2041.7: Bravehearts

[lordtoffee]

No, the Hammers are not all suddenly Scottish warriors and having Mel Gibson give amazing speeches before fighting against the English. What has changed is that the Hammers have been making a valiant run at the wild card, and sit only a game behind the Cedars in the playoff hunt. This is astonishing since it looked like rookie GM Ben Heuring was going to be run out of town and sent back to Shoreview Area Youth Baseball. But like the job former Hammers GM Mike Simon has been doing in the BBA for Madison, Heuring has found a way to keep his team in the playoff hunt despite a revolving door at SS and a pitching corps that has struggled with scoring runs.

What has been very critical to the success of the Hammers has been the effectiveness of closer Brian Soper
after a rough stretch of games that saw Heuring go with a closer by committee approach earlier in the summer. Soper has responded and has been locking down close games, and has looked good in interleague play. He is the type of player that UMEBA has been showing off. Soper was originally in the BBA and had the reputation of a journeyman pitcher that was solid, but not spectacular. He's found his role with regular playing time in the UMEBA, and has built on his struggles in order to become a champion and one of the best UMEBA closers in the short history of the league. That is not an indictment against the Long Beach Surfers, Hunstville Phantoms, and Yellow Springs 9 at all. All three organizations are well-run, and they have pitchers in their systems that are just as capable. Soper was guy that made a move to another league and it worked out great.

Can the Hammers keep this up? Well, they are facing the Impalers, a team that is looking to clinch a division title, and can start planning for the playoffs in earnest. The critical thing is that there are 6 games left between the Hammers and Beriut, and the Hammers get to play at home in the last week of the regular season. There is still plenty of ball left, and it should be a fun run to the playoffs.