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Old 02-13-2012, 10:35 PM   #1
chicago_gm
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Chicago Hornet 1843 Season Recap


Hornet 1843 Season Recap!
Team Awards Announced


By Caitlen Sullivan
Chicago Sun Times Sports
October 15, 1843

Back in March we said right here in this column: “Coming off the worst record in SLOP last year, the Hornets are hoping to improve to .500.” Lo and behold, the completely revamped team came in at 81-81 exactly meeting that unofficial goal.

TEAM AWARDS:

Most Valuable Starting Pitcher:

No contest here. New franchise player designate and rookie Bobby Foster came down from Ottawa, Ontario and immediately established himself as one of the top pitchers in the game. He finished up with a fine 18-8 record, an ERA of 2.66, and a WHIP of 1.03. Pretty good numbers. His ERA was the best in the league, and he led the league in strikeouts with 288.

Most Valuable Relief Pitcher

Once again, no contest. As the club’s closer, Colby Wade appeared in 73 games, finishing with a 4-6 mark and recording 47 saves in 51 attempts (92%). His ERA was 1.75 and his WHIP was 0.97. Only 23 years old, he now has six full seasons under his belt, the first five with the LA Vulcans. This was his first year as a full time closer.

Most Valuable Position Player:

Steven Chowen only recorded 27 at bats last year in his first professional season in short-A ball after being drafted number one by Chicago. Despite that, he was promoted to the Hornets this year and split time at 1B and C, both of which he plays with Gold Glove efficiency. Behind the plate he threw out 50% of attempted base stealers. And his offense was just fine, thank you. He finished at .303 with 35 HRs and 103 RBIs in 133 games.

Most Valuable Player

With the above three all legitimate candidates for the award, the nod goes to Foster.

Team Review:

First Base:
Chowen started here 21 times against lefties. 1841’s number one draft pick, 18-year-old Jim Nicholson, started against right handers. He hit .275 and was effective defensively (zone rating +3.6). The only negative to his statistics is the almost total lack of power (he failed to hit a HR).

Second Base:
Veljko Svabic was coming off a .356 year with Phoenix, and while he couldn’t match that, he didn’t disappoint as a Hornet. He hit .326 in the critical second spot in the batting order. His OBP of .395 was best on the team.

Third Base:
Joe Johnson was a last minute free agent signee. He’s brilliant defensively (zone rating +18.5) and hit 31 home runs, second on the team only to Chowen. Hew knocked in 93 as well. Unfortunately his BA slipped from .265 to .225, a statistic that diminished his effectiveness.

Shortstop:
Corey Hunt made the jump from AA ball to the majors and proved he could hit big league pitching too, finishing at .263 in the challenging lead-off spot in the order. But he needs work on his base running. He stole 25 bases but was thrown out 23 times. And, alas, his fielding was bad enough to question whether he can stay in the big leagues as a regular. He made 37 errors and recorded a zone rating of -22.7.

Infield Reserves:
Pancho Rodriguez and Dewitt Peterson were perfectly adequate as backup infielders.

Left Field:
Journeyman free agent signee Bill Bailey was OK at best in most all respects. He hit .260. His zone rating of -7.0 was not encouraging.

Center Field:
Phil Batstone is an outstanding defender, but his offensive contributions were disappointing. He did manage 22 home runs and 84 RBIs hitting in the five spot, but his batting average of .237 was way below expectations.

Right Field:
Mark Powell hit .272 and drove in 61, but his zone rating of -9.7 much lower than hoped for. Being thrown out stealing 15 times in 32 attempts doesn’t add to his allure.

Outfield Reserves
Gerry Meeks and Alan King did nothing to endear themselves to Hornet fans either offensively or defensively.

Catcher
Chowen was brilliant behind the plate and at bat as described above. When he was at 1B, Robin Whitmire caught. He improved significantly at the plate from his half year in 1842, and while no Chowen wearing the tools of ignorance, he gets the job done defensively just fine.

Designated Hitter
Meeks and Peterson were not effective at the plate, and the DH was a weak spot in the lineup when the team visited Associated League ballparks.

Rotation:
  • Bobby Foster was brilliant as described above.
  • Rich Malone finished at 12-13 with an ERA of 4.59, numbers that were not as good as expected.
  • Imported from Puerto Rico, Angel Bautista joined the rotation for the second half after coming out of the pen early in the year. He put a 5-7 record and an ERA of 4.02 for the year.
  • Coming over from Milwaukee, Emilio Contreras was 12-16, a disappointment, and his 4.45 ERA was the highest he has had in four years.
  • Bill Hicks won 13 of 22 games with an ERA of 4.13. AT age 20 he still has room to improve. His 3.2 to 1 K to BB ration was excellent.
  • Jose Gonzales was 7-11, 4.58. He started regularly before the All Star break and infrequently afterward.
Bullpen
  • Described above, Colby Wade was arguably the best closer in the league.
  • Walt Brown was Wade’s set-up man, and was adequate but not outstanding. His ERA more than doubled from 1.90 with Phoenix in 1842 to 4.18. His WHIP was still good (1.08).
  • Mike Dryden was the most active reliever with 86 innings worked, and he had a fine ERA of 3.01 although his WHIP was 1.38.
  • Al Denton was a disappointment. The club’s closer for the past two years, in middle relief his ERA shot up to 4.76 and his WHIP to 1.48.
  • Richard Koch was essentially horrible while Robert Pittman was marginally adequate.


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