Looking Back At 2008

Now that we're going into the colder months of the year, I suppose it would be the right time to look back at the 2008 Frontier League season. You know, to be straight-forward with everybody, there were fairly high expectations for this past year's group of guys known as the Chillicothe Paints. Perhaps not absolutely high, to the point where they could've been the best team in the league, but again, fairly high, a team with a decent record that had a decent shot at the postseason and possibly making noise in the postseason.

Unfortunately, that was not the case. Far from it, as a matter of fact. The Paints brought in guys who were indeed promising and showed some upside in earlier stints before making their way to Chillicothe, but when it came to the games at hand, things simply went wrong. Things quickly truned south around the all-star break, and the team couldn't recover from that point on. There were games where, I canot lie, I left earlier than usual because those games were really getting that bad.

In the 2005 and 2006 FL seasons, if you followed the Paints close at this time, you had reasons to feel good about your team. You had reasons to be optimistic. Things were going right and going into the right direction. Simply put, you knew exactly what you had and those teams delievered when it mattered the most, aside from the final round of the playoffs, of course. In 2007 and 2008, I couldn't feel any of that. Believe me, I wanted to feel that way, and by all means, I wanted to see a big turnaround once the team started losing a whole bunch of games, but the atmosphere had completely changed in the last two years.

I've said what I've needed to say these past two years, and it is exactly what it is. The Paints in their last two FL seasons of play simply weren't as good or as up to par as the Paints teams in their last two playoff runs. Those Paints did have the "it" factor going for them. However, that is not to say that I have any hard feelings towards the players. I always enjoyed going out to the Party Deck before the games started to hang out with them for as long as I could. I always appreciated the time that the players took out to talk to me. They are really nice guys and I appreciate them trying as hard as they could to get things going on the field.

Off the top of my head only, the best players that I could spot out who can go a long way would be Travis Garcia, Drew Saylor, Andy Polk, Edwin Walker, Ryan Flanigan, Jeff Vincent and Gerardo Verastegui. These players had the most breakout performances on the 2008 squad. Drew Saylor looks to have a bright future if he can sharpen his skills alittle more. Jeff Vincent and Ryan Flanigan are athletic competitors who can physically handle games if they're called upon. Andy Polk is a work horse. Edwin Walker has solid stuff from the bullpen and that will carry over to future success.

Travis Garcia is someone that organizations seriously need to look at. Of course, it's no secret that he is getting up there in age. I won't debate that, but if you watch Travis play, you can see that he still has great talent and great potential. Like I said awhile ago, he is a diamond in the rough with the glove and he does have a smooth and legitimate swing on offense. He recently had his number 24 retired at V.A. Memorial Stadium, and is now part of the Southern Maryland Blue Carbs organization, that's owned by Brooks Robinson, in the Atlantic League. He is looking to attend the Winter League down in Puerto Rico to get more looks, and I, for one, hope for the best.

Now, let's look ahead...

So yeah, the Chillicothe Paints are ancient history in the Frontier League, and things will definately be different in the FL without the last original team there, but that's not bad news. The Frontier League is the strongest it ever had been in it's 17-year run, and almost all teams will be located in suburbs of Major League cities. What does that mean? It means that you can foget about any Richmonds, Johnstowns, Newarks, or Chillicothes entering the FL any time soon, if ever, and that paves the way for a college wood bat league to come right into those types of markets.

Baseball will played in Chillicothe in 2009, but just not the type that diehard Paints fans have grown accustomed to over the years. In a way, it's sad, make no mistake about that, but as one door is now closed, another one inevitably opens. I will still keep an eye on the attendance figures, because if the people of Chillicothe cannot come out to even see a college wood bat team, on a shorter schedule, and hopefully at a cheaper price all around, then we are truly in alot of trouble.