(AP)
Title hangover, not for these Whalers! Hartford goes 6-1 with a sweep of Miami and taking three of four from New Orleans to move to 11-2 on the year, the best record in the BLB. Not to be outdone though the Windy City Blues went 7-0 by taking every game from Phoenix and Carolina and only allowing 11 runs in those seven games. Some other highlights and lowlights: Denver stole 10 bases, LAD gave up 45 runs (in 6 games), the Rum Runners had a 1.61 ERA and Seattle hit .326 for the week.
Power Rankings
1) Hartford Whalers (163.3, +)
2) Windy City Blues (151.5, ++)
3) Washington Bats (127.6, -)
4) Maine Guides (125.0, o)
5) Batavia Red Jackets (123.0, -)
6) Denver BC (120.7, ++)
7) Seattle Pilots (117.8, +)
8) Montreal Exports (113.8, -)
9) New Orleans Dukes (108.8, +)
10) Indianapolis Racers (100.9, +)
11) Santo Domingo Rum Runners (96.9, --)
12) Baltimore Bulldogs (93.0, --)
13) Pawtucket Patriots (92.0, ++)
14) New York Knights (80.1, +)
15) Wilmington Wildcats (79.1, +)
16) Miami Sharks (75.0, -)
17) Philadelphia Freedom (74.0, ++)
18) Pittsburgh Millers (74.0, --)
19) Los Angeles Dinos (70.0, --)
20) Carolina Tobs (57.0, -)
21) California Kodiaks (48.4, o)
22) Toronto Canadians (33.6, +)
23) Syracuse Snappers (19.0, -)
24) Phoenix Roadrunners (13.7, -)
Performance of the Week
RF Jimmy Jeffs - In a 10-2 Seattle victory over LAD on April 19th the 24 year old had three hits, two home runs, four runs batted in, and scored four times himself. On the season he's hitting .388 with 2 HR's and 5 RBI's.
Injury of the Week
P Pat Buerger - No one knows the in and outs of the injuries more than Buerger. On April 18th he came in during the 6th and got two outs before having to leave with hamstring tightness. An MRI showed no significant tear and he will be out for over a month. In the last two seasons he's been listed with 10 day to day injuries and back in 2028 he was out for three months with rotator cuff inflammation after missing the entire 2027 season with a torn labrum.
Prospect of the Week
P Melvin 'Slug' Agee - With back to back high school all-star appearances the 16 year old has shot up the draft board of more than a few teams. He's one of the few high school pitchers to have a sub 3.00 ERA and scouts say he's "very smart and has a solid knowledge of the game...that combined with his work ethic should help his development."
Five Things We Think We Think
1. Scooter Nackers is back to his old fighting ways. In 2029 he was suspended after a brawl. This week against Los Angeles he gave up a three run home run to Ed Mossberg in the 4th then promptly beaned JJ Eastridge who charged the mound. In a fight that would have made wrestling look tame the 6'1 Nackers picked up and slammed the 6'3 Eastridge before the rest of the team could get involved. There were several more punches thrown but no one else was ejected. Scooter was suspended six games by the league and JJ got four.
2. After we gave Toronto a hard time last week they now have three wins on the season, which is one more than both Syracuse and Phoenix. They got their first win of the season on April 14th when they downed Pawtucket 5-4. Dylans 'Old Man' Owens had two hits and one RBI while Jimmy Vaughn picked up the win, equaling his total from last season.
3. Ian James has entered the prime of his career and it's going to be a scary few seasons for opposing pitchers. He's currently rated by scouts as the top player in the league and is leading the BLB in average (.450) and is tied for the lead in home runs (7). Apparently being on the trade block the entire off-season has only motivated him more.
4. We walked about Ricky 'Heartthrob' last week swiping bases in Denver and the rest of the team has seemed to follow. In two weeks the BC have stolen a league leading 16 bases while only being thrown out once. It helps that Ricky has 11 of those. In other Denver news Jamie O'Hearn leads the team with three dingers and is now 11 away from tying the all-time record of 572 set by Dani Alvarez. Meanwhile Pang Shuai is 2-0 with a 0.83 ERA and struck out 15 this week in 15 innings.
5. Got some good match-ups this week and all though it's early it might give us some idea which surprise teams might be for real. Washington plays Batavia, Hartford plays Maine, Denver plays Windy City, and Indy plays Miami.
Stat of the Week
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Batting Title Winners in Descending Order of AVG (Top 25 Players) |
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