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Old 07-08-2018, 04:35 PM   #4
HerbD
All Star Reserve
 
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Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Indiana
Posts: 851
Early Domination




After 25 TABL seasons the Norman Ninjas find themselves with seven pennants and four TABL Championships,
both second to and just one behind the Crush Dynasty. When the TABL made it's official debut in 1966 it was the
Ninjas who came storming out of the gate winning four of the first five Championship Series in league history.
Obviously Norman had to have good players to win four championships but they made their run with a lack of dominant
players and an entire team of good players. During the four championship seasons the Ninjas boasted just 19 All-Stars,
one Top Hitter Award winner, one Top Pitcher Award winner, and two Top Reliever Award winners. They were
also largely ignored when it came time to hand out the secondary awards having just two Top-Fielders and five Top Sluggers.
That comes to just 19% of the possible All-Star spots and 15% of all awards to a team that dominated it's league and the
postseason for five seasons.



Just eight players were on the Ninjas' roster for all four championships but only six of them would be considered full
for all four squads. 1B Manny McCrea appeared in 557 of the team's 560 games over those four seasons while
second sacker Eric Davis appeared in 549 games over the same span. They would be the only two position players
to play fulltime. McCrea would go on to hit
.281 in 93 post season plate appearances for Norman with six homers and 17 RBI taking home the 1968 TABL
Championship Series MVP. Davis racked up a .333 batting average in 92 post season plate appearances with
homers, 11 RBI, and 14 runs scored. 3B Jason Butti was a part of all four teams but managed to appear in more
than 88 games just once.



On the mound Brian Nelson was the only starter to pitch full time in the rotation in each of the championship seasons.
Nelson started at least 27 games and threw at least 209 innings in each campaign. Despite winning the 1970 Pitcher
of the Year Award, Nelson always seemed to struggle in the playoffs posting a meager 2-1 record in six starts with
a 5.09 ERA. He has trouble finding the plate which is evident in his 18/15 K/BB ratio during those games.
Matt Quirk(190 appearances and 168.2 innings pitched) and Aaron Bradley(118, 229.2) each played vital roles
in the bullpen to help the Ninjas make the postseason each year but neither played a huge roll in the post season.



And then there was Chase Eiser. Imagine your team is in the middle of a pennant race and your third baseman
who is hitting .320 with an OPS of .876 gets traded for a relief pitcher that is five years older and has an ERA over six!
The fans were up in arms, the players were pissed, and the ownership was in shock. It was a move that likely cost
Norman GM Chris Johnson his job in the offseason in the end it would be considered one of the best trades in the
history of the TABL. The thirdbaseman, Matthew Martin, would go on to have a very good career in Little Rock
winning six Top Fielder Awards and being named to seven all-star teams. Eiser would go 3-0 with 13 saves and
a 1.16 ERA in 24 games down the stretch for Norman. He would turn out to be the best closer in the TABL winning the
Reliever of the Year Award in both 1969 and 1970. He didn't wilt in the post season either going 3-1 with seven
saves and 29 strikeouts in 26.2 innings pitched over 12 games. He would eventually be named to the TABL
Hall of Fame in 1981.

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