Tuesday, July 12, 2005 | 10:29 a.m.
The Las Vegas 51s may be having one of their best years at the gate since moving here in 1983, but on-the-field performance doesn't seem to have much to do with that trend.
"We're trying to connect in a form we hadn't in a few years," 51s general manager Don Logan said. "One of the things is when you get a real good team, you don't depend on that. Though we haven't played real well, it was really in a confined period of time."
To say the 51s haven't played "real well" is an understatement. The team went 6-22 in June and has the fourth-worst record in Triple-A.
But midway through the season, the 51s have had one fewer player called to the major leagues than they did all of last season - including when the rosters expanded in September.
So far this year, 14 players have donned both 51s and Dodgers uniforms. It's a season that manager Jerry Royster called "impossible to comprehend."
Royster, who spent two years as a major league coach, another year as the manager of the Brewers and is in his 14th year as a minor league coach, instructor or manager, said that promotions to the Dodgers have become routine.
"You would never think that this is possible," he said. "It's to the point where I get calls and they just say, 'Such and such is hurt and we're calling up this guy.' Some call-ups become one-minute conversations between me and the parent club.
"Otherwise, it's 'Oh, not again!' It's almost laughable. If it wasn't so devastating, it would be laughable. Devastating is probably an appropriate word."
When reliever Kelly Wunsch tore ligaments in his ankle during warm-ups at Colorado last weekend, he became the 18th Dodger to go on the disabled list this year.
On top of that, 10 Las Vegas players have been on the disabled list this season.
Not only do the injuries hamper the parent club, they've caused the 51s to go from first-place title contenders at the end of May to a team with not great pitching, makeshift defense and not enough offensive firepower to win a high-scoring game.
"To play a season where you have one outfielder on your roster, that's inconceivable," Royster said. "We're giving some guys an opportunity to play but they're playing out of position. Everybody's got to do something.
"The part I hate about that is that players aren't getting a chance to do what they do to become major leaguers. They have to play some other position."
As Royster's battled the 75 roster moves to date, he's also had to overcome a roster that was nothing less than anxious to start the season.
Many of the players who began the year were Triple-A veterans, awaiting their big-league chance while nervously watching the fruits of recent Dodgers drafts work their way to Double-A.
"Everyone on the team was concerned about their playing time. I think it's all worked out. They've all had an opportunity to show where they're going," Royster said. "They're all learning something new. I don't think any of them were very happy about it in the beginning."
One player in particular Royster said he's pleased with is Joe Thurston, who struggled at the beginning of the year, his fourth with the 51s.
Thurston will represent the 51s at Wednesday's Triple-A All-Star Game in his hometown of Sacramento.
"Joe Thurston for sure has rejuvenated his career, and it definitely needed rejuvenating. He's shined quite a bit," Royster said. "I think he quit panicking. He started this season under such pressure and the fact that he had to do it right now otherwise he wasn't going to play. That's never the case for me."
By May 22, Thurston was batting .200. But since then, he's hit .372, raising his overall batting average to .290.
"He thought he had to play every single night to do that. He became an all-star by playing three games and sitting out two," Royster said. "It's just a matter of what you do when you're in there. I think he's really relaxed now. He doesn't panic any more. There aren't a whole bunch of guys running around hitting .290 and playing a great second base."
So with two months left in the Triple-A season and the team mentally more relaxed and prepared than the beginning of the year, the question now becomes how many players will be coming back to the Dodgers from the disabled list, and how many more will be coming back to the 51s from Los Angeles.
The way the 51s played in late May, when they went on an eight-game winning streak thanks in large part to players now with the Dodgers, has Royster optimistic should his team become whole again.
"We'll win. If they get three guys back, we'll win here," he said. "It won't be where we're starting the game and all of the sudden you know you're not going to win. It just takes time. It all comes out at the end. You've got to be patient."
Wednesday's Triple-A All-Star Game will air on ESPN2. The 51s return Thursday for a four-game series against Tucson before going on a 10-game roadtrip to Salt Lake and Colorado Springs.
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