Blowing in the Wind 2054.6: Jacksonville Hanging In Wild Card Race, Trades for Donald Miller

[aaronweiner]

Perhaps it was our last entry that sparked the team, and perhaps it was just overdue for a team with as much talent as the Jacksonville Hurricanes have, but right now, it does not appear that the Hurricanes will finish with 90 losses this season. Jacksonville went 19-8 in August to pull back within two and a half games of the final wild card despite still being below .500 on the season.

"We knew we were better than this, and seeing a veteran like Orlando Lopez traded away put a little bit of a fire under us," said outfielder Dane Licht, who had his best month of the season in August. "We went all out last month."

To try to help them ward off a collapse, the Hurricanes traded for struggling star Donald Miller to try and spark the offense. So far, so bad: Miller went 2 for 18 with his new team, though one of the hits was the slugger's 15th homer of the season.

"If we're contending there's a lot of justification for adding a veteran," said Jacksonville manager Khayyat bin Luqman. "We're hoping Donald can help us sure up the middle of our order down the stretch."

With the rest of their division struggling, the Hurricanes have the easiest schedule in the Johnson League by the numbers, and may be fortunate that they get playoff-bound Montreal on the last series of the year. However, looks can be deceiving.

"We're 6-7 against Charlotte, 5-8 against Brooklyn, and 6-8 against Rockville," said Hurricanes GM Aaron Weiner. "That's not a promise of anything, unless we play better in those games."

The Hurricanes are 67-71 on the year, so they would have to lose 19 of their last 24 games to finish with 90 losses on the season; unless the team utterly collapses this is unlikely. This was a sincere concern for a franchise that hadn't hit the 90 loss mark in over a decade, but it appears that the team is on the right track, finally.

"We needed a kick in the ass," said Licht. "This is a much more promising season now."