In our series to review the 2008 season in the German Baseball-Bundesliga, Dirk Fries is going to look at the four northern teams in the play-downs this week.
by Dirk Fries
Hanover Regents
Last year the Regents did not win a single game during the regular season. Their only win came in the play downs, keeping them from going winless in 2007. After not descending to the second division due to a seven-team division, Hanover stayed on for 2008 with no intention of suffering through a similar season.
This year´s season started out pretty well for them. After the first game, they had already equaled their 2007 win total. After the first doubleheader, they had surpassed it. A great sign to start off the year, but things did get put into perspective later on. After 28 games, Hanover´s record stood at 6-22. Not great, but good enough for seventh place, two games ahead of last-place Neunkirchen. In the eight-team league, that meant that there was still chance to avoid descending. On top of that, there was still a chance to avoid relegation as well, as the sixth place Stealers were only two games up on them. The Regents went 4-8 the rest of the way, and stayed in seventh place.
Because the Stealers started playing better, the Regents were unable to catch up with them. That way the Regents could not avoid relegation, but at least still had the inside track to the first league. In relegation, the Regents were favored to beat the second-league Dohren Wild Farmers, but the series was never played. After the first game of the series (which they won), the Regents made public their intent to not only not continue in the first league, but not participate in any of DBV (German Baseball and Softball Federation) leagues. Instead, they will at most participate in their regional Verbandsliga, at the lowest possible level in German Baseball.
What the stats say
One of the reasons for this year´s improvement was American import Mike Lantzy. He was Hanover´s steadiest performer, both at the plate and on the hill. His .313 average led the team. At .308, Andreas Wiese came fairly close to matching Lantzy´s numbers. Veterans Ortwin Stotz, Florian Tillack, Yonatan Werchow and Marc Bakuniec posted mixed results. None of them was able to reach the .300 plateau, though.
As a team, the Regents managed a .217 average, seventh in the league. They also ranked seventh in hits and runs scored. While not impressive, this meant a major upgrade from 2007. Last year´s batting average of .192 was by far the worst in the league, as were their totals in runs, hits and every other offensive category. Another thing the Regents needed to improve on was their plate discipline. Their 70 walks ranked last by far.
In regards to pitching Hanover also improved upon its 2007 showing. While the staff posted a 10.12 ERA in its first year, this season the club got it down to 7.28 ERA. That way, Regents pitchers ranked seventh, ahead of the Nightmares but with an ERA still over a run higher than Bonn´s. Starters and relievers individually also ranked seventh (6.55, 9.99). Mike Lantzy´s 5.04 led the staff. He also led them in innings pitched (84) and strikeouts (48). Sean Bakuniec led the team in wins, pitching to a 4-6 record. His 5.93 ERA in almost 60 innings was solid. Benjamin Berning was the third pitcher. Of the mentioned three, he was the least effective with a 7.28 ERA in almost 40 Innings. None of the other arms was used for more than 16 Innings.
We will not see the Regents back in the first division next year. So far, it is unknown if another team will take their spot. The Pulheim Gophers will take Neunkirchen´s place. With Dohren passing on the opportunity to move up, the northern division will most likely again only be a seven-team league.
Tomorrow: Neunkirchen Nightmares
Previous:
Solingen Alligators
Paderborn Untouchables
Cologne Cardinals
Dortmund Wanderers
Mainz Athletics
Heidenheim Heidekoepfe
Mannheim Tornados
Buchbinder Legionaere Regensburg
Bonn Capitals
HSV Stealers
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