Northwest League Fans Wearing Out The Turnstiles

There are a million reasons to consider this the best Northwest League baseball season in history.

For the first time, the league is on target to draw 1 million fans.

With 39 games remaining, an average attendance of 3,125 would push the gate count into seven figures. League teams had averaged 3,364 per game at last count.

The league attendance mark of 855,650, set last year, has already been surpassed.

The biggest factor for increased attendance has been the Rockies’ move to Portland from Bend, Ore. Portland has drawn more than 218,000 during 33 home dates.

Playoff hubbub

NWL playoffs begin Sept. 5 at Northern Division champion Bellingham. The second game, and third game, if necessary, will shift to the home field of the Southern Division champ.

If defending league champ Boise holds on in the Southern Division, it would be favored to repeat. The Hawks have won 22 of their last 29 games against Bellingham.

Boise is roaring toward the finish line, having won 18 of its last 23. Boise finished 29-11 against the Northern Division, including 7-3 vs. Spokane.

Hibernation

Yakima played horribly during most of the season and had no chance to repeat as Northern Division champ.

For the Bears to catch second-place Spokane or thirdplace Everett also appears to be a daunting prospect.

Yakima’s parent club, the Los Angeles Dodgers, promoted Kevin Gibbs to Vero Beach of the Class A Florida State League and demoted Mike Carpentier to Great Falls, Mont., of the Pioneer League.

Gibbs hit .317 and left with a league-leading 38 stolen bases. Although he had slumped during the last three weeks, the Dodgers needed a center fielder at Vero Beach because the regular was part of the trade with the New York Mets that returned Brett Butler to L.A.

“I definitely didn’t expect this,” a dejected Gibbs said, before leaving for unfamiliar surroundings.

Carpentier, the club leader with four home runs and 28 runs batted in, was sent down when Great Falls lost a pair of shortstops.

The bright spot of late for Yakima is the emergence of left-handed starter Onan Masaoka, the Dodgers’ third-round selection from Waiakea High in Hilo, Hawaii, during the June amateur draft. Because of a strict pitch count, Masaoka, 17, has left two game in the fifth inning while pitching a no-hitter.

When he surmises his team’s major-league prospects, Bears manager Joe Vavra says of Masaoka: “He’s the one. He’s it.”

Nepotism? Nah!

Todd Abbott, a right-handed reliever for Southern Oregon, was promoted to Huntsville (Ala.) of the Class AA Southern League.

Abbott’s numbers were decent enough: a 2-3 record, with one save and a 2.96 earned-run average.

His kick upstairs probably had nothing to do with the fact that father Glenn, the former major leaguer, is the Stars’ pitching coach.

Around the league

Vavra, in his sixth season as a manager, is in danger of finishing out of first or second place for the first time. … Everett pitchers Danny Kurtz and Tim Trawick had back-to-back complete games last week. Spokane and Bellingham pitchers have no complete games this season. … Brandon Welch of Southern Oregon went 4 for 6 last week during a game at Yakima. Welch had been 0 for 37 on the road. … Eugene lashed 77 hits in a six-game stretch. The outburst coincided with the arrival of Atlanta Braves roving hitting instructor Leon Roberts, who sparked a similar turnaround during a July visit. … Boise reliever Grant Vermillion (12-3) is one win away from the league record.

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