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09/05/2039
(AP) - The clash of the titans featured Seattle taking two of three against New Orleans and moving into the top spot in the weekly power rankings. Overall Seattle was 4-2 this week, which was a common theme since nine other teams also had that record. There can be only one though and this week it was the Washington Bats. Early on they found themselves suddenly in second place in the Stout, but after going 5-1 they now have a 2.5 game lead over Batavia. It's a true underdog story as they continue to claw and fight to win the division. If they can pull it off it would be only their 29th division title since the league started 61 seasons ago. In other news Syracuse, Maine, and Indy all went 1-5 on the week. The Snappers are now 8-23 since August and have all but locked up the #1 pick in the 2040 draft.
Power Rankings
1) Seattle Pilots (121.8, +)
2) Washington Bats (119.4, ++)
3) Windy City Blues (116.5, -)
4) New Orleans Voodoo (115.8, --)
5) Los Angeles Dinos (115.5, o)
6) Pittsburgh Millers (114.8, -)
7) California Kodiaks (108.0, o)
8) Batavia Red Jackets (105.3, -)
9) Wilmington Clowns (103.4, +)
10) Toronto Canadians (102.6, o)
11) Denver Bulls (99.0, -)
12) Baltimore Bulldogs (94.9, o)
13) Miami Baseball Team (86.8, ++)
14) Montreal Exports (85.0, +)
15) Hartford Whalers (84.5, -)
16) Indianapolis Racers (80.9, --)
17) Santo Domingo Rum Runners (79.4, o)
18) Pawtucket Patriots (73.7, +)
19) New York Knights (70.0, -)
20) Carolina Tobs (65.7, +)
21) Maine Guides (62.6, -)
22) Philadelphia Freedom (61.7, -)
23) Phoenix Roadrunners (54.0, o)
24) Syracuse Snappers (39.6, o)
Performance of the Week
J.J. Plumley - On August 30th against Denver he went 8.1 innings, struck out 13, walked two, and allowed only three hits in an 8-0 Clowns victory. Reports came out this week from Wilmington that he was sick and tired of hearing about IL ace Barton Mejia. The 6x All-Star and 3x Pale Ale winner leads the DL in strikeouts, is second in wins, and is one of three pitchers to ever win the Triple Crown.
Injury of the Week
2B Colter 'Hotrod' Kobayashi - A brutal injury out of Indy this week on August 30th as 'Hotrod' beat out an infield single against California but crumpled to the ground after striding to reach first. Trainers and manager Vic Wallen immediately came out of the dugout and Colter was helped off the field after several minutes. An MRI later showed a torn posterior cruciate ligament which will require surgery. Medical experts expect him to be out of action at least 10 months. On the season the 23 year old was hitting .273/.341/.399 with 9 HR's and 49 RBI's in 128 games. He was a 3rd round pick back in 2036 by the Racers.
Prospect of the Week
P Christian Vines - As the season winds down everyone still has their eye on the #1 prospect in the league. Vines was a 2x NCAA All-Star at Rice, tossed a college no-hitter with 17 K's against the Longhorns, and somehow ended up second in the 2038 NCAA Outstanding Pitcher award (won by 1.5 pick Cade Hogan). In his first full season in the minors he was quickly promoted to AA where he went 6-4 with a 2.65 ERA in 17 starts. He throws a 99 mph fastball and combined with a curve and splitter should be dominating the BLB by 2041.
Five Things We Think We Think
1. Looking through the injury wire there is one team that is noticeably absent...the California Kodiaks. They suffered two D2D injuries in spring training back in March and haven't had a player miss a single day since. To put it in perspective Philly has had 11 BLB players hurt with a total of 665 days on the IL. It's almost unfathomable. We know from reports and box scores that the Kodiaks love to rest players, but the luck factor has been out of this world. In other questions California is currently 7.5 back from Seattle for the Bock lead and 4 back from Windy City for the IL wildcard lead...would letting the guys play and taking the risk make up for that difference? We think so but we shall never know.
2. We figured Johnny Thompson had a great chance at setting history by hitting .400 for the season, but we counted out fellow Pilots outfielder Richie 'Powder' van Luik. So the Dutch Dinger went out and hit .591 last week and is now hitting .396 on the season. The number crunchers state he has to hit .423 down the stretch (as opposed to Thompson's .360) but I guess anything is possible with this franchise.
3. The Rookie League playoffs are past the best of three Wildcard round and one game into the Divisional Series already. Meanwhile the AAA, AA, and A playoffs all start this week. The Chandler Firebirds (MON) had the best record in the RL at 65-23, Little Rock (DEN) was tops in A ball at 79-41, Auburn Venom (WAS) went 76-44 in AA and the Reno Railers dominated AAA at 76-44.
4. The DL and IL final wildcard spot still isn't decided as a few teams fight for their playoff life. In the DL the Miami Baseball Team find themselves 67-72 and only 2.5 games back from Montreal, who at 69-69 hold the final spot and are looking to make it back to the postseason for the first time since 2031. In the IL the Denver Bulls are 78-61 but five games behind LAD. The Dinos meanwhile trail California and Batavia by only a half game and Windy City by 4.5 games. Denver's playoff odds are now down to 15% while Toronto in the DL has just one more win but sits at 100%. Baseball can be a cruel game.
5. One thing that we didn't mention in point #2 was that after 'Powder' had his amazing week getting the bat on the ball he also managed to move his stolen base count up to 75. That means he is now on pace to tie the single season record of 87 set back in the 1978, the BLB's inaugural season. Two milestones we never thought we'd see fall and Seattle might crack both of them 60 seasons later.
Stat of the Week
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