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08/26/41
Windy City, Syracuse, and Wilmington all continue their assault for the best record in the league by putting up 5-1 weeks. The Blues now trail California by only a game for the Bock lead, while Wilmington and Syracuse stay neck and neck for the Ale lead. All three of those teams are a lock for the playoffs, but each of them are playing hard in hopes of taking the division and getting the much needed first round week off. Meanwhile those division leading Kodiaks went 5-2 while Washington, Maine, Baltimore and Pawtucket all went 4-2.
Power Rankings
1) Windy City Blues (124.4, +)
2) Wilmington Clowns (123.4, o)
3) California Kodiaks (123.2, -)
4) Syracuse Snappers (119.0, +)
5) Washington Bats (112.6, +)
6) Santo Domingo Rum Runners (110.1, -)
7) Baltimore Bulldogs (105.8, o)
8) Pittsburgh Millers (103.7, o)
9) Montreal Exports (95.0, o)
10) New Orleans Voodoo (94.7, +)
11) Phoenix Roadrunners (91.3, o)
12) Seattle Pilots (91.1, -)
13) Philadelphia Freedom (86.3, o)
14) Toronto Canadians (83.1, o)
15) Maine Guides (82.4, ++)
16) Batavia Red Jackets (81.8, -)
17) Dallas Drillers (79.0, o)
18) Denver Bulls (78.9, -)
19) Los Angeles Dinos (77.5, +)
20) Hartford Whalers (75.6, -)
21) Pawtucket Patriots (71.9, +)
22) New York Knights (65.0, -)
23) Carolina Tobs (56.3, o)
24) Indianapolis Racers (24.3, o)
Performance of the Week
1B Skyler Amason - The 25 year old was a 2nd round pick back in 2036 by Hartford but was traded to Carolina in 2037. This is his third season in the BLB, but first full-time and he hasn't disappointed. On August 21st against Batavia he turned in the #2 performance of the season when he had two home runs, five RBI's, and three runs scored during an 8-2 Tobs victory. On the year he's hitting .276/.319/.503 with 19 HR's and 43 RBI's while playing 84 games at first base.
Injury of the Week
1B Bryce Wallace - A relative injury free week in the BLB means Wallace takes home the award for an oblique strain that will keep him out a month. Drafted originally by Windy City back in 2032 he was traded to Santo Domingo in 2038 and broke into the BLB last year. This year he's hitting .242/.309/.484 with 7 HR's and 21 RBI's in 41 games.
Prospect of the Week
LF Rolando Pridgen - The 23 year old has been quietly tearing up AAA this season and is looking for a shot in the bigs, and we think he should get it! The former 9th overall pick of the 2039 draft is hitting .277/.363/.518 with 24 HR's and 74 RBI's in 107 games and has won POTW twice in the last month. Coaches say he is a great leader and communicator and they believe his power potential is top of the charts.
Five Things We Think We Think
1. Reid 'Ramrod' Cole spent the first 50 games of the season playing for Windy City's AAA team before finally get called up. Since then he has played in 62 BLB games and hit an amazing 24 home runs for an OPS of 1.007. There are currently only three players with a higher OPS who have played in at least 45 games. Elmer 'Bane' Caceres, Dawson 'Wedge' Davis, and Adrian Gramling. That's pretty good company to say the least for Cole, and for Gramling as well, another rookie and the youngest player in the league.
2. New Orleans is on a free fall to say the least. They were 69-34 going into August...and are now 74-52 and down 2.5 games in the Lager after going 5-18 so far in Augst. During their month of sorrow they are hitting .246 and have scored 77 runs, while allowing opponents to hit .273 and score 101 runs. Before they get too down on themself though it hasn't been an easy schedule. They are 0-4 against Wilmington, 1-3 against Syracuse, and 0-3 against Santo Domingo while also playing 14 of the 23 games on the road. If anyone is to blame we'll pick on Trey McCaffery. After going 2-17 last season he got back on track and started out the year 6-1 with a 3.89 ERA. He's now 6-5 with a 4.95 ERA.
3. One team that is shooting up like GME did back in 2021 is Baltimore. The Bulldogs are 17-5 this month, 69-58 overall, and have their playoff odds up to 100%. Talk up trending up! With a .468 opponent win percentage down the stretch Baltimore could be back in the postseason for the first time since 2036. During this run they've hit .304 and scored 127 runs while opponents have hit .254 and scored 72 runs, the lowest in the league.
4. Clown's first basemen R.J. Kapper continues to be the premier hitter in the league as his .359 average leads all. The 34 year old came over to Wilmington from Pittsburgh this off-season via free agency on a one year deal worth $18,000,000. He can still play the outfield but his hitting combined with his +7.0 ZR at first mean his days patrolling the outfield are probably over. He led the league with a .355 average last season and has accomplished that feat four other times in his career as well. In his 13 years he's only hit less than .330 one time, back in 2038 when he hit .275 and critics thought the end was nigh.
5. Some nice match-ups this week in the BLB as Santo Domingo travels to New Orleans, Wilmington travels to Santo Domingo, Washington travels to Windy City, and Seattle travels to Windy City. Looks like we're gonna book some tickets to the sunny Dominican Republic to watch us some baseball! Adios!
Stat of the Week
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| Oldest Players To Win The Stout Slugger Award or Pale Ale Pitcher Award (Top 25 Players) |
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