Kings watch 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-theseason 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 h hr rbi avg Jeff Frye, Okc 157 33 47 16 .299 Dan Peltier, Okc 131 24 35 3 14 .267 Rob Maurer, Okc 146 22 36 6 29 .247 Maurer ranks fifth in league in runs batted in with 29. Pitching (Minimum 31 Innings Pitched) ip h bb so w-1 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 r h hr rbi avg Jon Shave, Tul 115 17 36 12 .313 Jose Oliva, Tul 111 16 30 6 16 .270 Dave Hulse, Tul 128 12 34 0 6 .266 Rusty Greer, Tul 123 15 31 1 10 .252 Cris Colon, Tul 121 12 30 0 13 248 Don Harris, Tul 118 13 28 3 16 .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 27 2-2 4.31 Matt Whiteside of Tulsa is tied for third in the league, in is saves part of with the 7. Texas Rangers farm sys tem CLASS A Florida State League Batting (Minimum 108 Plate Appearances) ab h hr rbi avg Miguel Cstlino, Chi 116 10 32 9 .276 Craig Newkirk, Chl 128 16 34 12 .266 Tim Morrow, Chi 122 11 24 2 12.197 Pitching (Minimum 32 Innings Pitched) ip h bb SO w-1 era Chris Gies, Chl 64 54 25 5-1 1.55 Seve Dreyer, Chi 56 57 15 29 3-5 2.73 Terry Burrows, Chl 45 45 16 32 2-1 2.78 Joe Eischen, Wpb 53 42 22 46 2-1 2.91 Dave Giberti, Mir 44 44 10 30 1-4 3.48 Gies ranks fifth in the league in pitching with a 1.55 earned run average. (Port) Charlotte 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 South Atlantic League Batting (Minimum 111 Plate Appearances) ab r h hr rbi avg Jose Texidor, Gas 143 14 42 0 11 .294 Mike Edwards, Gas 145 12 42 17 .290 Benji Gil, Gas 150 21 38 21 .253 Malvin Matos, Gas, 141 15 34 10 .241 Paul Matachun, 104 12 23 10 .221 Franklin Parra, Gas 124 10 25 0 6 .202 Pitching (Minimum 33 Innings Pitched) ip h bb so w-1 era Bo Magee, Gas 37 27 18 30 1-1 1.22 Joe Brownholtz, Gas 52 43 7 46 3-2 2.24. Dan Patterson, Gas 36 32 10 32 2-2 2.50 Chris Curtis, Gas 42 41 12 40 3-4 4.04 Magee ranks second in the league in pitching with a 1.22 earned run average. Gastonia is part of the Texas Rangers farm system.
