Florida Indoor Baseball League (F.I.B.L.) |
F.I.B.L. Links(Updated March 5th, 2001)NEW! 2000 Draft Order NEW! 2000 Draft List NEW! 2000 Cuts Lists NEW! 2000 Transactions NEW! 2000 Schedule 1999 F.I.B.L. Final Standings1999 F.I.B.L. Leaders1999 F.I.B.L. 1st Grand Totals1999 Draft ResultsNorth DivisionAlaska Rowdies: Roster | '99 Stats Blue Ridge Rebels: Roster | '99 Stats Lebanon Redbirds: Roster | '99 StatsYukon Huskies: Roster | '99 Stats Central DivisionConway Cougars: Roster | '99 Stats Orlando Warriors: Roster | '99 Stats Virginia Ponys: Roster | '99 Stats Windermere Apaches: Roster | '99 Stats South DivisionAlexandria Sharks: Roster | '99 Stats Gulf Coast Hurricanes: Roster | '99 Stats Tombstone Bandits: Roster | '99 Stats Venice Black Sox: Roster | '99 Stats Commissioner Strips Sharks, Rebels of #1s ORLANDO - January 20th -- Commissioner Bill Lewis acted yesterday to deal with the controversy that had swirled around the penalties given to the Alexandria Sharks and the Blue Ridge Rebels for their overusage. The Commissioner increased the penalties for both teams to forfeiture of their #1 picks in this year's draft. He then gave back supplemental picks at the end of the 3rd round, but lowered the Rebels' supplemental pick to the 4th round for their using pitchers to pinch-hit more than the 3 times that league rules allow, and took back the Sharks' supplemental pick entirely for their unorthodox pitcher usage. In a letter to the league, the Commissioner also outlined other issues which were not dealt with properly at the Winter Meetings and which will be dealt with on Draft Day. The Commissioner has tasked the Rules Committee with coming up with recommendations for the league, which will be discussed in the weeks leading up to the draft. The Commissioner also stated that any questionable tactics which threaten the integrity of the game, such as bunting solely to save at bats or attempting to steal bases in low-percentage situations solely to try to create outs without using at bats, will no longer be tolerated. Hot Corner Headaches ALVA, Fla. - February 4th -- It's the toughest position to fill in F.I.B.L., and it doesn't look like it will get any easier anytime soon. Teams that have a quality player at the position are thanking their lucky stars, while those who don't are looking to find one. The position: Third base. It isn't hard to see why the shortage exists: There's been a definite trade imbalance between the number of NL thirdbasemen going to the AL to seek their fortune and the number of AL thirdbasemen coming to the NL in return. At least five of the NL's starting thirdbasemen for the 2001 season are AL imports, while only two thirdbasemen who started in the NL are expected to have starting roles in the AL, and both of them are serious question marks. In this article, we'll look at who's expected to start at third for each NL team, as well as reserve players who can play the position and young prospects on the horizon. Your feedback is welcome. Feel free to e-mail me with your comments and suggestions! About This PageReturn to My Home Page |
F.I.B.L. Preseason Previews -- Part 9 of 12 Sharks Look to Return to Postseason Spotlight ALVA, Fla. - March 5th -- Last year, the Alexandria Sharks were the most unlikely of contenders. Nobody expected them to be in the race, but they hung in until the very last game, which they lost in extra innings. While they were disappointed to miss the playoffs, the team won 49 games and the season was deemed a success. The most amazing thing was that the Sharks' pitching allowed about 100 fewer earned runs than they were expected to. This year, however, the Sharks won't be able to sneak up on teams like they did last year. They have put together a potentially potent offense, so the Sharks' fate will be determined by whether the pitching can allow fewer runs than the offense scores. The pitching looks better on paper than last year's staff, but may be hard-pressed to match the 1999 squad's 3.67 ERA. F.I.B.L. Preseason Previews -- Part 8 of 12 Apaches Waiting for Youth Movement to Pay Off ALVA, Fla. - March 4th -- The Windermere Apaches are in the third year of their youth movement, and there signs that some of the young talented players that the Apaches have obtained in the past two drafts are beginning to develop. Players like Lance Berkman, Daryle Ward, Adrian Beltre and Preston Wilson all hit well in 2000, and young pitchers like Bruce Chen, Tony Armas, Jr., and Randy Wolf pitched very well at times. Some of the other young players didn't fare quite so well, but with the amount of young talent the Apaches have accrued, the future looks very bright in Windermere, at least another year or two down the road. What about this year? Well, the Apaches should be improved from last season. Once again, they are in position to have a very strong draft. With two picks in the first round (including the second pick overall), plus two picks each in the second and fourth rounds, plus a third-round pick, the Apaches will have seven of the first 37 picks. They may not find much in the draft that will help immediately, but they should be able to add a strong mix of prospects and useful role players. With a draft as potentially strong as this one, they could add enough talent to upgrade the weaker positions on their roster, and contend in a division that doesn't appear to have a clear-cut favorite. F.I.B.L. Preseason Previews -- Part 7 of 12 Grizzled Ponys Hope 2000 Isn't the 'Last Roundup' ALVA, Fla. - February 28th -- Like the F.I.B.L. champion Alaska Rowdies, the Virginia Ponys have a roster that overflows with experience. If the players were less talented, they would probably just be referred to as 'old.' But like the Rowdies, the Ponys' collection of senior citizens still can play. The question facing the Ponys is how long some of them can keep it up. The heart and soul of the Ponys' lineup is Barry Bonds, who is 36 entering the 2001 season. He has shown no signs of any age-related decline. Intense firstbaseman Will Clark, on the other hand, retired after the 2000 season, and thirdbaseman Ken Caminiti and shortstop Barry Larkin lost a large portion of the season to injuries. Outfielders Reggie Sanders and Matt Stairs looked old and ineffective for most of the year. Many of these key players in the Ponys' lineup will be facing critical questions in the 2000 season. F.I.B.L. Preseason Previews -- Part 6 of 12 Warriors Hope for Repeat Performance in 2000 ALVA, Fla. - February 27th -- Over the last 27 games of the 1999 season, the Orlando Warriors went 22-5, storming into a first-place tie with the Virginia Ponys, then winning the playoff game against the Ponys, 7-5, to advance to the postseason as the Central Division champions. The Warriors ran into trouble in the playoffs against the Alaska Rowdies, however. Still, it was a successful season for a team that had not been to the playoffs for a few years. The Warriors may have difficulty matching last season's record. They have some spots on their 2000 roster that look to be less effective than the 1999 version, and it takes a lot of luck to run off the kind of streak that the Warriors did over the last third of the the season. That said, this is still a dangerous team, and should be one of the contenders in what looks to be a wide-open Central Division race. F.I.B.L. Preseason Previews -- Part 5 of 12 Cougars Look to Reverse First-to-Worse Curse ALVA, Fla. - February 22nd -- The Conway Cougars were among the teams happiest to see the last pages of 1999 torn from the calendar. It was a miserable season for the defending F.I.B.L. World Series champions, who stumbled to a 28-53 record, good for last place in the Central Division. Much of the decline was due to severe injuries that curtailed or cancelled the season for players like Jason Kendall and Moises Alou. Now that the Cougars have Kendall and Alou back for the full 2000 season, they hope that their offense will be re-energized from last season's crew that finished with the second-fewest runs scored and the fewest home runs in the league. There is little doubt that the offense will be much improved. The booming bats of Todd Helton, Alou and Kendall will give the Cougars much more offensive punch than last year. The team also has a deep, talented bullpen, so the main question at this point is how good the rotation will be, and whether the offense will score enough runs for the starters to win. The Central Division should be extremely competitive, and with a good draft, the Cougars could be right in the thick of it. No Major Rules Changes at Contentious Winter Meetings ORLANDO - January 13th -- Although Alexandria Sharks GM Clyde Spicer made a valiant attempt, he was unable to persuade the rest of the league to adopt his visionary new usage system, which would have made the game more realistic and more fair. Instead, he had to settle for a few minor rules changes, although a committee was created to test out Clyde's usage system and report back to the league by next year's Winter Meetings. Here are the changes agreed to: The league agreed to expand rosters on the September 1st game date from 25 players to 30 players (plus the nameless player). The injury system was modified slightly so that the maximum length of injury any player may suffer is his saving throw minus one. It was confirmed that teams would only be allowed to claim a previous year's position for ONE year, and that teams claiming a centerfielder rating from the previous year would get the defensive rating that the game's outfield adjustment chart gave the outfielder. The league was unable to agree on any minimum number of innings for a pitcher to be allowed to start in the postseason, although there was consensus that SOME minimum was needed. Unfortunately, some of the hardliners refused to compromise from their unreasonably high innings requirement, and thus no minimum was voted in for this year. The league decided that major league rules will be followed in respect to wild card tiebreakers, including ties between multiple teams or three-way ties including both a division title and a wild card berth. "Aybar Rule": In order for a pitcher to start a game in F.I.B.L., he must have a starter rating. As Clyde said, "Make sure you spell it right." It was agreed upon that all teams must have at least one series played by the 15th of each month prior to trade deadline, and that if any team failed to do so, then the that team's FIRST series of the month will be played for them as provided for in the rules. The penalty rule for overusage was amended to allow teams to appeal the penalty. |