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07/13/2007
Down, but not outDespite slow start, Bums still in playoff hunt
Center- fielder Jeff Vincent has been a bright spot, hitting .287 with a team-high 31 RBIs. TRAVERSE CITY — As the Traverse City Beach Bums begin the second half of their Frontier League baseball season tonight, there's good and bad news. First, the bad news: The Bums are 18-28 and in last place in the Central Division, 16 games behind first-place Windy City. Now, the good news: Despite a first half filled with more than their share of bad luck — like injuries, defensive woes, an inconsistent offense and problems with the pitching rotation — the Bums are only five games out of a playoff spot. That's right. Five. "If anything, we've learned from it,” first-year Traverse City manager Jon Cahill said Thursday. "We're going to attack the schedule the same way we always have — trying to win every game we can. But we need to be sharper. We can't afford to lose games through mental mistakes or by not being prepared to play. "The pitching and defense have come around in the last couple of weeks,” he said. "If we can get our hitting going, too, who knows what can happen in the second half?” The Bums could have made things a lot easier on themselves with a better first-half performance in close games. They've lost 10 games by one run and another five by two. "It's upsetting,” Cahill said. "If we'd won even four or five of those games we'd be right in the thick of it.” The Bums have shown obvious signs of improvement recently, however, so they still have a chance to be in the thick of the playoff race by the end of the season. How much has Traverse City improved? As recently as two weeks ago, TC led the league in errors, averaging a whopping 2.4 per game. In the Bums' last 11 games, however, they have committed only seven miscues — not perfect, but a significant improvement just the same. Three teams have since passed them in errors. As Traverse City's defense has stepped it up, its pitching has improved as well. On June 27, after a 17-1 shellacking by Windy City, the Bums' earned-run average sat at 6.00. Sixteen days later, it has dropped almost a full run to 5.20. Robbie McClellan and last season's Frontier League Pitcher of the Year, Tony Casoli, have been keys to the resurgence. McClellan has a 1.69 earned-run average in his last three starts; Casoli is at 2.91. That's a far cry from the early portion of the season, when things got so bad that Traverse City released 40 percent of its starting rotation on the same day. The Bums, who became the first team in the 15-year history of the Frontier League to bring back their starting staff from the season before, cut popular hurlers Steve Shippey and Buddy Klovstad on June 26. In all, TC has released six pitchers since opening the season on May 23, and those six were a combined 0-12 with an 8.82 ERA. "It's easy to go back to spring training and see why we were looking forward to having our entire rotation back and feeling we were 100-percent OK in that area of our team,” Casoli said. "Hindsight is 20-20. Crazy things happen in baseball. "If you're not sharp, then things suddenly aren't as they should be. And when things aren't going well, changes have to be made.” Casoli (3-5, 5.78 ERA) accepts his share of the blame for the Bums' poor start. "I've sat down and talked to (pitching coach) John Sexton about it, and ultimately I think I was just trying to do too much,” Casoli said. "When you're being called the ace of the staff, there's added pressure there. No matter how well you handle things like that, it can't help but get to you. "It took me a little while to get going, to relax and make good pitches.” Among the highlights of the first half were the performances of outfielders Zack Kalter (.326, 22 RBIs) and Jeff Vincent (.287, team-high 36 runs and 31 RBIs), and catcher Curtis Ledbetter (.306, 30 RBIs), who was named to the All-Star team along with shortstop Justin Holmes. Cahill is also pleased with the progress of professional rookies Jeff Williams (4-1, 27 strikeouts in 27&2/3 innings pitched), Brett Bostelman (1-0, 1.69 ERA, 3 saves), Jack Nelson (1-0, 1.82 ERA) and Jeff Brown (.250 and only four errors while playing several different positions). The return of slick-fielding veteran second baseman Steve Young, who missed most of the first half with a separated shoulder, has given Traverse City an additional boost heading into the final six weeks of the season. "Having Holmes and Steve Young back together again, that's comforting for a pitcher, and I think it'll be good for Holmes, too,” Casoli said. "Even when Steve's arm isn't 100 percent, he's still one of the best in the league.” The Beach Bums hope a push for the postseason has already begun. They swept their final series of the first half, taking three games from Slippery Rock, and they begin another three-game set with the Sliders tonight at Wuerfel Park. Seven more home games will follow — three against Washington and four versus Rockford — so there's no better time to make a move. "I'll be the first to admit we weren't very good in the first half,” Casoli said. "But we're all capable of doing better. Wins cure everything.”
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