The Atlantic League announced its new divisional alignment Thursday. The Barnstormers will be in the “Freedom” Division along with York, Newark and Somerset. The “Liberty” division will house Bridgeport, Camden, Long Island and Southern Maryland.
Here it is in simple list form …
LIBERTY DIVISION
Bridgeport Bluefish
Camden Riversharks
Long Island Ducks
Southern Maryland Blue Crabs
FREEDOM DIVISION
Lancaster Barnstormers
Newark Bears
Somerset Patriots
York Revolution
What does this achieve? Well, the Opening Day Partners teams have been split apart. Some people were concerned about having them all together and this solves that potential problem. Also, the Freedom Division includes two sets of natural rivals: Lancaster and York along with Newark and Somerset. The Liberty Division wisely keeps Bridgeport and Long Island together. This seems like the best available solution to me.
The league had to get rid of the “North” and “South” designations for the divisions because it doesn’t make much sense to have Southern Maryland in the North. It decided to go with a patriotic theme. If the league expands, maybe we can have a “God Bless the USA” Division.
In other news …
*In case you missed it — and you may have since the news broke locally on Christmas Eve — Aaron Herr signed with the Indians. The 2B/3B spent the previous two seasons with the Reds. After posting decent offensive numbers (.795 OPS) in Triple-A and not getting a September call-up, Herr — who spent spring training with the Barnstormers in 2005 — figured it was time to try another organization.
The clock is starting to work against Herr making the big leagues. The former 40th overall draft pick will turn 27 before the start of next season. His problem is he doesn’t project as a big-league regular and his defense — including 20 errors last season — hurts his chances of filling a utility role. The Indians will be a tough roster to crack because they’re expected to be a contender.
*The Barnstormers’ Hot Stove Dinner with John Kruk is Wednesday. It will include, among other things, comments from manager Von Hayes and head of baseball operations Keith Lupton about the construction of the 2008 roster.
*Sports Illustrated ran a fabulous (and long) story on Mike Coolbaugh, the minor-league first base coach who was killed after being struck by a line drive in July. This isn’t Barnstormers related, but the hitter, Tino Sanchez, once played for Bridgeport, so there is an Atlantic League hook. Also, this is a reminder that we can occasionally get away from the ESPN-ification of sports journalism and actually produce something of substance. Sanchez, incidentally, once hit a walk-off homer against Rob Henkel in Harbor Yard.
Now the Bluefish have a reason to wear their Red unis this season.
Yeahbut….
Most of those were auctioned off on ebay on the last weekend of the season.
They were sponsored by Patriot National Bank.
While I agree that North and South made no sense with the new alignment of the teams (and that in itself is a good thing) and they needed new names, I happen to think Liberty and Freedom are stupid names for the divisions. First of all, they are synonyms. They mean exactly the same thing, therefore, in my brain, they are equivalent. Which means in my head, there is nothing to differentiate the names of the two divisions. The names become meaningless labels, I’ll never remember which is which. I will have no problem remembering which 4 teams are in the two divisions, because that’s meaningful information to me. I will always know, without too much thought, that a game between Camden and Bridgeport has more bearing on the standings than a game with York. But the division names will never, ever stick in my head because there is no real meaning to them. Why not something more creative?
I understand the marketing brains in the league were trying to keep the names positive and neutral, but in choosing Liberty and Freedom–they’ve stripped the divisions of any character. These names come out of nowhere. Surf and Turf would have been better (Bluefish, Riversharks, Ducks and Blue Crabs are all creatures that spend at least part of their life in water). Patriots, Barnstormers are people, Bears live (and do other things!!!) in the woods, and Revolution…well, it’s more of a concept than a creature, but it’s certainly more human than not.–They could be your Turf. Ok, what happens if two new teams come into the league and they both have water sounding names? I see the flaw to Surf and Turf. But at least it’s got something to do with the structure of the league. I dunno….
I think maybe we should all just let the Division names go, let the league call it whatever they want, they really are meaningless labels, right? For all intents and purposes, the names of the Divisions may as well be “Us” and “Them”. That’s what it all boils down to anyway. “How many games do we need to win in OUR division to play the best in the other division?”
Liberty? Freedom? Who cares. It’s Still Us vs. Them.
I think they should name the divisions after infamous Barnstormers of the past. We could have the Jimmy Jackson Division against the Lance Odom Division.
I didn’t really see a need to rename the divisions. The Atlanta Braves spent 25 years in the NL West, so having the Crabs in the Southern Division is nothing!
Does it all really matter what the divisions are called? We will only care how are team is doing.
Right on,IC. I don’t care what are the they call the divisions. As long as the ‘Stormer can win, baby!
The names of the divisions are certainly odd… but the only thing that really matters is that ODP’s four teams have been split up.
What about the Ryan Harris division?? Too soon?
How about the Klebe Division.
Cuz he did a good job at splitting apart the locker room
I think they should of kept all the ODP teams in the same division. Then the two divisions could be the Good Guy Division and the Bad Guy Division. So the Championship game would be Good guys vs. the Bad Guys.
The Klebe Division would have one team, while seven teams would be in the other division.
Mr Barnstormer,sounds like the championship could be in a very large steel cage. With plenty of blood spilled.
Mr. Classic, great stuff!
Actually, the Atlantic League is ripe for a Barnum Bailey figure. Baseball has been way to uptight for the last 100 years. Lets loose the stuffy suits and bring in the sweatpants and cold pizza. A completely rigged league could be great.
Lets make the York-Lancaster fabricated rivalry a real fabricated rivalry. Lets have a batter DDT a pitcher. Lets have a father and son combo attack a first base couch, wait that actually happened.
Lets have a manager taunt around his bimbo and yell at the crowds.
Or how great would it be if the Pitcher pulled a Phil Neikro move with sandpaper in his pocket, but this time when the pitcher throws the foreign object, everyone see it except the umps so people go nuts.
The possibilities are endless. The XFL did it wrong. They did it to huge to early. Start small by converting a small but growing independent baseball league.
Alright….. so who’s in?
Oh, forgot to mention, people are starting to say that the Celtics this year could be the best basket ball team EVAAAAAA!
Mr B, Great stuff, Also,The First Baseman could hide a foreign object in his glove for pickoff play’s. BTW,Ithink Sparky Lyle could make it as the best Heel Manager in the league.
LSU won the “title.” Mike Woods will be happy. I’m happy Ohio State was exposed as a complete fraud.
The BCS is a fraud. I am fervently praying for this plus one playoff to get passed for next year.
It would essentially be the top 4 BCS teams in a final four format instead of just one game. It’s not perfect, but compared to what they have now, it’s brilliant.
I’m actually starting to believe Clemens.
On the Clemens issue:
There is a HUGH difference when you draw up and inject B-12 vs. testosterone….I think they should make the trainer take a lie detector test and also… Don’t the HIPAA laws apply to the trainer as well???
Hope to see y’all at the Hot Stove event tomorrow night
As a Sox fan, I can’t believe Clemens. Even if the evidence is sketchy, I want to see him go down, as cold hearted as it is. It is the perfect explanation for his resurgence in Toronto and makes Dan Duquette’s comment about him being “in the twilight of his career” look a lot better. He probably knew something back then that nobody else did. I will never trust Clemens.
Also, how is Jim Rice not in the Hall of Fame yet? I am furious.
I agree with you Dawes on Rice. I guess because he wasn’t a “Nice Guy” with the media play’s into this. I would really hate to think it’s racist,but you never know. But Rice was one of the Greatest offensive forces in the Majors.
I just find it exceedingly short sighted that when everyone is raging over the fact that offensive numbers were inflated in the 90s, no one is re-evaluating the numbers of guys like Rice, who did not play in “the steroid era”. Rice did not hit 500 home runs, he did not get 3,000 hits, but he was dominant for a prolonged period. It’s frustrating that he did not get elected this time, because most of the writers will be voting for the all time steals leader next year in his first time on the ballot. This was his last best chance to get in before the veteran’s committee.
It’s true,different era for Rice,the long ball was not as prevelant back then,so his stats don’t jump out at you like today’s player’s. He absolutly deserves to be in.
There’s a stat called adjusted OPS — or OPS+ — that adjusts for both park effects and the era in which a player performed. Rice is at 128. Put that in perspective? Dick Allen is at 156 and Albert Belle is at 143.
Those players were a lot like Rice, one dimensional sluggers with relatively short careers. Both were significantly better than Rice and those two didn’t come close to the Hall. I’m not a big believer in Rice’s candidacy. He’s a good slugger who couldn’t field a lick and never did anything in the playoffs.
kinda like Reds George Foster
How about Bert Blyleven. 3,701 Strikeouts [5th All Time]. 287 Wins, 3.31 ERA, 60 Shutouts. Sounds like a Hall of Famer to me.
Foster is a good comparison. Career OPS+ of 127 and two World Series championships. Rice was better, but not by much.
Although he’s a borderline canddidate, I’d vote for Blyleven.
I think Jack Morris deserves to be more than Blyleven.
I also have to admit,the arguments against Rice seem pretty convincing,I still think he deserves to be in,but you got me thinking.
Duly noted Jason
Couldn’t make the event last night but it was good to see a nice turnout. By te way, did anyone else notice Sydney on the 11:00pm news (WGAL)?
Thank you.. yes I was just on the 6 a.m. news also.
The food was excellent and John Kruk is very funny. A very fun night for all.
A few of “our boys” were there to…. Damm, they clean up good !!!!
I can’t wait for next year’s Hot Stove Dinner.
Mark “The Bird” Fidrych was a good Pitcher also, was he ever put on a hall of fame ballet? maybe not because he only pitched 4 year in the majors.
i liked him
Blyleven career ERA: 3.31
League average ERA at time: 3.90
Difference: 0.59
Morris career ERA: 3.90
League average ERA at time: 4.18
Difference: 0.18
Compared to his peers, Blyleven was a better pitcher than Morris. He also had greater longevity, which means he had more strikeouts, wins and innings pitched. I think Blyleven has a better case.
Hall of Fame eligibility requires 10 years in the majors, so Fidrych never appeared on the ballot. He’s the greatest one-year wonder in baseball history. He hurt his knee goofing off in the outfield, which altered his motion and caused him to damage his shoulder. He was never the same after his rookie year and was done as a big leaguer at age 25.
The opportunity to see the “Bird” pitch back in 1976 and 1977 are experiences I’ll never forget. My brother and I had a good idea of what he said to the ball. We always wanted to know what the ball was saying back.
As far as another one year wonder and great all time flake, Joe Charboneau is near the top of the list. How many people do you know who can open a beer bottle with their eye socket. Mr B can Bob do that? Joe had a very good rookie year and disappeared.
Hey M&B,
I’m sure Bob the Alcoholic at this point has lost all feeling in his eye sockets. It’s really sad. I saw him last week at the Villa Nova. The poor guy was past out at one of the tables and had $hit himself. I gave him a ride home and tried to help him clean himself up but he just passed right out on the floor.
This guy won’t be in the HOF, but I still love him…
Memorable Quote from Oil Can Boyd:
“I am The Can, and I am going to come right at you with my best $hit, and if you can hit it, I want to see how far Bo Jackson can hit The Oil Can” –Boyd, to Jackson, before Bo hit Boyd’s first pitch over the 71-foot high score board in straight away center field at Fenway Park
I believe Charboneau also had an injury. He hurt his back shortly after his rookie year.
Here’s a list of one-hit wonders …
http://espn.go.com/page2/s/list/onehitwonders.html
Fidrych and Charboneau are 1-2.