Let's talk a little about a good sports story for a change, such as the magical year of the TinCaps, the Minor League Team of the Year:
Winning 100 games in a Major League regular season tends to be the benchmark for team excellence. The New York Yankees, for example, won 103 games in 2009 before marching on to a World Series title.
The Yankees have nothing on the 2009 MiLBY winner for Overall and Class A Team of the Year, the Fort Wayne TinCaps. The Midwest League affiliate for the San Diego Padres won a grand total of 101 games, including the playoffs. But they did it in just 149 games for a .678 winning percentage that easily topped the Yankees' .636 mark (.644 if their playoff run is included).
"It was crazy, magical, unbelievable at times," said Doug Dascenzo, Fort Wayne's manager who will skipper the Padres' Double-A club in San Antonio in 2010. "I think it's fair to say it was one of those years of a lifetime. This is my 25th year in the game, and I've never really experienced something quite like that, especially in the Minor Leagues. To win over 100 games in a Minor League season, when you played 149 total games, that's pretty crazy."
If there was a downside for the players, it was that some of them should have been moved up a class, but the Padres wanted to leave the team intact so it's streak wouldn't be jeopardized. But maybe it was worth the momentary delay to be part of something so c
