MWLguide.com | Seasons | 2001 | Teams | Fort Wayne Wizards | |
2001 East: | Dayton | Fort Wayne | Lansing | Michigan | South Bend | West Michigan | |
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Midwest League 2001Fort Wayne Wizards |
![]() New 17may01 Changed 31aug10 Major Change 14nov01 ![]() 2001 Teams Beloit Burlington Cedar Rapids Clinton Dayton Fort Wayne Kane County Lansing Michigan Peoria Quad City South Bend West Michigan Wisconsin |
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This page profiles the 2001 Fort Wayne Wizards, a Single-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres and a member of the Midwest League. Except where otherwise specified, all statistics on this page are through the end of the 2001 season. |
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Post-Season ProfileWell, the problem wasn't Tom Lawless; this team got worse every month, even after the manager change. Fort Wayne's pitching was OK. The pitching staff was interesting--adequate rotation, excellent closing, and a mix of capabilities in the other roles. The Padres made too many changes for stability, but they sent decent pitchers to the Wizards. The hitting was terrible. Kevin Reese and Abner Arroyo had exceptional seasons, and Craig Thompson was a strong contributor. Reese, in particular, merits watching. But no one else showed much potential.... |
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Season Summary
July ProfileThis team expected a better season than they've delivered. The Fort Wayne pitching staff is adequate, but the hitters have let 'em down. The guys play decent defense. This team's used lots of starters, with mixed results. Mark Phillips has done extremely well in a handful of starts and looks to be the current staff ace. The relief pitching story's similar; Roger Luque and Mike Nicholas are the best of those remaining. The Padres have been fairly aggressively promoting pitchers from this staff, which hasn't helped. Hitting? A short story: Kevin Reese and Abner Arroyo are having special seasons. Craig Thompson has been contributing. Several of the weaker hitters run well. Also worth watching: Spot starter Travis Devine. June ProfileA fine hitter, a handful of promising pitchers, and some flyers on the basepaths. This is a lackluster team, but there are some interesting players to watch. They've been performing very well under new manager Don Werner, who perhaps can make something valuable of these fellows. Kevin Reese has developed into a valuable hitter, pushing his BA to .310 with both power and speed. The rest of the Wizard offense is speed--impressive speed, to be sure, but no one gets on base with enough regularity. Reliever Mike Bumstead has overpowering tools, but hasn't yet delivered; he's pitching very well, mind you. Starters Jack Cassell, Oliver Perez, and Duncan McAdoo have some promise. In general, the pitching staff is adequate. That won't get 'em past Dayton or Michigan, but this team's got a playoff shot if the offense can improve. Notable mid-season losses: Vince Faison & Brian Gaal. May ProfileThe Wizards have some pretty good pitchers, but their effort's generally wasted: You can't win unless you score some runs. This team doesn't have an offense. The defense is pretty good. Consider outfielder Kevin Reese: Batting Average: .275. 4 homers. 27 runs scored, 27 runs batted in. 12 steals. That's the best batting line on the team. Several of the Wizards have excellent basepath skills, but don't have a clue how to get to first. There's lots of talent on the mound, though. Oliver Perez is the best starter--but Duncan McAdoo's very good pitching has resulted in seven losses. Mike Bumstead's been effective out of the bullpen. Most of the pitchers throw strikes. But they get far too little help. April ProfileThe Wizards have an excellent pitching staff, but the hitters haven't yet shown any promise. When Clinton had this talent arrangement a couple years ago, it worked OK for a couple months. Then it stopped. Pre-Season ProfileManagersThis is Don Werner's tenth season as a minor league manager; most of those have been spent in the low minors, where he's been quite successful. Werner's teams run, but bunt and complete games are quite rare. Tom Lawless enters his fifth season as a professional (and Midwest League) manager. Lawless is an aggressive manager. He gives out a lot of intentional passes by MWL standards, calls for lots of bunts, and likes to see his baserunners steal. First Round Draft Selections
Team Age Information
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 seasonThis 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 Wizards are based on last summer's very fine Idaho Falls team. The rest of the team was collected from spare parts; in many ways, this is the most oddly-constructed squad the MWL's seen in some time. Team League W/L Place Hitters Pitchers (Teams) Rancho Cucamonga California (A+) 61/79 8(10) 1 1 Fort Wayne Midwest (A) 72/65 T5(14) 5 1 Idaho Falls Pioneer (R+) 45/29 1(8) 9 5 Padres Arizona (R) 17/38 9(9) 3 1 The Padres moved many these players much last summer, so they are counted twice (or thrice) in this table. Two of 2001's Wizards appeared in independent leagues last summer, two came from other organizations, and two did not play professionally. None of the Wizards played above Class A in 2000. |
Fort Wayne Seasons 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 Overview Padres Affiliates Fort Wayne 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 Clinton 1998 1997 1996 Overview ![]() |
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The Midwest League plays Single-A, professional baseball in America's agricultural and industrial heartland. 16 teams play a 140 game schedule which begins in early April and ends Labor Day weekend.
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This website is a private project and has no official relation with or sanction from the Midwest League or Minor League Baseball.
The opinions expressed on this page are mine, and are worth about that.