Columnist Ron Kantowski: Not all of Stickneys’ teams are struggling

Tuesday, April 27, 1999 | 10:34 a.m.

Ron Kantowski's notes column appears Tuesday and Thursday. Reach him at ron@lasvegassun.com or 259-4088.

Given the Thunder hockey team is on its deathbed and that the triple-A Stars need to have all the planets in line and a fireworks extravaganza scheduled to make the turnstiles sing, you might surmise that co-owners Hank and Ken Stickney are as clueless as actress Alicia Silverstone when it comes to running a minor-league sports franchise.

But then how do you explain the phenomenal success enjoyed by the California League's Rancho Cucamonga Quakes and Lake Elsinore Storm?

Those two teams also are controlled by the Stickneys. But unlike the Thunder and Stars, the Quakes and Storm are among the nation's most successful minor-league franchises.

Using a complex formula that takes into account attendance and market population and adjusts for won-loss record, Street and Smith's "Sports Business Journal" ranks Rancho Cucamonga a heady No. 7 (with a score of 90.20) among the nation's 158 minor-league baseball franchises. Its I-15 neighbor Lake Elsinore (79.35) is slotted at No. 19.

Meanwhile, the Stars (37.95) were ranked a distant 102nd among the 158 franchises that were considered.

The country's top-ranked minor-league baseball franchise is Kane County of the Midwest League. The Cougars' average attendance of 7,079 is 20 percent larger than their stadium capacity in Geneva, Ill.

At the other end of the bushes is Pulaski of the Appalachian League at No. 158. With an average attendance of 275, the Rangers could use a little marketing creativity and/or a few more Beanie Baby nights.

* ODOM AWOL: According to a story in the Providence (R.I.) Journal, Rhode Island star and former UNLV recruit Lamar Odom recently left campus for nearly two weeks, allegedly to attend to "family matters." It's not certain whether Odom will return for his sophomore season at URI, despite the fact that -- get this -- he was on the search committee that named Jerry DeGregorio to replace the indecisive Jim Harrick as Rams coach.

DeGregorio has served Odom as both a surrogate father and mentor, although I'm sure that had nothing to do with him getting the job.

* FANTASY MAN: Mention fantasy baseball, and the first thing that pops into my mind is Morganna The Kissing Bandit dressed in an old Spandex Pirates uniform. In other words, I don't participate in all that Rotisserie stuff -- not when there's an old Strat-O-Matic board game sitting in my closet. That said, former Green Valley standout Chad Hermansen, a 21-year-old outfielder in the Pittsburgh organization, is one of the 13 National League minor-league hitters worth watching, according to the Bloomberg News weekly Fantasy Baseball report.

So as Carl the Greenskeeper said in "Caddyshack" when he was promised inner peace in lieu of a tip after caddying for the Dalai Lama, Hermansen's "got that going for him."

Las Vegas Stars outfielder Gary Mathews, a k a the Son of Sarge (Gary Mathews Sr.), also is on the Bloomberg list of future fantasy stars.

* OFF TRACK: Tennessee State fired track coach Stanford Strong over the weekend for running two redshirt athletes in a meet under fake names.

Rest assured that Strong was not named for the bastion of higher learning situated in Palo Alto, Calif.

* CAPTAIN MORGAN: It's already been a big season for native Las Vegan and Major League Baseball vagabond Mike Morgan.

Morgan, who earlier this season set a dubious record by pitching for his 11th major league team (his cap even was sent to Cooperstown), notched another one last week by finally beating the Seattle Mariners for the second time. Morgan's first win over the M's (his second in the majors) came on Aug. 4, 1979 -- a span of 19 years, 252 days. That's longer than any other pitcher has gone between wins over the same team.

So Morgan's got that going for him.

* HOT TODD-Y: Former UNLV pitcher Todd Stottlemyre isn't making too many friends among the San Francisco Giants these days. Last week, a profanity-laced exchange between the Giants' Charlie Hayes and Stottlemyre, who now pitches for the Arizona Diamondbacks, touched off a full-scale brawl and produced an early-season contender for quote of the year.

"He talks too much," ranted Hayes, who is 0-for-13 lifetime against Stottlemyre. "He talks like he's Bob Gibson. I'm the only guy who can't hit him."