JETHAWKS NOTEBOOK: LOSING COULD BE BETTER THAN WINNING.Byline: Gideon Rubin Special to the Daily News LANCASTER - Baseball players are taught from the first day of spring training that they're expected to pursue victories every time they take the field. Well, maybe not every time. A complex qualifying format that's based on records for halves and overall marks could mean that if the JetHawks beat the wrong team, High Desert, they could hurt their chances of making the playoffs. Heading into Thursday's game against Lake Elsinore, third-place Lancaster (27-26 in the second half, 64-59 overall) trailed first-place High Desert (30-22, 66-56) by three games and led second-place Rancho Cucamonga Rancho Cucamonga (răn`chō k  'kəmäng`gə), city (1990 pop. 101,409), San Bernardino co., S Calif. (27-24, 55-65) by seven for the wild card in the California League's Southern Division. Although the JetHawks remain in contention for the second-half title, the biggest threat to their playoff hopes is Rancho Cucamonga overtaking o·ver·take tr.v. o·ver·took , o·ver·tak·en , o·ver·tak·ing, o·ver·takes 1. a. To catch up with; draw even or level with. b. To pass after catching up with. 2. High Desert for the title, which would nullify nul·li·fy tr.v. nul·li·fied, nul·li·fy·ing, nul·li·fies 1. To make null; invalidate. 2. To counteract the force or effectiveness of. the JetHawks' advantage in the wild-card race. Wednesday's results typified the quirkiness quirk n. 1. A peculiarity of behavior; an idiosyncrasy: "Every man had his own quirks and twists" Harriet Beecher Stowe. 2. of the playoff race. Rancho Cucamonga fell a game further behind High Desert for the second-half title, which meant Lancaster gained ground despite a 9-8 loss to Lake Elsinore. Six of the JetHawks' remaining 17 games are against High Desert, including three of their last four. If the JetHawks fall further behind High Desert in the title race but retain a lead over Rancho Cucamonga for the wild card, winning at High Desert could undermine their playoff chances. For his part, JetHawks manager Bill Plummer William Francis Plummer (born March 21, 1947 in Oakland, CA) was a catcher for the Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, and the Seattle Mariners. While never a regular player (he was Johnny Bench's backup catcher during the Big Red Machine years), he did play solid defense. bristled bris·tle n. 1. A stiff hair. 2. A stiff hairlike structure: the bristles of a wire brush. v. bris·tled, bris·tling, bris·tles v.intr. at the notion he'd consider weakening the team when it plays High Desert. ``You have to do the best you can every time they take the field,'' Plummer said. ``If you don't teach (the players) that, where are they going to be when they get to the big leagues? OK, we're in the wild-card race now, so why don't you lay down for a couple of days so you can get in the playoffs? That doesn't make sense to me.'' Plummer said he doubts his team - or any team - would have much success going into the playoffs after taking a dive to get in. ``What are we supposed to do?'' he asked. ``Just turn off a switch for three days and then turn it back on? Then we go into the playoffs and lose two-and-out. What good does that do?'' --Streak-buster: Wednesday's loss ended Lancaster's season-high eight-game winning streak Noun 1. winning streak - a streak of wins streak, run - an unbroken series of events; "had a streak of bad luck"; "Nicklaus had a run of birdies" and snapped Lake Elsinore's franchise-record 15-game losing streak, the longest of the California League The California League is a minor league baseball league which operates throughout the state of California. Before 2002, it was classified as a "High-A" league, indicating its status as a Class A league with the highest level of competition within that classification, and the fifth season. It also ended an eight-game Lancaster home winning streak against the Storm. The only individual streak of note was Jeff Cook's has for hitting, which he extended to 13 games. Cook was 2 for 4 with a double and his 17th homer. Gideon Rubin, (818)713-3607 gideon.rubin(at)dailynews.com |
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