Thursday, October 30, 2008

Decade of Dominance - Iowa City Corn Dogs

Chuck Biscuits - Cobb Times Herald

Decade of Dominance - On Life Support
The Iowa City Corn Dogs started their life in Cobb World as the Vancouver Wolfpack 22. Under the leadership of original owner ht44601 the team won the NL West in season 2, and improved for season 3 before losing out to the beginnings of the Omaha dynasty by two games. From there the franchise started a slow but steady decline through poor drafts and questionble signings. A series of one and done owners after ht44601 left the league sealed the deal for the franchise, putting it in a baseball coma. Current owner hokiesno1 has started the process of bringing this team back to life, but it will understandably take some time.

#21 - Iowa City Corn Dogs
Franchise Power Ranking: 26.5
Best Year: 90-72, s3 - Worst Year: 61-101, s9
Postseason Achievements: 1 Division Championship
Best Player: Albert Conception - Conception was a 4 time all star, won 2 gold gloves, and was a silver slugger at the CF position during the franchises glory days.
Best Pitcher: Luis Matos - Matos was the most consistent pitcher in the rotation for the franchise for 9 seasons, even if he was never elite.
Best International Prospect:
Victor Romano
Best Draft Pick: Carl Alexander
Franchise Theme Song: Pull the Plug by Death - A succession of one and done owners put the franchise on life support, and after the misery of a franchise low season 9, some fans probably wanted to just get it over with.
Franchise Highlights: Won the NL West with an 82-80 season 2. Recorded a franchise high 90 win season 3. Drafted future star Carl Alexander in season 9.
Franchise Lowlights: Franchise hasn't had a winning record since season 4. Recorded a franchise low 61 win season 9. Many of the teams first round draft picks have been busts, including Fernando Coronado, Bruce Coleridge, Harry Rios, Paxton Riggs, and Sherm Dixon. A series of one and done owners and poor drafts left the team in bad shape for current owner hokies
Franchise Outlook: Down for a while, but not out. The future of the franchise is in the minors, and it's name is Carl Alexander. Easily the best prospect in the franchise, he could anchor a solid core of players in the bigs in 3-4 seasons. But the odds are it will take that amount of time to get this team back on top of the NL West. Current owner hokiesno1 has been a solid drafter and talent developer, but it will take time to resurrect the team from the mediocrity it had sunk into when he took it over.

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