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07/04/2050
June comes to an end as the dog days of summer start to heat up. This past week the hottest team in the league was Maine, who went 6-1. The Guides are now only four games behind the Millers for the final Domestic wildcard spot. Pittsburgh has the easier schedule down the road, and their -5 PYT is worst in the league, but don't count Maine out quite yet. With DL Batter of the Month Pat Nunes hitting .414 and smacking three home runs over the past eight games, he's on a one man mission to derail the Pittsburgh playoff train after the Millers didn't even listen to his contract wants last season. Some other top weeks were Seattle, Pittsburgh, LAD, and Pawtucket who all went 5-2. On the other side of life Indy and Montreal went 1-6 while Cali and Philly went 2-5.
Power Rankings
1) Pawtucket Patriots (122.5, ++)
2) Batavia Red Jackets (121.3, -)
3) Los Angeles Dinos (120.5, o)
4) Hartford Whalers (117.7, o)
5) California Kodiaks (109.2, --)
6) Seattle Pilots (107.1, ++)
7) New York Cyclones (103.6, -)
8) Washington Bats (102.4, -)
9) Pittsburgh Millers (101.3, ++)
10) Baltimore Bulldogs (100.6, -)
11) Dallas Drillers (99.9, -)
12) Toronto Canadians (99.8, o)
13) New Orleans Voodoo (97.4, --)
14) Maine Guides (94.9, o)
15) Windy City Blues (84.5, +)
16) Denver Bulls (78.5, ++)
17) Santo Domingo Rum Runners (77.2, o)
18) Wilmington Clowns (74.7, o)
19) Phoenix Roadrunners (67.9, ++)
20) Indianapolis Racers (63.1, --)
21) Syracuse Snappers (60.3, +)
22) Philadelphia Freedom (58.6, -)
23) Montreal Exports (51.2, --)
24) Carolina Tobs (47.4, o)
Performance of the Week
1B Dominique Graham - The Millers went from Nunes to Graham and so far he's been almost as good. On June 30th against Montreal he turned in the 5th best hitting performance of the season when he had four hits, four RBI, and scored three times during a 15-0 smack down of the Exports. On the season he's hitting .321/.389/.571 with 15 HR, 59 RBI, and a 157 OPS+.
Prospect of the Week
P Blake Tippett - When you think of top prospects for Santo Domingo you think of Bobby Ferguson, who's 9-1 and the top prospect in the league. Don't forget about Tippett though who's also 9-1 with a 2.01 ERA and 175 ERA+. The third round pick by the Rum Runners in last years draft is only 18, but has gone from being the 100th prospect to 86th in only a season. He can already hit 99 mph on the gun, throws three pitches, keeps the ball on the ground, and has a work ethic that the organization loves.
Five Things We Think We Think
1. With the month of June over the winner, winner, chicken dinner team of the month was the New York Cyclones. They went 20-8 and their playoff odds now sit at 63%! The next best team was their Stout division mate Batavia, who went 19-9. While every other division is within two games or less, the Red Jackets have built an impressive seven game lead already. Los Angeles, Hartford, and Pawtucket came in tied for third with 18-10 records, while Dallas went 17-10. On the flip side Syracuse went 8-19, while Indy and Carolina went 9-19. Some team leaders: NYC scored 147 runs (Ind 73), Baltimore allowed only 81 runs (Car 163), NYC hit 44 HR (Syr 14), and Batavia swiped 49 bases (NO/Syr 13).
2. After four players went cycling last year, Drillers outfielder Reid 'Ramrod' Cole is the first to do it this season. After being traded by Denver to Dallas on June 27th, he hit for the cycle against Indy just two days later on June 29th. After hitting a single in the 2nd, a double in the 3rd, and a triple in the fourth, it came down to his fifth at bat of the night in the 9th inning. Down 0-1 against hard throwing Stefon Anjo, Cole smacked a fastball 430 feet and over the fence to give him the rare feat.
3. Speaking of 'Ramrod' his housing agent has to be at wits end. In 2045 he was traded from Windy City to Dallas. In March of 2048 he was traded from Dallas to Seattle. In July of 2048 he was traded back to Dallas from Seattle. In May of 2049 he was then traded from Dallas to Denver. Now last week he was traded back to Dallas from Denver. We're not sure what the Dallas GM is up to but it has to be something.
4. Congrats are in order for the 2050 Hall of Fame induction class. This year we'd like to welcome SS Dave Davis, SS Dusty Schmidl, P Manabu Hamada, and P Tony Ramos. Is it already time to start thinking about who fans want to see on the 2052 ballot?
5. What's on tap? We are back to interleague and we have some dandy match-ups. First up is Pawtucket at Los Angeles. Both teams are 55-30 and in first place in their respective divisions. Pawtucket is one of seven teams with a winning record away from home so don't count them out just because they have to travel 2,582 miles. Next up we get Dallas at Batavia. The Drillers are only one game out of first in the Lager and have to be one of the seasons biggest surprises. With recently acquired 'Ramrod' they could easily shoot past Toronto this week. The Red Jackets though sport the best record in the league and are a leagues best 34-10 at home. The final series to get your popcorn ready for is California at Toronto. The Kodiaks are two games behind LAD for the Bock lead but 14-21 on the road. Will they make their GM sit in the stands so that their batters aren't constantly looking into the dugout after every pitch? Only time will tell.
Stat of the Week
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