Lyle Reflects On Lost Season
by Mike Ashmore
September 28, 2006 - Hunterdon County Democrat

For some teams, finishing the year 65-61 would be cause for celebration. For the defending Atlantic League champion Somerset Patriots, it's cause for concern for anyone on this year's team.

"There will be a lot of new faces here next year," said Patriots manager Sparky Lyle.

Somerset hit an Atlantic League worst .250, with only four players on the roster for the majority of the year finishing over the team average. Of those four, only Ryan Radmanovich (.302) hit over .300, his 27 home runs leaving him one short of the team record he and Jeff Nettles established last season.

Both Nettles and Radmanovich would be welcomed back with open arms next season, but others may not be so lucky.

"We didn't have enough well-rounded players," Lyle said. "The guys we were getting in to replace (players we lost) were so one-dimensional, it was very hard for us to maintain."

Lyle said that the biggest loss the team suffered this year was Mike Lockwood, who left the team for Taiwan after hitting .336 with six home runs and 15 RBI in 36 games.

Lockwood, who led off for Somerset, was simply irreplaceable. And his departure shifted around Lyle's batting order, leading to problems towards the bottom.

"The last four guys in our lineup all year haven't been able to drive in any runs," he said. "You see what happens when those guys hit, it almost makes the game look easy."

According to Lyle, replacing players was made more difficult by the independent Golden Baseball League and players such as Lockwood leaving for Taiwan for more money.

But those weren't the only factors that made it difficult.

"We weren't allowed to take anybody from the Road Warriors this year," said Lyle, commenting on the common league-wide practice that allows teams to bid on players from the homeless franchise.

"Except Long Island, they could take anybody they wanted. In fact, at one point, I wanted a player and I thought maybe we could get Long Island to take them so maybe we could make a trade (laughs), because we sure as hell couldn't get him."

After the team temporarily borrowed infielder Teuris Olivares during spring training, the only Road Warrior they signed all year was Nick Ortiz, who had previously been loaned to the Ducks at the start of the season.

The Road Warriors and Patriots are two of four teams whose player procurement is handled by Baseball and Sports Associates. The Ducks are not among the four teams who use their services.

According to Road Warriors first baseman Mike Huggins, who was widely rumored to have turned down Somerset, the rejection never happened.

Huggins' bat and many others on the Road Warriors would have been a welcome addition to the Patriots lineup at any point this season, but especially when they had so few healthy players that they were forced to have starting pitcher Ben Crockett bat instead of utilizing the designated hitter.

Still, the league's longest-tenured skipper was able to get a lot out of the players he had left.

"I'm proud of these guys," Lyle said. "Especially with the way we played when we did lose all those guys. We didn't get down on ourselves and everybody still played hard. A lot of guys played hurt, and that's a real mark of this organization and this team."

It's a team that will look very, very different on Opening Day in 2007.

Around the Atlantic League: Lancaster and Atlantic City will face off in the South Division Series, while Long Island and Bridgeport will square off in the North Division Series...Game One of the Barnstormers-Surf series is particularly intriguing, as Lancaster's Denny Harriger (17-4, 2.63) will face Atlantic City's Lincoln Mikkelsen (15-5, 1.85) in a matchup of Pitcher of the Year candidates.

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