Bandit Post 6.4, 1996

[aaronweiner]

Perhaps the Birmingham Bandits have always controlled their own destiny. Perhaps it was wrong to think that Birmingham would always lose games to Austin, that they would not find the internal fortitude to overcome the loss of ace starter Damian Bedgood or nearly a year's worth of Nick Machiavelli. But, the cheers that rained down upon the Bandits players on September 29th were especially sweet, growing louder during each run during their six-run sixth inning, reaching a fever pitch when Brett Favre hit a three-run shot. The chanting began in the eighth inning as Machiavelli came out of the ballgame after nearly eight innings of one run ball.

Let's Whack Hackensack! Let's Whack Hackensack!

Birmingham won the wild card in the last sim, capturing a crazy four-team wild card race by one game, going 8-2 in their last ten games, including a four-game sweep of Austin. Birmingham beat out three teams ahead of them on September 21, as Buffalo and Calgary lost the race by one game and Las Vegas stumbled down the stretch, finishing three games back. The fact that there was no one-game playoff with four teams in the race was shocking to nearly everyone, as the four teams were separated by one game or less.

"We knew that we had a chance to go out and grab this thing this week," said manager Lou Brown. "After we won the two against Austin we actually settled in a little and lost the series to Des Moines, and we figured we might not make it then. But the guys figured it out and swept New Orleans and now we're gonna face Hackensack. It's kind of like a dream, you know?"

At multiple points in the 1996 season, Birmingham was back in the wild card race by double digit games. Their bullpen had an ERA over five. Then, the Bandits dealt for Mike McGrevey, who sured up the gaping hole in the #5 rotation spot. They signed Abdal Tutmosa, who was huge for Birmingham down the stretch. James Randolph was recalled from AAA and was perhaps the most valuable reliever in the MBBA over the last four months. Kevin Reimer, a midseason signing, hit twelve homers off the bench. The Bandits got Nick Machiavelli back in September. Birmingham called up Doogie Howser, who hit .365 and looks like the Bandits' centerfielder of the future, possibly even next year. Recalling Buddy Reda for September was huge, too, All the moves paid off, because from August on, Birmingham had their best month of the year in September after their second-best month in August, going 35-20 over that time, the second best record in the MBBA.

"We're as good as anyone in the league," said Favre. "We just took three from Hackensack and four from Austin. We think we can play with anyone."

The Bandits will have every chance to find out, now that they're playoff bound, how good they really are. If they're any bit as good as they've been over the last two months, the league should be on notice.

Notes

King Tut A Bandit?

Birmingham has offered Adbal Tutmosa a three year deal worth reportedly $1.35 million dollars. "King Tut" was huge for Birmingham down the stretch and has lowered his contract demands dramatically from $3 million down to the reported amount. GM Aaron Weiner seemed pleased that King Tut had backed off his heavy demands.

"He's certainly someone we'd like to bring back, yeah, definitely," said Weiner. "We just weren't going to do it at $1.1 million a season."


Buddy Reda Might Get Arbitration, Machiavelli Might Be Free Agent

The Bandits were obviously going to release Buddy Reda before his 14.2 inning, two earned run outburst in September, but sources inside the Birmingham organization admit that there's now the possibility that Reda might get arbitration and Nick Machiavelli might find himself a free agent.

"We'd love to have both back, but Nick's asking us for three years and we can offer arbitration to Buddy Reda," said an anonymous source. "We'll see how it plays out."

Machiavelli was considered as a possibility because he's something of a fan favorite and because of Damian Bedgood's injury, but Reda might be a lower-cost option for a fourth or fifth starter spot. Machiavelli did pitch much better after coming off the DL.