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We've put away the smoke and mirrors in Los Lunas. It's no use trying to fool anyone any more. Any success we have results SOLELY from the efforts of our pitching staff. We are petitioning the league for a rule change so we can install a "Batting Tee" at home plate. We've played .500 ball (24 - 24) since May; including this 5 - 2 sim.
Farm Report
AAA Boulder City Big Horns 48 - 48; 1st in Division by 4 Games
AA - Mohave Valley Dust Devils 63 - 32; 1st in Division by 1 Game
A - Socorro Stampede 72 - 23; 1st in Division by 15 Games
Maybe there is something to look forward to, after all.
Player Spotlight
AA Catcher Pancho Negron - The 21 year-old from Guadalajara is carrying a line of .402/.471/.549 in 122 AB over 31 games since his promotion from A-Ball in June. Defensively he's a tick below average, but improving. He speaks English fluently; and that has been a significant factor in his early success.
Favorite Song: "My Old School" by Steeley Dan. Winter Hobby: Chasing scantily-clad American coeds on midwinter break.
5-2 including another strong showing vs. Philly. We are 10-3 against them this season...one of the few teams we have a winning record against.
Gotta say I love my pitching (as if we don't mention that every sim).
This week:
Stephens - 6.1 IP, 1 ER, 5 K's (he dropped a point though in movement!)
Sasaki - 14.1 IP, 2 ER, 8 K's
Bayer - 4.2 IP, 0 ER, 5 K's
Also Bing finally came alive and won IL POTW. He hit 3 doubles and 3 triples and finished with a slugging percentage of .917.
As for the minors our AAA and A team are in first place so that's nice and some of our draft picks are showing improvement already. If we can get some hitting in a few seasons we might actually go .500!
Finally an above .500 SIM, splitting on the road with Pawtucket, and sweeping the Storm at home in 3. Elija Combs has gone crazy with 14 scoreless innings in a row. Finally opened up a little bit of the lead in the Wild Card, moving it up to 3 games. No chance in hell that we can catch Maine, but being in the playoff hunt is interesting for once. The big thing is the home/road splits I discussed before. 7-9 on the road this month, 5-0 at home. Last 3 on the road with Maine, before coming back to Pitt and a huge almost month long homestand. Time to make some space!
Lost Jeff Franklin for 6-7 weeks right when he found his pitch. I tell you, this TORN and PARTIALLY TORN LABRUM injury is becoming the status symbol in the BLB this year. Someone needs to work on Labrum Strengthening.
I'm like 6 out of the Wildcard... but not feeling great about my shot. I think I'm a Seller at heart... but I'm not sure I have the pieces that people want. Definately not a Buyer.
I think we're going to start our audition for next season a little early and see what comes of it. I've got two starters in AAA that deserve a look, so instead of putting Hinchy back in the rotation, I think one of them will get a shot to take Franklin's spot.
Joe Arrendondo had another pair of solid starts this SIM. He's 3-0 with a 1.24 ERA/1.00 WHIP since coming back from his Oblique Strain. 7-2 with a 1.55 ERA/0.99 WHIP on the season. Those 6 lost weeks really had a huge impact on our team.
Danny Nelson hit 3 more HR's this week. That's 7 in July while batting .300. Never ended up the Superstar he could have been after than unbelievable rookie season ('79), but may be my favorite player I've ever had. Plays great D, hits when you need him to... if he could get you 65-75 BB's instead of 30... he'd be borderline elite.
Cristian Martinez had his 20-game hitting streak snapped. While he certainly hasn't made us forget about Wilton Harcourt, he's having a really nice season. Nothing earth-shattering, but really contributing.
Lost Jeff Franklin for 6-7 weeks right when he found his pitch. I tell you, this TORN and PARTIALLY TORN LABRUM injury is becoming the status symbol in the BLB this year. Someone needs to work on Labrum Strengthening.
Same injury as in '84. He passed the physical when he left Baltimore.
1-6 sim against two last place teams. We lose Curt Halpern for 6 weeks. Tajo Hernandez for 2 weeks. Drop from 1 game back in the WC to 5 games back. What a sim.
Charlotte Knights - OSFL Syracuse Slammers - BLB South America - 1984 WBC Runner Up
We finish the week over .500 for the first time since opening day. We got lucky against Washington coming back against the usually reliable Grant Lewis in game one. Despite hitting 11 HR's this week, the offense really struggled as we could only must a .226 avg. which is unlike my usually consistent offense.
Pitching was ok but the bullpen without Magueu is going to give me a heart attack. Fredrick, my generally reliable long man goes down this week for six weeks. We need talent in the pen, and fast.
This week is a critical sim for the Kodiaks. We have seven straight home games against divisional foes. Three vs. Philadelphia and four vs. Batavia.
We're currently three back against Philadelphia so the chance of tying them is there. We haven't had a losing sim in 10 sims now, so we're due but I'm hoping we can stave off that trend for a couple more weeks.
BIG sim on Sunday.
California Kodiaks - GM - 1982-2013 Brewmaster's Cups: 1987 Import League Champions: 1987, 1989
Porter Division Champions: 1986, 1987, 1989, 1999, 2000 Import League Wild Card: 2001, 2003, 2004
Torn labrum needs to be abolished....as soon as Burgett comes off the DL.
You have to be thrilled about our trade so far. Tillbrook has been heating up lately but Longstreet has been excellent so far and Alvarez is lights out. Never thought he would be that good, this quickly.
You have to be thrilled about our trade so far. Tillbrook has been heating up lately but Longstreet has been excellent so far and Alvarez is lights out. Never thought he would be that good, this quickly.
Everything is proceeding exactly as planned....
WINDY CITY PLAYBOYS
Bock Division Champions - 1978, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1986, 1990, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009
Wildcard Playoff Berths - 1984, 1988, 1993, 2010
Import League Champions - 1978, 1979, 1980, 1986, 2008, 2009
BLB Champions - 1986, 2009
Hall of Famers: 4
Pale Ale Pitcher Awards: 6
Stout Sluggers: 2
New Brews: 6
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