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IOWA CITY FINALLY GETS MLB!!!

Iowa City Gazette 4-1-2008

Today MLB announced that it will expand by 2 this season, with Iowa City getting one of those teams! This apparently has been kept well under wraps for months, as players have already been allocated to the new teams.

The Iowa City "Country" will play in the AL Central division, and the role of GM/manager will be held by ERISA Dude. When the owner, Mr C.O. Rnandpotatoes, was asked why he chose a manager with no actual playing expense at any level, he responded: "ERISA Dude is a thoughtful young man with a bright future who was willing to take on an expansion team whose payers were already chosen and contracts awarded."

Mr. Dude was asked about his baseball philosophy. "We have young players who are going to struggle in all areas, so we will need to focus on the basics. Since we are in an era when even pitchers with 'G' control will find the plate more often than not, and where every pitcher can throw every one of his pitches for strikes, we need batters who can put their bat on the ball. You can't get on base without making contact, so that will be our initial offensive focus. Once on base, we do not have a lot of speedsters right now, but I will want us to be aggressive in going from 1st to 3rd. Defensively, we do not have a lot of strong arms, so quick throws to the cut-off men will be crucial to stop singles from becoming doubles, and since MLB has gotten so strict about running in narrow base paths, we will focus on tagging out runners to start double plays. As for pitching, I have some ideas on how I want to handle things, but I need to see how things fall into place."

On his expectations for the team, Dude replied: "I believe in short-term goals that lead to long-term accomplishments. I expect to stay competitive in the vast majority of our individual games in the 2008 season, and we will see how things shape up at year-end. I expect us to make the playoffs in 2009; and frankly, as long as Mr. C.O. Rnandpotatoes and I stay on the same page, I expect to go far into the playoffs in 2010 and take home our 1st or 2nd World Series in 2011."

When asked if the Country will be active with trades and free agency: "We will be active in free agency, with a focus on players that will help us win and develop as a team. We will be open to trades, but we are not willing to trade away our players with the most potential in order to get average players who just happen to be better than our guys right now. More than free agency and trades, I expect our core players to develop due to training."

This Iowa City reporter is certainly looking to see how this team progresses, and encourages all of you to make some time to get out to the ballpark!
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I was in my 3rd season with my 1st expansion team when I realized how much fun it could be to blog about it like some of you had. Please give a response if you'd make some time to follow along!

I follow everything.

Meet The Country

Iowa City Gazette 4-2-2008


Well, the opening day roster was made public today. Following is a list of the players expected to make up the starting lineup, along with some comments from GM/Coach ERISA Dude:

pos Status Name Contact power speed arm defense errors

1b. FA. Johnson. e. B. F. D. D. B
comments: Johnson's power shows promise and we expect his ability to pick balls out of the dirt to help the confidence of our young infield

2b. RFA. G White. E. F. E. e. c. D
comments: this rookie free agent has promising range, should be able to develop with our team, and provides some flexibility since he can also play LF

ss. FA T. Perez D. E. d D. C. D
comments: aside from providing decent offensive contact and defense, Perez will give us much-needed flexibility, with his ability to play 3 infield positions

3b. RFA. Chavez. E. E. D. B. E. E
comments: Chavez (who likes to be announced as "Mario Alvarez" in tribute to his father) is a young player with a strong arm who we expect to grow with our team. His strong arm should allow us to play back a little more against power-hitters

C. Draft. Huisman. D. E. e. c. C. D
comments: We are very excited to have this switch-hitting catcher on our team. He seems athletic enough to play a lot of different positions, but for now he'll be anchoring our catching spot

LF. FA. Ruggiano. E. F. D. D. E. E
cf. Draft. Zapp. E. e. e. d. D. E
comments: Zapp is an athletic kid who will need to work on making contact with the ball. Defensively, we have no concerns; in fact, he might be athletic enough to use as an infielder.
rf. Draft. Roney. E. F. E. e. e. e

Here is a list of pitchers expected to make the opening day roster:

pos Status Name Control, stamina, top speed, breaking pitch score

SP. FA. Matt Morris. C. A. 92. 11
comments: we did stretch the budget to bring Matt in, but we expect him to eat up precious innings and tutor our young staff

SP. FA. Hideo Nomo. D. B. 89. 8
comments: an innings-eater with a solid forkball

SP. FA Chuck James. C. B. 91. 4
SP Draft. Depablos. D. C. 93. 6
SP. draft. Deardoff. D. C. 88. 6

I'll follow too

Twins Ruin Inaugural Day; Outplay Country, 5-2

Iowa City Gazette 4-3-2008

Well...they had to suffer their 1st loss sometime! After letting up a run in the 1st, the Country scored their 1st run when Schraeger (DH - defded) singled, went to 2nd on a single by White, both runners moved up on a wild pitch, and then Schraeger came home on Ruggiano's grounder to 1st.

The Country threatened a few times, but the Twins scored again in the 4th and had a 2-run 5th, in part because Ruggiano's misjudged a ground ball that ended up rolling all the way to the wall. The Twins may have played on the Country's inexperience, bunting for base hits several times.

The Country did show a little fight, loading the bases with no out against Twins closer, Nathan, but Perez was doubled off at 2nd when Huisman lined out to short, and then Roney started home on a wild pitch and could not retreat quickly enough when Mauer picked up.

Highlights:

1st hit: Huisman (1st inning)
15 total hits, 4 by CF Zapp
Dan Johnson was the only Country player to go hitless.

Iowa City
Gazette 4-4-2008

Iowa city broke through early with three singles right off the bat, with another run scored on three singles in the second. Dan Johnson hit a two run homerun – the first homerun in Iowa city history - in the third inning, and on consecutive singles the country scored another run in that inning and again in the fourth..

Nomo had an exciting fourth inning, where with one out and runners on second and third ( after letting a run score), he struck out the next two batters

The country and the twins traded zeros for the next few innings. Jiang (CD91 5) pitched a valuable 3 2/3 innings without letting a run score, although he came out with two runners on base who scored on singles off of Truby (CD 82 6) in bottom of the ninth before closing the game out on a pop-up too short

Iowa City Gazette 4-4-2008

In a shocking move, the Country traded their CF, Zapp (.700 ave) to the Royals for backup midfielder, Angel Sanchez

When asked for comment, Country GM said "Sancehz is someone we've had our eye on, and we place a premium on quality middle infielders. Again, he's a young player (1 year MLB exp) who should grow nicely with us."

On losing Zapp, "If he hits 700 the rest of the year, we will certainly look foolish, but we've got another CF (Huffman) with similar skills who should be able to fit in well."

When asked if the Country will continue to be activ EIN the trade market, Dude said "we will continue to monitor things, but other than, perhaps, a closer, or someone who can clearly grow into the closer's role, we do not anticipate making a move."

4-6-2008 The Country made another trade, this time trading some nonstarters for relief pitcher Sean Green (CE 93 6). Said GM Dude: "this is a young pitcher that can grow into a dominant closer; I especially like his sinker-splitter combination. Very effective."

Iowa City Gazette 4-9-2008

week in review

Well, since starting the season at 500, the Country have gone 2-3, but have kept the manager's promise to keep the games interesting. Their 3 losses have been by 2 or 1 run only, and the loss against the Twins was particularly heartbreaking, as their swing man, Truby (DC 82 6 - yes, that's right - a top speed of 82 mph!!) pitched a scoreless game into the 7th. Green entered the 9th to protect a 1-run lead, and after giving up consecutive singles to the 1st 2 batters, struck out the next two before Kubel hit a soft opposite-field liner to score the tying run. In the 10th, the Twins scored twice more to put the game away. Green did redeem himself (sort of) in the following game by getting a 4 out save to protect a shutout for Matt Morris.

So far, what this reporter has observed is that this team has no one, but Dan Johnson with true extra base power, and they are not doing a good job of moving runners over. It seems that more hit and runs end up as fly ball double plays than not. What this means is that the Country need bunches of hits to score a few runs here and there. Fortunately, some surprisingly-good pitching has kept them in these games, and hopefully will continue to do so.

Iowa City Gazette 4-13-08

The starting lineup for today's game is as follows:
1 Chavez (3rd)
2 Huisman (C),
3 Sanchez ss,
4 Johnson 1st,
5 White 2nd,
6 Huffman CF,
7 Borland DH,
8 Ruggiano LF ,
9 Roney RF.
Dierdorf pitching

For the Royals, meche pitching

The Royals quickly had a runner at first and third with no out in the bottom of the first. Teahen doubles down the right-field line to drive in a run and place runners at second and third with No out. Dierdorf retired one runner when Guillen missed a sacrifice bunt attempt and Huisman tagged out the runner from third trying to score. Guillem then lined a single to center to score Teahan. Dierdorf then struck out gruedzielanik and got gload to pop out to short to end the inning down 2-0

White continued his strong hitting (.308) by leading off the second with a single, moving to second on a wild pitch and third on a single by Huffman before scoring on a single by Borland. After a pop fly, Roney singled in Huffman to tie the score at 2. Chavez and Huisman grounded out to the second baseman, stranding Boreland a third

After Dierdorf retired the Royals in order to end the second, Sanchez popped out to short before back-to-back singles by Johnson and white placed runners in scoring position for Huffman who came through with a clutch hit to drive Johnson home before the inning ended on a double play. Country 3 Royals 2

The Royals stormed back in the bottom of the third with DeJesus and German getting singles and teahan doubling home deJesus ( just as in the first inning). This time, guillen placed his bunt and german scored from third

gruedzielanik singled home another run, giving the Royals a 5-3 lead when Dierdorf retired the next two batters

Disappointingly, after their first batter grounded out, the Country got back to back infield singles before huisman grounded into an inning ending doubleplay

Iowa city made things interesting in the eighth, when white doubled and was driven home on a single by Borland to bring the country within one run of the Royals

Marie relieved Dierdorf in the six and pitched an uneventful sixth and seventh inning before leaving with runners on first and third, 1 out for bourgeois

After widely missing the plate on his first two pictures, bourgeois struck out gload on three straight curveballs, but then gave up a single to Olivia who extended the score to 6-4 before retiring the next batter on a pop out to the catcher to retire at the Royals

The Country were retired in order and a top of the ninth to end the game

4-16-2008 Iowa City Gazette

After being swept by the Royals, the Iowa City Country took the 1st game against the Indians. The Country's Morris went up against the Indian's Westbrook.

The game was scoreless until the third inning when Ruggiano, Roney and Chavez each singled (Ruggiano scored). After Huissman grounded out and Sanchez hit a short single that did mot bring home a run, but loaded the bases, Johnson singled home Roney and Chavez. The third inning ended with the country up 3-0 on the Indians

That was all the offense the Country could muster, but it was all they would need, as Morris pitched a beautiful seven hit complete game shutout.

Interviewed after the game, Morris credited his ability to spot his 2-seam and sinking fastballs early in the count, which made the Indian's offense particularly susceptible to Morris' drop curve and change up later in the count.

David Slays Goliath in Game 1 (Huisman uses bat and glove to secure win)
Iowa City Gazette 4-22-2008

In general, teams that expect to fight for a post-season slot look forward to playing teams like the Yankees, favored to make it to the World Series this and most other years, early or in the middle fo the season, as a "test" or "gauge," but dread playing them later in the year when wins seem more crucial. Teams fighting to stay out of the cellar normally hate to play them anytime. So it was with trepidation that the Country hosted the Yankees for the 1st time.

The Country hid their nervousness well and came out swinging against the Yankees last night. After Morris retired the Yankees side with Jeter and Abreu getting singles, the Country scored when Chavez, who singled and moved to second on a hit-and-run with Catcher Huisman, went to third on a wild pitch to Sanchez. Chavez started home, but quickly retreated back to 3rd on an infield hit to Jeter by Sanchez, and Sanchez made it safely to 1st as Jeter threw home. Chavez then scored on a base hit from Johnson. After White ground into a fielder's choice and left runners at first (White) and third (Sanchez), Borland singled up the middle to drive in Johnson.

Down 2-0 to start the second inning, the Yankees came back when Cano doubled and then, after a groundout by Pasada, Matsui doubled to right center, scoring Cano, and a soft liner to right by Cabrera drove in Matsui. Then, after Damon grounded out, Jeter singled in Cabrera to take a 3-2 lead. The inning ended with Abreu at bat - Jeter tried to steal second on a drop curve, but Huisman threw him out. Although Huisman started the day mired in a slump with a batting average right at the Mendoza line, he has been very good at throwing out base stealers (unofficially, he is throwing out base stealers at 95% rate).

Huisman came up big, offensively, in the bottom of the second inning. After a Ruggiano groundout, Roney and Chavez singled and Huisman doubled to deep right center driving in both runners. Huisman came home on a single by Dan Johnson, giving the country a 5-3 lead after three innings.

But the Yankees came storming right back in the bottom of the third, with base hits by Rodriguez, Giambi, and Posada (whose single scored Rodriguez), and then a 3-run home run by Matsui to give the Yankees a 7-5 lead. Again, the inning ended with Huisman throwing out a base stealer at 2nd, this time Cabrera.

After giving up 7 runs in the 2nd and 3rd innings, Morris had an excellent 4th inning, striking out the side - Damon, Jeter, and Abreu.

Both starters tired and were replaced before the end of the fifth inning, but neither team scored. In the bottom of the 6th, the Country closed the gap a little against Joba Chamberlain, bringing home another run in an inning in which they had 4 singles and, at one point, the bases-loaded.

The top of the seventh was most notable for Huisman's throwing out Johnny Damon trying to steal second and his pick up and throw out of a bunt attempt by Jeter.

CF Huffman led off the bottom of the 7th with a base hit and was bunted over by Ruggiano before being driven in on a single by Roney, who went to second on the throw home. Roney then moved to third on an infield hit by Chavez, and scored on a single by Sanchez (after Huisman popped out). Chavez then scored on a single by Johnson.

In the 8th, an Abreu single and Jason Giambi 2 run home run off of set up man Borgeois in the top of the eighth tied the game at nine, and the Country fans let out a collective groan, as they sensed impending doom, but that was all the scoring that happened in the 8th.

After retiring the Yankees in order to start the 9th, the Country scored the winning run when Roney led off with a single, moved to 2nd on a bunt by Chavez, and scored on a Huisman single. In addition to driving in the winning run, Huisman went 4 for 6 with 3RBIs to raise his average to a still-paltry .231.

On the difference between his gem against the Indians last week and this game, where he kept his team in the game, Morris responded: "my sinking fastball was really effective against the Indians righty lineup, but the Yankees have so many lefties and switch-hitters that I needed to rely on my slider more, making my breaking pitches less effective since the speed differential is less significant."

Iowa City Country 4-23-2008

Well, for yesterday's game against Ian Kennedy and the Yankees, the Country manager revised the lineup a bit, replacing Ruggiano in left with White, who had been playing second base. Sanchez slid over to 2nd and Perez took Sanchez' spot at short. The lineup was

Chavez
Huisman
Sanchez
Johnson
Perez
White
Borland (DH)
Huffman
Roney

Middle reliever Buchanan (DC 87 7 for 4 offspeed pitches) got the start today in place of Deardoff, still sore from his last outing.

The Yankees struck first in the top of the second, with Matsui driving in Cano, who doubled and moved to 3rd when Giambi ground into a fielder's choice.

Kennedy, meanwhile, use a steady diet of sinkers and split finger fastballs to keep the country hitless for 2 1/3 innings. At that point, however, Huffman singled and moved to second when Roney hit a liner that bounced off the pitcher for an infield hit. Chavez hit a soft single to center scoring Hoffman to tie the score at one. Huisman struck out looking, but runs were driven in on singles by Sanchez & Johnson. The inning ended with the Country up 3-1.

Buchanan was pulled after 5 1/3 innings, after giving up singles to Abreu and Rodriguez, in favor of JIANG, who induced Giambi into an inning ending double play.

In the bottom half of the seventh, white and borland each singled to right, and after Huffman grounded into a fielder's choice, Roney hit a shallow fly to center scoring Borland. Chavez also singled, but Huffman, having to stop to see if the shortstop would catch the ball, had to hold up at 3rd base. Fortunately, he and Roney were driven home by a sharp single from Huisman. At that point, Kennedy was pulled in favor of Bruney, who promptly retired Sanchez and Johnson. Country 6, Yankees 1

Neither team made a threat in the eighth, and Bourgois came in for the Country in the ninth and promptly shutdown the Yankees, striking out Alex Rodriguez on a full count curveball.

Notable: Chavez played a solid all-around game, going 2/4 with 1 RBI & 1 run scored. He also had about 7 put outs in the field.

Country Trade minor league pitcher for A's OF
Iowa City Gazette - 4-25-2008

The Country continued their active trading, this time sending a minor league pitcher to the A's for outfielder Ryan Sweeney. Said GM ERISA Dude: "Ryan gives us some extra flexibility since he can play all three outfield positions, he can make decent contact, and he's under contract for six years. Again, a very young player who should be able to grow and develop with the team."

Missed Opportunitites Doom Country

Iowa City Gazette 5-1-2008

Ultimately decided by an exciting, walk-off play at the plate, this was a game with a lot of missed opportunities, and the Country's James pitched a very solid six innings against the Yankees, giving up two runs on seven hits with six strikeouts. Unfortunately Mike Mussina, lasted into the seventh inning, giving up no runs, as the Yankees won 3-2.

James worked out of a jam in the bottom of the first after the Country were retired in order. After getting Damon on a pop out to third, Jeter and Abreu hit back to back singles. Rodriguez then grounded into fielder's choice to second, leaving runners at first and third with Giambi at bat. Giambi lined a shot to the second baseman to end the inning. If we were scoring "missed opportunities," we'd say the Yanks were up (down?) 1-0.

In the top of the second, Harris led off with a walk, and after singles by Johnson and Ruggiano, bases were loaded for Chavez with no outs. A failed sacrifice bunt led to Brendan Harris getting tagged out at home, then Chavez hit a soft single to reload the bases with one out for DH Avalos who grounded into a double play, ending the inning. The Yankees threatened again in the bottom of the second but did not score. Missed opportunities: Country 2, Yankees 2

In the top of the third, after Roney and Sweeney flied out, Huisman singled and Sanchez hit a deep single that allowed Huisman to move on to 3rd base, but Harris grounded weakly to
Mussina. The Yankees finally broke through in the bottom of the third when Rodriguez hit a two run homerun off of James. Missed Opp: Country 3, Yankees 2; Score: Yankees 2, Country 0

The Country made some noise in the top of the 9th as Harris led off with a single, moved to third when Johnson singled, and held up after drawing a throw home on Ruggiano's infield grounder that led to bases loaded with no one out for third baseman Chavez who popped out to the infield. The Country then pinch-hit for their DH, using their backup catcher, Junge (EE), who singled in Harris and Johnson. Ruggiano and Junge moved to 2nd and 3rd on the throw home.

At this point, Mussina was replaced by Chamberlain, who induced Roney to pop out to third and Sweeney grounded weakly to the picture. Score 2-2; Missed Oppty: Country 6, Yankees 2

In the bottom of the 9th Jiang allowed a single by the Yankees backup catcher who had previously entered as a pinch runner, and then a double to Matsui. Jiang was replaced by Country set up man Bourgeois, who got a slow-roller from Cabrera to Johnson who was unable to throw out Damon at home. Final score: Yankees 3 Country 2

Also notable: On the day when he batted with the bases loaded and no outs twice, and failed to drive in a run, Chavez was named rookie of the month of April, with a 336 ave, 2 HR, 19 RBIs. The 1st league award for the Country!