Year in Review - Part One

Published on September 14, 2004 under Florida State League (FSL1)
Vero Beach Devil Rays News Release


It was the eighth inning of the Vero Beach Dodgers' final 2004 playoff game. The Dodgers trailed the Daytona Cubs by a score of 5-1 and were on the brink of elimination. Conventional wisdom said to pack it in - the VBD's were shot. But then again, conventional wisdom would have walked away from this team in the middle of May, and likely would have missed the best team in the Florida State League. With their backs against the wall, the Dodgers began firing. Five base hits in the final two innings made the game stunningly interesting, and while Vero Beach came up short and eventually succumbed, the firepower, and even more so, the heart of the 2004 Vero Beach Dodgers stood strong, even in defeat. May 14th is a date that sticks out like a sore thumb in the VBD's season summary. They had just finished losing their season-high fifth consecutive game and were in danger of being swept out of Sarasota in a four-game series. Then, all of a sudden, something changed. At the time, the come-from-behind 8-4 win to avoid the broom and halt the losing skid seemed like nothing more than a much-needed victory that improved the team's dismal record to 16-22. No one could possibly have predicted that simple victory would spark the biggest turnaround in the league and mark the beginnings of a 3.5 month run that would culminate with Vero Beach securing the best overall record in the league.

After that win in the middle of May, the Dodgers never again lost more than two games in a row the rest of the way. Seven times, though, they would go on to win at least three consecutive games, and six times they tallied four wins or more in a row. The season-best seven-game winning streak from June 23rd – June 29th helped the Dodgers sprint to a 11-4 start in the second half, en route to winning the second half East Division Title.

Just how good were the Dodgers down the stretch? Try an overall record of 51-29 during the season's final three months. Manager Scott Little and his staff of Kenny Howell and Juan Bustabad expertly juggled players, sidestepping the promotions of perhaps the league's best offensive player, SS Joel Guzman, the league's top starting pitcher, RHP Chad Billingsley, and one of the league's top closers, RHP Steve Schmoll.

In the end, the Dodgers had posted a league-best record of 77-57, winning the second half crown thanks to a 41-23 mark, 5.5 games better than second place Palm Beach. Nearly 25% of the entire league's post-season All-Stars were made up of Vero Beach Dodgers as C Russell Martin, RHP Jonathan Broxton, 2B Delwyn Young, Guzman and Little were all named to the team. Two others, Billingsley and RHP Dimas Reina, were named to the midseason All-Star team.

When the dust had settled in early September, the Daytona Cubs and Hurricane Frances had stepped in the way of the Vero Beach Dodgers and their destiny, but nothing could take the shine off the great season of 2004.

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Florida State League Stories from September 14, 2004


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