7-HUNDO
Reaching 700 wins in his managerial career means one thing to Loons skipper Juan Bustabad, who reached the achievement Tuesday night at Dow Diamond with a 9–3 win over the West Michigan Whitecaps.
“It means that I’ve been around for awhile,” Busty said jokingly after the game.
Busty may not have anticipated reaching his 700th win in Midland after a below .500 first year as Loons manager.
“The first year was kind of rough because I wasn’t used to the wins and losses (54–85),” he said. “I’ve always been on the winning side pretty much my entire career. So it was tough. We just never clicked, never got it together, and then the following year (2009), we put a team together that had good chemistry.
“Everybody was on the same page, everybody wanted to win for the team and for the fans, you know it was a great year. And this year, here we are again, with the same chemistry as last year having a lot more fun.”
Following the game, Loons relief pitchers Steve Smith and J.B. Paxson had the honors of dousing Bustabad with Powerade. Soon after that, outfielder Brian Cavazos-Galvez gave him the celebratory shaving cream towel to the face.
Galvez said the guys were trying to do their part to get Busty his 700th win, and Galvez did his by going 3-for-4 with two RBI.
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“We definately knew this win was big for him personally,” Galvez said. “And for the team for our franchise record, we wanted to get it at home so that we could celebrate a little bit like we did and it feels nice.”
As Galvez said, the 82 wins for the Loons this season sets a new franchise record for most wins in a single season, surpassing the mark set in 2009 of 81–59.
Earlier in the day, Bustabad was voted by his fellow managers around the league as the Midwest League Manager of the Year. After hearing the news at batting practice, Bustabad was very humble and cited all of the others involved in getting the 2010 Loons to the 81–44 record they had before big number 700.
“[It’s] all the hard work the team puts together, because without them I really cannot do it. And the staff I have, they’ve been great. Michael Boughton has done a great job with the hitters and Chuck Crim with the pitchers; Zach [Hoffman] with getting the guys healthy on the field. And then Eric [Wood] getting the kids stronger everyday, so they can go through the grind everyday, all 140 games. And Neil [Rosenbloom] our video guy too has been very helpful.”
Bustabad is enjoying the success of his team and hopes to continue his winning ways.
“Hopefully I can get to 1,000,” he said. “And hopefully before that, I’ll be in the big leagues. That’s my goal, to be a big league manager or a big league coach. That’s always been my dream and that’s why I work hard every day and hopefully the day will come.”
Bustabad’s next adventure begins on Wednesday, September 8, for the start of the Midwest League postseason. If the playoffs were today, the Loons would play the Fort Wayne TinCaps.
Busty left Tuesday night, with a stunning record of 700–549.
Congrats to our favorite Loons skipper!
