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08/21/2062
The Daily Keg has turned more into the Monthly Keg but we're back again...at least for now. It seems the Bulls keep on winning as last time we were talking about their nine game streak, and now we can talk about them being #1 in the Power Rankings. With a 6-1 week that featured a four game sweep of Baltimore it appears the tide in the Import has turned. The Bulldogs are out...the Bulls are in. Denver now has a 5.5 game lead in the 'Brutal Bock' which features five teams with winning records. The other top week was Santo Domingo. The Rum Runners are now two games above .500, and yet 15 games back in the Lager. It appears the BLB divisions have turned into the have and have nots.
Power Rankings
1) Denver Bulls (121.1, +)
2) Montreal Exports (115.0, +)
3) New Orleans Voodoo (114.0, -)
4) California Kodiaks (109.0, o)
5) Wilmington Wildcats (108.2, ++)
6) Windy City Blues (104.2, +)
7) Washington Bats (103.2, +)
8) Phoenix Roadrunners (103.0, -)
9) Los Angeles Dinos (102.0, +)
10) Santo Domingo Rum Runners (101.5, ++)
11) New York Cyclones (99.7, --)
12) Pittsburgh Millers (90.7, o)
13) Carolina Tobs (89.7, +)
14) Pawtucket Patriots (89.2, --)
15) Indianapolis Clowns (88.0, +)
16) Toronto Canadians (84.8, --)
17) Syracuse Snappers (78.8, +)
18) Maine Guides (77.3, o)
19) Batavia Muckdogs (71.5, ++)
20) Dallas Drillers (68.0, +)
21) Hartford Whalers (65.5, -)
22) Baltimore Bulldogs (64.1, --)
23) Philadelphia Freedom (63.0, -)
24) Seattle Pilots (51.0, o)
Performance of the Week
LF Vinnie 'Music Man' Ballew - Drafted 165th overall in the 2058 draft, 'Music Man' has burst onto the stage this season for the Roadrunners. After hitting .211 with 15 HR and 50 RBI last season, he's hitting .311 with 31 HR and 82 RBI this season...with only 12 more at bats. This past week on Saturday against the Bats he also turned in the fourth best performance of the season when he smacked three home runs and drove in six during a 6-2 victory. Not bad to go from a -0.2 WAR last year to a projected 5.3 WAR this year.
Prospect of the Week
LF Scott Bolton - He's bouncing all over the prospect rankings (currently 83rd) but it doesn't appear to be bothering him. The 19 year old has played in 102 games in the Rookie League this season and is hitting .314 with 29 HR and 99 RBI, while just winning the Batter of the Month for July. Drafted 17th overall in 2061 scouts see him as "an elite left fielder on a contending team."
Five Things We Think We Think
1. The Bock is definitely brutal once again. Los Angeles is currently 64-56, which would put them two games back in the Ale. Instead they are in fifth place in the Bock and 9.5 games behind Denver. What's even worse is they are 1.5 games out of the Wild Card spot. Yes, they aren't even a playoff team. Meanwhile Import League up and comer the Tobs are 63-58, and they are three games back in the Wild Card. If they were in the Domestic they'd be the second Wild Card with a 4.5 game lead. Sometimes baseball just isn't fair.
2. In one of the craziest trade deadlines we've seen in quite some time the BLB front office had to process 10 trades which featured such players as B.B. Trynkov, Joel Greer, Troy 'Rat' Cooper, Jerry Fleming, Braydon Lynn, Benjamin Racek, and Derek Bane. All of those players are pitchers as the arms race in the BLB was hot and heavy. With the draft being hitter heavy the last few years, and pitchers developing from mid to late round picks, it was a sellers market for those teams out of it with a good arm.
3. Since we've been gone a while we didn't cover who's been hot. In the month of July it was the Roadrunners as they went 18-5 to completely turn their season around. They were so good that even though they are massively in debt, (-$42m balance last season, -$68m projected balance this season) owner Alex Medina Jr. somehow gave them the okay to resign Devin Cundiff to a six year, $142m contract this past week. We're still not sure how they made it work out, but apparently it did. Weather the GM goes to prison down the road is yet to be seen. Medina Jr is 88 years old though, and wants nothing more than to win a title, so we suppose game on! Cundiff is a 4x All-Star who won the Stout Slugger both in 2060 and 2061. This season he's hitting .312 with 13 HR, 71 RBI, 49 SB, a 4.2 ZR in center, and is on pace for a 7.0 WAR.
4. Zane Hastings of Toronto fame is having quite the season. He's currently 13-6 with a 2.26 ERA and has struck out 235 opposing batters. That means he's currently first in the Domestic in wins, ERA, and K's, which means he could win the first pitching Triple Crown in the DL since Christian Vines did it in 2046. Vines was the first person to accomplish the feat since...well Christian Vines did it in 2044. Looking back at Vines has there been a more dominant pitching run than he had from 2042 to 2047? In those six seasons Vines was 99-27 with a 2.07 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 1699 K's, and a 50.8 WAR. He won the Pale Ale in '43, '44, '45, and '46. The years he didn't win it he was 13-2 with a 2.58 ERA and 20-4 with a 2.43 ERA. Just amazing.
5. What's on tap? This week we get the fifth place Dinos traveling to the second place Kodiaks, then traveling once again to the second place Bats. California is 4-2 against Los Angeles this season, while Washington and LAD are tied at four each in their match-ups. In the Domestic we get to the see first place Pawtucket host first place Montreal. The Patriots would be in third place in the Lager, but thanks to the 'Awful Ale' (where they are the only winning team), they have a nice 7.5 game division lead.
Weekly Milestones
SS Jeremy Henn (PIT), 24 yo, reached 100 hits
RF Ty Dec (WAS), 29 yo, reached 1500 hits
SS Wellington Wingate (PHI), 26 yo, reached 500 hits
1B Teddy Pettaway (HAR), 27 yo, reached 250 hits
LF Robert Wenstrom (SYR), 23 yo, reached 250 hits
C Andy Christman (MON), 23 yo, reached 250 hits
CF Roosevelt Barrera (IND), 30 yo, reached 100 hits
CF Dimitri Shaukat (SYR), 22 yo, reached 100 hits
LF Spencer Stephens (CAL), 23 yo, reached 100 home runs
3B Nick Edwards (IND), 21 yo, hit his first home run
CF Jaden Womack (BAT), 24 yo, hit his first home run
C Charleston Chesney (MON), 25 yo, hit his first home run
3B Olin Keele (TOR), 24 yo, reached 250 RBIs
CF Rob Morris (PHI), 25 yo, reached 250 RBIs
C Al Bush (TOR), 30 yo, reached 250 RBIs
RF Evan Turner (CAR), 28 yo, reached 700 extra base hits
SS Zyaire Semijenov (HAR), 32 yo, reached 400 extra base hits
1B Henry Miller (MON), 26 yo, reached 300 extra base hits
LF Dalton Brown (DEN), 24 yo, reached 200 extra base hits
C Al Wagner (SEA), 25 yo, reached 100 extra base hits
3B Pat Duke (NYC), 25 yo, reached 100 extra base hits
P Zack Fleming (WIL), 31 yo, reached 100 wins
P Noel Fetter (NO), 30 yo, reached 75 wins
P Blake Yost (TOR), 30 yo, reached 50 wins
P Mitch Colwell (MAI), 25 yo, reached 100 saves
P Hayden Watkins (TOR), 33 yo, reached 2000 strikeouts
P Quin Mueller (PHI), 27 yo, reached 250 strikeouts
Stat of the Week
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