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05/03/2055
There were no unicorns this past week, but New York and California were the best of the best as they each went 6-1. The Kodiaks outscored their opponents by 29 runs, while New York slugged 11 home runs which was tied for first. Some other hot teams were SDR, Baltimore, and Maine who all went 5-1. Throw in Hartford who went 5-2 and there was a lot to celebrate around the league. One city not celebrating was Philadelphia who went 0-6. The Freedom are now 6-20 as the sins of their fathers (not having a draft pick for years) have come to fruition. They are under new management though now, but it might take a few years before the Philly faithful will be able to cheer once again.
ELO Rankings
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| 1 | Washington | IL | 5.4 | 1577.9 | ||||||
| 2 | Dallas | DL | -4.5 | 1553.0 | ||||||
| 3 | Seattle | IL | -4.0 | 1552.1 | ||||||
| 4 | California | IL | 12.4 | 1542.6 | ||||||
| 5 | Pittsburgh | DL | -3.8 | 1539.8 | ||||||
| 6 | Hartford | DL | 15.3 | 1530.1 | ||||||
| 7 | Los Angeles | IL | -1.3 | 1524.4 | ||||||
| 8 | Syracuse | DL | -8.7 | 1521.7 | ||||||
| 9 | Pawtucket | DL | -8.4 | 1516.0 | ||||||
| 10 | Carolina | IL | 6.1 | 1515.6 | ||||||
| 11 | Windy City | IL | -10.2 | 1513.9 | ||||||
| 12 | Santo Domingo | DL | 9.6 | 1509.8 | ||||||
| 13 | Indianapolis | DL | 2.7 | 1509.3 | ||||||
| 14 | Baltimore | IL | 8.2 | 1508.9 | ||||||
| 15 | Maine | DL | 11.4 | 1488.0 | ||||||
| 16 | Wilmington | DL | -11.1 | 1486.3 | ||||||
| 17 | Denver | IL | 0.6 | 1484.9 | ||||||
| 18 | New Orleans | DL | -1.2 | 1484.6 | ||||||
| 19 | New York | IL | 7.9 | 1483.1 | ||||||
| 20 | Montreal | DL | -3.1 | 1469.5 | ||||||
| 21 | Phoenix | IL | -7.5 | 1434.4 | ||||||
| 22 | Batavia | IL | -5.5 | 1428.7 | ||||||
| 23 | Philadelphia | IL | -12.0 | 1414.8 | ||||||
| 24 | Toronto | DL | 1.8 | 1410.4 |
Performance of the Week
CF Tom Holderness - The 22 year old Clown is in his first full season in the BLB and looks like a future (present?) star. This past week on May 1st against New Orleans he racked up six hits, two home runs, four RBI's and scored four times during an 18-10 victory. It was the top hitting performance of the season, and the first time someone had six hits in a game since Tyson Dodd did it for Carolina in 2053. On the season Holderness is hitting .324/.384/.598 with 7 HRs and 23 RBIs.
Prospect of the Week
C David Mitchell - The senior at Rice is a 3x NCAA All-Star who could be a top five pick in the upcoming draft. Scouts love his leadership and work ethic, and several went on record saying he could make "multiple trips to the All-Star game." His career stats in college are .304/.414/.571 with 45 HRs and 127 RBI's in 181 games.
Five Things We Think We Think
1. April is over already as the machine known as the BLB just keeps on rolling. A look back at the month shows the winners were Washington (19-6), Seattle (18-8), Indy (17-9), California (17-9) and Dallas (16-9). On the other side of life Denver, Philly, Phoenix, Batavia, and Toronto all found themselves in single digits under the win column. Some team leaders: Pittsburgh scored 136 runs (PHI 75), Washington hit 38 home runs (DEN/TOR 12), LAD swiped 43 bases (WC 12), Washington allowed only 76 runs (WIL 155), and opponents hit .224 off Seattle (MON/WIL .301).
2. Another note for the month of April is Dallas rookie sensation Ja'Quan McLaren. Not only did he win the Rookie of the Month, he took home the Batter of the Month as well. Over the course of April he hit .423/.448/.821 with 7 HRs and 19 RBIs. He was a second round pick in 2051 and was called up at the end of last year. Born in Medford, Oregon, he went to USC where he was a 2x All-Star and MVP of four playoff series. Thanks to Jett Spear occupying third the past few seasons, McLaren is an 'old' 24 year old rookie. That should pay dividends for Dallas down the road when he's cost controlled and lighting up the league.
3. The Stout has two winning teams, Washington (19-6) and Baltimore (15-10). Everyone else is under .500. Meanwhile the Ale has all six teams above .500 with only three games separating first place Indy and last place Maine. What does all this mean...not a whole lot. The Ale though looks to be ultra competitive this year for no other reason than there is no dominant team. Can somebody finally replace Pawtucket as the front runner? Since 2045 the Patriots have won the Ale a ridiculous nine out of ten times. The only other team to win it was Maine in 2053 when they won 93 games.
4. Some players got paid this past week as agents around the league were busy. First up was 24 year old Parker Lee. The 2x All-Star and 2x BLB champion inked a 5 year/$97.5m extension that will keep him in Washington until at least 2060. He can opt out the last season if he chooses to take his talents elsewhere. The following day LAD signed Marco 'Monster' Husted to a four year deal that will pay him $52.8m. The fourth overall pick of the 2045 draft is 27 years old and has been named to two All-Star teams. A day later Batavia then paid recently acquired Carl Brinkley big bucks, to the tune of six years and $109m. Brinkley is also a 2x All-Star with a career slash line of .305/.348/.514.
5. What's on tap? We get some top tier match-ups this week as Indy travels to Dallas, and Seattle goes on the road to Washington. Three of those four are in first place in their division, while Seattle is only a half game back from Cali in the Bock. The Clowns this season have been relying on their offense. In the Domestic they are second in home runs, and third in runs scored. The Drillers meanwhile are all about pitching and defense...well at least pitching. They are first in the Domestic in starters ERA, hits allowed, home runs allowed, and walks allowed. Over in the Import the Bats are first in everything, just like normal. Average, home runs, slugging, walks, starters ERA, runs allowed, hits allowed, and home runs allowed. Same ol' Bats, different year. Seattle meanwhile is second in hits and runs scored, while first in opponents average. Streak wise the Freedom have lost six straight, Hartford has won five straight, Julian 'Skeeter' Ludin (WAS) has a 21 game hitting streak, and JJ Evans (WC) has a 15 game hitting streak.
Stat of the Week
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| Top Career Power-Speed Number Leaders From 2045 to 2055 (*=Active Player, +=Hall of Famer, Minimum 2,000 PA) |
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