2016 Around the League News

[Matt]

BLB News: Opening Day: Fans are lining up at the turnstiles and getting ready for another great year. Welcome to another exciting baseball season. Everyone is ready to sit back, munch on a hot dog and get this thing started! The first pitches of the new season will be tossed today in stadiums all across the country:

Denver BC @ New York Knights
Windy City Blues @ Wilmington Wildcats
Syracuse Slammers @ Indianapolis Clowns
Maine Guides @ Los Angeles Dinos
Baltimore Bulldogs @ Batavia Muckdogs
Toronto Canadians @ Pittsburgh Millers
Philadelphia Freedom @ Morgantown Mohawks
Carolina Tobs @ Washington Bats
New Orleans Dukes @ Hartford Whalers
Pawtucket Patriots @ Dallas Sharks
Death Valley Scorpions @ California Kodiaks
Davenport Brawlers @ Los Alamos Amigos


Top 100 Prospects List Published: The season is about to start, so it's time to publish the annual Top 100 Prospects list. This year 19-year-old RF Erik Surmeier of the Wilmington Wildcats is the #1 prospect overall.

Here is the top 10:
1) RF Erik Surmeier, 19, Wilmington Wildcats
2) LHP Ed Carroll, 22, Washington Bats
3) RF Gil Mullins, 22, Los Alamos Amigos
4) 1B Dylan Owens, 19, Toronto Canadians
5) RHP C.J. Baase, 22, Wilmington Wildcats
6) RHP Tommy Bartholomew, 22, Wilmington Wildcats
7) RHP Jimmy Bires, 21, Toronto Canadians
8) RHP Dave Kauffman, 21, New York Knights
9) RHP Dusty Orbon, 22, Dallas Sharks
10) LHP Jaime Stone, 20, Los Alamos Amigos


Yonke Hitless, Stopped by Brawlers: Amigos third baseman Geoff Yonke and his hot bat finally met their match today, ending his 20-game hitting string. The Brawlers held Yonke hitless in 1 at-bat and also whipped Los Alamos 3-2 at Babylon.


Johnston Files For Bankruptcy: Batavia second baseman, Tyler Johnston, filed for bankruptcy this morning in a Batavia court. According to the Chapter 7 filing, Mr. Johnston's restaurant chain lost $5.5 million last year. Among his assets, the second baseman listed over 2 million in Rolex watches.

Tyler has been quoted as saying, "What can I tell you? Those timepieces are the epitome of class. I can't say anything about my financial situation. Go through my lawyer."

[Carlos]

Didn't the bankruptcy thing happen to someone last season? I remember that rolex line.

edit: Found it. Dave Sanders. But he also didn't pay child support.

[Ryan]

Didn't the bankruptcy thing happen to someone last season? I remember that rolex line.

edit: Found it. Dave Sanders. But he also didn't pay child support.

At least his kids knew what time it was.

[Matt]

BLB News: Draft Pool Revealed: Scouts have begun to salivate. The list of players for the first-year player draft has been released by the league office and speculation is already beginning about who will end up as the first pick. The list has been posted under the transaction section of the BNN site and will be there for the next 30 days leading up to draft day.

Teams now have a chance to scout the draft pool 65 days before the draft is held.

The top players available (in no particular order) seem to be:
1. Matt Healey, 20 year-old 3B out of college.
2. Roger Villasenor, 20 year-old RHP out of college.
3. Jalen Duell, 19 year-old RHP out of college.
4. Mike Morla, 20 year-old 2B out of college.
5. Rod Sedivec, 20 year-old CF out of college.
6. Tom Ackers, 20 year-old RF out of college.
7. Nelson Marquez, 20 year-old SS out of college.
8. Brendon Lanoie, 20 year-old RF out of college.
9. Dave Webber, 20 year-old RF out of college.
10. Fred Ratley, 20 year-old 1B out of college.


Ballard Bewilders Canadians: The Toronto Canadians had no answer today for Knights pitcher Jimmy Ballard. They failed to score a single run against him, losing 6-0. Toronto managed only 3 hits off Ballard and had 2 strikeouts.


Muckdogs Vasquez Tames Carolina: All went well for Victor Vasquez of the Batavia Muckdogs as he pitched his team to a 3-0 shutout victory over the Carolina Tobs, limiting them to 4 hits while ringing up 4 strikeouts and surrendering no walks.

In the postgame interview, both managers had glowing things to say about Vasquez.

His manager described him this way: "He's got a good selection of pitches he can throw at a guy. He changes speed, gives different looks to different hitters. When he's on his game, he's quite a handful."

The Carolina skipper said, "He doesn't give you anything twice. It's a guessing game with him and today my club was always guessing wrong."


Gaxiola Whitewashes Toronto: New York's Oscar Gaxiola breezed through the Canadians lineup today, collecting a 6-hit shutout and a 4-0 victory along the way. Gaxiola fanned 6 as well.

"I didn't really feel like I had my game today," Gaxiola confessed, "but some days are like that -- you just gotta go with what you have."


Suarez Reaches 2500: "It would have been a lot nicer if my 2500th hit had won the game," said Steve Suarez after the Maine Guides had been tripped up by the Indianapolis Clowns, 3-0, spoiling his big day. The Guides right fielder gained access to the exclusive 2500-hit club by going 2-for-5 in the game played at Old Port Park.

"The standing ovation by the fans is not something I will ever forget," Suarez said to the press after the game. "I think even the Clowns fans were cheering me."

Suarez has played in 2087 games and posted a lifetime .291 average. He has 2500 hits, 396 doubles, 49 triples and 295 homers. In addition he has driven in 1121 runs and scored 1214 times.

[Matt]

YES! YES! It's a Perfect No-No for Aguilar: Over the course of baseball history, some moments stand a little taller than others. One of those moments happened today at In-N-Out Field. Chris Aguilar of the Windy City Blues beat the Kodiaks 7-0 and threw a perfect game. He dominated California in a way rarely seen. By the end of the game, he had rung up 4 California hitters on strikeouts, showed superb control in not allowing a single walk and did not even allow a base hit. There were no errors, either. No one got on base.

The fans gave Chris Aguilar a well-deserved standing ovation as he left the mound. They knew they had witnessed one of the rariest events in baseball.

Aguilar told reporters in the postgame press conference that he never dreamed of throwing a perfect game. "As a kid, you always think of pitching to win the final game of a championship," Aguilar said. "You never think of pitching a perfect game, because it just seems unattainable. I'll remember this day for the rest of my life."


Philadelphia Re-Signs Kidwell to Extension: Happy times in Philadelphia as the Freedom and star second baseman Jimmy Kidwell put the finishing touches on a $133,210,000 contract extension that will keep the 29-year-old in town 7 years longer.

The signing is great news for Philadelphia because players of this caliber are hard to come by.

This season Kidwell is batting .291 with 2 home runs. He has scored 7 runs and driven in 5.


Dave Harmony Calls Players-Only Meeting: After what he called a "particularly tough" string of recent losses, Dave Harmony called a players-only meeting to air some grievances with the members of the Los Alamos Amigos.

"There are just some things that have been festering for a while that we need to take care of," the 23-year-old said, although he did not elaborate on those specific issues. "Some of the stuff is off the field, some of the stuff is stuff on the field. I hope the talk just gave gave guys a chance to say what they wanted to say and move on with it, looser and ready to win ballgames."

Other members of the ballclub left the stadium early and many refused to talk about the meeting and what was discussed.

[Matt]

Los Alamos Skipper Vargas Blasts Media Over Bad Press: Amigos manager, Joe Vargas, had some choice words for the Los Alamos media today. "Whatever happened to journalistic integrity?" the Amigos skipper asked during a live radio interview. "No one cares about reporting the facts anymore. It's all about sensationalism these days. All you guys care about is selling newspapers and driving up ratings. And I'm getting pretty damn sick of it." Vargas seemed to be referring to recent stories that have suggested the Amigos struggles as of late have been the result of off-field distractions.

One article, which accuses Xavier Garnett of numerous "extracurricular indiscretions", has been a particularly sore subject for Vargas. "What players do on their own time is their business, but to imply that any of my players aren't giving it their all on the field is absolutely ridiculous," Vargas said, "and to make these kinds of accusations against someone without any proof is just plain irresponsible!"

Team officials had no comment when asked about Vargas's remarks.


Goldberg Locks Down Muckdogs Victory, Gets 300th Save: It took just 1 innings of work for Batavia reliever Jarod Goldberg to collect career save number 300. The 34-year-old hurler gave up no runs and 1 hit during his outing as the Muckdogs toppled the Windy City Blues 2-1. "The milestone weighs on your mind a bit, so I'm glad it's over," a relieved Goldberg said after the game. "I was tired of talking about it and I'm sure my teammates were tired of it, too."

Goldberg has converted 300 saves in his career. Over 630 games he has compiled a 2.52 ERA, 38 wins, 46 losses and 797 strikeouts in 667 innings pitched.


Injury Forces Edgar Mejia Out: The New York Knights will be without the services of Edgar Mejia for 6 months after an incident in a game against the Carolina Tobs. The 38-year-old starting pitcher was injured while throwing a pitch and suffered shoulder inflammation.

This year Mejia has a 1-0 record and a 2.48 ERA.

[Carlos]

Mejia getting injured sucks. I hate that for the game.

[Matt]

Hall of Famers last pitch?

[Carlos]

Hall of Famers last pitch?

Probably. Glad to see the bold happened in time:

4/10/2016 Collects his 3000th career Brewers League Baseball strikeout!
04/20/2016 Earns his 200th career Brewers League Baseball victory!
05/01/2016 Injured (shoulder inflammation), out for 6 months.

[umd]

I don't think the shoulder inflammation will be enough for him to retire.

[Carlos]

I don't think the shoulder inflammation will be enough for him to retire.

I think you're right. But will he pitch well enough for it to matter?

[Ryan]

I think you're right. But will he pitch well enough for it to matter?

Doesn't matter, he's a Hall of Famer.

[Carlos]

Doesn't matter, he's a Hall of Famer.

I know BUT...

[Spectre]

I'm hoping he retires- I could really use that 17 million bucks next year ;)

[funclown]

I'm hoping he retires- I could really use that 17 million bucks next year ;)

He's showing some quick slippage ratings wise and at his age I think you end up getting lucky.