2062-2 Calgary's Slipper Finally Breaks

[indiansfan]

Calgary's Slipper Finally Breaks

Calgary's Cinderella season has come to an abrupt end. The first blow was when the team lost the Frontier Division crown on the final day of the regular season to Las Vegas, after leading the division since the All Star break. The final blow was a 3-2 loss to Charm City in the first round of the playoffs.

This was supposed to be a rebuilding year for the Pioneers. After finishing 74-88 and a payroll that was set to exceed the salary cap changes needed to be made. The team traded away perennial All Star catcher Sam Butler and starting second baseman Bill Irvine. Hall of Famer Larry Stinson retired. Carlomaria Donadoni was no longer going to be a full time starter. Starting pitchers Leon Ludeman and Daniel Thornton had departed at the end of the 2061 season. 2062 was going to be a year to give the young guys a chance and if the team finished above .500 it would be a miracle.

Apparently nobody gave these new guys the message. Rookie Bulent Kazaz moved into Irvine's job at 2B. Musical chairs moved LF Jeff Sawyers into a DH platoon and RF Michael Little to 1B. Resurrection Santos moved from CF to RF giving speedster Justin Vaive his spot in the middle of the outfield. Rusty Harmon finally got his shot to start in LF. Jose Cervantes shocked many when he won the starting SS gig in Spring Training. So half the field was filled with rookies, Vaive, Kazaz, Harmon and Cervantes.

The team made one major signing before the season started by adding SP Edmond Thomas to the rotation. Ironically he would be the least reliable of the starting pitchers. The team really only had 2 veteran starting pitchers with Thomas and Sinsui Hasegawa. Two more rotation spots were filled by swingman Nalany Ahotaein and Bob English, who only had 7 starts before in his career. Victor Evans started as the #5 guy but was eventually replaced by Rich Tidwell. Here was a guy that last pitched in the BBA in 2058.

This was the team that Calgary put on the field for 2062. Mostly journeymen and prospects with a couple of stars, but certainly not playoff material. What happened? Well a complete reversal of their 74-88 record, exactly, as the team went 88-74. Losing the Frontier on the last day of the season, but still good enough to make the playoffs.

Calgary led JL in hits and stolen bases. Yes, Calgary led the league in stolen bases and finished last in HR. Calgary? The team finished 2nd in runs scored and batting average. The cobbled together pitching staff finished 3rd in ERA after a miserable 2061 and the team scored 119 more runs than they gave up.

Vaive led the JL with 84 SB. Harmon stole 33 and Kazaz 30, giving the team the top 3 rookies in the category. Harmon's 47 doubles topped all rookies. Kazaz had an all around good rookie year and Cervantes' 15.3 ZR was 5th in the JL among SS. On the pitching side English led the JL with 17 wins, one ahead of Ahotaein.

So much for rebuilding