Bounders New Look
via The Bywater Gazette and Mail
BYWATER - The good people of Bywater were shocked to hear their team labelled upstarts by the MESN team earlier this week who ranked the Bounders a lowly 17th in their annual pre-season analysis. The normally peaceful town started their determined letter writing campaign immediately, so we hit the streets to find out more. Unfortunately many in the town wouldn't talk to us, and those who did gave frankly unprintable quotes. This is a town that seems to love it's baseball team, even if most of them don't bother going to games.
In search of answers we went to the often empty stadium itself to talk with those inside the franchise to see what they made of it all. Off-season trade Rockback certainly seemed happy.
"Believe it or not the fans are great; they seem to make the most of the empty seats and really get behind the team. I always remember that no matter how poorly the Bounders were doing the visiting team were in for a rough time, I couldn't be happier to know they'll be cheering for me this season."
Rockback may be onto something. The Bounder's stadium has often been called imposing by players not used to such a large field and when the crowd goes wild you see another side to the quiet town of Bywater. Adding a star like Rockback to the roster certainly seems to be going down well. Sir Ken was quick to praise his major signing.
"Ever since Golliaf retired we've been looking for a real anchor to play behind the plate and when Oranges broke his foot we had to do something. Rockback was offered to us and we just couldn't ignore a player like that."
Yet despite a big trade the Bounders played it cool with the free agents.
"Yeah there were some interesting players on offer but we've been working with a lot of youngsters and we saw it was their time. Let's be honest here, if you look at the kids we promoted and the guys ending their careers in the pool and I think we made the right choice."
And few would argue with Sir Ken over that. It's no secret that various teams have enquired about Pulley and Taralom's availability over the past season, probably just as much to avoid playing against them as to play with them. Let's not over hype these future stars though, they both show incredible talent but the big leagues are a big jump. And this could be what stops the Bounders from repeating last years run. Although the team was still has players like Spinner and Thoirney worrying those at the plate they lost a lot of hitting power in when Fleam left and joined division rivals the Archers, and one of their early academy players Thugast went to Old Forest in the trade to acquire Rockback.
The Bounders certainly have some talent in their team, it's just a case of will it gell? Let's not forget that part of last seasons successes came from the team being so established, this off-season has seen some of their most significant restructuring and it's got to be a gamble. But don't say that in Bywater. This proud little town is looking to the future and they like what they see. They've spruced up their image as well as the locker room. If their plan works, there may be some upsets.