Miami Surf

Miami Surf


2009 Year in Review


The Numbers


Record: 91-71 (tied for 5th in the league)
Expected Record: 85-77 (8th in the league)

Runs Scored: 707 (14th in the league)
Runs Allowed: 671 (3rd in the league)
Run Differential: +36 (8th in the league)
What went right?
LF Cy Young Award winner Derek Lowe (17-5, 1.81) had not only the best season of any SP this season, he also posted the best single-season ERA in league history. D-Lowe's 1.81 mark is the only sub-2 ERA ever recorded. His mark eclipsed the previous low (2.37 by Roger Clemens of the 2006 Georgia Roadkill) by over ½ a run. At the other end of the game, closer Brian Fuentes (5-3, 1.65, 31 saves) brought home the Fireman of the Year award to Miami. While the award was the first for Fuentes, it marks an unprecedented 4th year in a row that a Miami pitcher has brought home the FOY hardware (Surfers JJ Putz in 2007-08 and Chad “Chief” Cordero in 2006 being the prior winners). The pitching-rich Surf posted a matchless 37-17 record in 1-run games, and a 15-3 mark in extra innings. Only the Honolulu Hawaiians could approach MSU's 1-run heroics, but even their 34-17 record in close contests trailed Miami's mark.

What went wrong?
As always, and despite for the most part firing HAL and playing a majority of games via Netplay, the Surf struggled away from Miami Field (33-48 on the road). Only one other team with a winning record (DFW, also 33-48 on the road, and also a primarily Netplay team) travelled as poorly. Regardless of the turf, the Surf had enormous troubles plating baserunners. Miami's embarrassingly low total of 707 runs scored exceeded only the efforts of the league's two 100-loss teams, Georgia and Lehigh Valley. Miami's team batting average of .259 was above only Troy and Lehigh. Interestingly enough, MSU's .402 team slugging percentage (for comparison's sake, this is 3 points lower than the career MLB SLG% of mad bomber Doug Mientkiewicz) was higher than only one other team, DFW. And both had winning records. A message, perhaps, to the LCC's of the world and their lineup of beer-league softball sluggers?

In retrospect, the critical decisions were:
1. Back in 2003, rookie NASBL franchise owner James Bessinger earned approval from Miami-Dade County officials to break ground on a new stadium. Bessinger pulled out all the stops, and built the largest stadium in all of the NASBL: a monolithic creation with outfield fences so distant that the manager in the dugout needed to dial “1” plus the area code to reach the bullpen phone. Since then, and perhaps also due to the increased demand for Surf tickets since their rise from also-ran to running with the big dogs, owner Bessinger has continued to add seats (ballpark effects increased over the years from single 0/0, homerun 0/0 to single 7/7 and homerun 4/4). However, even the new “cozier” Miami Field still is markedly different from any other park in the league, save the spacious Lehigh Valley Pig Pen (4/4, 0/0). And it shows in the numbers. While Miami's flyball pitchers were fairly easy to touch up on the road (105 road homeruns allowed, 4th highest in the league), they used the vast pampas of home to their great advantage (41 homeruns allowed at home, 20 less than the 2nd lowest total in the league, GCG's 61). Alas for Miami, the distance of the fences also has an effect on their hitters. Miami batsmen outslugged themselves on the road, 82 homers to 62 at home.

2. The 2009 pre-season trade which sent MSU's 2010 #1 to LVI for Brian Fuentes. While giving up a premium pick for a closer is a risky move (and one that famously flamed out in the LCC deal with LVI for Jose Valverde), in MSU's case the consumation of the Fuentes deal was tantamount to the scene in A Christmas Story when Ralphie's dad fired up the leg-lamp he won:

Narrator: “The snap of a few sparks, a quick whiff of ozone, and the lamp blazed forth in unparalleled glory.”

Ralphie's Dad: “Oh, look at that! Will you look at that? Isn't that glorious? It's...it's indescribably beautiful! It reminds me of the Fourth of July!”

Yes, the analogy is a complete one. Right down to the “Why, it's a Major Award!”

3. A deadline deal sending MSU#2 and the animated corpse of Troy Percival (1-1, 4.70) to HHA for James Loney (.289/3/18 in 190 ab's with Miami). With all the big-name players changing hands in Block 2, and with Miami's well-known struggles to score runs, they went out and got... James Loney?! While not exactly the metaphorical equivalent of throwing a drowning man an anchor, the addition of Loney was perhaps more like throwing a drowing man a roll of Bounty(tm). While “The Quicker Picker Upper” is correctly advertised as super-absorbent, there are certain tasks it just isn't up to. Bringing life-saving buoyancy to a waterlogged Surf offense, alas, was one of those tasks.

Looking ahead to 2010

Overshadowed by Lowe's great year, Daisuke Matsuzaka (11-9, 3.69) came over from LVI along with Derek Jeter (.274/11/51).  Solid seasons by Dice-K and The Captain more than justified the loss of Jose Reyes (.309/15/71 and 64 sb's) in the mega-deal.


Three key questions

  1. Will Surf manager Bessinger be able to coax some more runs from his lineup next year? David Wright (.240/19/74) slumped uncharacteristically in 2009. A rebound on his part would certainly help. One time perennial power source Carlos Lee (.289/14/89) averaged 29 HR and 94 RBI from 2004-2007 with the Surf, but he has been relegated to part-time play the past two years. Still in 606 ab's combined over 2008-2009, “El Caballo” has hit 23 longballs and driven in 95. Those are numbers that indicate an in-house offensive solution is available, although it must be noted that El Caballo in the outfield runs more like a plowhorse than a thoroughbred. With the more agile Bobby Abreu (.271/10/66) and Ryan Braun (.242/25/82) manning the outfield corners, Lee may finally earn his full-time pay this year by supplanting long-time NASBL slugger and frequent playoff hero Carlos Delgado. After 2 consecutive years of failing to hit 20 homeruns for the power-starved Surf, Delgado's march to 400 career homeruns (he is currently at 397) may well need to continue with a different team, if at all.

    2. Where the heck did that Derek Lowe year come from? And more importantly, “Thank you sir, may I have another?” Lowe has sparkled in the NASBL before (17-8, 3.17 and a Cy Young Award for the Seattle Pilots in 2003), and has generally posted double-digit wins and better than average ERA's in his 4-year term as a Surfer. Still, while hope springs eternal, regression to the mean springs outliers back to the norm. Look for Lowe to collect his 100th career victory in 2010 (he is currently at 93), but a return to the Cy Young award podium is likely not in the cards.

    3. Can the Surf throw together a 5-peat on Fireman of the Year honors? Currently, MSU's 4-year streak of winning the FOY award places them in a tie with 2001-2004 NJT (A-Rod, MVP) for the category of “most consecutive years bringing home the same major award.”

    Projected lineup
    c – Ryan Doumit

    1b – James Loney

    2b – Jose Lopez

    3b – David Wright

    ss – Derek Jeter

    lf – Ryan Braun

    cf – Mike Cameron

    rf – Bobby Abreu

    dh – Carlos Lee


Rotation

Josh Beckett

Cole Hamels

Derek Lowe

John Lannan

Daisuke Matsuzaka


Closer

Brian Fuentes