|  | | Carlos Beltran (Captain) |
STOGIES 2009: BACKS AGAINST THE WALL
Stogies Season History
Atticus Ryan took over the defunct Fargo Woodchippers prior to the 2003 season and immediately made his mark by moving the franchise to his hometown Pittsburgh, renaming them the Stogies and trading the best player in the world, Barry Bonds. Of course, the Stogies got good value in return, receiving three All-Star caliber players in Eric Chavez, Brian Giles and Marcus Giles.
LoC 2003 Season
In their inaugural season, the Stogies played hard and finished strong with a 91-71 record. Unfortunately, that still put them 20 games behind their archrival 111-51 Atlanta Crackers. However, Pittsburgh fans marked the year a success, with many pieces in place for coming seasons. Recent arrivals Eric Chavez (329-396-548), Brian Giles (310-405-499) and Marcus Giles (319-406-487) justified shifting Barry Bonds.
LoC 2004 Season
The second season saw another fine 91-71 record in the NL East. Again, though, the Stogies landed behind Atlanta, this time by two games, and, worse, three games behind a surprising Schaumburg. Embroiled in a knock-down fight for the pennant, the Pittsburgh front office staff went momentarily insane in a desperate effort to acquire enough established firepower and pitching to sneak past the Crackers and Polar Bears. Manny Ramirez (346-412-745) destroyed opposing pitchers en route to snagging the MVP and Eric Chavez (289-396-567) turned in another stellar season. These performances aside, Operation Wild Geese failed miserably. The seeds of destruction sown, 2005 was fated to produce a vile crop of utterly forgettable baseball at Point Field.
LoC 2005 Season
And produce a vile crop of utterly forgettable baseball it did. The Stogies finished 2005 with an abysmal 59-103 record, dead last in the realigned NL East. This was taken as the first sign of a pending Apocalypse and anger and panic swept the city. Shadyside was levelled. Mobs crossed the bridges and left the incline going up and down Mount Washington in flames. Only a televised plea from Eric Chavez (272-334-509) stopped the rampage from continuing. Ashamed and afraid to show their faces in public, the Pittsburgh front office spent much of the 2005 draft and season stocking up on youth and rebound candidates — Carlos Beltran, Jose Reyes, Curt Schilling, Ryan Zimmerman, Francisco Liriano and Jonathan Broxton. It was anticipated all would form the core of the 2006 squad or allow for the acquisition of key competitive components.
LoC 2006 Season: Worst-To-First
Pittsburgh brass promised a worst-to-first turnaround at the start of the season. A bold statement, but one they fulfilled by turning in an LoC-leading 115-47 division-winning season that erased the bitter memory of 2005. Francisco Liriano (0.88 WHIP, 278 K) fronted a superior rotation of Pedro Martinez (1.16 WHIP, 221 K), Bronson Arroyo (1.20 WHIP, 187 K), John Smoltz (1.36 WHIP, 180 K) and Curt Schilling (1.13 WHIP, 201 K). The offense was lead by key offseason acquisitions Grady Sizemore (300-384-584, 20 SB) and David Wright (319-373-483, 15 SB), as well as Carlos Beltran (270-410-524, 32 SB) and Jose Reyes (316-348-485, 75 SB). Sadly, fans of the Stogies were stunned to see their Pittsburgh juggernaut unable to push past the eventual World Series-winning K-Town Shoeless Joes (88-74) and the front office returned to lick their wounds and prepare to defend their NL East crown.
LoC 2007 Season: It Ain't Braggin' If You Can Back It Up
The Stogies started preparations for the 2007 season by surprising their fans with a deal that sent Prince Fielder to San Benito for secondbaseman Chase Utley and promising outfielder Nick Markakis. Utley (317-410-567, 13 SB) and Markakis (315-387-534, 12 SB) went on to spearhead the Pittsburgh offense. In his last season in Stogies flannel, Curt Schilling (0.99 WHIP, 157 K) captured the NL Cy Young Award (the second season running a Pittsburgh starter took home the hardware) and reliever Rafael Betancourt (0.61 WHIP, 72 K) won the Fireman Award. Once again, the Pittsburgh faithful were treated to stellar baseball at Point Field, as the Stogies held off Spanish Harlem to stand atop the NL East once again before going on to win their first World Series Championship by defeating Arlington Heights in six games.
LoC 2008 Season: Smells Like Team Spirit
As the defending World Series Champions and two-time winners of the N.L. East, Pittsburgh expectations for 2008 were high. Prior to the draft, the Stogies traded Nick Markakis to bring back 2004 N.L. MVP Manny Ramirez and Dioner Navarro and Nate McLouth for Aubrey Huff. Ramirez (341-409-642, 2 SB) and Huff (308-368-577, 3 SB), together with fan favorite Mike Napoli (284-381-577, 8 SB), ace John Danks (1.21 WHIP, 211 K), and control artist Kevin Slowey (1.24 WHIP, 186 K), would play vital roles as the core of the club that went on to win the N.L. East for the third time on the trot. Attempting to defend their Championship, the Stogies battled the Iowa Corn Dogs over seven games, losing with a walk-off home run by Mike Jacobs. Following the loss, owner Atticus Ryan was asked if he would go for a fourth straight N.L. East title and push for a third straight trip to the World Series. He answered, "No comment." |
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