[BirdWatcher]

The Denver Brewers hit their first rough patch of the 1982 season, being swept in a 3-game series by the Wild Things in Portland and then splitting a 4-game series with the Aces in Brooklyn and with the San Francisco Velocity playing well the Brewers drop to 2nd place in the MGL West.

Here are the updated standings:




The Brewers did continue to get great production from veteran first baseman Brett Taranto and the more recently acquired 23-year old second baseman Dustin Moore. (Incredibly, Moore, who was a 1st round draft pick out of Holy Redeemer High School in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania by the Velocity in the 1978 draft- 10th overall- was picked up by the Brewers when San Francisco put him on waivers in early February and Denver took a chance on him. Admittedly, his stock as a prospect has fallen greatly since he was named the 50th best prospect in the WPK at the end of the 1978 season.) Moore is known for his great defense and speed but his bat (.374/.418/.496) has come as a great surprise to everyone thus far (granted, with a .412 BABIP it is almost surely not sustainable).




Both Taranto and Moore had 5-hit games this past week, with Brett's coming in the Brewers 13-1 trouncing of Brooklyn yesterday to end the week.

The Baltimore Lords are now in a virtual tie with the resurgent Detroit Falcons for first place in the MGL East. The Lords are slumping a bit after their red-hot start but a few days ago they announced that they had reached agreement with their staff ace and the reigning MGL Pitcher of the Year, Sako Zakian, to extend his contract with the team through the 1988 season. Zakian is not off to a good start but he remains a durable, 5-pitch innings eater who is great at inducing groundball outs. This is seen in the WPK world as a strong sign of a commitment by Baltimore management to the team's future.