"Last batch," one of the workers told Carter.

Carter's career hit total is by a wide stretch the top amongst fellow independent league managers wh are former major leaguers. Here is a complete look:

1.) Gary Carter, Orange County Flyers, 2,092

2.) Von Hayes, Lancaster Barnstormers, 1,402

3.) Jeffrey Leonard, Reno Silver Sox, 1,342

4.) Cecil Fielder, Atlantic City Surf, 1,313

5.) Rick Miller, Nashua Pride, 1,046

6.) Pete Incaviglia, Grand Prairie AirHogs, 1,043

7.) Mike Marshall, Yuma Scorpions, 971

8.) Cory Snyder, St. George RoadRunners, 902

9.) Wally Backman, Joliet JackHammers, 893

10.) Hal Lanier, Sussex Skyhawks, 843

In the second game of a doubleheader against the Edmonton Cracker Cats last weekend, the Orange County Flyers were on their way to extending the GBL's best record with a 6-2 lead in the seventh inning when a fly ball fell between shortstop David Bacani and outfielder Mark Okano, causing a violent head-to-head collision that caused a delay of over 15 minutes while paramedics rushed to the scene.

Both players sustained concussions, though CAT scans came back negative and both were released from the hospital the following morning and are on track to be fully healthy by the time Orange County's South Division playoff appearance comes up in September. Bacani and Okano are the first two hitters in the Flyers' order, are considered the franchise's two cornerstones and have a combined .343 batting average (147 hits in 428 at-bats) this season.

"The way they collided looked a lot worse than how it seems with the way they've been able to bounce back," Flyers manager Gary Carter said. "It looked awfully serious. There was utmost concern, from everyone on this ballclub. We're real fortunate it's turned out to be minimal in the end."

Neither has played since, though Okano — living up to his hard-charging billing as the "Flyin' Hawaiian" — begged Carter to return against the Outlaws during this weekend's series against the Outlaws at Nettleton Stadium. He even made the trip and has been in uniform whereas Bacani stayed behind in Southern California. It will be interesting to see how both sparkplugs are able to execute upon returning.

The Ducks are also the franchise that developed Outlaws assistant general manager Russ Blatt, who worked in operations for Long Island before the GBL brought him to California.

Pitcher Scott Richmond was set to join Radmanovic with the Canadian team last week at this time — before he earned the call-up out of Triple-A from the Toronto Blue Jays. It's been quite a year for Richmond, who is coming off three seasons with the Edmonton Cracker Cats.

Edmonton, which is forging a firm advantage ahead of the Outlaws in the race from GBL North Division's second and final playoff spot, boasted Richmond as one of its rare bright lights last season. It was actually just his first year in the starting rotation, and he made the most of the chance with a 10-9 record and 4.26 ERA. The rest of the Cracker Cats staff was just 28-49. He was 10th in the Northern League in ERA and was Edmonton's Pitcher of the Year.

Richmond was only 4-11 in his first two seasons for the Cracker Cats, though his gaudy 72-17 strikeout-walk ratio in 71+ innings of work in 2006 was more telling about his potential.

Durkin handled the Outlaws with a fastball-breaking ball combination that he used cleverly throughout the night. Instead of challenging hitters early, he goaded them a bit with the breaking stuff and used the fastball later in counts to get outs -- if Outlaws hitters didn't already bite on the offspeed. An example: Durkin recorded 11 of his 20 outs via flyball.

"It's where he was throwing it," Outlaws right fielder Lino Garcia said. "He was moving it. The breaking ball went different locations, mostly down or away. He was making you get under it."

Casey Garrison, who had the lone RBI, also offered a perspective.

"(Durkin) would get ahead with a breaking ball, probably getting a few generous calls on the corner here and there, and then go with the fastball late," he said. "By the time we adjusted to the zone, it was a little too late.

"He would get ahead of you with that breaking pitch when experienced players are a little more used to that coming later in the count. But that's when he used the fastball instead, and I think (the pyschology) made it a little difficult on our hitters to get good swings on the ball."

Yet when asked about his second-half performance before tonight's game against the Outlaws, Breen admitted it has taken some time to recover from the effects of spending two days in Texas for the All-Star game. Instead of indulging in the break most of his teammates received, he spent hours getting in and out of San Angelo the Monday before and Wednesday after the event. Plus, the day of the game he was in the home run derby that proved arduous physically (the competition pretty much is a more grunt-heavy version of batting practice.)

"Man, I was pretty worn out," Breen said about the week followng the game. "My lower body especially, it was messed up especially, just out of whack."

I only bring this up for one specific reason. Perhaps no Outlaws position player has performed as poorly after the All-Star break than the lone All-Star from that group himself, Jose Valdez. It's almost becoming discouraging seeing Valdez transform the slickest player on the roster to one of its most mistake-prone. His batting average has dropped 31 points to .309 during the second half. But more of a struggle for the third baseman has been the errors starting to crop up defensively. He has six errors to his name in 16 games after committing just seven the whole first half (among those six, two could be classified as those "50-50" errors the scorer had to deal with.)

I did ask Valdez outside the clubhouse earlier this evening how he felt physically and he didn't identify anything as being even minor (most players don't unless it's common knowledge.) He is coming off two days rest in what has the appearance of manager Jon Macalutas letting him catch up on rest. Valdez returns to the lineup tonight and is batting outside his customary cleanup spot in the order for the first time in the second half, hitting down at sixth.

Frankly, Yuma is always in a position where it needs to stockpile wins at home. It is probably the most difficult road bus trip to make in the league and the dry, 100-plus degree heat can wear down opponents effectively as well. The Scorpions are 19-8 at Desert Sun Stadium this year, 12-17 on the road. Long Beach, for that matter, is 10-17 on the road.

Another reason for Scorpion excitement this week was Tuesday's 15-9 extra-innings win over rival St. George in Utah, which was notable because rookie pitcher Chris Luera's grand slam in the 11th inning proved to be the decisive turning point. Before you get all excitable about a rookie pitcher hitting his first professional home run to help his team win during a pennant race, know that Luera was an All-Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference outfielder at Park University this past season after hitting .412 with 34 RBIs.

Among both teams' usual starting lineups, only four hitters had an average below .280. They ended up combining for 53 runs (13 per game) and 83 hits (20 per game) for the week. Because both teams are so monstrous offensively, pitching will likely decide this neat matchup if it comes to fruition in the championship. In that regard, Orange County looks like it has an edge considering the Flyers limited the Vipers to six runs in their two wins.

1. Quebec Capitales (41-22 Can Am League)
Power doesn't propel them -- just 40 HRs, near last in league

2. Somerset Patriots (48-39 Atlantic League)
Larson's .339 avg/21 HR/58 RBI, Pressley's .345/18/65 the 3-4 in order

3. Grand Prairie AirHogs (43-26 American Association)
Taking 2 of 3 against Sioux Falls came after compelling 11-3 victory

4. Sioux Falls Canaries (40-28 American Association)
Ford (10-4, 2.81 ERA), Regas (21 saves in 28+ IP) are only staff lefties

5. Amarillo Dillas (40-31 United League)
In prime title series forthcoming, Alexandria the likely nemesis

6. Orange County Flyers (35-23 Golden League)
Breen's .393 avg, 21 HR, 80 RBI flirting with Triple Crown

7. Kalamazoo Kings (40-24 Frontier League)
First-year starter John Brownell, 25, is league-best 10-1

8. Alexandria Aces (45-26 United League)
22-14 road record, 15-13 against Amarillo, San Angelo

9. Forth Worth Cats (46-29 American Association)
AA's speed leaders have 97 stolen bases

10. Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks (42-26 Northern League)
18 wins in last 28 games will cinch 60-victory mark, franchise's fifth

LAST WEEK:
1. Quebec
2. Somerset
3. Amarillo
4. Sioux Falls
5. Grand Prairie
6. Camden
7. Kalamazoo
8. Orange County
9. Fargo-Moorhead
10. Fort Worth

Here is a short version from the San Francisco Chronicle of Ziegler's journey from the Northern League to the A's — an interesting destination in itself considering Oakland general manager Billy Beane doesn't often tap into the indy league circuits when finetuning his minor league system rife with prospects under 24:

"I've never had anything handed to me in my career, and that makes this even more satisfying," said Ziegler, who twice has endured skull fractures, was released and relegated to an independent league and was asked to completely revamp the pitching delivery after his stellar minor-league numbers went unnoticed.

Ziegler had his skull fractured by a line drive in 2004 and again by a thrown ball last offseason. He was released by Philadelphia in 2003 and signed with Schaumburg of the independent Northern League. He ranked second in strikeouts (144) in the Class A California League in 2005 and second in ERA (3.37) in the Double-A Texas League in 2006, but didn't get a major-league chance until this year.

Anyways, here is the darn list:

RANK, LEAGUE (LEVEL) Team average per game

1.) Golden (Indy) 7.5

2.) United (Indy) 6.4

3.) Northern (Indy) 5.9

4.) Frontier (Indy) 5.5
Atlantic (Indy) 5.5

6.) Can Am (Indy) 5.3

7.) California (A) 5.2

8.) Pacific Coast (AAA) 4.9
Texas (AA) 4.9
American Association (Indy) 4.9

11.) Carolina (AA) 4.7

12.) Eastern (AA) 4.6

13.) International (AAA) 4.5
South Atlantic (A) 4.5

15.) Florida State (A) 4.3
Midwest (A) 4.3

Everyone likes to make a fuss about what home run derbies do to hitters' swings right after the All-Star break every year. There are always plenty of cases to fuel either side of the debate. This year's Atlantic League champion, Josh Pressley of the Somerset Patriots, won the title in the middle of his current 10-game tear featuring 21 hits in 42 at-bats. It also includes five home runs, 14 runs and 13 RBIs.

The 6-foot-6, 230-pound Pressley's name should be familiar to minor league followers. He was picked up in the fourth round of the 1998 major league draft by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and was traded with shortstop Russ Johnson to the New York Mets completing a trade in which the Mets sent star Rey Ordonez to the Devil Rays for two players to be named on Dec. 15, 2002. He also is a product of Westminister Christian Academy in Bradenton, Fla., the same high school that produced one Alex Rodriguez.

PHOTO COURTESY: Alexandra Pais/Courier News