NKOtB (kindof) Part Deux: Memphis Drillers

What Happened?: This woebegone franchise may have finally started to turn around. After 11 consecutive 4th place finishes, new owner threester combined managerial talents with the freefall of former contenders San Juan and Nashville to finish 2nd with a franchise-record 80 wins last season.

The team has been in Austin since a brief one-season stay in Mephis as the Shores under temporary ownership. While the Austin market is growing, threester has become increasingly concerned with his young players penchant for late nights on the University of Texas campus. Moreover, the move to Memphis is a direct attack on division rival Nashville's stranglehold on the Tennessee market.

The Fallout: Threester's well-documented Abba love-affair continues with the move to Memphis, allegedly the inspiration of lesser-known Abba hit, Summer Night City, which topped the charts in Ireland, Finland, and Sweden. WCM has learned that Threester is moving to Memphis is hopes of re-connecting with Frida Lyngstad, alledgely a frequent visitor to Memphis' famous Corky's BBQ.

Nashville owner drennantom is rumored to be officially protesting the move to the league office on the grounds that it violates his territorial rights. In all liklihood, he's more worried about losing Graceland as an inspiration to his team.

Playoff Preview (Nashville Harmonies)

Nashville Harmonies (Wild Card #2)

Hitting:
Nashville won 91 games without a 100 RBI man and with only Manny Hemingway scoring 100 (he knocked himself in 43 times with HRs). They hit with occasional power (4 other hitters over 20 HRs) and run very little.

Team BA: .268
Team HR: 231
Team SB: 67

Pitching:
The Harmonies pitching staff makes the team go. Ace Chad Rollins went 18-8 with a 3.19 ERA. The bottom of the rotation struggled, but the 2nd and 3rd starters both performed well. Alex Cruz is a solid closer, but the rest of the bullpen had its struggles throughout the year.

Team ERA: 4.09
Team SV: 59-71
Team HR Allow: 197

Home Sweet ... WTF?

Home field advantage isn't in the NL. In both first round series, the wild card teams went on the road and took 2 games from the division champs. Both Nashville and San Juan returned home needing to win just once to close out Sioux Falls and Burlington respectively. Neither did. That makes the home teams 0-8 in the first round of the NL this year.

Game 5 takes place this cycle with Rosario Rosado starting for Nashville in Sioux Falls against Sean Moore.

Rafael Rosado Nashville Harmonies Age: 25 B/T: R/R Born: Colon, PA Position(s): P (SP2) View Hardball Dynasty Profile

Sean Moore Sioux Falls Dakota Age: 28 B/T: R/R Born: Ennis, MT Position(s): P (SP2) View Hardball Dynasty Profile

In San Juan, Burlington will send ace Pedro DeRojas against Crownrifico ace Ronn Thomas.

Pedro DeRojas Burlington Bulldogs Age: 24 B/T: S/L Born: Chinandega, NI Position(s): P (SP5) View Hardball Dynasty Profile

Ronn Thomas San Juan Crownrificos Age: 29 B/T: S/R Born: Tustin, CA Position(s): P (SP1) View Hardball Dynasty Profile

All-Star update

My how imaginary time flies when you're having fun. The 1st half of season 10 is in the books. WCM pauses to take a look at some of the surprises and disappointments of the 1st half.

SURPRISES
NL Team - With apologies to the Seminoles (59-13), the surprise NL team is the Nashville Harmonies, leading the always cut-throat NL South at 56-35. The Harmonies have a 3 game lead on San Juan despite scoring 42 fewer runs and allowing 15 more. Still, when your division opponents have accounted for 7 pennants and 6 world series titlets, any lead is one worth savoring this far in.

NL Player - Chris Benes of DC hit just .240 with 17 HRs last season but he's hitting .260 and already has 23 dingers this year while stealing 18 or 20 bags.

NL Pitcher - Stu Duffy of Cheyene went 11-13 last year with a 4.44 ERA. The 30-year old has taken the league by storm this year, posting a 12-3 mark with a 2.39 ERA.

NL Rookie - Nashville catcher Kennie Rekar is 6th in the league in hitting at .339 with 21 HRs as the everyday catcher for the division-leading Harmonies.

NL Rookie Pitcher - Dominican starter Rafael Aguilera has been lights out at 11-3 with a 1.61 ERA.

AL Team - The Texas Riders have never won the division, but they lead the Conquistadors by 2 games heading into the break.

AL Player - Scranton's Tony Matos is 36 years old but his .352 average is 50 points above his areer average. He's also stole 21-24 bases.

AL Pitcher - Rich Harris has managed to go 10-0 for the Monterrey Conquistadors out of the bullpen!

AL Rookie - Sante Fe Rule 5 pick, Bobby Duran has hit 29 homers since the Fire Hawks took him off the Texas Riders hands. His performance in the field has been equally shocking as the the player that wa a below average defensive 3b throughout his minor league career was handed the everyday SS job. his 59 errors and 13 minus plays put him on pace to challenge the league record of 87 errors by Memphis' Phil Powell last season.

AL Rookie Pitcher - Vancouver's Winston Silvestri is 7-6 with a 4.16 ERA as a 26-year old rookie.

A little something extra: Cheyenne's 3.20 team ERA is 0.43 better than the next best team ERA in the league (Burlington).

DISAPPOINTMENTS -
NL Team - The Mexico City Bandejos coming off 3 straight division titles and a league pennant currently sit in 3rd place in the NL south and are on pace for their worst record in 6 seasons.

NL Player - Burlington's [URL=http://www.whatifsports.com/hbd/Pages/Popups/PlayerProfile.aspx?pid=976962]Luis Astacio[/URL] has seen his average fall by 60 points from last year (.219 from .279) and is slugging just .344 after posting an impressive .520 in season 9.

NL Pitcher - Phenom Randall Kinkade of Washington may have been rushed to the big leagues. His 4-10 record and 5.40 ERA are not the stuff of legends predicted for the swashbuckling Texan teenager when he was drafted #3 overall in season 8.

AL Team - The Cincinnati Great Americans won 96 games and a division title. They bring back a $98 million payroll but are 43 games under .500, already having lost 1 game more than they did last year.

AL Player - The Hellraisers' Jerry Turner is struggling badly with more strikeouts (85) than hits (77) after a season that saw him hit .287 with 21 HRs and 42 stolen bases. He's already been thrown out stealing 7 times after being caught just 5 times last year.

AL Pitcher - Cincinnatti's Max Molina who was so impressive posting a 2.79 ERA in three playoff starts last year after a 13-6 regular season (3.10 ERA) is out for the year after tearing up his elbow. He was probably hurt long before he stopped pitching as his 12.89 ERA in 81 innings indicate.

A little something extra: The Burlington Bulldogs lead the NL East and would go to the playoffs if the seasone ended today despite their 44-47 record, which would place them ahead of only one NL team not in their division.

Archi Cianfrocco winner's profile: Stubby Rivers

Thirty-seven year old Stubby Rivers has toiled in the Nashville Harmonies bullpen for each of the franchise's 9 seasons. Working primarily as a specialist against lefties, Rivers has amassed 27 saves, 33 victories (against 23 defeats) while compiling a 4.25 career ERA. The control specialists walks a batter just once every 5 1/2 innings or so.

Stubby Rivers Nashville Harmonies Age: 36 B/T: L/L Born: Queens Village, NY Position(s): P (LHS) View Hardball Dynasty Profile

Stubby was born and raised in Queens, NY. His parents named him Stubby after he was born with abnormally short toes. In fact, Stubby has the smallest feet of any pitcher in the league, wearing a size 6 shoe despite his 6'3 frame.

Stubby is the first contender to move the Final Four. He staged a furious comeback after Howard Stern promoted his campaign on his Sirius Radio show. Howard has since pulled back his support after learning the true reason for Stubby's name.

Harmonies break the bank

B.J. Greene Nashville Harmonies Age: 21 B/T: R/R Born: Terre Hill, PA Position(s): P (SP4) View Hardball Dynasty Profile

The Nashville Harmonies broke the bank in signing first-round draft pick B.J. Greene. Greene, a pitcher out of Rutgers selected with the 15th overall pick, inked a deal with a $10,075,000 signing bonus. Only one draftee has signed for more money in the history of Second City. In season 4, Cincinnati signed #5 overall pick, 2B Manny Corey, to a $16M deal. Corey debuted last season, winning the AL 2B Silver Slugger after hitting .276 with 26 HRs and 109 RBIs. He also stole 66 bases.

Greene, 6'2 right-hander features a heavy slider and solid curveball which he used to go 13-2 for Rutgers in the Big East. Harmonie scouting director Lil E' said, "we know $10M is a lot of dough, but this is a polished college pitcher. We see him moving quickly, possibly contributing to the Harmonie rotation in the next 2 years."

Greene, who represented himself in negotiations, said a childhood spent playing cards with his older brother helped his poker face. "Would I have signed for less? Who's to say? All I know is that I didn't. Ray Rice only wishes he could ink this kind of deal."

Graceland

The Nashville Harmonies, firmly planted in 3rd place in the NL South, have won 31 or 55 games at home in Nashville. However, the road has not been nearly as friendly to the Harmonies, as they've won just 20 of 56 road contests. What could possibly explain it?

Harmonie President Tom Drennan had this to say, "In a word, it's Elvis. There's a reason we're the only team in the league that wears Blue Suade Shoes. When we're on the road, we're stuck wearing grey, which the King would never have approved of. We train in Memphis, just 2 blocks from Graceland. Our players meditate there prior to every home game and we take a team bus from Memphis to Nashville. We just can't find the same kind of connection on the road, even at the Heartbreak Hotel."

Harmonie players echoed Drennan's sentiments. Relief pitcher Keith Webster was born in Prinsburg, MN but he's been an Elvis lover since birth. "My mom actually named me Elvis, but my dad said 'Don't Be Cruel', so Elvis is only my middle name. Playing in Nashville is a dream come true, and the ladies here really love the lamb chops. I just don't get that kind of respect on the road."

Keith Webster Nashville Harmonies Age: 29 B/T: R/R Born: Prinsburg, MN Position(s): P (LRB) View Hardball Dynasty Profile

Long time Harmonie reliever Douglas Clark is another huge Elvis fan. "I've made over ten million dollars in Nashville. I'd trade it all to have the voice of the king. Instead, I'll have to settle for his looks." Clark wouldn't comment on a reported restraining order filed by Priscilla Presley.

Douglas Clark Nashville Harmonies Age: 36 B/T: L/L Born: Donnellson, IA Position(s): P (LRB) View Hardball Dynasty Profile

The season continues for the Harmonies and they're not likely to turn it around on the road until they play in Las Vegas. Unfortunately for the Harmonies, they're not scheduled to 'Viva Las Vegas' until next season.