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04/12/2060
It's hard to believe we're into the 60's as the BLB enters it's 82nd season. Last year we finished up with the Toronto Canadians defeating the Baltimore Bulldogs in an epic seven game series, which gave Toronto it's first championship since 2022. In a fun DK fact, the Keg picked the Bulldogs to take down the Canadians four games to two last season, but alas the defending champs couldn't pull it off. Can they get back to the Brew for a third straight year...turn into the DK Season Predictions below for what we think.
Enough of last season, let's get to opening week! The New York Cyclones pulled off the happy unicorn as they swept both Batavia and Phoenix to start the season off 7-0. When you outscore your opponents 48-20 in just seven games, well there is no rust on that machine. Next up were the Pilots who went 6-1. When you have a two game lead in the division and we haven't started week two, that's a lot to be happy about. Finally we had Carolina who went 5-1, while Baltimore, New Orleans, Hartford, and Indy all went 5-2. On the other side of life poor Batavia went 0-7, while Dallas went 1-6 and California went 1-5. Without saying who, we're pretty sure one of those teams GM's isn't taking it well.
Power Rankings
1) New York Cyclones (194.0, ++)
2) Seattle Pilots (164.3, ++)
3) Carolina Tobs (159.0, +)
4) Baltimore Bulldogs (133.6, --)
5) New Orleans Voodoo (132.6, ++)
6) Hartford Whalers (130.6, +)
7) Indianapolis Clowns (130.6, +)
8) Denver Bulls (105.9, -)
9) Philadelphia Freedom (105.9, ++)
10) Santo Domingo Rum Runners (104.9, ++)
11) Maine Guides (102.9, -)
12) Toronto Canadians (102.9, ++)
13) Montreal Exports (91.0, -)
14) Pawtucket Patriots (89.0, o)
15) Syracuse Snappers (77.1, ++)
16) Washington Bats (74.1, ++)
17) Wilmington Wildcats (49.4, ++)
18) Pittsburgh Millers (47.4, -)
19) Los Angeles Dinos (46.4, --)
20) Windy City Blues (46.4, ++)
21) Phoenix Roadrunners (43.4, --)
22) California Kodiaks (22.0, --)
23) Dallas Drillers (21.7, --)
24) Batavia Muckdogs (-14.0, --)
Performance of the Week
P Ken 'Baseball' Burns - The 27 year old is entering his prime and absolutely dominated Wilmington on Opening Day. In a 7-0 victory he went the entire game while allowing just five hits, walking one, and striking out 13. Believe it or not it's only the second complete game shutout of his career for the 3x Pale Ale winner and 5x All-Star.
Prospect of the Week
C Andy 'Turk' Christman - Montreal is really good, and that's without the #1 prospect getting called up yet. The 1st overall pick from the 2057 draft is currently in AAA, where he finished last season out. The OSA 'Prospect Pipeline' has him coming up this year, but only time will tell. To close out 2059 for Quebec he hit .307/.370/.533 with 9 HR and 25 RBI in just 39 games, so he actually might be ready. Oh what a time to be an Exports fan.
Five Things We Think We Think
1. Charlie 'Mailman' Jones really let us down last season. In week 11 he was on pace to shatter the single season record of 22 triples held by three players. His projections at that time (and season totals) were 21 home runs (21), 78 RBI (71), 55 stolen bases (63) and a whopping 34 triples as he'd already recorded 15 to that point. Sadly Charlie finished with 18. He saw his average go from .344 at that point, to finishing the year hitting .311, which is still great. Unfortunately as his average went down, so did his triple count. In our memory we'd never seen someone hit 15 triples not even halfway through the season, and then hit just three the rest of the way. It's a funny game sometimes.
2. One record that did fall last season (the only one), was strikeouts per nine innings, as Roadrunner starter Jakob Hilliard broke Christine Vines 14 year old record of 14.53. Hilliard went 7-12 with a 4.19 ERA last season, but in 176 innings pitched he struck out an amazing 309 batters, giving him 15.80 batters struck out per nine innings. In 81 seasons of play, he's the only player to ever get above a 15.00 K/9. In 2056 he came out of Poly Prep Country Day School, and wasn't even drafted. He signed a minor league contract with Phoenix a month later, and is now entering his third year in the BLB.
3. Some milestones worth watching this season. Tyson Velez (BAT), Daryl Walken (NO) and Dane Jennings (PIT) are all on pace to reach the 3000 hit club. Colby Hullinger (CAL) is 27 home runs away from reaching 550, while Adrian Gramling (CAL) is 15 home runs away from reaching 450, and 67 RBI away from 1500. Sadly though they are both being held hostage in the Kodiaks minor league system. Finally Julian 'Skeeter' Ludin (WIL) is just seven stolen bases away from 750, while Elias 'Clapper' Owen is 39 short.
4. Since we seem to be stuck on records let's continue. Windy City starter Cade Hogan is still going, at the age of 41 years old. The 2x Pale Ale winner is now in his 19th season in the BLB, and has 3,459 career strikeouts. He is the active leader in K's, and currently 5th all-time. He's projected to finish this year with 3,550 strikeouts, which would put him behind only Johnny McDade and D.J. 'The Brick' Engstrom. The later is the all-time leader with 3,597 strikeouts. The last one we'll talk about is the stolen base record of 935 held by Richie 'Powder' van Luik. Once thought untouchable, there are now three players in striking distance. Thirty-two year old Rick Anderson (761), 34 year old Julian 'Skeeter' Ludin (743), and 30 year old Elias 'Clapper' Owen (711) are all off and running. Throw in 34 year old Kenny West (730) who's a free agent and out for a few more months with a broken kneecap, and the record could fall in the next few seasons. Not only that, we might see Owen reach 1000 before it's all said and done.
5. What's on tap? Week two for the schedule makers means interleague as the Domestic and Import square off for the first time this year. Some match-ups we're excited for: New York at Indy and Hartford at New York (the battle of the division leaders), Seattle at New Orleans (have the Voodoo rebounded already?), and Phoenix at Wilmington (both DK playoff teams started off the season 2-5). Streak wise Marlon Johnson for Philly has homered in four straight games, while Kyle Siebert has done it in three straight.
Stat of the Week
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| Most All-Star Appearances Without Appearing in the Postseason (Top 25 Players) |
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2060 DK Season Predictions
(once again the DK takes no responsibility for trades/injuries/OOTPR and should be used for entertainment value only)
Ale
x Indy
z Pawtucket
z Hartford
Pittsburgh
Maine
Syracuse
Lager
x Montreal
z Toronto
z Wilmington
Dallas
Santo Domingo
New Orleans
Stout
x New York
z Baltimore
z Washington
Carolina
Philly
Batavia
Bock
x Seattle
z LAD
z Phoenix
California
Denver
Windy City
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Wild Card
Pawtucket over Hartford
Toronto over Wilmington
Baltimore over Phoenix
LAD over Washington
Divisional Series
Toronto over Indy
Montreal over Pawtucket
Baltimore over Seattle
New York over LAD
League Championship
Montreal over Toronto
Baltimore over New York
Brewmasters
Baltimore over Montreal 4-3
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Stout Slugger
Brian Wheat - Toronto
Ryan Carr - Seattle
Pale Ale
Ken Burns - SDR
Alex Landrum - NYC
Refreshing New Brew
Teddy Burch - Montreal
Stefan Jamroz - NYC