Re: Shoot from the Hartford, A Hartford Harpoon Blog
Posted: Wed Mar 20, 2019 12:40 pm
#18. August 7th, 2028
The pushing upstairs of former manager Morales and the promotion of Oshima at the All-Star break has certainly made an impression. There is still a few grumblings in the shadows but most say they’re ecstatic about the Harpoon’s current situation. So they should be too, since the PEBA resumed after the break Hartford are 18-6 and currently flying. Going into the break we were five games below .500 and sliding out of contention for the wildcard let alone the Seaboard pennant, now we’re seven games above .500 and nosing our way right into the centre of the IL Wildcard race. We’re on our second six-game winning streak of the season and now have a 16-game homestand to try and really cement our place in the race. With series against San Juan, London, Arlington, Scotland and Kentucky over the next three weeks we should be looking at maybe even mounting a run at West Virginia who are only nine games ahead. The spanner in the works could well be our home record, we are only 25-27 at home while our away record is actually much better at 34-25. The most crucial games could be the middle of this run when we have four games against our closest Seaboard rivals, Arlington, and also the three-game set against Scottish who are fractionally ahead of us in the Wildcard standings as I speak.
Last week turned out to be a clean sweep for us. Seaboard basement dwellers, Amsterdam, really came to try and pick up some points for their new GM. The first game was a tense affair with both side’s pitchers not allowing many hits, the game was won eventually when we strung three hits together in the bottom of the sixth and allowed Carlos Ryan to scoot home for the game’s only run. Maxime Labrie gave us seven strong innings allowing just six hits and one walk while striking out six. Haden Shawver showed some real improved form, going 3-3, all singles though. The next day we were into August and the team were determined not to let Amsterdam run them close again. Ron Myers virtually assured that when he hit a 3-run homer in the bottom of the first. Alfredo Zambrano was back on the mound after his recent DL stint and he was able to give us six innings without giving up a run. His control waivered a bit as he walked two but only allowed three hits. In the meantime, we had run our lead up to 7-0 before Curt Mills, now back in the bullpen, gave up the Lions only two runs in the top of the ninth. The third game was nip and tuck as neither side could gain a commanding lead. Three times Amsterdam took the lead in an attempt to avoid the sweep but three times we pegged them back. The visitors grabbed a 4-3 lead in the top of the seventh off reliever Juan 'Grinder' García who had come in for Eduardo Romano after six. Garcia had the last laugh though as he grabbed his fourth win when a single by Walter Daniel drove in two runs in the bottom half of the innings. Amsterdam couldn’t peg back our first lead of the game and the 5-4 win gave us the series sweep.
We weren’t particularly hopeful popping down to Florida to face Dixie leaders Featherheads, but our run of form carried us through. We groaned when Featherheads hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the first, but we managed to scratch out a run in the third & fourth innings to tie the game up. That’s were it stood for the next nine innings as the respective bullpens kept it clean. Ten of the game’s 19 hits came in the extra innings along with three walks, but still no-one could get across the plate. Finally in the top of the 14th a Jack Allen single allowed Mark Edwards to get home from second which proved to be the winner as we won 3-2 in 14. Florida thought they were back on top in the fourth innings of the second game when two doubles, two singles and a wild pitch scored four and turned a 2-0 Hartford lead around. Walter Daniel’s sixth innings homer brought us closer before Myers hit a two-run shot to give us the lead 5-4 after seven & a half innings. Mills gave up a bottom of the ninth solo shot to send us into extras for the second game running. Top of the tenth an error & a walk gave us two baserunners and Masakado ‘Stubblebeard’ Kato sent the ball over the fences for an 8-5 lead. Mills atoned for his error in the ninth with the help of a double-play as he kept Florida away from the plate. Outhitting Featherheads 12-4 in the final game we took until the sixth innings to turn a 1-2 deficit into a 4-2 lead as we scratched out three runs in the sixth. Labrie picked up his second straight win in the week while Mills added a pair of clean innings giving up nothing and seal our second series sweep in the week.
Six straight wins has our team bouncing, Haden Shawver is finally settling in with eight hits from the last five games, backup catcher Neil Avery has hit his third homer and upped his batting average to .286 while Luis Cedeño has become the second player to pass the 100 hit mark. He, at 30-yrs-old, is also one stolen base away from a second straight 50+ steals year and now has 362 steals in his eight years in the majors. Labrie who signed a new 4-year, $24 million contract at the start of 2028 has been ramping it up since coming off the DL and now has three wins in his last four starts. In that time, he has struck out 20 batters in 26.2 innings pitched and only allowed four runs. Avery has also been rewarded for his solid play with a 2-year, $8.6 million extension.
There has been quite a few transactions as well, Zambrano and Walter Winston have returned from the DL causing Mills to head for the bullpen and waiver pickup Katsuhiko Araki to be optioned to Lincoln. He can consider himself a bit unlucky having hit .385 with four RBI in four PEBA starts. In another minor league trade right on the trade deadline we sent Lincoln’s Ramon Guzman to Bakersfield in exchance for Alex Flores. Flores will compete at Lincoln with Jorge Perez, also newly-acquired, for a shortstop role in Hartford in 2029.
The pushing upstairs of former manager Morales and the promotion of Oshima at the All-Star break has certainly made an impression. There is still a few grumblings in the shadows but most say they’re ecstatic about the Harpoon’s current situation. So they should be too, since the PEBA resumed after the break Hartford are 18-6 and currently flying. Going into the break we were five games below .500 and sliding out of contention for the wildcard let alone the Seaboard pennant, now we’re seven games above .500 and nosing our way right into the centre of the IL Wildcard race. We’re on our second six-game winning streak of the season and now have a 16-game homestand to try and really cement our place in the race. With series against San Juan, London, Arlington, Scotland and Kentucky over the next three weeks we should be looking at maybe even mounting a run at West Virginia who are only nine games ahead. The spanner in the works could well be our home record, we are only 25-27 at home while our away record is actually much better at 34-25. The most crucial games could be the middle of this run when we have four games against our closest Seaboard rivals, Arlington, and also the three-game set against Scottish who are fractionally ahead of us in the Wildcard standings as I speak.
Last week turned out to be a clean sweep for us. Seaboard basement dwellers, Amsterdam, really came to try and pick up some points for their new GM. The first game was a tense affair with both side’s pitchers not allowing many hits, the game was won eventually when we strung three hits together in the bottom of the sixth and allowed Carlos Ryan to scoot home for the game’s only run. Maxime Labrie gave us seven strong innings allowing just six hits and one walk while striking out six. Haden Shawver showed some real improved form, going 3-3, all singles though. The next day we were into August and the team were determined not to let Amsterdam run them close again. Ron Myers virtually assured that when he hit a 3-run homer in the bottom of the first. Alfredo Zambrano was back on the mound after his recent DL stint and he was able to give us six innings without giving up a run. His control waivered a bit as he walked two but only allowed three hits. In the meantime, we had run our lead up to 7-0 before Curt Mills, now back in the bullpen, gave up the Lions only two runs in the top of the ninth. The third game was nip and tuck as neither side could gain a commanding lead. Three times Amsterdam took the lead in an attempt to avoid the sweep but three times we pegged them back. The visitors grabbed a 4-3 lead in the top of the seventh off reliever Juan 'Grinder' García who had come in for Eduardo Romano after six. Garcia had the last laugh though as he grabbed his fourth win when a single by Walter Daniel drove in two runs in the bottom half of the innings. Amsterdam couldn’t peg back our first lead of the game and the 5-4 win gave us the series sweep.
We weren’t particularly hopeful popping down to Florida to face Dixie leaders Featherheads, but our run of form carried us through. We groaned when Featherheads hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the first, but we managed to scratch out a run in the third & fourth innings to tie the game up. That’s were it stood for the next nine innings as the respective bullpens kept it clean. Ten of the game’s 19 hits came in the extra innings along with three walks, but still no-one could get across the plate. Finally in the top of the 14th a Jack Allen single allowed Mark Edwards to get home from second which proved to be the winner as we won 3-2 in 14. Florida thought they were back on top in the fourth innings of the second game when two doubles, two singles and a wild pitch scored four and turned a 2-0 Hartford lead around. Walter Daniel’s sixth innings homer brought us closer before Myers hit a two-run shot to give us the lead 5-4 after seven & a half innings. Mills gave up a bottom of the ninth solo shot to send us into extras for the second game running. Top of the tenth an error & a walk gave us two baserunners and Masakado ‘Stubblebeard’ Kato sent the ball over the fences for an 8-5 lead. Mills atoned for his error in the ninth with the help of a double-play as he kept Florida away from the plate. Outhitting Featherheads 12-4 in the final game we took until the sixth innings to turn a 1-2 deficit into a 4-2 lead as we scratched out three runs in the sixth. Labrie picked up his second straight win in the week while Mills added a pair of clean innings giving up nothing and seal our second series sweep in the week.
Six straight wins has our team bouncing, Haden Shawver is finally settling in with eight hits from the last five games, backup catcher Neil Avery has hit his third homer and upped his batting average to .286 while Luis Cedeño has become the second player to pass the 100 hit mark. He, at 30-yrs-old, is also one stolen base away from a second straight 50+ steals year and now has 362 steals in his eight years in the majors. Labrie who signed a new 4-year, $24 million contract at the start of 2028 has been ramping it up since coming off the DL and now has three wins in his last four starts. In that time, he has struck out 20 batters in 26.2 innings pitched and only allowed four runs. Avery has also been rewarded for his solid play with a 2-year, $8.6 million extension.
There has been quite a few transactions as well, Zambrano and Walter Winston have returned from the DL causing Mills to head for the bullpen and waiver pickup Katsuhiko Araki to be optioned to Lincoln. He can consider himself a bit unlucky having hit .385 with four RBI in four PEBA starts. In another minor league trade right on the trade deadline we sent Lincoln’s Ramon Guzman to Bakersfield in exchance for Alex Flores. Flores will compete at Lincoln with Jorge Perez, also newly-acquired, for a shortstop role in Hartford in 2029.