LIBERTY 74 PREVIEW: # 16: OMAHA GOLDEN SPIKES

 



OMAHA GOLDEN SPIKES 
JASON GRESSMAN  0-0
FULTON COUNTY STADIUM 

PLAYOFF RECORD 
71 West WC
72  West WC 
73   World Series Runner up 


PRESEASON RANKINGS 
15 Hitting 
13 Pitching 
  8 Defense 


ROSTER 

C   Tenace  B+
1B  Thornton C
2B   Johnson Dave B-
SS   Harrelson  C-
3B   Garrett  C+
LF   Jones Cleon B-
CF   Parker. Dave D+
RF   Staub B+
2C    Hodges  F
CR   Garrett B-
IF     Powell  C 

P    Barr B+
P    Grimsley B
P    Dierker C
P    Seaver  B+
P    Ruthven D+
P    Wallace  A
P    Forster A
P    Pena O. B-
P    Cosgrove C+
P    Upshaw  C-


Notes 

Jason Gressman takes over last year's runner up in the World Series.  The prior owner loved the New York Mets which may explain why the roster is littered with players who led the Mets to the 1973 World Series.  In any event, Gressman will have his hands full trying to maintain such high standards. 

Despite an off year, Seaver anchors the starting rotation along with a surprising contribution from Jim Barr.  Ross Grimsley is a solid #3 starter but Dierker is only average.  Wallace and Forster provide top notch relief in high leverage situations but the rest of the relief corp is average at best.   Gressman must pray his pitchers avoid the injury bug because there isn't a lot of depth on the pitching staff. 

Gene Tenace and Rusty Staub lead the hitting attack but the offense fails to impress once you look past these two hitters.  Granted, Gressman made a good trade in landing Davey Johnson but the lack of depth is glaring. 

It takes awhile for a new owner to adjust to the league auction, especially someone who is taking over an existing franchise.  Nevertheless, the 27 dollars Gressman left on the table may be the reason a lack of depth troubles this franchise. 

It will be interesting to see how Gressman rebuilds this franchise but the initial voyage will face alot of high seas. ...

PREDICTION:  4th in the South 



Comments

  1. good write up. i love how these turn out. will you be using the same format for each ballclub? with 16 teams it will take the better part of a month if you do them every other day. i look forward to the next one already!

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