Tweet
07/26/2049
And we're back at it as the second half of the season gets underway. The winners this past week were Santo Domingo, New Orleans and California who all went 5-1. The losers were LAD who went 1-6, and Syracuse, Baltimore, and Wilmington who all went 1-5. The good thing is you can go from loser to winner real quick in the league...but then again you can also go from winner to loser just as quick. Some team leaders for the week: Washington scored 43 runs (Syr 14), Phoenix swiped 19 bases (Ind 0), Batavia hit 19 doubles (Pho 1), Denver allowed only 13 runs (LAD 39), Pawtucket opponents hit .216 (Wil .354).
Power Rankings
1) Pawtucket Patriots (134.0, o)
2) Washington Bats (115.7, o)
3) New Orleans Voodoo (105.2, ++)
4) Batavia Red Jackets (99.5, ++)
5) Montreal Exports (99.2, -)
6) Toronto Canadians (99.0, -)
7) California Kodiaks (96.8, ++)
8) Denver Bulls (96.0, +)
9) Phoenix Roadrunners (95.8, ++)
10) Hartford Whalers (94.2, --)
11) Windy City Blues (92.0, ++)
12) Pittsburgh Millers (89.9, +)
13) Maine Guides (89.5, +)
14) Wilmington Clowns (86.8, --)
15) Seattle Pilots (83.3, --)
16) Dallas Drillers (83.2, ++)
17) Los Angeles Dinos (82.9, --)
18) Philadelphia Freedom (82.8, -)
19) New York Cyclones (78.2, o)
20) Santo Domingo Rum Runners (75.4, ++)
21) Carolina Tobs (73.2, --)
22) Indianapolis Racers (71.4, +)
23) Baltimore Bulldogs (70.6, --)
24) Syracuse Snappers (62.8, -)
Performance of the Week
P Joe Hudkins - The 26 year old was the only person to break into the Top Performances of the season this past week...as he turned in the 25th best pitching outing of the season. On July 25th against LAD he tossed a 3-hit shutout with 5 strikeouts and only one walk in a 4-0 Cyclones victory. On the season Hudkins is 7-11 with a 4.21 ERA and 93 ERA+.
Prospect of the Week
P Efren 'Bear' Deas - Sporting one of the greatest throwback jerseys in BLB history, Deas is a 22 year old hard throwing lefty who is the 46th overall prospect in the league. Originally from the Cook Islands and signed by Dallas he was traded to Windy City in 2045. He throws four pitches, can hit 101 on the gun, and at 6'4 is an intimidating presence on the mound.
Five Things We Think We Think
1. Jimmy Jeffs is 43 years young and still has a little pop in his bat. This past week on July 24th against Syracuse Jeffs took 34 year old Miles 'Rapid' McIntyre deep in the second inning for his 400th career home run. From our records it looks like the oldest combined age of a pitcher/batter home run as well. Jeffs is the 52nd player in the history of the BLB to reach 400 home runs as the 9x All-Star is a near certain lock to make the Hall of Fame someday. Drafted 1.7 by Seattle in 2026, this is his 22nd season in the BLB. Two more years would tie him for the most seasons played in the league, held by three other players.
2. One of those players is Pat 'Baja' Arballo who is 44 years old and in his 24th season in the majors. The 5x All-Star and 3x Pale Ale winner is 3-5 on the year with a 6.36 ERA, but every win just adds to the record for most career wins that he holds. He's currently up to 310, or 109 more than Erik Foley who is the next active player on the list. The Drillers and the Rum Runners square off nine more times this season. Could we possibly see a 'Baja' vs Jeffs match-up? That would surely set a record for the oldest pitcher/batter age total. In the end though it would just be another check-mark in two future HoF members resume.
3. The Import playoff race looks to have some drama after all. Currently 10 of the 12 teams in the IL have some sort of playoff probability, with only Carolina and Baltimore coming in at 0.00%. What's ironic is that Carolina is 44-56, and only a half game behind New York who is at 10%, and Baltimore is 42-58 and only eight games out of the final wildcard spot. In the Domestic nine of the twelve have playoff odds, with only Indy, Syracuse, and Santo Domingo on the outside looking in.
4. We have some Triple Crown watches going on. In the Domestic, Pat Nunes is 4th in average, 4th in HR, and 1st in RBI. In the Import Neel 'Tracer' Benarrivo is 2nd in average, 2nd in HR, and 4th in RBI. Nunes, at 40, is playing like he was a decade ago when he was dominant for the Bats. After last weeks win against Toronto in which he had one home run and four RBI, he briefly sat down with the media. When asked how he was playing so well this season he scoffed and said, "Forty is just a number to Pat." When asked why he regularly skips batting practice before the game he stated, "From the looks of things it appears Pat is doing fine without practice, how about we just let Pat be Pat." When asked if he has become a leader of the team he said, "Pat is here for Pat. Pat doesn't want to be told how to play the game, and Pat doesn't tell other grown men how to play the game. If they want to watch Pat and learn then so be it, and then maybe Pat won't have to carry the team by himself." He then promptly stood up and walked back to the locker room.
5. What's on tap? We get two 1-2 series this week as California travels to Phoenix and New Orleans travels to Pawtucket. The Roadrunners currently have a 4.5 game lead over the Kodiaks, but California has a 5-1 lead on the season series. Both of these teams are pretty even so we imagine that the ball should start to bounce in favor of Phoenix at some point. They will play one more three game series against each other, but that doesn't have until September, so this is a big one. In the Domestic the Voodoo are only a game behind Toronto for the Lager lead, while Pawtucket is running away with the Ale. The Patriots struggled from 2034-2044 but this season will make their 5th straight trip to the postseason. At 70-30 they are one of the most dominant teams the BLB has seen in a while. The only thing they need now with their latest run is a championship ring, and this could be the year.
Stat of the Week
.
| Most Career Walks By A Player With Initials B. B. (Top 25 Players) |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Comment