Tiger Fan's Fictional Baseball League

[Tiger Fan]

I have done several different dynasty reports over the years and almost all of them were historical replays of some sort. However, lately I have found much more enjoyment playing with fictional players so that will be the basis of my latest dynasty. Hopefully, a few of you find it to be an interesting read.


Several years back I found a map on line of a fictional island world called Breda. I used it to create teams in one of the few fictional solo leagues I ran back then. Now, I have rediscovered Breda and will use it as the base for my new universe in OOTP11.

The nation of Breda (see map below) is a fictional island nation that is situated off the coast of Oregen and Washington.

It is Februaury 1972 at this writing and another baseball season draws very close. College and Youth League players around Breda are already immersed in training camp as their seasons are but a couple of weeks away. It is the professionals, of course, that garner the most attention on Breda and those players will be reporting for spring training within the month.

Breda baseball has remained virtually unchanged since the two major leagues were formed in 1921. The Mountain League contains teams from the western half of the island while the Bay League is made up of clubs from the eastern side of the country. Each league has 8 teams and just like the major leagues of the United States the clubs play 154 games each with the 2 league winners squaring off in a best-of-seven Breda Series.

There are 3 levels of minors with each major league club owning 1 affiliate at each of Class AAA, AA, and A. The feeder leagues are a 24 team college circuit and a 48 team youth league.



Before we take a closer look at the last 50 years of baseball history, lets take some time and look at the country of Breda in a little more detail.



The earliest settlers to the island came from the United States and Canada as a continuation of westward expansion. The country itself has a heavy British influence as can be noted by most of the city names. Fishing and farming were the big industries in the country to begin with but all that changed with discovery of a rich supply of oil in the Avon River area in the 1920's. There are also large diamond and other mineral deposits along Praetoria Ridge to the north of Port Windsor.


Close to 90 percent of the country's population ( a little over 1 million people inhabit the island nation) live along the coast line. The largest concentration is in oil well area in the southwest corner. That area has grown so that the cities of Aberdeen, Portsmouth, Oxford, Bridgewater and Southampton have expanded into each other and form 1 huge metropolitan area. It is a predominately a working class region and the fans love their baseball. Four of the 8 teams in the Mountain League call this region home:

1- Aberdeen Giants (see map for location)
2- Oxford Sharks
3- Portsmouth Mariners
8- Abbotsford Anchors

In addition more than one third of the 48 minor league teams are based in this area.


To the north, just above the Blue Ridge Mountains sit two more of the Mountain League clubs.

4- Chester Clippers
7- Cahill Cardinals

Cahill and Chester have an intense but friendly rivalry. The sister cities are almost identical in size and economic makeup. For decades fishing has been really the only occupation and although the industry has fallen on hard times of late it remains the principle employer in both cities.

As we continue around to the north of the island we get to

5- Wellington Volcanoes

There are no active volcanoes on the island but the team gets its nickname from settlers who came from Washington state in the United States and felt that Mt Cahill reminded them of volcanoes in their home state. Wellington does have some interest in the fishing industry but the city has become better known for its agriculture. Farming is huge throughout the central area of the island and Wellington was a key harbour location thru which the crops could be shipped to other cities or exported to the northwestern United Staes.

The final team in the Mountain League is located in Port Windsor.

6- Port Windsor Pirates
13- Port Windsor Robins

Port Windsor is the only city on Breda to have 2 major league teams. The Pirates play in the Mountain League while the Robins are in the Bay League.

Port Windsor is a huge shipping port, by far the largest on the island. Oil from the Avon River area and diamonds and other minerals from Praetoria Ridge are delivered to Port Windsor and the loaded on large ocean tankers for shipment to California.



While the Mountain League is primarily working class the Bay League cities is where most of the big money on Breda lies.


9- St Paul Sailors
14- Ellborough A's

St Paul is by far the largest city on the island and the place where everything happens. It is home to the country's stock market, the head office for all of the major oil, shipping and agriculture companies as well as the largest and most prestigous university on the island. Ellborough is a well to do suburb to the south.


Aberswyth, to the southwest is another important port city for the farming communities inland. Like Port Windsor it is far more working class and those two cities delight in nothing more than beating the other 6 teams in the Bay League.

11- Aberswyth Aces

To the north of Aberswyth is Essex.

15- Essex Seals

Being a large cottage area the Seals actually feel like the visiting team on many occassions especially when St Paul or Ellborough come to visit. The city was originally just a spot for the rich of St Paul to get away from things but lately there has been a push to add more tourism business, most of it centred on historic Brest Castle which sits just south of the city.


On the South shore of the Bay of Breda sits the city of London.

10- London Stars
16- New London Lions
12- Perth Blue Sox

London is a huge tourist town as visitors from North America regularly flock to the beaches of the resort towns to the south of the city. The entire coastline between London and Perth is packed with vacationers year-round. As a result the ballclubs in the area tend to draw a far more casual fan and you rarely see the rabid interest in most Bay League centres that seems to dominate every club in the Mountain League.


Using the attached map here is the location of each of Breda's major league baseball teams:

BASEBALL TEAMS
MOUNTAIN LEAGUE

1-ABERDEEN Giants
2-OXFORD Sharks
3-PORTSMOUTH Mariners
4-CHESTER Clippers
5-WELLINGTON Volcanoes
6-PORT WINDSOR Pirates
7-Cahill Cardinals
8-Abbotsford Anchors

BAY LEAGUE
9-ST PAUL Sailors
10-LONDON Stars
11-ABERSWYTH Aces
12-PERTH Blue Sox
13-PORT WINDSOR Robins
14-ELLBOROUGH A's
15-Essex Seals
16- New London Lions

[scott1964]

Looks good, how did you make the map?

[jtb]

Awesome to see a new Tigerfan dynasty!

[tylertoo]

Originally Posted by scott1964

Looks good, how did you make the map?

Originally Posted by Tiger Fan

Several years back I found a map on line of a fictional island world called Breda. I used it to create teams in one of the few fictional solo leagues I ran back then. Now, I have rediscovered Breda and will use it as the base for my new universe in OOTP11.

[Tiger Fan]

I am going to use this dynasty to chroncile the exploits of my manager charactor and will also from time to time take a look at the history of the Breda Baseball League.


My charactor has bounced around baseball for a number of years with the past 2 as a minor league manager. His name is Lane Harrison and he is 35 years old. The infielder is a veteran of over 1100 manjor league games, all with the Wellington Volcanoes. He was lucky enough to spend his entire career with the franchise he rooted for as a child....Harrison was born and raised in Easter, a small community just 15 miles outside of Wellington's city limits.

A 9th round pick from Emory's youth league club, Harrison was never the most talented player, but he got to the majors with hard work. He did win a pair of gold gloves while playing second base in the early 1960's but the accomplishment he is most proud of is a 29 game hit streak in 1961. The streak was 9 games shy of Tim Babineaux's major league record set in 1927.

Harrison retired following the 1968 season and spent 1969 as a roving minor league instructor for the Volcanoes. In 1970 he was named manager of Wellington's Class A affiliate in the Wabash Valley League - the Slocum Missions. He led the Missions to a league title before losing to the Morrow Royals in the best of 5 league championship.

That was good enough to earn him a promotion to AAA and he took over the helm of the Dover Diamonds for the 1971 season. However, after the Diamonds finished dead last in the Pacific League he was let go by the Wellington organization.

Unemployment did not last long for Harrison as the Portsmouth Mariners quickly came calling and asked Lane to take over as manager of their AA affiliate in Stockbridge. After nearly 20 years in the Wellington system Harrison now has a new organization to call home.

My recaps will start here as we follow Lane Harrison in his bid to eventually make the major leagues as a team manager or general manager.

[Tyke]

Really interested to see what you are doing with Breda, Tiger Fan, as I too found the maps a while back and was immediately taken with them. I've had a couple of attempts to set up a league but I haven't come up with a scenario to satisfy me as yet. One thing I have done each time, however, is rename the first player chosen in the initial draft Adrian Leskiw, the name of Breda's creator. He's done fabulous work.
Good luck with this, I'll be following closely.

[Tiger Fan]

Originally Posted by Tyke

One thing I have done each time, however, is rename the first player chosen in the initial draft Adrian Leskiw, the name of Breda's creator. He's done fabulous work.

Excellent idea. I will have to do that with the first pick of the 1972 amateur draft as I agree his work on his map website is amazing.

[Tiger Fan]

I will bring you up to speed on the Breda Major Leagues and their rich 50 year history as things progress but for now our focus is on the Double A Breda Bay League and Lane Harrison's bid to win a pennant with the Stockbridge Browns.

Lets start with a quick look at CLASS AA




DOUBLE A LEAGUE OVERVIEW
The 16 AA clubs are divided into 2 8-team leagues. The North-South Mountain League consists of teams in the northern middle half of the country located around the two mountain ranges.

The Breda Bay League has 8 teams that are primarily located along the Bay of Breda.(see map below for team locations)

The 8 teams in this league are:

The Stockbridge Browns - Portsmouth's AA affiliate and the team that Harrison will manage. The Browns have been in the bottom half of the standings for most of the past 2 decades and have not won a league title since 1945. Their success, or rather lack of it, mirrors the woes of the parent Portsmouth Mariners who won their only Mountain League pennant in 1944. Portsmouth and the Essex Seals are the only major league teams with just 1 playoff appearance. That means a lot of high draft picks have played in Stockbridge but very few have gone on to major league success, at least not in Portsmouth.

We will take a closer look at this years Browns roster shortly.

Emory Lookouts - winners of 2 of the last 3 league pennants, the Lookouts are affiliated with the Port Windsor Pirates and a first-rate organization.

Midas Marlins - The AA farm team of the St Paul Sailors has finished second in the Breda Bay loop 3 times in the past 5 years but they have not won a pennant since 1950. The big league Sailors won 4 straight BAY League penants from 1922-25 but have only won once since then.

Foal Indians - With 16 pennants the Foal Indians have won more titles than any other major or minor league team. They are affiliated with the Port Windsor Robins and seem to always field a contender.

Goodrich Bombers - In the 1920's the Bombers were the class of the league, winning 7 pennants in 10 years but since then it has been mostly middle of the pack finishes for the Ellborough A's farm team. The big league A's also owned a decade, win 4 Breda Championships in 6 years in the 1950's.

Cootswald Explorers - The parent Oxford Sharks have not finished higher than 4th in the Mountain League since 1959. The Explorers have had some very good hitters through the years but have always seemed to lack decent pitching.

Newton Bears - The parent Cahill Cardinals have more pennants (12) than any other Breda League team. The AA Bears won back to back Class AA Series titles in 1963-64 but have finished no higher than 7th in the past 5 seasons.

Hollister Islanders - Farm team of the Aberswyth Aces the Islanders will again be led by 5'6" infielder Gilbert Wulf, who despite his size hit 12 homers last season and batted .303 in 103 games. He added 4 more homers in a brief AAA call-up at the end of the season. A fan favourite, the 25 year old may get called up to AAA Danbury before the season is too old.

Here are the locations of the AA Breda Bay League teams.

[Tiger Fan]

April 1, 1972 FIVE TO WATCH

Class AA is all about development and here are 5 players you need to know about if you want to follow the Breda Bay League this season. All 5 will at least start the season in AA and all 5 are rated by Baseball Breda as among the top 25 young prospects in all of baseball.


CLASS AA BREDA BAY LEAGUE TOP 5 PROSPECTS

1- Rick Scott :Foal Indians- The parent Port Windsor Robins seem to always have great young talent available for the Indians and this year is no exception. Scott, a 25 year old outfielder, was taken 7th overall out of Malton College in the 1969 draft. He has won at every level he played it with 2 College World Series titles, a Class A Wabash League pennant in 1969 and a Double A series title with Foal in 1970. He split last season between AA and AAA Port Chatham so his stay in Foal this year may be short.

2- Samuel Upchurch : Newton Bears- The top piching prospect in all of baseball, Upchurch is projected as an outstanding big league starter. Taken 4th overall in the 1970 draft from the Brock Celtics youth club, Upchurch was the youth pitcher of the year in 1969. He struggled last season between A and AA going 8-25 but that was because the Bears team was so weak a year ago. With a half season of AA under his belt the parent Cahill Cardinals are hoping for a huge year from Upchurch.

3- Edgar Bean : Goodrich Bombers- The 24 year old outfielder was selected 5th overall by Ellborough in the 1970 draft after a strong season at Forester College. He hit .278 with 8 homers in Class A Bolcom a year ago and will likely spend most of the season in Goodrich. Mainly a contact hitter, scouts feel he may eventually develop some pop in his bat but he has not shown it so far.

4- Craig Kelley : Cottswald Explorers- only a fractured foot in his senior year prevented Kelley from being the first 3-time batter of the year in Youth League history. He was taken 10th overall by Oxford out of the Meade Youth program in 1970. He hit .266 in 97 games at Class A last year before a late season promotion to Cottswald.

5- Scott Fitz : Emory Lookouts - Fitz, an outfielder born in Essex, was taken 5th overall by the Port Windsor Pirates in the 1967 first year player draft. Now 24 years old, he has split the last 3 seasons between A and AA and his stock has dropped slightly. However, the Pirates organization is still excited about his power potential even though he has hit just 13 homers in 120 AA games.


Next up a look at the Stockbridge Browns.

[Tyke]

I notice you've re-named a couple of places. Would you mind telling me what the font is, please? I've tried several that seemed close, but none that is spot on.

[Tiger Fan]

Originally Posted by Tyke

I notice you've re-named a couple of places. Would you mind telling me what the font is, please? I've tried several that seemed close, but none that is spot on.

Sorry I cant help you on the font. The only place I believe I renamed was Wellington and did a copy and paste from the map creator's site because Wellington was on a seperate island in one of his maps.

I removed the island mainly to minimize my work in creating a Breda database to give all of the players hometowns from Breda.

[Tyke]

Thanks anyway - and I will be able to copy and paste from the other island, so that's my problem solved!

[Tiger Fan]

RATINGS OFF
A note before I start on my player information. I am playing with ratings off and am relying entirely on my scouts opinions and previous season stats.




STOCKBRIDGE BROWNS ROSTER
My 24 man roster is a mxiture of decent prospects on their way up and veterans on their way down.

Lets start with the pitching staff. A note about the league. All teams run with a 4 man rotation and reliever use is set to very low so most teams only carry 7 or 8 pitchers.

ROTATION
1- George Patton: An obvious nickname is coming soon for the 21 year old. Despite missing almost all of his senior season with a torn elbow Patton was a second round pick out of the youth leagues in 1969. He missed half of 1970 recovering from the injury but did do well enough in 11 starts at Class A Schwepps to warrant a late season promotion to the Browns. Last year he went 11-8 with Stockbridge and was healthy the entire season. Baseball Breda Magazine ranks him as the 30th best prospect and tops on our club.

2- Nick Jones: Number 2 starter Jones was a supplemental first round pick taken 17th overall in the 1969 draft. His stock has dropped because of shoulder problems each of the past two years but our scouts still think he is a future big leaguer. Baseball Breda agrees ranking him 35th on their top 100 prospect list. His work ethic is questionable though.

3- Dale Watkins: The 24 year old is another high draft pick (taken 28th overall in 1969). He was 9-7 at Stockbridge before getting promoted to AAA late least season. A year ago he was ranked in the top 100 prospects but he has fallen out of that list for 1972. He is well respected by his teammates and our scouts think he still has a shot at making the big leagues.

4- Leslie Highsmith: Taken by Essex in the 2nd round of the 1968 draft out of the youth leagues, the 22 year old has already been traded twice in his career. A year ago he was also in the top 100 prospects but failed to crack the list this year. He was 13-11 with a 5.56 era for Stockbridge last year when he was one of the youngest players to spend the entire season in AA.

BULLPEN
RH setup- Hugh Benefield: The 24 year old was a starter at Gibbs College but projects to be a reliever if he ever makes the majors. He was a 9th round pick by the Mariners in 1970 after 3 straight all-star seasons in college. Went 2-3 with a 1.42 era in 9 starts for Class A Schwepps last season but missed a couple of months with an injury.

LH setup- George Moore: The 30 year old is the only lefthander on the pitching staff. A minor league journeyman, Moore was selected in the 8th round of the 1961 draft by Essex. He has been released 4 times in his career but he keeps hanging on hoping to one day make a major league roster. He appeared in 58 games last season with 2 Class AA teams including Cootswald of the Breda Bay loop.

Closer- Rick Bridgers: A 9th round pick out of the youth leagues in 1968 the 23 year old moves up to AA after 3 seasons as the closer for Class A Schwepps. An amazing fastball combined with an outstanding changeup allowed him to strikeout 324 batters in 211 innings of Class A ball. His era was 1.54 over those 3 seasons.



CATCHERS
JIM HEIL - The 22 year old was drafted out of the youth leagues by the Port Windsor Pirates in the third round of the 1969 draft. He won a Highway League (CLass A) championship with Kent Bay in 1970 and midway thru the 1971 season he earned a promotion to AA Emory. Two weeks later he was traded to the Portsmouth organization in exchange for a 28 year old spot starter in the major leagues. It is obvious with that deal that the Mariners think very highly of Heil and according to our scouts they expect he will develop in to a potential major league star. Defensively he is very good but at least so far he has failed to show much potential at the plate, hitting under .200 at his three stops last year.

Bill Murphy - undrafted after leaving the youth leagues in 1968 the 22 year old is a career minor leaguer at best. He his .279 in 26 games with Stockbridge last season.

INFIELD
We are loaded with corner infielders and have just 1 natural second baseman and no shortstop so this might be an adventure.

1B: DONALD JOHNSON The 30 year old was a third round pick in the 1961 draft. He has been all over the place the past decade including 55 games with the big league Portsmouth Mariners over 3 seasons. He had 9 big league homers but hit just .237 so it is unlikely he will get back to Portsmouth. He was in AAA for all of 1969 and 1970 but spent half of last season in Stockbridge hitting .325 with 10 homers.

1B: Lawrence Barrett Like Johnson, the 28 year old is unhappy to be back in AA. He has split the past 5 years between Stockbridge and AAA Bridgewater and has never played a major league game. Not a lot of power but he does make contact, hitting .347 in Stockbridge last year.

1B: Marcos Rivera: The 31 year old is likely the most respected player on the roster. Rivera played 475 major league games for Portsmouth and hit 31 homers in the 1969 season. Portsmouth took him in the 3rd round of the 1963 draft out of McAllister College. He played in the majors, AAA and AA last year and hit 13 homers in 51 games for Stockbridge.

1B: Charlie Ryder: A 5th round pick by St Paul in the 1968 draft the 23 year Ryder was acquired by Portsmouth in exchange for a minor league pitcher last fall. He hit .200 in 21 games for Midas last year after starting the season in Class A. With three veterans in front of him and no pressure from management seeing him as a top prospect I expect it is just a matter of time before he gets released or demoted.

2B: LAMONT BRISCO: The starter by default for us right now, Brisco is deemed as having little to no chance of making the majors. He was taken in the 7th round from Wessex College in the 1970 draft. He did win a gold glove with Class A Schwepps last year but batted just .237.

3B: CHARLES RANKINS: Our shortstop for now, the 24 year old is one of the hardest workers on the team. Tremendous speed and very good with the glove but our scouts doubt he will ever hit major league pitching consistently. However, he did hit .270 last season splitting the year between Schwepps and Stockbridge. He was taken in the 7th round of the 1969 draft.

3B: PAUL FAULKNER: Longtime major league backup spent a decade in the bigs hitting .269 in 432 games with Abbotsford and Portsmouth. He spent last year in AAA and now finds him demoted to AA for the 1972 campaign. He adds playoff experience having won back to back AA Series with the Malton Millers in 1958 and 1959.

3B: Kevin LeGrand: The 27 year old has been in the Portsmouth system since being selected in the 13th round of the 1964 draft from the Kentland Brass youth league club. Except for 3 games in AAA in 1969, LeGrand has been with Stockbridge for the past 5 seasons but only as a backup appearing in last than 50 games each season. He has never played a major league game and appeared in just 3 AAA contests.


OUTFIELD
LF DAVE KEYS: Now 24, Keys was drafted from the Jericho Tractors youth team in the 2nd round of the 1966 draft. He does a lot of things well: decent runner, good defense, good eye at the plate but does nothing great so his major league potential is limited. He hit .366 in 55 games in AAA last year after starting the season in Stockbridge where he batted .344

LF Tom Hixon: The 24 year was taken in the third round of the 1967 draft by Aberdeen. He was traded to the Portsmouth organization following the 1970 season in exchange for veteran major league reliever John Jackson. He has played a handful of games in AAA the last couple of seasons but seems to lack the bat to stay in AAA never mind make the majors. He will be a bench player for me.


CF TOMMY WALLACE: Taken 6th overall out of Oxford College in the 1969 draft Wallace was considered the 23rd best prospect entering his rookie pro season. Two years later the 25 year old is given little chance of making the majors by Mariners scouts. He won a gold glove in Class A in 1970 but struggled at the plate batting just .204. Last season he improved his hitting and looked good in 52 games after being promoted to Stockbridge. Speed is outstanding and he is strong defensively but he just hasnt shown enough at the plate. If he can finally live up to his potential he will be a perfect lead-off man for me.


CF Tad Martin: Taken by the Port Windsor Robins in the 4th round of the 1970 draft the 24 year old was acquired by the Mariners organization last season in exchance for a minor league pitcher. He spent most of last season in Class A where he batted .331 but he did appear in 4 games with Stockbridge a year ago and went 6-for-11 at the plate.

RF BILL COFIELD: The 29 year old will be counted on as a team leader. He was taken 20th overall by Portsmouth in the 1962 draft after an outstanding youth league career in Forester which included a 45 homer season. He still has decent power as his 20 homers in 95 games at AAA Bridgewater last season attest. No stranger to Stockbridge fans, Cofield has worn a Browns uniform for 496 games. His major league career thus far consists of going 0-for-5 as a pinch-hitter for the Mariners in a September 1969 callup.

RF Napoleon Reid: The 23 year old has major league speed and can flat out catch the ball but the big question mark is his bat. Originally drafted by the Chester Clippers in the 5th round of the 1968 draft, Reid was dealt to the Mariners organization last July in exchange for a starting pitcher with some major league experience. He suffered a knee injury shortly after the deal but it does not appear to have any long term effects. He hit .311 with 11 stolen bases in 45 games of AA ball split between Oxford Junction and Stockbridge last year.

RF Austin Williams: The 31 year old Williams has 48 games of major league experience with Portsmouth, hitting .321 with 7 homers over 3 seasons. Scouts question is hitting ability but he is a career .318 hitter in 1100 plus games stretching from the youth league to the majors. Taken by Essex in the 7th round of the 1960 draft but he was dealt to the Portsmouth organization a year later. Williams has played 365 games for Stockbridge over the past decade.

[Tiger Fan]

April 6, 1972
BROWNS DROP SEASON OPENER 6-3 TO HOLLISTER
The Stockbridge Browns came up on the shortend of a 6-3 score in their season opener for 1972. Hollister pitcher Eric Davis, a 34 year old with a handful of major league starts to his credit, fanned 13 Browns in 8 innings work.

George Patton took the loss as he struggled with his control all day. Patton allowed just 4 hits in 7 innings but walked 6 Islander batters.

The Browns managed to outhit Hollister 8-7 in the game but they left 7 runners on base as time and again Davis managed to get a big strikeout when he most needed it.

First baseman Marcos Rivera and catcher Jim Heil were the only Browns to drive in runs. Heil's 2 run homer in the bottom of the 8th closed the gap to 5-3 and came just 1 day after his grandmother's funeral.

Veteran outfielder Bill Cofield had the roughest day among Browns batters, going 0 for 5 and leaving 8 men on base including a 9th inning strikeout with 2 out and the bases loaded.

MANAGER'S THOUGHTS: Cofield had a terrible day, really looked bad both at the plate and in the outfield where he let a couple of balls drop in because of a poor jump. Pitcher Patton better figure out how to throw strikes. He walked two in the fourth and walked the bases full in the 5th...4 of those 5 walked batters scored.

OTHER BREDA BAY LEAGUE SCORES
Bill Hansen threw a complete game 7-hit shutout as Goodrich blanked Emory 1-0
Midas topped Foal 4-3
and Newton beat Cottswald 9-7 in 13 innings.

[Tiger Fan]

April 7, 1972
STOCKBRIDGE 8 HOLLISTER 0
Great effort all around as we hammered Hollister. Pitcher Nick Jones looked like the top prospect he is regarded as, allowing just 4 hits while fanning 6 in 7 innings. Reliever George Moore retired all 6 batters he faced including 4 by strikeout.

At the plate Paul Faulkner had 3 hits. Tommy Wallace had 2 hits from the lead-off spot and drove in 4 runs. Jim Heil had 2 rbi's for the second straight game.

Elsewhere
Goodrich beat Emory 8-6
Midas hammered Foal 7-1
and Cottswald blanked Newton 2-0



April 8, 1972
STOCKBRIDGE RALLIES FOR 8-5 VICTORY OVER HOLLISTER
Jim Heil's second homerun of the season keyed a 4-run 6th inning as the Stockbridge Browns overcame a 4-0 deficiet to beat the Hollister Islanders 8-5. Heil was 2-for-5 on the day with 3 rbi's. The Stockbridge catcher also hit 2 deep fly balls to centerfield that narrowly missed clearing the fence.


A grandslam homer from Hollister shortstop Gilbert Wulf staked the visitors to a 4-0 lead in the third inning. It was Hollister's only hit of the inning off of Browns starter Dale Watkins, who walked 2 and allowed the third runner to reach base on shortstop Charles Rankins' error. Watkins struggled with his control all day, walking 5 over 6 innings but did pick up the victory. Rick Bridgers was brilliant in relief allowing just 1 hit while striking out 5 in 3 innings work.


MANAGERS NOTES: It is just 3 games in but I am starting to get a feel of who I can trust on my team and more importantly who I can't.

The catcher Heil is very impressive as is centerfielder Wallace. The knock on Wallace was supposed to be he can't hit but for the second straight game he went 2-for-5. Plus he is a vaccuum in centerfield and I am comfortable giving him the green light to steal second almost all the time.

Shortstop is going to be a problem if the Mariners brass does not help me out soon. Rankins, a natural third baseman, is doing is best out there but he has limited range and he is just 1-for-10 at the plate. Problem is right now I have no one else who can play the position.

On the other hand second baseman Brisco has been a huge surprise. We knew he could field but hitting is a huge question mark. Well, all he has done is go 5-for-9 with 3 runs scored in our opening series.

Pitching wise I have real faith in relievers Bridgers and Moore. The starters need to cut down on the walks. Watkins started today and issued 5 free passes in 6 innings.

In other games Goodrich completed a sweep of Emory with a 7-1 victory
Cottswald hung on to edge Newton 10-9
Midas trimmed Foal 6-5

[Tiger Fan]

April 9, 1972
An off-day for us so I decided to make the drive up to Hollister where I watched the Newton Bears beat the Islanders 13-11 in a 10 inning slugfest.

In the only other game today Foal beat Midas 6-5.


OPPONENT TO WATCH
One player who really impressed me this series from Hollister is Gilbert Wulf. A natural first baseman, the 24 year old was converted to shortstop in the pros and won a gold glove in Class AA. He seemed to make some great plays against us and played error free ball in the game vs Newton. On the season he is hitting .357 with 2 homers and 8 rbi's.

Aberswyth took him in the 5th round of the 1966 draft out of the Blake Golden Nuggets youth program. He was outstanding in his final year of youth play hitting 38 homers and batting .397. He spent most of the next 4 years at class A learning the shortstop position before establishing himself at the AA level last year when he hit ,303 with 12 homers in 103 games for Hollister and won his first minor league gold glove.

The scouting report on him is he will never hit for average enough to make the big leagues but based on 4 games I have seen he is a player I will keep a close eye on.

-------------------------------
STANDINGS AS WE PREPARE FOR A 3-GAME SERIES WITH COTTSWALD

BREDA BAY LEAGUE 	W  L  GBL
GOODRICH BOMBERS 	3  0   -
MIDAS MARLINS    	3  1   0.5
COTTSWALD EXPLORERS	2  1   1.0
STOCKBRIDGE BROWNS	2  1   1.0
NEWTON BEARS	 	2  2   1.5
FOAL INDIANS		1  3   2.5
HOLLISTER ISLANDERS	1  3   2.5
EMORY LOOKOUTS          0  3   3.0

[Tiger Fan]

APRIL 10, 1972
BROWNS POWER PAST COTTSWALD EXPLORERS 9-5
Jim Heil and Marcos Rivera each homered and drove in 3 runs to lead the Stockbridge Browns to a 9-5 victory over the Cottswald Explorers on Monday. The Browns built up a 9-0 lead through 6 innings before Cottswald rallied for all 5 of their runs in the 7th. Heil had another strong game for the Stockbridge, hitting a double to go with his third homerun of the season. Bill Cofield also homered for the Browns who improve to 3-1 on the season.

George Patton got the victory to even his record at 1-1. Patton cruised through the first 6 innings, surrendering just 3 hits before getting lit up in the 7th. Veteran lefthander George Moore pitched the final 2 and a third innings to preserve the victory.



Dover native Craig Kelley had the big blow for Cottswald in the 7th, ripping a three-run homer. The Oxford Sharks first round pick in the 1970 draft was just 1-for-9 on the season entering the game.




MANAGER NOTES: In hindsight I wish I had pulled Patton after the 6th inning. I was very close to doing so but since we had a 9-0 lead I figured I would let him stay in the game. He took a bigger beating than he should have because I waited until there were a couple of baserunners before I got Moore up in the pen.

Heil continues to really impress me. It was also nice to see Cofield and Rivera both homer. Each had been struggling at the dish. We tried Barrett at shortstop today and he did just fine defensively.


Following the game I received word from Portsmouth that RF Raymond Brunet was being assigned to our team. To make room from Brunet OF Napoleon Reid was demoted to Class A Schwepps. Brunet, a 26 year old who spent most of the past three seasons in Stockbridge, was a late cut from the Mariners spring training which wraps up at the end of this week.

Brunet was named the Breda Bay League's outstanding hitter in 1970 and made the Class AA all-star game each of the past 2 seasons. The 5th round pick in the 1968 draft has decent power, he hit 21 homers in 109 games with Stockbridge last year, is strong defensively and has decent speed. He gives me another strong bat in an already crowded outfield. Just wish they would send me a shortstop though.

In other action today

Shortstop Al Breeden had 5 hits to lead Goodrich past Foal 12-11 in 11 innings
Hollister beat Newton 6-5
Johnson Drain's rbi single with 2 out in the bottom of the 9th gave the Emory Lookouts their first win of the season, 4-3 over the Midas Marlins.

BREDA BAY LEAGUE 	W  L  GBL
GOODRICH BOMBERS 	4  0   -
STOCKBRIDGE BROWNS	3  1   1.0
MIDAS MARLINS    	3  2   1.5
COTTSWALD EXPLORERS	2  2   2.0
NEWTON BEARS	 	2  3   2.5
HOLLISTER ISLANDERS	2  3   2.5
EMORY LOOKOUTS          1  3   3.0
FOAL INDIANS		1  4   3.5

[Tiger Fan]

APRIL 11, 1972
RANKINS LEADS BROWNS PAST COTTSWALD
Charles Rankins broke out of an early season slump in a big way, getting 3 hits and 4 rbi's to lead Stockbridge past Cottswald 7-2. Rankins hit a two run homer in the 5th inning to tie the game and then drove in 2 runs with a 2-out double in the 7th. He had started the season with just 1 hit in his first 10 at bats.

Nick Jones allowed 5 hits over 7 innings to get the win and improve his record to 2-0. Cottswald outfielder Bill Gilchrist hit a 2-run triple in the second inning to account for both of the runs Jones would surrender. Rick Bridgers once again dominated out of the bullpen, striking out 6 of the 7 batters he faced, the 7th was hit by a Bridgers pitch.

The Browns win, coupled with Goodrich's 4-0 loss to Foal, puts Stockbridge in a first place tie with the Bombers atop the Breda Bay League.



MANAGERS NOTES: Bridgers is amazing. I can't see him staying in AA too much longer with the fastball he has. Rankins had a great game today at the plate and was decent defensively as I put him back in at shortstop after taking him out of the lineup for a day. Outfielder Bill Cofield homered for the second game in a row and scored three runs.

Newcomer Raymond Brunet, just sent down from the Mariners big league spring training camp, went 0-for-4 in his season debut.


OTHER SCORES FROM OUR LEAGUE

Dave Gross pitched a complete game shutout as Foal blanked Goodrich 4-0. Gross, a Port Windsor Robins prospect, is ranked the 45th best prospect by Baseball Breda.

Emory beat Midas 8-7

Bob Kilpatrick hit his third homerun of the season to help Hollister knock off Newton 9-4

BREDA BAY LEAGUE 	W  L  GBL
GOODRICH BOMBERS 	4  1   -
STOCKBRIDGE BROWNS	4  1   -
MIDAS MARLINS    	3  3   1.5
HOLLISTER ISLANDERS	3  3   1.5
COTTSWALD EXPLORERS	2  3   2.0
EMORY LOOKOUTS          2  3   2.0
NEWTON BEARS	 	2  4   2.5
FOAL INDIANS		2  4   2.5

In other news from the Island, major league spring training has come to an end and the regular season will begin on April 18th for the Bay League and a day later for the Mountain League clubs. Our parent team, the Mountain League's Portsmouth Mariners will open at Cahill. The Cardinals finished 8th last season with the Mariners ending up in 7th. The Mountain League pennant a year ago was won by the Port Windsor Pirates.


Today was opening day in AAA. Portsmouth's affiliate is the Bridgewater Barons of the Avon River League. The Barons lost 6-2 to New Oxford.

WULF HAS BIG DEBUT FOR DANBURY
Gilbert Wulf, a player I discussed a couple of days ago, got the call to AAA for the season opener and he went 3-for-5 with 4 rbi's to lead the Danbury Pelicans to an 8-3 win over the Liedale Mudcats. It could just be a matter of time before Wulf makes his major league debut with Aberswyth.

[Tiger Fan]

APRIL 12, 1972
EXPLORERS' ROMANS QUIETS STOCKBRIDGE BATS
Chad Romans scattered 5 hits over 8 innings to lead his Cottswald Explorers to a 3-0 victory over the Stockbridge Browns. The victory allowed the Explorers to end a 2 game losing streak at Stockbridge. The 27 year old Romans, who spent parts of two seasons with the big league Oxford Sharks, also aided his cause at the plate by going 2-for-4.

As it turned out all the offense the Explorers would need came in the first inning when shortstop Lance Gray hit a solo homerun off of Stockbridge starter Dale Watkins. Watkins also allowed single runs in the 6th and 7th innings to take his first loss of the season. He went 6 and 2/3 innings fanning 8 but allowing 8 hits and 2 walks.

The Browns only real threat to score came in the 8th inning when they loaded the bases with 2 out only to see Cottswald reliever Clint Morman fan Raymond Brunet to end the rally attempt. Brunet is now 0-for-8 with 3 strikeouts since being sent down from Portsmouth.

MANAGERS NOTES: Just one of those games when the bats were not working. I juggled the lineup a little for this game giving catcher Heil and first baseman Rivera a rest. We complete our 4 game set with Cottswald tomorrow before heading to Hollister for our first road trip of the season.

Elsewhere
Goodrich got a walk-off homerun from Thurman Barnes to lead off the 9th and beat Foal 5-4

Glenn Williams fanned 8 to pitch Hollister past Newton 5-0

Joe Godin picked a fine time to hit his first professional homerun, blasting a 2-run shot in the bottom of the 13th to give Emory a 6-4 win over Midas. The dinger came in the 23 year old's 100th pro game.

BREDA BAY LEAGUE 	W  L  GBL
GOODRICH BOMBERS 	5  1   -
STOCKBRIDGE BROWNS	4  2    1.0
HOLLISTER ISLANDERS	4  3   1.5
COTTSWALD EXPLORERS	3  3   2.0
EMORY LOOKOUTS          3  3   2.0
MIDAS MARLINS    	3  4   2.5
NEWTON BEARS	 	2  5   3.5
FOAL INDIANS		2  5   3.5

LEAGUE BATTING AVG LEADERS
A.Breeden	Goodrich	.500
B.Fisher	Cottswald	.500
J.Waldon	Goodrich	.389

LEAGUE HOMERUN LEADERS
J.Heil		Stockbridge	3
B.Kilpatrick	Hollister	3

LEAGE RBI LEADERS
J.Heil		Stockbridge	10
O.Mack		Midas	 	10
G.Wulf		now in AAA	 8

[Tiger Fan]

APRIL 13, 1972
COTTSWALD DOUBLES BROWNS 4-2 TO SPLIT 4 GAME SERIES
For the second game in a row the Stockbridge Browns were unable to generate much offense and it cost them in a 4-2 loss to the Cottswald Explorers. The Cottswald victory is the second in two days for the Explorers and earns them a split of the 4 game series in Stockbridge.

31 year old Clay Nelson, who spent 3 years in the majors with Oxford, allowed just 4 hits over 7 and 2/3 innings to earn the win in his first appearance of the season. For the second game in a row Clint Morman closed things out earning his third save of the season.

Marcos Rivera's second home run of the season accounted both Stockbridge runs. Leslie Highsmith took the loss, giving up 3 earned runs on 5 hits in 5 and 1/3 innings.

MANAGERS NOTES : For the second day in a row we did absolutely nothing on offense. It is only 2 games so I am not concerned yet but I have to say I felt much better about this team 2 days ago than I do now. Benefield really struggled in relief surrendering 3 hits and a run in the 9th inning. If I cant trust him that will leave me with only 2 relievers I can count on. After an 0-for-8 start Raymond Burnet got his first hit of the season, a pinch-hit single in the 8th inning.


There were 2 other games in the league today.

Foal rallied for 11 runs in the top of the ninth to beat Goodrich 13-6
The Emory Lookouts beat the Midas Marlins 3-1.

BREDA BAY LEAGUE 	W  L  GBL
GOODRICH BOMBERS 	5  2   -
STOCKBRIDGE BROWNS	4  3   1.0
HOLLISTER ISLANDERS	4  3   1.0
COTTSWALD EXPLORERS	4  3   1.0
EMORY LOOKOUTS          4  3   1.0
MIDAS MARLINS    	3  5   2.5
FOAL INDIANS		3  5   2.5
NEWTON BEARS	 	2  5   3.0