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Some of you may be curious about the title, so I'll address that before starting the article. After I have finished this State and updated the PR archives (which I plan on doing tonight), I am going to resign as PVBL PR Official and begin my duties as PVBL2 (it will probably be renamed soon) commissioner. That does mean we'll need another PR Official for the PVBL, so I'm offering anyone who wants the job the chance to replace me. It is a decent amount of work, but I make it more than it should be because I let tons of old releases pile up and then do them all at once. Anyway, if you want the job, please e-mail Matt and I. We'll pick a replacement, sure enough. I will retain ownership of the Groundhogs and I'll try to stay active as ever in the PVBL. If that proves too difficult, at the end of this season I may look for a replacement but I'm certainly keeping Punxatawney until the end of this season. Now back to your regularly scheduled article.
(AP) Punxatawney, PA--
Nearly at the all-star break now, the Pepper Virtual Baseball League has really come a long way from its fledgling days as a new league. It has even expanded into the Pepper Virtual Baseball Association (PVBA), encompassing two leagues--the PVBL and the soon to be created PVBL2. League commissioner Matthew Peck is delighted to see his project evolve into an exciting league with great owners and great competition. Two teams provoking great interest recently have been the Vero Beach Bums of the Defiant League and the Deadwood Outlaws of the Enterprise League. Both have emerged from the middle of the pack in their respective divisions to jump ahead of the competition and take the lead. However, both are still in tight races for their spots, jockeying with their opponents every day.
Deadwood has been a true surprise to many. Mired behind the "en fuego" Hartford Whalers for most of the first half, the Outlaws have screamed ahead of the division. They did this by compiling a 12 game winning streak, the longest in PVBL history. At the same time, Hartford dropped a number of games and Deadwood was up by 4. Hartford swept the Outlaws to tie the teams again, but since then its been any mans game. As this article goes to press, the Outlaws lead by 1 game following a 5-2 victory today. The win was Deadwood's 50th, making them 50-35 on the year. They are the best team in the McCoy division and just 4.5 behind the Brooklyn Flaming Skulls for EL best.
The Outlaws are certainly a team with star quality. Their starting lineup is one of the best-- CF Rich Becker, 2B Julio Franco, DH Gary Sheffield, 1B Tino Martinez, SS John Valentin, LF Al Martin, RF Moises Alou, 3B Carlos Garcia, and veteran C Don Slaught. Chris Sabo plays 3B against lefties. All of this--with Ken Caminiti and Javy Lopez on the DL. Joining them on the DL are pitchers Jeff Fassero, Jason Schmidt, and Jose Mesa. Still, they have Randy Johnson, Pete Harnisch, Rheal Cormier, Bartolo Colon, and Mark Portugal starting with Jeff Brantley closing. However, down to 5 total guys in the bullpen, team owner Phillip Raisor admits that he's scared of what more injuries to his pitching staff could do.
"If I lose another pitcher to injury, I'm probably done," he remarked when asked about the situation.
Still, Deadwood has managed to win. Raisor credits a lot of it to his rotation which has finally stabilized and seem very comfortable in their roles. This statement is pretty easy to back up when you look at the pitchers. Randy Johnson, the staff ace, is 9-5 with a 2.58 ERA. He has struck out an astounding 161 men in just 129 innings. Unfortunately, he has not gotten enough run support to improve his record as he has 14 quality starts to this point. Pete Harnisch is just 5-6, but his 4.46 ERA isn't too bad. Rheal Cormier is 7-6 with a 4.56 ERA. One major bright spot has been youngster Bartolo Colon. Colon is 7-2 with a 2.24 ERA in 10 starts and 7 relief appearances. Portugal has struggled a bit, going 3-3 with a 5.40 ERA in 12 starts. This leaves out some of the injured staff as well. Jeff Fassero was 6-5, 4.23 before his major injury. Jose Mesa had recorded 16 saves in 30 outings prior to injury, and Brantley has gotten 3 more since, but also has 10 holds.
One might think those ERA's aren't good enough to win 50 games in the first half, but when one sees the run support most of them get it is obvious why Deadwood wins. First, many of their losses came when they pitched for other clubs as Raisor has acquired Cormier, Harnisch, Fassero, Schmidt, and Rijo through trades. Second, the Deadwood offense has been using something other than dead wood in their bats--they have been unstoppable at the plate.
Led by EL May POM Gary Sheffield, the Deadwood offense has scored 533 runs (32 more than the next best EL club) in 85 games, or 6.25 runs per game. Sheffield is a story in and of himself. He is hitting .421, has blasted 36 homers, and has driven in 95. He currently leads the EL in both HR and RBI and is third in batting average. The next biggest offensive contributor is unfortunately injured. Ken Caminiti was hitting .340 with 20 homers 63 RBI until he ruptured his ACL. He is likely to miss the rest of the season but might have a small chance of being able to return if the Outlaws got to the World Series. A whole slew of other players are hitting over .300--Al Martin, Rich Becker, Tino Martinez, John Valentin, and Julio Franco. Moises Alou is just below at .299. And while Sheffield has 125 runs created, more than twice anyone else on the team, 6 other players are all at or over 50. Martinez, Valentin, Becker, and Martin all have over 60. Alou and Caminiti both topped 50.
Raisor is not yet content, however. He would still like to get another pitcher and claims to be working on a deal that would bring one to Deadwood. Also, Jeff Fassero is expected back in August which should great improve the Deadwood team. Vero Beach, like Deadwood, has also faced numerous injuries but still lead their division. Following is an interview between the State and Jason Gohlke, Vero Owner.
State: What have you guys changed to help you improve your divisional standing?
Jason: Vero has played excellent baseball all the way through, since starting with an early .500 mark. The key adjustment I've made so far was to fill out my AAA roster with players who could contribute if they were called up.Ê Free agents like Lynch, Idstein, Fitzke, Butka, Springer and Guthrie have contributed when other players have gone down.Ê Mark Guthrie has especially contributed in a setup role when Terrell Wade proved ineffective; currently Guthrie has the lowest ERA on my staff (1.64 in 14 appearances). Guthrie, Kurt Bottenfield (opponent BA of just .209, 2.31 ERA), and closer Trevor Hoffman (DL-leading 15 saves, 2.57 ERA, 15 K in 21 IP) have recently made sure the Bums don't lose many games in the late innings.
Also, through trades I've picked up Gregg Jefferies and Marquis Grissom. Grissom is proving to be a key addition, especially hitting cleanup in the absence of the injured Jeff King.Ê Jefferies is also a valuable spot starter.
Mostly, though, the vast majority of our major leaguers have been around since day one.Ê This team had an excellent nucleus of players in their primes when I acquired it.Ê I started out by feeling my way around the league, as I'm sure other owners did.Ê When I became comfortable with running a team, I realized I didn't want to break up a team that was doing as well as we have been.
Another key to our success is that I haven't been afraid to juggle the lineup in order to win more games.Ê Most of the lineup spots are fairly set by this point, but I never rule out mixing it up based on who's pitching.
State: What's your biggest strength, your biggest weakness?Ê
Jason: Pretty clearly, the biggest strength is our offense.Ê When everyone's healthy, there are nine pure hitters for average in the lineup.Ê At one point, I had all nine starting position players batting above .295, and the top 4 players in the league in walks.Ê Rex Hudler, Brian Jordan, Omar Vizquel, Dave Hollins, Ron Gant, Tom Pagnozzi, and even Chuck Carr are having excellent seasons at the plate.Ê Jeff King was having a career year before going down with an injury.
Our team BA has slipped to 4th in the DL recently, but we still have 39 more walks than our closest competitor and are tied for second in OBP, just .001 behind Ponxatawney. (as of July 9th, league time)
Also, aside from being injury-prone, starting pitching is our greatest weakness. Three of our starters have ERAs below 4.00, but the fourth spot and the fifth spot have been, well, spotty.Ê Our most reliable starter, statistically, has been Albie Lopez, who is second in the DL in strikeouts only to Chuck Finley and is averaging more than one strikeout per inning. Kevin Ritz has also compiled an excellent 9-2 record, with less hits than innings pitched and more strikeouts than walks (and some good run support in the process).Ê Willie Adams has capably taken over for fellow 21-year-old Shawn Estes (traded to Washington) as the third starter, with a 3-1 record since joining the club.Ê However, Ismael Valdes has been alternately brilliant and terrible; he has a great arm but is bewilderingly inconsistent.Ê He is only 20, though, and with a few years in the league should develop into a great pitcher.Ê The fifth spot has been filled with Billy Wagner, a natural reliever; Kurt Hardie, traded for, injured, and then inconsistent; and Bill Goldsmith, a 39-year-old free agent whose numbers reflect that.Ê When Dennis Springer comes back from AAA (injured, naturally), he will get a chance in the rotation.
A nice surprise has been our bullpen.Ê Kent Bottenfield, Billy Wagner, Mark Guthrie, Dennis Springer, and Dave Weathers, not to mention Trevor Hoffman, have all contributed to an excellent bullpen.
State:Who have been your star players that have helped you get to this spot?
Jason:Our team is interesting in that there haven't been just one or a handful of players that carry the team.Ê Every hitter is a legitimate threat to get on base and to drive in runs.Ê Notable contributors have been Rex Hudler, Omar Vizquel, Ron Gant, and Brian Jordan, among others.Ê The closest players to "stars" would be Jeff King, now injured, and Marquis Grissom, as well as Omar Vizquel.Ê We truly fit the definition of a good "team," though: the players all contribute quietly, and no one really has the spotlight.
Nine players on our team have scored 48 runs or more.Ê I don't think any other owner can say that.
On the pitching staff, Hoffman, Bottenfield, and Lopez have contributed a lot.
State:You have faced major injuries.Ê How have you adjusted to this?
Jason:With a sense of humor, mostly.Ê There's nothing I can really do to avoid injuries other than making sure to give my players a rest when they need it.Ê Luckily, my free-agent pickups, trade acquisitions, and minor-league corps have prevented any dropoffs in production.
State:What trades have you made that really helped?Ê What trades that really hurt?
Jason:No trade has really hurt so far.Ê In general I've been much more conservative than a lot of PVBL owners in the number and scope of my trades, which I consider a big reason for this team's success so far. I've only made three trades and haven't given up anyone I consider essential.
First trade: Todd Worrell and Brian Boehringer for Kurt Hardie and Chris Hammond, all pitchers. Hammond is a bust so far and Hardie doesn't look that great.Ê On the other hand, Boehringer is not a brilliant prospect, and Worrell is having an average year.Ê (He wasn't necessary considering the rest of my bullpen.)
Second trade: P John Hayes, P Dennis Rasmussen, CF Steve Gibralter, LF/DH Pete Incaviglia to Sacramento (then Atlanta) for CF Ernie Young, 1B/LF Gregg Jefferies, C Larry Gulden, P Doug Jones.
Jefferies and Gulden have seen their share of playing time, Young was traded later, and Jones was released without pitching for the Bums.Ê On the other hand, Gibraltar didn't produce, Rasmussen is still in AAA, Incaviglia is having a decent year, and Hayes has average numbers. Basically I traded Incaviglia's power (which hasn't materialized for Sacramento) and tendency to strike out for Jefferies' defense and versatility (which has helped). Gulden is also a good defensive catcher and has filled in for Pagnozzi. Third trade: the blockbuster, at least comparatively.Ê P Shawn Estes and CF Ernie Young for P Willie Adams and CF Marquis Grissom.Ê The jury will be out on this trade for a long time, but I think for now I got the better deal.Ê Estes is an excellent prospect with a great arm.Ê Grissom is in a class by himself in centerfield--a brilliant hitter and fielder.Ê Young was basically a non-factor.Ê Adams is also a good young pitcher, which is why he might be the key to the deal.Ê Depending on how he and Estes develop, we'll see.
State:Are you planning any big moves to help you as we approach the deadline?
Jason:I'm always interested in and consider other owners' trade offers.Ê I'd love to trade for a young pitching ace--to help me now and for years in the future-- if the deal were right. A guy like Frank Callahan or Gary Niles would be a great pickup.
However, it's pretty clear that our emphasis is on offense, and it's going to stay that way for a while. A particular player that interests me is Chipper Jones, but I don't see any major moves on the horizon.Ê It's not impossible, however.
State:Thanks for your time Jason. Your contributions to the State are greatly appreciated.
There hasn't been much else other news in the PVBL since the last State. Not too many major trades as many owners are finally content with their clubs. The all-star game is coming up in a few days and it looks like the DL will be piloted by Hogs skipper Dan Shapiro while the EL will be coached by Flaming Skulls owner Ryan George (if we even have all-star team managers, that is. I have no clue, I'm just assuming).
So that's all from the first PR guy. We still have 1 spot open for another PVBL owner in the PVBL2, since we're maintaining a 75/25 max ratio for new/pvbl owners. If anyone wants it, let me know. Thanks for the help with the articles and all the great press releases. Keep them up, I'm sure the new PR guy will have just as much fun as I did.
Dan Shapiro
Owner, Punxatawney Groundhogs
Commish, Pepper Virtual Baseball Assocation II (II be named later)
Written by Dan Shapiro