was 2.45 with a .179 OAV and .233 OOB. For some reason, he never got another chance in the bigs.

Chuck was a scout with the Mets from (at least) 1998-2007 and is now with the Giants. He lives in Erie, CO.

James "Mike" Jeffcoat was born in Pine Bluff, AR, on Aug. 3, 1959. He pitched with the Phoenix teams of 1985-86 and was a hurler in the minor leagues from 1980-83, 1985-89 and 1992-94 for a 3.82 ERA and 85-59 record. Mike attended Louisiana Tech through his junior year prior to playing pro baseball and then earned his degree there in 1986.

Jeffcoat was with the Indians in 1983-85 getting into 11, 63 and 9 games with ERAs of 3.31, 2.99 and 2.79. He completed the '85 year with the Giants (19 g, 5.32). With the Rangers from 1987-92, Mike was a starter/reliever in 2, 5, 22, 44, 70 and 6 games compiling 12.86, 11.70, 3.58, 4.47, 4.63 and 7.32 ERAs. His final big league action was in 1994 for the Marlins when he relieved in 4 games (10.13).

Mike was in 255 MLB games and completed 500 innings allowing 576 hits and 149 walks while striking out 242. His career ERA was 4.37 with a .292 OAV, .346 OOB and a 25-26 record.

Jeffcoat has been the head coach at Texas Wesleyan University (a NAIA school) since 2002 and lives in Arlington, TX.

Bill Laskey was born in Toledo, OH, on Dec. 20, 1957. He pitched for Phoenix in 1982 and 1986 and was a minor league hurler in 1978-82 and 1986-91 for a 3.55 ERA and 62-52 record. Bill attended Kent State University.

Laskey pitched for the Giants in 1982-85 as a starter in 32, 25, 35 and 19 games completing 189, 148, 208 and 114 innings with ERAs of 3.14, 4.19, 4.33 and 3.55. The rest of his '86 season was with the Expos (11 g, 9.44).

Bill returned to the Giants for 20 contests as a reliever in 1986 compiling a 4.28 ERA. His final major league appearances were with the Indians in 1988 when he was in 17 games and had an ERA of 5.18. He pitched in 159 MLB games, including 116 starts, finishing 745 innings allowing 784 hits and 210 walks with 325 k's. His ERA was 4.14 with a .272 OAV, .325 OOB and a 42-53 record.

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From the book "The Ballplayers":

"A soft-throwing righthander with excellent control, Laskey made the Topps and Baseball Digest All-Rookie teams as a starting pitcher in 1983...His ERA rose and his strikeout total fell each year until 1986, when he was sent to the bullpen and he spent all of 1987 working in relief for the Tigers AAA Toledo club. In 1988...he was released on August 21." - Shepard Long

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Laskey lived in Toledo for many years after his baseball playing career. He became president of Celebrity Connection which is a sports talent agency "connecting sports stars to business" for speaking and motivational meetings. Bill, since 2007, is owner of the SF Giants Fantasy Camp. He has run more then a dozen fantasy camps for various major league teams and for Major League Baseball at the annual All Star Games. Laskey lives in Burlingame, CA, where he coaches his daughter's high school softball team.

Robert "Bobby" Moore was born in Sweetwater, LA, on Nov. 8, 1958. He pitched for the Phoenix clubs of 1984-86 and was in the minors in 1976-91 compiling a 55-86 record and 5.28 ERA.

Moore's only taste of the bigs came in 11 games in relief for the Giants in 1985. He went 17 innings allowing 18 hits and 10 walks with 10 strikeouts. His ERA was 3.24 with a .269 OAV and .364 OOB.

Bobby lives in Los Angeles.

Frank Williams was born on Feb. 13, 1958, in Seattle. He pitched for Phoenix in 1983 and 1985-86 and was a minor leaguer in 1979-83 and 1985-88 for a 3.38 ERA and 57-35 record. Frank attended Lewis and Clark State.

Williams had major league opportunities for the Giants in 1984-86 seeing action in 61, 49 and 38 games in relief with 3.55, 4.19 and 1.20 ERAs. He then went to the Reds for the 1987-88 years getting into 85 and 60 contests with 2.30 and 2.59 ERAs. His final big league year was 1989 with the Tigers as he got into 42 games and had a 3.64 ERA. He sustained an elbow injury during his final season and after the season was in an auto accident which broke a bone in his neck when his head hit the car windshield.

Frank pitched in 333 MLB games completing 472 innings allowing 418 hits and 227 walks while striking out 314. His ERA was 3.00 with a .242 OAV, .336 OOB and a 24-14 record.

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From the book "The Ballplayers":

"Williams led his minor leagues in hit batsmen four consecutive years (1979-82) before being dispatched to the bullpen and he finally made the Giants as a reliever in 1984. After splitting 1985-86 between San Francisco and Phoenix he was traded to the Reds and spent two years in their bullpen before being released after the 1988 season. Williams pitched a complete game shutout in his lone MLB start." - Shepard Long

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Williams had a hardscrabble early life living in orphanages and foster homes, but eventually was adopted by a caring couple in the Seattle area. Things were fine through his baseball years, but by 1992 he left his wife and children and moved to Victoria on Vancouver Island, Canada. Having learned about his aboriginal roots as an adult, he found many family members there. He attempted to make a living in construction and house painting, but became an alcoholic. By 2000, he was living in flop houses where drugs were prevalent and nearly died from an overdose but was saved by a police officer. Over the next decade he supported his drug and alcohol habit by selling metal to scrap yards and by signing autographs. Frank also attempted detox many times and lived in Victoria shelters.

About Christmastime 2008, he was suffering from pneumonia and had a heart attack which caused him to go into a coma. He died on Jan. 9, 2009, at Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria.

Jim Lefebvre was born in Inglewood, CA, on Jan. 7, 1942. He managed the Phoenix clubs of 1985-86 and played in the minors from 1962-64 with a .300 average.

Lefebvre played his entire 8-year big league career with the Dodgers from 1965-72 seeing action in 157, 152, 136, 84, 95, 109, 119 and 70 games batting .250, .274, .261, .241, .236, .252, .245 and .201. He was chosen for the 1966 All Star game.

In his 922 MLB games, he had 3,014 at bats hitting .251 with a .323 OBP and .378 slugging. He played 613 games at second base, 231 at third, 15 at first and 5 in the outfield. His composite fielding average was .979.

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From the book "The Ballplayers":

"Part of the Dodgers' switch-hitting infield of the mid-1960s with Jim Gilliam, Maury Wills and Wes Parker, Lefevbre homered from both sides of the plate in one game on May 7, 1966. His 12 HR as a rookie in 1965 was the lowest total to lead a pennant winner since 1947, and he homered off Dave McNally in the WS opener, providing one of the two runs the Dodgers would score all series in a four-game sweep by the Orioles. He played in Japan in 1973-76..." - Tom Gallagher

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Lefebve was a minor league manager in 1978 (rookie league: 68-33) and 1985-86 (AAA: 284-161) and a major league coach for the Dodgers (1978-79), Giants (1980-82), A's (1987-88 and 1994-95), Brewers (1999), Reds (2002) and Padres (2009). He was a major league manager for the Mariners (1989: 73-89, 6^th); (1990: 77-85, 5^th); (1991: 83-79, 5^th), Cubs (1992: 78-84, 4^th); (1993: 84-78, 4^th) and the Brewers (1999: 22-27, 5^th). His major league totals were 417-442 (.449).

In addition to the above, he was the Giants' Director of Player Development in 1983-84 and coached various national teams for China from 2003-08. His son, Ryan, is the TV play-by-play announcer for the Royals. Jim lives in Scottsdale, AZ.

-----1987-----

Jim Lefebvre left the Firebirds managerial job to be a major league coach with the Oakland A's. He was replaced by Wendell Kim who had been a player for Phoenix in 1977-78 and had previously managed in the minors for six years in classes A and AA. Club owner Martin Stone became the president again replacing Jack Singer who remained GM.

Kim

Kim's charges [he went through a roster of 45 players during the year with 68 player transactions] did not win sufficient games in either half of the schedule to make the playoffs, however they did have the second-best record in the South Division with four less victories then in '86. Management did enjoy reading the attendance figures as they drew about 22,200 more fans then the previous season.

The Firebirds began the season with a poor 7-16 record and then went 20-2 to gain second place at which they finished at the end of the first half of the schedule with a 39-33 record. In the second half, they had fallen to fourth place by Aug. 18 with a 27-28 mark and then a week later were in first place with a 7-0 run. However, in the final two weeks of the season, their record was 4-6 which caused them to finish one percentage point (.01) out of first place with a 38-34 record and to miss the playoffs again.

Offense was down (lost 20 points in team batting average) and they had only two players who hit over ten home runs. One was veteran outfielder Jessie Reid (.270) who parked 16 to lead club and was second with 22 doubles and in RBI (84). Eight-year pro Rusty Tillman (.316) came aboard as an outfield semi-regular and was second in hitting and third in homers (10). Outfielder Alan Cockrell (.257) joined the club in his fourth pro year playing in 129 games [led team in doubles with 23] and another Phoenix vet, Chris Jones (.257) was the other regular flychaser playing in 104 games [it was his final pro year of nine].

Four other players played in the outfield for Phoenix: Randy Kutcher (.255 – 44 g) [after five years, it was his final one with Phoenix]. Minor league lifer Dave Stockstill (.170) was in 18 games in his tenth professional year; Eddie Milner (.274) was in 17 during a June rehab assignment from the Giants due to drug problems [he played in 101 games for the MLB team]; and the returning Everett Graham (.295) performed in 13 after being called up from the Texas League.

Seven-year veteran Francisco Melendez (.327) led the team in hitting (BA and OBP) and was on the league All Star team as a DH. He was also their regular first baseman as he played in 138 games to lead the club in at bats (514), triples (9) and RBI (85). MLB vet Dave Kingman (.203) played in 20 games in July-August [mostly at DH] but did not impress any big league teams and retired. Mike Rubel (.191) was in 16 contests after a promotion from the Texas League [it was his last pro season]. Pat Adams also played some at first.

Second baseman Mike Woodard (.249 - for two teams) split the season between the 'Birds and Tucson. He played in 104 league games, but it is unknown how many were played in a Phoenix uniform. Four-year pro up from the Texas League, Greg Litton (.217), played in 60 games and was probably the starter at second when Woodard was traded. John Verducci (.173) returned to get into 30 contests in the final season of his career and Todd Thomas and Mark Wasinger also played some at second base. Ivan DeJesus and MLB vet, Rob Wilfong, got into some games as second basemen. Wilfong hung up his spikes after leaving Phoenix.

Third base appeared to be a committee effort with second-year pro and future MLB star, Matt Williams (.289), seeing action in 56 games after being sent down from the Giants on July 3 where he had played out of position at shortstop in 84 games; Pat Adams (.255) was in 16 as a third sacker in final year with Phoenix; Mark Wasinger (.224 - for two teams) got into 27 league games at third [he came to the Firebirds in early May from Las Vegas].

In his fifth pro season, Angel Escobar (.265), was the number one shortstop playing in 130 games. Ian DeJesus (.259) played 7 at short before he was released in late July in his 18^th professional season.

Four players caught for the Firebirds during the year. Mackey Sasser (.318 -for two teams) played in 115 league games (Vancouver and Phoenix) in his fourth pro year and was named the league All Star catcher. When Sasser exited, Phil Ouellette (.233), in his fourth year with Phoenix, had most of the playing time - 55 games - with Kevin Burrell (.235) seeing action in 44 contests [it was his seventh season of eleven in the minors] and Felipe Gonzalez was in 8. Gonzalez was promoted from the California League but quit baseball after 1987 - his sixth year.

The team's pitching stats indicated a higher ERA (by 14 points) and WHIP (only by .04) from the previous season. The three main starters were Terry Mulholland (7-12) who, in 29 starts, had an ERA of 5.07 and WHIP of 1.67; third year pro Jeff Brantley (6-11) finished at a decent 4.65/1.58 in 28 starting assignments [led pitchers in WHIP, ERA and strikeouts (111)]; and Charlie Corbell (9-7) who ended the season at 4.80/1.51 also making 28 starts. Mulholland and Corbell tied for the lead in innings pitched with 172. and Brantley was right behind with 170. It was Corbell's fifth minor league season of seven.

Randy Bockus (7-5, 4.49, 1.61) had 13 starts and 26 relief appearances and led the team in ERA (over 100 inn) with a 4.49. Dennis Cook (2-5, 5.23, 1.58), in his third pro season, was an All Star in the Texas League and joined Phoenix in early July, Roger Mason (5-1, 4.13, 1.34) who was sent down by the Giants in May because of control problems and then was inflicted with elbow tendinitis by July and had surgery on Aug. 20 [only pitched in ten games for the Firebirds] and Colin Ward (1-6, 10.12, 2.46 - for two teams*) made 11, 10 and 10* starts respectively. Ward was traded to Las Vegas in early May [ it was his fourth season in Phoenix].

Jon Perlman (12-6) was the most used and effective relief pitcher leading the staff in wins, saves (18) and relievers in ERA (2.81) in 52 games and 90 innings before being called up in mid-June. He was named the PCL's "Rolaids Relief Man". George Ferran (4-5) was called into 40 games/73 innings for a 4.19/1.62 during his final pro year of five; fourteen-year vet Rod Scurry (3-3) pitched well (3.77/1.58) in 28 contests with 60 innings; and Ed Puikunas (5-1) had a good win-loss record, but high ERA (6.68) and WHIP (1.74) during his fourth pro season. Ten-year veteran Kevin Hickey (4-5 for two teams) split the year between Hawaii and Phoenix, and it is not known how many of his 46 league games were with the Firebirds.

In his 11^th year, Joe Price (6-0) saw action in 17 games, including 8 starts, and completed 61 innings for a good 2.49 ERA and 1.39 WHIP. Keith Comstock (4-2) also was in 17 games with positive results (2.77/1.21) in his 12^th season [he was promoted to the Giants in mid-June]. Other hurlers to appear in double-digit games were: Dave Schuler (2-2) was in 15 contests for a 3.57 ERA and 1.36 WHIP [he ended his 12-year career]; Scott Medvin (0-1 for two teams*) was in 13 games (5.24/1.79*); and the returning Jack McKnight (2-2) got hit around in 12 games (9.21/2.29). Medvin also played for Vancouver in his fourth pro year and 1987 was McKnight's final baseball season of seven.

Three pitchers had very limited appearances: Mark Grant (2-1) made three starts (3.13/1.09) before he was traded to the Padres; Atlee Hammaker (1-2) had three injury rehab (from the Giants) starting assignments (4.15/1.44); and Steve Miller, a converted infielder, relieved in two games and then was traded to Las Vegas. Miller ended his six-year career after the year.

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Manager Kim summarized the season by saying: "With all the different players we had, I think we did pretty well to come in second in both halves".

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Fans at Municipal Stadium will always remember outfielder Jessie Reid's towering shots that reached the tall trees behind the left field fence.

It was impossible to hit a ball in the stadium's parking lot since in was in far-foul ground west of the park a good walk away. The lot had few exits and would get quite congested.

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