Bocomo Blues       
Lou Landhuis  2 Years 174-150

Personnel History

There have been a lot of iterations of the Jammers but aside from the 1999 playoff berth, there hasn't been a lot of success. The Tides, as they were known back then, added a lot of old and not terribly mobile players, and two years later current management, John Measor, came in and cleaned house. The trades didn't leave a lot of immediate talent, and the potential has taken some time to develop.

Over the last few years, either Ken Griffey and/or Nick Johnson were injured, but in 2005 they were both available for the first time. Johnson was sent away in a massive 12 person trade, which provided quantity if not quality, as the Jammers only retained Mark Kotsay of the half dozen they received.

The 2007 version looks strong due to a confluence of Renteria, Griffey, Youkilis, Fielder, Ordonez, Young, and Peavy all maturing together. Not a matter of design as much as patience.

2006

Top half in runs scored, top half in ERA, but 3 games out of the playoffs. A strong start propelled the Blues to an early 35-20 record, which was good enough for a brief lead in the division. A 2-8 road swing through New Jersey, Rosehaven, and Mystic followed, and the Blues chased leader Kissimmee most of the season. Suddenly, in August, Kissimmee slumped and the Blues were one of four teams within a half game at the end of August. However, a disastrous sweep at Carolina meant that Bocomo would chase Seoul for the rest of the way. A 9-3 run helped, but then Dresden came to town and the Blacks swept as Blue bats fell silent. Bocomo only scored 35 runs over their last 12 games. Individually, the front three of Garland, Young, and Peavy were solid, even if their won loss record was only 38-33, and the offense featured a varied attack, even though it depended a lot on platoons that could be exploited on the road. Still, it was all good enough to repeat with a #2 overall pick.

2005

The Jammers were a mild surprise on the year, finishing above .500 for the first time since 2000. Not entirely coincidentally, it was also Ken Griffey's first good season since 2000 (34 HR/114 RBIs). However, it was the pitching that carried them; Jon Garland and Jake Peavy were terrific at the top of the rotation, combining for a 33-16 record. The Jammers threw 15 shutouts at their opponents. In early August, the Jammers led the Conference with a 66-45 record, but even then the Jammers were six games under .500 on the road.  A six game road trip to Washington and Mystic resulted in only 14 runs and no wins, and then they dropped two more at home to Dresden. They rebounded to win 6 of the last 7 in the home stand, but once again on the road they were swept at Scottsdale and Hollywood. They fell behind in the playoff race, never caught Seoul, and had to settle for the #2 overall pick. In the end, aside from Griffey, the offense just wasn't nearly good enough.

2004

The Seacrest, having moved from Exeter, got themselves to two games over at the end of June, but a 15-14 loss to Kiev on June 1 started off an 8-18 month from which they never recovered. A 9-23 run in August/early September ensured a losing record and a 5th place finish. There really wasn't any strength to the lineup. Whereas Lew Ford, Craig Wilson (35 HR, 177 K), and Hank Blalock had their uses, the were all too flawed to come through in the clutch. The pitching was disappointing as well. Big investment Jake Peavy went 8-10, 5.25, and Derek Lowe continued to slump with a  5-9, 5.87 mark. The Seacrest were weak on fundamentals, as illustrated by allowing a league high 141 stolen bases, in a year where no other team allowed more than 100. The 70 win season marks a 4 year high, but has to be looked at as a disappointment in the scheme of the rebuilding.

2003

Exeter overplatooned in 2003, with 12 players getting at least 300 player appearances. That made them quite susceptible to lefty/righty changes, and the team only managed 65 wins. The pitching was terrible, as Derek Lowe slumped from 20 wins to 11, and that still led the staff. Most of the damage was done in the first half of the season, when Exeter lost 62 of their first 92 games. A more rational approach to the platooning made for a 35-35 second half.

2002

Derek Lowe won 20 games for a team that only won 66 games overall. Needless to say, the rest of the pitching was awful. None of the other starters could manage an ERA south of 5, and aside from Uggie Urbina, the bullpen was almost as atrocious. Eric Hinske, picked 3rd in the draft, was a huge success with 36 HRs and 97 RBIs. The rest of the offense was adequate, but could never score enough runs needed to support the pitching staff, at least when Lowe wasn’t pitching. Despite a 17-13 start, the Early Birds were never a factor, and they faded well before the height of summer.