The `B' Line . . . September 19, 2002
9/19/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Sept. 19, 2002
This is another "B" Line column, a periodic collection of news items of particular interest to members of the Baylor "B" Association. Contribute news about you or your teammates via e-mail to Dutch Schroeder (Dutch_Schroeder@baylor.edu), Reba Cooper (Reba_Cooper@baylor.edu), Kyle Penney,(Kyle_Penney@baylor.edu) or Jack Loftis (Jack.Loftis@chron.com). The mailing address is Baylor "B" Association, P. O. Box 8120, Waco, TX 76714
COLORADO ACE - With less than two weeks left in the Colorado Rockies' 2002 season, rookie pitcher Jason Jennings, the Baylor All-American, will not get the 20 wins many had expected of him two months back, but has a very good chance of becoming Rookie of the Year in the National League. Jennings, currently 16-7 for the fourth-place Rockies, had a shot at winning his 17th game on Sept. 14 against the Los Angeles Dodgers, but a questionable call by an umpire did him in after 6 2/3 innings. According to Denver media it appeared Jennings had picked off a runner at second base, but the ruling went against him. Jennings left the game with LA ahead 4-2, with the Rockies eventually winning 5-4. Team broadcaster Jeff Kingery says there is no doubt in his mind that Jennings should win rookie honors. "He started the year as the fifth starter and now is the staff ace," Kingery said in an Internet (www.MLB.com) interview. "Next year he will be the guy our staff is built around." Jennings also is flirting with a .300 season batting average. With 17 hits in 58 times at bat, he currently is batting .293 with 10 runs batted in. If he should succeed in reaching .300 he will be the first rookie pitcher to achieve that status since Jim Perry hit .300 for Cleveland in 1959 . . .
IN HALL OF FAME - Rockies fans got a preview of Jennings' skills at the end of the 2001 season. Few will ever forget his debut victory against the New York Mets at Shea Stadium. On that August night he pitched a complete-game, five-hit shutout with four walks and eight strikeouts - and also hit a home run. In doing so, Jennings became the first player in major league history to throw a complete-game shutout and hit a home run in his first game. Incidentally, the bat Jennings used in the Mets game is now a fixture in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. For trivia addicts, it should be noted that Jennings used a Juan Uribe model . . . In the meantime, Kip Wells, another former Baylor great, currently has a 12-14 record with the Pittsburgh Pirates, but with a little luck could be close to Jennings' record. The Pirates' official website had this to say following Wells' last start: "The Pirates' 4-3 loss to the Cincinnati Reds must have seemed like a deja vu experience for starter Kip Wells. Despite having what he admitted was less than his best stuff, Wells once again pitched well enough to win, just as he has in nearly every one of his 31 starts with the Pirates. But as has so often been the case, he and the Bucs came up just short." . . .
WITH APOLOGIES - The "B" Line regrets being late in notifying readers of Troy Stallings' death during the summer. A baseball letterman at Baylor in 1925-26-27, Stallings, 96, died in Conroe, where he had lived since 1994. After graduating Stallings was drafted by the Brooklyn Dodgers, but gave up baseball to concentrate on teaching and accounting. He held faculty positions at Bowie High School, San Marcos Academy, Corpus Christi High School and Del Mar College. He later joined the Corpus Christi Caller-Times in the newspaper's accounting department. Following retirement he traveled often and spent a great deal of time in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. He is survived by his daughter Debra Stallings of Conroe, his son Troy Max Stallings of Houston and brother John L. Stallings of Denton. No services were held, but family members asked that remembrances be directed to the Alzheimer's Association . . .
JACK LOFTIS
CO-CHAIRMAN
COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE
