As the last bedraggled Hops fans slouched with a desultory tread from the beer-soaked drinking establishments of the Gaslamp District , there lingered a glimpse of glory that was the San Diego series against World Series contender, Nottingham. (illustration to follow, here)

Holding a three games to one lead over the two-time defending champions seemed too hard to believe, and indeed, the final inning of a game seven, where a brave, but bone weary, Aurelio Mata could not find the strike zone for his life to walk in the game-winner, was exemplary for the season.

The Hops, 83-79 in the regular season, have a lot to be proud of, and now have a solid foundation of winning to build on.

Highlights:
Miguel Angel Ortiz, 1B/DH: The all-time games played leader in ABL history was again the stalwart at the center of the Hops' batting order. He crushed opposing pitchers at a .318 clip with 39 round-trippers and 118 rbis.

Bill Turner, CF: The former first round draft choice led the ABL in stolen bases, and has solidified the center-field position (+19.6 zone rating) in San Diego, once a dark blot in the defensive ledger. He still needs to improve his OBP, but by hitting a strong .271 with 17 HR and 73 rbi, hitting everywhere from leadoff to cleanup in the order.

Michael Johnson/Bryan Caldwell, LF/RF: The two understated corner outfielders both had very solid seasons once again, slapping the pellet around at a .325/.289; .381/.340; .444/.488 respective clips.


Ed Downing, Closer: "Crime Spree" got his first chance to be the regular closer, and responded with a 1.61 ERA and 29 saves in 31 chances. Only 26, his plus fastball and devastating changeup will be part of the Hop 9th inning scene for some time to come.

Aurelio Mata, MR: Though his season ended in ignomy, his season featured 14 saves despite his first ever taste of the minors. He threw 70+ innings in relief, and his 2.27 ERA was the lowest of his career.

Hirotsugu Kaneko, IF: In his second full season in the bigs, he set career highs as a batter-.258/.323/.387, but more important anchored with fellow Nippon veteran, SS Takanori Higashi, the center of the Hops' infield, until this season the other up the middle problem along with CF.

Room for Improvement:
Charlie Jackson, IF/OF: Though he handles the bat with aplomb, .298/.362/.414, his glove is a game of chance, and at 32, he has lost a couple of steps. Look for Jackson to be shopped around to make way for Mike Land or Steve Cherry.

Starting Pitching: Dave Lee was the ace at 16-10/4.09, while Elvis Sharp was the second tier at 13-10/4.50, followed by Ted Mills, 12-11/4.00. Bolyard and Kanno combined for a 14-26 huge ERA at the back end of the rotation. Both have a future, but not necessarily in Southern California. With a plus 4 ERA from the top three in the rotation, it is painfully obvious that this team needs better arms.

Catcher: Dorian Knight can hit, but can't handle pitchers (6 passed balls, 25% caught stealing) while Rojas, with a good glove, can't hit (.199). Tom Stott is the best of an average minor league group at the position, so look for the Hops to deal around this weakness.

Top Prospects:
Wiry shortsop, Ichizo Sato, can field at the major league level at all three IF positions, but seemed somewhat overmatched in his brief debut. Badry Makaev, LF, has been tearing up the minors, but might not find room in the Hop outfield, so he might be trade bait. Henry McGowan and Steve Lawrence are getting trade feelers for other teams seeking starting pitching, so they might be part of the back end rotation solution.

2017 Outlook:
A surprise contender in '16, this is a team to watch for playoff contention in a division that has been down of late. With a good draft, and solid prospects at key positions, the Hops will be in the mix.

(this is the REAL brewery that the Hops base part of their story…)

http://blog.stonebrew.com/index.php/operation-homefront-ipa/

Hops brief foray to first

Riding the hot bats of Miguel Ortiz, Michael Johnson and an unexpected boost from Bryan Caldwell plus the strong arms of Elvis Sharp, David Lee and a clutch performing bullpen, San Diego briefly found itself in first place. A speed bump presented by Carolina and South Bend has the Hops a single game back of Washington as the dog days of the last six weeks of the regular season play out.

Season bright spot: Bill Turner, CF
Turner, enjoying his first full season as the Hops CF, has come through with a fine season so far. His average has been steady in the .280 range, with surprising pop (31 xbh-13 HR, 59 rbi); and leads the ABL in stolen bases by a wide margin. Defensively, CF was a problem until this year, as his +15 Zone rating is helping the Hops pitching staff pitch without fear of a fly ball.

Minor Malts:
Coronado AAA is 62-50, but lingers in fourth place. The team has a number of future pitching stars: Pueblo, McGowan, Lortie, Garcia, Lawrence, to name a few. Best hitters are newly arrived: outfielders Taylor Thompson (acquired in the Steve Johnson trade along with Kanno, Sandoval and Lara), and Badry Makaev, who in his first year of pro ball has seen time in both AA and AAA with great results-.363 OBP combined, .277 hitter with 12 extra base knocks at each level. Thompson has appeared already in SD, while Makaev may make his debut in September.

Jacksonvill AA has been a second division team all season, but has a few decent prospects, most noticeably SS Ichizo Sato. SD veterans, Steve Cherry and Armando Ilharco are giving the youngsters mentoring leadership.

Bethesda A is an underpopulated club that has been hurt by injuries. Names to watch are MR Lou Cove and SP Dave Duhamel.

Autumn in San Francisco and Hops territory

San Diego off to a sub .500 start with a number of factors at play over the first third of the season. This is a team attempting to build up to contention, but has had historical flaws. Who are the players performing, who is mundane, and who is miserable?

Performers:
Mike Johnson, LF-see the previous post for his record, but once again, he is hitting a solid mid- .300, getting extra bases, scoring, and playing solid if not spectacular defense.
Miguel Ortiz, 1b-Not his best start, but still a bona-fide middle of the order hitter, showing why this season with a team leading 10 HR, and second in RBI
Elvis Sharp, SP-5-3 record leads the staff
Kaneko and Higashi, SS/2b-The keystone combo has solved one of the key Hops issues who have tried to nurture a SS and 2b since s1. Both are getting on base in the .350 range while hitting around .270
Charlie Jackson, IF-Team leading RBIs says it all
Mata, Chase and Downing, RP-From key setup men to the closer, this trio of late inning arms has helped secure SD its near .500 pace. All three have sub 2.00 ERA while registering a 7-3 record and 14 saves.
Mario Vasquez, 3b-In part-time and pinch-hitting duties, his .423 BA and , 

Mundane:
Kessler, Knight and Rojas, C-Just enough offense and so-so defense
Bryan Caldwell, RF-.286 hitter with some pop, solid RF
Bill Turner/Ryu Nakamura CF- hitting ok, but OBP a just above .300 disappointment

Miserable:
Starting rotation outside Sharp (Bolyard, Lee, Mills and Kanno) combined 10-17 with a 5 + ERA.
Middle Relief (Duenas, Bernard, Bowers, Knight) ERA in the stratosphere

Where can Hops management make moves to improve?
Continue to look for help from the minors?
Not much there, though names like Pueblo and Barrett will appear in the rotation and bullpen soon

Trade bait?
Dwayne Sparks and Juan Quintana are the two heirs to Ortiz, but only one can play the position at a time. Pitching is a mid-level strength, so folks like Bolyard or Bowers might interest some GMS.

Though management wishes for a .500 season, it might be quite a stretch this season.

Johnson

So, it has been a real tumultuous time, dealing with my father dying, when this just came to me today. Thought I would share the process from sketchbook draft to illustration first pass and next draft of poem about Mike Johnson, the under-recognized Hops leftfielder.

Hitter

Thousands of times
stationed rear box
better to see breaks
split
second
extra response

bat at rest between
gentle
left shoulder taps
hands quiet

unlike
catcher fidgeting
process decisions
fingers flashing
location
pitch selection
shifting feet
spikes scraping red dirt

young man on mound
winds up
exaggerated hesitation
all the rage

heat high
no flinch
ball one
repeat sign
on this tune
heat again
strays inside tight
two-oh

slight lip curl
ready

get it in
breaking pitch
mistake

connect
crack back through box
nearly denudes hurler
careening into center
another
base
rap

Hops sign big band for slow Tuesday nights

April 9, 2013; Dateline San Diego:

San Diego Hops owners' consortium announced a move to the retro by signing the Cal Alumni Big Band to play post game dance gigs at the newly opened Bleacher Bistro underneath the right field pavilion. One of the owners, Jeff Brain, can be seen sitting in playing valve trombone (the silver one at the far left of the section)

Big Band 1
Big Band 2
Big Band 3

Longoria and the Little Things

Félix Longoria was one of those players that the Hops were forced to give playing time as injuries mounted and the season headed south. As first Pircalab, then Vasquez were hurt, not to mention Warner, Illharco, Cherry and Higashi who all also spent one or more stints on the DL.

Fortunately for San Diego fans, Longoria came through as a solid utility player compiling some noteworthy statistics:
In near 500 at bats from a position that had a dearth of power for the first six weeks, Longoria popped 15 HRS and knocked in a rewarding 62 with 114 hits. No, not a star, but certainly adequate at a position (2b, SS) that the Hops have had little success. In fact, his team ranking was 6th for runs and hits, and 5th for HRs and RBIs.

Félix Longoria, San Diego Hops, IF

The veteran, who came over to SD as a free agent from the Berserker organization, started over 100 games at 2b, and a half dozen at 3b and SS. He did well in the field, erring only seven times in just short of a .1000 tries.

Some of the other little things that kept fans in the stands despite an identical 74-88 record in 2014:

• Dwayne Sparks in limited play showing he may be a long-term answer at 1b. In only 27 games, he collected 33 hits, 6 HR, 6 doubles, 21 rbis, and showed a good eye with 13 BB against only 15K.
• Miguel Ortiz raking for 33 HR and 101 RBI, hitting .280 with a OPS north of .800
• Four other batters notching .300 seasons at the plate-Knight, Vasquez, Mike Johnson, and newcomer, Shannon Moore, with Caldwell falling just short at .296.
• The aforementioned Moore, came up from the minors to take over RF when Madison went down to injury. It should be noted, the Hops OF truly needed better gloves.
• Bill Turner showed some dazzle in his September callup, and his fielding for AAA Coronado plus his SD time yielded only one error in over 1000 chances.
• Aurelio Mata holding down the bullpen fort with pitching going awry all around him. A first time All-Star, hopefully not his last, as he will be counted on for years to come.

For the future:
Trading excess OF for either better gloves in the OF, or pitching. Four starters hit double figures in losses to only two on the victory side, and nary a one over .500.

Tail Dragging in SD

Perhaps the owners were more focused on promotion than players, but it has been a tough time of late with the barleys and malts. With a record of 26-25, the Hops are playing decent ball on paper, but a current five game losing skein speaks otherwise. With only one close game in the streak, the forbidding fourteen inning 6-5 loss, SD is getting waxed by both the best and worst teams in its division. With the Sasquatch looming on the horizon sporting the best record in the league, it behooves the Hops to get back on track.

Hopping Mounds of Mad: Ted Mills, the brilliant young pitcher of '13 has been downright Pabstian pedestrian in '14 with his 2-7 record and 7.84 ERA. Dave Lee has been the stalwart of the mound this season, and Sharp just came off the DL, just in time to face the Seattle monstrosities. The bullpen has been quite solid, so if the Hops can get back on track in the rotation, perhaps the month can be salvaged.

Bitter Bats: As usual, Angel Ortiz leads the way with Vasquez, when not hurt, and the corner OF combo of Caldwell and Johnson all hitting .300 or higher. The trick may be in the defense, as Madison's shortcomings in CF are leading to more hits than outs. Scouts are looking at a trio of Coronado outfielders for a huge defensive upgrade.

Poem Fragment with Illustration

I'm imagining this might be my relief pitcher that just announced his retirement, Bob Robinson. At 41, the poem so far, fits. I'm still working on the words, but I like the pitcher/picture. I know the colors are not quite the Hops, but Robinson probably wore these hues at least once in his long career prior to the ABL, and he was no doubt always this mean.