This was the story of the Kernels of 1994, who won the Midwest League championship. Such was the tale of the '97 Kernels, who finished in twelfth place. Teams at every level struggle to put together a magical season in which, by hard work and good fortune, they develop as a unit and progress toward a championship. But in Single-A ball, that struggle is particularly acute and that magic especially rare. Each Kernels club begins the year almost from scratch, largely populated by a new crop of players fresh from Rookie ball in Boise or Butte.
Consistency is hard to come by.
Chemistry is lightning in a bottle. This year's team has begun the season looking a bit more like the '97 squad than the championship team of a few years back. Through 48 games they were 21-27 and six games off the pace in the league's Western Division. Coming into last Monday's game against the Lansing Lugnuts, a Chicago Cubs affiliate, they had lost four in a row. But by the end of the afternoon, there was reason to think this team might yet look strong and smart come September.