Rushmores Win Record 85 Games

[ScottH]

Rapid City Rushmores 2032 Season Recap 85-43 1st Place 19 ½ Games Ahead

After 2-plus seasons as hitting coach at Suwon, 43-year-old Angel Cortez stepped into the manager role for the Rushmores four weeks into the season and marched Rapid City to another first-place finish in the NAFTA-Big Sky. Taking over skipper duties for the first time in his career, Cortez guided his new crew to a 42-10 record to finish at 85-43, best record in the team’s history. The 30,600 seat capacity of the stadium was tested with 99.2% attendance on the season.

Ethan Dodgson was one Rushmore that stayed put the entire season and must receive player of the year consideration after putting up a 6.2 WAR in 2032. After being bounced from team to team the last couple seasons, Dodgson exploded with a .315/.393/.575 slash and that puts “Scab” in serious consideration for advancement to Racine and possibly a 2033 debut in Duluth.

With no real defensive skills and running speed resembling that of a parked car, the 20-year-old needs to find a glove that fits before he gets to Duluth. After 800 minor league at-bats that made Hodgson almost expendable, he looked like a definite threat this season (31 homers) and now is on the radar of those calling the shots for the Warriors.

When much of the Rapid City offensive attack was promoted their overall talent could not be replaced but Jeff Dimbleby stepped up from Kailua (SA) and did a nice job. Hitting .246 with an OB% of .375 the boy from Anaheim moved on to Rapid City and improved his numbers. In 25 games at Class A, Dimbleby hit .286/.412/.452 playing full-time in left field. For the season, the 3rd round selection in 2031 totaled 12 home runs and a 3.5 WAR.

Joep Zwager swatted 10 homers, hitting .252 while playing both first base and his more customary catcher. Drafted in round 5 of the 2031 draft, Joep might have some value at the two positions if he can prove to have a consistent bat. Pedro Perez played the full season as a Rushmore and showed some power (16 homers), speed, and defense. “Chopper” needs to develop a more consistent bat if he wants to be taken seriously.

Pitching was excellent in Rapid City this season, near the top in several league categories. Skip Hathaway and Wilfred Williams had their own friendly competition going on with Hathaway finishing 14-1 with 6.7 WAR and Williams 15-4 with 6.8 WAR. Williams won 11 consecutive decisions covering 14 starts finishing 2032 with 2.02 ERA, 0.84 WHIP, and K/BB ratio better than 5:1. Numbers for Hathaway were similar; season ERA was 1.66, 0.93 WHIP, and K/BB ratio also better than 5:1. Losing his first decision of the season, Hathaway went on to win his next 14 decisions.

Daan Walik missed 5 weeks with elbow tendonitis and when he came back things fell into place for him, winning 8 of 9 decisions, including a playoff win. Overall, Walik made 17 starts and had a record of 11-5 with an 0.99 WHIP and a 1.16 ERA.

A nice season for Ronald Williams after being out for 28 months due to UCL surgery and complications with recovery. Taken in the 4th round of the 2032 draft out of Oregon State University, Williams began the season with Kailua as a reliever. After 36 innings and a clean bill of health he moved on to Rapid City and started 7 games for the Rushmores. We are rooting for this guy.

Similar to Ronald Williams’ story is Vic Munn who missed three months of the 2031 college season due to injury. Rotator cuff issues first were an issue in 2030 for the flame thrower and the issues have lingered. Drafted in round 2 from the Aoyama Gakuin Mighty Missionaries, Munn is a left hander with a gift of throwing a baseball. 2032 was the first time since 2029 the guy has been healthy, and he logged 87 innings between college and 2 pro stops. Hopefully with more innings he can polish up that control a bit (20 walks in 49 pro innings).

[Sandgnats]

Dimbleby - great name.

[ScottH]

The Dimbleby family remembers draft day fondly as "the day everyone spelled our name correctly":

Ken - Featherheads 12:41 PM

jeff dimbleby is an 80 grade name
12:41
wow


Dan - Ghosts (WIL) 12:41 PM
Dimbleby is a little slow.


Ken - Featherheads 12:42 PM
dimbleby is like a character in the monty python twit olympics



Scott-Duluth 12:49 PM
If/when Dimbleby plays CF in Duluth at 6'6" he will stand a half foot taller than the center field wall. He will stand flat footed and rob you of home runs for disrespecting him.

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Ken - Featherheads 12:50 PM
dimbleby's family is so proud of him. just look at them
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