The Village Idiot (3.31.2042)

[Alan T]

The Heroic Duo:

Only a few seasons ago, Okamoto was announced by VI as perhaps the best player in the Continental League, while Pichette was mentioned as an up and coming super star following an outstanding debut performance in the FOOL World Baseball Classic. Now we fast forward to 2042 and some are asking if these New York team mates are the best duo in all of baseball history?

Some question if these two are just a product of the New York media market hype. The "East Coast" FOOL media often have a fondness for great New York players, whether a Nick vega, Juan Sierra, even all the way back to the days of Fernando Spindola. New York loves their media darlings.

Village Idiot's crack research staff went through all of the great duos in FOOL history, and found that these two ranked near the tops in almost every offensive category. There has never been a pair of hitters for a team that hit more than the 99 Home Runs that Okamoto and Pichette combined for last season. Yet we are not quite ready to crown them as the best ever just yet. In nearly every statistical category, the New York duo came up short when compared to the 2035 season of Frank Dawson and Ramon Santos of Chico.

2041 Pichette/Okamoto - .350 Batting avg, 86 2B, 4 3B, 99 HR, 338 RBI, 257 R, 139 BB, .414 OBP, .657 SLG %, OPS = 1.071 OPS

2035 Dawson/Santos - .377 Batting avg, 89 2B, 13 3B, 87 HR, 305 RBI, 282 R, 158 BB, .445 OBP, .667 SLG%, OPS = 1.112 OPS

So is it clear cut simple as that? A fantastic season by these two but not the best ever? Generally it is never a great idea to just use numbers in a vacuum without considering what else might have impacted those numbers. It is seldom mentioned, but the 2041 New York Heroes were not a great hitting team. In fact, they were only third in the Republic League for offensive production. Looking over the New York roster, there was only one other player that had even an average productive year in the offensive lineup for the Heroes last season. Okamoto and Pichette virtually had to do it all by themselves, surely hurting their overall numbers in the process.

So, with that considered, does it make what Pichette and Okamoto accomplished last season an even greater feat? Can we crown them now as the best duo ever? Not that fast... Dawson and Santos didn't necessarily have a lineup full of all stars assisting them either. 2035 was prior to the Rebels trade to get Tex in that lineup to assist. Chico did have a few more average or above average bats however that year in the form of Santana, Soto and Zhai. None of them really tore the basepaths up however. In reality, Santos and Dawson did not have that much more support themselves.

If forced to pick, VI would have to choose the new York hitters as only the second best performance in history. However they have one thing going for them. The pair of hitters have not even reached their prime yet. Pichette is only 24, and Okamoto is 26. Republic League pitchers must be afraid of what these two could possibly do in the years to come.


The forgotten man?

How exactly did Dave Juteau go from being one of the young superstars of the league to now being perhaps the most forgotten player that has actually won three Tanaka awards. When great FOOL players are mentioned of late, Juteau's name is rarely mentioned despite having been an All Star in 10 of the last 11 seasons.

When Juteau burst on the scene in 2031, he had one of the more amazing Rookie seasons in recent history. He won the Benny Myers award and with a .352 Avg and a 1.035 OPS he received quite a bit of consideration for the Tanaka award as well. His team, the Tokyo Cyclones won the FOOL Championship that season and for the young 24 year old, he was on top of the world.

Over the next few seasons, Juteau's career suddenly turned south, as did the Cyclones. As the team struggled, so did Juteau. Or perhaps it was due to Juteau's waning performance that caused Tokyo's downfall as a Continental League power. After hitting only .256 in the 2035 season, some wondered if Juteau was only a flash in the pan. Could his career already be over so soon after such a promising beginning?

Juteau bounced back however in the 2036 season. He did not have a stellar season, but it was definitely above average. Juteau had started a process of reinventing himself. A task that would help him become the Tanaka award winner three out of the next five seasons. Juteau has not repeated the performance of his rookie season since that year, but for Tokyo to be successful perhaps he does not need to.

Juteau has become perhaps one of the most dangerous hitters in all of baseball. One opposing pitcher stated, "He has perhaps the best eye in baseball. You just can't throw garbage to him. You have to throw him strikes and when you do, he'll punish you for it." Juteau does indeed have a great eye and a punishing bat, as he has been in the top 6 for both OBP and SLG each of the past 5 seasons. Now in 2042, once again the Tokyo Cyclones have a good chance of making the playoffs, but much of their fate rests on the back of the 34 year old Canadian that many call "Mr. Freeze".

The last time Chief won a title....

In my role, I try to never play favorites, but there are no owners that we have a longer history with than Chief Rum. As someone that we greatly admire here at the Village Idiot, we felt it only fitting to give a proper tribute to his championship. They say that you always hurt the ones that you love, so with that thought in mind, here are a few things that were true the last time Chief Rum had won a title..

• The Edmonton, Newark and Hyannis franchises did not even exist
• Only 5 of the current FOOL owners were actually in the league. (6 if you count TimGuru who left for nearly 30 years and came back)
• The all time FOOL Home Run Champion was Bobby Barrett
• Juan Sierra was only 10 years old.
• Hammersmith ace Vicente Betancourt was not even born yet!
• The Boston Settlers, whom Chief Rum defeated in the 2007 FOOL Classic were a member of the Republic League
• The team that Chief Rum defeated in the 2008 FOOL Classic was Compton and has since moved to Chico
• 6 different teams have won back to back titles since Chief did in 2007-2008
• Chief Rum made the playoffs 13 different since his 2008 championship

In all seriousness however, we're happy to see Chief Rum win the championship after a long run of frustration.


Players to watch...

One of the future stars of FOOL could possibly see playing time this year for Boston. Greg 'Dynomi' Brown looks like he might just be "Dynomite!" He is the type of player that the Village Idiot loves as he absolutely will drive the ball all over the field. The only knock on him is perhaps his arm is a bit too weak to play third base for long. He has such great reaction in the field however that he should have no problems adjusting to second base at some point in his future.

Another Thirdbaseman in the Continental League is Apex's 22 year old Kazuhiko Hashimoto. This young left handed hitter is already well known to his fans back in Japan and could possibly help headline the new era of Apex baseball. He can hit, and he can hit the ball hard. With another year or two of seasoning, he could end up a .330 hitter with 40+ Home Runs every single season, even in the toughest park for hitters to play in.

The best of the bunch however is Ken 'Avenger' Gallagher for Colorado. He is ready right now to play in the majors and he could be one of those rare players that right from the start challenges for the Tanaka award in his rookie season. In AAA last season, he destroyed opposing pitchers and he still has plenty of room to grow. If Gallagher is not a future hall of famer, then we have no idea what a future hall of famer looks like.

The winners will be...

Last year's Continental League was a wild race all the way to the finish. This year might be more of the same where any of the teams can compete. We'll go with Tokyo and Edmonton to make the playoffs however, with the edge going to Tokyo representing the CL in the FOOL Classic.

Over in the Republic League, we still are not quite sure what to make of Hyannis from last season. For all that we can tell, they played well above their heads last season. Maybe they are for real, or perhaps they will play above their heads again this season. For now, we see them finishing 5th however. Hammersmith and Hartford both seem to be the favorites in our eyes, but New York looks like they could play spoiler as well. VI's dark horse of the season is Colorado however, they might be in the thick of things all the way into September if not later. We'll end up saying Hammersmith takes the league title, joining Hartford in the playoffs however.

Good luck to all in FOOL's 82nd season!

[Chief Rum]

Terrific VI, Alan.

lmao at all the stuff that has happened since I last took a title. That's an "impressive" list.

[TimGuru]

Wasn't the VI on the Hyannis bandwagon last year?

I think 5th might be optimistic for this year's bunch. Good bullpen, suspect starters beyond Sjoerd, and not much offensive depth at all.

[ekcut]

Last year's Continental League was a wild race all the way to the finish. This year might be more of the same where any of the teams can compete. We'll go with Tokyo and Edmonton to make the playoffs however, with the Edge going to represent the CL in the FOOL Classic.

Fixed...

[TeachEnEspanol]

LOL, this one was tons of fun! Thanks VI!

[Montreal_GM]

I certainly expected the trio of Juteau, Canales, and Munoz to carry Tokyo to a few more postseason births than they did, especially after Juteau's stellar rookie year and encouraging starts from the other two. If only I had better pitching during that time and those three kept their ratings and performance up.

That said, Juteau has been far and away my best offensive force. He's not going to shatter any league records, maybe only a few within the Cyclones organization, but he should be a HOF candidate when all is said and done.

As for this season, if the bullpen doesn't completely ruin me Tokyo should slide comfortably into the postseason. I'll trade a 3rd or below finish for excellent development from Hankins and Co., however.