Numbers behind the Nuts’ playoff victory

Hickory manager Mike Wilson has compiled some additional statistics they help tell the tale of the Nuts’ seven-game first-round playoff win over the higher-seeded Bushwood Gophers. Bushwood BOO:   Starting Pitchers  31.2 IP, 41 hits,  28 runs, 26 earned 7.39 ERA YEA:    Bullpen  30.1 IP, 21 hits,    5 runs,  3 earned 0.90 ERA  (WOW–Dave should have gone [...]

What’s your MVPQ? Wisconsin, Springfield have gobs of it

Let’s throw another barometer out there for measuring the anticipated competitiveness of clubs in the 2012 I-75 Strat League. Let’s take the two recently concluded MVP votes and apply them to players currently on I-75 League rosters to determine everyone’s MVP quotient. What do we learn? Wisconsin and Springfield are stacked. The Warhawks boast Ryan [...]

Meet the new managers: John Renbarger

John Renbarger, manager of the expansion Iowa Swirling Cyclones, was born one month after the I-75 League celebrated its 10th anniversary. Still a student at Iowa State, where he is majoring in chemical engineering, John displaces Dan Wilson as the youngest manager in the league, but in so doing becomes the second second-generation manager in [...]

Meet the new managers: Ken Crawford

Ken Crawford has dubbed his team the Michigan Moneyballers, but does he subscribe to the Moneyball principles? That remains to be seen, but the Ohio native did earn a living as a financial consultant before semi-retiring in 2011 to spend more time learning how to play Strat.  You will recall that he shared managerial duties [...]

One draft down, one mock draft to go

Forecasting the first round of the 2012 draft is especially challenging, and not just because a whopping 19 players will be chosen. For one thing, we don’t know which expansion teams will be slotted in which order. And, having not conducted the waiver draft yet, we don’t know what their specific needs will be. However, [...]

And now, the leftovers: Clubs grab what they can

The pickings were decidely slimmer in the third and final round of the I-75 League Expansion Draft, perhaps best illustrated by the selection of .159-hitting Adam Dunn. Apart from the selections of two decent starting pitchers and Florida Marlins first baseman Gaby Sanchez, the picks were primarily guys who’ve seen better times or hope to [...]

Finally! 2011 season is semi-officially complete

The Superior Titans and Wisconsin Warhawks are the division champs of the I-75 League for 2011 and have earned first-round byes for the playoffs. Wisconsin defeated Margaritaville 5-4 in a one-game playoff to settle first place in the Southbound Division. Earlier, Applegate beat Savannah in a one-game playoff 4-3 to determine the third-place finisher. Wisconsin [...]

Hear highlights of Dave LaMont’s USC-Colorado call

If you weren’t able to catch the play-by-play work of Springfield manager Dave LaMont on Friday night, as he called Matt Barkley’s school-record-breaking six-TD passing performance in USC’s win over Colorado, enjoy these video highlights with Dave’s call as they happened (click the image above). To keep up with Homer’s Odyssey, check out his upcoming schedule [...]

Meet the new managers: Rick Lackey

Rick Lackey, manager of the expansion English Pigdogs, has already been associated with the I-75 League for several years, having assisted Garth Lewis with the general manager aspects of the South Grand Prairie Warriors. He’s also been active and successful in another long-running Strat league, NASOMA, where he has earned 10 league titles since 1987 [...]

Meet the new managers: Steve Nieroda

Steve Nieroda, manager of the expansion Satellite Beach Brawlers,  joins the I-75 League in 2012 as a 15-year Strat veteran who is also managing clubs in three other leagues. Steve was born in Union, N.J., and grew up a fan of the New York Mets. He now lives in Satellite Beach, Fla., where he sells [...]

Preseason predictions prove pretty accurate

Looking back at our preseason predictions, we find that we fared pretty well in forecasting the outcome of both divisions. In the North we picked Bushwood, Springfield and Superior as playoff teams and for Hickory to finish fourth; the Isotopes offense proved to be more miserable than we anticipated, and the Nuts claimed that playoff [...]

Pitchers snapped up in second round of expansion draft

Unlike the first round, pitchers were the dominant element of Thursday night’s second round of the I-75 League Expansion Draft, which saw seven hurlers among the 12 players chosen in the 17-minute round. English manager Rick Lackey led the way by snagging pitchers on each of his three picks: Jhoulys Chacin from Chatfield, Derek Holland [...]

Warhawks, Clips lead way with three Silver Sluggers each

Don’t look for offensive powerhouse Wisconsin to cool off much in the 2012 season. The Warhawks boast three Silver Slugger honorees who will return to their lineup next season, tying Applegate for tops in the league. First baseman Prince Fielder, second baseman Robinson Cano and outfielder Ryan Braun were honored Wednesday night with Silver Sluggers, reflective [...]

Margaritaville can flash some golden leather

The Margaritaville Volcanoes are still playing for I-75 League hardware, but their players are leading the way when it comes to on-the-field honors for defensive excellence in 2011. Three Volcanoes — Matt Wieters, Joey Votto and Brandon Phillips — earned Gold Gloves Tuesday night, and with them a treasured ’1′ defensive rating on next year’s [...]

Expansion teams chase hitters in first round

Expansion teams largely eschewed pitching talent and went for offense Tuesday night in the first round of the I-75 League Expansion Draft. Beginning with Iowa’s selection of first baseman Mark Teixeira of Springfield, the expansion teams showed a clear preference for offense over pitching… or, looking at some of the batting averages involved, maybe it [...]