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(AP)
The entire DK staff went on a mountain retreat in the middle of the season and we come back to Hartford as the #1 team in the league! I guess going 7-0 this past week and 20-8 over the past month will help anyone shoot up the rankings. Some other big weeks were SDR and New Orleans who both went 6-1, Phoenix who went 5-1, and Pittsburgh, Baltimore, California, and Seattle who all went 5-2. With so many teams having success though you get the other side of life where LAD, Wilmington, Pawtucket, Indy, Montreal and Windy City all managed only one win. Some team leaders this week: Baltimore smashed 13 home runs and stole 11 bases, Batavia scored 42 runs, Seattle had a 1.54 ERA, and California struck out 63 batters.
Power Rankings
1) Hartford Whalers (119.4, ++)
2) Pittsburgh Millers (117.5, -)
3) Santo Domingo Rum Runners (114.3, ++)
4) Seattle Pilots (113.3, o)
5) California Kodiaks (110.1, +)
6) Washington Bats (105.3, --)
7) Miami Sharks (104.4, +)
8) New Orleans Dukes (104.0, ++)
9) Maine Guides (101.2, --)
10) Syracuse Snappers (92.0, ++)
11) Philadelphia Freedom (88.9, ++)
12) Baltimore Bulldogs (88.9, ++)
13) Denver BC (88.0, +)
14) Carolina Tobs (86.0, o)
15) Batavia Red Jackets (85.9, ++)
16) Indianapolis Racers (85.0, --)
17) Los Angeles Dinos (83.0, --)
18) Phoenix Roadrunners (82.6, ++)
19) Pawtucket Patriots (80.9, --)
20) New York Knights (80.0, --)
21) Windy City Blues (70.7, -)
22) Montreal Exports (56.8, o)
23) Wilmington Wildcats (54.4, o)
24) Toronto Canadians (53.7, o)
Performance of the Week
P Dave Calvert - On 7/11 after getting his free Slurpee he went out and beat Wilmington to the tune of a two hit shutout with 8 K's and 1 walk. Pittsburgh won 3-0 and Calvert moved to 8-3 on the season with a 3.05 ERA and 1.19 WHIP.
Injury of the Week
DH Jamie O'Hearn - The all-time BLB home run leader got beaned in the face by California's Zachary Beechy in the top of the 1st and after laying motionless for several seconds was helped off the field by teammates. He was taken to a local hospital and x-rays showed he had a fractured cheekbone and will be for at least a month. On the year he's hitting .246 with 13 HR's and 33 RBI's. Career wise he's up to 604 home runs, 32 more than 2nd place Dani Alvarez and 122 more than active 2nd place Tom Lewis.
Prospect of the Week
P Melvin 'Slug' Agee - The 14th overall pick of the 2031 draft by Toronto is playing for Lakefield Bluejackets in the Rookie League. So far in four starts he's 2-0 with a 0.41 ERA and 0.64 WHIP. The 18 year old hails from New Britain, CT and scouts say he's "very smart and has a solid knowledge of the game...that combined with his work ethic should help his development."
Five Things We Think We Think
1. We've been gone so long that after being 13 games under .500 in April the Philadelphia Freedom are 42-46 and a half game out of the last wildcard spot in the IL. Combined with the fact that California is 51-38 and has the 2nd best record in the IL behind Seattle and it's like we came back to an alternate universe. Speaking of California it looks like Mike Morla at age 37 has a legit shot at the Triple Crown. He's hitting .316 (6th) with 21 HR's (1st) and 60 RBI's (1st). Obviously it's a long season but when you talk about the Kodiak's resurgence you can look no further than 'Yoyo', who is also on pace to reach 3000 career hits by the end of the year.
2. Wilmington had seen enough this season after starting 31-57 and fired both their manager John Wicks and their bench coach Lee tai hoe Goei this past week. Wicks managed the AAA ball club the last five seasons, making the playoffs three of those years, but this was his first (and possibly) last shot in the bigs. Word has it that upon leaving John Wick(s) made some comment about his dog towards the GM and extra security has been brought in for the time being.
3. The IL currently has 9 out of the 12 teams with playoff odds greater than 25%. The DL currently has 6 out of the 12 that are above 72%. It looks like the IL might be a race for those last few wildcard spots while the DL might be a race for the division title and the all important wildcard bye.
4. Turell 'Two Ton' Morris and his quest for three straight 60+ home run seasons is in jeopardy as he is on pace to hit 'only' 55 this season. We think he will make it though as his June was one of the worse months he's had in three season. He hit .224 with 6 HR's as opposed to May when he hit 9 and April where he crushed 11. So far in July he's hitting .333 with 4 HR's in 71 less at bats than last month and when he's averaging a home run every 13.2 at bats he has a good chance to reach double digit dingers for the month.
5. Dylan Owens (Tor), Jamie O'Hearn (Den) and Dave Koehler (Wil) hold the distinction of making a combined $79 million dollars this season, higher than both Toronto and Windy City's entire payroll. They have combined for a 0.8 WAR and are all currently on the DL. Meanwhile 24 year olds Ron Hutchison (Har) and Tom Gowans (SDR) are making 280k and have a 3.5 WAR and 3.1 WAR respectively.
Stat of the Week
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| Players To Win A Defense With Integrity (DWI) Award, End Of Season Award, And Be An All-Star In The Same Season (EOS Awards: Stout Slugger Award, Pale Ale Pitcher Award, Refreshing New Brew Award) |
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