2011 Stats       2011 Review      2012 Outlook      2012 Championship

                                                               2012 COWL Preview                                                                        

             AKA : Jerry "Little Dirt" Driggs, Levi "Crush" Driggs, Phill "the Scorpion" King, Ben "Jamin" Cydrus

  Editors Note:   This preview was graciously written by Dave Page, Manager of the artists formerly known as GDE                             

                                                               Inside the Numbers

  2011 Season:

  League and Place:                                 National - 1st

  Post Season Record:                             Defeated Knights 2-0 in round 1

                                                                  Defeated PVB 3-1 in Divisional championship

                                                                  Defeated The U 4-1 in World Series

  Win/Loss Record:                                 32-4 (23-2 regular season)

*Pythagorean Record:                            31-5

  Win/Loss vs. teams above .500:           13-1  

  Win/Loss vs. teams below .500:           10-1

  Win/Loss games decided by < 5 runs   4-2

  Win/Loss in last 10 games :                  8-1

  Avg. Runs scored in games won:         22.2

  Avg. Runs scored in games lost:          10.0

  Avg. Runs scored in all games:            19.2    (1st)

  Avg. Runs allowed in all games:            9.2     (2nd)

  Homerun Total:                                     326     (1st)

  Avg. Homeruns per game:                      9.3    (1st)

  Runs For/Against:                                 672 / 335

  Homerun Leader:                                  tie - Jerry Driggs (80/123), Levi Driggs (80/119)   

  RBI Leader:                                          Jerry Driggs (257)

  Wins Leader:                                         Ben Cydrus (12)

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                                                             2011 Season Recap

             In 2011, The Legends did what they do best: win.  These guys have been winning for almost as long as

  they have been playing Wiffle ball.  They are the class of the league, and everyone knows it.  In the inagural

  COWL season of 2010 the Legends had a regular season winning percentage of .833.   They improved that in

  2011 to .889. 

             The Legends successfully defended their 2010 COWL World Series Championship in 2011.  That probably

  didn't surprise anyone.  The beat The Knights 2 games to none in the first round of the playoffs. 

             In the National League Championship, they took out Pleasant Valley Boys 3 games to 1. 

             The World Series was no closer.  The American League Champions, The U, gave The Legends their

  best shot.  However, The Legends prevailed 4 games to 1.   The Legends scored 17 or more runs in all 5 World

  Series games.  The Legends were dominant throughout the season, but even more so during the postseason. 

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                                                         2012 Season Preview

              Over the next two sections I will review what appear to be the Young Guns strengths, as well as what

 will be required of them if they wish to take the next step in 2012.

                                              Strengths:

• Sons a Pitches:  Jerry Driggs and Ben Cydrus are the two aces on the team.  Ben seems to be their

          go-to guy.  He is the kind of pitcher I like to see.   On the mound, he is all business.  He doesn't mess around

          with any funny stuff.   Ben gives the better his best, and if the batter crushes it, Ben is ready to attack the

          next batter in the same way.  His short memory is his strength.  Ben also has soft hands and doesn't make a

          lot of errors on throws back to him.  When Ben is pitching, teams have to rely on home runs to produce offense.

          Jerry is a different kind of pitcher than Ben.  That really helps both of them because it keeps hitters off balance. 

          Jerry likes to try tricking the batters with a pump fake, which simulates the effects of a curve ball in baseball. 

          It is a tough ball to hit out of the park, but if waited on properly, it is a good pitch to take opposite field.  A large

          strength of the pitching is the next strength, defense.

• D, D, D, Defense - The Legends have one of the better defenses in the league.  Phill and Levi are undoubtedly

          two of the top 6 or 7 fielders the league has to offer.    They both make the highlight plays, as well as the routine

          catches.  With these two on patrol in the field, the defensive responsibilities of Jerry and Ben are not as great as

          they could be.  This allows Ben and Jerry to focus on their pitching, making them even better. 

• Runs, Runs, Runs Away - This is where The Legends are so much better than everyone else.  Offense

          is their greatest strength.  I broke down some numbers to show how their offense has matured since 2010.  Only

          regular season stats were included because I believe those give a better picture of the entire year's production. 

          According to my calculations, in 2010, the average number of runs scored per team per game was 10.59.  In 2011,

          that saw a negligible drop to 10.52.  The league virtually saw no change in average per game run production for the

          regular season. 

          However, The Legends scored 3.4 more runs per game.  That is a pretty significant increase, but it because even

          more impressive when looking at how they scored runs in 2011, compared to 2010. 

             

In 2010, The Legends hit 7.44 home runs per game, and 47% of their runs came from players driving themselves in

via home run.   For example, if Jerry hits a home run with 2 runners on, then 33% of those 3 runs came from a player

driving himself in via home run.   In 2011, The Legends hit 6.49 home runs per game, and 33.8% of their runs came

from players driving themselves in via home run.   This tells me a few things.   The Legends were hitting home runs

with more runners on base and/or manufacturing more runs on singles.  

When teams are hitting less home runs and somehow scoring more runs, it is an equation for consistency.  The Legends

are very good in all types of weather because they can score using a variety of different strategies.  They do not rely

on the home run, even though they are capable of hitting them more than any other team.

• Jamin' to A Different Tune - I want to spend some time shedding light on the value of Ben Cydrus.  He is

           often overshadowed on this team because Levi and Jerry are the best power hitters in the league, and Phill is arguably

           the best contact hitter.

            

Jerry was responsible for close to 38% of the team's runs in both 2010 and 2011.   Levi saw a large increase from 24.5%

in 2010 to 32.3% in 2011, due undoubtedly to his dramatically increased HR total.  This shows what great improvement

Levi made in just one year.  Phill stayed around the 14.5% mark in both 2010 and 2011. 

Ben saw a large decrease in this area.  In 2010, he drove in 22.3% of the team's runs, but in 2011, that decreased to

just 15.5%. 

I knew that since the team had scored significantly more runs per game in 2011, Ben had to have contributed to the

offense in a different way.    I decided to look at an RBI to home run ratio.  Batting average is not a stat kept in our

league, so RBI to home run ratio is one way to quantify how much the hitters in front of a certain hitter get on base. 

This is really hard to explain, but I will try.  Let's say a batting order consists of 4 hitters, with each hitter named after

the corresponding letter in the alphabet.  If Hitter B's RBI/HR ratio is low, it means Hitter A rarely gets on base, due

to producing outs or home runs.  Either way, Hitter B is not going to be able to hit Hitter A in to score.

 

Now, in 2011, Phill, Levi, and Jerry all saw increases in RBI/HR ratio from 2010.  That has to be a result of Ben getting

on base more and hitting fewer home runs.  My hypothesis is that Ben's batting average actually raised, despite hitting

with less power. 

Ben, knowingly or not, has become much more valuable to The Legends by becoming a contact hitter rather than

a power hitter.  If Ben gets on base, he is more than likely going to score due to the bats in the lineup.  Therefore,

Ben getting a single is almost as valuable as Ben getting a home run.   Either way, he is probably going to score. 

Ben is a more valuable hitter when he hits .700 with all singles, compared to when he hits .350 and having all his hits

be home runs. 

The 2011 Legends were a better offensive team due to Ben's on base increase and Levi's HR improvement. 

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                                      Essentials for a Legends Championship Defense

• Same Old, Same Old - It is very easy to identify the essentials for The Legends to win another

          championship.   They don't need to change anything.   They have done it two years in a row and the only thing

          that can stop them is them.   If every other team increased their talent, The Legends would still be the team to

          beat.    If The Legends play to their full potential, they are unbeatable.

           The Editors would like to thank Dave for doing an excellent job on his 2012 preview of the Legends. 

           The only item we would disagree with is the very last sentence in the piece.  Each year the level of play in the

           COWL has gotten better, and when everyone has all their players, on any given night... We fully understand

           to defend our 2012 title will likely be a blood bath as there are no secrets any more - especially given the division

           format and the absolute murderer's row that is the Champion's Division.  In reality, if we all played London,

           there could well be 4 of the 8 finalists for the event (assuming we weren't paired against each other), and quite

           possible, the eventual London champ.

           Our team has long known that as Ben goes, so goes we.  Levi and Jerry's HRs are not the catalysts to big innings

           for the Legends.   When the Legends have big innings it is because Phill and Ben have done the dirty work of

           getting on base.  With Levi routinely wiping the bases clean, Ben is, in effect, the 2nd leadoff hitter and did

           an absolutely fabulous job last year at adjusting to the role.   It is a running joke among our team that he is

           deceptively speedy for someone hauling 2 and a half bills down the line.

           Editors Notes are emphasized in italics.

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