The ride here has been anything except boring for the boys of the Jersey Shore D-Bags. After leading the CL East for most of the season, it took winning 5 of their last 7 games, including a sweep of Greenville just to reach a 1 game playoff for the 84's. Late home runs by Boyd and Doyle lifted the Bags to their 1st division title in 6 years and a chance to host Pocatello, a team in the playoffs for the 1st time in 15 years, in the division round.
Jersey Shore quickly found themselves down 3-1 in the series with Boccabellas facing elimination on the road. But the team wouldn't let that happen. An 8-2 win fueled by 12 hits and a gritty 6 inning outing by Sergio Martinez on 3-day's rest sent the D-Bags back home, where they had to win both games, including beating the reigning 3-time Cy Young award winner Kevin Bush. Cristobal Santos would match Bush for 7 innings before handing things off the bullpen and a walk-off RBI double from Pat Zimmerman off of All-Star closer Adrian Martinez would send us to Game 7. Call it a high, momentum or just plain confidence but Jersey Shore would dominate Game 7, led by Roland Martin's 7 shutout innings and emerging star catcher Luis Rios with 3 hits out of the 9 hole as well seldom used 4th outfielder Wilson Martinez who doubled twice and knocked in 2 runs. A final score of 8 to nothing couldn't even be celebrated as the D-Bags loaded up and flew to Springfield that same night to face the Stars in Game 1 of the CLCS the very next day.
The Stars finished with the best record in the CL as well as best record in team history at 111-51. It was the Springfield's franchise 1st playoff appearance since 2011 when they were known as the Kansas City Cougars. That 2011 team was led by some names you might have heard of. They include the great Jean-Thomas Francoeur, John Garrett and John Crowe. The 2026 Stars might not have the HOF names yet, but they are loaded with talent. Trotting out the most productive outfield the BSA has ever seen in Derek Davidson, Calvin Bennett and Felipe Guerrero. Trotting out other bats that include Elliot Newell and Juan Rodriguez, the Stars led the BSA in runs with 1006. They became just the 2nd CL team in history to cross the 1000 run threshold, as the only other team to do so were the 2022 Greenville 84's. BTW....the 2022 Springfield Stars? A CL record of just 555 runs scored. What a difference 5 seasons can make.
The Stars strolled into the postseason with the #1 seed and looked part in beating the powerhouse Greenville team by scoring 28 runs in 5 games and finishing off the 84's with a shutout in a Game 5, 3-0 win on the road. They would get 3 days off to rest before Jersey Shore would come to town for the CLCS. Maybe the off days got them out of a rhythm or a funk, but the offense never came for the Stars. Jersey would take the first two games of the series in Springfield. Game 1 a close 4-3 contest, as the D-Bag bats put up 4 runs on Kyu-Pyeong Pak with the go ahead runs coming in the 6th inning off of the bat of Pat Zimmerman by way of a 2-run HR. Game 2 saw a slugfest in the 1st 3 innings, as Jersey came out in the 4th inning up 6-5. Jesse Green would pitch out of trouble multiple times in the next 3 innings before handing things off to the bullpen who tossed 3 nearly perfect innings leading to a 7-5 Jersey win to take a firm grip on the series, which was heading to Jersey Shore for the next 3 games.
Game 3 saw an early rain delay knock both starters out before the 6th inning while the Stars took advantage of 2 Jersey errors for 3 unearned runs. The score of 4-3 after 4 innings wouldn't change as both bullpens were dynamite. The bullpens combined for to throw 9 innings, giving up 5 hits, 0 runs, 1 BB and 6 strikeouts. Springfield would avoid going down 3-0 and breathed new life going into Game 4. The Stars would send Pak back to the mound and would face Roland Martin, the Jersey ace for the 1st time in the series. Pak would go on to toss a gem, allowing just 2 singles in 7 shutout innings and would get help with a 3 run 3rd inning fueled by a Derek Davidson 2-run HR as the Stars would go onto win the game 4-2 and even the series at 2 games apiece. The pressure would move to Game 5 with the winner getting a clear cut 3-2 advantage. We would see Sergio Martinez take on Long Haul Lopez. The Bags would get the scoring started right away with home runs by Boyd and Doyle in the 1st innings as well as a solo HR by Serna in the 4th. The Stars would cut into the 4-0 in the 7th with back to back homers from Davidson and Guerrero, but give them right back in the bottom half with a 2-RBI double from Doyle. Davidson would again homer in the 8th, but the Stars just started scoring too late and the boys from Jersey would win the contest 7-4 and go back to Springfield with the series lead.
With the series on the line, Springfield would go to Game 5 hero of the CLDS Hyo-Chin Ch'oe to try and send this series to a deciding Game 7. Cristobal Santos would take the mound on 3 days rest for Jersey. It was smooth sailing for both pitchers through 2 innings until Jersey would appease the hometown crowd with 4, third inning runs coming off the bats of Dodd and Doyle. The Bags would add 2 more runs in the 4th to take a commanding 6-0 lead. Ch'oe would be knocked out in the 5th inning, but that didn't stop the D-Bags from adding on runs. After 6 innings, the lead was 10-2 and would stay like that. Springfield would load the bases with no outs in the 7th, but would fail to score. With the Irvine-Baffin Island series still going on, Jersey Shore would finally get to celebrate the victory with cases of champagne in their own clubhouse taking their 1st CL Pennant since the 2022 team did.
Now comes Irvine. The wire-to-wire best team in the BSA all season long. The team with the best staff in the league. Their 477 runs given up rank 2nd all time, only behind the epic staff of the 2015 Hendersonville Hitmen. Their ace Masutaro with a historic 13.8 WAR season which shattered Scott Hill's previous record. They led the NL in OBP and finished 3rd in runs scored. The BSA will have a new champion this year. Either way, I think we are in for a great series. Congrats Larry and good luck!
GO D-BAGS
Showing posts with label dodd. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dodd. Show all posts
Friday, November 11, 2016
Jersey Shore Ousts Pocatello and Springfield to Reach 4th World Series
The ride here has been anything except boring for the boys of the Jersey Shore D-Bags. After leading the CL East for most of the season, it took winning 5 of their last 7 games, including a sweep of Greenville just to reach a 1 game playoff for the 84's. Late home runs by Boyd and Doyle lifted the Bags to their 1st division title in 6 years and a chance to host Pocatello, a team in the playoffs for the 1st time in 15 years, in the division round.
Jersey Shore quickly found themselves down 3-1 in the series with Boccabellas facing elimination on the road. But the team wouldn't let that happen. An 8-2 win fueled by 12 hits and a gritty 6 inning outing by Sergio Martinez on 3-day's rest sent the D-Bags back home, where they had to win both games, including beating the reigning 3-time Cy Young award winner Kevin Bush. Cristobal Santos would match Bush for 7 innings before handing things off the bullpen and a walk-off RBI double from Pat Zimmerman off of All-Star closer Adrian Martinez would send us to Game 7. Call it a high, momentum or just plain confidence but Jersey Shore would dominate Game 7, led by Roland Martin's 7 shutout innings and emerging star catcher Luis Rios with 3 hits out of the 9 hole as well seldom used 4th outfielder Wilson Martinez who doubled twice and knocked in 2 runs. A final score of 8 to nothing couldn't even be celebrated as the D-Bags loaded up and flew to Springfield that same night to face the Stars in Game 1 of the CLCS the very next day.
The Stars finished with the best record in the CL as well as best record in team history at 111-51. It was the Springfield's franchise 1st playoff appearance since 2011 when they were known as the Kansas City Cougars. That 2011 team was led by some names you might have heard of. They include the great Jean-Thomas Francoeur, John Garrett and John Crowe. The 2026 Stars might not have the HOF names yet, but they are loaded with talent. Trotting out the most productive outfield the BSA has ever seen in Derek Davidson, Calvin Bennett and Felipe Guerrero. Trotting out other bats that include Elliot Newell and Juan Rodriguez, the Stars led the BSA in runs with 1006. They became just the 2nd CL team in history to cross the 1000 run threshold, as the only other team to do so were the 2022 Greenville 84's. BTW....the 2022 Springfield Stars? A CL record of just 555 runs scored. What a difference 5 seasons can make.
The Stars strolled into the postseason with the #1 seed and looked part in beating the powerhouse Greenville team by scoring 28 runs in 5 games and finishing off the 84's with a shutout in a Game 5, 3-0 win on the road. They would get 3 days off to rest before Jersey Shore would come to town for the CLCS. Maybe the off days got them out of a rhythm or a funk, but the offense never came for the Stars. Jersey would take the first two games of the series in Springfield. Game 1 a close 4-3 contest, as the D-Bag bats put up 4 runs on Kyu-Pyeong Pak with the go ahead runs coming in the 6th inning off of the bat of Pat Zimmerman by way of a 2-run HR. Game 2 saw a slugfest in the 1st 3 innings, as Jersey came out in the 4th inning up 6-5. Jesse Green would pitch out of trouble multiple times in the next 3 innings before handing things off to the bullpen who tossed 3 nearly perfect innings leading to a 7-5 Jersey win to take a firm grip on the series, which was heading to Jersey Shore for the next 3 games.
Game 3 saw an early rain delay knock both starters out before the 6th inning while the Stars took advantage of 2 Jersey errors for 3 unearned runs. The score of 4-3 after 4 innings wouldn't change as both bullpens were dynamite. The bullpens combined for to throw 9 innings, giving up 5 hits, 0 runs, 1 BB and 6 strikeouts. Springfield would avoid going down 3-0 and breathed new life going into Game 4. The Stars would send Pak back to the mound and would face Roland Martin, the Jersey ace for the 1st time in the series. Pak would go on to toss a gem, allowing just 2 singles in 7 shutout innings and would get help with a 3 run 3rd inning fueled by a Derek Davidson 2-run HR as the Stars would go onto win the game 4-2 and even the series at 2 games apiece. The pressure would move to Game 5 with the winner getting a clear cut 3-2 advantage. We would see Sergio Martinez take on Long Haul Lopez. The Bags would get the scoring started right away with home runs by Boyd and Doyle in the 1st innings as well as a solo HR by Serna in the 4th. The Stars would cut into the 4-0 in the 7th with back to back homers from Davidson and Guerrero, but give them right back in the bottom half with a 2-RBI double from Doyle. Davidson would again homer in the 8th, but the Stars just started scoring too late and the boys from Jersey would win the contest 7-4 and go back to Springfield with the series lead.
With the series on the line, Springfield would go to Game 5 hero of the CLDS Hyo-Chin Ch'oe to try and send this series to a deciding Game 7. Cristobal Santos would take the mound on 3 days rest for Jersey. It was smooth sailing for both pitchers through 2 innings until Jersey would appease the hometown crowd with 4, third inning runs coming off the bats of Dodd and Doyle. The Bags would add 2 more runs in the 4th to take a commanding 6-0 lead. Ch'oe would be knocked out in the 5th inning, but that didn't stop the D-Bags from adding on runs. After 6 innings, the lead was 10-2 and would stay like that. Springfield would load the bases with no outs in the 7th, but would fail to score. With the Irvine-Baffin Island series still going on, Jersey Shore would finally get to celebrate the victory with cases of champagne in their own clubhouse taking their 1st CL Pennant since the 2022 team did.
Now comes Irvine. The wire-to-wire best team in the BSA all season long. The team with the best staff in the league. Their 477 runs given up rank 2nd all time, only behind the epic staff of the 2015 Hendersonville Hitmen. Their ace Masutaro with a historic 13.8 WAR season which shattered Scott Hill's previous record. They led the NL in OBP and finished 3rd in runs scored. The BSA will have a new champion this year. Either way, I think we are in for a great series. Congrats Larry and good luck!
GO D-BAGS
Jersey Shore quickly found themselves down 3-1 in the series with Boccabellas facing elimination on the road. But the team wouldn't let that happen. An 8-2 win fueled by 12 hits and a gritty 6 inning outing by Sergio Martinez on 3-day's rest sent the D-Bags back home, where they had to win both games, including beating the reigning 3-time Cy Young award winner Kevin Bush. Cristobal Santos would match Bush for 7 innings before handing things off the bullpen and a walk-off RBI double from Pat Zimmerman off of All-Star closer Adrian Martinez would send us to Game 7. Call it a high, momentum or just plain confidence but Jersey Shore would dominate Game 7, led by Roland Martin's 7 shutout innings and emerging star catcher Luis Rios with 3 hits out of the 9 hole as well seldom used 4th outfielder Wilson Martinez who doubled twice and knocked in 2 runs. A final score of 8 to nothing couldn't even be celebrated as the D-Bags loaded up and flew to Springfield that same night to face the Stars in Game 1 of the CLCS the very next day.
The Stars finished with the best record in the CL as well as best record in team history at 111-51. It was the Springfield's franchise 1st playoff appearance since 2011 when they were known as the Kansas City Cougars. That 2011 team was led by some names you might have heard of. They include the great Jean-Thomas Francoeur, John Garrett and John Crowe. The 2026 Stars might not have the HOF names yet, but they are loaded with talent. Trotting out the most productive outfield the BSA has ever seen in Derek Davidson, Calvin Bennett and Felipe Guerrero. Trotting out other bats that include Elliot Newell and Juan Rodriguez, the Stars led the BSA in runs with 1006. They became just the 2nd CL team in history to cross the 1000 run threshold, as the only other team to do so were the 2022 Greenville 84's. BTW....the 2022 Springfield Stars? A CL record of just 555 runs scored. What a difference 5 seasons can make.
The Stars strolled into the postseason with the #1 seed and looked part in beating the powerhouse Greenville team by scoring 28 runs in 5 games and finishing off the 84's with a shutout in a Game 5, 3-0 win on the road. They would get 3 days off to rest before Jersey Shore would come to town for the CLCS. Maybe the off days got them out of a rhythm or a funk, but the offense never came for the Stars. Jersey would take the first two games of the series in Springfield. Game 1 a close 4-3 contest, as the D-Bag bats put up 4 runs on Kyu-Pyeong Pak with the go ahead runs coming in the 6th inning off of the bat of Pat Zimmerman by way of a 2-run HR. Game 2 saw a slugfest in the 1st 3 innings, as Jersey came out in the 4th inning up 6-5. Jesse Green would pitch out of trouble multiple times in the next 3 innings before handing things off to the bullpen who tossed 3 nearly perfect innings leading to a 7-5 Jersey win to take a firm grip on the series, which was heading to Jersey Shore for the next 3 games.
Game 3 saw an early rain delay knock both starters out before the 6th inning while the Stars took advantage of 2 Jersey errors for 3 unearned runs. The score of 4-3 after 4 innings wouldn't change as both bullpens were dynamite. The bullpens combined for to throw 9 innings, giving up 5 hits, 0 runs, 1 BB and 6 strikeouts. Springfield would avoid going down 3-0 and breathed new life going into Game 4. The Stars would send Pak back to the mound and would face Roland Martin, the Jersey ace for the 1st time in the series. Pak would go on to toss a gem, allowing just 2 singles in 7 shutout innings and would get help with a 3 run 3rd inning fueled by a Derek Davidson 2-run HR as the Stars would go onto win the game 4-2 and even the series at 2 games apiece. The pressure would move to Game 5 with the winner getting a clear cut 3-2 advantage. We would see Sergio Martinez take on Long Haul Lopez. The Bags would get the scoring started right away with home runs by Boyd and Doyle in the 1st innings as well as a solo HR by Serna in the 4th. The Stars would cut into the 4-0 in the 7th with back to back homers from Davidson and Guerrero, but give them right back in the bottom half with a 2-RBI double from Doyle. Davidson would again homer in the 8th, but the Stars just started scoring too late and the boys from Jersey would win the contest 7-4 and go back to Springfield with the series lead.
With the series on the line, Springfield would go to Game 5 hero of the CLDS Hyo-Chin Ch'oe to try and send this series to a deciding Game 7. Cristobal Santos would take the mound on 3 days rest for Jersey. It was smooth sailing for both pitchers through 2 innings until Jersey would appease the hometown crowd with 4, third inning runs coming off the bats of Dodd and Doyle. The Bags would add 2 more runs in the 4th to take a commanding 6-0 lead. Ch'oe would be knocked out in the 5th inning, but that didn't stop the D-Bags from adding on runs. After 6 innings, the lead was 10-2 and would stay like that. Springfield would load the bases with no outs in the 7th, but would fail to score. With the Irvine-Baffin Island series still going on, Jersey Shore would finally get to celebrate the victory with cases of champagne in their own clubhouse taking their 1st CL Pennant since the 2022 team did.
Now comes Irvine. The wire-to-wire best team in the BSA all season long. The team with the best staff in the league. Their 477 runs given up rank 2nd all time, only behind the epic staff of the 2015 Hendersonville Hitmen. Their ace Masutaro with a historic 13.8 WAR season which shattered Scott Hill's previous record. They led the NL in OBP and finished 3rd in runs scored. The BSA will have a new champion this year. Either way, I think we are in for a great series. Congrats Larry and good luck!
GO D-BAGS
Wednesday, September 14, 2016
Trio For the Ages
You have to go back almost a decade to the year 2017 to find a lineup that featured Mike Bryant, Matt Doyle and Dave Dodd. That Jersey Shore team would win a CL record of 119 games that still stands today. In a huge upset, the Austin River Sharks would bounce them in 7 games in the 1st round of the playoffs and immediately after the season ended GM Josh Swain shipped out slugger Matt Doyle to Toronto to try and stabilize the rotation. Doyle was coming off of a 32 HR, 124 RBI season. He hit clean up behind league MVP and Triple Crown winner Mike Bryant and ahead of 23 year old up and coming sophmore sensation Dave Dad. That year the three of them combined for 99 2B, 109 HR, and 375 RBI. Doyle would go on to play the next 7 season in Toronto and 1 season in LA, winning two titles along the way.
After letting 1B Tadahisa Kisuki walk to free agency, Jersey Shore was in need of a 1B, and they went looking Doyle's way. At 36 years of age, he is not the same player he once was, but still managed to hit 17 homers last year with the Bruins. At about the same time, Jersey Shore decided to bring back Mike Bryant seemingly for 1 more year after after having by far the worst season of his career at age 37. With Dave Dodd in the 2nd year of his 7-year, $175M dollar contract, the trio would be re-united for one last season.
Wearing a D-Bag uniform, the three have combined for 995 home runs and sit 1st, 2nd and 4th in D-Bags history. Doyle would need 20 home runs to pass Kisuki and take over 3rd on the list. What's even more interesting is the trio sits 3rd, 4th and 5th on the all time HR list, which historically speaking is something we have never seen before. 1282 career HR out of just the 3 of them.
We are into May and they haven't been in the same lineup yet. An early season fractured finger from Doyle kept him out of the lineup for the first couple weeks. When he was able to come back, Bryant was stuck on the shelf with a hamstring strain. They were finally all healthy for 1 game when Dodd missed a week with neck spasms. Now they are all healthy again, Manager Carlos Uribe has said he would like to see them all starting for at least a game.
While Dodd is still in his prime but starting to age at 32, this is almost the end of an era for Jersey Shore. Bryant has been a staple in the lineup for 12+ years. Doyle a top prospect and a star with a late homecoming. The future pieces are already in Jersey, but for fans this year represents one last chance for the old crew to make a run. They are still chasing that elusive 1st title. While Bryant and Doyle probably won't have nearly the impact they once had, it should be a fun summer for fans and a last chance to see these stars play together.
GO D-BAGS
Sunday, January 17, 2016
End of April Marks Double Milestones for Dodd
As April 2024 winded down, Dave Dodd eyed two career milestones. 1000 RBI and 1500 career hits. The RBI mark would fall first as the Porland Philosopher Kings would visit Jersey on April 28th.
In the 5th inning Dodd would launch a solo HR off of 2nd year pitcher Jose Garza that bring Jersey Shore within one run and make the score a 5-4 game. After watching Portland's young slugger Jeff Daniels put the Philosopher Kings up 3 with a 2-run HR in the top of the 7th, Dodd would get his chance in the bottom half. Tadahisa Kisuki would lead off the inning with a single and Mikey Bryant would just miss a home run with his ball careening off the wall in right-center field that would end with Kisuki at 3rd and Bryant at 2nd. Edgardo Guzman, the flame throwing 26 year old lefty for Portland, would get ahead of Dodd 1-2. Dodd would take a borderline pitch that was called ball 2 before fouling another pitch back to the screen. Guzman would make the next mistake hanging a high curveball that Dodd would deposit 408 feet later over the spot that Bryant had previously doubled for his 328th career HR and 1000th career RBI which also tied the game. The D-Bags would go on to score one more run in the inning and go on to win the game 8-6.
Dodd became the 21st player in BSA history to reach the 1000 RBI milestone, 14 of which of those are active players. Next on the list is the retired Louis May, who sits at 1006 RBI. At age 30 Dodd has a good chance at making a run at the all time record, currently held by Shumei Yokoyama at 1579. Yokoyama is still active playing for the Niagara Falls Frenzy.
After an off day, the San Francisco Bandits would come to town on April 30th, which marked Dodd's 30th birthday. Dodd would get his 1st hit in the 1st inning and also drive in the games first run with an RBI single off of starter Tomiji Takuda. Dodd's 2nd hit of the game would come in the bottom of the 6th inning, also off of Takuda. With 2 outs and the bases empty, Dodd would smoke a line drive the other way past the 3rd baseman. The ball would rattle around in the corner while Dodd coasted into 2nd with a stand up double. Hit number 1499. He would be stranded at 2nd. Dodd would get his first crack at 1500 when he would lead off the 9th inning with his D-Bags down 13-8. Veteran Pedro Castillo would was on the bump for the Bandits and that proved as a good sign for Dodd as he was 5-9 lifetime against Castillo up to this point. Dodd would foul off 5 straight pitches to start the at bat before taking a 94 MPH fastball the other way which would clear the 15 foot wall in left center and land in the 4th row for his 1500th career hit. Though Jersey would go on to lose the game 13-9, Dodd would join Mike Bryant as the only two players to join the 1500 career hit club in Jersey Shore uniforms. As a career achievement the hit mark isn't as impressive as the RBI mark, but it does make Dodd the 47th BSA player to reach the mark.
With 3 gold gloves, 4 all star appearances and 3 straight MVP's, Dodd is probably a shoe in already for the BSA Hall of Fame, but could he become one of the best ever? At only 30 years old all current BSA records seemingly are in play. If he has the health and longevity that his teammate Mike Bryant has nothing is off the tables, but as we all know, nothing in the BSA is a given as we have seen players at all ages fall abruptly off the table. What Dodd and Jersey Shore fans want next is a World Series ring.
GO D-BAGS
In the 5th inning Dodd would launch a solo HR off of 2nd year pitcher Jose Garza that bring Jersey Shore within one run and make the score a 5-4 game. After watching Portland's young slugger Jeff Daniels put the Philosopher Kings up 3 with a 2-run HR in the top of the 7th, Dodd would get his chance in the bottom half. Tadahisa Kisuki would lead off the inning with a single and Mikey Bryant would just miss a home run with his ball careening off the wall in right-center field that would end with Kisuki at 3rd and Bryant at 2nd. Edgardo Guzman, the flame throwing 26 year old lefty for Portland, would get ahead of Dodd 1-2. Dodd would take a borderline pitch that was called ball 2 before fouling another pitch back to the screen. Guzman would make the next mistake hanging a high curveball that Dodd would deposit 408 feet later over the spot that Bryant had previously doubled for his 328th career HR and 1000th career RBI which also tied the game. The D-Bags would go on to score one more run in the inning and go on to win the game 8-6.
Dodd became the 21st player in BSA history to reach the 1000 RBI milestone, 14 of which of those are active players. Next on the list is the retired Louis May, who sits at 1006 RBI. At age 30 Dodd has a good chance at making a run at the all time record, currently held by Shumei Yokoyama at 1579. Yokoyama is still active playing for the Niagara Falls Frenzy.
After an off day, the San Francisco Bandits would come to town on April 30th, which marked Dodd's 30th birthday. Dodd would get his 1st hit in the 1st inning and also drive in the games first run with an RBI single off of starter Tomiji Takuda. Dodd's 2nd hit of the game would come in the bottom of the 6th inning, also off of Takuda. With 2 outs and the bases empty, Dodd would smoke a line drive the other way past the 3rd baseman. The ball would rattle around in the corner while Dodd coasted into 2nd with a stand up double. Hit number 1499. He would be stranded at 2nd. Dodd would get his first crack at 1500 when he would lead off the 9th inning with his D-Bags down 13-8. Veteran Pedro Castillo would was on the bump for the Bandits and that proved as a good sign for Dodd as he was 5-9 lifetime against Castillo up to this point. Dodd would foul off 5 straight pitches to start the at bat before taking a 94 MPH fastball the other way which would clear the 15 foot wall in left center and land in the 4th row for his 1500th career hit. Though Jersey would go on to lose the game 13-9, Dodd would join Mike Bryant as the only two players to join the 1500 career hit club in Jersey Shore uniforms. As a career achievement the hit mark isn't as impressive as the RBI mark, but it does make Dodd the 47th BSA player to reach the mark.
With 3 gold gloves, 4 all star appearances and 3 straight MVP's, Dodd is probably a shoe in already for the BSA Hall of Fame, but could he become one of the best ever? At only 30 years old all current BSA records seemingly are in play. If he has the health and longevity that his teammate Mike Bryant has nothing is off the tables, but as we all know, nothing in the BSA is a given as we have seen players at all ages fall abruptly off the table. What Dodd and Jersey Shore fans want next is a World Series ring.
GO D-BAGS
Tuesday, November 3, 2015
Jose Ramos to Stay in Jersey; Signs Huge Extension
Lost in the shuffle of the playoff race and the playoffs themselves, Jersey announced on September 28th that they had come to terms with superstar ace Jose Ramos on a 7 year contract extension. Ramos the 6 time All-Star and 3 time 20-game winner was rewarded with the most lucrative contract in Jersey Shore history. The extension will pay him $163.52 million over the next 7 seasons, which comes to an average of $23.36M per season. This number is over 3 times what he made this season and the contract will pay him through his 35 year old season.
"It was an easy but yet a tough decision for us," GM Josh Swain commented, "the guy has won 49 games over the last 2 years and is one of the elite starters in the game. It was a no brainer to re-sign him in the position we are in right now. The money was a little difficult, but you have to pay to keep top talent and that's all it really comes down to."
With Los Angeles likely to decline Stan Hickman's $23.7M team option, Ramos will become the 3rd or 4th highest paid player of the 2024 season at the moment. Jersey's decision on star Mike Bryant's team option of $26M would be third if it's picked up.
Ramos led the league in wins for the 2nd straight year with 24 and finished 2nd only behind Kevin Bush in pitcher WAR with 7.9 compared to Bush's 9.3. It was the 6th season of Ramos's career that he surpassed 225 innings pitched and age 28 he sits with a record of 136-46. The 136 wins place him in a 2-way tie for 20th place all time with Chuck Phillips.
Finances with Jersey Shore might get interesting next season with Dave Dodd, Mikey Bryant and Sergio Martinez contracts are all up, but the D-Bags should bring a loaded team next year still searching for that 1st title.
GO D-BAGS
"It was an easy but yet a tough decision for us," GM Josh Swain commented, "the guy has won 49 games over the last 2 years and is one of the elite starters in the game. It was a no brainer to re-sign him in the position we are in right now. The money was a little difficult, but you have to pay to keep top talent and that's all it really comes down to."
With Los Angeles likely to decline Stan Hickman's $23.7M team option, Ramos will become the 3rd or 4th highest paid player of the 2024 season at the moment. Jersey's decision on star Mike Bryant's team option of $26M would be third if it's picked up.
Ramos led the league in wins for the 2nd straight year with 24 and finished 2nd only behind Kevin Bush in pitcher WAR with 7.9 compared to Bush's 9.3. It was the 6th season of Ramos's career that he surpassed 225 innings pitched and age 28 he sits with a record of 136-46. The 136 wins place him in a 2-way tie for 20th place all time with Chuck Phillips.
Finances with Jersey Shore might get interesting next season with Dave Dodd, Mikey Bryant and Sergio Martinez contracts are all up, but the D-Bags should bring a loaded team next year still searching for that 1st title.
GO D-BAGS
Thursday, October 1, 2015
Dodd Clubs HR # 300; Joins Elite Group
At age 29, Dave Dodd has a lot of accolades already to his name. He is a 4-time All Star, 3-time Gold Glover, 2 time MVP and a Triple Crown Winner. He has also played in 2 World Series and has 3, 20+ game hit streaks to his name. On July 20th in St. Louis he added his name to a list only 16 names long as he joined the 300 HR club. He is the youngest member by 3 years and 200 days, next to Manny Copriviza who sits with 412 HR. He teammate and the only person he is behind on the Jersey Shore HR list, Mike Bryant, hit his 300th, 3 weeks after his 33rd birthday. That just shows where he is ranks all time, and it's looking pretty good.
His 300th HR came on a warm down in St. Louis in a game that Jersey would eventually lose 7-6. 2nd year flame thrower John Allan had just taken the mound after Mike Bryant's solo HR off of Dae-hyun Mae sent him to the showers. Dodd met Allan's fastball with a deep blast to straight away CF which easily cleared the 10 foot wall, 405 feet away from home plate. The shot was estimated at 431 feet and for a short while gave the D-Bags a tie with St. Louis at 6 apiece. To go with Dodd's 300th HR, he is rapidly approaching 1500 hits and 1000 RBI, both which should be reached next season and probably before his 30th birthday.
Dodd, who signed a 4 year contract in 2019, has his contract expire next year and if anyone had to guess it will probably be one of the richest the BSA has ever seen, at least from a positional player. With Mike Bryant's 26M dollar option next year is the last on his contract, there should be money to keep Dodd in Jersey Shore, but regardless he is on pace to be one of the best sluggers the BSA has ever seen.
His 300th HR came on a warm down in St. Louis in a game that Jersey would eventually lose 7-6. 2nd year flame thrower John Allan had just taken the mound after Mike Bryant's solo HR off of Dae-hyun Mae sent him to the showers. Dodd met Allan's fastball with a deep blast to straight away CF which easily cleared the 10 foot wall, 405 feet away from home plate. The shot was estimated at 431 feet and for a short while gave the D-Bags a tie with St. Louis at 6 apiece. To go with Dodd's 300th HR, he is rapidly approaching 1500 hits and 1000 RBI, both which should be reached next season and probably before his 30th birthday.
Dodd, who signed a 4 year contract in 2019, has his contract expire next year and if anyone had to guess it will probably be one of the richest the BSA has ever seen, at least from a positional player. With Mike Bryant's 26M dollar option next year is the last on his contract, there should be money to keep Dodd in Jersey Shore, but regardless he is on pace to be one of the best sluggers the BSA has ever seen.
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
April Breezes By; Jersey Leads CL East
The Jersey Shore D-Bags have loaded up once again and take aim at their try for a first World Series title ever after failing in 3 previous attempts. First off though, they must get make their way through a grueling season, but with a 16-8 April they are off on the right foot, but it didn't begin that way. The month got off to a rough start losing the first 4 games of the season, including a 3 game sweep at the hands of division rival, the St. Louis Browns. That was followed up by a 8-6 loss in Seattle and not a start they had envisioned. Things changed from there as they would only lose one other series all month and that was to John Bosma's Greenville 84's.
Led by ace Jose Ramos, who would win the CL Award for Pitcher of the Month, going 4-1 in 5 starts with a 0.88 ERA, 0.68 WHIP and a 27/4 K/BB ratio. It is Ramos's 6th POTM award. The rest of the staff overall was brilliant outside from the struggles of SP Sergio Martinez who did only finish the month at 0-1, but a 6.33 ERA averaging just over 5 innings per start didn't help.
After a great 2020 season which earned 1B Tadahisa Kisuki the CL Rookie of the Year honors, a 2021 season which Kiuski had a WAR of 6.6 and looked he was a for sure superstar to be was derailed in 2022 when his numbers fell sharply in all categories. He looks out to regain that momentum he had in 2021 with a monster April. Kisuki hit .391/.436/.736 with 8 HR, 13 RBI, 6 2B and scoring 17 runs primarily hitting out of the 2 hole in the lineup.
Not to be outdone was your 2 time MVP Dave Dodd who was right behind Kisuki with 6 HR, 19 RBI, a CL leading 4 intentional walks to go along with 10 stolen bases. Dodd has started the 2023 campaign on pace for 11.6 WAR which would be his 2nd highest total behind his Triple Crown season.
Down on the Farm
Leading the AAA Tuscaloosa charge are two bats you very might well see in Jersey this season. Those two players would be RF Albert Morgan and 2B Ricardo Gonzalez. They combined for 79 hits, 16 doubles, 36 RBI and 36 walks in 26 games for the month. Morgan, who profiles as a DH and possibly a RF in a pinch saw a little use in spring training and as of right now he sits off of the 40 man roster. Gonzalez was seen a lot in Spring Training, starting at both middle infield positions but struggled mightily with the stick. His improving bat and eye to go along with his elite defense are good reasons why he has seen as Jersey's long term solution at 2B to replace the eventual face of the franchise, Mike Bryant.
Even with Jersey's hot start, the Greenville 84's finished the month 15-10, while the St. Louis Browns sit at 13-13. This year should be another tight race as we trudge through the last year of the league containing 28 teams. There is a lot to watch for in Jersey and around the league as a lot of young and upcoming stars are replacing the stars of yesteryear. 2023 is a transition for the BSA and hopefully that means Jersey Shore transitioning into finally getting over the hump and winning that title.
Led by ace Jose Ramos, who would win the CL Award for Pitcher of the Month, going 4-1 in 5 starts with a 0.88 ERA, 0.68 WHIP and a 27/4 K/BB ratio. It is Ramos's 6th POTM award. The rest of the staff overall was brilliant outside from the struggles of SP Sergio Martinez who did only finish the month at 0-1, but a 6.33 ERA averaging just over 5 innings per start didn't help.
After a great 2020 season which earned 1B Tadahisa Kisuki the CL Rookie of the Year honors, a 2021 season which Kiuski had a WAR of 6.6 and looked he was a for sure superstar to be was derailed in 2022 when his numbers fell sharply in all categories. He looks out to regain that momentum he had in 2021 with a monster April. Kisuki hit .391/.436/.736 with 8 HR, 13 RBI, 6 2B and scoring 17 runs primarily hitting out of the 2 hole in the lineup.
Not to be outdone was your 2 time MVP Dave Dodd who was right behind Kisuki with 6 HR, 19 RBI, a CL leading 4 intentional walks to go along with 10 stolen bases. Dodd has started the 2023 campaign on pace for 11.6 WAR which would be his 2nd highest total behind his Triple Crown season.
Down on the Farm
Leading the AAA Tuscaloosa charge are two bats you very might well see in Jersey this season. Those two players would be RF Albert Morgan and 2B Ricardo Gonzalez. They combined for 79 hits, 16 doubles, 36 RBI and 36 walks in 26 games for the month. Morgan, who profiles as a DH and possibly a RF in a pinch saw a little use in spring training and as of right now he sits off of the 40 man roster. Gonzalez was seen a lot in Spring Training, starting at both middle infield positions but struggled mightily with the stick. His improving bat and eye to go along with his elite defense are good reasons why he has seen as Jersey's long term solution at 2B to replace the eventual face of the franchise, Mike Bryant.
Even with Jersey's hot start, the Greenville 84's finished the month 15-10, while the St. Louis Browns sit at 13-13. This year should be another tight race as we trudge through the last year of the league containing 28 teams. There is a lot to watch for in Jersey and around the league as a lot of young and upcoming stars are replacing the stars of yesteryear. 2023 is a transition for the BSA and hopefully that means Jersey Shore transitioning into finally getting over the hump and winning that title.
Saturday, May 16, 2015
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
Monday, May 4, 2015
Jersey Ends 1st Half Strong; Sends 6 to Mid-Summer Classic
The Jersey Shore D-Bags entered the All-Star break with a 62-26 record, 2.5 games back of the Greenville 84's for 2nd place in the CL East and the 2nd best record in the CL. They ended the 1st half with a 6 game winning streak which included a 4-game home sweep of division rival Chicago. Both the pitching staff and the offense have been ranked in the Top 5 of the CL all season long with the offense ranking a little bit higher being only behind the 84's in almost all offensive categories. With the All-Star game taking place earlier this month, the D-Bags sent 6 players to game. 3 on on the offense and 3 from the pitching staff. Here they are:
SP Jose Ramos - 5 time All-Star - Entering the break at 16-2 with a 2.79 ERA, Ramos is on track for a career best year. His 16 wins lead the entire BSA and at one time he put together a streak of 10 straight wins.His K/BB of almost 5 is a career high.
MR Hyo-Chin Kim - 1st time All-Star - Pitching from mainly out of the set-up role, Kim entered the break with a minuscule 0.82 ERA, appearing in 38 contests and pitching 42 innings. With only 2 HR given up on the season, it marks a big improvement from last season where he gave up 22 in 136 IP. His 11.7 K/9 is a career high.
CL Gerald Johnson - 1st time All-Star - Johnson took over the closing duties last year for Jersey Shore and has been one of the best in the league this season. Entering the break Johnson had converted 20/22 saves while posting a 1.72 ERA while striking out over 12.5 men per 9 innings. Kim-Johnson presents one of the toughest 8-9 inning combo in the BSA.
2B Mike Bryant - 9 time All-Star - For the 9th time in a row Bryant was chosen to participate in the All-Star game. Bryant enters the break hitting in 19 straight games with a triple slash line of .357/.416/.616. His 24 HR put him on pace for 40 and at age 34 he is on pace for one of his more productive seasons as a pro.
SS Lawrence Schroeder - 1st time All-Star - After a fairly productive career thus far, Schroeder was awarded with being named to his 1st AS game this season , being voted in as the starter for the CL. His slash line of .318/.374/.500 would represent career highs in batting average and on base percentage while the slugging would be 2nd in his career. He is on pace for 20 HR, 100 RBI and 35 doubles this season.
RF Dave Dodd - 3 time All Star - For the 3rd year in a row your reigning CL MVP was voted in to start for the CL. While Dodd hasn't kept up with the historic season he put last year, his .365/.424/.662 line are eye popping none-the-less. His batting average is 2nd in the BSA behind Greenville's Paco Rosas, meanwhile his pace of 46 HR don't look like they will be nearly enough as Matt Doyle of Toronto was approaching 40 near the break. Regardless, Dodd is on pace for a back to back 11+ WAR season.
The 6 All-Star selections ties a Jersey Shore record matching the mark they set back in 2017. Both Ramos and Bryant were part of that group in 2017. Jersey has sent 5 players to the game on 3 other occasions, with those being in 2016, 2019 and 2021.
GO D-BAGS
Saturday, April 11, 2015
Jersey Rallies From 5 Down & Wins in Extras; Seattle Butt hurt in Process
The Seattle Pikes visited Jersey earlier this month for a 3-game set which the D-Bags would eventually sweep. The middle game of the series was the game of the year for Jersey Shore and one of the biggest comebacks in team history. Down 5 going into the bottom of the 9th, there was little hope for the home town team. Especially considering a comment GM Kevin Carter made just days earlier on Twitter about "the great pen" Seattle is suppose to have. The best part about the comeback is All-Star Jim Nelson retired Kisuki and Bryant back to back to start the inning with 2 outs. Then all hell broke loose.
A single from Dodd gave an extra batter and the next man up was Francisco Torres would would take a 1-2 pitch and deposit it the Right-Center bleachers for a 2-run HR. Still, the Bags would still trail by 3. Seattle would go to the pen and bring in wonderkid Christian Escobar and his 99 MPH fastball. Rookie Own Carter would leg out an infield single that "King" Martinez couldn't make a play in time with. 3B Fabrice Brodeur would then walk on 5 pitches to put the tying run at the plate, another rookie, 2B John Moore. Moore would fight off 3, 1-2 pitches, fouling them all back before slicing a double down the left field line. Both Carter and Broduer would score, making it a 1 run game. Seattle would opt to leave Escobar in the game to pitch to SS Lawrence Schroeder, which would turn out to be a bad decision. Schroeder would take a 2-2 pitch and knock it up the middle scoring Broduer. The game almost ended when Moore, who was off with the pitch, came sliding home only be to be tagged out at the last second to send the game the extras.
Both bullpens would match each other until the 14th inning when Ricardo Berroa would walk, take 3rd on a single from Brodeur and score on an errant throw when he was sliding into 3rd base. It was a walk off win but there was more talk about the HBP from Jersey closer Gerald Johnson that broke Seattle's DH Luka Lagerweij's hand in the 13th inning.
Seattle GM Kevin Carter came out in the post game press conference and blamed the Jersey staff for intentionally hitting and hurting Lagerweij. GM Swain had this rebuttle. "I completely respect Lagerweij's game. I actually feel bad for the guy. He has supreme power and he plays his home games in one of the hardest parks to hit a HR for a left-handed hitter. One thing I don't respect though is showing up pitchers. In the 1st inning he hit a 3-run HR. Yes, our pitcher Garcia made a mistake and he capitalized on it, but you don't stand and admire your work, plus it was a 349 foot shot. He acted like he hit 500 feet. Our catcher Carter noticed he kept creeping closer and closer jamming the plate and our Manager Negrete told Johnson to brush him off the plate. The ball tailed a little bit and got him on the hand. No negligence. Part of the game. We hope for a speedy recovery and this conversation is over."
Through Saturday May 28th, Jersey Shore sits with a 35-16 record which is the best in the CL, and that's after a current 4-game losing streak. With 3 games left in May, the D-Bags need to win 2/3 for a 20 win month. They finish a quick 2-game tilt with Vista before finishing the month with 2 @ division rival Chicago.
A single from Dodd gave an extra batter and the next man up was Francisco Torres would would take a 1-2 pitch and deposit it the Right-Center bleachers for a 2-run HR. Still, the Bags would still trail by 3. Seattle would go to the pen and bring in wonderkid Christian Escobar and his 99 MPH fastball. Rookie Own Carter would leg out an infield single that "King" Martinez couldn't make a play in time with. 3B Fabrice Brodeur would then walk on 5 pitches to put the tying run at the plate, another rookie, 2B John Moore. Moore would fight off 3, 1-2 pitches, fouling them all back before slicing a double down the left field line. Both Carter and Broduer would score, making it a 1 run game. Seattle would opt to leave Escobar in the game to pitch to SS Lawrence Schroeder, which would turn out to be a bad decision. Schroeder would take a 2-2 pitch and knock it up the middle scoring Broduer. The game almost ended when Moore, who was off with the pitch, came sliding home only be to be tagged out at the last second to send the game the extras.
Both bullpens would match each other until the 14th inning when Ricardo Berroa would walk, take 3rd on a single from Brodeur and score on an errant throw when he was sliding into 3rd base. It was a walk off win but there was more talk about the HBP from Jersey closer Gerald Johnson that broke Seattle's DH Luka Lagerweij's hand in the 13th inning.
Seattle GM Kevin Carter came out in the post game press conference and blamed the Jersey staff for intentionally hitting and hurting Lagerweij. GM Swain had this rebuttle. "I completely respect Lagerweij's game. I actually feel bad for the guy. He has supreme power and he plays his home games in one of the hardest parks to hit a HR for a left-handed hitter. One thing I don't respect though is showing up pitchers. In the 1st inning he hit a 3-run HR. Yes, our pitcher Garcia made a mistake and he capitalized on it, but you don't stand and admire your work, plus it was a 349 foot shot. He acted like he hit 500 feet. Our catcher Carter noticed he kept creeping closer and closer jamming the plate and our Manager Negrete told Johnson to brush him off the plate. The ball tailed a little bit and got him on the hand. No negligence. Part of the game. We hope for a speedy recovery and this conversation is over."
Through Saturday May 28th, Jersey Shore sits with a 35-16 record which is the best in the CL, and that's after a current 4-game losing streak. With 3 games left in May, the D-Bags need to win 2/3 for a 20 win month. They finish a quick 2-game tilt with Vista before finishing the month with 2 @ division rival Chicago.
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
Ramos-Bryant-Bags Off to Hot April Start
April has come and May begins tomorrow and the Jersey Shore D-Bags can look back with an approving look on their face after going 17-9 and ending the month tied atop the standings with the reigning BSA champs Greenville 84's. The team tallied that record despite only playing 10 of their first 26 games at home. For once the pitching has led the team. The club's ERA sits 2nd in the CL while the offense doesn't trail far behind finishing the month 5th in CL in runs scored.
The pitching staff was led by staff ace Jose Ramos who is hoping to bounce back from his down year last year after finishing 2nd in Cy Young award voting in 2020. Ramos started 6 times for Jersey in April and won all 6 starts, giving up more than 2 ER only once and went 8 innings in every start except a rain shortened start vs Springfield. He finishes the month with a 1.93 ERA, 1.01 WHIP to go with a an excellent 5 K/BB ratio. In his last 2 starts he beat 1st place teams St. Charles and Toronto as well.
On the offensive end of things, it's but who else, Mike Bryant leading the team in almost every category. Reigning MVP Dave Dodd had a slow start and is starting to pick things up, but it's Bryant who has been Mr. Consistent thus far for the Bags. He has played in all 26 games so far and finishes April with a slash line of: .377/.431/.726 to go along with 5 doubles, a triple, 10 HR and 28 RBI, good for 2.1 WAR in the first month alone.
Look ahead to the May schedule, we have inter-league play starting where the Bags will travel to the bayou for a 3 game set with New Orleans before welcoming the Maui Tropics to town for a 3 game set. May will also feature the first of 17 games between Jersey and Greenville when Jersey travels to Greenville to play a 4-game tilt on May 23rd.
GO D-BAGS
The pitching staff was led by staff ace Jose Ramos who is hoping to bounce back from his down year last year after finishing 2nd in Cy Young award voting in 2020. Ramos started 6 times for Jersey in April and won all 6 starts, giving up more than 2 ER only once and went 8 innings in every start except a rain shortened start vs Springfield. He finishes the month with a 1.93 ERA, 1.01 WHIP to go with a an excellent 5 K/BB ratio. In his last 2 starts he beat 1st place teams St. Charles and Toronto as well.
On the offensive end of things, it's but who else, Mike Bryant leading the team in almost every category. Reigning MVP Dave Dodd had a slow start and is starting to pick things up, but it's Bryant who has been Mr. Consistent thus far for the Bags. He has played in all 26 games so far and finishes April with a slash line of: .377/.431/.726 to go along with 5 doubles, a triple, 10 HR and 28 RBI, good for 2.1 WAR in the first month alone.
Look ahead to the May schedule, we have inter-league play starting where the Bags will travel to the bayou for a 3 game set with New Orleans before welcoming the Maui Tropics to town for a 3 game set. May will also feature the first of 17 games between Jersey and Greenville when Jersey travels to Greenville to play a 4-game tilt on May 23rd.
GO D-BAGS
Wednesday, December 10, 2014
Dave Dodd; Man or Machine?
It has been evident for years that Dave Dodd had the talent to be a special player. The way he went from an everyday outfielder in A ball in 2015 to manning RF for Jersey the very next season as a 22 year old was no mistake. The power potential was always there. In 2015 he hit 15 HR in just 41 games in AAA before being called up to the show. In 4 full big league seasons he has never failed to top 30 2B, 30 HR or 100 RBI. He has speed, he plays defense and the scary part.....he is improving.
Turning 27 early this season all you have to do is look at his numbers to see the improvement. He has improved on his batting average every year he has been in the league. Hitting .254 as a rookie in 2016, .289 in 2019 and now this year 75 games into the season an eye-popping .399. As a rookie Dodd broke the all-time record, and still holds it, for strikeouts in a season at 204. Last season he struck out 138 times and in 2021 he is on pace to K just 83 times.
At age 27, Dodd very well could be in the perfect storm. He hits directly behind one of the greatest hitters in the BSA in Mike Bryant and has power hitting all-star Jaime Torres directly behind him. He is in his prime. The 26-28 ages are well known for sluggers putting up the biggest numbers of their career. From Luis Padilla's record season at age 26, Jeff Cole's 12 WAR at age 27, Zach Hutchinson's 12.1 WAR season at age 27, and Bryant's Triple Crown season at age 28 now is Dodd's time.
So far in 2021 he is putting up video game numbers. When you look at the leaderboard it is a collage of Dodd's face over and over again sprinkled in with a couple other faces. His. 399 batting average is 26 points higher than Bill Wilson of Boston. His .471 OBP is 28 points higher than Al Mills of Greenville. This might be the most unbelievable one: his .853 slugging is 186 points higher than Matt Doyle of Toronto. The record for slugging in a season is .699 by Felix Morales. He has 10 more HR than Doyle as this point as well. If Dodd stays on his current pace he would shatter BSA records. A WAR of 15.8, 71 HR, 243 hits, 187 RBI. A triple slash of .399/.471/.853 to go along with an OPS of 1.324.
No one can say what is going on with Dodd right now. He already has a Player of the Month trophy to go along with 5 player of the week trophies in 2021 alone. All we can say to the fans of Jersey Shore and the BSA, sit back and enjoy it. You might be witnessing a season for the ages and seasons like this only come around once in a great while. Enjoy it will it lasts, I know I will!
GO D-BAGS!
Turning 27 early this season all you have to do is look at his numbers to see the improvement. He has improved on his batting average every year he has been in the league. Hitting .254 as a rookie in 2016, .289 in 2019 and now this year 75 games into the season an eye-popping .399. As a rookie Dodd broke the all-time record, and still holds it, for strikeouts in a season at 204. Last season he struck out 138 times and in 2021 he is on pace to K just 83 times.
At age 27, Dodd very well could be in the perfect storm. He hits directly behind one of the greatest hitters in the BSA in Mike Bryant and has power hitting all-star Jaime Torres directly behind him. He is in his prime. The 26-28 ages are well known for sluggers putting up the biggest numbers of their career. From Luis Padilla's record season at age 26, Jeff Cole's 12 WAR at age 27, Zach Hutchinson's 12.1 WAR season at age 27, and Bryant's Triple Crown season at age 28 now is Dodd's time.
So far in 2021 he is putting up video game numbers. When you look at the leaderboard it is a collage of Dodd's face over and over again sprinkled in with a couple other faces. His. 399 batting average is 26 points higher than Bill Wilson of Boston. His .471 OBP is 28 points higher than Al Mills of Greenville. This might be the most unbelievable one: his .853 slugging is 186 points higher than Matt Doyle of Toronto. The record for slugging in a season is .699 by Felix Morales. He has 10 more HR than Doyle as this point as well. If Dodd stays on his current pace he would shatter BSA records. A WAR of 15.8, 71 HR, 243 hits, 187 RBI. A triple slash of .399/.471/.853 to go along with an OPS of 1.324.
No one can say what is going on with Dodd right now. He already has a Player of the Month trophy to go along with 5 player of the week trophies in 2021 alone. All we can say to the fans of Jersey Shore and the BSA, sit back and enjoy it. You might be witnessing a season for the ages and seasons like this only come around once in a great while. Enjoy it will it lasts, I know I will!
GO D-BAGS!
Wednesday, November 26, 2014
Bryant Starts Season Hot; Clubs 300th Career HR
When Mikey Bryant ended the 2020 season with 297 career home runs, everyone knew it wouldn't take him long in the 2021 season to hit 3 and reach the milestone of 300, but what they didn't know is that it would only take 3 games. Bryant homered in both of the 2 game opening series again the 84er's to put him at 299 heading into a 3 game set in Reno on April 5th, 2021. Luis Lopez was the starter for the Cards and a pitcher Bryant was a then 2-7 against without a HR. After grounding out in the 1st, Bryant would a 0-1 pitch and launch it 438 feet to dead center easily clearing the CF wall for his 300th career bomb.
Bryant becomes the 10th big leaguer to hit for 300 HR in the history of the BSA, behind Shizue Chouda who hit his 300th before the end of last season. Though Bryant amassed 40 HR last year, through 51 games in the 2021 season he has struggled. As of May 30th, he sits at 8 HR which puts him on pace for only 25. In the past he has heated up in the summer months, particularly August, so time will tell if can put up another great season at age 33, Jersey Shore could sure use his bat as they sit 6 games under .500.
The only real viable candidate he can pass on the all time list this year year is George Alston who sits at 315 homers. He is active playing in AAA Lansing, but hasn't seen BSA time since 2019. There is still a good chance that Bryant could reach the 400 HR club and beyond if he doesn't harshly regress in the next 2 years. Even only a 30 HR season would put him would put him around 330. The real question to be asked is if Jersey Shore will resign him after this season where he is a pending free agent. Only a handful of parks around the league are as offensively friendly as the park in Jersey. I really don't see the D-Bags letting him walk, but we have seen stranger things in the BSA.
Meanwhile in the lineup, Dave Dodd and his incredibly hot start have him sitting on 184 HR at only 27 years old and he might be peaking now. Tracking his stats should be a fun thing to do as well.
GO D-BAGS
Monday, September 15, 2014
2020 Season Overview; The Jersey Offense
After an exciting back and forth season full of good performances and ending with a division title, comeback playoff series wins and disappointing showing in the World Series the 2020 season as a whole can only be called a success. Yes, the ultimate goal to bring the first championship to the Jersey Shore didn't happen, but the D-Bags did win the CL Crown for the 2nd time in 11 years and the CL East crown for the 3rd time.
Instead of breaking down the games and playoff series, we will look at the roster as a whole. The first segment we will break down the offense.
With the addition of some young players, a FA acquisition and big time stars Jersey put up an offensive show for the ages in 2020. With a combined slugging percentage of .486, this Jersey Shore team slugged higher than anytime in the history of the BSA and it's 244 HR were 2nd only to the 2018 Greenville 84's. They lead the CL in batting average, OPS, hits, extra base hits and runs to go with the HR. In a league and especially in a division that is known for it's hitting Jersey bested them all. The team had 9 players in double digit HR's and 5 of them slugged 20 or more this season. The team also boasted 7 players who hit 29 or more doubles, a category in which they lead the CL with 327.
The Stars
The offense was led by the team's best player two-time MVP Mike Bryant. At age 32 he showed small signs of slowing down but still led the team with 40 HR and 133 RBI. It was the first year in his career that he failed to secure 200 hits and hit .300, but still managed 64.1 VORP and 6 WAR. Not to be out shined, but a slow first half "slowed" down up and coming superstar Dave Dodd hit 39 doubles, 37 HR and knocked in 117 runs to finish a little behind last year which was his best season in the pros. His 6.7 WAR was a team best and reduced his strikeouts for the 4th year in a row.
The Career Year
When you have an offense that helps break records you have to have career years as well. Jersey got just that from their 28 year old SS Lawrence Schroeder playing in his 4th full season as a starter. He had a career year across the board posting a .306/.341/.542 line with a career best 132 OPS+ and 4.7 WAR. His 50 doubles was a career high and good for the 2nd in the league and he hadn't missed a month during the year his HR and RBI totals would have been a career high as well. 2nd year starter
The Breakout Year
In his 2nd year as a full time starter, former 1st round pick, Fabrice Brodeur had that breakout year for the team. Starting mainly at 3B he played above average defense while posting a line of .325/.365/.465 and finishing the season with 155 hits and 52 extra base hits mainly hitting towards the bottom of the order. If he would have gotten just 18 more plate appearances he would have been eligible for the batting title and would have finished 5th in the CL in hitting.
The Rookie
What's a successful offense without a hot hitting rookie? For Jersey it was 1B Tadahisa Kisuki. After mashing in AAA over a span of 3 seasons he got the call and started from day 1. His 30 HR and 105 RBI both ranked 2nd on the team and he led the team with 189 hits. At only 24 years old he looks like he could be a force in the league for a long time. With his 30 2B and 30 HR, he becomes on the 4th player in franchise history to hit the 30-30 mark behind Bryant, Dodd and Matt Doyle
The Acquisition
After hitting 38 HR in 2019 it was a little surprising that D-Bags signed 31 year catcher Fernando Ramos formerly of the Boston Rebels. GM Swain must have seen something we didn't. While they split time very evenly behind the plate, Ramos had a career year while only getting 305 AB. He posted a line of .298/.396/.577 hitting 24 HR. A full season of that he is posting 6.5 WAR and hitting nearly 50 HR. With Goyer being a pending free agent, all signs point at Ramos being a full time starter next season.
GO D-BAGS
Saturday, August 30, 2014
Superstar in the Making?;Meet Rookie Ricardo Berroa
Not really too surprising but in his 2+ months in the big leagues, rookie Ricardo Berroa is excelling and adding another dangerous bat into an already potent offense in Jersey Shore. He was called up June 21st to play mainly against right handed pitching and hasn't looked back since. He started his career with a 16 game hit streak and through 49 games played and 194 plate appearances, Berroa has a line of .324/.387/.497 to go along with 13 doubles, 4 triples, 3 home runs and 6 stolen bases.
Berroa was discovered by scouts early in the 2016 season in Cuba and began his ascent through the Jersey Shore farm system. He came out of the gates a raw but talented 19 year old and was named the #22 prospect in all the BSA by the OSA scouting department prior to the 2017 season. That season he would go on to have a monster season in A ball putting up a 5.9 WAR and rightfully earned promotion to AA the following year.
As a 21 year old in AA, he would top his monster year in A ball by posting a 6.1 WAR to go with his .562 slugging percentage and 49 doubles. Jersey knew they had something special in Berroa. He was kept in AA the first month and a half of the 2019 season before being promoted to AAA Tuscaloosa. He would struggle adjusting to AAA pitching at first, but ended the 2019 season with a .273/.398/.528 in 66 games.
With a crowded outfield in Jersey Shore which included Vancini, Dodd, Torres, and Ibarra, Jersey chose not to invite Berroa to spring training and named him the starting LF in Tuscaloosa. The first 2.5 months of this season showed Jersey management they had no choice but to promote him. Berroa was hitting a career high .351 to go with an outstanding .466 on base percentage and an OPS of 1.207 when he got the call to the big league club. It was also the first time in his career where his walks would out number his strikeouts.
Combined with Jersey's 24 year old rookie starting 1B Tadahisa Kisuki and their trio of young starting pitchers in Jose Ramos, Sergio Martinez and Ramon Ruiz the future is bright for the D-Bags. Though it seems like he has been on the team forever as well, Dave Dodd is just 26 and on pace for another 5.5+ WAR season. So while the days of the solid core of Bryant/Perez/Morrow/Ellis get older this new group of core players look to help Jersey remain competitive well beyond the foreseeable future and hopefully for the next decade.
GO D-BAGS
Sunday, August 17, 2014
Bryant Joins 1500 Hit Club; Dodd Climbing Jersey Leaderboards
In the 1st game after playing in his 6th straight All-Star game, August 12th, 2020, Mikey Bryant did nothing new and had another 3-hit game, his 10th of the season. In his 2nd AB he grounded a ball between 3rd and SS that found a hole into the OF for his 2nd single of the game. What was special is that marked his 1500th career hit in just a shade over 7 total seasons in the big leagues.
He became the 29th BSA player to reach that level, but by far has the most the hits between 2013-2020 than any player in the league. There have only been 34 different times where a player has 208 or more hits in a season. Bryant accounts for 6 of those.....all 6 full seasons he has been in the league. That comes out to nearly 18%. The man is a hitting machine. He is on pace for 196 hits this season and I know everyone will be rooting him on to get that 7th straight season of 200 hits or more.
Bryant turned 32 years old this year and though is OPS is down a little bit from the former glory years, Bryant looks to continue hitting in a league where turning the age of 30 is like getting a death sentence. Though there have been a handful of players to succeed well into their 30's, the list of players to fall off is a lot longer than of players who have faltered. Hopefully we can see Bryant age like the great Sam Sagar has done, playing at a high level through age 35 and still putting up at least average numbers through age 37. Hopefully 2500 hits will be within reach for Bryant. He also sits at 279 HR. A great 2nd half could have him near that magical 300 mark which only 8 players have accomplished thus far in the history of the BSA. Are 400 HR out of reach? Only time will tell at this point.
On the opposite end of the age spectrum, kinda, is Dave Dodd who turned 26 this season. When Bryant was 26 he had ~1 year or so of BSA experience under his belt. Dodd has 4+ at the same point. Just this week Dodd passed former Jersey slugger Matt Doyle in hits and tied him in HR in a Jersey uniform. With 1 more HR and 39 more hits he will plant himself in 2nd in both categories only behind Bryant. Pretty crazy to think that he is already among one of the Jersey greats before his 27th birthday. If he can stay healthy, he might be able to put up some very big numbers statistically. Many people around the league believe he hasn't hit his peak yet, which could be scary for pitchers around the league. Regardless of meaningless personal accomplishments, if you ask each player what they hope to accomplish most you can bet both of them want a championship more than anything.
GO D-BAGS
He became the 29th BSA player to reach that level, but by far has the most the hits between 2013-2020 than any player in the league. There have only been 34 different times where a player has 208 or more hits in a season. Bryant accounts for 6 of those.....all 6 full seasons he has been in the league. That comes out to nearly 18%. The man is a hitting machine. He is on pace for 196 hits this season and I know everyone will be rooting him on to get that 7th straight season of 200 hits or more.
Bryant turned 32 years old this year and though is OPS is down a little bit from the former glory years, Bryant looks to continue hitting in a league where turning the age of 30 is like getting a death sentence. Though there have been a handful of players to succeed well into their 30's, the list of players to fall off is a lot longer than of players who have faltered. Hopefully we can see Bryant age like the great Sam Sagar has done, playing at a high level through age 35 and still putting up at least average numbers through age 37. Hopefully 2500 hits will be within reach for Bryant. He also sits at 279 HR. A great 2nd half could have him near that magical 300 mark which only 8 players have accomplished thus far in the history of the BSA. Are 400 HR out of reach? Only time will tell at this point.
On the opposite end of the age spectrum, kinda, is Dave Dodd who turned 26 this season. When Bryant was 26 he had ~1 year or so of BSA experience under his belt. Dodd has 4+ at the same point. Just this week Dodd passed former Jersey slugger Matt Doyle in hits and tied him in HR in a Jersey uniform. With 1 more HR and 39 more hits he will plant himself in 2nd in both categories only behind Bryant. Pretty crazy to think that he is already among one of the Jersey greats before his 27th birthday. If he can stay healthy, he might be able to put up some very big numbers statistically. Many people around the league believe he hasn't hit his peak yet, which could be scary for pitchers around the league. Regardless of meaningless personal accomplishments, if you ask each player what they hope to accomplish most you can bet both of them want a championship more than anything.
GO D-BAGS
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
Interesting Start in Jersey & an Interesting Season for The BSA
23 games into the 2020 season and what is going on? The Frenzy, Bombers, and Stars sit in first place while the Titans, Beavers and 84's all occupy the cellars in their respected divisions. Scott Hill is lost for the season and All-Stars John Doby, Al Mills, Zach Hutchinson and Kyuso Fujita are all hitting under .200. This is The BSA this season.
Meanwhile in Jersey, it has been an up and down 3 weeks to start this season. The top of the rotation has been excellent. Jose Ramos and Sergio Martinez account for half of Jersey's wins though both have been blown up once this season. They have a combined record of 6-3 and includes one of Jose Ramos's better starts in his career when he struck out a career high 13 Pikes in his last start against Seattle. On the other hand the older veterans have been.....terrible and that's putting it lightly. After an injury riddled season which looked like he was getting back on track, Jose Lara has nearly a 9.50 ERA after 4 starts and has given up 5 or more ER in each of his starts. Greg Schaefer finally showed life in his last start going 8 shutout innings, but before that he had only gotten out of the 4th inning once in 4 starts. The good news for the staff is the bullpen leads the CL with a 3.09 ERA, even though they account for 4 losses and 3 blown saves.
Offense has been the tell tale story of the D-Bags season though. Jersey has scored at least 2 runs in every game this season and in 6 of their 11 losses they have scored 4 or more runs. In 11 of their 12 wins they have scored 4 or more runs that that includes scoring 8 runs, 6 or more times. The offense is Top 5 in almost every major offense category, which is a good sign considering Dave Dodd, John Warner and Fransisco Ibarra are all hitting under .220 for the year.
While those 3 have been bad, there have been some very good though. Lawrence Schroeder is out of the gate scorching hot hitting .393/.446/.786 and has 19 extra base hits in 22 games. He has hit safely in 20 of those 22 games and leads the CL in OPS and is 2nd in batting average and batter WAR. After ripping through AAA pitching for 2+ seasons Tadahisa Kisuki is off to a great start to his major league career as well. He is acting a platoon with John Warner at 1B/DH and hitting mostly out of the 2 hole has put up a .309/.350/.443 line while adding 5 doubles, a triple and 2 HR.
Rumors out of Jersey is that we will probably see SP Ramon Ruiz sooner than later. After a very rough Spring Training he has completely dominated AAA in 4 starts to a tune of a 4-0 record, 0.59 ERA, 0.68 ERA while striking out 32 batters and walking 3 in 30.1 IP. Jersey is almost ready to welcome back hard throwing lefty Hyo-Chin Kim who had suffered a torn UCL tear early in last season's spring training and has missed nearly 14 months time. He has been rehabbing in AAA and has looked better and better and would be a much welcome addition to the bullpen.
All things considered, it has been a decent start for Jersey who is more known for stumbling out of the gate than coming out hot. They sit 3 games out of first place and 1 game out of the wild card. The D-Bags would prefer to sit back in the shadows than be up at the top with a target on their backs because we have seen that movie before. Let's hope for a strong close the month and a head of steam going into May.
GO D-BAGS
Meanwhile in Jersey, it has been an up and down 3 weeks to start this season. The top of the rotation has been excellent. Jose Ramos and Sergio Martinez account for half of Jersey's wins though both have been blown up once this season. They have a combined record of 6-3 and includes one of Jose Ramos's better starts in his career when he struck out a career high 13 Pikes in his last start against Seattle. On the other hand the older veterans have been.....terrible and that's putting it lightly. After an injury riddled season which looked like he was getting back on track, Jose Lara has nearly a 9.50 ERA after 4 starts and has given up 5 or more ER in each of his starts. Greg Schaefer finally showed life in his last start going 8 shutout innings, but before that he had only gotten out of the 4th inning once in 4 starts. The good news for the staff is the bullpen leads the CL with a 3.09 ERA, even though they account for 4 losses and 3 blown saves.
Offense has been the tell tale story of the D-Bags season though. Jersey has scored at least 2 runs in every game this season and in 6 of their 11 losses they have scored 4 or more runs. In 11 of their 12 wins they have scored 4 or more runs that that includes scoring 8 runs, 6 or more times. The offense is Top 5 in almost every major offense category, which is a good sign considering Dave Dodd, John Warner and Fransisco Ibarra are all hitting under .220 for the year.
While those 3 have been bad, there have been some very good though. Lawrence Schroeder is out of the gate scorching hot hitting .393/.446/.786 and has 19 extra base hits in 22 games. He has hit safely in 20 of those 22 games and leads the CL in OPS and is 2nd in batting average and batter WAR. After ripping through AAA pitching for 2+ seasons Tadahisa Kisuki is off to a great start to his major league career as well. He is acting a platoon with John Warner at 1B/DH and hitting mostly out of the 2 hole has put up a .309/.350/.443 line while adding 5 doubles, a triple and 2 HR.
Rumors out of Jersey is that we will probably see SP Ramon Ruiz sooner than later. After a very rough Spring Training he has completely dominated AAA in 4 starts to a tune of a 4-0 record, 0.59 ERA, 0.68 ERA while striking out 32 batters and walking 3 in 30.1 IP. Jersey is almost ready to welcome back hard throwing lefty Hyo-Chin Kim who had suffered a torn UCL tear early in last season's spring training and has missed nearly 14 months time. He has been rehabbing in AAA and has looked better and better and would be a much welcome addition to the bullpen.
All things considered, it has been a decent start for Jersey who is more known for stumbling out of the gate than coming out hot. They sit 3 games out of first place and 1 game out of the wild card. The D-Bags would prefer to sit back in the shadows than be up at the top with a target on their backs because we have seen that movie before. Let's hope for a strong close the month and a head of steam going into May.
GO D-BAGS
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
Mistakes and Poor Offense Plague Jersey; Fall Behind in Series 2-1
On a day that featured 4 errors, 11 pitchers and 11 innings of baseball the Titans of Toronto ended up on top to take a 3-2 win and a 2-1 advantage in this best of 7 Divisional Series. Though Titans starter Gonzales only pitched 4.2 innings, the Titans bullpen combined throwing 6 arms, giving up only 1 run on 3 hits in 6.1 innings, limiting the powerful Jersey offense to just 2 runs on 5 hits.
Jose Lara, making only his 2nd start since coming off his rehab assignment was sharp pitching 6.2 innings giving up 6 hits, 2 walks and 2 strikeouts. The last batter he faced reached on an error when 1B John Warner bobbled a throw, a play that should have ended the inning. Instead reliever Angel Lara would come in and promptly give up a double to German Rivas followed by a single from Luis Gonzalez which would score two runs and give Toronto a late 2-1 lead.
Jersey would come back in top of the 8th and tie the game on back to back doubles by Alberto Perez and Matthieu Vancini, but Bryant would end up stranding Vancini on 3rd with a lazy fly ball to center field two batters later. Toronto would strand a runner on 2nd in the bottom half and John Warner nor Warren Goyer could knock in Fransisco Ibarra from 2nd base in the Top of the 9th.
Jersey would get a real chance to pull ahead in the 11th when Ignacio Rios would hit Jersey shortstop Lawrence Schroeder with a pitch on a 2-2 count and walk Mike Bryant to put two runners on with none out. Toronto would get the force out at 2nd on Ibarra' fielder choice putting runners at the corners for David Dodd. The mistake came when Ibarra lazily was caught leaning off of 1st base on a pick off throw which wasn't even close. Dodd would eventually strike out which would be Jersey's last chance to take the lead in the game.
Toronto would start the 11th with a bloop since from Zaragoza followed by a walk from Overbeek to give the Titans life. Reliever Gerald Johnson would get Ayala to hit a slow chopper where 3B Perez's only play was 1st base giving the Titans 2 runners in scoring position with only 1 out. Catcher Gonzalez would be intentionally walked to set up the double play for 9th hitter Lucero. Johnson wouldn't even give him a chance to win the game with a hit by walking him on 4 pitches and forcing in Zaragoza from 3rd for the winning run to end a frustrating and error filled game for the D-Bags and putting them in a 2-1 series hole.
This is not a position the D-Bags wanted to get into, especially with 2 more games in Toronto. Game 4 both teams will bring back their Game 1 starters on short rest as Jose Ramos looks to even the series with another dominate performance. Meanwhile Lebel tries to avoid losing to the D-Bags for the 5th time this season while putting team on the brink of their 3rd trip to the League Championship Series for the 3rd time in 4 season.
GO D-BAGS
Jose Lara, making only his 2nd start since coming off his rehab assignment was sharp pitching 6.2 innings giving up 6 hits, 2 walks and 2 strikeouts. The last batter he faced reached on an error when 1B John Warner bobbled a throw, a play that should have ended the inning. Instead reliever Angel Lara would come in and promptly give up a double to German Rivas followed by a single from Luis Gonzalez which would score two runs and give Toronto a late 2-1 lead.
Jersey would come back in top of the 8th and tie the game on back to back doubles by Alberto Perez and Matthieu Vancini, but Bryant would end up stranding Vancini on 3rd with a lazy fly ball to center field two batters later. Toronto would strand a runner on 2nd in the bottom half and John Warner nor Warren Goyer could knock in Fransisco Ibarra from 2nd base in the Top of the 9th.
Jersey would get a real chance to pull ahead in the 11th when Ignacio Rios would hit Jersey shortstop Lawrence Schroeder with a pitch on a 2-2 count and walk Mike Bryant to put two runners on with none out. Toronto would get the force out at 2nd on Ibarra' fielder choice putting runners at the corners for David Dodd. The mistake came when Ibarra lazily was caught leaning off of 1st base on a pick off throw which wasn't even close. Dodd would eventually strike out which would be Jersey's last chance to take the lead in the game.
Toronto would start the 11th with a bloop since from Zaragoza followed by a walk from Overbeek to give the Titans life. Reliever Gerald Johnson would get Ayala to hit a slow chopper where 3B Perez's only play was 1st base giving the Titans 2 runners in scoring position with only 1 out. Catcher Gonzalez would be intentionally walked to set up the double play for 9th hitter Lucero. Johnson wouldn't even give him a chance to win the game with a hit by walking him on 4 pitches and forcing in Zaragoza from 3rd for the winning run to end a frustrating and error filled game for the D-Bags and putting them in a 2-1 series hole.
This is not a position the D-Bags wanted to get into, especially with 2 more games in Toronto. Game 4 both teams will bring back their Game 1 starters on short rest as Jose Ramos looks to even the series with another dominate performance. Meanwhile Lebel tries to avoid losing to the D-Bags for the 5th time this season while putting team on the brink of their 3rd trip to the League Championship Series for the 3rd time in 4 season.
GO D-BAGS
Ramos Masterful; Jersey Takes 1-0 Series Lead
Jose Ramos showed today why he is one of the favorites to take home the CL Cy Young Award and why he is considered one of the best starters in the BSA. Ramos sprinkled 4 hits in a complete game, giving up 1 earned run on a 5th inning Kevin Beasley single, walking no one and striking out 7 in a 120 pitch performance. Only 5 balls left the infield all day, as Ramos induced 15 groundballs, including a double play.
Ramos was aided by 11 hits by the offense, including back to back to back singles in the 4th to tie the game and 3 singles and an error in the 5th which would put the D-Bags up for good. For the most part starting pitcher Albert Lebel for Toronto kept Jersey guessing all day, striking out 9 in 6.2 innings. On the 10 hits that Lebel surrendered only 1 went for extra bases. Lebel got in trouble when he gave up multiple hits as he did in all 3 innings that Jersey scored in. Dave Dodd added a solo HR in the 8th inning for extra measure making the score 5-1 which would be the final.
Ramos brings up his post season record to 2-5 with the win. He had hard two years against against Austin where he went 1-2 despite only giving up 3 ER and only allowing 12 hits in 19 innings pitched. This was Lebel's 1st post season loss after going 2-0 in 5 starts in Toronto's World Series run last season. For the 2019 season this marked the 4th time Jersey has beaten Lebel this season.
Game 2 in Jersey Shore features SP Tim Harmon for Toronto vs. SP Sergio Martinez for Jersey
GO D-BAGS
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Milestone for Bryant; Smashes HR #250
I'm sure the league has to be sick of hearing the name Mike Bryant by now. The superstar now in his 6th full season and 7th total season continues to put up eye popping stats year in and year out. Earlier this season he was selected to his 6th straight All-Star game and after a "slow" month of April Byrant has hit at least 6 HR and 20 RBI in every month, hit above .330 with an OBP of over 400 in every month except for May and is currently having his most productive month with a week still left over.
On August 12th, 2019, the first game of a 10 day roadtrip, Bryant didn't take much time hitting a towering fly down the RF line into the 2nd deck of Red Box Field in Madison off of 24 year old reliever turned starter Robinson Gonzales for his 250th career bomb. Bryant became only the 14th batter to reach this milestone behind classic sluggers such as Crowe, Sagar, Yoko, Delaney, Rivas, Fujita, Alston, Torres, Chouda, Newell and most recently Copriviza. Not a bad group of players to be associated with.
At the current pace he is on with ~5 or so weeks to go in the season, Bryant would reach 37+ HR for the 6th straight year, 208+ hits for the 6th straight year as well as 119+ RBI also for the 6th straight year. While he seems to have lost a tiny step on defense and on the basepaths there is really no denying his bat is still going strong. Bryant will turn 32 a few weeks before the 2020 season and all of Jersey Shore is hoping he ages gracefully continuing to be the heart and soul of the powerful offense. With his current pace, Bryant should hit the magical 1500 hit mark at some point next season and if he continues on his career HR pace, the 300 HR mark could be hit near the end of next season.
With the emergence of Dave Dodd as a bonafide superstar, he and Bryant make for the one of the most dangerous duos in the current BSA. They lead all duos with a combined 66 HR, 207 RBI, 193 runs scored and 594 total bases. Throw in catcher Warren Goyer and the trio makes up for 3 of the top 4 HR hitters in the CL this season. Will this be enough to push Jersey into the post season? We can only hope so. With 5 weeks left in the regular season, Greenville is making a charge and sits 5 games behind Jersey. The D-Bags only hold a slight lead on the current Wild Card team, the Pocatello Bocabellas as well. It should be a fun 5 weeks in the CL!
GO D-BAGS
On August 12th, 2019, the first game of a 10 day roadtrip, Bryant didn't take much time hitting a towering fly down the RF line into the 2nd deck of Red Box Field in Madison off of 24 year old reliever turned starter Robinson Gonzales for his 250th career bomb. Bryant became only the 14th batter to reach this milestone behind classic sluggers such as Crowe, Sagar, Yoko, Delaney, Rivas, Fujita, Alston, Torres, Chouda, Newell and most recently Copriviza. Not a bad group of players to be associated with.
At the current pace he is on with ~5 or so weeks to go in the season, Bryant would reach 37+ HR for the 6th straight year, 208+ hits for the 6th straight year as well as 119+ RBI also for the 6th straight year. While he seems to have lost a tiny step on defense and on the basepaths there is really no denying his bat is still going strong. Bryant will turn 32 a few weeks before the 2020 season and all of Jersey Shore is hoping he ages gracefully continuing to be the heart and soul of the powerful offense. With his current pace, Bryant should hit the magical 1500 hit mark at some point next season and if he continues on his career HR pace, the 300 HR mark could be hit near the end of next season.
With the emergence of Dave Dodd as a bonafide superstar, he and Bryant make for the one of the most dangerous duos in the current BSA. They lead all duos with a combined 66 HR, 207 RBI, 193 runs scored and 594 total bases. Throw in catcher Warren Goyer and the trio makes up for 3 of the top 4 HR hitters in the CL this season. Will this be enough to push Jersey into the post season? We can only hope so. With 5 weeks left in the regular season, Greenville is making a charge and sits 5 games behind Jersey. The D-Bags only hold a slight lead on the current Wild Card team, the Pocatello Bocabellas as well. It should be a fun 5 weeks in the CL!
GO D-BAGS
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