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06/14/2060
At this rate we won't have to change the Power Rankings logo ever. The Pilots go 5-1 against their Domestic rivals and now have a 15 point lead in the rankings. Baltimore happens to be second, as they went 5-1 as well and have an 11 point lead over the third place Cyclones. Don't forgot about the Dinos though, as they appear back and better than ever. They also went 5-1 and are now 10 games over .500 after winning 78 games last year. Finally we had Maine. The Guides went 5-1 to move to 30-36 and fourth place in the Ale. On the other side of life Syracuse, Hartford, Batavia and Wilmington all went 1-5.
Power Rankings
1) Seattle Pilots (142.4, o)
2) Baltimore Bulldogs (127.1, o)
3) New York Cyclones (116.5, +)
4) Phoenix Roadrunners (112.5, +)
5) Los Angeles Dinos (110.6, ++)
6) Montreal Exports (104.2, ++)
7) Toronto Canadians (101.0, --)
8) New Orleans Voodoo (99.2, -)
9) Dallas Drillers (95.6, ++)
10) Santo Domingo Rum Runners (93.6, -)
11) Syracuse Snappers (91.5, --)
12) Hartford Whalers (86.9, o)
13) Maine Guides (82.8, ++)
14) Washington Bats (80.1, +)
15) Pittsburgh Millers (80.1, ++)
16) Denver Bulls (79.3, -)
17) Wilmington Wildcats (79.1, --)
18) Carolina Tobs (78.6, --)
19) Philadelphia Freedom (75.8, ++)
20) Pawtucket Patriots (74.6, --)
21) California Kodiaks (71.0, -)
22) Indianapolis Clowns (68.1, --)
23) Batavia Muckdogs (55.5, o)
24) Windy City Blues (54.4, o)
Performance of the Week
1B Andy Dillon - It's his second season with the Dinos but it's still strange to see Dillon in something other than purple. The 30 year old shows no signs of slowing down for his new club though, as on June 11 against Hartford he smacked three hits, two home runs, drove in six, and scored four times as LAD won 11-2. On the season he's now hitting .303 with 16 HR, 48 RBI and a projected 7.4 WAR.
Prospect of the Week
1B J.C. 'Old Blue' Creamer - The last pick in the first round of the 2059 draft is just 21 years old (with a great beard) and playing for the AA Venom. In 49 games so far this year Creamer is hitting .302 with 8 HR, 31 RBI, and a 166 OPS+. With a cannon for an arm he's a natural third basemen who could be a solid OBP guy. Coaches also love his work ethic and intelligence.
Five Things We Think We Think
1. Every single team but Windy City is within 5.5 games of the playoffs. The poor Blues are 9.5 back in the Import, and still have a .02% chance according to Stats+, but we think that might be a little high. For everyone else though their playoff hopes are alive and well. Currently the BLB features four teams with 41 or more wins, 11 teams with 30 or more wins, and eight teams with 24-29 wins. When you have 14 teams between 25 and 35 wins it makes for a lot of trade opportunities and a lot of hopeful fan bases. We aren't even to the All-Star break yet, but this topsy turvy season is keeping everyone interested.
2. With an average attendance of just over 40k, the Phoenix Roadrunners are filling The Birdnest to a whopping 97.7% capacity for home games. Next up is Seattle at 93.8%, NYC at 95.5%, and finally Hartford at 91.9%. On the other end is poor Windy City at 40.4% and Philly at 44.3%. Overall though Baltimore is winning at the turnstiles as 1,356,391 fans have come to Hurricane Rice Arena, while the Patriots are second 1,344,720, and Indy is third at 1,340,341. With the home/away splits not being equal it's not totally accurate, but it's still a good measure of fan interest and ticket prices. Are those fans turning into money for the organizations though? Finance wise the Cyclones are first with a $13,721,327 gate revenue, and Cali is first with a $9,141,027 merchandise revenue. It might be a bad year for the Kodiaks but their fans still love their jerseys. We suppose you can sell a lot of stuff when it's 50% off since most of the players are on other ballclubs.
3. Reliever Henry Kemp has played for the Drillers since 2056. In 161 games and 270 innings with them he's 14-0 with 4 saves and a 2.46 ERA. In 2055 he was in AAA, so his last BLB loss was in 2054 when he played for the Rum Runners. He was a second round pick by Santo Domingo in 2048, and from 2050 to 2054 he played in 151 games for SDR and went 10-7 with a 3.36 ERA. He throws over 100 mph, with a devastating sinker and slider, and he's turned into one of the best setup/stopper men in baseball. He also appears to have really good luck.
4. Montreal has moved into the Top Systems report as the new #1 with 176 total points, besting second place California (160) and third place Batavia (146). Considering the Exports won 90 games last season, 80 games in 2058, and 96 in 2057 they have done some things right. From 2039 to 2049 they went to the playoffs every season, and brought home a championship in 2044. Then sadly from 2050 to 2056 they averaged 62 wins a year. So the fact that they are winning and have the #1 system is a huge win for their scouting department. It's never fun to bottom out after that sort of success, but when you can rebound the way they have it keeps the fan base happy.
5. What's on tap? We're back with some good division battles as we get to see Syracuse at Hartford and Montreal at Toronto. The Snappers and Whalers were far ahead of the pack in the Ale, but both have bottomed out in June. Syracuse is 2-9 so far, while Hartford is 3-9. They've only met once this season to date, with Hartford taking the series two games to one. The Exports meanwhile went 16-13 last month, and are 8-4 in June. They are now in third place in the Lager and only two games behind Toronto. The Canadians had a hot May by going 19-8, but they cooled off a little as they are 5-6 in June. These two have also met once so far, with Toronto winning the series 2-1. Streak wise Mitt 'Porker' Saginashvili (CAL) has a 21 game hitting streak, while Douglas 'Shepherd' Morrison (SEA) has scored in seven straight games.
Stat of the Week
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| Most Players with 20 or More Home Runs (Top 25 Teams) |
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