| That Man Deserves a Beer Awards June 2008 Awards
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| (CBL Newswire) - By Doian Lines of the Owen Sound Sun Times |
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While all teams have their sprinkling of stars, they can't do without their hard grafting lesser lights. Each month we pick the hardest grafters who might not get the recognition they deserve but play like the stars around them. In fact we here at the Owen Sound Sun Times say "that man ... yeah him ... get that man a beer".
FISHERMEN LEAGUE
Pitcher: Cupid Beteta - Windsor Spitfires
Beteta might not have the command of his pitches like stablemates Milosevic and Bothman, he might not even have the arsenal to dazzle a batter like Azevedo, but what he does have is the one thing we here at the Owen Sound Sun Times admire ... ticker. So far this season, with no noticeable improvements to any one component of his pitching, Beteta has been able to dig deep on his reserves of character bringing out the right pitch at the right time to win 7 of his 12 starts while achieving a stellar ERA of 2.41.
Batter/Fielder: Kirkland Smolder - Port Hope Battery
About the only thing keeping Smolder from being a true superstar in the CBL is his lack of speed, but then again when you're seeing the ball like a pumpkin and you have a penchant for sending the pumpkin out of the park ... who cares about speed right? Such is his influence on the players around him; any club that wants to be competitive would do well to acquire the services of the ever-reliable Smolder. After 7 CBL seasons the lowest any club has finished with Smolder on their roster is 3rd (by a mere 3 games) and in 5 of those 7 seasons the club has won 100 or more games.
FARMERS LEAGUE
Pitcher: Kai Gambler - Vancouver Vipers
A key component of the Vipers return to the upper echelons of the Farmers West, the perennial Vancouver starter is another pitcher showing that the effects of ageing does not have to be a barrier to a career season. Gambler has shown that with each pitch thrown, good or bad, there is a little bit more knowledge to be gleaned. After taking stock of that combined knowledge, this season Gambler has been a far more cunning pitcher pitching efficiently and effectively by luring the batter into early strikes.
Batter/Fielder: Ed Bonnell - Vancouver Vipers
With the Vipers dramatic turn around it was inevitable that one of their batters would be deserving of a beer. Viper's farm system product Ed Bonnell is this month's choice from the Farmers League. For the sake of the Vipers fans, we hope that management don't intend to send either Bonnell or Gambler to another club as to us it looks like they've been trading the secrets of their respective crafts over a few raspberry and cokes. Unlike 2007 when Bonnell was taking a mighty swing at everything, he now looks like he knows what and where the pitcher is going to throw next. This renewed approach sees Bonnell on his way to surpassing his already impressive 2006 season.
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