|
8/13/2017-Peter Dindinger, Alamogordo Daily News
Published 5:40 p.m. MT July 28, 2017
Pecos League commissioner Andrew Dunn was in
Alamogordo on Thursday, and he was able to
confirm the news in a phone interview with the
Daily News.
"Well, 2018 will be our eighth season in
Alamogordo with the Pupfish," Dunn said.
"That's what we're doing and we're glad that
going into a more established league we know
we're going to be back in White Sands, Roswell,
Santa Fe, Trinidad, Garden City and Alpine.
"The entire Mountain Division is really stable
and there's no more expansion and going to all
these places. That's gotten tiresome for me,
specifically. I just want to stabilize and just
play. I'm tired of expansion. I think what we
got is great and I think the league's good."
This season, by any means, wasn't quite the
picture-perfect year for the Pupfish. They're
about to tally the worst record in club history
since 2013.
Errors and pitching were two of the main
issues.
As a team, White Sands is hitting .288 with 607
hits, 50 home runs and 312 RBI.
The team average is the lowest since hitting
.291 in 2014, while the hits total is the
second-lowest posted since the 605 hits tallied
by the 2014 club.
As for ERA, the Pupfish are at 10.04, which is
a club-worst. Last year's team had a 7.36 ERA.
The best ERA was posted in 2015 -- 5.22.
Believe it or not, their 114 errors committed
this season are the second-fewest committed
since the 2013 squad had 105.
The 2012 team posted the most errors -- 140.
Special events manager for the City of
Alamogordo, Jan Wafful, says the Pupfish are
here to stay.
"There's no question ever about whether they're
coming back or not," Wafful said. "The Pupfish
have been here for seven years. They are here
to stay. They are a part of our community and
they've brought us some of the best baseball
players that have gone on into the minor and
major leagues.
"It's a given. They'll be here. They are a part
of our community. We appreciate them and we
appreciate having semi-pro baseball in
Alamogordo for our citizens to go and see. We
have a loyal following of baseball fans, who
come out every night that they play and they
enjoy it a lot."
One positive for next season is the Pupfish
will get more home games. This year they had 22
games at home -- the fewest in club history.
Of their total 67 games played in 2017,
including the three spring training games,
White Sands met Alpine 21 times and Roswell 16
times.
According to Dunn, the Pupfish will get more of
a variety next season. The Tucson Saguaros will
supposedly make their way over to Alamogordo
for interleague play. The Hollywood Stars, a
travel team in the Pacific Division, will also
get a chance to play in Alamogordo.
|
