NALB - July 2009

For the most part, the top teams continued to play well and hold on to their division leads. The Key West Corals, however, cooled off a bit in July and allowed the Stade Maples to catch them in a tie for first place. A major blow to the Corals was the loss of starting pitcher Gan Tung (9-4, 3.13 ERA). Suffering from inflammation in his right shoulder, he will miss the rest of the season.

There is typically a flurry of trade activity before the July 31 trading deadline. This season, no team was more active than the Brooklyn Knights. The Knights initiated the following trades:

1. On July 11, the Knights traded 18-year-old minor league shortstop Luís Fentes, 20-year-old minor league left fielder Manny Quirino and 27-year-old minor league second baseman Neill Zimmerman to the St. Rock Mudcats, getting 19-year-old minor league first baseman Toshiharu Fujii, 19-year-old minor league reliever Adney Buntain, 18-year-old minor league catcher Andrew Strain, 19-year-old minor league starting pitcher Dave Shropshire and 19-year-old minor league second baseman Yoshinori Higashi in return.
2. On July 28, the Knights traded 23-year-old minor league first baseman Dave von Hallberg to the Dunedin Otters, getting 26-year-old starting pitcher Ralph Kerfoot, 24-year-old minor league reliever Ozell Williams, 20-year-old minor league first baseman Ulucan Gilmore, 19-year-old minor league reliever Pat Ward and 25-year-old minor league reliever Kevin Dumont in return.
3. On July 31, the Knights traded 27-year-old minor league first baseman Young Latimore, 19-year-old minor league catcher Juan Orrego, 25-year-old minor league reliever Javier Asencano, 28-year-old minor league reliever Brian Stuart and 25-year-old minor league reliever Keith O'Rourke to the Phoenix Rattlers, getting 19-year-old minor league starting pitcher Porfírio Portio in return.
4. On July 31, Brooklyn worked a second deal with Phoenix, just before the deadline. The Knights traded 24-year-old minor league reliever Toshiharu Yoshida, 24-year-old minor league reliever Cary Foust, 24-year-old minor league reliever Jacob Ffolkes, 27-year-old minor league second baseman Modesto O'Shee, 27-year-old minor league first baseman Kartik Norman, 26-year-old minor league catcher Bill McRaith, 22-year-old minor league reliever Raúl Hernández and 26-year-old minor league third baseman Scrappy Guizar to the Phoenix Rattlers, getting 21-year-old minor league first baseman Hsiao-lou Yeh and 25-year-old minor league starting pitcher Bob MacGowan in return.

July 2009 awards:

League 1
Batter of the Month: Hooks Goetz (Brooklyn Knights)
Pitcher of the Month: Bob Wiesner (Brooklyn Knights)
Rookie of the Month: Cipriano Delgudo (Nashville Firecats)

League 2
Batter of the Month: Travis Araoz (Stade Maples)
Pitcher of the Month: Ronaldo Mijangos (Key West Corals)
Rookie of the Month: Paul Cain (Key West Corals)