SIM COMPLETE - 1996 - SIM 21

[Jimmy]

4-2 week against 2 tough opponents! With Morris out, I really thought this was the week the Ale put us in our place. Our pitching was ready for them though. Curt Warren had another great outing, his third in a row. Ivan Gallo refused to let our starters hang, converting 4 saves this week. As far as hitting goes, Kel Brown and J.R. Travis are going nuts right now. Next week will be huge, with matchups against Los Lunas and Mississppi.

[Jistic]

Wow. Way to just give up Bats.

It's not even worth putting up the broom anymore.

[Clay]

Dear Davenport - Please win the IL Wildcard. I've decided that I want Batavia and Carolina to beat the crap out of eachother in Round 1 before I might see either one. Please do not blow it and let Morgantown sneak in thus screwing up my matchup.

That is all.

Love,
Virginia

[Matt]

4-2

Imagine if I actually had a healthy pitching staff. When the plans to blow up the team didn't pan out at least we turned it around and blew past those upstart Bulldogs so they didn't get too confident and actually win the division. I guess it's not over until it's over but I think we can hold on for our 3rd straight Porter crown.

Time to play a bunch of AAA guys and try and get healthy.

[Jistic]

One positive this year has been the development of young SP Dewitt Pierce. He captured his first pitcher of the month award in August. Former top 100 guy who had a devastating injury has started showing signs of shaking it off. Even if he'll never be an ace our hope is that he has mid rotation potential. Aquired from the Dinos a few years ago in the Kel Brown trade we saw this as about his ceiling. Let's hope he stays here or exceeds our expectations.

[liquidcrash]

We'd be first in any division but the Ale and Stout because we'd be playing a much weaker schedule.

If you say so.

But, I'm not going to feel sorry for anyone who has a good team and misses the playoffs. I invented that.

[liquidcrash]

Carolina Tobs: 4-2 this week
82-47 overall, 1st in Bock

2-1 at Virginia
2-1 at Wilmington

Good week. Any series win against the Colonial juggernaut is a good one. Given that we won a game that Herrera pitched (though we didn't give him the L), I'm really pleased with that. I could have done without Yamauchi hitting yet another 9th inning HR off me in game 3, or we could have gotten a sweep there. As it is, we took 2 of 3 and finished the season series against Virginia at 6-6. Of course, that means absolutely nothing if we get to play them in the postseason.

Against Wilmington, we took the first two in solid fashion, before losing a 5-4 game in the finale. I'd have loved to have gotten the sweep, but all we really need to do is to keep playing well.

The Good

-The lineup. We scored 59 runs this week and scored at least 11 in three of the games. I thought we would score runs before the season, and for the most part we have.

-Al Hamilton. He's good. He hit .357 this week and homered in four straight games, including all 3 against Virginia. He drove in 10 runs this week.

I don't have the splits from last season, but this past month may have been the best of his career so far, with a line of .373/.472/.627 with 8 HRs and 27 RBI. He also hit 8 homers and drove in 27 in July. Hamilton has really grown into his power this season.

-Ivan Vazquez kept up his strong play. He won his 14th game of the year against the Wildcats.

The Bad

-We lost two one-run games. My bullpen doesn't have too bad of numbers as a whole, but it's annoying to see the number of late leads that we've let slip away.

-Ismael Reyes is back on a cold streak after his monstrous couple of weeks to start August. He still drove in 7 runs, but that's only because we put so many guys on base for him.

The Ugly

-We lost Jose Guzman for 4 weeks with a herniated disc. He has been great as our leadoff man, so this is a big loss. Luckily we have the expanded rosters to fill the void and he'll be back in time for the playoffs.

Up Next:

-Our road trip is over, and we come home for 3 against Windy City followed by a four game series versus the Brawlers. I would love to see another strong week to get our magic number down.

[Delandis]

4-2

Imagine if I actually had a healthy pitching staff. When the plans to blow up the team didn't pan out at least we turned it around and blew past those upstart Bulldogs so they didn't get too confident and actually win the division. I guess it's not over until it's over but I think we can hold on for our 3rd straight Porter crown.

Time to play a bunch of AAA guys and try and get healthy.

This may be the first year that I root against the Muckducks.

In other news, I think cutting Kraft and Grady killed my team chemistry. But its all good. We are a better team when '97 rolls around.

[Matt]

I was giving you props!

You were the young, scrappy team that if they got going would play beyond their ability and win it all. It was a movie-esque plot line. Lucky for us our old vets stepped up to the plate though and gave us some breathing room.

[Spear]

Dear Davenport - Please win the IL Wildcard. I've decided that I want Batavia and Carolina to beat the crap out of eachother in Round 1 before I might see either one. Please do not blow it and let Morgantown sneak in thus screwing up my matchup.

That is all.

Love,
Virginia

Not to mention you have a nice record against us in the playoffs.

I'm hoping we can hang on but I'm not so sure with some of the recent injuries that we've had. Our next SIM will be interesting as we have to face both the Bandits and Tobs on the road.

[Clay]

Not to mention you have a nice record against us in the playoffs.

I'm hoping we can hang on but I'm not so sure with some of the recent injuries that we've had. Our next SIM will be interesting as we have to face both the Bandits and Tobs on the road.

I didn't factor that in, but that doesn't hurt my feelings.

September is an interesting run. Really bad teams and really good teams who clinch both have a tendency to give AAA guys extra run. That, in theory, gives the guys still in WC contention a chance to win a few extra games.

I want you to win to force the BAT/CAR battle, but I don't want to see "Beast" in Round 1 either. That's the type of guy who can win a series on his own.

[Gyrodork]

2 - 4 and my bullpen is on the fritz. 4 at the Dino's this coming week. This would be a good time to turn things around, boys.

Los Lunas GM update: Got home from the hospital today and I am now the proud owner of a brand new 1.25" stent in my Left Anterior Descending coronary artery. I feel fine until I take my 5 blood pressure and anti-platelet medications. Welcome to 50-ish, boys!

[Jistic]

Stop it scaring me! But seriously hope you're ok.

[Ryan]

Los Lunas GM update: Got home from the hospital today and I am now the proud owner of a brand new 1.25" stent in my Left Anterior Descending coronary artery. I feel fine until I take my 5 blood pressure and anti-platelet medications. Welcome to 50-ish, boys!

Cripes man, what happened?

[Carlos]

Los Lunas GM update: Got home from the hospital today and I am now the proud owner of a brand new 1.25" stent in my Left Anterior Descending coronary artery. I feel fine until I take my 5 blood pressure and anti-platelet medications. Welcome to 50-ish, boys!

Sounds fun...