The German Baseball-Bundesliga goes into the last leg of the 2008 season. The BUCHBINDER LEGIONAERE REGENSBURG are hosting the MANNHEIM TORNADOS this weekend for the first two games of the best-of-five series.
Their Way into the Finals
The LEGIONAERE finished in second place after the regular season and moved past the COLOGNE CARDINALS and the SOLINGEN ALLIGATORS to advance into the finals. MANNHEIM was in third, beat the PADERBORN UNTOUCHABLES in five games in the quarterfinals and stunned the southern conference champion HEIDENHEIM HEIDEKOEPFE in the semis. It is the third consecutive finals appearance for REGENSBURG and they hope for their first championship. The TORNADOS last won the German title in 1997. During the regular season the LEGINOAERE won three of the four games between these two clubs.
Pitching
REGENSBURG featured the best pitching staff during the regular season, leading the southern conference with a 2.06 ERA. However two of their center pieces of the staff will be missing against MANNHEIM. Mike Bolsenbroek (4-0, ERA 1.59) was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies organization and started into his pro career in August. Craig Crow (3-1, ERA 1.98) injured his right shoulder and is already on his way to the United States, trying to get healthy. So, the deep staff got pretty thin the last couple of weeks. Martin Almstetter (3-1, ERA 2.57 during playoffs), Benedikt Antwi (2 IP, ERA 0.00) and Philipp Hoffschild (3-0, ERA 0.00) have to handle the workload now.
The TORNADOS also are going to miss an integral part of their pitching, as Martin Dewald already returned to the United States to attend college. After returning from the season in the US, he helped the team in the stretch run with an ERA of 1.83. Nonetheless, they still have a formidable rotation. They had a team ERA of 2.15 during the first part of the championship, only trailing REGENSBURG. Paul Waterman (3-0, ERA 0.96 in playoffs) and Eddie Aucoin (2-0, ERA 1.57) are expected to start games one and two. Rene Franke and Craig Pycock are the first options out of the bullpen.
Batting
If MANNHEIM has the edge on the pitching sector, REGENSBURG definitely has more potential on the offensive side of the game. Alex Lauterbach, Klaus Hopfensperger, Philipp Howard and the former Minnesota Twins pitching prospect Rodney Gessmann led the offense through the first rounds of the playoffs. The lineup also should be reinforced with Donald Lutz (Cincinnati Reds) and Ludwig Glaser (Los Angeles Angels), who both finished their first minor league season and should be available against the TORNADOS.
MANNHEIM used timely hitting during their victories against PADERBORN and HEIDENHEIM on their way to the finals. Only Billy Hess (.516 AVG) and Marvin Appiah put up big numbers during the postseason so far. But also Jens Heymer, Chris Falls and the clutch-hitting Dominik Hoepfner could play big roles in the upcoming weeks.
Conclusion
Too close to call. This should be the conclusion for the series. The LEGIONAERE are missing two of their important pitchers and the staff could be too thin. But their offense is, at least on paper, much better than the TORNADOS lineup. The championship series could be an interesting one, maybe even going the distance.
Schedule
September 13:
13:00 Buchbinder Legionaere Regensburg – Mannheim Tornados
September 14:
13:00 Buchbinder Legionaere Regensburg – Mannheim Tornados
September 20:
20:00 Mannheim Tornados – Buchbinder Legionaere Regensburg
September 21:
12:00 Mannheim Tornados – Buchbinder Legionaere Regensburg*
September 27:
13:00 Buchbinder Legionaere Regensburg – Mannheim Tornados*
*if necessary