Sports stats



FL River City Rascals

Five Reasons to be Excited About Rascals

April 23, 2014 - Frontier League (FL)
River City Rascals News Release


After key additions and fundamental improvements across-the-board, River City looks to reach the Frontier League Championship once again this summer. When you look at the comprehensive picture surrounding Steve Brook's Rascals, the future looks brighter, in my opinion, than any other team in the league. In my mind there are five main reasons why I think the city should be ecstatic about the Rascals' prospects this coming season.

Reason 1: Fifth-year head coach Steve Brook enters the season with an overall record of 220-161 at the helm in River City. Since Brook took over in 2010, the Rascals have won more games than any other West Division team in the Frontier League. Their 220 wins also ranks third overall in the league behind only Southern Illinois (227) and Traverse City (225). Since the Rascals won their first Frontier League Championship in team history in 2010, they have sported a dominant winning percentage of .577%.

Not only has excellence become a tradition in River City, but also manager Steve Brook seems to generally breed a certain type of ballplayer who is always ready to fight for his city and team on the field. "I'm extremely proud of what our ball club has been able to accomplish in recent years. With that being said, a Frontier League Championship is something that our players and staff are constantly striving for. 11 of our players have signed with MLB affiliated teams since 2010. We've also had severalguys play winter ball in Australia, Mexico, and even Japan.Winning is important, but helping our players advance their professional careers will always remain one of our top goals," Brook replied when asked about the Rascals' success since 2010.

Reason 2:Brook returns 18 players from last year, including infielder Kyle Jones who spent the season on the disabled list. The returning outfielders include Williams, Crawford, and Redal while the returning infielders include Morales, Jones, Borman, and Carrillo. Among the returning Rascals is the second best closer in the Frontier League last season, Gabriel Shaw, and the incredibly efficient bullpen, which includes Jon Levin, Patrick Crider, Andy Urban, Kyle Owings, and Chandler Jagodzinski. In addition to the solid relief pitching staff, Brook returns all five Rascals starting pitchers, namely Corey Caruso, Ray Hanson, Tommy Mendoza, Craig Goodman, and Nick Kennedy. As a result of so many returning Rascals, Brook will have a fairly familiar locker-room heading into Spring Training. Brook knows the benefits of having guys who are used to playing together, and elaborated on this luxury, "we have18 returning players as of today.These guys are hungry to win a ring.We knew how close we were at the end of the 2013 season after a remarkable run in the second half.These guys didn't want the season to end and have been frothing at the mouth for another chance since September."

Reason 3: Apart from the large crew of returning Rascals, Brook and his coaching staff have brought in a plethora of new talent as well including former Frontier League All-Star and dominant Cornbelter's staff ace Tyler Lavigne. Along with Lavigne, the Rascals brought in relief pitcher Kyle Brady from the Frontier Greys and signed Ethan Carter and Tommy Organ out of the collegiate system. Other newcomers to the River City pitching staff include Corey Rhoney from the Royals organization and Eric Cendejas, the newest acquisition by manager Steve Brook, from the Angels organization.

The already incredibly deep pitching staff has therefore been strengthened further with the few key acquisitions this off-season, yet the hitters added to the team will definitely contribute their own part to this 2014 Rascals ballclub.

Both River City catchers, Saxon Butler (Yankees) and Josh Ludy (Phillies), join the team after stints in affiliated baseball, much like the 3B Taylor Ard (Mariners), IF Shane Brown (Yankees), and IF Hector Crespo (Yankees). The new conglomeration of infield talent further supports the strong foundation of returning position-players.

While Brook brought in a host of veteran talent to bolster the roster, he also took a few chances this off-season by bringing in 5 collegiate players, all with Rookie-1 or Rookie-2 Frontier League classifications. These young guns include infielders Corey Davis (Lee University), Mike Felton (Campbell University), Karsten Strieby (Lee University), and outfielders Daniel Aldrich (College of Charleston) and Brian Hansen (St. Cloud State University).

When asked about the newcomer Rascals, Brook describes the atmosphere he expects entering Spring Training this season, "With 16 new additions as of today, we have a lot of options in a lot of different areas. Our spring training is most likely going to be the most competitive I've seen in many years. My staff and I will evaluate each player and begin our 2014 campaign with the right group - focusing on playing the game the way it should be played."

Reason 4: Taking a closer look at Steve Brook's roster additions reveals an encouraging pattern of success. Among the 16 new players, 3 have had experience at the AA/AAA level of affiliated baseball (Butler, Brown, and Cendejas). As far as pitching goes, the Rascals have added 670 strikeouts and 45 career wins at the professional level. The experience becomes intangible, as the new hurlers will be able to serve a dual purpose for Brook by both producing on the field and mentoring the younger players on the side.

On the other hand, offensively, the River City coaching staff brought in 46 HR and 293 career RBI at the professional level. The statistics show an immense improvement with on-field personnel, but the numbers don't tell the whole story as manager Steve Brook noted when asked about the effect of additional production from a statistical standpoint, "Numbers are important in baseball as they can often make or break a player's career.However, numbers don't always tell the whole story.Our job is to play the game the right way and to find ways to win and promote our players to the next level.We will continue to work at this and hopefully reach our goals in 2014."

Reason 5: The River City front office has done an incredible job to create an amazing atmosphere at the ballpark, which has increased overall attendance by over 32% since 2011. Team President Dan Dial accredits this to, "creating a vision for success and having every member of the team moving in the same direction." The more fans that file into the ballpark, the more the players have a sense of hometown pride, which clearly has played a role for the top West Division team since 2010. When asked about the effects of a large, spirited crowd on the organization as a whole, Brook said, "It's always nice to play in front of a strong home crowd. Bigger crowdsresult ina better experience for players and fans alike. The ability to produce and sellour own quality concessions at ourown affordable prices has really brought people back out to TR Hughes in recent years. Mo [Mo Stranz- Director of Food and Beverage at T.R. Hughes Ballpark] and her team do a sensational job! 3,000 fans per game are not only realistic, but attainable in the near future."

Rascals fans can also now breathe easily knowing that all Rascals 2014 regular season and playoff games will be aired live on TalkSTL Radio. The first radio partnership for the River City front office since 2012 will now allow all fans to enjoy the "Rascals experience." Whether we're on the road or at home, everyone who can't make it out can tune in to TalkSTL.com or listen in to the broadcast using the TalkSTL app available on Apple and Android devices. As the new Director of Media and Broadcast Relations it brings me great pride to bring you live action throughout the 2014 season. As a native of St. Louis who has attended Rascals games all my life, it is my honor to paint the picture from the booth for all the fans listening at home.

After looking at the five different reasons- best team in the West Division since 2010, 18 returning players, 16 roster additions, statistical augmentation across-the-board, and constantly improving ballpark atmosphere- you should be shaking with excitement for the 2014 River City summer season. After finishing the 2013 season just short of a playoff appearance, Steve Brook and his Rascals want nothing more than to bring another Frontier League Championship to the most deserving fans in baseball. While some people prepare for another long haul of rebuilding baseball, Rascals fans can sit back and watch a team ready to win right now! Remember to catch all of the action live on-the-air on TalkSTL.com all season long, with myself, Jordan Shaheen, in the booth. Dan Dial, Steve Brook, and the entire River City franchise are pumped for the season ahead, so you should be too! In the words of former St. Louis Browns team owner Bill Veeck, "There are only two seasons - winter and baseball!"

Check out the River City Rascals Statistics

• Discuss this story on the Frontier League message board...

Frontier League Stories from April 23, 2014


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent River City Rascals Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central