Bandit Post, Vol 4.2, 1996

[aaronweiner]

A six-game split that included a series win over Buffalo and a series loss against Atlantic City brought more of the same for Birmingham. Two of the losses were by one run, and the other was by two runs; yet two of the wins were by TEN runs. This means that in three wins and three losses, Birmingham was outscored by four runs in three losses and outscored outscored their opponents by TWENTY FIVE runs in three wins.

"Oh my gosh, we need to win a few of the close ones," said manager Lou Brown. "I don't think I've ever seen such an unlucky team in all my life."

Birmingham now has a preposterous 8-17 record in one run games, and while the bullpen is in no small part the culprit, the team has lowered their bullpen ERA dramatically since the start of the season and should at this point be winning some of the close ones. Mopup man Kyle Claiborne is the last remaining member of the Birmingham bullpen with an ERA above six, and even Claiborne has been unscored upon in his last four and eight of his last ten appearances. If the league was going off just Pythagorean records, Birmingham would not only be leading the wild card by a game and a half but would be just five games in back of Austin, not eleven.

"We don't really understand why we're under .500 at this point, but we're still fighting the good fight," said All-Star Sammy Bodeen, who despite a 2.69 ERA this season saw his record fall to 6-6. "I mean, I feel like I should have ten wins by now, and I'm at .500 this year."

Even though the Bandits have been able to solve their bullpen issues, at least for now, there are still worries that the team won't be able to make up enough ground in the second half to catch up in the wild card race, since the Bandits are currently six and a half games back of Calgary. However, they're entering the easiest stretch of their schedule this season: their first four series are against last-place New Orleans, last-place Des Moines team, last place Montreal and last place Long Beach.

"If we don't make up ground here it might be the end of our season, so we're really hoping to have a big, big run here," said manager Brown. "There's nothing more we'd like than to come out of this fourteen-game stretch with nine or ten wins."


Notes:

Suarez Back in Majors

Carlos Suarezhas been promoted back to the major leagues. Suarez, who fell off the table during the offseason despite leading the team in batting last year with a .310 average, will have a shot to rejoin the team as a bench player.

"I'm glad to be back in the major leagues," said Suarez. "I hope I can help the team and get some good pinch hits."

Suarez was hitting .323 at AAA Monroe at the time of his callup. The team will carry just eleven pitchers for the time being.


Willie Greene Batting Cleanup, Jack Dark #5

Second baseman Willie Greene has been moved to the cleanup position to try and take advantage of his higher on-base percentage, and Jack Dark, second on the team in OBP, has been moved to the #5 spot.

Cleanup hitter Brett Favre, currently leading the Frick in RBI, has been moved to the #6 spot in the order, not as a punishment, but in the belief that Favre will have a better opportunity to drive in runs with four players with on-base percentages at or above .350 ahead of him.

"I'm pretty excited to be hitting in front of yet more good hitters," said Favre. "Yes, I liked the opportunity to hit in the first inning, but I love the idea of coming up with the bases loaded with the opportunity to drive in some extra runs."

Greene has a .359 OBP against righthanded pitching, while Dark's .380 OBP ranks in the top fifteen in the Frick League.

[cramsey51]

Well running up the score in this game was completely unnecessary. 11 runs in the 15th inning?!?!? Probably 3 or so would have gotten the job done, in hindsight you only needed a single run as my offense left the building after the 7th inning.

[aaronweiner]

Nah, you just ran into the revitalized, rejuvenated Birmingham pen!

I was wondering how my bullpen ERA dropped so precipitiously...

Aaron

[lynchy34]

I'm pretty confident Lou Brown didn't say gosh.