Indians Bid Adieu With A ‘W’ Berger, Pellow Provide Needed Clout As Tribe Closes Season With 7-1 Rout

Power, speed and starting pitching - the 1996 Spokane Indians had them all.

They also had a 37-39 record, proving that sheer numbers alone can’t explain a baseball season.

Brandon Berger went 3 for 3 to finish with a .307 batting average, and Kit Pellow singled in two runs to win the Northwest League RBI title as Spokane slapped Everett 7-1 to close the season at chilly-but-packed Seafirst Stadium.

The Indians, who finished three games behind North Division champ Yakima, compiled their best record in six seasons but also had their sixth consecutive lower-division finish.

Spokane led the league with 122 stolen bases, more than 20 better than runner-up Southern Oregon. The Indians’ 72 homers - 42 more than last season - trailed just South Division champion Eugene.

By season’s end, Spokane’s starting rotation was the league’s best. Jake Chapman (2.37), Enrique Calero (2.52) and Steve Hueston (3.08) had earned-run averages among the league’s top six, and Scott Mullen’s 76 strikeouts were fourth in the NWL.

Mullen and Hueston, who missed his final start with a tired arm, were the only starters who stayed in the rotation all year.

Yet Spokane’s relievers - not its starters - created the major problems. Their ineffectiveness pushed the team ERA to 4.55 - seventh in the eight-team league.

“We were a little rough defensively,” said Indians manager Bob Herold. “But our main thing was our relievers couldn’t come through for us.”

The Indians also had their share of injuries and players promoted, but played much better at season’s end than during the hot days of July. A 1-9 streak that started in early July dropped Spokane to 7-16. After that, the Indians went 30-23 (.566).

“The guys turned around and competed so well, but the beginning of July killed us,” Herold said.

The 1-9 stretch ended July 12, the day Ryan Brewer arrived from the Texas-Louisiana League. Brewer, who beat Boise that night, also earned the season-ending win to finish 3-2. Pellow’s third-inning single to center pushed his RBI total to 66 two better than Everett’s Rob Zachmann.

“After (the Pellow hit), we were prepared to just roll the ball up to Zachmann,” Herold said of Spokane’s pitching plans.

Berger entered the night at .300 and clinched the magic mark with a fourth-inning RBI single. He also singled in the sixth and seventh.

The sellout crowd of 6,081 pushed the season total to 180,903 and a Spokane record for average per game (4,761).

Notes

The Indians’ final departmental leaders: batting average, Berger, .307; hits, Berger, 87; doubles, Pellow, 18; triples, Kris Didion, four; homers, Pellow, 18; RBIs, Pellow, 66; runs, Jeremy Giambi, 58; on-base percentage, Giambi, .441; slugging percentage, Pellow, .562; wins, Chapman, seven; ERA, Chapman, 2.37; strikeouts, Mullen, 76; saves, Brewer, five. … Pellow’s RBIs and slugging percentage, and Giambi’s runs and on-base percentage led the league. … Spokane won the season series 10-5. … Tribe catcher Roman Escamilla missed the final game because he hurt his toe and shoulders after tripping down some steps. … Everett’s Matt Sachse, of Ferris High, singled in his final at-bat to finish the season at .236. Everett manager Roger Hansen said Sachse had improved markedly from last season’s play with the AquaSox.

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