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TEAM AGES - 3/8
How old is your team? The average opening day age of an FBN team is 28.79 years old. The youngest team? How about Milford, 25.89 years old followed by Norwich at 26.38. The oldest team... Allyn Street at 30.59 just edging Taxachusetts at 30.49. For a complete list of teams and their team opening day ages ... click here.
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US JARHEAD SCUTTLEBUTT - 4-1
Michael Young is named Jarhead of the Month! Young leads the team in batting after 20 games with a .398 average. He is 33 for 83 and also leads the team in runs 13, rbi 13, and walks with 12. With the dice, Young is a pedestrian .281 on 9-32, but he shines on the computer with a .470 BA on 24-51. Also receiving votes, Jeremy Guthrie leads the team with a 1.83 era in 39.1 innings, but only has a 1-3 record to show for it.
Last season Jarhead pitchers made 1 error in the first 81 games. This year they have made 8 errors in 20 games, putting the pitching staff on a pace for 65 errors!!! The team has 21 errors total and is on a pace for 170 E's.
The Jarheads made two waiver wire selections...and somewhat telling of the state of the team, both made the Opening Day Roster. Aaron Rowand has been a pleasant surprise and is hitting .319 and Jason Pridie .242 and neither has made an error.
Rookie of the Month is Eric Thames. He is hitting .317 with 4D, 2T, 2HR and is 2nd on the team with 11 rbi.
Rookie closer Steve Cishek has been a major disappointment. On a card of 45 hits allowed in 55 innings, the results have been brootal. In 8 innings he has given up 17 hits and 4 walks for a WHIP of 2.63. He is on a pace of allowing 130 hits in his 61 FBN innings.
After an 8-12 start, roster changes are probable as USJ gets ready to face the NLW. First round draft pick Mike Trout is expected to be called up and pitcher Anthony Bass is being considered as a replacement for Tim Stauffer. Stauffer with a 3.73 era card, has been hammered. He is 0-3 with an era of 9.70. In 21.1 innings he has allowed 24 runs (23earned) on 33 hits, including 5 HRs. When asked about the two possible callups, Mgr Kent replied "We didn't go to a draft this year... we went fishin' ".
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DEVIL DOODLES - 4-1
The Blue Devils have started the 2012 season, their 26th season in the FBN, on a strong note going 10-6. CT won 3 out of 4 games vs. Klees, New England and Hazardville while dropping 3 out of 4 to Middlesex. The pitching staff has been the strength so far with a team ERA of 3.32. The 5 starters have gone 9-4 in their 16 starts led by CJ Wilson at 3-1 2.96. A key to the pitching success has been a strikeout to walk ratio of almost 3 to 1 – 39 walks vs. 113 K’s.
Offensively, it’s a hit or miss situation – nothing in between. 6 hitters are batting over .300 while 6 hitters are batting under .200. Although there has been a power shortage with just 8 HR’s in 16 games so far, the Blue Devils are averaging over 2 doubles per game with 34 and 3 walks per game. One tough divisional series is left vs. the defending Champion Chiefs before heading to the NL East.
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SCHOOL YARD CHATTER - 4-1
The season started off on a bright note with Matt Cain tossing a 2-0 shutout over the Jarheads at Kate Elizabeth Park. Allyn Street went 3-1. Nyjer Morgan had a great opening series .385 2D and 2HR. He was given the nick name Nyjer “Babe freaken Ruth” Morgan by Jarhead Manager Jeff Kent. Robinson Cano who was red hot all of 2011 but was cold in the NLCS continued to be cold .188 1RBI.
In the next series at Burlington after Cain tossed the team’s second shutout 8-0, the Buccaneers pulled out all the stops and took the next three games and gave the 89ERS their first shutout of 2012. Steven Drew was hot .444 1T, 1HR 4RBI. Morgan cooled off 2 for 9, .222. AS 4-4
Next were Wall Street and the teams split the series with Wall Street winning games 1 and 4. Allyn Street had 3HR in the series. Matt Cain loss game one as he was finally scored on after 17 shutout innings. His ERA after 20 innings 1.35. Morgan 5 for 10 1T, 1HR. Pujols .222 AS 6-6. Team Ave. .236 ERA 3.07
Brett Cecil and the Gunners were next. A Rickie Weeks 3r HR in the 7th off Hawkins was the winning blow for Arsenal in game one. It wasted Robinson Cano’s effect 4 for 4 , 2HR 3RBI. Allyn Street did bounced back to take the next 3, with a shutout of game 4, a 2-0 win for Josh Johnson. Cano raised his average to .238. Josh Johnson won his 3rd game and lowered his ERA to 0.39.
First place Norwich visited the Scholl Yard as both teams had come off a winning series. Matt Harrison and the rest of the Navigators wanted to prove right off the bat this Norwich team is not like old Norwich teams. Harrison tossed a complete game shutout in game one, 2-0. Doc Halladay and the 89ERS bounce back in game two 11-2. Norwich showed their new confidence for 2012 and returned the favor winning game 3, 10-3. Game 4 was a nail bitter. Jordan Zimmermann of the Navigators was tossing a gem, 1-0, 1 hitter with 5K’s to the 7th inning. With 2 outs Pierzynski hit a single. Albert Pujols who had been 0 for 1 with the only BB that Zimermann had issued hit one out of the School Yard (BP HR 1-8 (2rolled). Norwich out hit the 89ERS 7-4 but after Swarzak was removed in the 6th Melancon and Hawkins only gave up 1 hit.
Allyn Street 11-9 start. Casey Stengel went out and hires a bench coach, Elston Howard and a hitting coach, Bobby Murcer. “I need someone to manager the team while I’m napping, said Casey. And we hit .259 without a hitting coach. We should hit at least that with one.”
Pitching has been key for the 89ERS 2.94, but pitching coach Bob Feller is concerned with Josh Johnson 3-0, 0.39ERA and Taylor Buchhholz 0-0-1, 0.94ERA. “They are not complained but something is not right. They look tired”, said Feller. The 89ERS will be putting Johnson and Buchholz on the DL for the NL West series. “We hope to have them back for the next round with the NL East. We’ll have to take one day at a time, unless somehow we can take more days at a time, can you do that?, asked Casey.
Allyn Street transactions:
Place Josh Johnson and Taylor Buchholz on the DL.
Promote Adam Kennedy and Nathan Adcock from West Broad Street AAA.
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NAVIGATORS LOG - 4-5
The ‘Gators finish the block versus the NL East with an impressive 13-7 record. HAL-based magic aside, it looks like the team has solid starting pitching (thought the Brett Anderson experiment may need work) and adequate offense. The season will ride on the shaky gloves, especially in the infield for anyone not named Escobar. We’ll see if the team can meet the goal of a .500 record vs the tough NL West, expecting a rough ride! Big Papi was the Offensive Player of the Block, with a .342 avg and 4 HRS. Clayton Kershaw was 4-0, 2.87 for the month, earning the most valuable pitcher award; taking it from Jordan Zimmerman (3-1, 2.42) due to the Allyn St described Pujols HR that gave JZ his loss for the block.
Wilson Betemit (.146 and some iron work with the glove) and Brett Anderson (1-3, 10.88 era) earned a bus ticket to the ‘Gators AAA team in Melbourne Fl (Space Coast Stadium = ewww). Justin Smoak and Johnny Cueto are up and ready to go! A big trade sends LCS/WS MVP David Freese to the Sun for two outcome hitter Dan Uggla- a gamble to be sure, but it was fun to shake things from “the plan” I had all winter, lol. Good luck to all, it looks like a 4-team race in the NL East!
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ALLYN STREET- SCHOOL YARD CHATTER - 4-15
The 89ERS have completed half of block two. New England, Middlesex and Taxachusetts are in the book at 7-5. Next week Klee's and Hazardville will be invading the School Yard. "No need to ask Mr. Dickson for approval. This is 1961 not 2012. Things were simpler and safer in 1961. Even if things got turned upside down, it was still 1961 :-)
Robinson Cano in his first 20 games was hitting only .225 but had produced 3D, 1T and 3HR. "We knew it just a matter of time before the average would go up", said Hitting Coach Bobby Murcer. In Cano's next 12 games with the NLW he hit .412 with 5D, 3T ad 4HR to up his average to .303. Will "Venerable" (thanks Bruce :-) continues his fast start increasing his average to .344 as he went 12-28 .429 in his first games with the NLW. Roy Halladay and Matt Cain are doing what was expected of them. Halladay 5-2, Cain 4-2. Rookie Anothy Swarzak has been doing very well at 3-1, 18K in 34.1IP. Disappointments have been John Lannan 0-4 7.13ERA and Nathan Adcock 0-1 10.30ERA. Pitching Coach Bob Feller said that Warren Spahn is coming out of retirement to help the lefty Lannan. "I can't get him to throw right handed so I decided to let Spahnie work with the kid". "Spahn will join the coaching staff this week after we can dig him up, said Bruno. We just have to do it at night."
Team Staff: Manager Casey Stengel. Bench Coach Ralph Houk. First Base Coach Leo Durocher. Thrid Base Coach Billy Martin. RHB Hitting/Bull Pen Coach Elston Howard. LHB Hitting Coach Bobby Murcer. Right Handed Pitching Coach Bob Feller. Left Handed Pitching Warren Spahn.
All-Time 89ER Numbers: Victorino 800th hit. Cano 3500AB, 450R, 250D and 500thRBI. Furcal 1900th GA, 5800AB Cain 188 GS to pass Jimmy Key for 89ER All-Time 6th spot. TEAM: 8100D, 1200T and 4000SB.
TEAM NOTES: 89ERS on MLB DL - Stephen Drew, Brandon Inge, Chien-Ming Wang and Bobby Casevah.
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THE NUMBERS FROM WALL STREET - 4-15
Thru 36 gms "Strong Buys"
Adrian Gonzalez 391/451/674 15 dbl 8 hr 26 rbi
Matt Holliday 316/423/588 13 dbl 6hr 30rbi
Mike Napoli 294/368/580 8 dbl tpl 8 hr 28 rbi
A Murders Row 3,4,5 combined 337/415/609!! 36 dbl tpl 22 hr 84rbi in 36 gms.
"Sell" starting pitching
AJ Burnett era 7.32
Scherzer 6.57
Niemann 5.72
Myers 5,57
Morrow 5.27
proving "you can't win without quality pitching" WS 17-19
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'GATOR TALES - 5-1
Rather than a block recap (Navigator’s Log) the ‘Gator Tales go into good old fashioned blogging on the team. This segment takes a look at the fun(?) of projecting next yr’s team based on the month of April.
Catcher- Hanigan/Arencibia= ewww, Hanigan some OBP, Arencibia may have guys on his tail…
First Base- Chris Davis- current stats won’t last, but should be a 30 hr season? Justin Smoak looking at the bench.
Second Base- not keeping up with traded David Freese, but Dan Uggla looks like he is “doing what he does”- .250 avg with 30 hr.
Shortstop- Al Escobar looks like an all-star, but the babip is unsustainable, Castro gonna be a 50-50-50 (doubles, steals and errors!) player.
Third Base- The Moose is LOOSE! Next year’s season may well hinge on how well he can keep up the hot start.
Left Field- JD Martinez will slip, but he looks like an everyday LF right now, whacking RH as well!
Center Field- Still no idea which BJ Upton will show up, Campana for the cubs may be a playable reserve.
Right Field- Ryan Sweeeeeney! Seriously, if he ends up with last yrs card I will be thrilled- the Soo-Choo train desperately needs to get back on the tracks.
DH- Big Fatti is not so big, and it shows! Might have two more seasons left at a DH quality level!
Reserves- Ey Jr is looking like a solid PH/PR option, Betemit is still playing, at least!
Pitching:
I have an army of all-star SPs as of today. Hopefully we will have 3-5 when the dust settles. Cueto, Kershaw, and Zimmerman are early NL Cy Young Candidates, Holland and Harrison are so far, so good, in Texas. Bard, Samardzja are showing promise, will get ips, maybe rp eligibility this yr?
Pen= Ewwww. None of the early draft choices (G. Holland, Bastardo) looking good early. McClellan, Davis, and Cory Wade look like good setup guys, Mijares and Morales look like decent LOOGYS.
Bottom Line- If the season ended today, I’d be thrilled, but would need a closer….
We’ll revisit come the all-star break…
Cheers,
Don D.
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DEVIL DOODLES - 5-1
The Blue Devils have played well in the 2nd block of the season vs. the NL East going 13-7 with one series remaining vs. Arsenal. At 24-16, CT has opened a bit of a lead at the top of the NL West division. Much of the early success has been from solid pitching as evidenced by a 3.43 team ERA. C.J. Wilson has been the ace going 7-2 in 9 starts with a 2.37 ERA. Cliff Lee continues to be somewhat inconsistent going 5-5 3.65 ERA. He has struck out 85 batters in 81 innings but has allowed 96 hits and 22 walks. Carl Pavano has been surprisingly good at 5-2 4.24. The bullpen has been led by Drew Storen who has saved 9 games with a 1.40 ERA. He has allowed just 15 base runners in 19 innings. Koji Uehara has picked up the other 4 saves for the team with a 2.49 ERA. Uehara has allowed just 14 base runners in 22 innings.
Offensively, Jose Reyes has been the all-around leader. Manager Piniella put Reyes in the #3 spot in the lineup for the first time in his career since the Blue Devils have other speed guys at the top of the order (Bonifacio & Weeks). Reyes has responded well batting .316 with 21 runs scored, 30 RBI (leading the team), 10 doubles, 2 HR’s and 10 stolen bases. Emilio Bonifacio has been an excellent table setter at the top of the order batting .307 and leading the team with 28 runs scored to go with 16 RBI and 13 stolen bases. Brian McCann leads the team with 8 HR’s while Paul Konerko is second on the team with 20 RBI.
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ALLYN STREET- SCHOOL YARD CHATTER - 5-1
The 89ERS finished block two without losing a series vs. the NL West. "The boy's did a nice job, said Mgr. Stengel. But, we only won one series as the team went 13-11. We need to do better if we are going to catch Burlington and Norwich.
Nate Adcock improved to 1-2 while lowering his ERA from 8.88 to 7.50 with a win vs. CT. It was not good enough to keep him on the active roster. Adcock was sent to triple A, West Broad ST. Replacing Adcock will be Josh Johnson. The 89ERS have to make a decision before the dead line on a starting pitcher. Will John Lannan stay up at 1-5 with a 7.28 ERA or will Tom Hunter or Chin-Min Wang be promoted? Bruno, Stengel and Fuller will decide shortly. In the pen LaTroy Hawkins is also on the bubble. Rumors have it that he's going down to triple A and that Taylor Buchholz is going to be promoted. Casey may go with 14 fielders and 11 pitchers. Rafael Furcal hitting .214 may be sent out to West Broad Street on an extended Spring Training to get his stroke back. Adam Kennedy hitting .222 will join Furcal in triple A. Replacing both will be John McDonald. The extra pitcher being promote will be Bobby Cassevan.
Sad News: Bill "Moose" Skowron passed away over the weekend. Moose was one of my favorite Yankees. I wore his number 14 during Little League and I played firstbase. I only wish I could have been somewhat as good as the Moose. Skowron will join the 89ER coaching staff immediately.
All-Time 89ER Numbers:
Pujols 1000th RBI
Victoriano 800th GA
Morgan 114SB to pass Tom Goodwin for 9th All Time 89ER.
Cain 1248thIP to pass Dwight Gooden for 7th All Time 89ER.
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SILVER BULLET BASHING - 5-9
After getting blistered by the AL West – going 6-18 – the Bullets hoped for kinder/gentler treatment in the AL East, where we went 9-11 in the first round of games. While the hitting has improved, the pitching has been just pounded. After 16 of the 20 games in the round, the Bullets are 5-11, thanks mostly to giving up 29 home runs so far while hitting just 10. Salem lead the bashing with 10 homers but was able to win only 2 of the 4 games. Maine and Illinois each hit 7 and Lake Wobegon hit 5. The Baton Rouge team ERA is now 5.24, up from 4.93 after the first two rounds. The Bullets are now 20-40 for the season and heading for a 50 win season. Baton Rouge has won less than 70 games only twice in their history, winning just 53 games in 1989 and 51 in 1991.
Our “improved” offense has Stubbs hitting .236, Crawford .229, Dobbs .254, Joyce .211, Zimmerman .277, Getz .255, Casilla .231 and Guerrero .266. We are on pace to steal over 200 bases again, lead by Stubbs with 27, Crawford 18, and Getz 11 – some small consolation. The pitching staff has been getting worse instead of better. The starters have a combined ERA of 5.76 giving up 59 home runs in 369 innings. Tommy Hanson was expected to be a decent starter but his ERA is 7.21 in 49 innings – the worst on the entire pitching staff. Carlos Marmol (ERA 2.22) and Chris Perez (2.70) are the only sub-3.00 ERA pitchers on the staff. A top 4 draft pick seems to be in the cards for us…
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ALLYN STREET- SCHOOL YARD CHATTER - 5-15
Mgr. Casey Stengel and right handed Pitching Coach, Bob Feller are concerned over Roy Halladay's turn of events. Halladay in his first 7 starts was 5-1, 47IP, 40H, 9BB, 33K, 2.49 ERA. Next six starts 1-5, 39IP, 51H, 8BB, 30K, 5.77 ERA. "I'll put Roy on a 4 game rest between starts and see if that helps. The kid has pitched a lot of innings for us over the years. He just needs a rest. You know a good rest is a good rest. I think I need a good rest too, said Casey.
All-Time 89ER Numbers:
Roy Halladay 389th GS to pass Steve Trachsel for number 1 All Time 89ER.
Josh Johnson 9th Shutout to pass Steve Trachsel, Jimmy Key and Jim Deshaies for 7th All Time 89ER.
Halladay 1,700th K
Matt Cain 1,000th K
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DEVIL DOODLES - 6-1
The Blue Devils finished a disappointing divisional block going 5-11 splitting 2 series and losing 3 series to finish at 33-31. However, this record still might be good enough to tie for first place in the mediocre NL West at the moment.
The offense struggled for large periods of time during the block highlighted (or low-lighted) by being shut out for 21 straight innings by the Klubbers. Take away a 14 run outburst vs. the MudCats and CT scored just 70 runs in the other 19 games. Emilio Bonifacio had a particularly tough time batting just .202 for the block dropping his .300+ average down to .279. Jose Reyes, slotted in the #3 spot in the order this year, continues to have a solid season batting .305 and leading the team with 40 RBI. However, defensively, Reyes has gone into a huge slump. He made a ridiculous 9 errors in a stretch of 11 games bringing his team leading total to 16 errors in 64 games. Brutal! The Blue Devil offense is also having a power outage with only 47 HR’s in 64 games. They are on a pace for just 119 HR’s for the season which would be the lowest amount in franchise history. (previous low was 123 HR’s in the late 80’s)
C.J. Wilson continues to lead the pitching staff at 8-5 with a 2.65 ERA but hasn’t received much run support lately. Cliff Lee continues to be disappointing going 5-7 4.37 in 16 starts. Drew Storen has anchored the bullpen going 2-0 with 10 saves and a 1.09 ERA in 24 appearances. The CT pitching staff has a sparkling ratio of almost 3 to 1 strikeouts to walks. They are averaging almost 8 K’s a game!
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ALLYN STREET- SCHOOL YARD CHATTER - 6-1
Manager Stengel is please with the teams over all performance during block three games against the National League East. "When you win one in your division, it's like going out with the prettiest girl in school and with her twin sister at the same time", said Casey. Allyn Street finished the block with a sweep at Arsenal. Neither team hit well. Both sides had great piching as we won 5-4, 3-0, 2-0 and 3-2. The pitching was GREAT!
All-Time 89ER Numbers:
Roy Halladay 389th GS to pass Steve Trachsel for number 1 All Time 89ER.
Josh Johnson 9th Shutout to pass Steve Trachsel, Jimmy Key and Jim Deshaies for 7th All Time 89ER.
Halladay 1,700th K
Matt Cain 1,000th K
Next up Inter-League. Josh Johnson will be sent to West Broad Street for R&R. He's expected to rest and be ready for his final starts of 2012 in the final block of the year. Taking his place in the rotation will be Chien-Ming Wang. Anthony Swarzak will join Johnson at West Broad Street. Taking Swarzak's place in the rotation will be Tommy Hunter. "Let's hope he does better for us what he did in Baltimore before his demote!", said GM Bruno.
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CHIEF CHAT - 6-15
Miguel Cabrera passed Joe Carter to become the all-time Chief leader in RBI with 945. The top 3:
Miguel Cabrera 945
Joe Carter 944
Cecil Fielder 770
Cabrera trails Carter by 51 HRs. The top 6 in HRs:
Joe Carter 340
Miguel Cabrera 289
Cecil Fielder 271
Dean Palmer 254
David Wright 178
Jose Canseco 168
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ALLYN STREET- SCHOOL YARD CHATTER - 6-15
In our last two series with Hotlanta and Yorktown, Allyn Street pitching may have set a League record by tossing 30 consecutive innings of scoreless baseball. In the first series Hotlanta scored in the first inning off of Lannan. Lannan and the bullpen than shutout the Possums out over the next eight innings. In game two Halladay and the bullpen continued the scoreless innings as the team won another shutout. In game three Wang pitched a complete game 3 hit shutout to complete the first 26 innings of shutout ball. The team than traveled to Yorktown to play the Admirals. Hunter was the starting pitcher. He continued the scoreless spell until Kelly hit a solo home run in the fifth to snap the 30 consecutive scoreless innings. "I'm proud of the boy's but I think having two pitching coaches is a big factor, said Mgr. Stengel. Most (pitchers) throw with one hand. So, you need two pitching coaches, one for each hand, said Casey.
The 89ERS staff have tossed 13 Shutouts while the team has had two tossed against them. Allyn Street may own another league record. Back in 2004 the 89ERS won 23 consecutive games. All but 2 games were played face to face or by Netplay. "Yeah, that was a great season. But, we didn't win it did we, said Casey. Hazardville was 102-60. Allyn Street 96-66.
All-Time 89ER Numbers:
We followed up the 23 game winning streak in 2005 by setting a team record of 12 consecutive losses. Some other team numbers from the past. John Maine (Where is he now?) in 2008 retired the first 21 Buccaneers that he faced. I don't have what happened after that. I didn't make note of it.
No hitters: Dwight Gooden 1986, Kyle Davies (yup that's the guy) in 2006, Josh Johnson 2010 and Matt Cain in 2011. Speaking of no hitters, I know David Cone tossed one against Allyn Street. I don't remember any others. Cone's was ftf and with all the walks Cone gave up I didn't even know it was a no hitter until Mendez checked the box score and said, "Hey, that was a no hitter! :-) I didn't believe him……Oh the pain!!!
Gooden K'ed 18 batters in one game in 1985. He also K'ed 10 or more batters in 8 games in 1986.
Cano 3700th AB, Victorino 2900th AB, Soriano 1200th HIT, Pujols 250th D, Cano 97th HR to pass Edgar Martinez for 7th on the 89ER ALL-Time List. Cain 1300th IP, Halladay 393 GA to pass D.Kile for 6th, Cain 200th GS, Wang 11 shutout to tie Josh Johnson for 5th.
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ARSENAL GUNNERS - 6-22
"The worst thing in Strat"
So I sit here on a Saturday morning as I type this, thinking about the great life that I have, and oddly enough on this day, other than a little yard work, I have nothing on my plate. So as some, ok, most, ok, all of us do, I started to think about my strat team, and started to think a little about the future of my team, and started to think about next year. As I look at my team, albeit by far from the best quality, I have one thing on my team’s side which is youth. Part of that youth and promise is pitching, with folks like Ian Kennedy, Henderson Alvarez, Vance Worley leading the way. My mind however falls short when I think of the overall No 2 pick last year Michael Pineda, who as most of you know is on the shelf for the year with a bad shoulder. That made me start to think about the fate of the previous second overall picks in the FBN draft, and slowly as I looked through draft history, and googled a few stats, I quickly came to the realization that the worst thing in Strat, is having the second overall pick.
Keep in mind, the FBN league with it’s rich history, has some of the greatest strat-o minds out there, and I would proclaim that our best is probably better than another leagues best most of the time. But in looking back at those ‘can’t miss’ second picks, it clearly shows what an inexact science baseball is, and more importantly what an inexact science drafting the next Albert Pujols really is. Lets take a look.
2003 2nd Overall pick: Austin Kearns
If you think about it not a bad pick, in fact Kearns is still in the league. But if you look at Kearns’ career numbers, you are looking at a career .256 hitter, with 145 homers, averaging about 11 a year. In addition, despite Kearns’ years of service he has never been an all-star. Take into account Jason Werth from the same draft, is a lifetime .265 hitter, with more homers, and is a several time all-star. Werth a 3rd round pick has had arguably a better career, and came 55 picks later. Josh Beckett was the pick immediately behind Kearns.
2004 2nd Overall pick: Brandon Webb
Another solid pick, in fact Brandon Webb won the Cy Young award in 2006, with a (16-8) record. When you look at the overall career for Webb however you notice that it was brief, just 7 years in length, and despite of his ‘dominance’ Webb amassed only 87 wins over his career, certainly not what is expected from the #2 overall pick. Also, before you dismiss these numbers, the pick immediately after Webb, was Mark Texiera.
2005 2nd Overall pick: Bobby Crosby
At the time of the pick, picking Crosby was a no brainer. Coming off a 22 home run year for a shortstop, and the Rookie of the Year award, Crosby was a sure thing. After that rookie year however Crosby would hit only 40 more career homeRs, in over 2200 plate appearances, and leave the game with a career batting average of .236. His OBP was only over .300 twice more the rest of his career, certainly not the numbers expected of the #2 pick. Lastly the picks immediately following Crosby,-- David Wright, and Joe Mauer.
2006 2nd Overall pick: Joe Blanton
Blanton was drafted #2 after a solid rookie season. He had a 3.53 ERA as a rookie, and gave up fewer hits than IP that year as well. Since then Blanton has struggled. He has had an ERA below 4 only once in his career, and has yet to have a season where he gave up fewer hits than innings. A career record of 78-68 with an ERA of 4.36 shows that the #2 curse is alive and well with Joe. Who was the next pitcher in the draft after Blanton?. Matt Cain.
2007 2nd Overall pick: Delmon Young
This is a tough one, as Milford had the first 3 picks, so the 2nd pick was just the luck of the draw. Delmon, a solid pick in 2007, and 2nd in the Rookie of the year voting. Career stats are .286 average, with an average of about 11 home runs a year throughout his career. Keep in mind, Adam Jones, in 300 less plate appearances has 15 more home runs, and a higher career OBP. He also was drafted, 54 picks later in the 3rd round. Verlander was the pick after Young.
2008 2nd Overall pick: Daisuke Matzusaka
The tosser of the ‘gyro-ball’ was the 2nd pick in the 2008 draft, and to this point, the jury is still out on the 31 year old. Dice-K’s numbers have been modest in his career, where injuries have limited him to an average of 9 wins a year, and a career ERA of 4.25. Don’t forget Lincecum, Hunter Pence and Josh Hamilton all were drafted after Dice-K!
2009 2nd Overall pick: Jay Bruce
Excellent pick, perhaps the best No.2 pick in the past 10 years. With solid avg, and lots of power, Jay Bruce still has his prime ahead of him. Clayton Kershaw Cy Young award winner, was picked 4 picks later, but time will tell who’ll be the better pro.
2010 2nd Overall pick: Gordon Beckham
Beckham’s batting average and OBP has declined every year since his rookie year in 2009, and that includes this year, 2012, where that trend continues. At the age of 25, it may be too early to label him a bust, but his career .246 average and modest career OBP .313, are certainly not stats worthy of the No2 overall pick. Other notables in the 2010 draft, who have faired better include Andrew McCutcheon, and David Price.
2011 2nd Overall pick: Jason Heyward
Heyward, is a tremendous talent, and it is way too early to tell how his career will end up. Local papers however have started to dub him Francouer 2.0, for his penchant for striking out, and not getting clutch hits. If the 2011 draft were re-done, I wonder if he would be the 2nd pick? Heyward is starting to rebound from his Sophomore slump, but only time will tell if Heyward will be the best RFer from the 2011 draft.
2012 2nd Overall pick: Michael Pineda
Considering Pineda has not pitched in real life since he was drafted, it appears that the 2nd pick jinx, may still be in tact. If you look at Mike Trout’s early returns, it looks like he is the real deal, and perhaps should have been pick #2.
So to wrap it up, beware the No.2 overall pick. Our recent history shows that we can miss big with that pick, and it also shows that there is not such thing, as a sure thing.
Dean
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CHIEF CHAT - 6-24
Chief of the Month Awards for April and May...
APRIL (record 17-19)
CARLOS GONZALEZ led the team in BA (.379), OBP (.403), SLG (.645), hits (47) and HRs (8) and stole 7 bases.
MAY (record 10-6)
JUSTIN MASTERSON (4-0, 1.23) and R.A.DICKEY (2-0, 0.94) combined to go 6-0 with a 1.08 ERA in 58 innings.
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LAKE WOBEGON NOTES - 6-24
Highlights (odd) at the halfway point:
Tulowitzki has hit 8 of his 30 homers
Hamilton has hit 9 of his 25
Bourjos has hit all 12 of the 12 he is supposed to hit
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ALLYN STREET- SCHOOL YARD CHATTER - 7-1
The 89ERS have stayed hot during Inter-League games. After a 12-5 first half we are 12-2 in the second half improving to 24-7 with Milford left to play.
Ryan Roberts the 24th over all draft pick in the 2012 draft, has been on fire, 12 for 28 .429, with 6R, 1D, 1T, 4HR & 12RBI. The hot streak has raised his seasonal average from .238 to .257. Rajai Davis has also enjoyed the Inter-League games. "We're getting to see more LHP so I'm getting to play more. Coming to the School Yard and knowing you're going to be in the line up really gets me going. Davis 12 for 32 .375, 5R, 7D, 2T, 6RBI to raise his average from .205 to .248. Endy Chavez has been steady all year batting .347 in a part time role. Chavez has 11D, 3T, 4HR, 19RBI in 150AB.
Bob Feller seems to have Halladay straighten out. After a 6-3 start Halladay went 2-5, for 8-8. "Coach Feller said stop doing all that thinking out there. Just go out and pitch. So I did and the results followed", said Halladay. Halladay won his next 5 starts, to improve to 13-8 and he reduce his ERA from 4.02 to 3.04. In the pen Mark Melancon has 18 saves. The pen has been has been solid at 12-6 with 29 saves. The addition of lefty specialist Jaiver Lopez has already paid dividends as he has been in five games and has 3 strikeouts and has not allowed a runner to score.
All-Time 89ER Numbers:
Cano 1000 GA, 478 RUN to pass Edgar Martinez for 8th on the 89ER List, 200BB.
Pujols 700th RBI
Soriano 32 Triple to pass Shane Mack for 9th, 332BB to pass O.Merced for 9th.
TEAM 21,000 RUN
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CHIEF CHAT - 7-2
CHIEF OF THE MONTH - JUNE (record 17-10)
Joel Hanrahan pitched 19.2 scoreless innings going 3-0 with 6 saves and an OPP BA of .181.
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DEVIL DOODLES - 7-15
The Blue Devils finished the inter-league block with a respectable 19-15 record and now sit at 52-46 right in the middle of the bloody NL West divisional battle. No one appears to want to run away in the division so the upcoming divisional block will be huge.
During inter-league play, Cliff Lee finally had a successful block going 4-2 in his 6 starts to even his season record at 9-9 and finally lower his ERA under 4.00. (barely 3.92) Management hopes he carries this success against divisional opponents that have previously hit him pretty well. C.J. Wilson continues to lead the staff at 12-7 2.88 ERA allowing just 122 hits and only 7 HR’s in 147 innings with 123 K’s. Drew Storen continues to flourish closing out games going 4-0 with 16 saves and a 0.71 ERA. Storen has allowed only 34 base runners in 51 innings with 45 K’s.
The offense continues to be led all-around by Jose Reyes and Paul Konerko. Reyes is batting .317 scoring 51 runs with 52 RBI. Konerko is hitting .287 with 60 runs scored, 57 RBI and 16 HR’s. Brian McCann has gotten hot lately moving his BA to .305 and leading the team with 19 HR’s. Rookie Jemille Weeks is hitting .294 and has scored 44 runs at the top of the order.
Career Statistics Note – Jose Reyes reached the 1,000 hit plateau in his 8th year with CT (1,049) and is in 6th place on the All-Time Blue Devil hit list. With 12 more hits, he’ll pass Terry Steinbach into 5th place. Tony Gwynn is the all-time hits leader (1,768) followed by Bernie Williams(1,583), Tino Martinez(1,463) and Edgar Renteria(1,318). Alex Rios is also over the 1,000 hit plateau(1,044) but he has been only a platoon player this season so Reyes will be able to gain a lead on Rios for hits.
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ALLYN STREET- SCHOOL YARD CHATTER - 7-15
The 89ERS finished Inter-League play at 24-10, a very good finish but not good enough to repeat as Jack Brajak Memorial Tournament Champions. This years honors will go to an American League team. Three are in the running at this time. Congratulations.
The 89ERS went out and picked up a power guy to come off the bench and play in small ballparks. Shelley Duncan will join the team and spot Soriano as the DH and power hitter off the bench. "He'll add power to the bench replacing Andy LaRoche", said Casey. LaRoche was hitting .273 with 4 doubles a triple, no homeruns and 9 RBI in 33 at bats.
For the pitching GM Bruno went out and got Casey right hander, Kyle Lohse and left hander, Dontrelle Willis. "Hey, I've said it before. Most guy's can only throw with one hand. So, we needed two guy's. Each to throw with one hand and catch with the other," said Casey. Lohse will take Tommy Hunter's place in the rotation. Willis is being sent to Triple A, West Broad Street. "We'll see the kid later", said Casey.
All-Time 89ER Numbers:
Cano passed Orlando Merced for 10th All Time with 1010 games and Darrell Hamilton for 4th with 3785 At Bats. Cano hit his 100th Homerun. Soriano 280th double to pass Rafael Furcal for 3rd All Time. Rajai Davis 100th Stolen Base.
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DREAMER WEAVINGS - 8-1
After treading water through the first 64 games of the year, the Dreamers cruised through the NL block (24-10) and have continued success through the AL East for a 35-15 stretch. It would be much better if Jered f***ing Weaver could win a game...after 27 starts he stands at 9-10 with a 3.68 ERA. The team has been led by a stellar bullpen, led by win vulture Tyler Clippard (14-5, 18 saves, 1.47 ERA). Clippard has set the record for relief wins by a Dreamer - curious as to league record. Betancourt (4-2, 5 saves, 1.64) has also been strong.
Dreamer management feels confident in our chances for final wildcard playoff spot - less so for playoff success.
Dream On...
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MIDDLESEX MUDCATS - 8-1
The Mudcats under Interim Manager, Leo Durocher are 2-10 against the National League West. “I’ll pull out all the stops in the next series, said Durocher. I’m going to get this team a winning attitude or I’ll die trying. I’m asking the commissioner’s office for some help. I can’t be all things to this team. I need a pitching coach and a firstbase coach. I’ll handle the thirdbase coaches’ box. I like doing both the managing and coaching third. Casey won’t let me coach third because we got the kid Martin over there.”
The Commissioners office has allowed Durocher to hire Phil Rizzuto as firstbase coach. “Holy Cow, I’m working again. Cora we got another paycheck coming in”, said Rizzuto. Durocher also hired Dizzy Dean as the pitching coach. “I didn’t think the “Lip” liked me”, was all that Dean could mustard when he was told of his hiring.
New team GM Vic Handel will handle all trades for the coming new season.
Email: epaproctor@yahoo.com
Phone 203-747-1110
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ALLYN STREET- SCHOOL YARD CHATTER - 8-1
Starting the block with a beating (1-3) from the Jarheads and a terrible split, win the first two and lose the next two with the Barrons, Casey was not happy. "I'd turn over in my grave if I could, said Stengel. The team turned things around by going 3-1 with the Gunners and 3-1 with the Buccaneers. At 72-42 .632, the team is playing far above expectations. "High, I'd rather be lucky than good or good and plenty. Umm, that reminds me. I got to buy some candy, said Casey.
Newcomer, Kyle Loshe was given a "warm" welcome to the NL East by the Jarheads in his first start with the team. "Those guy's don't fool around said Loshe. Before I knew it they had 11 hits and 8 runs. Casey took me out after 3.2 innings to save my life." His ERA 19.60. In his next two starts Loshe went 7 innings in each and gave up 3 runs in each for a 3.86 ERA. "That's the kid we traded for said righthanded pitching coach, Bob Feller.
The other newcomer, Shelly Duncan has given Casey power off the bench as he hoped for. Duncan has 3 HR's (2 pinch hit HR's) a double and 6 RBI. "He fit in right away, said righthanded hitting coach Elston Howard.
All-Time 89ER Numbers:
Robinso Cano 3800th AB.
Cano past Berkman with 491R for 7th and now has 500R.
Cano also past Hidalgo with 1026G for 9th.
Albert Pujols past Vizcaino with 3472AB for 7th.
Shane Victorino has 3000AB.
Pujols past Hamilton with 1075H for 6th.
Victorino with this 48th triple past McGriff for 3rd.
Alfonso Soriano played in his 1400th game.
Roy Hallady 400th Start.
Rajai Davis 100th Steal.
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NAVIGATOR NOTES - 8-1
Team has rallied with strong pitching from all starters not name “Mr. Anderson” to get back into the postseason conversation. Lack of serious offensive pop will be the teams undoing, but how far will the pitching carry?
Early season hopes for Chris Davis have been muted, but new flowers in bloom; Chris Carter and Travis Snider lead for hopes of a “super freak” from in-house for 2013.
Overall things look pretty good, with next yr looking a lot like this yr, unless things start to change in the MLB landscape…
GL 2 all!
Don D.
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CHIEF CHAT - 8-1
Based on this week's response, here's the list of players with 300+ homeruns with one team:
1 Bonds AG 552
2 Bagwell HZ 490
3 GonzalezJ KK 473
4 McGriff AS 457
5 Sheffield BR 451
6 Giambi LW 425
7 Thome BR 402
8 Kent US 384
9 JonesAn HT 379
10 Piazza FV 349
11 CarterJ TX 342
12 Rolen HZ 338
13 GreenS HZ 312
Adrian Beltre HT (298) and Miguel Cabrera TX (294) should join the club by the end of this season. Jorge Posada KK (291) has an outside chance. Also, in the near miss category - Mark McGwire with 299 for HS.
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CHIEF CHAT - 8-1
Chief of the Month - July (18-9)
Michael Morse led the Chiefs in hits (29), RBI (19), 2B (9), and HR (6), while batting .302.
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ALLYN STREET- SCHOOL YARD CHATTER - 8-15
"We've had timely hitting with good pitching, said Casey Stengel. That usually will mean you have a good chance to win." The 89ERS have started 6-2 with 3-1 wins at Middlesex and Connecticut. Next up is Hazardville on Thursday night. "We'll see what happens on Thursday night. Until Thursday night no one knows", said Casey. Two regulars, Morgan .304 and Cano .300 are the team leaders but Endy Chavez has been a super sub batting .341 with a .498 slugging percentage. Endy also has 14SB and has not made an error.
Halladay and Cain have been solid all year. Now Lannan and Lohse have turned things around. Lannan was 0-5 with a 7.84 ERA. He's won 6 of his next ten decisions lowing his ERA to 5.41. Lohse after his first start 0-1 giving up 8 runs in 3.2IP, 19.60ERA has won his next three starts, lowing his ERA to 4.94.
All-Time 89ER Numbers:
Soriano 700th RBI
Victorino 3089 AB to pass S.Mack for 9th on the 89ER ALL-Time List
Victorino 478th Run to pass E.Martinez for 9th
Halladay 2600th IP
Halladay 1800th Strike out
Halladay 200th HRA
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MIDDLESEX MUDCATS - 8-15
"This kid Votto has impressed me, said Durocher. He leads the team in average .285, runs 72 doubles 36 and BB 67. He also has 13 home runs. I like this kid." Willingham leads the team with 69RBI but also has 131 K's. "I'll have Willi do a pushup for every additional strikeout he gets. I think that will get him to cut down on his swing", said Durocher.
"This Marcum kid knows how to pitch. I just wish we'd give him some runs once in awhile. He's got 10 wins and a 4.17 ERA. Plus, 156K's in 183.1IP", He's ok in my book said pitching coach Dizzy Dean.
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DEVIL DOODLES - 8-15
Blue Devil management continues to be frustrated and perplexed by the performance of the team. Despite outscoring opponents by 80 runs on the season, the Blue Devils continue to flounder on the fringe of playoff contention at 64-62. There is no one area to point the finger as causing major issues – it’s been more about failing in key situations not getting the big hit or making the big out as evidenced by their 14-18 record in one run games. In a recent game vs. Allyn St., CT held a 5-2 lead going into the 9th inning with closer Drew Storen on the mound but the team failed to hold the lead and cost the team a split against the NL’s top team.
Despite the teams’ struggles, C.J. Wilson continues to make a case for Cy Young consideration going 17-7 with a 2.76 ERA. He has allowed just 165 hits and only 9 HR’s in 196 innings with 175 K’s. On the other hand, Cliff Lee’s failures continue as his recent slump has brought down his record to 10-13 4.52 ERA. He has allowed a mind boggling 230 hits in 195 innings with a very good card.
Offensively, Brian McCann has gotten hot and is chasing down Paul Konerko for the team MVP. McCann is now hitting .316 with 25 HR’s and 66 RBI. Konerko is at .283 with 20 HR’s and 73 RBI. Rookie Jemille Weeks has lived up to his 1st round draft status batting .315, scoring 61 runs and stealing 23 out of 30 bases. On the down side, veteran Willie Harris has been a disappointment. In 229 AB’s, Harris is batting .188 with 28 runs and only 17 RBI.
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CHIEF CHAT - 8-28
Chief of the Month - August (18-10)
Co-winners are Miguel Cabrera, .327, 12 HRs, 29 RBI and Michael Young, who currently owns a 24-game hitting streak. Both have blossomed under the tutelage of new hitting coach Jose Canseco.
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PSYCHIC VIBES - 8-29
With his recent win on the road at Florida, Felix Hernandez improved his record to 20-5 on the season, making it the 4th straight season King Felix has won at least 20 games. Already in his 7th season with the Psychics after being drafted #1 overall in the 2006 FBN draft, the 26 year old has amassed a 122-48 (.718 PCT) record in 222 career starts, with a 3.56 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, and 1289 K's in 1456 innings. Perhaps even more amazingly, in 7 years of service I don't think his name has come up in trade talks once!
Meanwhile, Ervin Santana has also acheived 20 wins, currently sporting a 21-9 record. Ervin's 20+ win campaign is his 3rd with Salem. Zack Greinke (currently 19-4) and Gio Gonzalez (16-5) also have a shot at hitting the 20 win plateau. Should one of them make it, they will have tied the 1999 Psychics trio of Kevin Brown, Tom Glavine, and Rick Reed, each of whom had 22 wins that year, as the only Salem staff to sport 3 20 game winners. No Salem team has ever had 4 20 game winners.
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ALLYN STREET- SCHOOL YARD CHATTER - 9-1
"We've had no timely hitting at all, said Casey. The pitchers are doing the job but the batters have forgotten how to hit. I think (Elston) Howard and (Bobby) Murcer better start kicking some butt real soon. We have New England Tuesday and we need to get straighten out fast!"
After starting the block 6-3 with Middlesex and Connecticut; Hazardville, Taxachusetts and Klee's all hand the 89ERS 1-3 defeats. The 3-9 record has reduced the Allyn Street lead to just 3 games over second place Norwich. The young Norwich team just keeps on acoming, said Casey. Well, we'll just have to wait and see. That's it, wait and see."
Who's Hot! Morgan, Cano and Drew all batting over .300 over last 12 games.
Who's NOT! Pujols batting .178, 2HR 4RBI
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NAVIGATOR NOTES - 9-1
A hard-fought battle vs the NL West leaves the team 4+/- 2 games behind the front-running Allyn St club, and +/-2 games separation from the scrappy Burlington Bucs. New Addition Jose Bautista has been a beast, launching 11 HRs at the NL west! David Ortiz has looked to be a table-setter since the mega-deal, hitting .380 in August. S. Castro has hung well with the team, being a DH vs LH on his way out to superstardom in Hazardville… Clayton Kershaw paced the starters with a 4-1 August, with a pedestrian (for him) 3.95 era. The pen has been solid, other than the infamous 6-runs in the 9th KLEEBACLE. With the NL West looking like a group of sharks with blood in the water, Norwich hopes to at least sneak into the WC, with any greater hopes to be determined in the final block…
Gator Tales- 9/1
The 2013 Navigators look flawed vs LH pitching, accentuated with the Castro departure. The injuries to Ortiz and Bautista may derail the ‘Gators 2013 title run (which was the “evil plan” all along). The starting pitching still looks very good, tho, allowing for a deal or two. Chris Carter looks like the new toy, and Chris Davis and Mike Moustakas look like newcomers to the everyday lineup. Its funny, as the Arizona Bats helped make the initial roster, that the next yr Gators look a bit like the Bats (Or a lineup that the Bats would really like, anyways).
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DEVIL DOODLES - 9-15
Sitting at 75-75, the Blue Devils are playing out the string in the final block having never been able to put together a win streak of more than 4 games all season and thus, not being able to make a run at the top teams in the division. It has been a disappointing season after making the playoffs last year. As mentioned numerous times, when your best starting pitcher goes 12-17 as Cliff Lee has – hard to make the playoffs. If Lee could have just switched his record around to 17-12 (not exactly earth shattering), CT would have been right in the playoff hunt.
The team has two main goals for the remainder of the season . . .
1) The Blue Devils would like to get one more win for C.J. Wilson so he can have a 20 win season. Wilson has been excellent going 19-8 3.11. With 3 more starts left, he has a strong shot at getting 20 wins.
2) The Blue Devils would like to finish with a winning record. In 25 previous seasons in the FBN, CT has had only 3 losing seasons and never more than 94 losses so keeping that winning tradition would be nice. The Blue Devils average seasonal record over the 25 year history of the franchise is 92-70. Unfortunately, not coming close to that this year.
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MIDDLESEX MUDCATS - 9-15
Manager, Leo Durocher is getting ready to hand the team over to new ownership soon. "I'll miss managing, but Casey said he'd allow me to manage a game or two next year. This team is going out there everyday and they are trying hard. That's all I can ask for", said Durocher.
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ALLYN STREET- SCHOOL YARD CHATTER - 9-15
The NL East race will come right down to the wire. After a tough battle with Arsenal where we were very lucky to take 3 of 4 we traveled to Wall Street. The Baron's played well and earned a split by beating Halladay 5-0 in game 4. Casey put Halladay in to start limited to just 5 over Adcock. "Halladay was my choice, said Casey. It just didn't work out." With just 12 games remaining each game will be a playoff game!
Kyle Lohse 6-3 with 3.00 ERA has been a big boost to the pitching staff. Chien-Ming Wang has done a nice job in his 8 starts. Wang is 6-1 with a 3.40 ERA. In 32 games since joining the team Shelly Duncan has 5 HR's and 13 RBI in 62 at bats. He has been a major improve for the 89ERS off the bench and in spot starts.
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MIDDLESEX MUDCATS - 10-01
"I'm proud of the guy's, said Mgr. Leo Duroucher. In the last 28 games we finished 15-13. I think the new ownership has a nice neuleus to work with for 2013." Durocher is back as the bench coach helping Casey stay awake during games at the School Yard.
Team Hi-Lites:
C.Headley .315 34D, 3T, 9HR and 82RBI.
J.Votto .306 44D, 4T, 19HR 69RBI.
J.Willingham 24HR 103RBI.
M.Wieters 23HR & 72RBI.
S.Marcum 15-13 .3.95 186K
D.Hernandez 1-2-27 1.94ERA 54K only 19BB in 46.1 innings.
Team Low-Lites
I.Suzuki .234 and D.Lee .239
R.Dempster 7-15 5.05ERA, J.Lester 7-14 5.34ERA
F.Garcia 9-10 5.14ERA, C.Mortensen 6-7 5.76ERA
*Willingham only hit .230 but he had 27D, 24HR and 103RBI while scoring 72R.
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ALLYN STREET- SCHOOL YARD CHATTER - 10-01
The NL East race came down to our last series with Norwich. The magic numbers was 3. As in the first 3 series with Norwich we split in a very tight pitchers series. We won game one 5-0 as Roy Halladay won his 23rd game of the season. He had to come out after 6.1 innings due to his innings restriction. The pen came in and preserved the win and reducing the magic number to 1. Norwich hung tough and won game 2, 2-0. We came back and won game 3, 3-0 behind Kyle Lohse. Lohse turned out to be a great pick up for the 89ERS. He started 12 games, he was 8-3 with a 2.53ERA. "Without Lohse, Adcock (1-2 7.88), Hunter (3-3 5.31ERA) and Lannan (8-10 5.07) would have pitched in those 12 games. I don't think the results would have been the same" said Manager Stengel. Albert Pujols hit 50HR. Only the second time that has been done by an 89ER. Rich Hiladgo did it in 2001. Halladay's 23 wins make him a five time 20 game winner and the second time he's won 20 or more back to back. He also went back to back 20 win seasons in 2007 & 2008.
All-Time 89ER Numbers:
Pujols 1000th Game and 700th Run.
Furcal 5900AB
Soriano 4800AB and tied Chuck Knoblauc with 288th Double. Tie for 2nd on All Time List.
Cano 4000AB
Davis passed Fred McGriff for 11th All Time with 106SB
Matt Cain 100th Win.
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SILVER BULLET REVIEW AND PREVIEW - 10-09
The 2012 season was the 25th for the Baton Rouge Silver Bullets, and the worst in our entire history. While we won 53 games and the 1991 Bullets won only 51, we set historical worsts in team batting average (.240), on base percentage (.297), slugging percentage (.354), and team ERA (5.36). We couldn’t hit or and we couldn’t pitch. Only one of our starting 9 was able to hit over .254 (Zimmerman who hit .278) and only one batter on the whole team was able to hit over .300 – that hitting machine Carlos Zambrano who hit .304. Only 4 players were in double digit homers lead by Martin’s 16 for a team total of 100 – the second lowest total for a Bullet team. All our starting pitchers had ERAs over 5 – Chen – 5.44, Hanson – 6.10, Pelfrey – 7.92, Jurrjens – 5.08, Volstad – 5.41, and Zambrano – 5.05. Our run differential (scored minus allowed) was a massive -314 – by far our worst ever. But we could run and run we did setting a team record in the number of stolen bases with 246 beating the 2010 previous record of 233.
Some of our hitters had good or at least decent seasons in the Majors this year – Morneau, Zimmerman, newcomer Rizzo, even Carlos Gomez. Even those that did not have a good year overall will be usable against one hand or the other (Martin, Stubbs, Mesoraco, LeMahieu, Casilla, Joyce). We will be improved on the offensive side next year. Pitching will continue to be a problem. Three of our six starters will be out for the season (Pelfrey) or are so bad as to be unusable (Jurrjens and Volstad). That means Chen (WHIP = 1.37), Hanson (1.45 – what happened to him??), and Zambrano (1.50) have to be used as we try to fill out the rest of the rotation by draft or trade. Another season of high team ERA. Overall, we expect the Bullets to be a middle of the pack team next year. We need another good (lucky) draft. We have 5 picks in the first 55 or so, which will help.
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DEVIL DOODLES - 10-12
The Blue Devils finished their 26th season in the FBN with an 82-80 record – their 23rd season with a winning record but were disappointed to miss the playoffs. Management remains perplexed on how CT did not finish with a better record based on statistics . . . . . . The Blue Devils batted .274 as a team – their highest average in 8 years, outscored their opponents by 66 runs, walked 84 more times and struck out 74 less times than opponents. CT stole 151 bases with a 75% success rate and had a 20 game winner in the rotation. Hard to believe the team struggled so much – their record was never better than 8 games over .500.
The pitching staff set a couple new franchise seasonal records: - pitchers walked only 411 batters – breaking the previous record in 2004 (418) - pitchers struck out 1,180 batters – crushing the previous record in 1996 (1,131)
C.J. Wilson became the 8th pitcher in franchise history to win 20 games going 20-9 3.30 and leading the club in wins for the 2nd straight season. Other 20 game winners for the Blue Devils include Greg Maddux (5 times), Orel Hershiser, Mark Gubicza, Jose Rijo, Bret Saberhagen, Mike Hampton and Kevin Tapani.
Cliff Lee, on the other hand, rose to the top of the franchise list for most losses in a season with 18 – topping Brad Radke in 2002 who lost 17 games. For the 3rd time in his 4 years with CT, Lee was under .500 at 14-18 4.49 – giving up a mind-boggling 290 hits in 256 innings with 28 HR’s. He did strike out 257 batters which was impressive. Lee’s 4 year career totals with CT are 52-60 4.43 – not bad for an average pitcher but with the 4 excellent cards that he received – pretty brutal numbers!
Offensively, Paul Konerko was team MVP with a solid across the board season. .274 97 runs scored 96 RBI 25 doubles 27 HR’s with 79 walks.
Jemile Weeks made a strong case for Rookie of the Year – in 130 games he batted a team high .326 while scoring 78 runs with 30 doubles, 13 triples and 27 stolen bases.
Brian McCann had another solid year batting .299 with 28 HR’s and 83 RBI and Chipper Jones showed he still has something left going .265 with 17 HR’s, 77 RBI and a team leading 42 doubles. Jones announced that 2013 will be his final season.
That’s a wrap – Good Luck and Have fun to all playoff teams!!
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