In a slump
The Wild Things, who were alone in first place in the Frontier League's East Division every day since June 1, awaken today to find themselves in second place ... sorta.
While Washington and Evansville are tied for first place in the games behind column, the Otters have a winning percentage that is .005 better than that of the Wild Things.
After winning 10 of 11 games during an early season stretch, Washington is only 14-14 over its last 28 games. It's not hard to figure out why the Wild Things have been sputtering.
Early in the season, Washington's offense was being carried by its Big 3 of Danny Poma, C.J. Beatty and Stewart Ijames. Beatty and Ijames were hitting balls over outfield walls with regularity, and Poma was among the top five hitters in the league. You knew the three had to cool off sometime. Ijames has continued to hit at a torrid clip, but Poma's batting average has dropped slightly and Beatty has been scuffling as of late.
Carter Bell has hit for average over the course of the season, and Garrett Rau has had some productive games at the plate, but the rest of the lineup has been inconsistent at best and highly unproductive at its worst.
Put it all together and Washington's team batting average has dipped to .249, which is 10th in the 14-team league, only .001 better than Traverse City.
You can't win a division title batting .249.
And Washington is 11th int he league in walks drawn, which means only the Greys and Lake Erie have a worse team on-base percentage than the Wild Things.
That puts a lot of strain on the pitching staff, which is having to win 3-2 and 4-3 games every night.
So when Washington gets home runs from unexpected sources, such as last night when Maxx Garrett and Jim Vahalik went deep against Lake Erie, and and the bottom of the order scratches out a few hits, the Wild Things need to take advantage of those spurts of bonus offense. The 5-3 loss to the Crushers was a, well, crusher. Who knows if at season's end Lake Erie winning the season series (5-4) over Washington will be a factor in the postseason or not, but that was one game the Wild Things would like to have back.
While Washington and Evansville are tied for first place in the games behind column, the Otters have a winning percentage that is .005 better than that of the Wild Things.
After winning 10 of 11 games during an early season stretch, Washington is only 14-14 over its last 28 games. It's not hard to figure out why the Wild Things have been sputtering.
Early in the season, Washington's offense was being carried by its Big 3 of Danny Poma, C.J. Beatty and Stewart Ijames. Beatty and Ijames were hitting balls over outfield walls with regularity, and Poma was among the top five hitters in the league. You knew the three had to cool off sometime. Ijames has continued to hit at a torrid clip, but Poma's batting average has dropped slightly and Beatty has been scuffling as of late.
Carter Bell has hit for average over the course of the season, and Garrett Rau has had some productive games at the plate, but the rest of the lineup has been inconsistent at best and highly unproductive at its worst.
Put it all together and Washington's team batting average has dipped to .249, which is 10th in the 14-team league, only .001 better than Traverse City.
You can't win a division title batting .249.
And Washington is 11th int he league in walks drawn, which means only the Greys and Lake Erie have a worse team on-base percentage than the Wild Things.
That puts a lot of strain on the pitching staff, which is having to win 3-2 and 4-3 games every night.
So when Washington gets home runs from unexpected sources, such as last night when Maxx Garrett and Jim Vahalik went deep against Lake Erie, and and the bottom of the order scratches out a few hits, the Wild Things need to take advantage of those spurts of bonus offense. The 5-3 loss to the Crushers was a, well, crusher. Who knows if at season's end Lake Erie winning the season series (5-4) over Washington will be a factor in the postseason or not, but that was one game the Wild Things would like to have back.
posted by Chris Dugan at
8:25 AM
8 Comments:
you're right. the team is bad. great article Chris!! insightful as usual
Who said the team is bad? I don't remember anybody saying the team is bad. I think they are playing fairly well right now.
I could do without some of the corn ball promos like the silly dirtiest car in the parking lot non-sense but, overall, things seem to be going well
Ima Fraid.
We showed up at the ballpark Friday and, for the 3th day in a row people were sitting in our seats. As is usual there was no problem when we informed them they were in our seats as the people just got up moved to other seats which, by the way, were not their seats either.
The question is, why did the ushers that know us very well, allow these folks to sit there in the first place? I don't like to have to ask people to move from my seat.
Then, during the second inning a woman asked us to move because we were in her seat. What? We have season tickets. It turned out that this woman bought her tickets at the box office and they sold her tickets to our seats. Imagine that, the WT employees don't even know which seats are held by season ticket holders! What the WT need is ---- a few more simi-intelligent ticket sales people. This is not the first time this has happened as we, and several others have found out by experience. We have also found out it does no good to complain to management about these screw ups.
I attended my first game since July 4, 2012 tonight. Wow, are things worse than I imagined. An absolutely beautiful, warm Saturday night and and very few fans were there. The box score said 1793, but if even 1000 were there, I'm the new pope. The 3rd base side was 20% filled, if that. I've said it before and I'll say it again: sell the team to somebody who cares. There was 1 person in front of me at the concession stand, 15 minutes before the game! The Pirates success has surely hurt the crowds, but they are on the road this weekend! $5 to park at an empty ballpark is still a crime. As for the complaints I read about ushers, mine never even questioned me (although I always sit in my purchased seat). So here's some suggestions: lower ticket prices, have free parking, advertise on Root Sports during Pirates games, televise a few games like in the past, and pack the park. But since none of that is remotely likely to happen, do the right thing and sell the team.
I enjoyed the game. Either a speaker was out near me, or they have turned down the deafening volume of the PA since I was last there. I'm a bit rusty on players names this season, but the second baseman (Montgomery?) played some great defense, and the bullpen did a heluva job. I surely want to see more games. But next time, I hope I don't have to sit in front of women who never shut the hell up during any part of the game. Seems like I get that any time I go to a ball game, no matter where. If you want to gab and gossip, go to dinner. These guys were fun to watch tonight.
What was the fight in the Wild Things dugout last night. It looked like the coaches were fighting. That makes the team look bad. I would fire who ever started throwing punches.
First it's Mrs. Williams, then it's Mrs. Z, which upper level management person's wife will be the next Sweetheart on the Night?
What a bunch of self absorbed egotist the WT brain trust are.
I would not buy flowers from Malone's if they were the only florist shop in Washington County.
Of course, Mrs. Z is now eligible to join AARP, too!
The Wild Things are not in a slump at all. It's the scatterbrained ownership that's in the slump. They have been ever since Williams took over the team.
Having money does not make you anything. Williams seems to think it makes him a baseball genius. Charles Finley thought he knew it all too but, he didn't.
Next thing you know we may even see a mule being brought out onto the field that will have the moniker of 'Stu W'. BTW: 'Charlie O' didn't work out too well for old Charlie Finley either.
You need more than money and a stubborn streak to be a good owner. You need a well qualified group of baseball people with real experience to make it work.
Anon at 8:05 AM,
No matter what happened, the Wild Things and/or the O-R will never tell you the true story. It will be their little secret. YOU CAN TAKE THAT MUCH TO THE BANK! You'll hear rumors and made up stories but, never will you know what really happened.
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