Peoria Free Press, May 2009

After a disappointing start to the 2009 season, the Cardinals are starting to show signs of life, led by their top draft pick Raul Ibanez.











Raul Ibanez - "Who's Laughing Now?"
By: Rey Bringo

It was EHCC Draft Day 2009, and to nobody's surprise youngsters were flying off the board in the first round. The Peoria Cardinals, lacking a first round pick in the draft, had set their sites on improving the ball club immediately. With a very young nucleus to the EHCC squad, GM Dave Grubb felt as though 2009 was the year that the Cards would finally break into postseason baseball.

The Cardinals, the only team not represented at this years Draft Headquarters, were forced to draft from the war room within their park, the Keystone Bird Cage. All along, the team had Raul Ibanez at the top of their wishlist going into the draft. When the 17th pick finally came around, and it was time for Peoria to make their first selection, the Cardinals wasted no time relaying their pick and wildly celebrating throughout the room that their guy had lasted through the first 16 picks. While Peoria was elated with their pick, it was later leaked that their confidence in Ibanez was not echoed throughout the league.

According to media sources at the draft, "all the other owners had a good laugh when Peoria chose Ibanez as their top choice in the 09 draft." Word of this disrespect wasted no time getting back to the Peoria front office and Raul Ibanez. "That's fine", said the slugger. "To be quite honest with you, I feel like Peoria is the perfect fit for me. There was absolutely no way I would have moved to Mexico, wanted to start fresh with the team in Carolina, or played for a team whose owner is more or less non-existent like the team in Arlington. The Cardinals have improved tremendously over the last few years and I am the missing link to get us over the hump", said Ibanez.

So far, so good for the left handed cleanup hitter. To date, Ibanez leads in 2 out of 3 triple crown categories. He is first in HR (17), average (.352), and only trails by one in RBI (43). Not too bad for somebody skipped by 16 other picks and then mocked for his selection. Not only is Ibanez a sure All-Star starter thus far, but he also has to be the top choice for MVP so far this season.

While the 2009 campaign has been a disappointment for the Cardinals as a whole, Ibanez has added a spark in the lineup and a veteran presence in the clubhouse to keep the young Cardinal players hungry and ready to play everyday. After a disastrous start to the season, it seems as though this years Peoria squad is starting to turn it on and look poised to making a run for the playoffs throughout the summer.

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Week 7 Fact or Fiction

Will Week 9 feature a battle of undefeated teams? Will Winston-Salem get the monkey off their backs? Does Tokyo still suck? Pedro Gammo and Jayson Snark give you the answers in between shots of patron...okay, Jager. But they're drunk, and that's what matters.

1.) QC and LV will meet in week 9; both undefeated

Gammo – FACT

At this rate, the Doggs won’t make it past week 6 undefeated, but something tells me they’ll come back. Both the Doggs and Piglets have a pretty easy road ahead of them leading up to their anticipated match up in week 9. Vegas faces off against Tokyo and Peoria, both teams currently at .500 or lower, while Quebec has Arlington and Tijuana, who sit in last place in their respective divisions. These two teams seemed destined to face off in the finals this year, but knowing the history of both (LV not being able to win back-to-back championships and QC choking in the playoffs), no one will be surprised if it doesn’t happen.

Snark – FICTION

The Doggs must be chewing on a bone, because they’re choking this week. While our friendly neighborhood flu-carriers to the North should roll into the Week 9 showdown with an 8 game unbeaten streak, the Doggs will get stopped in their tracks by division rival Weymouth. The scrappy Shaddypoo are putting together another strong team, once again led by battle-tested veteran Johan Santana and his band of merry poos. While some of these pitchers are pitching way over their heads (I’m looking at you, Zach Duke) and will eventually come crashing back to Earth, it won’t be this week. And even if Las Vegas does pull off a miracle comeback win, things don’t get much easier after that with Tokyo in Week 7 (who ever thought we’d be typing those words?), another squad with a vastly improved pitching staff. Look for the Pups to have dropped one or two matches before the much-anticipated matchup in the desert.


2.) The WEST is actually better than the EAST this year

Gammo – FACT

With Rakeville, Arlington, and Peoria all falling further than their respective goals, the East has really taken a hit. It’s really early to say, but as of now the West has shown to be more durable with just 13 players on the DL within the division to the East’s 18, which will go a long way through a long season. As a division, they’ve racked up 17 more wins than the East, playing mostly against Eastern Division opponents. Even with Las Vegas’ current winning streak, Quebec City sits in the top 2 of every offensive category, with Golden in the top 4 in 4 out of 5. My prediction: of the 6 playoff teams, 3 will be from the West this year, along with teams 7 and 8. Remember, they did win the 2008 EHCC All Star game after all, so this shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone.

Snark – FACT

These things happen when you’re not paying close attention. While the fat cats in the East were resting on their championship laurels, the West was getting hungrier and hungrier for a title, and making moves designed to make it happen. Rakeville and Bridgewater are getting old and complacent, Arlington won a title and then decided to blow the franchise up and is now arguably the worst team in the league, and Peoria has never been a playoff contender and doesn’t appear poised to start now. Only Las Vegas and Weymouth continued to make moves designed to keep their franchises in contention, and as such, the East is suddenly looking like that guy at the gym who only works out his upper body—top heavy and a little bloated.


3.) It's already time for Rakeville to start panicking and thinking about 2010 and beyond

Gammo – FICTION

It’s fun to say it is, but really when it comes down to it Rakeville still has a very competitive team. Will they win a championship this year? Probably not. Then again, they couldn’t win a championship when they were good either. Rumors out of Rockets’ camp is that the team may be planning a small “fire sale” in the coming weeks ahead if the team continues to dip due to injuries and poor play. I just can’t see this continuing the rest of the season. BJ Upton should turn things around, and Josh Beckett will follow suit. The issue the Rockets have is with their DH David Ortiz on offense and their three minor league pitchers taking up roster spots in their bullpen. They refuse to cut anyone to bring up All Star catcher Joe Mauer, including out of work starter and captain Pedro Martinez, who they’ve kept around as “inspiration” to their young pitchers. Some rumblings around the league feel as though keeping a talent like Mauer on their DL when he’s obviously healthy and ready to produce is a type of tanking, but it may be too early in the season to make that an issue. With the right management, this team can still make the playoffs. They will be getting Manny back in July after all.

Snark – FACT

Right now, Rakeville is a disgrace. Their best player is a steroid user who hasn’t played in over a week, they have arguably the best catcher in the league, putting up an insane line of .455 avg., 10 Runs, 4 Homeruns, and 14 RBIs in just over a week of action, although no one in Rakeville would know it, because GM Jack Reed is too lazy or foolish to put him into the starting lineup, preferring to leave the position vacant. However, that’s not a big deal since so few of Rakeville’s pitches make it past the batter anyway. Their pitching staff is dead last in the EHCC with an ERA of 5.12 and a WHIP of 1.54, both far and away the worst in the league; 7 pitchers on the roster have ERAs of worse than 5.00, and that includes #1 starter Josh Beckett. Meanwhile, upset over last season’s firing of manager Tom Seaver, team captain Pedro Martinez has organized a revolt against interim manager Justin Fuller, refusing to take the mound for the Rockets this season, and getting other young players to follow his lead. Since being drafted by Rakeville in March, prospect Neftali Feliz has also refused to take the mound. The impressionable youngster was unhappy with his contract and all-too eager to take up Martinez’s cause. Since then, young pitchers Dana Eveland, James McDonald, and David Purcey, as well as star OF Manny Ramirez have all joined in the protest, practically daring Reed to trade or cut one or all of them. Reed has found himself in a deadly game of chicken that has led to his team’s rapid descent from one of the EHCC’s elite to a borderline playoff contender that isn’t even as good as their crappy record indicates. Someone should point out to Reed that when nobody flinches in a game of chicken, the cars crash head-on and everyone dies. And sometimes there are explosions. Big ones. It’s awesome. Well, to everyone but the people trapped in the cars screaming for help, but it’s not coming, because of the aforementioned fire and twisted metal. So they die.

That was a metaphor, but Rakeville really does suck.


4.) Zack Grienke will lead the Green Monsters to their first playoff series victory

Gammo – FICTION

Cliff Lee couldn’t do it for the Cardinals in ‘08, and Grienke won’t be able to do it for the Monsters in ‘09. Winston-Salen currently sits 6 games above .500, 3rd in the West, 4th overall. They’ve actually lost every other matchup they‘ve had this season, but blew away their competition in their 2 wins (9-1 and 7-3 respectively), which is keeping them afloat this long. Grienke may not be their only shining star in the rotation, with Justin Verlander and Erik Bedard showing signs of past glory, an area they once struggled in seems to have become their strong point. The issue is that they currently sit in the bottom half of every statistical category except stolen bases, which with the help of Carl Crawford’s 22 stolen bases this season thus far, currently lead all of the EHCC by a considerable margin. Hell, Crawford would be beating 5 EHCC teams by himself thus far. But it just won’t be enough. Their pitching, as much as it’s improved, won’t be able to hold together all season, and unless they can find some extra firepower on offense, the Monsters will fall short once again, perhaps even missing the playoffs, opening up the door for either Tokyo, Rakeville, or Bridgewater to sneak in from behind.

Snark – FACT

And the reason is because it’s not just Zack Greinke leading the way. The Green Monster pitching staff is vastly improved this year, with the continuing maturation of Greinke and the addition of two bona-fide studs to join him at the top in Cole Hamels and Justin Verlander. After a slow start, both pitchers have turned it on in recent weeks, with Verlander being especially dominant. In addition to leading all EHCC pitchers in Ks, Verlander’s 69 strikeouts also lead the league in juvenile clubhouse laughter (you see, if you look closely, the number 69 sort of looks like a man and a woman doing naughty…well, you can pick up a pamphlet for further explanation. Suffice to say, it’s hilarious). With Erik Bedard once again flashing the form that made him one of the best pitchers in the EHCC two years ago, and potential studs in Rich Harden and Francisco Liriano, Winston-Salem’s pitching staff is nothing to sneeze at. Unless you have something in your nose, in which case, feel free to sneeze, but just understand that you’re not doing it at Winston-Salem’s pitching staff. It’s just a coincidence.

5.) Tokyo, currently at .500 and in 6th place, will FINALLY make the EHCC playoffs

Gammo – FACT

Tokyo, a long awaited addition to the EHCC playoffs, should finally make the needed push to break into the season end’s top 6. They’ve had arguably one of the toughest schedules this season thus far, and should be able to gain some ground in the middle of the season when they face off against South Carolina, Tijuana, & Peoria in Weeks 10-12. Their pitching staff is arguably the best in the EHCC, as they stand in the top 3 in every category except wins (5th) and their offense is coming together with Nick Markakis leading the way. They may need to add a bat or two at some point this season to make any type of push in the playoffs once they’re there, but this team has come a long way since entering the league in 2005, and should finally jump their first major hurdle in 2009.

Snark – FICTION

They still suck.

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Micromanaging in Mexico

The Tijuana Hispanics currently roster 18 offensive players on their 25 man roster. That's 2 full line-ups. How is field manager Zachary Waddicor and team captain Brian Roberts dealing with the situation? And how is the strategy working out for these Mexican misfits?




Micromanaging In Mexico
By Max Powers; EhSPN


The Tijuana Hispanics dedicated their entire 2008 second half to testing out their new bullpen heavy strategy. They crushed some weekly records and started some debate in the process. After the 2009 EHCC MaDraft, the Hispanics again showed they were staying with their closer-heavy strategy by not selecting a starting pitcher until the middle of the 6th round (Doug Davis). In all, the Hispanics drafted 3 pitchers (all starters); none of which currently stand on their roster. The other 12 picks made by GM Peter Kantor were offensive additions, ranging from rookie Dexter Fowler to veteran JD Drew.

Entering Week 6, the Hispanics have 18 offensive players (at least 2 at each position except catcher) and 7 active pitchers, only one of which is a starter (Glen Perkins). Tijuana also has three starting pitchers currently on the DL (Kelvim Escobar, Shaun Marcum, and Noah Lowry) - all of which are expected to be dealt when healthy.

This type of roster has its advantages - the team can easily scrimmage for practice (though this has not been showing up on game days). The negative, besides the obvious strain this puts on their starting pitching staff, is that it has become very stressful for field manager Zachary Waddicor.

"It's a lose-lose situation really. No matter who I put in each game there's going to be someone on the bench that would have done it better. It takes a lot of micro-managing and there's a lot of criticism coming from all angles, no matter what I do," Waddicor told reporters.

A lot of critics say that GM Kantor decided to put Waddicor in the situation in order allow himself to start looking for a new field manager. Since the Hispanics haven't made the playoffs since moving from Texas to Mexico, Waddicor has yet to make himself "untouchable", and many think that putting Waddicor in this situation is the easiest way to for Kantor to bring in a new manager without a lot of Mexican media backlash.

"It's really too bad. We all really like coach in the clubhouse. He always brings in bottled water and filtered beer, two necessities when you play down here [Mexico]," said team captain Brian Roberts, one of the few offensive Hispanics that plays every day.

"He gets really stressed before every game," says veteran Mike Lowell, "he's got guys coming in his office before every game begging him for some playing time. There's only so much he can do."

"In some aspects it's a nice luxury," Waddicor told EhSPN, "I'll always know we'll have a full line up on days our opponents won't and I get to rest guys whenever they get tired, knowing I have a bench guy to take their spot. It's not going to completely do away with the possible injury bug, but it helps."

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How exactly has Waddicor fared since the start of the 2009 season? Let's go over the numbers - through week 5 of the 2009 season Tijuana starting line ups have logged just 277 more at bats than their bench players and have only scored 25 more times and batted in only 23 more runs, while actually stealing 13 LESS bases and hitting almost ten points lower.

Need more numbers? Probably not, but since I wasted my afternoon doing the research I'm going to tell you anyway - Tijuana starters score a run every 7.3 at bats to the bench players every 6.5; bat in a run every 7.7 at bats to the bench's 6.9; steal a base every 45.4 at bats to the bench's 21.9, and get a hit every 3.9 at bats to the bench's 3.8. The only area in which the starters have the bench beat is home runs, where they hit one every 32 at bats to the bench's 35.3.

If we theoretically gave the Tijuana bench players an extra 277 at bats they would have produced the following fantasy line for the Hispanics: 167/31/158/50/.263 - compared to the line the starters have put up in the same 1089 at bats: 149/34/142/24/.254

In Week 4 the Tijuana bench actually would have BEATEN the starters in total production and would have tied them in Week 1, regardless of the fact that they tallied an average of 55 less at bats each week.

Micromanaging might not be Waddicor's strong suit, but with a roster of 18 bats there's not too many that would be free of the critics and cynics.

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DL Train Slams into Bridgewater

Bridge H2O Today
By: Stevie Miller
The Weasels have been off to a rocky start in the 2009 season, but why? Some say that are just too old now, some think they are just not playing well, and others just think they suck and have always sucked. Whatever the case may be, you can't help but notice a majority of their good players are riding the pine on the DL.



The disable list is no stranger to Bridgewater. But this year it seems to hit extra hard for the Weasels. The Weasels now have 6 players on that list (8 players all together from the season opening roster) which has obviously affected the team. Coming into spring training the Weasels knew they would be without Starter Tim Hudson (Tommy John Surgery) for most of the year. Little did they know that they would be hit with a barrage of injuries. During spring training, Alex Rodriguez had a labrum tear in his hip and would have to get surgery. Bitch Tits was the anchor of the Weasels lineup and with Lance Berkman not playing the outfield anymore due to contract restrictions and Jimmy Rollins using a stick for a bat apparently, the lineup looks lost without their little juice monkey. A couple other big losses came before the season started. Ace John Lackey went down with a strained forearm and the Weasels all time saves leader Trevor Hoffman hit the DL, probably because of Alzheimer’s.

And once the season started, it did not get any better for the Weasels. Injuries plagued thru the pitching rotation. Scott Lewis and Jesse Litsch were the first to go down, and were later cut. The return of Chris Carpenter was spectacular while it lasted. Carpenter realized he was finally helping out the team so he had to change that right away. Bridgewater was actually happy to see BJ Ryan and Chien-Ming Wang to hit the DL as they were just awful when they pitched. So instead of having a pretty good rotation consisting of Lackey, Hudson, Carpenter, Wang, and Wandy Rodriguez, the Weasels were left with a pretty weak scrap heap of players off the wavier wire. When Dallas Braden and Scott Richmond are your top pitchers, you know you’re in trouble. Above that, both all-star Nate McLouth and Derrek Lee have been in and out of the lineup with injuries as well.

But the tide may be turning in Weaseland. Hoffman is now back and already producing, Arod could be back as early as next week, Lackey could be back in two weeks, and Carpenter is quitting his chewing tobacco habit. With a clean bill of health and a clean mouth, the Weasels could get back as a top power team in this league.

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