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07/23/2057
And we're back...this time hopefully to ride out the rest of the season. Things haven't changed much it appears as five of the top six teams in the Power Rankings belong to the Lager. We've never seen a more dominant division in the history of the league. Even the last place Canadians have a better record than eight other teams in the BLB. This past week week the 79th annual All-Star game was held as teams only played three games before the mid-season break. Not only single team in the league had a sweep, or was swept, as the BLB gods decided to give everyone a little hope for the second half of the year.
Power Rankings
1) Dallas Drillers (124.7, +)
2) Montreal Exports (114.7, -)
3) Phoenix Roadrunners (110.1, +)
4) New Orleans Voodoo (108.5, +)
5) Santo Domingo Rum Runners (108.3, +)
6) Wilmington Wildcats (107.2, --)
7) Seattle Pilots (104.4, +)
8) Baltimore Bulldogs (102.5, o)
9) Washington Bats (100.4, -)
10) Syracuse Snappers (97.8, +)
11) New York Cyclones (92.8, -)
12) Carolina Tobs (90.0, o)
13) Denver Bulls (83.4, ++)
14) Pittsburgh Millers (81.6, +)
15) Toronto Canadians (81.2, -)
16) Indianapolis Clowns (80.3, --)
17) Windy City Blues (79.7, ++)
18) Hartford Whalers (79.2, -)
19) Pawtucket Patriots (76.4, o)
20) California Kodiaks (75.4, -)
21) Batavia Muckdogs (70.1, +)
22) Los Angeles Dinos (66.8, -)
23) Maine Guides (64.1, o)
24) Philadelphia Freedom (59.9, o)
Performance of the Week
P Oliver Lanham - In another 15 K outing, his third of the season, Lanham blistered Philly on July 16th in a 5-0 shutout of the Freedom. Over 8.2 innings he allowed five hits, no runs, and one walk while getting those 15 K's. After a Sage Emerson single with two outs in the 9th he was pulled for closer Jeff Musatov, who threw just one pitch to Isiah Thomas who popped up to end the game. Lanham is now 7-2 with a 3.53 ERA and 115 ERA+ on the season. Not bad for an 8th round pick.
Prospect of the Week
CF Devon Cundiff - The 13th overall pick by Phoenix this season has gone from the Rookie League to A ball and now AA at the start of last week. In his first six games there he hit .625 with 1 HR and 7 RBIs, not bad at all. Scouts think the 20 year old is a future All-Star caliber starting center fielder and so far his stats attest to that. Looks like everything is coming up Roadrunners these days!
Five Things We Think We Think
1. We at the DK have always been a big fan of Cory 'Boy Scout' Petit and love to see him doing well. After breaking into the league in 2052 he blew the top off as he won the Stout Slugger, New Brew, Designated Driver, and made the All-Star team. He then went from a 7.2 WAR in 2052, to a 0.2 WAR the following year, and fell out of favor with the New Orleans front office. After bouncing between the BLB and AAA in 2054 and 2055 he was put on waivers and snatched up by division rival Wilmington. In 2056 he started his revival by hitting .312/.351/.485 with 14 HRs and 59 RBIs in 141 games. Now this season in 87 games he's hitting .383/.414/.570 with 14 HRs and 63 RBIs, and is on pace to put up a 5.2 WAR. He recently just had a 23 game hitting streak broken, and his .383 average leads all batters in the BLB. He was also just selected to his second All-Star game, five long hard years after his first appearance.
2. Speaking of All-Stars, congrats to these first time members of the mid-season classic: SP Zane Hastings (TOR), SP Dave Lassell (MAI), SP Jamal Thomas (HAR), SP Nathan Thomson (NO), C Al Bush (MON), 1B Zac Arellanes (PIT), 3B Charlie Jones (SYR), RF Justin Knight (MON), SP P Rakim Antonopoulos (BAT), SP Levi Brown (DEN), C Todd Abarca (CAR), C Taylor Allison (PHI), C Ollie Snelgrove (WAS), 1B Rob Detling (NYC), 1B Clay Newhouse (CAR), 2B Joseph Flynn (PHI), 2B James Hylton (BAL), SS Tariq Alston (NYC), LF Cade McCormick (SEA), CF Gaby Sini (WC), RF Louis Hockney (WAS), RF Stan Sikes (CAL), and RF Efren Zamora (LAD). No wonder they were handing out "Hello My Name is..." name tags in the dugout before the game. Also a big shout-out to CL Andy Phillips (BAL) who appeared in his 14th All-Star game, and SS Aubrey Albano who was selected to his 12th All-Star appearance.
3. How about a little more All-Star love...as the Domestic took on the Import at Jurassic Park in front of 45,000 fans. The Import started out hot in the bottom of the first when Evan Turner hit a double that scored James Hylton, Neall Rabah hit a single that scored Turner, and Tariq Alston hit a double that scored Rabah. Not a great one inning of work for Wildcats star Rick 'Barracuda' Robertson. The Domestic scored two quick ones in the second though when Devin Geertz and Vince Cox hit back-to-back home runs on back-to-back pitches off of Muckdog Rakim Antonopoulos. In the bottom of the third Theodore Blume walked Turner, before striking out Parker Lee and Neall Rabah. Rabah was so incensed he went after the umpire and was promptly tossed out of the game. The first All-Star ejection we can recall. Turner then swiped second and scored off a Tariq Alston single when Devin Welninski threw the ball over the head of third basemen Jerry Coleman. It was 4-2 Import going into the fourth.
The Domestic came back once again and took the lead thanks to a Coleman home run, a Burgess 'Nuke' Nalivkin double, a Cox triple, and a John McIntyre double...all off of 38 year old Andy Phillips. The Import then scored two quick runs in the bottom of the fourth to retake the lead thanks to a Jamel 'Cheese' Thomas wild pitch which allowed Ollie Snelgrove to score, and an Efren Zamora double which scored James Hylton. The 5th and 6th innings then came and went as both teams failed to score, and the fans could finally catch their breath and grab some All-Star snacks.
In the 7th Cox once again got things started with a triple, and an Aubrey 'Gypsy' Albano double tied it at six two batters later. In the 8th the Domestic struck again as Charlie 'Mailman' Jones hit a triple off of Kris Elliott, then scored when Elliott got charged with a wild pitch. In the bottom of the 9th the Import found themselves trailing 7-6 after not scoring since the 4th inning. The Domestic left in Harry Mueller to try and close out the win. First up was Rob Detling, who had a full-count ground out to start the inning. Stan Sikes, the BLB leader in home runs, then struck out on five pitches. Up last was Cade McCormick and his .646 slugging percentage. On a 2-2 pitch he cracked a long deep shot out to center field. Daryl Walken, not known for his ability in center, raced back to the track. As the 45k in attendance hit their feet, hoping for a little extra innings free baseball, Walken was able to settle under it to record the last out and give the Domestic a hard fought victory. Vince Cox was selected the POTG thanks to his three hits and three RBI's. The 25 year old was playing in his third All-Star game in four years, and has turned into everything the Wildcats hoped when picking him 8th overall in the 2052 draft.
4. Unless someone gets hot we don't have one single season record on pace to be broken. The only one close as of now is Carolina's Charlie Spence, who is on pace to record 365 strike outs. That would tie the single season record of 365 set by Charlie Spence last season. It would surpass the current second place holder, Charlie Spence, who struck out 360 batters in 2055. When the top five single season K leaderboard reads Spence, Spence, Vines, Vines, and Spence, that's pretty amazing in itself.
5. What's on tap? This week we're back to a full slate. The match-up of the week has to be first place Washington at second place Baltimore. This season the Bats lead the series by a game 5-4. Ironic since they also lead the Bulldogs by a single game in the Stout. In the Imnport the Bats are first in hits, second in runs scored, and first in SLG and OPS. Meanwhile the Bulldogs are second in hits allowed and runs allowed, and first in BABIP. Streak wise Kyle Levin (MON) has a 24 game hitting streak, Devin Welninski (PIT) has homered in four straight games, and Curtis Simon (MON) is now 10-0 this season in 16 starts.
Stat of the Week
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