Byline: Max Offen Sichtlich
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Good Team Offers Good Baseball ... Kind of
August 24, 2055
The Philipsburg Saints took two of their last three games against league-champion from the Cayman Islands, then loaded up their jammies and toothpaste and went home for the summer. It had been a solid enough year for the team. Pretty much steady-Eddie all the way to a 40-36 season despite anything that looked like a star player on the roster.
Sure, RF Rob Mardment dropped a .362/.449/.508 slash that would draw attention most places, but no one is calling the 23-year-old a real prospect just yet. Serafino Maffi might draw a quick glance in centerfield. The kid can run, and the .313/.392/.490 slash looked gooe. But he’s got holes, you know? And the scouts, well, they don’t like holes.
Third baseman Dough McKay is interesting if you squint at him. He did a bit over a WAR, so that’s good. Likewise, 20-year-old Cam Lee seems to have a few skills. At least he pretty much always made a little contact. But no one looked at him and jumped to the idea he needed to be in Hollywood just yet.
It’s fair to note that the team did pass a few guys up the chain this year. So that’s good on them. Senzo Sato and Daniel Kenner may well wind up in Sacramento together sometime. We shall see. They are more wonders of the leather than of the lumber, though. Akeem Joffer had a stint on the island, but really, does 10 at bats count? No. I don’t think so.
The story’s the same on the hill.
Lots of good Short A ball players banded together to play pretty good Short A baseball. Sure, Kuniyoshi Suzuki might be a star if he can ever stop hitting the bull, and 20-year-old Leonard Shelton and his 22 saves seems like he might be a piece of quartzite ready to be shined into a diamond substitute.
But …
Let’s just say there was more “almost interesting” to this team than “you gotta see these guys.” The 2055 Philipsburg Saints were a fun watch of workaday baseball players trying to make their way. They won some games. Which is fine, right? If you’re a fan of baseball, anyway.