There has been much talk and debate about the success of Chris Wallace as it relates to his geriatric age in the South Atlantic League. Fans and writers alike are certain he is only successful because he is beating up on all the little boys he's playing with. According to the roster, the BULLY officially turns 23 Wednesday, so I thought it would be fun to see just how old the geezer really is, compared to his opponents. In order to accomplish this, I simply averaged the ages of all position players and pitchers in the SAL. Positions players have an average age of 21 years and 9 months making the old guy 1 year and 3 months older than the average position player. The average age of the pitcher is 22 years and 4 months, making him 8 months their senior.  

In order to see how mean the BULLY really is,  I compared his success to the age of the pitchers he has been destroying. The "boys" on the playground who have given up the homeruns to Wallace are : Turley (21 yrs, 7 mos), Stavert (23 yrs, 5mos), Slaats (22 yrs, 4mos), Benningson (24 yrs, 1 mon), Sitton (22 yrs, 9 mos), Goeddel (22yrs 5 mos) and Huchingson (22 years); combined average age of  22 years and 7 months. The triples were given up by : German (23yrs, 7mos) and Huchingson (22yrs); combined average age of 22 years and 8 months. The doubles were at the hands of : O'Brien (21yrs, 1 mon), Barreda (22yrs, 6mos), Manno (22yrs, 5 mos), Grace (22yrs, 4 mos) and Slaats (22yrs, 4 mos); combined average age of 22 yrs 2 months.

When I look at these numbers I don't see someone playing out of their league or whipping up on the "little guys". I simply see a guy who is playing hard and having success against his peers. Rather than assuming there has to be some ulterior reason for his success, such as age; I think Astros fans should enjoy Wallace's moments in the spotlight and the attention it brings to the farm.

Is he really the big, bad, bully or just a ball busting kid on the farm?