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1904 Brooklyn Superbas
LAST YEAR: 77-64 1 GB (LOST IN TIEBREAKER), 2nd / .303 / 3.59
BNN PREDICTION: 71-83 20 GB, 7th / .255 / 2.71
FARM SYSTEM: 2nd
BEST PROSPECT: P Mike Lynch (8th)
PAYROLL: 9th, $25,466
HIGHEST PAID PLAYER: OF Mike Shannon, $1,800
CASH BALANCE: $186,959
GAINS: P Ray Francis (trade); P Duane Pillette (traded)
LOSSES: P Ed Hughes (trade)
There’s usually only ever one of two ways a playing group responds to the disappointment of throwing away a shot at glory the way the Superbas did in 1903: either they are hardened by the experience and redouble their efforts to make amends, or they fold like an accordion under the influence of a heavy-handed instrumentalist. Which of these will befall the Brooklynites this season? The experts fear it will be the latter; me, I’m not so sure.
It certainly seems the management have no concerns about the talent of the squad and its ability to compete, with Brooklyn being almost completely absent from the off-season market. And that’s fair enough—it’s a good squad. A dearth of big names is offset by a raft of dependable everyday guys who’ll get the job done more often than not, such as OF combination Mike Shannon, Patsy Dougherty and Delino DeShields, 2B Jim Gantner and catcher Ellie Rodriguez. And the rotation has been bolstered to a certain degree by the one offseason acquisition of note, Duane Pillette, although he’ll need to be much better than he has been in previous years at this level. Hopefully a full year at Bridgeport will have had some effect in that respect. Mike Lynch projects to be a gun, and both Rube Manning – who led the NL with 25 wins last year – and Ben Cantwell are reliable types who are his perfect foils.
But when all is said and done, the 1904 Footnote League season will be more about the hearts and minds of those wearing Superbas uniforms than about their arms and eyes and legs. And that makes their fortunes this year nigh on impossible to predict with any confidence whatsoever. If they can put 1903 in their collective rear-vision mirror then I see no reason why they can’t finish way higher than others are foreseeing. If not, then those in the know may just be right.
PLAYERS TO WATCH: P Mike Lynch; OF Patsy Dougherty
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