Bomber management and the fan base in Belfast are quite pleased with the direction and the development of the country's baseball team. Dwight Evans Team Manager, "I knew when I took over we had some nice developing youngsters. They are maturing faster then even I thought and seem comfortable at the plate and able to produce runs, add to that the fact that our pitching staff is as young with as much, if not more potential, and you can see why I am going to like my job."

These youngsters head up the cast that currently leads the Weaver League in doubles, triples, batting average, OBP, slugging percentage, run production and are second in home runs. Led by the All-Time Great Mickey Mantle and franchise player Kohl, the team has been launching some explosive offensive bombardments. In fact, the team honestly believes this will be the Mick's year to make a run for the MVP...something Stan Musial continually ensured that Mick didn't get. This year it seems like the Babe will be the Mick's major competition for the award we as the season continues in the hot days of summer we can expect an ongoing battle here.

Belfast has done some gambling the last two off-seasons to establish the type of hitting attack they wanted while trying to build a stable of hurlers. Acquisitions of Ark Pozo, Todd Walker, Cam Smith, Paul Wilson, Carl Evertt for the likes of Raul Mondesi, Q Veras, David Justice and Peter Bricket brought a lot of scrutiny down on the management team out of Japan...the B-Group. However, Pozo has secured the starting 3b job and continually flirts around .300 with solid signs of some pop. Todd Walker, who hasn't performed up to his predecessor's ability, is starting to settle in at second and showing signs that he will develop into that lead-off or No 2 hitter Belfast wants him to be. Carl Evertt, who lacks Mondesi speed, not only brought Pozo and Pitcher Paul Wilson to Belfast, but he has shown the offensive numbers and defensive ability that has had Belfast fans saying "Raula Who-ya?". Evertt was an immediate fan favorite as a perceived blue collar, Irish style, player. Thing is, he is batting .302 with 31 dingers in 420 AB's...could use a few more of those blue collar babies. Belfast's starting offensive line-up averages a little over 25 years of age and 25 HRs a year.

Now the good part...strong, hard throwing, pitching. Belfast has been extremely focused on building a solid pitching staff...probably more so then acquiring hitters. I know, the team stat page seems to tell you different...but they have. Management's problem was trying to time a staff that would be peaking about the same time as the young hitters they were recruiting...several mature pitchers were available that would have had an immediate impact on the team...but they would peak before the offense developed. So the B-Group actively pursued the likes of Adkinson, Warren, Wilson, Kroon, Osuna and Smith to go with hurlers Mike Castro, Bryan Harvest and Rob Nelson. The team had an over abundance of developed pitchers with outstanding pitch ratings and some speedy fielders to barter (in the Bombers park the need for power truly outweighs speed) with...so the wheeling and dealing went on and the team has been experiencing some of the growing pains associated with this type move. These boys have relatively little control and in a hitters ballpark...those 1-2 walks can quickly turn to 3 runs. The good news...this year they are showing signs of what management believes will be things to come. Not as consistent as the owners want, but the quality starts and 6-7 quality innings are becoming a lot more frequent. Once the pitchers come around Belfast believes they will be able to actively compete with any team in the Weaver. We don't have the pitching quality of Havana, Sicily or Amityville...but what we do have can hold teams somewhat and give our diverse offense the opportunity to outscore our opponents.

Belfast is happy with the teams performance this year and would like to see a playoff opportunity like they had two years ago. B-Group, "The year we won the Championship was truly outstanding. We were injury ridden, and matched against some superior teams (Havana & Honolulu). We had some vets stand-up and provide stellar performances when others were down (Kohl, Mantle, Adkinson)...Justice, Bunk Wurm, and Van Buren came through in clutch situations and truly pulled it out for us. The coming years will be different...the talent pools will be much closer...Belfast will have more players with the ability to win it for us." We will end this article on a quote from pitching coach Luis Tiant, "Team is playing well and showing they can compete, however it will be a year or two before the bomb hatches are fully open and the entire arsenal is dropped...and when that happens...take cover...cuz the Bombers will be flying high! "