JOHANNESBURG (AP) - “We’ll miss him.”

Johannesburg Steelmen first baseman George Sisler echoed his teammates’ feelings with that short, one line comment delivered earlier this afternoon at the Steel Mill.

“Him” is young phenom Hugh Baumann, traded to the Tokyo Tsunamis in a stunning pair of deals that may make the Steelmen favorites in the Inferno League Race.

Baumann and minor leaguer Red Begley went to Tokyo for the 2nd pick in this year’s draft and two 3rd round choices. Then Johannesburg owner Rick Gregg shipped the first round pick to the Chernobyl Mutants for veteran all-star pitcher Lefty Grove, outfielder Brooks Kieschnick, and a 2nd round pick.

“I’m going to miss Hugh as much as anyone,” Gregg said. “He was one of my favorites, as the fans and other league owners know. He was our first rookie of the year, a true star, and it was a tough decision to trade him in this, our best season.”

But Gregg felt the Steelmen needed to make a move to counter last week’s move by New York, where the Nukes acquired outfielder Richard Hidalgo and shortstop Alex Gonzalez from Amity. At the time of the trade, Johannesburg had a 2.5 game lead on New York, and just a three game margin over a surging Tehran squad.

“It went from floated idea to consummated deal in about 24 hours. We hadn’t expected to trade Hugh. Why would we? He’s the best young hitter in the game. But pieces started falling in place, and I had to look at the overall position of the team. I think we’re better now.”

Tokyo owner Mike Wilson had several trades on the table for the number two pick, but jumped at the chance to grab Baumann.

“We are a team with a lot of pitching. We would probably have been looking for an infielder in the draft. Baumann is one of the best players in all of Weaverball, and at his age it was a deal we had to make. He is going to play 3rd and bat #3 for a lot of years for us.”

Reaction in Johannesburg has been mixed. Some fans lament the loss of Baumann, while more enthusiastic boosters look at what the team gained in the trade with Chernobyl. Grove has a lifetime 2.38 ERA in four-plus seasons, all spent in Chernobyl. In each of his three full campaigns, Grove has struck out more than 200 batters.

“We needed a top of the rotation guy more than we needed the extra bat,” said Gregg. “Pitching has always been our weakness, especially because of the Dome. Grove makes our rotation so much better.”

The team also got often-overlooked Brooks Kieschnick, a lifetime .292 hitter who’s improved to .327 so far this season in Chernobyl. He’ll replace Baumann’s bat in the lineup, but play left field. Vic Cook will move to DH for the time being.

“As good as Hugh was, Brooks ought to provide something similar on offense. We’re hitting well enough that a miniscule drop in production won’t hurt… especially since we’re getting a solid hitter and an ace pitcher.”

The team does not plan to take down the statue of Baumann in the Steelman Hall of Fame.