The Great Lakes Loons, the Dodger affiliate in the Class A Midwest League, have had a most interesting start to their season. After a great launch to the season the Loons have cooled off and finished April in third place in the Eastern Division of the league, three games behind the (then) division leading Dayton Dragons.

The most interesting part of the Loons season has not been reflected in their April win-loss record of 14-11 but in their approach to the game. Manager Bill Haselman indicated as the 2014 season began that he wanted a team that was strong on fundamentals and played aggressively.

Aggressively might be an understatement. From their first game the Loons have been flying on the base paths. Offensively they have hit well enough to create the opportunities to be aggressive.The Loons finished April near the top of the pack in most offensive categories including a combined 227 hits and 106 walks.

Going from first to third on a single has not been uncommon and in fact is expected. They have executed a double steal. Catchers Webster Rivas and Kyle Farmer have combined for three triples and in a recent game 240 pound first baseman Justin Chigbogu chugged in to third base on a triple catching the outfielder totally by surprise. Their 55 doubles which led the league through their first 25 games suggests that singles are being stretched into doubles.

Loons outfielder Malcolm Holland stole a team-high 20 bases in April while being caught only twice.
(Photo courtesy of Great Lakes Loons)

The fun begins once a Loon, any Loon, gets on base. The fans, the opposing team and the announcers know exactly what is about to happen. That is, another theft in plain sight. The team had a collective 64 stolen bases in 25 games. The Dayton Dragons were second in the league with 43 steals in April. Only 11 Loons were caught stealing in April for an excellent steal percentage of 85%. They stole as many as eight bases in a game and six on three other occasions during the month. The stolen base has either helped keep them in a game or go ahead in a game by causing mental mistakes and throwing errors by their bewildered opponents.

Speedster Malcolm Holland led the onslaught 20 steals in 22 attempts in April. Including Holland, 11 of the 12 Loons position players have stolen bases, including the aforementioned Chigbogu. Delvys Morales, with only 23 at bats, did not steal a base and was recently reassigned to the Ogden Raptors. Recently promoted catcher Spencer Navin had only four at bats. Catchers Kyle Farmer (4) and Webster Rivas (1) combined for five steals in April without being caught.

Manager Bill Haselman acknowledges that it is difficult for young players, pitchers in particular, to deal with the stolen base. Holding runners on base is a skill still in its development stage for them. However, he also indicates the Loons will run until they are stopped. The best defense against the steal is keeping runners off base. The Dayton Dragons recently did just that in a three game sweep of the young Loons in which the Dragons gave up only 18 hits, four runs and no stolen bases. The Loons got back to their script in the following two games against the Fort Wayne TinCaps swiping seven bases in those two games.

I know teams strive to own the pitching mound and the batter’s box and there is no doubt that this is a big key to success. However, I can easily see that owning the base paths, as the Loons have done, changes the dynamics on the mound, in the batter’s box and especially in the field. Opponents get fidgety, move around, eyes glancing here and there and then make pitching or fielding mistakes.

Hitting and first base coach Johnny Washington is not surprised with the stealing Loons. He indicates it is just a continuation of spring training where the base paths are to be taken advantage of and not to be feared. Washington is part of a year-round Dodgers base running emphasis, putting a focus on taking extra bases, advancing on fly balls and, of course, stealing bases.

Hugh Bernreuter in an article on April 24th gathered DeJon Watson’s take on the flying Loons.

“As an organization, it is something that we’re emphasizing from spring training on,” said the Dodgers Director of Player Development. “They’re playing loose, they’re playing with great chemistry and they’re playing the way they did in spring training. Johnny Washington does a great job of preparing them not just to hit, but to run. It’s something that will be a consistent theme throughout the organization, from this level to the next and so on.”

As always, the humble Johnny Washington paid tribute to others for the early success of the Loons’ running game.

“We worked really hard during spring training on identifying keys when you’re on base,” Washington said. “We’re just continuing to do that. When they get to first base, it’s my job to remind them what those keys are, what to look for. It’s really the players who are making it work. Damon Mashore is the organization’s base running coach and he did a great job working with the players. And the players are turning that instruction into results.”

There’s fun watching baseball and even more fun watching these young marauders run wild.