Bandit Post, Vol 6.2, 1996

[aaronweiner]

Hope appears to be slipping away in Dixieland, and it's not because of a lack of trying. The Birmingham Bandits suffered through a frustrating 4-5 sim, where three of the losses were to Austin, two by one run. While the Riverbats are the best team in the FL and probably the best team in the MBBA, the Bandits now stand just 5-13 against Austin this season and can put the onus directly on the Riverbats if they don't make the playoffs.

If there is any question that a serious rivalry had begun between the two teams, just ask one Medric Wood. Wood basically lost his mind in the first game of the series, and was suspended for six days after charging the mound and knocking around Matt Drews - his second such suspension this season - and simply was overcome with the team's struggles against Austin.

"I just couldn't take it anymore, the frustration just built up and I couldn't stop it," said Wood. "Yes, I know we were winning at the time and had just put up three runs, but I couldn't contain myself, because that's just how random things happen sometimes."

The Birmingham fury didn't extend to other games against other teams. The team also lost the first game against Seattle and were shut out by Montreal #1 starter Ben Rivera but didn't lose another game in the sim; however, going 4-5 over the last ten days has put a serious damper on their wild card hopes. However, because neither Calgary nor Buffalo really took control of the wild card, Birmingham finds themselves in exactly the same position as they were ten days ago: two and a half back, two in the loss column. The difference is that Birmingham now has less than 20 games to make up the difference, meaning they are running out of time.

"We have to get hot in a hurry or else we're going to be sitting at home," said manager Lou Brown. "This is our most critical stretch of games and we'll have to get it together or we're going to be sitting at home in October."


Notes

Hector Fernandez Signed, Jack Dark Contract Offer Given

Leadoff man Hector Fernandez agreed this week to a one-year contract extension for $600,000. Fernandez has been the very model of the league average player and has improved his defense at third base this season. In offering $600,000, Birmingham meets Fernandez' contract demands.

"We felt it was very reasonable for Hector to ask for this kind of money," said Bandits GM Aaron Weiner. "His contract should make sure that we remain competitive going forward."

Birmingham also had a one-year offer for Jack Dark rejected and countered by meeting his three-year demands on a heavily front-loaded contract. Reportedly, the first year of the contract is worth $7 million, while the last two years are under $4 million per season.

"We felt that while Jack Dark was a Type A free agent, we would do better to extend his contract," said Weiner. "We're not expecting to go into free agency with a big gob of money this year and will need to make sure we have as many quality players as possible."