[BirdWatcher]

I thought it might be a good idea at this stage of things to provide some periodic franchise reports to give you a better feel for the various teams in the WPK.

Let's start with the power-house of the Shoeless Joe League: the Jacksonville Wolf Pack.

History/Overview: The Wolf Pack are the winning-est team in SJL history thus far, having never finished below 3rd place and with an overall winning percentage of .593. They were the winners of the the first two WPK World Series and also represented the SJL in the 1970 World Series when they lost to your Denver Brewers. They were predicted to finish in a tie for 2nd place this season but enter the second half of the season once again on the top of the SJL standings. Jacksonville is considered a below average sized market but the Wolf Pack fan base is a quite loyal one and with the consistent winning track record of their team fan interest is high. Owner Tim Cook is considered a tolerant, hands-off boss but in fiscal areas can be quite controlling.

The Park: The Wolf Pack have a new ballpark this year: Fidelity Financial Stadium. FFS holds 43,800 fans at capacity and plays as slightly favoring hitters. It is a particularly good park for power hitters, especially those who bat from the right-hand side.

The Face of the Franchise: The Wolf Pack have several premium players, but probably the face of the franchise currently is 30-year old third baseman Jesus Casiano. Casiano has played his entire career with the Wolf Pack and is in his 8th season as a big leaguer. He won the SJL MVP award in 1970, has appeared in 6 All-Star games, has collected 5 gold glove awards and 4 silver slugger awards. His current contract extends through the 1973 season.

Greatest former player: Arguments could be made for several players. Among them would be superstar left fielder Travis Johnson, who is the still the career leader in several offensive categories for the Wolf Pack. But Johnson started his career in Pittsburgh, played for Jacksonville for 4 seasons, and now has been an L.A. Spinner for the past 3 seasons (including this one). So I'll go with Jose Foskey, the winning-est pitcher in Jacksonville history, who pitched his first five seasons in Jacksonville. At age 32, and now pitching for Washington, Foskey's career is in decline and surely his best seasons were in a Wolf Pack uniform. Foskey is an extremely popular player who always shows great effort and is considered a loyal and adaptable teammate.