[jmm8356]

Flyers Weekly, Volume XXV, Issue 28 - September 25, 1972

The Flyers win five of seven despite giving the entire starting lineup three games off last week. While waiting to find out their Confederate Series adversary, the club finishes the season at home with three against Norfolk (beginning with Retro Game Day on Tuesday) and three against Tampa (including Baseball Cap Day on Friday and a promotion-to-be-named later on Sunday).


Last Week's Results

Sept 18 - at MIA - L 2-5

A two-run homer by Henry McKie in the 2nd is not enough to keep the Flyers' winning streak alive when the Carolina bullpen blows up. Elliot (2/3 IP, 1 R, 1 BB), Westerman (0 IP, 1 R, 1 BB), and Hodgkins (0 IP, 2 R, 2 H, 2 BB) cannot retire any of the first six Meteors to bat in the 8th, leading to four Miami runs and the first Carolina loss in over a week.

L - Westerman (0-1)
HR - McKie (1)

Sept 19 - at MIA - W 3-1

Paul LaFontaine (2B, R, RBI) and Mike Schaaf (SB, E) each hit 4 for 5 to put the Flyers over the Meteors for the team's 100th win of the year. Keith Becker (5 2/3 IP, 1 R, 7 H, 1 BB, 7 K) throws well, but Johnny Westerman (1 1/3 IP, 2 K) picks up his first career win (on the day after his first career loss) when Carolina breaks a one-one tie with a two-run 8th inning. Terry Bingham (1 IP, 1 H, 2 BB) loads the bases before an inning-ending double play earns him his league-leading thirty-eighth save.

W - Westerman (1-1)
SV - Bingham (38)

Sept 20 - at NOR - W 11-8 (11)

Schaaf hits an RBI-single and scores on McKie's (3 of 5, 2B, 3 R) two-run hit in the top of the 11th, finally securing a comeback victory for the Flyers. Carolina scores three in the 9th, tying the game at seven, and each team gets a run in the 10th to extend the contest for another frame. Ken Green (2 IP, 4 R, 4 H, 4 BB, 1 K) is pounded early, and Christopher Horan (4 IP, 3 R, 5 H, 3 K) allows back-to-back Clippers taters in the 4th, but the rest of the bullpen does stellar work. Kevin Hodgkins (1 2/3 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 1 BB, 2 K) blows a win in the 10th, so Westerman (1/3 IP) gets his third decision in as many days. Oscar Matthews (1 IP, 1 H) gets the save; John Swanson (3 for 6, 3 R) collects a double and a triple on the night.

W - Westerman (2-1)
SV - Matthews (8)

Sept 21 - at NOR - L 1-5

The Flyers manage only one run on six hits, despite Clippers starter Otto Kemper leaving the game with a strained elbow after facing just one batter. Justin Randolph (6 IP, 3 R, 2 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 4 K) now has just two more chances to become the first Carolina pitcher to win twenty games since Lawrence Gladden went 21-6 in 1958.

L - Randolph (19-5)

Sept 22 - at TAM - W 5-0

Bill Frazier (7 IP, 5 H, 2 BB, 3 K) combines with Lamb (1/3 IP, 1 H, 1 BB), Hodgkins (2/3 IP, 1 K) and Elliot (1 IP, 2 K) to shutout the Tomahawks, winning his sixth straight decision. Thomas Wilkins goes 3 for 4 with two RBIs from the leadoff spot.

W - Frazier (12-4)

Sept 23 - at TAM - W 7-2

Both John Trull (2 for 4, 2 R, 3 RBI) and Schaaf hit two-run homers, while Clark Davidson adds a solo shot to extend his career-best twelve-game hitting streak as the Flyers pound the Tomahawks. Bill Morgan (6 IP, 2 R, 6 H, 1 BB, 10 K) collects double-digit whiffs for the first time since he struck out eleven Meteors at Miami on June 25.

W - Morgan (14-4)
HR - Davidson (7), Trull (2), Schaaf (13)

Sept 24 - at TAM - W 5-2

Becker (6 IP, 1 R, 6 H, 4 K) throws another outstanding game, and LaFontaine hits 2 for 4, scoring two and driving in one to secure a sweep of the Tomahawks. Darrel Robinson goes 2 of 5 with two RBIs; Davidson (1 for 3, 2 R) collects three swipes, giving him thirty-nine steals on the year.

W - Becker (14-10)
SV - Bingham (39)

Last week: 5 - 2
This month: 17 - 5
Overall: 104 - 52, 1st, +23 on Jacksonville and Tampa


Who's Hot

Mike Schaaf
Last 6 games: 12-23 (.522), 1 HR, 4 RBI

Paul LaFontaine
Last 9 games: 19-37 (.514), 1 HR, 7 RBI

Dale Francis
Last 6 games: 8-20 (.400), 0 HR, 3 RBI

Bill Frazier
Last 3 games: 3-0, 0.86 ERA, 21 IP

Bill Morgan
Last 7 games: 6-0, 1.74 ERA, 41 1/3 IP

Who's Not

John Hoyle
Last 6 games: 1-16 (.063), 0 HR, 0 RBI

Everett Putman
Last 8 games: 2-21 (.095), 0 HR, 0 RBI

Ken Green
Last 4 games: 0-2, 7.59 ERA, 21 1/3 IP


The View From The Top (The Manager's Column)

Well, the hole Weber left at catcher is a disaster... Ron Ayres hit 2 for 20 last week! It got so bad, we checked the free agent market and found a catcher who hit just as poorly as Ayres, but the scouts like his skills just a little bit more than Ayres... I decided it's a little late in the game to try out new people...

Other than that, all is well... even the B-team won two of their three games in the past week!

Still trying to decide on the third outfielder... Right now, we're going with John Swanson, who has been quite the surprise with a .976 OPS in 74 AB...

I'm thinking about bringing Johnny Westerman to the playoffs as our southpaw reliever... He's really shown his stuff after a shaky shart... only allowed five hits and four walks in 8 2/3 innings...

We're going to finish with a 57-24 road record, which is an insane .704 winning percentage... still, it'll be good to get home again, so c'mon down to the ballpark and get your Confederate Series tickets!