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Post Gameday Points I
WB2K3
got under way Sunday, and while the offense was (expectedly) slow, it
was great to see three teams fielding all four players. I know the board
members were simply hoping for a forfeit-free day, so to see 15 of the
16 players show up must be somewhat refreshing.
With
that, here are my points:
Don't
be fooled by Pat Plummer's 0-the day. He put up Register/Kemper-esque
numbers, but trust me: the kid is as good as Dean Evans. The only reason
Dean had seven more hits on the day is because this is Dean's third season.
Pat will catch on, and he will impress you. Mark my words.
The
Whites are frightening. I wouldn't be surprised to see them lose less
than 10 games on the season.
Likewise,
the Road Warriors showed a morsel of what's to come. And it was only that.
Pat and Dave Cain were way below expectations. Both probably had their
worst offensive day of the year, and the Warriors STILL went 2-1.
John
Robins shouldn't get too used to being in the lead for homeruns, but hell,
let the kid enjoy it while he can. And he's a much better pitcher than
first thought.
Mike
Walsh was looking good on the mound, and I bet he enjoyed only tossing
three innings. He's a sleeper for Most Improved.
Wiffolution
dug themselves into a hole going 0-3 on the day, but at least they can
point to a reason. On the day, Wiffolution pitchers walked 14 batters.
Their opponents walked only one batter. I trust that if they can improve
that ratio, they'll bounce back easily.
And
this really shouldn't be as surprising as it is, but the losing team in
five of the six games was the team who walked more batters from the mound.
In the sixth game, the Whites/Warriors matchup, both teams walked four.
Matt
Plummer and Curtis Henning are the two best rookie pitchers in the league,
by far. If both play a full season, they'll be considered "top 5"
pitchers by season's end, up there with Carmichael and Yoder. Plummer,
with a full season, will also erase the horrible memory of Wiffolution's
past draft picks (Mickey Kendall, Hart McKenzie).
Morrison
and Sylvester need to learn how to keep their heads in the game for a
full three-game day, no matter how bad their offensive numbers may be.
When Wiffolution falls behind, it's nearly impossible for them to come
back...mainly because it seems their 8 and 6-year veterans have given
up.
When
Matt Holmberg wants to be, he's close to unhittable. And when he's hitting,
the Playerz are close to unbeatable.
On
a related note, if the Playerz finish with even a .500 record, Matt Holmberg
deserves the MVP, or at least get some sort of managerial award. He had
his team running like a well-oiled machine Sunday. In about two hours
they went from "Matt Holmberg and 3 rookies" to "The Playerz."
And the rookies are only going to get better. Numerous players had doubts
that this team would be able to hang, and they proved everyone wrong Sunday.
I
wouldn't be upset to see the weather stay like this all year. Really,
I wouldn't.
One
could tell just by watching a couple innings Sunday; the Commish was right.
This league just got a hell of a lot more competitive. It's gonna be a
good one.
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