by John Baum
{mrb-schedule:2010-04-10|2010-04-11|CH}
FLYERS FAVORITES TO RETAIN THE TITLE…CHALLENGERS AND CARDINALS NIPPING AT THEIR HEELS.
1ST PLACE…THERWIL FLYERS; 24-4
The Flyers, winners of lasts years title, and two-time defending regular season champions, are the preseason choice to repeat their successes of last year. They return the majority of their starting lineup. Daniel Eichenberger was the team leader in almost every offensive category in 2009. He led the team in batting average, home runs, doubles, slugging, and OPS. Also returning is Seppi Zwyer who led the team in stolen bases and also provides a solid glove on the hot corner. Not only is Zwyer a solid player, but he is a veteran team leader. Blackbee and Koller add two more solid bats in the lineup hitting .358 and .357 respectively.
The Flyers entire pitching staff returns as well for the 2010 season. Blackbee had a minuscule 1.27 ERA last year, while Koller, the workhorse of the team, threw 107+ innings. Rounding out the pitching staff will be Adrian Kaufmann and Lucas Croton. Croton finished the year with a 1.87 era and is looking to continue this year with another solid performance. Kaufmann, who led the team in ERA with a .34, will be looking to repeat his stellar season. Although he will have to spend most of his time fulfilling his required duty in the Swiss Army, he will be ready to go on most game days.
Key losses for the Flyers will be player/coach Sam Faeder. He was second on the team in average, and led the team in at bats. The Flyers also lost Carlos Brito and Mario Cuevas, although they were not impact players in the title campaign last year.
Key additions for the Flyers will be new player/coach JB Tucker. Tucker is a power hitting catcher who has played 5 years professionally in the States spending most of his time with the Seattle Mariners organization. Another key addition for the Flyers is Yanis Bouteloup, who played successfully the last several years in the French first division.
2ND PLACE: Zurich Challengers; 22-6.
The Challengers, last year’s 4th place finisher; proved they have what it takes to make a final this year as they pushed the eventual champion Flyers to five games in the semis. They are paced offensively by Tobias Siegrist and James Sanders. They have solid hitters surrounding them as well, as Ueli Von Burg had a nice comeback season in his first back with his original team. Chris Palatinus, Tom Huston, and Jesus Martinez will also help lead the offense. The addition of Farid Bekkali and new player/coach Brian Hipps will undoubtedly improve an already potent lineup.
On the mound is where you may see the C’s struggle some days. Palatinus and Siegrist were forced into a role of primary Swiss arms. They absolutely held their own some days, but the Challengers lack that shut down Swiss arm that the other top teams have. Thomas Burger will look to make a splash coming back from injury, when healthy, Thomas can make a difference. Sanders, who coached the team last year, can be dominating when healthy. One thing is for certain, the Challengers can and will score runs, which will take a lot of pressure off their pitching staff.
3RD PLACE: Bern Cardinals; 21-7.
The Cards, coming off losing their first Swiss Championship in five years, will look to find a way to get back on top. They have turned over their roster this season, and several key players who either didn’t play last year, or came in mid-season, are back for 2010. Tinu Gygax, Angelo Rodriguez, and Raphael Hanzi help unite a core that won four straight titles. The Cards have lost the services of Rudy Vargas, Ronnie Zimmermann and Chris Beyeler will be missed until the summer as well. On the offensive side of the ball, the Cards could have their best offensive team in recent years. They will be led by Cuban slugger Johnny Perigos, player/coach John Baum, and new addition, Seth Suplin. Hanzi, Tobias Imboden, along with Dominican shortstop Samuel Paulino also offer game changing bats. With a good mix up speed, on base guys, and plenty of pop, the Cards should give opposing pitchers fits this year.
Questions abound on the hill this season. The loss of Beyeler, at least ’til July, will put the pressure squarely on the big shoulders of Imboden. Tobias will assume the role of “number 1”, and after two great finals starts last year, looks willing and ready to do it. Mise Guerrero, Hanzi, Suplin, and Jan Langhammer will help offset the loss of Baum for the first six games of the season. When Imboden pitches well, and the first six games don’t sink the Cards, they could easily approve on their win total.
4TH PLACE: LAUSANNE INDIANS; 20-8.
The Indians, who have been on the brink of taking over one of the top spots in Switzerland, are led by the leagues most powerful offense. Jay Casimiro is the player/coach, along with Ramirez and Jimenez are the team’s offensive leaders. One thing is for sure when it comes to the Indians, you better score if you want to win! They have led the NLA in most offensive categories over the last few years, and that doesn’t appear likely to change.
The glowing problem with the Indians is Swiss pitching. They have, and will continue to rely on junk baller Nic Jaquemet. Nic has been known to cause hitters to try to do too much on his hit me fastball, and often this is the case. He won’t stop the other teams from scoring runs very often, but is able to get away with it because of a very capable offense. They Indians have decided to bring in an American arm, as John Marc Walls will also help with the coaching. This solidifies game two, where the Indians have had to rely on an array of arms.
5TH PLACE: ZURICH BARRACUDAS; 11-17.
In what appears to be a top heavy league, the once powerful Barracudas will have a hard time keeping up this season. Offensively the ‘Cudas struggled to score runs last year, and haven’t addressed the problem thus far coming into the new season. Nderim Coma was the lone regular starter to hit above the .300 mark. Francisco Colindres and Marc Schneider supply Coma with some support in the lineup.
Pitching has been strong in recent years, and will no doubt be in the future; but not at least for the beginning of the year as staff aces Jeff Mottl and Beni Montag are pitching in college in Canada. The pitching duties will be left to Nderim Coma and Frank Berchtold, both of whom can get the job done, but haven’t of late been in the same class as the missing starters. They did address game two with the signing of American Derek Bondo.
6TH PLACE: EMBRACH MUSTANGS; 10-18.
Following the most successful campaign in the NLA for Embrach, they may fall back to earth this season after narrowly missing the playoffs last year. The offense for the ‘Stangs struggled mightily at times, and always had problems plating runs. They relied heavily on the right arm of Roger Salvodelli who had a return to form, and carried his team last season. James Nash, the American import will not be back with the club. I have not been able to find if, or with whom they will replace him. The Mustangs have a lot of holes that need to be filled if they plan on making another run at the playoffs, and this may be too much to ask with the top teams getting better.
7TH PLACE: SISSACH FROGS; 4-24.
Once a regular playoff participant, or at the very least contender, the Frogs find themselves battling to stay off the bottom of the table. As is a theme with the lower half of the league, finding a way to score runs, particularly against the top half is difficult. They have three national team members on their roster, but the supporting cast is too raw to help them get over the hump. Daniel Traina is capable of holding down the opponents hitters, but the problem is, the offense has done their part. Christian Klarer has, and should continue to be one of the better hitters in the league, but only he and Stefan Wick pose any real threat to opposing pitchers. The Frogs have the makeup, if their younger players find a way to make it click, to improve upon their 4-24 record of last season.
8TH PLACE: LUZERN EAGLES; 0-28.
The Eagles, after having won only one game last season, will again find those wins hard to come by. They have decided to bring in a coach for the upcoming season, hiring Juan Rosario to take over the coaching duties. Rosario, a former minor leaguer for the Milwaukee Brewers, has been coaching in the Dominican Republic since 1992. Rosario will hopefully bring the glue to hold a young team together. The Eagles will lean on Tom Enz offensively to provide them with some pop in the middle. On the mound, Jerome Mueller and Stefan Haltmeier will look to improve upon giving up the most runs in the league last year. A team that at one time competed to win it all will now hope to win at all.
Championship Winners of last Decade:
- 2000 Zurich Challengers
- 2001 Bern Cardinals
- 2002 Zurich Challengers
- 2003 Therwil Flyers
- 2004 Zurich Challengers
- 2005 Bern Cardinals
- 2006 Bern Cardinals
- 2007 Bern Cardinals
- 2008 Bern Cardinals
- 2009 Therwil Flyers
Final Regular Season Standings 2009:
{mrb-standing:switzerland-2009}
Photo: © Bern Cardinals
Dear John,
I am a new player on the Barracudas and have seen no mention of me anywhere. I’m just curious if anyone even knows I’m on the team. I was a freebie being that I moved to zurich and just love the game. Played college and and farm team ball. Almost signed with Seattle. I think I will be able to put my stamp on the game here in Switzerland. You’ll be hearing about me soon enough!