Now we really are Gambling (2004-6)

[Fat Nige]

September 28th 2004

This last two series of the Gamblers season pointed to the opposite ends of the spectrum that their season had experienced. Montréal came to town and soundly beat the Gamblers although it did look different at the start. After taking the opening game 3-2 with a run in the bottom of the ninth the Gamblers were 6-0 up after two in the second game but conspired to lose 12-8. A heavy 8-1 beating followed while the final game was almost rescued when five runs in the bottom of the seventh brought a 7-1 scoreline back to 7-6 but only one baserunner was mustered in the last two innings.

Atlantic City finally showed their late season improvement when the Kraken rolled in for the final series of the season. Carolina had matched the Gamblers late burst and were guaranteed 3rd spot in the Atlantic Division but they were swept in the final series as Atlantic City closed to just two games back. A crazy first game saw the Gamblers outhit the Kraken 18-15 and score in every innings bar the third as the visitors were thrashed 16-9. The series settled down after that and although the Gamblers took all three remaining games they were all one-run victories with two out of the three being come-from-behind wins. The penultimate game of the season saw Atlantic City win 2-1 in the bottom of the 10th but they could have secured the win a lot sooner as star man Fredrick Simon contrived to go 0-5 stranding runners on base with each at bat.

So after two successive 3rd place finishes in the Atlantic Division the Gamblers slip to 4th abet by only two games. If Atlantic City continue their improvement they should have a far better season next year. In the games before current GM, Nigel Laverick, took over the Gamblers were 27-54 and in the rest of the season their record was 40-41. The rotation needs a compete make-over for 2005 and the farm system will not be productive for several years yet but perhaps in several years time this season will be viewed as the turning point in Atlantic City’s fortune.

Both Jared Dorsey & Herman Mitchell were claimed off waivers and did well enough to look to have a good shot at the 2005 rotation while Nick Machiavelli was slightly more convincing finishing the season in the rotation than the rest of the season as a closer issuing over 40 walks in 78 innings pitched which isn’t saying a lot.