2010 Major League Central Wrap-Up - Part 2 of 3

Around the League:
Central:

Denver Rabbits (94-68): Denver has the best record in the league by virtue of their head-to-head tiebreaker over New York. Denver won this division in a route (again) by virtue of some dominant starting pitching and a dominant closer. On the mound, Kei Ijawa goes 18-6 3.00 with 226 K's, Derek Howe goes 10-10 3.08 and allowed only 6 HRs in 219 IP, Ruben Ramirez goes 11-9 3.28, Bartolo Fatone goes 14-9 3.56, and #5 starter Clint Meyers goes 13-9 2.62 with a 168-50 K/BB ratio. In the bullpen, Paul Williamson leads the league with 47 saves and posts a 2.18 ERA. On the field, Stan Marsh has a nice comeback season, going .306-27-78, and Alex Maldonado, after the trade with Toronto, posts a .317-.380-.596 line for Denver. With Maldonado, Denver finally has the dominant outfielder and cleanup hitter they have lacked in past seasons. They hope he is the difference that puts them over the top, and back into the World Series for the 1st time since 1994. On a milestone note, Mahatma Russell returned to Denver this season in a reserve role and picked up the 3,000th hit of his career.

Detroit Devils (79-83): There were very few highlights in Detroit this season. Unless they had a late flourish, they would not have been this close to Denver, as they were in 3rd place most of the year. Jose Isales has a nice offensive season, proving he is not through, going .303-.354-.501.

S. Louis Robins (71-91): Another non-contending team...on the plus side, youngsters Derek Tufnel and Robert T. Bruce look to be the two dominant hitters the team can build around for years to come. Tufnel goes .294-.410-.460 in 354 at bats (he needs to learn how to hit lefties better at this point in his career). Bruce goes .309-.374-.573 with 20 HR in 330 at bats (also needs work with the lefties). On the mound, Javier Mercedes had a nice season at 14-6 2.75.

Green Day Dukes (69-93): Jek Lewis finally breaks through, going .268-18-79 with 31 doubles, 14 triples, and 100 stolen bases. The other two jawas (BJ Lewis and Ezekial Duke) don't have great years, but should be a solid outfield trio next year.

Alaska Snow Sox (66-96): Alaska had the top-line talent to do better than this record, and possibly should have challenged Denver more. Regardless, some of the hitters lived up to the hype (Reggie Stocker .846 OPS & Rey Nunez .326 average), but too many of the hitters disappointed and didnt put numbers on the scoreboard. On the mound, Alaska has a really good young pitching rotation headed by 3 lefties. Andy Roughton (24) battles thru injuries but still manages to go 5-7 3.31 and only 80 hits allowed in 108 IP. Free agent signee Mike Cottrell (27) goes 11-5 3.20 in 152 IP. 2nd year man Odis Robinson (23) goes 13-6 and finishes 2nd in the league with a 2.57 ERA in 192 IP. But the story of the season for Alaska is rookie CC Salbacca (23). The huge and hairy lefthander goes 9-14 2.73 with 191 IP, 152 hits allowed, 105 walks, and strikes out 221 batters. The wookie also managed to hit 9 extra base hits and steal 4 bases, and was one of the most exciting players in the game, with the majority of his pitches registering over 100 MPH.