The Bandits were active at the trade deadline. Even though they had a good lead at the top of their division, the Bandits GM really want to add a quality arm in the rotation. Therefore they decided to trade their extremely popular, Centerfield Gordon "Spring" Thornton, who had a hard time to perform to his expected level in the last two years. Along with Thornton, Ray Brady a valuable MR and their top prospect Alfredo Villalobos take their glove to Las Vegas, the finalist of the last world series.
In return, two Bob's arrive in town. The most important one is Bob Rudyard, rank #9 SP in the league. A left-handed starter who have an amazing era of 1.89 in Las Vegas, a hitter friendly park. To replace Thornton, Bob Reece also arrive in Montreal. He will share the load with Greg Forrest at the Centerfield position. Finally 22 years old Chris Mills will close game in AAA.
This gives Montreal a very good rotation with Raul Perez, Austin Brown, Bob Rudyard, Ray Clay and Scott McGuicken, and three good starters for the playoff.
For sure, Montreal got older and lost a top prospect, but we have some depth at the catcher position. We really want to defend our title. Now we need to control playing time of all the players to arrive in the playoff as healthy as possible.
Go Bandits....
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Thursday, September 6, 2012
THE CHAMPS WANT TO REPEAT
You would think that after winning it all in the first ABL season, that the GM would relax and be an observer during the offseason. This was far from being true. Encourage by his owner, who want to create a legacy, the Montreal GM was very active during this off-season.
First, the GM took the expensive Eric Ware off waiver from San Francisco. The 33 years old switch hitter will be the perfect DH in Montreal. He hit 30HR and 111RBI in a pitcher-friendly park, last year. Imagine now what he can do in Montreal.
Second, they will get back their all-star Center field, Gordon Thornthon, who spend most of last season on the disable list. Even thought, Forrest and Moyer were great in replacing Thornthon last season, we are happy to have him back. Our speedy Center-field, is a respected leader and perfect lead-off man.
Finally, today the GM have decided to trade three prospects and a veteran: Martin Merritt (SP) AAA, Jeffrey Hall 3B (AAA), Robert Price (SP) AA and Jeff Johnson (3B) ML, in order to get Emilio Guerrero, 37 years old 3B, who have a very familiar name in Montreal. Guerrero 35 HR last season and his good glove at 3B will be a great addition to our ball club. This move will make Millard Shafer a luxury utility man, who will come to rest Guerrero, Collins or Izyurov when needed.
With Guerrero, the Bandits also acquire 26 years old Ray Clay (SP). Last year Clay was 10-8 in KC. Clay comes in Montreal with the #3 SP spot ready for him, just behind Raul Perez and Austin Brown. Montreal also got 5 Millions Dollars to help pay for Guerrero salary.
We gave 3 good prospects of our organisation, but we do have few more arms in our minor league. Plus we have drafted two 3B in the last draft so Hall become available.
Competitive time is now in Montreal. We enjoy our first ABL title, and we want to send a message to our player and our fan that we want to repeat.
First, the GM took the expensive Eric Ware off waiver from San Francisco. The 33 years old switch hitter will be the perfect DH in Montreal. He hit 30HR and 111RBI in a pitcher-friendly park, last year. Imagine now what he can do in Montreal.
Second, they will get back their all-star Center field, Gordon Thornthon, who spend most of last season on the disable list. Even thought, Forrest and Moyer were great in replacing Thornthon last season, we are happy to have him back. Our speedy Center-field, is a respected leader and perfect lead-off man.
Finally, today the GM have decided to trade three prospects and a veteran: Martin Merritt (SP) AAA, Jeffrey Hall 3B (AAA), Robert Price (SP) AA and Jeff Johnson (3B) ML, in order to get Emilio Guerrero, 37 years old 3B, who have a very familiar name in Montreal. Guerrero 35 HR last season and his good glove at 3B will be a great addition to our ball club. This move will make Millard Shafer a luxury utility man, who will come to rest Guerrero, Collins or Izyurov when needed.
With Guerrero, the Bandits also acquire 26 years old Ray Clay (SP). Last year Clay was 10-8 in KC. Clay comes in Montreal with the #3 SP spot ready for him, just behind Raul Perez and Austin Brown. Montreal also got 5 Millions Dollars to help pay for Guerrero salary.
We gave 3 good prospects of our organisation, but we do have few more arms in our minor league. Plus we have drafted two 3B in the last draft so Hall become available.
Competitive time is now in Montreal. We enjoy our first ABL title, and we want to send a message to our player and our fan that we want to repeat.
Sunday, August 12, 2012
BANDITS CHAMPIONS
Friday 26th 2012 is an historical day in Montreal and will now be an holiday in Québec. After the Expos got killed by Rick Monday in 1981, after the MLB screw Montreal Expos with a stupid strike in 1994. The new franchise, the Montreal Bandits in the newly best baseball league in North America won the first championship of the Adult Baseball League, bringing home the first Baseball Championship in Montreal.
Fans were crazy in and around the Labatt Bleue Park. Tom Becker and Raul Perez are now more popular then any Hockey players in Montreal, even though, the Montreal Canadiens start their season, the only discussion subject in Town is BASEBALL.
To do so, the Bandits got in the playoff with the wild card spot with a record of 95-67, then they beat the Seattle Sasquatch in 6 games in the first round. In the RCL Championship, the Bandits got the best of the Dallas Texans in 6 games.
Finally, they won the World Series against their best enemy the Las Vegas Jokers and the richest owner Rene Angelil, a quebecer, husband and manager of Celine Dion, who decided to invest in Vegas, instead of Montreal. Beating the Jokers in 4 games, was a nice revenge, mentioned the owner Rodger Brulotte, all smiles.
Brulotte thanks all the Montreal fans for their support, especially at home where the team played just outstanding. He also gave huge credit to the coaching staff, and Dave Harris the 44 years old Manager, who got some criticism at the beginning. Reporters were saying that he didn't have enough skills and experience to bring the Championship home. But Harris was instrumental in managing his team.
Brulotte thanks all the players for their effort, these guys after the lost of Gordon Thornton in May got together and decided to go and play as hard as they can. They were just amazing in September and October. Every players participated in the success of the Bandits. We are the ABL Champions.
Christian Latulippe
ABL World Series Champs 2012
Fans were crazy in and around the Labatt Bleue Park. Tom Becker and Raul Perez are now more popular then any Hockey players in Montreal, even though, the Montreal Canadiens start their season, the only discussion subject in Town is BASEBALL.
To do so, the Bandits got in the playoff with the wild card spot with a record of 95-67, then they beat the Seattle Sasquatch in 6 games in the first round. In the RCL Championship, the Bandits got the best of the Dallas Texans in 6 games.
Finally, they won the World Series against their best enemy the Las Vegas Jokers and the richest owner Rene Angelil, a quebecer, husband and manager of Celine Dion, who decided to invest in Vegas, instead of Montreal. Beating the Jokers in 4 games, was a nice revenge, mentioned the owner Rodger Brulotte, all smiles.
Brulotte thanks all the Montreal fans for their support, especially at home where the team played just outstanding. He also gave huge credit to the coaching staff, and Dave Harris the 44 years old Manager, who got some criticism at the beginning. Reporters were saying that he didn't have enough skills and experience to bring the Championship home. But Harris was instrumental in managing his team.
Brulotte thanks all the players for their effort, these guys after the lost of Gordon Thornton in May got together and decided to go and play as hard as they can. They were just amazing in September and October. Every players participated in the success of the Bandits. We are the ABL Champions.
Christian Latulippe
ABL World Series Champs 2012
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
BANDITS STEAL A PLAYOFF SPOT
It was not an easy task, but the Bandits made it to the Post-Season. With the injuries to Thornton, Borlase, Forrest, Malise, May and June were thought months for Montreal playing just over .500. But coach Harris said that Becker, Shields, Carr, Izyurov and Perez were instrumental in keeping the team honest and performing. Then, the guys worked hard in rehab and comeback strong in September with a record of 16-7. With 4 games back and 4 games left to the season, the chance of catching up the Berserkers are very limited.
But as Brulotte mentioned, our objective was to make it to the post-season and we did it. It is great for our organization and our fans. We have amazing baseball fans in Montreal, we were sold out 99% of the time, and the players enjoy playing here with an amazing record of 52-25 at home.
Some players just have incredible season in Montreal and should be nominated for some hardware. here is the top 3 players that worth mentioning.
What about the homerun king Tom "the horse face" Becker. He's hitting for .370, 56 homeruns (leader), and an unbelievable 187 RBI (leader). It should be one of the top candidate for league MVP.
Raul Perez has been instrumental this season. Pitching half of his games in a hitter friendly park in Montreal. He has a record of 20-4, with an era of 2.98 and 263 K. He should be highly consider for the Cy Young.
Tom Shields flirts with the .400 average all season. Now at .387 with 245 hits in only 141 games, for a catcher these are great numbers. Maybe the best surprise in baseball this year.
But now let's talk playoff, right now, unless a major surprise in the last 4 games, Montreal will start the Post-Season against Seattle and Steve Frend. We can expect a lot of point between these two teams with hitter friendly park, Seattle and Montreal are leading the league in batting average with .311 for Seattle and .309 for Montreal. Bandits won 4 out of 7 against Seattle. But like people said this is a new season.
But as Brulotte mentioned, our objective was to make it to the post-season and we did it. It is great for our organization and our fans. We have amazing baseball fans in Montreal, we were sold out 99% of the time, and the players enjoy playing here with an amazing record of 52-25 at home.
Some players just have incredible season in Montreal and should be nominated for some hardware. here is the top 3 players that worth mentioning.
What about the homerun king Tom "the horse face" Becker. He's hitting for .370, 56 homeruns (leader), and an unbelievable 187 RBI (leader). It should be one of the top candidate for league MVP.
Raul Perez has been instrumental this season. Pitching half of his games in a hitter friendly park in Montreal. He has a record of 20-4, with an era of 2.98 and 263 K. He should be highly consider for the Cy Young.
Tom Shields flirts with the .400 average all season. Now at .387 with 245 hits in only 141 games, for a catcher these are great numbers. Maybe the best surprise in baseball this year.
But now let's talk playoff, right now, unless a major surprise in the last 4 games, Montreal will start the Post-Season against Seattle and Steve Frend. We can expect a lot of point between these two teams with hitter friendly park, Seattle and Montreal are leading the league in batting average with .311 for Seattle and .309 for Montreal. Bandits won 4 out of 7 against Seattle. But like people said this is a new season.
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Home field advantage
Almost 60 games into the season, the Bandits are showing two faces. At home, they are one of the best team in the ABL, with a record of 20-9, the team is playing some sharp and inspired baseball. However, away, the bandits are one of the worst team in the league with a poor 11-18 record. The owner is thinking about bringing some fans in their next away-game.
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Hospital is full in Montreal
After a 6-0 start, the Bandits struggle and have a hard time to play for 500. Now in 3rd place with e record of 16-15, the team got hit by few injuries, the bullpen is without Lowry and Malise, and two starters Borlase (RF) and Johnson (3B) are out, so we made our first call to our AAA team.
Expectations are high in Montreal, let's play some good baseball
Friday, March 30, 2012
Smell the grass...
In Montreal, sun is shinning, the winter was not too cold and spring come early. We smell the grass and Montreal Canadiens getting ready to golf and the Montreal Bandits to step on the field for their first season in the ABL. Fan are excited and ready to cheer for baseball. Playball...
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