by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
Fifty-nine games into the 2005 season, the Jacksonville Suns find themselves a half-game out of first place in the South Division of the Southern League and facing perhaps the most critical stretch of the entire schedule.
The pot of gold that awaits: a berth in the playoffs.
The Suns have 11 games left in the first half of the season and all 11 are critical to them and their opponents. They open the stretch with four games against the Carolina Mudcats who, at 39-18, have the best record in the Southern League and lead the North Division by a game and a half over West Tennessee.
The winners of the first half get places in the playoffs along with the second-half winners. If one team wins both times, then the team with the next-best record gets in.
“Carolina and West Tennessee are both very experienced teams,” said Kirk Goodman, the assistant general manager of the Suns. “They do not have as many prospects, but they both have a very experienced core of players.”
The Suns and the Mudcats both head to Zebulon, N. C. (it’s near Raleigh-Durham) for three games before the Suns wrap up the first half at home with a four-game series against the Montgomery Biscuits, a team they lead by one game. In fact, there is only a game and half separating the top four teams in the Suns’ division.
Goodman compared the Suns’ division to that of the National League East where two and a half games separate the entire five-team division and where none of the teams are below .500 — the only division in Major League Baseball where that’s true.
“We are all evenly matched,” said Goodman. “We are all on different streaks right now. We have won eight of the
last 10.
“We play seven in a row against Carolina, who has only a one and a half game lead on West Tennessee, so it’s not like they don’t have something to play for. The last four games of the first half are against Montgomery and they are right there with us. It will be very interesting. A lot can happen.”
The Suns are leading the Southern League in attendance, averaging 5,804 through home dates this season. The Mississippi Braves (who relocated to Pearl, Miss., from Greenville, S. C.) are a distant second with an average home attendance of 4,273.
The first two years in the new Baseball Grounds at Jacksonville, the Suns set attendance records each year. They will need to put a few more folks in the seats over the next three months to keep that streak alive.
“We are not that far behind last year’s pace and we have had some weather issues this year. We are happy where we are in our third season in the park,” said Goodman, adding that the team’s won-loss record and standing in the division rarely have a major impact on attendance. “The new park is selling itself and the team. Our fans come out here and enjoy a nice afternoon and a ball game whether we win or lose. It certainly helps to win, but we are not like major league sports where fans don’t come if you aren’t winning.”
This year’s version of the Suns (the Double A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers) may be one of the more balanced teams in recent memory. They don’t knock the cover off the ball and they are not tossing shutouts every night. They have a few legitimate big league prospects, but no one is hitting or pitching so well that they are guaranteed to get promoted to Triple A Las Vegas or even the big leagues any
time soon.
Nick Alvarez is leading the team in hitting with a .311 average and Joel Guzman is still the team’s most consistent hitter with 11 home runs, 42 RBIs and a .292 average.
Pitching-wise, the team is led by Luis Enrique Gonzalez, who is 6-1 with a sparkling 2.16 ERA with 21 strikeouts in 33 innings. The team is third in the league in both hitting (.279 average) and pitching (4.01 ERA).
“No one is lighting it up,” said Goodman. “We have had two straight (Southern League) hitters of the week and three overall. And, we have a good, solid pitching staff.”
Right now, there are two major differences from last year and both are working for the Suns. They are playing better on the road this year and, thanks to realignment, the Mudcats are in a different division.
“Last year, we had the best home record in the league and the worst road record, which is totally inexplicable,” said Goodman. “This year, we are 15-15 at home and 16-13 on
the road.
“Also, if it was last year, and the divisions weren’t realigned, Carolina and West Tennessee would both have about eight game leads with 11 games left. They would both be close to clinching their divisions for the first half.”
Goodman said winning the first half is great for the team in that you are assured of a playoff spot and also good for the organization.
“It’s great from a front office standpoint because we can start selling playoff tickets,” said Goodman. “For the players, it’s nice to know going into the second half that you are in the playoffs. The downside is, the better you are doing the more likely you will lose players. In minor league baseball, you will not see the same team in the second half that you did in the first half.”