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Flyers Weekly, Volume XXIV, Issue 3 - April 5, 1971

Opening Day Special Edition


Finally! The season is upon us! Our Flyers open the entire CBA schedule tonight at State Fair Park against the Jacksonville Ospreys, the first of a four game set. Friday brings the Miami Meteors into Charlotte for the weekend series, including Baseball Cap Day on Saturday.

Now... introducing your 1971 Carolina Flyers!

(* = Bats Left, # = Bats Both)

Opening Day Lineup

SS Dave Powell
2B Russ Roderick
C Mike Weber #
RF Walt Finney
1B Chris Wayman *
LF Steven Robinson *
3B Darrel Robinson
CF Matt Kirk *

Bench

C Mark Johnson
2B Jeff Harvey #
SS Ed Rooker #
3B Alan Bruns
LF Lloyd Mitchell
RF Mike Sutton

Lineup v/s LHP

C Mark Johnson
SS Dave Powell
2B Russ Roderick
1B Mike Weber #
RF Walt Finney
3B Darrel Robinson
CF Matt Kirk *
LF Lloyd Mitchell

Rotation

RHP Bill Morgan
RHP Mall Halstead
RHP Keith Becker
RHP Roger Coomes
RHP Gene Arndt

Bullpen

RHP Kevin Hodgkins
RHP Justin Randolph
LHP George Thorn
RHP John Jahnke
RHP Evan Becnel
RHP Robin Houston


The View From The Top (The Manager's Column)

Before I talk about the ballclub, let me get some very deserved acknowledgements out of the way. First of all, thanks to all the folks out at State Fair Park for helping me get settled in, as well as the people of Charlotte for making a Yankee like me feel right at home here in Carolina. I also want to thank Donnie Chancellor for letting me pick his brain about anything and everything, including the proper way to eat grits! Donnie leaves some big shoes to fill, and I hope I can have half the success he's had in his career with the Flyers.

First of all, I'm glad we were able to pull ourselves out of the financial purgatory of last season by trading away over $20 million in salary, but at the same time, I'm not yet satisfied. Currently the payroll stands at just under $76 million, but ideally I'd like it to be closer to $70 million. I want to rebuild our cash reserve to be able to land that stud free agent in the future.

Obviously, our strength is in the pitching staff. I'd put Halstead, Morgan, Becker and Coomes up against any rotation in the league, and Hodgkins is a top closer. Getting from the starters to the closer is going to be key, because all four starters averaged around six innings per start last season. Randolph is the one reliever who could go a couple innings two straight days, so look for him to get a ton of innings.

I'm a little worried about getting enough at-bats for Johnson, Weber and Wayman when they only play two positions (catcher and first base) between them. Johnson may be the odd man out, but that's a big bat to have on the bench. It's also difficult to pay $8.9 million to your backup catcher, so there's still some question in my own mind as to how this will work out.

Overall, this team doesn't have a lot of speed or power, so we'll have to beat teams going station-to-station with singles and doubles. Wish us luck, and see you at the ballpark!