Flashback to Season 2

Picking up where pvc left off, I review below Camp season 2, in which an upstart owner took over a fledgling 70-92 franchise and turned it into the World Champs in his first season.

Season 2 Recap

When a franchise relocates under new management after 1 season, it typically means that the franchise is destined for a few years of mediocrity at best. Not so in Camp season 2. Taking over a fledging Mexico City franchise run by a mysterious owner named "dwaskos," TxLnghrn jumped into HBD by naming his franchise the Austin Chin Music. The Chin Music went from 70-92 in season 1 to 98-64, largely because of one key trade mentioned below. Surprisingly, Austin swept through the first two playoff rounds, beating season 1 champ San Diego in the Divison Series, and the (then) Philadelphia Athletics in the LCS. The World Series paired the Augusta Pounders, winners of 106 games on the regular season, against Austin. In a thrilling 7-game series, Austin come out victorious. How did Austin go from the celler to the penthouse in one season? See the "Key Trades" below.

Heroes

The league MVPs were Jamie Hillenbrand in the AL and Alex Rodriguez in the NL. Hillenbrand hit .377, hit 34 HRs, drove in 124 runs, and scored 166. The ironic thing about Hillenbrand is that he'd been traded in the pre-season from Austin to Colorado (see the trade details below), and yet Austin was a better team after the deal. Rodriguez, playing for Toronto, hit .345 with 50 HRs and 188 RBIs and an OPS near 1.200. Ronnie Walton of Augusta won the NL Cy Young, going 23-3 with a 3.48 ERA. Sid Tanner of Austin won the AL Cy, having gone 20-7 3.67 after being acquired from Colorado in the deal for Hillenbrand.

Key Trades

Which leads me to the key trades of season 2. Prior to the beginning of the season, Colorado proposed a deal that would send P - Sid Tanner, OF - Vic Hafner, and 1B - Julian Sanchez to Austin in exchange for OF - Jamie Hillenbrand and P - Rob Sanders. After hesitating to part with Hillenbrand (the best player on his team in season 1), Austin elected to go for it and strengthen his team in 3 areas. As noted above, Tanner went on to win the Cy and go 4-0 with a 0.57 ERA in the playoffs. Meanwhile, Hafner hit .294 with 41 HRs and 153 RBIs and made the all-star game, and Sanchez hit .333 with 17 HRs and 96 RBIs. So, even though Hillenbrand won the MVP, Austin made out like bandits on this one.

Another key trade was Toronto sending P - Enrique Gomez to New Orleans in exchange for 1B - Evan Harrison. While Gomez did go on to save 27 games for NO in season 4, Harrison has become a key cog in Toronto's current juggernaut. Finally, the Huntingon Hillbillies showed their deliverance-ness by trading 1B - Denny Spence to Arizona in exchange for two scrubs. All Spence went on to do was to average .340 for the next 6 seasons for the Chicks.

Season one...a look back

While season nine wears on and the blog remains stagnant, it's time to take a look back at Camp's opening season. Keep in mind that the amateur draft was much more difficult due to not being able to rank your players. Also, if I missed somebody or you have anything to add, post it up. The blog adds a great deal of fun to the league and shouldn't be treated like the Tucsons of the world.

Heroes

• Matt Adams: current Tampa Bay Boozer and former Padre, led San Diego to it's one and only title, going 4-0 in the postseason and posting an outlandish .189 oav and 0.89 whip.
• Felipe Abreu: the best hitter this world has to offer set the bar high even for his own standards by collecting 255 hits (single season record) and getting on base at a .497 clip.
• Dallas Cameron: Amazingly, this current FA hit 76 bombs and drove in a ridiculous 199 runs to open up Camp. What's more amazing, is that he did all that while swinging at every single pitch that was thrown! Walking 18 times in 667 abs is amazing all by itself

Draft Picks (studs)

• Flash Hammond (#1 overall): A can't miss SP prospect to start out proved to be just that. Flash has posted 67 wins at the ML level to go along with an above-average 3.70 era and oh yeah, he's helped Zona win the past three World Series.
• Emmanual McCartin (#2 overall): A two-time All-Star, Emmanual McCartin has averaged 27 hr 99 rbi .282 avg over his five full ML seasons. The versatile McCartin has won Silver Sluggers at SS and 3B and captured his first Gold Glove at third base last season.
• Matty Robinson (#7 overall): Perhaps the steal of the draft, Robinson can flat out rake. He is approaching 300 career hrs (282) and once hit 68 hr in a single season. Throw in the fact that his career avg and obp is .317/.411 respectively, and you got yourself a franchise player. Matty is a two-time All-Star first baseman and captured his first Silver Slugger at the position in season 8.
  
• John Bruske (#8 overall): How this guy ended up in Zona the past few years, I'll never know. Like almost all Thunder Chickens, Bruske hits over .300 and walks more than he strikes out. Yada, Yada, Yada.

Draft picks (Busts)

• Elvis Nicholson (#3 overall): While some may disagree, Elvis is your classic "Ham Sandwich." While failing to win more than 11 game in a season and possessing a career ML era of 4.69, this guy is Camp's version of Kerry Wood without the 20 strikeout game.
• Sherman Byrne (#4 overall): Sherman's career era is also in the mid 4's and while his career win loss record stands at 68-33, all I can think of is "YOU COULD HAVE GOTTEN ROBINSON HERE!"
• Derrek Stein (#9 overall): If the purpose of the amateur draft was to find somebody to lead your high A team to victory, then I could see Stein being drafted here. But as that is currently not the objective, Stein is an awful choice here. With splits that make Dave23 weak in the knees, DS flat out doesn't have the stuff to be on an ML roster. If Stein sounds familiar, you may know his name from it being attached to the third worst single season loss record (24)!
  

League Leaders

National League : Batters

AVG

1 - Francis Cannon (SWB)----.400
2 - Lance Seaver (ARI)--------.365
3 - Matty Robinson (NY2)----.360
4 - Dee James (ARI)-----------.358
5 - Wes Singleton (MEM)-----.356

HR

1 - Matty Robinson (NY2)---27
2 - Flip Marshall (NY2)-----21
3 - Wilson Sanders (CH1)---19
4 - Tomas Nunez (CH1)-----18
5 - Ajax Blair (TB)-----------18

OPS

1 - Matty Robinson (NY2)----1.277
2 - Jim Drese (TOR)----------1.151
3 - Francis Cannon (SWB)---1.118
4 - Flip Marshall (NY2)------1.082
5 - Sven Reid (SWB)----------1.036

League Leaders

NATIONAL LEAGUE - PITCHERS

WINS

1. Matt Adams - Tampa Bay- 8
2. Jack Harris - Scranton - 7
3. Karl Piersoll - Tampa Bay- 7
4. Orlando Blanco- Arizona - 6
5. Flash Hammond - Arizona - 6

ERA

1. Roy Whitaker - Toronto - 1.69
2. Esteban Castro - Atlanta - 1.82
3. Jorge Cedeno - Memphis - 2.12
4. Earl Gabriel -Arizona - 2.35
5. Don Bale -Toronto - 2.38

SAVES

1. Lon Valdes - New Orleans - 10
2. Galahad Lee - Honolulu - 9
3. Rico Miro - Toronto - 9
4. Bill Randolph - Mexico City - 8
5. Wiki Beltran - Memphis - 8

AMERICAN LEAGUE - PITCHERS

WINS

1. Slim Herrera - Las Vegas - 7
2. Kelvim Cookson - Austin - 6
3. Harry Martin - Las Vegas - 6
4. Stump Womack - Portland - 6
5. Skeeter Duncan - San Francisco - 6

ERA

1. Harry Bonilla - Syracuse - 2.18
2. Stump Womack - Portland - 2.34
3. Karl Quinn - Hartford - 2.76
4. Rick Faulk - Toledo - 2.92
5. Ronnie Walton - Rochester - 3.29

SAVES

1. Darrell Baez - Las Vegas - 14
2. Lefty Brown - Trenton - 12
3. Don Lamb - Detroit - 8
4. Al Bennett - Kansas City - 8
5. Robin O'Keefe - Austin - 7

SEASON NINE PREVIEW / Part Five

(New York, NY) Without further adieu' we wrap up our franchise previews.

NL South

Memphis Blues / 88-74 / NL South Champs
Season 8 in Review: Came out on top in one of the few compelling pennant races last season by beating out New Orleans with a six game winning streak down the stretch. Arguably the most well coached team in Camp, no club gets more out of their talent than Memphis. On paper the roster looks like a middle to below average club, but the stats don’t lie; finishing in the top 5 of all major pitching categories and holding their own offensively with clutch power hitting, clubbing 230HRs with a top 5 finish in SLG%.

MVP: RHP Cookie Juarez (13 wins – 8 losses, 3.26ERA, 1.27WHIP), continues to do more with less. No one in Camp gets more from his talent than Juarez.

Underachiever: SS Tuck McClain (.246BA, 4HR, 42RBI, 27SB) Rookie was a liability in the field, rather anemic at getting on base, scoring runs and stealing bases. Maybe Blues are asking too much of him.

Outlook: Who can doubt this team’s heart and desire after seven straight seasons of above .500 baseball? The Post will, we think they’re due for a reality check. The rising talents of their Division-mates are the biggest reason we question the Blues’ ability to stay on top in Season 9.
78-84, No Playoffs.

New Orleans Levee Builders / 87-75 / Wild Card Winner- Lost in 1st Round
Season 8 in Review: For the seventh time in eight seasons, NOLB slugged their way into the playoffs, once again dragging their sub-par pitching staff kicking and screaming all the way. However, season 8 saw slight improvement across the board in the staff’s statistics, allowing 62 less runs and raising overall pitching from 12th to 7th in the NL. The bullpen was especially solid, leading the league in saves with 55 and helping the team to above .500 records in extra inning and one run games; one of only 4 teams in the NL to do so.

MVP: LHP Lon Valdes (4-6, 3.35, 46SV, 6BSV) NL Fireman of the Year.

Underachiever: SS Ken Wynn (.270, 28, 92) Solid defensive SS, but that isn’t why he’s the highest paid SS in the league. Offensive production needs to improve dramatically.

Outlook: Age is becoming a concern with this roster, however their key players are at their prime and this is the season to see a breakthrough.
88-74, NL South Champs

Mexico City Day Laborers / 76-86 / No Playoffs
Season 8 in Review: No team used platooning as effectively as Mexico City last season. One of the youngest clubs in Camp, e_mandat used this season as an extended Spring Training, shaking out his large roster to see who would step up. In the meantime, the results were astonishing, taking a perennial doormat and making them very competitive. MCDL improved by 28 wins between seasons 7 and 8. Not much more needs to be said.

MVP: e_mandat, for having the patience to allow his young team to rise to the occasion.

Underachiever: RHP Davey Romero (9-16, 4.48, 1.25) A bit more is needed from your highest paid player and team leader, even if he is only 25 years old.

Outlook: Look for the Day Laborers to continue coming on strong, and depending on their youngsters’ progress, don’t be surprised if they steal this division.
84-78, Wildcard Winners

Charleston Chews / 61-101 / No playoffs
Season 8 in Review: The team Formerly Known as the Houston Puma Monkeys (???) hit the ball all over the park and finished a very respectable 6th in total offense in the NL. Unfortunately, if not for that beer league softball team masquerading as the Tucson Sands, this pitching staff would have finished last in every single pitching category that is tracked…even balks! Actually quite an amazing feat.

MVP: RHP Alfredo Lopez (10-15, 4.31, 1.38) Best of a bad lot.

Underachiever: Previous front office ran a 96 win team into the ground in 3 seasons. Blech.

Outlook: No relief for the newly minted Charleston Chews fans in the near future, however kudos for moving the franchise from a city like Houston to the very under-rated town of Charleston, SC. Mmmm, Planters Inn Punch….ahhhhh.
Well, we were going to go off on a rant against Houston, Texas here, but we’ve deleted it because we’ve been good about not digressing and don’t want to start now. Houston, good Lord…

57-105, No Playoffs.

NL West

Arizona Thunder Chickens / 104-58 / World Champions
Season 8 in Review: Third Championship in a row and 4th in five years. Ho, hum. The Empire led the league in most offensive categories, was top 2 or 3 in all major pitching stats. Yawn. Oh, by the way, only team in Camp to score 1,000+ runs in each and every season, only franchise to win their division each and every season, only franchise with a 20 game winner in each and every season...you get the idea, we’ll spare you the laundry list of similarly superlative statistics this team has compiled. This just in, The Thunder Chickens were good last year and have been for a long time.

MVP: 2B John Bruske (.335, 41, 151) the straw that stirs the drink.

Underachiever: LHP Jumbo Santiago (3-3, 5.98, 1.42, 7SV, 5BSV) Bribed with a $7 mil salary and brought in to close games, he never could put it together. His 390 appearances and 37 years of age have caught up to him.

Outlook: Maybe we are hoping against hope, but this certainly looks like the year the rest of the NL catches up to the Evil Chicken Empire. The NL West however still has long roads to hoe. Look for an unprecedented 9th division title in a row in Arizona.
98-64, NL West Champs

Honolulu Heart Attacks / 83-79 / No Playoffs
Season 8 in Review: This franchise seemed to be progressing towards challenging Arizona for NL West supremacy, culminating with an unlikely Wild Card berth in season 6. With their minor league talent pool it stood to reason there was nowhere to go but up. Well, that’s why they play the games because Season 8 saw HHA take yet another surprising step backwards. Pitching and batting regressed at least 10% across all major statistics since that season 6, while to a man, every key player had sub-par seasons compared to their history and ability…very demoralizing for Heart Attack fans. Actually with the performance they had last season, their nickname makes a whole lot more sense.

MVP: 3B Emmanuel McCartin (.277, 21, 81, .845OPS), NL Silver Slugger winner at third base.

Underachiever: 3B Emmanuel McCartin (.277, 21, 81), Still with his talent and salary, McCartin needs to give the team much more.

Outlook: The talent is there on both sides to pick up where they left off 2 seasons ago, but the Post feels other NL powers will keep them down yet again.
85-77, No Playoffs, but very close.

Seattle Grunge / 68-94 / No Playoffs
Season 8 in Review: A very good pitching staff was sabotaged by a lineup that could not score runs, finishing the season in the bottom four in every major offensive category. If a 17-26 record in one run games wasn’t painful enough, the Grunge were outscored in their 94 losses by an average of less than 2.5 runs per game. No team suffered more tough losses.

MVP: RHP Emmanuel Guerrero (0-3, 4.36, 1.15, 30SV, 5BSV), as close as you could get to a guaranteed save in Camp.

Underachiever: LF Brian Masato (.253, 34, 99) Brought in midway through the season at a steep price to add needed punch to the lineup. His stats with Seattle tell the story, (.214, 7, 24… in 231PA). Yikes.

Outlook: If the offense doesn’t pick up, a staff full of Don Bale clones would be hard pressed to carry this club to a winning record. AS of press time, cloning remains illegal.
65-97, No Playoffs.


Tucson Sands / 32-130 / No playoffs
Season 8 in Review: Not a very good season, I’m afraid. Tucson pitching in particular was less than effective, setting records for futility in just about every statistical category. Go take a look, it’s something to see actually. We’ll wait…

MVP: Popcorn vendor Stan Stugots. Stan sold a record 16,005 total units at Tucson Electric Park during the season.

Underachiever: The Tucson Sands

Outlook: We are reminded of the great USC coach John McKay, while coaching the Tampa Bay Bucs to a record 14th straight loss, he was asked what he thought of his team’s execution. He replied, “I am all for it.” Another great McKay quote that is appropriate here, "After a 51-0 loss to Notre Dame I told the team, 'Forget it. There are 700 million people in China who didn't know anything about it.' The next day, a guy called me from China and asked 'What happened, Coach?'".
40-122, No Playoffs but plenty of good draft picks.