[BirdWatcher]

History/Overview: The Columbus Whalers are second only to the Jacksonville Wolf Pack in team winning percentage in WPK history (your Brewers are 3rd.) Columbus has a .563 winning percentage and has twice won both the SJL pennant and the WPK Championship (1968-1969.) They currently have taken over 1st place in the SJL this season as well. They finished in 8th place in the league's first season (1965) but since then they have never finished below .500, although they did finish as low as 5th place once since (1967.) Columbus ranks as an above average market in the WPK and the Whalers fan base is also thought of as above average in terms of loyalty. Currently though, even with the team in 1st place, fan interest is only good but certainly not as high as it should probably be. The Whalers are blessed with having an owner who is lenient, charitable, and hands-off. His priority is profit and some suspect he might not always inspire the management team to get the most out of the team in terms of winning. But mostly he is reportedly a pleasure to work for.

The Park: Starting this season, the Whalers play at Huntington Park, which holds a maximum of 38,500 fans, which does make it one of the smallest parks in the league. Huntington seems to favor hitters a bit more than pitchers, and is particularly friendly to left-handed hitters.

The Face of the Franchise: While center fielder Brad Tesh may be the most popular Whaler among local fans, starting pitcher Jake Harris is almost surely to be the first WPK Hall-of-Famer representing the franchise. Along with the Brewers Cheol-han Lee and the San Antonio Keys Chris Hernandez, Harris is arguably one of the three best starting pitchers of his generation. He is a 2-time Pitcher of the Year, a 7-time All-Star, and has a career win-loss record of 139-58 with an astounding career ERA of 2.27. At age 33, Harris is showing no signs of slowing down as he is 12-4 with a 2.22 ERA this season. He has led the league in wins 4 times, in ERA once, and in WAR twice. And unlike Lee and Hernandez, Harris has pitched his entire career for the same team and, as he is under contract through the 1976 season, may well never pitch in another uniform.

Greatest former player: Most of the great Whalers in the short history of the franchise thus far still play their home games in Columbus. But right fielder Ricky Salinas, who is now a member of the Jacksonville Wolf Pack, is the career leader in batting average for Columbus (.297) and among the career leaders in several other offensive categories. Salinas played his first 6 seasons as a Whaler and collected 2 Gold Gloves as a member of the team. He was also an important member of both championship teams for Columbus and indeed was the MVP of the 1969 World Series.