Circuit Clouts
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GM Lance Mueller's Havana Leones were the UL's hottest team in in August, forging the red-hot bat of Shane Mack and the stellar hurling of Kevin Ritz into a 20-9 record that vaulted them to .500, fifth place, and just six games out of the playoff zone.

Mack, the 25-year-old centerfielder, hit .400-8-27, 1.104 in the month, capturing the Player of the Week August 20 and posting seven three-hit games. Mack's hitting has equalled or surpassed even that of left fielder Kalvoski "Kal" Daniels. Mack's .339 average is nine points better and his .398 OBP is six points ahead of the 1987 Most Valuable Player. But Mack's stellar defense in center lends him a much higher WAR (5.9 to 3.9).

Kevin Ritz, meanwhile, put behind him a four-month stretch that could best be described as mediocre (9-7, 4.62) to go 4-0, 2.66 in six August starts. Newcomer Tom Glavine got his Havana career off to a good start, with a 3.12 ERA and 1.12 WHIP in his first six starts. And reliever Norm Charlton was nearly unhittable, posting a 0.63 ERA and 11.3 K/9 across nine appearances.

The August 18 contest against Boston was a landmark win. The Leones turned back a four-run deficit in the seventh with Daniel's two-run homer and a 3-run double by David Justice for an 8-7 win. The victory extended Havana's win streak to six games, probably setting some kind of club record. The hot patch started with a pair of 10-run outbursts against Atlanta and Manhattan,  then back-to-back pitching gems by Glavine and Mario Soto.

Whether the Leones can turn a hot month into a sustained pennant push is doubtful. Havana leads the league with 147 stolen bases and boasts a top-5 bullpen, but the club ranks 12th in runs and 13th in runs against, suggesting that August's success was illusory—perhaps a case of several players hitting on all cylinders at the same time. Justice, for example hit .352 in August after batting just .224 through the end of July. Likewise, Soto was 3-1, 2.65 with a 1.07 WHIP in August after starting the year 3-9, 5.92.

Regardless, long-suffering fans of the Cuban expansion team are thrilled to see their beloved Leones at .500 and just nine wins shy of the franchise record with 24 games remaining.

Boston's Tom Candiotti blanked the San Francisco Spiders with a 7-K, no-hitter on Aug. 21. It was the third no-hitter of the year, following Mark Langston and Walt Terrell's no-no's in July. After starting his career 15-60, and leading the league in losses in 1985 and 1988, Candiotti is on track for the second winning campaign of his nine-year career. After starting the year 3-6, the Candiotti is 10-3 in 15 starts since June 7.

Candiotti's no-hitter is the just the second no-hitter in franchise history. The first was also the first no-hitter in UL history, by Early Wynn of the 1953 New York Gothams. 1990 now becomes just the second year in UL history with three no-hitters. The first was 1964, with donut gems by Ray Sadecki (MAN), Whitey Ford  (WAS), and Jim Maloney (SF).

Boston currently sits in third place in the East, on the brink of its first playoff appearance in a decade and the first in the Ryan Hetzer era.

As is the case with just about every trade season, deals may not start flying until the trade deadline rears its ugly head.  Then, suddenly, many GMs decide they must tinker with their team as they contemplate how to ensure a playoff berth.

While the 1990 UL trade deadline did see a flurry of deals, the deal that has raised eyebrows happened long before the deadline, occurring on July 1, 1990.  The details are:

CLE sends:
SP Rich Gossage
3B Leo Gomez
CF Otis Nixon
SP Sergio Valdez
$2.5 Cash

DEN sends:
3B Gary Gaetti
CF Omar Moreno
RF Steve Kemp

Seems kosher, right?  But take a look at Gaetti’s player history page. Everything reads swimmingly until you come to the red rectangle and discover that CLE send DEN $25 MILLION DOLLARS!  This could also explain the Barons’ balance sheet bleeding red ink everywhere. GM Qualls has had to ration toilet paper and gone to meatless Mondays to try to stem the bleeding.  Rumor has it that Hal Morris has even lost weight as the Barons’ commissary was recently shuttered due to no funding.

Now, this would appear to be a clear case of a data entry error—the infamous "fat fingering" of Glen Reed's parlance—as the announced deal on July 1 does not jive with what BNN is reporting.  If this is simply a clerical error, then the correction will be easily done with no long-term impact.

HOWEVER, if this is NOT a case of data entry error, one wonders who may be behind this diabolical act that currently has left the Barons broke. And seeing how Denver is involved, and the city is in the midst of tearing up half of downtown for a new ballpark due to open next season, rumors are running wild about any possible 14ers involvement.  Stay tuned for updates as this story develops.