Power Pros Forum

5 – 22 – 2008

Country win last game of the white sox series on 1-2 punch

Milledge was inserted into the leadoff spot and promptly singled to left on the first pitch he saw from Mark Buehrle. He then stole 2nd on the next pitch. Unfortunately, on a soft liner to center by Sanchez, Milledge was thrown out at home on a very close play. The country did ultimately score when Harris hit a sacrifice fly to bring home Sanchez from third.

The white sox tied the game in their half of the first when Thome hit a homerun to left center off of Nomo.

Milledge next batted in the top of the second with two out and Bitner, the country DH, at first. He doubled into the left center gap, and both runners scored on a soft opposite field single by Sanchez to put the country up 3-1

Milledge's next at bat came in the top of the fourth with one out and Chavez on first. Again hitting the first pitch, he doubled to left center and both runners scored again on a single by Sanchez.

In the meantime, nomo pitched an amazing game, keeping the sox off balance through seven innings. He left the game allowing only one earned run on four hits with 10 strikeouts. Said Nomo "I have been working on my slider and was able to use it effectively today to keep hitters off-balance and then punch them out with my forkball that has a dramatic drop."

The sox did threaten in the ninth but the game ended with a country win, 5-2. Millage went four or five with two doubles two runs scored and stolen base. Sanchez went 3 for 5 with 4 RBIs

5 – 25 – 2008

Country and Rays trade backups

the Country traded for Rays backup catcher Sean Riggins (EFGBDD), giving up minor league shortstop Sneed (FFEEDE).

Said the country GM: "we have a lot of middle infielders that I did not see Sneed replacing and Riggins has a tremendous arm behind the plate. He seems perfect for a back-up catching position." When asked if this was any indictment of starting catcher Huisman, who was expected to perform better offensively (DEECCD) but is struggling with a .247 batting average, ERISA Dude responded: "not an indictment at all, but Huisman has played in almost every game so far and we think he would perform better with more rest. Acquiring Riggins gives
us the opportunity to rest Huisman more."

Riggins is expected to join the team on their off-day tomorrow and will be available to play the 1st of a 3 game series against the Orioles.

5-26-2008

The Country stand at 21 & 29. 1 game out of last place in the AL Central. You could say it's been an unfair initial 2 months, as the Country's only opponents outside of their division have been the Yankees and Red Sox - perennial powerhouses! The last 2 weeks have been particularly-grueling, with 12 games over 13 days against the White Sox and Red Sox. Some say the Country were fortunate to come out of that "Sox stretch" at 3-9.

The Country need to avoid a let-down as they hoste the Orioles and then the Honeybees - each in last place in their division. A strong showing here could propel the Country through to draft day in June, as the Country will hoste the mediocre Reds and Astros teams, and travel to play the last-place Nationals in those 1st weeks of June.

If the Country hope to avoid last place, it is clear that they need a strong showing against these middle and lower-tier teams, who are sure to be geared up to beat the expansion team.

5-28-2008
Again Iowa city's first score, again, involved lastings , but there was not enough "Lastings" this time!

After 2 uneventful innings, Milledge led off the third inning with a single. Sanchez hit the first pitch (not giving Lastings a chance to steal) to center for a single. Lastings scored on Erdos' soft single to right field. Johnson then doubled home Sanchez (Erdos to 3rd) and Huisman grounded into a fielders choice that scored Erdos. The Orioles made Nomo work hard for his half of the third inning but did not score. Country 3 Orioles 0

The Orioles opened the floodgates in the top of the sixth when Roberts led off with a triple to right center and came home on a single from Markakis. Huff followed up with a double and then Luke Scott hit a 3-run HR to take a 4-3 lead. But the Orioles did not stop there. A few more singles preceded another three run homerun, extending the lead to 8-3. at this point, the game seemed to move very quickly. It was a "fast game" for the next several innings and ended with an Orioles 10 – 5 win .

5-29-2008
In this second game against the Orioles, the Orioles Steve traschel took the mound against the country's Matt Morris. It was an exciting top of the first as lastings milledge made a diving catch on a sharply hit ball by Roberts to rob Roberts of at least a double. The Orioles did load the bases with one out, but Morris was able to wriggle out of it on pop flies to the catcher by Luke Scott and Payton.

Iowa city drew first blood in the bottom of the second, scoring 4 runs on consecutive singles by sweeney, Bittner, Huisman, Chavez, Milledge, & Sanchez.

The Orioles came all the way back in the top of the fourth, even pulling ahead on numerous singles and doubles. Morris was pulled and replaced with country closer, Green. When later asked about using their closer in the fourth inning, ERISA Dude said "green had not pitched in several days and we thought the game would be won or lost right there in the fourth inning". Unfortunately, Green could not contain the Orioles and the inning ended with Morris being charged with 8 earned runs.

The Orioles would tack on another 4 while the Country failed to get a hit the rest of the way.

5-30-2008
The locker room was very quiet after the country's 7-6 loss to the Orioles. Getting swept by a last-place team did not leave Countrymen in a talkative mood. However, there was buzz about the latest trade, this one sending the country's displaced backup left fielder, Justin Ruggiano, and their #2 pitcher, Hideo Nomo, to the Yankees for reliever Joba Chamberlain.

When asked for comment, ERISA Dude spoke tersely: "when Justin lost the starting left field position to Erdos earlier in the year, he became expendable. Nomo is a valuable pitcher, but Chamberlain (99 DE 12) has the stuff to be a premier closer. We gave up a valuable pitcher to get a valuable pitcher."

ESPN analyst Noah Itall had this to say: "For the Yankees, the appeal is obvious: they have an extra arm with experience, and a left fielder to groom, and while they may miss Chamberlain, they do have that other guy with a pretty decent cutter! It's less clear for the Country. Yes, this improves their bullpen tremendously, as they can now bring Green in earlier in the game and we all expect Chamberlain to thrive in the closer role, but it's rarely advisable to weaken starting pitching in order to strengthen the bullpen. Who is going to be their #2 starter? In my mind, this signals the Country throwing in the towel for this year and planning for next year. Then again, when you get swept by the Orioles, maybe that's the right way to think!"

Battle of the Expansions is Explosive!
5-31-2008

In the battle of the expansion teams, a total of 24 runs were scored, and the Iowa city country scored first in the bottom of the second inning, when Huisman doubled into the right field corner and was singled home by DH Merrill (EDEEF – 3b) in his first major league at bat. Merrill moved to second on Sweeney's single and then scored when Milledge singled. Next, Sweeney scored on Sanchez' base hit. Country 3 Honeybees 0

The honeybees took the lead in a very frustrating third inning inning - soft bloop single after soft bloop single, sprinkled with soft infield hits that Harris' and Sanchez' comparatively weak arms just couldn't turn into outs led to the honeybees taking a 7-3 lead.

In the bottom of the third, Harris singled and Dan Johnson promptly hit his 13th homerun of the year. At that point, Huisman, who seems to have picked up his offense since the country obtained backup catcher Riggins, singled to right, moved to 3rd when Merrell hit a deep single into right field, and scored on Sweeney's single. Milledge followed with a deep single to center that could have scored Merrill except that he started to head back to 2nd, thinking the ball was caught (it was ruled a trap - a base hit), leaving bases loaded with one out for Sanchez

Sanchez, hitting just a hair below 400, did not disappoint, lacing a single to left against a drawn-in infield that plated 2 runs, and then a Harris single plated another run, giving the country a 9-7 lead at the end of three

The honeybees scored once in the top of the 4th and again in the 5th, each time on a series of singles against reliever Truby (he of the 69 mph curve and 74 mph fastball) to tie the game at 9.

The country grabbed the lead in the bottom of the fifth when Sanchez singled, moved to second on a groundout by ERDOS, and scored on a single by Harris. That was followed by Dan Johnson's second 2-run home run of the day, giving the country a 12 – 9 lead

The honeybees were retired in order in the top of the sixth, but the country scored again when Milledge tripled to left center with 2 outs and scored on a Sanchez single

The country scored again in the bottom of the seventh when Huisman singled with two out, moved to second on a passed ball, and scored on a Merrill single. Sweeney then doubled home Merrill. 15-9 Country

NOTEWORTHY: this was the 1st game of the year in which a Country player hit 2 home runs in a game; Huisman is raising his batting average after a mostly-disappointing May & June. Sweeney, who in some ways has been even more of a disappointment with his seeming lack of ability to get the ball out of the infield, has also been hitting better since his shift to the back-end of the lineup. This shift, along with his defensive shift from center to right, where Sweeney is more comfortable, coincides with the Country's pickup of Lastings Milledge.

Country Win Nailbiter With Honeybees
6-1-2008

After a quiet three innings, the honeybees struck first on the last day of May, when the Honeybee catcher doubled to left field, moved to third on a fielder's choice and then scored on a short single to right.

The country tied the game in the sixth when White (filling in at second base for Sanchez) singled, was bunted to second by Chavez, moved to third on a wild pitch, and then scored on Huisman's single to right

The Honeybees grabbed the lead in the top of the 9th when, with runners on first and third, the country brought in relief pitcher Green, who induced the honeybees centerfielder to ground into a slow-rolling fielders choice, allowing the runner from third to score.

The country came out swinging in the bottom of the 9th, with milledge leading off with a single. The country called a hit and run, allowing milledge to go to third on Huisman's single to center, placing runners at the corners with no outs for DH Merrill (EDEEF) who tied the game on a sharply hit single to left field, leaving runners at first and second for Dan Johnson, who was 0-3 at that time.

Another sharply-hit single, this time to right, brought home Huisman with a very close play at the plate to win the game.

Iowa city country: May in review
6-1-2008

With the books closing on the month of May, let's look at where the Iowa City Country are now. At 23 and 32, they are in fifth place in their division, ahead of the Indians by two games and behind the white sox by one game. Although they climbed out of the AL Central cellar, this seems to be a decline, considering that at the end of April, they were only 2 games under 500.

Indeed, not only did their winning percentage drop (from 464 to 370), but their run production dropped from 139 to 125 while their runs allowed increased from 134 to 154.

While there are certain to be numerous factors attributing to this, it is difficult to avoid pointing out the trade of multifaceted Tomas Perez for Harris on the last day of April. While Perez gave the Country solid range (C) with a below-ave arm (D) for a shortstop, Harris has a more limited range (D) with a similar below-ave arm (D) that has allowed more singles to roll between short and 3rd, and more bloop hits to drop into shallow left-center than Perez allowed. Clearly, the Country hoped that Harris' offense would make up for this defensive shortfall, but while Perez is hitting 237 with 4 hr & 15 RBIs, Harris is only hitting 257, with 4 hr & 21 RBIs. That BA is only 1 point better than what he was doing with the Twins (Perez' BA has dropped about 20 points) and Harris only hit 1 hr as a Countryman, while Perez has hit 2 for the Twins.

Asked about this, GM ERISA Dude said "You are right that we were hoping for more offensive production from Harris, but we made this trade for the long-term, too. Harris is a young player who can play3 positions. We expect his hitting to pick up this year and his fielding to improve over the next couple of years."

The Country still lead their division in team BA (302), and are 2nd to the Yankees by 1 point in the AL. They have the most hits in their division, and are 2nd in the AL (again to the Yankees) in that category. They are last in their division in HRs with 41, and are 2nd to last in the AL in that category to the Honeybees. They still lead their division in sacrifices, but are now 2nd to the Mariners in that category, league wide.

On the pitching side, the Country staff has dropped in every important category (ERA, Runs Allowed, Hits allowed, HR allowed) except walks allowed, where they still have the fewest in the majors. In all other categories, they are 4th or 5th in the 6-team AL East. While numerous factors are at play here, several factors point to bullpen problems, including the Country being 2 and 6 in walk off games, 2 and 5 in extra inning games (though a lack of offense is equally to blame here), and allowing the opposing team to come from behind in 14 of 32 loses. That last stat is most damning, indicating that the Country had a lead in almost half of their losses this year. The trade of Nomo for Chamberlain on May 30 should improve this problem area.

Individually, Chuck James had another strong month, ranked fourth in the AL Central with an ERA of 5.49. Again, several country pitchers have lower ERAs, including starters Morris at 5.19 and Deardorff at 4.68, and relief pitchers Green at 2.57, Buchanan at 4.01, and Jiang at 4.54.

Star in the Making? Country 3b Chavez was named rookie of the month for hitting 315 with 3 hr and 20 RBIs in the month of May. This is the 2nd time Chavez received this award - he received it last month for hitting 336 with 2 hr & 19 RBIs. He was also named "player of the week" for week 5, when he hit 444 with 1 hr & 11 RBIs

Country Sweep!
6-2-2008

For this first game of June, the country are fielding what seems to have become their standard starting lineup for this last game of a three-game series against the honey bees.

1 Milledge CF EDBEED
2 Sanchez 2b DEGEDD
3 Erdos LF DDEEDD
4 Johnson 1b DBFDD
5 Harris SS DBGDD
6 Huisman C DEECCD
7 Merrill DH EDEEFE
8 Chavez 3b EEDBEE
9 Sweeney RF DFDEFD

BENCH: Riggins (C EFGBDD); White (2b/LF EFEECD); Bittner (LF DFEEEE)

Today's starting picture is Truby (82 DC 3-cv, 2 ct, 1-sld$, filling in for Morris, who is suffering flu-like symptoms.

The country broke the ice in the bottom of the first when Dan Johnson hit a three run homerun with Sanchez and Erdos on base (Milledge previously singled and was thrown out trying to steal second).

Milledge singled again to lead off the fifth inning. He stole second and moved to third on a fielder's choice by Sanchez. Erdos then singled Milledge home. End of 5, 4-0 Country

The sixth inning started without Truby on the mound. Truby pitched a solid five innings, allowing zero runs on five hits with one strike out. The honeybees were retired in order, and then the country scored when Merrill doubled over the centerfielder's head and came home on a base hit by Chavez. 5-0 Country

The country scored, again, in the seventh when Johnson singled home Erdos, who singled and moved to second on a wild pitch.

The honeybees did make some noise in the 9th, loading the bases with no outs and scoring two runs before the country's Chamberlain retired to side, giving country a six- two win, and a three game sweep of the Honeybees.

SIDE-COMMENT TO MY FOLLOWERS: just saw something for the 1st time - a player diving headfirst to 1st base. Never saw it before, but a player trying to beat my throw dove head first. Pretty cool to see!

Country Commentary
6-2-2008
For the week ending June 1, Dan Johnson was named AL player of the week for hitting 455 with four home runs and 14 RBIs. Johnson is also currently second in votes for All-Star first basemen, competing against Konerko of the white sox and Travis Hafner of the Indians.

Corrections: in our prior article on the status of the country, we failed to mention that second baseman Sanchez is second in the Major Leagues in batting average with .401, and third in the majors with 83 hits. Johnson is third in the major leagues with 15 homeruns, behind Alex Rodriguez and Adam Dunn with the Reds, who face off against the country tomorrow.

Transactions: it was reported that country minor league first baseman McGlinchey (FDFFFF) was traded to the Phillies for $800

Well, the last 7 games absolutely flew by and it is now draft time! For those of you who missed it, the Country won 2 of 3 against the Reds and swept the Nationals before losing their 1st game against the Astros. Lastings Milledge was named player of the week for hitting 520 with 1hr and 5 RBIs.

Also, the Yankees shocked the baseball world by trading all star catcher Posada to the Dodgers for pitcher Derek Lowe (92 BA 11).

What's your record now?

Its good to see you getting some wins.

The 2008 draft is upon us, but the Country is not tipping its hand on who it will select. "We're running the numbers, reviewing last minute data, and going over our interview notes," explained the Country GM. Some Q & A from our interview:

Q. Do you have a basic strategy?
A. I believe in taking the best player available

Q. You've got needs at every pitching spot except "closer" and people view RF as easily upgradable. Does that mean a pitcher or RF is more likely?
A. Not necessarily. We're comfortable with our current lineup, so we won't mind selecting someone with potential
Who won't start this year. We value athleticism, and if the player has the athleticism and the skill set, we won't hesitate to change their position.

Q. Could you expand on that?
A. Well, we could draft a RF, or we could draft a 3b who we think would make a good RF. Our current 3b, for example, certainly has the arm we would value in RF, for example. In general, SS and catchers come out very athletic. Catchers need to react to the pitch; ss react to the bat. SS need quick feet and hands to turn the double-play; catchers need those same skills to make the throw to 2nd base. Similarly, a 3rd baseman with a weaker arm might make a top notch 1st baseman.

Q. Would you ever ask an active player to change positions?
A. Yes, nothing is out of the question.

Q. David Harris' range and arm in the field are often criticized. If the Country draft a ss, might they move Harris to the OF?
A. Remember, we've got some solid OF, but the bottom line is that the best players will play.

Q. What about pitchers?
A. We would select the pitchers we think are closest to being "major league ready"

Q. Such as?
A. The hardest thing to teach a pitcher is how to develop stamina, so we look for pitchers thatve shown this ability already. the next hardest aspect to teach is to throw the ball hard and still have some semblance of control, so we'll look for pitchers that can already throw hard. Breaking pitches are something we can teach more easily at the major league level, so we might use that as a tiebreaker, but it's not difinitive.

Q. What about control?
A. We want our pitchers to have some basic control - what we call "D" level control. Above that is a bonus. We will work with kids who have a "high E" control, but anything lower than that takes too much development time to be worthwhile. Unless a pitcher has great top speed and breaking pitches that are game ready, there will be too much to work on if he doesn't have that minimum level of control.

Q. Can you give any sort of prediction?
A. Well, I guess since we're picking 1st, I can give you something and no other team will be able to maneuver around us. While nothing is final, we will probably draft a SS or C with our 1st pick and a pitcher with our 2nd pick. Then we'll check out the undrafted FA list.

I'm not logged on now, but I think I'm 29 wins & 34 losses. It was nice to sweep the honeybees. I'm thinking about simming more games against the better teams and playing more of the weaker teams for now.

With my last expansion team, I won the world series in year 2 and by the time I upped the difficulty to "normal" pitch speed and "0" hitting help, my players were already too developed for it to slow me down, so I started this team on the hard settings, and it's been a real struggle! Especially since this team is so much worse than my 1st one. For ex, my last team had 3 players with D contact and D defense, and my starting SS started out at EEEDCD; I also had 4 pitchers with decent "stuff" (2 pitches at 3 or more; D control; 85 mph of higher top speed); 1 of them with B stamina and 2 with high C stamina.

Hopefully, of it takes me until my 3rd season to have a winning record, it'll make it sweeter when I do win!