2022 Summer Brings Jersey Shore Milestones Galore

Despite just a 13-13 month in July, both June and August have been great months for your Jersey Shore D-Bags which see them sit at a 88-43 record which is good for the 2nd best record in the entire BSA, but still trail rival Greenville by 8.5 games in the CL East standings.  The 84's are on pace to best their last year's franchise record of 118 wins and to tie Jersey Shore's CL record of 119 wins.  

Along with great team play from your D-Bags, we have seen many players hit milestones hit so far this season and here are a couple notable ones:

Mikey Bryant HR #350.  It was July 1, 2022 when Bryant stepped to the for the 4th time in the 8th inning against the Kansas City Cougars.  He was riding a 2 game HR streak to put him on #349 the day before against Toronto.  With the Cougars up 5-1, they brought in tough lefty and former All-Star Joey Smith to hold down the Jersey offense. With 2 outs and no one aboard, Bryant stepped up to the plate.  Before this AB Bryant was just 2-14 against Smith.  Smith got ahead 0-2 before Bryant sat on a fastball and deposited 382 feet away in the RF bleachers for his 350th HR and a standing ovation from the hometown crowd.  Jersey would go on to lose the game 5-2, but Bryant joined elite company.  He became the 8th player to reach the 350 HR mark behind only Crowe, Yoko, Cobra, Sagar, Newell, Delaney and Rivas.   At the current moment Bryant sits at 360, 13 behind Rivas, 15 behind Delaney and 17 behind Newell.  400 is certainly in Bryant's sights.

Dave Dodd HR #250.  Just 2 weeks to the day after Bryant went for 350, Jersey was playing against a red-hot Pocatello team.  The Bocabellas would go on to win the game which was their 19th straight win, but it was Dodd doing most of the damage for the limited Jersey offense.  He gave Jersey a quick lead in the 1st with a 2-run HR off of starter Bill Bygrove, his 249th of his career.  It was in the 6th inning with Jersey down 1 run that Dodd would meet Bygrove on his first offering with a mammoth 412 foot HR to Right-Center.  For his career Dodd is hitting 7-8 with those 2 HR against Bygrove.  At age 28, Dodd is the youngest member of the 250 HR club by 3 years and if keeps hitting at his current pace he could be joining the elite of the elite sluggers in his early 30's.

Lawrence Schroeder Hit #1000.  2014 1st round pick SS Lawrence Schroeder joined Bryant and Dodd as only the 3rd Jersey Shore player to accumulate 1000 hits in their career.  On July 31st playing in San Francisco against the Bandits Schroeder would leadoff the 6th inning with a single against Pierre Dumont.  It would be his only hit of the game, but would be a special one as it was his 1000th career hit.  He became the 9th shortstop in BSA history to reach the mark.  2022 is proving to be Schroeder's best season as a pro and couldn't come in a better year as he is set to hit free agency this winter.

Jose Ramos Win #100.  Coming into 2022 at age 26 Jose Ramos was already the franchise leader in wins at 87.  A great total at only age 26 but always quite telling about the quality of starting pitching that has been in Jersey Shore over the years.  With 16 wins in 2021, getting 13 wins in 2022 was almost a shoe-in without an injury, but no one predicted how quick it would come.  Ramos won 9 of his 1st 10 starts and on June 17 Ramos sat with a 12-2 record through 15 starts and took the mound against St. Charles. While it wasn't his most dominate start of the season, Ramos gave up 4 runs on 7 hits while walking no one and striking out 5 in 7.2 innings, a 4-4 game from Kisuki led the Jersey offense good enough for a 5-4 victory and win #100 for Jose.  The next two highest win totals for Jersey in their history are Greg Schaefer with 84 and Rob Goodship with 71.  Ramos became the 56th pitcher to record 100 wins, beating Los Angeles pitcher Ramiro Jimenez to the mark by just 2 days.

A lot of celebrating has gone on this season for Jersey Shore.  With just over a month left and an 8.5 game lead in the Wild Card race, could this be the year that Jersey finally celebrates the raising of a trophy in October?

GO D-BAGS

Despite Down Year Doyle Reaches Milestone

Matthew Doyle had high hopes coming in 2016.  A year after leading the CL in HR in his first full season he eyed improvement and so far this year he has come up short.  For him the numbers are down across the board, for any normal player it's still a stellar season, but playing in his 3rd year in the pros it's been a small disappointment. Though on August 9th, 2016 he had something to celebrate.  Doyle become the 2nd D-Bag player in franchise history, and this season, to reach the 100 HR plateau.

In officially his 1537th AB, Doyle took Vista SP Michael Hoffmeyer deep in the 4th inning to give Jersey a 3-0 lead and officially his 100th career HR.  It was a line drive shot Doyle pulled and whizzed by the foul pole landing an estimated 352 feet from home plate.  As Doyle rounded third celebratory fireworks filled the skies at the Ballpark at the Shore and Doyle was first greeted by fellow superstar and best friend Mikey Bryant who had doubled in his previous AB.  It was Doyle's 2nd career hit and 1st career HR off of Hoffmeyer, who he had been 1-5 against previously for his career.

Doyle needing only 1537 AB's, or 15.37 AB/HR, compared to all-time HR leader John Crowe who has hit 16.04 AB/HR in his career.  Not that it means anything, nor that Doyle will ever reach Crowe who has nearly 4 times the HR at this point, but a nice point of reference for the 27 year old.  Doyle in only his 3rd year sits only behind Bryant for HR in a D-Bags uniform.  Bryant currently sits at 125, while at the time of this publication Doyle sits at 103.  If Doyle is going to repeat as CL HR king, he will have to get hot late.  Bryant and rookie Domingo Cardona currently lead the CL with 33 HR apiece, while Doyle sits at 26 with only 40 or so games left to go in the season.

Mikey Bryant Clubs HR #100

"With the 21st pick in the 2010 Rule IV Amateur Draft the Jersey Shore D-Bags select Mike Bryant, second base, out of Stanford University" ~ Commissioner Ulery, September 1, 2010

Combination of  glove, power, speed and contact made Bryant a prototypical 1st round pick.  Jersey was shocked he fell to them at 21.  "We had him Top 10, especially playing in the middle infield.  Guy was a no-brainier in our mindset." said GM Josh Swain.  Bryant has put in long hours in the cage and worked in the off season to make him one of most feared hitters in the BSA today.  We sit a few months short of 6 years since the Bags took Bryant to celebrate his 100th career HR.  He was drafted at the age of 22, spent nearly 3 years in the minors refining his skills before breaking out in 2013.  435 games and 1767 At bats later he reaches his 1st milestone.  

Tuesday, May 10th, 2016.  After hitting his 99th career HR a week earlier, the Bags sat in the middle of a home stand.  Beating the LA Bruins 2 out of 3 was nice, but for Bryant he sat on 99.  The counter by the "Bryant Bunch" in the Right Field bleachers told the entire crowd where he sat.  They were hoping to see fireworks at home.  Alfonso Medina was on the mound for the Madison Bombers that afternoon, whom Bryant was 3 for 7 against without a HR.  Bryant would get his chance early.  Hitting cleanup, the first two hitters in the inning, Peter Larson and Alberto Perez would reach base via walks.  After the catcher Duran would fly out, Bryant would get his cuts.  It only took Medina 4 pitches to sit Bryant down swinging on a slider out of the zone.

His 2nd try would come leading off the bottom of the 3rd inning with his team trailing 5-2.  He had a favorable count of 2-1 before a big swing and a miss left the count evened at 2-2.  The 5th pitch Bryant just missed which resulted in a fly out to CF.  Bryant would barely have his helmet off before his good buddy Matt Doyle would take the 3rd pitch of his AB 375 feet, 17 rows up in the right field bleachers.   It wouldn't take long for Bryant to get another chance.  It was just the next inning.  With runners on the corners down 5-3, Bryant strolled to the plate to face Medina for the 3rd time today. The first pitch was a fastball which caught the inside corner for a strike, a good slider and a swing and a miss would put Bryant down in the hole 0-2.  Medina set and pitched.....Medina made a mistake.  A hanging curveball. Bryant rarely misses mistakes.  He didn't this time.  Bryant with a dead pull punished that curveball.  What seemed like minutes later, the ball landed 457 feet deep into the upper deck for a go ahead 3 run HR, and the 100 HR of the young slugger's career.  The crowd gave a standing ovation and Bryant would return out of the dugout with a tip of the hat.  

How far can Bryant go?  100 HR is a nice milestone and it puts him in the company of 100+ players who also have hit that many HR.  He is 28, which for a 3rd year player is older than most.  The big milestones may be out of reach, but with the way he has played in his short career, I don't think we have seen him to his full potential yet.  The kid is special.  The real question is which milestone will come 2nd now?  1000 career hits or 200 HR?  He currently sits at 582 career hits and 100 HR.  My bet is on hits, but with the way the HR are leaving the yard, it might be close!

Hopefully Bryant can continue the D-Bags in this tough division battle and lead the Bags back to the playoffs this season!

GO D-BAGS!