Quote:
Originally Posted by ajsas01
Any shot for the LaGrange Sports next year? Seems like they were a VERY distant 3rd...
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The Sports are playing in one of the strongest divisions in the IPA. So a third-place finish (80-74) was pretty good, though 13.5 games off the pace. Manager Foxy Jimison's has one major problem - poor pitching. LaGrange has a poor 4.26 team ERA (22nd). Jay-Jay DeJarnette is the ace with a 16-14 mark and a 3.83 ERA. It's hard to win when your pitchers give up so many runs. Jimison's other main starters are Denny Kristensen (20-16 4.53) and Phil Bijeaux (14-16 4.22). Fortunately the Sports still have some quality hitters, but they really fell off from 2008's great season when they won the RU North pennant.
Last year LaGrange hit a record-setting .292 (1st) as a team. This year it dipped drastically to .275 (6th), which is still quite potent. C Otto Kronvath (.270/29/106), LF Quincy Peterson (.301/24/98), SS Bill Nilsen (.274/25/85) can still put some runs on the scoreboard. CF Karl Perret (.315/12/69/106) and 2B Doug Scoville (.288/19/54/85) are solid bats, too. It may be age catching up with the Sports. All it would take is just one or two solid pitchers to shore up the team. A good starter and a good closer could get them right back at the top of the division with Far Mountain and Ancona.
I'll let you know if they pick up any good free agents in the off-season or preseason.