[BirdWatcher]

With the Charlotte Sting on the cusp of claiming their first MGL pennant, now seems like a good time to take a look at this franchise.

History/Overview: Until this season the highest the Sting ever finished in the MGL standings was 6th place, and that was last season. They have finished in last place twice, in 9th place three times, and 8th place once. They have the worst overall winning percentage of any team in the MGL historically, and only one SJL team- the El Paso Dawgs- has a lower winning percentage over the course of their history in the WPK than the Sting.
But now that is all changing. One reason is that the Sting have done a good job of taking advantage of their draft pick positioning. Their pitching, which is a primary reason for their success this season, features first round draft picks like Jalen Cotton (3rd overall in 1968), who is 16-7 with a 2.08 ERA, Mike Hiatt (15th overall in 1967), who is 13-12 with a 2.83 ERA and threw his second no-hitter (perfect game) this season, and now knuckleballer Lienhart Brown (1st overall in 1969), who has pitched in the bullpen most of this season and has a 4-2 win-loss record with 9 saves and an ERA of 2.85.
Their bullpen also features homegrown pitchers like Jeff Goodson (15th overall in 1966, 3-1, 2 saves, 3.48 ERA), lefty Ricky James (13th overall in 1965, 1-0, 4 saves, 2.45 ERA), Cory Glover (22nd overall in 1967, 0.96 ERA in 7 games at the WPK level this season), and Dean Olson (27th overall in 1966, 3-2, 1 save, 2.71 ERA.)
They have also leveraged other high round draft picks in trades to get valuable members of their current team, including trading Matt Helm (#6 overall in 1966) to the Brewers for Adam Getchell (#3 overall in 1966 by Pittsburgh), who is 12-10 with a 2.62 ERA this season for the Sting.
The Sting also have developed some good position players through their system- notably gold glove shortstop David Flesh (4th round pick in 1965), gold glove center fielder Bill Adams (5th round pick in 1965), and the speedy fan favorite outfielder Blake Reese (#11 overall in 1968)- who play key roles on the team.
And with the 5th best farm system in the WPK it appears that the Sting are a team built for success going forward in the foreseeable future.

The Park: The Sting play at lovely BB&T Ballpark, which plays as a good hitters park and seats up to 34,800 fans.

The Face of the Franchise: In the off-season the Sting signed free agent left fielder Cody Kane and he has had a huge positive impact on the club, becoming not only the team captain but also their most productive hitter, easily leading the team in HR's with 23 and having an OPS+ of 151. Kane had spent his entire career with the Baltimore Lords until this season and while he has never led the league in any category he has been a consistently excellent player throughout his career. At only 26 years of age he should have many great years ahead of him but the Sting will need to consider extending his contract soon as he is only signed through the 1973 season.

One to Watch for the Future: Normally this is where I would highlight the greatest former player on a team but with the Sting being a very future-oriented team now with little past success I thought it would be more appropriate to take a glance at a probable future star.
(Having said that, the Sting have had some standout players in the past, including starting pitcher Jaime Schardein, who was with the club from 1965-1967, and slugging outfielder Rigby Muckenfuss, who still leads the club in most career offensive categories after having starred for the Sting from 1965-1970.)
While the Sting have many promising prospects, the most dynamic among them, the most likely to turn into a superstar in the WPK, is 20-year old center fielder Jose Gutierrez, who was the 1st overall pick in the 1970 draft. Gutierrez looks like the next Felix Lopez- a gifted defensive outfielder (though weak armed) with the potential to lead the league in batting average while hitting a good number of extra base hits, an average number of HR's (better power than Lopez) and showing great plate discipline. And, like Lopez, Gutierrez showed be very dangerous on the base paths. He's still a few years away from the bigs but he should help to keep the Sting in contention for years to come.

In summation, after years of futility, the future looks mighty bright indeed for the Charlotte Sting.