Pink Hawley, Pitcher for the 2008 Monroes, had a twin brother named … you guessed it…Blue. The two played ball together on a semi-pro team in Wisconsin until Blue suddenly died at age 18. Of course, Pink was the pitcher and Blue…you guessed it again, didn’t you…was the catcher. Turns out their parents in 1872 had a pink and a blue ribbon on hand at the birth, ready for a girl or boy. When they got twin boys they simply tied a pink ribbon to one and a blue to the other to keep them straight. The names stuck.
What could work: Batting order: Hall of Famers: Billy Hamilton will lead the league in SB, Ozzie will advance him to third. Joe Dimaggio will hit triples and homers at an unbelievable clip. Babe…well… Mike Schmidt…well… Gabby Harnett could hit 30 homers. Six HOF in a row. While the room was bemused by the names of the marginal players (Pink, Baby Doll, Chick, Birdie, Granny, Sadie, Dolly, Les Mann, Cupid Childs, Slim Sallee), overlooked was the caliber of hitters this team amassed. And did we mention yet that the team will be playing in Coors field? While the exploits of home runs are well known, the huge dimensions of the park actually bode better for triples, especially for right handed batters (as in the Yankee Clipper).
What could fail: Pitching. A respectable staff was assembled at bargain basement prices. Over 70% of the money going toward hitters, little was left for pitching. Last year the occupants of Coors (the Mashers) invested heavily in pitching to no avail. The current occupants reversed that strategy. Like AT&T, a lot of runs will be scored here. Orval Overall, Jose Rijo and Pat Hentgen will try to keep things in check. Jeff Montgomery is the closer. The team does have a large pitching staff, capable of throwing a lot of pitches, which might serve them well against teams with less depth.
Result: 87-75. Major League Baseball concludes that a ball hit at Coors Field will travel 9% farther than a ball hit at sea level. Ruth, DiMaggio, Schmidt…the bleacher fans will need hard hats.
Editors Note: The Marilynd Monroes closes out the Rabbit Ray Miller preview.
1 comment:
Too many wins the NL east. We will be beating ourselves up allyear. The Question is how long will Moosey go with his strategy of using all pre-1900 batters. His teams HR totals are incredibly low. Could it be the first year that the moose misses the playoffs.
Post a Comment