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08/08/2044
We are back...and the BLB is better than ever. It appears that while we took some time away the Montreal Exports decided to go 21-10 since July 1st, and now approaching mid-August have a four game lead in the Lager. It was Dallas though that won the week with a 6-0 record. It appears that farm system that was tops in the league the past few seasons has finally matured, and the rest of the Domestic better watch out. On the other side of the life the red hot Kodiaks finally cooled down to the tune of zero and six for the week. At 64-50 though they are only three games back from Windy City, and with a 97% playoff probability chance the fans and front office shouldn't worry too much about it.
Power Rankings
1) Montreal Exports (119.5, o)
2) Dallas Drillers (117.6, ++)
3) Windy City Blues (108.8, +)
4) Santo Domingo Rum Runners (107.7, -)
5) Syracuse Snappers (103.3, o)
6) Seattle Pilots (102.1, ++)
7) Philadelphia Freedom (97.6, -)
8) Washington Bats (95.8, +)
9) New Orleans Voodoo (95.4, -)
10) California Kodiaks (93.1, --)
11) Baltimore Bulldogs (91.8, -)
12) Hartford Whalers (91.0, ++)
13) Pittsburgh Millers (89.3, +)
14) Phoenix Roadrunners (89.2, -)
15) New York Knights (88.0, o)
16) Carolina Tobs (86.6, +)
17) Maine Guides (82.2, --)
18) Wilmington Clowns (81.7, +)
19) Pawtucket Patriots (81.0, o)
20) Toronto Canadians (80.8, -)
21) Los Angeles Dinos (77.9, +)
22) Denver Bulls (71.9, -)
23) Indianapolis Racers (55.4, o)
24) Batavia Red Jackets (48.7, o)
Performance of the Week
LF Jarred 'Shooter' Lathrop - The 23 year old was selected last season to the All-Star Futures game, and it appears the future is now. On August 2nd against Santo Domingo he smacked three home runs and drove in eight during a 12-5 Knights victory. He was a 3rd round pick in 2038, 62nd overall, and looks like a steal. This season he's hitting .279/.342/.481 with 21 HR's and 73 RBI's.
Prospect of the Week
1B James 'Jetsam' Mitchell - Coming in hot at #49 on the prospect list is 'Jetsam' who is hitting an impressive .298/.373/.537 with 19 HR's and 67 RBI's in 98 A ball games this season. The former second round pick of the 2043 draft by Carolina is 22 years old and looks to be the next great Tobs slugger.
Five Things We Think We Think
1. It was a wild July as we saw several teams make quite a wild swing in the standings, with Dallas and California leading the pack. Both the Drillers and Kodiaks went 19-7, while Baltimore was close behind at 18-8. As talked about before California is almost a playoff shoo-in, as are now the Drillers. Baltimore has a little more work to do, but this team was nine games under .500 when July kicked off. On the other side of life poor Batavia went 2-24. We haven't seen a month like that since Syracuse was doing it in 2037 and 2038. Just look at those Snappers now Red Jackets fans, your time is coming.
2. While we were gone we missed a few milestones. First congrats to Tom Stark for hitting his 300th career home run on July 30th. The first overall pick of the 2027 draft enjoyed a long career with Windy City then traveled to Seattle, Washington, and Maine before returning home to Chicago. This season the 37 year old is hitting .255 with 17 HR's. Stark is a 6x All-Star and his +80.5 ZR in center field is good for 29th all-time. Next up is another congrats to Christian Vines. On July 29th he struck out 16 Rum Runners, and at only 26 years old he now has the most 15+ K games in league history with six.
3. Speaking of Vines on August 3rd he struck out a measly 15 batters against Windy City, and took the L after the Snappers scored one run and lost the game 2-1. Now on the season Vines is 14-3 with a 1.59 ERA and 0.78 WHIP. He's still on pace for a 12.5 WAR, which would be the highest in league history. He's also still on pace for 364 strikeouts, which would break the record of 319 set 66 seasons ago. He's also on pace to win the Triple Crown for pitching. Goodness what a season.
4. The power outage in the BLB continues. We are at 70% completion for the season and the leading Domestic home run hitter is a tie between SDR's Jayden Feldmen and Montreal's DJ Osburn...with 29 dingers each. They are projected to reach 42 which would be the lowest Domestic League total since 2007, when Terry Mast did it for the Knights. Now that's a name we haven't heard for a while. We at the DK still remember when ol' Terry slugged 50 HR's in a single season in AA ball. Where does the time go.
5. The IL and DL wildcard races continue to amaze as nine Domestic and seven Import teams still have a legitimate chance to make the playoffs. After SDR and Dallas in the DL, the other seven teams are separated by only seven games. In the IL California and Philadelphia are in the drivers seat, but then the other five teams are only four games apart. It looks like we could see a Lonnie Colman game or three to end the season.
Stat of the Week
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| Largest Single Season Increase In Home Runs (Top 25 Players, Maximum 100% Increase In Games Played) |
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