The Brewster

It would have been easy to say that the Mad Popes were going to be lucky to make the playoffs. Most prognosticators thought that the championship window would have closed and that Mad Popes GM Ben Heuring would have to begin thinking about if it was time to have a rethink if 2064 had been another disaster of a year relative to expectations. But a funny thing happened, and the Mad Popes are currently leading Vancouver by a game. The pitching has continued to be sparkling, while some of Heuring's beloved power game has meant that the Popes are better able to compete offensively. With the trade deadline starting to get closer, Vancouver has already made a statement of intent by getting Eduardo Moreno over from Charlotte, and Bob Anderson brings his experience and a point to prove as well after things didn't work out for him over in Charlotte.

For Heuring, he has some salary cap space to work with and finances aren't a problem. Odds are that he is going to focus on improving his offense as a counter to what Vancouver is doing. When he spoke to the media before the Mad Pope's home game against Nashville, the GM was excited about what could happen. "I am happy that our guys are leading the division, but understand that leading by one game in late July won't clinch us anything or give us a banner to raise. While I won't talk about anything concrete today, we are of course always open to making this team as great as we can be. What that is going to be remains to be seen. Rest assured, we are going to do our best to get the Pacific title back and get back into the playoffs. And my vow when I took this job still is my goal on the road to a title."