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09/09/2047
It's been a while since the Bats were on top of the PR, but after a 5-1 week against the Domestic here they are. Washington now has a 15.5 game lead in the Stout and will win the division for the third time in the last decade. Other nice weeks were had by Pittsburgh and Phoenix who each went 5-1. The Millers are now third in the Domestic wildcard while Phoenix is second in the Import wildcard. In good news there were no zero or one win teams this past week, but nine teams did go 2-4. Since everyone played six here are some team leaders: Syracuse scored 39 runs (SDR - 9), Pittsburgh swiped 10 bases (four teams stole 1), the Voodoo allowed 11 runs (Carolina - 45), and Phoenix K'd 72 opposing batters (Balt - 30).
Power Rankings
1) Washington Bats (121.6, +)
2) California Kodiaks (114.0, ++)
3) Los Angeles Dinos (112.5, -)
4) Pittsburgh Millers (112.0, ++)
5) New Orleans Voodoo (109.2, ++)
6) Pawtucket Patriots (105.5, -)
7) Syracuse Snappers (104.0, --)
8) Dallas Drillers (103.3, --)
9) Phoenix Roadrunners (101.1, +)
10) Montreal Exports (99.1, --)
11) Denver Bulls (97.9, o)
12) Baltimore Bulldogs (91.6, +)
13) Seattle Pilots (87.1, o)
14) New York Knights (86.1, +)
15) Batavia Red Jackets (81.8, --)
16) Philadelphia Freedom (81.6, ++)
17) Wilmington Clowns (79.4, o)
18) Toronto Canadians (77.9, -)
19) Windy City Blues (73.8, +)
20) Santo Domingo Rum Runners (69.9, -)
21) Indianapolis Racers (68.4, +)
22) Carolina Tobs (66.9, +)
23) Maine Guides (65.7, --)
24) Hartford Whalers (53.8, o)
Performance of the Week
3B Preston 'Cowboy' Capps - He came over in the trade that made LAD a playoff team again, and he continues to put up Stout Slugger numbers. On September 2nd against SDR the 29 year old turned in the #1 hitting performance of the season by a large margin. In four at bats he had four hits, three home runs, drove in nine, and scored three times in a 14-1 victory. On the season the 6x All-Star is hitting .340/.384/.519 with 21 HR's, 53 SB's, and a 7.6 WAR.
Prospect of the Week
P Derek Schoonmaker - The 88th ranked prospect was a 5th round pick back in 2042 by Maine and is currently playing for their AA club. Last season he helped lead Barre to the Bush League Championship, while this year going 12-7 with a 2.69 ERA and 4.7 WAR in 26 starts. At 23 years old he could be in the BLB next season.
Five Things We Think We Think
1. Is Dominique Graham a BLB Hall of Fame great already? So far the 30 year old is a 6x All-Star, was the 2043 New Brew, took home 3 DD's, and won the 2043 Stout Slugger. Currently his closest HoF match would be Fred Frederick who has similar numbers over his 10 year career. Since Graham is only on year eight, hitting .329 with 35 HR's this season, and is one of two players in the entire league with an OPS over 1.000, he should easily be a first ballot selection if he plays only a few more seasons.
2. Wilmington is 12-25 since August 1st and they killed all the wildcard drama in the Domestic. With only a 5% chance they were the last hope for some down to the wire wildcard fun. Instead the fun will have to come in the Import where seven teams have a shot for the four spots. In reality it's more like four teams have a shot at one spot though, as Baltimore is trying their hardest to let the final wildcard spot slip away. New York, Seattle, and Batavia are all breathing down their neck but in the last month Seattle is 16-13, New York is 16-12, and Batavia is 13-16. Maybe everyone is scared of playing the Dinos?
3. Vince Griffiths was the 2042 New Brew, went to the All-Star game, and helped lead Pittsburgh to their first ever Brewmasters Cup title. He was then promptly traded away the following season to Santo Domingo where he posted a 7.6 WAR in 463 games. He was not offered arbitration and was signed by the Bats this off-season. Fast forward to last week when he smashed three HR's against Indy and the 30 year old is now hitting .272 with 30 HR's on the season, while putting up a 3.4 WAR. He was also named to the All-Star team, his first since 2042.
4. Christian Vines is only .015 from having the Triple Crown lead in the Domestic. He currently leads the league with 19 wins and 237 K's, but his dreadful 2.41 ERA trails Martin Hoffman of New Orleans by .014. It would be Vines third Triple Crown ('44, '46) and might project him to his fifth straight Pale Ale. Syracuse is now 20 games over .500 and only trails Pawtucket by 3.5 games in the Ale. With Graham and Vines this team will be a hard out in the playoffs no matter where they end up.
5. What's on tap? In the Domestic we might not have the wildcard drama, but for the six teams going to the playoffs there is a lot of shuffling that can be done. This week Dallas plays Montreal and Pittsburgh on the road, Pawtucket travels to New Orleans, and Syracuse heads to Montreal. As mentioned Pawtucket has a 3.5 game lead in the Ale, while Dallas only has a 1.5 game lead in the Lager. Throw in the wildcard teams that are separated by only seven games and it's anyone's guess what the final bracket will look like. Streak wise the Bats and Millers have won five in a row, Rob Major for Syracuse has hit in 20 straight games, and starters Christian Vines and Cole Socia have won nine straight.
Stat of the Week
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| Most Stolen Bases by Age (Earliest Occurrence Shown) |
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