<div dir="ltr">I don't read much IBL stuff any more, but I still read Doug's previews... because they are awesome.<div><br></div><div>Todd<br>ex-something</div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Sat, Feb 16, 2019 at 3:31 PM Doug Palmer <<a href="mailto:aeronutty43@gmail.com">aeronutty43@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr"><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">2019 Baltimore Sand Crabs</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">As winter turns into polar vortex, a young man’s thoughts
obviously turn towards secondary football leagues and (eventually)
baseball. IBL starts eventually and so
it’s time for the annual fun fest known as the Baltimore Sand Crabs Baseball
Preview and Chili fest (note: the chili fest has been cancelled). Most of the excitement for 2019 comes from the
fact that the Crabs move from the AC West over to the NC West. This meant getting the stadium ready to meet
the stringent NC requirements.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><br></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> As you can see in the
picture, we are ready!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><img src="cid:ii_js83k8id1" alt="image.png" width="299" height="226" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b>POSITIONAL PREVIEW</b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><br></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b>Catchers</b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">DET McCann (225)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">CHA Castillo (220)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">DET Hicks (230)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Those numbers are the players weights since I couldn’t find
a good statistic to place next to the catchers.
For every Molina and Realmuto out there, there are hundreds of McCanns
and Hicks. At least there are enough PA’s
here to get through the season. That can
be seen as both good news and bad. At
least we’ve found our #9 batter in the lineup.<i></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><i> </i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b>First Base</b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">SEA Healy (.688)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">TEX Guzman (.722}</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">BAL Mancini (.715)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">DET Hicks (.715)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">MIA O’Brien (.868)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">After drafting Guzman and O’Brien in the draft, the Crabs
have immediately petitioned the league to allow for multiple first basemen to
start each game. If that doesn’t
succeed, the Crabs will be forced to go on another trading spree. Ryon Healy has immediately been placed on the
trade bait list (along with most every other Crab player…but Ryon is at the TOP
of the list). Oh, and the number next to
each player is their OPS from last year </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b>Second Base</b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">HOU Altuve (3)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">CHA RondonJ. (2)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Altuve is back for his 4<sup>th</sup> season as the Crabs 2<sup>nd</sup>
baseman. Perennial MVP each year (in the
real majors, in the IBL he K’s too often but the IBL isn’t real life). Gotta love penciling in Jose every day at the
top of the order. Would be nice if he
actually would hit .322 all of the time, but I’ll take the .322 last year (the
.290 the year before must’ve been my imagination). The number in their parenthesis, the number
of languages that player speaks.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b>Shortstop</b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">LAN Machado (0)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">TEX Andrus (1)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">CHA RondonJ. (1)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">I think I liked it better when Manny was manning the hot
corner for the Orioles. Who knows….will
I be rooting for the Padres this year?
Ack. Manny and Elvis have enough
PA’s to be the fulltime shortstop.
Unfortunately, much like 1<sup>st</sup> base, I’m only allowed to start
one a game. Sounds like a bullshit rule
if you ask me. More tradebait!! Maybe a buy one, get one free sale? And the number? The number of teams the player is currently
playing for</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b>Third Baseman</b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">NYA Andujar (27)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">LAN Machado (37)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">It’s easy to think that Andujar, since he was a 1<sup>st</sup>
round pick, will be around for a long time.
But Crab 1<sup>st</sup> round picks are kinda like drummer for Spinal Tap. Let’s just say, don’t buy green bananas. Andujar will be penciled into the #3 slot
early in the season and that .328 OBA should come in handy. The
numbers are the number of home runs last year in the majors.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b>Leftfield</b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">BAL Mancini (-2)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">SEA Gamel (1)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">CLE Davis (-1)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">WAS Eaton (-1)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Oh to have a glove among the group….but they can hit at
bit. Mancini gets the start most days
with Gamel getting the rest. No shortage
of plate appearances here, which meant that Schwarber was expendable (we miss
ya Kyle!). Will we live to regret
that? We’re the Crabs, you KNOW we will….we’re
the CRABS. The number is their arm
strength.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b>Centerfield</b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">CLE Davis (38)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">KC Goodwin (28)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">MIL Broxton (29)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Rajai Davis has the most PA’s there, still has some
speed. That’s the good news. The bad news is that Davis is somewhere
between 55 and 90 years old. Goodwin
needs to find a bat and then maybe he’ll get more plate appearances in the real
world. Broxton, who is no spring chicken
at 29, has a glove. A late inning
defensive replacement for those games when the Crabs might be……ha ha……winning. Oh to dream.
And that’s their ages (ugh).</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b>Rightfield</b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">WAS Eaton (.301)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">KC Goodwin (.239)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">SEA Gamel (.272)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">MIL Broxton (.179)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Got Eaton last year with all of his usage used up. Now we actually get to see him in the
lineup. About freaking time! Probably going to bat cleanup in the daily
lineup, should be fun. Again, Broxton
can be the late inning guy and Gamel will get some time out there too. Goodwin can play there too, but why? Lots of choices here. Batting averages this time. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b>DH</b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">BAL Trumbo</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">If for no other reason than to shout “TRUMBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO”
whenever he launches one. And that’s
about all that he’s good for. The occasional
round tripper. No number, he’s
TRUMBOOOOOOO.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b>Starting Rotation</b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">COL Freeland (1.245)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">PHI Eflin (1.305)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">NYA Happ (1.131)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">OAK Fiers (1.180)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">ATL Gausman (1.301)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">PIT Williams (1.178)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">You know, I’ve had Cy Young winners, I’ve had aces, and they’ve
sucked. Don’t know if the numbers
matter. But these 6 should provide
innings, and if their WHIPs are any indication (the number this time), they
should….SHOULD….keep the Crabs in some games.
They’re not flashy, but I’ll take it.
I’ve certainly had worse (Jon Garland anyone?)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b>Relievers</b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">NYA Robertson (1.31)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">BOS Brasier (.86)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">CLE Hand (1.48)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">STL Poncedeleon (.94)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">ARI Bradley (1.05)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Relievers are a dime a dozen, right? They can’t be relied on and seem to come and
go. At least I’d like to think so. This year, a pair that I’ll be relying on
were late round draft picks (Brasier and Poncedeleon). Hand was in a trade during the off
season. The numbers this time? Strikeouts per inning. You want to see nice numbers in your
relievers. They’re not Kimbrel gaudy,
but I’ll take nearly 1-1/2 K’s per inning from a closer)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><u>Conclusion</u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">You’ve read this far?
Damn, the AAF game or the race must have been boring. Well, you made it this far, you deserve something. Go get yourself a cookie, I’ll wait. ….. Back?
Cool. OK, so that’s the team this
year. This will be my 10<sup>th</sup>
season in the IBL (I can hear some owners going “damn, it’s been that long?”)
and I’ve thought we’d be good some years (and we’ve sucked) and some years I’ve
known that we’d lose 100 games (and we did).
I used to think this was a game based on stats, but it’s not. It’s a random dice game with a rollbot who
hates my guts. When the sportsbook in
Reno was consulted about win totals for the Crabs, they pegged the number at
94. Then I told them that there were
only 162 games in the season, not 300 and they revised the number. They pegged the number at 72 and I think that’s
a safe number. On a more positive note,
we’ve hired a new mascot to entertain the folks during the game. I’d like to introduce FUEGO DEL BASURERO!!!!</p><div><img src="cid:ii_js83jn6q0" alt="image.png" width="511" height="282"><br></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><br></p></div>
</blockquote></div>