1984 CDBL PREVIEW And now, the annual preview. I am typically dead wrong on 2-3 teams, and if you ask, my response is that your team is probably one of them. :) A couple of teams decided to use '84 as a building season, but we should still see some multi-team pennant races in all of the divisions. CHAMPIONSHIP PREDICTION: Hurdle Mills Hurdlers MVP PREDICTION: Tony Armas CY YOUNG PREDICTION: Doc Gooden FIREMAN PREDICTION: Quisenberry, Sutter or Hernandez (too close to call) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Aaron Division Preview: Arkham Investigators: The Investigators boast one of the best tablesetters in the game in Wade Boggs, and have two killer cleanup hitters in George Bell and Kirk Gibson. Leon Durham, Kevin McReynolds and Johnny Ray also add significant punch to the high octane hitting staff. The pitching staff is manned by two aces, Rick Mahler and Dan Petry. Starting pitching gets a little thin after that, but there are plenty of relievers around. Nettles ToWiggins: A team's name that features two players, Alan Wiggins and Graig Nettles, who aren't even on the team. Who is on the team is Ryne Sandberg, who is the best second baseman in the league, and will be for years to come. The roster features a lot of high OBP, mid-SLG hitters such as Keith "keep yer nose clean" Hernandez, Terry Puhl, Von Hayes and Claudell Washington. The team is blessed with plenty of speed, walks and a smattering of home runs. The ToWiggins have one of the deeper pitching staffs in the league, with John Candelaria, Rick Honeycutt and Frank Viola providing a strong 1-2-3 punch. A solid reliever corps will be able to hold all of the 9th inning ToWiggins leads. Milwaukee Mashers: The Mashers have the top leadoff man in baseball in Rickey Henderson, and have sluggers Mike Easler and Dwayne Murphy to knock him in. Several players boast some killer splits vs right or left handed pitching, such as Mike Young. The Mashers boast an ace starter in Alejandro Pena, but the rest of the starting staff is composed of off-year players and part time starters. Plenty of good relievers, though. The Mashers have a big upside to '85 and beyond, though. The Mashers should contend for a pennant, but the 1984 season can just be viewed as a sign of the good things to come. Elk Grove Trout: Reaching first and second base should be no problem for the Trout. But driving them home might. The Trout boasts one of the best hitters in the game in Tony Gwynn, but most of his 0.444 SLG comes from singles. Firstbaseman Cliff Johnson represents the Trout's biggest power threat, but he'll only be good for 2/3's of a season. Lou Whitaker provides some punch for a middle infielder, and will only get better. Julio Franco is dangerously close to being one of those .300/.300/.300 slap-single middle infielders, but he has a tremendous upside. The pitching staff is a bit iffy, with Storm Davis being the only killer starter on the staff. Future longtime ace Jose Rijo waits on the wings. Philadelphia Liberty: The Liberty have a lot of speed on their team but have little punch. Most hitters won't crack the 0.400 slugging barrier. Brett Butler and Willie McGee should provide some baserunning antics. A lot of problems will be solved once slugger Joe Carter matures. The pitching staff is long on promise and short on results. Starters Dave Stewart and Dennis Martinez may be aces later on down the road, but in 1984 they're pitching fodder. The Liberty should put up a fight, but their better years lay on down the road. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Paige Division: Hurdle Mills Hurdlers: One of the early leading contenders for the CDBL championship title. The Hurdlers boast a very strong middle-of-the-lineup order, with Harold Baines, Dwight Evans and Andy Thornton. Buddy Bell and Lee Lacy will also add to the carnage. The pitching is deep as well, with Rick Rhoden, Charlie Lea, Mark Thurmond and Mike Smithson forming one of the better starting pitching staffs in the league. Goose Gossage and Dave Smith should provide most of the reliever innings. DC Riots: Lots of speed on this team, lead by leadoff hitter supreme Tim Raines. Ron Cey provides some pop, and Jose Cruz and all-star caliber shortstop Robin Yount also add to the offense. Expect the Riot to be among the league leaders in steals. The Riots boast 4 solid starters in Bert Blyleven, "wizened" Joe Niekro, Steve Trout and Juan Berenguer. Dan Quisenberry looks to be one of the more dominant relievers in the league. Westport Knuckleheads: Things get easy when you have a hall of fame third baseman anchoring your infield, and that's just what Westport has in Mike Schmidt. He should be a lock for 1st team all-CDBL. Chet Lemon and Mike Marshall kill LHP, and Marshall has a strong upside for '85. Tony Pena helps add pop from the catcher position. On the pitching side, Westport has a vast number of elligible starters, although 75% of them are scrubs. Joaquin Andujar looks to be the Knuckleheads' best hope at 20 games. Any lead Westport takes into the 9th should be a given win, since they'll have fireman award contender Willie Hernandez shutting down the opposition. Montreal Glorieux: The Glorieux hope to drive the offense via speed. Dave Collins is the man in Montreal, contributing overall hitting and steals. The one thing the Glorieux lack is power. Pete O'Brien will only be able to hit around 20 homers, and that looks to be a team high. Super prospect Danny Tartabull would help, but he won't be ready for a few more years. On the other hand, the pitching should be spectacular. Phil Niekro, Mark Langston and Steve Carlton could be ace starters on other teams. The Paige divison may be host to 3 of the best relievers in the games, as the Glorieux boast ace reliever Bruce Sutter, who will put in the predictable "shut-the-other-team-down-while-pitching-2-innings-a-game" performance of the other super relievers. Dewey Beach Lush: A little for the present, a lot for the future. Eddie Murray is the anchor of the offense, and should be for some time to come. Dan Gladden is a near-full time outfielder, but could compete for the batting title. However, the two players the Lush are looking forward most to is outfielder Jesse Barfield and thirdbaseman Paul Molitor, each limited to part (or none) of the '84 season. Pitching is real iffy, with Richard Dotson likely to be the staff ace with a league average ERA. Still, there's prospects galore in the pitching staff as well, with Mike Scott expected to be an ace for years to come (just not in '84). Look for the Lush to be competitive in '84, but to have a huge upswing in years to come. Shiner Beercats: Lots of batters here. Jim Rice, Gary Ward and Andre Dawson are the batting core of the team. The roster is loaded with basestealers, but as they say, "You can't steal first base." While the Beercats may be a bit anemic on offense, they have a solid pitching staff, led by the ace trio of Dave Stieb, Walt Terrell and Bob Knepper. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Gehrig Division: Albuquerque Stingrays: Perhaps it is a little presumptuous for the commish to place his own team at the top, but why not? The Stingrays have got the homer and stolen base categories cornered, with Steve Balboni (with 28) leading 5 players with at least 18 homers. Alan Wiggins, Lloyd Moseby and Wally Backman are all excellent basestealers. The only possible downside is that the Stingray average & on base average is a little low for a possible pennant winner. On pitching, it's hard to beat someone like Fernando Valenzuela. Fernando, Geoff Zahn, Jack Morris and Bill Gullickson form a formidable 1-2-3-4 starter punch. The reliever corps is adequate, although there's no Sutter in the bunch. Wasatch Mountaineers: Few teams in the league have as strong of murderer's row as the Mountaineers. Likely all-pro catcher Gary Carter, Dave Kingman and Don Baylor should be good for 30 homers each, and youngster (!) Chilli Davis is good for 20. Defensive wizard extreme Ozzie Smith anchors the infield defense. Wasatch boasts their own 1-2-3-4 starting pitcher punch in Larry McWilliams, Dennis "I'm a starter?" Eckersley, Rick Sutcliffe, and Jim Beattie. PV Stallions: Hitters, be afraid. Be very afraid. Doc Gooden is likely to set several league and season records before his career fizzles out. Charlie Hough and Bobby Welch shore up the starting pitching corps, with Johnny Franco looking to close out those 1-0 victories. Why 1-0? Well, much of the early effort was spent nabbing those great pitchers. But they got some good hitters anyways, led by 30-somethings Fred Lynn and Reggie Jackson. Greg Walker also adds some pop. Gerald Perry leads a slow Stallion team with only a 15 steal potential. Still, the Stallions have it a little easy when Doc Gooden is on the mound, and he's the equivalent of 1 1/2 good starting pitchers. Homestead Gray's: The Gray's should be one of the teams that remains in the thick of it. The team boasts several strong sluggers, including second baseman Frank White, Pedro Guerrero, Alvin Davis, Dave Henderon and Bob Brenly. Their pitching staff rivals that of the Stallions in the division, with a rock solid rotation of Orel Hershiser, Bud Black, Frank Tanana and Jerry Koosman. The reliever staff is adequate, but don't be surprised if they blow a few leads. Overall, the Gray's are a competitive ballclub which is a definite contender for the Gehrig pennent. Topeka Stingers: Stinger fans hope to see Don Mattingly have an MVP year. They'll need it, too, because the '84 Stingers are a little short in the impact hitter category. Fisk is good for a catcher, but has a rather low batting average. George Brett can hit with the best of them, but he's not at full strength. Lonne Smith can steal and get on base a reasonable amount of time, but he's no power threat. The pitching will be an adventure as well. Bryn Smith is an ace starter, and Don Sutton is decent, but the other starters will give up a lot of runs. If the Stingers can get the lead into the 9th, Dave Rightetti should prove to be a dependable closer. The Stingers have a few prospects in Kevin Gross and Mike Davis, so it may just be that the Stingers will use '84 as a preparation for a pennent run in '85. Santa Clara Traffic: When this team was first assembled, it was quite obvious that they were building for the future. First round pick Kirby Puckett will need a few years to break out, but he will be a cornerstone for years to come. Same with Tony Fernandez and Kevin Mitchell. Much of the team is filled with either prospects or AB eating retreads. Several batting futility records could be set by this team. One of the few bright spots will be ace starter Nolan Ryan, who may be the only double-digit wins pitcher for the team. On the other hand, Jimmy Key, Ron Guidry and Danny Cox bust out in '85, so eventually fans may forget the horrid '84 season that the Traffic is sure to have. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Tiant Division: Philly Pineapples: I like Philly for 2 reasons: Tony Armas, and Wrigley Field. Wrigley is a home run hitter's dream, and Armas may set the league homer record which would stand for a long time until '87. Lefty Kent Hrbek may benefit even more from Fenway, and could hit 40 taters. Jeffrey Leonard and Dave Winfield also add to the hitter carnage. The Pineapples also have the pitching to back it up. If Boddicker can keep the ball in the park, he could be the 2nd best pitcher in the league behind Gooden. Mario Soto and Jose Deleon are also dependable starters. Al Holland is an excellent setup man, and Jesse Orosco should have a good year as a closer. Overall, the Pineapples have enough horses to take the division, although as always they got to beat the other teams first. Dark Valley Destinies: On paper, the hitting doesn't look too appealing. There's potential all-star Darryl Strawberry, hitting machine supreme Gary Matthews, and a collection of part timers. On the other hand, some of these part timers, like Ken Phelps and Rance Mulliniks, could be made into a killer platoon. The Destinies have 4 solid pitchers in Dave Dravecky, John Tudor, Ed Whitson, and Rick Camp. The Destinies have a few options at the closer spot, but there's no Bruce Sutter on this team. Still, the Destinies have one of the better pitching staffs in the division, and while the potential all-star hitters are few and far between on the team, they could possibly platoon their way to a pennant. Boston Bulldogs: What to make of the Bulldogs? The 'dogs seem to strike me as a team on the borderline between building for the future and contending in the present. Outfielder Dale Murphy is an MVP candidate, and Brian Downing & Willie Randolph will be strong contributors in the lineup. Brook Jacoby can hit lefties, but most of his value comes in the future, as does the value of Darrell Evans. Doyle Alexander and Mike Witt form a strong 1-2 pitching as starters, and the Bulldog reliever corps are likely to be better than average. The Bulldogs don't have quite as many impact players as Philly, but they have enough horses to make it interesting. Earl Weavers: The Weavers are an interesting team. Andy Van Slyke and Eric Davis are going to be very good in the future, but are not full time starters in '84. The Weavers will boast the best infield combination in the league for the next several years in Cal Ripken and Juan Samuel. Don't be surprised to see them both playing next to each other in the all star game. Lance Parrish is a rare catcher with lots of power. Pitching may be a little iffy. Eric Show and Bruce Hurst are good pitchers with strong upsides, but there's a few too many batting practice guys posing as starters or relievers. Still, it's easy to assume that a team built for the future can't compete in the present. The Weavers have several franchise quality players. Don't be surprised if they finish in the upper portion of the division. Athens Phalanx: Yet another team who built for the future over the present. First round pick Roger Clemens is a salary sucker for the first couple years, but after that will be a staff ace for years to come. Up & down pitcher Bret Saberhagen is sort of down in '84, but should kick some butt in '85. Ray Burris looks to be the ace start on this team, which overall is slightly behind most of the other pitching staffs in the Tiant division. Hitting is a little shaky for the Phalanx as well. Tom Brunansky is a 30 homer threat, Willie Upshaw will contribute, and Willie Wilson and Phil Bradley are adequate table setters, but that's about it for offense. However, don't cry for Athens fans, as the Phalanx could be the odds-on favorite to take the '85 Tiant pennant. They'll just have to wait out the '84 season.