Trio to help in L.A.’s playoff bid

Victoria Sun

Monday, Sept. 9, 2002 | 9:56 a.m.

The 51s' record-setting season ended Saturday in Edmonton, Alberta, but it will continue for outfielder Luke Allen, first baseman Chin-Feng Chen and pitcher Victor Alvarez.

All three were called up by the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday.

And if the Dodgers make the playoffs, the 51s' Brad Mills, the Pacific Coast League manager of the year, won't get a vacation until after the Dodgers are eliminated. Mills will be one of the team's advance scouts.

Helping the big league club march toward a grander goal may help ease the sting of losing to Edmonton in the first round of the PCL playoffs. The Trappers won the best-of-five series 3-1 with a 5-2 victory Saturday.

Edmonton will host Salt Lake to start the PCL finals Tuesday.

"Any time you get into the playoffs, you want to win the last game because it means you won something," Mills said. "We go home now.

"These guys had a great year, but we still lost the last game. That kind of sticks in my craw and it seems disappointing."

There were few disappointments the rest of the year.

Mills guided the 51s to a franchise record 85 regular season wins and their first playoff berth since 1996.

He, hitting coach Ron Jackson and pitching coach Shawn Barton helped Allen, Chen, Alvarez, infielder Joe Thurston, catcher David Ross, outfielder Wilkin Ruan and Jeff Williams develop skills that earned them big league promotions.

Winning wasn't the only way Mills gauged the team's success.

While Thurston and Ross garnered most of the attention for their standout performances, Mills also praised the unheralded players.

He was pleased with the progress of former Arizona Diamondbacks starter Robert Ellis, the contributions of infielders Chris Clapinski and Phil Hiatt and the job Williams did as closer.

"We had a lot of guys that really made some good strides," Mills said. "I'm probably proudest of the guys because of the way they went about their business.

"They understood, this group more than maybe any other club I've ever had, that you can play together but still have good individual performances.

"Everybody's going to always look out for themselves to a certain extent, but these guys were able to see the bigger picture, the team being like a puzzle and that every piece is important. Even the guys that didn't get a chance to play a lot, they contributed."

The Dodgers called up Thurston, Ross, Ruan and Williams before the playoffs started, forcing the coaching staff to rely on veterans like Ellis, Clapinski, Hiatt and Jeff Branson while schooling younger players brought up from double-A and single-A.

Thurston batted .334 with a team-leading 22 steals and set franchise records for hits (196) and triples (13). Williams had a 2.60 ERA and a league-leading 28 saves.

"It would have been nice to have that first game back and maybe do something different to win that game," Mills said of the 51s' 8-7 defeat in a game they led 7-0. "We found out about guys, the guys we brought up that we didn't know about.

"Now we know something about these people. Now we know how to use them."

Mills may get another chance to use them next season, although his status won't be determined until at least November and possibly after baseball's winter meetings in December.

"I don't know what's going to happen," he said. "I wouldn't mind having an opportunity to come back here next year.

"I like Vegas, the Dodgers' organization. I'd like to go to the big leagues at some point. We'll see what transpires."