Todd Guggiana, who was a Pioneer League All-Star catcher for the 1990 Butte Copper Kings and valued utility man also, as evidenced by his playing an inning at each of the nine positions during an end-of-the- season Copper Kings game that summer is not playing anymore. Rich Simpson, a former member of The. Montana Standard news staff, recently reported that Guggiana suffered a career-ending knee injury last year and attempted corrective surgery failed to repair the knee to the degree needed for him to resume his baseball career. He was playing for the Texas Rangers' Class A Port Charlotte, Fla., farm club in the Florida State League when injured. Simpson now works for the Port Charlotte paper. A look through a recent issue of Baseball America found that two more native Montanans are pitching in the minors. Longtime baseball farmhand Bill Wilkinson of Great Falls is with Huntsville, Ala., of the Class AA Southern League and in the Oakland A's systems. And, former Helena Capital football standout Jeff Tuss, son of Bruins football Coach Jim Tuss, is pitching for West Palm Beach, Fla., of the Florida State League and in the Montreal Expos farm system. The younger Tuss turned down a football scholarship to the University of Washington to try a pro baseball career. Also found was that 1982 Copper Kings catcher Joe Szekely is still in pro baseball, as a backup catcher for Class AAA Richmond, Va., of the Atlanta Braves farm System in the International League. Following is how former Copper Kings are faring at other levels of professional baseball this season according to Howe SportsData International statistics available through Thursday night: CLASS AAA American Association Batting (Minimum 105 Plate Appearances) ab r h hr rbi avg Jetf Frye, Okc 157 33 47 I 16 .-299 Dan Peltier, Okc 131 24 35 3 . 14 .267 Rob Maurer, Okc 146 22 36 6 29 .247 Maurer ranks filth in league In runs batted in with 29. Pitching (Minimum 31 Innings Pitched) ip h bb so w-l era . x Jeff Ballard, Lou 44 45 9 24 3 4 2 84 Angel Miranda, Den 39 53 25 23 1 5 5 35 x Ballard never pitched for the Copper Kings but is a native of Billings and ranks third in the league in pitching with a 2.84 earned run aver- . age for Louisville of the St. Louis Cardinals farm system. Oklahoma City is part of Texas Rangers farm system. Denver is part of the Milwaukee Brewers farm system. CLASS AA Texas League Batting (Minimum 103 Plate Appearances) ab h rbi avg 12 .313 Jon Shave, Tul Jose Oliva, Tul Dave Hulse, Tul Rusty Greer, Tul Cris Colon, Tul 115 111 128 123 121 118 36 30 34 31 30 28 270 266 252 248 Don Harris, Tul 237 Shave ranks eighth in the league in batting with a .313 average. Pitching (Minimum 30 Innings Pitched) ip h bb so w-l era Dan Smith, Tul 41 40 10 35 3 3 4.14 Cedric Shaw, Tul 40 36 14 2 7 2 2 4 31 Matt Whiteside of Tulsa is tied for third in the league in saves with 7. Tulsa is part of the Texas Rangers farm system. CLASS A Florida State League Batting (Minimum 108 Plate Appearances) ab r h hr rbi avg Miguel Cstllno, Chi 116 10 32 1 9.276 Craig Newkirk, Chi 128 16 3 4 1 12 . 266 Tim Morrow, Chi 122 11 24 2 12.197 Pitching (Minimum 32 Innings Pitched) ip w-l era 5 1 1.55 3 5 2.73 2 1 2.78 2 1 291 Chris Gies, Chi Seve Dreyer, Chi Terry Burrows, Chi Joe Eischen, Wpb 64 56 45 53 Dave Giberti, Mir 14 3.48 Gies ranks fifth in the league in pitching with a 1.55 earned run average. (Port) Charlotte is part of the Texas Rangers farm system. West Palm Beach is part of the Montreal Expos farm system. The (Fort Myers) Miracle is an independent franchise to which the Rangers have loaned Giberti. South Atlantic League Batting (Minimum 111 Plate Appearances) ab rbi avg Jose Texidor, Gas Mike Edwards, Gas Benji Gil, Gas Maivin Matos, Gas 143 145 150 11 .294 17 .290 21 .253 10 .241 10 .221 6 .202 141 Paul Matachun, Gas 104 1 Franklin Parra, Gas 124 1 Pitching (Minimum 33 Innings Pitched) ip h bb so Bo Maoee, Gas 37 27 18 30 w-l era 1-1 1.22 3 2 2.24 Joe Brownholtz, Gas 52 43 7 Dan Patterson, Gas 36 Chris Curtis, Gas 42 32 2 2 2.50 3 4 4.04 41 Magee ranks second in the league in pitching with a 1.22 earned run average. Gastonia is part of the Texas Rangers farm system.