9-News: 45.067: Walking the Plank

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9-News: 45.067: Walking the Plank

Post by RonCo » Tue Feb 02, 2021 11:01 am

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A Comparison Through the Lineups


Oct 30, 2045: YELLOW SPRINGS – The sun is setting on the season that still is 2045, and oddly the Yellow Springs Nine remains in the hunt. Yes, the team has been this far before. If history’s shadow casts its might on this year’s Monty/Landis season, one can expect that the series will be bloody and long before final, yet inevitable capitulation comes from the lads in Yellow Springs. How totally reasonable that this trip to the final games comes in a year where the league has called for a change in the post season trophy to honor their founding father only to find the hardware had already been etched with that bold “LANDIS.”

Cheap bastards can’t find it in their hearts to open their pocket books to buy a new trophy, it seems. Yet, I digress.

Edmonton, for example, stands in the way of Nine glory, just as they did a handful of years back, as they did when the Nine turned the corner to head home up three games to two with their aces on the mound, as they did when the Nine last crumbled or wilted or went feint of heart(land) and went home without the title. There are differences, of course. This team in the gold and teal is, if anything, a stronger band than the ones who last benefitted from the curse of the Nine. That team has squeaked into the post season, whereas this Jackrabbit squad has stood like a dominant redwood amid the Frontier weeds.

Let us take a peak, shall we? Let us do the deed? The side-by-side, hot-or-not thing that can wreck so much terror.


Catcher: Edmonton fields Toshikazu Noguchi, a good-hit, solid glove backstop. The Nine come with a Jesus Rodriguez/Bruce McKinley platoon. How you handicap that probably depends on how much sway you give the mystical nature of defense. Noguchi is the stronger bat by a thread, and the YS9 pair are considerably more polished behind the plate. We’ll rate the advantage as a Nine lean, but rational people can disagree.

First Base: Whereas Yellow Springs boasts Robert Chenoweth, who is about as hot as they come, the Jackrabbits counter with 5.9 WAR first baseman Carlomaria Donadoni, an exile from third base who pairs a Zimmer quality glove with a bat good for 44 homers this season. Advantage, we’re sorry to say, has to go with Edmonton.

Second Base: Edmonton’s Roberto Puente is no slouch, but even the least jaded Nine fan has to come to the idea that Dong-po Thum, who (as young as he is, and making certain assumptions) is arguably on his way to seat at the an inner-circle of the Hall of Fame, is considerably stronger. Advantage: Yellow Springs

Shortstop: Luis Pina is an outstanding little shortstop, and has favorable performance in the field, but Pepe “Bloviator” Espinosa can do it all. He’s won a Zimmer and is a pencil-in lock for 3+ WAR. The gap isn’t huge, but it’s fair to say most logical people would give the advantage to Edmonton here, but we’ll call it a slight lean.

Third Base: Steven Collins III is twenty eight and is probably 60% through making his own case for the Hall of Fame. His 4.5 WAR in 2045 is his worst season since 2039. The YS9 platoon of Blaine Tyler and Ron Ritchie are good, professional baseball players (he says with Ritchie suffering through an unhappy down year). But, yeah, this one isn’t close: Advantage Edmonton.

Left Field: Handicapping this pairing is an exercise in guessing platoon splits. YS9’s Rex Foster has been an all-or-nothing guy in the post season, posting tepid slashes to go with four key home runs. He’s the LHB platoon pair who matches with Maximo Garcia. Garcia is … um … okay. The Jackrabbit entry is one Girolamo L’Archibudelli, he of the .400 run and the steady three WAR seasons. I’m going to call this one a wash, though if Foster sees more time, it’s a Nine advantage.

Center Field: Arvin Duggan has had a career year in Yellow Springs, posting 4.1 WAR, hitting 28 homers and flashing serious glove in center. Bill Morley has also made a splash in what is essentially his true debut year, posting 3.1 WAR and looking just as reliable in the field. It’s a thin distance between them, but we’ll put Duggan ahead in the end analysis. Advantage YS9.

Right Field: Pedro Huerta plays right field for Edmonton. Need we say more? Huerta is the picture of the professional hitter, averaging a shade over 4 WAR a season since he arrived in the bigs. The Nine traded Ricardo Mendoza earlier in the year, and have been playing the combination of Sazui Kawashima and Bret Powers in right field ever since. Between the pair, they almost add up to Huerta. When you look up the term “almost” you quickly note that it does not say “does.” Advantage Edmonton.

Designated Hitter: Jose Salas is the Edmonton Designated Hitter. Need we say more? I mean, in a down year, Salas has created 3.3 WAR in a role that does not see the field. Yes, the Nine’s DH platoon of Javier Rodriguez and Mark Haynes have punchers’ chances, but in no world does any intelligent better drop Brewster Bucks on the pair matching Salas. Clear Advantage Edmonton.


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So, there we have it. On the field, we see this:

Advantage Edmonton: 4
Slight Lean Edmonton: 1
Wash: 1
Slight Lean YS9: 1
Advantage YS9: 2

Add this to whole mystical mumbo that surrounds the Nine, the historical record that suggests Edmonton is now in line to match Jacksonville for Championship round victories over the Nine, and it doesn’t look good for anyone except those fans who held the “Nine out in 6” chip of the office pool.
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