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07/17/2051
It was a week the humans have long feared, as both Indy and Philly went 5-1. General Manager HAL9000 apparently has righted the ship that the previous GM's were unable to do. Breaking news out of Indy though is that owner Jakob Benton has fired HAL9000, and has replaced him with Dave Barney. Can Barney take the Racers to the playoffs in their final season in Indy (wait...what?)...only time will tell. The not so good week was had by Denver who went 1-5. They still sit at 49-42 though so don't give up on the Bulls yet. Maybe it's time for owner Micah Chavez to see if HAL9000 would want to be an assistant GM?
Power Rankings
1) Pawtucket Patriots (121.3, +)
2) California Kodiaks (120.3, -)
3) Toronto Canadians (119.7, -)
4) New Orleans Voodoo (111.8, ++)
5) Washington Bats (109.0, -)
6) Seattle Pilots (107.8, +)
7) Los Angeles Dinos (100.7, -)
8) Philadelphia Freedom (99.0, ++)
9) Pittsburgh Millers (97.0, +)
10) Santo Domingo Rum Runners (97.0, o)
11) Dallas Drillers (92.9, -)
12) Indianapolis Racers (92.1, ++)
13) Miami Sharks (90.9, -)
14) Denver Bulls (90.9, --)
15) Baltimore Bulldogs (89.9, -)
16) New York Cyclones (75.5, ++)
17) Hartford Whalers (75.1, +)
18) Maine Guides (74.1, -)
19) Syracuse Snappers (71.6, -)
20) Montreal Exports (70.7, --)
21) Wilmington Clowns (70.2, ++)
22) Carolina Tobs (64.3, -)
23) Windy City Blues (63.3, -)
24) Phoenix Roadrunners (61.2, -)
Performance of the Week
P Tim Stover - Known for his perpetual scowl, on July 13th Stover made the Freedom unhappy as he handed them their only loss on the week. Over the course of a complete game he allowed only one hit, a single by John McIntyre in the 4th, while striking out 10 as the Whalers easily won 8-0. On the year he's 4-4 with a 3.79 ERA and 103 ERA+. Not bad for a kid selected in the 7th round of the 2044 draft.
Prospect of the Week
3B Colton Coffin - The 16 year old won the HS Outstanding Hitter Award after hitting .386/.477/.867 with 23 HR and 62 RBI in 40 games this season. He also won the High School championship, was named the MVP of the series, and won the Platinum Stick at DH. We talked about him a few weeks ago but he deserved another look after collecting more hardware. He'll be eligible for the 2053 BLB draft and scouts already have him as a potential top five pick.
Five Things We Think We Think
1. In shocking news the Mayflower trucks arrived last night in Miami and the Sharks are no more. Owner Mo Fears gave a short press conference as the rain drizzled down outside the now empty stadium. "Moving to Miami was second biggest mistake of my life, right after marrying that gold-digging, no good for nothing...". After a brief side bar with his attorney Fears continued. "As I was saying, I love my wife but I love the city of Batavia even more. We brought those fans a championship last season then left them high and dry. I realized it right away, but it took until now for me to admit I was wrong. We are going back to Batavia, and in honor of this teams history we will once again be Muckdogs!" In the silence that followed all that could be heard, other than the rain hitting the umbrellas, was one lone voice outside the park gates yelling "adios".
2. Congrats to Richie 'Powder' van Luik who racked up his 2500th career hit this past week. He's now at 2506 and in 46th place all-time. He's on pace to get about 60 more over the rest of the season and could finish in the top 40. The 35 year old is still a threat at the plate as he's hitting .344/.420/.475 on the year with 15 RBI and 9 SB. As successful as he's been, he's still 1,040 hits behind the all-time leader, Steve Suarez.
3. The Wilmington Clowns have put in papers this past week to move back to Indianapolis and become the Indy Clowns. After being approved by the office of the commissioner it appears the Racers won't be the only game in town. Early speculation has the league moving the Racers potentially back to Wilmington in order to balance things out once again. Or could they possibly move to Pawtucket to replace the Patriots who have been threatening to move for several seasons now? Or maybe Virginia, Sin City, Davenport, Los Lunas, Hyundai, Los Alamos, Death Valley, Mississippi, Morgantown or Kansas City?
4. It's All-Star week as the best of the Import and best of the Domestic square off on July 21st. In the Domestic League we have a few potential first time All-Stars as Carl Brinkley (IND), and reliever Greg Padgett (NO) lead their positions in votes. In the Import it looks like Josiah Foust (CAL) is the only newcomer to the squad. This years game will be held at the Field of Dreams park out in Dyersville, Iowa.
5. As mentioned it's a short week, but we still have some fun three-game series of note. First we have New Orleans at Toronto. The Voodoo currently trail the Canadians by three games in the Lager and are doing everything they can to keep up with the red hot team up north. Since June 1st the Canadians are 31-11 while New Orleans is 29-14. It would be something if the Voodoo could pull off the sweep and tie it up going into the break. The other good series is Seattle at California. The Pilots trail the Kodiaks by five games in the Bock but took two of three in their first match-up. Recently acquired ace Cayden Wittmeyer won't be a go this series, which is unfortunate, because we wanted to see him go against the Import's best team. In due time though it shall happen. Streak wise Indy has won five in a row, JJ Evans of Windy City has a 16 game hitting streak, and Bats catcher Andy Hugo has homered in three straight games.
Stat of the Week
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| Most Home Runs by Age (Earliest Occurrence Shown) |
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