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Show ; MINORS NOTEBOOK Agent Says Twins Must Share Blame In Rupp’s Demise BY LAURENCE MIEDEMA THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE. A clubhouse argument with Salt Lake Buzz Manager Phil Roof may ultimately have cost Chad Rupp a job in the Twins But Rupp’s agent said the Twins and Roofareatleast as responsible for the ugly breakup as Salt Lake's all- ‘The SaltLake Tribune BASEBALLSunday, May 30, 1999 == LOCALS IN THE MINORS eae) 2BKinston__Aindians Sapp (Pl. Grove] C Scrosota _ARedSox neSecist(Vewrron)_Ofaoona—_AAPYoles ZachSorensen e Aindions John Summers en iene Ga AGian's Nate Tebbs (Bingham) 28 Trenton Binds Sox Ron Wright (St.ea 4BAltoona: Piicher 4730 14 468 8 24 136 0.3 234 0 46 270 0 16 340249 RL 4 we alse Team David Bleazard (Tooele) Dunedin John Desitva (BYU) Brandon Duckworth (Keams) Clearwater APhillies $ 2s 5-0 306 Scott (Cyprus)__ Eyre Charlotte AAAW.Sox 53404 jared Femandez(Keams) Trenton AARedSox 30 3.38 time homerunleader was. The Twins “do a lot of things other organizations don't do, and I'm not goingto let them slap a guy like 2 at BEESE SESE ee Chad, who's a good kid,” said Steve Comte, Rupp’s San Francisco-based agent. “They're trying to bury him little bi Comte said Roof, Salt Lake’s fifth-year manager, was justas guilty of escalating the tone of the argu- “He failed to diffuse the situation, and in fact he inflammedit with his comments. Phil (Roof) made a couple of comments questioning Chad’s character, and that’s what precipitated the real words and confrontation.” Steve Comte Chad Rupp's agent iieaaae madea couple of comments questioning Chad’s character, and that’s what precipitated the real words and [being pinch-hit for by another first base pros- Rupp had doubled in his previous at-bat, but was hitting just .193 at the time and had a .164 batting averagewith playersin scoring position. Comte said Rupp’s frustration stemmed from his record with the Buzz, as the cleanup hitter for most of three seasons and a leading run-producer. “He's been a clutch performer for [Roof] and wouldn't be hitting in the four hole if he wasn’t,” said Comte. Twins management supported Roof’s decision. “Phil's right; you can’t let the players dictate what moves we're going to make,” said Jim Rantz, the Twins’ director of minor leagues. The Twins could have just suspended Rupp. But Rantz said Rupp wason the vergeof being released or traded anyway, becauseSalt Lake needed to add pitchers. “The reasonI did it was because I needed a roster spot, and he wantedto play. If he stayed, there was still going to be a numbers problem at first base and he'd still be frustrated,” said Rantz. “If he wasn’t going to bein our plans, it’s time to move on.” Comtesaid the idea that Rupp, whohadhitatleast 10 homers in each of his first six seasonsin the organization, was goingto lose his job is hardto believe. But Comtedid say that Rupp’s frustration about his status with the Twins was a major factor in Tuesday’s argument. “He didn’t go in there with the intent to embarrass {Roof]. I think Chad just said, ‘Enough.’ It wasn't Phil, per se, but the organization, and Phil represents the organization,’ said Comte. No onein the Minnesota minor league system hit more homeruns than Rupp thepasttwofull seasons, but he never was called up to the majors and was one of the Twins’ first cuts in spring training. This year, Rupp had to sharetime at first base and hell of a player in the organization.” Comte said Rupp had interest from Pittsburgh and Atlanta within 48 hoursofhis release and is hopeful the 27-year-old can quickly resumehis career. “He'll get a job somewhere,” said Roof. “He's put up some good numbers thelast two seasons. JUST LIKE THEY PLANNED Even though the Zion Pioneerzz are an expansion team in the independent Western Baseball League. club officials thought an aggressive search for veteran players would make them competitive right away. A week into the season, the club is atop the WBL standings. After winning five of six road games, the Pioneerzz beat Sonoma County 19-16 Fridaynight in the club’s home debut in St. George. First baseman Wil- lie Moser went 5-for-6 and hit two homeruns. Zion outscored its opponents 57-37 in the first seven games andhas team batting average of 307. Third baseman Robert Muro is fourth in the league with a .455 average, while J.D. Cowan and Brian Grebeck also are hitting .400. Seven of the Zion starters are hitting at least 300. Grebeck is second in the league with 10 RBIs, and is third with four homers. Zion's pitching hasn't been too bad, either. Two-time WBLPitcher of the Year Mike Smith wonhisfirst twostarts, while Chance Gledhill threw RAPTORSON DECK Although the Buzz and Pioneerzz have a headstart never auditioned Rupp. on the Ogden Raptors, the Pioneer League team is just two weeks from starting its season. ing was they asked him to put up numbers [at Salt the Junebaseball draft, but they will begin workouts “We've heard everyexcusein the book. Ourfeel- Comte. “Chad has never been given an opportunity, The Raptors won't knowwhotheywill have until at Lindquist Field on June 13. The team’s “Meetthe Raptors Night” is June 14 at 7 p.m. Ogden’s first home gameis June 22 THE ASSOCIATED PRESS MINNEAPOLIS — Sometake was the A-ball team for the Mariners.” When other teams look at the The 1999 Minnesota Twins are really the Minnesota Tykes Before catcher A.J. Pierzynski Twins, they don’t need to pretend they don’t know these guys. Mientkiewicz, Perkins, Torii leagues last week, the Twins had Guzman, Joe Mays and Chad Al- still are in the minor leagues. was sent back to the real minor 12 rookies and 13 veterans on their roster, thanks to the club's payroll slashing that continued with the trade of Rick Aguilera Now, the payroll is less than $17 million and General Manager Terry Ryan has orders to prune wages even further. While that has meant an abunof growing pains and comfort to the rookies who at least have companyin their misery ‘There is a calming effect.” first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz said “It s 10 less guys you have to impress. Fellow rookie Dan Perkins, a right-handed pitcher whogrew up down the block from Mientkiewicz in Miami, had an unconventional way of dealing with the Hunter, Mike Lincoln, Cristian len were all members of last year’s 83-59 Eastern League championship team at Double-A NewBritain Double-A. “A lot of us skipped Triple-A and that’s a huge jump to the big leagues,” said Mays, a right-handed reliever. “For us to skip that, there's a little learning process there that we have to go through now. But those guys in Triple-A had the same shot we did. Noneof us wasgiven a bone “We're not going to be in the hunt. But we're not going to lose ¢ tm Last week, Gary Rath and Rob Radlosky were teammatesin Salt Lake City. Now they're in a dif- ferent world, 60 feet 6 inches from greatness. “A week ago we weresitting there trying to get Las Vegas out,” Rath said. “Now we'retrying to get Ken Griffey out.” Veteran reliever Eddie Guar- dado said there’s no hazing of rookies, so they should be having a good time despite the mounting losses. “The rookies are really accept- ed,” Guardado said. “I don't know what it’s like in other organiza- tions. but from whatI heard it’s pretty tough on rookies, if you're playing with the Yankees or Cleveland “Here, we're a low market team and nobody has big egos.’ Kirby Puckett, whose stellar ca- reer was cut short by vision prob- craft at the big-league level any- ing the rookies even though they barely outnumber the youngsters. “We got a great group of guys way He simply made believe he wasn't facing the likes of Ken Griffey Jr, Alex Rodriguez and cess than to faceguys like that? If Edgar Martinez last week, and it worked. He picked up his first you can get them out, you can pretty much get any guy out major-league victory with six strong innings. In six games, the Mariners have outscored Minnesota 63-24. insisted Mays, who 100 games,” figures it's better to hone one's I'm facing Hall of Famers, I'm 23 years old.” he said “Alex Rodriguez is one of the best shortstops in the major leagues and Ken Griffey is an absolute stud I burden of become a big-leaguer euusexre “I tried not to let that affect me,” Perkinssaid. ‘I pretendedit comfort knowing they're not alone. 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Mf Lang ment,” said Rantz. “The bottom line is he’s been a liams and backup catcher George Williams. The Twins promoted Doug Mientkiewicz straight from Double-A to their starting first base job. more can he show to get an opportunity?” said oo ga 's 16 7 1 280 SEs Rantz said the Twins have notblocked Rupp’s path to the majors. “Chad Ruppis terrific guy. We've had him in our organization for seven years, so to sayhe didn’t get a chance; I don't knowif that’s really a good state- the league's first complete-game shutout and former BYU star Ryan Hancockhas a 1-0 record and a 2.45 ERA in two appearances. Lake] and he did do that. What morecanhe do; what ao neu ues ail oa Heatgen Tor Bata2= PeBa 3 =aM »n pect} represented everything that has gone wrongin his career. designated hitter on the Buzz with Ortiz, Eddie Wil- In 1998, the Twins used nine first basemen, but ‘‘ ahi ium 8 tua tor Pe Bl eae Oqutoas Pane COW hwce or toes 2M Ager= wi Nagy Cle 236 Talo “Hefailed to diffuse the situation, and in fact he inflammedit with his comments,”said Comte. “Phil and confrontation.” = me35 ae :a om299 Be. Rupphit a Buzz-record 32 home runsin 1997 and had 59 homersin 242 seasons with the team before he was released Wednesday morning. The night before, Rupp and Roof got into an argument after the first baseman waspinch-hit for by David Ortiz in the eighth inning, when the Buzz wererallying. The confrontation was heard by most of the players remaining in the clubhouseafter the game, and Roof said the player was cut for being disrespectful and challenging a managerial decision. ‘ THE ASSOCIATED PRESS LUBBOCK, Texas — Brett Huebner went 4-for-5. scored three runs and drove in another as Wisconsin-Milwaukee upset top-ranked Rice 8-4 in an NCAA regional game Rice took a 4-0 lead in the first but never scored again off Chad Sadowski, who struck out six while giving up 10 hits in a com plete game. Milwaukee (31-27) tied the gamewith two runsin the second and third and took a 6-4 lead in the fifth on consecutivehits from Huebner and Sadowski It’s the first NCAA baseball ap- pearance for any team from the state of Wisconsin since 1950. when the University of Wisconsin advanced to the College World Series Later in the day, Damon Thames went 3-for-4 and drove in two runs as top-ranked Rice de- feated Rutgers 6-1 in an elimina- tion game The Owls (53-12) scored three runs in the sixth, including a homerun by Charles Williams. Todd Speedy homered for the lone run for the Scarlet Knights (37-21). * n fem ae Acme | Aron comand fs Sater (att tom ok Sw Sener mee etesae Weckages LE Crvighton § _—— 2 Sa raters «Nets Dae 3 Seer Dame kee Doe |
