After the worst start in New Jersey Bandits franchise history, Bandits GM Yoda announced on May 1 that the team would undergo a thorough overhaul in an attempt to get back on the winning track.
The first victim of the restructuring was long-time pitching coach Ron Darling, who had been with the team since its inaugural season in 2000. Darling has been the source of much criticism the last few weeks, when several of the Bandits relievers started complaining about their roles in the pen. Darling seemed to have calmed some of the concerns last week when he held a closed-door meeting with his pitching staff after losing three straight to the division-leading Demons. The staff responded by winning the next three from the Demons, including two incredibly fortuitous extra-inning games. But things went from bad to worse when three of the Bandits' starting pitchers were injured early in the game and sources confirmed that the pitchers blamed Darling and the new exercise regimen he introduced during the pre-season.
In response, the Bandits announced that Darling had been reassigned to the team's minor-league affiliate in New Orleans, where he will finish out the season as the pitching coach there. Bret Saberhagen, who played the second half of the 2000 season and helped the team win their first World Series title, has been named the new pitching coach for the Bandits. Details of his contract were not disclosed.
Yoda confirmed that he had no intention of replacing either manager Tom Seaver or hitting coach Lenny Dykstra. He also denied rumors that first appeared last weekend that the team would be holding a fire sale in the near future. "It's way too early to start thinking about next year. We are only four games behind Forest Hills and we feel we have enough pieces to bring home another championship," the dimunitive Jedi master said.
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