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Catcher
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<tr class="tableizer-firstrow"><th>Catcher</th><th>Player</th><th>How Acquired</th><th>BLB Exp</th><th>Career Slash</th><th>Advantage</th></tr> <tr><td>Virginia</td><td>Rod Phillips</td><td>Rule V from CAL - 1988</td><td>3</td><td>.263 | .381 | .394</td><td> </td></tr> <tr><td>Maine</td><td>Kyoden Kubota</td><td>1.11 1981 Draft</td><td>8</td><td>.291 | .402 | .445</td><td>
Phillips has been a solid contributor to VIR since he was stolen from CAL prior to the 1988 season. He’s a very solid glove man who controls the running game of the opposition (42.7 CS%).
Kubota was injured for the last 6 weeks of the regular season, seeing action for the first time since 08/11 in the SYR series. He wasted no time once returning to the lineup, picking up 2 hits in 3 ABs in his first game back. He’s had 5 multihit games so far in the playoffs and has only been held hitless once. I’d say he’s shaken off whatever rust he might have accumulated while on the DL. Kubota is no slouch behind the dish either, nailing 33.9% of would be base thieves.
Both teams feature solid choices behind the plate, but a very slight nod goes to Kubota.
First Base
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<tr class="tableizer-firstrow"><th>1B</th><th>Player</th><th>How Acquired</th><th>BLB Exp</th><th>Career Slash</th><th>Advantage</th></tr> <tr><td>Virginia</td><td>Vincent Nino</td><td>Trade prior to '87 - CAR</td><td>13</td><td>.284 | .345 | .494</td><td>
This one goes to Virginia by default (no disrespect to Nino). Maine is experiencing significant injury problems at 1B with Jud Cobb scheduled to miss the first week of the series. Medical reports have him projected to be available come game 6 or 7 and obviously that would only be if those games are necessary AND he suffers no setbacks.
Nino is a day 1 great, future HOFer.
Second Base
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<tr class="tableizer-firstrow"><th>2B</th><th>Player</th><th>How Acquired</th><th>BLB Exp</th><th>Career Slash</th><th>Advantage</th></tr> <tr><td>Virginia</td><td>Hector Chavez</td><td>1.16 1986 Draft</td><td>R</td><td>.280 | .341 | .421</td><td> </td></tr> <tr><td>Maine</td><td>Shumkichi Kiyomizu</td><td>11.2 1985 Draft</td><td>3</td><td>.277 | .308 | .467</td><td>
This one is really close, but goes to Maine due to the experience factor. Kiyomizu backslid a bit from his unbelievable 1989 campaign, but he was still very productive with 24HR and 99RBI. He tends to be an all or nothing batter who likes to put the ball in play and he has power to spare.
Chavez (who should have the nickname “La Habichuela”) is a future superstar at the 2B position. He’s still growing into his tremendous potential, but he’s already shown an ability to compete at the BLB level in his ½ season of play this year. Impressive kid, but a slight advantage to Maine just based on experience level.
Third Base
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<tr class="tableizer-firstrow"><th>3B</th><th>Player</th><th>How Acquired</th><th>BLB Exp</th><th>Career Slash</th><th>Advantage</th></tr> <tr><td>Virginia</td><td>Yoritoki Maeda</td><td>1.6 1982 Draft</td><td>3.5</td><td>.264 | .345 | .423</td><td>
Another incredibly close call, but we’re giving the advantage to Virginia and Maeda based on the more productive 1990 season turned in by Maeda. Maeda showed real growth this year and finally became the type of hitter some expected him to be.
Hernandez had a career year (if you can say such a thing about someone with 3 year’s worth of experience) last year in 1989 and struggled to match that production this year. Still, he turned in a fine season and has shown up well on the big stage of the playoffs this year, almost single handedly defeating Denver in Game 7 of the DLCS by putting up 2’s across the box score (2 for 2, 2 R | 2 HR | 2 RBI | 2 BB).
Shortstop
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<tr class="tableizer-firstrow"><th>SS</th><th>Player</th><th>How Acquired</th><th>BLB Exp</th><th>Career Slash</th><th>Advantage</th></tr> <tr><td>Virginia</td><td>Dale O'Hegarty</td><td>Trade prior to '83 - LOS</td><td>8</td><td>.277 | .380 | .412</td><td>
O’Hegarty gets the nod here based on his ability to get on base and set the table in addition to his bonus base running ability. He wasn’t as good in ’90 as he has been in the past, but he’s still an integral part of the Colonial offense (scored 100+ runs for the 4th time in his career).
Left Field
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<tr class="tableizer-firstrow"><th>LF</th><th>Player</th><th>How Acquired</th><th>BLB Exp</th><th>Career Slash</th><th>Advantage</th></tr> <tr><td>Virginia</td><td>Evarardo Gremades</td><td>Trade during '89 - IND</td><td>12</td><td>.326 | .441 | .514</td><td>
This one actually ends up being closer than one would expect. Gremades is a no doubt, 1st ballot HOFer, but not as a LFer. He’s a little bit less than adequate defensively, but makes up for that at the plate.
McGuire can not stay healthy and on the field, but when he does he is a beast at the plate. One of the great power bats in the game today, sadly the ongoing injuries will probably begin to take a toll on his offensive skill set in the near future. His great defensive ability in the OF makes this one a closer call than it otherwise would be, but advantage Virginia.
Center Field
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<tr class="tableizer-firstrow"><th>CF</th><th>Player</th><th>How Acquired</th><th>BLB Exp</th><th>Career Slash</th><th>Advantage</th></tr> <tr><td>Virginia</td><td>Danny Nelson</td><td>2.14 1978 Draft </td><td>12</td><td>.251 | .309 | .413</td><td> </td></tr> <tr><td>Maine</td><td>Joe Iliquez</td><td>FA</td><td>13</td><td>.270 | .344 | .388</td><td>
Will Iliquez make it to the field? He suffered 7 different injuries of varying degrees throughout the season, making it into 110 games. He’s old and he’s brittle, but he can still get the job done in the field and at the plate, when healthy.
Our assumption is Danny Nelson will get a majority of the starts in CF with Florian Toselli moving over to RF. This may be the worst collection of OF defenders to make it to the Brewmaster’s in league history.
Right Field
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<tr class="tableizer-firstrow"><th>RF</th><th>Player</th><th>How Acquired</th><th>BLB Exp</th><th>Career Slash</th><th>Advantage</th></tr> <tr><td>Virginia</td><td>Florian Toselli</td><td>1.15 1984 Draft</td><td>3.25</td><td>.275 | .337 | .395</td><td> </td></tr> <tr><td>Maine</td><td>Jed Lynch</td><td>Rule V from WIL - 1988</td><td>3</td><td>.276 | .348 | .411</td><td>
In what should have been the largest positional advantage of the series, RF is now a tossup. Mr. All-World Mel Woodbury will miss the entire series with an oblique strain.
Toselli, a personal favorite of mine, has finally gotten fairly regular time the last two years and has not disappointed. A superstar by no means, but a productive BLB OFer. Asked to play CF for the majority of the ’90 season, Toselli is a defensive liability there and has only been asked to play RF in emergency type situations during his career.
Jed Lynch suffered through a midseason injury but appears to be rounding into shape during the last part of the season and the playoffs. He’s a gifted defensive OFer which is enough to sway the advantage in his favor.
Starting Rotations
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<tr class="tableizer-firstrow"><th>SP</th><th>Player</th><th>How Acquired</th><th>BLB Exp (GS)</th><th>Career Record</th><th>Career ERA</th></tr> <tr><td>Maine</td><td>Tino Suarez</td><td>1.11 1984 Draft</td><td>141</td><td>81-32</td><td>2.68</td></tr> <tr><td>Maine</td><td>Teagan Corrigan</td><td>1.13 Inaugural Draft</td><td>411</td><td>229-100</td><td>2.93</td></tr> <tr><td>Maine</td><td>Riccardo Bollati</td><td>1.24 1987 Draft</td><td>56</td><td>23-18</td><td>4.03</td></tr> <tr><td>Maine</td><td>Raulo Gutierrez</td><td>6.24 1987 Draft</td><td>8</td><td>3-1</td><td>3.83</td></tr></table>
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<tr class="tableizer-firstrow"><th>SP</th><th>Player</th><th>How Acquired</th><th>BLB Exp (GS)</th><th>Career Record</th><th>Career ERA</th></tr> <tr><td>Virginia</td><td>Pancho Herrera</td><td>1.2 1985 Draft</td><td>92</td><td>45-23</td><td>2.83</td></tr> <tr><td>Virginia</td><td>Nate Magness</td><td>1.1 1983 Draft</td><td>202</td><td>87-65</td><td>3.50</td></tr> <tr><td>Virginia</td><td>Jerry Morgan</td><td>2.22 1984 Draft</td><td>96</td><td>42-31</td><td>3.90</td></tr> <tr><td>Virginia</td><td>Jayson McQueen</td><td>2.5 1985 Draft</td><td>53 (261 games overall)</td><td>25-20</td><td>2.94</td></tr> <tr><td>Virginia</td><td>Ivan Perez</td><td>5.1 1983 Draft</td><td>26 (280 games overall)</td><td>28-11</td><td>3.26</td></tr></table>
This all depends on one man’s arm. With the uncertainty surrounding Pancho Herrera, this one’s too tough to call. If he is “Ironfist”, advantage Virginia. If he’s just another guy or performs inconsistently, advantage Maine and their Ace Tino Suarez.
I’m tired of reading, who the hell is going to win this thing!?
Beats me.
Both teams are suffering from fairly significant injuries, but the loss of Woodbury seems especially difficult to absorb since he’s the only player on the Colonial’s roster that seems capable of fielding any OF position at an above average level.
The bullpens seem to be fairly evenly matched with both ranking 4th in their respective leagues in ERA and both having capable Closers. The real key is going to be Pancho Herrera. If he provides two of his typical starts there’s a good chance VIR only needs to find a way to scratch out two additional wins in 5 games.
Virginia has Josh Poling as an extra bat to offset whatever this DH thing is whenever they play at Maine and the fact that Maine will already be struggling to fill the 1B position limits their advantage in the DH spot as well.
Then there’s history to contend with. Maine is the quintessential Champion. They have a proven track record of just getting it done. Virginia has a track record of being lost in the wilderness. Obviously that’s changing for the Colonials at this point (they may very well have met Maine for the title last season had Herrera not blown out his shoulder), but still, there is that unknown experience factor.
Then there's the Maine mystique. What if Corrigan forgets that he's over the hill and somehow replaces the huge hole of the missing Gil O'Moore? What if someone like Don McGure just goes ape-shit bananas and dominates the series?
Still, give me Virginia in 6 or 7. I think they find a way to pull this thing out and put the BLB universe on its head.
Good luck, Gentlemen!
LINK
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<tr class="tableizer-firstrow"><th>Catcher</th><th>Player</th><th>How Acquired</th><th>BLB Exp</th><th>Career Slash</th><th>Advantage</th></tr> <tr><td>Virginia</td><td>Rod Phillips</td><td>Rule V from CAL - 1988</td><td>3</td><td>.263 | .381 | .394</td><td> </td></tr> <tr><td>Maine</td><td>Kyoden Kubota</td><td>1.11 1981 Draft</td><td>8</td><td>.291 | .402 | .445</td><td>
X
</td></tr></table>Phillips has been a solid contributor to VIR since he was stolen from CAL prior to the 1988 season. He’s a very solid glove man who controls the running game of the opposition (42.7 CS%).
Kubota was injured for the last 6 weeks of the regular season, seeing action for the first time since 08/11 in the SYR series. He wasted no time once returning to the lineup, picking up 2 hits in 3 ABs in his first game back. He’s had 5 multihit games so far in the playoffs and has only been held hitless once. I’d say he’s shaken off whatever rust he might have accumulated while on the DL. Kubota is no slouch behind the dish either, nailing 33.9% of would be base thieves.
Both teams feature solid choices behind the plate, but a very slight nod goes to Kubota.
First Base
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<tr class="tableizer-firstrow"><th>1B</th><th>Player</th><th>How Acquired</th><th>BLB Exp</th><th>Career Slash</th><th>Advantage</th></tr> <tr><td>Virginia</td><td>Vincent Nino</td><td>Trade prior to '87 - CAR</td><td>13</td><td>.284 | .345 | .494</td><td>
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</td></tr> <tr><td>Maine</td><td>TBD</td><td>NA</td><td>NA</td><td>NA</td><td></td></tr></table>This one goes to Virginia by default (no disrespect to Nino). Maine is experiencing significant injury problems at 1B with Jud Cobb scheduled to miss the first week of the series. Medical reports have him projected to be available come game 6 or 7 and obviously that would only be if those games are necessary AND he suffers no setbacks.
Nino is a day 1 great, future HOFer.
Second Base
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<tr class="tableizer-firstrow"><th>2B</th><th>Player</th><th>How Acquired</th><th>BLB Exp</th><th>Career Slash</th><th>Advantage</th></tr> <tr><td>Virginia</td><td>Hector Chavez</td><td>1.16 1986 Draft</td><td>R</td><td>.280 | .341 | .421</td><td> </td></tr> <tr><td>Maine</td><td>Shumkichi Kiyomizu</td><td>11.2 1985 Draft</td><td>3</td><td>.277 | .308 | .467</td><td>
X
</td></tr></table>This one is really close, but goes to Maine due to the experience factor. Kiyomizu backslid a bit from his unbelievable 1989 campaign, but he was still very productive with 24HR and 99RBI. He tends to be an all or nothing batter who likes to put the ball in play and he has power to spare.
Chavez (who should have the nickname “La Habichuela”) is a future superstar at the 2B position. He’s still growing into his tremendous potential, but he’s already shown an ability to compete at the BLB level in his ½ season of play this year. Impressive kid, but a slight advantage to Maine just based on experience level.
Third Base
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<tr class="tableizer-firstrow"><th>3B</th><th>Player</th><th>How Acquired</th><th>BLB Exp</th><th>Career Slash</th><th>Advantage</th></tr> <tr><td>Virginia</td><td>Yoritoki Maeda</td><td>1.6 1982 Draft</td><td>3.5</td><td>.264 | .345 | .423</td><td>
X
</td></tr> <tr><td>Maine</td><td>Hector Hernandez</td><td>3.24 1985 Draft</td><td>3</td><td>.265 | .348 | .464</td><td></td></tr></table>Another incredibly close call, but we’re giving the advantage to Virginia and Maeda based on the more productive 1990 season turned in by Maeda. Maeda showed real growth this year and finally became the type of hitter some expected him to be.
Hernandez had a career year (if you can say such a thing about someone with 3 year’s worth of experience) last year in 1989 and struggled to match that production this year. Still, he turned in a fine season and has shown up well on the big stage of the playoffs this year, almost single handedly defeating Denver in Game 7 of the DLCS by putting up 2’s across the box score (2 for 2, 2 R | 2 HR | 2 RBI | 2 BB).
Shortstop
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<tr class="tableizer-firstrow"><th>SS</th><th>Player</th><th>How Acquired</th><th>BLB Exp</th><th>Career Slash</th><th>Advantage</th></tr> <tr><td>Virginia</td><td>Dale O'Hegarty</td><td>Trade prior to '83 - LOS</td><td>8</td><td>.277 | .380 | .412</td><td>
X
</td></tr> <tr><td>Maine</td><td>Clarence Evans</td><td>1.19 1983 Draft</td><td>6</td><td>.277 | .338 | .399</td><td></td></tr></table>O’Hegarty gets the nod here based on his ability to get on base and set the table in addition to his bonus base running ability. He wasn’t as good in ’90 as he has been in the past, but he’s still an integral part of the Colonial offense (scored 100+ runs for the 4th time in his career).
Left Field
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<tr class="tableizer-firstrow"><th>LF</th><th>Player</th><th>How Acquired</th><th>BLB Exp</th><th>Career Slash</th><th>Advantage</th></tr> <tr><td>Virginia</td><td>Evarardo Gremades</td><td>Trade during '89 - IND</td><td>12</td><td>.326 | .441 | .514</td><td>
X
</td></tr> <tr><td>Maine</td><td>Don McGuire</td><td>Trade prior to '87 - LOS</td><td>4</td><td>.280 | .343 | .534</td><td></td></tr></table>This one actually ends up being closer than one would expect. Gremades is a no doubt, 1st ballot HOFer, but not as a LFer. He’s a little bit less than adequate defensively, but makes up for that at the plate.
McGuire can not stay healthy and on the field, but when he does he is a beast at the plate. One of the great power bats in the game today, sadly the ongoing injuries will probably begin to take a toll on his offensive skill set in the near future. His great defensive ability in the OF makes this one a closer call than it otherwise would be, but advantage Virginia.
Center Field
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<tr class="tableizer-firstrow"><th>CF</th><th>Player</th><th>How Acquired</th><th>BLB Exp</th><th>Career Slash</th><th>Advantage</th></tr> <tr><td>Virginia</td><td>Danny Nelson</td><td>2.14 1978 Draft </td><td>12</td><td>.251 | .309 | .413</td><td> </td></tr> <tr><td>Maine</td><td>Joe Iliquez</td><td>FA</td><td>13</td><td>.270 | .344 | .388</td><td>
X
</td></tr></table>Will Iliquez make it to the field? He suffered 7 different injuries of varying degrees throughout the season, making it into 110 games. He’s old and he’s brittle, but he can still get the job done in the field and at the plate, when healthy.
Our assumption is Danny Nelson will get a majority of the starts in CF with Florian Toselli moving over to RF. This may be the worst collection of OF defenders to make it to the Brewmaster’s in league history.
Right Field
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<tr class="tableizer-firstrow"><th>RF</th><th>Player</th><th>How Acquired</th><th>BLB Exp</th><th>Career Slash</th><th>Advantage</th></tr> <tr><td>Virginia</td><td>Florian Toselli</td><td>1.15 1984 Draft</td><td>3.25</td><td>.275 | .337 | .395</td><td> </td></tr> <tr><td>Maine</td><td>Jed Lynch</td><td>Rule V from WIL - 1988</td><td>3</td><td>.276 | .348 | .411</td><td>
X
</td></tr></table>In what should have been the largest positional advantage of the series, RF is now a tossup. Mr. All-World Mel Woodbury will miss the entire series with an oblique strain.
Toselli, a personal favorite of mine, has finally gotten fairly regular time the last two years and has not disappointed. A superstar by no means, but a productive BLB OFer. Asked to play CF for the majority of the ’90 season, Toselli is a defensive liability there and has only been asked to play RF in emergency type situations during his career.
Jed Lynch suffered through a midseason injury but appears to be rounding into shape during the last part of the season and the playoffs. He’s a gifted defensive OFer which is enough to sway the advantage in his favor.
Starting Rotations
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<tr class="tableizer-firstrow"><th>SP</th><th>Player</th><th>How Acquired</th><th>BLB Exp (GS)</th><th>Career Record</th><th>Career ERA</th></tr> <tr><td>Maine</td><td>Tino Suarez</td><td>1.11 1984 Draft</td><td>141</td><td>81-32</td><td>2.68</td></tr> <tr><td>Maine</td><td>Teagan Corrigan</td><td>1.13 Inaugural Draft</td><td>411</td><td>229-100</td><td>2.93</td></tr> <tr><td>Maine</td><td>Riccardo Bollati</td><td>1.24 1987 Draft</td><td>56</td><td>23-18</td><td>4.03</td></tr> <tr><td>Maine</td><td>Raulo Gutierrez</td><td>6.24 1987 Draft</td><td>8</td><td>3-1</td><td>3.83</td></tr></table>
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<tr class="tableizer-firstrow"><th>SP</th><th>Player</th><th>How Acquired</th><th>BLB Exp (GS)</th><th>Career Record</th><th>Career ERA</th></tr> <tr><td>Virginia</td><td>Pancho Herrera</td><td>1.2 1985 Draft</td><td>92</td><td>45-23</td><td>2.83</td></tr> <tr><td>Virginia</td><td>Nate Magness</td><td>1.1 1983 Draft</td><td>202</td><td>87-65</td><td>3.50</td></tr> <tr><td>Virginia</td><td>Jerry Morgan</td><td>2.22 1984 Draft</td><td>96</td><td>42-31</td><td>3.90</td></tr> <tr><td>Virginia</td><td>Jayson McQueen</td><td>2.5 1985 Draft</td><td>53 (261 games overall)</td><td>25-20</td><td>2.94</td></tr> <tr><td>Virginia</td><td>Ivan Perez</td><td>5.1 1983 Draft</td><td>26 (280 games overall)</td><td>28-11</td><td>3.26</td></tr></table>
This all depends on one man’s arm. With the uncertainty surrounding Pancho Herrera, this one’s too tough to call. If he is “Ironfist”, advantage Virginia. If he’s just another guy or performs inconsistently, advantage Maine and their Ace Tino Suarez.
I’m tired of reading, who the hell is going to win this thing!?
Beats me.
Both teams are suffering from fairly significant injuries, but the loss of Woodbury seems especially difficult to absorb since he’s the only player on the Colonial’s roster that seems capable of fielding any OF position at an above average level.
The bullpens seem to be fairly evenly matched with both ranking 4th in their respective leagues in ERA and both having capable Closers. The real key is going to be Pancho Herrera. If he provides two of his typical starts there’s a good chance VIR only needs to find a way to scratch out two additional wins in 5 games.
Virginia has Josh Poling as an extra bat to offset whatever this DH thing is whenever they play at Maine and the fact that Maine will already be struggling to fill the 1B position limits their advantage in the DH spot as well.
Then there’s history to contend with. Maine is the quintessential Champion. They have a proven track record of just getting it done. Virginia has a track record of being lost in the wilderness. Obviously that’s changing for the Colonials at this point (they may very well have met Maine for the title last season had Herrera not blown out his shoulder), but still, there is that unknown experience factor.
Then there's the Maine mystique. What if Corrigan forgets that he's over the hill and somehow replaces the huge hole of the missing Gil O'Moore? What if someone like Don McGure just goes ape-shit bananas and dominates the series?
Still, give me Virginia in 6 or 7. I think they find a way to pull this thing out and put the BLB universe on its head.
Good luck, Gentlemen!
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