Notorious Ace Gets New Start With Eugene

One of the most famous, or infamous, players out of the college baseball ranks just joined the Eugene Emeralds.

Pitcher Ben Christensen met up with the Emeralds before Wednesday’s Northwest League game at Everett.

Christensen made national headlines in April while pitching for Wichita State. The 6-foot-4 right-hander beaned Anthony Molina while the Evansville player waited in the on-deck circle.

Christensen and his Shockers coaches said at the time that they were upset at Molina for trying to time pitches prior to his at-bat.

Christensen, who was 9-1 at the time, was suspended for the season by the Missouri Valley Conference. The Cubs nevertheless selected Christensen in the first round of last month’s amateur draft.

He hasn’t said much about the incident, because of possible litigation, but Christensen has apologized to Molina and said he didn’t mean to hit him.

Christensen is expected to make his first start with Eugene today at Everett.

He was 21-1 in three seasons for his college career, and 0-1 during a brief stint with Mesa of the Arizona Rookie League.

Slick stick hits six

Boise third baseman Robb Quinlan tied a league record with six hits in a July 10 game against Eugene.

Quinlan hit .541 during the week, with 17 RBIs, nine runs, four doubles and two homers.

Nearly out of outfielders

Everett started last week’s series with Portland without its three starting outfielders.

Jerry Amador had been promoted to Class A Lancaster of the California League. Terrnell Sledge was sitting with a strained hamstring. Chris Snelling was under the weather.

The three had often hit 2-3-4 in the AquaSox lineup.

Snelling and Sledge have returned, but Amador isn’t expected back, said manager Terry Pollreisz.

“It feels good now,” Sledge said of the hamstring. “I hope it holds up. I’ve got to get my timing back. As time goes on, it’ll get better.”

Remember those zany Seventies?

The Spokane Indians presented a turn-back-the-clock (“retro”) night on July 9, with a 1970s theme.

Fans were asked to come in disco outfits and other garb from the polyester era.

Indians players were provided with groovy, tie-dyed uniforms. The psychedelic look was hip, but, as a few pointed out, actually representative of the 1960s.

Dzurilla attacks pitchers

Eugene had a 0-5 record when second baseman Mike Dzurilla joined the team June 21.

The Emeralds have played .500 ball with Dzurilla on the roster. The seventh-round selection from St. John’s is hitting .337 with 15 RBIs.

“It was tough adjusting from aluminum bats to wood, but I’m getting used to it,” Dzurilla said. “I feel like I can be aggressive again.”

“He’ll advance in this game,” said Eugene manager Danny Sheaffer. “He runs well and is developing as a hitter. He’s lived up to his billing.”

Short stops

Boise’s average attendance is down 18 percent from four years ago. The Hawks are averaging nearly 500 fewer fans than last year, when they shared the North Division title with Spokane… . Eugene took three of five games from Boise last week for its first series win over the Hawks since 1997… . Eugene moved into third place, percentage points ahead of Salem-Keizer, last week. It marked the first time since July 4, 1998, that the Emeralds weren’t in last place in the South.