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07/23/2063
It was the short week as teams only played three this All-Star break weekend. The top teams: California, Windy City, Syracuse...all went 3-0. Their hapless victims, Phoenix, Seattle, Pawtucket...who all went 0-3. With that perfect week the Kodiaks now hold the top spot in the Power Rankings, even though they are a half game behind the Bats for the best record in the league. Washington has been nothing less than spectacular as their 62-31 record has given them a 13.5 game division lead. Their worst month to date is actually this one, as their paltry 10-7 July record has dropped them down to just 'demi-god' status. Considering they have double the wins as losses we're pretty sure they are going to be just fine.
Power Rankings
1) California Kodiaks (127.7, +)
2) Windy City Blues (120.7, +)
3) Washington Bats (119.0, -)
4) Wilmington Wildcats (118.8, +)
5) Denver Bulls (114.1, -)
6) Pittsburgh Millers (99.9, o)
7) Los Angeles Dinos (98.8, +)
8) Montreal Exports (98.7, ++)
9) New York Cyclones (96.8, -)
10) Carolina Tobs (95.0, ++)
11) New Orleans Voodoo (93.8, o)
12) Indianapolis Clowns (92.9, --)
13) Santo Domingo Rum Runners (91.0, --)
14) Baltimore Bulldogs (89.2, +)
15) Toronto Canadians (85.1, --)
16) Maine Guides (83.3, o)
17) Batavia Muckdogs (78.9, ++)
18) Pawtucket Patriots (78.2, -)
19) Syracuse Snappers (77.7, +)
20) Hartford Whalers (77.4, -)
21) Dallas Drillers (62.9, +)
22) Philadelphia Freedom (61.0, +)
23) Seattle Pilots (60.8, --)
24) Phoenix Roadrunners (39.0, o)
Performance of the Week
LF Evan Olsen - No one broke into the Top Performances this past week, and in fact it's been several weeks since anyone put their stamp on the season. Still though Olsen put on a show against the Bats when over three games he smacked three home runs and drove in eight. He only hit .286 but when your slugging percentage is 1.000 you are doing something right. On the season the 22 year old is hitting .269 with 21 HR, 57 RBI, and 14 stolen bases.
Prospect of the Week
2B Trystan Didkowsky - The 21 year old was the third overall pick of the 2059 draft by the Whalers and is currently playing in AAA for them. He's an absolute defensive wiz in the infield, where his ability at both short and second are DWI worthy. He also has the ability per scouts to someday hit around .290 with 20-25 home runs. This past week he was selected to the BLB Futures Game where he was named MVP after racking up three hits, driving in three, and scoring twice as the Domestic won 4-1 on the day.
Five Things We Think We Think
1. Congrats to these first time All-Star game starters: 3B Nick Edwards (IND), SS Cody Henning (MON), 2B Jay Sharpe (WC), and 3B Rory Elia Jr. (CAL). In the OOTP '63 simulation it was the Import who came out on top 7-4 as Windy City's Ralph Neben, who was making his first All-Star appearance, pinch hit and smashed a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the ninth. Also congrats to Jannero Peter (BAL), and Charlie Spence (CAL), who each attended their ninth All-Star game. Spence was the 10th overall pick of the 2047 draft, while Peter was the 158th pick of the 2045 draft. A diamond, and a diamond in the rough.
2. In a ridiculous All-Star stat that shows just how young the league has become, Pawtucket second basemen Keith Friday was just selected to his fifth All-Star game. The crazy part is that Friday is just 23 years old. Drafted 21st overall out of high school in 2057 he was called up to the Patriots in 2059 when he was 19. He hit .308 that year, which to date is his career low. This season he's hitting .332, which is actually below his career average of .334. In the history of the league only Jaime 'Toro' Rush (.337) and R.J. Kapper (.335) are higher. Friday signed a four year contract this off-season for a cool $81.6 million, a steal for a kid that good at the plate who's also posted a +5.0 ZR at second in just 86 games this season.
3. It looks like the playoff race in the Import comes down to Los Angeles, New York, Carolina, and Baltimore...for three spots. Our friends at Stats+ have the Dinos with an 89.2% chance, the Cyclones with a 65.8% chance, the Tobs with a 36% chance, and the Bulldogs with an 8.9% chance. So in reality it looks more like a 3-way race for two spots. Meanwhile in the Domestic every single team still has a shot, with even the 37-57 Dallas Drillers coming in at 0.4%. What a story that would be. Wilmington is the only team currently at 100%, while the Wild Card standings currently have eight teams within 8.5 games of each other. It looks like a middling bloodbath is coming our way.
4. As of now there is only one single season record in danger of being broken. Philly pitcher Liam Polyak is on pace to have 24 losses, which would be one more than Evan Penn suffered through in his 2039 season with the Maine Guides. Let's cruise on over to our up to date reference guide to see how the 35 year old Polyak is doing this sea...oh my...he's 0-14 with a 5.49 ERA and 1.77 WHIP. The poor guy has given up just one run five times, and two runs just three times. GET THIS MAN SOME RUN SUPPORT! Okay we're back, sorry about that. This is the same Liam Polyak who went 17-5 with a 2.68 ERA in 2058 for the Dinos. That season he didn't even get selected to the All-Star game, nor did he get enough votes to finish top three in the Pale Ale. When will our new pal Liam get a break? Lifetime he's still above .500 though, as he checks in with an 89-88 record and 3.61 ERA. Maybe he just just retire now.
5. What's on tap? We're back at it as every team plays six or seven games this week. Some fun series we're looking forward to: Windy City at Denver (their last meeting of the regular season which the Blues lead 6-3), New Orleans at Montreal (top two teams in the DL Wild Card race), and Pittsburgh at Indy (Millers lead the Clowns by 2.0 games in the 'Awful' Ale). Streak was Cali and Windy City have won five straight, Seattle has dropped six straight, and Pawtucket has lost four straight. Also Baltimore outfielder Joseph Olson has a 17 game hitting streak, and Dave Hunt for Maine hasn't lost in 16 straight starts and has won eight straight decisions.
Weekly Milestones
RF Nathan Bennett (MAI), 28 yo, reached 1000 hits
3B Marcus Fahr (CAR), 26 yo, reached 100 home runs
RF Kearney Gallegos (PHI), 23 yo, hit his first home run
3B Jehvon Curry (LAD), 28 yo, reached 500 RBIs
SS Alexander Charter (NYC), 26 yo, reached 250 extra base hits
CF Garon Norgrove (WAS), 24 yo, reached 100 extra base hits
SS Brendan McIntyre (NO), 23 yo, reached 100 extra base hits
P Connor Mundy (SYR), 26 yo, reached 250 strikeouts
P Casey Piper (WIL), 29 yo, reached 250 strikeouts
Who's Hot/ Who's Not
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Stat of the Week
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| Top 25 Oldest All-Stars | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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