So after an exciting first season, a look ahead at the 2008 Haymakers. The 2007 starters posted a combined ERA of 5.18 and minus two bright spots 2008 does not look to fare better. Chris Carpenter the 2007 ace is out with an arm injury and will be unavailable in 2008. Kevin Millwood, a 14 game winner in 2007, looks to get worse next season because of too much control (213 hits in 173 innings). Scott Olsen, the firey young left-hander, let his emotions get the best of him and should look interesting with a 1.76 WHIP. Clay Hensley was hurt much of the season and looks to make the same contribution as Carpenter (if he even makes the team). It's not all bad...Brad Penny seems to have been able to solve his 2nd half collapse issues and turned out a nice season and should be sharp for the Haymakers in 2008, while the sleeper pick of the 2007 draft Fausto Carmona should anchor the rotation next season.
The 2008 bull-pen will have a hard time repeating the success from 2007 where they lead the league with a combined 2.84 ERA. Closer BJ Ryan (1.52 ERA with 35 saves in 2007) will be out all of 2008 with an injury. Set-up men Brian Fuentes (9-2 with a 1.01 ERA) and Huston Street (6-5 with a 2.44 ERA) look solid for next season, but should not be as lights out as last season. Young reliever Matt Capps (2-3 with a 4.64 ERA in 2007) has looked great in winter ball, posting 2.28 ERA in 78 innings.
As for the hitters, Vernon Wells (.247 BA, 28 HR, 106 RBI in 2007) hitting woes will continue in 2008. The other 3 hitters in the top of the lineup should continue to carry the team; Crawford (.315 BA, 110 Runs, 54 stolen bases), Suzuki (.352 BA, 90 RBI, 39 stolen bases) and Utley (.294 BA, 35 doubles, 78 RBI's) all look great for the 2008 season. "They are going to be great for us," GM Ken Anderson said, "It's the rest of the lineup I'm worried about." The supporting cast looks suspect, and will have a hard time helping the team in 2008. "The only other player with over 500 AB's on our team last season was Conor, and his production should be on-par with that in 2008. We need a lot of help from our part-time players and it's going to be important that they step up." the GM said. Other supporting players like Chad Tracy (.319 BA, 18 HR, 67 RBI in 404 AB) was out over half the season with an injury, and does not look good for 2008.
Overall, there are some bright young stars on this team, but it's going to be hard for the Haymakers to match their 87-76 record from last season without a strong draft and/or some trades.
"We can't win with only two starters," said GM Ken Anderson, "If anyone wants to trade us their first round pick next season for a can of beans, let me know."
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Pilots Clinch LF Wildcard
The Less Filling playoff picture clarified itself dramatically when the Seattle Pilots closed out their season strong, sweeping both Georgia and Grundy County.
The 91-71 Pilots will represent the Less Filling as the Wildcard team in the 2007 NASBL Playoffs.
What remains to be seen is whether their 1st round opponent will be the Vermont Fighting Sioux, or the Dallas Fort Worth Spurs. Both division winners (presumptively in the case of the Sioux, whose magic number is still technically at 1, with the New York Knights dangling by the proverbial thread) are within percentage points of one another.
Over in the TG, the East is still technically wide open, with Honolulu yet to eliminate either Springfield or Lake Champlain from either the division title or Wildcard hopes. Nevertheless, the Hawaiians are in the driver's seat for the division crown, and Springfield holds all the cards in the WC chase.
In the TG South, Outlaw now holds a 1/2 game edge over Texas, with New Jersey 4 games back.
The 91-71 Pilots will represent the Less Filling as the Wildcard team in the 2007 NASBL Playoffs.
What remains to be seen is whether their 1st round opponent will be the Vermont Fighting Sioux, or the Dallas Fort Worth Spurs. Both division winners (presumptively in the case of the Sioux, whose magic number is still technically at 1, with the New York Knights dangling by the proverbial thread) are within percentage points of one another.
Over in the TG, the East is still technically wide open, with Honolulu yet to eliminate either Springfield or Lake Champlain from either the division title or Wildcard hopes. Nevertheless, the Hawaiians are in the driver's seat for the division crown, and Springfield holds all the cards in the WC chase.
In the TG South, Outlaw now holds a 1/2 game edge over Texas, with New Jersey 4 games back.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Home Not so Sweet Home for DFW
Bk-3 finds the Spurs struggling to finish at .500 at home going 9-9, while on the road they posted an 11-9 record. During a 5 game series the Spurs went 0-3 vs HHA, and 0-2 vs LCC, and they had their 'heads' handed to them (all net-play). The LCC series was a 'Blood Bath'! LCC out scored DFW 22-1. "I was afraid they wanted to film a slasher movie. There wasn't that much blood in the movie Halloween", stated C Victor Martinez. "If we weren't getting or brains beat out, we were getting numbed to death". When asked what he meant, Martinez continued, "A blop single here, a seeing eye single there. A wild pitch here or passed ball there. You know numbed to death". When a reporter asked V-Mart, "Well when the Spurs are the team getting the seeing eye singles and the all the breaks (splits!!) you consider that making things happen right"? V-Mart just gave him a smile and a wink.
What also is puzzling is that DFW has a better road record 43-23 than they do home record 44-32!
What also is puzzling is that DFW has a better road record 43-23 than they do home record 44-32!
Monday, August 6, 2007
Sioux stars shine bright in mid-season classic - Commish Beard Still Confused
The All-Star game means lots of things to lots of people. For the Vermont Fighting Sioux participants it meant this:
A chance to excel on a big stage and bask in the spotlight
Showcasing the deep talent pool that is the VFS roster
And most importantly, lock up home field advantage for the NASBL World Series. We are expecting NASBL GM Steve "Bud" Beard to announce that the NASBL will mirror MLB's practice of awarding home field to the winning league in the All Star game. However, it's worth noting that we have lost many a bet expecting "Triple Bogie" Beard to do the right thing.
So, with the stage set to achieve the above goals, here's how the Sioux players did:
- Albert Pujols, HR, Game MVP
- John Lackey, Perfect IP, winning pitcher
- Jorge Posada, 3 run HR
When cornered at the game, Triple Bogie's confused state was captured on camera.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
At the end of BK-2 lets take a look around the NASBL. We'll look at the Less Filling Division. WEST
DFW leads the West with a record 67-38. Lead by SS C.Guillen .319
ba/14hr/70rbi, 3B F.Sanchez .333 and T.Hafner .297ba/33hr/103rbi. The Spurs lead the LF Division with a team BA of .294. The most surprising thing is their also lead the LF Division in team ERA of
4.30. The pitching is lead by D.Bush 11-5, 3.43era with G.Maddux 9-7, 4.74era, and K.Rogers 9-6, 5.63. The biggest surprise for DFW
is closer F.Rodriquez(K-Rod) who is having an outstanding year with
30 saves and is 1-1, 2.57era.
MSU find themselves in 2nd place with 58-46 record 8.5 games out.
They do lead the WC race by 3 games. The offense is lead by 3B D.
Wright .321ba/18hr/70rbi and R.Ibanez .309ba/24ba/61rbi. The table
setter is SS J.Reyes has scored 82 runs and leads the league in SB with 60 and has been throw out only twice. The pitching staff has four 9 game winners in D.Lowe,J.Westbrook, M. Morris, B.Howry [a reliever] and J.Beckett with 8 wins. To help beef up the staff for the stretch run they traded for Jason Schmidt. Closer JJ Putz has 27 saves a with a record of 4-2 with a minuscule era of 1.17!
TRY are in 3rd place 11.5 out with a record 54-48. They are only 3 games out in the WC race. With a big BK-2, TRY raised their team BA to .291. Lead by C. Crawford .329ba/78r/93b/15hr/60rbi, I. Suzuki .323 and V. Wells .250ba/14hr/61rbi. TRY is 3rd in the NASBL with a 103 team SB. The pitching is lead by K.Millwood 12-5, 480era and C.Hensley 8-4, 5.49. The strength of the team is the relief staff. 5 relievers have pitched a minimum of 30 games with a combined record of 19-10. The Closer BJ Ryan is 5-3, 2.25era and has 22 saves.
SPL even with a winning record of 55-51, are 12.5 games of in the West, but only 4 games out in the WC. The hitting is lead by C J. Mauer .338ba/14hr/59rbi, P. Konerko .288ba/26hr/73rbi. The pitching is lead by F.Garcia 11-6, 3.49era and J. Lieber 9-4, 4.93era. Rookie phoenum F. Hernandez is 7-11, 6.83era has been throw to the wolves but has shown signs of brilliance. SPL is hoping the trade that brought them J. Dye and future HOF R. Clemens can jump start them to make up ground in their play off hunt. Also look for INF E. German to have a Big impact the last half of the season.
DFW leads the West with a record 67-38. Lead by SS C.Guillen .319
ba/14hr/70rbi, 3B F.Sanchez .333 and T.Hafner .297ba/33hr/103rbi. The Spurs lead the LF Division with a team BA of .294. The most surprising thing is their also lead the LF Division in team ERA of
4.30. The pitching is lead by D.Bush 11-5, 3.43era with G.Maddux 9-7, 4.74era, and K.Rogers 9-6, 5.63. The biggest surprise for DFW
is closer F.Rodriquez(K-Rod) who is having an outstanding year with
30 saves and is 1-1, 2.57era.
MSU find themselves in 2nd place with 58-46 record 8.5 games out.
They do lead the WC race by 3 games. The offense is lead by 3B D.
Wright .321ba/18hr/70rbi and R.Ibanez .309ba/24ba/61rbi. The table
setter is SS J.Reyes has scored 82 runs and leads the league in SB with 60 and has been throw out only twice. The pitching staff has four 9 game winners in D.Lowe,J.Westbrook, M. Morris, B.Howry [a reliever] and J.Beckett with 8 wins. To help beef up the staff for the stretch run they traded for Jason Schmidt. Closer JJ Putz has 27 saves a with a record of 4-2 with a minuscule era of 1.17!
TRY are in 3rd place 11.5 out with a record 54-48. They are only 3 games out in the WC race. With a big BK-2, TRY raised their team BA to .291. Lead by C. Crawford .329ba/78r/93b/15hr/60rbi, I. Suzuki .323 and V. Wells .250ba/14hr/61rbi. TRY is 3rd in the NASBL with a 103 team SB. The pitching is lead by K.Millwood 12-5, 480era and C.Hensley 8-4, 5.49. The strength of the team is the relief staff. 5 relievers have pitched a minimum of 30 games with a combined record of 19-10. The Closer BJ Ryan is 5-3, 2.25era and has 22 saves.
SPL even with a winning record of 55-51, are 12.5 games of in the West, but only 4 games out in the WC. The hitting is lead by C J. Mauer .338ba/14hr/59rbi, P. Konerko .288ba/26hr/73rbi. The pitching is lead by F.Garcia 11-6, 3.49era and J. Lieber 9-4, 4.93era. Rookie phoenum F. Hernandez is 7-11, 6.83era has been throw to the wolves but has shown signs of brilliance. SPL is hoping the trade that brought them J. Dye and future HOF R. Clemens can jump start them to make up ground in their play off hunt. Also look for INF E. German to have a Big impact the last half of the season.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
My 2 cents......
At the end of BK-2 lets take a look around the NASBL. We'll look at the Less Filling Division. CENTRAL
VFS are in 1st place with record of 62-41. The Sioux are having their best season in years. Six starters are hitting over .300 lead by 1B A. Pujols .328ba/38hr/99rbi. 1st Rd pick R. Zimmerman is struggling to get use to NASBL pitching batting just .238, but has 302b/9hr/59rbi. The pitching is lead by John Lackey 12-4, 3.63era and Brett Myers 9-6, 411era. Closer Billy Wagner has 22 saves with a 1.27era. The other 1st Rd pick Nelson Liriano is tearing up the NASBL with a 8-1 record and has 92 K's in just 68 ip and will push for ROY honors.
NYK 52-50 The young Knights are in 2nd place 9.5 games behind VFS, but are only 5 games out in the WC race. NYK has a .289 team batting average and are lead by Garrett Atkins.304ba/13hr/73rbi and Billy Hall .291ba/25hr/76rbi. The pitching is the big reason the NYK are in contention. 1st Rd pick Matt Cain is 11-7, 5.60era with 3 CG. 2nd Rd pick closer T. Saito is 4-1, 1.85era and 22 saves. Saito is the guy the NYKbeen looking for to come in and close out games. If they continue to play team ball they should be in the thick of things in September.
PCM 50-54-- Find themselves in unfamiliar territory. They are 12.5 games behind in the South and 8 games out in the WC race. CF Tori Hunter leads the team .310ba/27hr/65rbi and 1st Rd pick Prince Fielder .266ba/15hr/51 rbi is a star in the making. The pitching is the reason PCM is struggling. It's all or nothing. Two starters are responsible for half the teams wins, J.Santana 13-7, 4.12era and B.Arroyo 13-5, 4.41era. Then there is Dan Haren 3-10, 5.69era and P.Martinez 3-8, 5.44era PCM has won '7' straight South Titles. They will need a big second half to make it '8'.
GCG 33-71- If one team knows the term 'growing pains', it's GCG. They made the biggest off-season trade with HHA when they traded R.Oswalt and P.Burrell for M.Cabrera and M.Buehrle. Cabrera leads the team in hitting .320 but hasn't been a big run producer. They are building a young team with the likes of Cabrera, 1B- J. J.Morneau, C- R.Martin and SS-S.Drew. INF-K.Youkilis has been a pleasant surprise .300ba/10hr/52rbi and NASBL stolen base thief J.Pierre has 59 steals in 70 attempts. The pitching which looks like a MASH unit is struggling. M.Prior 1-5, 5.80era, J.Moyer 3-13, 6.37era and V.Padillia 2-13, 7.26era. Young Closer C.Ray has on the job training 2-3, 6.47era and 7 saves.
VFS are in 1st place with record of 62-41. The Sioux are having their best season in years. Six starters are hitting over .300 lead by 1B A. Pujols .328ba/38hr/99rbi. 1st Rd pick R. Zimmerman is struggling to get use to NASBL pitching batting just .238, but has 302b/9hr/59rbi. The pitching is lead by John Lackey 12-4, 3.63era and Brett Myers 9-6, 411era. Closer Billy Wagner has 22 saves with a 1.27era. The other 1st Rd pick Nelson Liriano is tearing up the NASBL with a 8-1 record and has 92 K's in just 68 ip and will push for ROY honors.
NYK 52-50 The young Knights are in 2nd place 9.5 games behind VFS, but are only 5 games out in the WC race. NYK has a .289 team batting average and are lead by Garrett Atkins.304ba/13hr/73rbi and Billy Hall .291ba/25hr/76rbi. The pitching is the big reason the NYK are in contention. 1st Rd pick Matt Cain is 11-7, 5.60era with 3 CG. 2nd Rd pick closer T. Saito is 4-1, 1.85era and 22 saves. Saito is the guy the NYKbeen looking for to come in and close out games. If they continue to play team ball they should be in the thick of things in September.
PCM 50-54-- Find themselves in unfamiliar territory. They are 12.5 games behind in the South and 8 games out in the WC race. CF Tori Hunter leads the team .310ba/27hr/65rbi and 1st Rd pick Prince Fielder .266ba/15hr/51 rbi is a star in the making. The pitching is the reason PCM is struggling. It's all or nothing. Two starters are responsible for half the teams wins, J.Santana 13-7, 4.12era and B.Arroyo 13-5, 4.41era. Then there is Dan Haren 3-10, 5.69era and P.Martinez 3-8, 5.44era PCM has won '7' straight South Titles. They will need a big second half to make it '8'.
GCG 33-71- If one team knows the term 'growing pains', it's GCG. They made the biggest off-season trade with HHA when they traded R.Oswalt and P.Burrell for M.Cabrera and M.Buehrle. Cabrera leads the team in hitting .320 but hasn't been a big run producer. They are building a young team with the likes of Cabrera, 1B- J. J.Morneau, C- R.Martin and SS-S.Drew. INF-K.Youkilis has been a pleasant surprise .300ba/10hr/52rbi and NASBL stolen base thief J.Pierre has 59 steals in 70 attempts. The pitching which looks like a MASH unit is struggling. M.Prior 1-5, 5.80era, J.Moyer 3-13, 6.37era and V.Padillia 2-13, 7.26era. Young Closer C.Ray has on the job training 2-3, 6.47era and 7 saves.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
News and Notes from Illinois
Illinois and LCC Complete 2nd Trade
Illinois sent David Dellucci and Kiko Calero to Lake Champlain for Casey Blake and John Rauch. This trade should help LCC in the pennant race and give the Chows more flexibility at the corner positions for next season.
Chows Petition NASBL to hold Draft at Seventies Stadium
After acquiring two first round picks via trade, GM Brad Sherlag is formally petitioning the league to hold the live draft at Seventies Stadium this off-season. “It would be a real boost for our small season ticket base if they could come out and see the draft in person. Having the home team go to the podium three times would add some excitement to the event that I am sure the home viewers on ESPN2 would enjoy. We may not have a posh club to hold the event in like some of the more expensive stadiums, but we do have a banquet room in the lower lever that would fit the draft teams, the commentators and some fans. We hope Commissioner Beard will see this as an exciting opportunity and allow the great people of Illinois the chance to host the draft.”
Can’t Tell the Players without a Program
As the second half of the NASBL season gets underway, you may not recognize your Chows. Of the 30 Chows that broke with the club over a quarter of the roster has turned over. Only eight holdovers remain in place from when Brad Sherlag purchased the old Yorktown franchise. Those eight are Beltran, Beltre, Barrett, Kearns, Dunn, Halliday, Speier and Gagne. Vidro was with Yorktown, however he was released by the Chows and re-acquired via the draft.
Illinois sent David Dellucci and Kiko Calero to Lake Champlain for Casey Blake and John Rauch. This trade should help LCC in the pennant race and give the Chows more flexibility at the corner positions for next season.
Chows Petition NASBL to hold Draft at Seventies Stadium
After acquiring two first round picks via trade, GM Brad Sherlag is formally petitioning the league to hold the live draft at Seventies Stadium this off-season. “It would be a real boost for our small season ticket base if they could come out and see the draft in person. Having the home team go to the podium three times would add some excitement to the event that I am sure the home viewers on ESPN2 would enjoy. We may not have a posh club to hold the event in like some of the more expensive stadiums, but we do have a banquet room in the lower lever that would fit the draft teams, the commentators and some fans. We hope Commissioner Beard will see this as an exciting opportunity and allow the great people of Illinois the chance to host the draft.”
Can’t Tell the Players without a Program
As the second half of the NASBL season gets underway, you may not recognize your Chows. Of the 30 Chows that broke with the club over a quarter of the roster has turned over. Only eight holdovers remain in place from when Brad Sherlag purchased the old Yorktown franchise. Those eight are Beltran, Beltre, Barrett, Kearns, Dunn, Halliday, Speier and Gagne. Vidro was with Yorktown, however he was released by the Chows and re-acquired via the draft.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)