April 29, 2000

Many Great Stories to Tell Already

Where does the time go? Here we are a third of the way into the 2000 season and it seems like just yesterday we were all gathered around in cyberspace trying to decide between Luis Alicea or Bryan Falkenbourg for our next draft pick (fortunately, I lucked out and got both.) Every season brings its share of good stories, and this season is no exception. So here now are my top ten stories of the 2000 season (so far):

1. The Chicago Black Sox.
A handful of teams in baseball history have gone from last-place one year to first-place the next. But no team has ever gone from 100 or more losses to 100 or more wins in one year. As I write, the Chicago Black Sox - who lost 101 games last season - are on a pace to win 95 games this season. How have they done it?

Last season, Chicago GM John Gill made a decision in Chapter Two to begin a rebuilding process despite the fact that his team trailed by just four games in the division at that time. Gill stripped the team of eventual EL MVP and Babe Ruth Award winner Moises Alou, Joey Hamilton, Juan Guzman and Tim Salmon among others. In exchange, he received three key minimum-wage players: Rick Ankiel, Michael Barrett and Roger Cedeno.

Coming into the 2000 season, Chicago had a core of good, young, cheap players that included Barrett, Ankiel, Cedeno, Troy Glaus, Eric Munson and Josh Beckett. They also had a few established stars such as Andruw Jones, Troy Percival, Fred McGriff, Cal Ripken and the surprising Randy Velarde. Most GM's would have made an attempt to trade away the veterans like McGriff and Ripken for prospects, then build around the core of young talent with an eye on the 2001 season. But Gill had other plans in mind.

First, he traded backup outfielder Todd Hollandsworth and a #2 pick he had no use for and received Raul Mondesi in exchange. Then, Gil traded McGriff and Percival in exchange for Carlos Delgado. Next, he dealt Glaus, Rey Ordonez and a couple of draft picks and received Scott Rolen. Instead of paring down salary and focusing on youth, the Black Sox were trading youth and taking on $20 million in salary. Then the Phoenix Predators came calling, and the outlook for this team changed drastically.

In exchange for Miguel Tejada and Barrett, the Predators traded $10 million franchise player Nomar Garciaparra to the Black Sox, giving Chicago an unprecedented THIRD $10 million player. No other team in the BDBL dared to tie up nearly half of their total salary on just three players. With the exception of maybe one or two other teams, no other team could even afford to think about such a thing.

As if that weren't enough offense, Gill then added Manny Ramirez to the lineup prior to Chapter Two in exchange for Mondesi, Doug Johns, Ankiel and Munson. That gave Chicago a starting lineup of Cedeno, Velarde, Garciaparra, Ramirez, Delgado, Jones, Rolen and Sandy Alomar. Despite all that offense, however, the Black Sox have scored just 265 runs this season - tied for seventh in the Eck League. Their batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage are all below league average. Playing in a fairly neutral stadium modeled after "The BOB" in Arizona, the reason behind their lack of scoring this season is a mystery.

Yet with all the attention being paid to the Black Sox offense, it is pitching that is carrying this team. Chicago currently has the best ERA in the Eck League, and they are the only staff with an ERA under 4.00. Led by unlikely stars such as Andy Benes (6-4, 3.98 ERA), Kelvim Escobar (5-2, 3.14), Rob Dempster (3-2, 3.50) and Todd Ritchie (3-4, 4.03), the Black Sox have gotten more quality starts from their rotation than any other team in the league. And the Black Sox bullpen, led by Bobby Ayala (2-0, 2.29), Al Levine (0-1, 2.37) and closer Turk Wendell (3-1, 2.59 with a league-leading 13 saves), has been phenomenal.

One of the goals of the BDBL is to simulate reality as closely as possible, which is why this sudden turnaround by the Chicago Black Sox disturbs me a little bit. Could a real Major League team ever realistically go from 100 wins to 100 losses in the span of a year? It's never happened in over 100 years, so my guess would be no. Yet if you look at the individual deals made by John Gill over the past two years and ask yourself whether these deals could have possibly occurred in real life, I think you'll find that this feat is not as implausible as you'd think.

Would the Dodgers have traded Mondesi for Hollandsworth and Bruce Chen (which is what the Boardwalk Vulgarians got for their #2 pick)? With a need to dump salary in order to afford Brown's private jet service and in desperate need of youth, I think the Dodgers would have made that trade (unless Tommy Lasorda were still running the show - then he would have thrown in Chin-Feng Chen and Eric Gagne just for the hell of it.) Would the Blue Jays trade Delgado for McGriff and Percival? If they desperately needed a closer and felt this move would put them in contention, I believe they would. Would the Phillies ever trade Rolen for Glaus and Ordonez? Maybe, maybe not. But it's not unreasonable. Would the Red Sox ever deal Nomar? Right this minute? No, of course not. That's absurd. But what if Nomar were in the last year of his contract and he was demanding an enormous salary the Sox couldn't afford? You don't think a team in this position would trade their franchise player and one of the city's most beloved stars? Ever hear of Ken Griffey, Jr.? It could happen. And if you offered John Hart a package of Mondesi, Johns, Ankiel and Munson for Ramirez right now, he'd be assembling a press conference before you even had a chance to shake his hand.

So, in short, while I think that something like this is extraordinarily unlikely to happen in Major League Baseball, I don't think it is unrealistic. In terms of the BDBL and leagues of this type, I believe that what the Black Sox have done this year is inspirational and a testament to the GM talents of John Gill - who has probably already sewn up the 2000 Eck League GM of the Year Award. I believe this team's success is good for the game, and good for the league. Let's just hope Blazers GM Billy Baseball is paying attention.

2. The New Milford Blazers.
Speaking of Billy Baseball, we go from the most inspirational "Story of the Year" to the story that makes you want to down a six pack of beer and go hunting with Bobby Chouinard. The Blazers suffered through a 114-loss season last year, but came into this season with a sense of optimism. And rightfully so, with a pitching staff of Alex Fernandez, Jose Rosado, Chuck Finley and Kenny Rogers in place, a closer by the name of Matt Mantei and a lineup centered around solid (albeit rapidly-aging) veterans like Paul O'Neill, Eric Karros and Tony Fernandez. But for reasons that warrant an entire thesis, the Blazers are once again floundering at the bottom of the BDBL dung pile with the worst record in the league.

How on earth does a team with all that good pitching have the worst ERA in the league? In part, because their bullpen consists of Mantei and several pitchers who have no business being on any team's active roster. The Blazers' bullpen of Rigo Beltran, Mantei, the legendary Robert Person, Dave Veres and Tim Wakefield has an unfathomable ERA of 7.60. Mantei has an ERA of 6.11…and he's the best of the bunch! Why is Mantei (or Veres for that matter) so godawful? Again, that would require an entire thesis paper to explain.

How does a team with O'Neill, Karros and Fernandez trail the league in runs scored? In part because: a) Blazer pitchers have combined for a .097 batting average (13-for-134) and the Blazers have an unusually weak bench, b) no player other than Karros has more than four home runs, and c) for the second year in a row the Blazers have been horrendous on the base paths.

Let's tackle these offensive problems one at a time. First, there is the complete ineptitude of Blazer pitchers at the plate. In 82 at-bats combined, the Blazers have gotten THREE hits COMBINED from Kenny Rogers, Jose Rosado and Chuck Finley. Granted, pitchers aren't supposed to hit, and no lineup should rely upon getting production from the number nine hole. But still, THREE hits in EIGHTY-TWO at-bats is a little hard to swallow. I'm pretty sure I could get more than three hits in 82 at-bats. Hell, I'm pretty sure even Billy Baseball himself could…well…okay, now I've gone too far.

Next, there is a team-wide lack of punch. As a team, the Blazers are slugging just .401 - third-worst in the league - and have hit just 34 home runs (second-lowest.) This is nothing new for the Blazers, though. Last season, the team slugged .405 and hit just 116 home runs - the lowest total in the BDBL. That type of offense may have worked for the 1906 Chicago White Sox, but that shit just doesn't cut it in the year 2000.

And finally, we come to the Blazers' base-stealing ability (or lack thereof.) This team is stealing bases at a 37% clip - worst in the league. Again, this is nothing new. Last year, the Blazers were successful stealing only 55% of the time - also the league-worst.

Put it all together and you have a recipe for an awful team. It can't be much fun to manage a team like this, yet you have to give Billy Romaniello all the credit in the world: he still manages nearly every one of his games head-to-head.

The question is: is the Blazers franchise doomed to finish in last-place forever? Well, check out this table:

Yep, that's right. Of the six last-place teams in 1999, two are now in first-place and two are in second-place. The five other last-place teams aside from the Blazers have improved their winning percentage an average of 178.4 points this year. So, to answer the question: no, even the Blazers can turn it all around if they make the right moves.

So what are the right moves for this team? Well, the Blazers own two of the most marketable and desirable players in the league right now: Alex Fernandez and Matt Mantei. Both are desirable because - unlike nearly every other player in the league - they are not under contract. As you may have noticed by now, it's extremely difficult to trade for a player if he is under contract since most of us are pushing the cap in 2001 and 2002.

If the Blazers trade either pitcher for a player (or preferably playerS) who can help them in the 2001 season, that would be a giant boost to their franchise. Tony Fernandez and Paul O'Neill are also marketable players because their retirement (or impending retirement) frees up future cap money. Meanwhile, the Blazers' pitching staff should receive a boost next year from Brad Penny and Robert Person. With Alex Fernandez and Mantei gone, the Blazers will once again have a minimum of $20 million to spend at next year's draft. And assuming they don't trade all their most valuable picks to Marazita again, they can use those picks to acquire free agents like Ellis Burks, Sean Casey, Roger Clemens, Jose Cruz, Tom Glavine, Chuck Knoblauch, David Justice, Kenny Lofton, Al Leiter and John Wetteland. Although it looks hopeless for New Milford Blazer fans (all five of them), this franchise could be turned around. Just follow the blueprint that has already been written.

3. The Higuera Division Race.
Before the season began, I moved several teams around from one division to another in order to increase rivalries (and, hopefully, interest in the league.) Chris Kamler, Scot Zook and Chris Luhning are all Kansas City residents, all current or former co-workers and all former owners in the ISBL. So in an attempt to duplicate the Ozzie League's successful post-season rivalry of myself, Marazita and Geisel last November, I put all three teams in separate divisions in the Eck League with dreams of a November to remember. But all three soon let me know they'd rather be in the same division.

So, reluctantly, I shuffled several teams around to arrive at the configuration you see today. Little did I know at the time that I was creating one of the hottest divisions in the league in terms of competition. The three Kansas Citians have battled defending champ Bob Sylvester all season, and it looks like the type of race that will go right down to the wire. Of the six divisions in the BDBL, the Higuera Division race is by far the closest. The Phoenix Predators, in last place in the division, are just one four-game series sweep of the Law Dogs or Slyme out of first.

Kansas and Southern Cal are now tied for first after two chapters of play. Of the four teams in the division, the Slyme are the only team that has out-scored their opponents by more than six runs this year (265-244). Despite losing last year's EL Cy Young winner Tom Glavine, 12-game winner David Wells and 39-save closer Tom Gordon, the Slyme are still in the top-five in ERA (fourth with an ERA of 4.33) despite the fact that staff ace Bartolo Colon is just 4-3 on the year with a 5.12 ERA. The Slyme have gotten key pitching from Octavio Dotel (3-0, 2.54), former Stamford product Ramiro Mendoza (3-1, 3.00), 1999 free agent pick-up Garrett Stephenson (3-1, 3.83) and a pitcher who was nearly left off the Slyme's keeper list this winter, Steve Traschel (3-0, 3.13).

The Kansas Law Dogs are an unusual first-place team to say the least. Law Dog pitchers have allowed a whopping 344 runs this season while racking up a 6.15 ERA (both tops by far in the BDBL.) The main culprit in this crime, of course, is that Kansas plays in a ballpark modeled after the anti-gravity space station better known as Coors Field. How much does Coors Field affect hitting? Try this on for size: Kansas shortstop Rey Ordonez is hitting a healthy .305/.381/.417 with 4 homers and 26 RBI's. Say no more.

Aside from leading the league in runs allowed, it's no surprise that the Law Dogs also lead the league in runs scored, with 343. That's 36 more runs than any other team in the BDBL. At this pace, the Law Dogs will score 1,055 runs this season - well more than enough to top the BDBL record held by the legendary Salem Cowtippers franchise. The Law Dogs have also hit 10 more homers this year (98) than any other team in the BDBL. And their .296 average, .372 on-base percentage and .524 slugging percentage all top the league as well. Remember: this is the same Kansas team that traded Manny Ramirez earlier this year in order to secure Rick Ankiel and other players for the team's future. And the way Ankiel is hitting in the big leagues this year, he may just hit 20 in the BDBL next year.

The Boise Bastards, who were the St. Louis Cardinals of the BDBL in Chapter One, cooled down a bit offensively in the second chapter. But this team that gave the Ozzie League champ fits last year as the Antioch Angels is now giving the Eck League champs a run for their money. In the center of their Chapter One offensive explosion was Derek Jeter, who authored the finest chapter since F. Scott Fitzgerald when he finished Chapter One with a mind-bending .515 average, a .603 on-base percentage and a .845 slugging percentage. Jeter got a hit in 24 of the 26 games in Chapter One, including six 3-hit games and three 4-hit games. Along with the rest of the Boise offense, Jeter came back down to earth in Chapter Two and is now hitting "only" .427/.504/.675.

The Phoenix Predators, who lost 98 games last year way back when they were called the Virginia Cavaliers, are just two games under .500 despite being 10th in the 12-team Eck League in runs scored and a rather ordinary 7th in ERA. But still, it's a drastic improvement in one year.

4. The Butler Division Race.
We knew this race was going to be a good one, and it hasn't disappointed. This is a division that includes Randy Johnson, Kevin Brown, Kevin Millwood and Mike Mussina among its starting pitchers. Like the heralded NL Central, this division includes Sammy Sosa, Jeff Bagwell and Mark McGwire. It also includes Brian Giles, Gary Sheffield, Rafael Palmeiro, Edgardo Alfonzo, Magglio Ordonez and Jeromy Burnitz. All four teams in this division have a legitimate shot at winning the title. Because there is so much talent in this division, the biggest obstacle facing all four teams is the BDBL's unbalanced schedule. Instead of beating up on the weaker teams in the league, these teams have to play each other sixteen times this season.

How have they done against each other so far? Stamford has split eight games with Minneapolis and four with Hudson, and has gone 5-7 against Madison. Hudson is 6-6 against Minneapolis, 2-2 against Stamford and 4-4 against Madison. Minneapolis has split 4-4 and 6-6 against Stamford and Hudson, respectively, but is 1-3 against Madison. And Madison has split 4-4 with Hudson and has beaten Stamford 7-5 and Minneapolis 3-1. In other words, of the four teams in the Butler Division, the Madison Fighting Mimes are the only team with a winning record in intra-divisional play. This is going to be a very interesting fight to the finish. Although, like Bob Costas says, the wild card spoils some of the fun, doesn't it?

5. The Hudson Hammerheads.
The Hammerheads have gone from a last-place team to a first-place team thanks mostly to an owner who only ran the team for a month. Chuck Mosca took over the Hammerheads from Shawn Crull, who took over the team from Ken Kaminski. Last winter, Mosca masterminded several huge deals, acquiring Sammy Sosa, Geoff Jenkins, Jason Varitek, Quilvio Veras, Mark Loretta and Aaron Boone among others. But one week before the draft, Mosca suddenly quit, opening the door for the Hammerheads' original owner Kaminski to return. And like the vulture that he is, Kaminski has reaped the benefits of Mosca's labor.

The Hammerheads are currently circling around the Zoots with their dorsal fins jutting out of the water to the strains of a bass violin. They are currently fourth in the Ozzie League in runs scored thanks to the potent lineup constructed by Mosca. But most surprising of all is that they are a respectable sixth in runs allowed - and that's with their ace, Mussina, sporting a 4.99 ERA. Pat Rapp (3.51), Ryan Rupe (3.88) and a patchwork bullpen including Mike Timlin (2.05), Curt Leskanic (2.74), Juan Acevedo (2.51) and Brian Anderson (3.64) have helped the Hudson team to a 4.45 ERA - good for sixth in the league.

This team's performance so far this season just might be enough to keep their owner from trading half the team away. It might also be enough for this team to keep their owner for the rest of the season.

6. The Los Altos Undertakers.
It's easy to overlook the Undertakers. On paper, they don't seem all that intimidating. Aside from an undeniably dominating bullpen and a pair of sluggers in the middle of their lineup, nothing jumps out at you when you scan their roster. Yet for the second year in a row, the Undertakers are not only winning their division - they're dominating it.

As expected, the Undertakers' bullpen has been phenomenal. Los Altos has yet to blow a seventh inning lead, they are 2-0 in extra-inning games and have only lost twice in seven games when tied after seven. The bullpen has only five blown saves all year - the second-lowest rate in the league. Trevor Hoffman, Doug Jones, Jim Mecir, Mike Remlinger, John Rocker and Scott Williamson have combined for a 3.18 ERA over 119 innings. Hoffman has allowed just one run, and has struck out 20 while walking only three, in 14 2/3 innings. In 18 appearances and only 14 2/3 innings, he has a league-leading 17 saves.

For the second year in a row, Los Altos is getting strong starting pitching from some unlikely sources. Last year, it was Tom Candiotti (18-8, 4.06 ERA), Dennis Martinez (8-2, 3.22) and Tim Worrell (5-3, 3.08.) This year, it is Franciso Cordova (5-3, 3.25) - a pitcher who didn't make the cut and was made a free agent last winter. Cordova, you may recall, was chosen as the first pick in the $5 million rounds. That pick, which originally belonged to the New Milford Blazers, was acquired from the Chicago Black Sox for the paltry fee of Benito Santiago, Bobby Ayala and Jackie Rexrode - three players unlikely to have been retained if they weren't traded.

It is assumed that the Undertakers' staff has benefited greatly from their home ballpark, modeled after San Diego's Jack Murphy Stadium (or whatever corporation they've sold the name to these days.) But then how do you explain the Undertakers' hitting? Los Altos currently ranks second in the OL in batting (.280), first in OBP (.367) and fifth in runs scored (273). As expected, Belle (.911 OPS) and Walker (.961) are doing the bulk of the damage. But unlike last year, the Undertakers have a legitimate threat in the leadoff position with Kenny Lofton (.407 OBP, .900 OPS). They're also getting some big-time production out of their second base platoon of Terry Shumpert (.936 OPS in 90 AB's) and Jerry Hairston (.621 SLG in 58 AB's). Like Walker, Shumpert has shown no ill effects whatsoever moving from Coors Field to Jack Murphy Stadium. Bret Mayne (.372 OPS) and Rich Aurilia (.784 OPS) are also providing better-than-average production from two traditionally weak positions. And the recently-departed Sean Casey (.808 OPS) was replaced with Paul Konerko, who was fourth in the EL in hitting (.366), seventh in OBP (.433) and fifth in slugging (.656).

After a year and a third, Jeff Paulson and the Undertakers have more franchise wins than any other team in the Ozzie League. I think it's time to admit the Undertakers are for real.

7. The Twin Aces of the Stamford Zoots.
Paul Marazita held the eighth pick overall in the Inaugural Draft, a pick he used on newly-minted hundred-millionaire Kevin Brown. Brown proceeded to post a 23-5 record with a 2.35 ERA and was narrowly edged out for the OL Cy Young Award by Salem's Greg Maddux. This year, after only two chapters of play, Kevin Brown sports a record of 10-2 and a 2.44 ERA. In 103 1/3 innings, Brown has yielded just 67 hits (an average of just 5.8 hits per game) and 94 base runners. Brown leads the league not only in wins (by a wide margin), but in the all-important categories of innings pitched and complete games. The most amazing stat of all, though, is that he has given up 15 homers this year already. Most of those, undoubtedly, have been solo shots considering his low ERA. But the total is alarmingly high for a pitcher that surrendered just 19 homers in 252.1 big league innings last year.

Midway through Chapter Two of last season, Marazita pulled off a trade that would change the face of his team forever. Billy Romaniello, fresh from fireman training, clearly had inhaled too much smoke and was suffering from a lack of oxygen to his brain when he sat down at the keyboard to chat with Marazita one cold March evening in New England. Not only did Romaniello trade the two most valuable picks in the entire draft (the first overall picks in the second and sixth rounds) for perennial disappointment Jose Rosado, but he also traded the eventual National League Cy Young Award winner Randy Johnson for Darryl Ward and two of Stamford's useless picks. The two draft picks acquired by Stamford were eventually converted into Eric Davis, Ricky Bottalico, Ramiro Mendoza, OLCS MVP Luis Alicea and a draft pick.

Meanwhile, what has Johnson given the Zoots over the past year to warrant such supreme sacrifices as Rosado, Ward and a couple of useless draft picks? Well, for starters, he won 11 games for the Zoots down the stretch. He wasn't brilliant by any means, as he also lost seven and posted a 4.41 ERA. But he certainly did much better than Rosado, who went 6-9 with a 5.52 ERA in the same time span. Did Johnson single-handedly land the Zoots into the playoffs? Probably not, but having him on the staff certainly didn't hurt.

Once the season ended, however, the Zoots got more than their money's worth. Johnson single-handedly won the OL Division Series, earning the MVP while going 2-0 with a 2.84 ERA. Johnson out-pitched the eventual Cy Young winner Maddux in the fifth and final game of that series, allowing two runs on three hits in seven innings with seven strikeouts. He was awful in the OLCS, going 0-2 with a 4.85 ERA against the "Impossible Dream" Litchfield Lightning. Fortunately, Brown was able to pick up the slack for his teammate and the Zoots advanced to the World Series, where Johnson nailed down the seventh and final game with seven shutout innings of three-hit ball, once again out-pitching the league's Cy Young winner (Tom Glavine.).

Was Randy Johnson instrumental in winning the BDBL Championship for the Stamford Zoots last season? I think you can put up a fairly convincing argument that he did. Could the Zoots have won without him? I think it's safe to say they could not have. And it's also safe to say that if the Zoots win another, Johnson will have a major hand in that one, too. The Randy Johnson trade proves that Paul Marazita deserved to win his GM of the Year Award last year. That trade may prove to be the most lopsided deal in BDBL history.

So far in his second season wearing the pizza-delivery-boy-like uniform of the Zoots, Johnson has posted a 7-3 record with a 2.52 ERA. He is second in the league to Brown in innings pitched and base runners per nine. In 100 innings, Johnson has surrendered just 76 hits and 30 walks while whiffing 141. Most striking of all, Johnson has yielded just a .103 batting average to left-handed hitters this season, with a .204 OBP and an incredibly miniscule .126 slugging percentage. In 87 at-bats by lefties against Johnson, he has allowed just nine hits and only one extra base hit (a triple.) The most amazing thing about these statistics? That BDBL managers actually let their left-handed batters face Johnson for 87 at-bats.

The scariest part about Johnson (other than his face) is the fact that the Zoots still own one more year on his contract. And what can we expect from Johnson in the 2001 BDBL season? Well, let's see. So far, in only five games, Johnson is 5-0 with a 1.06 ERA and has thrown 42 1/3 innings. In those 42 1/3 innings, he's allowed 21 hits, 8 walks and has struck out 53 batters. Meanwhile, Rosado is 1-2 with a 6.55 ERA and Ward is hitting .220 in 41 at-bats. Oh well. At least the Blazers got Peter Bergeron out of it. (Note: the other pick acquired from the Zoots was not used in the draft.)

8. Shawn Estes' Perfect Game.
The fact that a pitcher like Estes threw a no-hitter is amazing enough. The fact that he did it against a lineup that included Robbie Alomar, Frank Thomas, Ivan Rodriguez and Vladimir Guerrero makes his feat the stuff of legend. Estes allowed more hits (209) than innings pitched (203) in the big leagues last year, yet he held the Cleveland Rocks lineup hitless despite throwing only 49 percent of his 137 pitches for strikes. There have been two complete-game one-hitters this year, both no-hitters broken up in the fourth inning. One was by Stamford's Kevin Brown. The other was by Kansas' Jose Jiminez, who allowed 173 hits in 163 innings in the big leagues last year. Makes you wonder whether all of this is nothing but a roll of the dice, doesn't it?

9. The Kentucky Fox.
No last-place team from 1999 has improved more than the team led by 12-year-old wonderboy Bobby Sylvester, Jr..  The Fox, who were favored to win their division coming into this season, have flirted with first-place all season, but have had to fight off the surprising Queensboro Kings.  Then the Kings and Fox faced each-other head-to-head for eight games last week and the Fox emerged with seven wins.  Now they are four games ahead of the Kings, sitting alone atop the Person Division.

What's the story behind this team's rise from worst to first?  In twelve words or less: Mike Sweeney, Paul Konerko, Ron Belliard, Doug Brocail, Chris Holt and Tim Hudson.

The Fox offense has gone from seventh in the league in runs scored last year to fourth this year.  That's what happens when you add three bats like Sweeney, Konerko and Belliard to the lineup.  Sweeney was acquired in the Inaugural Draft by former owner Chris Kaufmann.  Konerko was a 2nd round pick in this year's free agent draft.  Belliard was acquired from the Minneapolis Haymakers last winter (along with Eric Owens) for Jeffrey Hammonds.  Added together, Sweeney, Konerko and Belliard have created nearly half (41.6%) of the team's total runs this year.   Konerko, who is fourth in the EL in batting, seventh in OBP and fifth in SLG, was recently traded as part of the fourth trade in this team's history.  In exchange, the Fox have acquired lefty Sean Casey.  Will Casey be able to fill the shoes of the most productive hitter on the team?  Time will tell.

The biggest improvement with the Fox has been on the mound.   Last year, the Fox finished 11th out of 12 Ozzie League teams in runs allowed.   This year, they are tied for first in that category.  Two of the pitchers from last year's rotation, Dave Burba (5-3, 4.82) and Aaron Sele (3-4, 5.23) remain.  It is the other three members of the rotation that have changed the fate of this team.   The staff ace, Daal, was acquired last winter from the Salem Cowtippers.  For the most part, four of the key players involved in that deal could be considered a wash at this point:

Daal: 5-2, 3.26 ERA
Milton: 7-2, 3.21 ERA

Randa: .325 avg., .366 OBP, .456 SLG, 31.7 RC
Cirillo: .321 avg., .381 OBP, .509 SLG, 41.5 RC

The third key player acquired in this deal by the Fox was closer Doug Brocail (3-2, 2.83, 12 SV.)  Brocail has taken over right where former closer Rod Beck (4-8, 3.20, 22 SV) left off.  Sylvester paid a steep price for Beck in catcher Jason Varitek (.312/.397/.597 for the Hudson Hammerheads), but without Brocail the Fox wouldn't be where they are today.

The two biggest acquisitions by Sylvester were Hudson (7-1, 1.94) and Holt (5-1, 3.19).  Hudson was acquired as a farm free agent last season.   Holt was another key player acquired by the Fox at this year's free agent draft - a 6th round selection that was criticized by the elder Sylvester if memory serves correct.

Bobby Sylvester has proven to be a shrewd GM in every facet of the job: trading, drafting, farming and signing free agents.  There is nothing I'd like to see more than the two Sylvesters go at it this post-season.  And I'm sure Bobby agrees.

10. Tim Zigmund Says Good-bye.
Just to give you some insight into how I write these "From the Desk" pages, I usually begin writing this page right after I finish writing the previous one. I come up with an idea, then over the course of several days (or weeks) I slowly begin to fill in the blanks and tweak all the words until I'm satisfied with the end product. I began writing this page several weeks ago, and the last item on this list was a glowing report based on the startling fact that the BDBL still had the same 24 owners we had on Draft Day. Following in the wake of last year's mass exodus, I thought this was the story of the year, which is why I saved it for last.

Then, just before I was ready to post this page, Tim Zigmund resigned. Tim was a character - the kind of character every league needs - and he will be sorely missed.  I have high hopes for the new owners of the Plattsburgh franchise, however, and - as always - the league will go on. Even though our record has now been broken, I'm still impressed that we maintained the same 24 owners for a span of 107 days. Hopefully, it'll be another 107 days (or longer) until the next one.