Opening salvo

The Wild Things won their season opener Friday night, which over their history has been rare.

The 4-3 win over the Evansville Otters leaves Washington's record at 3-8 in season openers. It was their first win on opening night since a 4-1 victory over the Slippery Rock Sliders in 2007. That was the night Washington pitcher Aaron Ledbetter tied the Frontier League record for career wins.

The win also marked the first time Washington ended a day with a winning record since July 31, 2009, when they won at Florence 4-3 to improve its record to 32-31. As luck would have it, the Wild Things' bus broke down that night on a trip from Florence, Ky., to Ypsilanti, Mich., for a series against the Midwest Sliders and spent 8 1/2 hours at a Sunoco station in Dayton, Ohio. The Wild Things were swept by the Sliders and had not been above .500 since the start of that series. ... until today.

Here is the game story from the Evansville Courier-Press, though it does not include quotes from anybody from Washington.

http://www.courierpress.com/news/2012/may/19/score-line-otters-hed-herppppppp-deck-hed-goes/

Update: After checking some things Sunday night for Radio Randy, I found a note in one of my statistics books that corrects the above post. The last time the Wild Things were above .500 at the end of a day was June 2, 2010, when they had a 6-5 record. This was in large part because of a road sweep at Kalamazoo in the second series of the year.

All-Deacde Team: Starting Pitcher

If there is one phase of the game the Wild Things have built each of their 10 teams around, then it's starting pitching. It's why Washington has finished among the Frontier League's top four teams in ERA seven times.

That's also why choosing five pitchers for the all-decade team's starting rotation will be difficult. There are at least eight pitchers who have legitimate cases for being on the team. The No. 1 spot in the rotation, however, is not open for debate.

Aaron Ledbetter, the Wild Things' and Frontier League's all-time leader in wins, gets the top spot in the rotation.

Ledbetter was acquired by Washington in 2006, in what turned out to be a steal of a trade. Washington sent pitchers Greg Lasinski and Shawn Phillips to River City in exchange for Ledbetter, who already was an all-star pitcher with the Rascals. Lasinski and Phillips combined for four wins with River City. Ledbetter, a right-hander from Fort Smith, Ark., had a 27-9 record in 2-plus seasons with Washington.

After being acquired in early August 2006, Ledbetter went 4-1 down the stretch with the Wild Things and helped them win the East Division title by a half-game over Chillicothe. In 2007, Ledbetter had a phenomenal year, going 14-2 with a 2.71 ERA and was named the league's Pitcher of the Year. Ledbetter also pitched Washington to road wins in the playoffs over Gateway and Windy City in 2007.

Though he slowed a bit in 2008, Ledbetter still managed a 9-6 record.

While most Frontier League pitchers rely heavily on two pitches, Ledbetter's strength was his ability to throw four pitches for strikes. In his first 29 regular-season starts with Washington, Ledbetter issued more than two walks only two times.

Another thing the separated Ledbetter from other pitchers was his ability to pitch on three days rest without a dropoff in effectiveness. In 2007, Ledbetter made three starts on three days rest. He won all three games, and in doing so didn't give up a run (19 scoreless innings). Ledbetter's last six regular-season starts with Washington in 2006 were made on three days rest. In those outings, Ledbetter was 3-1 with a 2.23 ERA.

All-Dacade Team Starting Pitcher: Aaron Ledbetter (2006-08)

It's been a long time

A few leftover statistics from the Wild Things' 1-0 victory, on the combined pitching of Billy Muldowney, Kevin Hammons and Eryk McConnell, Monday night over the Oakland County Cruisers:

* It was the first shutout by Washington pitching since a 5-0 victory over the Midwest Sliders in the second game of a doubleheader Aug. 15, 2008. Zach Groh was the Wild Things' pitcher in that seven-inning game.

* It was the first nine-inning shutout by Washington pitching since a 7-0 win over Midwest July 1, 2008.

* The last time a Washington pitcher threw a nine-inning complete-game shutout was June 18, 2007, when Aaron Ledbetter threw a two-hitter in a 3-0 victory at Evansville.