WATKINS GLEN BUCKS
Team OPS: .628 (1) Runs Scored: 578 (1)
Team ERA: 2.11 (2) Runs Allowed: 493 (3)
Best Players:
LF
Ken Johnston (.308/.402/.387, 171 H, 97 R, 6 HR, 52 RBI, 46.9 VORP)
RHP
Michael Watkins (22-9, 2.00, 180 K, 1.03 WHIP, 44.1 VORP)
LHP
Edward Daybell (10-18, 1.91, 123 K, 1.08 WHIP, 42.0 VORP)
RHP
Armando Jimenez (13-12, 1.84, 1.06 WHIP, 41.2 VORP)
RF
Mike Young (.316/.372/.417, 32 2B, 10 3B, 76 RBI, 38.3 VORP)
CF
Donnie Oliver (.269/.344/.386, 12 3B, 4 HR, 57 RBI, 23.5 VORP)
Peaking when it mattered most, the Bucks slipped past Waterloo to gain a spot in the Series and took over from there. Johnston, the league's
Outstanding Batter, alternated between the leadoff spot and the three-hole in
Vincente Carrillo's batting order and did a great job in both spots.
A better season from Oliver helped, but the acquisition of Young was the finishing touch. He solidified the Bucks' batting order and provided leadership and emotion.
While the Bucks' infield didn't produce as much as the team's star-studded outfield, three infielders won Gold Gloves. Perennial honorees 1B
Travis Cantrell and 2B
John Pickett were joined by new 3B
Flynn Howard.
1909 will, of course, be an odd-numbered year, so don't look for the Bucks to return to the Series next year. However, 1910 is on its way.
GENEVA GREEN SOX
Team OPS: .584 (3) Runs Scored: 514 (3)
Team ERA: 1.84 (1) Runs Allowed: 393 (1)
Best Players:
RHP
Hayden Williams (26-10, 1.76, 183 K, 6 ShO, 1.01 WHIP, 50.9 VORP)
RHP
Raul Alonso (17-19, 1.81, 196 K, 5 ShO, 1.00 WHIP, 50.4 VORP)
RHP
Casey Ladner (20-16, 1.88, 222 K, 8 ShO, 0.91 WHIP, 47.5 VORP)
RHP
Nick Myers (22-11, 2.09, 128 K, 5 ShO, 1.11 WHIP, 37.9 VORP)
RF
Mike Gamble (.268/.307/.369, 27 2B, 4 HR, 56 RBI, 18.8 VORP)
The greatest pitching staff in league history carried the Green Sox to the regular season title, as the team's offense was merely average.
Williams earned a well-deserved
Outstanding Pitcher award, the second of his career; his 26 victories fell one short of his own record. Ladner wiped out the league strikeout record, and his eight shutouts set a new mark, too.
Three Gold Glove fielders gave the staff all the help it needed. C
Bryant Brafield and LF
Karl Winston each won his second fielding prize, and Ladner capped off his first full season with a Gold Glove, too.
If the Green Sox can add some offense and if Williams can find a way to defy time as he passes his 40th birthday, Geneva could become the first team to win 100 games in a single season.
WATERLOO FINCHES
Team OPS: .617 (2) Runs Scored: 530 (2)
Team ERA: 2.19 (3) Runs Allowed: 489 (2)
Best Players:
RHP
Billy Edgar (21-13, 1.60, 170 K, 6 ShO, 1.01 WHIP, 61.5 VORP)
RHP
Ernesto Santos (20-15, 2.13, 175 K, 5 ShO, 1.02 WHIP, 45.2 VORP)
RHP
Billy Patrick (15-14, 2.45, 128 K, 1.06 WHIP, 32.5 VORP)
LF
Fernando Molina (.341/.393/.398, 166 H, 73 R, 41 SB, 31.5 VORP)
RF
Duane Blackburn (.265/.349/.373, 24 2B, 11 3B, 4 HR, 51 RBI, 43 SB, 23.7 VORP)
The Finches let second place slip from their grasp during the second half of the season, but still managed to post their second straight winning season.
Without fanfare, Edgar is rounding into one of the league's elite pitchers, while Molina and Blackburn turn out one great season after another. Blackburn continues to establish himself as perhaps the league's most versatile star, a true five-tool player who won his fifth straight Gold Glove this season.
SENECA FALLS SHEEPDOGS
Team OPS: .567 (4) Runs Scored: 490 (5)
Team ERA: 2.34 (4) Runs Allowed: 520 (4)
Best Players:
LHP
Dennis Williams (19-20, 2.13, 136 K, 1.09 WHIP, 38.3 VORP)
SS
Robby Ward (.290/.357/.364, 155 H, 3 HR, 51 RBI, 37.4 VORP)
RHP
Roger Hopkins (12-23, 2.18, 152 K, 1.06 WHIP, 36.2 VORP)
CF
Ryan Hill (.319/.366/.357, 169 H, 86 R, 42 SB, 27.9 VORP)
Collective slumps by the Sheepdogs' hitters and pitchers sent them tumbling to the second division in 1908.
A lack of power was the offense's biggest problem, as only Ward and RF
Gunnar Doyle (.273, 14 triples, 64 RBI) hit with much punch. Hopkins had to be the unluckiest pitcher in the league; seven times he allowed two runs or fewer and lost.
Tom Harvey, on the other hand, was lucky; he led the staff with a 21-13 record despite the highest ERA on the staff.
Williams did provide a thrill on July 10, when he pitched the first
no-hitter in Finger Lakes League history. The Canandaigua Ice Cats were his victims.
Hill, too, added to his legacy by reeling off a
30-game hitting streak in July and August, the longest in league history.
CANANDAIGUA ICE CATS
Team OPS: .564 (6) Runs Scored: 459 (6)
Team ERA: 2.45 (5) Runs Allowed: 551 (5)
Best Players:
RHP
Joe Norris (21-13, 1.85, 196 K, 0.93 WHIP, 52.0 VORP)
LF
Claudio Navarro (.289/.394/.371, 25 2B, 46 RBI, 32.8 VORP)
C
Hamilton Phillips (.246/.322/.303, 42 RBI, 18.1 VORP
It was much of the same for the Ice Cats, who appear to be taking up permanent residency in the second division. Norris had his best season yet; his .617 winning percentage contrasting starkly with the .379 mark his teammates produced when he was not on the mound.
Navarro had a better season than he did in 1908, and Phillips remains a solid backstop, but the Ice Cats seem to be a long, long way from contention.
PENN YAN BRAWLERS
Team OPS: 572 (5) Runs Scored: 503 (4)
Team ERA: 2.70 (6) Runs Allowed 628 (6)
Best Players:
CF
Francisco Rivera (.312/.390/.379, 168 H, 10 3B, 59 SB, 34.8 VORP)
LHP
Lawrence Inman (14-19, 2.36, 1.14 WHIP, 30.4 VORP)
RF
Neil Byers (.277/.316/.373, 27 2B, 5 HR, 69 RBI, 14.4 VORP)
The prospect is even bleaker in Penn Yan, where ther Brawlers pitchers allowed half a run more per game than any other staff in the league.
Rivera, who added a Gold Glove to his resume, is the sole remaining member of the outfield trio that once struck fear into opposing hitters. Byers was solid in place of
Mike Young, but nothing more.
LF
Ronald Brady (.270/.290/.360) did win the
Rookie of the Year award, but he'll have to develop better strike zone judgement in order to become a star. 2B
Nick Wells and C
Bill Richards also started as rookies, so there could be help on the way for beleaguered Brawlers rooters.