Can a 102-win team properly be called a team in transition? It's an interesting question which Rockville will be forced to address, very soon. The Pikemen led the Johnson League in wins this year, but their #1 offense was surprisingly squashed in the Doubleday and they exited the playoffs quietly in six games to the Edmonton Jackrabbits.
"We can't believe how that went," said right fielder Julio Barajas, who followed up a regular season where he won the Puckett in right field and finished seventh in the Sawyer Silk voting by hitting .095 in six games with a .279 OPS. "We're still dizzy from that."
The Pikemen scored just twelve runs in the six-game series, an astonishing total since they finished half a run ahead of every other Johnson League team offensively this year, scoring 5.5 runs per game. Barajas' complete power outage was one of the main causes, but fellow superstar Daniel Pepper had a .625 OPS and only Wilson Alomar hit especially well.
"The pitching staff did their job," said Barajas. "I didn't do mine."
Soon after the Game 6 loss, manager Duane Whitley announced his retirement from baseball. Whitley, a Hall of Fame first baseman, was a successful manager in Rockville, guiding the team to one pennant and making the playoffs in every season. However, it has been rumored that Whitley, a noted taskmaster disciplinarian, may have been forced out of his job by management.
"We were behind Mr. Whitley 100%," said superstar reliever Danny Leach. "He and Billy Chapel have been the best thing that ever happened to me."
More drama: big midseason acquisition Adergazoz Ouakili was massacred by the Jackrabbits, posting a 10.80 ERA and losing two of the four games. Teammates were quick to back him up, however.
"Addie hadn't pitched in two months," said Arthur Dempster, who lost the other two games in the series, completely blown up in Game 4 and the hard-luck loser of a 1-0 final in Game 1. "We're looking forward to seeing what he can do when he starts the year with us, stays healthy, and pitches like the amazing player we know he is."
Still, this is the seventh straight season Rockville has gone without a title, and their window may be closing. Dan Cannon retired this year, going out with an All-Star appearance and 16 wins to add to his Hall of Fame total, and Dave Martin is likely to be a free agent after this year. Daniel Pepper and Bing-de Zhao will be getting huge arbitration salaries this year, and a lot of people are getting big raises this year.
"We'll do our best to stay competitive, the way we always do," said Rockville GM Aaron Weiner. "We've got a long tradition of excellence and we don't want to give it up now."
Sticking Points 2045.1: Rockville Wins 102 Games, Bounced in Doubleday
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Sticking Points 2045.1: Rockville Wins 102 Games, Bounced in Doubleday
Post by aaronweiner » Sat Nov 14, 2020 4:49 pm
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