After twenty-five seasons in the SDMB OOTP League, the
now-Shackamaxon Lenape look back on their history and recognize the great
players in the franchise’s history. Over twenty-five seasons, the team has a
record of 2205-1845, a .544 winning percentage. The team won a record four
straight Cecil Cup championships (from 2004-2007), but early glory has been
hard to reclaim, as the below chart shows.
The team has had recent success, with playoff appearances in
three of the last five seasons, including two trips to the Cecil Cup finals,
with a gut-wrenching loss to arch-rival Seattle in
the
final game of the 2025 series. The letdown from being one strike away from
the team’s 5
th title extended into 2026, the 25
th season,
as the Lenape slipped back into third place in the Zotti Division, but hope in
the young stars on the team provide promise for the next 25 seasons.
Historically, the team has moved a lot, starting in
Stockholm (as the Sluggers), and then a few seasons in Florida (as the Mighty
Manatees of Florida Baseball Club), then in southern California (as the South
Bay/Los Angeles Scorpions), until the team reached its new home in the
Philadelphia area after the 2018 season.
Let’s start with the 25th Anniversary Team by
going around the infield:
Catcher: Gerardo
Herrera (2012-2021)
While never a superstar,
Herrera
was a solid contributor for nine seasons. He had a .263 batting average, and a
.740 OPS in his time with the team, worth 10.2 WAR. He was a solid backstop,
with a career 35.3% runners-thrown-out rate, and he won the 2020 Slick Fielder
award.
First Base: David
Seibel (2017-2026)
Over ten seasons with the club,
Seibel
was an offensive force for the team. He hit 381 homeruns, had a .917 OPS, and
34.2 WAR. He tied a SDMB League mark, and set the franchise record, for most
home runs in a season (56) in 2026. He’s a solid defensive first baseman (+7.4
zone rating), and will be missed by the franchise as he moves on this offseason.
Seibel ranks second in most offensive categories in
franchise history.
Second Base: John
Grondin (2019-2026)
One of the greatest players in franchise history, and the
first $200 million man,
Grondin
arrived as a free agent after an intense bidding war before the 2019 season. In
his eight seasons, and counting, with the club, Grondin has been an offensive
force, tallying 290 homeruns, a .299 batting average, .943 OPS, and 25.8 WAR.
Third Base: Jose
Rodriguez (2002-2006)
Arriving as an original Slugger in the 2002 league-starting
draft,
Rodriguez
was a 33-year-old veteran when he manned the hot corner for the expansion Stockholm
franchise. In his five seasons with the club, he helped win three Cecil Cup
titles (2004-2006), and was the league’s Outstanding Batter in 2006.
Shortstop: Ricky
Peppers (2007-2021)
Simply put,
Ricky
Peppers was the franchise’s greatest player over the first 25 seasons. Acquired
in 2004 as a throw-in during a trade, Peppers came on as the starting shortstop
in the middle of the 2007 season, winning the Cecil Cup as a rookie at the tail
end of the franchise’s dynasty. He won his first two Outstanding Batter awards
the following season, 2008, and again in 2010, as he became one of the premier
players in the league. In 2019, as his career was starting to wane, he lit up
the league’s pitching again to win his third Outstanding Batter awards.
Peppers leads the franchise in nearly all offensive
categories, including hits (2264), doubles (382), triples (71), homeruns (455),
total bases (4239), and stolen bases (338).
Utility Infielder:
Bill Turek (2006-2010, 2015-2016)
A first-round pick in 2005,
Turek
was a solid star for the late-dynasty franchise. He won two Cecil Cup titles in
2006, as a rookie, and in 2007, and became the young star Ricky Peppers’ double
play partner at 2B. He won the 2009 slick fielder award, and returned for two
solid seasons at second base in 2015 and 2016.
I’ll be back on Tuesday to review the team’s draft history
and announce the outfielders on the 25th Anniversary Team.
