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Palm Springs Giddy Over Playoff Possibilities |
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Written by Granville Price
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Wednesday, 10 March 2010 21:10 |
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By Granville Price, Palm Springs Semaphore
Sept. 27, 2011
Palm Springs finds itself a hotbed of playoff fever as the hometown Codgers battle down to the wire for a wild card spot in the Sovereign League of the Planetary Extreme Baseball Alliance.
 Saddled by injuries and general malaise, the hometown club at one point trailed hated rival Bakersfield by six games, and their playoff hopes appeared finished, but a blistering 16-7 record over the month of September has brought them dead even with the Bears with just six games left to play. And fans have taken notice.
Retiree Gertrude Mulligan, passing by Elderberry Field a few hours before tonight's game against the Aurora Borealis, was typical.
"The Codgers? Are they still playing? I thought the season was over,” she enthused.
Her husband Merton echoed her palpable excitement. "Usually we get out of town around this time of year because it's so hot," he gushed. "But there's some kind of problem with the water pump in the Town Car, so I guess we're stuck here for a while."
Central to the Codgers' charge has been third baseman Ollie Morris, who batted .455 with three home runs and 9 RBI ever the past seven days en route to being named the SL Player of the Week.
"Ollie just absolutely put us on his back and carried us," said right fielder Michael Smith. "He was phenomenal. A real phenom. “Phenom” – is that even a word? If so, it should be his, like, nickname, or something."
The Codgers take on Aurora at home for three games, then play a series against Yuma to close out the regular season. If they remain tied with Bakersfield at that point, they would face the Bears in a special "play-in" game to determine which team made the playoffs.
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Written by Lupin Cliff Hangers
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Tuesday, 09 March 2010 20:10 |
September 29, 2011
Bob Forsheim, Baseball Travelers Daily
This article focuses on the financial dimension of a player’s contribution. The VORP statistic is a good indication of how well a player has contributed to a team. It can be used to compare a pitcher’s performance to that of a position player. It is a good overall indicator of player performance for that reason. If we rate that performance by the player’s salary, we get a good indication of the bang for the buck. The players of the LRS were ranked by a measure of VORP per million dollars salary (VORP/$mil). The results are highlighted in this article.
A listing of the players with the highest VORP/$mil from each team is presented below.
- Kuwana Steel Dragons: 24-year-old CF Kudo, Taro – 941.94 VORP/$mil, 43.8 VORP, $46,500
- Edo Battousai: 21-year-old SP Hernández, Domingo – 922.58 VORP/$mil, 42.9 VORP, $46,500
- Shin Seiki Evas: 30-year-old LF Chikafuji, Sotaro – 677.42 VORP/$mil, 31.5 VORP, $46,500
- Naha Shisa: 27-year-old SP Koike, Tetsunori – 640.86 VORP/$mil, 29.8 VORP, $46,500
- Neo-Tokyo Akira: 23-year-old SP Ueno, Rikiya – 593.55 VORP/$mil, 27.6 VORP, $46,500
- Niihama-shi Ghosts: 28-year-old 1B Samuels, Ron – 524.73 VORP/$mil, 24.4 VORP, $46,500
- Kure Arsenal: 24-year-old LF Watanabe, Tomiji – 507.53 VORP/$mil, 23.6 VORP, $46,500
- Fushigi Yugi Celestial Warriors: 20-year-old CL Sai, Akio – 372.04 VORP/$mil, 17.3 VORP, $46,500
- Hyakujuu Shinkansen: 31-year-old MR Yano, Ryuichi – 339.78 VORP/$mil, 15.8 VORP, $46,500
- Lupin Cliff Hangers: 30-year-old LF Yoshikawa, Akihiro – 329.03 VORP/$mil, 15.3 VORP, $46,500
- Kawaguchi Transmitters: 29-year-old 1B Konishi, Soshu – 320.43 VORP/$mil, 14.9 VORP, $46,500
- Seoul Crushers: 27-year-old SS Takata, Ogai – 307.53 VORP/$mil, 14.3 VORP, $46,500
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Calzones Corner: Winter Farm Report - Monterey (AA) |
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Written by Salvatore “Nacho” Jimenez
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Wednesday, 10 March 2010 09:43 |
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by staff sport writer Salvatore “Nacho” Jimenez, Laredo Midday News
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Rotation
José Márquez – Left – 23 – Acquired in trade with Tempe Knights, 12-9-10.
This 23-year-old southpaw will start next season heading up the Sea Lions rotation. A former 14th round selection, Márquez shows signs of possibly turning into a serviceable pitcher someday. He began 2010 by going posting a 3-4 record with a 3.61 ERA in 8 starts at Single-A Drumright. He was called up to AA Monterey out of necessity and, all things considered, he pitched reasonably well. While his W/L record was just 3-8 in 14 games (12 of them starts), he posted a 3.67 ERA and struck out 75 batters in 76 innings. Márquez has a 4-pitch repertoire, and induces a lot of ground balls. He has the ability to work a lot of innings. If someone could ever light a fire under the young southpaw, there is a chance he could become a productive pitcher. Márquez seems to have the arm for it, but the Calzones organization doubts he has the mental makeup that is needed to make it to the next level. Over the last 5 seasons, including his time in the college ranks, he sports a 16-52 W/L record. He gets a pass in the rotation for now thanks to his arm, but his head may be better suited for eventual duty in a bullpen. With already a half of season’s experience at the AA level, Márquez should be primed to show considerable improvement this season.
Terry Jones – Right – 23 – Acquired in trade with Tempe Knights, 4-24-11.
Jones was another pitcher rushed prematurely to AA as the Calzones fought a losing battle to stem the hemorrhaging caused by the inordinate amount of injuries to the organizations young pitchers in 2010. For his part, Jones held up reasonably well at AA. He stumbled to a 2-8 W/L record in 15 starts, but managed to post a reasonable 3.90 ERA. The big right-hander can bring heat in the low 90s and is an extreme ground ball pitcher. Jones has five pitches, but his changeup is still in its infancy. He has good stamina and can work a lot of innings, but much like his teammate Márquez, there are considerable questions about his mental makeup. He remains in the Sea Lions rotation for now, and with some AA experience already under his belt, the Calzones are hoping Jones will take a big step forward this season.
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VORP for the Buck Revisited |
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Written by Lupin Cliff Hangers
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Tuesday, 09 March 2010 11:09 |
September 28, 2011
Bob Forsheim, Baseball Travelers Daily
  The article “VORP for the Buck” appeared in yesterday's publication, but the author was somewhat disappointed with the breadth of information provided. This follow-up article will hopefully fill in some of the missing data that was initially slated for inclusion.
The value of a player to a ballclub is not restricted to performance on the field; it also includes the cost of the player to the team. VORP is a handy indicator of performance that may be used comparatively between pitchers and batters. This article will focus on VORP per million dollars (VORP/$mil) as an indication of a players overall value to a team’s long-term health.
The prior article on this issue included only those players earning the league minimum salary. Those players represent the best values because of their low expense. However, it is rare that a team is composed of only league-minimum salary players. Successful teams will employ more pricey players. For that reason, this article will break the VORP/$mil rankings down into salary groups, including some of the more expensive players.
The most exciting group of players is certainly the superstars. They are the ones who draw the most attention, contribute the most to team wins, and also carry the highest price tag. The first group reviewed will be those earning $15,000,000or more:
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October 3, 2011: Aurora, Colorado – On the eve of the playoffs, there is some disturbing news coming out of the 
