[Elendil]

Concord Wild

The Wild enjoy one of the larger markets in the league with their location in the centrally located capital city of New Hampshire. They play at Memorial Field, which has small dimensions and is especially friendly to left-handed hitters.



The Wild spent heavily out of cash reserves and expect to spend a lot more than they make this year. But they also have a lot to show for their efforts.

The rotation is led by control wizard Sam Lecure, 33, who pitched at the major-league level for the Reds as recently as two years ago. He's making close to $20,000 for spending the summer in the Granite State. Kisho Kagami, 28, who has only ever played professionally in Japan, has come to the States for the new league - and to take classes at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester. His performance at home may suffer due to his tendency to work up in the zone. Number three starter In-wook Jung comes out of Korea, where his career ERA is 4.73. He barely knows English, but his agent is an entrepreneurial sort who arranged a tryout in Boston last month after his client failed to land a Korean or Japanese contract.

The Wild have a solid lineup at all positions. The biggest star may be 26-year-old Max Muncy, whom the A's let go after his struggles last year. He will play the hot corner, and with a career slash line of .260/.366/.413 at all levels, he is expected to perform well in this low-status league. Other keystones of the lineup include 32-year-old second baseman Nate Spears, who hit .255/.332/.319 for Somerset in the ATL last year, and 29-year-old left fielder Mike O'Neill, a lefthanded on-base machine who hit an eye-popping .338/.426/.438 for the New Jersey Jackals of the CAAA, a higher-quality league than the GWL.

The Wild boast a solid but not spectacular crop of collegiate players and other prospects. They will play scrimmages to try to develop their skills for official game play.

Preseason prediction: 56-52. But in my view this understates their chances somewhat.