Chris Hawes (140-130) Baltimore Stadium Eastern Conference
PLAYOFF HISTORY
73 East Div loss 72 World Series loss 71 EWC loss 70 EWC loss 69 EDiv loss
RANKINGS
Hitting 16 Pitching 9 Defense 4
ROSTER
HITTERS c Fisk AA 1b Milner C- 2b Green F ss Taveras F 3b Cey C+ lf Yastrzemski AA cf Mangual D rf Jackson R. AA 2c May C+ cr Frias F of Harper D ut Milbourne D of Nettles D of Office D+ ut Crowley D+
PITCHERS
Ryan B- Tanana C Kirby C+ Norman C+ Corbin C- Lindblad C+ Hough D Montague C- Murray C- Carroll T C McEnany D Broberg F Stanhouse D
NOTES
5 playoff appearances including a trip to the World Series in 5 years is an outstanding achievement. Unfortunately, the Hop Devils are doing their best to imitate the Buffalo Bills. Sure, Hawes is a member of Bills nation so he should be used to being so close to winning the ultimate prize but just falling short. Say what you will but this franchise has an amazing track record so history indicates it is just a matter of time before the Hop Devils win their first World Series. Even more amazing is Hawes is so well liked among league owners they do not feel so bad after he shakes your hand and walks off after crushing your team :)
The offense features Carlton Fisk, Carl Yastrzemski and Reggie Jackson, all All Stars who are the basic building blocks which make up a championship team. The problem is the supporting cast is nothing to write home about. Sure, Dick Green, Frank Taveras and Angel Mangual may provide some defense and speed but not enough to make up for their sleeping bats. Tommy Harper and Milt May offer some reasonable bench strength but the rest of the bench acts like they spend all their time in the locker room eating pizza and drinking beer waiting for the call from the dugout.
Any team would be happy to have Nolan Ryan leading a pitching staff but the rest of the staff is just average at best and awful in terms of depth. Dale Murray and Montague are hard to rate given the disparity between their ERA and FIP numbers. It is reasonable to assume team defense explains the gap so the double play combo of Taveras and Green might be an important factor in how the closing duo performs in 74.
Chris Hawes always gets the best out of every players' potential so look for Hawes to reach into his bag of tricks and surprise the cynics. Nevertheless, the cynics believe this will be a rebuilding season for Flour City.
you gave Tanana a C? seriously? i think he was one of the best pitchers available in the auction! granted '74 is the worst of his coming four years in the league, but still. hmmm. then my starters are going to get raked!!
you gave Tanana a C? seriously? i think he was one of the best pitchers available in the auction! granted '74 is the worst of his coming four years in the league, but still. hmmm. then my starters are going to get raked!!
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