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(AP)
We come back from vacation and the Pittsburgh Millers have once again claimed the top spot this season as they leapfrogged Baltimore with a 4-2 week while the Bulldogs went 2-5. The big weeks though belonged to Seattle and Maine who went 6-1 and Santo Domingo and Miami who went 5-2. The Pilots are now 32-31 and above .500 for the first time this year while the Rum Runners are 31-31 and finally back to even. Seven teams only won two games but the Los Angeles Dino's were in a class by themselves after going 1-6 and falling to 28-34 on the season.
Power Rankings
1) Pittsburgh Millers (127.0, +)
2) Baltimore Bulldogs (115.0, -)
3) Maine Guides (107.0, ++)
4) Miami Sharks (106.0, ++)
5) New York Knights (103.0, +)
6) Seattle Pilots (102.4, ++)
7) Windy City Blues (101.0, -)
8) Pawtucket Patriots (98.9, --)
9) Santo Domingo Rum Runners (97.0, ++)
10) Batavia Red Jackets (96.1, --)
11) Hartford Whalers (94.8, -)
12) Washington Bats (93.6, -)
13) Phoenix Roadrunners (93.3, --)
14) Indianapolis Racers (89.1, ++)
15) Philadelphia Freedom (87.0, -)
16) Syracuse Snappers (85.0, --)
17) New Orleans Dukes (80.1, -)
18) Toronto Canadians (79.0, --)
19) California Kodiaks (76.5, +)
20) Los Angeles Dinos (72.3, --)
21) Carolina Tobs (70.9, +)
22) Denver BC (68.9, +)
23) Wilmington Clowns (62.6, -)
24) Montreal Exports (57.9, -)
Performance of the Week
P Casper Schmidt - On June 9th he shackled New York with a complete game, four hit shutout as the Freedom won 6-0. He struck out six and walked none and after giving up six and eight runs in his last two starts this was a breath of fresh air for the 32 year old. On the year now he's 4-2 with a 4.74 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, and 82 ERA+.
Injury of the Week
2B Ricky 'Heartthrob' Figueroa - When we saw Heartthrob come across the injury wire we were confused as of why he was playing in Hartford, then we saw he got traded on May 30th for Deonte Perry and a 3rd round pick. Unfortunately a week later he will be out several months after getting hurt throwing the ball to first during a routine 4-3 ground out against Pittsburgh on June 6th. On the season he's hitting .326/.355/.414 with 19 RBI's and 19 stolen bases.
Prospect of the Week
CF Hyun-seung Bark - He was named the #39 prospect in baseball starting the year and in 55 games with Batavia's AA club he has hit .306/.404/.566 with 11 HR's and 38 RBI's. What's just as impressive is that he's played 31 games in center field and 23 games at second base and has the ability to play almost any position on the field very well.
Five Things We Think We Think
1. Dusty Janson for Baltimore has now equaled last season's home run total of 23...in 216 less plate appearances. He hit 24 home runs in 2031 in 366 more plate appearances. Some say it's the park but he's hit 12 at home and 11 on the road and his OPS and SLG are higher this season on the road. His career high is 28 in 2030 and he's on pace to hit over double that at 59 this season.
2. We mentioned Seattle earlier but they are now the #4 wildcard in the Import. They've won five in a row and are 9-3 in June after having losing months in April and May. They are still 8th in the IL in both runs scored and runs against and 12th in defensive efficiency so when those numbers start to even out we have little doubt they will be on top of the Bock shortly. Water finds it level...and the Pilots level is usually one of the highest in the league.
3. The draft is over and will be officially entered this week on June 16th. From the first pick of Curtis Noworyta to the last pick of Harrison Aber both teams and fans are eager to see exactly how their draft stacks up when the prospect rankings list is updated at the end of the week. Will Batavia still have the top system? Will Syracuse still be last with zero prospects?
4. As the draft finishes up All-Star voting continues on strong. The game isn't until July 19th but currently Dusty Janson leads the IL with 1,264,279 votes and Ron Hutchison leads the DL with 1,308,097 votes. Some Import leaders who are currently looking for their 1st All-Star invite: C Edwin Cantu - LAD, 2B Tom Martin - NYK, 3B Mat Barone - SEA, and LF Bert Garza - WAS. Some Domestic leaders who are currently looking for their 1st All-Star invite: SS Jonathon Valenti - SYR, LF Fred Falloon - IND, and CF Mat Weir - NO.
5. It's nice to see that when the playoff odds were released at the end of the week that 20 of the 24 teams still have a shot according to HAL. Only Toronto, Montreal, Wilmington and Denver come in at 0.0% currently.
Stat of the Week
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Can you name the eight HoF players who played for the 1992 Millers?
Spoiler
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