All-Decade Team: First base

First base, in theory, should be one of the easiest positions for a Frontier League team to fill with a quality player. After all, it's one of the toughest positions for a young player to advance through the minor league system. There are so many quality first basemen in the majors (except in Pittsburgh) that many good prospects never make it to the big leagues or they eventually get switched to other positions.

There also are many college first basemen who are excellent hitters but don't have the defensive skills necessary to become a prospect. These guys often get shuffled to the independent leagues.

The Wild Things, as expected, have had some quality first basemen in their first 10 seasons but by no means has it been a position of strength each year (see 2011).

Finding a starting first baseman for the All-Decade team wasn't easy. Two players (Andy Hudak and Nathan Messner) played two seasons here and had similar results. Each put up big numbers in their first years, only to have the batting average dip by at least 55 points in the second go-around.

One of the things I had forgotten about Washington first basemen before I began researching the numbers was just how good of a base stealer Zach Cates (2003) was for a big guy. Cates, a power hitter, swiped 20 bases. He had a big first half of the season but tailed off considerably in the second half, batting only .170 in August.

From a numbers standpoint, the best season (at least part of one) for a Washington first baseman was by Ernie Banks in 2009 when he hit .343 with 19 home runs, both highs for the position. However, Banks was suspended by the team during the season and eventually traded after he played in only 54 games. Banks returned in 2011, but his bat had slowed considerably. He hit only .207 and was traded.

So who is the all-decade first baseman? I'll have to go with a guy who spent only one season in Washington, but it was a very consistent and highly productive campaign by the the best defensive first baseman to play for the Wild Things: Bill Greenwell (pictured).

Greenwell played for Washington in 2004 and put up good numbers, batting .293 with 15 doubles, 13 home runs and 72 RBI. The latter number is the record for Washington first basemen and was third-best total in the league in 2004.

Greenwell led the Frontier League in RBI in 2003 while playing for Mid-Missouri, then was acquired during spring training by Washington in steal of a trade for pitchers Jason Elkins and Brian Dorsey. Greenwell's most memorable game with the Wild Things, oddly enough, had to be the first time he wasn't in the starting lineup. That August night he sang the national anthem prior to the game, then came off the bench to hit a walkoff home run to beat Chillicothe.

All-Decade First Baseman: Bill Greenwell (2004)

Former Wild Thing named coach at Massillon

Here's a story about former Wild Things relief pitcher Ryan Hartzell, who has been named head baseball coach at Massillon High School in Ohio. Though more famous for its football program, the Tigers have a strong baseball tradition.

On a side note, current Waynesburg University football coach Rick Shepas was the head coach at Massillon when the documentary "Go Tigers" was filmed and can still be seen from time to time on television.

Hartzell played for the Wild Things in 2004 and pitched in 18 games out of the bullpen.

What I remember most about Hartzell was that he was signed out of the Wild Things' tryout after having a successful career at Ashland University. Washington knew it would sign Hartzell before the camp even began, as long as he did reasonably well at the tryout. When it was time for Hartzell to throw, a hard-driving rain began. You could see sheets of rain moving from the first-base line across the pitcher's mound to left field. Hartzell, however, kept pitching. They never did stop because of the rain.

Read the story here.

All-Decade Team

The 2012 schedule has been released, the new manager has been hired and the Frontier League's two new teams have been revealed. It seems the next season of Wild Things baseball is just around the corner.

Before we think too far ahead, let's spend some time looking back on Washington's 10 seasons in the Frontier League. A good place to start is with an all-decade team.

I've been mulling who should and shouldn't be on the all-decade team and what format such a list should take. I've decided on a 24-player team, though I'm not sure if it will have 10 or 11 pitchers.

When doing an all-decade team, one thing that is always tough to weight is years of service to the club. Is a player who spent two or three years in Washington with inconsistent results more deserving of being on the all-decade team than a player who spent one very good season with the Wild Things? And how do you factor in guys who were signed by major league affiliates after a half season or less with the Wild Things? They were obviously very good with Washington, but do they deserve to be on the all-decade team if they were here for only four weeks?

Any thoughts from the loyal blog readers?

Later this week I'll begin posting my all-decade team, one position at a time. We'll begin with the starting position players. First up will be first base.

New manager hired

Chris Bando, a former major league catcher and coach, has been hired as the Wild Things' manager for the 2012 season.

Bando becomes the sixth manager in the Frontier League team's 11-year history. He follows Darin Everson, who was not retained after two seasons.

A nine-year (1981-89) veteran of the major leagues as a player, Bando was catcher for the Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers and Oakland Athletics. He played in 498 major league games, with his best season being 1984 when he hit 12 home runs and drove in 41 runs for Cleveland.

Bando also has major-league coaching experience as he spent three years on the staff of the Milwaukee Brewers, including two as the team's third-base coach.

The 55-year-old Bando also brings managerial experience to Washington. He spent six years as a manager in the Brewers' system, including three at Class AAA. Bando even was the winning manager in the Class AAA All-Star game. At one point, Bando was named the No. 2 managerial prospect in Class AAA by major league general managers. The guy at No. 1? It was Terry Francona.

Bando also was a manager at Class AA Akron and short-season Class A Mahonning Valley in the Indians' system.

Bando's only experience as an independent league manager was in 2007 with the Aiken (S.C.) Foxhounds of the South Coast League, which lasted only the one season. One of Bando's pitchers in Aiken was Wild Things pitching coach Mark Dewey.

The new manager is currently the athletic director and head baseball coach at San Diego Christian College.

Bando is the younger brother of Sal Bando, who played in three World Series in the 1970s as a third baseman for the Oakland Athletics.

Talkin' schedule, alignment

The Frontier League's 2012 is out, and it shows two news teams, two seven-team divisions, six teams switching divisions and some interesting road trips for the Wild Things.

The two new teams are Schaumburg (Ill.) and London (Ontario). Both ownership groups were approved in August, though London originally had plans to play in the Detroit area but was rebuffed by Clawson, Mich. Schaumburg will play in the West Division and London in the East.

Moving to the West Division will be Windy City, Rockford and defending league champion Joliet. Going from the West Division to the East will be Florence, Evansville and Southern Illinois. Florence and Evansville have previously been in the East. This will be the first time Southern Illinois won't be playing with the St. Louis-area teams.

The alignment is basically the Chicago and St. Louis teams in the West Division, and everybody else in the East.

The Wild Things open the season Friday, May 18 at Evansville. The home opener will be Tuesday, May 22 against Gateway.

Washington will play 42 games against teams from the West -- one home and one road series against each team. There will be an unbalanced schedule against East foes. The Wild Things will play four series each against Florence, Lake Erie and London. They will play only two series against Evansville, Southern Illinois and Traverse City.

One thing that has plagued the Wild Things during their current run of nonplayoff years is poor starts to the season. In 2012, the Wild Things will need to win a lot of games on the road to avoid another bad start. There is a stretch in June in which the Wild Things play nine consecutive road games, each against division opponents. Twelve of Washington's first 15 division games will be played away from Consol Energy Park.

The Wild Things also have a tough stretch that begins July 31 during which they make two trips to St. Louis. Each series in St. Louis is followed by a home game without a travel day in between.