| THE FIVES FIVE TO WATCH FOR PLAYER OF THE YEAR jon olsavsky, analisa goodthing- olsavsky certainly has the team to keep him among the league's elite, much as he did last season. the last couple of years must have felt like culture shock for jon, who spent much of his early career surrounded by incompetence. i see jon batting third in this lineup behind elysa farrell and billy picciotto. while i don't see astronomical rbi numbers, thanks in large part to what is destined to be a 30-homer campaign for picciotto, jon should see a nice chunk of his misses get put back in by either himself of his teammates, and i expect a career-high in average from the perennial all-star. he should also be among the top 5 in double plays, and on a team i predict to win around 14 games, that should be more than enough to tab him as a player of the year finalist. nate tomko, pj & the ladies- as always, nate tomko would have to be considered the frontrunner for player of the year in 2005, but the gap is certainly closing on him fast. he's still the most dominant overall player in the game, leading the league in just about every category last season and finishing a remarkable 20-1, undefeated if you erase the all-star game from the mix. a combination of more elite-level players, not batting behind longtime teammate shelley goodpastor, and his (finally) suiting up in lady red should see a relative nose-dive in his numbers, but if anyone is the sbl can take a serious statistical hit and still be considered one of the best, it's tomko. look for a .650 average with 70 rbi and 50 double plays. bryan frankovich, team koopa troopa- i see frankovich batting behind matt mcclelland in what will most likely become one of the top 1-2 punches in the sbl in 2k5. when a player who bats around .550 follows up a player who bats around .600, rbi numbers tend to pile up like lawn ornaments in my backyard. the youngest player of the year candidate ever has improved in each of his first two seasons, and if he continues to progress as a player, he may eventually go down as the best ever. his team is stacked with big, physical inside players, but they're all rookies, so it's hard to say how that will affect his double play numbers. if there's one weakeness in frankovich's overall game, it's his being prone to dumb things. however, even with 20 in that category, he should still be far enough ahead of the pack to be a p.o.y. finalist. jon biddle, the fupalooters- 100 double plays is a definate possibility this season, especially since bidd has seemingly surrounded himself with players who will be more than willing to give into his me-first attitude on defense. still, if he does manage to put 100 back in by any means, that's 100 less outs his opponents will be getting, and that's certainly an impressive stat when one consideres that there are only 180 d.p.'s to be had by any one team in a season. the defense is there, but it's jon's hot/cold offense that will make or break him. by far the most inconsistent at the plate of the players on this list, for biddle to truely become a player of the year, he'll need to shake the image of a one-trick pony. i see bidd putting together a good offensive campaign (about 50 rbi with a .475 average), which should be enough when coupled with his 102 double plays. or, his team forfeits 10 games and biddle is league l.v.p. dank elly, uncle jed's pocket watch- batting behind the greatest leadoff hitter ever is a nice place to be. dank is currently the one penciled in there, and i see the reigning rookie of the year holding off teammate kip corbett for that coveted spot, and therefore having a golden oppurtunity to rack up tons of ribbies. in addition, team pocket watch is lacking any big defensive presence, and i see dank stepping up his thusfar lackluster defensive showing to fill that void. again, he'll be competing heavily with corbett for tip-ins, but i think dank is just a little more physically gifted and should get the bulk of the d.p.'s. a 20 homer-100rbi-50 d.p. year is within dank's grasp. FIVE TO WATCH FOR ROOKIE OF THE YEAR terry shernisky, return of the weenises- most people would consider shernisky the only real rookie of the year candidate. this season's crop of fresh meat certainly lacks the depth of previous seasons, at least at first glance, and the slick-shooting beau of katie kelly seems destined to be the 2005 player of the year. if he's as good as they say he is, he should be right up there with tomko and goodpastor in average and tip in about 60 double plays. pat omahaney, team koopa troopa- little is known about the sixth overall selection in the 2005 draft for those of us who don't attend recent sbl hotbed of talent kennedy catholic. i've been keeping tabs on this kid, and he seems to be quite the athlete, apparantly the best pitcher on kennedy's baseball team. while it's true that basketball players don't always make good baseketball players, good athletes usually do. besides, i doubt frankovich would waste his first pick on a bum. jeff knight, team koopa troopa- "dad", who has brother big rando's height and then some without the extra saddlebaggage that goes with it, is perhaps the rookie who has his heart in this league the most. i see him getting in a full slate of games, at least when he's not taking his child to the ballpark, and is certainly a solid enough athlete to make some waves in the r.o.y. voting. big ando, the fupalooters- weightlifting types generally don't have a very good shot, which is the main element of our beloved pastime. still, if big ando seperates enough heads from bodies during scrums, he may sway some voters come seasons end. patrick nespor, the brooklyn bridges- the youngest and last (until pj knocks up the assasin) nespor spends about as much time in the driveway practicing as brother lee, and could be a decent player. i don't see him keeping up with the less-goofy athletes above him, but did anyone really expect jeff pallini to be right in the middle of the r.o.y. watch until week 6 last year? FIVE OVERRATED (five players who are primed for a letdown in 2005) dennis lackey, return of the weenises- while nobody can take away the phenomenal season dennis had a year ago, i don't see the chickenlegged one repeating his all-star calibur play in 2005. his team appears to be far worse on paper, and i find it hard to believe he'll come out of the gates as hard as he did last year, when he was the player of the year through the first 4 weeks of the season. dennis, while a huge player in the league, lacks the athleticism to keep himself among the tomko's and biddle's of the sbl. stud frankovich, the brookyln bridges- ben smith snagged stud in the second round, a place reserved for solid, reliable players to fill out a starting lineup. while stud certainly has the skills to pay the bills, one can't overlook the fact that he only showed up twice last season while playing on his cousin's team. while i hope he comes week in and week out, my honest prediction is that stud will play in no more than 6-8 games and be one of the draft's biggest busts. jamie moroco, the return of the weenises- at one time one of the best in the league, jamie has fallen to what essentially amounts to a role player. she is no longer automatic from the center of the field, and her average has fallen to middle-of-the-pack. her numbers have slipped in each of her first 4 campaigns, and while there are reasons for this occurance (playing half seasons and on teams who basically bailed on her) it may be time to admit she's not the player she once was instead of waiting for her to right the ship. pj nespor, pj & the ladies- much like moroco, pj is still considered one of the best players in the sbl on name alone. he hasn't put together a solid campaign in 3 years, and really hasn't done anything special since his 8 double play game in the 2002 postseason. he's a liability at the plate, and doesn't put up the double play numbers he's capable of. sure, he's a lady, so all can be forgiven, but it's only a matter of time before pj is officially no longer the best baseketballing nespor. ted gilliland, analisa goodthing- ted has padded his numbers for the past two seasons by shooting pretty much nothing but homers, something he could get away with because he was his own captain. this year, teddy ballgame finds himself playing under someone else (and not just anyone else, but ben elliott, the man he let play a grand total of 15 innings in 2003). ben, as any captain would, is going to seriously cut back on the amount of homers mr. gilliland takes, and that should drop his rbi numbers into the moderately bad range. and that's only if ted plays an entire season, which is unlikely if he's not allowed to rain homers as he's accustomed to. expect ted's weaknesses to be exposed in'05, but if he sticks it out, it will make him a better player in the long run. |
| FIVEUNDERRATED (these players are ready to have their coming out parties in 2005) adam fabian, pj & the ladies- fabes, who has been around since year one but rarely for more than 2 weeks in any season, should finally make it to a significant amount of games in 2005. now that he's living with pj nespor, he'll be around a ton, as pj will most likely drag him-kicking and screaming if needed- to baseketball every week. i see him putting up a fred shaffer type of season, huge numbers that nobody actually believes came from his body, and fabes will battle for an all-star spot all year. katie kelly, the brooklyn bridges- i've been saying for wuite a while that katie may actually be better than shelley. let's see her prove me right. ben smith, the brooklyn bridges- at first, i thought ben just put together a couple of good weeks at the end of last year and would land on my "overrated" list instead of here. but after seeing him hang right in with myself, biddle, frankovich, olsavky and mcclelland at the fall classic, actually hitting the tournament-winning homer, i'm convinced that ben is for real, and has not yet begun to peak. elysa farrell, analisa goodthing- alright, so she already had a coming out party in the 2003 playoffs, but after her dissapearance from the sbl last season, i'd say she'd due for another. finally out from under the tyrannical rule of jared clayton, elysa should flourish as the leadoff hitter for competitive-yet-fun analisa goodthing. i expect her to challenge for the top average in the league, and if she does play an antire season while batting .700, look for her to get around 75 rbi and her first all-star spot. danielle hennon, return of the weenises- because she's rarely played on her real team thanks to her captainship of jukebox hero, danielle is rarely looked at as a good player. however, danielle blew up in the 2004 playoffs with an amazing .714 average, and at least one captain took notice as dennis lackey snatched her off the board about 2 rounds earlier than anyone else would have seriously considered taking her. while she's obviously never going to tip in more than a handful of double plays or hit 10 homers, she might be the best in the league at draining singles and doubles. a .714 season average isn't out of the question. THE FIVE GAMES (the 5 most intriguing games of the season right now) return of the weenises vs. pj & the ladies, week 1- the only two dynasties in the sbl fueded heavily in 2002 and 2003, with both teams claiming victory. the fire was put out last season as the weenises went into hibernation, but surprise moves on both sides rekindles the flames for 2005. while the faces have changed, most notably the ladies additions of nate tomko and billy weisberg, these two teams share a genuine disdain for one another and will be a great way to kick off the season. interesting sublots include terry shernisky's sbl debut, tomko vs. girlfriend danielle hennon for the first time ever, weisberg against the team he helped put on the map, and lenny crist going up against longtime cohorts rando knight and pj nespor. definately one of the most anticipated matches of all time analisa goodthing vs. the fupalooters, week 2- jon biddle and ben elliott finally collide in the first of what is sure to be three memorable 2005 matchups. biddle did himself no favors during the draft, and went from prohibitive favorite in this series to mild underdog. this should be the only time all season these two teams play each other at full strength, as fupalooter andy esenwein will be leaving for the army in week 3. this game will give one team season-long bragging rights, and could very well send one of these teams to a third or fourth consecutive loss, as both teams face tough early schedules. pj & the ladies vs. team koopa troopa, week 10- what seem to be the consensus picks for top two teams in the league will meet in the final week of the regular season in a contest which could decide who gets the all-important bye to the finals. uncle jed's pocket watch vs. analisa goodthing, week 10- if the ladies and ass gapers falter, which is a distinct possibility given the ladies past and flameville's reliance on rookies, these may be the two teams vying for the playoff bye in the final week of the season. on paper, these teams are so evenly matched it's almost mind boggling. both have tremendous leadoff hitters (farrell and goodpastor), a pair of athletic and evenly matched defenders who can also hit every shot on the court (picciotto/olsavsky and elly/corbett), and loveable yet talented players who could either have 10 rbi games or miss every shot they take (elliott and lee nespor). aside from likely playing a huge role in playoff positioning, this should aslo serve as the rubber match between the two most similair teams in the sbl. pj & the ladies vs. uncle jed's pocket watch, week 2- shelley goodpastor vs. nate tomko, round 1. FIVE NUMBERS (five numbers that will make or break some 2005 sbl seasons) 100- the jon biddle double play magic number. bidd came up 4 short last season, and seems almost obsessed with reaching his goal this season. 41- the number of homers it will take to break the single season record currently held by nate tomko. expect brandon mckendry, billy picciotto, ben smith, lee nespor and even tomko to aim for this mark, creating what should be an exciting race in the summer of 2005. 14- as in "wins". since the sbl went to the 20-game format in 2002, no team with less than 14 wins has won the regular season title, while every team that has met this mark has claimed the league's best record. with the regular season champ getting a bye to the finals while the other 7 teams slug it out in the playoffs, this number becomes increasingly important as far as a squad reaching their ultimate goal. 0- total sbl championships between billy weisberg, pj nespor, rando knight, cassie pyle and adam fabian. all are 5 year players and among the first 10 players to join the sbl, and all are suiting up for pj & the ladies in 2005, a team that most consider the early favorites to win the championship. 72- the number of 2005 runs batted in it will take for nate tomko to reach 500, making him the first sbl player to hit that mark. jon olsavsky, with the second highest total in the league, needs 264 rbi to reach 500. 2005 PRES COLUMN |