Saturday, August 21, 1999
Surgery ends
By Al Chase
McNally’s season
Star-BulletinAndrew McNally's season ended abruptly Tuesday when he had surgery on his right shoulder.
McNally, signed by the Allentown (Pa.) Ambassadors of the independent Northern League after being released by Cleveland last fall, has been instrumental in Allentown's drive to win the South Division second-half title.
Used as a late-inning set-up reliever, the former Hawaii Rainbow right-hander had a 3-0 record and a sparkling 1.91 earned-run average in 17 appearances. He had struck out 25, walked 10 and allowed 23 hits in 28° innings.
He had some shoulder pain, but didn't think it was serious.
"I was throwing the ball well and pitching one or two innings each outing," McNally said from his Allentown home last night.
"I finally saw a doctor and stopped throwing for 10 days to see if the pain would go away. It didn't, so I went to get an MRI done. The MRI indicated a torn labrum."
That's the soft tissue that lines the shoulder socket.
"Basically, I didn't think it was anything that would go away by itself so I decided on surgery," the 6-foot, 185-pounder said.
The operation was performed in Birmingham, Ala., by one of the top sports surgeons in the country, Dr. James Andrews, who also operated on former Rainbow basketball standout Anthony Carter's left shoulder in June 1998.
McNally is upbeat and looking forward to reaching two goals next year.
A native of Australia, McNally wants to get healthy because he feels he still has a chance to make his country's national team for the 2000 Olympics.
"I'm hoping with the numbers I had this year, that I'll be able to hook up with a (major league) team for spring training. I've got the whole off-season to get healthy and strong,"McNally said.
Players with Hawaii connections who, through Thursday's games, qualify for inclusion in the weekly statistics compiled by Howe Sportsdata International: MINOR LEAGUE REPORT
Batter Team League Cl AB R H HR RBI AVG Key Voshell Richmond Frontier Ind 214 42 68 1 31 .318 Chris Truby Jackson Texas AA 401 67 113 24 77 .282 Keith Luuloa Edmonton Pacific Coast AAA 338 43 94 4 35 .278 Chad Santos Royals Gulf Coast R 159 18 43 4 34 .270 Jason Ross Myrtle Beach Carolina A 420 67 110 11 51 .262 Darren Blakely Lake Elsinore California A 453 78 118 12 53 .260 Shane Victorino Great Falls Pioneer R 177 39 46 1 15 .260 J.Thornton-Murray Cubs Arizona R 95 10 21 0 2 .221 Kelly Phair Sacramento Western Ind 130 25 32 0 14 .246 Pitcher Team League Cl IP H BB SO W-L ERA Corey Miller Athletics Arizona R 22.0 14 8 27 2-0 0.82 Jeff Martin Hickory South Atlantic A 24.0 19 8 23 0-2 1.88 Andrew McNally Allentown Northern Ind 28.1 23 10 25 3-0 1.91 Jerome Williams Salem-Keizer Northwest A 13.0 7 6 10 0-0 2.08 Kaipo Spenser Kinston Carolina A 61.2 58 17 21 2-3 3.21 Fletcher Lee Salem-Keizer Northwest A 24.2 23 13 20 2-1 3.28 Mark Johnson Norwich Eastern AA 64.1 63 32 38 5-3 3.64 Matt Wheeler Evansville Frontier Ind 11.2 13 6 12 1-1 3.86 Mike McCutcheon South Bend Midwest A 62.0 62 27 59 4-1 3.92 Jay Spurgeon Frederick Carolina A 135.0 161 51 78 6-7 4.47 Tyler Yates Visalia California A 71.1 83 32 67 2-4 5.43 Kyle Kawabata Reading Eastern AA 12.0 20 2 7 0-0 6.00 Paul Ah Yat Nashville Pacific Coast AAA 54.0 65 21 35 4-2 6.17 Orin Kawahawa Sacramento Western Ind 17.1 24 11 13 0-3 6.23 Dusty Bergman Boise Northwest A 59.1 82 16 36 4-4 6.67 Hawkeye Wayne Everett Northwest A 26.1 34 23 28 0-1 8.89 Mike Campbell Tri-City Western Ind 3.0 6 3 1 0-1 12.00Shane Victorino and Chad Santos each raised their batting average 20 points with hot performances last week. Victorino was 13-for-31 (.419) with two doubles, eight runs scored and two stolen bases. Santos was 9-for-23 (.391) with three doubles, two home runs and 12 runs batted in.The Reading Phillies placed right-hander Kyle Kawabata on the disabled list Aug. 9. It's the second time Kawabata has been on the DL this season.
Corey Miller leads the Arizona League with 10 saves, six more than the second-place closer.
