International League News & Notes August 31, 2006 BUFFALO BISONS BISONS TAKE THRUWAY SERIES CAP: With their 6-2 win over Rochester last night, the Bisons clinched the 2006 Thruway Series Cup Championship. Each year since the Herd rejoined the International League in 1998, they have competed with their closest rivals, the Rochester Red Wings and Syracuse SkyChiefs, for a series championship that is named after the expressway that connects them all. This year, the Bisons went 11-5 against the SkyChiefs and already have an 8-5 record against the Red Wings. The championship is Buffalo’s fifth in nine years, also taking the cup in 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2004. ALL-STAR HONORS: Outfielder Jason Dubois was named to the post-season International League All-Star team on Monday. The slugger is closing in on a Bisons’ triple crown as he ranks first on the team with 21 home runs (T-7th in IL) and 83 RBI (4th in IL) and is just behind Franklin Gutierrez (.281) for those that qualify with a .276 batting average. Dubois also leads the team with a .489 slugging percentage, is tied for the lead with 52 extra- base hits and is 2 nd with 30 doubles. He would be just the third player to win the team’s triple crown in the modern era, joining Russ Morman in 1993 (.320, 22 HR, 77 RBI) and Benny Distefano in 1988 (.263, 19 HR, 63 RBI). QUEST FOR QUALIFICATION: Pitcher Hyang-Nam Choi has been dominating for the Herd of late, with only one earned run since July 27. In his last nine outings (27.0 IP), Choi has allowed just 17 hits while striking out 27 batters. For the year, he leads the Bisons with 103 strikeouts. Choi, however, still needs 8.1 innings of work by the end of the year to qualify among the League leaders in ERA. If he does qualify, his 2.37 ERA would be second only to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre’ s Brian Mazone (2.03) in the League. CHARLOTTE KNIGHTS K-MEN: With an inning in Tuesday’s game, Tim Redding moved a little closer to taking over the IL lead in strikeouts. Monday night Redding added 2 K bringing his total to 140, just 3 behind IL leader Ch ad Du rb in of Toledo who has 143. Durbin will square off against the Knights’ Stephen Randolph in Game 2 tonight. Randolph is also looking to make his move as he is currently just 6 K behind Durbin, while fellow Charlotte Knight Charlie Haeger is in 4th place with 130. Brandon McCarthy led the Knights in ‘05 with 130 K. KNUCKLING HIS WAY TO THE TOP: Charlie Haeger has moved ahead of teammate Heath Phillips for the International League lead with 14 wins on the season. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre’s Brian Mazone is currently tied with Phillips for 2nd with 13 wins. Haeger is also currently 4th in the IL with a 3.07 ERA. KNIGHT S R ECEIVE TOP AW AR DS : Along with being named All-Stars, two Knights received Special Awards from the International League this week. Josh Fields was named Rookie of the Year and Heath Phillips was named Most Valuable Pitcher. Fields becomes the third Knights player to be named Rookie of the Year, as Billy McMillon received the award in 1996 and Aaron Miles took home the award in 2003. Phillips becomes the second Knights pitcher to win the Most Valuable Pitcher award, following Jon Garland in 2000. COLUMBUS CLIPPERS P AVANO REHAB: Carl Pavano pitched six innings in the Clippers 8-2 victory August 25 vs. Indianapolis. Pavano allowed two runs on eight hits and one base on balls. He struck out five. A few days later it was discovered that Pavano had pitched the game with two cracked ribs. COLTER BEAN: It is hard to hide a man who is 6'6" but Colter Bean is the best kept secret in baseball. Bean set a remarkable record this season. For the past four seasons, Bean has been the workhorse of the Columbus Clippers bullpen. In April, Bean passed Royal Clayton to set the Clippers record (1977-present) for pitching appearances. Now Colter owns the all-time Columbus record (1876-present) of 214 games pitched. In his four seasons with Columbus, “ Beaner” has done it all. Long relief, closing, situational relief…whatever the manager needs, Colter is there. When manager Dave Miley needed a spot starter this season, he went to Colter and now Bean is the stopper in the Clippers rotation. In his five starts, the 2004 Clipper of the Year is 3-0 with a 1.73 ERA. He is averaging 10.73 strikeouts per nine innings of work as a starter. Bean has put up amazing numbers in Columbus. In 2003 he was 4-2 with a 2.87 ERA with 70 strikeouts in 69 innings. Colter was named the Clipper of the Year in 2004 as the middle relief man, posting a 9-3 record with a 2.29 ERA and 109 strikeouts in just 82.2 innings. Last season, Beaner was 4-7 with a 3.01 ERA with 82 K in 71.2 innings. In 2006 Colter is 9-2 with a 2.70 ERA with 108 strikeouts in 83.1 innings, but the road to New York has been crowded. Bean has made two trips to the Big Apple. He appeared in one game in 2005 and two this spring. RUSS JOHNSON: The Clippers third baseman returned from the DL this week. Johnson had hurt his back fielding a ground ball in Charlotte on July 19. Russ hit .385 this week with three doubles, two home runs and five runs batted in. The LSU star has also helped out at first base and right field. ANDY CANNIZARO: What must Andy Cannizaro have been thinking when the Clippers game in Durham was washed out by Hurricane Ernesto? The anniversary of Katrina brings back memories for Cannizaro. The shortstop’s house is on the north side of Lake Pontchartrain. The Tulane alum feels fortunate that his home was not totally destroyed. DURHAM BULLS RAIN, RAIN GO AWAY: Durham now has been rained out three times at home this season with one last night. Durham also was washed out three times in 1999, the most since the team went Triple-A in 1998. GREAT GATE: With or without tonight’s doubleheader against Columbus, the Bulls will have their second-best season at the gate, with 507,547 tickets sold. The Bulls would have surpassed last year’s record of 520,371 were it not for the rainouts. MVP: Kevin Witt left Durham last week, but Tuesday won the IL MVP. Witt still is the League leader in homers (36), RBI (99), extra-base hits (66), runs (82) and slugging percentage (.577). Steve Cox won the honor with Durham in ’99, as did Toby Hall in 2001. MAC ATTACK BACK: Darnell McDonald, like Witt a post-season IL All-Star, continued to add to his impressive credentials with two hits and a stolen base Tuesday. McDonald has a League-best 152 hits, 32 doubles (3rd in the IL), 80 runs scored (2nd) and 29 SB (5th). USA, USA: Lefty reliever Jeff Ridgway has done a solid job for Team USA in their Olympic pre-qualifying event in Cuba. The US team is 4-1 entering second round play tomorrow, and Ridgway has pitched in three games, allowing two hits and a walk and no runs while striking out five in 2.2 innings. INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS DOWN THE STRETCH THEY COME: Indianapolis, Toledo and Louisville are separated by just 1.5 games in the International League’s West Division heading into Thursday’s action. The Indians (74-64) and Mud Hens (74-64) are tied for first place, while the Bats (73-66) are 1.5 games back. In 2006, the Indians have spent 115 days in either first place or tied for the top spot. .Rochester (77-62) currently leads the Wild Card race by 2.5 games over Indianapolis and Toledo. WINNING ON THE ROAD: Indianapolis owns the International League’s second-best road record (35-32, .522) heading into Thursday’s action. Only IL South Division-champion Charlotte (41-31, .569) boasts a better winning percentage away from home. I WILL BLANK YOU: Indianapolis RHP Scott Strickland has recorded eight consecutive scoreless outings (13.2 IP, 8 H, 3 BB, 17 SO, .182 BAA). The 30-year-old is 5-2 with four saves and a 2.02 ERA in 51 relief appearances this season. PICKING IT UP IN AUGUST: Three Indians are hitting above .300 during the month of August -- INF G ookie Dawkins (.339, 21-62, 9 R, 5 2B, 2 HR, 8 RBI), UTIL Mike Edwards (.324, 33-102, 14 R, 8 2B, 1 HR, 11 RBI) and OF Vic Buttler (.310, 18-58, 10 R, 2 2B, 2 RBI). BETTER LATE THAN NEVER: INF Craig Stansberry blasted the Tribe’s first grand slam of 2006 in the completion of Monday’s suspended game. The slam gave Indianapolis a 7-4 victory over Richmond. Stansberry’s performance was the first four-RBI game by an Indian since INF Chris Richard accomplished the feat on May 30 at Syracuse. Indianapolis crushed four grand slams in 2005. LOUISVILLE BATS BURN BABY BURN: RHP Mike Burns, who was traded to the Boston Red Sox for RHP Ti m B a us her on Monday, has a chance to set the Louisville franchise record for lowest ERA by a reliever (minimum of 50.0 innings).