This is the fourth in a series of articles about candidates for the Illowa League Hall of Fame. Now we move on to the first player in our series who seems like a real slam-dunk first ballot Hall of Famer. Over 15 years, Mike Piazza was the best offensive catcher in …
This is the third in a series of articles about candidates for the Illowa League Hall of Fame. It’s always difficult to predict how leadoff hitters will do in IAL Hall of Fame voting. Kenny Lofton was one of the best for about six or seven years, but like Craig Biggio …
This is the second in a series of articles on candidates for the Illowa League Hall of Fame. Shawn Green played 13 seasons in the Ilowa League, splitting time between the Bunchies. He had a slow start to his career, not really breaking out and playing full-time until his fourth season, …
This is the first in a series of articles about candidates for the Illowa League Hall of Fame. Craig Biggio came into the IAL in the expansion draft of 1997, taken by the State Street Sluggers. He was immediately dealt to the Aurora (now Three Rivers) Gamblers. Despite missing what …
I’ve been going over the Hall of Fame for the 2010 ballot, and it looks like this year will be a good one! Eligible players for this year include, among hitters, Craig Biggio, Jose Cruz, Jr., Juan Encarnacion, Shawn Green, Kenny Lofton, Mike Piazza, and Jose Valentin. Among pitchers we …
With the playoffs coming up in March I thought I’d do a playoff preview. The Champions seem to be the clear favorite – but will they close the deal? I’ve looked at run differential, the likely pitching rotations, and if there are any part-timers who look to take a bigger …
We came into the final series knowing we probably needed to win six games against the Three Rivers Gamblers to have a chance at the playoffs, and our pitching limits were putting us up against the wall; our 2 A+ pitchers had 8 2/3 innings but only 3 appearances between …
The Highlanders and Gamblers have announced a major trade: the Gamblers receive Adrian Beltre and the Highlanders get Scott Kazmir. Adrian Beltre has been a fixture at the hot corner for the Highlanders since being drafted in 1999. He was one of the slew of slick-fielding thirdbasemen that the team …
I’ll post some updates on the Highlander-Gamblers series, as it has playoff implications. We started at 1 pm, and the Gamblers took game 1; the Highlanders have since taken games 2, 3, and 4. I’ll post updates in the comments!
The end of this season is really shaping up to be a down-to-the-wire affair. 5 games separate 2nd place from 6th place, with 5 teams fighting for 3 spots – the Champions have first place wrapped up. The Gamblers have 82 wins, the Bamm Beanos 81, the Marauders 80, the …
