Can a season meet expectations yet be a disappointment. GM Mark Moilanen seems to think so. The defending champs came into the season understanding that they were not a powerhourse any longer. Management fully expected to make the playoffs, but figured 90 wins and a 1st rd exit would be the most plausible scenario. Injuries to 2011 stars Buster Posey and horrendous seasons by Crawford, Drew, Soria, among others tempered expectations.
However, Brighton came roaring out of the gates and threatened perennial superpower Washington for the division lead. Management was taking the "go for the playoffs while not sacrificing the future" approach. Once winning became the norm, Brighton decided to go out and add Alex Gordon, Curtis Granderson, John Axford, and Edwin Jackson to an already effective team. For reasons unknown, this disrupted team chemistry as Brighton managed to play only .500 ball over the final 2 blocks including losing 6 of 7 to Reno.
Barring an 12-0 finish by Oahu, Washington will be Brighton's 1st round opponent. Mr Potts and Mr Moilanen have a friendly rivalry that have spanned multiple leagues. Mr Potts is said to be very excited to play the Bearcats as Brighton has had the playoff edge and Joe Potts is looking forward to the chance to put those past series to rest and put any shut down any chance of a Brighton repeat.
Team MVP-Miguel Cabrera. Triple crown is looking like a very real possibility. .361 average/.453 OBP/43 HR/158 RBI/.681 slugging. With a move to 3B looming, it shall be interesting to see where SM rates his services at 3B.
Team Cy Young. Cole Hamels won 19 games and had an ERA of 2.15
Most disappointing. Curtis Granderson. He struggled with Evanston, and he played only marginally better with Brighton. The power was adequate, but 186 whiffs KO'd many a rally and his average was a disappointment at .210.
Why 2013 is looking good. The main reason the Bearcats are optomistice about 2013 is the return of Buster Posey. he is having an MVP caliber season for the Giants and will be a welcome replacement for the soon to be released Yorvit Torrealba. Cole Hamels and Max Scherzer will give the Cats a solid 1-2 in the rotation while Edwin Jackson will provide respectable numbers. Miguel Cabrera had another monster season and Granderson should have 40 HR. The Bearcats also have 2 mid 1st rd picks and numerous picks in the 2-5 rounds and should be able to patch some holes while also adding some quality youth.
Why 2013 could be a challenge. Off seasons by Justin Masterson and Jon Lester create massive question marks in the rotation. The rotating closer role figures to be an issue again. John Axford has been extremely inconsistent. Positional uncertainty will shuffle the defensive alignment. Cabrera shifts to 3B. Who plays 1st? Zobrist largely played the OF so how does he get rated at 2B. Bonifacio will shifts to a crowded OF. Brighton needs to await the defensive rankings before he will be able to patch together a lineup.
While Washington and Reno will undoubtedly continue to be contenders, other teams in the NL are starting to command respect. Oahu always manages to be competitive. London has put together a nice pitching staff and soon will have Mike Trout to help rebuild a weak offense. Bob Boyd will never go into rebuild, so he will be in the playoff discussions. Perennial doormats Mackinaw and Nassau have taken steps forward with their franchises and have either shown improvement and/or taken steps to assure their improvement. The once proud Edgewater and DVD teams are under the new capable management of Joe Mundy/jason Hinkledire and it should be a short time before they are ready to make noise.
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Nassau G-Men finish up 2012
Not too many teams would be happy with a 70-92 record to end the 2012 season, but if you were the Owner/Manager of the Nassau G-Men it showed some progress ... after consecutive seasons with 108 and 104 losses the G-Men look proudly on their season with a +16 in the win column. The biggest problem was a bullpen that blew a collective 39 saves... even holding onto 1/3rd of those opportunities would have given the G-Men a shot at being a .500 team...................................................................................
Bright spots on the pitching staff included Zack Greinke who wound up with a 13-11 record and a 3.65 ERA as well as Dan Hudson who was 12-12 with a 3.31 ERA. Luke Hochevar had a 11-9 record and Hiroki Kuroda and Jeff Karstens chipped in with 8 and 7 wins respectively.....................................................................
The offense which was the focal point of the off-season rebuilding had some respectful numbers with Daniel Murphy leading the team with a .327 Avg and Jhonny Peralta being the team MVP with a .280 avg as well as 30 HRs and 83 RBI. Corey Hart knocked out 26 HR's and drove in 68 while Mark Reynolds chipped in with 20 HRs and 58 RBI despite batting an abysmal .166..................................................
Nassau management has a tough road ahead trying to equal or better this years offensive output and upgrading the awful bullpen for 2013. Another huge hole to fill is the Tommy John surgery bound Dan Hudson, the former G-Men 1st rd pick was being counted on to fill a spot in the rotation for many years but now it seems that is up in the air. A solid starting rotation anchored by Kuroda, Greinke and Chris Capuano will once again be the G-Men strength going into 2013, but the Nassau front office will have to pull a few rabbits out of it's hat in order to bring this team a step closer to respectability and possibly the .500 mark for next year...............................
Good luck to all in the post-season and see you in 2013
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Alamos D' Robs Cruz Twice then the Bums of the Game
Strat-O-Matic Report
BOXSCORE: 2012 San Antonio Alamos At 2012 Vero Beach Bums 9/6/2012
Alamos AB R H RBI AVG Bums AB R H RBI AVG
A.McCutchen CF 3 1 0 0 .229 B.Upton CF 2 0 0 1 .239
N.Morgan RF,LF 4 1 1 0 .303 B.Phillips 2B 5 0 2 0 .280
I-J.Bay LF 1 0 1 1 .294 N.Cruz RF 3 1 0 0 .293
P.Konerko 1B 0 0 0 0 .287 C-W.Venable RF 1 0 0 0 .224
A-J.Reddick PR,RF 2 0 0 0 .287 T.Hunter LF 5 0 2 0 .308
F-C.Snyder PH 0 0 0 0 .400 V.Martinez 1B 4 0 0 0 .325
G-C.Gentry PR,RF 0 1 0 0 .000 D-R.Howard 1B 1 0 0 0 .231
L.Berkman LF,1B 3 1 1 3 .244 M.Young 3B 4 1 3 0 .329
J-J.Smoak 1B 0 0 0 1 .375 E.Encarnacion DH 4 0 1 1 .272
T.Hafner DH 2 0 0 0 .277 B.McCann C 3 0 0 0 .213
H-L.Forsythe PR,DH 0 0 0 0 .000 E-D.Ross C 1 0 0 0 .240
L-A.Jones PH,DH 0 0 0 0 .186 Y.Escobar SS 4 1 1 1 .303
R.Roberts 3B 5 0 0 0 .247
M.Montero C 1 0 0 0 .248
B-C.Iannetta C 3 0 0 0 .216
J.Hairston Jr 2B 3 0 1 0 .244
K-J.Donald 2B 1 1 1 0 .321
A.Escobar SS 2 0 0 0 .225
-- -- -- --- -- -- -- ---
Totals 30 5 5 5 Totals 37 3 9 3
A-Pinch Ran For Konerko In 1st Inning
B-Subbed Defensively (C ) For Montero In 2nd Inning
C-Subbed Defensively (RF) For Cruz In 9th Inning
D-Subbed Defensively (1B) For Martinez In 9th Inning
E-Subbed Defensively (C ) For McCann In 9th Inning
F-Pinch Hit For Reddick In 9th Inning
G-Pinch Ran For Snyder In 9th Inning
H-Pinch Ran For Hafner In 9th Inning
I-Subbed Defensively (LF) For Morgan In 9th Inning
J-Subbed Defensively (1B) For Berkman In 9th Inning
K-Subbed Defensively (2B) For Hairston Jr In 9th Inning
L-Pinch Hit For Forsythe In 10th Inning
INJURY: Paul Konerko INJURED (for 3 more games) in 1st inning
INJURY: Miguel Montero INJURED (for 7 more games) in 2nd inning
Alamos.......... 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 2 - 5 5 1
Bums............ 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 - 3 9 0
Alamos (76-59) IP H R ER BB SO HR PC ERA SCORESHEET
C.Kershaw 8 1/3 7 3 3 3 5 0 126 3.22 A1 D8
C.Martinez W(3-3) BS(4th) 0 2/3 0 0 0 1 0 0 12 1.45 D9 E2
J.Johnson SAVE(4th) 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 15 3.69 E3
Totals 10 9 3 3 4 5 0
Bums (89-49) IP H R ER BB SO HR PC ERA SCORESHEET
J.Weaver 8 1/3 3 3 3 5 5 1 121 3.64 A1 D6
M.Melancon LOSS(3-2) 1 2 2 2 0 0 0 18 1.38 D7 E2
J.Peralta 0 2/3 0 0 0 1 0 0 16 2.34 E3
Totals 10 5 5 5 6 5 1
ATTENDANCE- 46,313 DATE- Thursday, September 6th 2012 TIME- Day
UMPIRES- Fieldin Culbreth, Jim Reynolds, Tim Timmons, Gary Cederstrom
T- 3:24
LEFT ON BASE- Alamos: 7 Bums:10
DOUBLE PLAYS- Alamos: 1 Bums: 2
ERRORS- J.Hairston Jr
DOUBLES- N.Morgan(18th), M.Young(27th)
TRIPLES- M.Young(3rd), Y.Escobar(5th)
HOME RUNS- L.Berkman(18th)
SACRIFICE HITS- A.Escobar
SACRIFICE FLIES- L.Berkman, J.Smoak, B.Upton
WALKS- A.McCutchen, C.Snyder, T.Hafner-2, A.Jones, A.Escobar, B.Upton-2,
M.Young, E.Encarnacion
HIT BY PITCH- A.McCutchen, P.Konerko, C.Gentry, N.Cruz
STRIKE OUTS- N.Morgan, L.Berkman, M.Montero, C.Iannetta, J.Hairston Jr,
B.Phillips, T.Hunter-2, E.Encarnacion, D.Ross
GIDP- N.Morgan, C.Iannetta, V.Martinez
2-out RBI- E.Encarnacion
WEB GEMS- Bot 1st: Nyjer Morgan robbed Nelson Cruz of a Homerun!
Bot 3rd: Andrew McCutchen robbed Nelson Cruz of a Homerun!
In a close game it was the San Antonio Alamos 5, the Vero Beach Bums 3 in 10
innings at Tropicana Field.
Both teams were tied at 3 runs apiece after nine innings. Finally, San
Antonio prevailed in the 10th inning. Jason Donald led off and he stroked a
base-hit. Alcides Escobar stepped into the batter's box and he laid down a
sacrifice bunt. Andrew McCutchen then was hit by a pitch. Jason Bay
followed next and he hit a single. Bay took second on the throw. Craig
Gentry came up to bat and was hit by a pitch. Justin Smoak continued the
rally and hit a deep fly. Andruw Jones followed and he drew a walk to load
the bases. Despite losing, Vero Beach out-hit San Antonio 9 to 5.
Cristhian Martinez(3-3) allowed no runs in 2/3 of an inning, and picked up the
victory. Jim Johnson was credited with his 4th save. Mark Melancon(3-2)
absorbed the loss in relief. He surrendered 2 hits and no walks in 1 inning.
SCORESHEET: 2012 San Antonio Alamos at 2012 Vero Beach Bums
A.McCutc-A1 A1:L/5 B1:L/6 C1:F/7 D1:W>b1 E1:HBP
N.Morgan-A1 A2:K *4*:Do C2:F/9 D2:G-DP/3 E2:Si>2#
J.Bay-D8 63>1o 13
P.Konerk-A1 A3:HBP B3:G/43>2 *6*:L/3 *9*:W>b1 E3:HBP
J.Reddic-A4 3
C.Snyder-D3+
L.Berkma-A1 A4:G/43 B4:SF/9>3 C4:K D4:HR>1# E4:SF/8>3
J.Smoak-D8 # b# #
T.Hafner-A1 *2*:L/4 B5:W>b1 C5:F/9 D5:W>b1 E5:W>23 1
L.Forsyt-D6 2 b1
A.Jones-E5
R.Robert-A1 A6:F/9 B6:L/6 *7*:F/7 D6:L/5 E6:G/63
M.Monter-A1 A7:K *5*:K C7:F/7 D7:G-DP/4
C.Iannet-A8 63>1o
J.Hairst-A1 *3*:K B8:Si C8:P/4 *10*:Si
J.Donald-D8
A.Escoba-A1 A9:G/63 B9:W>12 b *8*:G/53 D9:Sac/34
1 >12
B.Upton-A1 A1:G/63 B1:W>b1 C1:SF/7>3 D1:F/9 E1:W>b1
#
B.Philli-A1 A2:Si B2:Si>13 C2:K *8*:FO/2 E2:F/7
N.Cruz-A1 A3:F/7 B3:F/8 *6*:HBP D3:G/63 *10*:G/63
W.Venabl-D6
T.Hunter-A1 A4:K *4*:K C4:Si>12 D4:E/4 E4:Si
V.Martin-A1 *2*:G/43 B5:G/43 C5:G-DP/4 D5:Force/ E5:Force/
R.Howard-D6 63>23 1o 64>1o b1 46>1o b1
M.Young-A1 A6:G/23 B6:Si C6:W>b1 *9*:Tr E6:Do>13
E.Encarn-A1 A7:K B7:F/8 C7:Si>3# D7:W>b1 E7:G/43
1o
B.McCann-A1 *3*:F/9 *5*:L/4 *7*:G/43 D8:K
D.Ross-D6
Y.Escoba-A1 A9:L/6 B9:Tr C9:G/63 D9:G/43>3
# 12
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