By SAM MARCINEK
Jargon Sports Network correspondent
From his boyhood window, the Neshaminy Creek could be heard babbling on spring nights, but the sound young Slammers yearned for was the crack of the bat. Fast forward to Kutztown University, a myriad of televisions of all different brands Acer, JVC, Zenith glowed in his apartment.
The one commonality is all TVs were turned to baseball games. One JLB member confirmed the word “Obsessive” to describe Slammers passion for the game.
And that is what brings the JLB together, an obsession about baseball. A league the Slammers has reigned over with three titles.
But as one team described the current state of the franchise “... seems forever stuck between 'what once was' and 'what will be.' There are stories of glory from the distant past…”
Slammers agrees it has been some time, but he would not trade the strength of the league for hollow titles.
“It’s been a grind in this League and I wouldn’t have it any other way," he said. "I play video games, mostly sports games, and I put the settings are the hardest settings. I don’t want my NHL team to go 82-0 and win the Stanley Cup every year. That’s unrealistic. That’s not truly fun. You can ask Gina. She’s witness my team losing in the Stanley Cup Finals. It’s a video game. I could reset. Start over. Try again until I win. But no. I go to the offseason. Draft, sign players and start over. It’s the grind. The JLB is the same I don’t want to win every year. I mean I do, but if I am, something is wrong.”
After missing the playoffs again, the Slammers entered an era of change. The franchise returned to Bensalem with Bryce Harper as the face of the franchise, but that was just the start of the changes. As offers poured in, the offseason took shape.
“So the plan was to keep it together, but then, the deals started coming for Harper, and when it came down to it, outside of OBP, I was only getting younger with Tucker when it comes to the projections. Add Torkelson and a 2nd rounder, and boom, floodgates. I had my blueprint. I set my sights on key prospects and draft picks. I managed to churn Harper, JT, Goldschmidt and Gallen into a bevy of picks and prospects.”
Bevy is an understatement, a nearly unprecedented talent pool in the minors Slammers added Spencer Torkelson and Bobby Witt Jr to his collection of Adley Rutschman, CJ Abrams, Austin Martin, and Nick Gonzales among other young talents.
While highly rated several other competitors aren’t worries about the Slammers yet, “The Slammers franchise is a disheveled mess with hopes and dreams banked on unproven prospects and high rankings...”
When questioned about the influx of talent entering the NL another team said, “So that’s something.”
Slammers ranks dynamic shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. among the cornerstone players, but not all the talent lies in the green pool. Jimmy lists Kyle Tucker, Randy Arozarena (two more offseason additions) and Austin Riley among his core building block players.
“Those four together will be the reason why banner No. 4 gets raised in the next four years.”
Like Slammers childhood home, the franchise has its foundation. The question is has the franchise built enough around the stone for a contender to take shape this season.
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