Now we really are Gambling (Halfway) 2005-6

[Fat Nige]

2nd June 2005

At the halfway mark of the season Atlantic City sit at 33-48 in third place in the division. Not a great record but six games better off than when GM Laverick took over at the exact same point. There is no quick fix for this franchise whose last winning year was 2000, you just have to keep tweaking away. If the Gamblers can improve another six games on their 2004 second half that would give them a final record of 79-83 but I think really the 75-win mark would be a great achievement and a more realistic target for the club.

From Zero to Hero : Last year Pacorro Butieprez lost his second base spot and spent the second half of 2004 scratching out AB’s in fill-in roles ending up hitting just .218. This year a strong spring saw him regain the second base starting role and over the first two months he compiled a slash line of .318/.453/.553 with 9 homers. A quadriceps strain at the back end of May put the brakes on his season but the fans recognised his fantastic start by voting him to his first ever All-Star game after five years in the MBBA.

Hits and Misses : Early successes in the first half include pitcher James Henderson who in contrast to his 13-16, 3.72 record in 2004 has gone 8-3, 2.83 in 2005. Brian Jennings is building nicely on his rookie season effort while Steve Williams after hitting .353 in 78 Triple-A games at Brooklyn has made a fine start to his rookie MBBA season hitting .284/.364/.375 in his first 26 games. Gamblers two EBA pitching recruits Jonathan O’Neill (1-2, 1, 5.72) & Louwe van der Heyden (1-3, 18, 2.17) have made solid starts, it’s just a shame the team can’t get the game to them more often.

Failures include Nick Machiavelli who lost his place in the rotation after going 1-9 with an ERA over six and had the cheek to complain he wasn’t happy and wanted to be traded to a contender! Mike Williams rated as one of Gamblers best young pitchers has again flopped, after a 7-14, 4.52 season in 2004 he has opened 2005 with a 3-10 record and a 4.15 ERA.

[LambeauLeap]

Good to see Henderson having a good year thus far. Always had potential, I just got fed up with his inconsistancy. Hopefully he's coming around.