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Monday, Sep. 12, 2005
Dust Devils reflect on solid season in standings, in stands
By Jack Millikin, Herald staff writer
The Tri-City Dust Devils gave their fans a year to remember in 2005, coming within three runs of a Northwest League East Division title.
The Dust Devils front office also proved it could put people in the seats using an effective blend of customer service and promotions.
Overall, it was a year that left a lot of hope for the Dust Devils' future in Tri-Cities.
Gideon will spend the next week with his family in Hallsville, Texas, before heading to Tucson, Ariz., to join the Arizona Instructional League.
"My first year as GM, I couldn't have asked for a better manager to work with," Ebert said. "He's got a lot of old fashioned baseball to him. If you treat him good, he'll treat you good."
The Dust Devils started the year slowly, hitting under .200 as a team for most of June, but the team reeled off five straight wins in the middle of July to grab the East Division lead. The team batting average increased to over .250 by September.
Shane Lindsay became one of the teams biggest surprises after a sub-par year in Casper, Wyo. The right-handed starter led the league in strikeouts and set a new Colorado Rockies Class A short-season record with 107 whiffs, despite missing the final two weeks of the season and perhaps two more starts to pitch for Australia at an international tournament. He also tied Zach Simons for the team lead in wins with six.
Outfielder Travis Becktel ran hot and cold this year, but put together one of the more impressive displays of hitting by any NWL player this year, batting .667 through nine games in late July. He finished the year with a team-high .314 average and was named to the NWL all-star team.
"To get personal accolades is phenomenal, but I really wanted to win the division," Becktel said. "The true character of a person is how you bounce back, and I can't say enough about my teammates this season."
Michael Paulk came on strong in August to finish seventh in the league in hitting at .312 and tied for fourth with teammate Phillip Cuadrado with 45 RBI.
"I'll remember a little bit of everything," Cuadrado said. "It was unbelievable to play for Giddy and with my teammates. I felt like my first pro season was a good one."
Jason Van Kooten, in his second year with Tri-Cities, finished ninth in the NWL in hitting with a .299 average.
Sandy Almonte, who had no RBI in more than 70 at-bats through mid-July, came on with a flourish through the second half with 19 RBI, including a six-RBI game in August.
George Delgado filled the closer role effectively, finishing second in the league with 15 saves.
Ethan Katz started the season as a middle reliever, but finished the year in a starting role. Katz was fourth in the NWLwith a 2.35 ERA and a 4-1 record.
Tri-Cities won seven of its last nine games in August to take control of the East Division race, but then dropped its next four to set up a season-ending series against Yakima at Tri-Cities Stadium. The Dust Devils won the first two games of that series, but then lost the finale, which would have given Tri-Cities its first NWL playoff berth since 1984 and its first as a Rockies affiliate.
Despite a 36-40 record and just missing a playoff berth in its fifth year, Tri-Cities management was pleased with this year's progress after bringing up the rear in the NWL attendance race for two of its first three years.
Tri-Cities also surpassed its existing attendance record three times.
"We were more than satisfied," Ebert said after the team increased its attendance from 54,087 fans in 2004 to 63,173 this year and drew more than 3,000 fans five times. "We crushed all the goals we had set for ourselves. To sum it all up, we were only three runs away from the playoffs, but if this were the playoffs in a business sense, we would have made it with ease."
* Jack Millikin can be reached at 582-1406 or via e-mail at jmillikin@tricityherald.com.
