1973 Team Previews

[Cringer]

Ok, I haven't had one for a few seasons and have an itch to do so. Will start working on one right now. Feel free to join with your team preview if you have the time.

[Alan T]

Here is Valdosta's team preview. I just put it in the regular season thread:

Valdosta 1973 Preview

[Cringer]

Rio Grande Roadrunners
1972 - 80-74, 4th place in CL


After winning the FOOL Classic in 1968, Rio Grande has suffered through 3 fourth places finishes and a second place finish. Only two of those seasons have included a winning record. They have, for the most part, stuck with the same aging stars that won them that FOOL Classic, with minor changes that in effect, did little. 1973 is the most changes this team has seen in a while, and things may not get any better. Still, it was something the Roadrunners needed to finally start doing, changing over the team to new, younger faces.

Pitching
Funny that in a season of so-called changes, RG has actually brought back SP Jose 'Chunky' Medina after The Ace of the Rio Grande spent last season in Quad City. He seemed to regain that old fire last year, but not putting pressure on him this year is the focus of the team this year and he will for the first time in a Roadrunner uniform, be towards the back of the rotation at the #4 spot. The current ace of the staff, Todd 'Spanky' Sparks remains the #1 guy and the rest is really a toss up. Gustavo Betancourt appears to be headed into the #2 rotation spot, as he seems to be the best of an average/somewhat unknown bunch. #3 should be Pepe Santana, who struggled in the #2 spot last year with 16 losses and a 5.00 ERA. Hopes are he will bounce back a little from such a terrible season after hints he may even sit in AAA this year. The #5 spot will actually be split duty for two guys. Rookie Mike Nash, who came up through the El Paso system, will be given a shot to show if he has the 'stuff' that it appears he has. Getting some time will also be Juan Aleman, who came from the VL last year and posted a 12-8 record. Aleman will also help out with some bullpen duties.

As for the bullpen, we mnetioned Aleman playing a part in that. He will be a mop up guy and long relief guy when needed. The rest of the pen has little changes from last year when the bullpen was fairly strong. Returning are Javier Cruz and Dave Briggs, both top notch middle relief guys. Longtime RG bullpen fixture Raul Pagan comes back as the main setup man after a great season last year in that role. Another late MR guy will be Darryl Holland, who had a good rookie year with a 2.33 ERA last year. The closer, for a 2nd year now, will be John Mockly, who posted 42 saves a season ago.

The Lineup

Lets start with the centerfield spot, which will also be for the leadoff hitters, which hasn't been a strong spot lately for RG. This duty will be split between two outfielders, and it could get scary here right off the bat for the Roadrunner changes. 28 year old rookie CF Glen O'Reilly will get his long-awaited shot at the majors, once in the Roadrunner and Toronto systems. He has good fielding, decent speed, and hopefully the ability to get on base. Also taking turns in the leadoff spot will be 27 year old Juan Medina. The team was impressed with his limited work last year and hope to see him continue it this season.

Other changes this year will be at SS, where Mike Jones gets the nod for fulltime duty this year after hitting .320 last year in 222 at-bats, and showing good defensive abilities. At 1B, it is Jeff Brooks finally getting the chance he has wanted. With Tyler Reilly finally being traded because of defensive liabilities, Brooks needs to step in and fill some big shoes. One last new face will be rookie OF Derek O'Cleary. There is a lot of potential in this kid and he has the pressure on him to match. He won't be expected to play and produce every day though. O'Cleary will split time, and have the lesser half of it probably, with longtime RF turned LF this year Andres Aguilera. With some saying Aguilera is done for after 12 years in Rio Grande, the superstar will fight through another year, but this time with less pressure and more rest.

Of course there are the returnees. Superstar C Hideaki Tanaka, almost traded in the offseason when a RL team made a push for him, returns after a down year for him when he had only 15 HRs and a .277 average. At 33, it must be getting hard to sit behind plate. 2B Connor Daniels comes back, and will be a key to the offense as he has been for years. It is a special year for Connor though, his first as part of the Roadrunner Over 30 Club. RF Luke Parker is in the same situation being 30 now as well, and he will be happy to not be in the leadoff spot after he struggled there last year in his first time in that role. And of course, last but not least is 33 year old Warren Lewis at 3B, in his third season with the Roadrunners.

The bench players this year will be familiar faces in the infield Ramiro Sanchez and David Connor. In the outfield all 5 guys will start at somepoint, so whoever is off that day better expect to come off the bench if needed as well.

Overall

Honestly, it probably doesn't look too godd for this team. Strong bullpen, but questionable starting pitching. Some strong hitters, but some big question marks with the newcomers as well. 4th place may be a GOOD finish this year with this team unless they shock the world somehow. Rio Grande is crossing their fingers they do.

Prediction: 76-78, 4th place

[muns]

Hartford Harpooners
Record?? still not good


The Pooners squad comes into this season with some sense that they will actually be an ok ball club for the first time since they started to break everything up in 1970.

This season will also mark the first time that most of the young guys they traded for are all basically in AAA with a few sitting in AA. Hartford and its fans are starting to become optimistic about the possibility that they may finally be 1-3 seasons away from their "win window".

Pitching

The Pitching Rotation this year should be an interesting one as this will be the first time in 4 years that they may actually be average and put themselves in some situations where they may win a few games.

They are anchored by ace and all star Doyle Adams. Doyle is back from a campaign that saw him win 15 games with a whip of 1.15 and an era of 2.92. Hartford is expecting bigger things from Doyle this year as they think they have a much better lineup to be able to snag him some more wins.

Free agent signing Nat Praet should be the wildcard of this rotation as his signing went very much unnoticed by the league. Hartford is hoping that the former Vulture league 4 time star and two time pitcher of the year can bring his "A" game over to the big boys league.

Rounding out the rotation will be Roberto Padilla who has reached his potential last year as he cut his ERA by a full 2.00, Jerimiah Thomas another vulture league all star who didnt have a shabby season last year, and Rookie Alonso Hernandez who has the live arm, just no control.

The Pen is basically the same its been for the past 2 years with Closer Denny Hennessy being the stud back there and he has had consecutive all star appearances.

The lineup

With only 5 guys returning from the squad last year, the Pooners are looking for the young guys to step up and take a role on a team that will go no where if they dont. 9 position players will make the squad this year that were cast offs from other teams minor league teams. Out of those 9, 5 of them will start for the Pooners.

C-Bob Fuller- The 24 year old will start full this year after spending last year mostly on the bench. He needs to step it up with backup Jose Quinoes making a push to play and with superstud spect Devin Johnson waiting patienly at AAA.

1b-Yu-Bao Tsou- The 21 year old beat out Liu-Chun Li for the job in spring training and is hoping to make an impact this year both with his glove and his bat. With three 21 year old spects waiting in the wings its now or never for Tsou as if he doesnt play well this year, there might not even be a spot for him on the team next season.

2nd- Carlton Watkins- The 23 year old lone all star from the INF returns and is looking to better himself and the Pooners this year. Carlton signed a 3 year deal in the offseason and should be in a Pooner Uniform for the stretch run with the upcoming youngsters.

SS-Manueal Hernandez- Manueal doesnt fit the direction the team is heading but since no spect was ready to take a spot he came over in a trade with Baltimore and is hoping his homerun power can impress the teams GM. He will be splitting time with returning infielder Jeremy Ryan as this year will be the year that decides which will stay with the club next season.

3b- William Edwards- the 25 year old comes over from Ann Arbors farm system and hopes to be this years Carlton Watkins for the Pooners. his ratings are almost there, the question is will the stats follow? Backing him up will be youngster Tomas Yanez who hopes to improve and contribut with his good glove.

Outfield

The OF this year will be held down by 4 new guys.

LF-Franciso Barrera, CF-Theodore Aldridge and Utility Lance Smith will all split time between the Leftfield and Centerfield spots. All 3 look to be average and should not hurt the Pooners this year.

The last spot and RF position will go to 21 year old spect Zane Easson. Easson has the ratings to become a big time player in FOOL and is hoping to improve them so next year he can become a household name.


Overall the Pooners should be alright. They dont have as many holes in the lineup as they did last season and they pulled down a 6th place RL finish coming close to playing 500 ball.

They arent expecting much better than that this year but are hoping to no longer be the push over they once were.... They will be hoping to finish in 5th place this year.

[Chief Rum]

Good stuff, everyone (that goes for the three in the season thread, too, and love getting one from new owner kaosfere so fast). I will put one up after finishing my lineups as well (as I usually do).

Cringer, I didn't realize you had made Mockly the closer. Of course, he certainly has the talent to do that. I think that was the wonder of my championship pen in '66 and the one that faced you in '68--all of them were damn good. Withecombe was a great closer and is still an effective enough pitcher to get a multi-year contract in the offseason. Castillo was a fine closer for me (ranks top six in saves), and is now Boston's ace closer. Mockly closes for you. Hawkins (also Boston) is probably the best reliever in the league who is NOT a closer. And King, a set up and middle relief guy on those teams, is now my closer and coming off of a dynamite season. Heck, even Luka Stroo is making his mark, among one of the most consistent relievers in the league, never rising above a 4 ERA.

That was one heck of a pen. I try every year to find a group to match it (and as amazing as last year's 1.96 pen ERA was for Colorado, I would still trade last year's group for that pen from 65ish-69ish any day of the week).

[Chief Rum]

Awesome, muns posted his while I was typing. Now I get to read his.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by muns

The last spot and RF position will go to 21 year old spect Zane Easson. Easson has the ratings to become a big time player in FOOL and is hoping to improve them so next year he can become a household name.

Easson! I was wondering if you would play him this year.

Great story on Easson. He is a "Christ Player", born out of nothing, so far as I know.

Easson is just 21 years old. Look how long he has been in the league.

Easson "magically" appeared in my system six years ago at just 15 years of age (this was when it was only possible to get 17 years old and up). He had no current ratings at all,really, but great potential. So I stuck him down at Rookie ball and hoped aging and playing would get his ratings up. It was slow going, but he was just about starting to hit his stride around 17 or 18 (with respect to development) when I sent him to Chicago-Quad City in the Craig Davis deal (DC had the choice of Easson or higher level prospects David Barnes and Juan Garcia; bastard took Easson, while Barnes and Garcia, both better looking prospects have been so slow to develop it seems likely neither will be major leaguers or certainly not more than fringe players).

Ever since I have watched Zane "Jesus" Easson's progress, first at Quad City and now at Hartford. I look forward to seeing how his career continues.

I still don't have a clue how he ended up in my system. He was not drafted (actually, not sure the draftw as even in place), and at the time, we couldn't sign 15 year olds.

[muns]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

Good stuff, everyone (that goes for the three in the season thread, too, and love getting one from new owner kaosfere so fast). I will put one up after finishing my lineups as well (as I usually do).

Cringer, I didn't realize you had made Mockly the closer. Of course, he certainly has the talent to do that. I think that was the wonder of my championship pen in '66 and the one that faced you in '68--all of them were damn good. Withecombe was a great closer and is still an effective enough pitcher to get a multi-year contract in the offseason. Castillo was a fine closer for me (ranks top six in saves), and is now Boston's ace closer. Mockly closes for you. Hawkins (also Boston) is probably the best reliever in the league who is NOT a closer. And King, a set up and middle relief guy on those teams, is now my closer and coming off of a dynamite season. Heck, even Luka Stroo is making his mark, among one of the most consistent relievers in the league, never rising above a 4 ERA.

That was one heck of a pen. I try every year to find a group to match it (and as amazing as last year's 1.96 pen ERA was for Colorado, I would still trade last year's group for that pen from 65ish-69ish any day of the week).

Glad you are doing one as well Chief. You always do it the most in depth out of us all (IMO) and I was wondering where yours was. Must have been a tough day at the office

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by muns

Glad you are doing one as well Chief. You always do it the most in depth out of us all (IMO) and I was wondering where yours was. Must have been a tough day at the office

Well, I did get home just about 20-25 mins ago.

But that's my usual time. Now's when I do my lineups (mostly done), and I usually put up a team preview by the time DC runs the sim.

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

I still don't have a clue how he ended up in my system. He was not drafted (actually, not sure the draftw as even in place), and at the time, we couldn't sign 15 year olds.

Did he come from the season when DC did that special "winter ball" league for each team that was done away with shortly after?

[Young Drachma]

QUAD CITY THUNDERSTORMS
1972: 80-74, T-3rd Republic League
1971: 83-71, 4th, RL
1970: 67-87, 6th, RL
1969: 38-116, 8th, RL

Heading into his fourth year as the GM in the Quad Cities, D.C. is at the same place he was six years ago in Compton. That team was in their fourth season with him at the helm (in their existance, actually) when they trumped the rest of the RL to capture the first pennant in league history. He became the first GM to take two different teams to the FOOL Classic, before losing out in a Game 9, 13th inning thriller that went to Brooklyn 5-4, to lose.

He left, took a Chicago team from the doldrums and has officially rebuilt the team from the ground up.

Despite missing out on some plum free agents and letting a good portion of the experience rotation go, D.C. feels the T-Storms have reached the place where they can truly contend for the RL title.

He brought in RF Larry Richmond (.277/25 HR/85 RBI) from Toronto, Tyler Reilly, a first baseman who was part of Rio Grande's '66 title team and hit 18 HRs last year and he hopes they will couple with his young bats like Marcos Montoya at 3rd base (22 HR/85 RBI) and reigning league MVP Mac Rasmussen (.377/26 HR/81 RBI) to provide run support for the pitching staff.

20-year old phenom Theirry Fournier was sent to Triple-A for more seasoning, after two years in the majors.

On the pitching side of the house, only Doug Proctor is a newcomer, after being exiled from Colorado. He had 72 career wins and the T-Storms are hoping he can return to the form that made him in all-star in '67.

Harry Mason returns after a season where he won 11 games and had 12 complete games on an 11-15 season. Sam Godbout went 9-18 in his first season in the Quad Cities, but the team is hoping that his 208 strikeouts and electric stuff can result in a better year going forward. Rounding out the T-Storms 4-man rotation is Gabriel Riggs.

Xinpeng Tien (9-1, 9 SV, 2.19 ERA) will be the closer this year, the relief corps is deep, but contains lot of guys who would not light up an all-star roster.

This has to be the biggest question mark going into the year.

It's hard to say that the T-Storms haven't improved, they have. But the real question is simply going to be how a lot of unproven guys are going to produce when the lights go on at John Deere Field this year.

After improving each year since the dismal 1969 season, the Storms faithful are hoping that '73 is the year of breakthrough along the Mississippi river.

[muns]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

Easson! I was wondering if you would play him this year.

Great story on Easson. He is a "Christ Player", born out of nothing, so far as I know.

Easson is just 21 years old. Look how long he has been in the league.

Easson "magically" appeared in my system six years ago at just 15 years of age (this was when it was only possible to get 17 years old and up). He had no current ratings at all,really, but great potential. So I stuck him down at Rookie ball and hoped aging and playing would get his ratings up. It was slow going, but he was just about starting to hit his stride around 17 or 18 (with respect to development) when I sent him to Chicago-Quad City in the Craig Davis deal (DC had the choice of Easson or higher level prospects David Barnes and Juan Garcia; bastard took Easson, while Barnes and Garcia, both better looking prospects have been so slow to develop it seems likely neither will be major leaguers or certainly not more than fringe players).

Ever since I have watched Zane "Jesus" Easson's progress, first at Quad City and now at Hartford. I look forward to seeing how his career continues.

I still don't have a clue how he ended up in my system. He was not drafted (actually, not sure the draftw as even in place), and at the time, we couldn't sign 15 year olds.

HAAAAAAAA the "christ" player!!!!! Now im sure to fall flat on my ass again this year.

Im glad you said that though, because I have a few guys that I have no idea where the heck they came from. They just magically popped up and when you look at the players history on their history card. On his I had no idea where he came from. Usually it will say signed a "0" year contract with Colorado or something but he doesnt have anything. I could only tell where he came from since you traded him.

I also get annoyed that the game lists all star appearances totally (they lump the minor league all star appearances with the majors). IE my closer Denny Hennessey. On his history card he is listed as making 3 all star games, but has only made 2 MLB ones.... Thats gonna be a pain when we finally get to where we want to be with the hall selection and we have to go though 18 years of history on the bottom of the page...

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by Alan T

Did he come from the season when DC did that special "winter ball" league for each team that was done away with shortly after?

Yup.

[muns]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

Yup.

Well thanks for clearing that up guys. I was wondering where teams like the the Akron Impuse (cool name BTW) came from. Good to know

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by muns

Well thanks for clearing that up guys. I was wondering where teams like the the Akron Impuse (cool name BTW) came from. Good to know

Akron Impulse was originally the rookie league team affiliate for someone. (I assume either St.Louis or St. georgie. It wasn't related to the winter (summer) league

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by muns

Well thanks for clearing that up guys. I was wondering where teams like the the Akron Impuse (cool name BTW) came from. Good to know

Yeah, AI generated minor league name. I like that we've named them similar or exactly like the parent team now.

[muns]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

Yeah, AI generated minor league name. I like that we've named them similar or exactly like the parent team now.

I agree. Makes it much easier to tell on that stats page where they came from

[Cringer]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

Good stuff, everyone (that goes for the three in the season thread, too, and love getting one from new owner kaosfere so fast). I will put one up after finishing my lineups as well (as I usually do).

Cringer, I didn't realize you had made Mockly the closer. Of course, he certainly has the talent to do that. I think that was the wonder of my championship pen in '66 and the one that faced you in '68--all of them were damn good. Withecombe was a great closer and is still an effective enough pitcher to get a multi-year contract in the offseason. Castillo was a fine closer for me (ranks top six in saves), and is now Boston's ace closer. Mockly closes for you. Hawkins (also Boston) is probably the best reliever in the league who is NOT a closer. And King, a set up and middle relief guy on those teams, is now my closer and coming off of a dynamite season. Heck, even Luka Stroo is making his mark, among one of the most consistent relievers in the league, never rising above a 4 ERA.

That was one heck of a pen. I try every year to find a group to match it (and as amazing as last year's 1.96 pen ERA was for Colorado, I would still trade last year's group for that pen from 65ish-69ish any day of the week).

Started to respond to this earlier, then the wife showed up with food.

Yes though, he did just fine as the closer last year. Not great, but good enough to stay there this year. I find myself actually trying to have a solid closer so Raul Pagan WON'T be the closer. Pagan is a great setup guy when I have been able to have him in that role, as his 1.70 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, and .160 OAVG last year shows.

[Chief Rum]

COLORADO RANCHEROS

1972 Record: 96-58, 1st (lost to Valdosta in FOOL Classic, 5-0)

One would think two straight visits to the FOOL Classic, three in five years and four in seven would be enough to make any management and fanbase content. But the fact is, last year's ugly sweep at the hands of Valdosta, the second defeat at the hands of the Peanuts in two years, has led to a less than cherished image for the Rancheros around the league. That hallowed, infamous name "Bills" has been tossed out more than once. Are these Rancheros, respected though they may be, destined to take their place among the best teams to not win the championship? Sure, there is '66, but that was seven years ago. This is not the same team as then. There are few players remaining from that team still within the organization.

No, this is not the same Rancheros of yesteryear, so the question then becomes this: Can this version shrug the big ape (or Peanut) off its back, stay on top of a strong Republic League and re-capture that fleeting trophy?

The team returns essentially whole from last year, but did it perhaps stay too static while the always competitive RL took steps to close the gap? A rematch with Valdosta in the Classic is anything but a given.

STARTING PITCHING

With Colorado, it is always about the pitching. General manager Chief Rum has always espoused the ideology that pitching brings championships, and his teams are built to back that up. The last two RL Pitcher of the Year award winners call the Colorado rotation home. Craig Davis (18-6, 2.22, 234 K in 247 IP) had the kind of dominant year his talent promised from the start. He had little issues taking over the ace role from former Ranchero Pablo Gonzalez, who was dealt to Boston prior to last season. Dutch hurler Ite Beens (17-9, 3.12, 217 K) in some respects was even better than when he won the POY in 1971. The shock of the season, though, was the quick development of former Boston farmhand southpaw Victor Gonzalez (17-8, 2.69, 229 K), who was respected for his talent, but not expected to make a splash on this level until maybe 1974. His continued success will be a key to the season. Rob Goodwin (13-11, 3.53, 178 K) had his best season yet, although it seems likely he will fall off from that performance this year. The final spot holds the only really shaky arm in Tadakuni Minami (14-13, 4.48, 184 K). Minami, another lefty, had his worst year in his young career, allowing 45 HRs. Just like Goodwin should fall back, expect Minami to improve.

RELIEF PITCHING

The pen has always been a point of pride for Chief Rum, but he certainly outdid himself last year. The pen put up an amazing 1.96 ERA for the season. While lower relief innings helped (the Ranchero rotation regularly leads the league in complete games), it was still a very impressive number. Even more surprising is that it came after three of the team's best relievers were shipped with Gonzalez to Boston. Former setup man Kevin King (40 SV, 2.03, .217 OAVG) stepped into the closer role smoothly, and was just as strong as he was in a supporting role. Highly touted rookie Dan Brewer (5-0, 1.64, 10.47 K/9) took on an important middle relief role and dominated from the get-go. He will take over the top setup spot in replacement of Andrew Snyder, who was allowed to leave in free agency. Harry Clark (4-3, 3 SV, 2.91, 65 IP in 43 GM) was the horse of the pen. Steve Cash (0.71 ERA in 12.2 IP) and Javier Dominguez (15.1 scoreless innings) both were dominant, although it's hard to take anything away from how few innings they pitched. The last two spots will be taken by a talented journeyman in Pedro Salas (9-1, 1.36 in AAA) and yet another high-stuff rookie in Cisco Gomez (38 SV, 1.77, .188 OAVG in AAA).

CATCHING

The last two years has witnessed a transition behind the plate for the Rancheros. Longtime fan favorite Alfredo Alvarado was dealt to Brooklyn for a minor league prospect to save salary room under the cap. Although fans were unhappy with the move, the Rancheros are set at the position because of last year's acquisition of John King (.257, 21, 78, .765 ops) in the Gonzalez deal. King is a rising star and should be even better this year. Colorado signed away former Baltimore prospect Pedro Delgado (just 24 ABs in AAA) in the offseason to be a cheap backup for King. While Alvarado is certainly a better player than Delgado, he is much older (31 to 22) and was being paid far too much to be a backup. Delgado is not very good defensively, but he has a top notch swing and a great eye at the plate.

INFIELD

There was a brief crisis in fan circles in Colorado when it was announced the Rancheros had turned down the option on star power hitting 3B Teruo Miyahara's (.285, 22, 73, .808 ops) multi-year contract, but those frowns were quickly reversed when they resigned him to a lengthy, and more cap friendly, extension. He returns to be the primary name in the infield. Another well known star, John Bruce (.266, 22, 66, .782 ops) will handle third base against lefties and slide over to short against righthanders. Bruce and Miyahara give Colorado a potent middle of the lineup. 1B/DH Jorge Lopez (.309, 16, 78, .832 ops) had a phenomenal first year in Colorado, and the smooth-swinger should build on last year's performance. Higher rated prospects generally have received more pub, but few have outperformed utility infielder Rich Haas (.300, 7, 46, .793 ops, 14 sb), who is a good contact hitter and defender. Middle infielders Lloyd Carnell (.246, 8, 21, .702 ops) and Earl Finch (.274, 7, 33, .801 ops, 18 sb) return, primarily to face lefties, an area of concern two years ago. Finch could develop into a star player, and will likely take over for Bruce if the veteran leaves Colorado after the season.

The primary designated hitter will be the steady John Todd (.297, 12, 51, .777 ops), who hits well against both lefties and righties and fancies himself a 1B when the coaching staff allows him on the field.

OUTFIELD

The big--no, huge--question here is, how will the team replace the hole at the top of the lineup that was once plugged by Ivan Garcia. Flush up against the cap and wary of giving a big contract to a 29-year-old overachiever, even one of Garcia's level, Colorado took a risk and allowed one of the league's more exciting players to leave. It's still not certain it has a replacement.

The easy answer is short term signee Roy Richardson (.230, 3, 30, .623 ops, 17 sb), a Hall of Famer in waiting coming off of easily his worst season. One of the key questions facing Colorado is whether last year's dramatic fall off is an aging 33-year-old veteran playing on his last legs or a severe aberration in an otherwise excellent career. Richardson had seven straight seasons of .300+ average and .800+ ops prior to last season. He also doesn't play CF well, although he will probably be asked to play the spot anyway.

The Rancheros were disappointed in the performance of their top paid player, RF Clarence Gilliam (.263, 20, 50, .852 ops, 16 sb), whom they feel can be a dominating middle of the order hitter when he wants to be. He is hurt by issues batting against lefties. OF Bill Skinner (.301, 19, 67, .742 ops, 25 sb), who rotates from left to center, displayed the power he is thought to have, although he probably hit above his normal average, which should end up in the .250-260-ish range. Sweet stroking rookie Michael Moore (.295, 2, 60, .726 ops, 22 sb in AAA) beat out veteran Dan Murphy for a platoon role and reserve OF spot.

OVERVIEW

Many players played over their heads last year, and the losses of Garcia and Alvarado, along with key reserve Santiago Gonzalez, will not be easy to absorb. But the pitching is so good, it is hard to bet against Colorado. They will be in the mix for the RL title. Whether they can then go on to get the FOOL Classic title may be a matter of time--or a question of ill-gotten fate.

PREDICTION: SECOND

[muns]

No, this is not the same Rancheros of yesteryear, so the question then becomes this: Can this version shrug the big ape (or Peanut) off its back, stay on top of a strong Republic League and re-capture that fleeting trophy?

Great line.....Like it already and I just started......

[muns]

Second huh?? Who are you predicing in the RL this year Chief?

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by muns

Second huh?? Who are you predicing in the RL this year Chief?

Boston. Some better breaks, and worse luck for me, and they would have won it last year. They still have four aces in their rotation, and a pen that rivals mine.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by muns

Great line.....Like it already and I just started......

Thanks!

[Cringer]

Very nice.