November 10th, 2008 by Admirals GM
November 10th, 2008 by Admirals GM
Posted at 07:49 PM in 1990's EWB History, 1993, Author: Admirals GM, News Stories/Articles | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
November 5th, 2008 by Admirals GM
Posted at 03:25 PM in 1993, Author: Admirals GM, News Stories/Articles | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
November 3rd, 2008 by Admirals GM
Posted at 08:31 AM in 1993, Author: Admirals GM, News Stories/Articles | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
November 2nd, 2008 by Admirals GM
Posted at 11:49 AM in 1980's EWB History, 1993, All Star Game, Author: Admirals GM, News Stories/Articles | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
November 1st, 2008 by Banditos GM
I totally agree with the point about the impact on the bullpen's fatigue. By the way, Hearn's averages 83 pitches per game. One thing I have insight to is the fatigue level of the pitchers in real time and I can definitely say it effects who the manager chooses to use and their performance. When a pitcher is fatigued he pitches much worse, obviously.
Long 15 inning games often have an impact on both teams for the next few games, until their bullpen can get caught up on rest. That's one reason I like to have some inning eaters. This year I have Forest Thomas eating some mop up innings and for the last two years Halter has been able to give me good quality multiple inning outings, many time he would go 2.2 or 3 innings in tight spots and do well. I don't think the Hearn experiment will spawn a bunch of copycats however it will open eyes to new possibilities.
We have an interesting player, Bernard "Reach" Glass, who is phenomenal. He has Hearn's like potential, he was drafted as a SP but only has 5 endurance. His official position is still SP but Cal Ripken Sr. has been using him in the bullpen his entire minor league career. We intend to let him try out the starter role and see how it goes. This year Glass has yet to give up a run in 23.1 AAA IP and 2.1 AA IP. Like Justin said regarding Garcia though, 5 and 6 are really different than 3 or 2 in terms of being able to start.
Posted at 02:15 PM in 1993, Author: Banditos GM, Miscellaneous, News Stories/Articles | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
October 31st, 2008 by Admirals GM
Posted at 12:08 PM in 1993, Author: Admirals GM, Miscellaneous, News Stories/Articles | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
October 29th, 2008 by Admirals GM
Posted at 02:20 PM in 1993, Author: Admirals GM, Miscellaneous, News Stories/Articles | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
October 29th, 2008 by Admirals GM
Posted at 07:56 PM in 1993, Author: Admirals GM, Miscellaneous, News Stories/Articles | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
October 29th, 2008 by Banditos GM
Posted at 10:29 AM in 1993, Author: Banditos GM, Miscellaneous, News Stories/Articles | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
October 28th, 2008 by Admirals GM
Posted at 12:22 PM in 1993, Author: Admirals GM, Miscellaneous, News Stories/Articles | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
October 27th, 2008 by Wolverines GM
Posted at 12:03 PM in 1993, Author: Wolverines GM, Miscellaneous, News Stories/Articles | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
October 27th, 2008 by Wolverines GM
1) We would ideally like to sign both, now that may not be in the cards financially, but I appreciate immensely what Ricardo and Orlando have done for this organization. Their performance is not the reason we didn't make the playoffs as there numbers were great and we would love to keep them both. We are continuously working on their extensions and it takes time maybe even till the end of the year and it also is in their hands as far if they want to test the free agent market so we want them back and we are working on it.
Posted at 12:00 PM in 1993, Author: Wolverines GM, Miscellaneous, News Stories/Articles | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
October 27th, 2008 by Admirals GM
Gary Java, KKAR 1290.
Posted at 09:29 AM in 1993, Author: Admirals GM, Miscellaneous, News Stories/Articles | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
October 27th, 2008 by Wolverines GM
First off who am I speaking to ?
Posted at 09:28 AM in 1993, Author: Wolverines GM, Miscellaneous, News Stories/Articles | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
October 27th, 2008 by Admirals GM
Posted at 12:44 PM in 1993, Author: Admirals GM, Miscellaneous, News Stories/Articles | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
October 27th, 2008 by Banditos GM
Posted at 12:03 PM in 1993, Author: Banditos GM, Miscellaneous, News Stories/Articles | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
October 26th, 2008 by Admirals GM
Posted at 12:29 PM in 1993, Author: Admirals GM, Miscellaneous, News Stories/Articles | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
October 23rd, 2008 by Admirals GM
Posted at 05:28 PM in 1993, Author: Admirals GM, Minor Leagues, Miscellaneous, News Stories/Articles | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
October 23rd, 2008 by Admirals GM
Posted at 09:56 AM in 1993, Author: Admirals GM, Miscellaneous, News Stories/Articles | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
October 22nd, 2008 by Admirals GM
Posted at 12:22 PM in 1993, Author: Admirals GM, Miscellaneous, News Stories/Articles | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
October 22nd, 2008 by Banditos GM
3)
Update on Banks. He is no longer behind Fields, Fields is now in AAA.
Banks is actually backup CF behind a fairly strong OF of Greg Stevens,
Jason Callahan and Tom Jordan. Banks agrees he should be in the
starting lineup, he is infuriated right now. I predict that Boston
will put him on the trade block sometime soon.
Posted at 01:41 PM in 1993, Author: Banditos GM, Miscellaneous, News Stories/Articles | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
October 21st 2008 by Admirals GM
Posted at 01:40 PM in 1993, Author: Admirals GM, Miscellaneous, News Stories/Articles | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
October 21st, 2008 by Banditos GM
Orker scanned all the teams and used his wise sight and intuition to make his predictions. At the end of the year we should grade the predictions like they do for college football magazines.
Lots of similar predictions.
1) Obviously Orker has a bias towards Miami, placing them above Carolina. Otherwise Sunbelt is pretty much straight.
2) Only discrepancy in Plains is Minneapolis and Chicago for 4 and 5.
3) Big discrepancy regarding LA. Algorithm likes them, Orker has them finishing last presumably playing bad since they are behind mediocre LV and Portland.
4) Difference in Colonial is Philly and DC. The algorithm surprised Orker, as he thought he was stepping out on a limb with DC 2nd and having Boston down to 4.
5) Ohio Valley is a little shook up. Once again Orker thought he was making a surprise pick with Cincinnati. Though he picked Detroit 5th and the Algorithm (you should really create a name and brand it, much more marketable than "the algorithm) picked Detroit to win the Division. Orker also gives a lot more value to St. Louis than the Algorithm. The Algorithm thinks Cleveland will be much better than what Orker thinks.
6) Texas Division comes down to the difference of opinion on Dallas. But as mentioned by Orker, he believes that Division could be a crap shoot with the exception of San Antonio.
Posted at 10:02 AM in 1993, Author: Banditos GM, Miscellaneous, News Stories/Articles | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
October 21st, 2008 by Admirals GM
Posted at 10:00 AM in 1993, Author: Admirals GM, Miscellaneous, News Stories/Articles | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
October 21st, 2008 by Banditos GM
Posted at 02:53 PM in 1993, Author: Banditos GM, Miscellaneous, News Stories/Articles | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
October 21st, 2008 by Banditos GM
Just Ramblings from looking through the league.
- The big news and headlines in Carolina are all about their new marquee signings. However, their biggest move occurred months ago, specificall 7/30/1992. That was the date they removed the albatross from their neck by trading Emilio Cabrera and $3.0 Million to hapless Montreal for disgruntled OF Luis Martinez. Cabrera, two time MVP, was signed to an enormous 4 year deal at $10.48 million per year. Cabrera suffered major injuries in 1990 and 1991 which restricted his playing time to about a half a season each year. By 1992 Cabrera was half the player he used to be and in two years hadn't come close to providing Carolina anything near their $10 million dollar a year investment. GM Robbie Johnson somehow swayed former Montreal GM Cedric Backman, now running the show in Cleveland, to take Cabrera. Cabrera played utility OF for Montreal and looks to continue that role in 1993. Carolina freed up a large amount of cash, signed some premier players, made some trades (Moore-Bicknell) and now look to be the contender they should be. Carolina is a Big Market Team.
07-30-1992Was traded by the Carolina Colonials to the Montreal Knights, along with $3,000,000, in exchange for RF L. MartÃnez.
- Montreal seems to be a favoured trading partner of humans, probably because of their susceptibility to getting fucked over. New GM Joe Steines says that will all change. There is reason to believe Steines. The former Dallas GM and Executive of the Year has a World Series Title to his name. Erasing the mistakes of the past will be hard. One of the worst moves of former GM Cedric Backman was trading away Shannon "Interceptor" Townsend to Omaha.
06-29-1991Was traded by the Montreal Knights to the Omaha Wolverines, along with SP T. Merritt, SP R. OrtÃz, in exchange for 3B J. Martinon, 1B C. Kilvington, MR A. Durán, MR C. Crus, MR K. Williams.
Especially now that Townsend is with divisional opponent New York. The Townsend trade failed for Montreal. Martinon has lost his prospect status and his starting position at 3B, he will be a utility IF for Montreal in 1993. Kilvington is in AAA and ironically stuck behind Martinon. Duran and Crus join former Wolverines John Roe and Leon Rosario to make up the Montreal Bullpen. They're Ok but nothing special and are probably well below average. Kenny Williams is in the Bandito minor league system, let go by Montreal. Backman traded a young rising star, READY star for prospects and a few fillers. Those prospects tanked and Montreal loses. Recently Backman made the same type of trade, trading Frank Patterson for Bill Wright and Tommy Brown. Both Brown and Wright are in AAA Columbus and may contribute this season. Was the Townsend trade an aberration? Will the Wright/Brown for Patterson trade pay off and absolve Backman? Who knows, another interesting story line of 1993.
- Speaking of failed organizations, San Antonio hired GM Pablo Lara to take over. Lara, former Chicago GM, has quite the task. Low Budget, very few fans, small market, an owner placed manager who may have more sway over ownership than Lara; all of this will impede Lara's chances at turning it around. 1993 doesn't look like the year. San Antonio has a patchwork team with little talent. John Hennessy is the only bright spot on the roster and Hennessy can't do it alone.
- In other GM news, former Portland GM Tim Hill takes over the New Orleans Dukes. New Orleans is seems to be an overachieving team in the last couple of years, relying mostly on strong pitching. Playing in a ramped up division, New Orleans has two front line starters in Victor Pereira and Henry Wright. However, after that they have a large drop off in SP and a relatively weak bullpen and closer. Unless their offense performs significantly better New Orleans will struggle this year. With Dave Page signed until 1996, for better of for worse, New Orleans needs to either build some core around him or trade him for prospects and cede this year. Tim Hill is not one scared to pull a quick trigger.
- Tyrone "Skull Crusher" Taylor is projected to be the starting LF for New York in 1993 and has developed quite well. He was involved in the trade for Patrick Cole, who has lost his starting job. Taylor has a 4 contact, great speed, great defense, and a penchant for crushing opposing catcher's skulls. A crowd favourite in the Big Apple.
MORE COMING, STAY TUNED...... Want to send before I erase it.
Posted at 02:52 PM in 1993, Author: Banditos GM, Miscellaneous, News Stories/Articles | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
October 20th, 2008 by Banditos GM
Posted at 12:46 PM in 1993, Author: Banditos GM, Managers, Miscellaneous, News Stories/Articles | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
October 18th, 2008 by Admirals GM
Posted at 06:35 PM in 1993, Author: Admirals GM, Managers, Miscellaneous, News Stories/Articles | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
October 18th, 2008 by Banditos GM
November 15th, 1992
Miami, FL - The 1992 Awards Ceremony was held at Prime 112 in Miami Beach. The team held off the ceremony later in the year than usual, many players were still struggling with the ALCS loss. Still the atmosphere was upbeat and high energy. President and GM Rob M presided over the ceremony, while Johnny Orker once again provided the comedy and anecdotes of the season.
The following awards were presented:
Team MVP: Ken Bryant - Although he missed much of the season, his explosive return came at a time when Miami was slipping out of contention. Bryant kept up the intensity and production all the way through the playoffs. His 2nd Team MVP Award.
SP of the Year: George "Slider" Banks - Banks 3rd consecutive SP of the Year Award. His contributions need no further explanation.
Bullpen Bandito of the Year: Lou "Franchise" Bennett - Bennett took the Closer reigns without any hestitation and his sub 2.00 ERA kept Miami's lead time and time again.
Rookie of the Year: Ryan Hinkle - Hinkle was thrown into the mix unexpectedly after Delzoppo's injury. Hinkle was consistent and a dependable and solid #2 hole hitter all year.
Most Improved: Anthony Pryor - The York, NE native hit .197 in 1991, in 1992 he hit .299 in a platoon role with Shunsho Yamada. Pryor too took over unexpectedly for the injured Joe Young.
John Hayes Leadership Award: Forest Thomas - Thomas wins the award for the 2nd year in a row.
Community Activism Award: Tom Delzoppo - Being injured all year Delzoppo took up the cause of saving the world. Delzoppo known for his love of surfing and recreational drugs decided to start a recycling trend in the Polo Grounds Player Clubhouse. Delzoppo spent hours before and after the game making handmade tin baskets. He then persuaded teammates and personnel to throw different trash materials in the different tin baskets so they could be sent to recycling. Delzoppo is cleaning the world one tin basket at a time, starting a worldwide trend.
Posted at 12:57 PM in 1992, Author: Banditos GM, Miscellaneous, News Stories/Articles, Trophy Room | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
October 18th, 2008 by Banditos GM
So is he Shockey's superior then? Is he going to give Shockey the same free reign or be more on hands? I think of Steve Stone as being a micro-manager, perhaps good for you as GM but a pain in the ass for his underlings. By the way, I've often thought of adding Steve Stone as a manager to EWB but then I always forgot.
Even in the early 1990's I was a big advocate of him, as I believe we all were. I am still kind of amazed nobody ever given him a shot at being a GM or Manager, especially considering that he's made it no secret that he desires such a role.
Posted at 11:55 AM in 1993, Author: Banditos GM, Managers, Miscellaneous, News Stories/Articles | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
October 17th, 2008 by Wolverines GM
Steve will be leaving his duties as color commentary for Wolverines baseball on Fox 42, and will leave an empty seat next to Harry Caray, his replacement will be named at a later date.
Posted at 11:54 AM in 1993, Author: Wolverines GM, Managers, Miscellaneous, News Stories/Articles | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
October 17th, 2008 by Wolverines GM
The Omaha Wolverines would like to announce the new Vice President and Assistant GM of the Omaha Wolverines, Steve Stone. Steve is a welcomed addition to the Wolverine organization as he will be my right hand man and an evaluator of talent who will help Curt Shockey as he rebuilds the future of the Wolverines.
Posted at 11:58 AM in 1993, Author: Wolverines GM, Managers, Miscellaneous, News Stories/Articles | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
October 18th, 2008 by Admirals GM
But anyway, the question I don't know is whether the computer is sensitive to such things, whether it's just sensitive to averages, or what.
Posted at 11:08 AM in 1993, Author: Admirals GM, Miscellaneous, News Stories/Articles | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
October 18th by Banditos GM
Also, other thoughts:
1) Regarding pitchers, the good pitcher
stayed the same but you added a bunch of bad pitchers with expansion.
The immediate effect would be to raise the league ERA. The league ERA
rising isn't necessarily dependent on EVERY pitcher's ERA rising. In
fact, just dilute the pool with some more bad starters and it will have
a chain effect: quicker hooks, more relief, worse pool of reliever,
bad pool of relievers relied upon more etc. However, none of that
effects Pedro or Clemens.
1A) With regards to EWB, we have no
expansion. One of the choices we made early, for better of for worse,
was to play a quasi-historical/fictional league. Meaning it's
completely fictional player, teams etc however dependent on historical
results. For example the totals. The result is that we're somewhat
bound to the causes/effects of real life even if they don't occur in
our league. So our "expansion" effect can't be explained by expansion
but instead perhaps our creativity.
2)
In real life at that time, yes the good pitcher are valuable in a
bigger pool of pitchers. Think of inflation, say I have a piece of
gold and it's worth $1 but then you add a bunch of dollars to
circulation. My gold, in terms of dollars, rises. Think of Clemens as
that piece of Gold.
2A) In EWB, I'm apt to believe that opposite of
real life, every pitcher's ERA will proportionately rise with the
league cumulative ERA. Should I think differently?
Note: Once we hit 2008 all this goes to the roadside since we are no longer historically bound to some degree.
Posted at 11:07 AM in 1993, Author: Banditos GM, Miscellaneous, News Stories/Articles | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
October 18th, 2008 by Banditos GM
Very informative, gracias.
Q1 - One thing to obviously note is the change of rosters. If for example Omaha loses Ellis and we gain Valentin then yes your theory looks for sure to be correct. However, pretend our rosters stayed exactly static, wouldn't it depend on the answer to question 2 regarding individual players and your answer? By the way I tend to agree with your answer on Q2 intuitively with option 3. In that case, teams with more of those type of players would raise their totals.
That leads to the question: Why would expanded (weaker) pitching substantially help the less powerful hitters more so than the already established power hitters? This would lead me to believer that option 1 and 2 are the more likely, if #3 is shown to be accurate than I would almost have to wonder if it's just variance (random). But I still intuitively believe it would be #3, mainly because of the rise of players like mediocre SS's all of sudden hitting 18-25 HR when they used to hit 1-10.
But that is more to the real life question, as far as EWB which mirrors, then you're talking a whole different question. In the case of EWB, I believe it will be equitably distributed. For example if you're a 5 power hitter and you play 150 games you hit 42 HR in 150 games(+/- variance), if you are a 3 you hit 18 (+/-). In 1993 the proportions will stay the same but the totals will rise, in other words the gap between 5 and 3 didn't change, nor will the gap between HR from 5 and HR from 3 the totals will not the proportion. EWB is governed by the laws we set (ratings and totals), real life is not. So ultimately we might reach the same end (totals) but in different ways. EWB guided by ratings, MLB guided by whatever the answer to Question 2 is.
Make sense? If so, congratulations because I'm not sure if I get what I am trying to say or rambling.
Posted at 01:41 PM in 1993, Author: Banditos GM, Miscellaneous, News Stories/Articles | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
October 17th, 2008 by Admirals GM
Posted at 01:40 PM in 1993, Author: Admirals GM, Miscellaneous, News Stories/Articles | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
October 15th, 2008 by Wolverines GM
3) We are going to be stable, but we have to go through this process to get to where want to go and that is win the World Series. I have stated this over and over again with you guys there is a process in place and in place to make us better. When I took over we basically had nothing and now we are looking at one of the most talented clubs in EWB. We took our time with Ed Jackson who will be in our rotation next year as our 4th starter ! Look at our rotation Romano,Diaz,Jones, Jackson and hopefully Felix Rojas will be 100 percent when we start spring training as our 5th starter, look at our offense Jimmy Garrett, Aaron Ellis, Ricardo Hernandez, Jose Rodriguez and now Frank Patterson and some good young outfielders and not to mention Fireman winner Punk Perez so if look at where we were in 1990 and today it is a complete overhaul and that kind of stuff doesn't happen overnight and yes I could have stood pat, but stay pat with what I had we would have had a different conversation all together right now. I have a strategy and it is working, will I divulge that strategy NO. Will we win we will find out, we have the players and NOW it is time to let the new manager and his staff bring it all together and I can't wait for that and to the fans of the Wolverines we will be good now and in the future I stake my job on it.
Posted at 11:22 AM in 1992, Author: Wolverines GM, Miscellaneous, News Stories/Articles | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
October 15th, 2008 by Banditos GM
3) You recently traded for Frank Patterson, sending two of your best minor league prospects and the well liked John Roe (fan interest dropped considerably with the loss of Roe) to Montreal. What is the endgame strategy for you as a GM? Many fans and media in Omaha have characterized this team as a merry go-round revolving players. With no stability, chemistry, or tradition, how do you expect to build a winner or a stable fan base?
4) Lou Frye, is he at the helm in 1993? If yes, why is he your man? If no, who are your candidates?
5) Is your job safe? Willie Thiesen has been quite patient but with the flurry of changes that just happened around the league, do you fear for your job security?
6) Who is Omaha's biggest rival in EWB and why?
7) Who are you going to vote for as the new commissioner of the Earl Weaver Baseball League?
Posted at 11:21 AM in 1992, Author: Banditos GM, Miscellaneous, News Stories/Articles | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
October 11th, 2008 by Wolverines GM
Posted at 11:25 AM in 1992, Author: Wolverines GM, Miscellaneous, News Stories/Articles | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
October 11th, 2008 by Banditos GM
Posted at 01:07 PM in 1992, Author: Banditos GM, Miscellaneous, News Stories/Articles | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
October 10th, 2008 by Wolverines GM
Posted at 01:06 PM in 1992, Author: Wolverines GM, Miscellaneous, News Stories/Articles | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
October 10th, 2008 by Wolverines GM
Posted at 10:48 AM in 1992, Author: Wolverines GM, Miscellaneous, News Stories/Articles | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
October 10th, 2008 by Banditos GM
Mr. MikeG,
If you choose to accept my invitation, question number 1.
Mike Kelly
Did the Omaha Wolverines meet expectations this year by going 82-80? If yes, then what can fans expect to raise those questions, and considering the talent aren't the expectations artificially low? If no, why did this team fail to do better and what exactly were the expectations?
Posted at 10:47 AM in 1992, Author: Banditos GM, Miscellaneous, News Stories/Articles | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
September 26th, 2008 by Admirals GM
Posted at 08:58 AM in 1992, Author: Admirals GM, Minor Leagues, Miscellaneous, News Stories/Articles | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
September 26th, 2008 by Admirals GM
Posted at 08:56 AM in 1992, Author: Admirals GM, Minor Leagues, Miscellaneous, News Stories/Articles | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
September 21, 2008 by Banditos GM
Here is my personal opinion of the strength of the playoff teams by Closer:
1) Ned Gordon, Austin- This spot is almost a toss up between Gordon and Hearn. Gordon gets the mark. He is scarily consistent and at age 28 hitting his peak.
2) Frank "Mounds" Hearn, Boston- Hearn has the wickedest stuff in baseball with master control. Hearn is the ideal closer and will help Boston in the late innings.
3) Joe Murphy, St. Louis- Ever since Murphy became a closer in Portland and then in St. Louis he has been excellent. Murphy is a K king. Opponents are hitting a horrid .159 against Murphy.
4) Gary Olson, NY- Olson falls to 4th despite leading baseball in saves with 50. This is due to Olson's relative inexperience. This is his 1st year as a closer and saving 50 games for a team that wins 107 is commendable but not overly impressive. With a 90-92 mph fastball and a weakness with movement Olson also doesn't intimidate like the others.
5) Jovan Simic, Atlanta- Simic took over the closing role for Atlanta late in the season, but the 39 yr old is no rookie. He's a journeyman with several years as a closer. His experience gives him an advantage a puts him higher on the list.
6) Lou "Franchise" Bennett, Miami- Bennett took over the closing role from Whit Gaul. Miami was stung by the loss of Punk Perez but looks to have finally found a solution. Bennett in his first real year has been amazing, 20 saves and a sub 2.00 ERA. Bennett, however, is still untested. He also may be playing above his head, as most scouts did not have him on par with the above mentioned closers.
7) Alfonso Santana, KC- Santana is also in his 1st year as a closer after many years of coming out of the bullpen. Santana has been reliable for KC but not extraordinary. He has a +3.00 ERA, scouts rate him as mediocre in all categories. Think of him as a Kevin Gregg.
8) Carlos Hernandez, Washington- Hernandez with an ERA nearing 5.00 would have been replaced by almost any other organization. Washington has stuck by him pointing out that he does not have many BS and his runs given up are largely irrelevant. Washington also lacks any definite replacement candidate. Lopez has blown up and Davidson looks to be more of a set up man. Perhaps during the playoffs we'll see Gustavo Chavez more in relief, a conversion may be imminent.
Posted at 12:50 PM in 1992, Author: Banditos GM, Miscellaneous, News Stories/Articles | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
September 21, 2008 by Banditos GM
The Kingsport Inferno are the 1992 Champions of the Appalachian League (R)!!!! Round of Applause.
The Inferno are a R affiliate of the New York 5 Points. The Inferno earned their first pennant ever this year finishing 1st in the West Division with an 86-76 Record. They also earned their first playoff spot ever!
In the Championship they faced the 111-51 Danville Samurai (Boston Irish) and upset them in 5 games (4-1).
Is this a precursor to NY over Boston??? Time will tell.
Irony: The Kingsport Inferno are managed by former player Tomas "Matchbox" Perez. The press in Kingsport, Tennessee jumped all over this, using numerous wordplay variations on "Matchbox" and "Inferno."
Kingsport: Kingsport is in the northeast part of Tennessee, in an area called "the mountain empire." Kingsport has about 44,000 people and is mostly all white. I imagine kinda hillbilly-ish but I could be wrong. However, they are known for publicly hanging an elephant in the early 1900's. see below.
On September 12, 1916, Kingsport residents demanded the death of circus elephant Mary (a five ton Asian elephant who performed in the Sparks World Famous Shows Circus) for her killing of a city hotel worker named Walter "Red" Eldridge, who was hired the day before as an assistant elephant trainer by the circus.
On the evening of September 12, Eldridge was killed by Mary in Kingsport, Tennessee while taking her to a nearby pond to splash and frolic and drink. There are several accounts of his death but the most widely accepted version is that he prodded her behind the ear with a hook after she reached down to nibble on a watermelon rind. She went into a rage, snatched Eldridge with her trunk, threw him against a drink stand and deliberately stepped on his head, crushing it. One of his ears was never found.
The details of the aftermath are confused in a haze of sensationalist newspaper stories and folklore. Most accounts indicate that she calmed down afterward and didn't charge the onlookers, who were chanting, "Kill the elephant!" Apparently, within minutes, a local blacksmith tried to oblige, firing more than two dozen rounds at the elephant with little effect. Newspapers published claims that Murderous Mary had killed several workers in the past and noted that she was larger than the world famous Jumbo the elephant. Mary was impounded by the local sheriff, and the leaders of several nearby towns threatened not to allow the circus to visit if Mary was included. The circus owner, Charlie Sparks, reluctantly decided that the only way to quickly resolve the potentially ruinous situation was to hold a public execution. On the following day, a foggy and rainy September 13, 1916, she was transported by rail to Erwin, Tennessee where a crowd of over 2,500 people (including most of the town's children) assembled in the Clinchfield railroad yard to watch the hanging.
Posted at 12:49 PM in 1992, Author: Banditos GM, Minor Leagues, Miscellaneous, News Stories/Articles | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
September 18th, 2008 by Admirals GM
Posted at 12:01 PM in 1992, Author: Admirals GM, Miscellaneous, News Stories/Articles | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
September 18th, 2008 by Banditos GM
Torres is a unique player and it's been hard to figure out for me how to deal with him. We stuck him in the middle of the lineup for most of the first months before sending him to hit 7th or 8th.
Once again I'm not dissatisfied with the trade because of the circumstances. We needed to get rid of Kim's salary, needed an everyday outfielder, and needed more raw power in the lineup. Here's how I view Torres now and why I think he'll work in our lineup. We don't necessarily COUNT on him to do shit. When he was in the middle of the lineup, it was bad for us. With players like Carranza and Hinkle getting on base a lot, we need someone hitting behind them that can get hits. Torres was, at the time, hitting below .200. Sure he walks a lot but really still only at a ratio of a little more than once every 2 games. So in situation after situation, Torres would make costly outs.
Moving him to 7th takes the pressure off in a way. We replace the middle of the order with some higher contact/obp hitters. Now whatever Torres does is like a bonus. We don't necessarily need him to hit to win. He comes up to bat with RISP less often and it makes it easier for us to take a gamble, in the sense that if he hits a HR then great, if not well we will move on. So having a 7 hitter capable of hitting 30 HR is good, we just must make sure we never have to count on him to go back to the middle of the order. Since we are paying him the league minimum there is no cost/benefit analysis to be made. This reasoning will all go to shit once he starts asking for a multimillion dollar contract. Then we will be forced to decide if his production is worth it.
Posted at 12:41 PM in 1992, Author: Banditos GM, Miscellaneous, News Stories/Articles | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
September 18th, 2008 by Admirals GM
Posted at 12:39 PM in 1992, Author: Admirals GM, Miscellaneous, News Stories/Articles | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)