Cal Ripken, Jr. was named player of the week in the A to Z League for the week ending May 29. Ripken played every game, batted .400 (8-for-20) and had four home runs and 10 RBI for Renton. Cal's teammate Tim Raines also had a good week, batting .476 (10-for-21), scoring seven runs and driving in four. Other notable players for the week included Ty Cobb, who batted .400 (10-for-25) and scored nine runs; Ben Zobrist, who batted .500 (9-for-18); and Luis Tiant, Jr. who went 2-0 for the week with a 1.13 ERA and fanned 14 batters in 16 innings.
Cal Ripken, Jr.
Some highlights for the week:
May 23
Omar Infante hit a three-run pinch double in the top of the tenth and Quincy beat Aberdeen 6-3. Goldendale came back late from a 3-0 deficit and defeated Forks 4-3 on Lou Gehrig's homer in the bottom of the tenth. Tim Hudson shackled Cashmere on just five hits over eight innings and Stan Hack hit a three-run homer as Hoquiam won 4-1. Martin Dihigo pitched a three-hitter and Davenport blanked Jefferson County 4-0. Darrell Evans had a homer, double single, and seven RBI, and Darin Erstad and Woody English also went deep as Ephrata pounded 15 hits in a 12-4 rout of Long Beach. Mickey Mantle had a homer and four RBI to lead Moses Lake to an 8-6 win at Ocean Shores. Tiant scattered seven hits and Mike Trout and Frank Thomas homered as Tumwater blanked Wenatchee 3-0. Why does anyone pitch to Trout? Player manager Lou Boudreau lifted a sacrifice fly in the top of the 14th and Bainbridge Island edged Kelso 4-3. Terry Pendleton had three hits and two RBI and Albert Pujols homered as Pasco bested North Bend 4-1. Snoqualmie had 15 hits, led by three each from Mike Schmidt and Ryne Sandberg, during a 12-4 romp against Yakima.
May 24
Oscar Charleston hit a pair of homers and drove in six runs, and Wilbur Cooper pitched a complete game and drove in two runs with a triple during Cashmere's eight-run seventh as the C's blasted Hoquiam 15-3. Jefferson County scored three in the top of the ninth on a two-run triple by Chipper Jones and a single by Davey Johnson and beat Davenport 6-5. Pop Lloyd doubled to drive in Chet Lemon with the winning run in the bottom of the eleventh as Long Beach edged Ephrata 4-3. Tumwater scored two in the top of the ninth off John Wetteland and beat Wenatchee 6-5. Tony Phillips singled to plate Pendleton with the winning run in the bottom of the 12th as Pasco beat North Bend in a 14-13 donnybrook. Pujols hit a pair of homers and drove in six for Pasco, while Irv Noren and Phil Nevin both drove in four for the N's.
May 25
Henry Aaron hit a pair of homers and drove in all of Aberdeen's runs in a 3-2 win at Wenatchee. Todd Helton singled to drive in what turned out to be the winning run in the top of the tenth as Hoquiam beat Davenport 3-2. Andruw Jones singled to plate Reggie Jackson with the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth and Jefferson County edged Ephrata 4-3. Alejandro Oms had a homer, a triple and four RBI to lead Ocean Shores to a 6-4 win at Quincy. Warren Spahn scattered eight hits and Willie Stargell and Ted Simmons hit home runs as Snoqualmie thumped Vancouver 9-2.
May 26
David Wright had a homer, a double, and five RBI to lead Wenatchee to an 8-3 win over Aberdeen. Stan Coveleski pitched a four-hitter and Roberto Clemente and Ron Cey homered as Cashmere bested Forks 4-1. Don Drysdale and two relievers combined on a two-hitter and Andre Dawson hit a three-run homer in the fourth as Davenport beat Hoquiam 4-1. Yunel Escobar hit a two-run homer to snap a tie in the eighth and Ephrata beat Jefferson County 7-5. David Ortiz hit a grand slam off of Carlos Quintana in the eighth and Ocean Shores topped Quincy 4-2. Josh Gibson, Gehrig, Hank Greenberg, and Troy Glaus all homered in Goldendale's 6-2 win at Bainbridge Island. Al Kaline drove in three runs, including the tiebreaker in the top of the 12th, as Kelso edged North Bend 5-4. Renton came from behind with three runs in the bottom of the seventh on homers by Manny Ramirez and Ripken and held on to beat Pasco 8-7. Christobel Torriente had a homer and three RBI as Tumwater beat Yakima 6-5.
May 27
Roberto Alomar, Richie Ashburn, Dick Allen, and Joe Adcock all had three hits as Aberdeen piled up 17 safeties in a 13-5 shellacking of Wenatchee. Chipper hit a two-run homer in the top of the 11th and Jefferson County topped Ephrata 6-4. Buck Leonard went 4-for-5, including a home run and a double, and drove in three runs as Long Beach handed Pedro Martinez his first defeat of the season, beating Moses Lake 7-5. Ortiz homered and drove in a pair as Ocean Shores bested Quincy 4-1. Johnny Bench singled with the bases jammed in the bottom of the eighth as Bainbridge Island scored three to come back to beat Goldendale 3-2. Charlie Keller hit two homers and drove in five and Harmon Killebrew also went deep as Kelso bombed North Bend 10-3. Nolan Ryan pitched a five-hitter and fanned 13 and Frank Robinson and Ripken each drove in four runs as Renton blasted Pasco 13-2. Sandberg singled to plate Stargell in the bottom of the ninth to give Snoqualmie a 5-4 win over Vancouver. Yakima led 10-1 after five innings, but Tumwater scored 10 over the last four innings, winning 11-10 on Tom Tresh's homer in the bottom of the ninth.
May 28
Pete Alexander and two relievers combined on an eight-hitter and Allen had a single, double, triple, and two RBI in Aberdeen's 4-1 win at Wenatchee. Miguel Cabrera's two-run double capped a four-run rally in the eighth as Cashmere came back to beat Forks 8-5. Hudson, Tom Henke, and LaTroy Hawkins teamed up on a seven-hitter and Hoquiam beat Davenport 5-1. Fergie Jenkins pitched a five-hitter and Reggie had a homer and four RBI as Jefferson County beat Ephrata 6-1. Greg Maddux pitched a five-hitter and went 3-for-3 with a run and a ribbie as Moses Lake blanked Long Beach 5-0. Kazuhisa Inao pitched a seven-hitter with no walks and five strikeouts and Quincy shut out Ocean Shores 2-0. Bainbridge Island scored six in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game at 7-7, but Joe Gordon answered with a two-run homer in the top of the eighth and Goldendale prevailed 9-8. Clayton Kershaw gave up just one hit but three earned runs and fanned 10 in seven-plus innings, and Kelso edged North Bend 4-3. Ripken had a homer and four RBI and Steve Rogers pitched a complete game as Renton bested Pasco 7-4. RBI doubles by Andy VanSlyke and Bobby Veach highlighted Vancouver's three-run rally in the ninth, and they held on to beat Snoqualmie 8-6.
May 29
Bartolo Colon and Norm Charlton combined on a five-hitter and Cashmere topped Forks 5-1. Eddie Mathews had a homer and four RBI as Moses Lake thumped Long Beach 8-2. Jim Bottomley and Max Bishop homered to back a strong outing from Bert Blyleven and Bainbridge Island bested Goldendale 5-2. Gary Nolan pitched a two-hitter and Bill Nicholson and Nevin each drove in three runs as North Bend clobbered Kelso 10-zip. Dave Parker hit a two-run homer in the top of the 12th and Pasco beat Renton 6-4. Barry Zito pitched a four-hitter and struck out 10 and Robin Yount hit a three-run homer in the first as Yakima led all the way in an 11-0 rout of Tumwater.
Injuries
Felix Hernandez left his May 27 start in the fourth inning because of a sore shoulder and is expected to be sidelined for about three weeks. Waite Hoyt was called up to take Felix's spot in the Hoquiam rotation. Matt Holliday left the same game with a sprained ankle and will be out for a week or so. Frank Howard was called up to take Holliday's spot on the roster.