The end is near
The end might come this weekend in Florence, Ky. It might not happen until Labor Day back home at Consol Energy Park. It doesn't matter where or when it happens. It's only a matter of time until the 2008 Wild Things officially reach the end of the line.
Forget that the Wild Things still have a mathematical chance to make the Frontier League playoffs. Forget that there are still six games left in the regular season. Forget all that stuff. The Wild Things' season ended Thursday when they were swept in a doubleheader by the East Division champion Kalamazoo Kings on a rainy, dreary night.
For the record, the magic number for the Wild Things' elimination is 3. Any combination of Washington losses or Rockford wins equaling 3 eliminates the Wild Things from the playoff race.
But let's face it, Washington has been out of the playoff race for a couple of weeks. Sheer mathematics has kept the Wild Things in contention but their play has eliminated them. The Wild Things are 9-17 in August with three of the wins coming over the lowly Midwest Sliders.
The Wild Things had a chance to make the playoffs. A real good chance, in fact. They began August six games above .500. But given a chance to push forward and into the postseason, the Wild Things dropped the ball. And that's not a reference to the poor defense from the corner outfield spots.
Washington has lost to good teams and bad teams this month. It was swept by Evansville, the last-place team in the West. That's the same Evansville team that was swept this week by Rockford, which has earned its way into the final wild-card spot by winning. Washington lost four of six games at home to Kalamazoo, and it took a miracle just to win one of those games.
Those who saw the games against Kalamazoo and the three at home against playoff-bound Windy City this month had to come away with one impression: the Wild Things aren't a playoff-caliber team. The hitters for Kalamazoo and Windy City can crush the baseball. Washington has a middling lineup. Kalamazoo and Windy City are deeper than Washington. The Kings also have a better bullpen and better defense.
Unless another baseball miracle happens, there will be no playoff baseball in Washington for the first time in the Wild Things' existence. Heck, there might not even be a winning record.
So what happened? What went wrong? What must be done in the offseason to prevent another season like this one? On this blog, I'll give my opinions and try to answer these questions. I'll also let the players and coaches answer them.
But, to put it in baseball terms, I'll be in the on-deck circle for a few days. Your name has been penciled onto the lineup card ahead of mine. You're the leadoff hitter. It's time to step to the plate. You get the first shot at analyzing what went right and what went wrong this season. You can offer your plan for making improvements for 2009.
"Now batting..."
posted by Chris Dugan at
8:03 PM
12 Comments:
We cut or traded two of our best players...Matt and Robbie
We played Hosington for two months even though he was a mediocre fielder and .140 hittter ahead of Tim Alberts who was at the time hitting above .400.
Phil Butch does a lot of things good, but it took 50 games into the season for Jelks to play the better Carrera over his "favorite player".
We tried to sacrifice bunt what seemed to be about a thousand times everytime we got Sidick on first. Usually Grandstrand was batting behind Chris and is not an accomplished bunter. He usually fouled off two, then was forced to swing at less desirable pitches later in the count. It would have been more effective to have worked with Chris on his base stealing. Brett would have finished the season at about .330 hitting behind a moving runner.
Quit buying those cheap bats the explode evertime someone makes solid contact.
The bullpen sucked until the last two weeks. Maybe a new bullpen / pitching coach is in order. Sometimes I think the mound in our bullpen must be a different height because our relievers can't seem to be "on" with the first one or two batters they face.
It would be interesting to see if the Manager showed more energy, maybe it would rub off on the players??? That granpap-like walking to the mound, then the long delay before signaling for the reliever is just sooo bush league. Does he think he is getting T.V. time ? Which makes me wonder, why didn't Fox televise any games this year?
Maybe if Difabio wouldn't play music every second between every play, the players could hear the fans cheering them on after a hit or good play. Come to think of it, maybe the players are as bored with the breaking glass and damaged roofs as the fans are.
Anyhoo...I have confidence that Ross will bounce back next season with a playoff caliber team.
Maybe Chris Carter is ready for a Manager position...I started that rumor one Friday night, and by Sunday I was hearing it all over the park. Maybe Ledbetter for pitching coach???
This has been a strange year.
Bad
1.Ross was dealing with personal matters and made a lot of trips east. Unfortunately the relative died. This was the least talented team is 7 years. It shows there is no back up to him.
2. More injuries than any other season and it knocked out the catching crew.
3. The manager was not selected until January or February not providing very little imput to players being signed.
4. Pitching coach was not picked until just before spring training began.
5. Manager and coaches had never worked together as a team and it showed.
6. With Slippery Rock out of the picture, Washington only had one team closer than 4 hours, Chillicothe. This made for long bus trips and not well rested players.
7. With the longest road trips in the league, made it harder to sign quality players. Riding a bus gets old. Riding a bus longer than 7 hours get old quicker. Only Florence and Cillicothe were shorter than 7 hour trips. They spent more time riding the bus than actual playing time on the road.
8. The bullpen was terrible all season. As a prime example tonight, 3 wild pitches in the bottom of the 9th.
9. This year, there were 3 good teams, Kalamazoo, Windy City, and Southern Illinios. The Sliders being a traveling team never had a chance. The other 8 teams, including Washington, were average teams and with one or two different players, any of the them could have made the playoffs.
Good
1. Jacob Dempsey, Brett Grandstrand, and Chris Sidick were probably the only position players at season end who would have been starting position players and the majority of teams.
2. Starting pitching was consistant.
Recommendation for the future.
1. The Wild Things should purchase the ballpark. Baseball Scholarships does not have money to make improvements such as outfield drainage. And as renters, why should the Wild Things make improvements. This would also put the ballpark back on the tax roles.
Not bearing on the Wild Things season.
1. Mr. Diafabio did not make them miss the playoffs.
2. The Nazi ushers had no influence on their performance.
3. Greg Jelks wasn't the reason for the performance this season. Neither Jeff Isom, or John Maz would have made a difference in a game or two either way.
4. As hard as it is for me to admit, the $3.00 parking had no influence on the talent of the team this year. However, it may have affected attendence.
PS
1. How much did they charge for parking at the McCain-Palin ralley today?
2. Did McCain thank Leo Trich for having the park built for the Republican ralley today? Shame on Leo calling him John McSame in the letter to the editor.
"So John McSame - enjoy your short visit to Washington, Pa. To Barack Obama, please move in at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. in the other Washington as soon as possible."
Leo Trich Jr.
So, WT fans we FINALLY once and for all find out what kind of a person Leo Trich is. Good Ol’ Joe Biden, Good Ol’ Rendell, Good Ol’ Tim Solobay, are the real McSames! Stealing a pay raise from the taxpayers in the middle of the night is the sort of folks Mr. Trish thinks are good for the country. Who does he think is going to pay for all this crap Obama proposes, Standard Oil? Yeah right!
So now perhaps we all know why BSI is so screwed up.. No wonder there is a hefty fee for parking at CEP.
Perhaps we should put a luxury tax on both the parking fee AND the tickets to watch the WT. I’m sure Leo would just LOVE that!. He’s just another damn politician.
Thriftyone is right on this one for sure. SHAME ON LEO TRICH, JR!!!
Yawn.
Finally, somebody mentions the lousy pitching coach. Isn't he responsible for the lousy bullpen? His relievers can't even throw an intentional walk without firing it over the catcher's head.
“SHAME ON LEO TRICH, JR!!!”
You smoka’ the rope – you become a dope!
So, Leo’s a dope. Bet he smiled in Mr. McCain’s face though. He is also the reason we have to pay 3 bucks for parking every time we go to a game. Leo knows best – just ask him! Probably wants to see Jelks back next year too.
Are the WT out of it now?
Okay Chris, we have waited several days. What is your version of what went wrong in 2008.
You are now batting 8th, in the 8th inning, and we are using the pitcher instead of the designated hitter which makes the manager more important in the game.
Trading Knapp for Raber made no sense to me.The sudden departures of Sutton & Hiesel(sources tell me they broke team rules and got suspended).The team not being able to play at least .500 ball on the road.The inability of upper management to get the bullpen help the the team needed prior to the trade deadline. These are some of the issues that haunted the Things this year.
To thriftyone: I plan to write a season wrapup column for Wednesday's edition of the O-R. Might add some information on the blog.
To melc6970: You bring up some good points, though Heisel was not suspended. He was released because of ineffective pitching and a cranky elbow.
perhaps, tonight, the Wild Things can do something they have never done before---win the last game of the year!!!
"perhaps, tonight, the Wild Things can do something they have never done before---win the last game of the year!!!"
OR NOT!
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