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Mystic
Sea Horses
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Personnel History The core was here a long, long time. Barry Bonds, Frank Thomas, Javy Lopez, Mike Mussina, and Gary Sheffield were all here between 1996 and 2003... and failed to win even one playoff series. At times there has been a pileup of players in the outfield (Bonds platooned one year) and catcher (Javy Lopez had two seasons with less than 200 AB), There has been headway. Getting Ben Sheets for Pierzynski (though A.J. cost them Roy Halladay) was a super stroke, and getting Glavine, even late in his career, filled a hole. In 2004/5 Randy Winn was brought in to provide defense in center, while Jhonny Peralta was sent away for Eric Chavez to bring defense and stability to the hot corner. Until 2007 the team has signed liberally, which has cost depth as well as creating a random nature to the back of the pitching staff. In 2007 the core is around 6 solid starters (concentrically around Pujols) but the aging pitching staff is springing leaks. it doesn't look too unlike 90's Rosehaven but the Sea Horses have not even had a fraction of that success. |
2006 Powered by a league leading 59 home wins, the Sea Horses finished first in the division despite a 34-47 road record. It was a comfortable 5 game margin over New Jersey, who had only came within a couple of games once, in late August. Albert Pujols was the MVP with an outlandish .321/63/160 line. But the fact that he picked up 29 of the team's 43 intentional walks meant he wasn't dealing with much protection. Gary Sheffield was essentially out all season and Eric Chavez was benched for much of the year in favor of David Bell. There were some decent performances by the DP combo of Young and Roberts, while 1st round pick Kenji Johjima, had a nice season as well. The pitching was always a problem, but Glavine's and Mussina's veteran presences won 34 games between them. In the playoffs, Pujols went 0-18 against Cambridge and the Sea Horses were a quick 4 game exit in the first round, the fifth time in six years the team has been shown the door early. 2005 The Sea Horses outscored their opponents by 327 runs, more than anyone in the league, but were only 4th in the division. The playoffs were a foregone conclusion by the all-star break, with only Texas giving a brief and mild challenge in the second half of the season. However, the division title was lost in July when the Sea Horses had a 2-8 road swing through Scottsdale, Cambridge and Nashua. The Sea Horses had no problems at home, winning 64 and losing 17, losing only one series - - to Cambridge, their first round playoff opponent. Albert Pujols nearly won the triple crown, going .352/49/155, but the middle number was a few taters short of A-Rod. The supporting cast was good as well. Sheffield had 35 HRs and 130 RBI; Eric Chavez and Randy Winn each drove in 100; and Michael Young and Brian Roberts each scored more than 120. The solid but not spectacular pitching staff benefited from all of this offense, but nobody won more than 14 games. Derrick Turnbow had a 33 Sv, 1.6 ERA from the closer position. 2004 The Sea Horses fought an impressive battle for the division title, which they lost late in the season to Hollywood, and then fought another battle against Dresden for the seeded wild card spot, which they hung on and won. While it was largely due to a 63 win home season, it enabled them to avoid Nashua in the first round of the playoffs and squeak through in a seven game series against the Heat. The showdown against Nashua was a rout. Once again, the core of the offense was Albert Pujols (.317/40/120), but he was ably assisted by Garry Sheffield and Javy Lopez. The top 4 in the rotation, led by Ben Sheets in taking the mantle from Mike Mussina, went 61-31, but the bullpen was always a bit of a mess. 2003 Pocono was 57-49 at the end of July, but then went 38-18 over the last two months to gain a playoff berth for the third straight year. And, like the previous two years, they were a quick exit in the playoffs, though they did give eventual World Series champion Antioch a good run in a 7 game series. The team makeup was the same as last year, with Bonds, Sheffield, Thomas, Lopez and Green spearheading a top of the charts offense. The pitching was again mediocre, and the bullpen was again subpar. Again, missed opportunity prevented the Wings from going further. Trading Barry Bonds for Luis Pujols was a view that will probably have benefits in the future, but sending away Kenny Lofton for a draft pick left Shawn Green to flail away in center field. 2002 With Barry Bonds and Shawn Green combining for 109 homers, offense wasn’t a problem for the Wings. The pitching was relatively pedestrian, finishing in the middle of the pack in all categories. While the front three of Mussina, Glavine, and Wakefield all contributed with good years, the back end of the staff was quite weak. After a .500 start over the first 46 games, the Wings coasted easily into a playoff spot. However, the Wings were unable to touch Sycamore in the playoffs and provided an early exit. They managed only 3 runs and only once in 4 games were they able to score before the 9th inning. |
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