Last week Mister-Baseball started with the review of the 2008 season in the German Baseball-Bundesliga. Dirk Fries looked at the playoff teams in the north. This week he is continues with the top four of the southern division.
by Dirk Fries
Mannheim Tornados
In Georg Bull’s second season with his hometown club, he guided the team into the playoff again. After being eliminated in the first round in 2007, Tornados pulled some strings in order to improve the team and secure a shot at the title. The main component in that plan was pitcher Eddie Aucoin. Aucoin, who had already dominated the league in the two previous years, while with Gauting and Haar, happily switched to a possible contender. To go along Aucoin, Bull got EU-players Chris Falls and Craig Pycock to join the team. And due to their game one starter Jan Ruessel being abroad for the whole year, Geoff Freeborn was brought in to pitch in the opener.
American shortstop Billy Hess was welcomed back along with veteran German players like Jens Heymer, the only holdover from Mannheim’s last successful title run. Marvin Appiah, Alex Szalay, Dominik Hoepfner, René Franke and catcher Sebastian Nowak rounded out the roster. Young catcher David Selsemeyer, acquired from Haar during the offseason, could not get consistent playing time.
The Tornados ended up playing to an 18-10 record, giving them third place in the South. The Mainz A´s had an identical record, but lost out on the head-to-head tiebreaker. That meant that the Tornados faced Bull’s former team, the Paderborn Untouchables, in the first round. They narrowly beat them, and advanced to the semis against a highly favored Heidenheim club. But Mannheim was able to defy the odds, actually sweeping the Heidekoepfe in three games.
In the finals they got beat by Regensburg, but only after forcing the Bavarians to go full distance. After being behind 0-1 and 1-2, they relied on Eddie Aucoin to even the series. But neither Paul Waterman nor Craig Pycock could overcome sloppy defense and good Regensburg pitching. After all, second place and therefore a spot in international competition for 2009 makes 2008 a successful season for the Tornados.
What the stats say:
Mannheim’s offense was ranked third in the league with a .287 team batting average. They were tied for the league lead in homeruns, which at least in part be due to a rather small ballpark (in leftfield). Interesting is the fact that the offense ranked second overall in runs scored, with 197. That left Bull’s squad a distant second behind the Heidekoepfe, but it did outscore the powerful Regensburg offense. Interestingly enough the Tornados, despite their high homerun total, did rely heavily on sacrifices. They were among the leader in sac-bunts as well as sac-flies (22 SF and 29 bunts).
Veteran Jens Heymer had a sub-par season. The well-established first baseman hit only .235. Fellow Germans Rene Franke and Alex Szalay were solid at .286, while Dominik Hoepfner, Fred Kraft, Sebastian Nowak and David Selsemeyer barely cracked the .200 mark (if at all).
Geoff Freeborn was impressive in limited at bats, going 8 for 19. Chris Falls ended up hitting .343, Pycock .237. Pitcher Eddie Aucoin, often used as the DH, hit .280. Dominican Elvin Tejeda was on his way towards a very good season (he hit .333), but only stayed for eight games before leaving due to undisclosed reasons. Meanwhile, Billy Hess not only led all foreigners, but the whole Tornados team in hitting at .380. Marvin Appiah came close, ending with a .368 average.
In regards to pitching Mannheim was equally impressive. The Tornados staff posted the second-lowest team ERA of all southern division teams at 2.15. In fact, their starters had a better ERA than Regensburg’s. Mannheim’s starters were Eddie Aucoin and Geoff Freeborn, who was later replaced by Paul Waterman. Especially Aucoin was lights-out. You just come to expect a great outing from him every single time he takes the hill, no matter the opponent. His eight wins led the staff, as did his 0.95 ERA and the 85 Innings pitched.
Paul Waterman and Geoff Freeborn were real steady game-one starters, both performing almost equally well. In the bullpen National team closer Martin Dewald impressed during his short stay. Besides his average offensive numbers, the young right-hander just shut down opposing offenses with his mix of 85+ mph fastballs and his wicked curveball. Other bullpen arms like Pycock and René Franke fared well also.
Tomorrow: Buchbinder Legionaere Regensburg
Previous:
Solingen Alligators
Paderborn Untouchables
Cologne Cardinals
Dortmund Wanderers
Mainz Athletics
Heidenheim Heidekoepfe
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