1922 in Review

After a disappointing test match, a lot of positives can still be gleaned from the 1922 season.

101 wins...fantastic.
• Acquisition of Earl Moore, though costly in draft choices, proved to be a winning move, solidifying a rotation that was hurt by Wasdin's career ending injury.
• Willie Mays, Terry Pendleton and Vic Power all bounced back from tough 1921 seasons.
• Juan Samuel was impeccable afield, and hit hard after a slow start. More can be expected here in the future.
• Joe Sugden hit well, and defensively held his own with the best all season from the crucial catcher position.
• Marquis Grissom led the league in steals again, though his 0-4 against Wingo of Kent in the test matches will linger with a sour taste for awhile.
• Baldwin, McNamara, the surprisingly effective Steve Parris, and Moore were a top rotation. Cummings, Dixon and Hill helped out when needed.
• The bullpen of Werden and Eastwick to close (over 50 saves between them) and Holt, Curtis, Hill, Jones and Petkosvek was solid all season long.
• Lyle Overbay stepped in to provide punch and panache at 1b. That moved Bochte to the outfield almost full-time, and it was an effective duo.
• Billy Conigliaro showed some promise, though more is needed from him off the bench.
• Dave Bancroft quietly was one of the best shortstops in the Midlands.
• A revamped bench of de Rosa, Hayes, and Conigliaro was a marked improvement. Costello and Stoddard also came through when injuries hit the team.

Now comes the hardest part; keeping this team together for the next few seasons. Moore has signed, but Mays, Samuel, Baldwin and Bochte remain unsigned. The finances are confusing, as suddenly money seems to have disappeared, so we will see what arbitration holds for the Outlaw future. .

Lightning add key bowler

Today Lancashire Lightning GM Ross Ingersoll concluded negotiations With Somerset to aqquire SP Mike Boddicker. In a statement given to the press Mr. Ingersoll was quoted as saying" While it was difficult to trade away our 1st rounder we felt that Mike could help our team a great deal once he comes of the DL. He will add stability to our starting rotation and I believe he along with Win Mercer and Guy Bush will give us a quality core of starters for many seasons to come."

GM Hathaway assess the Phantoms

Taking over the team, we see some very good potential brewing here. Every single starter averages 24 years, 3 months in age, and look to be solid top to bottom. Hal White is the lone dark spot with his spotty control, but still gets the job done. Bullpen is solid as well, but has a bit of room for an upgrade, but we have prospect Tony Brizzolara looking to make his debut sometime this year. Lineup is something to have a little pause about. Built more for dink-and-dunk style of play, this team can get on base, but lacks the power necessary to drive runs in with any regularity. Apparently our predecessor decided it was imperative to trade ALBERT PUJOLS (!!!!!) away, so any chance at having a slugger onboard will have to brought in via trade. True, George Winter is a very solid starter to have recieved in the Pujols deal, but i still wonder what in the hell that guy was thinking in trading a premier bat.

Derbyshire is currently attempting to fix a porous outfield by trading for a power-hitter to play in the tall grass, and hoping for bites here very soon. Word is that top prospect and current third base starter Michael Barrett is very much available for trade, so that should give teams in need of IF help a reason to talk. Plans for the present are to allow our fantastic rotation the opputunities to win some tight ballgames and hope to pull out some close contests throughout the season.

Kent Award Winners

Kent management would like to congratulate Ron Cey, 3B for winning the British Youth of the Year Award. He was fully deserving of the honor. We look forward to more great seasons from Ron Cey.

Ron Cey was not the only rookie from Kent to win an award this season. Ivey Wingo took home the BL Defender of the Year Award for catchers. He was brought in to improve the defense of this team and did even better than expected.

Foxes Look at Season With Guarded Optimism

After a drop off of 20 wins in 1921, Leicestershire will be looking to get back in the playoff hunt in 1922.

There has been some turnover from last season's opening day roster, due in large part to the blockbuster trade made last July. George Winter is absent from the rotation and Michael Barrett is also gone.

Some new additions may help fill in those holes, like Albert Pujols did towards the end of last year. First round draft pick Wally Joyner will be trying his hand in the outfield this spring, as will former first baseman John Mayberry. One of those players is expected to start in left field on opening day.

The Foxes, however, may still have some moves to make. GM Steve Harrell would like to sure up the center field position. Rookie Johnny Wyrostek may get the call, although veteran Manny Jiminez may move from left to center./p>

There are currently plans for Leicestershire to bring as many as 17 pitchers to training camp this week. The consensus is that the opening day roster will only have 10 or 11 pitchers, and according to the front office, there are very few guarenteed jobs on the pitching staff.

The middle infield will look similar to recent years, and Arthur Irwin has a good chance at reclaiming the starting job at third with Pujols' move to first.

Cliff Johnson returns behind the plate, looking to improve upon his anemic .201 average from a year ago. As to who earns the back-up role, that remains to be seen.

Will the Foxes get a chance to bring down the mighty Steelbacks this October? The team's goal is 90 wins this season, which may just be enough to give them a shot at the playoffs.

1922 Year in Review

It was not a good year record-wise for the Somerset Sabres (62-100), but there is much to be excited for on this young club.

The core of this team is aged 24 years or younger with some key veterans anchoring the rotation (Tom Phillips) and the bullpen.

The minor league system has the best potential in the league with a rating of 193 points (Larne is 2nd with 118 points). We've got 11 of the top 100 young players in the entire HNBA, including:

#6 Buck Freeman OF/3B/P (.289, .351 OBP, 10 HR)
#8 Cookie Lavagetto 2B/3B (.291, .382 OBP, 23 2B in 316 ABs)
#17 Charlie Bennett C/OF #23 Bill Hall 2B/SS/3B (.245, 11 HR, 51 RBI)
#24 Roberto Petagine LF/1B (30 HR, 112 RBI maj/min)
#51 Jack Ogden SP (5-8, 3.95 ERA minors)
#54 Sam Jones SP (13-5, 2.86 ERA minors)
#67 Ted Scheffler RF/CF
#87 Pi Schwert C (.349 OBP minors)
#89 Steamboat Williams SP (10-5 combined minors)
#95 Ralph Michaels 3B (.310, .370 OBP)

We also had some solid offensive seasons from guys we'd expect such as Ben Chapman (.290, .377 OBP, 83 runs scored), John Mayberry (18 HRs, 67 RBIs), and surprising minor league veteran 3B Willis Otanez who caught fire in July/August to the tune of .288, .342 OBP, 10 HRs, and 41 RBIs.

Overall, our offense has notably improved with a .009 increase in average since 1920 while also increasing OBP and HRs. Where we struggled was our pitching (primary starting pitching) which has dropped from a 2.99 in 1920 to a 3.27 in 1921, to a pathetic 3.99 in 1922.

Tom Phillips was solid again this year, going 11-14 over 260 IP with a 3.15 ERA and 236 Ks. Young ace Pink Hawley struggled in Somerset, going 6-12 with a 4.00 ERA over 176 IP, including 2 trips to the DL. Wade Blasingame shined in the 2nd half, with a 9-16 record, 3.64 ERA in 198 IP and 178 Ks; in 6 of his last 9 starts he allowed 1 ER or less. Jim Duckworth was enigmatic as he pitched 171 innings, striking out 228 batters, but also walking 101 and allowing 17 HRs, leading to a 4.78 ERA. We never were able to secure a solid 5th starter, although Sam Jones and Dennis Rasmussen showed promise, and Jack Ogden, Steamboat Williams, and others will definitely challenge for a spot in 1923.

The bullpen was solid, led by closer Tom Henke (2.52 ERA, 7 W, 19 Saves). Don Hankins (2.82 ERA, 93 IP) and Henry Keupper (2.98 ERA, 112 IP) ate up a lot of innings in middle relieve. Veteran minor leaguer Jimmy Serrano (1.73 ERA, 26 IP) and youngters Jim Bethke (10 IP, 0.00 ERA) and Todd Erdos (3.12 ERA, 9 IP) showed promised.

The offense should continue to improve next year, the starting pitching should settle out, and the bullpen should be as strong as ever. Another year of experience should definitely help this young ball club as they look to challenge for playoff contention immediately in 1923.

Stretch Run

Since bottoming out at 30-40, the Bulls have gone on a 37-17 run to edge into the second Celtic wild card spot by one game over Limavady. Their season's record now stands at 67-57, despite being a league-unluckiest -10 wins below their Pythagorean record. In Clontarf's favour is that 29 of their remaining 38 county matches will be played at home at Castle Grounds.

The team's resurgence has been led by the bowlers, who sport a Celtic best 2.71 ERA. Midseason acquisitions SP Johnny Enzmann (6-2 1.55 for the Bulls) and MR Hank Aguirre (1-1 1/1 1.72) have been valuable additions to the formidable Bulls attack. And the offense is once again grinding out at bats against opposing staffs, leading the HNBA in OBP and having racked up an imposing 657 walks, almost a double century more than the next highest Celtic team total.

The turnstiles should be spinning at Castle Grounds down the stretch, with Contarf's enthusiastic cranks cheering the team on in its drive towards a postseason berth.

Will it get worse??

The Gladiators are well.... not good.

We have a few stars, but really it's Walter Johnson, Joe Gordon and everyone else.

Ray Boone cracked his skull and is out for a bit.

The Return of Darryl Motley should help the OF. And newcomers BJ Surhoff and Rick Schu will stay in the minors for at least a half year.

What was their strength back in year 1. was not last year -- pitching.

Hopefully the staff will gain some stability and not be so angry all the time.. Hopefully the offense will score a few more runs and hopefully most of the team will actually hit above .200 for the year.

We'll see..

I predict a last place finish for the team again.

Hopefully this team won't mimic Walter Johnson's "real" life team too much in the coming years.

New faces at the Rose Bowl

Sir William was clear in his assessment of the needs of the Hawks to reach the top. Bowlers who would start and go deep onto the match was the key.

"This past season saw 5 of the bench bowlers log over 100 innings. Last year four logged in excess of 100 innings. The end result was that in the test matches they weren't simply as sharp as earlier."

The draft was not deep in starting bowlers, so Hawk management had to opt for the transfer market. The first, deal was to acquire Ray Lamb for Harry Salisbury and an additional 2nd round pick.

Then the blockbuster deal with the Dyamos, sending support favorite Johnny Hopp, George Gore and Tom McGuire for Lee Meadows, Frank Miller and the Dynamos 1st round pick.

The two first round picks netted LF Wes Schulmerich to fill the shoes of the departed Hopp and 1B Joe Cunningham. Schulmerich appears to be better defensively and while adequate in the attack will be a top of the order batsman. Cunningham is similar to the Hawks current firstbaseman, in that he lacks power. However he is known for a keen eye and may help at the top of the order.

The Hawks then used the acquired Bull pick on obtaining southpaw bowler, Mike Myers from Somerset. Myers was on the Sabres 2nd-IX squad but is expected to be the left-sided setup bowler.

Sir William commented on what he felt was the best pick of the draft when the selected southpaw bowler Pat Combs in the second round.

"Our scouts had Pat as the top rated left-sided bowler in this class and we were surprised that he fell to us so late in the draft. We had acquired Myers to address a weak area, not anticipating Pat still being there. With both this will now be a strength of the squad."

The final move, a surprise to many covering the Hawks, was the deal with the Sabres where Hampshire sent promising, but injured, SP Mike Boddicker for utility mid-fielder Johnny Rawlings, the Sabres #2 next year and Buckies #3 this year. That pick turned into reserve outfielder Denny Sothern.

It will take spring training to sort out the impacts of the transfers and additions. The only question we have at the moment would be "Is Sir William done yet?"