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04/14/2059
And we're back for season 81 of Brewer's League Baseball. When the league started in 1978, not even commissioner Andrew Stevens in his wildest dreams could imagine the sustained success of the league. Yet here we are. First off we'd like to congratulate the 2058 champion Baltimore Bulldogs. They beat up on the Pittsburgh Millers 4-1 in the Brewmasters to capture their first title since 2001. The Bulldogs are led by one of the most successful GM's in league history and it was good to see them come out on top.
Enough with the past though...as we move into the present. Those Bulldogs started the season off hot as they went 5-2. They were joined by New Orleans, California, and Pittsburgh. The 'champ' of the week though was Wilmington who went 5-1 by sweeping rival Santo Domingo and taking two of three against Syracuse. Stat wise California scored 44 runs (SEA 17), Washington hit 13 HR, Wilmington allowed just 14 runs (TOR 44) and opponents hit .203 against the Kodiaks (DAL .329).
Power Rankings
1) Wilmington Wildcats (156.0, ++)
2) Baltimore Bulldogs (133.6, -)
3) New Orleans Voodoo (132.6, ++)
4) Pittsburgh Millers (132.6, ++)
5) California Kodiaks (130.6, -)
6) Carolina Tobs (125.0, -)
7) Washington Bats (105.9, ++)
8) Batavia Muckdogs (104.9, --)
9) Pawtucket Patriots (104.9, ++)
10) Phoenix Roadrunners (101.9, ++)
11) Windy City Blues (101.9, ++)
12) Syracuse Snappers (88.0, ++)
13) Santo Domingo Rum Runners (79.1, ++)
14) Denver Bulls (78.1, --)
15) Maine Guides (77.1, --)
16) Dallas Drillers (75.1, --)
17) Indianapolis Clowns (75.1, --)
18) New York Cyclones (75.1, --)
19) Toronto Canadians (75.1, +)
20) Los Angeles Dinos (49.4, --)
21) Montreal Exports (47.4, --)
22) Philadelphia Freedom (46.4, --)
23) Hartford Whalers (45.4, --)
24) Seattle Pilots (22.0, --)
Performance of the Week
1B Parker Lee - Where ever you look this week you get a big old face full of purple as Lee dominated the headlines. Against Philly on April 8th he turned in the top performance as he smashed two home runs, drove in five, and scored four times (including the winning run thanks to a wild pitch) as Washington won 9-8 in 11 innings. Lee is hitting .414 with 6 HR and 12 RBI, and is on pace to hit 139 home runs for the season. We'll be pulling for him.
Prospect of the Week
P Rich Mount - A third round pick by Hartford in 2053, Mount's destiny appeared to be that of an All-Star reliever. Then in 2058 he developed a slider in his repertoire, and the sky suddenly became the limit. After never appearing once on the Top Prospect list, he's now #1 overall, and is a starting pitcher in the majors at the age of 22. In his first start he went 7.1 innings, gave up three hits, one run, no walks, and struck out six.
Five Things We Think We Think
1. Congrats to Jannero Peter who reached 2500 strikeouts this past week on Opening Day against Carolina. The 31 year old future Hall of Fame pitcher is the 52nd player in the history of the league to do so. Drafted in the seventh round of the 2045 draft, Peter has turned into a 2x Pale Ale winner and 5x All-Star. So far this season he's 2-0 with a ridiculous stat line of no runs, no walks, and 21 K's in 14.1 innings pitched.
2. The Wildcats this past week singed 36 year old Beaumont Sanchez, 37 year old Al Flanagan, and 36 year old James Munsie in hopes of improving their wait time for the senior breakfast...er...offense. Combined these guys have an amazing 1,023 career home runs and eight All-Star appearances. Throw in 41 year old Preston 'Cowboy' Capps and they have half the offense of the 2040's All-Star teams. In reality all three of these guys can still mash the ball as last year Sanchez .246 with 34 HR, Flanagan hit .282 with 27 HR, and Munsie hit .289 with 35 HR. It's the typical low risk, high reward type of transaction that has made their GM arguably the greatest in BLB history.
3. Pawtucket smoked Toronto 13-1 yesterday and we saw our first cycle of the season. The Patriots R.C. Sloan, who hit .209 last season, was just unstoppable at the plate. He hit a two-run triple in the 1st, singled in the 2nd, doubled in the 4th, and hit a two-run home run off Bruno Sheline in the 6th. He came up again in the 8th, but with nothing to play for he decided to strike out on the ninth pitch of the at bat. Sloan was a first round pick by Washington in 2043, but was traded to New Orleans after winning the Brewmasters with the Bats in 2052. Since then he's played for New York and now Pawtucket. You know who Washington picked in the second round that draft, how about Julian 'Skeeter' Ludin. I guess it didn't matter much that Sloan didn't pan out since 'Skeeter' has won the Stout Slugger, been to five All-Star games, and helped Washington win three BLB titles.
4. After one week Phoenix leads the league with a +3.54 ZR, but they can't throw out a runner to save their skin. Out of 13 stolen base attempts this past week, 12 of them were successful. The only worse teams were Maine (13 for 14), and Toronto (6 for 6). Phoenix does have Rayshaun 'Awesome' Stuart though who lived up to his nickname in the first week. The 23 year old wonder kid hit .480 while playing three games at short stop and two games at second base. Maybe he could get some time at catcher as well?
5. What's on tap? Like every other season in the past few decades, week two is the battle between the leagues. This week we get to see California at Wilmington, Washington at Pawtucket, Phoenix at New Orleans, and Maine at Baltimore.
Stat of the Week
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| Most Consecutive Seasons With An ERA Below 3.00 (Top 25 Players, Min 1.0 IP/TmG) |
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2059 DK Season Predictions
(once again the DK takes no responsibility for trades/injuries/OOTPR and should be used for entertainment value only)
Ale
x Pittsburgh
z Indy
Syracuse
Hartford
Maine
Pawtucket
Lager
x Montreal
z Toronto
z Wilmington
z Santo Domingo
Dallas
New Orleans
Stout
x Baltimoire
z Washington
z Carolina
z New York
Batavia
Philly
Bock
x California
z LAD
Windy City
Seattle
Phoenix
Denver
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Wild Card
Wilmington over Indy
Toronto over SDR
New York over Carolina
Washington over LAD
Divisional Series
Toronto over Pittsburgh
Wilmington over Montreal
California over New York
Baltimore over Washington
League Championship
Toronto over Wilmington
Baltimore over California
Brewmasters
Baltimore over Toronto 4-2
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Stout Slugger
Brian Wheat - Toronto
Rob Morris - Philly
Pale Ale
Rahjon Anderson - Indy
Jannero Peter - Baltimore
Refreshing New Brew
Byron Carlton - Pittsburgh
Jonathan Wang - Denver