Season Log: Iowa City Country

MrLiamcar · **Posted:** Sun Sep 09, 2012 3:29 pm

That is the funniest misspell ever :lol:

ERISA Dude · **Posted:** Sun Sep 09, 2012 3:59 pm

Iowa City Country versus New York Yankees: playoff game 4 (Country lead two – one)

Country Lannan (89 EB SL – three, CB – four, CH – two) versus Yankees Wang (96 CA HSL – three, SP – three, CH – three, HSK – five)

Commentary: the Country choosing to pitch Lannan again, their number one starter who was shelled in his first game against the Yankees, is a mild surprise. Their other starters are not in proper condition so the choice was to pitch Lannan again or go with O'Connor, their alternate starter who is been fantastic this year. We believe the decision to pitch Lannan has to do with the fact that he will still have at least four days rest before the first game in the next series, if there is a next series.

Innings one – two: It was an uneventful first inning, as both pitchers failed to show their normal command and had to use a lot of pitches, but neither team took advantage. In the second, after retiring the leadoff batter Morgan Ensberg, Lannan allowed singles to Giambi and Cano. Lannan, who seemed able to change his pitches in terms of heights, but could not accurately hit the corners, kept battling and retired Abreu and Cabrera to close out the second.

In the bottom of the second, the Yankees strangely called three changeups to Johnson. It appeared fortunate when the most he could do on the third changeup was to fly out to deep center field, but then when they threw a second changeup (the fifth changeup in two batters) to Cust, Jack made them pay by doubling to right center field. Josh Fields then softly grounded the second baseman, but instead of going for the easy out at first, putting a runner at third with two out, Cano threw to third, but was unable to beat Cust, leaving runners at first and third with one out for Harris, who grounded up the middle on a one – zero hard sinker to bring Cust home. One out later, a shallow single from Thurston and the Country grabbed a two – zero lead entering the third.

Inning three: after the Yankees went down in order, the Country had an exciting bottom half of the inning, as Spillborghs and Erdos singled and then Johnson hit a deep fly ball off the centerfield fence. It should have been an easy double with one or two runners scoring, but Spillborghs thought the ball would be caught and started to back up to second base to tag. When he realized his mistake, he was able to score but Erdos and Johnson had to stay at second and first. This could have been a big break for the Yankees, but singles by Cust, Fields, Harris, and Huisman made Spillborghs' baserunning error irrelevant as 5 runners crossed the plate. End of three, Country lead seven – zero .

Inning four: the Yankees scored quickly in the fourth, with Rodriguez doubling and then Ensberg homering over the right-field wall. Lannan seemed to regain control of the inning, retiring the next two batters, but then Abreu hit the ball into the right centerfield gap and the Country, who failed to drop back into their normal "no doubles" outfield that they usually use against players with B power and speed, failed to corral the ball in time and Abreu had a standup triple. Abreu then scored on a single from Cabrera, before Lannan was able to close out the inning.

To everyone's surprise, Wang started the fourth inning. Perhaps this was affected by the Country going deep into the Yankees bullpen in the last game. It appeared that the Country would not make the Yankees pay for that decision, as Erdos and Johnson grounded out meekly after two pitches, but then Cust came to bat and put the ball over the centerfield fence, prompting the Yankees to call in middle reliever Farnsworth, who closed out the fourth. End of 4, Country lead eight – three

Inning five-seven: Lannan continued to struggle and gave up a leadoff singles to Damon and Jeter. Perhaps it was a sign of things intending to go the Country's way, but Lanan hung a changeup to Rodriguez who popped out to third baseman Josh Fields instead of putting it over the left-field fence, and then Ensberg grounded into a fielders choice leaving runners at first and third with two out for Jason Giambi. When Lannan closed out the inning by striking out Giambi, and avoiding any runs scored, the Country crowd seemed electrified with excitement, feeling that the Country might pull off something special.

Country middle reliever Stratton started the sixth inning, and let runners get to first and third with one out before closing the inning on a four – three double play. After the Country went down quietly, Johnny Damon let off the seventh with an infield single on a ball bounced back to the pitcher, but too high for it to be corralled in time. A sharply hit single by Jeter put runners in scoring position, again for Rodriguez, but, Stratton struck out Rodriguez on the fifth pitch of a tough at bat and then struck out Ensberg to bring up the dangerous Giambi with runners at first and second, two out. Stratton started with two strikes against Giambi and then threw a curveball that did not drop enough and Giambi made him pay, homering to right center field and closing the gap to two runs.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Country came out swinging and scored a run on consecutive singles from Cust, Fields, and Harris. When Huisman grounded the ball to Derek Jeter's left, the Yankees again made a questionable defensive move. Instead of Jeter tossing the ball to second, in which he should have been able to turn the double play, he went to third, recording the out, but leaving a runner in scoring position with one out instead of two. The Country pinch hit Shrager for Thurston, and he doubled to left field, putting runners at second and third. At this point, Nomo was brought in, and when Milledge hit the first pitch up the middle scoring Huisman. Then, with runners at first and third, Spillborghs watched a backdoor curveball go by for ball 1, and then hit a fork ball that failed to drop over the centerfield fence for a three-run homer. End of seven, Country lead 14 – 6

Inning eight: Dierdorf started the eighth and closed it out without allowing a run to score, although he gave up two hits. In the bottom half beginning, Nomo, whose pitches clearly were not moving as they normally would, served up a home run to Jack Cust. End of 8, Country lead 15 – 6

Shawn Green came out to start ninth and gave up a double to Rodriguez before striking out Morgan Ensberg and getting a groundout to the picture from Giambi, before a single by Cano allowed Rodriguez to score. Doubles to Abreu and Cabrera made things a little more interesting and resulted in the Country going to their bullpen again, this time to bring in Andrew Brown. Brown struck out the Yankee catcher to close out the game and the series.

Commentary: this was a great overall display from the Country, who used their offense while their pitching struggled. Standouts include Jack Cust, who was 5/5 with two home runs, a double, three RBIs, and five runs scored. Harris did a great job of driving in the runners, going 4/5 with three RBIs. Obviously, Spillborghs had that huge three-run homerun and Schrager came through with an RBI in his pinch hit at bat. Pitching-wise, Lannan and Stratton battled, allowing a combined six runs over seven innings. Green allowed three runs as well, but the game was pretty much well in hand at that point.

ERISA Dude · **Posted:** Mon Sep 10, 2012 6:33 am

The League Championship Series have been set, as follows:

The Iowa City Country (having defeated the Yankees in the Division Series, 3-1) play the Boston Red Sox (having defeated the Mariners, 3-1)

The New York Mets (having defeated the Reds, 3-2) play the Milwaukee Brewers (having defeated the Rockies, 3-1)

PS - I want to, again, thank my readers who told me about changing names. I'm using it to change the spelling of some of my rookies. Same pronunciation, but the spelling now matches what my dictation app produces.

ERISA Dude · **Posted:** Mon Sep 10, 2012 6:51 am

This public apology was just released from the Iowa City Country public relations department:

respectfully refuse to answer any questions concerning this issue going forward

dishnet34 · **Posted:** Mon Sep 10, 2012 7:03 am

That is the funniest way to apologize for a typo that I've ever seen. :lol:

ERISA Dude · **Posted:** Mon Sep 10, 2012 8:53 am

dishnetkid wrote:

That is the funniest way to apologize for a typo that I've ever seen. :lol:

If, indeed, we were apologizing for our own error or oversight, we would be grateful for your comments; however, we did not make any such error; and thus, merely regret that the mainstream media has caused such a disturbance.

Please continue to follow our team and purchase our merchandise with confidence that each purchase is proof that you are a fine, upstanding US citizen. Thank you.

AgentP · **Posted:** Mon Sep 10, 2012 11:07 am

ERISA Dude wrote:

dishnetkid wrote:

That is the funniest way to apologize for a typo that I've ever seen. :lol:

If, indeed, we were apologizing for our own error or oversight, we would be grateful for your comments; however, we did not make any such error; and thus, merely regret that the mainstream media has caused such a disturbance.

Please continue to follow our team and purchase our merchandise with confidence that each purchase is proof that you are a fine, upstanding US citizen. Thank you.

I'm not seeing any Iowa City Country jerseys on MLB.com, where can I find one?

ZeroGibson13 · **Posted:** Mon Sep 10, 2012 12:18 pm

Well no duh. Go on ICCbaseball.com

AgentP · **Posted:** Mon Sep 10, 2012 5:36 pm

ZeroGibson13 wrote:

Well no duh. Go on ICCbaseball.com

As if this weren't odd enough, that website exists.

But it's for a Christian basketball organization.

Go figure.

ZeroGibson13 · **Posted:** Mon Sep 10, 2012 6:20 pm

ICCbaseball.com is a basketball website. :shock:

Paul McCartney15 · **Posted:** Mon Sep 10, 2012 6:29 pm

I wholeheartedly agree with what dish said.

A whole long update to apologize for a typo. That is a win. :lol:

ERISA Dude · **Posted:** Tue Sep 11, 2012 8:43 am

Preview: BOSTON RED SOX v IOWA CITY COUNTRY

Offensive comparison of the batting orders, focusing on slugging percentages and stolen bases:

Edge: Sox

Edge: Country

Edge: Sox

Edge: Country

Edge: Even

Edge: Sox

Final offensive comments: two strong offenses with no clear advantages, but since the Country are stronger in the 4-6 slots, we'll give them the nod.

Defensive comparison of the Country starters to the probable Red Sox starting lineup, comparing speed, throwing, defense, and error proneness:

Edge: Country

Edge: Sox

Edge: Country

Edge: Sox

Edge: even

Edge: Sox

Final defense comments: the Red Sox have a better defense overall, but Varitek's poor throwing could open the door for Milledge and Spillborghs when they get on base. Who is more of a defensive liability - Harris at SS or Pedroia at 2b? The answer to that question may determine the outcome of this series.

Pitching comments: the Red Sox have excellent pitchers while the Country have young players that are surprisingly good at using the whole plate. We felt similarly about the Yankees.

Where the Yankees erred was in not gauging the condition of their pitchers. We saw the Country manager constantly juggling his pitching lineup, especially for Jimenez, who has had trouble recovering from his outings. The Yankees did not do that and the Country were able to hit the superior Yankee pitching when those pitchers couldn't bring their A-game. How the Red Sox judge the condition of their pitchers will be a significant factor.
Prediction: It is hard to pick against the Country when this young, upstart team beat a Yankees team with an arguably stronger offense, a much better defense, and potching that rivals the Red Sox, and did so by winning 3 in a row. Still, we predict the Country's fairy tale run will end and the Red Sox will win the series in 6 games.

SkittleMonster · **Posted:** Tue Sep 11, 2012 2:49 pm

You can't really compare players just using SLG and SB. There's so many other things to account for

ERISA Dude · **Posted:** Tue Sep 11, 2012 3:11 pm

SkittleMonster wrote:

You can't really compare players just using SLG and SB. There's so many other things to account for

Of course you can - I just did!

Seriously, though, assuming it needed to be a simple comparison of 1 or 2 items, what would you choose? I didn't think it fair to use player rankings because my team plays above its levels. BA ignores power. Numbers like runs scored and RBIs handicap players that didn't start until later in the year.

SkittleMonster · **Posted:** Tue Sep 11, 2012 3:35 pm

I'd probably use HR (power), SB (speed), and OBP (contact)

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Season Log: Iowa City Country

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