Long Beach Press-Telegram - Out of the Second Division!!!

[jcrmoon42]

Yes, that's right, Folks. For the first time since 1996, the Surfers have won fewer than 71 games. In fact, they finished at exactly .500 and were in the Wild Card race until the last couple of sims. This is also the first time since 1998 that they haven't lost at least 102 games. The fans really responded to their success with nearly 2.9 million attending Surfers games, a higher total than even their 1995 playoff team and nearly 2 million more than last season. They also have both the lowest payroll and the most cash in the league. On top of those positive figures, the club still has the best minor league system in baseball in spite of having brought several top prospects up this season, removing them from Baseball America's list. Let's see what went right this season:

Offense

Catcher Luis Manuel Barrera led the team in OPS at .840 thanks to a strong platoon with a relatively new catcher, Carlos Tabares, who had been slugging as a 1B/DH in the minors before the team decided to try him behind the plate. He performed acceptably well and is likely to continue, especially given the fact that he absolutely crushed the baseball this year to a 1.146 OPS in short duty after his callup.

Al Jones took a step up in his sophomore season, and although his .803 OPS was lower than the team hoped, his ratings are finally starting to fill out, and it looks like his breakout hitting in August and September might be what the club can look forward to for the entirety of 2005.

Ted Sale may not be what he once was, but he's still the leader and anchor of this team. In his 20th season, all with the Surfers, Big Ted hit 27 homers and drove in 84. On top of that, the 37 year old still looks like he has a good bat to offer and is on the doorstep of 500 homers and 3000 hits.

Chandler Orm and James Dicus were stellar at short and second, respectively, helping the team's young pitching staff to feel confident. On top of that, they both had OPS above .750.

CF Juan Heredia was hurt for a good part of the season, but when he was in he ate up ground in the outfield and continued his offensive development, particularly in the Eye department. Only 24 years old, he still has a lot of room to grow and is already awfully good.

Rookie Richard Wilcox hit extremely well with a .906 OPS in limited action and has shown that he belongs in the big leagues after being brought over from Louisville in the Kevin Norman deal.

Bill "Homicide" Carver, with only 45 minor league games under his belt after being drafted in the first round last year, spent a good portion of the year in the bigs, particularly in a platoon against lefties. The club gave him quite a bit of action against righties as well in hopes that it would help his development, and he is rounding out nicely, even though his all around numbers don't say so.

PITCHING

It took former #1 selection Roo Schmidt longer to make it to the bigs than we would have liked, but the 26 year old rookie made it worth the wait. His stuff and control are still developing, and scouts believe his sinker will keep improving. Still, he put up a 15-8 record and a 2.93 ERA, good for second in the league.

Veteran Nelson Williams has been up and down for years, but something woke him up this season. In 15 starts, he went 9-4 with a 2.76 ERA. The improvement seems to have been fueled largely by an improvement in the movement on his pitches. With a very high 75% groundball rate, he only gave up 3 homers in 101 innings.

Chris Malone was awesome, putting up 36 saves, the second most in team history. The 26 year old All Star also signed a 4 year extension with Long Beach.

Third year man Zach Brown finally broke the 10 win barrier but is still a sore luck loser as he only managed a 10-15 record in spite of a 3.94 ERA. He's now 22-44 for his career. However, he made huge strides this year and is still developing at only age 24. He's developing into a nice, middle of the rotation starter.

The team's pitching as a whole was a great strength, partially aided by a spectacular defensive squad with huge range throughout the outfield and up the middle of the infield. The starters had the 2nd best ERA in the league, and the relievers were 4th. They gave up the fewest hits and homers in the league but still need to work on getting the walks down. That is the last thing to develop for some of the young pitchers, and when it does, watch out.

[recte44]

I anticipate my window is no more than 2 more years, before Jason has a dynasty on his hands.

[jcrmoon42]

I anticipate my window is no more than 2 more years, before Jason has a dynasty on his hands.

I sure hope you are right. If so, the foundation of that success will have been built on a whole lot of suffering.