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05/26/2059
It was Christmas in May this past week...at least in Philly. The last place Freedom went 6-0 as they swept both Batavia and Windy City. With Rob 'Hit Squad' Morris hitting .619 over the past five games, well good things were bound to happen. Other top weeks were Montreal and Washington. The Exports have been hot lately as their 17-7 monthly record is second only to the 17-6 Pilots. Meanwhile Washington may be in third place, but they are only 2.5 games back. We all know the run is coming and how this story ends.
Power Rankings
1) Wilmington Wildcats (119.0, +)
2) Baltimore Bulldogs (117.1, o)
3) Montreal Exports (114.2, +)
4) Seattle Pilots (114.0, --)
5) New York Cyclones (108.0, o)
6) Toronto Canadians (107.7, +)
7) Pittsburgh Millers (107.0, +)
8) Washington Bats (104.7, ++)
9) Carolina Tobs (103.0, +)
10) Phoenix Roadrunners (98.0, --)
11) California Kodiaks (96.6, --)
12) Batavia Muckdogs (86.0, ++)
13) Los Angeles Dinos (85.0, --)
14) Maine Guides (83.3, ++)
15) Philadelphia Freedom (82.4, ++)
16) Pawtucket Patriots (82.0, --)
17) Santo Domingo Rum Runners (79.0, ++)
18) Syracuse Snappers (79.0, --)
19) New Orleans Voodoo (78.3, --)
20) Indianapolis Clowns (73.3, +)
21) Dallas Drillers (71.0, -)
22) Windy City Blues (64.0, -)
23) Hartford Whalers (63.3, --)
24) Denver Bulls (46.8, o)
Performance of the Week
LF Grady Faulkner - Meet Grady. A 26 year old outfielder. After coming home from a hard days work, he walks into the door of his trailer park home to find his wife is in bed...telling him he's the new #1 in the Top Performances of the season. On May 20th he bombarded Pittsburgh pitching to the tune of three home runs, seven RBI, and three runs scored as Indy won 7-1. On the season he's hitting .248 with 9 HR and 28 RBI in 42 games.
Prospect of the Week
CF Stefan Jamroz - The Newark Knights center fielder was the 13th overall pick of the 2055 draft and just turned 21. Now that he's able to legally buy his own beer, he appears to be thriving. This season in 34 games at AA he's hitting .319/.379/.472 with 3 HR, 15 RBI, 6 SB and a +6.7 ZR in center. It won't be long before we see him in the bigs with those numbers, as he would replace Parker Capalbo and then allow Alexander Charter to play his natural left field position. Good things are happening in New York.
Five Things We Think We Think
1. Congrats to Theodore Blume who reached 2500 career strikeouts this past week, the 53rd such player to do so in the history of the league. The 7th overall pick of the 2043 draft by Pittsburgh won three Pale Ales with the Millers before falling out of favor. He was traded to Pawtucket in 2055 after starting the season 1-6, traded to Dallas in 2056, and became a free agent after the 2058 season. From 2055 to 2057 he was pretty average, before last years campaign of 19-4 with a 2.95 ERA propelled him into a huge off-season contract with the Kodiaks. He's now 4-3 with a 2.40 ERA and scheduled to make $104,000,000 between now and when he can opt out after 2062.
2. Windy City and Los Angeles got into in on May 20th during an 8-3 Blues victory. In the 3rd inning Idris Wnuk hit a solo shot off of Dinos starter Ian Cooley to start the inning off. Poor Donovan Butler came up, who's the prankster of the team, and he promptly got beaned. This time he wasn't pulling a trick as he rushed the mound with bad intentions. When you're 6'5, 200 pounds, and 25 years old...you can run. Considering Cooley is a solid 6'3 and 200 pounds it wasn't a battle of the lightweights that's for sure. In the end both were ejected and Cooley got hammered with a nine game suspension. Butler was given four games thanks to the 1-2 combo he threw when he got to the mound. At the end of the day the 32k plus in attendance got to see a baseball game and a boxing match.
3. Baltimore is once again the King of the base paths as their 9.87 wSB is more than double the second place Roadrunners. The Bulldogs lead the league with 108 stolen bases and their 83.1% success rate is only second to Dallas. They have a trio of players about to his 30 SB on the season as CF Joseph Olsen (29), 3B James 'Handyman' Hylton (25), and LF Justin Castiglioni (24) have the green light almost anytime they are on base. Considering they are some of the fastest players in the league, and are putting up OBP's of .351, .374, and .330 respectively, well it's a long series for any catcher that is going to face the Bulldogs.
4. In one of the better league stories that we can remember, we'd like to give a round of applause to Maine reliever Ellery Skaleski. Ellery was drafted by Los Angeles in the 7th round of the 2041 draft at the ripe young age of 17. With a lively arm that threw a 99 mph fastball, he made it all the way to AAA by 2048, but was let go. He was signed by New York before the 2049 season where he played four more seasons in the minors. He was called into the managers office and released again before the 2053 season.
Now 29 years old, and married with a kid, he still wanted to play. Skaleski tried to keep in shape the best he could while working odd jobs to support his family. Yet the phone never rang. In 2054 he was still hopeful but once again the phone never rang. In 2055 he went back to college as you guessed it, the phone never rang. By 2056 he realized it was probably over. Even though he was now in school, and working, his love of the game kept him in the gym. Even though his phone never rang. When the 2057 season came and then started without a call, he knew it was over. He had a heck of a run, but no one needed a 33 year old minor league pitcher. Then the phone rang. It was July 4th and his agent said Maine needed a pitcher for their AAA team. Thinking it was an prank he hung up. The phone rang again. The now 33 year old Skaleski jumped at the chance and finished out the season by going 2-3 with a 3.69 ERA in nine starts. In 2058 he signed an extension and stayed in AAA where in 23 starts he was 5-4 with a 3.21 ERA. He couldn't believe he was playing baseball again.
As 2059 got going Skaleski was placed on the ST roster. After appearing in 15 games he was called into manager Marty Kennedy's office. The 35 years old he wondered what his future would hold. He had sat in this seat many times, but he knew this was probably his last shot to play in the majors. It had been 18 seasons since he got drafted. He couldn't even remember the kid he was back then. When Kennedy told him he was being called up and would make the 26 man roster he just sat there stunned. When Skaleski heard some noise behind him he slowly turned, and saw most of the team. Loved for his work ethic and loyalty to his teammates, they mobbed him. Kennedy let him know this wasn't a pity party, he had earned a spot, and they expected him to perform.
Fast forward to present day. After winning Rookie of the Month in April, Skaleski is now 6-1 with a 3.16 ERA in 13 games. In the history of the BLB only Manny Garcia took a longer road to the majors. In the end it all works out like it's supposed to, for some it just takes a little longer than others.
5. What's on tap. This week we get to see some first time match-ups this season. First up is New York hosting Washington as the second and third place teams in the Stout square off. Then we get Seattle at Phoenix for a little family fun, Maine at Pittsburgh for a 1-2 match-up in the Awful Ale, and finally a big four game series between New York and Seattle to close the week out. Streak wise Kyle Levin (MON) has a 14 game hitting streak while Neall Rabah (WAS) has driven in a run in 8 straight games.
Stat of the Week
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