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League Combines 28AA and 28A
April 19, 2007 --
In a surprise move, the Sacramento NABA announced today that the 28AA and 28A division would join together and make one division. The new division will combine the 28AA Indians, Solons, Royals, A's, Storm Red Sox and Redbirds with the 28A Dodgers, Dirtbags, Giants, Longhorns and Cavern Bats for a 12 teams superdivision.
The league will now take the 12 teams and create two 6 team sub division, an American and a National. Teams will play three games with each team in thier division and then play each team in the other division once to make up a 21 game season.
"This is really the same format that we had back in 2005" according to Indians GM Paul Engelken. "It made the All Star game and the playoffs more exciting because you have more teams and that you had not played as much. Last year we played 7 teams 3 times and you pretty much knew what to expect. Now there will be 6 teams challenging for the championship that you have only played once."
The new American Division will be composed of the Indians, Solons, Red Sox, Redbirds and A's, while the Bats, Dodgers, Giants, Royals, Longhorns and Dirtlines make up the National.
The Indians first opponent in the new division will be the Giants. The Giants are off to an 0-2 start after an opening day loss to the Longhorns 12-9 and a 12-8 loss to the new look Dodgers in week 2. The Giants and the Indians hooked up for three games last season, with the Indians taking game 1, a tie in game 2 and the Giants defeating the Indians in game 3. The Giants got off to a simular start in 2006 going 0-2-1 in their first three games, but came on strong and to finish the season, narrowly missing the playoffs and finishing 9-9-3.
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2006 in Review
Regular Season
The 2006 NABA season got off to an early start for the Indians. A meeting way back in January produced some familiar faces and some new ones too. Personnel was a problem for the 2005 team that produced a dismal 1-20 season. In 2005, 19 different players wore the Indians uniform, but aside from the first few games the Tribe had trouble fielding a team for the majority of the season. To see 12 people show up for a meeting in January was a positive sign for the new season, it showed a dedication to playing that was absent the year before.
There were 10 members of the 2005 team that came back for another year. Julian Hernandez, Danny Phung, Josh Houck, Joe Camalari, Dave Lojewski, Troy Hensley, Andre Bryant, Matthew Ottele, Everett, Coil and Paul Engelken all came back for 2006. The original 10 represented a good core to build around, but the Tribe had definite needs.
Engelken , Hensley and Lojewski pitched the majority of the games in 2005 and the Tribe needed more depth. In the off-season the Indians signed Lonnie Wells to help on the mound. The Indians had first hand knowledge of Wells abilities as he was the opposing pitcher in a 9-8 loss to the Red Sox in 2005. The final addition to the pitching staff was Tony Hedley. Hedley had been out of the game for a couple of years and was coming off a knee injury, but proved quickly to be the pitcher the Indians needed.
Pitching was not the only need for the Tribe. The defense in 2005 resembled swiss cheese. In 2005 the Indians had trouble making the routine plays that would give opponent free bases. It was clear early on that newcomers, Ron Cimino, Carlos Robles, Lonnie Wells and Tony Hedley would help fortify an infield that already included 1B Everett Coil, 2B/SS Dave Lojewski and SS Troy Hensley. Going into the 2006 season, the Indians had two outfielders, Andre Bryant and Matthew Ottele. So the Indians went to the draft and with the #1 pick in the draft, thanks to that 1-20 record, the Indians chose Daniel Moore. Moore was clearly the most talented OF at the draft, with great speed and a great glove he was exactly what the Indians needed. Moore helped improve the Indians OF yet again by persuading free agent Kevin Nims to join the team to help give the Indians more depth in the OF.
The first full team practice in March gave a glimpse of what was to come. With most of the team in attendance, things had never looked better for the Tribe. Wet weather set in and prevented the Indians from practicing outside and so the Indians went inside for BP and throwing. The additional emphasis on both paid off for the Tribe.
After a three- week delay due to rain, the season got underway on April 23rd. The Indians first opponent was the Storm. The Storm, a new team to the league, had been lobbying the league, quite publicly, to be moved out of 28A and thought they should be in 28AAA. So the Storm would be a good test for the revamped Indians. The Indians would come away with a 15-13 victory behind good pitching performances from Paul Engelken and Lonnie Wells, each throwing 4 innings. The Indians continued their winning ways and after 7 weeks of the play the Indians were 7-1-1. A week 3 tie to the Giants and a 8-6 loss to the Reds in week 4 were the only blemishes the record to this point and a firm hold on second place, just behind the Reds.
Week 8 started a more negative trend for the Indians. Starting with the Storm, the Tribe would go on 5 game losing streak that dropped the Indians to 3rd place. During the streak the Indians lost 2 games to the Storm, 2 games to the Reds and a game to the Padres. The streak appeared to be headed to 6 straight when the Indians were trailing the Padres 6-1 in the 7th inning in week 11. The Indians staged an 8th inning rally, scoring 8 runs to come back and win that game 9-6 and woke the Tribe from their month long slumber.
The following week, the Indians met the Orioles for two games with second place on the line. The surging Orioles were just a half game behind the Tribe. The Indians came away with 2 wins on the day and leapfrogged the Storm ,who dropped two games to the Reds, and regain 2nd place.
With 4 games left to play, the Reds had already clinched the #1 seed in the playoffs with three more playoff spots available. The Indians held the #2 spot with the Storm just 1 ½ games back, the Giants just 2 games back, the Orioles 2 ½ games back and the Longhorns 3 games back. The race was on and the Indians next opponent, the Giants needed to win and they did. The Indians lead was trimmed to just a half game as the Storm, Giants and Orioles won their games.
With the regular season winding down, the Indians next opponent was the Longhorns. The Longhorns had a bit of an up and down season, but the Longhorns were able to hand the Reds their only two losses of the season. The Indians had swept a DH from the Longhorns early in the season, but now with both teams trying to make the playoffs, this game was a must for both teams. The Tribe would buckle down and grind out a 17-12 win. With the win the Indians ensured themselves a playoff spot, but the seeding would be determined by the outcome of the final week of the season.
The Indians met the Rams for two games on the final weekend on the regular season. The Rams had been playing well in the weeks leading up to the game and were looking to avenge a 9-6 loss earlier in the season and were looking to play spoiler thinking the Tribe might be looking to the playoffs a little too much. The Indians would take both games to finish the season 13-7-1 and take the # 2 seed in the playoffs.
Playoffs
Round 1 of the playoffs found the Indians right back where they started the season, playing the Storm. The Storm had taken the season series two games to one and had beat the Indians 23-5 and 13-3. The visiting Storm jumped out to a quick 3 –0 lead on two solo HR’s and appeared to have the early momentum, but it was a defensive play at the plate in the first that shifted the momentum back to the Indians. A single to left had already scored one run when a second runner tried to score. Indians OF Andre Bryant threw to Troy Hensley and in turn Hensley threw to catcher Julian Hernandez to nail the runner at the plate. The Indians would then come to the plate and score 8 runs in the bottom half of the inning on their way to a 18-12 victory. The Championships did not go as well. The Tribe never got the bats going scoring only 6 runs in two games against the Reds and could not subdue the potent offense of the Big Red Machine.
2007
The Indians will be looking to build on the success of 2006 season and add a few players to increase the depth of the pitching staff. At this point it is unclear how much of this years team will be back for 2007, but Indians manager Paul Engelken is expecting 13-14 to return for the championship run in '07.
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Indians shuffle management for 2007
January 12, 2007 --
The Indians announced today a new organizational structure for the 2007 season. Indians manager Paul Engelken will be stepping down due to other commitments and will be replaced by the tandem of Everett Coil and Ron Cimino. Coil, an original member of the Tribe and a two time All-Star, has been a natural team leader and brings excellent knowledge of the game. Cimino, entering his second year with the Indians also brings execellent knoweldge of the game and managerial expereice with the Diamondbacks of the Sacramento City League.
Engelken, also an original member of the Indians, was the second manager of the Indians. The Tribes record under Engelken was 13-7-1, a 12 game imporvement over the inuagural 2005 season. Additionally, the Indians made their first post-season appearance in 2006, beating the Storm in the 1st round of the playoffs, before getting swept by the Reds in the Champiship series. Engelken will remain with the team for 2007 as a player and will assume a role of general manager for the Indians.
Both Coil and Cimino represented the Indians in the 28A All Star game in 2006 and were intergral in the Indians success in 2006. "Both Ron and Everett bring a leadership quality and a will to win that is going to set the tone for the Indians in 2007" said Engelken. "Both are natural leaders and are respected by every member of the team for their work ethic and performance. I feel this move makes give the Indians the best chance to win on a weekly basis.
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