Wednesday, July 02, 2008
Despite victory, Salem is struggling
Aaron McFarling
Recent columns
Attention carnies of all shape, size and creed: Welcome!
You heard me: Welcome.
Yeah, so maybe you took up all the good parking spaces outside Salem Memorial Baseball Stadium on Tuesday night. And that smell wafting from a couple of the rides was ... interesting. But there's never been a better time for tattoos and Tilt-a-Whirls than now.
The Salem Avalanche needs some time away. To find itself.
The only place we can spot the Avs now is at the bottom of the Carolina League's Southern Division standings. Even after a nerve-fraying win Tuesday night -- 9-6 over the Winston-Salem Warthogs -- Salem sits at 4-8. A middling fourth in the league in team batting. A disappointing sixth in the circuit in team pitching, despite the home park's spacious dimensions. Losers of four of their past five games and six of eight.
Normally, this is a day area baseball fans dread. The Salem Fair elbows in, the Avalanche shoves off, and the Roanoke Valley goes without minor-league goodness for a couple of weeks.
But this time, parting isn't such sweet sorrow. It's actually something of a relief.
Salem's 10-day, nine-game road trip will tell us all we need to know about this club's second-half prospects. A winning trip, and maybe these guys are more resilient than we thought. A losing trip -- a probability considering the team's spotty play so far and the grueling, hotel-hopping nature of the stretch -- and we can go ahead and bury any false hopes.
And the best part? If things go wrong, we don't have to witness it.
Maybe we've been spoiled. If the Avs continue at their current pace, they'll finish the second half under .500 for only the second time in 10 years. They've always seemed to get better as the season goes on. They've fashioned late-summer hot streaks -- the 14-gamer two Augusts ago as scorching as any -- pennant pushes and even a Carolina League title over that span.
So far, though, Houston's last dance in Salem has been painful. The Avs are 14 games under .500 overall. Their longest winning streak has lasted a robust three games. And they're actually worse at home (18-26) than on the road (16-22).
Tuesday was an exception. On a gorgeous, 70-degree night, Salem did a few things right. A few things the guys would be wise to remember on their trip. Among the travel to-do list:
1. Produce more defensive gems like Cesar Quintero's leaping grab against the center-field wall in the fifth inning. This pitching staff is going to walk people. This pitching staff is going to give up hits. Any help would be appreciated.
2. Deliver more shocking displays of power like the grand slam from Jordan Parraz in the second inning. The Avs have been playing baseball since April and have gone deep just 35 times. Potomac and Myrtle Beach have more than double that total.
3. Channel Mark Ori and Douglas Arguello while they're here. Those two have been the most consistent performers all season. Ori entered Tuesday batting .313., fourth best in the league. And Arguello, after another serviceable outing Tuesday night, is 5-2 with a 3.03 ERA.
4. Take more heads-up chances like the snap throw backup catcher Jimmy Goethals made to help the Avs escape trouble in the seventh. Without that pickoff, Salem might have blown the last of an early 9-2 lead.
Whatever happens the next 10 days, it'll occur far, far from here -- which is not a bad thing.
In the meantime, make yourselves at home, you fine folks of the fair. The city is now yours.
