Midwest League 2001

South Bend Silver Hawks

Post-Season Profile

The Hawks developed into a very solid MWL team. They featured a couple star players in starter Beltran Perez and catcher Craig Ansman--I'd have selected both for the post-season All-Star team, and Ansman deserved consideration for Most Valuable Player--and had a generally competent supporting cast. This team had power, speed, and pitching; the defense was adequate.

Beltran Perez ended the season with a 12-4 record, struck out about a batter an inning, walked only two batters per game, and had an ERA of 2.81. This is a terrific performance; here's a pitcher to anchor a rotation. Bill White also contributed a strong season. Steve Scarsone juggled lots of pitchers with mixed success, but the overall result was better than league-average.

South Bend catcher Craig Ansman had a special season, which seems not to have been fully appreciated. The Silver Hawks' daily lineup was strong, though there was basically no one on the bench. This team featured great speed, and enough power to hurt.

Season Summary

• Second Half: 38-31, .551, 3rd place, 6.0 behind (playoff qualifier)
• First Half: 32-35, .478, 45h place, 7.5 behind
• Pitching: 70-66, 3.73, 31 saves, 960 strikeouts
• Hitting: .270, 678 runs, 74 HR, 211 steals (75% success)
• Errors: 175 (1.29 per game)
• April: 10-15 (.400)
• May: 15-11 (.577)
• June: 10-16 (.385)
• July: 14-13 (.519)
• August: 19-10 (.655)
• September: 2-1 (.667)

• Best Player on the Team: Catcher Craig Ansman

• Best Starting Pitcher: Beltran Perez (2.81, 12-4, 157 strikeouts)
• Bullpen Stopper: Greg Belson (2.50, 16 saves, 6-4)
• Strikeout Pitchers: Beltran Perez, Brian Bruney, Joey Cramblitt, Aric Leclair
• Control Pitchers: Beltran Perez, Joey Cramblitt, Carl Wells

• Best Hitter: Craig Ansman (.330, 21 HR, 82 RBI)
• Home Run Leaders: Craig Ansman (21)
• High Batting Average: Craig Ansman (.330), JuJu Foreman (.311), Andy Green (.300), Corey Myers (.327), Chad Tracy (.340), Jorge Delgado (.302)
• High On Base Percentage: Craig Ansman (.402), JuJu Foreman (.425), Jorge Delgado (.400)
• High Slugging Percentage: Craig Ansman (.623), Corey Myers (.469), Steve Neal (.453)
• Notable Baserunners: Craig Ansman, JuJu Foreman, Andy Green, Steve Neal, Victor Hall, Argelis Nunez, Jerry Gil, Kervin Jacobo, Dwight Edge, Shawn Lagana
• Notable Batting Eye: JuJu Foreman, Andy Green, Chad Tracy, Jorge Delgado

July Profile

The D'Backs have finally sent a decent team to South Bend. The Hawks run a solid team out there every night, with good pitching, adequate hitting, and excellent speed. They've even got a couple stars.

Beltran Perez has inherited the rotation ace job, and is filling it well. The rest of the pitching staff is pretty unremarkable; there's some promise, but on the whole they're playing average MWL baseball.

It's become pretty difficult not to notice Craig Ansman. Ansman and Steve Neal bring power to this lineup; JuJu Foreman, Andy Green, and Victor Hall bring speed. The Silver Hawk offense is dependable and productive.

Also worth watching: Third baseman Chad Tracy.

June Profile

Craig Ansman's the best hitter in the Midwest League. It doesn't look like anyone's figured that out....

This team's the strongest South Bend fans have had in several years. The Diamondbacks have finally found some talent for South Bend's team. That doesn't mean they can contend against the very strong competition at the high end this summer, but it's a nice change.

Andy Green, JuJu Foreman, Corey Myers, and Steve Neal join Ansman as a strong nucleus for a ballclub. Unfortunately, there's little talent beyond those few; only Victor Hall contributes. Several of these guys are terrific baserunners.

The pitching staff is about league average, which just isn't good enough this summer. Beltran Perez has real potential, and Joey Cramblitt's the most impressive guy out of the bullpen.

Notable mid-season losses: none notable.

May Profile

Finally: A decent team for the South Bend fans. Unfortunately, in this year with several excellent teams, that might not be enough.

Although catcher Craig Ansman started the season late, he's been the MWL's best hitter since he arrived. First baseman Steve Neal's also hitting extremely well. The rest of the team hits all right. Second baseman Andy Green leads an excellent base-stealing corps.

While the pitching staff lacks a star, and isn't particularly deep, this squad has good skills and can win in the MWL.

April Profile

Although the Hawks are a very young team, they've got some experience under their collective belts. The pitching is pretty good, but the hitting and defense need to develop. They could become an interesting group before the season ends.

Pre-Season Profile

Manager

This is Steve Scarsone's first summer managing a professional team.

First Round Draft Selection

• Casey Daigle (1999, supplemental pick)
• Corey Myers (1999, 4th player selected)

Team Age Information

• Average Team Age: 20.8
• Pitchers: 20.8
• Hitters: 20.7

• Oldest Player on the Team: Andy Green (born 7/7/77)
• Youngest Player on the Team: Kervin Jacobo (born 9/26/82)

The average player in the Midwest League is 21.6 years old. Average ages were calculated from the opening day roster; age as of July 1, 2001.

This website has more information about team ages.

Where they played last season

This is a brief portrait of how the team was put together. These summaries are based on the team's opening day roster and will not be revised to reflect roster changes.

The 2001 Silver Hawks played almost anywhere in the Arizona organization last summer. Frankly, the D'Backs method looks much like chaos.

Team         League          W/L     Place    Hitters Pitchers
                                    (Teams)
High Desert  California (A+) 48/92   10(10)      4       3
South Bend   Midwest (A)     60/78   12(14)      7       3
Missoula     Pioneer (R+)    44/32    2(8)       8       6
Diamondbacks Arizona (R)     27/25    5(9)       4       4

There was an enormous amount of movement in the Diamondbacks organization last summer; most of the players played for more than one team and are counted two or three times in this table. One appeared on four teams' rosters. Three of the new Hawks apparently did not play professionally last year. Three players had brief appearances at the Triple-A level in 2000.