Dandy Dozen - Rich Clarke

Rich Clarke Sioux Falls Dakota Age: 36 B/T: R/R Born: Washington, DC Position(s): 3B/1B/COF/DH View Hardball Dynasty Profile

The Resume: Rick Clarke has been in the league since it's inception. In those 12 seasons, he's never failed to hit 30 HRs or drive in 100 runs. His career line includes a .300 batting average, 503 HR's, 1383 runs scored, and 1643 RBIs. He's a 6-time SS silver slugger, a 2-time gold glove 3B, and a 7-time All-star (including an All-Star MVP in season 11). Only 5 players have made more all-star teams; only 4 have won more Silver Sluggers; and only 3 have won more Gold Gloves.

He holds Baltimore Dead Homies (formerly WIC) franchise records for career: GP, AB, H, 2B, and RBI. League-wide, he's 3rd all-time in career RBI, and holds career records for games played, hits, and at bats.

His teams have made the playoffs in 10 of his 12 seasons (1, 2, 3, 5, 7 with Wichita, 8-9 with Mexico City, and 10-12 with Richmond). He recently signed with Sioux Falls hoping to raise this number. For his career, he's hit .283 with 29 HR's, 70 runs scored, and 80 RBI's in the playoffs (427 ABs). Interestingly, he's 5-5 on playoff SB attempts despite just a 61-137 career regular season stealing history.

In his 10 playoff trips, his teams have gone 12-10 in playoff series. In season 7, his Shocker squad lost a wild-card round game. He forced a trade to Mexico City during season 8. After losing the World Series to Richmond as a Bandejo in season 9, Clarke left via free agency and joined Richmond. The 'Feds reached the World Series (the 3rd of Clarke's career) only to lose Sioux Falls. Two season later, again a free agent, the ultra-competitive Clarke has joined the Dakota in a last-ditch attempt to add a World Series ring to his achievements.

The Rest of the Story: Clarke's up-bringing and identity have always been shrouded in mystery. He lists Washington, D.C. as his home-town but no local high school claims him as an alumnus. The Wichita Shocker scout that discovered and signed him, mysteriously disappeared mid-way through season 2. He was later found dead along the Mexican border though the Bandejo organization acknowledges no involvement.

Various internet reports have speculated that Richard A. Clarke is his father. Clarke himself has never called himself a Jr., but does insist that his middle name is Anonymous. The elder Clarke is a long-time government official, whose past roles include chief-counter-terroism adviser on the National Security Council under Bill Clinton.

When WCM reporter Scoop Raisin approached the younger Clarke about his lineage, he woke up two days later. The following day, he quit as his job as a WCM columnist "to pursue other interests." He never did explain the lump on his forehead.

NKOtB Part Two: Sacramento Shockers

The History: Boy is there history. bigking founded the Wichita Shockers and operated the franchise successfully for its first 8 seasons. The Shockers of Wichita finished below .500 just once, made the playoffs in 5 of their first 8 seasons and represented the American League in the World Series in Season 2.

After Season 8, mr_orange and his crew muscled in on the Wichita franchise. Unconfirmed reports had bigking behind on a loan he used to finance a free agent spending spree in Season 4. When mr_orange threatened to cut off his ear, bigking went to the authorities. He was immediately place in the witness protection program.

However, mr_orange legally acquired the franchise in bankruptcy proceedings after bigking changed his name and was re-located to Sacramento. After hiring defense attorney Clarence Darrow on the advice of Mexico City Bandejos owner dyuen, mr_orange was acquitted. The Federal Marshalls released bigking from witness protection after his testimony failed to convict mr_orange. King stayed in Sacramento, re-built his fortune as a traveling mascot and TV commercial star, and bought the team formerly in Oklahoma City at a steep discount.

The Outlook: King is the 4th owner is as many seasons for a franchise that has never made the playoffs. However, the team has won exactly 72 games in 3 of the past 5 seasons, so the cupboard isn't bare. Livan Suarez (.296, 41 HRs) returns to lead the offense. His brother Jose Suarez returns as leadoff man after stealing 76 bases last season. Edgar Romo had a breakout season at age 30 interrupted by elbow trouble, but returns. Former Wichita SS Walter Kingston was brought in to stabilize the IF. Finally, a bevy of young prospects litter the minors and could help in the coming years.

The Name - Well, this one comes as no surprise - see the picture.

Season 8 Team Defense rankings

Well, I've been meaning to post this for awhile now. We hear all about the individual accomplishments of hitters and pitchers, but rarely do we recognize the contributions of team defense. A quick, and very unscientific study of team defense follows. Three categories are ranked:

Balls in Play: A rough measure of a team's ability to turn hits (no walks or K's) that don't leave the yard into outs. This is an approximate measure, but roughly in line with the Moneyball theory.

Fielding Percentage: assists plus putouts all divided by total chances (assists + putouts + errors)

DP Rank: A rough approximation of a teams ability to turn a double play given a double play opportunity. It's not really a percentage, but I've reporting it that way.

Below you'll find each team's rank from Season 8 in each category and a weighted average for determining an overall score. These metrics may favor NL teams a bit as the AL doesn't get to face the pitcher who is known to hit tappers on the infield.

Franchise	Owner	BIPA	Fpct	DP%	BIPA rnk	Fct Rnk	DP Rnk	Average
Sioux Falls Dakota	jwendt	0.311	0.988	22.0%	2	3	16	4.45
Las Vegas Double Downs	gtce98	0.318	0.993	22.8%	4	1	14	4.45
Mexico City Bandejos	dyuen	0.324	0.988	27.7%	8	4	1	5.55
Los Angeles Outlaws	PirateFan13	0.318	0.987	23.9%	3	9	8	5.85
Helena Hound Dogs	dberube7	0.320	0.987	23.7%	5	11	9	7.70
Burlington Bulldogs	mike1184	0.311	0.986	21.0%	1	13	20	8.05
Augusta Storm	hartel	0.333	0.990	21.2%	12	2	19	9.55
Cheyenne Seminoles	jrooster35	0.320	0.986	22.9%	6	17	12	10.75
Wichita Shockers	bigking0505	0.339	0.987	24.1%	14	8	7	10.85
Pawtucket Quahog Crush	sriram12078	0.342	0.988	23.3%	16	5	10	11.25
Toledo Boonse Farmers	hockey_brian	0.326	0.985	24.7%	9	18	5	11.55
Monterrey Conquistadors	kmueller	0.347	0.988	25.2%	18	6	3	11.55
San Juan Crownrificos	wang35	0.322	0.986	20.4%	7	14	24	12.00
Cincinnati Great Americans	cincyredlegs	0.329	0.984	26.2%	11	23	2	13.85
Pittsburgh Poon Fingers	goblkngld	0.328	0.986	19.8%	10	15	28	14.45
Nashville Harmonies	drennantom	0.333	0.985	22.9%	13	19	13	15.10
Richmond Confederates	szavsza23	0.344	0.987	20.0%	17	10	25	15.75
Rochester Rockets	ewd330	0.355	0.986	23.3%	19	16	11	16.75
St. Louis Hell Hogs	jets12	0.359	0.987	20.5%	23	7	23	17.40
Scranton Nittany Lions	camaro31st	0.358	0.986	19.9%	21	12	27	18.75
Texas Riders	jying98	0.340	0.983	19.3%	15	24	30	20.40
Houston Heavy Hitters	rudedogg44	0.370	0.984	25.0%	26	20	4	20.60
Salem Grand Salamies	bossmao	0.365	0.984	24.5%	25	22	6	21.10
Vancouver Jets	hcohenmb	0.356	0.981	22.5%	20	27	15	21.70
Honolulu Dolphins	dspahlinger	0.359	0.982	21.2%	22	25	18	22.45
Washington D.C. Honor and Courage	darrenmaybee	0.362	0.982	21.3%	24	26	17	23.65
Kansas City Monarchs	hodgenice	0.373	0.984	20.7%	27	21	22	24.15
Montreal Clouseaus	jackster89	0.388	0.979	19.9%	28	29	26	28.05
Colorado Mountain Oysters	buck18	0.405	0.979	20.8%	30	30	21	28.65
New York Hellraisers	madmuldoon	0.398	0.981	17.1%	29	28	31	28.95
Santa Fe Fire Hawks	reigny	0.416	0.979	19.5%	31	31	29	30.70
Atlanta INFUEGO	sonenlaw	0.433	0.969	10.3%	32	32	32	32.00

Sioux Falls and Las Vegas tied for the best overall ranking. Vegas had the best fielding percentage in the league and was #4 in BIPA. Mexico City comes in third as the best double play turning team in the league. The top 3 teams all won their divisions. The top AL team, Wichita, narrowly missed the wild card, while the next 4 AL teams (Monterrey, Cincinnati, Richmond, and Rochester) all made the playoffs.

Also, the long lost sonenlaw's Atlanta INFUEGO managed to finish dead last in every single category, but a fairly substantial margin.

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NkotB Part Five - Baltimore Dead Homies

History:

For eight seasons, the Wichita Shockers were one of Second City's true flagship franchises. Winning the AL pennant in Season 2 and winning a division championship as recently as a scant two years ago, the Shockers had played to sellout crowds ever since Second City's inception.

However, last season the franchise's previous owner, bigking, well, shocked the Second City world when he sold controlling interest in the Shockers to an ownership group headed by noted restauranteur Mr. Orange. Mr. Orange's story is the stuff of legend. Left for dead after a 1992 raid sponsored by noted gang leader Joe Cabot went terribly awry, miraculously Mr. Orange outlasted Mr. Blond, Mr. Pink and Nice Guy Eddie, and only managed to escape the incident without fatal damage. Determined to avoid a life as a hood, Mr. Orange then proceeded to make his fortune opening the first of many "Crybaby" John Waters themed restaurants throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. When a chance to bring a franchise to his adopted hometown of Baltimore came up, he jumped at the opportunity.

After a protacted lawsuit from the citizens of Wichita, the city, Second City and Mr. Orange settled in the offseason opening up the way for the franchise to back up the trucks and move on out. The Wichita fans are still smarting from the void, and will need a new outlet for their trademark foam fingers.

Outlook:

Fortunately, the cupboard is not bare for the newly-christened Dead Homies. The franchise is coming off of an 89-73 season. Hitting has never been a problem, and with 270 HRs a year ago, the offense will continue to be strong. Camden Yards in Baltimore is one of the stronger hitters parks in the league, so there is not much evidence that numbers will drop off. Additionally Wichita was one of Second City's stronger defensive teams, making a scant 71 errors last season. However, the problem was pitching. Wichita's 4.74 team ERA held the team back from transcendence. While 19 game winner Rico Lecuona returns, the team needs significant improvement in particular from Tommy Wagner, whose 10-14, 6.06 ERA(!) season belies both his talent level and his pay grade. The pitching could give Baltimore GM Divine a real headache.

Name:

While critics of Mr. Orange's speculate that the team name Dead Homies is a reference to his preferred methods of giving an employee his/her "unconditional release", Mr. Orange continues to insist that the name is a tribute to his fallen comrades from that fateful day in 1992. In the interest of full disclosure, this author is too frightened to question Mr. Orange much further.

Division Preview Part 3 - AL East

The AL East could be one of the most competitive divisions in the league this year. Richmond is the favorite, but a young Scranton team is knocking on the door, just waiting to break out. The real story here is the depth of the division. There are no doormats here with four teams that have a shot to take the East if the chips fall right for them.

Wichita Shockers
History - The Shockers were founded by bigking in Season 1 as an original franchise. In 7 seasons the team has won 3 division titles and 2 wild card berths, with the high point being a trip to the World Series in Season 2. The team finished under .500 only once, in season 4.

If you're not familiar with Wichita St., they're called the Shockers because, well, this is a family-friendly blog, let's just say their cheerleaders like THIS. (hey I didn't say the links in the blog were family friendly.

Strengths - Veteran SS Rich Clark is the face of the franchise. He's never hit fewer than 38 HRs and has 327 for his career, including back-to-back 50+ dinger years. He's a steady if unspectacular SS out of Washington, DC that turned down a football scholarship to the University of Illinois. Matty Ordoz (acquired from August last year) and 24-year old superstar Vin (El) Guapo provide the rest of thunder in an impressive lineup, that plays better defense than most.

Weaknesses - There's nothing wrong with the rotation, but there's nothing special about it either. Veterans Wally Driskill (12-10, 4.99) and Dick Patterson (11-9, 4.58) are expected to tutor long-awaited future ace Rico Lecuona (37-37, 4.97 career), a 24-year old who debuted in the big leagues at age 20.

Odds - 6:1 to win the division, 25:1 to win the pennant

New York Hellraisers
History B. Dorsey is the third owner of the New York AL franchise. Once a dominant force in the AL, the Clippers fell on hard times, forcing owner nickam to sell the team to New York style pizza magnate, Dorsey. Dorsey named the team after the foster parents that raised him in New York's Hell's Kitchen.

Strengths - Few catchers can match the 3 consecutive 50-HR seasons of Santos Julio who combines with Yorvit Arias to form a deadly C/DH combo. Face of the franchise (999 games played in NY) Garret Spehr sets the table from his 2B spot with a .338 career average. Young 1B Tomas Guzman is an early favorite for the rookie of the year. Manager Rudy Edmonds won 103 games or more in each of his first 5 seasons at the helm of 3 different squads. The Hellraisers will be his team in 3 seasons, and the New York media is expecting much of him.

Weaknesses - The pitching staff relies on 37-year old Woody Foster to anchor the staff. 23-year old Felipe Zorilla, an $8.5M international free agent in Season 3 that's spent 3 years in the New York pen is expected to make a move to the rotation. He's got the stuff to be a star but has yet to start a game in the majors.

Odds - 9:1 to win division, 30:1 to win the pennant

Richmond Confederates
History - szasza purchased the Confederates prior to season 3 and they promptly went the way of the Whalers, leaving Hartford for greener pastures in Richmond, VA. After 5 consecutive 3rd place division finishes, the Feds broke out in season 6 with a division winning 91 wins, advancing to the LCS. They repeated that feat last year following the first 100 win season in franchise history.

The Confederates are the only team that wears the "road" greys both at home and on the road. The team's flying of the Confederate battle flag has been challenged 5 times, with the last fight going all the way to the Supreme Court. The little known back story is that szasza uses the logo in tribute to the University of Mississippi. No cities in the state of Mississippi were economically viable however, so he moved the team to Richmond where he knew history would keep the flag flying.

Strengths - This team can hit. Three time MVP, 7-time All Star, Dick Caruso leads the hit parade. Caruso was acquired from the DC Honor & Courage prior to last season and didn't disappoint, hitting .339 with 55 HR's and 145 RBIs. Caruso has never been on the DL and has an outside shot at reaching 500 career HRs this season (he's at 431). Julio Nunez (.323-51-105) and Jorge Torres (.270-46-119) join Caruso to form a killer middle of the order. The staff is deep, led by Marty Brantley, Vin Sheets, and Oswaldo Owen.

Weaknesses - Veteran free agent signings P.T. Sierra and Brent McGee are being counted on to shore up the pen. Both are talented, but will their age catch up with them.

Odds - 2:1 to win the division, 7:1 to win the pennant - scouts say 20-year old Angel Mercedes could end up being the best defensive shortstop in a generation, but is he too young for a pennant contender to be playing?

Scranton Nittany Lions
History - Camaro took over as bad a team as Second City had seen in seasons 1-3. A season in Atlanta sandwiched between 2 in Boston had yielded 4 third-place finishes. The Season 3 squad won just 12 games. Camaro committed to the youth and the fruits of his labors are starting to show. 89 and 88-win seasons the past two years signal this a team on the rise.

The Nittany Lions are actually named in honor of Joe Paterno, camaro's great-great-great-great grandfather. In four generations, or 327 years in Paterno time, camaro is expected to take over the football program in Happy Valley.

Strengths - Third baseman Bret Davis, the #1 overall pick in Season 4, struggled in his big-league debut, but scouts rave about his 5-tool skills. Davis leads the young talent, with Ivan Barrios, Zach Sosa, and Manny Randolph, all 24 or younger and expected to play big roles this season. SS Alan Pall is likely to join the group in the bigs this season.

Weaknesses - While the young talent is obvious, they aren't superstars yet. The pitching staff is good but not great. This team's peak is still a year or two away.

Odds - 7:2 to win division, 20:1 to win the pennant. Patience is paying off and this team will be great soon.

A Tribute to the Orginals - Part Two - bigking0505

bigking has had an amazing run with the Wichita Shockers winning 3 AL East titles, and 2 wild cards, culminating in a World Series trip in Season 2. Only 1 Wichita team finished under .500 (Season 4) and the franchise was left in great shape with a very reasonable payroll. The king has also shown great loyalty, retaining bench coach Neifi Olivia for 6 straight seasons and fielding coach Luis Pineiro for all 7 seasons.

Among king's legendary shockers are Vin Guapo, a 23-year old with 172 career HR's (he's got a real shot at 500 career bombs), Rich Clark, a 7-year starter @ SS with 327 career HR's and 4 season where he played all 162 games, Charles Kubinski who twice won 20 as a Shocker including a Cy Young award in Season 3, and Rollie Ramsey who went 40-14 in 3 seasons as a Shocker.

Good luck king, and thanks for the memories.