(Link to story on Bee’s Web site:
http://www.modbee.com/2010/04/04/v-print/1114080/decades-finest-team-changed-players.html)
MODESTO, Calif. — At about 10:15 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 20, 2004,
a fly ball sailed through the cold, windy Lancaster night sky
before settling into the glove of left fielder Brian Stavisky.
That moment ended both a rare championship season and an era in
Modesto minor league baseball.
It was the final act of the Modesto A’s.
When 2005 rolled around, Oakland had taken up digs in Stockton’s
new ballpark, and the Colorado Rockies had invaded John Thurman
Field.
The Nuts were born.
The decade of the 2000s was pivotal for Modesto’s California
League franchise. It started with a a three-year-old ballpark and
no sense that Oakland would ever leave. It ended with a long-term
lease and a Rockies’ affiliate playing before record crowds.
In short, the franchise enters this decade in as secure a
position as it ever has been.
But this yearly 140-game exercise is not about ballparks, leases
and affiliations, it’s about the players who come through Modesto.
Some see their athletic careers end right here, while others use
Thurman Field as a stepping stone to a major league career.
With the 64th season of California League baseball in Modesto
under way, it’s time to look back at the players who stood out at
their positions while in Modesto during the last decade.
Stavisky’s career year
So, it’s fitting that the 30-year Modesto A’s era would end in
the glove of Stavisky. No one put up better numbers while here, and
no one but the University of Notre Dame graduate would earn a
league MVP award in Modesto during the decade.
Stavisky hit .343 in 2004 with 19 homers and 83 RBIs. But the
toughest thing he had to do all season was find a spot in an
outfield that boasted both Andre Ethier and Nelson Cruz in the
opening day lineup.
“Stavo started out on the bench that year,” said manager of the
decade honoree Von Hayes. “I wanted to slide him in there but he
wasn’t high in the organizational depth chart.
“Hitting coach Eddie Williams went on vacation and I chose that
time to put Stavo in the number 3 hole and he responded by driving
in the winning run in three straight games against the Ports.”
Stavisky seldom again was out of the lineup. But the way he
remembers it, he was just holding up his end of the production in a
lineup filled with exceptional hitters.
“Everyone came ready to play and ready to get better and Von
oversaw all of that,” said Stavisky, now 29 and playing in the
Philadelphia Phillies organization. “With the guys on this team
there was very little talk and a lot of action. I had my bast year
in pro ball that year, but I felt like I was just filling my spot
on the team.”
Going out with bang
That 2004 ended up as the best hitting team in Modesto history
with a .301 team batting average and a league-record 354 doubles.
It stands alone as the team best able to take advantage of Thurman
Field’s spacious gaps since the 1997 renovation.
“Eddie and I agreed about the philosophy we needed to win in
Modesto,” Hayes said. “To drive in runs you had to hit the gaps,
and to do that you had to work the count and get a pitch out over
the plate.”
There was gap-to-gap pop throughout that lineup. Shortstop Omar
Quintanilla hit .314 with 48 extra-base hits, catcher John Suomi
hit .295 with 51 extra-base hits, and third baseman Isaac Garcia
hit .303 with 53 extra-base hits.
When Cruz was promoted before the All-Star break, Jason Perry
joined the team and hit .338 with 24 homers and 80 RBI in only 83
games, and was the post-season MVP.
“That team had so much fun and had so many good players,”
Stavisky said. “We finished 90-50 and I know a lot of times in
sports you talk about teams playing just well enough to win, but I
felt that on that team everybody gave their best every day as
individuals, which made us a great team.”
The team had two chances to fold in the postseason. After
gaining the first-round bye, the A’s were taken by San Jose to a
fifth game in the North Division finals. The Giants’ Fred Lewis hit
the second pitch of the game right back at Modesto starter Brad
Ziegler, fracturing Ziegler’s skull.
Then, down 6-5 after eight innings, Perry and Quintanilla lined
two-out RBI singles in the ninth off San Jose reliever Jeremy
Accardo to send the A’s into the championship series.
The best-of-five set against Lancaster started in Modesto, where
the teams split two games. The JetHawks, managed by Hayes’ former
Phillies’ teammate Wally Backman, won Game 3 at home when Reggie
Abercrombie bowled over Suomi at home and was ruled safe with the
winning run in the bottom of the ninth.
New era begins on high note
The force of the collision blew out Suomi’s right knee, and
Hayes was suspended for the rest of the series when he bumped the
home plate umpire while arguing the call.
“Suomi got hurt and Von was suspended and we were down 2 games
to 1,” said Stavisky, who was reunited with Suomi for the first
time since 2004 in this year’s Phillies’ spring training camp.
“We lost our catcher and then our manager wasn’t going to be
there after protecting his players. But that kind of summed up the
whole season. We could have folded because the odds were against
us, but instead we just rallied and pulled it out in Game 5.”
Stavisky had a hit, two walks and an RBI in the decisive fifth
game.
By that time it already had been reported that Oakland was
pulling its High-A team out of Modesto in 2005, but that was the
last thing on Stavisky’s mind as he squeezed the ball for the
series’ final out.
“You always want to end whatever you do on a nice note, whether
it’s the last swing of batting practice, or the last shot in
basketball warmup,” Stavisky said. “It doesn’t always happen.”
“That was one of the great moments I’ve ever had on the field —
catching that last ball and going to celebrate. As it ended up,
that was not only the end of the season but the end of an era in
Modesto.”
