Deeds settles for tying record

One by one, Fort Myers Miracle players came over to Doug Deeds' locker to remind how him how close he was to making history.

"One more, dude," a teammate told Deeds, "and you beat Joe Mauer."

"No pressure," another teammate told him.

Deeds didn't make history and didn't beat Mauer on July 1. The right fielder went 0-for-4 against Sarasota, ending his hitting streak at 19 games.

The streak tied him for the longest in Fort Myers team history. Minnesota Twins C Mauer had a 19-game streak last season for the Miracle.

Deeds said he psyched himself out.

"It was funny because that was the day when people started bringing it up and asking me about it," he said. "It seemed to go through my head during every at-bat.

"That was the most frustrating day hitting-wise in my professional career. It's like I took a step back from everything I did during those 19 games. I wasn't myself for some reason."

Still, the streak was impressive. Deeds, whose previous best was a 10-game hitting streak, batted .346 (28-for-78) from June 8 to July 1. The streak pushed the outfielder's average to .286, fourth-best on the team through Wednesday.

COMING AND GOING

A season after batting .294 in 74 games for Fort Myers, Sandoval hit .179 with six homers and 21 RBI in 49 games this year.

Miracle manager Jose Marzan couldn't explain Sandoval's decline.

"I feel bad for him, because he did well here last year," Marzan said. "But we had to make a decision. He was performing under par."

Kuhaulua, a Florida State League All-Star, was pleased to return to Fort Myers.

Sure, he was demoted, but he wasn't playing much for the Rock Cats.

During his 15-day stay in New Britain, Kuhaulua played in seven games. He batted .136.

"For me, I'd rather be here," Kuhaulua said. "Here, I play every day and get better in all aspects of the game. Up there, I was just sitting down and kind of watching everything from the side."

AROUND THE HORN

OFs Alex Romero and Garrett Guzman have opened the FSL's second half on a tear. Entering Thursday, Romero was batting .462 and Guzman was hitting .438 in the half. Romero leads Fort Myers with a .300 average, 10th-best in the league. He is fourth in the league in on-base percentage (.405).

The Miracle were fourth in the league in attendance through Wednesday. The club was averaging 1,666 fans per game through its first 38 contests.

Tampa Yankees OF Tommy Winrow, a Bishop Verot High School graduate, was second in the league in batting through Wednesday. Winrow was batting .348.

Chubby Checker will be the headline performer for the Miracle's 11th annual Legends of Rock 'n' Roll Game on Saturday, July 24. Checker will perform following the 5:05 p.m. game between Fort Myers and Sarasota. Tickets are $10 for both the game and concert. Call 768-4210 for tickets.