The Factory Workers Baseball League

[Sven Draconian]

Phenomena


Heading into the season much of the talk around Harrisburg was over the debut of the leagues top prospect, Jesse “Bandsaw” Lentz. Bandsaw Lentz has been up and down this season, sporting a 4-5 record but a 4.65 ERA, however, he has shown flash's of brilliance. He showed such flash's May 20^th at Monroe. Facing the Spartans, Lentz pitched 8 scoreless, only allowed 4 hits and picked up 13K's when he lodged his 4^th win of the season.


Lentz had been solid most of the season, before his last outing (a disastrous 1 IP with 5ER) he was sporting a decent if unspectacular 4.09 ERA with a 4-4 record.


Even with Lentz pitching fairly well, the Patriots havn't been able to get over the loss of Roger Cox, who is expected back in the beginning of June. Despite John Moran hitting .300 with 15HR and 52 RBI and David Hernandez in the top 10 in the league for batting with a .343 average, the Patriots are 7 games back of Sandusky at 24-33 and sit in third place in their division.


Much of the blame must go to Bucky Novak who has had a horrendous season, posting a 6.31ERA. FA signee Diego Vigil had only managed a 4.77 ERA before being traded on June 1^st for a minor league pitcher. Roger Cox has surely been missed.




Stealing the Division


The South Bend Bandits started out a big sluggish, but a 19-10 month of April has given them a 9 game lead over both Kankakee and Monroe and seem poised to make the playoffs going away.


Bill Clark seems to have returned from a pair of “down” years in '88 and '89 when he posted OPS just over .800. Clark is batting .327/.433/.537 this season with 9 Hrs and 14 steals putting him on pace for another potential 30-30 season. 35 year old Riley Andrews leads the team with 10HRs (and sports a .363 OBP) while Alfredo Martinez, 34 years old, has 6HRs and a .331 OBP.


The Bandits lead the HL in Batting Average, OBP, Slugging percentage, but are 2^nd in run scored (to Monroe, who is last in Batting Average, OBP and 4^th in Slugging).


Lead by Jesus Mendoza and his 5-3 record and 3.58 ERA the Bandits are also first in runs allowed (despite being 3^rd in ERA). 25 year old Roger Donaldson is 6-3 with a 4.00 ERA while Pete Peters is 4-1 with 14 saves and a 2.28 as the closer while setup man Tomas Gamboa is 4-0 with a 1.84 ERA in 30 innings.

[Sven Draconian]

Eastern Dominance


The new alignment has sparked all types of debates this season, but one thing is abundantly clear, the Coover League is far better than the Coover League West.

While the Gary Iron Men, behind “Outstanding Pitcher” candidate Eric Roberts (9 wins, 2.76ERA, 70K) do hold a commanding league in the CL East, 7 games over Joliet, they struggled in May going 14-15 and are just 2-4 in June. The Iron Men do have the Cls best staff in terms of Runs Allowed, however are 5^th in Runs Scored and just third in ERA. Their overall record of 34-29 would tie them for 2^nd in the East.


The story of the year so far has been the CL East leading Youngstown Warriors. At 37-26 the Warriors hold a slim 3 game lead over the Erie Knights, who look to rebound with Arturo Ortega returning to from and Erasmo Venegas coming back from injury.


Antonio Bautista, .315/.390/.540 with 12 Hrs and 17 doubles leads the Warriors offense with Doug Barr's .378/.417/.580 line making for a strong sidekick. The Warriors lead the CL in Runs Scored. However, they have pitching as well with Ismael Lopez 8-3, 3.08 and 92 strikeouts. Hollis Adams is the 2^nd half of the potent 1-2 punch with a 7-3 record and 2.56ERA and 90K's.


But the East isn't a simple two-horse race as Flint is sitting just two games behind Erie, and 5 behind Youngstown at 32-31. Jimmy Taylor's 6-2 record and 1.56 ERA lead the CL's best rotation in terms of ERA and should keep the division pretty tight all the way through.

[Sven Draconian]

What Lies Ahead


As the FWL reaches the seasons 100 game mark the Hobbin League race is crystal clear, and over. The 62 games left are merely a formality as the South Bend Bandits (58-42) and Dayton Storm (60-40) have put themselves in positions to just cost too the playoffs.


The Storm entered the June just 1 game over .500 and in a tight race, but a 21-6 month of June, lead by pitcher of the month, found again veteran Justin Nicholas, and have advanced on that with a 10-6 July to date.


The storm have ridden the 36 year old former star, turned journeyman, transformed back to ace to 11 wins and 3.14 ERA and the #1 staff in the HL. Even so, the Storm are going to be even more reliant with him with the recent injury to #2 starter Mike Roy, which doesn't project to factor into the regular season, but will be important to the playoffs.


The Storm also have offense, the leagues best in fact, featuring a trio of mashers in Jose Romero, Scott Gilbert, and mid may acquisition SS Phil Walker, all with 17HRs. At the top of the lineup they have former Bandit table setter Pedro Gonzalez. With Victor Roman recovering from his early season slump this is a scary lineup

However, the likely Eastern Division Champion, South Bend, features a familiar cast, including 'Will Turner' hopeful, the ageless Bill Clark who is back on track after a pair of seasons were his power was down. At this writing, he leads the FWL in VORP. Off-season acquisition Riley Andrews has also provided 20 Hrs, and Alfredo Martinez has 8HR and impeccable veteran leadership to from the Hls 2^nd best offense.


The Bandits are better poised for the playoffs, as they are led by a solid 3 man rotation of Jesus Mendoza (8-6 4.19), David Peterson (12-5, 3.77) and Roger Donaldson (10-7 3.96), and the most dominant closer in the game, Pete Peters.

[Sven Draconian]

Let the Race Begin


Even after the eerily quiet trading deadline the Hobbin league may be a jog to the playoffs for South Bend and Dayton, but over in the Coover league its a 5 team sprint for just two playoff spots, making one wonder why there wasn't even a single deal at the deadline.


The Coover League west is the more dynamic of the races with three teams sitting within 4 games of each other. The Erie Knights hold a 3 game lead, but have just lost Erasmo Venegas (again). The Knights finally took first place on the strength of Arturo Ortega returning to from and winning the July pitcher of the month award, but the lead is small, just three games over Youngstown who feature a pair of hitters attacking the single season average record (Doug Barr and Lance Wheeler) and the runaway leader for “Outstanding Pitcher” Ismael Lopez.

The dark horse of the west race is Flint. The Gladiators sit just 4 games back. The Gladiators have a struggling offense, but the best rotation and bullpen in the league, led by Randy Nash and Claudio Flores.


Over in the East, the Gary Iron Men hold a 4 game lead, but have been wavering since the weather warmed. The streaky, and finally healthy, Eric Roberts is putting together a terrific season with 15 wins, a 3.26 ERA and 136 strikeouts. Even with Roberts the Iron Men rank only 4^th in Runs Allowed and are dead last in runs scored. With that said, it should be no surprise that Gary has finished 1 game below .500 every month besides their terrific 18-10 April.


Green Bay has started methodically chipping away at their lead. They sit just 4 games back as of August 4^th and feature “Will Turner Award” candidate Justin Welch (30HR, 80RBI, 23.1VORP) and a starting trio of Luis Gomez, James Davis and Joey Kline, who promise to give any other CL rotation fits come the playoffs.

[Sven Draconian]

Record Chase


The Monroe Spartans may be slumping on the season, 10 games back and 6 games under .500, but Joe Moore hasn't been. With 32 games left to play Moore is batting .389, 7 points higher than Thom Bell's 9 year old mark of .382.


Moore is coming of a .429 July Batting average and also hit .412 in the month of May. So far in August he's hitting .389 exactly. If it wasn't for his low mark of .288 for April he may have shattered the record.


For the season Moore, a 2B, is leaps and bounds ahead of everyone in VORP, posting a 73.0 mark with 30 games left 19 points higher than everyone else. His .431 OBP is good for 3^rd in the FWL. He's also 2^nd in Hits with 177, 2 behind Youngstown's Larry Wheeler (who is hitting .368 on the season).


Stuck in Neutral


No matter what Green Bay does, they don't seem to make any progress. The Huskies entered the stretch run 4 games back and 19 days into it, sit 5 games back.


The Huskies feature the leagues ERA leader (Luis Gomez) and the Justin Welch who sits 2^nd in the HR race (32). They are 3^rd in Runs Allowed and Run Scored (much better than GB who is 6^th and 4th), yet they sit 2 games below .500 and have been stuck between 5 and 3 games back of Gary for months.


The Huskies and Iron Men have split two 3-game sets this month and have just 1 series left. Any way you slice it, with just 32 games left on the schedule, the Huskies are running out of time.

[Sven Draconian]

Throwing In The Towel


The Weekly learned this morning that 32 year old SP, and league strikeout leader, Ismael Lopez, was dealt to the Kankakee Kings.


The Warriors, who have recently fallen 7 games behind Erie, dealt Lopez (age 32) for SS Brandon Parker (-12 VORP) and a minor league pitching prospect (1 star). Lopez was an even money bet to take home the Outstanding Pitcher Award, he lead the leagues in Strikeouts and was 2^nd in ERA and Wins.


Larry Wheeler Signs 5^th Largest Contract Ever


28 year old SS Larry Wheeler of the Youngstown Warriors signed the 5thlargest contract in FWL History today, inking a 268,000 deal that will run for 6 years. The contract will pay him 40,000 annually, making him the 7^th highest paid player in the league, but its uncommon length adds much of the value.


Bill Clark remains the richest man in FWL history with his 395,000 deal signed. Wheeler became the 5^th player to sign a contract which has value greater than 200,000.


The SS currently holds the 4^th highest single season batting average in League History. He places on the list of the 100 highest batting averages all 6 years of his professional career.


Banged Up Bandits


Just a week after learning that Bill Clark's broken ankle will keep him out all the way through the playoffs, the South Bend Bandits learned that Kyle Morgan will miss the rest of the regular season.


Clark, who was the leading candidate to win the “Will Turner Award” before being injured, and who recently passed the 1,000 RBI mark, just the 3^rd player in league history to do so, will be ready for the start of next season.

Experts speculate that Morgan will be back in time for the playoffs this season, just barely. For the season Morgan has a .381 OBP and .438 SLG playing RF. He has also knocked 36 extra-base hits, including 12 Hrs.

[Sven Draconian]

All That Matters


Wipe the slate clean, because heading into the leagues final month, the final 20 might as well be the only 20 for the Gary Ironmen and Green Bay Huskies.


The Huskies enter September as the Coover Leagues hottest team, fully recovering from their 9-20 month of May. Since July the Huskies are playing better than .600 ball, and won 9 of their last 11 games in August en route to a 17-12 month.


In contrast, Gary had their worst month of the season, finishing 13-16 and losing 9 of the final 12 games of August. They also dropped 4 of 6 to the Huskies and blew two late leads in the months final week.


With all the other races all but decided, all eyes will be turned to the September 7th-9^th series between these teams, many Newspapers are going of offer live telegraph feeds of the coverage, including this publications 12 posts.


A League of Difference


Much was made about the FWL new format, but nobody could have predicted the results. Two entirely different brands of baseball have emerged, the slugging HL with its 4.59 ERA and the small ball CL with its tiny 3.89 mark.


The difference between the leagues is why the upcoming Coover Cup is being billed as “Brawns vs Brains”.


4 of the top 5 ERA leaders are from CL teams, and the 5th, Ismael Lopez, spent all but two starts in the CL before his recent trade to Kankakee. In contrast 2 of the top 3 HR hitters and 4 of the top 5 RBI men all play for Hoover teams.

[Sven Draconian]

Huskies Take Series, Lose Kline


In a bit of a mixed bag week, the Green Bay Huskies took a one game lead over the Gary Ironmen by winning two of three, but lost starter Joey Kline “For a couple of starts” due to “Dead Arm”.


Green Bay took the first two games of a three game set over the weekend. On Friday the Huskies took a game in typical Coover League fashion, stringing together enough singles to win 3-1 behind an excellent effort by James Davis, who picked up his 15^th win of the season.


The Huskies took the 2^nd game on the strength of Justin Welch's 37^th and 38^th dingers of the season in a game they won 7-3. One of the curiosities of the game was the pitching match up, where both teams trotted out starters who had pitched just 45 innings and 22 innings respectively.


The Ironmen avoided the sweep on the strength of off-season FA acquisition Chris Millers strong start. The disappointing Miller managed to go 8 scoreless for the 4-0 win. Miller improved to 11-13 on the season with a 4.07 ERA, but that is a long way from earning his 170,000 contract.


The Huskies now hold a 1 game lead with 12 to play.


Welch our Final Weeks


Green Bay has lost the services of Justin Welch, the CL leader in Hrs, for the remaining regular season games and possibly the start of the playoffs, if they are to make it.


Welch pulled a hamstring pulling into 2^nd on a double in a game against Flint. For the season Welch has 38HRs and 98 RBI.


Roberts Collapse Keeps Huskies in Lead


Eric Roberts is a top candidate for “Outstanding Pitcher” but his efforts took a huge blow Sunday afternoon when his 7^th inning collapse cost the Ironmen the game and a chance to pull even with the Huskies.


In a 1-1 game, Roberts gave up 6 runs in the ^7th inning of a game against Flint, he gave up a double and a walk, and the defense let a man on via error before Raul Pineda took a 1-1 fastball and hit it 400 feet off the center field wall for a bases clearing double. Roberts unraveled and allowed three more runs after the double and the Ironmen lost 8-1.


The collapse came just an hour after Joliet defeated Green Bay.


With just 6 games left Green Bay holds on to a 1 game lead. The Ironmen are off to play CL leading Erie, while the Huskies will play Youngstown. The teams final series are against Erie (GB) and Joliet (Gary).


Decision Weekend


In whats been an amazing pennant race, the CL West all comes down to just one weekend. Gary heads into Joliet 80-79 while Green Bay hosts Erie also at 80-79.


Green Bay will enjoy the return of Joey Kline as they host the Cls best team (85-74) Erie, while Eric Roberts will take on the CL West's 3^rd place team, Joliet, as Eric Roberts goes for the elusive 20^th win in the series openers.

[Sven Draconian]

The Results are In


In a race that went down the final day, it was a tale of two cities. The Huskies, in a tie game with two outs in Green Bay Rob McClear hit a seeing-eye single and Felipe De La Garza drew a 7 pitch walk. Then Wesley Williams had an AB to remember, fouling off five consecutive pitches before hitting a solid line drive over the 2^nd baseman's head to keep Green Bay alive. With the bases loaded Steve Willis hit a broken bat dribbler past the mound to put the Huskies up and then Richard Brown added the insurance runs with a great piece of hitting, putting a grounder right up the box to give Green Bay the decisive lead.


One state down Stu Moody, he of the 5.03 ERA, gave up 3 runs and recorded only 1 out as the Ironmen conceded the race to the Huskies by dropping the final game of the season to Joliet by the score of 7-6.

[Sven Draconian]

Hobbin League Championship Preview


South Bend Bandits (91-71) vs Dayton Storm (102-60)


Tale of the Tape:
Runs Scored:
Dayton 921 (1^st in HL)
South Bend 878 (2^nd in HL)


Runs Allowed:
Dayton 683 (1^st in HL)
South Bend 780 (2^nd in HL)


Season Series: South Bend 17-16


Clearly the two best teams in the HL this season, South Bend and Dayton prepare for the best of 9 series. While South Bend has the edge in the season series, they enter the playoffs without the best player, Bill Clark and Dayton has a 100 run edge in Runs Allowed, and a 43 run edge in Runs Scored.


The Veteran Bandits are now led by Riley Andrews who led the team in HR (33) and RBI (126). The Bandits also have all-time HR leader Alfredo Martinez, who despite hitting just 11 Hrs this season, did hit .298. The Bandits also have a pair of great table setters with young hitters with Ramon Pena (.404) and Jason Martin (.434).

The Bandits rotation is led by David Peterson (17-6, 3.61) and Jesus Mendoza, who despite having a down season has a 3.44 career ERA. They also have the leagues best closer in Pete Peters.


Dayton lead the league in both Offense and Pitching. They led in both OBP (.362) and HR (186), however there batting and HR leader, Scott Gilbert (.330/.457/576..33HR, 95RBI) is on the DL for another 13 days with a strained shoulder.


The storm still have Phil Walker (30 HR), Victor Roman (.308/.402/.490...26HR, 110RBI), Miguel Calixto (.326/.393/.506..23HR 76RBI) and Jose Romero (.301/.401/.515) who are all under the age of 27. Dayton also has the ageless Pedro Gonzalez, who at age 36 still sports a .443 OBP.


The Storm's rotation is led by another ageless one, Justin Nicholas, who has re-emerged as one of the best pitchers in baseball with the FWL only 20 win season and 3.70 ERA and the finally healthy Frank Day, who had a 2.67 ERA, but only pitched 67 innings.


Coover League Championship Preview


Green Bay Huskies (81-81) vs Erie Knights (87-75)


Tale of the Tape:
Runs Scored:
Erie Knights 742 (2^nd in CL)
Green Bay 695 (3^rd in CL)


Runs Allowed:
Erie Knights 634 (1^st in CL)
Green Bay Huskies 674 (3^rd in CL)


Season Series: 18-15 Erie


Many feel that the feel-good Huskies run is now over. The Huskies struggled to a .500 record, drooping 2 of 3 to Erie and still getting in the playoffs. The three-time running champ Erie Knights have the edge over the Huskies in experience and both offense and defense.


The Huskies are beat up, Justin Welch (38 HR, 98 RBI) and Freddy Mendez (.302/25/96) are both expected to miss atleast the first 3 games of the series. The two lead the leauge in BA, #1 and #2 in HR and RBI and nobody else was even close to those two in power (#3 had just 13 HR). The Huskies do have a nice rotation with Luis Gomez (2.73), James Davis (3.03) and Joey Kline (3.63), but a weak bullpen and offensive issues are expected to catch up with them.


The Knights have the FWL's best pitcher, who recovered from a slow start to go 13-2 since June 12^th and end up with 15 wins and a 3.42 ERA as well as 242 strikeouts. Jose Conorado (16-7, 3.69) Mauro Garza (14-13, 3.74) and Jose Gonzalez (13-10, 4.01) round out the playoff rotation David Sheppard (1.43, in 47.1IP) and Greg Walker (2.56 in 77.2IP) form the backbone of a strong bullpen.


Offensively Erie still has weapons. Jon James, Mike Ferrel and Bill Riddle hit 28,26 and 24 Hrs respectively. Mike Ferrel added a monster OBP, .448 to that and Gerald Webber who missed significant portions of the season is added to the fold and brings his .326/.441/.448 line with him. Rounding out the heart of the order is former Bandits catcher Zander Short, who's .374 OBP from the catcher position is part of the reason he's been on the last 8 championship teams.

[Sven Draconian]

South Bend at Dayton:


Game 1
7-2 Dayton.
Dayton's wins on the strength of a 4-5, 3-RBI game by Miguel Calixto and a 4 run 7^th inning. Frank Day pitch's 5.1 scoreless innings for the win


Game 2
5-4 Dayton
Phil Walker, Jose Romero and Peter Carrol all hit solo Home Runs. Justin Nicholas is chased from the game when he allows 3 runs in the 9th, but Jorge Baez preserves the win getting the final out.


Game 3
3-2 Dayton (11 innings)
A marvelous pitching performance by both sides, with Roger Donaldson going 8 innings giving up 2 runs for South Bend while Michael Hartman went 9.1 for Dayton. In the top of the 11^th Antonio Infante hit a solo HR off Tomas Gamboa to give Dayton a 3-0 lead in the series.


Game 4
8-0 South Bend
The Bandits picked up their first playoff win thanks to a great outing by Jesus Mendoza, who pitched 7.1 scoreless innings. Ramon Pena hit a 2 run HR and scored twice for the Bandits while Riley Andrews reached three times and came around twice in the win.


Game 5
10-3 Dayton
Justin Nicholas picks up another win for the Storm by going 7.2 allowing just 2 ER. The Storms offense erupted after being shutout with Jose Romero going 3-5 with a 2-run HR, Reggie Young going 3-5 with 3-RBI and Peter Carrol driving in 2 more.

Game 6
13-1 Dayton
The Storm advance to the Robert Coover cup by scoring 13 runs against the Bandits for the win. Phil Walker had 2 HR and 5RBI while Miguel Calixto hit a solo shot and scored 3 times. Michael Hartman gave up 1 run over 7 innings for the win.


Green Bay at Erie


Game 1
4-3 Erie.
Artruro Ortega pitch's 8 innings and gives up 3 runs. Joe Bullard has an RBI triple and scored in the 6th, and then an RBI double in the 7th. Jon James was 1-2 with a walk and two runs scored.


Game 2
1-0 Green Bay
Three 4^th inning singles are the only scoring as Joey Kline twirls an 8 inning gem, only allowing two hits and recording 6 strikeouts. Jose Gonzalez is the tough luck pitcher for Erie, only allowing 1 run in 7.2IP, but taking the loss.


Game 3
5-2 Green Bay
The series shifted to Green Bay, and the Huskies took the command of the series thanks to a sterling 6.1IP, 1 run performance from Luis Gomez. Freddy Mendez made his series debut for Green Bay and picked up an RBI, as Erasmo Venegas suffered behind 2 unearned runs to take the loss.


Game 4
5-2 Green Bay
Arturo Ortega gave up 5 runs (3ER) over 8 innings including a 2 run HR to Mario Zarogaza and a solo shot to Jim Bell while James Davis only gave up 1 unearned run for the win and Chris Thompson had his third save of the series.


Game 5
3-1 Green Bay
Joey Kline strikes out 9 over 8 innings, allowing just 1 run and gave the Huskies a commanding 4-1 series lead. Wesley Williams 2 RBI double in the 8^th inning gave the Huskies the lead late and James Brown came in for the save. Eries Jose Gonzalez is the hard-luck loser again, only allowing 1 run in 7 but taking the loss.


Game 6
8-6 Erie
Both starters were shelled, but a pair of 7^th inning doubles by Don Johnson and Bill Riddle kept the Knights alive. Neither starter made it past the 4th, but the oft-challenged Huskies bullpen saw Mark Brooks give up 3 runs in 1.2 IP.


Game 7
5-4 Green Bay
Arturo Ortega threw 6.1 shutout innings, but the Knights bullpen imploded for 5 runs in just 1.2 IP and the Huskies advance to the Coover cup. Greg Jones gave up a 2-run HR to Justin Welch and Mark Osbourne doubled and scored in the 8^th to put the Huskies up. Jame Davis gave up 4 over 6.1, but the much maligned Huskies bullpen had 2.2 shutout innings and Chris Thompson had his 4^th save of the series to advance the Huskies.

[Sven Draconian]

Green Bay Huskies (81-81) at Dayton Storm (102-60)


Game 1
11-3 Dayton
In a series billed “Offense vs Defense” the Offense dominated the first game. The Storm continued their offenive surge with a 3run-HR by Miguel Calixto, 3run-HR by Angel Reyes and a Victor Roman jacked 2 bombs as Dayton chased Joey Kline after just 1.2 IP. Frank Day struck out 10 over 7.1 innings to improve his post-season record to 2-1.


Game 2
13-0 Dayton
Michael Hartman twirled a gem, a 4-hit shutout to improve his record to 2-0 and drop his post-season ERA to 1.07. Victor Roman his his 3^rd HR in two games, a 3 run jack while Reggie Young drove in 3 more. Luis Gomez was chased early and the storm continue to run up the IP out of the Huskies weak bullpen.


Game 3
6-0 Dayton
Justin Nicholas moved up to 3-0 in the post-season, pitching 8 innings of 4 hit ball. Scott Gilbert hit a 3run HR and Pedro Gonzalez even got in on the action with a solo job.


Game 4
6-4 Green Bay
After being outscored 30-3 over the first three games, Green Bay stifled the Storm offense. While Roman hit HR #4 of the series, it was Wesley Williams again hit an 8^th inning 2 run double to secure a Huskies win.


Game 5
9-7 Dayton
Michael Hartman moves to 3-0 in the post-season, thanks in large part to a bases clearing triple by Reggie Young, who then scored, to spot the Storm and early lead. Miguel Calixto went deep for his 4^th post-season HR in the effort as the storm touched up Luis Gomez for his 2^nd loss in the series. Part of the joy of victory was erased when they learned Scott Gilbert will miss the rest of the series.


Game 6
3-0 Green Bay
James Davis threw 6 scoreless innings and Chris Thompson picked up post-season save #6, after having just 3 in the regular season, and the Huskies clawed into a game 7. Freddy Mendez went deep and Felipe De La Garza hit an RBI triple and scored in the effort.


Game 7
7-2 Dayton
Victor Roman makes Dayton the FWL Champions by hitting 2 Home Runs, bringing his total to 6 HR in the 7 game series. Phil Walker hit his 4^th HR of the post-season and Alfonso Gonzalez pitched 2 innings in relief to earn the win as Dayton secures their 2^nd FWL title.

[Sven Draconian]

1901

Hobbin League
East:
Dayton Storm 102-60
Harrisburg Patriots 77-85
Sandusky Maurauders 69-93


West:
South Bend Bandits 91-71
Monroe Spartans 77-85
Kankakee Kings 70-92


In the end it was Daytons' league and everyone else was just allowed to enjoy the show. South Bend had some young players come through, and some injury problems, but Dayton dominated the league, and then dominated the Bandits in the League Championship series. The mass of teams in the 70 win column shows just how dominant South Bend and Dayton truly were.


“Will Turner Award”-Scott Gilbert-Dayton
.330/.457/.576---33HR, 95RBI, 73.7VORP.
Gilbert takes home his second consecutive “Will Turner Award” (Formerly Outstanding Batter), and for the 2^nd time adds his Gold Glove to the list of accomplishments. This time of course, Gilbert added a Championship to his resume.


“Outstanding Pitcher”-Justin Nicholas-Dayton
20-10 3.70 ---231.1IP, 87/47 K/BB
Dayton takes home the “Outstanding Pitcher” award as well, with Nicholas, at the ripe age of 36, is the FWL only 20 game winner. His 3-1 post-season mark certainly didn't hurt his casey.


“Rookie of the Year”-Miguel Ybarra-Monroe
.318/.395/.599—43HR 108RBI 64.6VORP
Ybarra is co-owner of the HR crown, and sole owner of the Rookie of the Year. Stuck in South Bend for his early part of his career, the expansion Spartans gave the 25 year old 1B his first chance to play and he responded with an outstanding season, one some felt was the best of any batter.


Coover League:
East:
Erie Knights 87-75
Youngstown Warriors 83-79
Flint Gladiators 76-86


West:
Green Bay Huskies 81-81
Gary Ironmen 80-81
Joliet Thunder 79-82


A great race in the West all season long as a slow start by Green Bay eventually overcame the hot start by Gary. Eric Roberts almost managed to send Gary into the playoffs on his own, but the three-headed monster Green Bay features 3 out of 5 days eventually won. The three-time Champion Knights had a good regular season, but injuries to Erasmo Venegas and a very slow start by Arturo Ortega kept the team from ever hitting a groove. The Huskies rotation depth took the top heavy Erie rotation out of the playoffs in a mild upset, but Dayton eventually dominated them in the cup.


“Will Turner Award”-Mike Ferrell-Erie Knights
.324/.418/.507---26HR 105RBI 60.2VORP
Many felt Joliet Catcher Matt Staverly, who won the CL HR crown (Tied with Welch with 38) from a much tougher defensive position, deserved the award, but the writers voted for Ferrell, who takes home the award for the 2^nd in 3 years. The scary part about Ferrell is he doesn't turn 27 until next October.


“Outstanding Pitcher”-Eric Roberts-Gary Ironmen
19-9 3.09---224IP 187/90 K/BB
Not a popular pick as his failure to get win #20 in three tire is part of the reason Gary missed the post-season. However, logic prevailed and if Roberts wasn't on the Ironmen, thats a team who may not win 75 game. Even with that said, Luis Gomez (Green Bay) had an ERA .30 lower than the rest of the FWL, and his team made the Coover Cup.


“Rookie of the Year”-Francisco Gonzalez-Youngstown Warriors
.297/.401/.315---31 steals, 18.4VORP
The 27-year old is a late bloomer. His lack of power was apparent, but playing a premier defensive position (CF) and becoming one of the leagues premier leadoff hitters with 31 seals and a .401 OBP its hard to say he doesn't deserve the award.

[Sven Draconian]

One Lost One Added


With David Peterson (17-6, 3.61) lost to Monroe via Free Agency, the Bandits made a deal to nab 28 year old SP Jack Lewis. Lewis has been a hard-luck pitcher for the past three seasons, but the Bandits are hoping he will regain his 200 strikeout a year form he showed his first two seasons.


Lewis is 58-68 for his career with a 4.03 ERA, but only has 3 seasons with more than 180 IP.


Stavely to Sandusky


The Sandusky Marauders, apparently dissatisfied with the worst record in the league, plucked catcher Matt Stavely from the FA market for a cool 283,920 dollars. The 4 year deal makes him the highest paid player on a per-season basis, and is the 4^th largest contract ever awarded.


Stavely, 28, posted a .260/.357/.510 line last season as a catcher for the Joliet Thunder. His 38 HR and 108 RBI kept his name in the discussion for the “Will Turner Award”. His career line is .267/.317/.486 and he has 195HR and 608 career RBI.


The Rich Get Richer


Coover Cup champions, The Dayton Storm, signed former Gary closer Carlos Silva to a 1 year deal. Silva picked up 37 saves last season and posted 64 strikeouts in 70 innings.


Dayton also made a move to acquire Fred Richardson from South Bend. Richardson who struggled to a 12-15, 5.82 mark last season. However, Richardson is a career 55-39 starter and has just one season with an ERA over 4.00. Richardson is only 27, and about to enter only his 5^th season, despite pitching over 190 innings his first four.

[Sven Draconian]

Hobbin League East:


The road to the Coover Cup runs through Dayton, who feature a truly impressive core of young hitters, and an improved pitching staff. The storm feature 6 players who had over 500 AB and an OPS greater than .800. They have a 7^th with a .839 mark over 386AB. The storm are led by 26 year old 3B Jose Romero (.306/.401/.515), Two-Time Will Turner Award winner Scott Gilbert who features two consecutive season with an OPS over 1.000, over 30 HR, over 70 VORP and an OBP over .350. Victor Roman had 26HR, 110RBI and a .400 OBP. It doesn't end there though as SS Phil Walker had 31HR and 111RBI, like Walker, Miguel Calixto is just 24, and the CF boasted a 24HR season and a .393OBP. At the top of the lineup is OBP machine Pedro Gonzalez, the FWL all-time leader in Walks (season and career), Runs, OBP (season and career), who despite being 36 last season posted a .443 OBP.


The Storm feature to be better with Mike Hartman (13-1) with a full-seasons worth of start, freshly acquired Fred Richardson, the former Rookie of the Year and a pitcher who has only one season (last) with an ERA over 4.00. A full-season of Frank Day (9-4, 2.24) and of course, last years “Outstanding Pitcher” Justin Nicholas. They've also added a new closer with Carlos Silva and his 148 career saves.


Harrisburg was a disappointment last year, but feature two outstanding young pitchers in Roger Cox, who at age 25 already has 70 wins and Bandsaw Lentz, the leagues top prospect. Offensively, Manny Vega, the FWLs top hitting prospect is expected to be a key component of a mostly unproven lineup.


Sandusky made the most noise of the off-season, signing catcher Matt Staverly, but have virtually no hope to finish even second. The Marauders feature a decent offense, and a great starter in Frank Waller, but a lack of anything resembling a Major League pitching staff behind Waller will almost certainly end any hope of even finishing .500.


Hobbin League West:


The Bandits get Bill Clark back for the full season, and feature the same tried and true philophy they've used for years, Get on Base and take the next one. The Bandits have 4 hitters who figure to have OBP over .400, Bill Clark, Jason Martin, Riley Andrews and Ramon Pena. They also have speed, 5 players (Clark/Andrews/Martin/Pena and Ben Gonzalez) who had over 20 steals, with Andrew and Clark 30/30 candidates. Jesus Mendoza continues to head the pitching staff with newly acquired Jack Lewis steping in as the #2 starter.


Kankakee Kings 1B Mike Ezzel has already had a .991 OPS last season, following his .850 OPS mark his rookie season. He has posted 23 and 32 HR totals, and all this before 26. Cleanup hitter Victor Joseph has won a gold glove in Center and a “Will Turner” award and has only twice in his 9 year career had an OBP under .400. The late-season trade for Ismael Lopez gives them one legit starter, but three players don't make a team.


The Spartans had some great individual stories last year with Ybarra (ROY), Joe Moore (Batting Champ), Joe Karl and Luis Robles, however, the jury is still out on any of those performances repeating themselves. Robles, Taylor and former Bandit David Peterson are a solid front end of a rotation and their bullpen should be strong with Ivan Garcia and Anthony Smith. It still tough to favor a team featuring so many young players.


Coover League East:


Erie took the division last year on the strength of 4 good starters. Arturo Ortega, Jose Gonzalez, Mauro Garza and Jose Coronado all won atleast 13 games, were over .500 and pitched 200 innings. Gonzalez's 4.01 ERA was the highest among the starters, and they get Erasmo Venegas back and have one of the strongest bullpens in baseball. Mike Ferrell and Gerard Webber both had OBP over .420, and Jon James chipped in 28 HR, but a lack of pop in the offense figures to be he Knights weakness.


The Youngstown Warrios have a similar story, with only one hitter with more than 10 HR (Antonio Bautista, 30HR, 120RBI). Larry Wheeler (.366/.405 avg/OBP) and Francisco Gonzalez (.401 OBP, 31seals) get on at the top of the lineup, Bautista and Doug Barr (,356/.404/.479) helps drive them in. Either way, their high OBP, terrible slugging is more suited for Major League Baseball's low scoring offense's than the more explosive Factory Workers League.


Their pitching staff will hurt without Ismael Lopez for 2/3 of the year after he was traded to Kankakee. Hollis Adams is the only starter of note 15-9 (3.17) and their offense certainly doesn't score enough to carry them.


Flint had three starters over 220 IP and under 3.60 in ERA with Claudio Flores, Randy Nash and Jason Shermitt and all three are under 28 years old. Frank Mason stole 58 bases, but not one Gladiator starter had an OPS of even .800.


Coover League West:


The Big 4 in Green Bay pushed past Gary in the last week of the season and then pushed past Erie to make the Cup. Luis Gomez (2.73), James Davis (3.03), Joey Kline (3.62) and Lyndon Riley (3.65) are all back, and with Riley being the only member of 30 there isn't much reason to expect a fall. Justin Welch's 38 HR and Freddy Mendez's 25 give them something much of the Coover League lacks, legit power.


Joliet lost its best bat, Matt Staverly, to Free Agency and finished two games back, now the offense is solely dependent on 26 year old SS Tom Lucas for production with Steve Hahn and Ricardo Garcia adding some HR (20 and 19 respectively). Bartolo Ochoa is a legit ace to lead the staff and Dennis Martin is a top notch closer, but the rest of the staff is a bit of a plug and play.


The Ironmen lost closer Carlos Silva and have absolutely no offense. Any hope they do have is that Eric Roberts can repeat his “Outstanding Pitcher” form of 19-9 with a 3.09 ERA, despite turning 33 during the off-season.


At any rate, the West should be very competitive, for better or worse.

[Sven Draconian]

Falling Stars


One of the early themes to the 1902 season is the rash of injuries to marquee players. Starting in spring training with Flipper Galindo (30 HR the past two seasons) going down for 6 weeks for Harrisburg. Dayton lost Frank Day for two weeks in his first start. Harrisburg was hit again when Roger Cox was injured in his first start for the 2^nd straight season, going down for 7 weeks.


“Will Turner” award winner Scott Gilbert of Dayton also went down for 8 weeks followed by Sandusky FA splash Matt Staverly going down for 4 weeks. Joliet Thunder star Tom Lucas went on the 15 DL the next day.


Eric Roberts went down for 3 months three days later with Pete Carroll becoming the 3^rd Storm starter to make a DL stint in the early season.


Thunder Struck


Al Bells terrific 5-0, 1.89 ERA month of April made him the Cls pitcher of the month and is a big part of the reason the Joliet Thunder are sitting at 19-10 with the best record in the Coover League as he fronts the best pitching staff in the CL for the month of April. Bartolo Ochoa has a 3.32 ERA while Manuel Rodriguez is 3-1 with a 3.09 ERA.


The biggest surprise has been minor league journeyman Don Flowers who is 2-0 with a 0.29 ERA over 30 innings.


Their success may be short-term, they don't have a batter hitting over .270 and the team leader only has 4 HR.

[Sven Draconian]

Over before it Began


The HL East is all but decided, and it the season isn't even 50 games old. The Dayton Storm have jumped out to a 9 game lead in just 49 games, and with the rash of injuries to Harrisburg (Roger Cox, Gilbert Lopez, Pete Horton, Alfonso Galindo are all on the DL), they should increase their lead all season.


Victor Roman is a triple crown threat at .331/14/47 and the pitching staff leads the HL in ERA, Starters ERA, Bullpen ERA, BAA, BABIP and Hits. Fred Richardson has rebounded in his new club with 6 wins and a 3.21 ERA. Even with Scott Gilbert out for the season, the offense has the Hls 2^nd best OPS and should recover from their current ranking of 4^th in runs scored.


He's Arrived


Mark Mills had a .981 OPS last season over 160ABs as a rookie before he tore a back muscle. This season, the 24-year old is proving it wasn't a fluke hitting .325/.350/.503 with 11 doubles, 5 triples and 5 bombs from 2^nd base. He also leads the FWL in RBI (52). Mills is combing with FWL Mega-Star Bill Clark to form possibly the most formidable key-stone combo in league history(.302/.429/.486).


Even with Mills arrival, a lack of pitching has kept South Bend 6 games behind surprising Kankakee, who lead the HL in both Runs Scored and are 2^nd in Runs Allowed.