Miami Palms Blog

The Palms are opening their 2014 season with a 4 game set against the Oakland Athletics. Take a look at the entire 2014 schedule below A's Home 4 Tigers Home 3 Rays Home 3 Orioles Home 3 Orioles Away 3 Rays Home 4 Astros Home 3 Rangers Home 4 Orioles Home 3 Red Sox Home 3 Rays Away 3 Brewers Away 3 Blue Jays Away 3 White Sox Home 4 Pirates Away 3 Royals Away 3 Astros Away 3 Twins Home 3 Nationals Away 2 Nationals Home 2 Yankees Away 4 Royals Home 2 Indians Home 3 Blue Jays Away 3 Mariners Away 4 Red Sox Away 3 Angels Away 3 Red Sox Home 3 Rays Away 4 Blue Jays Away 3 Red Sox Home 3 ALL STAR BREAK ...

The September/October MVP award was given to Steve Drysdale for a strong, consistent performance that helped push the Palms into the playoffs. He ended the season with 36 home runs and 128 RBI, but came out a little flat in the post season. Still, Miami would not have made it to the playoffs without him. For the season, the team MVP award was given to Carlos Ruiz, who in 119 games amassed a .313 average with 24 home runs. He also helped turn what had been a lamentable pitching staff into a formidable squad. The team would not have made the post season without the strong pitching staff. Lastly, it has been announced that Palms outfielder Frank Sohn, despite not having won his own teams' award, finished third in American League MVP voting behind Miguel Cabrera and Mike Trout. He led the team in home runs at 37, while also hitting at a .320 clip . Congratulations and thank you for the contribution of all three players!

Team MVP (and perhaps a national award or two?) will be announced shortly, as will the Palms 2014 schedule, but at this time, the Palms will begin to prepare for free agency. They have three true free agents, all pitchers. Don Schoppe was the teams' 4th starter this year and was dominant in the post season Calvin Hobbes and Dennis Sarfate were effective out of the bullpen this year. Hobbes finally made it to the majors this year, the last year of a professional contract, and he has earned himself a new deal. Elsewhere, Billy Dupont, Martin Prado, Steve Drysdale, Blake Johnston, Felix Gonsales and Ivan Fernandez have player , team or combination options to worry about.

The Tigers earned their trip to the World Series thanks to a dominant 2nd inning, in which they batted around, scoring 6 runs, including a two run triple from Jhonny Peralta. It was 7-0 through 5 1/2 innings, when the Palms finally made a game of it. Coco Crisp hit a grand slam in the bottom of the 6th off of Max Scherzer. Unfortunately, the Palms were unable to do much beyond that, despite a dominant performance from their bullpen. The Palms end their season in Game 6 of the ALCS, a season that went much better than expected and raises expectations for 2014.  Detroit Tigers 8, Miami Palms 4  Saturday, October 19, 2013  Detroit Tigers (6-3)                                     Miami Palms (100-63)                ...

Player GS W L S BS IP ERA H R K BB WHIP K/BB BAA HR QS K/9 Troy Munoz 33 13 9 210 5.31 262 124 98 39 1.43 2.512821 0.294 33 14 4.20 Blake Johnston 33 17 9 211.33 4.34 258 102 112 40 1.41 2.8 0.289 25 18 4.77 Lucas Harrell 32 13 9 195 4.43 230 96 131 79 1.58 1.658228 0.282 22 13 6.05 Don Schoppe 32 10 11 200 4.05 262 90 83 37 1.50 2.243243 0.304 30 17 3.74 Kyle Blume 32 17 8 217 4.19 250 101 140 52 1.39 2.692308 0.277 30 17 5.81 Manny Parra 1 54 4 57.22 2.20 54 14 33 8 1.08 4.125 0.239 6 5.19 Tim Byrdak 7 1 1 3 76.33 3.77 85 32 48 19 1.36 2...

The Palms kept their season alive on Thursday night in Detroit with a well rounded, complete victory. Kyle Blume allowed only two runs over 7 innings, both of which came in the 7th inning of work. He struck out 5 and scattered 10 hits, while Troy Munoz finished off the Tigers with 2 good innings of work. The Palms got the scoring started with 3 runs in the 2nd, which included a 2 run home run from Billy Dupont. Later, the team got big hits from Martin Prado, who had a two run triple in the 7th. The next inning, Nick Markakis helped blow the game open with another 2 run home run. The Palms have no margin for error this weekend as they return home to finish off the series with the Tigers.  Miami Palms 8, Detroit Tigers 2  Thursday, October 17, 2013  Miami Palms (101-62)                                  ...

The Palms bullpen gave up a late home run to the powerful Tigers again, allowing Detroit to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the ALCS. It was Victor Martinez who hit the game winning blast in the bottom of the 8th to put the Tigers ahead. Miami held the lead briefly after a huge 5th inning, in which they batted around and scored all three runs. The Tigers fought back, and Martinez hit his game winner in the Bottom of the 8th. The Palms need to reel off 3 straight if they hope to reach the Fall Classic.  Detroit Tigers 4, Miami Palms 3  Wednesday, October 16, 2013  Miami Palms (100-63)                                     Detroit Tigers (6-3)                          ...

The Palms played a matinee ALCS game in Detroit on Tuesday, and it seemed like they had the game well in hand. They knocked starter Justin Verlander out after only 4 innings, as they batted around in the 4th and scored their 3 runs. Blake Johnston lasted a few innings longer, but started coming apart in the 6th, not leaving until the Tigers had tied things back up. The bullpens were solid for both sides, but the Tigers pen held up a little bit longer than the Palms'. In the bottom of the 10th, with one out and 2 on, Prince Fielder took the first pitch he saw out of the park, turning a tie game into a walk off win and a series lead for Detroit.  Detroit Tigers 6, Miami Palms 3  Tuesday, October 15, 2013  Miami Palms (100-63)                                     Detroit Tigers (6-3)  ...

The Palms won their first playoff series against divisional rival Boston to set up their series with the Tigers. One of the major contributors was the teams' second baseman. He was never the star of an individual game, but he contributed to all three wins, driving in 6 runs over the course of the series. Congratulations to Kelly!

The Tigers got to Lucas Harrell early, scoring two early runs on a Miguel Cabrera homerun. The Palms were mostly held at bay by Max Scherzer, scoring only twice thanks in part to a solo home run from Steve Drysdale. The Tigers strung together hits, as that powerful offense often does, while the Palms were in suspended animation. The series goes to Detroit tied at 1.  Detroit Tigers 6, Miami Palms 2  Sunday, October 13, 2013  Detroit Tigers (6-3)                                     Miami Palms (100-63)                                     Player          AB R  H BI BB S...

It was a full blown pitcher's duel in Miami for game one of the ALCS. Anibal Sanchez shut out the Palms through his 7 innings of work, and Al Alburquerque did the same in the 8th, but Joquin Benoit had issues in the bottom of the 9th. Kelly Johnson and Joe Mather were walked, and then Brett Hayes doubled, followed by a Coco Crisp game winning single, in one of the most unlikely come from behind wins in Palms history.  Miami Palms 2, Detroit Tigers 1  Saturday, October 12, 2013  Detroit Tigers (5-4)                                     Miami Palms (101-62)                                     Player   ...

The Palms eliminated the Red Sox 3-1 in the ALDS thanks to a dominant offensive performance coupled with a complete game from Don Schoppe. The Palms had 18 hits, most of which came from the middle of the order. Nobody had more than 2 runs batted in, and there were no home runs. The Palms simply drove the ball and strung together hits. Schoppe got Stephen Drew to pop out to Billy Dupont (who had also had a 2 run triple earlier in the game) for the final out, and the jubilant Palms bounced just right of first base.  Miami Palms 9, Boston Red Sox 1  Tuesday, October 8, 2013  Miami Palms (101-62)                                     Boston Red Sox (6-12)                       ...

The Red Sox kept their season alive thanks to a strong game from Jacoby Ellsbury, who went 5/5 with a double and the game winning home run. The game tying home run was hit by Stephen Drew two innings earlier.The Palms took the lead when the red hot Carlos Ruiz hit a 2 run home run in the 45th. Game 4 is tomorrow, with Don Schoppe taking the mound for Miami.  Boston Red Sox 4, Miami Palms 3  Monday, October 7, 2013  Miami Palms (100-63)                                     Boston Red Sox (7-11)                                    Player          AB R  H BI BB SO  P  ...

Player Position G AB H AVG 2b 3b HR RBI Run K BB GIDP LOB/3outs TB SLG OBP OPS Sac Billy Dupont 1b 150 633 190 0.300 33 7 20 76 82 73 22 9 177 297 0.469 0.322 0.791 4 Johnny Giavotella 2b 47 183 49 0.268 10 1 3 14 18 37 9 3 39 70 0.383 0.302 0.685 Kelly Johnson 2b 141 527 136 0.258 20 21 66 70 141 57 0 132 219 0.416 0.329 0.745 2 Martin Prado 3b 136 600 198 0.330 35 4 17 74 103 74 52 7 106 292 0.487 0.383 0.870 1 Carlos Ruiz C 119 498 156 0.313 34 3 24 89 86 72 64 2 96 268 0.538 0.390 0.928 2 Brett Hayes C 45 161 41 0.255 4 1 3 18 19 41 10 3 36 56 0.348 0...