New Jersey Patriots
Don Hirsch    9 years   681-777   1 Division

  Manager Record Post-Season G O+S HR RBI IP Wins Saves ERA (min 81 IP)
1994 Nurnberg Knights Jerry Bookter 66-96, 5th   Wallach  161 Wallach  .761 Wallach  21 Wallach  92 Alvarez  236 Alvarez  14 Wohlers/ W.Williams 7 Hamilton  3.12
1995 Nurnberg Knights Jerry Bookter 65-97, 5th   L.Johnson  136 Wallach  .825 Sorrento  34 Sorrento  83 Hamilton  219 Hamilton  12 Wohlers  29 Wohlers  2.74
1996 Nurnberg Knights Jerry Bookter 64-98, 5th   L.Johnson  161 Gwynn  .837 Sandberg  28 Sandberg  82 Leiter  187 Rogers  10 Parrett  16 Rogers  3.03
1997 Nurnberg Knights Jerry Bookter 57-105, 5th   Cora/Stocker 158 Segui  .854 Segui  22 Segui  75 Reed  222 Reed  10 T.Jones  21 Quantrill  3.34
1998 New Jersey Patriots Don Hirsch 79-83, 3rd   T.Clark  162 A.Jones  .807 A.Jones  30 A.Jones  100 B.Anderson 209 B.Anderson 13 Olson  23 Morgan 3.20
1999 New Jersey Patriots Don Hirsch 71-91, 5th   A.Jones/ R.Ordonez 162 Glaus  .846 Glaus  34 Glaus/T.Clark90 Heredia  220 Heredia  14 Foulke  38 Foulke  1.82
2000 New Jersey Patriots Don Hirsch 98-64, 1st lost DC A.Jones  162 Glaus 1.122 Glaus  47 Glaus  148 Heredia  189 Eldred/Foulke/ Heredia 11 Foulke 24 Foulke 2.63
2001 New Jersey Patriots Don Hirsch 73-89, 6th   A.Jones  162 Glaus  .827 Glaus  34 Glaus  106 Helling  203 Helling/Haynes9 Rivera  29 Foulke  2.09
2002 New Jersey Patriots Don Hirsch 72-90, 5th   Glaus 160 Kennedy  .836 A.Jones  27 A.Jones  85 Jennings  192 Haynes  11 Rivera  30 Foulke  1.98
2003 New Jersey Patriots Don Hirsch 64-98, 5th   Thome  162 Thome  .889 Thome  38 A.Jones  108 V.Zambrano 202 V.Zambrano 10 Rivera  26 Sturtze  3.28
2004 New Jersey Patriots Don Hirsch 69-93, 6th   Jones, A.  162 Thome  .954 Thome  44 Thome  114 Jennings  210 Milton  10 Rivera  28 Otsuka  2.99
2005 New Jersey Patriots Don Hirsch 67-95, 5th   Br.Clark  159 Glaus  .916 Glaus  43 Glaus  105 Mulder  215 Mulder/ Blanton 13 Rivera  35 Wang  4.03
2006 New Jersey Patriots Don Hirsch 88-74, 2nd   Cabrera 156 Thome 1.007 Thome 37 Hunter/Glaus 109 Wang 224 Wang 16 Rivera 38 Rivera 2.06

 

  2005 Signings 2006 Signings 2007 Signings
1b Thome Thome Thome
2b Polanco Polanco Polanco
3b Glaus Glaus Glaus
ss Guzman Cabrera Cabrera
lf B.Clark   Duncan
cf A.Jones Hunter Hunter
rf V.Diaz   Cuddyer
c   Y.Molina, Doumit Y.Molina
ut      
sp Blanton, Milton, Jer.Williams, Blanton, Milton, Wang Blanton, Wang, Mulder
cl Rivera Rivera, C.Cordero Rivera
rp R.Wagner    

Personnel History

Up until 2006, the all-time record for wins in a season by a Patriot pitcher is 14, which says volumes on the teams problem. The lifetime leader in wins is Keith Foulke, a reliever who won 31 games in 1999-2002. The Patriots have alternated between signing bad starters or not many at all, and this has created panic in the draft which has resulted in a some bad teams in the mid-naughties.

The panic to fix the pitching staff also caused significant deterioration to the offense. Before 2004, the only offensive player to be drafted in the top 100 overall in the last three years was Vance Wilson. In the past two years, Moises Alou and Andruw Jones were traded for Joe Blanton and Mark Mulder, which Patriot fans hope will be the end of Foulke's title. That said, it was a mid-level pick that finally broke the 14 barrier, and that enabled the Patriots to refocus on the offense, where 2006 first round pick Michael Cuddyer proved a solid addition.

2006

Thome was back, and the Patriots finally had a pitcher win more than 14 games. Thome was one of four Patriots to crack 30 HRs (Torii Hunter, Mike Cuddyer, and Troy Glaus, too) and Chien-Ming Wang won 16. And Mariano Rivera xeroxed off another fine year. Aside from that the supporting cast was pretty mixed but the core was enough to amass 88 wins and a 2nd place finish. The Patriots, who had a home losing record over the prior few years, finally turned things around at Comerica. However, that home touch deserted them in early September, where they faced cellar dwelling New Orleans down only one game to Mystic. Alas, the Pats were outscored 22-7 in the series and weren't a factor again.

2005

With Jim Thome dropping from 44 HRs and 114 RBIs to 5 and 15, and Andruw Jones being traded for Mark Mulder, the offense started and ended with Troy Glaus. Even worse was the pitching, 12th in the 13 team conference. Blanton, Mulder, and Wang were decent, and Chad Cordero and Mariano Rivera very good from the back end of the rotation, but the rest were terrible. Kirk Saarloos lost 21 games with a 7 ERA.  As such, the Patriots were never much of a factor. They were 18-20 in mid-May, but then lost 16 of 17 and never remotely threatened .500 again. The team fell two games short of their 2004 total and has failed to break 70 wins in three years.

2004

Last in batting, and next to last in runs scored in the conference, it was a long year in New Jersey. The pitching was more middle of the pack, though none of the starters could post a winning record. Mariano Rivera led the team in saves for the 4th straight year, though he slumped to a 1-8 W-L record. Offensively, Jim Thome and Andrew Jones combined for 76 homers, but nobody else had more than 14. The Patriots started well, and were 30-20 towards the end of May.  Though the schedule toughened, the Patriots were still 6 over on 3 September. Fall was not kind to the Patriots, as they lost 20 of 28 sending them sub-.500 for the 4th straight year.

2003

Offense continues to be a problem in New Jersey, as the team posted a league low .234 batting averages. Slightly better power production, particularly from Thome and Andrew Jones,  brought the runs scored up to 21st in the league. But there were far too many at bats invested in Christian Guzman and Shane Spencer for this to be a serious contender. The starting staff was as bad as usual, though the bullpen was as strong as usual. On August 12, largely due to some weak opposition, the Patriots ran off 8 in a row to get within 13 under, but then won 11 of their final 45 to fade towards the bottom.

2002

The offense, which fell off the table in 2001, failed to rebound, and in some cases continued to decline. Troy Glaus went from bad to worse (O+S from 1.122 to .822 to .668), and Christian Guzman (.785 to .724 to .620) and Darren Erstad (.888 to .680 to .631) followed suit. Only Andruw Jones maintained moderate production, and even his batting average slumped to .230. But that wasn’t even the real problem that needed fixing. Shellshocked in 2001, the Patriots stretched too far and signed too many mediocre starting pitchers. Haynes, Helling, and Jimmy Anderson were serviceable, but the Patriots wound up signing 16 and only having 1 pick in the first 100. The team started strong, and at one time sported a 29-16 record. But reality caught up and the Patriots went only 43-74 over the latter half of the season.