Hitting in the clutch

There was an interesting quote from Lake Erie manager John Massarelli in a recent article in the Chronicle-Telegram that supported our statistic about Lake Erie's lack of quality starts. Massarelli told the newspaper "You look at the records of the starting pitchers for the four teams in the playoffs and compare them to ours, ours were a lot worse. We lost a lot of games before the fifth inning this year. A lot of them, we were down by five or six. When you give up big innings early, that hurts."

So how did Lake Erie stay in the playoff race until the final weekend if its starting pitchers produced the second-lowest number of quality starts?

The answer is the Crushers might have been the best team at hitting in clutch situations and coming from behind. Lake Erie led the league with 13 last at-bat wins. That means the Crushers scored the winning run in either the bottom of the eighth inning, the ninth inning or extra innings (change the numbers for seven-inning games) more than any other team. This statistic counts not only walk-off wins, but any victory in which a team produced the winning run in its final inning of batting.

Most Last At-Bat Wins
13 - Lake Erie
12 - Evansville
11 - Florence
11 - River City
11 - Schaumburg
 9 - Traverse City
 8 - Gateway
 8 - Washington
 7 - Rockford
 6 - Joliet
 6 - Windy City
 5 - Normal
 4 - London
 4 - Southern Illinois
 1 - Road Warriors

How good were your firemen?

The Southern Illinois Miners won their first Frontier League championship Sunday night by defeating the Florence Freedom, 4-3 in 12 innings, at Rent One Park. The Miners won the best-of-five series, 3-1.

One reason for the Miners' success was their bullpen. No team in the Frontier League had fewer blown saves than Southern Illinois, and late-season acquisitions Brandon Cunniff (River City), Nick Cicio (Washington) and Steve Grife (Washington) were so reliable that the Miners' opponents were forced to forge a lead before the seventh inning or the game was essentially over.

That Florence was in the championship series was an impressive accomplishment when you consider that the Freedom tied for the league lead in blown saves, going almost wire-to-wire atop the list. Florence gave up six runs in the top of the ninth inning of a July 24 game against Lake Erie and lost 8-7. That loss might have been the turning point in Florence's season. From that point on, the Freedom's bullpen starting protecting leads and was a key to Florence's late-season charge to the postseason, going from fourth place in the East Division to a second-place finish and the top wild-card spot.

Washington's bullpen had 11 blown saves, which was three off the team record. The 11 blown saves came from eight different pitchers. No reliever had more than two blown saves. Washington was 2-9 in games when they had a blown save.

2012 Blown Saves
16 - Florence
16 - Joliet
12 - Rockford
11 - Washington
10 - London
10 - Normal
10 - Traverse City
 9 - Evansville
 9 - Gateway
 9 - Schaumburg
 8 - Lake Erie
 8 - Windy City
 7 - River City
 6 - Southern Illinois
 4 - Road Warriors

Former Wild Things make impact in Game 1

The Southern Illinois Miners have three former Wild Things -- relief pitchers Nick Cicio and Steve Grife, and catcher Chris Anderson -- on their roster. Each played a big role in the Miners' 5-3 victory Wednesday night over Florence in Game 1 of the Frontier League championship series.

Anderson, who began the season as Washington's starting catcher but was released after beginning the year 0-for-13, hit a two-run homer that gave Southern Illinois a 3-1 lead in the third inning. Anderson was signed by the Miners in early August and hit .274 with one home run down the stretch in the regular season.

Cicio and Grife were acquired from Washington in an August trade for outfielder Darian Sandford and pitcher Anthony Collazo. Cicio pitched and Grife combined for 1 1/3 perfect innings of relief and two strikeouts in Game 1.

Since joining Southern Illinois, Cicio and Grife have given the Miners superb pitching in setup roles. They have pitched 30 2/3 innings (regular season and playoffs), allowing only 11 hits, four runs and six walks with 38 strikeouts.

Quality numbers

If there is one aspect of the game that the Wild Things have become known for during their 11 seasons, then it has to be good pitching. With the exception of 2009 (and maybe 2008), the Wild Things have been one of the best teams in the Frontier League when it comes to pitching, especially the starting rotation.

Washington has won two team ERA titles, and in 2011 set the league record with 57 quality starts (at least six innings pitched and no more than three earned runs allowed). This year, Washington didn't quite match last season's performance on the mound, but the Wild Things' starting rotation performed better than the team's final record would indicate.

Washington finished fifth in the league in ERA at 3.73, which was only .11 higher than last year's league-leading average. The Wild Things also were one of only four teams that gave up fewer than 400 runs. The Wild Things also finished third in the league in quality starts.

Chris Smith had 13 quality starts to lead the staff. Only Justin Hall last year and Aaron Ledbetter in 2007 had more quality starts in a season than Smith's 13.

2012 Quality Starts
52 - Schaumburg
51 - Evansville
50 - Washington
49 - Windy City
48 - Southern Illinois
46 - Traverse City
44 - Florence
44 - Gateway
43 - Joliet
40 - Normal
40 - River City
33 - London
32 - Lake Erie
31 - Rockford
  7 - Road Warriors

A look back

Every baseball season is memorable for multiple reasons. Wins or losses. Comebacks. Players. Plays. Games. The following are a few of the things that would make it on a Wild Things 2012 Highlights/Lowlights video:

* Starting with the most recent ... Andrew Heck becomes only second player in Wild Things history to play all nine positions in a game, doing so in the regular-season finale against Schaumburg. Heck does not commit an error and pitches two-thirds of an inning, allowing one run (unearned) with a strikeout.

* The Wild Things' bus broke down near Columbus, Ohio, during a trip from Lake Erie to Florence, Ky. It ended up being a 7-hour delay until a new bus arrived.

* Washington released outfielder James Simmons, who was signed in the offseason and had Class AAA experience, only five games into the season. Simmons later signed with the Bridgeport Bluefish of the Atlantic League, where he is hitting .284 with 11 home runs and had Bridgeport's only hit off Roger Clemens during the future Hall of Famer's comeback game.

* There was the night the lights went out in Washington. During a July 17 game against Evansville, the majority of the lights at Consol Energy Park are knocked out and the game is suspended because of insufficient illumination. It was completed the next morning.

* During a series at Windy City, and following a game against the ThunderBolts, the Wild Things' bus does not go directly back to the hotel, instead going to the airport to allow the team to pick up a new player. This is a first in franchise history, and it had to leave more than one player who was already on the bus wondering if he was about to be released to make room for the new guy. An uncomfortable situation to say the least.

* In Washington's first 10 seasons, only once did a player steal four bases in a game. After being acquired Aug. 1 in a trade with South Illinois, outfielder Darian Sandford stole four bases in a game twice for Washington. In 30 games with the Wild Things, Sandford stole 26 bases, but also was thrown out 16 times. Sandford led the Frontier League with 71 stolen bases.

* Prior to a game against Rockford in early July, pitching coach Tim Ferguson "resigns." It's the second time in 11 seasons that Washington's pitching coach resigned before the season reached the all-star break.

* The most bizarre event of the year happened after a July 24 home game against the London Rippers. Earlier in the evening, the Frontier League announced the Rippers would be suspending operations at 12:01 a.m. that night. The league did not prevent London from making trades. After the game, Washington manager Chris Bando and hitting coach Jim Tatum, along with two front office representatives, stood outside the Rippers' clubhouse and tried to broker trades for London players. They managed to get four players to agree to join the Wild Things in exchange for four players who would be assigned to the traveling Road Warriors.

* During an August series at West Division champion Gateway, the Wild Things went 14 consecutive innings without a hit.

* After having four players signed by affiliated teams last year, the Wild Things had only one this season, relief pitcher Nate Striz, who had his contract purchased by the Boston Red Sox. Striz ended the year as the closer for Boston's affiliate in the Class A South Atlantic League.

* In a series at Southern Illinois, Washington starts a game with pitcher Orlando Santos as the designated hitter. And he doesn't bat in the No. 9 spot.He bats cleanup.

* Washington signed two players, infielder Anthony Long and catcher Cody Coffman, had them on the active roster for three games, did not put them in a game and then released them. The Wild Things also drafted outfielder Michael Miller in the first round at the league tryout. Miller made the regular-season roster but was traded after five games and not getting an at-bat.

* The Wild Things had a fixation with the independent Pecos League. They either signed or drafted eight players from the Pecos. There were three pitchers, and only one made the team. He was released after appearing in only eight games. Of the five hitters signed, only two were on the team in the regular season, one did not register an at-bat and the other went 4-for-29 before being released.

* Washington tied the record for its longest game, playing a 17-inning contest at home Aug. 4 against Lake Erie. The Wild Things overcame 23 strikeouts by Lake Erie pitchers to win 2-1.

Slammers slammed?

Word has it that an announcement will be made Thursday about the future of the Joliet Slammers. Could it be that the team will be sold?

One managerial opening

The Normal CornBelters, who finished in last place in the West Division with a 29-67 record that included only one win in the last 14 games, have fired manager Chad Parker after only one season.

Parker previously managed in the Frontier League with the River City Rascals.

“Square peg in a round hole. It wasn’t the right fit. It just didn’t work out,” Parker told the Bloomington (Ill.) Pantagraph. “I wish them the best of luck, and I’ll move on to a place that fits me better.”

The CornBelters have been in the Frontier League for three years and are still without a winning season. Normal hosted the Frontier League all-star game this year.

“Our owners expect a winning team – a team that is highly competitive on the field,” Normal president Steve Malliet said. ”We took a step backward on the field (this season).”

Playoffs set

Southern Illinois clinched the final wild card playoff spot Sunday by defeating Lake Erie in the second game of a day-night doubleheader. The Miners, who are in the playoffs for the fourth time and trying for their first series victory, will begin the playoffs Wednesday at East Division champion Traverse City.

Two teams that made late-season playoff pushes will meet in the other series. West Division champion Gateway will host Florence, which finished in second place in the East. Florence is in the playoffs for the first time in the franchise's 10-year history.

Windy City and Schaumburg each missed the playoffs by two games. The Boomers led the West Division for the majority of the season. Lake Erie fell 2 1/2 game shy of the postseason.

Of the four playoff teams, only Gateway (2003) has won a league championship.