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09/02/2052
Even after a 2-5 week the Patriots remain on top in the Power Rankings as they are the first team to reach 80 wins, lead the Ale by 11 games, and are a lock for a division title. The best of this past week though was the New Orleans Voodoo who went 6-1. They have now taken a five game lead in the Lager over the surging Rum Runners. Batavia went 5-1 to beat back New York and jump Baltimore in the Import wildcard, while Seattle, Santo Domingo, Windy City, and Montreal all went 5-2. On the other side of life New York went 1-6 to fall further out of playoff contention, while Cali, Pawtucket, Hartford, and Toronto all went 2-5.
Power Rankings
1) Pawtucket Patriots (109.1, o)
2) New Orleans Voodoo (108.5, ++)
3) Philadelphia Freedom (107.9, ++)
4) Seattle Pilots (106.6, -)
5) Washington Bats (103.3, --)
6) Santo Domingo Rum Runners (99.7, -)
7) Batavia Muckdogs (98.5, ++)
8) Baltimore Bulldogs (96.0, ++)
9) Indianapolis Clowns (95.4, ++)
10) Syracuse Snappers (94.5, -)
11) Maine Guides (94.4, --)
12) Dallas Drillers (89.0, ++)
13) Los Angeles Dinos (89.0, o)
14) California Kodiaks (87.7, +)
15) Windy City Blues (87.3, +)
16) New York Cyclones (85.7, --)
17) Denver Bulls (85.6, o)
18) Pittsburgh Millers (83.7, +)
19) Toronto Canadians (82.3, -)
20) Hartford Whalers (81.6, --)
21) Montreal Exports (79.9, +)
22) Phoenix Roadrunners (76.8, -)
23) Wilmington Wildcats (63.0, o)
24) Carolina Tobs (53.5, o)
Performance of the Week
CF Gregg Flores - The Baltimore centerfielder cracked the Top Performances of the season on August 31st against Windy City. In three at bats he racked up two home runs, six RBI, and scored three times in an 11-1 victory. At only 23 years old the rookie has started 103 games in center while hitting .242 with 20 HR and 57 RBI.
Prospect of the Week
RF Justin Knight - Fresh in his new uniform, Knight is now in AAA after starting the year off playing in the NCAA. After being drafted by Montreal he made it 42 games in A ball, 15 in AA, and now in 5 games in AAA he hit .500 with 5 HR and 7 RBI. Five games is a pretty small sample size but we like to see prospects with a 389 OPS+. Between Knight and Evan Turner (Car) we think the Stout Slugger awards might be covered for the next decade.
Five Things We Think We Think
1. With the month of August over let's look at the winners and losers. The winner, winner, chicken dinner award belongs to Batavia. They went 21-8 and are now in the second spot in the Import wildcard race. When your playoff odds go from 30% to over 90%, well that is a good month. The other winner was Seattle who went 21-9. They have taken a 6.5 game lead over California in the Bock and now have the third best record in the league. Some other good months were SDR (19-10), Syracuse (19-11) and LAD (18-12). Some not so good months were Wilmington who went 9-20, Toronto who went 10-18, and New York who went 11-18.
2. It's the last week of the season for all the minor leagues. The top team for all the minors happens to be Miners...the Delmont Miners (Pit). They are 79-35 but lead their division by only seven games over the Norfolk Captains (Ind). Other top seasons so far are the A ball Hondo Outlaws (Bat) at 78-36, and the AAA Portsmouth Atlantics (Mai) at 78-36. Get ready to see a postseason where the future stars of the BLB compete against each other in a tense postseason environment.
3. Congrats to Rum Runner outfielder Ben Clewley for getting his 2000th career hit on August 31st against Pawtucket. The 36 year old was drafted by Denver with the 9th overall pick of the 2033 draft and debuted in the majors in 2038. In 15 seasons since then he has been a 6x All-Star, won two Designated Drivers, and even took home a DWI at left field. Lifetime he's hit .279/.360/.499 with 367 HR, 1052 RBI, and 1186 runs scored. He has been nothing short of consistently good over his career, and he's had similar careers to HoF members Kokoro 'Big Stud' Fujii, Ethan Bafford, and Jimmy Jones. Time will tell if he joins them.
4. Well it's September 2nd and Elias 'Clapper' Owen has 95 steals. It's probably safe to say the record of 96 held by Owen that he set last season is as good as broken. He's on pace for 117 which is just ridiculous when you remember that Sonny Fulton's record of 87, set in the inaugural 1978 season, lasted until 2039 when Richie 'Powder' van Luik stole 92 bases to break it. Owen is a whopping 22 years old and is also hitting .335 with 27 doubles and nine triples. Everyone thought 'Powder's record of 922 (and counting) would be unbreakable, but Owen has 208 already and he won't be 23 until next season.
5. What's on tap? We're onto our final interleague series of the year as the Import and the Domestic square off. Some series we are looking forward to are Pittsburgh at New York (which team will continue the slide and miss the playoffs), Maine at Batavia (can the Guides hold on in the Domestic and slow down the red-hot Muckdogs), and California at Syracuse (will the Cali offense continue to not score runs...they are currently 22nd in the league). Streak wise Hartford has lost five in a row, Montreal has won four in a row, Aubrey 'Gypsy' Albano (SYR) has a 13 game hitting streak, and Reid Rothstein (WAS) has won 8 straight decisions.
Stat of the Week
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