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07/03/2056
The Dinos and the Millers go 5-1 for the week to put them both above .500 and in the hunt for the division lead. Pittsburgh is now tied with Indy and Hartford for the Ale lead (at 40-38), while LAD is in second and trails the Pilots by 3.5 games. Other good weeks were Dallas and New Orleans who went 5-2. The Voodoo are now 44-34, which would give them the lead in the Bock and the Ale, yet here they are still seven games behind Santo Domingo. Meanwhile the Drillers are 48-31, as they trail the Rum Runners by 3.5 games. On the other side of life Wilmington went 0-6 while Philly went 1-5. The poor Wildcats have lost nine straight as their miraculous 2054 run is slowly becoming a distant memory.
Power Rankings
1) Santo Domingo Rum Runners (123.4, +)
2) Washington Bats (118.4, -)
3) Dallas Drillers (115.4, ++)
4) Baltimore Bulldogs (108.5, -)
5) New Orleans Voodoo (105.5, o)
6) Pittsburgh Millers (102.3, ++)
7) Carolina Tobs (101.8, -)
8) Seattle Pilots (99.3, --)
9) Los Angeles Dinos (96.4, ++)
10) Hartford Whalers (95.3, +)
11) Indianapolis Clowns (93.3, --)
12) Denver Bulls (91.9, --)
13) New York Cyclones (91.0, --)
14) Phoenix Roadrunners (89.7, ++)
15) Syracuse Snappers (85.5, --)
16) Windy City Blues (84.4, -)
17) Pawtucket Patriots (78.8, ++)
18) Batavia Muckdogs (77.8, ++)
19) Maine Guides (76.2, -)
20) California Kodiaks (73.8, -)
21) Toronto Canadians (70.8, +)
22) Wilmington Wildcats (63.8, --)
23) Philadelphia Freedom (58.6, o)
24) Montreal Exports (56.2, o)
Performance of the Week
P Martin Hoffman - On June 30th against California, 'Hoff' turned in the 8th best pitching performance of the season. Over 8 innings he allowed two hits, no runs, no walks, and struck out 10 as the Tobs won 2-0. He started out the season with a 13.50 ERA, and by May 7th it was still at 7.15. Since then it's gone down every start but one, and he's now 7-4 with a 4.03 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, and 97 ERA+. If he continues to level out and get to his average 115 ERA+, it will be a good rest of the season for the Tobs.
Prospect of the Week
P Andy Morgan - The 7th overall pick of this years draft has already started three games for Denver's Rookie League team, the Minotaurs. He's been on a short leash since he threw 44.1 innings this year in high school, but the fans have been turning out to watch. So far in those three games he's thrown 13.1 innings, allowed 2 runs, walked four, and struck out 20 batters. Morgan throws five pitches, can hit 96 mph on the gun, and scouts believe he has the potential to "be an impact starter." Did we mention he's only 17. This kid has both the time and the ability to make an impact.
Five Things We Think We Think
1. The lovely month of June is over as we continue on in the dog days of summer. Last months winner was the Lager, as New Orleans led all by going 20-7. Throw in Santo Domingo who had the second best record at 19-8, and Dallas who was fourth at 17-11, and it was a good time had by all. Well except for Montreal who went a leagues worst 6-22. We suppose when you have three dominant teams someone has to be on the other end of the stick. The Exports weren't alone though as Pawtucket went 8-20, and Philadelphia went 9-19. Some team leaders for the month: New Orleans scored 163 runs (Mon 74), Carolina hit 48 home runs (Mon/Mai 17), New Orleans had an .880 OPS (Paw .651), Dallas and Cali allowed only 89 runs (Toronto 148), Carolina K'd 346 opposing batters (Paw 215), and opponents hit .233 off of California (Tor .305).
2. Congrats to 31 year old Edgerrin Aouita who hit his first career home run this past week. The scouting discovery out of Nigeria was found by Carolina scouts in February of 2042, and the Carolina front office then cut him that June. He was scooped up by New Orleans a week later though and got a nice $338,000 signing bonus. From 2042 until 2051 though he toiled away in the Voodoo minor league system, before finally getting his big break and getting called up to the BLB. Alas it only lasted for eight games and 29 at bats before he was sent back down. He got another shot in 2052, but that lasted only 29 games as he spent most of the year in AAA. In 2053 the now 28 year old Aouita was excited to keep building on his experience, but instead he never made it back to the show, played mostly in AA, and was let go at the end of the season. Toronto then scooped him up a week later, before cutting him during Spring Training the following season. He was then signed by Seattle where he ended up sticking around in the bigs for 99 games and 341 at bats. He hit .255 with 40 RBIs but never got one out of the park. Aouita then became part of a trade to Hartford at the end of the season, and he's now appeared in 43 of the 78 games this season for the Whalers. Finally on June 30, 2056, almost 14 and a half years after coming to American, Aouita took a 1-2 pitch off of Wilmington ace Rick 'Barracuda' Robertson over the left field wall.
3. At 37-40, last years Ale champion Snappers are still in the hunt thanks to a level of Ale mediocrity not seen in a while. To be fair even the Patriots, who had a horrible June, are 35-45 and only six games back. Syracuse though still has faith, and showed it this past week by signing Aubrey 'Gypsy' Albano to a three year extension worth $60,100,000. The career .337 hitter is smacking the ball around to the tune of .363/.395/.488 with 31 doubles, 24 RBIs, and 19 stolen bases. Not bad for a guy who's going to turn 36 at the end of the season. Originally signed by Miami in 2037, no one saw the career he would have as Albano turned into a 10x All-Star, 7x Designated Driver, and 3x DWI winner. He's also made $273 million over his career to date, but hey we suppose another $60m won't hurt.
4. The All-Star game is in two weeks an the fan voting is hot and heavy. In the Import, none other than Carolina's Evan Turner leads the vote race. In the Domestic it's Santo Domingo's Damon Casebier who is the top dog. Everyone knows Turner, the 1.1 pick from the 2051 draft who is now a 3x All-Star and 3x Designated Driver. Not as many know Casebier, who was the 1.1 pick of the 2053 draft. So far in his third BLB season he has shown every bit of being the top pick, as he was named to the All-Star team last year and is hitting .320/.399/.596 with 19 HRs and 52 RBIs in only 73 games this season. He's on pace for a 7.9 WAR season and his 167 OPS+ is fourth in the league. Considering he's 23 and Turner is 22, it looks like the BLB is in good hands for the next decade or so.
5. What's on tap? This week we get Hartford at Pittsburgh (who's the best mediocre team in the Ale), LAD at Phoenix (both teams had losing July's...but are 1-0 in June), and Windy City at Denver (the Bock isn't much better than the Ale this year as WC is 37-41 and only 2 back from a wildcard spot). Streak wise Wilmington has lost nine straight, Maine has lost four straight, and Pittsburgh and Dallas have won four straight. Player wise Kingsley Kiah (HAR) has a 14 game hitting streak, Aubrey 'Gypsy' Albano (SYR) has a 12 game hitting streak, Ken 'Baseball' Burns (SDR) has won 9 straight decisions, and Lamar Peralta (PAW) has lost 8 straight decisions.
Stat of the Week
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