MICHIGAN STAG REPORT

PRE-PLAYOFF EDITION

Detroit, Michigan – The regular season is over and the Michigan Stags have won their division in the inaugural season of the CASBL. Preparations are ongoing to hopefully make a run for the title. Below will be listed the post-regular season evaluation of the Stags.

PITCHING

This is the bread and butter of the organization. The team ERA was 2.34 for the season. This helped keep our offense in games, and hopefully will help keep us in the playoffs this season. Veteran starter, Dazzy Vance, leads the staff. Vance finished the season with a 19 – 7 record and an ERA under 2.00. He also had 314 strikeouts, which was 3^rd in the league. The relief core also had an impressive season led by 24-year-old Willhite. The rotation will be the same for the playoffs as it was in the regular season.

OFFENSE

The only Achilles heel of this team. The Stags averaged barely over 3 runs a game, which is not that good. Luckily the pitching staff held us close in games. Led by OF Roy White, and first baseman Boog Powell, the team hit a dismal .234. Rumors of two trades with Great Bend made for next season will hopefully improve this more for next season. The rumors going around the hot stove league are SS Ozzie Smith and 1B Frank Thomas are coming over in a deal that would see Boog Powell, Maury Wills, and two others leaving the Stags. There is a lot of youth on this team, and hopefully they will develop in the next few seasons to give us the offense we sorely need.

Overall things are looking good for the playoffs, no real major injuries and a fully rested staff could have the makings of the Stags going far in the playoffs. Los Angeles is a tough team and poses all kinds of problems in the League Championship round. They have a better offense and similar pitching, which means we will have a struggle on our hands. I would like to wish all the teams luck in the playoffs, and look forward to battling it out for next season.

POST PLAYOFF REPORT

The fall break is upon us a lot faster than anticipated. The Stags were swept in the first round of the playoffs. The absence of any kind of offense killed us in the first three games. The last game was a difficult pill to swallow. The Stags were leading 4-0 going into the 9^th inning, and gave up 5 runs. A very disgusted Mr. Brzys commented,

"I cannot believe our performance in the post season. When you get swept like this it always leaves a bitter taste in your mouth. I would like to congratulate the Los Angeles team for a great performance, which had a lot to do with our early demise. Our pitching failed us, our offense failed us, and I feel that we let our fans down with this dismal performance. I could not even stay in the stadium, for I was sick to my stomach. I wanted to at least "show up", and give Los Angeles some kind of resistance, but we could not even do that. I see that we will have a lot of work to do in the off-season to revamp the offense and infuse some youth into our lineup. I need to evaluate the state of the team and try to make the appropriate changes. Once again I would like to congratulate the LA ballclub and apologize to our fans".

As you can see Mr. Brzys took the sweep very hard, and you must believe there will some changes in the offseason. It looks like offense and youth will be the major issues dealt with. It was a great season, but with a disappointing end. Best of luck to the teams still alive in the playoffs, and we will see you all next season.