1st Half in Review/Trade Deadline Report -- TBL'S Board

[ Show ]

Support VoyForums

[ Shrink ]

VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, [2], 3 ]

Subject: 1st Half in Review/Trade Deadline Report

Author:
Associated Press

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 05/30/03 1:50pm

With practically half of the season in the books so far in season 5 it has been all NL. Joe has been fantastic on the mound going 5-0 and has done an incredible job in the leadoff spot getting on base so the other NL sluggers can hit him in. Joe is an early canidate for MVP. The other big NL star has been Jim Orlando who already has over 30 RBI's and is the other early canidate for MVP. Everybody on the NL is producing and this team seems unstoppable. But then Jon Cresci drops the bomb that he will be out for the season do to personal reasons (camp), which makes the NL very human. Manager Cobb has to get Todd Stern to 2 more games or Gary Lawrence to 4 more to just qualify for the playoffs. And if he cant get Gary to 4 or of the NL's last 5 games than the NL's top flight defence becomes very shaky with Cobb probably moving to the outfeild and Stern having to catch Jimmy O's lasers from the hot corner. Without Gary and Cresci look for history to repeat itself with another 2nd half NL collapse.

The AL has played the least games going 1-2, Matt Colford has been a pleasant suprise and is the early favorite for rookie of the year, Niesz has been steady and Moroney has been solid on the mound. This team was hit hard in the offseason with the tragic injury to Kevin Gaynor and Richie's unexplicable deportation to Cuba. Manager Chris Niesz tried to fill the void with former Cy Young winner Mike Niesz but it was to no avail, Mike Niesz got destroyed by the NL sluggers and has proven he has lost a step playing in Europe in the German leagues all those years. The AL has shown lots of heart this season and will battle the rest of the way but I feel they will just fall short of the playoffs. This reporter believes the AL's early season losses will be too much for the AL to overcome. Niesz will have to be invinceable and Big D will need to improve his hitting with men in scoring position and become an RBI machine for the AL to have a chance.

The defending Champs have dug themselves the same hole that they were in last year and a have a long way to go if they want to duplicate last seasons success. But I feel this years team has a much better chance of winning it all than last years. The FL have hot shot prospect Jeremy ready to go and this guy is a real superstar, he's got a canon for an arm and is a big time slugger, look for him to provide the same energy Richie provided last season. Greg Douglas will have to start earning his paycheck like he did last season for the FL to have a shot. JB will have to improve his hitting with men in scoring position and Matt Eagleton will have to improve or will find himself back in the minors. Do not look for crafty veteran Jared Nicastro to get back on the pitchers mound, the FL pays big money for Greg Douglas and the FL will live and die by their million dollar man. With the losses of Gaynor and Richie to the AL and Cresci and possibley Gary for the playoffs for the NL, the FL has its entire team intact and is in perfect position to make a run at the championship. The FL faces another tall task, there is no room for mistakes and it is put up or shutup time for the champs. Next game truly decides the season for the FL.

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]