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06/20/2061
The Lager is hot, hot, hot. Weeks after Dallas put together a double digit win streak the New Orleans Voodoo and Wilmington Wildcats have run their own win streaks up to nine games. This past week the Wildcats swept Pawtucket and SDR to go 7-0, while New Orleans swept Hartford and Toronto to go 6-0. Four teams in the Lager now boast winning records, yet Montreal still leads the division by 7.5 games. Other nice weeks were had by New York, Indy, Phoenix, Cali, and Seattle who all went 5-2. The Cyclones lead the Stout by three games, Phoenix has built a big eight game lead in the Bock, Seattle is now at .500, while California and Indy are close to getting there as well. On the flip side Hartford went 0-6 as they allowed 45 total runs in those six games for a 7.74 ERA.
Power Rankings
1) New York Cyclones (126.5, o)
2) New Orleans Voodoo (113.3, ++)
3) Phoenix Roadrunners (113.0, ++)
4) Montreal Exports (112.0, -)
5) Wilmington Wildcats (109.5, ++)
6) Baltimore Bulldogs (104.0, --)
7) Syracuse Snappers (98.9, -)
8) Washington Bats (97.6, -)
9) Dallas Drillers (97.1, --)
10) California Kodiaks (96.5, +)
11) Maine Guides (96.0, -)
12) Seattle Pilots (96.0, +)
13) Pawtucket Patriots (94.0, --)
14) Indianapolis Clowns (89.8, +)
15) Toronto Canadians (85.3, +)
16) Denver Bulls (82.3, --)
17) Carolina Tobs (78.1, ++)
18) Windy City Blues (78.1, ++)
19) Batavia Muckdogs (77.6, -)
20) Pittsburgh Millers (77.5, --)
21) Philadelphia Freedom (68.0, ++)
22) Los Angeles Dinos (63.0, -)
23) Santo Domingo Rum Runners (62.0, -)
24) Hartford Whalers (51.7, --)
Performance of the Week
P LaVar Abrudan - Drafted in the 5th round by New Orleans back in 2045 he was traded to Dallas in May of 2049. He made his debut in 2052 for Dallas as a reliever before becoming a full-time starter in 2054. He was a 2x All-Star who won the 2055 Pale Ale before becoming a free agent and getting scooped up by Indy in a big six year/$121m deal in 2057. He was traded to Pawtucket in 2059, where he went to the All-Star game again in 2060. This season so far in 14 starts he's 4-2 with a 2.46 ERA and 162 ERA+. The entire point of that was to introduce someone who many around the league don't know. This past week against Hartford he turned in the fifth best pitching performance of the season when he 8.1 innings, allowed two hits, no runs, no walks, and struck out 11. During the game no runner got past first base as the Patriots easily won 11-0.
Prospect of the Week
CF Toby Foster - The first overall pick of last weeks draft has debuted as the first overall prospect in the league. Drafted out of the CCBL where he played for the New Orleans Firebirds, Foster hit .367/.468/.760 with 70 HR, 187 RBI, 64 SB, and a 196 OPS+ in 183 career games. Even thought he's a natural left fielder, he can play centerfield at a level where he won't let you down. Originally from Newport, Oregon, Foster was born in 2041 and won't be 21 until January of next year.
Five Things We Think We Think
1. Eleven teams have been 32 and 38 wins, and fourteen teams have between 30 and 39 wins. The playoff odds, brought to us by our friends at Stats+, still have every single team with a shot to make the postseason, with seven teams still at 95% or higher (Mon, Bal, NY, Was, Pho, Syr, Paw). Obviously we have a long way to go but eight teams in the Domestic are either in the Wild Card or within five games, while six teams in the Import are either in the final two spots or within four games. The Import definitely has the powerhouse teams as New York, Baltimore, Phoenix, and Washington all have over 40 wins, but they also have Carolina who is 30-40 and only four games back from a playoff spot. We don't know where we are going with this other than saying everyone has a chance!
2. Last year's Refreshing New Brew, Montreal's Eli Tracy, will be out 1-2 months after getting drilled by a pitch and breaking his wrist in a game two days ago against Maine. In the sixth inning Guides pitcher Al Williams took the mound down 2-0. After giving up a single, double, getting a balk, and then another double he was pulled for Buddy Moore. Moore then gave up a 2-run home run to make the score 7-0. He got a strikeout before hitting Teddy Bunch with a pitch which made more than a few of the Exports in the dugout upset. Up came Tracy, whom he hit once again, and the Exports dugout erupted onto the field. No one was ejected and Moore was given a warning. Montreal ended up scoring three more runs before Maine got out of the inning. Everyone knew what was coming in the top of the 7th. After Jerry 'Snake Hips' Coleman reached on an error, Frank Memmi came up to bat. The league leader in home runs was drilled by Montreal pitcher Hudson Bell and not a single Guide moved in the dugout.
3. The all-time stolen base top five had two and three swap as Julian 'Skeeter' Ludin has moved into second place with 865 career swipes, while Rick Anderson currently has 864. Both of them are projected to fall short of the all-time record of 935 held by Richie 'Powder' van Luik, well at least for this season. Considering Ludin is 35 and Anderson is 34, and both of them are still playing like they're 30, the record will fall. Not only will it fall but Anderson just might smash it as he should go well over 1,000 before he hangs it up. Currently he's hitting .339/.407/.498 and has been successful in stealing 38 out of 47 times this season. He's on pace for 86 this year, which would be his highest since the 2057 season when he stole 91 bases.
4. Speaking of records, Aubrey 'Gypsy' Albano is closing in on 4,000 hits. The 40 year old has a 374 hit lead on second place, Hall of Fame member Pat 'Melody' Nunes, and is now only 11 hits short of 4,000. There are only four players in the history of the league with over 3,500 hits, so for Albano to reach 4,000 was almost unthinkable a few years ago. Yet he just continues to play on. This season he's hitting .351/.401/.431, which is the best average he's had since 2056. This is his 21st full season in the league. Do you know how many times he's hit under .300...zero. When he was 20 he only played in 59 games and hit a paltry .279. Since then he's hit over .330 a whopping 13 times and has been a 12x All-Star and 11x Designated Driver.
5. What's on tap? How about a battle between two teams that have won nine in a row. That's right we get to see New Orleans travel to Wilmington to open the week. From our math that means one team will get to double digits (to match Dallas), and one team will start over. We also get to see Washington travel to New York. The Cyclones are 25-8 at home this year, while Washington has had a rough June. They are currently 3-7 over their last 10, and 7-11 this month after going 18-11 and 17-9 the previous two months.
Stat of the Week
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| Farthest Finish Out of First Place (Top 25 Teams) |
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